[140] Battle at Ryuudou Temple

Night gradually fell.

The entire world became quiet as a result.

Fuyuki City was no exception.

Though the situation at Ryuudou Temple had been contained, some leaks still occurred within the city.

The fearless and the reckless remained as they were, but most people valued their lives.

The night in Fuyuki City was quieter than before, as if it had returned to the time before the manga's appearance.

Of course, this only applied to the more remote areas; the bustling city center remained as lively as ever.

In those remote places, the city felt like a ghost town. Walking along the streets, there were only dim traffic lights, occasional passing cars, and pedestrians who might not appear for a long time.

Silence and tranquility.

The scattered streetlights added an eerie atmosphere to the city.

This was the night when everything would end.

While similar battles might still happen elsewhere in the world, they were no longer related to this city, to Fuyuki City. However, everything that had happened here might be recorded in the annals of magecraft.

Though, it was a history that was about to disappear.

Emiya Kiritsugu walked along these streets. He approached Ryuudou Temple with Archer in his spiritual form trailing behind.

"We're here," Emiya Kiritsugu said, looking at the fence in front of him. "Let's go, Archer."

"Understood—!" Archer EMIYA, in his red form, materialized with his weapon projected into his hand—a bow!

In his other hand, a sword slowly appeared. The sword's form changed slowly, eventually taking the shape of a spinning arrow, which also materialized in his hand.

The original mountain path to Ryuudou Temple had been destroyed by Lancer's Noble Phantasm.

Now, the path to the mountaintop was like a maze, with potential obstacles like rocks telling anyone who wanted to go up, "Go around."

However, none of this posed any problem for Archer, an Heroic Spirit. He went straight up, leaping and charging—

Until he reached the peak of Ryuudou Temple.

Archer, who had leaped high into the air, saw the Greater Grail and Berserker, who had merged with the night.

"Caladbolg II!"

In an instant, he used his projected Noble Phantasm as the opening move of the battle.

The arrow shot toward the Greater Grail behind Berserker!

Bang—!

Berserker jumped suddenly, leaping in front of the arrow. He swung his axe to cut down the arrow that was coming toward him.

Boom—!

The Noble Phantasm, the arrow, exploded directly.

Berserker successfully blocked the explosion, preventing it from reaching the Greater Grail. However, he lost one of his lives in the process.

"One life down! You have three left, Heracles—!" Archer declared, his hand projecting his Noble Phantasm, "Kanshou and Bakuya."

"Roar—!" Berserker, now revived, roared and charged toward Archer!

The oppressive force made the air tremble, and Archer couldn't help but clench his teeth.

"Why does this guy feel even stronger?"

...

"It's begun, Rider."

"Yeah, I can feel it." Watching the magical fluctuations coming from Ryuudou Temple, Rider nodded. "Let's go, kid, this should be the final battle."

"Yes, this time we'll definitely win!" Waver Velvet said firmly as he held his Command Spells.

"Haha, not bad, kid. Looks like you've grown quite a bit," Rider chuckled. "Let's go, say goodbye to your teacher, and then it's time for us to march! I'm feeling quite excited right now!"

"I know," Waver nodded, and the two of them walked over to Kayneth's side.

However, as they just stepped out, they found Kayneth already at the doorway.

"Professor Kayneth?" Waver looked at Kayneth with surprise.

"Hmph, what's with that expression? Well, hurry up. This is the final battle, right? Win, and I'll acknowledge you. I'll acknowledge you, Waver Velvet!"

"Yes!" Waver nodded forcefully, calming the rapidly beating heart in his chest, which seemed to be pounding several times faster than usual.

With trembling legs, he took his steps forward.

...

"It's started. Looks like Archer and Berserker are fighting... Rider should be on his way too," Kazuya commented as he organized the manuscripts he had drawn during this period.

He felt a bit fatigued mentally.

Throughout the entire Holy Grail War, he hadn't slept at all.

Apart from occasionally going out for a stroll to relax, the rest of the time was spent either in battle or capturing the inspiration during battle.

For example, the few pages he had just drawn.

These weren't stories about morning battles; he had simply depicted the explosive scenes as he had seen them.

The explosion's flames had been difficult to capture with a camera, but he had caught it with his own eyes.

He had finally depicted the most shocking scenes, closest to the explosion he had envisioned. These original drafts would serve as excellent references for future manga and anime when they needed explosion scenes.

And it's not just explosions; it's the frenzied battles of Zaraki Kenpachi, the gathering of thousands in Rider's Army, Jack weaving through the mist of the dark night, and the sensation of instant teleportation with the Flying Thunder God.

He painstakingly captured all of these on paper.

He threw away countless sketches, keeping less than twenty that would be useful later.

Because of this, he hasn't slept until now.

Even though he doesn't feel physically tired due to being a Heroic Spirit, he's mentally exhausted.

Fortunately, when he summoned Zaraki Kenpachi and Namikaze Minato, he chose to let them engage in battle without forcibly controlling them. Otherwise, he would have had to deal with the feeling of being consumed by their spirits...

If that had happened, he probably wouldn't have made it this far.

But now...

Everything is about to come to an end.

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