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Due to the binding interference of Kalia's [Heartblood Frost Lotus], he was unable to perfectly guide this destructive power and was forced to release it prematurely and incompletely. Even so, its power was still terrifyingly immense!

Rumble, rumble, rumble—!!!

Centered on Sherlock, an indescribable chain reaction of explosions, seemingly formed from the shattering of countless worlds, mixed with a black sea of ​​fire that incinerated concepts, and a destructive torrent like the beginning of the universe, swept indiscriminately in all directions, towards everyone on the deck, towards the entire Naraku space, and even towards the shattered continent of Britain outside! This power was enough to completely erase an entire continental plate from concept in an instant!

However, Castor would not allow him to have his way!

Almost as soon as Sherlock began to chant, she raised the staff in her hand, now one with the holy sword, and the starlight and radiance of Paradise around her reached their peak! Her voice was clear and firm, like the morning bell announcing a new era:

A foreign land, the end of time. — Yet the sword is in his hand.

The city walls were sturdy, and cheers echoed for miles.

[A chilling victory is now in sight...]

【【The True Circle Gathering: Oath of the Stars】！！】

The Noble Phantasm of Artoria Caster, who became the "Guardian of Britain" and was completely fused with the Holy Sword! It manifests as the phantom of Camelot, the legendary chalk city at twilight. This city is not for attack, but to bestow upon all who stand beside her and share the same beliefs the supreme blessing and protection of the Knights of the Round Table! It grants unparalleled defensive power, constructing an ideal wall that is absolutely impenetrable!

Om-! ! !

The dazzling starlight and the holy light intertwined, transforming into a magnificent, platinum-colored phantom wall that seemed to be formed from the oaths and ideals of countless knights, standing before the torrent of destruction! On the wall, countless illusory knight figures seemed to stand solemnly, silently swearing to protect.

Sherlock's devastating explosion, powerful enough to reduce the Fairy Kingdom to nothingness, slammed into the Wall of Oath!

A deafening roar and the light of annihilation filled the entire space! The phantom of the city wall trembled violently, its surface rippling with countless waves, yet it stood firm and unshakeable like a pillar in the middle of a torrent, firmly and immovably blocking the all-destroying explosive torrent! It could not harm the people sheltering behind it in the slightest!

"Now—!!!" Morgan's and Ritsuka's voices, one cold and the other resolute, rang out simultaneously!

Morgan clasped her hands together, and a deep blue magic manifested behind her like a boiling ocean, intertwining the shattered reflection of Camelot with endless lamentations and hatred:

[Water Mirror, at its fullest extent. As a savior fairy, she should sweep away all pretense.]

[An ideal land that can no longer be reached]

Everything that came into view turned to ashes!

Ritsuka closed her eyes, immersing herself entirely in the ceremonial attire left behind by Sylph. The emerald magical wings unfurled fully behind her, and a fleeting, all-seeing compound eye seemed to flash deep within her pupils. She clenched her fist, not with a weapon, but by channeling all her ability to see through disguises and lies, her extreme hatred for Vortigern, and her unwavering will to kill into her upcoming "declaration":

At this moment, nothing in the world can hide anymore!

Sweep away the disguise, tear off the mask!

【——Sin Extinguished: The Unconcealable Pretense Tears Apart——】

[I will definitely... defeat you! Vortigern!!!]

In the super-evolved form of the Eye of the Disguised Hunter, which Sylph evolved at the cost of her life and ultimately entrusted to, any disguise, no matter how precise and perfect, no matter how gorgeous or ordinary the cloak, will be exposed and completely seen through, analyzed, and locked into its most fundamental and vulnerable "truth"!

This is Sylph's ultimate trump card, prepared at any cost, to eradicate Vortigern! The moment her true name is released will be the moment of Vortigern's doomsday judgment!

As if sensing the imminent fatal blow aimed at Vortigern's essence, the crimson chill that had been binding Sherlock and Oberon suddenly erupted with its final, most intense burst of light! The ice layer instantly thickened and hardened, almost completely freezing the two inside, leaving them with only extremely limited room to move!

The next second—

Morgan's Water Mirror Light (a composite impact formed by the power of Sylph guided by Ritsuka, interwoven with azure destruction and crimson delusion, like a spear of judgment, tore through space and struck the two Vortigerns who were temporarily imprisoned by blood-red ice with unparalleled precision!)

