In Type-Moon, it all starts with adopting Sakura.

"..."

Artoria didn't answer his nonsense, but just winked at him.

Even her eyes, which had lost their color, regained a glimmer of light at this moment, and the hand that was being held tightly by Loewe also burst forth with a dazzling light. Along with the powerful magic, there was also a very obvious binding force. In an instant, she felt that the supply of magic power inside her body, as well as her contract with Kiritsugu Emiya, had been severed by Loewe.

"This is?"

Before she could ask, Luo Wei gave her the answer directly.

"Although I know you've probably been abandoned by your amazing Master, there are still some things we have to be wary of, such as Command Spells: Spatial Transfer, Command Spells: Healing, and Command Spells: Releasing Noble Phantasms."

While holding Artoria's hand, Lovi looked up at the sky, where the moonlight appeared even more beautiful.

However, Saber couldn't help but be stunned after hearing Lowi's explanation.

He then realized that what Loe said seemed to be true; if it were Kiritsugu Emiya, he might indeed have adopted this tactic, after all, he had become obsessed with victory. He would not hesitate to use any despicable means as long as it could achieve his goal.

Now, it's all about the winner taking all, and since she's already a loser, there's nothing she can say about being treated like this.

The moment she was subdued by Loewy, her fate was sealed; she had already been eliminated from the Holy Grail War. She was simply not killed immediately.

Having one's magic severed by Loewy like this, and then quietly waiting to disappear, doesn't seem so bad...

Although it wasn't as dramatic as she had imagined, at least the tranquility was not bad for her.

Having figured things out, Artoria's heart was no longer as conflicted as before. Instead, she sat quietly next to Lovi, wanting to hear what he had to say to her.

Seeing that Artoria had stopped disappearing and that she was finally willing to listen to him quietly, Luo Wei secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, he didn't let all his previous efforts go to waste.

Then, he reached into his pocket, took out two pieces of milk candy, handed one to her, and put the other in his mouth.

"Where should I begin... Let me think for a moment about how to phrase it in a way that will be easier for you to accept." After pondering for a moment and waiting for Artoria to finish her candy, Rowe decided to get to the point.

"Alright, let's put aside the previous questions for now and get back to the most important topic. My first question is still that..."

"Saber, what kind of demise do you find acceptable? The idea of ​​a peaceful death is too abstract. So I want to know if you simply don't want to die in internal strife, or if you have some more specific idea of ​​how you will perish. Come and tell me."

"The manner of destruction..." Hearing Lovi repeat this strange question again, Artoria couldn't help but look somewhat embarrassed.

But seeing Luo Wei's serious expression, she pursed her lips and then expressed her thoughts.

“What I desire is a more moderate and peaceful approach, not to watch my country die in the civil war instigated by Mordred—”

Compared to the rebellion instigated by Mordred, what she undoubtedly desired was a more peaceful exit.

It's like dying peacefully in one's sleep, without any madness or resentment, exiting in a way that everyone can accept.

But if you ask her to elaborate on the more specific manner of their demise?

This question is far too abstract. A normal person with a sound mind probably wouldn't even think about how they should die.

"So you didn't even consider this issue at all..."

Hearing Artoria's answer, Lovi was not surprised at all, and then scratched his head helplessly.

"If you don't even know how you should perish, then what are you chasing after?"

“Even if you say that… how can a king think about how his country should perish to be considered correct?” Artoria retorted.

"Indeed, no king would actively consider how to ensure his own demise, such an abstract question. After all, every king hopes that his country and rule can last for thousands of generations and live as long as the heavens. Whether a wise ruler or a tyrant, this has always been the case throughout history."

Luo Wei smiled slightly, understanding her thoughts.

It's not entirely wrong, but Artoria's thinking was far too naive.

Since it is destruction, there can be no such thing as peace. Since ancient times, which dynasty's fall and change was not a scene of corpses strewn across the fields and people suffering terribly?

The idea of ​​a peaceful demise exists only in people's imaginations.

So he turned to Artoria and asked, "Hey, Miss Artoria, have you considered this? Perhaps Mordred's approach was already quite gentle. At least she left you with a glimmer of hope in the end, a hope that, though so faint as to be almost invisible, was very gentle to you...

