[Although Astolfo managed to block the attack, the sheer impact was not something he could endure unscathed. His arm, still holding the shield, had been broken. Gritting his teeth, he switched to his other hand.]
["Go now!!!"]
[Astolfo shouted, reminding Sieg that there were only three seconds left before his transformation ended. This was his last chance.]
[Sieg cast aside all hesitation and charged forward, toward Karna.]
[Seeing that Vasavi Shakti had been blocked, Karna immediately shifted his strategy, preparing to unleash Brahmastra Kundala to incinerate everything around him. But—it was too late.]
[Sieg closed the distance in an instant, gathering all his strength for one final strike.]
[Karna, of course, had no intention of simply standing there and accepting defeat. Without hesitation, he retracted his spear and retaliated.]
[A true warrior does not give up just because their Noble Phantasm has been countered.]
[Both sides gave it their all—this was the decisive clash.]
[Two seconds remaining.]
[Sieg's sword came crashing down. Karna raised his spear to block it, already preparing to shift behind Sieg and finish him off.]
[He knew Siegfried's weakness—his back.]
[Karna thrust his spear straight down.]
[One second remaining.]
[The battle was decided.]
[Blood dripped onto the ground. But—it wasn't Sieg's.]
[Astolfo's Sword had pierced straight through Karna's chest.]
---
A sudden silence filled the group chat.
Karna, one of the greatest Servants, had actually lost to Sieg.
Nobody had expected Sieg's final move.
---
Astolfo: "Yeah! You did it, Sieg!"
Jeanne: "You really did it, Sieg."
Sieg: "I… this—"
Karna: "...I miscalculated."
Siegfried: "No, you didn't miscalculate. You just misjudged your opponent."
Siegfried: "Sieg is Sieg. I am me. We are different."
Siegfried: "If it had been me, you would have won with that last strike."
Karna: "...I see. I failed to properly understand my opponent. That was my mistake."
[Karna accounted for a thousand possibilities, but he overlooked one crucial detail—]
[Sieg is not Siegfried.]
[Sieg was not afraid of exposing his weaknesses, because his fragile body was full of weaknesses.]
[Of course, Siegfried was not afraid either.]
[The reason he was struck down from behind was simply because he believed he had done all he could.]
[Sieg, on the other hand, had been walking the tightrope between life and death ever since he was dragged into the Holy Grail War. Fear had long since become meaningless to him.]
[And when there is no fear, there is no hesitation. No openings.]
[So, as Karna circled behind him, Sieg reacted instantly, driving his sword into Karna's abdomen, striking the fatal blow.]
[But this way—]
[With Fafnir's Heart, Sieg immediately healed his injury, while Karna who had already sacrificed his golden armor had his spiritual core pierced completely.]
---
Waver: "Even so, being able to come up with such a counter in a moment like that is incredible."
Artoria: "That's not a move just anyone can use."
Sisigou: "Yeah… that was his kill move."
It was because Sieg was who he was that he could use that technique without hesitation. If it had been anyone else—even Sisigou himself—there was no doubt it would have been a mutual kill.
The move itself was a double-edged sword that guaranteed both combatants would have their spiritual cores pierced.
But Sieg was not a Heroic Spirit.
He could transform into Siegfried, but he was still just a Homunculus. He had no spiritual core, his power came entirely from Siegfried's heart
---
[One second passed, and Sieg returned to his original form..]
[But Karna's wounds… would not heal.]
["I see… it wasn't enough, huh?"]
[Karna collapsed onto the ground, accepting the outcome with calm composure.]
[Though he had been mistaken, he had no regrets—]
[Because he enjoyed this battle.]
[So much so, in fact, that he had momentarily forgotten that his opponent was not Siegfried—but Sieg, the Homunculus.]
---
Karna: "What a shame. I was looking forward to this fight."
Siegfried: "It can't be helped. An unexpected factor ended the battle too soon."
