“Th-that sword…! Cough?! You’re cheating…! Gah!” Luna hacked up blood, keeled over. …He’d gotten her. The tendons in her right hand and left foot had been amputated. One lung had been punctured. Even if she wanted to cast a spell, the excruciating pain garbled her concentration, and she couldn’t say the incantation. She couldn’t fight, even if she wanted to. It wasn’t a matter of willpower. It was physically impossible to move. Blood pooled around Sir Kay, Nayuki, and Sir Galahad, too, slumped over and collapsed facedown. “Did you finally decide to use that thing?” Morgan leaped down next to King Arthur. “I was getting annoyed by them…especially Sir Galahad with her relics. You helped me out there.” “Ah-ha-ha. Sorry, sister…I was just having so much fun.” As they exchanged casual conversation, King Arthur stared down at Luna, who looked unsightly at his feet. “Do you get it now? Our kingliness is just so different… But it’s not your fault. I thought you were doing well. It’s just that I make a better king than you.” “…?!” Luna gritted her teeth, using her sword as a cane and trying to stand up several times. Each time, she failed, clumsily crumpling to the ground… “Don’t move around… Or you might die. After all, I went through the trouble to keep you alive… I need you to keep living.” “…What…are…? Cough!” “You heard me. I don’t want you to lose your life in vain. I’d like you to join me…on my Wild Hunt.” “?!” Luna’s eyes snapped open. “The Wild Hunt is made up of apparitions and heroes from all eras and places. And you worked hard, to be honest. You earned your place in my Wild Hunt as a hero.” King Arthur offered Luna a hand. “What do you say? Will you tear through the skies with me? Why don’t we prompt the Catastrophe and change this world together…?” “As if…! Cough!” Luna was having trouble producing full sentences. “Your eyes… Someone’s determined…” King Arthur shrugged and looked at Morgan. “I do wonder if she’ll change her mind if she sees that… Sister…” “I got you.” Morgan smirked and stood in front of Luna. As Luna crawled along the ground and looked up, Morgan raised her hand in front of the girl and whispered some sort of spell. Beyond her palm materialized a hazy window of light like a TV. It displayed something to her… Lightning raced over the ground. It was Sir Balin, sprinting on the earth, smashing the daggers that came down on him like a meteor shower. “—Uh?!” Sir Mordred’s eyes opened wide as she clutched her Sword of Destruction, releasing another set of daggers to stop Sir Balin. “Hmph—!” Sir Balin deflected them with his sword, accelerating faster. “—Huh?!” ROAR! Sir Balin passed by Sir Mordred. “—Gah?!” Sir Mordred was sent flying through the air, body sustaining lacerations, blood squirting. “Sir Mordred?! Gah—” Sir Dinadan tried to rush in after her, forcing his horse to change course to charge Sir Balin. FWOOM! Sir Balin vanished, appearing and disappearing for a moment behind Sir Dinadan, over the horse’s back. “Aaaaaaah—?!” As his horse was dismembered, its sinews flying in all directions, Sir Dinadan found himself cut all over, thrown onto the ground. “Guh, cough—how do you move so fast…?!” Sir Mordred struggled to get up. “Looks like you underestimated the strongest knight of the early Round Table,” Sir Balin said. “My divine protection comes from the Fomorians… My speed is boosted, the longer a battle is drawn out… I’ve always been a slow starter.” “…?!” Sir Mordred recalled how Sir Balin had accomplished all kinds of military feats in the legendary era, most toward the end of battles.