Chapter 88

Taking a sip from the plastic cup, Rin let the warm water slide down her throat, washing away the bitter aftertaste of coffee beans.

"So you ruled Britain after surviving the Battle of Camlann by keeping the lance, and became like this."

"That is so. I was faced with a choice after I refused to release the lance. I could become the 'Goddess of the Holy Lance', or I could be the 'King of Storms'. In the end, this me chose to become blackened."

Lancer tilted her head to stare at the ceiling, her gaze on a past long gone.

"As to how the curse manifested, or why I was able to reject being a Divine Spirit and become like this, I have no idea. All I felt was something brushing against my mind like a light spring breeze, and I grasped it with all my strength, fighting against my human spirit's dissolution."

Her burning desire to remain human was answered by the Holy Grail, granting her one last wish before she died.

"As for my actions thereafter, I suppose you would call them brutal and needlessly cruel. Absolute control was necessary to save Britain, and that was how I acted. In the end, I became feared as the King of Storms, crushing every enemy both foreign and domestic, until not a single cell of resistance remained."

Emiya frowned in his spiritual form. This was not the King of Knights that he remembered. In fact, she reminded him more of the targets he was assigned to eliminate as a member of the Counter-Guardians.

"However, I did not regret anything. The blood spilt, the fields razed, the parents who became childless, the young ones who became orphans, all of it was something I had to do. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't change a thing."

"It was the correct path."

Unlike Saber, she was her belief in her convictions and actions never wavered. This was her way, a journey without regrets.

"Still, I know what I did was unacceptable and immoral. But as a King, it fell to me to do what my subjects could not. For this is the burden that the King bears, to act not as a normal human, but as a King. Casting aside all thoughts of ethics and morality, to act for the benefit of the kingdom in every way. For the kingdom outweighs the needs of the individual and everything else."

Emiya's closed, the blurry scenes of carnage he had lived through replaying in his mind. Killing the few to save the many.

"I did what I had to do, nothing more, nothing less. I have no wish for the Holy Grail to change my life in any way, nor is there anything it can grant me."

Rin stared into her pale amber eyes.

"Then, you have no wish?"

"I do have one, but not for myself."

"I want to grant an Artoria the rest she deserves."

Rin adopted her thinking pose, raising her hand to her chin and crossing her right arm under the elbow of her left.

"So you're saying that you want to use the Holy Grail's power to kill yourself?"

Lancer's face lit up for a moment, a surprised smile worming its way onto her face.

"It seems that you are quite bright, Miss-"

"Tohsaka. Tohsaka Rin."

"Miss Tohsaka. Indeed, I seek to kill a version of myself with the Holy Grail."

"Though if it were impossible, I wouldn't mind either. I simply want to send one of my versions that became like this with a proper death. Even though I ruled Britain with an iron fist, ensuring it's peace and prosperity, I believe that a king cannot rule forever. All things that begin have an end, and a ruler is no exception. It was true that Britain was safe while I existed, but soon I became a boulder standing in the way of progress, hindering its growth while my existence remained. The country stagnated, reaching its peak in mere decades, and maintained its condition in the centuries to come."

"Also, I got bored."

Lancer leaned against the table as she rested her hand against her forehead, thinking of the bland, monotonous days she spent. As much as she loved battle and doing her duty, after experiencing the same thing for several millennia as an immortal human, the curse of the Holy Grail sustaining her body of flesh, her mind felt like it would stop functioning at any moment.

She closed her mind, grateful that she could now experience the joys of the modern world in this form. She had never even dreamed of the taste of burgers back then, her diet consisting of just meat, meat and more meat.

"Well, even if the Holy Grail can't grant my wish, it doesn't really matter that much to me. I'm already glad enough for this body that allows me to rampage and fight against opponents of similar caliber."

As the 'King of Storms', her nature leaned more towards being a fighter, a commander that led the Wild Hunt in the skies to battle. She appeared more on bloodsoaked battlefields than as a ruler in the castle, and thus her desire for combat was much greater than the other Artorias, although all of them enjoyed it to some degree, fighting against challenging opponents. As such, being able to be summoned as a Servant could be said to be a wish of hers coming true in a way.

The food was just a bonus.

Rin looked down at the water, contemplating their respective reasons for fighting. Lancer wasn't a saint, that was for sure, but in a way her unyielding belief in her actions was worthy of admiration, someone who sacrificed much to achieve what she believed was correct. As for herself…

Lancer glanced at her, deep in thought, before shifting her gaze back to the glowing menu above the counters.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to order more burgers."

Both Archer and Rin were alarmed, Archer almost materializing again to physically restrain her, while Rin stood up, almost spilling the cup of water in her haste.

"Ah, don't you want to try something new? I know a couple of good restaurants that you might like, what do you say about going and trying them out?"

The staff in the restaurant looked on fearfully, praying that Lancer would leave as they continuously apologized to the other customers about the items that were suddenly out of stock.

Lancer didn't even need to hear another word.

"Say no more. Lead the way."

Her Charisma activated, making Rin feel even more motivated to get her out of the restaurant as she took Lancer's hand and led her out of the restaurant, desperately bringing her out before Lancer made the local headlines for cleaning out the restaurant's stocks in a single day. Behind her, Archer shook his head and sighed, his mouth twitching into a small grin when more memories resurfaced of him, Sakura, Taiga, Saber and Rin at the dining table, Taiga fighting with Saber over the dishes while Rin yelled at them to discipline themselves, with him and Sakura laughing at their antics on the side.