001 - What Makes it Hard to Go Home ?

"Finally, I'm here..." Saber said as she walked down the stairs, her gaze fixed on the beautiful Holy Grail in front of her.

"I'm finally going to get my wish... Just need to deal with one last problem." Saber looked toward the man in golden armor with golden hair standing beside the Grail.

Archer... The guy who'd been annoying her since the beginning of this war, constantly asking her to submit to him.

All she needed to do is defeat him, and she could get her wish. And with her Master still having Command Spells, she didn't need to worry about losing.

For Britain, for her country, she would do anything to save it and her people.

With the Grail, she could wish for someone else to pull Caliburn and rule the country better than she did.

Just a little bit more; all she needs to do is beat that stupid Goldie.

So, the moment she sees her Master show up with two Command Spells aimed at her, she knows he'll use them to make her unleash her Noble Phantasm.

So, she grabs the sword that Archer threw at her and prepares to use her Noble Phantasm, Excalibur.

But then what she heard from her Master was different from what she expected: "Saber, with my Command Spell, I order you to destroy the Grail."

He didn't just use one Command Spell; he used both, making her unable to resist. Her body automatically moved, following his order, unleashing Excalibur and destroying the Grail.

The Grail that was right in front of her eyes, gone just like that... because her Master suddenly ordered her to destroy it.

She knows her Master didn't care about ethics or anything and will do anything to win. But how dare he destroy her Grail?

So she promised herself that she'd kill him if she ever met him again. And that moment, she disappeared because the Holy Grail is destroyed.

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"My name is Emiya Shirou." she heard the name of her new Master in front of her.

Emiya... The moment she heard that name, she instantly remembered her previous Master, Emiya Kiritsugu.

Is this his child? How could she get summoned by another Emiya? Is this man going to be the same as Kiritsugu?

But her thoughts must be put on hold because there was another Servant here, so she immediately attacks him, who turned out to be of the Lancer class.

But in the middle of the battle, someone suddenly showed up... Someone whose presence she can feel is overwhelmingly domineering.

"Foreigner..." Lancer said. That's his name? Lancer seemed to know the man—I hope both of them weren't on the same team.

With her injured body, she couldn't fight both of them at the same time, and she also didn't think she could beat the man with silver hair.

"Hello, Artoria Pendragon. My name is Rei." the man said, immediately recognizing her and calling her by True Name.

Hearing that made her livid as a True Name is extremely important for a Servant. Yet this guy just casually called her by it.

But then she saw the man—Rei—casually copying her Excalibur... No, it's not just copying; it's almost a complete replication because she could feel that his Excalibur is identical to the one she owns.

And then he pulled out another sword that caused her sword to move toward it, like it's being attracted to his sword. She immediately tries to hold her sword back from going toward it.

While she was busy trying to keep her sword from being pulled out of her hand, she suddenly noticed that Rei seems ready to swing the sword he has just drawn toward Excalibur.

Immediately, she got a really bad feeling that if she'd let him do that, everything will become complicated. So, in an instant, she moves and grabs his hand.

"What are you doing!?" she immediately yelled at him and scolded him.

But the surprising part is that he actually apologized to her and quickly made both of his swords disappear.

Seeing this at least made her realize that Rei could listen to others' warnings and was willing to change his intentions.

This made her understand a little better why Alaya or the Counter Force hadn't done anything about him or even tried to summon a Grand Servant.

It's because he wasn't causing trouble. And like he said, he was only here for someone named Sakura and the girl named Rin, who is currently talking to her Master.

But then she realized that she was really close to him right now, which made her notice just how unique his appearance is.

Silver hair and blue eyes that looked like they were glowing, and then his handsome face... Seeing him this close really made her notice every detail.

"Hmm?" She snapped out of it when she heard Rei's confused voice, and finally, she stepped back away from him.

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"I'll give you two choices." is what he said to her after he punched her in the stomach with a really strong punch.

Even her armor looked cracked and broken, unable to withstand the heat of his previous attack.

And because her Master cannot provide her with Mana, she cannot heal quickly.

"The other choice is I can show you what happens if you get your wish."

Seeing him talking like this reminded her of how Merlin gave her two choices when she wanted to pull Calibur.

The first choice Merlin gave her was to forget about all of this and live a normal life—have a family, a husband, give birth to a daughter or son, and enjoy life.

And the other choice was to pull the sword and start her suffering.

"The 2nd choice... I want to see it." she answered.

Then Rei manifested a thick book. She didn't know what kind of book it is, but as she stared at it, she felt herself being drawn into it.

Before long, her surroundings became dark, and she couldn't see anything.

She cautiously began to observe her surroundings, but after a while, when nothing happened, she started walking in a random direction.

The more she walked through this dark place, the more she felt her body shivering.

"So you still want to get your wish?" Suddenly, she heard someone speak, but the voice sounded eerily similar to her own.

"Who's there?" she said while looking around.

But the voice didn't answer her, so she decided to keep walking.

"Turn back, Artoria Pendragon."

She heard another voice. But since she still couldn't see anything, she decided to ignore it.

"You're going to regret your choice."

"Turn back." "Turn back." "Turn back..."

