45: Chapter 45 Goodnight, Lord Bedivere

"Sob, sob..."

A-Dai had long since dissolved into tears in the livestream. "One thousand five hundred years! He carried the sword alone, bearing the guilt of destroying the King, wandering the world like a ghost for so long..."

In the chat, countless players were thoroughly shaken by this foreshadowing that felt so heavy it was suffocating:

"I was wondering before why Bedivere, who was a civil official in the myths, had such high combat power here..."

"So his silver arm is the Holy Sword! Every time he punches, he's burning his own soul!"

On screen, Bedivere's words seemed to finally touch the Lion King's cold nerves.

The goddess sitting on the throne, in those eyes like stagnant water, felt a violent ripple for the first time.

"You... are Bedivere?"

The Lion King slowly stood up, the pressure of a deity cracking due to a trace of human emotion.

But soon, that absolute defensive barrier constructed by divine power shone with blinding light again.

"It is useless. I am now the incarnation of the Tower at the End. A mortal sword cannot touch me as I am now."

The system's cold prompt tone seamlessly cut in at this moment, issuing the final instruction to the player.

[Only by returning the Holy Sword can the barrier of the gods be broken.]

[Master, please use the Special Command to assist the wandering knight Bedivere in releasing the Silver Arm!]

Following the prompt, the tactical sandbox unfolded before A-Dai.

At this moment, there were no other Servants on the sandbox, only the lonely Bedivere standing at the very front of the defense line.

Above his icon, a golden light signifying the ability to release a Noble Phantasm lit up.

But below that golden light, a line of shocking, blood-red text was written:

[Warning: This Noble Phantasm release will completely burn out the user's soul. After release, this unit will permanently dissipate.]

Seeing this line of text, A-Dai's hand froze in mid-air.

Not just her, but all the players experiencing this plot were hesitant to press that confirmation button.

The painful experience of Arash's "Stella" card-breaking was still fresh in their minds.

And now, the system had once again placed a bloody knife into the players' hands.

Pressing it would clear the level, but Bedivere, the knight who had accompanied them for an entire chapter and carried a thousand years of pain, would completely disappear from this world.

"I can't bring myself to do it..."

A-Dai's eyes were red in the livestream, her voice trembling. "He has suffered so much, he has really suffered so much! Isn't there any other way? Can't we use a Command Spell to save him?"

But in the plot logic of "FGO," which was rigorous to the point of cruelty, miracles had a price.

The Bedivere on the screen turned back, looking at the Master who had been slow to issue the command, and revealed a gentle, relieved smile.

Just like the young knight who always smiled while serving hot tea to his colleagues in the court of Camelot all those years ago.

"It's okay, Master."

"This was, after all, the mission I had to complete."

He turned around and raised his silver right arm, which was covered in cracks and constantly oozing blood, high into the air.

Dazzling white light burst from the gaps in the prosthetic limb, and the disguise wrapped around it began to peel away, revealing the holy sword inside that emitted a brilliant radiance.

The passionate, tragic symphonic music "Airgetlám," spanning a thousand years of vicissitudes, thundered in everyone's eardrums!

"Press... press it."

A-Dai gritted her teeth, tears streaming down her face, and fiercely pressed the confirm button on the VR controller.

Hum—!

Tactical time-stop engaged! A gale swept through the great hall, and Bedivere's body began to crumble inch by inch under the powerful magical backlash, turning into golden spiritrons.

But his clear eyes stared fixedly at the Lion King in front of him, without a hint of retreat.

"—Devour my soul, Airgetlám."

He roared, pouring all of his life, his one thousand five hundred years of obsession, and all his reverence for the King into that dazzling Holy Sword!

"[Shining at the Sword's Radiance] (Switch-On Airgetlám)!!"

Boom!!!

Bedivere turned into a silver meteor dragging a long tail of light, striking the Lion King's inviolable absolute barrier with an indomitable, self-destructing posture!

Crack—!

Even the power of a god seemed pale and weak in the face of this sword strike, which condensed a thousand years of atonement and burning soul.

Accompanied by a crisp shattering sound, the golden barrier that had left all other Servants helpless exploded, turning into rain of light falling from the sky!

The huge impact overturned the throne.

The Holy Spear in the Lion King's hand flew out of her grasp, and her originally cold divine shell was completely pierced through in this light.

In those emerald green eyes, the emotions belonging to the human "Artoria" were rekindled.

And at the center of the light.

After releasing this strike that transcended his limits, Bedivere's body had become completely transparent.

He knelt powerlessly in front of the Lion King, and the Holy Sword that had once shone finally exhausted its light, quietly stuck in the marble floor.

He raised his head, looking at the King who had finally regained her humanity.

That face, covered in the marks of time, finally shed the burden of one thousand five hundred years, revealing a satisfied and peaceful smile.

"My King..."

"This time, I was finally... able to return the sword to you."

As his voice fell, a light breeze blew through the hall of the Holy City.

The wandering knight named Bedivere, along with his one thousand five hundred years of loneliness and pain, turned into golden stardust and completely dissipated in the wind under the sunlight.

[Sixth Singularity: Holy Round Table Realm, Camelot — Clear]

As the clear screen appeared, the entire gaming circle of Blue Star was plunged into a sea of tears.

A-Dai lay on her computer desk, sobbing uncontrollably, unable to even voice her thanks for the gifts from her viewers.

PD, a big man, pulled a towel from the side to cover his face, his shoulders heaving violently as he cried like a two-hundred-pound child.

In the chat, dense messages covered the entire screen:

"Good night, Sir Bedivere."

"You are no longer a wandering ghost; you saved your King. You are a true hero."

"This is what you call a knife! Father Gu, this knife was so sharp I accept my defeat!"

"First Arash's Stella card-break, now Bedivere's millennium-long sword return. The plot of Chapter 6 is straight-up legendary! I will not accept any refutations!"

"I've been playing games for twenty years, and I've never seen a game take plot and character design to such a soul-shaking level! This isn't a game anymore; this is an epic masterpiece that will be passed down for generations!"

In just a few hours.

#Good night, Sir Bedivere# #FGO Chapter 6 Legendary# #What is the Ninth Art#

These hashtags aggressively dominated the layouts of all major social media platforms with an overwhelming momentum!

Countless passersby who had previously scoffed at ACG and tower defense games, after seeing the plot clips of "Stella" and "Millennium Sword Return," red-eyed, downloaded the game.

The registration numbers and daily revenue of "FGO," at this point considered a "plot climax," not only did not fall back, but ushered in a nuclear-level growth several times more terrifying than when it first launched!

Tianhai City, 120th floor of the Global Financial Center.

Operations Director Old Zhang, looking at the terrifying traffic in the background that was maxing out the server bandwidth, was so excited he couldn't even hold his coffee steady.

"President Gu! A miracle! This is simply an industry miracle! Relying solely on plot text and a few animation sequences, you've actually managed to break Blue Star's historical records for revenue and concurrent users!"

Sitting in the boss's chair, Gu Yi looked at the brilliant neon night view outside the window, the corners of his mouth curling into a faint smile.

"What kind of miracle is this? For the vast and profound universe of Type-Moon, the glory of Camelot is just the beginning."

Gu Yi turned around and pulled up the system panel.

The main storyline of the first part had perfectly concluded its most shocking battle.

So next, before the Absolute Demonic Beast Front of the Seventh Singularity opened, it was time to extend the reach of the Chaldea universe into those traditional pan-entertainment industries that had been comfortable for too long.