Type-Moon: Star Redemption of Arthur Pendragon

Chapter 69 The King's Choice

The sky over Tokyo has completely lost its color.

This is not due to the obscuring of dark clouds, nor the staining of gunpowder smoke, but rather the fact that the concept of "color" itself is being stripped away from the material world.

Aigo stood in the very center of the workshop ruins, her white dress motionless amidst the raging magical storm, the shadow of the Root extending in all directions from behind her.

"You scoundrel! Who gave you permission to build such a shabby altar in my courtyard?"

Gilgamesh looked down at Aegean, his crimson serpent eyes revealing a coldness that saw through everything.

"Girl who came from 'the other side', do you think that by sacrificing this world to your knight, you can make him your possession?"

A king without subjects is but a ghost in the wilderness.

"You shiny golden thing, you're so noisy." Aika tilted her head slightly, her fingertips casually playing with the black mud flowing towards Arthur.

She didn't even glance at the King of Heroes; her gaze remained fixed on Arthur. "As long as Arthur is happy, what's the big deal about the world... just recreate it, right?"

With the forceful intervention of the root authority, "all the evil in this world" is undergoing an unprecedented "refinement".

That was by no means purification; Aige had no interest in redemption, and the malicious shrieks in the black mud were stripped of their sound.

All the painful distortions were stripped of their shape and transformed into primal magic.

Under her command, these magical powers coalesced, compressed, and wove together, ultimately transforming into a magnificent yet eerie black and gold throne.

The throne's backrest is engraved with the orbital patterns of planets, and the armrests are entwined with tamed vines of malevolent thoughts.

That was a haven she had tailored for Arthur, a place strong enough to withstand the world's rejection.

As long as Arthur sits on it, he can exist forever in these ruins.

The father and daughter at the Linglong Pavilion, who were some distance away, collapsed to the ground upon witnessing this scene.

The head of the Linglong Pavilion dug his hands into the cracks in the broken stone slabs, his fingernails breaking and bleeding, yet he felt no pain whatsoever.

As a leading figure in the Far East magic world, he has always been proud of his legacy, but at this moment, he feels that his persistence is a joke.

Mesa knelt beside him, the scepter that symbolized power long since rolled into the pile of rubble.

She summoned Cú Chulainn and witnessed Medea's magic that transcended the ages of gods; she once thought that was the limit of the mystical side.

However, now, watching the blonde girl casually knead the curse of the Holy Grail, watching the black mud that could restart the world being shaped at will like clay.

The logical system that Mesa had built up over the past twenty years collapsed in an instant.

That wasn't magic, that was a miracle, or rather, an end more elegant than disaster.

However, Arthur moved.

He neither swung his sword at Aigo nor went to confront the Hero King in the sky.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Arthur slowly withdrew the golden radiance of the sword in the lake, and the holy sword, symbolizing the breath of the stars, returned to its tranquil lake blue.

The viscous black mud climbed up his silver armor and seeped into the seams of his shin guards. The intense burning sensation was enough to wither the soul, but Arthur didn't even flinch.

Step by step, he resolutely crossed the throne that love songs had built for him, and passed through the black mud and thorns that had been cleansed.

Crossing the fading edge of the world... towards the girl standing at the center of all chaos.

"Prince-sama?"

Aigo was stunned. For the first time, a feeling of "fear" appeared on that omniscient face that always wore a confident smile.

Her fingertips hovered in mid-air, and all the tamed black mud lost its command, wriggling aimlessly in the air.

"It's dirty there... Don't come any closer! I'll clean you up, please, don't come any closer..."

Aige waved her arms incoherently, trying to use the power of the roots to peel the filth off Arthur.

But Arthur took her hand.

"Love Song".

He stopped just a step away from her, his silver armor covered in hideous black patterns, his breathing heavy and echoing with pain.

But his voice was steady, more steady than ever, "Did you do all this just to keep me in this world?"

