Barghest is a woman who falls deeply in love, loyal, and whose mind is filled only with love and responsibility.
Unfortunately, her species is not nearly as gentle. The instinct to devour others is literally encoded in her DNA.
That means the more passionately she loves, the stronger her cannibalistic urges become — to the point where she can no longer control them.
It's not an exaggeration: she has had many relationships, but none of them ended well.
Tragedy.
She wanted to be loved. She wanted to love others. But in the end, she was the one who killed them all.
A pitiful woman.
That was exactly why the "Illusion of the Lustful Mind" worked on her instantly.
Because inside that illusion, she was loved. Her devouring instinct never appeared, so she could finally be happy.
---
In the heart of the kingdom, a large woman stood beside a tree, anxiously looking around.
"Have you been waiting long?"
"Ah, no! N-Not at all!"
She was currently wearing a white dress, though her muscles were still clearly visible. She stuttered nervously in front of the man who was her destined one.
She had just lied. She had actually been standing there like a statue for two full hours, sweating nonstop.
The face of the person in front of her was blurry, but to her, it didn't matter.
Appearance had never been an issue. She would still love with all her heart.
"Then let's go."
"U-Umm!"
He took her around everywhere, visiting every location, letting her experience every service, drinking coffee and eating together.
Especially the eating part.
"S-Sorry… for letting you see me like this…" she said shyly at the dining table. In front of her were hundreds of empty plates — she had devoured everything.
As expected of a Saber. If she didn't eat a lot, she wouldn't be a Saber.
"It's fine. Seeing you enjoy yourself this much makes me happy."
"R-Really?" Her face turned bright red as she stammered.
After they left the restaurant, they watched the sunset slowly descending.
"Today was really fun."
"Yeah…"
Both of them sat on a wooden bench, gazing at the sunset.
"The sun is powerful, but it will eventually set. It cannot remain eternal forever."
"Yeah…"
"So just enjoy it. If everything will fade away eventually, why not shine brightly at least once?"
She listened and kept staring at the sunset.
He was right. No matter how much she tried to restrain and suppress herself, one day she would realize it was already too late.
Actually, it was already too late. She wasn't even alive anymore… Hehe.
Well then… she might as well accept this gentleness… She could rest now. After all, she knew she was tired.
Just as she was about to lean against the person she loved, she saw a young man running toward her.
"…?"
His eyes burned with determination sharper than steel.
His index finger had been bitten off and was bleeding nonstop, yet he kept moving forward.
She looked at him. This strange sense of familiarity was hard to understand.
She didn't remember… No, she did remember. She was just trying to forget.
The young man continued running toward her, but for some reason, he seemed to be getting farther away.
"…"
She stood up and walked toward him.
"Where are you going?" the person she loved asked, still sitting there.
"…Earlier, you said the sun is powerful but will eventually set, right?"
He looked at her. She turned her head back. She was no longer wearing the white dress, but her familiar armor instead.
"You were right. If everything will end anyway, why not shine brightly at least once?" She smiled.
In the end, she was always strict with herself. It wasn't easy to deceive her.
"…"
He smiled, stood up, and walked over to her.
Then he lightly punched her armor.
"…!"
Now, she could finally see the face of the person in front of her clearly.
"Then shine beautifully, okay, Barghest?"
The first person she had ever loved — and also the first person she had ever devoured.
"If that guy ever treats you badly, just tell me. I'll definitely rise from my grave and beat him half to death!"
"…Hehe."
She gave a small smile, turned away, and looked at her current Master.
What had already happened could not be changed. Clinging to the past would achieve nothing.
It was better to overcome it themselves. Only then could they truly live fully.
She ran forward without looking back, completely letting go of the sadness that had followed her her entire life.
And reached out for Robert.
***
Robert's hand was being held tightly.
Robert's body and mind were both exhausted. He looked at Saber, who was carrying him in a princess carry, her hand gripping his firmly and refusing to let go.
"Master, you really are reckless… but also very brave. Having you as my Master is truly fortunate," she said, looking at him with gentle, kind eyes.
"Haha… You're praising me too much."
She then looked at his injured hand, tore a strip of cloth from his shirt, and used it to bandage his bleeding finger.
"Next time, don't do something so dangerous. I don't have healing magic, you know."
"Sorry."
"Honestly…"
She carried him to a safer spot and gently set him down.
"Wait for me. I'll raise the flag of victory for you."
[Bond 0 → 1!]
After that, Robert fainted from exhaustion. After all, he had endured multiple layers of illusions from Asmodeus while charging forward.
Saber turned around and looked at Asmodeus, who was currently being held back by Rider and Lancer.
"Welcome back~" Lancer said with a smile.
"Wow! Look at those rippling muscles! Just looking at you, I can tell you're strong!" Rider clapped his hands in admiration.
"Don't forget I'm still here!!!"
Asmodeus lashed out at both of them. Lancer dodged, but Rider was a bit unlucky and got slammed hard into the ground.
It then whipped its tentacles fiercely at Rider, sending him flying.
Bam!
"Oww, my head's spinning… Huh?" Rider bled from his forehead and mouth, then realized with a start that he hadn't been sent flying off the edge.
It turned out Saber had pulled him back. Unfortunately, his clothes had torn a little because she had pulled too hard.
"You're an ally too, right?"
"For now," Rider answered bluntly.
"It's fine. I won't forget this debt."
Archer had fallen, but in exchange, Saber had returned to the fight.
Rider and Lancer then walked forward, surrounding Asmodeus.
Asmodeus looked around. Saber, Rider, and Lancer were all staring at it with incredibly intense killing intent.
"While we're at it… let's go all out and finish this thing off," Lancer said to the other two.
"That's pretty obvious!" Rider laughed, glancing at Saber.
Saber gripped her sword tightly, powerful flames radiating from it.
"Alright!"
"Yeah!"
"Yosh!"
All three of them released their mana at the same time — Lancer's was green, Rider's was blue, and Saber's was golden.
101% power, full burst!