As a Heroic Spirit, while Little Ber’s combat capability was lacking, her support abilities were formidable. Flight and concealment—these were traits possessed by almost no other Heroic Spirits. From this perspective, could she not be considered a Ranger-class Heroic Spirit?

Since this was the final battle, every single ability, no matter how unusual, had to be utilized if it proved useful. Thus, before coming here, during the daytime, Lin Luo had extracted information from Little Ber, learning about her other skills... no, perhaps it was more accurate to say, the abilities of her other Noble Phantasms.

Just as Lin Luo had surmised, Little Ber was indeed a character akin to a Ranger. Not only did she possess concealment for scouting and flight for escape, but what surprised him more was one of Little Ber’s Noble Phantasms—Flash of Lightning and Flint.

Interpreted purely by its literal meaning, this seemed to be a Noble Phantasm related to speed, but that was incorrect. Although the ability of Flash of Lightning and Flint was indeed based on speed, its true function was akin to the signature skill of a Thief class in an online game: Steal.

Of course, it couldn't steal everything; Little Ber could only steal one specific thing: the "Invisible Blessing," which was akin to a Conceptual Armament.

To illustrate, if someone imbued themselves with the Leaf of the World Tree, transforming it into life force for protection, Little Ber could use Flash of Lightning and Flint to burrow into that person's body and reclaim the life force, transforming it back into the Leaf of the World Tree.

By the same logic, if Emiya Kiritsugu sealed the King of Knights' Noble Phantasm, "Avalon," within his body as a Conceptual Armament, Little Ber could use her own Noble Phantasm to snatch it back, reverting it to its original form as a scabbard.

This was precisely what Lin Luo had mentioned earlier—the item he wanted Little Ber to seize.

Originally, this scabbard remained with Irisviel, so Lin Luo had not made a move. However, with three Servants already dead, Irisviel, as the vessel for the Holy Grail, was certainly affected, and the scabbard’s protection had become negligible for her.

Therefore, what Lin Luo wanted Little Ber to do was simple: if the scabbard was inside Emiya Kiritsugu, snatch it away without hesitation... in short, it absolutely could not be left to Emiya Kiritsugu, or even some future wolf.

As for how Little Ber could so accurately determine who possessed the scabbard, that was entirely thanks to her first Noble Phantasm—the False Excalibur.

Although it was merely a false Holy Sword, possessing zero offensive or destructive power, its might equivalent to that of a nail clipper, a Holy Sword was still a Holy Sword. Even a fake retained the essence of Excalibur. Through the false Holy Sword's resonance, locating the scabbard became effortless.

Thus, taking advantage of Emiya Kiritsugu’s inattention, Little Ber unleashed her full might, snatching the ultimate Noble Phantasm away in one go... Truthfully, given Little Ber’s current strength, this shouldn't have been so easy. But who could argue? She was, after all, an "Incarnation" of the King of Knights; her connection to the scabbard was far deeper than Kiritsugu’s.

Upon realizing his scabbard had been stolen, Emiya Kiritsugu was so enraged he nearly coughed up blood. Setting aside the impossibility of stealing a Conceptual Armament, someone was causing him trouble at a time like this... But when he looked up and saw the thief, he froze entirely.

He had never seen Little Ber before, but the palm-sized little figure looked exactly like the King of Knights.

However, after a moment of shock, Emiya Kiritsugu immediately made a decision. Without hesitation, he raised his hand, aimed his gun at Little Ber, and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet flying.

But it was useless. No matter how weak Little Ber was, she was still a Heroic Spirit. With a slight flutter, she dodged the bullet and stuck out her tongue at Emiya Kiritsugu. "Hmph, I’m not giving you the scabbard!"

With that, Little Ber zipped over to Lin Luo’s side and stopped, appearing like a good child seeking praise after a good deed. "Look, look, I got the scabbard, I got the scabbard..."

From the moment Little Ber snatched the scabbard to Kiritsugu firing the shot, and then to Little Ber flying back, the entire process took less than three seconds. Thus, the others only reacted now, exchanging glances. The most astonished among them must have been the King of Knights herself, Artoria.

Although locked in a bitter fight with Lancelot, she could still perceive what was happening nearby, especially since it involved her own scabbard. When she saw the golden scabbard, her pupils instantly widened. But before she could react, a heavy aura washed over her. Lancelot attacked relentlessly, wielding the corrupted Lake of Clarity. Forced, the young girl had to focus all her attention on the "enemy" before her.

