IBHJ 1291

The Incarnation turned to her. "He's not human anymore. He has no brain, no heart, and his memories were erased! He should be nothing but a mechanical wall protecting us! His basic programming should be to protect the kingdom!"

"A brain can be removed, memories can be erased, and thoughts can be controlled. But you haven't heard the cry of the soul. Even a created doll will find its soul speaking out when it has something to protect—let alone someone who was once human," Shirou said.

"What are you talking about?" The Incarnation turned to face him.

"You keep saying you're just a Counter Force with no heart. But from where I'm standing, no one here has a more vibrant heart than you—a heart that feels joy and sorrow for others. You came back from the edge of destruction, killed the Emperor, became a false Holy Spirit, then used Demonic Bodhisattva to get rid of the Council and connect with Pan-Human History. All so you could give those abandoned by fate and history another chance at happiness."

He continued, "You stand against fate and history for the people you protect. You're practically the kingdom made flesh. If you truly had a name, I think it should be something beautiful, like Brigid."

"If you understand all this, why won't you come back to me?" the Incarnation asked. "Your history is incomplete and dark, your story filled with pain and bitterness, with no future ahead. But with me, you can all have happy, fulfilling futures. You just need to forget everything about this history, and I can give you a beautiful new one. You won't have to live through those difficult years again. Shiki won't be contaminated by the evil of Origin. Manaka will be a complete human. And Artoria will remain that simple knight. Everything could be so beautiful—why won't you accept it?"

"That's exactly why I can't join you," he replied. "What you call beautiful is only what you think is beautiful for us. But it's a rejection of everything we are. I'll take back my future myself. As long as there's courage in our hearts, as long as passion never dies, even our sorrows can bloom into something beautiful."

The Incarnation closed her eyes. "I truly can't understand the hearts of heroes like you. But I do know what I should do as a Counter Force—"

A massive six-pointed star halo appeared behind her.

"Words are so empty and powerless in the end. I give up trying to convince you. Now you'll all disappear here!"

When he saw the giant halo, his expression changed. "You can actually use that power?"

"That's—"

"The power of the transcendent!" he said gravely as a spark of energy ignited on the giant star halo.

After the Anti-Origin Noble Phantasm, the Arrow of Akasha, the Incarnation was finally revealing her another power!

"Soul... Space... Reality... Time... Mind... the fundamental forces that make up all things—destroy everything I despise!" At the Incarnation's command, the spark on the giant halo concentrated toward its center, creating a terrifying power that could tear apart reality itself.

"This is exactly like the attack the Enlightened One used before!" Manaka's face paled. "There's no way we can block something like this!"

Shirou's face went pale. He knew Manaka was right. They had made a terrible mistake! The Incarnation wasn't unable to use transcendent power—she had simply been choosing not to use it!

Until now.

No one could survive this kind of power, not even the three vessels connected to the Origin.

The air itself seemed to vibrate with energy, making his teeth ache and his vision blur at the edges. While he could technically use the Incarnation's abilities, his understanding was nowhere near deep enough to grasp the structure of these universal forces, let alone create this infinite halo that now pulsed above them like a second sun, casting harsh shadows that shifted unnaturally across the land.

"Quick! Get to the Tower of Light!" Rhongomyniad shouted. "It connects to the outside! Run—now!"

Everyone immediately turned and raced toward the Tower. Shiki tried to stay behind, but Manaka grabbed her wrist and pulled her along.

But it was already too late.

The infinite halo had fully concentrated, the air growing impossibly still, a pressure building against their eardrums like being underwater. And then it erupted. There were no dramatic explosions or spectacular destruction—just a silent wave that burst outward from the center of the infinite halo, distorting the very fabric of reality as it spread.

Everything the wave touched simply ceased to exist.

All things created by the Akasha Records were forced back into the Records by this primal, unstoppable force, leaving nothing but emptiness—not darkness, but true absence, a void that the mind struggled to comprehend.

The wave moved faster than thought itself, consuming ancient columns and crumbling walls in its path.

Manaka tried to use her mud to absorb the wave, but the moment her mud made contact, it vanished into nothingness. Against these fundamental forces, even her black mud offered no protection! Her eyes widened in genuine fear, reflecting the approaching void.

…

Was this the end? Mordred gritted her teeth, ready to sacrifice herself to cover everyone's escape. But before she could move, a silver-white figure rushed past her as Galahad's mechanical body positioned itself in front of the group.

"Galahad, what are you—"

"Bzz bzz bzz—" Galahad made electronic sounds.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Bzz bzz bzz—" Galahad gently patted Mordred's head, then grabbed her by the collar and tossed her toward Shirou before raising his white shield.

"Let's go!" Shirou caught Mordred and ran toward the Tower of Light.

"Brother!" Mordred cried out.

Galahad turned his back to them and lifted his white shield higher.

"Bzz bzz bzz—" The electronic eye in the middle of his forehead glowed bright red.

They had removed his brain and modified his body, replacing flesh with cold steel and circuits, but his soul still remembered.

That night, that girl's face as she cried alone. That girl who called him brother—that single word "brother" had made him decide to protect her smile for the rest of his life. But in the end, he could only watch helplessly as she ran toward a fate filled with sorrow.

His shield was like a wall that could protect thousands, yet he had failed to save that one girl's smile.

Now, he had a chance to make up for that regret.

Thank you, Lord, he thought. This time, I think I've protected her.

The pure white shield emitted a brilliant light, reflecting the wave of infinite halo back. When these two unstoppable forces collided, the entire battlefield was destroyed. And in that wave, Galahad's steel body simply disappeared.

…

The Incarnation stood alone in the ruined landscape, looking down sadly at the small robot at her feet.

It was tiny, barely a foot tall. Made completely of steel, its shape resembled an ancient helmet.

This was Galahad's core.

"Why, my knight?" The Incarnation's face was filled with sorrow. "Why would even you turn against me?"

"Bzz bzz bzz—" The robot's eyes flickered red one last time, then went dark as its body dissolved like smoke.

The Incarnation lifted her head, gazing across the devastated landscape.

"Save me—please save me—"

"I don't want to die—I don't want to die—"

All around her, people were crying out and wailing.

Men with disfigured faces carried elderly fathers missing limbs. Women clutched dead infants, sobbing uncontrollably.

This was how the kingdom had ended.

The world itself would never truly be destroyed. What was destroyed, what suffered—were always people.

How many bones lay buried in the river of history? Each historical record, each legend... how much pain and suffering of ordinary people had been simply forgotten? The Incarnation closed her eyes as tears streamed down her face.

She raised her hand, and the six fundamental forces appeared, restoring the destroyed world around her.

She couldn't let go. So even if it was wrong, even if there was no real rebirth, even if she was betrayed a thousand times over, she would continue on this path.

This was her royal way.

…