Fate: How About a New Savior?

However, the King of Magecraft held the upper hand. Raising his left hand, he gently clenched the air—and instantly, the Spirit Origins of M

However, the King of Magecraft held the upper hand. Raising his left hand, he gently clenched the air—and instantly, the Spirit Origins of M

However, the King of Magecraft held the upper hand. Raising his left hand, he gently clenched the air—and instantly, the Spirit Origins of Mordred and Artoria, who were about to unleash their Noble Phantasms, destabilized. Their half-activated Noble Phantasms were forcefully interrupted.

With a twitch of his right fingertips, he dispersed Sakura's Magecraft and effortlessly fixed the space around her, binding her in place. Distracted by his concern for Sakura, Shiomi lost focus for a moment—and in that moment, the King of Magecraft's Noble Phantasm overwhelmed him and brought him face-to-face with the enemy.

"...Don't worry about me... Father..."

Sakura's strained voice reached him. Bound, compressed, and pulled apart by invisible magical forces, she could vanish at any moment. Yet she showed no fear—no trace of pleading.

"Please... just fight..."

Solomon didn't even glance at her. He simply looked down at Shiomi, who was seething with rage.

"Let Sakura go!" Shiomi ground out each word through clenched teeth.

"Foolish. You still don't understand your position."

Solomon's fingers twitched slightly, and Sakura could no longer even speak. Only a faint, rasping sound escaped her throat.

"...You toy with human lives. Is that what you stand for!?" Shiomi gripped his wand tightly, maintaining his Mana output.

He was the only one capable of standing against Solomon. The Servants were immobilized by an unknown force, and Sakura had been completely suppressed.

Perhaps he could land a devastating blow on the King of Magecraft—but the cost would be Sakura's life...

"You are one of the rare humans to have seen the Realm of the Dead. Don't speak of life. When death is a given, human life has no worth."

"You don't get to decide the value of human life..." Shiomi forced the words through clenched teeth.

"Then tell me—what have you humans done these past two thousand years? Died, aimlessly. Unable to overcome death, yet still terrified of it. If you cannot defeat death, then the only rightful path is to abandon your fear of it. If you see death as terrifying and tragic, then you should abandon your so-called wisdom."

The King of Magecraft sneered as he continued:

"Master of Chaldea, who has escaped the Realm of the Dead—why do you still fight? You know life ends in death. You know life has already faded. So why cling to it? Why struggle to keep living when you know full well there's no salvation for humanity's future—?"

"Even so..." Sweat beaded on Shiomi's forehead and slid down his cheek. "What's wrong with humans wanting to live!?"

He shouted the words with all his might, his voice raw and hoarse.

It was precisely because he truly understood death that Shiomi knew how precious life was. That's why he wanted, no matter what, to see a flower bloom in that place, a tree grow, a fruit ripen.

"So that's your answer? Forceful, I'll give you that—but it's meaningless."

Solomon raised his hand and flung Sakura seven or eight meters away.

He paid her no further mind as she tumbled across the ground. His focus was only on Shiomi, who had been pushed to the brink.

Raising his ring-laden left hand, he declared, "As an honor, I will grant you death—four additional beams of light."

The bands of light surged. Shiomi could no longer resist. Overflowing with Mana, they pierced through him like spears, driving through his heart and leaving behind a smooth, circular hole.

At that moment, the two colliding currents of Mana reached their limits—and shattered.

"So you set the Primordial Rune to trigger at the moment of death, embedded in your heart," Solomon said with a light wave of his hand. "But even that Rune... is now broken."

Blood dripped from the corner of Shiomi's mouth. His body lost strength, tossed by the wind like a lifeless puppet. He rolled across the ground a few times before coming to a stop.

His open eyes gradually dimmed, hollowing out—until he was nothing more than a lifeless corpse.

Blood pooled beneath him.

"Dad!"

Sakura stumbled forward, collapsing beside Shiomi. The body she touched still held a trace of warmth, but there was no heartbeat, no breath. Tears streamed down her face.

For a Magus, death was inevitable. But Sakura had never imagined she'd have to witness someone she loved so deeply vanish like this.