Snap!

The words had barely left her lips when a crisp sound rang out. Lovi turned to see that Artoria had unconsciously crushed the pebbles beneath her hand into dust. The magic around her surged with her anger, and a gust of wind dispersed the surrounding dust.

"That's utter nonsense!"

Artoria's eyes widened, and she roared at Lovi, "I will never condone such an absurd path to destruction!!"

"But why don't you agree? Even if you don't want to agree, there has to be a reason, right? If it's just a subjective disagreement, then it's just your disagreement, and it can't be said to be incorrect, right? Is your so-called disagreement simply because it didn't meet your expectations?"

"If you're unwilling to agree, you need to give reasons and state your thoughts. Let me ask you—"

Luo Wei paid no attention to her agitation, only slightly tightening his grip on her hand, then looked into her eyes and calmly asked, "Saber, do you think the gentleness you expect is truly gentleness?"

"—What exactly are you trying to say?" Artoria frowned slightly.

"Don't worry, I'm not Merlin, so I don't intend to give you any meaningless ideological education. I will only tell you the cruel truth, and the outcome is ultimately up to you to figure out and face."

As he gazed into Artoria's beautiful, emerald-like eyes, Lovi slowly spoke, asking her, "Miss Artoria, is this the future you envision—"

"Imagine Mordred doesn't rebel and behaves herself, Lancelot's incident doesn't happen, Guinevere is already a good queen, Morgan is a good sister, and Merlin is no longer so cynical but seriously helps you govern the country. In that case, even if those nobles covet the throne, they won't dare to continue to make any underhanded moves. If such a united and loving Great Britain really existed, what do you think would happen?"

"It will... become very beautiful, right?"

After listening to Lovi's description, Artoria pondered for a moment.

She realized that what Rowe described was indeed the situation she had always dreamed of. If Britain could truly be like that, perhaps…

"Hmm... The answer is that you will get a Great Britain where the Battle of Camlann never happened, your sister Morgan never opposed you, Vortigern the White Dragon died, the Romans and Saxons never invaded, and the Knights of the Round Table and the lords of various places remained united and friendly. Is this the Britain you expected?"

"...Yes, all I desire is a united and prosperous Great Britain..."

Artoria gritted her teeth. "We will all coexist, and in the end, the king and the people will silently face the end together with Great Britain."

"Well, I can probably guess. It really is a gentle way to die. Everyone can accept death and die peacefully."

“But…” Upon hearing this, Luo Wei nodded first, then looked at Artoria in front of him and couldn’t help but sigh.

"Do you really think this is realistic? Are your people and knights as noble as you, able to accept death calmly? Have you thought about this important question?"

Lovi's merciless questioning completely shattered Artoria's defenses.

"As someone who was once a king, you should know very well that humans have inherent flaws, and even as their king, you cannot restrain the choices that human nature makes."

"Think about it, Artoria. As long as the status quo in Britain remains unchanged, whether it's a year of famine or a year of plenty, the land won't be able to grow enough food. What will that be like?"

"No, that's impossible... There must be... there must be another way to solve this problem."

Upon hearing this question, Artoria's eyes began to dart away, still feeling bewildered by the situation.

"You can't just try to skip over this topic by saying there's a way."

"Artoria, haven't you thought about it? The Knights of the Round Table, who can be persuaded by Mordred to have half of their knights willing to betray the king, plus the people who are willing to raise an army to rebel just by being incited, what is there that they are not capable of?"

"So, human nature is actually the most complex thing, isn't it? The reason why that Hero King had such a bad attitude was largely because he had long seen through human nature."

Lovi's heartless words were like the last straw that broke the camel's back, causing Artoria's momentum to suddenly deflate and her resolute gaze to waver.

"Look, think about it carefully. Even in the later stages of your reign, when the country's power had only declined and hadn't yet reached the point of near extinction, they were still able to betray you. Now think about it, if we really entered the end times, what would that social environment be like?"

