C438

"You thought that it was because you absorbed the 'Vampiric Evil' that I entered your heart? You're wrong. It's because I was already in your heart that you were able to acquire Cath Palug's Evil. This evil eventually transformed into the 'Vampiric Evil' that restricts True Ancestors and Dead Apostles. I entered your heart ten years ago."

"What are you trying to say?" Shirou furrowed his brow.

Crimson Moon threw out a question, "Doesn't it strike you as odd? Nine years ago, why did my vessel Arcueid came up to you?"

"Because my evil devoured Roa!" He retorted.

"Wrong. Roa was killed by Arcueid eight hundred years ago, but she deluded herself into thinking Roa was still alive. However, there was no other way, since I used Roa to create my fragments," Crimson Moon shook his head, revealing a smile, and continued, "And you, ten years ago, didn't devour just anyone; you devoured my very fragments!"

"I've actually been residing within your heart for the past ten years, closely observing your every move. Watching how you defeated All the World's Evil, traveled back in time, ascended as the King of Men, and even vanquished the version of me from that time. I've been there all along, silently watching," she revealed.

"This can't be true..." He muttered in disbelief.

The idea that Crimson Moon had been inside his body for a whole decade was simply mind-boggling.

She explained, "Think about it. Why do you think Arcueid could use her full strength and hold her own against the version of me from that time during our battle? It used to baffle me, not understanding the origin of this True Ancestor that came out of nowhere, capable of fighting me to a standstill. But reliving those moments through your eyes, from within the recesses of your thoughts, I finally understood—the answer was in my own flesh! The only thing capable of matching the might of myself is none other than me,"

"Over a decade inside your mind has taught me much about humanity. I've come to understand emotions, human emotions. So what do you say, Shirou? Become my vassal. In my world, you'll be more than an Eternal King—you'll rule the world."

"Join me. I genuinely need you by my side. Together, we can create a boundless world of crimson—a world free of the enemies that plague you, because I will help you conquer them. All that's required is your allegiance." she extended her hand as if offering a pact of great importance.

Shirou's expression grew cold, and he swatted away her hand, "Get lost!"

"You're still holding back?" Crimson Moon's voice tinged with a hint of frustration before she regained her composure. "Aren't you moved at all by what's happening right now?"

"Nice try, but this is just another one of your illusions, your way of trying to trick me."

"Is it really a trick, though? You've had your doubts too, right? Otherwise, why have all those books on the Camelot Dynasty sitting unread? You're avoiding them because deep down, you're scared. And I would know—you can't hide from me."

"You've got it wrong. Those books are gathering dust because for me, the past is just a footprint. It doesn't define me. It's the future that holds real meaning, full of boundless possibilities. My gaze is fixed ahead, not behind."

"Ah, self-delusion," she chuckled, "Alright then, let me show you something good."

He sneered, "You can't break me..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, the vision that unfurled before him was gut-wrenching and made him stunned.

A blood-soaked Camelot.

A collapsed statue of the Eternal King.

A battlefield strewn with corpses in Camlan.

The Knights of the Round Table, once proud and unyielding, now lay defeated in puddles of their own blood.

The girl who once laughed without a care had grown into a woman of grace and poise.

But her smile was gone. Covered in wounds, she yanked Caliburn out of the lifeless body of a fallen knight.

"Just one more... one more, and it will end..." she murmured.

Dragging her wounded body, she headed towards the final battlefield.

There, awaiting her, was her last enemy—her beloved mother.

She dragged along the Sword of Kings, her arm smeared in a blend of her own blood and others'.

Yet, she moved forward, her eyes filled with a resolve that couldn't be shattered.

"Mordred, please... surrender. I beg you, surrender. If you surrender, there may still be a chance for forgiveness." Tears of despair flowed from her mother's eyes.

As Shirou looked at the despairing tears of that woman, even his heart, strong as diamond, began to crack with a faint 'creak, creak, creak.'

Apart from that moment during the Fourth Holy Grail War, he'd never seen her cry. He'd always thought she was too strong to shed tears. But here she was, tears of despair and agony streaming down her face.

"Shut up, Artoria! You, the executioner who seeks to kill countless people! Neither you nor the Eternal King deserve the title of king!" She swung her rebellious sword, striking at her mother.

Artoria held her ground.

Parrying the blows while weathering the verbal insults, Artoria kept her focus. Finally, her daughter aimed her sword at her head. In that moment, overcome by a sorrow too heavy to bear, she thrust her sword forward.

In the end, the baby dragon—once filled with so much joy—fell by her mother's hand. The last thing she did was to knock the crown from her mother's head.

The barrage of insults faded as Mordred closed her eyes in a final moment of peace, falling into a pool of her own blood.

All that remained in that gruesome landscape, amid the towering heaps of fallen bodies, was a mother clutching her lifeless child, her cries piercing the air.

"It's not real... It's all an illusion..." He muttered, backing away as he watched the woman's overwhelming grief unfold before him.

Crimson Moon spoke with unsettling calm, "This is no illusion, Shirou. That's your daughter. I find it rather poetic, don't you? The dynasty you created by defeating me was ultimately torn apart by your own flesh and blood. Quite ironic, isn't it?"

Shirou kept retreating.

As he looked at the woman—broken, weeping, utterly devoid of hope—his breath caught in his throat.

"Still planning to run away?" Crimson Moon's hand reached out, gently brushing against his cheek as she softly spoke, "You can't escape now. The moment I've been waiting for is here."

Crack, crack, crack—

His unyielding will began to crack.

She tenderly touched his cheek and whispered, "Have you ever wondered why your Noble Phantasm never summons the Knights of the Round Table? It's because they're afraid to face you. And Merlin—he can't bring himself to meet you either. As for Artoria, she's always saying she's guilty and begging you for punishment. Do you know why? Because she feels she has betrayed you.'"

"But don't worry, even if the whole world turns its back on you, I won't. So, would you consider becoming my follower?"

"It's all a lie!" He shouted.

—Now!

A satisfied smile crossed Crimson Moon's lips, and her will immediately seeped into the crack in his heart.

"You..." 

Shirou clutched his head, his expression twisted in pain.

"Ah—!"

Zla, zla...

The once radiant Tower of Light flickered and went out.

Above, the intricate web of light also vanished.

"My king..." 

Artoria's eyes shifted toward the place where the Tower of Light had stood, her gaze tinged with worry.

Everything went dark; the sky turned pitch black, and so did the earth.

Just like that, the light was gone.

And then black rain began to fall from the now-black sky, bubbling into creepy, humanoid-shaped monsters as it landed on the ground.

"Oh no, onii-chan, what's going on over there?" Chloe's eyes darted toward Fuyuki City Hall, little flickers of worry shining in them.

The Tower of Light went out, its radiance vanishing completely.. Anyone could see that something had gone sideways, and not in a good way.

In the mess that was happening right now, anything could happen to anyone. But the idea that something bad could happen to onii-chan? Chloe couldn't wrap her head around that.

A blanket of pitch blackness rolled out, swallowing everything in sight.

The Tower of Light had been a beacon for people, and now that it was gone, a sense of indescribable fear and despair took hold.

Illya...

Chloe...

Arcueid...

Gray...

Artoria...

Even the Counter Guardians who'd been summoned stared at Fuyuki City Hall.

Because they all understood that in this situation, the one person who absolutely had to stay alive was the Eternal King, the core of the whole operation.