The knight who sinned has reached his destination.
The wicked dragon gazes toward the future.
The knight of the snowflake brandishes her resolve.
The King of Knights stands in silent vigil.
The Supreme Beast manifests once more.
The King of Heroes judges them all.
And the Hero Princess... now holds her answer close to her heart.
The Lion King—The Loyal Knight.
The Hero Princess's Answer: At the End of the Road.
"—I have been waiting."
The doors to the throne room swung open. The party from Chaldea stepped into the presence of the radiant Lion Throne.
History had been rewritten. The Crusades had perished, the Holy Land had vanished, and the Holy City had manifested—an impossible timeline. It was the pinnacle of chivalry, erected by the King of Lions.
And there, atop the castle's highest peak, seated upon a throne of breathtaking solemnity...
The Lion King. Arturia Pendragon.
The mere sight of her caused their bodies to recoil. It was a primal dread, the instinctive reaction of a soul recognizing the presence of Divine Authority. To stand before her was to understand, at the core of one's being, what it meant for a mortal to face a God.
(Just looking at her... it's like a geas is being laid upon my heart!) Mash thought, her breath hitching.
(The Lion King... I thought I was prepared... but this pressure is terrifying...) Bedivere's resolve wavered under the weight of her presence.
Before the Divine, all humans are equally small. Yet...
"..."
Rikka Fujimaru stood her ground, arms crossed, staring back at the "God." Her soul had long since outgrown the boundaries of an ordinary human. Being "Evil," she felt no trepidation in the face of this absolute "Good."
"I have waited for you. My ideal. My desire. My hope."
The Lion King did not speak with her voice, but directly to the soul of the Hero Princess, Air. To the Goddess, Air was the one soul that had to be preserved—the ultimate, unsullied proof of humanity's goodness that could not be allowed to slip away.
A soul that had remained pure despite the malice of Demon Gods; a soul that believed in light even while seeing the world through a monster's eyes.
That achievement was the monument the Goddess intended to leave behind on a dead planet. The Holy Spear would be completed by taking that soul into itself. A single soul to serve as the eternal proof of man's virtue.
"Purest soul. Embodiment of innocence. Come to my hand... into this Spear..."
The Lion King's voice resonated deep within Air's spirit.
"—I am the Lion King. Lord of the Storm, Master of the World's End. I am the vestige of the Heroic Spirit who wields the Holy Spear, Rhongomyniad."
Her voice, cold and terrifying, rang out as she declared her name. She was a Goddess. A Celestial Spirit. The horrifying extreme of "Good." She was the source of this Singularity.
"First—I shall ask. Are you those who call for me? Or are you those who reject me?"
Her gaze fell upon the last Master of humanity, Rikka.
"Wicked Dragon. Necessary Evil. Beast of Humanity who feeds upon the species. For what purpose have you come to this frontier?"
"To take back the future," Rikka replied without a moment's hesitation. "And to take you down."
She did not waver. Whether a God stood before her meant nothing. She had a future she wanted to return to, and that was all that mattered.
"Honestly, whether your way is 'right' or 'wrong' doesn't matter to me. You chose to preserve; we chose to move forward. It's not about who's correct—it's about who seizes the future. That's why we're here, Goddess."
As she spoke, Rikka donned her Wicked Dragon armor. It was her final answer: To wrap herself in "Evil" in the presence of the ultimate "Good." Her armor shouted her defiance: I will never belong to you.
"...How disappointing," the Lion King stated flatly. "You are not fit for the Holy Spear. Your soul is evil itself—a darkness that feigns virtue. Like a moth drawn to a flame, like a beast lured by bait, you have appeared before me as the embodiment of 'Evil'."
The Lion King delivered her judgment.
"Then you shall die. Your soul—the 'Evil of Humanity'—is unnecessary in the ideal city I am building."
She then turned her attention to the King of Heroes—or rather, the soul nestled beside him.
Is your ideal city a world that is closed off?
Neither the King nor the Beast spoke. They waited for the answer of the Princess, the single soul who represented the essence of life.
"...A reason? In every era, humans always ask for one."
The Lion King rose from her throne.
"I am closing the world to preserve you—to preserve humanity."
In an instant, the walls of the throne room dissolved. Behind her, the "Waves of the End" raged—a landscape of the apocalypse.
"By the Great Work of the Demon God King, the history of this planet is over. Human foundations are incinerated; history is reduced to nothing. But that contradicts the very reason for my existence."
A radiant spear manifested in her right hand.
"We were created by humans. A God cannot exist without them. Therefore..."
The restraints on the Spear shattered. A tempest of power surged, swelling into a gargantuan storm.
"Therefore, I shall keep you. I will protect you, regardless of the cost. This is my will. If the Demon God King chooses to do as he pleases, then I have decided to do the same."
The Lion King spoke softly now, a confession of her innermost heart.
"I will confess... I have always wanted this."
"I love you. You are precious to me. I cannot endure the thought of losing you. I have decided to grant humanity eternity. Souls worthy of being left for posterity—those who commit no evil, who know no evil even when touched by it, who never tire of good. I shall gather these pure souls, fix them in place, and preserve them as a record. No matter how much time passes, they shall remain eternally valuable within my Spear."
She looked at the Hero Princess, the "Ideal Soul."
"What is wrong with that? My Great Work is entirely for your sake..."
Gilgamesh did not hide his pity, finding the sight almost too much to bear. The Beast nodded silently, recognizing a love that was beyond comparison.
And then... the Princess spoke.
"—No. Those feelings... that heart... they are not wrong at all."
She gently affirmed the Goddess's intent. The Lion King's eyes widened. If she agreed, if she affirmed it... then why did she still reject her protection?
"To protect at any cost because you cherish us above all else... that is undoubtedly love. It is a noble, beautiful heart. And through it, humanity would indeed prove its value eternally. A single eternity that survives the end."
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