“…Cough… So you’re a slow starter who speeds up to be the fastest? …Sounds like a load of crap to me…!” Sir Mordred laughed sarcastically, facing a real beast. “Trying to fight my speed with numbers, huh,” Sir Balin observed. “You were right in strategizing this way, but this wasn’t nearly enough…” “Gah…?!” “Aren’t you in excruciating pain, being half alive? I’ll take you out of your misery…” Sir Balin approached Sir Mordred, who couldn’t move a finger…one step, then another… “Gah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Wonderful!” King Pellinore seemed genuinely delighted as he laughed loudly. “Look! Good job! Be proud, maiden! You’ve laid a scratch on me!” He raised his left hand, showing a tiny flesh wound—a fraction of an inch long—on the back. “…Father… You’re a monster…! That’s all, after you fought Klingsor and Emma’s Slashing Sword…?!” Sir Percival groaned and collapsed on the ground. “Hah…! Hah…! Hah…!” Emma stood in a daze, breathing raggedly. It was obvious at a glance that Emma and Sir Percival were tragically beaten down. …Is this it…?! Sir Percival groaned as if giving up the fight. His legs had been done in by their last-ditch effort to fight King Pellinore. Moving was out of the question. Emma had already used her Royal Road twice, leaving her with no moves… If she used it again and lost her sword…she would have no way to defend against the beast. Any normal sword couldn’t go against King Pellinore’s blade. He would obliterate it. The only one that could face him was Excalibur, the highest classed sword in the world, even an imperfect one. More importantly…Emma is already at her limit…! Emma was riddled with wounds, at the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. She was standing on her own two feet…but that was all she could manage. She’d been using her swordsmanship and skills to barely deflect King Pellinore, who could pulverize her body with one clean hit. Already, she’d reached her limit—mentally and physically. In fact, she was barely conscious. She limply let the sword hang down and lowered her face, letting her empty eyes roam the vacant air. “You put up a good fight, little lass! I’ll give you that!” King Pellinore’s feet thumped as he approached Emma and stood in front of her. “…” Emma was silent. She didn’t react, even as he loomed nearer. “As a reward, I’ll send you to oblivion with my most tremendous blow!” King Pellinore raised his long sword above his head, a sublime Aura converging on its tip, warping the space around it from its force. “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Feast your eyes on this! That which broke King Arthur’s Excalibur!” The Aura amassed. Preparing to detonate its greatest firepower, the sword tip started to glow, power limitless. It grew into a larger sphere, lighting its surroundings like daytime. If she took that hit, nothing would be left but a gaping crater. “…Miss Emma! R-run!” Sir Percival’s warning echoed in vain… “…” Emma maintained her silence, seeming barely conscious… “…This is it…” Misha slumped to her knees onto the ground, tossing away her assault-gun-shaped Excalibur. Hers shot out bullets made of her own mana. And she was out of ammo. She’d exhausted her magic. “ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAR!” Meanwhile, the Questing Beast was in excellent health. In fact, it was trying to ram into the immobile girl, charging toward her with its gigantic frame… “…Do whatever you want…,” Misha rasped. “Cough, cough…” Just then, Sir Palamedes stood over her, tattered like Misha, staring down the monster. “What do you think you’re doing…?” “Ha-ha-ha. My legs are done for… I can’t carry you, so…” Somehow, he still seemed cheerful. “At the very least…I’d like to spend my final moments with you, my King…” “Hmph. You’re so stupid… What’s up with you? I don’t recall you being so pious.” “Don’t you know? I might be a knight with a bad personality, but I have a devoted side.” “…If you say so. Then, stay with me until the end…” “Yes, got it…my Kin—” The rest of his words were drowned out by the earth-shattering footsteps and roar of the Questing Beast, plunging at them with its great body. “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh, you look so pitiful, Felicia Ferald!” Kujou’s laughter echoed all over the place. “…” An ocean of blood spread below his feet… And at its center, Felicia was collapsed facedown like a puppet with cut strings. Not even the slightest of movements was feasible for her in this state. Her Radiant Steel Sword of Glory pierced the ground next to her like a grave marker and had long ago lost its luster. “Gah…?!” “It’s over.” Sir Lancelot drilled his sword deep into Sir Gawain’s chest. Sir Gawain hacked up