Half an hour later, Gepard and Bronya led all the Silvermane Guards to the front-line wall.
For some reason, the Great Guardian Cocolia abandoned her usual cold and lofty image. She dangled her long, slender legs outside the wall, swinging them as she hummed the lullaby she used to often sing to Bronya.
"Great Guardian, did something good happen?" Bronya couldn't even remember the last time Cocolia had been this happy.
"Hehe, look at that braggart up on the watchtower. He said we should just sit here and watch. He alone will slaughter every single monster." Cocolia spoke with a half-smile, half-smirk that made it impossible to tell what she was truly thinking.
The wall was a fair distance from the tower, and usually messages were passed with signal smoke. Add to that today's raging blizzard and howling winds…
Except for the Great Guardian, no one else could see the figure on top of the tower. What they could see, though, was the endless black tide of Rift monsters, less than ten kilometers from the watchtower.
"Artillery, form ranks, prepare to give covering fire. I'll go call Emiya back."
Time was short. Gepard shouted his order, then leapt off the wall to run toward Emiya. But just then, a whirlwind rose out of nowhere and blew him right back to where he had stood.
"Great Guardian, please don't make trouble!" Gepard's anger boiled over as he glared directly at Cocolia without backing down.
"Even if Emiya really does have the strength to wipe out the Rift monsters, we should still take the first wave to wear them down. What if he's our last card to play?"
"Oh, then go ahead. The wind wasn't mine doing, don't pin that on me!" Cocolia pouted like a sulking little girl, even her normally dignified voice carrying a note of grievance.
"You all never respect me as the Great Guardian, why don't you hurry up and replace me with someone new already?"
"The situation is urgent. If I live through this battle, I will properly beg your forgiveness!" Gepard didn't have the time to worry about what kind of mood the Great Guardian was in. He jumped down the wall again and sprinted toward the tower at top speed.
Bronya stood silently behind, watching her foster mother. For some reason, she felt that Cocolia suddenly seemed… younger. Though, truth be told, Cocolia was never old to begin with.
"Bronya, have you ever thought about getting married?"
Cocolia, for the first time in a long while, held Bronya's hand and sat her down on her lap. Her right hand gently brushed over Bronya's still-slightly-youthful face, and Cocolia's heart twinged painfully.
'Such a good, well-behaved girl… she should have been living safely in a warm home, just eating, sleeping, and raising kids. Instead, she had to carry crushing burdens and throw herself onto the battlefield long before her time.'
"And you, Great Guardian, have you ever thought about marriage?"
At last Bronya voiced the question she had long wondered about. She thought Cocolia was far too lonely, and she couldn't always stay at her side.
If there were someone reliable to accompany her, to comfort her and encourage her… how wonderful that would be.
"I've no interest in marriage. As long as my soft, sweet little Bronya comes back to see me once in a while, I'm happy enough!" Cocolia mimicked Bronya's childhood habit, burying her head in Bronya's chest and nuzzling back and forth.
And truth be told, the softness and warmth was intoxicating. Why had she only just now realized it?
"Haha, that tickles!"
Bronya didn't care that countless Silvermane Guards were watching. She extended her arms to gently hold Cocolia's shoulders, patting her back in a steady rhythm.
All while softly humming a familiar tune, just like she had always done when Cocolia put her to sleep as a child.
"Ow wow, what a beautiful scene. If I'd known, I would've brought a camera!" Emiya's cheeky voice suddenly rang out, forcibly shattering the mother-daughter sweetness.
Cocolia lifted her head from Bronya's arms, cheeks flushed, voice playful and coy, "What, jealous? Want me to let you join in too?"
"I was wrong, that's no kind of joke to make." Emiya pointed at the countless murderous stares behind him. "If I really joined, they'd carve me into a thousand pieces with their eyes alone."
"Hahaha, at least you've got some self-awareness!"
Cocolia laughed. Since becoming Great Guardian, this was the very first time she laughed so brightly, a smile so radiant it made the icy snowstorm and looming death lose their sting.
"Honestly, I regret not bringing a camera." Emiya rubbed his cheek and looked away from the mother and daughter, because the monster horde was already at the walls. The centuries-old tower had collapsed with a thunderous crash.
"Emiya, let us take the first wave. After that, it really is all on you."
Gepard ordered the artillery crews to fire everything they had left, pouring down destruction onto the tide of monsters. Then he raised his arm and led his finest men into a fearless charge.
Men are always quick to burn with blood and passion. Even Emiya, who had lived countless years, couldn't help but feel his heart pound at the warriors' roars, their blood-soaked fight. He wanted to leap down and join them.
To make the monster horde look more menacing, Vera and Zoe had deliberately drawn out elite-class beasts. After only six charges back and forth, Gepard and his men were already showing exhaustion.
Seeing that continuing would mean casualties, Emiya roared for them to fall back. Then he himself descended like a falling star, carrying the force of a thousand storms.
His violent mana burst outward, blasting a deep crater into the ground. Within a radius of ten miles, every monster was reduced to ash.
The walls erupted with a thunderous cheer. Gepard himself took up the war drum's mallets and struck out a victory beat for the invincible, otherworldly warrior.
After years of bitter battle, watching comrades replaced again and again, seeing the Rift monsters only grow stronger and more numerous, Gepard had lived in constant dread.
Now, seeing Emiya descend like a god-sent weapon, even Gepard couldn't stop his tears.
He dared not hope too much for Emiya to have even greater power, too afraid of disappointment. But he also couldn't help but cling to that hope, for it had been so, so long since they had seen any light.
"Watch closely, Cocolia. This is the welcoming gift from Ideal Land for you!"
Emiya sent his voice straight into Cocolia's ears with mana. Her heart, which had nearly been frozen solid by the cold, crushed by suffering and the Stellaron's whisper, flared back to life with blazing strength.
"Excalibur!"
In that moment, even Emiya couldn't help but cry out the name of the holy sword.
A brilliant, sacred light shot into the heavens. In people's eyes, nothing remained but light. The storm's endless howls were swept aside by force, and Emiya stepped forward, unleashing Excalibur's sweeping strike.
Where the light passed, whether fearsome monsters or towering mountains, they were all obliterated.
"Th-this… am I dreaming…" The scene was too unreal. Everyone stood stunned in place.
As the Great Guardian, Cocolia had the broadest view. She could feel just how heavy that blow was, and it terrified her so much that even a bubble of snot swelled from her nose.
'This sword strike… it could probably shatter even the Stellaron itself…'
Pop!
The bubble swelled and then burst, blown apart by the icy wind.
Shattered along with it was her misplaced confidence in the Stellaron. From this moment on, no matter how sweet its song, it could never again shake Cocolia's heart.
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