Chapter 1454: Weng Falos 3.5 (484)

"Finally, I faithfully recorded the most important battles of Caesar's life. Writing up to this point, conquest is about to reach its end."

"But, for some reason, while I set down my brush to contemplate, a memory quietly intruded into my mind."

"It was a journey on a fantasy train. I was fortunate to have an in‑depth conversation with Caesar under the starry sky. At the end of that dialogue, I asked her this question—"

"Do you wish future generations to remember you as a hero who perished in the flames… or as a tyrant?"

"She barely hesitated, answering with absolute certainty—"

"'I would rather be forgotten than be defined'."

——

Fate/Warcraft Front Babylonia.

"With just that sentence, she already surpasses thousands of self‑proclaimed great kings of the world."

Gilgamesh seemed extremely pleased with the empress's answer; between his expression and words, a rare hint of approval and admiration emerged.

Ishtar floated nearby, her fingers twining around her hair, and upon hearing it she raised an eyebrow: "Oh? How rare—your golden‑shining self actually acknowledges other rulers."

"That is natural. People always try to gild crowns, brand tyrants with epithets—'cruel', 'wise', 'virtuous king', 'incompetent'—to label their rulers. Yet they forget that a true king never exists to be remembered or approved by anyone."

Fujimaru Rika paused, unable to help but whisper softly: "But… is being forgotten really okay?"

"'Being forgotten' does not deny a person's achievements, Rika. A name may be worn away by time, but a person's deeds only grow brighter with the ages. Just as Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output keludela herself said, she built a library, granted civil rights to commoners, broke the old laws, established new laws; even though she herself has died, her legacy will long accompany Weng Falos, becoming part of its civilization."

Merlin gazed at the girl lying in the water beneath the sky, the queen's calm surprising him greatly. Looking back now, Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output keludela perhaps was not as obsessed with 'conquest' as he imagined; on the contrary, she was very composed.

She never treated conquest as an end, nor regarded authority itself as a treasure. She never basked in the brilliance she built, nor tried to hold Weng Falos forever in her palm.

The path she ought to walk, she has already walked to its end.

And after she has finished her own road, that serenity toward fate becomes even more admirable.

"If Weng Falos's essence were not a scepter but a real planet, with a leader like Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output keludela... perhaps it could truly stand among the stars."

——

"Because 'law' can be neither eternal nor singular..."

Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output keludela lay quietly in the water, like a leaf dampened by water, weakly undulating with a faint undercurrent.

Her right hand hovered empty, the 'king' piece she once gripped until it burned having slipped loose at some point, half‑suspended on her fingertip. Her left hand rested on the wound in her lower abdomen, golden blood seeping slowly, merging into the clear waves beneath her, winding in the water like a river that refuses to fade.

"Only 'people' have ever been able to write rules into history."

"Now, the greatest 'law' of Weng Falos has been shattered by me... the game... must conclude..."

"Sword‑Banner‑Lord... clearly... over the past thirty million countless ages... it was you who personally killed Caesar... but this time... in your heart... you finally found your own 'law'...?"

"Since that's the case... Haisen... Hailie Quela..."

"That 'Heaven-Earth Boundary Sea' from the oracle... I will have someone deliver it into your hands... regardless of whether you choose to swim there... I will not care..."

"I won't..."

Caesar murmured about her conquest. In the city, news of her death had already spread.

"Freedom! Liberation! The tyrant is dead! Go, announce this news on the streets!"

"Citizens, elders, everyone, do not panic, stand firm— that usurper has paid for his ambition!"

…

Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output keludela's voice was as light as a floating leaf in water: "People once cheered for my ascension... now they cheer for my fall... fine, I love cheering..."

"Ah... I see... the galaxy... the battlefield I cannot set foot upon..."

"In the next life... I will return... let the stars hear the legion's war drums... hear Caesar's fame..."

"Hear... Weng Falos..."

"kelud... dela..."

——

My sister could not possibly be that cute.

"Double negation indicates affirmation! She does care! Very much! Ahhh why does it have to be this ending!! I won't accept!"

Touko grew increasingly agitated, finally slamming the cushion off the sofa to the side and glaring at Keisuke: "Do you accept or not?"

"Well... there's no way not to accept, these are all established facts." Kousaka Keisuke waved his hand casually, his expression briefly complex, as if thinking of something else.

"What are you thinking?"

"Nothing, just that the two of them... it's rather regrettable."

"I feel the same; who wouldn't find this ending regrettable?" Touko said as if it were obvious.

"No, I'm not regretting their ending; their ending is predetermined—no matter how many times it repeats, Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output keludela will make the same choice, and Haisen likewise." Keisuke scratched his head, as if rummaging for the right words, and after a while he slowly continued: "What I regret is... whether it's Haisen or Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output keludela, they never truly understood each other even until the end of their lives."

"Although Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output keludela often spoke of conquest, she was not enamored with it; although Haisen yearned for the sea, if that sea were empty, without anyone she knew—even the 'Heaven-Earth Boundary Sea' from the oracle—it would be just a cold void, likewise not her true home."

"But even so, after death Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output Thus we output keludela still handed the ocean she had found to her, this mismatched regret between them... sigh."

Keisuke grew increasingly melancholy as he spoke, and finally only a deep sigh remained.