IBHJ 1312

"What Mordred did was right, even if we couldn't bring ourselves to forgive her before. But... it's time to let go. We aren't souls or real people anymore—just memories. What really kept us here wasn't the Grail at all, but our own bitterness and anger. Mordred helped us forgive ourselves. Maybe you should forgive yourself too, Counter Force..."

One by one, the figures of the people faded away into nothing.

"No—wait—don't go!" The Ideal King desperately tried to grab them, using universal basic forces to catch them, but her hands passed through nothing but air.

Just like in that dream.

Everyone left, and she was all alone again.

Everything she'd fought for was suddenly meaningless.

Not because of Shirou or Mordred... but because of the very people she'd dedicated her entire existence to protecting.

The Holy Grail hit the ground with a hollow clang.

The infinite halo that had been suppressing Shirou and the others dissolved into nothing. The Ideal King slumped to the ground, staring blankly at the Holy Grail as it spun on the stone floor.

"This is just..." Vivian couldn't even bear to look at the Ideal King anymore.

Maybe only Kiritsugu could truly understand what the Ideal King was feeling right now—that gut-wrenching sensation when everything you've ever believed in, everything you've dedicated your life to, completely rejects you.

Shirou stayed quiet for a moment. He was about to walk toward the Ideal King when suddenly—boom—the Holy Grail that had been spinning on the ground slowly floated back up.

The synchronization of the new history, after that brief pause, actually started up again!

Everyone's faces filled with shock.

"What you were protecting isn't even there anymore!" Mordred shouted. "Are you seriously still going through with this?"

"...Isn't even here anymore?" The Ideal King rose to her feet, teeth clenched. "As long as the new history is born, everything that disappeared will come back to me! What I protect... exists right now! And in the future, it will always exist!"

As Mordred freed those people corrupted by the Grail, everything the Ideal King had fought for was suddenly meaningless. Who could possibly understand what she was feeling right now? That gut-wrenching sensation when everything you've ever believed in, everything you've ever chased after, completely rejects you. But even so, the Ideal King stubbornly pressed on with creating the new history.

Mordred looked at the Ideal King with sad eyes. She'd managed to free everyone corrupted by the Grail, but the one person she couldn't save was standing right in front of her. The Ideal King used her infinite halo to suppress everyone while clutching the Holy Grail, pouring every ounce of her power into it.

In a flash, the incomplete Holy Grail lit up like a candle, blazing with blinding light. But its substance was visibly fading away with each passing second.

Surrounded by that endless light, the Ideal King couldn't help wondering if they were truly gone forever.

There was no one standing behind her anymore. The king and knights who created the Eternal Kingdom—led by Shirou—were fighting against her with everything they had. Creating a new history seemed to be nothing more than her own selfish wish.

The Ideal King thought about that dream again.

The dream where she ended up completely alone.

A massive crack formed in her supposedly flawless heart.

—I've been waiting for this chance! My power should return!

A voice suddenly boomed from inside the Grail. Then the Grail, surrounded by endless light, became shrouded in black mist. A dragon's head emerged from within.

Seeing this, Shirou yelled, "Watch out! It's Sixth Seat!"

He was warning everyone—including the Ideal King. Sixth Seat had come to take back his power.

He and the others immediately went on high alert. Now that the Ideal King's heart had this gaping void, if the Beast managed to reclaim the Grail, they'd be facing the complete form of Sixth Seat!

"Look out—" Before Arcueid could even finish her warning, the Ideal King shot forward and grabbed Sixth Seat by the throat.

"That's impossible—!" Sixth Seat stared at the Ideal King in total shock. "The records keeping you anchored as a Counter Force is gone. How can you possibly still—"

"You really think you can stand in my way?" the Ideal King said.

"You, you monster—" Sixth Seat couldn't even finish before the Ideal King's eyes turned ice-cold. With one brutal squeeze, she completely crushed the Beast—its form bursting like soap bubbles.

Just straight-up killed it!

The Ideal King channeled all her power into the Grail, making it dissolve even faster. Meanwhile, the planet's ecosystem and Quantum Time-Lock began being overwritten.

Everyone—Heroic Spirits, mechanical constructs, humans... even Shirou, UO, and Altera—started giving off faint spirit particles. Their bodies began turning transparent.

"Our existence is being overwritten!" Zelretch's face paled. Even he was starting to fade. He could feel it clearly—this overwriting couldn't be avoided, not even by hiding in the gaps between dimensions!

Outside Earth, the UOs hammering away at the barrier noticed something changing in Earth's environment. They ramped up both the speed and power of their assault. But even these attacks—powerful enough to knock down stars—couldn't even create the tiniest ripple when they hit the barrier.

Heaven's Corpse gritted his teeth. "What's taking Saturn and Gaia so long? The planet's about to change masters—why aren't they back yet?"

Ort said nothing, just kept attacking faster and faster. But it was completely useless against the barrier. As the Ideal King sped up the overwriting process, Earth's environment began a massive transformation that could be called world-changing. The Ideal King was burning herself up, burning the Grail, all to complete the synchronization between the Eternal Empire and all of history.

"Synchronize... synchronize... once it's complete, everyone... they'll all come back to me..." The Ideal King stared at the Grail with wild eyes.

All her desperate hopes now hung on that Grail.

But then—

BOOM! A crimson beam tore through space, shooting straight for the Grail. The Ideal King didn't even have time to think—she just instinctively reached out to block it.

"Tsssss—"

The beam left a nasty burn on the Ideal King's palm, wisps of white smoke rising from her skin. She looked down at her burned hand, then snapped her head up, teeth clenched as she glared at Mordred, who was lowering her sword. "Mordred—!"

"Just as I thought," Mordred said, "you're not invincible anymore!"

"You keep ruining my plans over and over!" The Ideal King glared at her, teeth clenched. "Don't you want to bring back the kingdom you destroyed? The people you killed?"

"Of course I want that. But—" Mordred looked at the Ideal King with sad eyes. "She can't come back."

"No! She can come back!" The Ideal King screamed, grabbing two holy swords and charging straight at her. Her eyes were bloodshot; there was no way she'd let Mordred ruin everything again.