"If the land can't grow food, and the people can't even guarantee their basic needs, would they still want to stay in Great Britain? Even ants will try to survive, let alone humans. Without food, they'll eat horses; without horses, they'll eat plants; without plants, they'll eat bark, shoes, and everything else they can see. To conserve food and reduce consumption, ordinary people will have to reduce the number of people in their households to lighten their burden. If that happens, it's foreseeable whether it's a mass exodus or a nationwide rebellion. It might even lead to—"

"During the great famine, people resorted to cannibalism, even exchanging their own children to eat each other. If you think about it the way I'm saying, you should be able to foresee it, my foolish king..."

Finally, without hesitation, Lovi shattered the last vestige of illusion that remained in Artoria's heart.

"Stop... saying it!"

Artoria began to back away, her body trembling uncontrollably.

"Nothing is impossible. It seems you've realized it yourself. Your so-called gentle demise, natural death, now appears to be the cruelest death, doesn't it?"

"There was nothing that could be done but to wait in despair for death to come. In order to survive, some even went against the laws of nature and human ethics, committing cannibalism. This kind of waiting was as cruel as the torture of hell."

"I can tell you with certainty that if things had gone according to your script, Britain would have ended up as a world littered with corpses and devoid of hope. Compared to that, Mordred's decisive action was simply angelic."

"She helped you transform the continuous bleeding and waiting for death into a way of dying with hope, a death that is spectacular and dramatic. To put it bluntly, from my perspective, what she did was a benefactor to both of you!"

Lovi spoke without any mercy, his words like a bolt from the blue, striking directly into Artoria's heart.

"No...no, this...it's absolutely impossible..."

Artoria's eyes became vacant.

Her heart began to tremble as she thought of the future that Rowe described, because that desperate future was entirely possible.

The peace I sought... was it really hell...?

What was the purpose of all my resentment and struggles so far?

"See? I've already said it. What you pursue may not be right, and what you deny may not necessarily be truly wrong."

"Britain at the end of the Age of Gods is like a terminally ill cancer patient, and you, Saber, are the doctor. Given that death is inevitable, the more you delay and subject the patient to chemotherapy and physical therapy, the more painful and suicidal the patient becomes—it's that simple. Mordred, on the other hand, just happens to offer relief to the patient you've been tormenting, and leaves you, the doctor, with a hope called 'what if.'"

"If this drags on, it won't just be Mordred anymore. Those people who can't bear the torment will take their own lives and end their suffering. Perhaps your sister Morgan could unleash a great plague in Britain and poison them all in their beds overnight; or they could all go to the battlefield and use the Saxons' swords to give them a swift and clean death; or perhaps the people could rise up in rebellion just to have their king kill them. Which do you think is better than Mordred's approach?"

Lovi continued speaking, while Artoria's eyes were vacant, completely at a loss as to how to face this inevitable outcome.

Her long-held wish for a peaceful death in Britain was nothing but a fantasy, its magical quality no less than that of Kiritsugu Emiya's redemption of all humanity.

The fundamental problem is that this muddle-headed king himself doesn't even know what a peaceful death is.

If we really went into discussion, Luo Wei exclaimed, "Wow!"

Not long ago, he and Merlin had discussed the abstract topic of how Britain should be destroyed. In their dream, they discovered that Mordred's actions were actually the optimal solution to break the status quo of Britain.

It could be said that Mordred, that brat, stumbled upon the perfect solution. Although her rebellion was devastating, it was the quickest way to resolve the situation. Rather than letting everyone wait to die, giving them a quick death by slitting their throats was truly merciful.

Therefore, lies don't hurt people; the truth is the sharpest knife.

The knife in front of her had completely annihilated Artoria.

"But...I..."

Artoria clenched her fists.

"There's nothing more to say. You should wake up now and give up on this inevitable death. You've already done your best. It's time to let go."

Luo Wei shook his head. "Let's return to our own era, take our time to explore and enjoy life, and not be bound by the Holy Grail."

"What did you say... that I should give up..." Artoria's face was full of resentment. "The Holy Grail? How is that possible..."

"But you no longer have any wishes to fulfill, do you? Even if you really went back to the past, how could you change the ending? In the end, it would only make things worse, wouldn't it?"

"Miss Artoria, you can see it now, right?"