The voices kept echoing, but she ignored all of them.

And then, at last, she saw someone standing in front of her. "Who's there!?" she immediately asked, pointing her Excalibur at the figure.

But the figure remained silent, facing away from her, so she carefully walked closer to see them.

"Hey, you there!" she said again when she's almost near the figure.

And again, there was no response at all.

After finally walking close enough to her, she could now see the appearance of that figure.

From here, she could see that the figure is female, with pale skin, pale blonde hair, and a black dress she's wearing.

"So, you're just ignoring my warning? So be it." said the voice again, but this time from in front of her.

"So you're the voice I've been hearing!?" she asked to the figure in front of her.

The figure turns around to face her, but the moment she saw the figure's face, she looks utterly shocked.

"Surprised that I'm you?" the figure said with a smile.

"I'm you that realizes all of this is just a waste of time and deeply regrets that contract with the world."

"I'm you that knows we should've killed Merlin when we had the chance."

"You're me? No, that's impossible! Is this some kind of trick!?" she immediately pointed her Excalibur at the figure.

The figure just stared at her with an uninterested look, and then at her Excalibur. "Excalibur... Such a disgusting sword." the figure said in a tone full of disgust.

The figure started walking toward her, causing her to step back. "Don't come any closer!" she warns the figure.

"And what? You're going to stab me with your sword? The one restricted by Gaia that you don't have control over it because Gaia can just take it back anytime she wants?" the figure asked in a mocking tone.

But before she could respond, the figure suddenly moved so fast and appeared right in front of her. "Let me show you what you're here for." the figure said, immediately stabbing her with her hand.

She's in shock, feeling something thrust into her chest, and when she looked down, she suddenly noticed she was no longer wearing her armor.

It's just the normal clothes she wore as a child. Then, everything becomes bright.

The light was so blinding, it forced her to close her eyes until everything finally calms down, and she could open them again.

"What is this...?" She could see that she's inside some kind of house, but then something clicked in her mind.

This was her childhood home—the small village she grew up in!

"Artorius, are you okay? You've been standing there for some time now." she immediately heard a voice she would never forget.

She turns around and saw the woman who took care of her for years—Kay's mother, and her foster mother.

"I'm fine... I'm just thinking about something," she said, trying to come up with an excuse.

After that, everything proceeds the same as her original life—she trained and learned to be a king from Merlin.

She wanted to stab him for abandoning her during Mordred's rebellion, but she couldn't control her body and could only watch from this Artoria's perspective.

Years pass, and everything unfolded the same way as in her own world until Merlin spoke, "Let me give you two choices." just as he did before.

But this time, she answered differently. "I don't want to rule Britain... I don't want to become king... I just want to live my life." she said to Merlin while looking at the sword.

Her answer surprised Merlin from this world, making him look conflicted until he finally agreed, "Alright then, Artoria. This is your choice, so I'm going to send you back to your village."

After that, just as she wanted, she lived a normal life. She wed a normal husband, and raised a family—the life she always wanted when she was growing up, without the responsibility of shouldering her kingdom.

"Did you hear? Vortigern, the Dragon, the Vile King is going to start another war!" she heard someone gossiping.

Hearing that, she immediately ran away, not wanting to hear anything about war or anything related to the supposed destiny Merlin told her about.

Years later, everything was destroyed. It's like hell, a paradise of darkness no man could endure.

Her husband was dead, her child was dead, her neighbor who always helped her was dead—everyone she knows died.

The land was destroyed; everything was ruined.

Her choice of not pulling the sword meant no one can stop Vortigern from rejecting the Age of Man.

Then, everything paused. "Did you see your choice?" she heard the figure's voice again.

She realized she's still standing in the same place from years ago, with the figure in front of her in the same position but no longer stabbing her chest.

Tears start to flow from her eyes, but she quickly wipes them away.

"And you still want to get your wish?"

She kept wiping her tears without answering the figure's voice.

"Then let me show you another one." the figure said, stabbing her chest again, and this time, she's back to the moment she's about to pull the sword.

But this time, she pulled the sword, does everything correctly, learns how to properly rule her people, and made Camelot prosperous.

Everyone was happy; she had a good relationship with her daughter and avoided her coup d'etat.

But then, the land slowly started losing its mana, and every vegetation died.

Her sister, Morgan, told her that because the Age of Mystery is over, Britain would slowly lose its mana.

So it didn't matter what she did—her country was destined to be destroyed for the Age of Man to continue.

She kept restarting, trying to find a way to save her country, but every single attempt always failed.

Everyone died, and her people suffered...

"Now it looks like it~ I love this expression more." the figure said, watching her lifeless expression.

"I already told you thousands of years ago that you would regret it, but at least I get to see this funny expression of yours~"

But she just stared at her legs, saying nothing and thinking nothing.

"Well, let me show you one more, and this is going to be the last one~ Too bad I can't see your expression, but it's been fun. See you later~" Then the figure stabbed her again.

But she didn't care anymore and just let everything happen.

And just as the figure said, this was the last one—but this one is far, *far* worse than anything she had ever seen.

So, the moment she woke up, she immediately attacked anyone in front of her.