"You know..."
"Yes, Rikka?"
"How long has Denial been reading? I assume she's been at it for a long time, right?"
"Hmm... If I remember correctly, she started about three years ago."
"I see. Now I understand..."
Now Rikka completely understood why Denial was currently using such cringy speech.
It seemed that whenever Denial took over now, Rikka didn't just fall unconscious anymore, but was instead dragged right into this inner world while Denial piloted their physical body outside.
The moment Rikka had regained her consciousness this time, she was greeted by Void, who was still wearing her usual kimono.
"Aren't you hot wearing that?"
"Not at all. It is actually really comfortable and easy to move in. Plus, this kimono is incredibly cute, right?"
Void said, playfully tilting her head with a gentle and warm smile as she gracefully smoothed out the fabric of her sleeve.
"Well, if you say so."
The two of them were currently sitting beside each other in their inner world's living room with absolutely nothing to do but wait while Denial fought Assassin outside.
Even though Rikka was in there, she and Void could actually see exactly what Denial was doing since her direct perspective was broadcasting right onto the TV sitting in front of them.
Watching the way Denial moved without a single ounce of hesitation like seamlessly dodging and perfectly deflecting the barrage of knives the Assassin threw at her made Rikka honestly feel like she was looking at someone else's body.
She couldn't understand how Denial could just do all of that without stopping to weigh the pros and cons, or how she wasn't terrified of getting hurt and accidentally killing someone.
Lady Ava had once told Rikka that she was probably one of the very few magi in the world who froze up like this, even though she actually had the ability to fight.
She explained that it was called "analysis paralysis," which happened when a person overthought a situation so much that their brain completely froze up, entirely preventing their body from acting even when they had the physical skill, speed, and training to execute the move perfectly.
"Is there something troubling you?" Void suddenly asked, smoothly snapping Rikka out of her thoughts as she sat there overthinking things like usual.
"...No... It's just... how should I say this..."
"Is it really that heavy? Then it might be best to tell me now before Denial returns, or she is just going to stare at you like you are asking a stupid question when the answer is completely obvious to her,"
Void said with a soft, affectionate giggle as she shifted on the couch and gently sliding closer.
Rikka stared down at her lap, nervously picking at her fingers as she thought about how, despite being trained as a magus by Lady Avalon for three years, she had never actually killed or even hurt anyone.
But since she was in the Fate Zero world now, she knew that sooner or later she would have to fight back just to protect herself.
It frustrated her that whenever she was in real danger, she would freeze up, forcing Denial to always take control of their body just to keep them alive.
She knew she couldn't keep depending on Denial forever, so even if she couldn't bring herself to kill, she had to at least find the courage to injure her opponents to survive.
"Void..." Rikka asked softly, breaking the silence. "What do you think about hurting other people, or even killing them, just to protect yourself?"
Rikka didn't realize, but that was a pretty stupid question to ask since Void was constantly connected to the Root and already knew everything from beginning to the end.
To Void the entire universe was just a giant storybook where she already knew how everything would end, so she viewed all the people and others thing in it just like mere characters from the book and didn't care when they died just like a reader wouldn't care about a random background character that died.
The only exception to that rule was the girl sitting right in front of her.
Because Rikka's soul came from an entirely different world, she didn't exist in any of those countless storybooks that Void had seen.
Because of that Void didn't see Rikka as just another fictional character, but rather as someone exactly like herself but as a fellow reader watching the story unfold together.
"Sometimes I hate that I still have the memories of my previous life because they stop me from properly adapting to this world, but I'm also glad I have them so I could save someone like Sakura," Rikka said, letting out a long exhale.
"And I am happy you feel that way, Rikka," Void replied, her voice incredibly gentle and comforting as she reached out to warmly hold Rikka's hand.
"Because those memories are exactly what make you who you are," Void continued, giving Rikka's hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Everything you remember from your past life shaped your heart, and without those experiences, you wouldn't be the same person sitting in front of me right now. If you had just adapted perfectly to this world and forgotten who you used to be, you might have just become another cold magus, and you never would have reached out to save Sakura in the first place."
Rikka didn't say anything after hearing that, simply sitting there as she thought deeply about what Void had just said.
She realized that Void was completely right, because if she didn't have the memories of her previous life, she never would have known about Sakura's situation.
She also wouldn't have been able to become such close friends with Manaka, since the main reason they grew so close in the first place was because they bonded over the stories from her old world.
Even Denial and Void benefited from it, since having those memories meant they could read all the novels and manhwa stored inside her mind instead of just sitting around doing nothing in the inner world all day.
"As for the question you asked me earlier," Void continued, her voice remaining soft and patient as she looked at Rikka.
"If you are expecting me to give you a direct answer, I am sorry, but even I can't decide that for you. The will to kill or hurt someone depends entirely on you, Rikka. The real question you need to ask yourself is will you fight just to cause harm, or will you fight to protect?"
