"Irisviel!"
Saber caught the silver-haired Homunculus and was startled to find that Irisviel's body temperature was abnormally high.
"Pull yourself together, Irisviel!"
Although her Master had never explained things to her in detail, Saber had already sensed that something was wrong.
As the Holy Grail War progressed, Irisviel's vitality was gradually fading away.
But why? What exactly was happening?
"Hehe, so even Saber can get flustered sometimes... You look... kind of cute..."
"What nonsense are you saying? This is no time for jokes. Irisviel, I'll use Avalon to heal you right now..."
Irisviel tried to stop her, but in the end, she was no match for Saber's stubbornness.
The golden scabbard was placed into Irisviel's body.
The scabbard of the Holy Sword, Avalon, possessed the power to halt aging and heal to a degree close to turning back time. Irisviel's condition improved almost immediately.
[Please explain the situation.]
Saber did not actually say the words, but that was plainly written across her face.
Irisviel knew she could not keep hiding it any longer.
"Saber, this isn't an abnormal condition. This is... something that was always going to happen.
Because I was created for the Holy Grail War... as a vessel to contain the souls of Heroic Spirits."
She explained her circumstances to the King of Knights, along with what was happening to her body.
"As the battle goes on, my body is gradually suppressing the extra outer shell in order to restore the original functions of the 'vessel.'
From here on, I'll continue to discard my human functions and return further to my original state as an 'object.'
They did make adjustments so I could fulfill my role as a Master and barely hold on until all the Heroic Spirits were collected, but...the strain on my body has still ended up being a little more than I expected."
"How could this be..."
Saber's face went pale.
So that means my fighting has really been driving Irisviel toward her death?
She was the one I swore to protect...!
"That's exactly why I didn't want to tell you the truth."
Irisviel let out a sigh. "Saber, listen to me... I want you to stop worrying about me and keep fighting. Don't give up on your wish to pursue the Holy Grail..."
"How could I possibly do that! There's no way I could!"
Irisviel cut off the emotional blonde girl, then gave her a playful smile.
"I knew that's what you'd say."
Artoria blinked in surprise. "Huh?"
"The truth is, I don't want to die either."
Irisviel's expression turned serious.
"If it had been the me from a week ago, I would have sacrificed myself without hesitation to fulfill the Einzbern family's long-cherished wish.
But now... I don't want to die at all, because I've found my true wish.
More importantly, if the Greater Grail really has been corrupted, then if this continues, I'll only end up as food for a world-destroying monster.
So, Saber... save me."
"Of course!"
Saber gripped her hand tightly. Irisviel nodded and continued.
"The important question now is why my body has ended up like this..."
"Wasn't this supposed to happen sooner or later?"
Irisviel shook her head.
"No. Just how fragile do you think I am?
I'm the finest individual in Einzbern history, you know? There's no way I'd be reduced to this just from absorbing a mere two Heroic Spirits..."
"Not two. Three."
Hassan of the Hundred Faces, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.
"Caster, Lancer... and Assassin."
The purple-haired female Assassin explained, "The one standing here now is a mind, a personality, revived through a Command Spell.
The true Spirit Origin of Hassan of the Hundred Faces has already returned to the Holy Grail, so that makes three Servants."
Irisviel nodded, accepting the explanation.
"That explains it. Three Servants have already been eliminated, and then the one who was just killed...
If I'm not mistaken, Saber."
Irisviel frowned slightly.
"Rider was killed just now. Archer was probably the one who defeated him."
"!"
Artoria's expression changed at once.
He had promised her they would settle things properly at the very end... and yet in the end, he had still lost to that golden Archer?
"Don't make that face, Saber... The situation may have suddenly taken a turn for the worse, but it's not all bad news."
Irisviel smiled.
"That means the only enemy we have left right now is Archer.
On our side, we have Saber, Miss Assassin, Shirou, and his Servant.
No matter how strong Archer is, this time we're definitely going to win! To borrow Shirou's words, it's a righteous four against one!"
Artoria smiled faintly.
"You really are optimistic, Irisviel..."
[By the Command Spell. Saber, kill Assassin.]
"...?"
Before Saber could even understand what those words meant, her body had already moved.
