Both the holy lance and the Kamehameha produced blindingly bright light, forcing everyone in the throne room to tightly shut their eyes.
Immediately after, they felt a terrifying shockwave erupt from the center of the room, blowing them backward.
However, they weren't just blown into the walls of the throne room—the walls themselves were shattered by the force, turning into debris that flew outward along with everyone else.
A deafening roar echoed across the sky, and the combination of blinding light and overwhelming noise made everyone feel as if a "Little Boy" had been dropped on them.
About half a minute later, those who had been blown away finally managed to open their eyes.
Ritsuka Fujimaru struggled to open her eyes.
The shockwave had been immense. If it weren't for the maid outfit she was wearing, which enhanced her physical resilience, the aftermath alone would have been enough to incapacitate her.
When she finally opened her eyes, Ritsuka Fujimaru was greeted by a horrifying sight—the palace of the Holy City had been completely reduced to ruins by the earlier impact.
Now, everyone was standing in an open area of rubble, with sunlight shining directly down on them.
Looking toward the center of the ruins, they saw Zuke standing there calmly, completely unharmed—not even a speck of dust on him.
Not far from Zuke, the Lion King knelt on the ground. Her cape had completely vanished, her heavy armor was shattered, and her skin was covered in burns and blood.
The outcome of the clash was clear: Zuke had won decisively, and the Lion King had been defeated.
"Zuke won!"
Ritsuka Fujimaru exclaimed joyfully, then quickly ran over to Zuke and hugged him tightly.
"Ah, Ritsuka, you really are…"
Da Vinci, who had just climbed out of the rubble, saw Ritsuka Fujimaru throwing herself at Zuke and shook her head helplessly.
She suddenly felt that Zuke might not have needed to make a deal with Romani at all. Given how Ritsuka Fujimaru was acting, even without any transactional elements, she would probably summon Zuke the moment she returned to Chaldea.
But Da Vinci didn't dwell on that. Instead, she turned her attention to the Lion King—or rather, the figure kneeling where the throne had once been.
As a servant, she could sense that while the Lion King's injuries didn't seem immediately fatal, her internal structure had been severely damaged. It wouldn't be long before she completely perished.
"Cough, cough…"
The Lion King coughed, a trickle of blood flowing from the corner of her mouth, and then raised her head.
Zuke and Ritsuka Fujimaru had walked over and were now looking down at her, the defeated.
To others, it might seem that Zuke's "Kamehameha" and her "Rhongomyniad" were not too far apart in power, which was why she hadn't been instantly killed.
But only she, as the one who had experienced it, knew the truth: Zuke had significantly weakened his Kamehameha at the moment of impact, allowing her to survive in her broken state.
Otherwise, at full power, Zuke's Kamehameha would have vaporized her body instantly.
"Heh… In the end, I failed. I never expected someone like you, who breaks all conventions, to appear."
In her final moments, the Lion King seemed to have found peace—she let go of her pride as the Lion King and reverted to her true self, King Arthur, Artoria.
She set down her holy lance and instead reached out to grasp the holy sword "Excalibur," which had been embedded in the ground beside her.
Thanks to Zuke's control over his power, the sword had not been destroyed by the Kamehameha, though its light had dimmed significantly.
Then, she turned to Ritsuka Fujimaru:
"Master of Chaldea, I admit defeat to this man. Before I disappear, there are some things I must tell you."
"Y-yes!"
Ritsuka Fujimaru nodded quickly. Although Zuke had defeated the Lion King, she didn't dare underestimate Artoria.
After all, she was well aware that their ability to push through the Holy City and resolve the Singularity was entirely due to Zuke's power.
Without Zuke, Ritsuka Fujimaru had no idea how they would have solved the problems of this Singularity—the power the Lion King had displayed at the end was simply too overwhelming.
So now, with Artoria shedding her identity as the Lion King and speaking to her, Ritsuka Fujimaru listened intently.
"When I was corrupted by the holy lance and became a goddess, I gained the same perspective as the King of Mages."
Artoria looked at Ritsuka Fujimaru's serious expression and smiled.
"Your ultimate goal is to defeat the King of Mages, Solomon, right? To do that, you must go to the Temple of Time."
Ritsuka Fujimaru nodded—in previous Singularities, they had learned that the mastermind behind these events was the legendary King of Mages, Solomon.
Of course, there were deeper reasons behind it all, which Zuke knew well, but he wasn't in a hurry to reveal them just yet.
"The Temple of Time exists outside of normal time. To reach it, you must obtain the Holy Grail from the seventh Singularity, as it holds the coordinates to the temple."
Artoria continued.
"Because the seventh Singularity predates the era of the King of Mages, the Holy Grail there was personally sent by him—it is unique."
"I see…"
Ritsuka Fujimaru was surprised. This was the first time she had heard about the special significance of the seventh Singularity.
But then, she suddenly remembered something:
"Wait! We haven't recovered the Holy Grail from this Singularity yet!"
"The Holy Grail from this Singularity? It's here."
Zuke, hearing Ritsuka Fujimaru's words, suddenly remembered that the Holy Grail from this Singularity had been given to him by Ramesses II earlier.
At the time, Zuke had thought Ramesses II simply didn't want to bother keeping it. But now, it seemed Ramesses II had anticipated that Zuke would ignore him and charge into the Holy City alone.
In that case, Ramesses II, who wouldn't be present, wouldn't be able to hand the Holy Grail over to Ritsuka Fujimaru.
So the real reason Ramesses II had given the Holy Grail to Zuke was likely so that Zuke could pass it on to Ritsuka Fujimaru.
"That guy, really…"
Zuke's mouth twitched as he reached into his "Gate of Babylon" and pulled out the Holy Grail, handing it to Ritsuka Fujimaru.
To be continued…
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