Chapter 597

[A bursting sound.]

[No, it was the sound of a life shattering.]

[The sea of flesh swaying in the underground, watching the duel between father and daughter, sensed the magical energy that erupted instantly above the cliff.]

[It was a curse-kill of black magic.]

[Without needing to chant, a pre-prepared magical ritual, or the effect of a mystic code and magic crest, the power to make the target's internal organs rupture from the inside out was indeed directed into Aika Sajyou's body.]

[Did Aika Sajyou die?]

[No. Naturally, she completely defended against the curse's magical energy.]

[The one whose internal organs exploded, centering on the heart, and who lost their life, was one of the sacrificial offerings walking on the cliff in tears.]

[They must have been hit by the deflected magical energy.]

[One could interpret it as bad luck, catching a stray bullet.]

[Without even showing signs of using magic to counter, the girl just stood there.]

[This overwhelming presence was like being hit directly by a missile and remaining calm.]

["How could this be..."]

["'Bridge to the Root' or whatever, you're the boring one, Father. After all—"]

[At this moment, the father saw the abyss of the universe in his daughter's eyes.]

[Those were the stars shining in infinite darkness, the Great Mother, the Princess of Monsters—]

[The Princess of the Root!]

["That place has been connected to me since the moment I was born."]

[Aika Sajyou finally spoke the truth that even her father did not know.]

[Some people never go to Rome in their entire lives, while others are in Rome the moment they are born; that is exactly Aika Sajyou.]

[The Root—Aika Sajyou never cared about such a thing, because she had been connected to the Root since the moment of her birth.]

[An existence that countless magi had spent thousands of years trying to reach, she possessed from the very moment she was born.]

Waver: "As expected..."

Gordes: "Th-this is too ridiculous—"

Kayneth: "Connected to the Root from birth, are you kidding me!!!"

Although they had guessed it before, now that it was fully confirmed, it still almost made these magi lose their composure.

They had thought Shiki Ryougi was already outrageous enough, but they didn't expect an even more outrageous Aika Sajyou to appear.

The girl's existence seemed to be mocking those magi who had gone mad trying to reach the Root, such as the magus who set up this fake Holy Grail, and the other Masters participating in this Holy Grail War.

[Triggered by the girl's declaration, a large black 'hand' extended instantly from the underground, crushing Hiroki Sajyou along with a portion of the cliff.]

[Did it drag in a few sacrificial offerings? It didn't matter; they were going to be eaten sooner or later anyway.]

["Fa...ther..."]

[Ayaka Sajyou watched this scene, completely stunned.]

Blonde Rin: "She actually killed her own father directly..."

Zabiko: "We saw it before, Aika Sajyou hasn't cared about family affection for a long time."

Ayaka Sajyou: ["Sister, why..."]

Aika Sajyou: ["Ayaka, because other than being material, you have no other value."]

[Didn't I say, 'It would be better for you if we never met again'?]

[And to think you even approached my true love, and even spoke to him.]

[Now, no matter what, I can't just leave you alone.]

[I'll give you, who has no value, some value.]

[Be happy, Ayaka. You are allowed to give your life for him; you should simply say thank you to me—]

Jinako: "A yandere in reality is so scary..."

Rin Tohsaka: "Luckily, we don't have people like that around us."

["Goodbye, Ayaka."]

[The pitch-black tentacles attacked Ayaka Sajyou once again.]

[It will be over soon—]

[The next second, a crimson color sprayed out.]

["Pshhh—"]

[This was the sound of flesh being pierced.]

[This was the sound of a heart being run through.]

[I heard his breathing, his heartbeat, his tension, his resolve, and his determination.]

[A golden blade—pierced straight through my chest, through the center of my Command Spells.]

Aika Sajyou: ["...Huh?"]

Mordred: "Whoa! That's ruthless!"

This male Father King is truly decisive!

He killed his own Master without hesitation, without even saying a word.

Mordred suddenly felt a bit timid, expressing that if this male Father King ever enters the group, she must stay far away.

Rin Tohsaka: "Truly, very decisive..."

Blonde Rin: "Emiya Emiya Shirou Emiya, learn from this."

Taiga Fujimura: "Mm-hmm, Emiya Emiya Shirou should really learn a thing or two."

Househusband: "???"

Wait, how does this have anything to do with him?

[This is the first gift that the person I love most has given me.]

[I never even dreamed of it.]

[Hopeless pain, and a hopeless sense of sorrow.]

[You, pierced me from behind.]

[Something like this—]

["Saber, why?"]