Void gently squeezed Rikka's hand, offering her a reassuring and understanding smile.
"Being afraid of hurting others isn't a weakness, it just proves that you still have a kind and gentle heart," Void explained softly, wrapping her other hand around Rikka's to give her a sense of warmth.
"But sometimes, drawing your blade is the only way to shield the people you care about from those who want to take them away. You don't have to become a cold-blooded killer, you just need to find the courage to protect your own happiness."
Leaning in a little closer, Void gently brushed a stray strand of hair behind Rikka's ear.
"And whatever path you choose to take, or however long it takes for you to find that courage, just remember that you are never alone," Void said, her eyes filled with absolute certainty.
"I will always support you no matter what, and I know for a fact that Denial and your teacher, Lady Ava, will always be right there to support you too."
Hearing those words, Rikka felt a sudden, comforting warmth spread through her chest, and she couldn't stop the tears from welling up in her eyes.
As she sat there, she thought about everyone who had been by her side and supported her since she first arrived in this terrifying world.
She remembered Lady Avalon's playful but caring guidance, Manaka's genuine friendship, Sakura's innocent smile, and the constant, reassuring presence of Denial and Void always watching over her.
A newfound determination quickly settled in her heart as she realized that, even though she was currently trapped in the physical body of a child, she was mentally still an adult from her previous life, which meant it was her absolute responsibility to protect the people she cared about.
"You're right," Rikka sniffled, quickly wiping her eyes with her sleeve as she gave Void a firm, determined nod.
"Technically, I am an adult anyway, so it is my job to be the one protecting everyone."
Void blinked in surprise for a split second before a soft, melodic laugh escaped her lips, completely amused by how the tiny eight-year-old girl sitting next to her was trying so hard to act tough and mature.
"Oh, is that so?" Void giggled, reaching out to affectionately pat Rikka on the head. "Well, even if you were an adult in your past life, right now you are still just an eight-year-old child, so that excuse doesn't really count here."
"It is a wonderful thing that you want to protect us, Rikka, but please don't overwork yourself or try to carry all of that heavy burden entirely on your own, alright?"
But right in the middle of their conversation, a loud, dramatic voice suddenly echoed from the television, completely interrupting them.
"Unfortunately for you, everything is going exactly according to my plan!" Denial's confident voice rang out through the speakers.
Void's eyes immediately widened in alarm as she stared at the screen, instantly realizing exactly what Denial was trying to do.
Meanwhile Rikka just felt a deep wave of second-hand embarrassment wash over her as she groaned.
"Why is she saying something like that... Maybe I should restrict her from reading those weird novels..." Rikka muttered, entirely missing the actual danger of the situation.
But before she could complain any further, Void suddenly wrapped her arms around Rikka pulling her into a tight protective hug.
Confused by the sudden embrace, Rikka blinked and tried to ask what she was doing, but the only response she received was a desperate whisper right next to her ears.
"Please hold on..." Void pleaded, her tone filled with deep apology.
Before Rikka could even process what she meant, an agonizing heat suddenly erupted from deep within her, making it feel like her entire body had just been set on fire.
Her magic circuits forcefully activated, glowing with such violent intensity that the burning lines could be clearly seen spreading across every single inch of her skin.
A blinding pain struck her skull, making her head throb as if it were being repeatedly smashed, while her brain felt like it was trapped inside a spinning blender and being completely destroyed by the sheer influx of information.
Struggling through the absolute agony, Rikka barely managed to open her eyes, only to realize that the arms tightly hugging her were glowing just as fiercely.
Because Rikka, Void, and Denial all shared the exact same physical body, Denial forcefully overloading their real magic circuits in the outside world meant that the devastating backlash was instantly and unavoidably tearing through all of them in the inner world as well.
As the excruciating pain threatened to completely overwhelm her senses, the only thing Rikka could hear was the sound of Void holding her close and endlessly whispering how sorry she was.
---
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---
Meanwhile in the outside world, Denial smirked as she firmly grasped the hilt of the pitch-black blade.
"Heh... Rejoice. You have the supreme honor of being the absolute first to be devoured by the calamity dragon slumbering within my right hand."
The exact moment the Kusanagi no Katashiro fully materialized, the ambient Mana in the air around her violently shifted.
Even though it was only a downscaled replica, it was still a perfect proxy of a Divine Construct.
The atmosphere physically groaned under the immense weight of its existence, twisting the surrounding Mana into a heavy, suffocating pressure.
It felt strikingly similar to the intense, reality-warping phenomena of a magus tracing a Broken Phantasm, but the sheer density of the aura was far more oppressive, only kept from completely shattering the area because it was a copied replica rather than the original.
Denial did not possess a "Sword" origin to forge weapons directly from her soul.
Instead she treated the Root itself like a database terminal.
