The Pure White Knight—ABER Lily, the idealized manifestation of King Arthur, Artoria. Mighty, beautiful, noble, brave, invincible, conquering all before her, she stood as a pillar of the heavens, guarding her nation and protecting her people, revered and beloved. Powerful yet gentle, spirited yet innocent…

She possessed the purest beauty of a Saintess, the broadest heart of a Monarch, the noblest character of a Knight, and the most natural innocence of a maiden… Both King and Saintess, both Knight and girl, she was the absolute, most perfect existence of King Arthur.

But nothing truly perfect exists in this world, not even her. Beneath this perfect façade, ABER Lily lacked one crucial element: reality.

Existing neither in history nor in the memories of the people, she was a being conjured from thin air, like a skyscraper suspended in the highest reaches of the heavens—ethereal and intangible.

Thus, the moment fantasy intersects with reality, no matter how beautiful, how powerful, or how perfect the illusion, fantasy without any anchor is destined to dissipate without leaving a trace.

Having unleashed the Ideal Realm unique to the true ABER, having brandished the Sword of Promised Victory belonging only to the true ABER, she had finally connected with reality…

Both hands overlapped on the sword’s hilt, the hair tie slipped from her strands, and a soft breeze stirred her shoulder-length golden hair. The Pure White Knight tilted her head back, a gentle smile touching her lips as she gazed toward a direction known only to herself…

“Ah, how brief it was.”

With a sharp clang, the broken pieces of Excalibur fell to the ground—the world’s Excalibur, different from the one held in her hand. A phantom body without anchor, to manifest in this world, required something to tether it… only Excalibur sufficed.

Now, having lost this world’s Excalibur, she had nothing left to rely on. As the sword dropped, her translucent figure began to fade, starting from the bottom: her body, her armor, the sword itself, slowly dissolving into specks of starlight…

“Don’t give up!”

Just then, a panicked and excited shout echoed. Almost simultaneously, a strange white light descended directly above ABER’s head, enveloping her entirely. As this light arrived, the speed at which her body was turning into motes of light and vanishing gradually slowed.

She froze, looking up. At the source of the white light floated a book, black and white, with faint, undulating ripples flowing across its surface? And the book was being held mid-air by a boy, both familiar and strangely foreign.

She distinctly heard the familiar voice rising from behind her. ABER turned to see a girl with black twin-tails running swiftly toward her: Rin Tohsaka.

“Rin, why are you all…”

“Of course, to keep you here.”

“Keep me here?” ABER paused, then managed a wry smile. “That’s impossible. Since you say such a thing, you must already know: I am the embodiment of fantasy. I don’t exist in any corner of time or space. Once I touch reality, I can only vanish…”

“Even so, I won’t let you die.”

“You are mistaken, Rin. I only vanish; I do not die. The true Artoria…”

“I don’t care about any ‘true Artoria’!” Before ABER could finish, Rin shouted, stepping into the shimmering curtain of white light. She raised her right hand, revealing the Command Seal on her wrist. “Whether false or illusory, the one who answered my summons and signed a contract with me is you, my Servant. My ABER is you!”

Rin was briefly speechless, trembling slightly. “It doesn’t matter if it’s false?”

“That kind of thing is utterly irrelevant,” a voice boomed from above. Lin Luo stood suspended in mid-air, his right hand delicately grasping the Grimoire of Covenant. Soft white light streamed down from the book as he spoke loudly, “Existence, fantasy—none of that matters. What matters is that you are standing here… That is reality.”

Moments before, Lin Luo had been mastering his own power of Rules, having just exited the spiritual world. He had instantly sensed the perilous situation of Mikoto and Mugino, and Rin Tohsaka felt a bad premonition as her Command Seal began to dim.

Rushing here, both arrived just as ABER unleashed her final sword strike and immediately noticed her existence beginning to fade…

Lin Luo didn’t know much about White ABER; he only knew she was the Idealized State of the true ABER. As a mere state, her dissipation was inevitable. Once she understood her true self—or rather, once she recognized she was merely a phantasmal personality—could she continue to exist?

When fantasy shatters, if she cannot return to reality, the only outcome is disappearance.

This was logical, and nothing worth grieving over. A phantom personality was just a temporary buff state. As she herself had said, even if she vanished, the real ABER wouldn't die. So… it shouldn't matter if she disappeared, right?

But… how could it not matter?

It made no sense, absolutely no sense. Why must a phantom personality disappear? She was standing right here; who could claim she was fake? She smiled and she cried; she possessed normal human emotions—who could claim she was fake? She possessed her own unique body, she had her own unique heart—who could claim she was fake?

Even if she was indeed false, then she just needed to become real… I don’t want her to disappear, I don't want her to disappear!

