Before Sakura could even process what was happening, the clawed hand punched straight through her chest, emerging from her back in a spray of blood.
Her eyes widened in pure shock.
Guided by precise mana perception, that same hand bypassed her heart entirely, locking onto a familiar, filthy presence hidden deep within her body. With ruthless accuracy, Ren Kuroda's fingers closed around a writhing crest worm—the one that Matō Zōken had believed was concealed perfectly.
"W–wait! Assassin—no, Ren Kuroda!" Zōken's voice shrieked in panic."We can cooperate! This Holy Grail can grant two wishes! There's no need for us to kill each other!"
The longer one lived, the more one feared death.
Zōken had always believed that as long as his soul hid within the crest worm, he was untouchable. Even if Sakura died, as long as no one discovered him, he could simply abandon the body and continue living freely.
What he never imagined—even in his worst nightmares—was that Ren could not only sense his existence, but pinpoint him inside Sakura's body and seize him directly.
Now that the crest worm within Sakura had been grabbed without the slightest error, Zōken finally panicked.
"I'm sorry," Ren said coldly, his voice devoid of hesitation."I have zero interest in working with a filthy, scheming parasite."
"So do everyone a favor—and exit the stage."
His fingers tightened.
With a sickening crunch, the crest worm was crushed into pulp.
A moment later, Ren pulled his blood-soaked hand back out of Sakura's chest.
Far away—
"Reins of the Cavalry King!"
Kiba, who had been fighting for her life moments earlier, saw Sakura suddenly attacked by the assassin who had appeared out of nowhere—and instantly lost control.
She didn't even understand what had happened.
All she saw was blood pouring from Sakura's chest.
And Ren Kuroda standing there, wearing an infuriatingly calm expression.
Her mana exploded.
When the oni soldiers swarmed her again, Kiba tore off the blindfold covering her eyes, revealing pupils as beautiful as polished violets.
If these blue-faced, fang-bearing creatures couldn't be killed—and regenerated endlessly—then she would deal with them another way.
In myth, Medusa was famous for two things.
Her beauty, so overwhelming that even goddesses envied it—
And her Petrifying Mystic Eyes, feared throughout the ages.
As a Servant, Kiba's Mystic Eyes were far weaker than in legend—only C-rank as an innate skill.
But after Sakura's corruption, her abilities had been amplified.
Now, her Mystic Eyes were B-rank.
Petrifying five oni generals comparable to A-rank yōkai might have been unrealistic—
But the ordinary oni soldiers?
The instant Kiba unleashed her Mystic Eyes, they were frozen solid, transformed into lifeless stone statues one after another.
With the soldiers no longer obstructing her path, Kiba activated her Noble Phantasm once more, charging forward atop her Pegasus. Every stone statue in her way was smashed to pieces as she barreled through, her sole objective to reach Sakura as quickly as possible.
Watching the battlefield drown in oni casualties—and seeing Kiba streak toward him like a white comet—Ren could only sigh inwardly.
Yandere girls are terrifying…
Sakura had been pierced through the chest, but she wasn't in immediate danger. After being bathed in All the World's Evil, her body structure was no longer strictly human.
As for the charging Kiba—
Ren had nowhere to dodge.
He gathered every last shred of mana left in his body, planted his feet firmly, and threw a straight punch directly into the incoming white comet.
Although he had absorbed a massive amount of All the World's Evil, nearly all of that power had been poured into perfecting his Reality Marble.
Ren himself had gained almost no direct boost.
And even if he could have used that unstable power on his own body, he wouldn't have wanted to.
"BOOOOOM———!"
Even with his mana nearly depleted, unleashing a full-powered Chaos of Gods and Demons was still within Ren's limits.
He was still in a half-demon state, his Noble Phantasm fully released. What looked like an ordinary fist became a catastrophe the moment it collided with Kiba's charge.
A massive shockwave erupted.
The aftershocks alone caused cracks to spread across Ren's Reality Marble, fissures rippling throughout the space that covered Mount Enzō.
The ground shattered into spiderweb fractures, and at the instant their attacks collided, the entire mountain trembled violently.
