IBHJ 1314

Arthur and the others quickly raced after the Grails.

"Mordred..." Merlin looked over at her with concern as she stood there with her head down, completely silent.

After a moment, she looked up at him. "Don't worry, Merlin. We should go too. My Grail hasn't stopped urging me to follow."

He nodded.

She paused, noticing Vivian looking around anxiously. "What are you searching for, Teacher Vivian?"

"Have you seen the King anywhere?" Vivian asked, her voice filled with worry.

"Father?" Mordred was surprised. "Isn't he supposed to be here with us?"

"He disappeared right before Sixth Seat appeared!" Vivian explained, growing more anxious by the second.

"Let's focus on tracking down Sixth Seat first," Mordred suggested. "Father has his own plans, his own goals he wants to accomplish."

Vivian hesitated briefly before nodding in agreement.

The group headed out to hunt down Sixth Seat.

...

Meanwhile, Shirou slowly made his way to the lowest level of the Imperial Palace. His fiery eyes, filled with concern, scanned the collapsed ruins.

"Did you know from the beginning this would happen, Shirou? That I would... just give up?"

The rubble shifted and fell away, revealing the Ideal King. She looked incredibly weak now—her face pale, her body becoming somewhat transparent—but her expression remained calm as she looked at him.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I didn't see this coming at all. When you lowered your sword in that moment, I was completely stunned."

The Ideal King smiled at his answer. "You didn't come all the way down here just to tell me that, did you?"

"You're right," he nodded and pulled the Eternal Crown from inside his jacket. After looking at the golden crown for a moment, he handed it to her without hesitation. "I'm returning this to you."

"Are you sure you want to give up everything that belonged to Shirou Pendragon?" she asked, holding the crown while watching his face.

"I've borrowed the royal authority for too long," he said. "It's time it went back to its rightful owner."

She fell silent for a moment before nodding. "I understand."

He stood up, turning his head to look into the darkness. "Don't you have anything you want to say to her, Artie?"

After a brief silence, Artoria emerged from the shadows.

"My King..."

He shook his head. "Don't call me that anymore. I'm not Pendragon now. But look at you—you've finally got your own body back. I'm really happy for you."

She smiled at him, but her expression clouded over again when she looked at the Ideal King.

"You did it, King of Knights. You actually... got through to me," the Ideal King said, her face pale.

"I wasn't trying to get through to you," Artoria said with concern. "I don't think anyone could. What hurts you is everyone's pain. All you ever wanted was to give everyone a good life. But we left you behind."

She hesitated before asking, "Can you tell me why you went to such extremes?"

"I didn't go to extremes," the Ideal King replied quietly. "I'm the Counter Force. I was just doing my job. The people I protected are gone, so I should disappear as well."

"That's not true!" Artoria insisted. "If you were just the Counter Force, you'd be like Alaya or Gaia. But the way you care about others isn't how a Counter Force would act. You're human, Brigid—a real, living person!"

"Human..." The Ideal King fell silent for a moment. She finally looked up at her. "You know, I was always jealous of you, Artoria. Why were you the vessel and I just the Counter Force born based on you? Why did you get to experience all those beautiful things? Why could you stay with everyone, laughing and talking together? Why did I have nothing? Why was I always alone in that world?"

She sighed softly. "Eventually I made peace with it. It wasn't so bad. At least I could still watch all of you. I could see your smiles and feel your presence. That was enough for me because I knew I wasn't completely alone." Her voice grew quieter. "But then you all disappeared. Everyone was gone, leaving me behind."

"The truth is..." The Ideal King's voice broke as tears streamed down her face. "Even if you couldn't see or feel me, I just wanted all of you by my side! I couldn't stand being alone anymore!"

She finally revealed the feelings she'd been hiding all this time. "When you gave me that gift, I was so happy—so incredibly happy. I finally received something from someone... a real gift and blessing. I'm Brigid, not just the Counter Force. I'm a person with a heart. And I don't want to be alone."

Shirou pulled her into a gentle embrace. "You were never alone," he whispered.

"Thank you, Shirou," she said softly. "And I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused."

Just then, a beam of light shot down from a nebula 650 light-years away, shining directly on Brigid.

"Look! The light from heaven is still there, Brigid," Artoria said urgently. "This is your chance!"

The Holy Grail's power had been the core maintaining Brigid's existence. Now that she'd given it up, she couldn't continue existing much longer. But if she accepted this guiding light from heaven, she might find salvation!

But Brigid simply shook her head.

"Why not?" Artoria was confused.

"I want to be with the people who matter to me," Brigid said with a peaceful smile. "Together forever."

Artoria opened her mouth to respond but couldn't find the words. She, who had once been obsessed with bringing back the Eternal Kingdom, finally understood that the one who truly and most purely loved that country was this transcender—this Counter Force.

"This is for you, Shirou," Brigid said, pulling out a golden arrow and handing it to him.

He took it, his eyes widening. "The Arrow of Akasha? You've had it all this time?"

"How else could I keep Lord of Salvation from manifesting?" she asked. "Without this, how could I make sure you'd be safe in the new history?"

She paused for a moment before continuing. "Tethys said it belongs to the heir of the Vortex. Since you gave back the crown to me, I should give this arrow to you."

"Wait, if you had the Arrow of Akasha, why didn't you use it sooner?" he asked.

"How could I ever use the ultimate weapon against people I care about?"

He had no answer for that.

"Please tell Arcueid I'm sorry," Brigid said softly. "Though I guess for a villain to exit like this is probably too boring, as she would say."

After a brief silence, she looked at him with a gentle smile. "Congratulations on defeating me. I'm giving history back to you now, so make sure you take back your own future, Fujimaru Shirou!"

Her smile grew wider as she looked between Artoria and Shirou. "Like this—do I seem more human now?"

They both nodded.

But the moment they looked up again, Brigid was gone. Her gentle voice still echoed in their ears, but she had completely disappeared.

All that remained on the ground was a simple wooden bracelet.

Artoria's handwriting was etched into it—just one word: "Brigid."

"Brigid..." Artoria whispered, clutching the bracelet against her chest.

Shirou stood up and took a deep breath. "Let's go," he said, his fingers tightening around the Arrow of Akasha. His eyes flashed with determination.

They finally had the key to their future in their hands.