blood, his body convulsing. They were close enough to feel each other’s breaths. Sir Lancelot looked at him and seemed somewhat torn. “It seems that…I’ve won again.” “…” “But you were…the strongest you’ve ever been.” Slump. Sir Gawain’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, which hung low. He leaned onto Sir Lancelot as he collapsed… Luna was seeing her friends’ final moments through this portal of light. “Oh…ohh…g-guys…” “Ha-ha-ha. Thoughts? What crossed your mind, seeing the last moments of all who made it here, fueled by their faith in you?” Morgan snickered in delight as she whispered in Luna’s ear. Crack. Jaw slack, Luna stared as a crack formed in the base of her Excalibur. “…Looks like you’ve given up.” That was when the view of Avalon curled up like smoke. They were back in the throne room. Morgan stood next to King Arthur… And Luna, Sir Kay, Nayuki, and Sir Galahad were folded down disgracefully in front of them, wounded all over, left without a fight. Upon seeing that, King Arthur swung his Excalibur…and all four walls blew out. VWOOSH. In an instant, he had exposed the place to the wind. The night sky was visible overhead. “Perfect timing…it seems.” GOOONG…rang a bell from somewhere. GOOONG…GOOONG…GOOONG… Its corrosive sound flooding their minds, the sinister chime seemed to herald the end of the world. “It’s a new day. The Wild Hunt will start here. The Catastrophe will begin and bring the world to its end,” King Arthur announced. At which point, darkness spread. The sky was dotted black. If they strained their eyes, they would have figured out what those were: apparitions, the size of small grains that vastly outnumbered the stars. The horde descended upon the city as if to blanket it. GOOONG… “Mmmmgh?! Is it about to begin?!” King Pellinore suddenly halted his sword and looked up into the sky, hearing the bell of destruction. GOOONG… “Finally… It’s time for my lord to rightfully rule the world…” Sir Balin stopped in his tracks and gazed up. GOOONG… “Heh… With this, Kotone is saved… This was what I wanted… I have no regrets…,”grumbled Mr. Kujou, listening to the chime. GOOONG…GOOONG…GOOONG… The toll of the bell boomed through the city. All who waited with bated breath felt their stomachs drop… And all they could do was quiver in fear. “No one can stop my Wild Hunt.” King Arthur proclaimed the grim truth. They had nothing to say to object. “I saved this front-row seat for you, Luna. Watch us fly through the sky. Burn that image in your eyes,” King Arthur told her—in a way that was graceful, sonorous, affectionate. “Aaaah… Aaah…” Morgan seemed emotional as she clasped her hands together and turned toward the sky. “It’s finally here…!” In this moment, she didn’t seem like a frightful witch. She almost looked like a maiden dreaming of love. “Finally,” she chirped, “I’ll be able to see him… Accolon…! It’s been so long… Too long, in fact…!” GOOONG…GOOONG…GOOONG… …Is it over? Luna asked herself, slipping into dejection. …Is this really how we go? Is the world ending? She didn’t even need to ask herself. It was over. Her team had been the final hope for salvation, however microcosmic. With their defeat, there was no saving anything anymore. The Wild Hunt was going to break out…and its effects would be irreversible. Like in the myths, the earth would become the ground of gods, fiends, and apparitions, who would rule over the world to bring about the Dark Ages. Humans would prostrate themselves before them, worshipping them, fearing them, and being held under their control as servants. And it was unpreventable. It was over now. Luna’s path to become king…ended here. …… …… …… …… …… …… “Luna Artur… Just who are you?” King Arthur suddenly murmured. “I can’t believe you can still look at me like that…after everything you’ve been through.” “…Huh?!” Morgan whipped around, yanked from her daydream that victory was theirs. “What a joke…! Cough! As if I’d ever give up…! Especially when the world’s about to end…!” Luna stood, coughing blood. “Stop saying it’s over… Cough! I’m still alive…! This match…hasn’t been settled yet…!” “…Why?” Even King Arthur hardened his expression. Gone