Instinctively, she grabbed the wand and aimed it at Solomon, preparing a spell—but the man had already turned his back.

"Well then, I'm heading back. That took a lot longer than I expected."

"So you never cared about us from the start, huh!" Mordred growled, forcing herself to speak through the pain.

The King of Magecraft paused, but didn't turn around.

"I never cared about you. Whether I kill you now or let you live, it makes no difference. Only that man—I had to erase him with my own hands. Got it? The rest of you aren't even worth my attention. However… if you manage to eliminate all seven Singularities…"

He finally tilted his head slightly, a confident, arrogant smirk on his lips.

"Then I might consider treating you as a 'problem worth solving.'"

As Solomon finished speaking, the space before the Greater Grail twisted—and his figure vanished.

From beginning to end, he had never taken Sakura's power seriously. That flick of his finger had been nothing more than a way to force Shiomi to give up resistance and stop wasting his time.

"Sakura! What's happening?! Shiomi's life signals have stopped! What's going on?!"

In that brief moment, Chaldea's communication had been completely cut off, leaving Romani in the dark. He cried out again in alarm.

"Dad… Dad…"

Sakura collapsed to her knees, burying her head in Shiomi's chest, sobbing in broken gasps.

"Master…"

With the King of Magecraft gone, the instability in the Great Grail disappeared completely. The Spirit Origin destabilization began to fade, and the barely-recovered Mordred and Artoria started making their way toward the pair.

Their Master had died before their eyes. Nothing could wound their pride more than this.

"Wait… What's going on? Shiomi's vitals—they haven't vanished? No, they're coming back!" Romani's voice trembled with shock, overwhelmed by the string of impossible developments.

Sakura suddenly looked up, eyes locked on Shiomi's body.

At some point, the gaping hole in his chest had vanished. Only the damage to his battle suit remained, evidence that what had happened wasn't just an illusion.

"Eh…?" She couldn't make sense of it.

Then she felt it—Shiomi's heart beginning to beat again. His limp hand, resting on the ground, twitched faintly.

The change didn't escape the Servants either. Their eyes widened in disbelief.

The dull, lifeless gaze began to regain its light—and then, with a sudden gasp for air, Shiomi jolted awake, startling Sakura into stillness.

A violent cough wracked his body as he turned and spat out the blood lodged in his throat.

"Haah… haah…"

Clutching his chest, he struggled to sit up, panting hard, visibly stunned by what had just occurred.

"Dad… are you okay?" Sakura asked, dazed.

"Barely breathing," Shiomi murmured, still trying to process what had happened to him.

But before he could think more, Sakura threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

He pushed his lingering questions aside and gently stroked her hair to soothe her.

"Sorry for worrying you…"

Mordred approached, seemingly ready to slap him on the shoulder—but halfway there, she pulled back, giving him a light push instead.

"Seriously? You've got resurrection Magecraft and didn't tell us? I nearly broke a sweat." Her words were gruff, but the wonder in her eyes was plain.

Artoria said nothing, simply staring at Shiomi.

That wasn't resurrection Magecraft.

The King of Magecraft had spoken truthfully. He had discovered the Primordial Runes Shiomi had prepared to counter a fatal blow—and destroyed them, along with Shiomi's heart. He only left after confirming Shiomi was well and truly dead.

He had even used Shiomi's weakness as leverage.

And yet, despite it all, the King of Magecraft had failed to see Shiomi's true nature.

"My husband, what's the situation now?" Morgan's voice came through, calm as ever, as if she'd known all along Shiomi wouldn't die so easily.

"Everything went smoothly. The Servant who called himself the King of Magecraft has retreated. Once we finish resting, we'll begin recovering the Holy Grail and proceed with repairing the Singularity," Shiomi reported.

Romani let out a long breath, the sound of him wiping sweat audible even through comms.

"Good—good. Just rest for now. I'll begin preparations for your Spiritron Transfer back."

"Thanks."

Shiomi gently held Sakura in his arms, letting her snuggle into him a while longer, no longer crying.