Typemoon: Starting Out as the Lion King's Personal Knight

"The reunion scene between King and Vassal doesn't matter; otherwise, let's just go our separate ways."

Alaric had no interest in watching these two reenact some touching reunion. Right now, he only wanted to solve the problem at hand.

The birth of Angra Mainyu was imminent, and Alaric would not allow anything to disrupt his plans.

Moreover, Alaric had decided to deploy another Servant to hasten Angra Mainyu's birth.

The appearance of Fujimaru Ritsuka was proof that the Counter Force had begun to intervene in this war. However, Chaldea was not an institution entirely representative of the Counter Force, so the guardians of the Counter Force should also emerge.

As such, anyone who could trouble Alaric—or serve as a last-resort existence—was now appearing on the stage.

Alaric saw no reason to hold back anymore. All he needed to do was accelerate his plans and obtain the Third Magic tonight.

The appearance of Zelretch served as a stark warning to Alaric that he was still moving too slowly.

At the exact moment, Alaric finished his thoughts, the nameless girl behind him finally entered everyone's sight.

The girl, who was intricately linked to Angra Mainyu, was covered in tattoos symbolizing all the evils of the world. Her eyes, which should have been hollow, churned with a desire for conquest.

It was the purest instinct of life—the hunger for sustenance.

After devouring three Servants fed to her by Alaric the girl had begun to perceive the seven Servants of the Holy Grail War as little more than food.

Only by consuming them could she gain the nutrients needed to grow.

El-Melloi II immediately noticed the girl's presence and instantly understood her purpose and significance.

Combining this with information obtained from the young Waver, El-Melloi II quickly grasped Alaric's plan.

"This is impossible to achieve."

Though El-Melloi II didn't know exactly how Alaric intended to handle Angra Mainyu, he was sure the plan was akin to dancing on a tightrope—extremely dangerous!

"Fujimaru, we must stop Alaric."

El-Melloi II narrowed his eyes. For now, they had only entered into a cooperative agreement with Kayneth. But Kayneth had already lost his Servant and could no longer contribute to their combat strength.

As for Iskandar—

El-Melloi II was fairly certain that Iskandar would not approve of his plan. Although the current Iskandar was cooperating with Artoria and others to defeat Alaric, his priority was still obtaining the Holy Grail.

Iskandar's approach to combat remained anchored in the context of the Holy Grail War and could not align with Chaldea's mission.

Similarly, Artoria would not cooperate with them unless she saw Angra Mainyu firsthand.

At present, the only remaining Servant seemed to be the Heroic Spirit summoned by the Tohsaka family—Gilgamesh. Yet, according to information from the young Waver, the King of Heroes intended to deal with Alaric personally.

In mere moments, El-Melloi II ran through dozens of possibilities and plans in his mind.

But before he could arrive at a final conclusion, a chilling killing intent surged like a storm.

Unlike El-Melloi II, who calculated consequences and accounted for other factors, Alaric's goal was simple and straightforward.

Standing before the fruits of victory, Alaric only needed to seize them to reap the rewards of his years of effort. There was no reason for him to hesitate.

With the fastest, most decisive approach, he would end the battle.

The only ones able to perceive Alaric's change in mindset were Iskandar, the King of Conquerors, and Artoria.

Realizing something, Iskandar fixed his gaze on Alaric, whose terrifying killing intent radiated outward. It seemed as if he were waiting for something.

Buzz!

The air hummed. A pitch-black aurora, dazzling as the zenith of the heavens, instantly formed gates of judgment that spread like constellations over the skies of Fuyuki City.

A cold, steel dragon weaved through the skyscrapers. Entirely black yet glimmering with starlight along its chains, it moved like a swarm of demons, encircling Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others.

In those gem-like eyes, black waves roared from both sides, spreading forward with astonishing momentum.

As Alaric made his move, the girl behind him seemed to receive his approval and began her act of predation!

The black waves were none other than the curses formed from all the evils of the world. Within this tide, no new life could emerge; there was only the flame of destruction—

And the corrosion of life itself!

As the product of Angra Mainyu's corruption of the Greater Holy Grail in Fuyuki, this tide naturally had a special effectiveness against Heroic Spirits. If Heroic Spirits were all Heroes, then the curses formed from all the evils of the world represented the epitome of Anti-Hero.

The tide surged forward, accompanied by the terrifying steel dragon. Wherever it passed, it left only darkness. The cursed waves would move forward alongside the progression of human history.

In the face of this sudden development, only a few individuals managed to respond. Before Fujimaru Ritsuka could summon a Servant—

Radiant golden light erupted. It was not the light of a Noble Phantasm unleashed but the purest manifestation of magical energy!

Fueled by abundant mana, Artoria Pendragon—whose magic parameter had soared to A++—finally unleashed her absolute might!

Even her basic magical energy output could reach the level of a Noble Phantasm.

The dazzling torrent of light roared forth, its searing heat instantly evaporating the cursed waves. The steel dragon, too, was annihilated in an instant.

Everything on the ground was melted by the torrent of light, forming rivers of magma that flowed to either side.

But the figure advancing was even faster than the torrent of light.

In an instant, her blade severed both light and heat, extinguishing them entirely!

