Chapter 639

Chapter 639: Towards a Shattered Farewell

[Moshi moshi? The adorable and kind Miss Hakuno? This is Sakatsuki speaking.]

[What are you doing at the end of the world? Are you free? Can you come save me?]

[Due to various reasons, I accidentally let Julius escape. Now I have to face Rin in a proper duel, so could you handle the cleanup?]

[That guy got cut by me—I’ve sent you his blood data. You haven’t forgotten the Blood Character Research Magecraft·Plus version that sensei taught you, right? Use that to track him down and make sure to get proper revenge, ya hear!]

[Anyway, I’m counting on you~☆]

The terminal screen reflected the young girl’s gloomy eyes. After a long pause, she sighed helplessly and typed a single ’Okay’ in response.

I didn’t want to help that shameless sensei either.

But he winked at me.

"Let’s go, Saber. Time for some unpaid labor."

"Hell yeah!" For Nero, escaping her nine-to-five wage-slave life was victory enough. The ahoge on her head swayed cheerfully as she followed her Master. "My Concerto, since we’re busy with other things today, does that mean we can skip the final layer of the Moon Sea?"

"Absolutely not." Hakuno’s tone was that of a parent denying their child a trip to the amusement park. "In fact, because of Sakatsuki’s errand, we’ll probably be returning even later today. Steel yourself, Saber."

"Ehh—that’s so unfair!"

Dragging the teary-eyed Nero along, Hakuno soon caught up with their target on the avenue outside campus.

Cloaked in dark robes, the man who had cornered her multiple times now leaned silently against a tree trunk, clutching his wound. As he gazed at the approaching end, his expression held neither greed nor anger. After searching intently, Hakuno could only detect a trace of weary loneliness.

He looked like an overworked office worker finally about to collapse into slumber after a long shift.

The vengeful satisfaction she’d felt earlier instantly faded. Ignoring potential lurking assassins, Hakuno stepped forward to stand beside the dark-cloaked man. "Long time no see, Julius."

She said, "I’m here to kill you."

Faced with what sounded almost like a taunt, Julius merely glanced at Hakuno and nodded calmly.

"Alright."

————

"For whom do you fight?"

Golden-red and deep-blue lightning crisscrossed as the crimson thorned spear and the black-and-white winged blade passed each other thousands of times in the blink of an eye, then locked together like lovers. The resulting sparks ignited the warriors’ fervent eyes.

"Reaching the Moon and defeating Harway—that’s my goal." Rin Tohsaka lowered her stance slightly, poised to strike. The slender legs and thigh-high boots peeking from beneath her miniskirt looked utterly alluring.

"Lancer!" The most cutting-edge magi of this era raised her hand as brilliant gemstones transformed into meteors. "Command Chant·Gandr!"

The magical bullet shrieked toward Sakatsuki’s left shoulder. Simultaneously, Lancer—Ireland’s Child of Light, Cú Chulainn—who’d been bottling up his fury, grinned savagely and twisted his spear. The crimson thorned lance whirled as it charged toward the young man’s right shoulder.

It didn’t work. Sakatsuki’s body possessed unimaginable flexibility—with just a slight twist, his right blade extended to block the combined assault of master and servant. Shards of gemstones scattered, refracting the golden light in the young man’s eyes like the shimmering surface of a lake at dusk.

Even after voluntarily relinquishing many advantages, his martial prowess, honed to divine levels, and his understanding of these two opponents were more than enough to keep Sakatsuki in control.

Faced with such a monstrous adversary, the leading candidate for victory in the Moon Holy Grail War showed no signs of surrender.

"I’m furious about that hopeless future under Harway’s rule—what’s so great about living like lambs in a pen, slaughtered without even realizing it?!"

"So, I’ll kill the Western European conglomerate’s finest masterpiece right here, seize the Holy Grail, and reshape this world with my own will!"

The blue spearman charged forward, empowered by his master’s magical energy, and for the first time, sent Sakatsuki’s twin blades flying. Fierce battle aura shot into the sky, making Rin Tohsaka’s eyes sparkle like the most beautiful gemstones.

