To become a king and a magician

"This is a battle that focuses more on making the opponent surrender than killing them."

"Riding on the phoenix, Natsukawa Torato laughed like this."

"Also, I think you might need a punch to experience what it means to be human, you human king who doesn't know what emotions are, your smile is too stiff."

"Do I not know what emotions are?"

Natsukawa Tora's words made King Solomon's heart tremble.

King Solomon could understand human emotions; he prayed to heaven and received wisdom, and everything in the world was within his comprehension. Of course, this doesn't mean he was omniscient or omnipotent; perhaps there were indeed things in this world that he couldn't understand.

But emotions shouldn't be among them. As a king with a wife and children, and having experienced many events, he should have had a profound understanding of emotions.

"What makes you say that? That I don't know what feelings are?"

"Isn't that right? At least to me, your previous laughter was like copying a standard answer. You just thought you should laugh at that time, and you just thought that expression was a laugh. You didn't think about laughter at all."

Xia Chuanhu had experienced similar situations many times back in high school. Because he had to work, he would sometimes forget to do his homework. Every time, he would just ask someone for a copy of the homework to copy, regardless of whether it was right or wrong. He would just copy it without using his brain at all.

He felt that King Solomon was just like himself at that time.

"Well, this is just my personal opinion. Feel free to disagree with me."

"Can't you think? You're the first person to say that to me, Spirit Master." King Solomon, along with Baal, returned to the sky. "That's true, such situations do exist. In my time, no one would defy me, who was right, and no one would offer me such opinions. But this is no longer my time, therefore, there is no one who absolutely obeys me."

Just because no one dared to do something in the past doesn't mean no one will dare to do it in the future.

Tomatoes were once considered the devil's fruit, stigmatized because of their appearance, and no one dared to eat them until they were regarded as a normal food two hundred years later.

This is just a similar situation.

With a forced upward curve at the corners of his mouth, King Solomon extended his hands to Natsukawa Tiger: "Then, can you truly make me understand what true feelings are?"

"Don't you already have an idea? Isn't the wish you made to the Holy Grail the way to solve this problem?"

"It's not about gaining a physical body, but about being truly reborn as an ordinary person who has absolutely nothing to do with King Solomon—is that right?"

This was precisely the wish that King Solomon made regarding the Holy Grail.

Solomon, who was destined to be king from birth as the ruler of the country in his previous life, now only wants to be an ordinary person without any power.

"Is this also the knowledge you gained from the root? In countless other parallel worlds, are there others like me who made the same choice?"

"That's it."

"What was the result?"

"Because of the incineration of humanity, you, who were given a new life, did not gain the freedom you desired. Ten years before the incineration of humanity, having foreseen this event, you spent ten years learning everything you could, almost to the point of self-harm. You lost all your power and tried to save the world as an ordinary person. In the end, you died forever."

"Not death in a biological sense, but complete disappearance from the Throne of Heroes—you should know what I mean."

This is indeed something King Solomon would do. Even if he were no longer King Solomon, but just an ordinary person without magic circuits or any power, he would still do such a thing.

"So that's how it is, this is the future."

King Solomon looked down at the Ten Commandments in his hand.

First Noble Phantasm - [The time for farewell has come; with this I will abandon the world (ArsNova)].

Since he knew he would use this Noble Phantasm in the future, he could figure out the truth behind the burning of humanity, because it was an event closely related to him, and he could even figure out who the mastermind was.

However, if that's the case, then this battle is unnecessary.

King Solomon clenched his fists and looked at Natsukawa Tiger: "You said before that in order to prevent the burning of humanity, you would cut off the hope of Chaldea's establishment here, right? But this cannot completely prevent the burning of humanity."

Natsukawa Tora was taken aback: "Why?"

"The seventy-two demon gods are scattered throughout various parts of human history. Even if they once prevented the burning of human reason that would occur ten years later, individuals like Rafe Lenore will still appear fifteen years later, twenty years later..."

Rather than Professor Rafe being the cause of the Burning of Humanity, it would be more accurate to say it was the descendants of the magical families designed by Goetia, and the demonic pillars lurking in their bloodlines. As long as that lineage exists, as long as that bloodline is not severed, [Rafe Lenore Gusin] will always have the potential to exist, and the Burning of Humanity will be unavoidable.

King Solomon's words silenced Natsukawa Tora.

Was it because he trusted his memory too much that he didn't consider other possibilities? Indeed, theoretically, King Solomon's idea was correct, but the burning of humanity was like a bomb with countless fuses. Even if this ignition was prevented, there was no guarantee that no one would ignite it in the future.

"Instead of trying to stop it this time, we should face it and solve it—the more government affairs pile up, the more exhausting it becomes to deal with them."

King Solomon extended his hand to Natsukawa Tiger.

"Could you lend me a hand, Holy Sword Wielder who will save the world?"

"The disaster caused by my mistakes should also be resolved by myself."

85. Dragging it out until the very end will be exhausting.

Did they assist King Solomon in resolving the burning of human reason?

The goal is not to prevent it from happening here, but to solve it once and for all in the future.

This was King Solomon's idea.

Without shaking Solomon's hand, Natsukawa Tora looked at Baal on the other side: "I agree with the idea of ​​resolving this once and for all. After all, I don't like keeping a bomb that could explode at any time."

"But there must be an easier way, right? For example, summon the culprit here and kill him completely."

“That’s impossible.” King Solomon shook his head. “What I summoned is not the true demon god. After all, I am only a servant now, not the original body. The demon god I can summon is just a projection of the original body. Moreover, it’s too late to kill it now. My body has probably already been taken over, and the plan has already begun to be implemented.”

