Chapter 11: The job of the Ruler
In the ruins of the old church, Riya and Muramasa stood in the moonlight, silent among the crumbled stones.
The place where once sermons were held was now nothing but ashes and memories.
Riya finally broke the silence.
"I can't hide it from you anymore," he said quietly.
Muramasa raised an eyebrow but said nothing, waiting.
Riya continued.
"My soul... it holds the Saint Graphs of
countless female Heroic Spirits. It's not something natural. It's not something human."
He paused.
"And the only way I can awaken their powers... is through physical 'connection'."
Muramasa's eyes widened slightly, but he stayed silent.
Riya went on, voice turning grim.
"I don't want to use the Grail. I need to. To fix this timeline — this broken, corrupted history. If I don't, everything falls apart."
Muramasa exhaled slowly, looking up at the sky.
"Tch. Damn brat... you've been carrying that much weight all this time?"
There was no mockery in his voice. Only something close to pride.
"I'm in," Muramasa finally said with a smirk. "I was never one for standing by and watching the world burn anyway."
At that moment, Revelation whispered in Riya's mind again — a clear, firm direction.
"The forest. Near the Black Faction's base."
Riya clenched his fists.
"Let's go."
The night was still heavy with the remnants of Celenike's cruelty.
Astolfo and the Homunculus walked carefully through the darkened woods, the fresh scent of freedom giving a sparkle to the boy's hollow eyes.
Astolfo smiled faintly at him, heart swelling with hope.
"Just a little longer. Once we cross the border... you're free."
The soft crunch of footsteps on dead leaves echoed through the dark forest.
Astolfo and the Homunculus were almost free.
"Just a little more," Astolfo whispered.
But then—
—a flash of silver.
—a sharp crack of magic.
They froze.
From the shadows stepped Darnic and Lancer of Black, Vlad III, flanked by Gordes and Siegfried.
Celenike sauntered forward from behind them, a smirk curling her lips.
"You didn't really think I'd let you go, did you, dear Astolfo?" she purred.
Astolfo's heart sank.
"Please let him go he has his own free will and wants to live as a heroic spirit there is no way that his wish chould not effect you right"
Astolfo begged helplessly for hope that they will let the Homunculus go.
The Homunculus shrank back, but it was too late.
A stake of blood-red magic flew forward, piercing his chest.
The Homunculus gasped, collapsing to the ground.
Darnic's face twisted in fury.
"You FOOL!" he roared at Vlad. "We needed him for Caster's Noble Phantasm!"
But Vlad only crossed his arms.
"I will not allow a rogue element to exist within my territory. Freedom is not a right granted to monsters created for war.
But at the same time a fate worse then death is also something that i can't grant to a being that wishes to live"
Astolfo screamed, running to the Homunculus' side, tears spilling down his cheeks.
"He only wanted to live! That's all! Is that so wrong?!"
Gordes snorted.
"Dreams are wasted on failed experiments."
It was then that Siegfried moved.
The mighty Saber of Black stepped forward without a word, his armor glinting under the pale moonlight.
He knelt beside the broken, gasping Homunculus.
"What... do you wish for?" Siegfried asked simply.
The Homunculus struggled for breath, but his voice, faint and soft, still reached them.
"I... want to live..."
Siegfried smiled — a rare, sad, peaceful smile.
"Then I will grant it."
In one fluid, devastating motion, Siegfried plunged his hand into his own chest.
Blood gushed out as he tore free his still-beating heart.
He placed it into the hole in the Homunculus' chest.
Siegfried's body began to dissolve into shimmering particles of light.
"I have no regrets," his voice whispered as it faded away into the wind.
The Homunculus gasped as life flooded back into him, his body trembling violently but — living.
The Black Faction was stunned into silence.
Darnick was pissed, its all that dammed Homunculus' fault that saber was gone, it was all his fault, it was all his fault, it was all his fault, he needed to make him pay. He stares at his hand coverd by command seals
Thinkig about making him pay.
And then—
From between the trees, two figures emerged:
Riya Riot and Muramasa.
"I am Riya Riot," he declared, voice ringing across the forest.
"Master of Saber of Red... and the Ruler chosen by the Grail itself!"
The Black Faction was shocked by this stranger words.
Without hesitation, Riya turned around and showd his back to everyone — a massive set of Command Seals shaped like angelic wings spread across his shoulders and spine.
The sight left them speechless.
The revelation of a Master bearing the mark of Ruler upended everything they knew.
Astolfo stared at him with wide, desperate eyes.
"Please..." he cried out. "Save him! Save him! He just wants to live!"
"...Save who?"