At this very mont, a black armored vehicle sped along a secret route toward an underground command center.
Faldeus sat inside with a sowhat absent-minded expression, restlessly tapping the table with his fingertips.
Just then, another ear-piercing ring ca from the encrypted communicator in his pocket.
He frowned and answered expressionlessly.
"Is there anything else?"
"Faldeus, have you completely lost your mind?!"
Orlando's furious roar ca from the other end.
He slamd his hand on the desk, scattering piles of docunts across the floor.
Clearly, the police chief was now in an extrely dangerous position.
Right after warning him not to target the hospital, the central hospital had been completely destroyed by high-performance explosives.
He realized the Holy Grail War had spiraled completely out of control.
"…What is it?"
Faldeus was clearly displeased at being scolded by his nominal subordinate. He frowned.
"The Mother that appeared in the sky was not created by . The Holy Grail system could never summon sothing of that scale."
Orlando on the other end didn't seem to understand the aning and roared in a low voice.
"No matter what falls from the sky, and even if a massive explosion occurs at the central hospital, I will absolutely not sacrifice police officers' lives for a cover-up. Think for yourself."
"And… if the governnt is prepared to sacrifice the entire city for this ridiculous magus ga…"
Orlando unbuttoned his suit jacket, drew his police pistol—holster and all—and slamd it onto the table.
"Then any dog can sit in this police chief's chair."
For a mont, such a firm attitude… the thought flashed through Faldeus's mind.
But just as Orlando was about to end the call, an extrely delicate phrase suddenly crossed his mind. He suddenly leaned forward, his voice rising unconsciously.
"Wait… what did you just say?"
His gaze turned toward the cluster of high-rise buildings. In the quiet of the night, thick smoke was rising from the direction of the central hospital. He trembled with fear.
"…Destroy the hospital!?"
…
anwhile, at the ruins of the old central hospital.
Amid fierce flas and successive explosions, the once-magnificent intensive care building had collapsed into rubble.
A suffocating silence enveloped the area. Night wind blew through, swirling sand and smoke that eventually disappeared into the deep night sky.
Splash!
Suddenly, a faint tremor ca from beneath a large pile of rubble.
Bang!
A huge concrete slab was forcibly lifted by powerful divine might.
Ishtar slowly rose from the debris and dusted off her clothes. Her once-calm, bright smile was gone, replaced by extre displeasure befitting a high-ranking goddess.
"The people of this era have absolutely no gentlemanly manners or basic etiquette."
Ishtar coldly stared at the tall black-haired figure before her.
"To attack an entire hospital with such cruel explosives just to kill a Master… your Master seems like quite the cold-blooded piece of trash. Or perhaps…"
She lightly shook her head, sarcasm undisguised.
"It can only be described as an abnormal phenonon that took human form."
In the lingering smoke, Alcides stood quietly holding his massive black bow, like an unshakable demon god.
Even faced with the goddess's sarcasm, his eyes didn't move. His voice remained hoarse and cold.
"This is the most efficient way to remove obstacles."
If Bazdilot had summoned the righteous hero Heracles from myth tonight, Heracles would have unhesitatingly beheaded his master upon witnessing the rciless slaughter of innocents.
But the current Alcides was rely a vengeful being completely corrupted by black mud, having discarded both divinity and glory.
He was no longer a hero—only a cold weapon that killed for his master.
This was precisely why Bazdilot had used all three Command Spells from the very beginning to forcibly corrupt Heracles.
"Is that so? From the looks of it, you two lunatics seem quite well-matched."
Ishtar sneered. Instead of attacking imdiately, she tilted her head back and looked up at the sky.
"But… since you love efficient slaughter so much, if that Mother truly descends because of your sins, do you intend to use that so-called heroic spirit body to hunt her true form?"
"True form…?"
Alcides clearly showed surprise and frowned slightly.
According to Bazdilot's information, Tiamat had descended as a Servant when summoned.
"Ahhhhhhh—"
Just then, from high in the sky, as if from the bottom of a torn imaginary sea, an extrely sorrowful song echoed.
It was a distant lody unconsciously humd by the Mother Goddess of Creation in deep sleep.
"No… this feeling is…"
Alcides frowned. As if sensing sothing, he suddenly looked up at the sky tens of thousands of ters above.
Even as an Avenger accustod to gods and monsters, his pupils violently contracted upon seeing the scene.
The once-profound night sky had been forcibly torn open into a massive abyss.
Within the entrance of an upside-down, dark, muddy imaginary cave stood a gigantic and suprely beautiful illusion.
Her size was so imnse it seed to cast a shadow over the entire Snowfield City.
Unlike other Heroic Spirits, she emitted no sense of Class or Servant frawork whatsoever.
After all… could this truly be considered within a Servant's scope of duty?
As if seeing through Alcides's inner conflict, Ishtar stood atop the ruined hospital and showed a mocking smile.
"Isn't your information network a bit outdated, Archer…? Who gave you the illusion that the thing in the sky is just a Servant?"
"If that Mother was truly awakened by you…"
"Oh."
Even upon hearing the mocking warning, Alcides remained silent. He simply stared at the enormous illusion radiating an aura of world destruction.
As a weapon, fulfilling his role was enough.
Even if the mission paraters changed, that was sothing his master should consider. Arguing with an arrogant goddess here was aningless.
Thus, under Ishtar's condescending gaze, Alcides coldly surveyed the collapsed ruins. His body then transford into spiritual particles and quietly lted into the darkness of the night.
Ishtar looked up at the sky. While understanding the gravity of the situation, she couldn't help but let out a light, pleasant laugh.
"Humans are truly interesting."
