Clang! Clang! Clang!
The radiance vanished.
The knight who was invincible beneath the sun fell into the darkness of night.
"I heard… each man has his fate…", Gawain looked up at the starry night sky.
"Once again… I failed to catch up to the king's battle!"
He spoke, not knowing whether to grieve or accept calmly, "This must be the destiny of me, a disloyal knight…"
"No. As a knight, you were without question loyal, a knight recognized by the king," Shirou lay on the ground, gasping for breath.
'Hurts like hell.'
'Without Avalon, I really would've gone to heaven by now, or should I say, without Saber, I would have gone to heaven ten times already.'
'Shouldn't have tried to show off by projecting the holy sword… now my magic circuits are completely down.'
'No different from a short-circuited wire.'
"Emiya Shirou…"
From the ground, Gawain, "Why did you only appear now?"
"If, back then… it had been you standing before the king, perhaps she would have long since reclaimed her own heart."
"I should hate you… but, I entrust the king to you."
With this final request, Gawain, took his exit.
———
Amid the ruins, Shirou sat up and let out a sigh.
'Is it a pity?'
'Yes, it is."
For the knight, not being able to watch over King Arthur with his own eyes until the very last moment, that was surely a sorrowful thing.
'But this must be fate.'
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The clashing jangle of armor and the heavy sound of footsteps mixed together.
Shirou, too exhausted to move, muttered, "Showing up late after the battle's already over…"
Before long, he was surrounded by more than a dozen Enforcement Knights.
He didn't panic, since Avalon had nearly healed his body by now.
The reason he didn't move was… they didn't seem to have any killing intent.
"Never thought Sir Gawain would be defeated… and in a head-on battle at that… truly painful to hear," From among the Enforcement Knights, a red-haired youth with closed eyes walked out.
Handsome. Extremely handsome, in fact.
"But, failing even to carry out divine punishment, then even as a Knight of the Round Table, he couldn't escape death. Rather than force the king into the sorrowful act of cutting off his head herself—"
"Dying on the battlefield is the greatest mercy for him."
This person should never have said such words.
Indeed, by nature he could not possibly say such things.
He should have been a sensitive, melancholic knight.
But with the Lion King's blessing of "Inversion," now he seemed cold and ruthless. Turned into nothing more than an executioner who killed.
Even at the death of a fellow Knight of the Round, his words were this cold.
"One of the Knights of the Round, Tristan, the Child of Sadness."

Shirou just sat there lazily on the ground, "You here to avenge Sir Gawain?"
His magic circuits had already quietly opened.
If Tristan made a move, he would act immediately.
"The departure of an old friend fills me with sorrow… if possible, I'd like to cut off your head myself to avenge him. But the king has already decreed. Even if you destroy the Holy Capital, even if you oppose her, she intends only to imprison you."
"If you sincerely repent, you can still become one of the Holy Capital's citizens."
Tristan sighed, "For that I feel the sorrow of the world's end, yet from the king's mercy I feel sincere reverence. Rejoice, you've picked up your life."
"Yeah, picked up a life," Shirou's tone carried meaning.
"Take him away."
Tristan ordered the Enforcement Knights, "Imprison him. Sir Agravain will interrogate him later."
"Yes."
An Enforcement Knight received the order and was about to drag Shirou up, when Shirou looked at him.
With just that one look, the knight's whole body froze, unable to move.
Standing up and brushing the dust from his body, Shirou said, "No need to trouble you. I'll walk myself."
He'd rather rest a bit before fighting again, or his body wouldn't take it.
Most important of all, he was starving and didn't want to move.
'There should be food in the Holy Capital… right?'
———
The Lion King's palace was a pale sanctuary forged from light.
Pure white stone flowed with patterns like the tracks of stars.
The dome of the main hall formed a perfect hemisphere, supported by seven layers of floating white rings nested together.
Shirou took one look and withdrew his gaze.
He wasn't up there anyway, but underground.
"Get inside!"
Outside the prison, the Enforcement Knights kept a strict eye on him.
In truth, they were nervous.
Shirou thought about it, then spread his hands to show he was harmless for the moment.
Even that little gesture made the knights react as though facing a great threat.
Helpless, he could only stroll slowly into the cell, looking around.
Honestly, even a cell was more luxurious than the tents the refugees had set up.
No wonder everyone wanted into the Holy Capital.
In this era, it truly deserved to be called the ideal city.
So Shirou didn't hesitate to ask the knights, "Got food? Bring me some, I'm starving. You wouldn't want to see someone the Lion King values starving to death in a cell, would you?"
The Enforcement Knights: "..."
Question marks popped up over their heads.
———
"Agravain, where is the Lion King?"
Tristan, who had handed Shirou over to the Enforcement Knights, entered the palace.
"So you mean… Gawain really was killed by that no-name whelp?", Mordred, who had been waiting, asked.
"If he can wield the king's holy sword, he is no nameless whelp! Sir Tristan, I told you to keep constant watch on him," Agravain's cold voice.
"What, wield the holy sword—who?", Those words made Mordred's face instantly change, "That no-name whelp used Father's holy sword?"
She had been outside earlier, and only after seeing the light pillar soaring into the sky did she choose to return.
And now hearing this…
"Silence, Mordred."
Agravain scolded, "This is the royal hall. How dare you shout so brazenly! Besides, this matter has nothing to do with you. The king will decide herself. As for you, disobeying the king's order to enter the royal city is already great disrespect! Leave at once."
"Cut the crap!"
Mordred snapped, "Once I've learned what I want to know, I'll leave on my own. Right now—"
"How tragic. Half the outer city of the Holy Capital is nearly destroyed, the divine punishment decreed personally by the king has failed… and yet for such a grave matter, we still cannot meet the king?"
Tristan spoke up, "That boy who defeated Gawain, I saw him. His injuries are severe. As a human, he cannot survive more than three days, unless the king personally intervenes."
"So my judgment is, just imprison him and leave it."
"I see."
Agravain first nodded, then said, "A mere troublemaker disturbing the Holy Capital, I can deal with him myself. Why burden the king with such trifles?"
The truth was, Agravain had noticed how unstable the Lion King's emotions became whenever she heard news of Shirou.
So he avoided disturbing her whenever possible.
"Aren't there still refugees escaping?"
Mordred had just spoken when—
A cold, silver-clear voice sounded, "How noisy."
Carrying a supreme, divine majesty in the question, "Agravain, is this the council to discuss attacking the desert?"
Back when the three forces stood in balance, the Lion King had already been preparing for battle with the Sun King Ozymandias.
Tristan: "!"
Mordred: "…Father!"
"…My king!"
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