[You're really mean, Arthur, stabbing me without saying anything.]

[Arthur, what are you saying? I, I can't hear you.]

[I know the air is vibrating, but why can't your voice reach my ears...]

["It hurts, it hurts so much... It hurts, Saber."]

["I'm sorry. It hurts too much, I can't hear clearly, what is it you're saying..."]

[Sorrow, it's too sorrowful.]

[I can't see anymore either, it's just too painful, ahhh—]

["I, I'm going to die, aren't I."]

[Sorrow, it's too sorrowful.]

[I won't be able to see your face ever again—]

[In the past, present, and future, in all worlds, you are the only one I long for.]

[You, who made me like a human girl, my cute, my beloved.]

[I never thought it would end like this, so suddenly.]

[I always thought there would be no end.]

[But, at least—]

[That's right, at least—]

[The expression I leave for you to see at the end—]

[I must—]

[I must smile—]

["—I love you the most, Arthur."]

Zabiko: "...How truly sad, Aika Sajyou."

Blonde Rin: "Yeah, if she weren't so insane, this might have actually become a decent love story."

Blonde Rin: "This result is entirely self-inflicted."

Jinako: "What an absolutely terrible ending."

Caules: "However, even though Aika Sajyou is dead, the Beast still exists."

Waver: "Yeah, this big problem hasn't been solved yet, but King Arthur is afraid..."

[Not only Aika Sajyou, but the old Saber's vision was also turning dark.]

[This is only natural. Piercing his own Master from behind is equivalent to cutting off the supply of magical energy.]

[He is about to vanish.]

[The only pity is that there are things left undone.]

[He, who tried to save innocent people, no matter how much he wished to be a correct hero, could no longer achieve it.]

[Killing Aika Sajyou was the result of a difficult choice.]

[If he only focused on efficiency, the choice he should have made was to use the Holy Sword to annihilate the thing sleeping in the Great Holy Grail underground along with Aika. However, he did not do that.]

[He chose to save the girls who had turned into automatic suicide machines and were falling from the cliff one after another, and to save Ayaka Sajyou, who was at the critical moment of falling into the underground—]

[Therefore, he killed Aika Sajyou.]

Rin Tohsaka: "This is bad! King Arthur has exited, who is going to deal with this Beast now!"

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Not only that, if King Arthur's exit means he enters the Holy Grail—"

Zabiko: "Then the conditions for the Beast's birth are completely satisfied!"

Blonde Rin: "This is really not good—"

[Just like that, he watched the girl in the emerald dress be swallowed by the dark abyss in place of her sister.]

[However. The old Saber could no longer perceive how things would develop next.]

[Could the sacrificial offerings be saved? Could they regain their stripped-away will and intellect, stop the casualties, and successfully escape back to the surface?]

[Ayaka Sajyou seemed to have lost consciousness; would she be able to wake up safely?]

[There was no way to know; from the moment he struck Aika Sajyou, he could no longer see through the subsequent developments.]

[All he could do was make a wish.]

[Please, let Tokyo in the year 1991 be saved, let that young child be protected.]

[However, who was he wishing to?]

[To the Holy Grail filled with darkness? Or to the Holy Grail bearing the glory of the Lord?]

["Since that's the case, it certainly shouldn't end like this."]

[The first voice was a male voice he had never heard before.]

[A figure emerged in the old Saber's mind.]

[It was a blonde man holding glasses. Judging by his clothing, he was likely a figure from the 20th century, or perhaps the 19th.]

[It was none other than Henry Jekyll.]

["Your body is falling. You threw away your Master, but you yourself are falling too. The destination of the fall is exactly where our souls are fused."]

["In your eyes, that's how it looks, huh."]

[Appearing along with the second voice was Arash, that true hero.]

Zabiko: "Is this, King Arthur and other Heroic Spirits' consciousnesses connecting together!"

Arash: "Eh?"

Rin Tohsaka: "Didn't you say you didn't know what happened later?"

Arash: "I really don't know, I don't have many memories of this part..."

Jekyll: "It seems this experience is like a dream to us; after waking up, we don't remember it at all."

Old Saber: ["...Is this a hallucination?"]

Arash: ["Yeah. If it's not a hallucination, then it's a dream."]

Jekyll: ["Wait, Archer. I have an objection to that view. Can we not consider this rare psychological phenomenon as, for example, a manifestation of the collective unconscious? I am the evidence. He has never witnessed me in this form, yet he can still see me. It shouldn't be judged merely as a dream."]

Arash: ["You Berserker, you're too fond of reasoning."]