There is a bond between life and life.
This bond will continue with the relationship.
Endings are sometimes pointless, but that's wrong.
Just like now, no matter how much we lose, no matter when it comes, things like bonds will never disappear.
Merlin stood on top of the tower, his expression unusually sad.
A flower fell on the handrail of the tower.
He pinched it gently, looked at it carefully, and sighed.
Holding the petals, they sink downwards, and the flowers continue to fly in the wind.
Maybe it will fall to the ground, or maybe... one day, it will turn into ashes in the wind.
"Wrong King..."
"The king who took another path because of some disagreement that shouldn't exist..."
He gently sat on the corner of the tower and looked down from the top of the tower. What was in his eyes was not the familiar scene that he was already familiar with.
"Avalon's protection... How can you say it's not a curse if it's a blessing?"
“Knights are the walking dead.”
"But the king...how can he not be a walking corpse?"
"Wandering on this land...wandering..."
"There was never any chance of peace, and even the right to die was deprived."
"The rocks by the holy lake, the walking corpses, what are the things that the goblins have not been talking about..."
The eyes of the half-incubus demon, who should have no human emotions at all, reflected the figures of the king and the knight, and there was a sigh in his voice...
"The body is in tatters and the soul is burned out..."
"Haha." Merlin sat on his back, shifted his gaze to the top of the tower, and let out a dry laugh.
Although he was smiling, there was no smile in his expression.
————
Matthew had already stood up for some reason.
She stared blankly ahead, looking at the place where the Lion King and the Blood Knight met.
"Do you still remember?"
The blood on Annuo's body had faded, and he fell in front of the Lion King. The Holy Grail fell from his left arm and rolled to the side, but he didn't care at all.
His body returned to its previous appearance... no, it was even more decayed than before.
The withered heart had turned into dust and disappeared, but with a smile on his decayed face, he handed out the holy sword to his king.
"—The Sword of Promised Victory—"
The Lion King sat opposite Annuo, the wound on her shoulder was still bleeding, but the wavering in her eyes when she looked at the Sword of Victory was more real.
"This is not a Noble Phantasm, wait... you are not a Servant..."
The Lion King raised his head and looked at Annuo with astonishment in his eyes.
"Ha ha......"
"Have you finally remembered my sin..."
"The sin of the knight who clearly promised you to return the Holy Sword after the war but accidentally died on the way..."
Residues have fallen off the end of Annuo's body.
But there was an ugly but happy smile on his face.
"...Do you have to insist and return this holy sword to me?" The Lion King asked tremblingly.
"That's not what I need anymore."
"...You shouldn't have said this to me." Annuo lowered his head, looked at the holy sword in his hand, and murmured, "Even if you want to attack me, who is your enemy, you shouldn't Say something like this.”
"Besides, I came here just to kill you."
He raised his head and looked into the Lion King's eyes.
"This is my atonement as a sinner, but..."
"This is what I must do as a Knight of the Round Table."
"You are wrong, King." Annuo's face began to break, "You are the evil one and the one who should not be forgiven."
He wanted to move his hand, but found...
"Ah... you can't move at all, this body..."
The Lion King had calmed down for some reason.
"Ma Xiu?" Annuo looked at the Lion King and just called out, his voice was hoarse and weak.
"...Grandfather." Matthew had already stood beside An Nuo at some point, looking at An Nuo who was kneeling on the ground with a complicated and sad expression.
"I can no longer hold this sword..."
"You were not confused when you held that shield. This holy sword can only be held by people with good intentions."
"Okay, can I leave it to you?"
Anno's eyes flashed past the scene of him holding up the infant Arturia in the corridor of the Royal Court of Camelot.
The Lion King opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something.
"You obviously didn't do anything wrong, why do you have to bear such a crime?" This was what Merlin asked on the tower when Anno was about to leave the Inner Sea of Stars.
In Annuo's eyes, the scene where he took Artoria and faced the flying dragon in the fairy realm flashed before his eyes.
"...Because I am the king's knight and the king's subject." This was Annuo's answer.
His eyes were about to close.
But he saw it again, saw Arturia standing in the Camelot Cemetery, drawing out the holy sword without hesitation.
"This journey of yours will not lead to anything. I will make it clear to you. I mean you."
"...it doesn't matter..."
An Nuo's body collapsed and was broken bit by bit.
But what he was thinking about was the scene of Arturia being crowned king.
There is also a battle together, a wedding with Guinevere, a fight to the death with the humble King Vortigern, and then...
Then he met his death on the hill of Kamlan.
But he failed to fulfill the king's wish...
Ahhh...
Really...
So incompetent...
"Finally... I can return this sword..."
A tear appeared on the dry face and fell to the ground.
Annuo's figure finally disappeared completely.
"Uncle Annuo..."
The Lion King looked at the place where Annuo was kneeling just now, feeling lost, and just called out unconsciously.
The king is burdened with so much.
The knight carries so much.
The darkness of the Round Table, the splendor of the Round Table, and the glory of the whole of Britain are what the king and the knight hold on to, bear together, and enjoy together.
Matthew picked up the Sword of Victory from the ground, with tears still on her face, but she kept a serious and solemn expression and handed the sword into the hands of the Lion King.
It was handed over to the original owner of the Holy Sword, Artoria Pendragon.
"ah......"
"My most powerful and loyal knight..."
Arturia looked at the holy sword in her hand, with understanding and a sigh in her expression.
"Beautifully done."
She stood up and raised her head at the end of the world.
"The Holy Sword has been returned."
"You accomplished your mission."
"The king's command has been fulfilled."
She has broken away from the shackles of the holy spear and is holding the holy sword returned by the knight.
The too dazzling light finally dissipated.
The king who lost his knight stood there with a sad smile on his face.
