[Shut up, Deer-Head.] Rikka gave him a throat-cutting gesture. [I'm done with your excuses. Either we die, or you die. That's what this is. Everything you saw, felt, or believed? I don't give a damn about any of it.]
She pointed a finger directly at the Beast.
[I came here to crush you. So go ahead, fire your 'Human History Beam.' We aren't going to die.]
She spoke as if it were an immutable law of the universe.
[Because our lives are just getting started!!]
"This is the crossroads," Gilgamesh said, his voice low. "Will their struggle bear fruit, or will they die together? It is time for the Judgment."
The King stood still. He would not interfere. This was the future they had chosen.
(…Ea.) Fou spoke quietly. (Do you… want to lose Rikka and Mash?)
—Fou…?
(Just a final check. —Do you want everyone to reach the end together?)
[Then witness it. Your end. The remake of this planet. The Conclusion of Human History.]
"That is the home that heals all flaws, all grudges—our homeland—"
—YES!
[WITNESS THE MOMENT OF MY GREAT AMBITION! THIRD NOBLE PHANTASM, DEPLOY! ARS ALMADEL SALOMONIS!]
[Rise, my shield. —My resolve!]
—Fou, Master, Mash, Gil… Everyone!
[BURN AWAY LIKE DUST—!]
[I WON'T LET ANYONE DIE! I WON'T LET YOU!!]
"MANIFEST—!!"
—Everyone, together…! I want to go to the future with everyone!
(I see. —I thought so.)
"…Fulfill your heart's desire, right now."
(Yeah. —This time—)
[ARS ALMADEL SALOMONIS!!][ACHILLES COSMOS!!]
(—I will protect them!)
"LOAD CAMELOT—!!!!"
Time seemed to freeze.
There is no substance on Earth that can withstand the heat of the band of light. But that is merely a law of physics. Her protection was a protection of the spirit. As long as her heart remained untainted and her resolve unwavering, her castle would never melt or crack.
Goetia knew. He knew her rampart would stop his Third Noble Phantasm.
And yet—
[UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!]
"SENPAI! FOU-SAN!"
Human Love and Human Evil stood together against the heat. Using the world itself, the mud of the abyss, and a sacred wish, they stood before the girl with the shield.
The Evil born of humanity, and the Love born of the soul, were protecting her.
[—I told you. We're all… going home.] Rikka laughed, her body enduring the impossible heat.
(Too bad for you. I'm not giving you a single thing!) Fou roared.
Mash blocked the heat of history; the Beast protected Mash's body; and the Dragon protected the hearts of both.
[TAKE THIS—!!!]
The heat began to flicker and die.
"—Ah. Once again… I've been protected by my Senpai." Mash smiled through her tears. "I'm hopeless, aren't I? Always being protected… I wanted to, at least once at the very end…"
[It's not the end.] Rikka smiled, though the heat had scorched her. [From now on, we'll be together—forever.]
"—Yes!!"
(—Back then, I could only watch. Once before, I let something precious slip through my fingers.) Fou nodded. (Thank you, Ea. Because of you—this time… I was able to protect them.)
What the Beast had received from the Princess was that large, that irreplaceable.
Look at her. Exposed to the heat of the stars. Struck by the weight of all history.
"Hah… hah… hah…!"
But her spirit remained unviolated. The Snowflake Shield was unmarred.
Two humans should not have been able to do this. It was a miracle achieved only because of a small creature who had reached the state of "Human Love."
—Fou!! Fou!!
(I'm okay. I can hear you. I'm still me… and I'm still your best friend.)
—Oh… oh, thank god! Fou—!!
[——————]
"Can you not believe what has happened before your eyes, Beast?"
Gilgamesh stepped forward toward the frozen Goetia.
"It is only natural. This is what you refused to see. The pattern woven within human history, spinning through sorrow and hatred—the Zenith."
The King spoke gently now.
"The things you overlooked, lost, and deemed unnecessary… they were, in truth, the most valuable of human endeavors."
[The Zenith… is that the answer Lemegeton found from humanity?]
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