"boom--!!!!!!"

An indescribable explosion and energy turbulence completely engulfed the two! Within that light lay Morgan's thousand-year-old sorrow and hatred, Sylph's obsession and sacrifice, Ritsuka's determination, and everyone's anger towards these two world-destroying culprits!

The light of the Noble Phantasm gradually faded.

At the edge of the deck, Sherlock and Oberon reappeared. Most of the ice covering them had shattered, but their bodies were covered in countless horrific wounds, some deep enough to expose bone, others piercing their torsos, with black blood and broken shells constantly peeling away. Their auras were utterly depleted; they swayed unsteadily, barely able to stand, with the edge of the abyss leading to the deepest, eternal void of Naraku right beneath their feet.

"Get down...!"

Without any hesitation, Ritsuka and Morgan exchanged glances and unleashed their last strength, rushing towards the dying Vortigern like an arrow released from a bow!

The moment the two rushed close, they exerted their strength simultaneously, kicking Sherlock and Oberon hard in the chest!

The immense force caused the two, already exhausted, to lose their balance. They screamed and fell backward, plummeting into the bottomless abyss of darkness.

however--

"Ugh!"

Ritsuka suddenly cried out in pain! A jet-black iron chain, formed from shadow and ending in a hook, was flung out of Sherlock's hand like the final strike of a dying viper, hooking tightly onto Ritsuka's right forearm! The chain tightened instantly, the hook digging deep into her flesh, sending a tearing pain through her and a powerful downward force that seemed to be dragging her down into the abyss!

"Ritsuka!" Morgan and Liliana, who had just arrived, were horrified. They rushed forward at the same time, grabbing Ritsuka's body tightly from both sides and pulling her backward with all their might!

"I'm not reconciled—!!!" Sherlock Vortigern, his body mostly suspended in mid-air and only connected to Ritsuka by chains, roared hysterically, his eyes filled with extreme resentment, "Even if I die... I'll drag you down with me! Fujimaru Ritsuka—!!!"

"Don't even think about it—!!" Ritsuka gritted her teeth, a sharp pain shooting through her arm as if it were being torn off. But she suddenly looked up, a ruthless glint in her eyes. "Even if... I cut off this arm... I will never... go to the underworld with someone like you!"

Just when things were at a critical juncture and at a stalemate—

"Silly boy……"

An old, weary voice, yet filled with an unmistakable warmth and a sense of reliability, brushed past Ritsuka's ears like a spring breeze.

"I... will not allow you to do such a foolish thing."

It's Senko Muramasa!

"Now—turn your head to the side immediately!" Muramasa's voice suddenly turned sharp as a knife. "I'm going to... present this last 'guest' with a 'surprise'!"

Ritsuka didn't hesitate at all, nor did she even consider why Muramasa would appear at this moment. She had absolute trust in the owner of this voice.

"Your Majesty Liliana! Your Majesty Morgan! Step aside—!" she shouted sharply.

Although Morgan and Liliana were confused, based on their trust in their comrade and their battlefield instincts, almost at the same time Ritsuka spoke, the two of them worked together to suddenly dodge to the side!

The very next instant they dodged—

A crimson streak of light, seemingly imbued with all the forging fire in the world and the power to sever obsessions, swept past Ritsuka's cheek at a speed too fast for the naked eye to perceive, like a comet piercing the night sky!

The target is—Sherlock Vortigern's forehead!

Pfft—!

Absolutely precise! Completely unobstructed!

A long, crimson sword, with an ancient design that seemed to be forged from lava and stars, was deeply embedded in the center of Sherlock Vortigern's forehead!

Sherlock Vortigern's expression froze instantly. The madness, resentment, and unwillingness in his eyes... all emotions receded like the tide, leaving only a deathly emptiness.

"I... just... like this..."

His last murmurs dissipated in the wind.

The shadowy iron chain that had been tightly gripping Ritsuka's arm softened and disintegrated instantly, turning into black smoke, as if it had lost its source of power.

Along with Oberon Vortigern, whose consciousness was completely connected to his and who was also dying, the two Vortigerns, who were one and had orchestrated the tragedies of Britain for thousands of years, completely lost all vitality and support. Like two pieces of rotten dead wood, they fell straight down into the endless abyss below, and were quickly swallowed up by the rolling darkness, leaving no trace.