Once Little Ber was with Lin Luo, Emiya Kiritsugu knew that with his abilities, recovering the scabbard was impossible, so he decisively gave up and redirected his gun toward the Black Mud, but—

Just then, a scene unfolded that astonished everyone. The Black Mud, which had been completely ignoring its attacks on the group, suddenly writhed as if suffering immense harm, screaming out, "Aaaah! Let go of me! Let go of me! Let go of me..."

Amidst the tearing screams, the humanoid shape dissolved into a pool of black sludge and vanished before their eyes.

"What is happening?" Emiya Kiritsugu’s eyes were filled with confusion.

"Could it be..." Misaka’s eyes lit up; she clearly grasped something.

Indeed, at that moment...

"Got you, the Root of All Evil." Lin Luo’s eyes snapped open, and a dozen white lines extended from his body, piercing the Black Mud. "Rise!"

Following Lin Luo's roar, the Black Mud churned violently, and a black sphere nearly two meters in diameter suddenly shot up from the mire.

"That is the core of the Root of All Evil! Full power attack!"

Lin Luo roared, gripping the blade of Gale with both hands. "You and I become one, merging with the whistling wind at the end of heaven and the edge of earth... Ring of the East Wind!"

A gigantic white vortex formed by violent winds tore at the air, the roaring wind pressure distorting space as it swept toward the core of the Root of All Evil.

"I’ve been waiting a long time." Simultaneously, Misaka, enveloped entirely in electrical arcs, exerted her maximum strength, condensing all her electricity into her right hand. An orange-red beam capable of piercing the heavens shot toward the black sphere—Railgun.

"Is this the Root of All Evil? Hmph." In mid-air, (Mugino Shizuri) had already finished charging since the beginning. The power of the Fallen Angel merged with the ability of Atomic Dissolution, forming a black-and-white sphere swirling with destructive power—one white wing, one black wing—which hurtled toward the Root of All Evil.

Three attacks from different directions, launched almost simultaneously, arrived almost simultaneously. The moment they connected, the Ring of the East Wind tore the black mud core apart, the heat generated by the Railgun instantly vaporized the majority of it, and the black-and-white sphere delivered the final destruction.

An attack converging the maximum power of three individuals obliterated the Root of All Evil instantly, leaving nothing behind... This sight caused Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel to stare, wide-eyed, completely unable to believe it.

"Is... is it resolved?" Although the core of the Black Mud was gone, Misaka remained cautious.

"No problem. It took me quite some effort to pull it out of the mire. Once the core is destroyed, it's powerless," Lin Luo nodded, confident in this assessment. The Black Mud’s power derived entirely from the Black Holy Grail; once the Black Holy Grail disappeared, the remaining Black Mud was no longer a threat.

As if to confirm his words, the Black Mud, which had been surging like ocean waves, slowly began to quiet down.

"Lin Luo, have you handled it?"

Just as he had separated from Leyshi, a familiar voice sounded behind him. Lin Luo turned to see Lily and Kuroko. Lily was holding a small figure—it was Tohsaka Rin, appearing to be fast asleep.

"What happened?" Lin Luo hurried over.

"She probably exceeded her limits," Lily replied.

"Is that so..." Lin Luo responded noncommittally, placing his hand on Rin's head. He was unclear about the details of what had just transpired, as all his consciousness had been focused on the Black Mud. However, the seepage of Rule Force allowed him to gauge Rin’s condition well enough; many of her nerves and blood vessels were damaged due to overuse of Magecraft.

With no hesitation, Lin Luo immediately used a healing spell on Rin. Because Rin had surpassed her own limits and reached a new height, even this injury, which wasn't life-threatening, cost Lin Luo 300 points of vitality... This level of expenditure was comparable to that of an LV5.

After healing Rin’s body, Lin Luo turned his gaze toward Kuroko... or rather, toward the man being carried on Bai Rui’s back behind her.

"Is that... Kariya Matou?"

Seeing the man's face, even Lin Luo felt a pang of alarm. Although he wasn't intimately familiar with Kariya Matou, the face almost entirely corroded by the magic power of the Crest Worms, coupled with the Command Seal on the back of his hand, left no doubt as to his identity.

After all, upon interrogating Zouken Matou yesterday, he had admitted that the Berserker Servant was Kariya Matou. However, this Kariya was somewhat different from the original; he had been forcibly modified by Zouken Matou to participate in the Holy Grail War.

"He looks like he's about to die. I thought capturing him would take some effort, but he didn't resist at all," Kuroko said, shrugging. The other person whose brainwaves she had sensed earlier was Kariya Matou.

"I see..." Lin Luo frowned slightly, stroking his chin, then placed his palm on Kariya Matou's body. As the Rule Force permeated, he instantly knew this man wouldn't live for more than ten minutes; his physical body had been completely killed off by the Crest Worms...