Ai Ge's breath caught in her throat. It was as if this question had never given her an answer, not even at its root. After a moment, her eyes reddened.

"Because... if the war ends, Arthur will return to his original world, right?"

That's how it's written in the books: heroes slay monsters, knights end the war, and then they mount their horses and disappear into the sunset.

Her voice trembled, and all the madness receded at that moment, revealing a young girl's most primal fear.

"I don't want that. I want to watch Arthur, to watch Arthur eat, sleep, and watch me."

...So why not just fix the broken thing?

Arthur reached out and gently stroked Aige's cheek through the void. His dragon eyes were no longer cold as they were during battle, but rather a gentleness that encompassed all things.

"Aiko, if you turn the world into ruins, then even if I stay, I will only be a gravedigger, not the 'Arthur' you want."

Arthur's voice was exceptionally clear amidst the roaring black tide.

"But I promise you, I will not leave."

Even if it means defying the world's order, even if it means bearing this overflowing evil, I will not leave you alone in the abyss of origin.

Aige stared at him blankly; she could see all possibilities, and countless timelines unfolded before her eyes.

One Arthur chose to leave, another chose to remain silent, and yet another… Arthur drew his sword and pointed it at her.

But no timeline is like this. The man in front of her did not leave, did not remain silent, and did not draw his sword... He held her hand.

Just as Gilgamesh was about to swing Ea to completely destroy this area polluted by the black mud, Arthur released Aegean's hand.

He turned around, facing the golden light boat in the sky, and at the same time, facing the entire faded earth that was being devoured by the evil of this world.

The Star Sword was drawn once more.

But this time, there was no killing intent on the sword. He pointed the sword downwards and plunged it into the charred stone slab beneath his feet.

A pure golden halo erupted from the point of contact, but this halo did not repel; instead, it generated a kind of astonishing gravitational force.

The surrounding spiritual particles that had originally dissipated, the magic extracted by Aige, and even the overflowing black mud were all drawn in and frantically converged towards Arthur himself.

"Since this system needs a 'victim' to bear all the evil, then I will bear it."

"Arthur?! Stop! You'll break down!" Aika screamed in terror, trying to cut off the flow.

But she found herself unable to do it, because it was "Arthur's will," and her root authority could never refuse Arthur.

The black mud transformed into countless chains, which wrapped around Arthur's body along the sword.

Dense black veins appeared on his skin, and the Dragon Furnace within his body emitted a roar like that of an ancient dragon awakening.

He is using his physical body as a filter to forcibly absorb the toxins of this world.

"King of Heroes." Arthur, enduring the excruciating pain of his soul being torn apart, looked up at Gilgamesh.

"Your sword of discord possesses the power to judge everything, but if you strike it now, this land will lose all chance of recovery."

I came here not to witness the birth of a dead land.

Gilgamesh snorted coldly. He looked at the silver knight, who was covered in filth but still stood tall, and a rare smile appeared on his lips.

"Arrogant! You lone knight, do you really think you can forcibly forge a third path between the 'Root of Calamity' and my 'Judgment'?"

"I am not alone."

Arthur's eyes transformed into dark golden dragon pupils, and he crossed his twin swords.

The sword in the stone carries Camelot's glory and vows, while the sword in the lake carries the responsibility of protecting the planet.

"My people, my land, are all on my sword. As long as they are here, I have a landscape I must protect."

He took a sudden step forward, channeling the energy released from his twin swords into the earth's veins: "—Reconstruction!"

A pure, golden halo erupted instantly around Arthur.

This is neither a seal nor a simple destruction, but rather a manifestation of the "Star Point".

Arthur himself serves as the anchor point of the world line, using the golden power of the Dragon's Hearth as a filter.

When those wailing evil thoughts touched this power, they miraculously washed away their madness and returned to spiritual tranquility.

"It's alright, I'll take it for you," Arthur whispered to himself.

"Arthur...is this the scenery you're looking at?"