"As expected of you, my King!!"

Step. Step!

Alaric, gripping the holy sword Gram, fixed his gaze on the King of Knights. As the source of Alaric's red dragon blood, Artoria's magical energy output completely rivaled Alaric's own.

Her strength was evident.

But relying solely on this would not be enough to put Alaric in a difficult position!

Even with an ample supply of mana, Artoria could not overcome the limitations of her Saint Graph to defeat the current Alaric!

The heavens lit up.

The merciless light of judgment rained down, covering nearly a hundred-meter radius of the city. Even hiding inside buildings would be futile—everything would be pierced through!

At this moment, only Artoria, Iskandar, and El-Melloi II had any combat capability. Fujimaru Ritsuka hadn't even begun summoning her Servants!

Almost simultaneously, thunder and the roar of divine bulls erupted.

"Gather once more! Warriors who strive toward the end together! The tracks engraved here are our honor!

Ionioi Hetairoi!"

The King of Conquerors issued the final call to battle, summoning his army once again. Blinding white light enveloped Alaric, forcibly dragging him out of the World and into the miniature realm of the Reality Marble, the Egg of the World.

This time, there were no other spectators—only Alaric, Iskandar, and his unparalleled army.

Even the girl Alaric regarded as a Lesser Grail did not enter this Reality Marble.

When Alaric noticed the girl's absence, he sharply looked toward the king at the end of the army, who was driving his divine chariot.

Alaric had assumed that, with a reduced number of soldiers, the King of Conquerors' Noble Phantasm could no longer be deployed, even with sufficient mana. However, the development deviated from Alaric's calculations.

From the results, it seemed Alaric's plans had gone awry.

The lone girl now faced Fujimaru Ritsuka, humanity's final Master, and Artoria, the King of Knights. The outcome was self-evident.

If the girl serving as the Lesser Grail were to die, Alaric couldn't be sure her corpse would retain the same functionality.

"I must end this battle even faster."

Alaric gazed at this world, his gem-like eyes reflecting the omnipresent visage of death.

...

At the same time, in a world beyond the sight of Alaric and Iskandar.

The tide of curses came to a complete halt the moment Alaric disappeared.

The reason was simple: a golden holy sword was pressed against the girl's neck, stopping her actions.

Gazing at the king before her, the girl, for the first time in her life, felt confused, unable to discern or understand the difference between this person and her master.

Artoria, who did not immediately kill the girl, furrowed her brows, seemingly hesitating about something.

The girl was undoubtedly ominous—there was no question about it.

However, the existence of the Holy Grail was not something Artoria could ignore either.

If Alaric's goal had merely been to release Angra Mainyu, then Artoria could have dismissed the Holy Grail as an unpurifiable entity and continued fighting for humanity.

But Alaric's objective was to purify the Holy Grail and obtain a complete Grail to make a wish.

This was something Artoria could not overlook.

The wish she sought, the seemingly eternal journey for the Holy Grail, felt as if it could finally end today.

Her liberation was secondary; what truly brought Artoria joy was the hope of saving Britain.

With such thoughts in mind, Artoria lowered her sword and refrained from beheading the girl.

Tap, tap!

Perhaps because of the Knight King's presence and Alaric's disappearance, the girl, now inactive, retreated, disappearing into the shadows within mere breaths.

It was as if she had moved elsewhere to hunt for prey.

The Knight King, who had initially spared the girl, was suddenly struck by the alarm. A chilling sense of crisis surged into her heart.

Yet Artoria could not locate the source of this feeling, as though it were merely an illusion.

This scene did not escape El-Melloi II's notice. Since it was the Knight King's decision, he had no right to intervene.

But there was still something he could do.

"Let's go. While Iskandar is keeping Sir Alaric occupied, we'll dismantle the Greater Grail," El-Melloi II said with resolve. "We'll end this war tonight!"

From the current perspective, the greatest threats in this Holy Grail War were the Hero King and Alaric.

However, the true source of their conflict was solely the Holy Grail itself.

If his predictions were correct and the Greater Grail had already begun to mutate, then it was imperative to dismantle it before Angra Mainyu could be born.

Although their combat strength was lacking and they could only rely on Ritsuka Fujimaru's summoning ritual, there was still a significant chance of success!

A few minutes later—

In an unnoticed corner, the girl wandered the streets alone, her hunger driving her toward the location of a final piece of sustenance.

Tap, tap.

"What a filthy thing you are," a golden king said, striding forward with steady steps and appearing before the girl. The king, expecting Alaric to have created something more significant, displayed a look of disdain.

"Disgusting. You've sullied my court."

Buzz!

A Noble Phantasm fired abruptly, piercing the girl's body. The resulting explosion of blood mist stained the surrounding ground.

But the girl did not die. Instead, the shadow beneath her expanded rapidly at an inhuman speed—it was the entity known as Angra Mainyu.

At this moment, the Heroic King realized the extent of her growth. She now possessed absolute authority over life and death under the Fuyuki Holy Grail system.

"Ahh—"

The girl opened her mouth and devoured the Golden King, her expression one of complete satisfaction. A colossal magical energy, surpassing that of the first three Servants, instantly filled her body.

It was as though she was about to give birth to something.