In truth, the only lesson humanity has learned from history is that humanity never learns its lessons…
However—
Ishtar's gaze involuntarily turned toward the collapsed building ruins below.
She didn't mind the increasing number of fun things appearing on this earth.
But if the Mother's true form truly collapsed, rely watching for entertainnt would no longer suffice.
Archer's master seed to lack any significant respect for the gods.
Especially since what they had tried to eliminate with explosives was the Mother's terminal phase—one that absolutely must not be provoked.
Thud——
Just then, as if sothing underground was pushing aside the rubble, a dull, suppressed tremor suddenly occurred.
Ishtar stopped and instinctively turned toward the source of the sound.
Bang!
With a loud explosion, a mass of earth and stones was forcibly lifted from below.
Imdiately afterward, a pale arm erged from the crack in the rubble, its five fingers tightly gripping a twisted rebar.
"…Huh?"
Ishtar's departure ca to an abrupt halt. She widened her red eyes and stared in disbelief at the tall, slender figure slowly erging from the smoke.
The hospital gown the young man had been wearing was already torn to shreds by the explosion.
The terrifying part was that there were no traces of burns or cuts on his exposed white skin.
When the young man moved, a layer of charcoal-like dry black substance peeled off his body.
It was… the Sea of Life.
"Is this really… are you truly a human magus?"
Ishtar finally regained her senses and exclaid in shock.
"Even if the black mud prevented external injuries, the shockwave from detonating explosives at close range should have been enough to pulverize a human's internal organs. Even Age of Gods magi shouldn't be able to remain completely unscathed, right?"
"And…"
She narrowed her eyes slightly and sniffed lightly with her perked nose.
"Why do I sll that nauseating Dead Apostle scent coming from you?"
Hearing the voice from above, Matou Yu dusted off his clothes and looked up at the silver-haired woman floating in the air.
Her long silver hair hung freely. Even though she wore ordinary modern clothes, the breathtaking divine aura of a high-ranking goddess could not be hidden.
Her seductive red eyes held the arrogance and beauty that only gods possessed.
"Who are you?"
Matou Yu looked at her, still feeling an indelible terror in his heart.
The mont Tiamat shielded him from the explosion, the magical barrier she created had taken effect instantly. The Sea of Life had cocooned her in the blink of an eye.
Otherwise, even if he had survived the blast, he would have already been eliminated from the Holy Grail War.
But to destroy an entire hospital just to kill him… had the people hiding in the shadows completely lost their humanity?
"Hmm… do I really have to start with a self-introduction?"
At that mont, a clear, lodious, and arrogant voice from ahead pulled Matou Yu out of his chaotic thoughts.
The woman casually tucked her silver hair behind her ear and spoke in a pleasant, beautiful voice.
"Human, listen carefully. Standing before you is the goddess who governs Venus, the Queen of the Heavens—Ishtar. Being able to look up at my appearance is the greatest honor of your life—"
Before she could finish, her words suddenly stopped.
The next mont, she saw a small head peeking out from behind Matou Yu and was visibly shocked.
It was Tiamat. She had awakened from the dream because of the explosion.
Even though the person in front of her was just a seemingly harmless little girl, Ishtar's body stiffened slightly the mont their innocent red eyes t.
After a while, she gradually relaxed and let out a serious sigh.
"This artificial body is still too weak after all… I didn't expect to shiver from this night breeze."
Under Matou Yu's strange gaze, she casually changed the subject.
"Although the Holy Grail War is an extrely cruel ga… now that the opponent has caused such a huge commotion and the Mother's true form is about to descend… what do you plan to do next?"
"First go ahead and… beco a savior who saves humanity?"
Mother's true form…?
His mind went blank for a mont.
Following Ishtar's gaze, he unconsciously looked up at the sky.
The mont he saw the scene above, he almost stopped breathing.
A gigantic and suprely beautiful illusion—beyond the limits of human reason—stood quietly above Snowfield City.
Even the light of the stars and moon seed faded in comparison.
She rely existed above the city, yet a terrifying oppressive feeling that seed to return everything to a primitive state completely enveloped Snowfield City in a suffocating shadow of despair.
…That was Tiamat's illusion, projected from the imaginary sea!
After a short silence, Matou Yu unconsciously looked at the blue-haired girl behind him and asked in a strained voice.
"Why… why did your true form appear above Snowfield City?"
Tiamat shook her head, a trace of confusion in her red eyes.
"I don't know… but soone is putting to sleep, so it's fine for now."
Could soone hypnotize Tiamat's true form and temporarily put it into sleep?
Is there anyone in this world capable of that…?
Tiamat quietly looked up at the sky and said calmly.
"He's a carefree magus… As long as I accept that illusion myself and don't receive strong emotional stimulation, it should be fine."
"Is that so…"
Matou Yu pondered for a while. The shock in his eyes gradually faded.
He imdiately turned his gaze toward the direction of the abandoned factory.
"Then let's settle the previous score."
"Settle…?" Tiamat Lily tilted her head.
"Yes."
Matou Yu nodded lightly.
"The Holy Grail War is a battle between Servants. Masters who participate also face danger… When I joined this war, I had already prepared myself accordingly."
"If they want to play…"
Click.
The mont Matou Yu's voice rang out along with the faint sound of shifting gravel, a concrete block rolled down from the nearby ruins.
Through the gap, a narrow space below beca visible—barely supported by a few twisted rebars.
The sleeping Kuruoka Tsubaki seed to have been violently shaking due to the explosion.
The pale white mist that had been gently protecting the girl suddenly began to boil and swirl violently, as if sensing its Master's intense fear.
The apocalyptic catastrophe could no longer be contained.
Matou Yu looked up and quietly stared at the surging, raging pale mist.
"…Then let's play with them for a while."
… …
…
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