Demon King: "Hmph. How pointless."
Astolfo: "What did you just say?!"
Demon King: "This fight was meaningless. Ridiculous, even."
Astolfo: "You bastard!!!"
Karna: "It wasn't meaningless."
Karna: "To give your all against an opponent, to shed blood and sweat in battle, no matter the result, as long as one fights true to oneself, that is what it means to be a warrior."
Karna: "Every battle is a step forward, a drive to keep improving, to ascend higher, step by step, toward greatness."
Demon King: "Hah. Delusions. Battle is nothing more than an excuse to indulge your bloodlust. In the end, you fight for nothing but your own desires."
Astolfo: "What did you just say?!"
Demon King: "If there were no Holy Grail, no greater cause would you still fight like this?"
Astolfo: "I—"
Karna: "..."
Demon King: "See? Your so-called warrior's pride is nothing but a means to an end, a fight for personal gain."
---
Silence.
---
Chihiro: "Maybe. But is that really so unusual?"
Chihiro: "Demon King, do you fight without a reason? If not, then you're even worse than us."
Demon King: "What did you say?!"
Chihiro: "Didn't you claim that you wanted to wipe out humanity? You slaughter indiscriminately without cause or reason, is that what you call righteousness?"
Tohsaka Rin: "Yeah, doesn't that just make you a mass murderer?"
Demon King: "Hmph. A sharp tongue, I'll give you that. But you did refute me."
Demon King: "That's right. There is no such thing as a fight without a reason. Even a crazed killer has a purpose—killing."
Demon King: "Conflict will never disappear from this world."
---
["I'm sorry, Sieg. I made this battle about my own desires."]
[Sieg remained silent, his face betraying an undeniable sense of guilt.]
["...Did I truly fight well?"]
[Karna: "I don't know. You were not the Black Faction's Saber. And because I forgot that, I ended up like this."]
[If it had been Siegfried, he would never have expected his final, absolute strike to miss. In that case, he would have won.]
[No matter how great a hero may be, once they execute a move with full confidence, they never consider the possibility that it won't work. And if they do start doubting themselves, they're already on the path to losing.]
[But Sieg was not a warrior. Not a hero. He was merely someone struggling to survive.]
[That was what Karna had overlooked.]
[And in the end—]
[Karna admired it.]
---
Waver: "So in the end, Sieg and Siegfried really are completely different people."
Siegfried: "Congratulations, Sieg. You've become a true warrior."
Sieg: "No… that was just another me. I wasn't really fighting as myself."
Sieg: "But… I will keep trying my best."
Siegfried: "Yeah."
---
[Karna: "I fulfilled my promise in my own way. And you, in yours. I have no regrets about the result. Well… perhaps I do regret losing but not entirely."]
[Sieg: "But we broke the rule of one-on-one combat."]
[Karna: "A Servant protecting their Master is only natural. I was the fool for failing to account for that in my battle plans."]
[Astolfo: "Ouch. That one kinda hurts."]
[Astolfo: "Look, I get that my shield was kind of ridiculous, but hey, that's on your team."]
[The shield had shattered, whether from Vasavi Shakti's impact or simply because Achilles had left the battlefield was unclear.]
[Sieg: "That shield… what exactly was it?"]
[Astolfo: "Oh, Achilles gave it to me."]
[Sieg was utterly stunned.]
[Karna sighed. "He must have made a promise he couldn't break. Or maybe he just wanted to put the shield to good use. Whatever the case… it took some courage to entrust it to you."]
---
Achilles: "Hahaha! Karna, I didn't think you'd actually understand me."
Karna: "I spent several days fighting alongside you. I would be a fool not to understand you."
Achilles: "But you know… in the end, my shield won. Your God-Slaying Spear couldn't even break it!"
Karna: "True. But if I hadn't used Vasavi Shakti… you wouldn't have been able to break my golden armor, either."
***
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