Chapter 189: Won't Let You Be Lonely Alone
「Where did we leave off before?」
「It was about Yu Ji, right, um…」
「As I said, she is someone very hard to get along with. No matter how many times I clung to her, no matter how many times I persuaded her, it took great effort to finally win her trust and convince her to join me in the Holy Grail War. But in the end, we still didn't win.」
「To be exact, I ran away.」
「I don't want to find any excuse for myself, but that Holy Grail War truly had no hope of victory.」
「The positions of the other participants were all on Sesshouin's side, and the content and rules of the contest were all manipulated by her. Most importantly, there was no love between Yu Ji and me, so we couldn't bring out the full power of this battle.」
「The distance between Yu Ji and me grew greater and greater. She stubbornly chose to avoid me, refused to cooperate, and I also chose to run away.」
「After that, I never saw her again.」
「Later, I accomplished many achievements, repaired Singularities, won the Class War, gained the trust of countless Servants, and created many precious memories. Day after day, I lived a very fulfilling life.」
「Yet as time passed, the feeling of guilt surged in my heart, and I became increasingly aware of the mistake I had made back then.」
「I abandoned a Singularity, abandoned the Servants within it, and at the very moment when a girl needed me the most, I chose to leave. Until the moment of her death, she remained lonely.」
「…You're right, indeed no one would blame me for fleeing from that unwinnable battle, but in my heart I will always be judged.」
「If I could do it again, there is something I would like to say to her——」
…
Eikou stood frozen in place, his legs heavy as if filled with lead.
If he ran away now, he felt he would regret it for the rest of his life.
But he truly saw no hope left here to risk his life.
Both enemies and allies believed there was no chance, all urging him to escape.
「This question is simple: if you don't run, everyone will be annihilated, but if you do run, at least one person can be saved.」
「If she were willing to ask for my help, it would be better, but she has absolutely no intention of that. Even at the final moment, she does not intend to ask anyone for help.」
"..."
Eikou was speechless for a moment.
"I don't know how many times I've told you already, even if you try your best to help me it's useless. At the very least, in this life-and-death moment, can't you think a little more about yourself?"
Yu Ji, bound by threads, spoke in a hoarse, low voice.
She scratched her head with slight frustration, showing an expression like someone resigned to fate.
"Actually, there's nothing left to hesitate about,"
Tristan said in a voice so calm it was almost cold, while at the same time raising his bow,
"All around are the silk traps I've set; this is precisely the effect of my Noble Phantasm. All right, it's time to end this, Failnaught."
He lifted the bow, plucked the bowstring, and released the true name of the Noble Phantasm. Powerful magical energy condensed at his fingertip, forming an arrow.
This deadly strike could ensure the destruction of Yu Ji's core, ending her life as an immortal race.
Tristan let go of the bowstring, and the arrow infused with his strongest magical power shot out like a sharp spear. The surging magical energy formed a violent wave, following a resounding explosion, straight toward Yu Ji.
But another gust of wind blew in from the side.
「But in the end,」
「If not for Yu Ji, why would I have come to this Singularity?」
Boom!
Dust flew up, and it seemed as if blood spattered onto the ground.
Tristan's eyes widened in shock.
Through the swirling dust, a figure suddenly appeared, not only breaking through the surrounding wires traps but also bracing to take on that Noble Phantasm.
"…I really have no choice." Eikou sighed and said, "Tristan, I never thought there would come a day when I'd have to take your Noble Phantasm head-on! It doesn't hurt at all, but it does make me a bit sore!"
"You…"
Tristan stared at this mere human who, after taking a fatal Noble Phantasm, was still standing.
"Medea, could you help heal me a little?"
[You have activated the skill 「Instinct」, check successful.]
[Although the transparent threads were spread everywhere, you still relied on intuition to find a path forward and reached Yu Ji in time.]
[You used your mortal body to forcibly endure Tristan's Noble Phantasm.]
[An ordinary person could not withstand this fatal strike; the arrow would tear your body apart, the arrow would pierce your heart.]
[However, you also have 「Determination of Steel」, its Battle Continuation effect does not allow you to die at this moment.]
[This is the skill once passed down to you by the Servant Mochizuki.]
Eikou slowly stood up, pulled the sharp arrow out of his body, and threw it onto the floor beside him.
As the blood-stained arrow fell, his own blood spread in blotches across the ground.
Witnessing this scene, the long-suppressed fury in Yu Ji finally erupted completely.
"Mochizuki Eikou, you, what on earth are you! I told you not to worry about me anymore, letting me quietly die alone wouldn't that have been fine! And now look, even you have to be buried with me, a death like this is not glorious at all!"
Though she was angry at him, it wasn't really anger toward him as a person, but toward his actions at this moment.
Eikou clutched his chest, blood still pouring out, clearly feeling how weak his body had become.
The so-called Battle Continuation was truly beyond the limit. His body felt no different from dead, yet he still felt alive.
He tried to steady his breathing, swallowing back the sickly sweet blood in his throat.
"Yu Ji, you—"
「I have something very important to tell you.」
"You may think you hide it well, but I can see it at a glance: inside, you are also afraid, also afraid of being alone."
「I have always regretted abandoning you there.」
"But it's okay, I will protect you!"
「I clearly knew that your life had already lost so much, and at the very last moment I left you to die alone…」
"In short, I will not let you feel lonely. Shall we risk it all once more, play a big game?"
Yu Ji froze involuntarily, biting her lip, her beautiful face pale with disbelief.
"…Play a big game, what the hell, at this point do we even have a chance to win?"
"I'm not sure either, everything is entrusted to the goddess of dice, from here on it's purely luck, right?"
"My Luck is E-rank!"
"No problem, if we die, we die together!"
"Then if you really have the guts, go ahead and try, at worst we die here together; anyway even in death I will be by your side!" Yu Ji said through clenched teeth. "Having said this much, being struck down by the enemy would be the most disgraceful of all!"
Medea's healing magecraft enveloped Eikou, allowing him to recover a bit of stamina.
Tristan merely stood there with the poise of a true knight. Though he had countless chances to strike, he did not attack or interrupt, simply observing in silence.
"I really must thank you, Tristan…"
"You need not thank me. The purpose for which I was summoned by the Holy Grail War was not to harm you, but to test you. In spirit, I believe you have already passed. However…"
"We still have to defeat you, don't we?"
Eikou showed a serious expression,
"Though from the start I fought with all my strength, only now am I truly playing for real—in other words, I've decided to throw everything into chaos."
"Have you thought of a plan to break the deadlock?" Tristan asked.
"No plan," Eikou replied frankly, "but luck is also a kind of strength. What I have to do next is use luck to stir things up. It's practically a reckless, meaningless tactic."
Thinking of the cards in his hand, in fact there were a few ways.
The attack and support methods had all been used up; what remained were…
Disaster With Women, Slot Machine, along with a few miscellaneous skills—throw them all out and leave it to the goddess of dice to decide.
"I want to activate my skill… Disaster With Women!"
At this critical moment, it still had to rely on this 'divine' skill to turn the tables!
At this point, even if it makes the relationship between man and woman more tangled, it doesn't matter—come on, give me a great success!