She didn't need to actually understand how to forge the weapons, because the Akasha already held the absolute truth of the blade.
As her Magic Circuits flared to life-causing the agonizing backlash currently torturing Rikka and Void in the inner world-they acted as a direct bridge to the Root, instantaneously downloading the sword's precise structural data and historical composition.
Her circuits then processed that overwhelming influx of information, using her own magical energy to print the physical replica directly into reality.
Rather than creating a blade through traditional step-by-step magecraft, she simply copy-pasting the absolute historical data of the proxy weapon straight into the present moment, forcefully rewriting to manifest the physical download.
Usually if any other person besides Rikka attempted something so absurd, Gaia and Alaya would never stay silent.
Gaia fiercely protected the natural order of the Earth, so materializing a weapon by copy-pasting its absolute data directly from the Root was immediately flagged as a massive violation of world stability.
At the same time, Alaya protected humanity from self-destruction meaning that if a normal human opened a backdoor to the Root, it ran the catastrophic risk of accidentally rewriting human history or completely unraveling the timeline.
The moment any normal magus tried to pull off a stunt like that, the Counter Force would respond immediately.
The World would summon a Counter Guardian or weaponize nature itself to violently neutralize the threat, treating the unauthorized tapping of the Root as a severe distortion of reality that required instant elimination.
However Rikka completely bypassed them because she had been directly summoned into this world by the Root itself.
This unique origin acted like an absolute clearance code, meaning the planetary defense systems simply didn't register her copy-pasting as a violation at all.
Because of this ultimate administrative privilege she completely avoided the World's automated defenses and bypassed the Counter Guardians and Gaia entirely, and definitely stayed off the radar of the Archetypes.
Assassin's eyes widened in sheer terror beneath her skull mask as the immense pressure radiating from the blade slammed into her, realizing instantly that the crushing aura was completely different from anything she had ever felt before.
Knowing exactly how incredibly dangerous that weapon was, she immediately slashed through the hardened mud trapping her leg, desperately spinning around to jump away.
She knew that if she was going to die here, she at least had to fulfill her duty and inform her Master about what kind of terrifying monster this little girl truly was.
But just like before, the exact moment she tried to leap out of the enclosure she bounced backward as if she had slammed face-first into barrier even though there appeared to be absolutely nothing blocking her way out.
"You thought you could run?" Denial sneered, a cold, arrogant smirk spreading across her face.
"Unfortunately, the chances of you escaping after I have drawn this weapon are absolutely nonexistent."
Without another word, Denial gripped the pristine hilt and aggressively poured her raw Od directly into the Kusanagi no Katashiro.
Unable to withstand the sheer, vibrating density of the magical energy overflowing from the blade, the massive mud walls surrounding them instantly crumbled into fine dust.
"This world and the eternal world..."
As the first Aria left Denial's lips, the pitch-black blade fully activated with a deep, resonant hum that physically shook the earth.
The temperature in the surrounding air instantly plummeted to freezing and seemed to warp and distort as the weapon began to awaken.
"Know that the line dividing the two is a fragile thing."
The blade suddenly became a violent vortex forcefully absorbing all the shadows and darkness from the room and even tearing the natural shadows away from the outside.
As the darkness was sucked toward the steel the invisible barrier trapping Assassin was finally revealed-it was a solid inescapable cage of pure condensed shadows completely controlled by the Kusanagi.
As all the darkness was violently pulled into the weapon, it left a jagged high-contrast shockwave in its place.
Reality itself seemed to break under the strain the entire background instantly flattened, aggressively stripped of all shading and depth.
The surrounding environment was reduced to a bleached, blinding white void leaving Assassin and the surrounding looking like nothing more than sharp, flat, ink-drawn silhouettes.
"Release your divine wrath!"
The Kusanagi violently burst with a terrifying, chaotic storm of dark energy that threatened to annihilate everything in its path.
However because Denial had no intention of completely obliterating the surrounding area and estroying the bedroom.
She forcefully reduced the devastating output aggressively by compressing that entire massive storm of pure darkness into a single dense point right at the very tip of the blade.
"Sword of Gods - Kusanagi-no-Tachi!"
With a ruthless thrust, Denial pointed the blade directly forward.
The concentrated of pitch-black energy fired like a localized laser of absolute destruction straight toward Assassin who could do absolutely nothing but stand there, completely paralyzed by the overwhelming crushing pressure of the Kusanagi holding her perfectly in place for the execution.
The compressed beam of darkness pierced Assassin's chest in silence, bypassing her physical defenses.
For a split secondshe didn't even feel the impact.
Then jagged black veins spread across her skin as the energy invaded her Spiritual Core, corrupting her Saint Graph from the inside out.
When her body finally gave out, she didn't dissolve into the golden particles of a normal Servant.
Instead her corrupted form simply crumbled into black ash that faded into the shadows, leaving no trace behind.