[The marrow, the explanation. 】

[Conclusion complete.]

[Forging technique, critical point.]

Let this be a 'souvenir' for your journey to the underworld!

This is my—

[[Dumugao·Muramasa]! ! ! 】

The voice of Senji Muramasa, seemingly emanating from the depths of the void, carrying a sense of exhilaration and a touch of weariness after completing his mission, resonated clearly in everyone's hearts.

Before the words were finished—

"Buzz—!!!"

Three crimson blades, larger and more condensed than before, seemingly capable of severing the very laws of the world, descended without warning from the outside of the Naraku Insect, above the shattered sky of Britain, like divine punishment blades that split the heavens and the earth!

The first strike tore through the Naraku Insect's thick, seemingly all-consuming carapace!

The second cut pierced deep into its twisted and churning void!

The third strike—severing cause and effect, judgment prevails!

"Pfft—!!!!!"

With a deafening, inhuman roar that seemed to come from beyond the world, the enormous calamity worm that was greedily "enjoying" the British continent and trapping everyone inside its body was cleaved in two by the three crimson blades!

The dazzling, long-awaited true light of day surged through the huge, smooth cut, like a flood bursting its banks, into the dark interior of the Naraku Insect!

Immediately afterwards, the second and third cuts burst open on the insect's body, completely destroying its stability.

"Crack... Rumble rumble rumble—!!!"

The massive body of the Naraku Insect, cleaved into several pieces, began to disintegrate and crumble from the inside out, like a collapsing mountain! The Nautilus, trapped within, was also pushed out by a gentle force during this disintegration, returning to the sky of Britain—a sky that, though shattered, was undeniably real!

In the last glimpse after everyone had left, the severed Naraku Insect, along with the last possible traces of Vortigern within its body, was completely transformed into countless scattered black ashes and ripples of nothingness amidst a series of deafening roars that seemed to echo the lamentation of space itself. Ultimately, it vanished into the twilight-tinged sky of Britain, leaving no trace whatsoever.

Below, all that remains is the British continent, riddled with holes, scarred and devastated, as if it had undergone the most thorough surgery...

-

"Kalia! Kalia—!!!"

The aftershocks of the battle had not yet completely subsided, and the roar of the collapsing space still echoed in her ears, but Ritsuka could no longer care about anything else. She practically scrambled to the edge of the glaring pool of blood in the center of the deck, using the last of her strength.

Caster was already kneeling there, carefully cradling Kalia's mangled body in his arms. The silver-white armor was stained dark red, and the once crystal-clear cloak and gloves were now soaked with the warm blood of his comrade, heavy and carrying the cold temperature of life slipping away.

Looking at that familiar face, pale as paper yet still bearing a faint, serene smile, and at the horrific wound pierced by Oberon's claws, still a bloody mess with broken bones visible, Ritsuka's heart felt as if it were being gripped and crushed by an invisible hand.

Tears instantly blurred her vision, gushing uncontrollably. She knelt beside Kalia, her trembling hand reaching out to touch her, yet fearing to intensify her pain, it remained suspended in mid-air, trembling in vain.

“Why…why did you…do this…” Her voice was broken and choked with sobs. “Didn’t you…didn’t you say…you wanted to go with me to see the Pan-Human History…to see how spring there is different from here…why…why did you break your promise…Kalia…”

Those once clear, bright, curious, and vibrant ice-blue eyes were now fading, leaving only a faint glimmer of light. As if hearing Ritsuka's voice, Kalia, with extreme difficulty and extreme slowness… raised her cold hand, stained with the blood of herself and her enemies.

With her last ounce of strength, she gently brushed her fingertips across Ritsuka's tear-stained, dust-covered, weathered face. The movement was as soft as the first snowflake melting in early spring.

“…Until…the very end…” Her voice was barely audible, yet it reached Ritsuka’s ears clearly, “only then…did I truly understand…what His Majesty…told me back then…”

Blood kept spilling from the corner of her mouth, but her expression remained unusually calm, even carrying a sense of relief after enlightenment.

"I need... to protect something..."

Her gaze seemed to pass through Ritsuka, looking towards some distant and beautiful place.

"Can I... live in your 'dream'...?"

She smiled slightly, as if she had thought of something happy.

"I only want...I only want...for myself..."