In an instant, the invisible sword flashed out and slashed toward the purple-haired female Assassin at her side.
Assassin reacted on instinct and leapt backward just before the strike landed. She avoided being cut in half, but a huge wound was still carved across her abdomen.
Saber clenched her teeth and gripped the hilt tightly, focusing all her will to use Magic Resistance against the Command Spell's forced compulsion.
"...Ugh! Irisviel... why?"
"It wasn't me... I didn't use a Command Spell... Huh? But then why...?"
More than Saber or Assassin, Irisviel herself was the most shaken.
There was no way she would ever spend a Command Spell to make Saber attack Assassin, and yet that was exactly what had happened.
"I'm the one who used the Command Spell. You're always so reluctant to use them, so I used one for you instead~
And by the way, I'm the one who 'ordered' Archer to kill Rider too ♡"
Everyone stared toward the source of the voice in shock and saw an unfamiliar red-haired girl.
Now that the fourth Servant had been eliminated, it had finally manifested completely.
The Calamity of Curses wore a dangerous, bewitching smile beneath the moonlight.
"I'm a genius at Curse Magecraft, so there's nothing strange about being able to use someone else's Command Spells, right?"
...
...
By the time Shirou reached Fuyuki Bridge, he and Waver arrived just in time to witness the final clash between Iskandar, the King of Conquerors, and Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes.
The winner was the most ancient Golden King.
The whole fight was over in an instant, and the ending was almost absurdly abrupt. Clean, decisive, and utterly anticlimactic.
The Divine Chariot was destroyed, and Rider's greatest trump card, the one he had kept hidden until the very end, was crushed head-on.
Archer's overwhelming victory.
The King of Conquerors' strongest and greatest Noble Phantasm, [Ionioi Hetairoi].
According to Lady Avalon, it was a Reality Marble that continuously summoned his former retainers and army as independent Servants to fight the enemy.
The total number of troops was thirty thousand.
Among them were many powerful figures whose strength rivaled great heroes of the Age of Gods.
Everyone within [Ionioi Hetairoi] possessed illustrious names, and some would even go on to found future dynasties.
Even Iskandar's beloved horse from life, Bucephalus, had been summoned as a Heroic Spirit. It was truly the crystallization of the bond between the King of Conquerors and his followers.
When the Noble Phantasm was released, the surrounding space was distorted by the army's shared inner landscape and formed a Reality Marble.
That inner landscape was a plain with nowhere to hide, scorched by a merciless sun and whipped by swirling sand.
It was the very land Iskandar's army had once thundered across, a scene engraved into the hearts of every soldier, allowing the barrier to take shape.
When that army, which had trampled over half the world, charged under Iskandar's military command, there was almost no opponent they could not overcome.
In a Holy Grail War built around one-on-one combat, it was practically the ultimate cheat ability.
And yet Rider still lost.
In Archer's hand was that bizarre sword made of three revolving cylinders, along with the golden chain that stopped the King of Conquerors' final charge.
After Rider vanished, Shirou had assumed his Master would surely die by Archer's hand as well, but apparently he had been spared.
He must have earned the King of Heroes' favor.
You've grown up, Waver.
From the far end of Fuyuki Bridge, after witnessing the entire battle, Shirou pushed thoughts of Waver aside for the moment and rested a finger against his chin in thought.
Rider's [Ionioi Hetairoi] had been forcibly broken midway through. That was the biggest reason for his defeat.
But how had Archer done it? Could a Reality Marble really be destroyed in the middle of its deployment?
Shirou asked Lady Avalon, and she answered.
"There are two ways to destroy a Reality Marble. One is to deploy a superior Reality Marble through skill that surpasses the original caster. The other is to directly destroy the Reality Marble itself."
"In that case, does the King of Heroes' Noble Phantasm, the Sword Of Rupture, have more firepower than Excalibur?"
Shirou had tried to analyze that sword before, and failed.
This was not the first time that had happened. The last time was a very, very long time ago, when he had tried to reproduce Morgan's Excalibur.
But even then, it had not been like tonight, when simply looking at that sword with his naked eyes made them ache as if they were being burned.
Lady Avalon's voice turned solemn.