"The reason why the burning of humanity has not yet occurred is simply because a trigger is still lacking."

The reason why the Burning of Humanity was delayed until 2015 was largely because some of the magicians in the Solomon family realized this and used all means to prevent the Demon Pillars from appearing in order to protect Humanity.

For example, Mozart, who was also from the Solomon family, was supposed to become the demon god Andusias, but his encounter with Queen Mary led him to break the curse on himself by doing everything he could.

The same goes for Rafe Lenore Gusin. If he hadn't seen Mash, he would have committed suicide to protect humanity and prevent it from burning away.

There must have been many magicians like this. In the more than two thousand years since King Solomon died, even if no one has left their name, there must have been many, many more magicians who made similar choices.

"My descendants have done a good job in protecting humanity and delaying the inevitable destruction until now. Now, I believe that this calamity originated from me and should be ended by my own hands, rather than being delayed again for future generations to solve."

"Therefore, I need your help, Holy Sword Wielder. Your words will surely bring an end to the burning of humanity after my passing."

Although that was the initial idea, I never expected to achieve my goal in this way.

Seeing the somewhat relieved expression on King Solomon's face, Natsukawa Torato frowned: "You... wanted to cooperate with me from the beginning? Your fight with me was just to confirm my abilities?"

"It's less of a collaboration and more of a handover of my affairs. My Master and I are both irresponsible in our thinking. My Master wants to leave the troubles he has caused to you to solve, while I want to entrust my will to you and leave myself, as a human, to the world."

"I should feel ashamed of myself."

“Indeed, it’s a very irresponsible idea, but as an ordinary human being, there’s nothing wrong with it,” Natsukawa Tora laughed. “I’ve had irresponsible ideas too, and I’ve even actually done them. I used Moonfall to smash a mountain to pieces without a second thought, and then completely ignored the opinions of the Mage Association and the Church and just walked away.”

He has no right to say that King Solomon was irresponsible.

"So, what's your answer?"

King Solomon once again extended his hand to Natsukawa Tiger.

"Originally, after you said that, I was thinking of preventing the burning of humanity from happening, like a firefighter, rushing to put out any signs that might cause the burning of humanity."

Keeping a boiling kettle pressed down to prevent the water from overflowing—that's what Natsukawa Tora wanted to do.

This is not a wrong approach, and given Natsukawa Torato's abilities, he could actually do it.

"In that case, you will probably never have your own freedom. This calamity is caused by the seeds I planted, and you don't need to make such a sacrifice."

"It's not a sacrifice, it's just about finding something to do. Otherwise, it's not good to be idle all the time. You have to do something after getting the Holy Sword, right?" Xia Chuanhu laughed.

"Well, since you want to do it, I won't stop you, but how do you intend to do it? Right now you're just a Servant, are you planning to use the Holy Grail to gain a body?"

King Solomon shook his head: "No, my wish remains unchanged. To relinquish my power as a Heroic Spirit and be reborn as an ordinary person who has nothing to do with King Solomon—I will still make this wish for the Holy Grail. Similarly, I will do my best to resolve the Burning of Humanity as an ordinary person."

"Just like me in the parallel world you just mentioned."

"But before that, we still have some things to take care of, right?"

"Too."

Natsukawa Tora raised his holy sword—although the two had reached a certain level of consensus and there was no need to continue fighting, the outcome still needed to be decided. Not only did Natsukawa Tora need this victory, but King Solomon would also not allow himself to obtain the Holy Grail in defeat.

Beside Natsukawa Torata, holding a gun barrel, Sajou Rei laughed and said, "Looks like we're going to have one last round, but it seems there's no room for me to intervene, Master."

"Thank you for everything before, Zero. Now, leave the rest to me—um!"

My lips were suddenly blocked.

"I believe you, Master, are not lacking in magic either, so consider this a small blessing. I will wait here for your victorious return, Master."

"Ah."

Looking at Sajou Rei, who had retreated behind Natsukawa Torato, King Solomon couldn't help but ask, "Have you fallen in love with that doll?"

"Uh... well, you could say that in every sense of the word. Did it upset you?"

"No, it just reminds me of my wives from my previous life—if we're well-prepared, let's begin our final round."

"Come!"

After a brief moment of silence, the illusionary world, which had only recently calmed down, was once again filled with continuous roaring sounds!

----------------------

Sitting atop a building, Arcueid gazed at the battle unfolding in the distance.

"Are you satisfied with this result, Gaia, Alaya?"

Yes, as Solomon said, this is an acceptable outcome for us.

[A win-win situation, and also a guarantee to deal with the burning of humanity, no objections]

As for the suppressive forces, they don't care too much about disasters that don't affect the planet or humanity itself. If it's an event that benefits the planet and humanity, the two are even more happy for it to happen.

Although the occurrence of the burning of humanity is still unknown, since it has been confirmed that King Solomon and the Holy Sword Envoy will do their utmost to stop and resolve it, it is a fairly satisfactory result for both of them.

Thank you for supervising this Holy Grail War from the sidelines.

"Didn't you send one person over as well? Besides, it wasn't that tiring, it was just to help Meryl relieve some stress for a little while—well, after that, we said goodbye to Tiger and went back to Millennium City to sleep."

Arcueid smiled slightly as he watched Natsukawa Tora fighting in the distance.

"The next time we meet, it will probably be when that so-called human reason is burned away."

86. Self-destruct, huh!

Inside the base, lying on the bed, with flashes of light constantly appearing in the sky outside the window, Mary clutched her chest tightly with both hands, gasping for breath.