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Until she had gathered all seven Beasts, Manaka wanted to avoid provoking those old solar system rogues who were quick to unite at the slightest hint of injustice. Arcueid's willingness to surrender the core was the ideal outcome.

As Manaka rushed towards the core, she suddenly stopped, a look of uncertainty crossing her face. She turned towards the starship, as if sensing something amiss.

A black blur flashed past – too fast to see. Even Shirou, in his Eternal Emperor state, only caught a faint afterimage. But the aura that accompanied it… that was impossible to miss.

It was a pure, indescribable aura. Like a vortex of the universe, containing the building blocks of existence itself. It felt as though it wanted to consume everything.

Shirou, Manaka, Tiamat, Heaven's Corpse, Venus – they all recognized it. In fact, the current situation, the chaos and conflict, was all because of the owner of this strange aura. The cause of everything, the source of everything.

"The...Lord of Salvation...?" someone whispered.

Everyone stared at the starship, shock and disbelief written on their faces. That feeling... it couldn't be mistaken, could it?

"The Eye of Gandharan – this is bad!" Manaka's voice was sharp with alarm.

She abandoned her pursuit of the Core, recalling her clone without hesitation. Her focus shifted entirely to the starship.

"Don't you dare end up like your sister, Ayaka." Her voice was tight as she transformed into a black streak, racing toward the starship.

...

Inside the control room, Altera looked down at Archimedes. He lay motionless in a pool of blood. Guilt and determination warred in her eyes. He was the starship's AI, created for her, connected to her. But she had made her choice. As a human, a Heroic Spirit, she had said goodbye to Sefar. And to do that, she had to destroy her AI.

"Traitor." Velber dragged himself up from the pool of blood, rainbow sword dripping red. His face was twisted with rage as he glared at her. "Traitor!"

"You really think you can destroy me?" He let out a harsh laugh. "I'll cut you into pieces, you traitorous Sefar!"

Altera's expression was a mix of sadness and resolve. "It's over, Velber."

Velber was her starship, her AI. He was born, like her, from the remnants of a civilization consumed by the Umbral Star. He was her other half. But they were different. She was a weapon of flesh and blood; he was a system of code and circuits.

They had journeyed together through the cold emptiness of space for tens of thousands of years. He had no human emotions, but they had formed a bond. A companionship unlike any other. But she had betrayed the Umbral Star. And in doing so, she had betrayed him.

"Over?" Velber's laugh came out twisted and raw. "Fourteen thousand years I dreamed of getting back here - back to the moon, to this starship. I was your AI. I couldn't leave you trapped here. I did everything - even parasitizing humans. I hoped, I deluded myself, I clung to the belief that you hadn't betrayed us..." His voice cracked. "But you did. You betrayed me, you betrayed the Umbral Star, you betrayed your very purpose. Why? Is it because of that woman behind you?"

"This is my choice," Altera said firmly. "And it's for myself. Ever since I broke free from my instincts, ever since I started to think for myself... I'm Altera now. A Heroic Spirit. Not Sefar, not the Umbral Star's weapon anymore."

"So." Velber's voice dropped dangerously low. "You've inherited that civilization's pathetic sentimentality. But I'm different, Altera. I'm still part of the Umbral Star. And I'll destroy everything - you, that woman, all your precious civilizations!"

The Eye of Gandharan in his forehead pulsed with a strange black light, warping the space around them.

Altera's grip tightened on her sword as she watched him. Something felt wrong. "What did you do?"

"Me?" Velber tapped the Eye on his forehead. "This isn't my doing. The Eye offered its power. I just said yes."

Black light poured from the Eye in waves. Altera tensed, raising her sword - but she wasn't fast enough.

Black tentacles burst from Velber's forehead, wrapping around both her and Ayaka before she could move. She tried to break free, but the more she struggled, the more she felt herself dissolving, being pulled into the mass of tentacles.

"This is..." Her voice shook.

"This is the power of the Lord of Salvation." Velber's smile was cold. "You turned your back on everything, Sefar. You betrayed Umbral Star. You betrayed me. You betrayed your true nature. But you can't escape what you are. You will merge with me, and together we will destroy Earth's civilization. Then, I will signal the Umbral Star to harvest the remains."

"You gave yourself to the Lord of Salvation?" Altera managed through clenched teeth.

"Had to." Velber's voice came out wrong, distorted. "You lost control. And that's my core directive as Velber-02's operating system - if you lose control, I destroy you. That's all you were ever meant to be. A destroyer."

He began to collapse, his body undergoing a grotesque transformation. Black tentacles erupted from his forehead, his eyes, his ears, his nose, wrapping around him like living vines.

Altera's mind raced. The starship was being taken over by the Lord of Salvation. She couldn't break free, but Ayaka - she had to get Ayaka out.

She fought against the tentacles, trying to reach her friend. But Ayaka was already buried in them, with only her small hand visible, reaching desperately toward her friend.

The tentacles surged between them, dragging them apart.

"No, please..." Altera felt tears running down her face. "Don't hurt her..."

But Ayaka's hand disappeared into the darkness, and Altera's heart shattered as if saying goodbye for the last time.

Altera knew that if she didn't get Ayaka out now, it would be too late. Around them, the tentacles pulsed with a soft, gentle rhythm. It felt like sinking into a warm embrace.

Ayaka's eyes fluttered closed.

"Ayaka! Don't fall asleep!" But Altera's shouts were swallowed by the mass of writhing tentacles.

"Someone! Anyone! Help her!" Altera's desperate plea echoed through the control room, but there was no answer. Only a chilling laughter that seemed to reverberate in her very soul. A mocking laughter, directed at the insignificant beings who dared to defy it.

"Please..." Altera's voice cracked. "Save her..."

Suddenly, an explosion ripped through the wall of the control room, shattering the tentacles and flooding the room with light. Manaka stormed in. Her eyes fell on Ayaka, trapped and unconscious. With a swift gesture, a giant black hand materialized, seizing the tentacles, tearing them apart, and gently catching Ayaka before she could fall.

The sudden movement stirred Ayaka from her unconsciousness. She opened her eyes, her vision blurry. All she could see was a hazy light and a vague figure holding her. She couldn't tell who it was, but...

It was so warm.

She instinctively curled up in the person's arms, murmuring in her sleep, "Sister..."

In her dreamlike state, a childhood memory surfaced. A time before the Holy Grail War, when her parents were still alive. She had been terrified by a stray dog, and her sister had chased it away, carrying her home just like this.

So warm...

"Ayaka..." Manaka looked down uncertainly at the unconscious girl in her arms, her usual confidence wavering for a moment.

Just then, a black tentacle lashed out, striking Manaka's arm. But instead of wrapping around it, the tentacle plunged into her flesh, like a spirit entering a vessel.

This is bad!

Manaka's reaction was fast, her brutal survival instinct overriding any hesitation. She projected a black hand, shaping it into a sharp blade, and in one savage motion, sliced through her own arm just above where the tentacle had entered. Her severed limb dropped to the ground with a wet thud, dark blood spattering across the metal as she clutched the stump with her remaining hand.