This Is Actually a Transformation

[Manaka] knew everything her sister was thinking. Ayaka wanted to stop her, not believing that what she offered was happiness.

She knew all of it.

But she felt it didn't matter. As she had said before, humans always try to understand the unknown with what they know. Ayaka couldn't comprehend how joyful the new world would be. Only she, the omniscient and omnipotent, could understand. The new world she created would surely bring happiness to Ayaka.

"Sister, can you stop?"

Stepping down from Arcueid's back, Ayaka spoke to her sister. "A world without Magecraft—in your eyes, it's a happy world for me. But right now, I just want you to come back. Since you're not completely dead, please come back."

[To me, happiness is having you back by my side.]

[Manaka] knew what Ayaka wanted to say. Her sister, so dependent on her, made her, as an older sister, truly happy. In a different setting, [Manaka] would have been uncontrollably overjoyed.

But not now. To complete the final step, even if Ayaka misunderstood, she had to keep going.

"Sorry, Ayaka, I can't give up halfway." [Manaka]'s expression held a trace of sadness. "The rebirth of the world has begun. In twelve hours, the entire world will be fully replaced by the new one—this speed is incomparable to the automatic mode from two days ago."

"I promise you, Ayaka, in the new world, I'll return to your side, and we'll live together forever."

"Sister…"

Ayaka didn't know what to say. She wanted to say this was wrong, that her sister was mistaken, that she didn't want such a world at all… But the heavy emotions conveyed through [Manaka]'s words left her unable to speak.

Her sister always thought of her. This sibling love was too deep, too grand, enough to shake the world.

Her sister's will was like a tsunami, a mountain, a storm, pressing down on Ayaka until she could barely breathe. She, who had vowed to confront her sister before coming, now stood silent.

"AAAAAaaaaaaaaa!"

A melodious, song-like sound rang out from the seven heads of Beast VI/S. Golden waves spread through the space, enveloping the Holy Grail above it, emitting a blindingly sacred light.

The wish had been made, and the ritual of the world's rebirth would gradually affect the entire world through the leyline. Nothing could stop [Manaka] now. Destroying the Holy Grail might be the only way, but the shield-like waves were not mere decoration. To break through—

*SHUA!*

A massive crack suddenly opened at the top of the giant chamber. Crimson moonlight poured from within.

Arcueid stared at the broken barrier before her. "Shield or whatever, watch me shatter it with one Moon Fall! An imperfect beast can't stop me!"

A celestial destroyer, under the glow of crimson moonlight, slowly descended from the crack. A terrifying pressure swept in, an overwhelming force like a mountain crushing everyone.

Leaning against the wall to resist the heavy pressure, Aoko shouted urgently, "Stop, Arcueid! If you use that attack in a space this small, you, me, and Ayaka will be crushed instantly!"

"Huh?"

Hearing Aoko's shout, Arcueid snapped back to reality, hurriedly pulling the nearly fully emerged moon back into the crack and sealing it shut!

The crushing pressure on Aoko and Ayaka's shoulders vanished instantly.

[Manaka], witnessing the scene, gave a faint smile. As expected, even the strongest True Ancestor princess lost her only effective way to disrupt the enemy when others were nearby. She patted one of Beast VI/S's heads below her.

[Go and move a little.]

She conveyed her intent.

"GAAAAAAYAAAAAA!"

The seven heads rose eagerly, their roars echoing through the chamber, shaking the atmosphere—but right after the roar, an out-of-place voice sounded from where no voice should have been.

"Waking up to this noise, did I wake up in a zoo?"

The voice was familiar to everyone present, yet its familiarity made them all the more shocked, their gazes turning to Arcueid.

"Naoki's voice… but I didn't speak just now." Arcueid said innocently. "By the way, that voice clearly came from inside the shield!"

Inside!

Everyone's attention snapped to the shield. Besides the Holy Grail, Beast VI/S, and [Manaka], who were already there, a silver figure had appeared inside the shield at some point.

[That's—]

Manaka exclaimed in delight.

Only she could instantly recognize who it was, but she also knew it wasn't the figure she initially thought—no, that didn't matter anymore.

"A Servant summoning from the world itself."

[Manaka] understood the situation.

The two Counter Forces from the original world couldn't intervene here. Only the two Counter Forces of the new world could. Alaya was herself. To ensure the world could bring happiness to Ayaka, she would personally unite the minds of all humanity in the world.

Thus, the outcome was clear.

"Ciel… So that's how she did it."

Her gaze swept over Arcueid and the figure before her, and [Manaka] instantly understood everything.

Her original body was occupied by another consciousness, allowing her original consciousness to temporarily connect to another body and, through the authority of the suppressive force, Naoki was summoned into the shield.

This was likely the final gambit.

"Just like the figure I saw."

Silver armor, golden holy sword, a sacred knight.

[Manaka], omniscient and omnipotent, who had seen him in the past and in her dreams, and who, for her sister's sake, had let him go in the real world, now faced him as if by fate.

The King of Knights of Britannia—

"Servant, Saber."

Standing before Beast VI/S with the Holy Sword in hand, the silver knight offered his true name.

"True Name, [Arthur Pendragon / Natsukawa Naoki], answering the call."