Believe in yourself. Even fantasy holds the potential to become real. Even if you don't exist in any corner of time or space, even if no one remembers you, you exist beside us. In our hearts, you are real. So, please believe in that reality, and we will secure the tether required for your existence in this world!

Through the Grimoire of Covenant, Lin Luo repeatedly cast Divine Healing on ABER to slow the rate of her dissipation… Previously, Divine Healing could only mend the physical body, but now, having comprehended entirely new Rules, he was capable of far more.

However, this power alone was insufficient. For ABER to truly remain, she needed two more things: ABER’s own reality—her self-affirmation—and a physical anchor for her existence.

Self-affirmation would allow her to break free from illusion, ceasing to exist as a state and instead becoming an independent person. But achieving this was incredibly difficult. If even the slightest thought of “I am false” lingered in ABER’s heart, she would never escape the illusion.

“Stay, ABER. We will fight for this. If you believe you are real—no, you are real! The person standing before me cannot be fake. So, even if I have to forcibly use my Command Seals to make you stay, I will do it!”

Sensing the unwavering determination in their voices, as if infected by it, ABER stated firmly, “You two are truly… wry smiles. My disappearance is inevitable; it’s not something I can prevent just by wishing to stay. However… Rin, Lin Luo, since you both said this, I will try to believe in my own reality.”

Even if she was a phantom personality, even if she was false, even if she didn't exist—she had lived, she had felt, she had been… No one wanted to vanish like this.

Then, she would try her best: to believe in her own reality while trusting her comrades to find her an anchor for existence.

I… don’t want to disappear!

This was ABER’s inner cry.

Seemingly sensing ABER’s true desire, Rin used her Command Seals… Rin’s innate talent as a Master in the Holy Grail Wars was nearly unparalleled. With her ability, making a Servant obey her every command—a concept bordering on the absurd—was not impossible. Now, she used this power to hold back ABER’s existence.

“Stay.”

One Command Seal vanished from her wrist.

“Stay.”

The second Command Seal disappeared.

“You must stay!”

Finally, all three Command Seals were expended, yet ABER continued to vanish; her lower body was already almost entirely gone.

Why couldn't she stay? Why was she still disappearing? No, no! Rin felt despair mounting.

“Rin, don’t give up! Remember the feeling you had when you summoned ABER that day? Hold onto her now with that exact same conviction. Trust your own power; trust the power of the World Heart. It will surely answer your plea, so… hold fast! Turn fantasy into reality; you absolutely can do it. Only you can do it!”

Lin Luo’s words echoed in her mind, and Rin chose to believe. You were born from my fantasy. Because you answered my call, you stepped from illusion into reality. So, let me pull you back from illusion into reality once more… Rin pleaded inwardly, stepping forward and tightly embracing ABER.

…Lin Luo’s words were not entirely baseless. White ABER was summoned by Rin through the World Heart. The ability to summon a Heroic Spirit indicated that the World Heart possessed power at least equal to the Akasha system or Gaia’s force, though neither the World Heart itself nor its hosts could ever fully utilize that strength.

But…

Whether it was the time Mikoto returned to this world, the moment Rin summoned ABER, or when the Fallen Angel delivered the Heart of Corruption to him—none of these feats were achievable by their own inherent powers. Theoretically, they were impossible. Yet, they had all happened.

The impossible becoming possible… perhaps the World Heart held such a latent potential.

Then, by unleashing that potential one more time…

“Gah-hah-hah-hah! Die! Die! All of you, die!”

At that moment, an enraged roar echoed from higher in the sky.

Lin Luo looked up to see that Sieg’s arm had been severed, blood pouring continuously from the wound. The tens-of-meters-tall Flame Giant, under his control, plummeted downward.

Lin Luo simply stood suspended in the void, raising his one free hand upward… a faint screen of light diffused before him.

Boom!

The Flame Giant slammed into the barrier, unable to advance a single step. Lin Luo remained motionless, stating calmly, “Don’t cause trouble. I don’t have time for you right now.”

P: Some have mentioned that the current power levels are too high. Well, the power of Rules is essentially equivalent to half the power of a god; it is indeed mighty. However, as mentioned earlier, to utilize the power of Rules, one must first decipher the world’s governing principles; otherwise, one is merely at the peak of human capability. Because the laws of the world stand far above divine laws, in this book, Earth itself is the most powerful entity. Earth is the immortal protagonist. Events like punching a planet into dust will not occur here.

Additionally, I am exhausted today, having slept only seven hours over two days. I truly cannot stay awake. If I wake up early, there will be two updates; if I wake up late, there will be a minimum of three updates tomorrow… That’s all.

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