Right as Ritsuka dashed forward, a voice echoed in his head.
"Thirteen Seals of the Round Table... released!"
Arthur's deep and authoritative voice echoed in his soul, immediately followed by the firm voice of a woman that sounded very much like Artoria's, yet it was not hers.
"Palamedes: The battle must be one-on-one!"
Hearing the validation of the holy seal, Ritsuka did not slow his pace in the slightest. Instead, he smiled in satisfaction. As he continued to charge, the young man pulled the hilt of his golden sword to the side of his waist, compressing a massive, incredibly dense energy.
Before him, Lancer did not flinch in the least. The First Knight of the Fianna focused his entire aura, aiming the tips of his twin spears straight at Ritsuka's chest.
The distance between them shrank in the blink of an eye. Right before the deadly spear tips could touch his body, Ritsuka took a deep breath and shouted, shattering the air.
"EX... CALIBUR!"
With one powerful upward swing, the golden sword unleashed a slashing pillar of blinding light. The holy ray shot forward, sweeping through the air and colliding directly with Lancer.
Even though the light's intensity was far from perfect and not as massive as during the previous battle in the Fuyuki Singularity, that burst of energy was more than enough to make the Fuyuki night sky flicker for a moment...
...and certainly more than enough to catch the attention of a certain blonde Servant elsewhere, who abruptly stopped chewing in the middle of his meal.
KABOOM!
A massive explosion shook the foundation of the old warehouse. Plumes of dust and thick smoke instantly enveloped the collision point where Ritsuka and Lancer's attacks clashed.
There was a moment of silence. The air felt heavy with residual prana. Then, from behind the veil of dust, the clinking sound of metal slipping from a grip was heard, followed by the heavy thud of a body collapsing against the hard floor.
THUD!
Rikka, Mash, Kayneth, and his fiancée stared tensely at the thick cloud of dust in the middle of the room. Their breath seemed to catch as they waited for the outcome of the devastating clash.
As the dust slowly began to settle, a silhouette finally revealed itself.
They saw Ritsuka's figure still standing tall, both his hands tightly gripping the hilt of the golden sword, which was now embedded in the floor to support his body. However, the next sight made everyone's blood run cold. A long, red spear had pierced through the young man's chest, embedded deep right into his heart.
Right at Ritsuka's feet, the body of the Servant Lancer lay face down, no longer moving. The knight's eyes were closed peacefully.
Even though his life had slipped away and his body was starting to fade into particles of light, a satisfied smile was etched eternally on his face—the smile of a true knight who had fulfilled his duty and honor.
"BROTHER!!!"
Rikka's hysterical scream shattered the tense silence. Ignoring all danger, the girl ran as fast as possible through the remnants of the battle. Tears streamed down her face, her body trembling violently in terror at the sight of the cursed red spear lodged in her brother's chest.
However, Ritsuka just stood frozen in silence, as if simply letting the fatal wound be.
On the other hand, Kayneth stood frozen. His mind was blank. His ego and pride were completely shattered upon realizing that his proud Servant had actually been defeated by a human.
However, the nobleman's shock was nothing compared to what happened next.
"LANCER!!!"
Sola-Ui, Kayneth's fiancée, suddenly screamed in utter despair. The woman ran out from her shield, completely ignoring Kayneth, and threw herself right beside the knight's body. Her trembling hands embraced Lancer's body amid heartbreaking sobs.
"Impossible... you weren't supposed to lose in this squalid place! You are my knight!" Sola-Ui wailed, her tears wetting Lancer's face.
Kayneth stood rigidly in place, his eyes wide as he stared at the scene before him.
Slowly, Sola-Ui lifted her tear-stained face. She turned toward Ritsuka. The sorrow on the woman's face vanished instantly, replaced by a dark gaze filled with deep-seated vengeance and an incredibly thick murderous intent.
"How dare you kill my Lancer!" Sola-Ui shrieked hysterically, glaring at Ritsuka with absolute fury.
However, Ritsuka did not respond to the woman's anger at all. The young man's gaze was not directed at Sola-Ui, but rather locked onto a dark shadow hiding in the corner of the room.
"This is enough," Ritsuka said coldly. "Do not hurt them. Do not let this honorable duel be tainted by your actions."
Ritsuka spoke those words while staring sharply at the figure of Assassin EMIYA. The dark-cloaked mercenary had apparently aimed the barrel of his gun right at Kayneth and Sola-Ui's heads from their blind spot.
Hearing Ritsuka's warning and realizing the direction of his gaze, Kayneth flinched. A cold chill ran down his spine. He immediately grabbed his fiancée's wrist tightly.
"Sola, we have to get out of here right now! This place is too dangerous!" he pulled her in a panic.
Sola-Ui roughly brushed off Kayneth's hand. "No! I won't leave without Lancer! This all happened because of you! You are the worst Master, Kayneth! If only you had given Lancer's Command Spells to me from the start, he would never have ended up like this—"
The woman's hateful words were suddenly cut short.
THUD!
