C459

A growing pool of blood spreading out around Artoria.

"Your Highness—!" Gray cried out in panic.

Artoria gripped her bleeding abdomen and managed to look back at her attacker, her face a mix of confusion and pain. "Why... Why, Arcueid?"

The person who had betrayed them, who had struck from behind, was none other than Arcueid— the one person they had all trusted the most.

"Your Highness—!!"

Gareth and Galahad rushed to Artoria's side, forming a protective barrier around her. Their eyes narrowed as they glared at Arcueid, who stood there, Add in her bloodied hand.

Artoria's form started to fade slightly, surrounded by a faint glow of spiritual particles. Locking eyes with Arcueid, she asked, "You're not the Arcueid. Who are you?"

"Me? I'm Arcueid, the legendary True Ancestor, the invincible myth," came her chilling response, her lips curling into a smile.

"Arcueid, how could you...!" Ritsuka's eyes widened in disbelief, staring at her.

"Ah, little Ritsuka, we had some great times, didn't we?" Her smile didn't waver. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of you in my world."

Ritsuka recoiled, taking a step back. Even though it was the same smile she had seen from her friend, it now filled her with a deep sense of dread.

"You..." Artoria's eyes tightened, and with a voice tinged with disbelief, she shouted, "You're Crimson Moon!"

"Correct! But sorry, no prizes for guessing right," Crimson Moon replied, still wearing that unsettling smile.

"You... You're supposed to be dead!"

Crimson Moon let out a chilling laugh. "Hasn't Shirou mentioned that Arcueid's body was intended to be my vessel for resurrection?"

"What?" Artoria's eyes widened; this was news to her.

"It's irrelevant whether you knew or not. Even Shirou was fooled. He believed that Arcueid was successfully suppressing me, keeping me from seizing her body. But he couldn't have been more wrong. I managed to bypass that suppression a year ago!" Crimson Moon revealed, her smile widening.

Ritsuka continued to back away, a look of pure fear etched on her face as she took in the sight of Crimson Moon.

Catching Ritsuka's eye, Crimson Moon flashed another of those unsettling smiles. "What's the matter, Ritsuka? Afraid? But we've had so much fun together."

"You... you're not Arcueid!"

"Does it really matter? Well, if you're scared, that's okay. Once all of this is over, you'll come to like me," she assured, her tone almost sickeningly sweet.

"The best plan may have failed, but fortunately, I always have a backup plan," she added, her eyes lighting up with a sinister red glow.

"Release me, you witch!" Add bellowed.

With a grin, Crimson Moon applied a subtle pressure with her hand. The sound of cracking filled the air, and fractures began to spiderweb across Add's form.

"Ahh—" Add let out a gut-wrenching scream of pain.

"Add!" Gray's shouted.

Then, with a final, ear-splitting "crack," Add was utterly crushed in Crimson Moon's hand.

"Huh? Has Shirou already taken the Holy Lance? Well, no matter. Even as a backup plan, it's good to have that sword out of the picture," Crimson Moon mused.

Grimacing through her pain, Artoria managed to stand. She locked eyes with Crimson Moon, demanding, "When did you start masquerading as my friend?"

"It began more than a year ago. The one who comforted you, gave you advice, and became your confidant—that was all me, the same being you thought you'd killed over 1,500 years ago!" she cackled.

"You—!" Artoria felt a chill run through her entire body.

"Don't bother wasting your energy. I'm quite accurate with my strikes; your Class Card is already shattered," Crimson Moon warned.

"Why now?" Artoria questioned. "You had so many chances to kill me, to take Add, and to destroy the sword. Why act now?"

"Originally, I wanted to possess Shirou's body. Unfortunately, that plan failed." she glanced up at the projection in the sky and sighed, "And he's not coming back, either. So I had to move on to my backup plan. I really didn't want to do this."

"So you've been impersonating Arcueid all along?"

"Not entirely. While my impression was convincing, there are still differences between me and that child. I only used her body when Shirou wasn't paying attention, and neither him nor the child noticed," she explained, wearing a satisfied smile.

She added, "And I must thank your daughter for this strategy. 'To understand your enemy, first know your own shortcomings. Conceal your deadliest weapon and strike when they least expect it.' She did it beautifully, didn't she? And haven't I done it beautifully too?"

Crimson Moon's smile seemed to glow with self-satisfaction. Then, her smile faded as she issued a command with chilling calm, "White Wing, attack!"

The soldiers surrounding them, dressed in military uniforms, suddenly turned. Their faces underwent a gruesome transformation, twisting into sinister grimaces and revealing sharp fangs protruding from the corners of their mouths.

The sound of guns cocking filled the air, and in a rapid succession of "bang, bang, bang," the muzzles unleashed a deadly hail of bullets.

...

"Ugh..." Crimson Moon gripped her head for a moment, hesitating, and muttered, "Don't fight me. Anyone else could resist, but not you!"

She flicked her sleeves back with a sweeping gesture and grinned, "The new world order begins now!"

The moon hanging in the night sky took on an unsettling glow, unmistakably the light of Crimson Moon.

Then, screams filled the air.

The transformed military soldiers lunged at the civilians, sinking their fangs into their necks. Some even pounced on those already dead from the gunfire, feasting on their blood.

With chilling sounds of "crack, crack, crack," some of the downed civilians began to rise, revealing their own set of sharp fangs.

The full moon loomed ominously overhead, casting a thick, dark mist that blanketed everything in its shadows.

Bang, bang, bang...!

Flames spouted from the muzzles of guns, as bullets ripped through human flesh. People dropped like flies, their blood pooling on the ground.

The soldiers, now more like monstrous predators than men, seemed to relish the scent of fresh blood. Their fangs gleamed menacingly, catching the eerie glow of the moonlight.

There was no doubt about it. They had transformed into Dead Apostles!

All eyes turned to Crimson Moon, disbelief etched on every face. No one had expected something like this to happen!

"Over fifteen hundred years ago, I was ambushed by all of you in complete ignorance. And now, in complete ignorance, you have been defeated by me!" she declared. "Every effect has a cause, and all of this began over fifteen hundred years ago!"

She gestured toward the sky, pointing at the haunting projection. "Whether it's me or that thing up there, all of this was set in motion when you conspired against me more than a millennium and a half ago!"

Though her form was fading, Artoria's eyes stayed firmly fixed on Crimson Moon. "You mentioned Mordred just now..."

Crimson Moon nodded. "That's right!"

"You're claiming you learned this from Mordred. Did you actually meet with her?"

Crimson Moon laughed at the question. "You're asking me this question? The one who knows that matter best isn't me, but Galahad. He experienced it all firsthand, didn't you, Galahad? When Gawain failed to defeat Lancelot and was killed, Lancelot, who was barely clinging to life, pleaded with you to finish him off!"

Galahad took a deep breath and asked in a low voice, "What do you know?"

Artoria's eyes shifted to Galahad, a look of disbelief on her face.

Crimson Moon chuckled ominously. "The civil war of the Round Table, the changes within the kingdom, Mordred's intervention that stopped you from killing Lancelot and committing patricide... and let's not forget about Paul and the Holy Grail. I know everything!"

"Paul and the Holy Grail...?"

Artoria began to sense that something was wrong.