Section 7: Kodoku Culmination

There's nothing for you to gain from killing us. It's pointless!

So please, don't eat me. Don't eat me don't eat me don'tAiiiiiieee!

...Ah, dammit. This is hopeless.

Okay, they should be showing up any moment now.

As you know, Master, neither I nor the Servants who lost their powers will be joining this fight.

Karna and Gawain will of course go last, and we'll also send in the Servants you suggested right before them...

However, aside from that, I expect you'll have to play it by ear some portion of the time. No pressure! Hahaha!

？！

Oh, don't worry. I'll jump in with advice if and when I can. All right, here they come!

Hell yeah! Time to mess these lil' shits UP!

If this is what fate has in store for us, I guess there's no running from it.

Indeed...

I do feel bad for them, though, since they're only following the directives they were given...

I was hoping we could find a way to end this without fighting them.

But, on my honor and these dark glasses, I can't afford to lose.

...That's right. I swear on these dark glasses!

... (Itching to criticize Karna's choice of words)

You Demonic Beasts have been comparing your capabilities and letting the superior ones survive. I can respect that.

But that does not mean I can allow you to win.

Karna and I will go last. In the name of the sun, we will incinerate them where they stand.

Welp, here goes nothing... You ready for this, Nobukatsu?

...Yes! I can do this! Probably! Well, I have to!

If you don't, you'll never be able to look your sister in the eye again.

Gaaah!

I hope we know what we're doing...

We'll just have to do the best we can.

？！

We got it! But

Ugh...

Tch.

This is as far as we go. The rest is up to you!

？！

...Their bodies have been enhanced with an exoskeleton, but I don't see any sign of either swordsmanship or spellcasting skills.

Great, it worked! All right, guys, it's all up to you now!

Understood.

It's not inherently wrong to take your strength from others. Humans do that as well, in a way.

But you Demonic Beasts have taken it a bit too far.

And one more thing.

...!?

It's unwise to absorb powers you don't fully understand. You may regret having done so.

Hey, Demonic Beast. One last bit of advice before you bite the big one.

That exoskeleton you stole from me was made from the bone of a sea monster named Curruid.

It's damn durable for sure, but of course, there's a drawback.

If you thought you'd still be flying around all zippy and agile, you got another thing coming.

The only way you're getting back in the air is by ditching that power altogether.

'Course, if you could do that, you'd probably already have done it.

It's exactly as we thought. They only know how to take.

This is what endless hunger gets you. They can't discard their power, or give it away.

Now they have to carry magecraft and swordsmanship that's entirely useless to them.

The ability to fly and the ability to fortify yourself with heavy armor are both great, but that doesn't mean they go together well.

They're basically no better off now than when it started. They're still very durable, though.

Well, Fujimaru? Who are you going to send in next!?

I'm still a little uncertain about this...but I trust he's made the right call.

All right, Demonic Beasts. To the death.

Aw yeah! Finally my turn to kick some monster ass!

Understood. I won't let them get away.

You got it, Master!

You things can take my blessing from me, but that doesn't mean you'll be going anywhere!

？！

You might have stolen my power, but you're not able to make full use of it.

Now I see.

The power it stole from you lets it heal by absorbing limitless magical energy from the earth, and from me, it took the whole of human knowledge of medicine.

It stole both at once, but wasn't prepared to deal with them.

Your healing ability is entirely beyond human comprehension. Mine is built on human achievement.

So if someone were to try to use them together...

...it would disrupt their metabolism. Taken too far, even healing can be toxic.

Even so, it's still stronger than it was before. So close, yet so far.

Okay, it's time for the last one.

I'm not sure we're making the right decision here, but at this point, we are just going to have to see what happens.

？！

I-I know, I know! I'll do it, I'll do it! But are you really sure about this!?

Ah, don't worry. We'll whittle it down as much as we can.

We will, but we need you to be the one to deliver the killing blow.

That should balance everything out.

Remember, and I absolutely mean to pressure you here: it's all riding on you!

Guh! This is the last time I Rayshift anywhere without Sister!

My physical strength may be unmatched, and my Clairvoyance may be all-seeing...

...but gaining both at once does far more harm than good.

The strength negates your ability to fly, and Clairvoyance lets you see so much that you can no longer focus on what matters.

And my blessing won't be of any use unless you manage to win this battle. Which you won't.

Okay, that's all our shots fired! The rest is up to you, little bro! Don't screw it up!

Don't you call me "little bro"! Only Sister gets to call me that!

But fine, I'll do it, dammit!

Don't forget, Sister's Master, I'm counting on you to help me out! It's me we're talking about here, you know!

Don't worry. We'll all help you as necessary.

Fine with me. I'm not against that sort of thing.

？！

You're springing this on me now!? Aw, c'mon!

I am Oda Nobukatsu! The younger brother of Oda Nobunaga, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven!