Sola-Ui's body instantly went limp and she lost consciousness. Assassin appeared soundlessly right behind her.
Obeying Ritsuka's stern warning, the Assassin aborted his murderous intent and merely delivered a blunt strike to the back of Sola-Ui's neck to knock her out.
Kayneth swiftly caught his fiancée's body before she hit the floor.
Without wasting a single second to protest, he ordered his mercury defender, Volumen Hydrargyrum, to form a shield behind them.
The Lord of the Clock Tower ran away as fast as his legs could carry him out of the old warehouse, fleeing with the shattered remains of his pride.
After they left, Lancer's body began to fade, slowly dissolving into particles of light.
Seeing this, Ritsuka suddenly raised his hand and tightly gripped the shaft of Gáe Dearg, which was still embedded deep in his heart. With one strong, fearless jerk, he forcefully pulled the red spear out of his chest.
The magic circuits all over Ritsuka's arm instantly lit up brightly. He activated Knight of Owner before the spear could fade along with its owner's corpse. An incredibly dense prana rushed into the blade of the holy weapon. In an instant, its rose-red color faded, replaced by a pitch-black hue with fiercely glowing red veins; Ritsuka had claimed the weapon as his own.
"I will make this legacy of yours into my treasured weapon, Lancer," Ritsuka whispered with full respect to the knight's body, which was now almost entirely light.
Ritsuka smiled faintly. The projection of the Excalibur sword in his hand slowly faded into dust of light, while he firmly sheathed his new black spear behind his back.
"Brother! Are you okay?!" Rikka shouted in panic.
Mash immediately approached them. Rikka and Mash stared in horror at the gaping hole in Ritsuka's left chest.
Fresh blood continued to drip heavily, staining the floor from the fatal stab of Gáe Dearg earlier.
CLUNK!
CLUNK!
Suddenly, the wheel above Ritsuka's head spun twice in a row.
In a matter of seconds, a miracle occurred. The tissue of flesh, muscle, and skin on Ritsuka's chest knitted itself back together at an impossible speed. The hole closed perfectly without leaving even the slightest scar.
Ritsuka rubbed his fully healed chest, then looked at the two girls with a reassuring smile. "See? I'm perfectly fine," he said gently.
Even though Rikka and Mash's breathing was still erratic from worry, the young man's smile slowly made them try to calm down. They were just about to breathe a sigh of relief... however, that relief lasted for less than a second.
Suddenly, Ritsuka's smile vanished. The muscles in his face tensed hard. His eyes widened as if witnessing a horror.
An incredibly savage, primitive, and scorching surge of mana exploded from the center of his heart. The black pupils in the middle of his emerald eyes suddenly narrowed and elongated, distorting into sharp vertical slits like the eyes of a predatory reptile!
"Ugh...!"
An indescribable pain suddenly struck his heart. Ritsuka immediately clutched his chest tightly. The blood flowing through all of his veins felt as if it were boiling like molten lava.
"AAARRRGGGHHH!!!"
The young man fell to his knees, screaming in agony. The sound of his screams slowly mixed with the echoing growl of a wild beast, vibrating the air around him.
From beneath the skin of his newly healed chest, an incredibly dense, bluish prana light radiated. His body temperature spiked drastically, evaporating his own sweat. Slowly, around his heart area, his human skin began to harden, almost as if it were turning into scales...
. . .
In a magnificent white tower standing tall amidst an eternal flower garden, the sound of an incredibly beautiful laugh echoed... yet for some reason, it felt so eerie.
"Hahahaha! It has begun! It has finally begun! His first transformation! It took such a very long time for this moment to finally arrive!" the woman exclaimed in delight. She laughed merrily, twirling gracefully amidst the flower petals drifting in the wind.
Then, her steps slowly came to a halt. A very familiar man's voice suddenly echoed in her head.
"Is all of this going according to your scenario?" the man's voice asked in a slightly tired tone.
The two illusion weavers were none other than the inhabitants of the tower at the end of the world—Lady Avalon and Merlin.
"Ooh, my dearest Brother! You saw it too from your tower, didn't you?" Lady Avalon replied with an intoxicatingly sweet smile. "Yes, of course! This is all proceeding exactly as I desired, fufu~. I had already predicted that our beloved Master would go through all of this. Even without using Clairvoyance, this route was bound to happen! Ah... I am so happy!"
"Wow... you are truly crazy," Merlin snorted from across dimensions. "But there's another major problem. You realize it, right? Because of that 'Boy of Light's' actions, our Master's existence has now been detected by that crazy girl. How do you plan to handle that particular problem?"
"Fufu~ rest easy, Brother. This beautiful little sister of yours has already thought the rest of the scenario through thoroughly. Just leave everything to me, and things will get... even more chaotic!" Lady Avalon teased with sparkling eyes.
"In a situation like this, the norm dictates that you should say 'everything will be fine', you demon," Merlin complained. "Alright then. I won't get in the way of your plans. But I'm warning you... if this joke of yours goes too far and starts threatening our Master's life, I will step in directly! I will forcefully drag Ritsuka into Avalon as a backup plan to keep him safe. Do you understand?"
