Chapter 587: Dan Blackmore
What's happening?
What's going on?
Why am I here?
The devastating impact of defeat left Shinji's consciousness momentarily blank. When he came to, he was consumed by an uncontrollable rage: "Wh...why? Why did my Servant lose!"
"I should be perfect, I shouldn't lose to anyone!"
"N...no, it's all your fault, Rider! This shouldn't have happened... I was dragged down by this disappointing Servant! Useless piece of trash!"
In the end, tears began rolling down Shinji's face uncontrollably. He no longer resembled a psychologically mature individual, but rather a child throwing a tantrum: "Boring! This game is so boring! Waaaaahhh..."
"I can't watch this anymore." Sakatsuki sighed as the golden Crown Bow materialized in his hands, its feathered arrow trembling as it aimed at the wailing boy.
"What are you doing, Sakatsuki!" Hakuno exclaimed in alarm, quickly moving to stop him before urgently turning to Shinji. "Shinji... the match is already decided. Let's go back and find a way to return to the surface together."
"Stop acting so smug!" As if finding an outlet for his emotions, Shinji—with tears still in his eyes—snarled and lunged at Hakuno. "You just won this stupid game! Just you wait, once we're back in reality and I find out who you really are—!"
A crimson spiritual barrier descended like a cleaver separating heaven and earth, isolating Shinji from Hakuno.
Along with a severed arm that went flying through the air.
"...Huh...?"
Only when the arm landed with a wet splat and dissolved into spiritual particles did Shinji—amid soul-rending agony—recognize the reality of the situation. Staring at the blood-red world around him and watching his body visibly begin to rot away, an even more piercing scream tore from his throat.
"Waaah, WAAAAAAAH! My arm, my body! Wh-what's happening! My body—it's disappearing?!"
Shinji's screaming intensified as his hands, feet, and torso began gradually vanishing—alongside the Servant watching him from nearby.
"Losing in the Holy Grail War means death, Shinji. As a Master, you should have known this from the beginning."
"Hah!? D-death? That can't be! The Moon Cell clearly said it was permanent elimination! Ah..."
At last, Matou Shinji realized the truth.
They—as Masters—had reached the interior of this divine wish-granting device by converting their minds, bodies, and souls into spiritual data for transmission into this digital world.
Which meant that permanent elimination by the Moon Cell equated to the complete annihilation of one's soul, mind, and body.
In other words—death.
"Exactly as you've deduced, Master." Even as half her face dissolved into digital void, Drake maintained her fearless grin despite sharing her Master's impending demise. "That's just how the Holy Grail War works. Besides, from the moment you arrived here, all of you Masters were already as good as dead."
Under such cruel rules, the Masters who arrived here with hope were like insects trapped in a cage—only through slaughter, slaughter, and endless slaughter could they trample over bones and blood to become the last survivor.
This was the truth of the Holy Grail War of the Moon.
"Only one person can truly return alive."
Under the gentle yet cruel words of his Servant, Shinji clutched his head, breaking down completely.
"Wha... No! Don't say something like this now...! D-do something! Servants are supposed to help their Masters, right!?"
"Is that so? But I told you when we first formed the contract, didn't I, Shinji?" Drake laughed heartily, her figure already fading, almost indistinct. "'Be prepared, okay? Whether we win or lose! Villains always meet a pitiful end that makes people laugh!'"
With one last glance and a laugh directed at us, the pirate woman vanished in an instant. The heroic figure who first circumnavigated the globe alive, the great navigator who changed the course of world history, laughed joyfully until the very end.
This concise conclusion clearly marked Shinji's demise and the fate he could not escape.
"Hey, hey! Don't just disappear on your own! Save me! This can't be happening!? Hakuno, Hakuno! We're friends, right? We're friends! Help me, quick!"
"You should have let him go long ago, Master." Sakatsuki, standing beside me, displayed an uncharacteristic coldness. "At least this way, he could embrace death without knowing it."
So, Sakatsuki had known all along but never told me.
Realizing this, I didn't give up. I shouted to Shinji through the barrier, raised my voice in protest, pleas, and fury toward the Moon Cell—then, with relief and grim satisfaction, I watched in ugly fascination as my friend, slain by my own hand, lingered on the brink of death.
[—He vanished.]
[The person named Matou Shinji.]
[His soul, his existence, completely.]
[Without leaving a single trace.]
[All that remained was the victor.]
[—And so, the first round of the Holy Grail War came to an end.]
Her eyes snapped open, and the girl jolted upright in bed as if electrocuted, looking around frantically.
The cozy little room, the painting on the wall, the crackling fireplace, the delicate chime of the music box, and the carefully prepared lunch on the table... It was as if nothing had happened, yet also as if something irrevocable had already been lost.
Realizing she was back in her own room, Kashinomiya Hakuno covered her face with her hands and let out a weary sigh after a long pause.
"It was... a nightmare."
Since returning to her room after the first round ended, she had collapsed onto the bed in a daze, sinking into a deep sleep until now, finally waking from the recurring nightmare.
"Is it already... the next day?" Hakuno stood up, but the long sleep and hunger made her vision darken, and she staggered, nearly falling.