"You are quite lucky. If you had been ten minutes later, you truly would have been gone," Lin Luo said with a wry smile. Such an injury would have been insurmountable for anyone else, but he was different. As long as the person still had a breath left, and as long as he had enough life force, Lin Luo could save them, even if their head was missing.

Regardless, Kariya Matou was a good man and had saved Rin's life once. If he hadn't encountered him, it wouldn't matter, but since he saw him, he might as well repay the debt for saving Rin.

With that thought, in the next instant, Lin Luo used Rule Force to utterly annihilate every Crest Worm inside Kariya Matou, then chopped off his right hand bearing the Command Seal, and activated the Holy Healing spell.

Although Kariya Matou was a magus, his inherent magical power was not strong; it was entirely due to the Crest Worms. After using Rule Force to kill them all, he was virtually indistinguishable from an ordinary person. Thus, even for such a fatal injury, restoring his body only cost Lin Luo less than a hundred vitality points.

After healing Kariya, Lin Luo cast his gaze toward Kuroko... more accurately, toward the man being carried by Bai Rui behind her.

"That’s..."

After that, Lin Luo had Kuroko use mental control to make Kariya Matou leave Fuyuki City... This was all he could do for this man; as for his future, that depended on himself.

On the other side, the battle between the King of Knights and Lancelot continued, but with the death of the Crest Worms, Lancelot’s fierce assault ceased after a few seconds of sustained attack. He still held the black Holy Sword aloft, poised to cleave down upon the fallen girl with unmatched force, but his body was frozen as if malfunctioning. The mana, utterly depleted from his rampage, prevented him from moving further.

Almost at the same moment, the sword hilt tightly grasped by Ber, an invisible blade pierced through the black armor... It was instinctual. As Lancelot's attack halted, the young girl instinctively plunged the Holy Sword into his body.

The victor was decided. But... this outcome filled Ber with shame, and she burst into tears. "I'm sorry..."

"My King..." Because Lin Luo had severed Kariya Matou's hand bearing the Command Seal, the healed Kariya was no longer a Berserker. The connection between him and the Berserker had been forcibly nullified by a higher mystery. Seizing this fleeting moment before it vanished, Lancelot was freed from the maddening incantations.

Under the girl's complicated gaze, the Knight of the Lake stared with the same calm eyes as a tranquil lake surface at the King, her face streaked with tears.

Then his gaze shifted downward, resting upon the sword piercing his body. Lancelot managed a wry smile, his tone filled with unexpected compassion. "My King, if I could be judged by you, if you could demand recompense from me, then I would surely believe... in atonement. I would certainly believe that one day I could find a way to forgive myself... The Queen must feel the same way, mustn't she..."

This was the regret of a man and a woman. They held the same ideal as the King, yet because they were too weak, they failed to uphold that ideal. These two never found redemption until their deaths, consumed by deep self-reproach for betraying the person most important to them—a burden they carried their entire lives.

"Lancel..." The girl choked back a sob.

The remains of the Knight of the Lake said nothing more. Accompanied by the last fading light, he vanished.

She began to sob, unable to even make a sound. She forbade herself from making even the slightest noise. Facing the final moments of her loyal knight, she hadn't even managed to speak a single comforting word. What right did she have to cry now?

The King must be solitary and proud... she constantly told herself this. While seeking a path to save her nation, how many people's thoughts and struggles had she ignored?

She wept uncontrollably, the pain feeling like countless thorns tearing at her heart. Should she not have been positioned above everyone as a King? If so, would it not have led to a destructive end? Could everyone have been saved?

But how could she find a way to heal? Even the Holy Grail was already...

"Pathetic." The King of Knights had lost all will to fight, but at that moment, an intensely angry voice rang out beside her ear. Instinctively, she turned toward the source of the sound and saw her counterpart from another world—the Pure White Knight.

"You are my prototype? You are my prototype?" To everyone's surprise, Lily raised the Sword in the Stone and brought it down fiercely against Ber, who instinctively swung her sword to parry.

Now, two identical young women faced each other, but their expressions were completely different. One was filled with indignation, the other bewildered and at a loss.

"You... didn't you decide to uphold your own royal path? Why are you regretting it now? How long are you going to indulge in melancholy?" Lily raised the Sword in the Stone and brought it down heavily toward the other.

"I..." Combat instinct made Ber raise her Holy Sword to block the attack, but she was powerless to answer the questions posed by her opponent.

"It’s because of this," Seeing her demeanor, Lily became even angrier. "You have things you want to say but won't, you carry heavier emotions than anyone, yet you deliberately hide them. It's because of this very manner that you are betrayed!"