was his confidence. He couldn’t help himself. “You’re such a sore loser. Your sword is broken. Your friends are dead. I can’t see how you’d ever win. It’s not shameful to kneel and despair in this situation. If I were in your position, I would…take a knee in defeat.” “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…!” Luna chuckled in a sinister way. “Cough! I—I got you to admit it…! You just confirmed it yourself…which of us is better fit to be king…! I win…!” “Huh?!” King Arthur’s expression turned furious. For a moment, the room felt like it was below freezing. But his cold rage lasted only a second. King Arthur immediately returned to showing a placid expression. “I just don’t understand… Why do you keep fighting?” “That’s obvious…! Because Rintarou is watching!” “…?” King Arthur tilted his head to the side, visibly confused. Hand trembling, Luna held up the hawthorn Celtic cross around her neck, seeming confident. “I know Rintarou is seeing if I’m fit to be a king… Even at this moment, he’s watching from somewhere in this world…! It’s not some theory… I know this for a fact!” “…” “I’m going to become the world’s best king and make him my vassal…! So I can’t make myself look bad… Just because the world is ending, I can’t do something unbefitting of a king!” Her scream was absorbed by the night sky. After some silence… “I don’t really understand, but I’ve realized I can’t make you surrender,” he replied, as if coming to terms with something. “You’re right. You might be more capable of being a king… But that’s too bad… The world is still ending, regardless.” King Arthur raised his sword over his head—the strongest blade, the Slashing Fate Sword. “And if you won’t admit your defeat…there’s no other way for me to end this fight…” He gathered Aura into the Slashing Fate Sword, which shone like daylight. He was preparing to use his final Royal Road. “Good-bye, Luna Artur, the true king I met in the distant future.” The surging light seemed almost as if it was ready to break like a dam… “Aaaaaarthuuuuuur!” Luna squeezed out the last of her strength and started running. For the first two or three steps, she staggered slightly before gaining momentum, hurtling forward with her battered body. At the critical moment, she ran at an impossible speed, carrying her cracked Excalibur and running straight at King Arthur. Just ten yards between Luna and King Arthur. It seemed to stretch forever. “Royal Road—” “Aaaaaaaaaaaah!” “—Slashing Fate Sword!” Without mercy, he carried out the final declaration, and the world was swallowed up by the light of the strongest king’s sword and burned white. — Dammit, Luna cursed, swallowed by the whiteness. Hey, Rintarou? Did I make a good king? What did you think? Luna thought, Ah-ha-ha. No good, huh… You wouldn’t think I put up a good fight. I needed to win… Right…? But you know… I have one regret. Can you guess what it is? …… …… If you were with me right now, Rintarou… I think… No… I know we’d win. Not because I’m a sore loser. Not because I’m codependent… But if you were here, I would have won. I mean, kings shouldn’t fight alone. Shouldn’t they have vassals to support them? I can trust Sir Kay, Nayuki, Felicia, Sir Gawain, Emma, and Sir Galahad… But… But…without you…I… …Do you hear me? Rintarou… Then… “Don’t worry,” someone assured, a familiar voice flooding Luna’s ears. “…Didn’t I tell you? I’m already the world’s best vassal for the world’s greatest king.” “…What?” “That’s why I’ll always return to you. As many times as it takes.” Luna opened her eyes. Darkness was the first thing she saw—an abyss that deflected the sinister light that damaged everything, a dimness that opened up, splitting the night sky. Darkness personified carried Luna, holding onto her side. But this darkness—darker than the bottom of the sea—was gentle, all embracing. And its identity was— “Rintarou…?” Luna murmured in disbelief, under the fissure of emptiness that closed everything up. “Yeah, it’s me. Sorry I’m late.” Unruffled, the boy in darkness answered in his mischievous way. Rintarou Magami. Rintarou Magami in his Fomorian Transformation.
Chapter 72
15 min read