"Yes... there is no doubt that sword surpasses Excalibur in raw power. But that is not why it destroyed the Reality Marble. That sword is an [Anti-World] Noble Phantasm."
[Anti-World] Noble Phantasm?
Shirou's heart skipped a beat.
"A Noble Phantasm that can destroy the world?"
"No, no, not to that extent. More precisely, it is a Noble Phantasm aimed at barriers, or at world concepts. Given the limitations of a Servant, this is about as far as it can go."
"Oh, so it's not actually [Anti-World]. That scared me for a second. I thought I was completely done for this time."
Shirou's casual reaction caught Lady Avalon off guard.
Master, why are you so calm?
Wasn't that the natural enemy of your greatest trump card, [Reality Marble: Unlimited Blade Works]?
It surpassed Excalibur in firepower and carried the concept of destroying barriers.
Its performance was practically tailor-made to counter Shirou.
And yet, what Lady Avalon found strange was that Shirou did not seem to regard the Sword Of Rupture as much of a threat at all.
"More importantly, that chain..."
After [Ionioi Hetairoi] was shattered, a chain had shot out from behind the King of Heroes and bound the divine bulls pulling the chariot, sending Iskandar crashing back to the ground.
Without that chain, the result might still have been uncertain.
Shirou frowned.
"It does not share the same origin as my [Blades of Chaos], but it gives off a similar presence... Could it be something specialized against Divinity?"
He concluded that it was a chain whose binding power increased according to the target's Divinity.
All right, enough post-battle analysis.
Back to the real question.
Why was Archer fighting Rider? Tokiomi Tohsaka is supposed to be my hostage.
No matter how much he thought about it, Shirou could not make sense of it. Then he saw Archer leaving the battlefield and heading straight toward him.
He had not removed his golden armor, and his face wore a sullen expression, one that could even be called humiliated.
Shirou still did not know that the King of Heroes had just been hit with a Command Spell by a bratty little girl and was in an exceptionally foul mood.
"Yo, Archer."
Shirou greeted him first.
"How does it feel to kill your enemy with your own hands?"
"So the little imp Faker has shown up too."
The faint twitch at Gilgamesh's brow suddenly eased.
"The fact that you are here means... Hmph."
"What are you smirking about?"
"I just thought of something amusing."
The King of Heroes stared at the back of Shirou's hand, where the black-and-crimson Command Spell was engraved, and curled his lips into a sly smile.
"So that is how it is... No wonder you were unaffected."
Shirou frowned.
"?"
"No, it is nothing. It seems this Holy Grail War has not been left entirely without room to turn things around after all."
Archer said, "Then sing your praises as much as you like, or struggle like a mongrel rolling in the mud."
After saying that, the King of Heroes vanished into a gust of golden wind.
...
...
"Who... are you?!"
Irisviel glared warily at the red-haired girl dressed in pitch-black celestial robes.
The girl, who looked strikingly similar to Baobhan Sith, smiled.
"Me? Isn't it obvious just from looking? I'm the boss who shows up at the end of the story. The final boss."
"So you're the terminal of the tainted Holy Grail..."
"That's right. Thanks to that stupid old man (Acht), I awakened in this world. I'm the very source of the curse your Einzbern family brought here, you know?
Ah, you were secretly trying to activate a Command Spell, weren't you? Give it up. Every Command Spell in the Holy Grail system already belongs to me."
"How can this be...?!"
Irisviel bit down on her lip. She really had been trying to activate a Command Spell, but there had been no response at all.
Without her even realizing it, the enemy had stolen and hijacked the entire Command Spell system.
The red-haired girl's lovely brows drew together slightly.
"Come to think of it, I have no use for a Lesser Grail that talks. You can stay quiet forever... Saber!"
"Ugh... as if I'd obey you...!"
Saber gritted her teeth and resisted the enemy's command as she shouted, "Assassin! Take Irisviel and go!"
Hassan of the Hundred Faces hesitated only briefly, then grabbed Irisviel by the arm and fled with her before Saber's blade could come down.
"Tch... so running away is the one thing you're good at. Fine, whatever..."
The red-haired fairy girl turned to Saber and pinched the King of Knights' delicate chin between her fingers.
"A Heroic Spirit who can resist a Command Spell. That's a surprise... In that case, I'll turn you black first."