75

Fate in Denial c75

February 12

The fight between Mordred and Artoria was almost even. Both of their styles complimented each other. However, Artoria's experience and superior sword were the edge she needed to win.

The King of Knights ended up stabbing the Knight of the Rebellion through the gut.

"...Fuck…" Modred took several steps as she sighed in defeat.

"...I guess— It wasn't meant for me. Well— whatever, I had some fun in this war." After saying that, she looked at her 'father' for a bit before disappearing.

Artoria slowly lowered her sword; Saber of Red wasn't there anymore.

She then looked at Ren in the VIP lounge.

The Sorcerer gave her a thumbs up. The King of Knights nodded before disappearing.

"Well, this was interesting enough." Morgan hummed at the results of the fight.

"I should have bet on this. I could have won some money." Ereshkigal said that to herself.

"Did you say something, teacher?" Gray didn't hear it properly.

"N-No, nothing." The blonde Goddess waived her hands in denial.

"Oh, Okay."

The Underworld Goddess sighed in relief.

'I should control Rin's urges more! That was close!' Ereshkigal didn't realise that she was that greedy!

On the other side of the VIP lounge, Alter Saber pondered on the fight she had just seen.

"I suppose finesse IS necessary." The Fallen Knight acknowledged the shortcomings of her style. Her style is closer to Mordred's. It's more 'natural' and overbearing, thanks to dragon traits.

But it's not the best, as the King of Knights has shown her.

"Of course it is. Raw power is fine, but you have to wield that raw power." The King of Knights, sitting next to her, explained with an eye roll.

"Yeah-Yeah, I hear you." Alter nonchalantly shrugged. She might pay attention in future exchanges.

"You are fighting with two swords, so gracefully moving is necessary." Artoria pointed out.

Alter wanted to say that with two swords, she is more overbearing, not graceful.

But she didn't say that as she just saw how an overbearing fighter lost.

"Well, this was fun, but we still need to end that war," Ren said as he got up.

"Yeah, though I lost my Servant." The Necromancer sighed. Well, at least he survived the whole ordeal. The percentage of survivors in the Grail War is not that big.

"Don't worry, just focus on your bounties, leave the remaining Servant to us."

"Sure."

Not that Kairi could do or say anything else. He knows his limits, and he doesn't know the Sorcerer's limits. That's the thing. That's why he is playing along. He can't wait for the whole thing to end and for him to return home.

~~~

"We still have to figure out who the Assassin of Black Faction is. We haven't seen the Master or the Servant." Morgan said to her husband as they were walking through the corridors of the castle.

The Fairy Queen looked around, thinking how to redecorate the place since she had 'conquered' it.

"The original Master was killed upon summoning; they are in the capital of Romania," Ren explained to his wife.

"Figures. No wonder we haven't seen them here. So it went rogue in the capital of this country?" She enquired further.

"Yes. Stupidly summoning a serial killer, with an arrangement that triggers it, is stupidity on its own." He explained to her as his eyes went to the painting of Darnic on the wall.

"To think that he already had a painting of his own." The Sorcerer chuckled, seeing this.

"Well, he knew he would die. So he left this behind." Morgan commented on what she thought about that.

"Depends. Perception like that becomes vague after you become that ambitious. The man kept his soul and body fresh as he fed on the fetus of young babies. He survived longer than he should have. I doubt death was on his mind when he was this close to success."

To Ren's explanation, Morgan trembled with anger. It was short and lasted only for a few brief seconds. She quickly recovered.

The Fairy has heard about what the Magus do to people. However, there should be some things they shouldn't cross.

"Relax~" He pulled his beautiful wife into a one-hand hug.

"I would~ but you need to take responsibility for making me this— emotional." She said with a small, pouty look.

"Of course, what does my Wife Queen want?" He asked her while stroking her waist.

"Hmm~ I haven't decided yet. Maybe some sort of dinner, a date? We haven't had one for a while~" The pale blond witch slightly smiled while saying that. This timeline 'rescue' finally becomes useful to her. She is getting something out of it.

"Sure, if this is what you want."

"Yes~ now let's go." She grabbed his hand and proceeded to lead them away.

Ren noticed that the painting behind them started to burn away in blue flames.

Internally, he shook his head. He is pitying Darnic; they might encounter that Magus again. Knowing his wife, she won't forget him for several thousand years.

So, whichever counterpart they will meet, she no doubt will torture him to death. Maybe even further than just simple death.

The pair continue to explore until they finally reach the underground place. Where the massive orb was, this orb was the Greater Grail.

"Here we go again," Morgan said with a bored tone. She is getting tired of seeing this thing for the third time now.

"What are you going to do? You have one for yourself; the other one is with the Tohsaka family, and this one?" The witch asked him.

She has no use for these things. For her, it's just another battery. The Fairy Queen doesn't need extra batteries as she has her connection to her husband, which is her most valuable thing. No other sources of mana matter to her!

"Honestly, I don't know. I could use this in the clock tower to teach students about Heroic Spirits and Throne of Heroes and run some sort of grail war simulations." He said that while stroking his chin.

With how the timeline is, he has more than 30 years until that fateful day he will take over everything. He has enough time to play around and influence the perception further.

"If this is what you want. We can develop some sort of platform to make it happen." She said that while leaning into his shoulder.

"That would be interesting."

As he said that, a blue ripple appeared underneath the greater grail, and the object started to sink into it.

Less than a minute later, Ren acquired his second Greater Grail. At the same time, a certain assassin in the capital of Bucharest ceased to exist as she couldn't sustain herself anymore.

Just like that, the Great Grail War just ended in a single day.

"I suppose if we enter another such a competition, we should just allow Servants to do all the fighting," Morgan suggested as she felt this went far too quickly, even if she didn't want to stay long. It was still too soon, in her opinion. She wasn't able to show off her knight

"Yes. I think I shouldn't interfere if we get another chance." He sighed as well. Darnic was too moronic, and he was too rash.

"Hmm? I sensed a servant disappear in the area."

Morgan looked around for a second before shrugging without care.

"It might be the Berserker of Black. Oh, well, whatever." Ren didn't care much about the stranglers. None of them are interesting for him to pay attention to.

"Hnn~ I guess."

The Fairy Queen nodded at him. Since he doesn't care, so won't she.

After acquiring the Greater Grail, the pair started walking back outside.

"Husband, what will we do with the castle?" She asked him as she continued to look at the walls, the ceiling and other parts.

"I have no use for it."

"...Then does it mean I can take it?" She asked hopefully.

"I guess? It's not that we will remain in this timeline." He nonchalantly shrugged.

"Great! Then I shall take this castle!" Morgan sounded excited about the opportunity to have a castle once more! It's not that this place is her 'dream' castle, but it will do for now.

She has something to play with and experiment with this place until she has her dream castle built in future!

Her husband, who knows the future, has already told her she will have THAT castle. But for now, she can play with this third-rate place.

"Sure, do what you want. I will 'talk' with that priest you got for me."

"Hehehe~" For a second, she giggled as they were going to do their thing. Morgan decided to kiss her husband for a second before she disappeared to prepare a storage item.

Ren chuckled, seeing her excited about a stone building. Well, she is a Witch Queen, and like any Queen, they need to have a castle.