After a prolonged clash of raw power—
Both Ren and Kiba were blasted backward, flying in opposite directions, smashing through everything in their paths.
When Ren staggered back to his feet, the sleeve on his punching arm was completely gone.
Worse—
His arm itself was twisted into an unnatural shape.
To be honest, since acquiring Chaos of Gods and Demons, this was the first time Ren had ever suffered a loss in a direct clash.
And the first time his arm had ended up like this after using the skill.
But Kiba hadn't come out unscathed either.
Strictly speaking, the core of "Reins of the Cavalry King" wasn't just her riding skill—it was the Phantasmal Pegasus beneath her.
After that collision, Kiba herself was fine—
But her mount was not.
Ren's demonic fist had smashed straight into its face. Considering that even Ren's arm had been mangled by the impact, the sheer force the Pegasus endured was obvious.
It died instantly.
Kiba's class was Rider.
Without a mount, her combat strength dropped by more than half.
After all, what was a cavalry unit without a ride, if not a glorified foot soldier?
Just look at the King of Conquerors—without his divine chariot, he barely even qualified for screen time.
After that evenly matched collision, Ren's condition was clearly worse than Kiba's.
His mana was nearly exhausted.
Once the effects of his innate skill Oni God Rampage—his half-demon transformation—wore off, he would suffer severe backlash.
To make matters worse, he no longer had enough mana to keep his Nichirin Blade: Divine Blessing in its released state.
Losing both demonization and blade-spirit buffs—
Combined with post-transformation weakness and total mana depletion—
Ren plummeted from his strongest state to the weakest he had ever been in almost instantly.
Kiba, on the other hand, despite losing her mount, still retained a decent level of combat power. In terms of condition alone, she was clearly better off than Ren.
However—
Ren's Reality Marble was still active.
And after absorbing All the World's Evil, it no longer seemed to require his mana to sustain itself.
So after their strongest clash sent both of them flying, the oni army surged forward once again, swarming Kiba.
Without her Pegasus, Kiba was forced to face five oni generals and countless oni soldiers head-on—and it was no longer effortless.
The valkyrie who had once dominated the battlefield had been reduced from cavalry to infantry.
Her strength dropped sharply.
She still had her Mystic Eyes, but even that ability consumed mana. After petrifying a massive number of ordinary oni, she was finally driven into a corner by the five generals.
When she was finally defeated—
Her gaze never left Sakura in the distance.
Her violet eyes were filled with worry… and regret.
"Don't worry," Ren said softly as he approached her."The person you care about is fine. I just dealt with the other thing inside her."
"She's free now. She'll live better."
"And you… should return to where you belong."
Ren did not allow the oni army to finish Kiba off.
Instead, he drew his Nichirin Blade and personally granted her a dignified end.
She was a heroic spirit—just like Cu Chulainn before her.
Ren respected her.
She deserved a proper farewell.
"…Sakura…"
With that lingering whisper, Kiba dissolved into motes of starlight and vanished.
And as the battle between Ren and Kiba ended—
The duel between Saber and Mordred also reached its conclusion.
Having reclaimed Avalon, Saber seemed to have regained all the luck she had once lost. Her battle with Mordred did not repeat the tragic outcome of the Battle of Camlann.
In history, the King of Knights had defeated the traitorous Mordred—but suffered mortal wounds in the process.
This time, history nearly repeated itself.
Saber emerged victorious—
And was gravely injured.
But unlike history, she now possessed the fairy scabbard Avalon, which healed her wounds completely.
As the Sword of Promised Victory pierced through Mordred's body, Saber looked at the face just inches from her own and finally spoke the words she had long buried in her heart.
"Mordred… I could never accept your identity."
"But I never hated you."
"And I always believed you were an outstanding knight."
"Perhaps… if not for that barrier between us… things might not have come to this."
Blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, Mordred smiled—a smile of release.
"So in the end… I still couldn't surpass my beautiful father, huh?"
"But maybe that's exactly why…"
"You'll always be the king… I admired."
"…My king."