Sajō Aika stood beside Arthur, and at that moment, her eyes, which were connected to the Root, felt a sharp pain.

She can see through the past and the future, and rewrite cause and effect, but she cannot see through Arthur in this moment.

Because the man before them was not only the King of Britain, but also a "man of infinite possibilities".

"Hey Ai Ge, look over here."

Arthur turned around in the light burst and smiled at the girl who was trapped in her own closed loop of logic.

His smile no longer held the initial awkwardness, but instead carried a sun-like inclusiveness.

"You turned this world into ruins in order to keep me here... Now I have found a reason to answer the call and come into this world."

I want to take you to see... Britain, a land that doesn't need the Holy Grail, doesn't need an origin, doesn't need any systemic logic, yet still makes the stars shine.

At this moment, Arthur forcibly took over the "system error" of the Greater Grail.

Arthur suddenly drew the sword from the lake and raised it high above his head.

The Holy Sword does not need to seek the world's approval, because it is itself a manifestation of the will of the stars.

"Excalibur——!!!"

The golden light that pierces through heaven and earth is not a light of destruction, but a light of restoration.

The immense magical power forcibly compressed and transformed the overflowing black mud, using it as fuel to reignite the almost extinguished ley lines of this world.

Return the distortion to order, and the faded world to the morning light.

Gilgamesh looked at the holy light that even the light of the sword Ea was slightly overshadowed, and finally let out a cold snort.

The crimson snake eyes reflected the silver figure standing upright in the center of the golden light, covered in black mud scorch marks, yet still holding the crimson longsword in its hand.

"Hmph, even the stars favor you? What an unreasonable king. In that case, you win this round."

The morning breeze carried away his last words, and Vimana transformed into a golden shooting star, disappearing above the clouds.

When the holy light completely subsided, the ruins of the Linglong Pavilion workshop disappeared, replaced by a vibrant green field.

The soul cores of Cu Chulainn, Kojiro Sasaki, and other Servants dissipated during the purification process and returned to the Throne of Heroes.

Arthur sheathed his swords, and the furnace was recovering from the rhythm of battle.

The price his body paid for bearing all the evil of this world was greater than he had anticipated, but the forty-odd dragon power channels were already slowly operating.

The remaining evil thoughts were expelled from the body little by little, and the filth was transformed into harmless grayish-white steam that rose from the gaps in the shoulder armor.

He looked at the girl in the white dress beside him, then glanced at the brown-haired figure standing at the edge of the ruins not far away, running towards them.

Ayaka stumbled as she ran, tripping over a pebble. She reached Arthur and opened her mouth.

I want to ask him if those black lines on his body hurt, and I want to ask him why he absorbs all the evil thoughts into his body.

I want to ask him if that golden light just now completely destroyed the Holy Grail System, and whether he will leave this world immediately.

But she didn't ask anything; she simply reached out and quietly took Arthur's wrist.

Arthur looked at Aige.

"Arthur...did I do something wrong?"

Aige lowered her head somewhat awkwardly. The once all-powerful princess now seemed like a child who had made a mistake in front of Arthur.

"I... want to sacrifice the Servants. I don't care about them, and I don't care what will become of this world."

"I only care about you, yet I want to use your pain to make you stay." Her voice was so soft it sounded like a confession.

"No, you're just too lonely, Aige," Arthur said softly, not in judgment.

He turned to look at the rising sun on the horizon, his tone gentle yet firm:

"I will stay in this world for a while until the star orbits here return to normal."

After that... if you'd like, I'd like to take you to see Morgan's Castle and Merry's Flower Fields.

That is a true, unbroken utopia.

Aige leaned gently against Arthur's shoulder, and for the first time, the noise from the source disappeared from her ears, replaced by the sound of this man's heartbeat.

A powerful, steady rhythm, deeper than any magic trick she had ever heard of.

Ayaka stood on the other side, still holding Arthur's wrist. She lowered her head, her short brown hair obscuring her expression.