"Is, how did you find us?"
Stunned, astonished. Even though the extreme strain of mana was tearing her body apart, Vivian felt no pain at this moment.
Only because she saw him, the man she most wanted to see.
"Hah, who do you think I am? I was born here, after all. Just closing the passage could stop me?"
Glancing at Vivian with feigned disdain for less than a second, Ryuya's expression quickly turned to deep concern, "Besides, the Holy Swords and I are super close. They'd help me."
Looking at the Holy Swords standing aligned behind him, Ryuya grabbed the Holy Lance Rhongomyniad from Vivian and Artoria's hands and shouted, "Rhongomyniad!"
Boom!
Responding to Ryuya's feelings, Rhongomyniad sent Vivian, Artoria, and Merlin and Morgan, who were assisting within the magic circle, flying out.
"Is!"
Realizing what Ryuya intended to do, Vivian cried out, her face full of disbelief.
"Vivian, I told you, I am the King."
Gripping the Holy Lance Rhongomyniad tightly, Ryuya in this life had been super close to these Avalon weapons prefixed with 'Holy' since childhood.
Facing his call, Rhongomyniad unhesitatingly abandoned Vivian's command, even though the divine weapon knew the consequences.
"Vivian, Artoria, Merlin, Morgan, who told you opening a channel to the Root requires sacrificing two people?"
Glancing at the mostly opened channel, feeling the turbulent mana, Ryuya knew things had reached an irreparable point.
Raising Rhongomyniad high, recalling his two previous failed lives, he whispered, "O storm anchor that binds the stars, O tower linking the surface and reverse of the world."
"Radiate your brilliance, and become the Pillar of the End!"
As a pillar of light connecting fantasy, Rhongomyniad's true form is an anchor linking the surface and reverse of the world. With sufficient keys, using it to open a channel to the Root isn't an issue.
He didn't seek to peer into the Root, nor to probe it. He simply opened a channel between the Root and Britain. The direct result of this action was the outflow of mana from the Root into Britain.
Although the channel was small, what is the Root? It is the most mysterious and powerful place in the Type-Moon World.
Even a momentary channel contains enough mana to sustain Britain for a hundred, even a thousand years, returning it to the peak of the Age of Gods.
As a brilliant light erupted from Ryuya's body, compared to the keys of Vivian (the fairy) and Artoria (the Red Dragon), Ryuya, possessing the identities of fairy, White Dragon, Red Dragon, and King, was clearly more suited for the role of the key.
Smiling, Ryuya's method was simple and brutal: replace Vivian and Artoria.
If sacrifice was needed, better to sacrifice him alone.
"Isbel, do you know what you are doing?"
As the channel grew stronger, Avalon could no longer contain the overflowing mana.
A cracking sound echoed at some point, and the pillar of light representing new life finally broke through the Inner Sea of the Planet, reaching the land of Britain.
Gazing at this entity called a miracle, all the people of Britain seemed to see a glorious future, and the King within it.
"Your Majesty? Is that the King?"
"What is His Majesty doing?"
"Your Majesty, what's wrong?"
During Ryuya's reign, the changes in Britain were visible to all. From top to bottom, all subjects respected their King. Even facing the end of the Age of Gods, no one in Britain resented the King.
Because they knew, knew their King acted for Britain, for the eternity of this nation.
"Is, stop, stop quickly!"
Their emotions on the verge of collapse, watching Ryuya begin to soar high, Vivian and the other three women uttered their most sincere pleas.
They didn't want him to leave, even if it meant sacrificing themselves. They didn't want, didn't want, didn't want, truly didn't want!
But...
"Hah..."
Taking a deep breath, though his body was weary and his eyes bloodshot, Ryuya felt his spirit was incredibly exhilarated. He seemed to see a different version of himself, the one from the two previous failed lives.
"So that's how it is. I missed many chances before, but fortunately, this time..."
Pausing, Ryuya suddenly spoke, his kingly voice spreading across Britain, reaching the ears of every British subject.
"I am Isbel Pendragon, and I hereby proclaim to all subjects of Britain!"
"Our Britain has ended this turbulent era, halted the raging fires of war."
"Our Britain has defeated Rome in the south, repelled the Saxons in the north, bringing stability to the people."
"Our Britain has cleared those feudal lords, swept away the so-called nobles, ensuring no one suffers from hunger or cold."
As Ryuya's voice rang out, a chorus of acknowledgment for the King rose from across Britain. The fervent voices, carried by the sweeping wind across the land, condensed into a unified cry over Camelot, its contained faith and will seeming to pierce the very peak of the heavens.
"I have not erred! I am worthy of being your King!"
He grinned, laughing heartily, but his laughter soon turned into a sigh, as if sighing away all the regrets of this life.
"However, as a husband, I have been quite inadequate."
A sweet, cloying taste spread at the corner of his mouth… the tang of blood stirring.
Looking down at Vivian and the others crying and begging him to stop, Ryuya remembered the small tree he planted in Avalon, watered day and night, yet he wouldn't see the day it grew lush and full.
He had cooked for a certain hikikomori for so long, but wouldn't be able to hold kitchenware anymore.
He promised the witch to be her eternal Demon King, but couldn't keep that promise.
He told the dear Red Dragon he would be her lover, but couldn't accompany her.
He just learned the feelings of his most beloved fairy sister, but couldn't wait for her to call him 'darling'.
"Artoria, Vivian, Merlin, Morgan... from now on, you must walk your own path."
'I want to buy osmanthus and go boating with good wine, but I don't have the heroic spirit of my youth.'
'Really, I am so sorry.'
Taking one last look at Britain, then at Vivian and the others, wanting to etch these four figures eternally in his heart, Ryuya spoke his most sincere words.
"Accompanying you is the deepest confession of love. But I'm sorry, as King, I cannot always stay by your side, cannot always tell you... I love you."
That body, no longer having strength, finally fell.
That voice, no longer sounding, echoed between the world, returning to the world…
Fading away.