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Chapter 251 - Chapter 251: Diary – Entry XI – The Fall of the Grail and Celesta

I will never forget that night.

 

The wind howled outside the factory. The darkness was thick as ink, and the city's neon lights felt a world away—

as if we stood in a place cut off from the rest of existence.

 

She brought it with her—

the Grail.

 

Her hand clutched it tightly, but the faint glow pulsing from its surface and the ominous whispers drifting through the air made it clear:

this thing held immense power—

and it was even more dangerous than before.

 

"I don't have much time," Celesta panted.

"You… must destroy it. Or hide it. Just don't ever let Edgar find it."

 

I looked into her eyes—

there was no fear there.

Only a fire that burned with pure, unwavering resolve.

 

I barely had time to speak—

when a voice cut coldly through the shadows:

 

"So… you really did betray me."

 

Edgar.

 

He stepped out from behind the rusted columns of the ruins,

his long black coat billowing like a slab of steel trailing behind him.

His eyes didn't burn with rage—

they glowed with something heavier:

a sorrow, a deep bitterness,

as if the whole world had turned its back on him.

 

"Edgar, listen to me—" I stepped between him and Celesta—

but he shoved me aside with ease.

 

"It was you," he pointed at Celesta.

"You're the one who stopped me.

We could have had a perfect city—

a kingdom without pain, without chaos—

and you were going to throw it all away."

 

"That's not our city," I shouted,

"That's a city built on her life!"

 

I charged at Edgar, and we struggled.

 

He wasn't calm anymore.

Just a storm of raw strength and madness.

He was far stronger than me—

I could feel his hands crushing my throat,

pinning me to the ground,

my breath vanishing.

 

Then—

Celesta coughed up blood.

But her voice cut through the chaos:

 

"He… he's not wrong…"

 

Edgar froze.

 

Celesta staggered to her feet,

blood at her lips,

but her gaze was clear, unwavering.

She looked at Edgar—

and smiled.

 

"I did betray you.

But not because I stopped loving you…

It's because I loved you too much."

 

Edgar stood motionless.

 

"You always thought the Grail wouldn't hurt you," she said.

"But you never noticed—

I was the one paying the price."

 

"Every time you made a wish,

I made one too."

"I wished… that if there was a price to pay,

let it fall on me."

 

"Because I knew—if it fell on you,

it would destroy you."

 

Her voice was like the last ember flickering in the night wind.

 

Edgar stood still, pale,

his expression crumbling,

something unspeakable forming behind his eyes.

 

"Why… why didn't you tell me…"

 

Celesta only smiled and shook her head.

She knew him too well—

knew he would drown in guilt and shatter if he ever knew the truth.

 

And at that moment—

Edgar finally broke.

 

He lunged toward the Grail in her hands:

 

"I can save you!

The Grail can save you!

I'll pay whatever it takes!"

 

"You're insane!" I shouted, trying to stop him.

 

But before he could touch it—

a blur of motion.

 

Celesta.

 

Though she was nearly at her limit,

in that final moment, she moved with the last of her life.

She turned—

and hurled the Grail away with all her strength.

 

"That's enough, Edgar."

 

Then—

she opened the pouch on her waist.

A bomb.

 

My eyes widened.

Too late to stop her.

She had already thrown it—

 

—to where the Grail had landed.

 

"Celesta—!!"

 

BOOM!!!

 

The explosion tore through the night sky.

A column of fire erupted into the dark.

Dust and steel fragments surged outward.

The shattered Grail spun through the air like a dying star—

scattered in all directions.

 

Shattered.

Gone.

 

Everyone stood frozen.

Even Edgar.

 

Celesta slowly collapsed,

falling in the space between me and Edgar.

 

Blood trickled from her lips—

but she was still smiling.

 

"Good thing…

in the end…

I still protected you…"

 

In her eyes remained

the gentle steel of that once-young general—

brave and kind.

 

The Grail's fragments vanished into the night.

And Celesta's life,

at that moment,

finally came to rest.

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