~~~

With a groan, Shirou Kotomine's eyes flicked open. For a couple of seconds, his eyes were blurry, but he could see that he was in some sort of indoor place and someone was sitting in front of him.

For a second, he shook his head, and he could finally see correctly!

"It appears that woman captured me. What is it you want? You should just kill me and be over with this." The fake Priest said with a resigned sigh.

"I do wish to speak with someone who wanted to kill more than 7 billion people."

"...Kill? Don't be ridiculous. I had no such plans." He quickly got offended.

"Oh? So you had no plans to give everyone Heaven's Feel?"

The man sitting in front of him asked. Shirou frowned slightly; he never expected that question!

'How does he know what I was planning?' The Ruler from the previous war pondered for a second.

"How do you know my intentions?"

"Because I know the future and the past. I was called to this timeline to stop you." The man said that while leaning back in his seat.

"...Called? Someone summoned you?"

'Is this the guy who is supposed to be married to Morgan? He is a Sorcerer from another timeline!?'

"I wanted to stop conflicts, to bring salvation to everyone." Shirou caved in and decided to explain himself.

"You don't just 'bring Salvation!'" Jeanne manifested next to her Master. She was slightly angry that a fellow Ruler wanted to 'bring salvation'. That's quite arrogant!

"So it's hubris." The Sorcerer pondered for a second before deciding to explain.

"That's not how it works, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada. True Magic is not meant to be wielded by everyone. It's inhuman. Each magic is like a trauma; it changes one for over.

It's like living in fantasy your whole life and then discovering an ugly truth of reality. Each person reacts differently to it. Some crack and get consumed by others and start swinging extremely, thinking that they are entitled to more.

That is why you must fight for this power and not get it without something.

I know this best. After all, I was born with Denial of Nothingness."

"...I see… So you are saying it was wrong for me to do this?"

"You would have ended up pruning this timeline and killing billions of souls," Ren stood up and walked over to Amakusa Shirou Tokisada.

"Choose yourself if you think that what you did is wrong. Is it wrong to desire what you did? Maybe it's terrible, or perhaps it's right.

What you need is to understand what is what. Your planning had something missing, and that's how reality works. You forgot that we live in a reality which is finite and not infinite. It's counterproductive to make Seven Billion True Magicians."

"...Haha. I guess so. Well, I tried."

"Yes, well, next time, try something feasible." After saying that, Ren snapped his fingers, and the Ruler disappeared before his eyes.

"Master, what do you mean next time!?" Jeanne started to panic all of a sudden.