"Yes, yes, alright, Brother. You can do that boring stuff later," Lady Avalon chuckled casually, not caring about the threat in the slightest.
The silver-pink-haired woman turned her gaze back to the vision of Ritsuka, who was groaning in pain. Her smile grew wider, reflecting a deep obsession.
"Now, with this... the Second Arthur Project has officially begun!" Lady Avalon whispered, her voice filled with a mysterious fervor. "Fufu~ I can hardly wait to see his perfect form. Be born, the Dragon King... Ritsuka Fujimaru!"
. . .
Back inside the warehouse, Ritsuka was still groaning from the pain tearing at his chest. Mash and Rikka were overcome with immense panic witnessing the young man's suffering.
Meanwhile, deep within Ritsuka's subconscious, Arthur watched the entire mutation process with wide eyes.
The King of Knights, who was usually always calm, was now struck by uncontrollable anger.
"This...! Merlin!!! What have you actually done to Master?!" Arthur roared, his voice booming within the soul space.
However, no matter how loud he shouted, Arthur couldn't do a thing. As a knight's soul merely hitching a ride inside that body, he had absolutely no physical control to stop the process happening to Ritsuka.
Amidst Ritsuka's agonizing screams of pain, a loud sound suddenly echoed, piercing the air.
CLUNK!
Following that turn of the wheel, Ritsuka's body instantly stopped trembling. His erratic breathing suddenly became very calm and steady.
Slowly, the young man opened his eyelids. However, the eyes that opened were not those of a human. In the center of his emerald irises lay sharp, vertical black pupils.
Seeing her brother had stopped screaming, Rikka immediately lunged forward and hugged Ritsuka's body tightly. "Brother! Thank goodness you're alright! I was so worried!" she sobbed, pouring out all her fears.
Mash, who was standing on guard near them, also breathed a sigh of relief, though her face still radiated confusion. "Senpai, what exactly happened? Why did you suddenly scream in pain just now?" she asked worriedly.
Silence.
Not a single answer came out of Ritsuka's mouth. The young man got up, cold as ice. His reptilian eyes stared at Mash and Rikka, who was hugging him. He did not return his sister's embrace. He did not smile, either. His eyes merely blinked slowly with a highly unfamiliar, empty gaze.
Ritsuka looked at the two girls not as his precious sister or comrade, but analyzed them like inanimate objects.
Feeling the unnatural coldness from her brother's body and the gripping silence, Rikka slowly turned her head a little. The girl's heart fluttered with unease.
"Brother...?" Rikka called out softly. She felt that the Ritsuka in her embrace was like a completely different person.
Ritsuka did not respond to his sister's call at all. His gaze, now vertical slits, stared at Rikka without emotion. Slowly, his lips parted to voice something.
"Human—"
But before the word could be completely spoken, a sound interrupted him.
CLUNK!
The wheel of Dharma above his head spun once again. This time, its adaptive capability responded to 'something' that had begun to snatch away Ritsuka's mind. The wheel rejected the assimilation of that 'something' by forcefully pulling the young man's human consciousness back to the surface.
Ritsuka gasped violently, taking a deep breath as if he had just nearly drowned. His head darted right and left in panic.
"R-Rikka?! Why are you hugging me and crying?" he asked, completely bewildered seeing the girl sobbing against his chest. The young man looked as though he had just awakened from a long, empty slumber.
Ritsuka then shifted his gaze. "Mash, what exactly happened?"
Mash stared at him with an expression still filled with anxiety. "Senpai really doesn't remember? Just now, Senpai suddenly clutched your chest and screamed so loudly, as if enduring an agonizing pain."
"Eh? Did I... really do that?" Ritsuka muttered while holding his head, which felt dizzy, trying to recall the empty gap in his memory.
Amidst the confusion, a deep, familiar voice called out from the recesses of his soul.
"Master. There is something very important I must tell you... right now," Arthur called out in an extremely serious tone.
*'Arthur!'* Ritsuka's mind responded quickly. Realizing the urgency in Arthur's tone, Ritsuka fell silent for a moment to organize his thoughts.
He then gently stroked his sister's back to comfort her. "Rikka, you can let go of me now. Calm down, I am truly alright."
Hearing her brother's warm voice once again, Rikka nodded in relief. The girl wiped her tears and slowly released her embrace.
Ritsuka put on a serious face and issued a tactical command. "Rikka, please take Mash and Assassin outside to secure the perimeter. Check the surroundings of this warehouse. I'm worried the explosion from our battle earlier will attract the attention of other Masters and Servants to this place."
"Understood, Brother. I'll go check the surroundings for a bit," Rikka nodded obediently.
Without wasting time, Rikka and Mash stepped out of the warehouse's rubble area. Meanwhile, the invisible dark shadow of Assassin EMIYA glided silently, following them from behind, leaving Ritsuka alone so he could finally converse with the knight spirit within him.