The clash of the Holy Sword and the Sword in the Stone erupted in brilliant sparks.

A flicker of anger crossed Ber’s face, but she still could not refute the words.

"The knights who died for you, the knights you killed—since that was the path they chose, since that was the path you chose, you must bear the weight of it! Crying here like this... what kind of ruler are you?"

The anger Lily unleashed, born of suppressed fury and unwilling frustration, struck heavily.

"What do you know... about me... what do you possibly know?" As if enraged by the words, Ber finally swung the Holy Sword in her hand toward her opponent.

"Someone like you lecturing me? I don't need you to tell me what to do!" Bouncing the opponent's attack away forcefully, Ber roared in fury, "Even if you are more successful than me, what right do you have to preach to me?"

"Yes, I have no right, but... I despise people like you the most," Lily gritted out while cursing, wielding the Sword in the Stone with mounting ferocity, launching a barrage of sword shadows toward her opponent.

"You... Hah!" The Gale Barrier flared, whipping up a chaotic wind that forced the opponent back, at which moment Ber bit her lip and charged forward.

"Angry? Upset? Are you finally no longer suppressing your feelings?" The moment she blocked the attack, Lily slipped behind her opponent and thrust the Sword in the Stone forward. "See? This is you! If you can't do something, don't pretend you can, you idiot!"

"I don't need your meddling! Who the hell are you?" Being exposed by her alternate self made Ber even angrier, and her Holy Sword responded by flaring with light.

"I couldn't care less about you, but the mere thought that my prototype is someone as incompetent as you makes me want to defeat you!" The attacks from the Sword in the Stone grew more savage.

"What prototype or not, I won't lose to you!" The radiance of the Holy Sword was equally intense.

Neither would yield. This turn of events stunned the onlookers; no one expected these two to start fighting at this moment, but... no one could intervene.

"Good, very good. We are both severely wounded now, neither has the advantage. Let's see who is truly stronger!" Lily attacked with a smile.

"You're the one acting recklessly!" Anger flared in Ber's eyes, and she charged forward like lightning.

"Only those who can act recklessly are true Kings," Lily did not deny this.

"Aren't you a King who protects the nation and safeguards the people?" Ber challenged.

"Of course, but I am not as cowardly as you."

"I have never been weak!"

As they fought, they hurled insults back and forth.

"Then show me! Right now, you look like a stray dog!"

"I am not! Both the pride of a knight and the oath of a King, I have carried them out faithfully!"

Amidst the clash of blades, their roars were equally fierce.

"If you knew all that, why didn't you dare to hold your head high? Just because the country fell, you want to start over like a spoiled child? How utterly pathetic have you become?"

"Is there anything wrong with wanting to start over? Is there anything wrong with wiping away all the sorrow and pain?"

Their respective paths to kingship clashed, answered by swords, questioned by words.

"That's why I say you're just a selfish child."

"You're the selfish one, attacking me without a word!"

"Ah, yes. Speaking of selfishness, I surpass you, but I can shoulder everything. What have you shouldered?" Lily rebuked mercilessly as she swung her sword.

"The responsibility of a King... I carry it every moment, even if it is wrong, I will bear it all!" With a determined roar, Ber shouted.

“Haven’t you said it well enough already.” Suddenly, Lily’s attack ceased. She stood still, letting out a breath as if relieved, and spoke.

“Huh?” Ber was momentarily stunned. Lily smiled and continued, “Whether it’s right or wrong, as long as it’s something you’ve done, you must bear the weight of it—that is what a King is, didn't you know that too?” “You… have you realized the attacker’s true objective?” Just as she was about to finish speaking, suddenly— “Watch out!

Move fast!” At that precise moment, Lin Luo, Mikoto, Emiya Kiritsugu, Irisviel, everyone present shouted at the two King-Knights. “Huh?” The two King-Knights instinctively froze, sensing something amiss, and simultaneously turned their heads.

Their pupils dilated in an instant… and what they saw was a sky-blotting expanse of Black Mud. “Go!” The first to react was Lily.

She delivered a fierce kick to Ber’s stomach, sending her flying entirely out of harm’s way, but for herself, there was no time left to escape, and then… Boom. The figure of pure white was utterly consumed by the Black Mud.

“This… why?” The girl, who had narrowly escaped disaster, stood petrified, utterly unable to speak. She vanished?

She saved her and then vanished? This… how could this happen?

It’s because of me again, because of me again… “Ah! Give her back to me!” When the realization hit, looking at the surging Black Mud rushing toward her, the girl charged toward it as if driven mad, attacking the sludge.