I need some time to process all of this so I just stay silent for a few moments after hearing what Saber said.
It is mostly because I genuinely never expected that this beautiful golden-haired woman who is easily one of the strongest Servants in the entire war was actually a tyrant who forced herself to completely remove her own emotions just to rule her kingdom, and it completely flips everything I thought I knew about her.
Is this the reason why Berserker Lancelot in the anime is so violently obsessed with Saber... no wait, after remembering the scenes about it again I recall something else entirely.
"Lancelot... I wanted the Holy Grail... I wanted it so I could undo everything since I wanted to save Britain yes... but more than that I wanted to fix my mistakes and I wanted to save you!"
"I was a terrible king and it was all my fault... my fault you fell into madness...!"
The deeply pained voice of Saber... no, the voice of Artoria Pendragon from the anime suddenly echoes loudly in my mind as the pieces finally click together.
"So that is exactly why she said that..." I whisper softly to myself.
Is it truly because her emotionless way of ruling as a king is what ultimately destroyed Britain and shattered the Knights of the Round Table from the inside out?
This is definitely the part where my mysterious Connection to the Root giving me more information about Saber's past would be a really good thing to have, but since I still don't know how it actually works nothing happens at all and my mind stays completely blank.
But even without that power I still know exactly what her ultimate wish is after hearing all of that heavy regret.
"Is that why you want to change the past with the Holy Grail?" I finally ask her while looking directly into her sorrowful green eyes.
"But that is... I am sorry to say this but that is truly impossible..." I add quietly while shifting my weight on the bench.
"What do you mean it is impossible?" Saber snaps back as her posture instantly goes rigid and she turns to face me completely.
"How could you possibly know something like that in the first place, and why would I believe an eight-year-old child trying to tell me that my chance at salvation is impossible?" she continues while leaning in closer with a harsh glare.
"You do not know what is impossible because the Holy Grail is a device capable of performing miracles, and I simply refuse to accept that it cannot undo the mistakes of my past!" Saber argues as she tightly grips the edge of the wooden seat.
I understand why Saber is saying all of that because it would actually be much stranger if she immediately believed me or didn't argue back to defend her goals.
But the real problem is that Britain's fall is included in a Quantum Time-Lock, so no matter what Saber does she cannot change the past unless she is somehow stronger than the world itself.
On top of that the Holy Grail is really corrupted, meaning even if she made that specific wish the Grail would just grant it in the most twisted way possible by killing every citizen of Britain to ensure they never experience war or betrayal since a country with no people cannot fall.
I rub my forehead trying to figure out how I can actually convince her, especially knowing that she made a contract with the Counter Force just to save her people and they are tricking her exactly like how they trick Emiya Shirou in the future into becoming a Counter Guardian.
"Wait Emiya Shirou? That name again huh..." I mutter quietly before hurriedly shaking my head side to side to clear the sudden stray thought since this is definitely not the time for that.
"Saber I know how tempting it is to rely on a cup that can grant everything, but your wish simply cannot be granted" I tell her while leaning forward to explain how Britain's fall is actually their set destiny and is permanently locked into the timeline.
"Even if the Grail somehow granted your wish this entire timeline would be pruned right away because Britain needs to fall to let the Age of Man begin" I finish while watching her grip on the bench loosen in shock.
"That is a complete lie" Saber says while stiffening her posture and pushing herself deeper into the backrest of the bench.
"You are asking me to believe that the world itself requires my kingdom to be destroyed and my people to suffer just so humanity can progress, and I refuse to accept such a twisted logic" she continues while crossing her arms tightly over her chest and turning her face away.
"I discarded my humanity and put my knights into dangerous situation for the sake of Britain, so telling me that our tragedy is just a set destiny that cannot be changed is a complete insult to their memories" she argues while turning her head back to look directly at me.
"There has to be a way to save them because I made a pact to obtain the Holy Grail and I will not let you tell me that my entire existence and my wish are completely meaningless" Saber finishes while clenching her jaw and staring intently at the ground.
I knew this is going to happen because Saber is incredibly stubborn, so there is no way she is going to simply believe what I just told her without seeing actual proof.
I really don't want to use this method but I think this is my only chance to convince her while Kiritsugu is not near here and Irisviel hasn't come back yet to interrupt us, and while I definitely plan to show this to Irisviel later I need to convince Saber first so I have some backup.
"I can prove it!" I hurriedly say while leaning forward on the bench to close the distance between us.
"I can prove that everything I said is true and it's not just nonsense" I add while keeping my posture completely straight to show I'm not bluffing.
The moment I say that I can see Saber staring at me with a heavily suspicious gaze before she finally tilts her head slightly.
"Prove? How can you prove that?" Saber asks while narrowing her eyes in clear doubt.
I shift my body to get even closer to her and extend my hand out, keeping my palm open and waiting for her to take it.
She looks down at my outstretched hand and slowly moves her own hand forward, hesitating a few times and stopping in midair before she finally closes the gap and our hands grab each other firmly.
"I'm gonna show you an illusion but just because it's an illusion doesn't mean what I show you is fake" I explain while gripping her fingers tightly so she knows I'm serious.
"I vow with my entire past, present, and future that I will show you nothing but the truth" I state while leaning in closer to look directly into her eyes.
"I see... If you even vow like that then I will gladly see what you want to show me" Saber replies while giving my hand a firm squeeze in return.
"Oh right because your magic resistance is like really high can you please not block my illusion" I add quickly before closing my eyes and steadying my breathing to focus.