A pair of hands beside her caught her, gently helping her steady herself.
"Though I don't express affection towards gentle people, even the briefest time spent together makes them friends in death. Sighs, lamentations, and sorrow are all understandable." The white-haired youth lowered his head, wiping away the tear stains from the girl's face. Her natural eyes blinked rapidly, not resisting but closing timidly as her delicate body pressed closer to Sakatsuki.
"Though your tears can't be called beautiful, they do move the heart... Indeed, even if I can't express it well, the fact that my Master is flesh and blood makes me genuinely happy."
That said, Hakuno couldn't detect any emotion on the young man's face—only an ineffable calm.
"Sakatsuki... wasn't Shinji your friend too? Are you truly unmoved by his death?"
After a moment of silence, the youth averted his gaze: "I've simply grown accustomed to it. No, perhaps 'numb' would be more accurate."
"If we falter every time someone falls behind, we won't even be able to walk our own path."
Hakuno understood these were Sakatsuki's true feelings. Then she heard him mutter under his breath:
"Besides, I don't have time to spare for Shinji anyway. There are more important matters at hand... cough, never mind."
"Hmm?" Hakuno's intuition perked up. She puffed her cheeks and wordlessly stared up at Sakatsuki.
Stare—
Under the maximum affinity of his Master's gaze, Sakatsuki quickly surrendered with a wry smile: "Must you press so hard? Fine, I'll say it outright."
The youth released his arms, stepping back to look seriously at Hakuno: "You should realize that me becoming a Servant is an unnatural phenomenon. The reasons are complicated, but I must resolve this issue."
Noticing the resolve in Sakatsuki's tone, Hakuno's eyes widened. A breeze from the window stirred the youth's red coat and white hair, giving him an indescribable air of detachment.
"So... though I'm sorry, I'll only protect you until the second round."
————
[You should have the abilities of a Master, Hakuno. If you can't find a suitable Servant, I'll appear to help you before each decisive battle—even if I'm not around, please fight to survive, Hakuno.]
"...Wow, that Sakatsuki guy, I can't tell if he's a scumbag or not."
In the cafeteria, Rin Tohsaka stirred her coffee, listening to Hakuno recount the morning's events with disbelief: "Though he says he's leaving, he's not completely abandoning you. Clearly shouldering something in secret, yet still promising to protect you one more time... What is this? A Schrödinger's Servant?"
"Mmmmmmm..." The chestnut-haired girl pressed her cheek against the cool tea table, her pretty face listless like a wilted puppy.
"Still, it's hard to believe Asia's top gaming champion lost to you. Well, that idiot never experienced a life-or-death battle before. Magi who join the Holy Grail War for fun inevitably meet such an end. So? Was it an undignified death?"
Though reluctant to speak ill of the dead, recalling Shinji's tearful face made Hakuno nod involuntarily.
Come to think of it, perhaps the news of Sakatsuki's departure was so shocking that she had even stopped caring about Shinji's death.
"This is a battlefield, you know. What good is it to worry about the losers? On the battlefield, the defeated have only death awaiting them—nothing more." Tapping the rim of her cup with a small spoon, Rin Tohsaka spoke with grave seriousness. "This is a truth everyone understands. It's you and Shinji, who couldn't grasp this, who were the odd ones out in the wrong place."
Suddenly, the young lady—whose temper matched her well-proportioned figure—flared up. "Fighting without resolve is truly an eyesore. If you lack both the resolve to die and the courage to kill, then go hide in some corner of the world and tremble alone."
"..."
The ladies' teatime had come to an end. After saying those words, Sakatsuki vanished once more. Now alone, Hakuno walked down the corridor, still recalling Rin's final words of advice.
[The sole victor of the Holy Grail War can have any wish granted. That's why everyone who comes here has a purpose—something they're determined to achieve no matter what happens.]
[Of course, that also means having the resolve to take lives for it, and the resolve to lose your own should you fail.]
[You can run from reality if you want, but even if you curl up under the covers, the second round will come for you all the same.]
[There are no Masters left who can win without resolve.]
[Oh, right, one more thing... Um, if you get the chance, could you ask Sakatsuki if he'd be interested in becoming my Servant after the second round? My offer still stands!]
Hakuno: ???
Your true colors are showing, Rin!
Stepping forward, Hakuno approached the bulletin board, waiting for the announcement of the second round's details, but her thoughts continued to churn.
Everything was just as Rin had said. Everyone here carried a powerful will. Against opponents like these, there was no way I could win so easily.
I still... had no reason to win.
Did someone like me even have the right to trample over their wishes?
"...Hmm, so you're my next opponent." The old man standing beside her interrupted Hakuno's thoughts. She turned to look at him—his hair was a pure white, and from his face to his physique, he gave the impression of advanced age. Yet, for some reason, there was no sense of frailty about him.
To describe him, he was like a great tree marked with deep rings.
A demeanor befitting his years, an unshakable inner strength—these qualities had banished any semblance of decay from this old man—
Hastily turning back, Hakuno clearly saw the name displayed on the bulletin board.
[Master: Dan Blackmore]
[Battleground: Second Lunar Sea]