Let's...uh...do this thing?

Not the most encouraging start, is it?

Hmm. Well, he did his best!

Time to finish this!

I... I...d-did it! But...

It collapsed, but it's still not disappearing...?

No, this is fine. It's just what we expected to happen.

We knew the last Demonic Beast would come back to life as the strongest one yet after Oda Nobukatsu's attack.

Only, it's become the weakest one now, hasn't it, Master of Chaldea?

...That's right.

I was never meant to be a Heroic Spirit. As a Servant, I'm basically worthless.

The tiny spark of power I have is meant to give Sister power. It's the only reason I exist.

And obviously, Sister isn't here.

So what happens when the only one to whom my power can be given isn't around?

The answer's obvious. Without Sister here, my power is meaningless.

Now hurry up and spit out everything you stole.

It's starting to transform!

This must be its final formthe culmination of the kodoku curse!

But it's also severely weakened! This might just be

That's right. I can see a path to victory now! All right, you two, Master, bring it home!

Oh yes. That's exactly what I plan to do.

Agreed. You've all worked hard to hand us this baton.

It would be a tremendous disgrace if we failed to cross the finish line now.

I am Gawain, Knight of the Sun and member of the Round Table. Have at you!

This is far too heavy a burden for me to carry, but it is, above all, a great honor.

Know the mercy of the King of Gods. I am Karna. My spear is nothing less than violence itself.

Prepare yourself, cursed creature of kodoku, who would claim the crown of dominance.

You will go no further!

？！

Understood!!!

There!

It's time you learned what a real hero is, creature of the kodoku curse.

Even through glasses...a real hero kills with their eyes!

Take this! The Final Dark God!!!

...

Oho. You did it.

It's vanishing as we speak. Not so much as a peep at the end. I guess that's that.

Just watch there be survivors somewhere, like in those shitty cut-rate horror flicks.

...No, there aren't. I saw everything before my Clairvoyance (with Glasses☆) was taken.

Worry not. There are no more living Demonic Beasts in this building.

Oh, it's the Holy Grail. So, um...

You can have this one, Chaldeans.

Yeah, not much point fighting now.

Okay then, don't mind if we do! I'll go ahead and collect it, Master!

This would seem to be goodbye. I know we'd normally be expected to fight...

...but I have to say, I enjoyed this battle of wits far more than I expected.

Farewell.

I agree. This really was a lot of fun.

It seems I've been summoned to Chaldea too, so I hope you'll tell that version of me about this experience.

Though I doubt he'll believe it at first.

It seems this is it for us, too.

You know, for a Singularity repair, this was actually fairly fun.

Guess we'd better be on our way then. I would've liked to take the Holy Grail with us, but oh well. Hehe.

Eh, that's how things go sometimes. Welp, see you later! Hope we get a chance to fight again sometime!

...It's over.

...Yes, it is. And, Karna? There's something I'd like to say before we part ways.

Hm?

You are wearing sunglasses. Those are not eyeglasses.

... ...

... ...

...You may be right. ...I suppose.

...I'm glad you understand.

It all makes sense now... No wonder everything was so dark.

Was that really how you wanted to say goodbye, great hero of India?

Yes. It's fine.

We don't always need words to express how we feel.

Now that we've got the Holy Grail, we just gotta get ready to head back.

This was a real pain in the ass.

The Holy Grail, huh...

？！

Oh, it's just... Well, the reason I wanted the Holy Grail in the first place...

...is that I was hoping my empire, which died with me, could have ended more peacefully.

That's why I was summoned here, and why I so thoughtlessly ended that first battle.

(Sigh) Sometimes, things just don't go how you want...

Well yeah, of course not.

Everyone has their own struggles to overcome in pursuit of happiness, and I do mean everyone.

So how do you think you're gonna pull that off for an entire country?

...You may be right.

Still, it's always a tragedy when an entire nation falls to ruin.

In that sense, I have to agree with the mages who ran this building.

Maintaining peaceor, I suppose, ordermay be a lot of work for very little return...

...but it's a beautiful goal.

You do!? That's wonderful. I'm glad to hear it.

I see. Well, I hope the day will come...

...when you see just how wonderful peace can truly be.

？！

Right, it looks like it's time for me to go, too. This was fun. I hope to see you all again someday.

The next time we meet may be as enemies, or as allies.

But either way...I will still be seeking peace.

You did great, Fujimaru. Now, it's time I was on my way, too. I shouldwell, canonly project my spirit for so long.

It's too bad about the games, though. I would have liked to do more brainteasers.

You never get a chance to see Servants all boggling over riddles!

That almost made it sound like he was only here for his own amusement...

？！

Oof... I'm reeeally exhausted. This better be the last time you bring me along on a mission like this! I mean it!

？！

Huh? A Saber we know? A blond, arrogant slacker?

... ...

Seriously!?