"Anyone who stands in my way, I’ll crush them without mercy!"

"Is that so?" The young man smiled, tossing the shattered hilt aside. Amidst molten steel, the dragon-slaying demon sword fell into his grasp.

"Then tell me, what is it you seek now?"

With a twist of the hilt, the hidden jewel within the blade erupted in radiant light.

————

"What kind of foolish question is that? Who I’m fighting for should be obvious."

Moonlight bathed the sunset-hued boulevard as the Fist Saint and the Emperor, sharing the same colors, clashed fiercely. Julius remained expressionless in response to Hakuno’s abrupt question, replying like a pre-programmed machine.

"Don’t ask such ridiculous things. Of course, it’s for Leo—"

"You’re lying."

The hollow response was cut short. Hakuno stared intently at Julius, catching the flicker of emotion that betrayed his wavering resolve.

"Your eyes have never once lingered on Leo. It always feels like you’re looking somewhere far away, somewhere different."

Hakuno had also studied Julius. With the help of that cheap teacher of hers, she understood this executioner of the Western European conglomerate far better than Julius himself could have imagined.

"At first, I thought you fought out of loyalty to Leo. But just now, I completely overturned that assumption."

Recalling those weary eyes tinged with relief, Hakuno murmured, "You don’t actually care about Leo at all, do you?"

"Whose shadow is it that truly reflects in your eyes?"

"..." Julius had no answer.

Alicia... It had been so long since he last heard her voice.

[Hey, Julius...]

[Protect that child for me, okay?]

"It’s over!"

The golden-red Emperor swung his sword, sending blooming roses soaring into the clear sky. As if realizing something, the battle-hardened Fist Saint let out a bitter laugh and raised his fists in stance.

"Scenes of the past, open the gates—raise the curtain for this solo performance—!"

"My Eight Extremes need no second strike—"

"Behold the Golden Theater that captivates heart and soul!"

"Bleed from seven orifices and explode in death!"

The shockwaves from the Noble Phantasms’ clash sent the Masters’ clothes and hair fluttering. Coincidentally, on the third floor of Tsukimihara Academy, the twilight’s ether light overwhelmed the thrusting thorned spear, exploding into a sky full of starlight before nightfall.

Yet neither Hakuno nor Sakatsuki reacted, as if nothing else mattered anymore, intently awaiting each other’s response.

"...During our final battle before, you said it, didn’t you? That I was looking at some distant place," Julius spoke, his voice no longer heavy like storm clouds but carrying the lightness of rain-washed air.

"You really saw through me. In truth, the Harway family, the Holy Grail—none of it mattered."

"Ahh, none of it matters~~" Rin lay sprawled on the ground, abandoning ladylike decorum for the first time, especially before this complicated young man. "The Holy Grail, punching Leo in the face—none of that was ever the real goal."

"It’s just that while walking through the world, I heard innocent people crying. So I felt I should do something about it."

"...When I was still weak, there was only one woman who would call my name. Unneeded, unwanted, worthless... That’s what they said about me. Yet in her alone, I found meaning in life."

"But she..."

"Still, whether then or now, I couldn’t wipe away the tears from those people’s faces." The girl leaned wearily against the cold wall, whispering to the young man separated by the wall of death. "After all, the world is already marching toward its end. How can someone who can’t even secure their own future have the right to save others?"

"How long ago was that? Even now, remembering it feels like watching a movie—unreal." Julius released his still-bleeding wound. The Moon Cell’s judgment had already been delivered, yet he continued speaking as if it didn’t concern him. "But the words she left behind became my purpose. I will fulfill the wish she left—"

"I want to go to her side."

"I want to break through the limits of social control."

"I want to talk more with that motherly woman."

"I want to save the crying people."

"That’s all."

"That’s all."

In the sigh of release, the two Masters thus met their end. Hakuno silently bowed her head in mourning, while Sakatsuki, after a moment of silence, turned away.

The King of Saints, the ideal, stood behind him with a smile both merciless and warm.

"Come, Sakatsuki."

The Moon Cell King, poised for battle, spoke thus.

"This is the final battle."