Let's see if I remember a spell that lets me show someone an illusion from my memory that feels completely real. Oh right, maybe that can be useful.
I take a deep breath and the moment I open my mouth I can feel a familiar warmth spreading through my chest as my magic circuits naturally hum to life.
"Faraway paradise… a garden beyond reach" I chant slowly while my Od rushes down my arm and flows directly into the hand that is tightly holding Saber's fingers.
"A breeze that does not wither, a light that does not fade" I continue as the wind around us starts to blow stronger and a faint glowing starts to leak out from where our skin connects.
The magic circuits running through my system burn with a steady and controlled heat, pushing my Od straight into her mind to gently bypass her high Magic Resistance.
"Open the gates to the garden where history is weighed" I whisper softly.
"A destiny frozen in time. Witness the void that awaits the unyielding—Verdict of Avalon"
---
---
---
To Saber, the young child named Reina that she has only interacted with a handful of times since being summoned into this Holy Grail War is simply deeply strange.
The fact that an eight-year-old can maintain a calm demeanor during life-or-death situations is highly unnatural, especially considering her unusual composure during their tense first encounter at the docks or when she suddenly appears in the middle of a dark mountain forest last night.
During that forest incident, the child somehow managed to awaken both her and Lancer by directly channeling her own Od to stimulate their Saint Graphs a feat that defies normal logic.
Added to that, both her and Lancer's overall parameters increased dramatically right afterward, proving that the raw Od contained within this small child is vastly more potent and dense than that of their own Masters, or perhaps even any other magus existing in this era.
She simply doesn't possess the mindset of an eight-year-old at all, surviving the middle of a dangerous forest at night without a hint of panic, not to mention her eerily composed reaction hours later when she was actively being targeted and attacked by Assassin.
Even though Saber rarely had the opportunity to interact with ordinary children during her reign as the King, she fundamentally understands how a normal child should mentally break down or cry when faced with the terror of almost being kidnapped.
So Reina's entire existence and personality remain a complete mystery that deeply confuses her, but at the very least, Saber's instincts confirm that the child doesn't harbor any malicious intent toward her or Irisviel.
Because of all that, Saber allowed Reina to show what she knew through her illusion, actively letting the child's magecraft bypass her naturally high Magic Resistance.
Well, even without that trust, Saber still would have let her do it simply because she knew how completely serious Reina was when she made her vow to show only the truth.
"Where is this" Saber asks quietly while looking around as the scenery of the mall and the crowds of walking people completely disappear, leaving her standing alone in the middle of total nothingness.
This empty void feels really familiar to her, carrying the exact same strange sensation as the times when Merlin used his illusions on her in the past.
The theory that this "Lady Avalon" Reina mentioned is actually just Merlin is starting to make a lot of sense in her mind.
"I should have a talk with Reina later" she murmurs while clenching her fist and moving her body a few times to test her mobility.
She can move her body normally and there seems to be no restrictions at all on her movements, so she patiently waits for whatever scene Reina wants to show her to finally appear.
But a couple of minutes pass and nothing happens.
She just stands there surrounded by the heavy darkness with the environment completely unchanging.
"Huh... it's taking a while, when is it gonna start" Saber mutters while shifting her stance slightly in the endless dark.
"Did the spell break? Or did Reina fail to cast it properly" she asks aloud to the emptiness while looking around for any sign of a shift in the magic.
She starts to genuinely worry that casting such complex magecraft on a Servant might be taking too much of a toll on the child's physical body, completely unaware that during the very first night, the actual reason Berserker suddenly stopped moving and was killed by Archer was because he was tightly trapped in an illusion created by Rikka.
"I know right, Reina can be such a clumsy girl sometimes" a mysterious voice says while a soft echoing chuckle fills the dark void around them.
Out of nowhere Saber can hear voice echoes through the empty darkness to casually answer Saber's thought.
The voice is incredibly smooth and light, carrying a natural and soothing rhythm that feels just like a gentle wind or a soft lullaby cutting through the darkness.
Saber immediately turns her attention toward the source of the sound, her eyes scanning the unbroken darkness until a shape finally begins to form in the distance.
Slowly, the silhouette of a girl who is noticeably smaller than Saber walks forward, her quiet footsteps making almost no sound at all until she finally steps out from the shadows and reveals herself in whatever faint light exists here.
She looks almost exactly like Reina, but her facial expression is completely different.
Instead of the lively or serious looks the child usually shows, this girl's face holds a perfectly calm and serene expression, making her seem entirely detached from normal human emotions.
And instead of the bright pink dress that Irisviel bought for Reina earlier, this mysterious girl is wearing a traditional, elegantly woven kimono that flows smoothly with every silent step she takes toward Saber.
Saber simply stares at the small figure in front of her, deeply confused by the strange contradiction she is looking at.
The physical face and the small height match the eight-year-old child she knows perfectly, but the calm way she carries herself and the quiet look in her eyes make it undeniably clear that the person standing right in front of her is someone else entirely.
"Who are you" Saber demands while narrowing her eyes and instinctively shifting her weight into a more guarded stance.
---
---
---
---
---
A/N: Not gonna lie but during that later half of the chapter i can't decided to still called Rikka just Reina or Rikka because that's 3rd pov.
But then because the 3rd pov is from saber so i decided to stay with Reina the name that saber knows, anyway I've been sick since a few days so sorry for the slow update.
It's gonna be back to normal after I recover so see you later~