Typemoon: Starting Out as the Lion King [145] 

Credits: Surge1301

As soon as those words were spoken before Artoria could even respond, the faces of Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others, who had not yet departed, turned pale. The conversation between Alaric and Artoria was extremely brief—so brief that Fujimaru and the group had not yet fully returned to Chaldea.

Thus, the content of the conversation was heard loud and clear.

It was precisely because of this that, when Alaric voiced his request, everyone present was shaken.

The Holy Lance Rhongomyniad was the primary cause of the singularity's formation. After the Round Table Knight Bedivere returned the Excalibur, allowing the Lion King Artoria to regain her humanity, she relinquished the Holy Lance.

But if Alaric were to retrieve the Holy Lance, would another singularity form?

This question, or something similar, surfaced in the minds of Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others. Mash, unable to hold back, cried out: "Sir Alaric! Please don't do this!"

When Mash tried to rush to Alaric's side, she realized that most of her body had already vanished, making her unable to act. She could only stand as a spectator, watching the final exchange between Alaric and the Lion King.

Da Vinci looked unusually solemn, and Roman's voice echoed, ["Is something like this even possible?"]

From Mash's earlier mention of being rejected by the foundation of humanity, coupled with Alaric's request for Rhongomyniad, Roman finally realized that Alaric still harbored many secrets that had not yet come to light.

What worried him even more was whether the singularity would reform and what would become of Alaric.

If Alaric were rejected by the foundation of humanity, he would be unable to remain in the original timeline and would be cast outside the bounds of human history.

Could he survive like that? Da Vinci shook her head, unable to provide an answer to the current situation.

If Alaric took up the Holy Lance and caused the singularity to reform, they could potentially intervene again to resolve the issue. But what about after that? The ever-resourceful genius, Da Vinci, found herself overwhelmed just thinking about the repercussions.

Their first venture into a singularity had already brought such an unexpected twist.

Unlike the troubled Chaldeans, Alaric and Artoria exchanged calm glances.

When Artoria heard Alaric's final request, she did not immediately refuse. Instead, she gazed at him with a touch of sorrow.

Even without the Holy Lance, even no longer divine, Artoria could still see Alaric's soul.

Without any unnecessary words, Artoria slowly nodded and smiled: "Granted. My knight, Sir Alaric, live with all your might."

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Alaric, having received the Lion King's approval, picked up the Holy Lance Rhongomyniad. When the cold shaft of the lance settled in his palm—

At last, six months after their initial encounter, Alaric now held the Holy Lance Rhongomyniad.

But Alaric felt no joy. He merely accepted the lance as if it had always been his to bear.

Countless simulations, data analyses, trials of possibilities, and a desperate belief in hope—

All had led Alaric to this moment.

Without hesitation, Alaric took out a pale blue magical crystal.

"So... this is where they were meant to be used?"

Da Vinci's eyes narrowed slightly as realization dawned on her—she finally understood Alaric's pursuit of True Ether.

Crack!

A crisp sound of shattering accompanied a faint surge of magical energy—

And nothing happened.

"Are you rejecting me?"

Having crushed the True Ether and attempted to activate the Holy Lance, Alaric immediately sensed an overwhelming feeling of rejection. Just as the world itself had turned against him, Rhongomyniad too resisted his use and approach.

Why? Why is everything rejecting me?

At that moment, it felt as though the entire world, except for the Lion King, was rejecting Alaric.

Even so, Alaric refused to give up.

How could it end like this?

Countless imagined outcomes flashed through Alaric's mind.

Without the slightest hesitation, Alaric decisively reversed the Holy Lance and, to the shock of everyone watching, pierced it through his own body.

If the human body could be imagined as a planet, then let the lance serve as the anchor to lock it in place!

"Holy Lance! Anchor of the planet—at least, at least anchor my end here, so I will not be rejected by the world!"

Alaric's final roar echoed at the end of the world.

This scene was the last thing Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others saw before the completion of Chaldea's return from the singularity.

At the end of the world, only Alaric and the Lion King Artoria remained.

Yet nothing happened, even though Alaric was now closer to the Holy Lance than ever before.

No matter what method he tried, Alaric could not fully activate the Holy Lance. No effect? No effect?

How could there be no effect?

Alaric refused to accept this reality. Even as he used Sanzang's Ruyi Jingu Bang to repeatedly test the planetary anchor's effectiveness and activation methods, even as he explored the feasibility of the Tri-Hermes calculation plan, and even as he prepared a substitute True Ether close to the Age of Gods' True Ether, all his efforts over the past six months now seemed laughable.

Alaric bit his lip, desperately searching for another solution.

What else could he do? What else?

But no matter how hard he racked his brain, no answer emerged.

Before him lay only despair.

The silent despair threatened to engulf Alaric. When his final thread of reason gave way, that would mark the moment he was utterly rejected by the foundation of humanity.

At that moment, a white hand rested on the Holy Lance.

Stunned, Alaric looked up. In the light now drawing near, the Lion King Artoria's smile was—

So radiant, so inviting.

Her voice, no longer cold, was filled with a gentle warmth.

"Holy Lance, anchor—"

Target (Limit): 1 person;

Range: 1 person [Primordial Celestial Body / Quasi-Celestial Body] [Fabric of the Stars] [Human Foundation ■■] [■■ Humanity] [■■ Sun] [■ Human ■ Spirit].

Effect: ???

The grand tower that should have stood at the end of the world transformed into a fine needle, falling for the sake of just one individual.

The Holy Lance disappeared.

As the Lion King Artoria personally adjusted and activated the lance, Rhongomyniad dissolved into fragments of light and vanished within Alaric's body.

But Alaric could still feel the Holy Lance's presence—and, at long last—

The joy of no longer being rejected.

Even if it was just for a fleeting moment, Alaric truly felt that he was not being rejected—not by this world, not by humanity's foundation, and not by the Holy Lance.

"——"

Alaric opened his mouth as if to speak, but the words wouldn't come.

It was as though he didn't know what to say; he could only watch helplessly as the radiant waves of light from the world's end surged toward him.

Yet, after locking eyes with the Lion King once more, all the worries and thoughts in Alaric's heart vanished.

This was because the King's smile was so reassuring.

The time for a final farewell had come—

"Goodbye forever, my King."

Amidst the waves of light at the end of the world, Alaric spoke with a smile: "May I… hug you?"

"Farewell, my knight."

The golden-haired Artoria did not reject Alaric. She opened her arms and gently embraced him.

Two people who were never meant to touch silently held each other amidst the light that devoured the world.

In an instant, the waves of light engulfed both Artoria and Alaric. The world's correction was nearing its conclusion. The 13th-century Middle East would soon return to its rightful state. Humanity's history, intertwined with the planet's, would continue to press forward.

Time was never meant to flow backward, yet there will always be exceptions that defy reason.

Or perhaps—

Miracles.

[■■■■-■■■■]

Amidst the waves of light at the world's end—or rather, within this tide of humanity's foundation—Alaric finally found a small vessel of his own.

A small boat, sailing toward an unknown future.

The accumulated time and history of humanity, forged over thousands of years, now lay ahead of Alaric. At the very end of it was an ancient mystery.

A time when gods had not yet been severed from humanity.

PS: First Arc Done!

PS2: Unprotected hug, so lewd.