Morgan stood quietly in the plaza outside the great hall.
The cold wind brushed past her silver hair, accentuating the icy, breathtaking beauty of her face.
Her expression remained calm, but anyone who knew her enough would easily see how anxious she truly was.
After all, Attila was nothing like ordinary enemies.
She was a being from beyond the stars, and this battle was sure to attract the attention of hidden observers across the continent.
Morgan trusted Alvin… but she couldn't help worrying.
"Sister Morgan"
A young man's voice suddenly drifted from inside the hall.
Morgan turned instantly.
When she saw Alvin, a faint smile softened her frosty features.
"It seems things went well. Did you win?"
Alvin walked down the steps, shaking his head with a small laugh.
"I didn't win… but I didn't lose either."
"What does that mean?"
Morgan raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding.
Alvin simply smiled, then turned his gaze toward the palace behind him, and as the witch followed his line of sight, her eyes suddenly widened.
Behind the white palace walls stood a gigantic white being, towering far above the structure. It stood silently, its indifferent gaze fixed directly on them.
The Titan Attila.
Because of the overwhelming force of the Star Holy Sword, she had been forced to reveal her true form.
If they continued any further, even if they managed to decide a victor, the cost would be catastrophic for both sides.
They both understood that perfectly.
So Alvin and Attila had stopped at the exact same moment, with complete wordless agreement.
"Let's go home," Alvin said.
Morgan stared for a long moment at the white giant that dwarfed even the royal palace.
Eventually, she lowered her gaze and followed Alvin away.
…
That night, the royal palace of Britain hosted a rare banquet to welcome the return of Alvin and Morgan.
Among the gathered guests, Alvin noticed a familiar face.
From the very start of the banquet, she had been staring at him with a look far from friendly.
"Miss Scathach, why have you been staring at me this whole time…?"
"What do you think?"
The corner of Scáthach's mouth curved into a dangerous smile.
"Lord White Dragon… don't you think you cheated a little in our last fight?"
"Cheating how? I called my mother through my own ability. If you've got the means, you can call for backup too."
Alvin said it with a straight face.
Scáthach was hit so hard by that line that she couldn't fire back.
She wanted to refute him, but there was nothing to refute.
It was the most humiliating loss she had ever experienced.
Losing to Alvin alone would have been one thing, but the man had literally summoned the primordial mother goddess. How the hell was anyone supposed to fight that?
She wanted to challenge him on the spot, but she didn't want to ruin the atmosphere of the banquet, so she narrowed her red eyes and glared at him instead.
Suddenly, a bolt of inspiration flashed through her mind like blue lightning; her eyes lit up.
Actually… if she wanted a proper duel with him, it didn't have to be in Britain.
Right now Alwin could summon Tiamat only because of the White Dragon's furnace-heart.
But what about after the Age of Gods fully ended?
In the modern era, for example.
Would the White Dragon furnace-heart still be able to support summoning Tiamat then?
At that thought, a single idea blazed across Scáthach's mind.
—The Holy Grail War!
Rumor had it that Alvin already participated in the Fourth Fuyuki Grail War.
So would he be interested in the Fifth?
Imagining something evidently amusing, the corners of Scáthach's mouth lifted into a wicked, intrigued smile.
…
Late that night, after the banquet ended, Alvin didn't return to his quarters right away.
Instead, he headed for Tiamat's room.
Knock knock.
"Tia… can I come in?"
A soft "Aaa" came from inside.
That meant yes.
Alvin pushed the door open and immediately saw the primordial mother goddess radiating maternal warmth, yet somehow still carrying an air of adorable blankness.
"Did you enjoy the banquet today?" Alvin asked with a gentle smile.
Not only had Britain's high officials attended tonight's feast; this very mother goddess had also slipped in under disguise.
To avoid drawing too much attention, he didn't greet her publicly and chose to come only after everything had ended.
"There were many people, it was lively," Tiamat wrote in her notebook.
Alvin thought to himself, Of course it was lively, the Knights of the Round Table, every major noble house, even people from the Clock Tower showed up…He hadn't expected her to just eat and drink like nothing bothered her. No social anxiety at all, apparently.
"Many people were talking about you today," Tiamat wrote again.
The battle between the White Dragon and Attila had spread across Britain that very day.
Now most people knew just how unfathomably deep Britain's true strength ran.
According to Merlin, all those ancient enemies who had been lurking beneath the surface of the lake had already fled the island.
The reason? No one wanted to take a direct hit from the White Dragon's Holy Sword of the Star.
That sword was terrifyingly powerful, but each use consumed an astronomical amount of mana…
Yet even at the tail end of the Age of Gods, the White Dragon furnace-heart could supply Alvin with seemingly limitless magical energy.
No one knew exactly how many times he could fire it.
They might be able to prepare defenses against one blast… but what about two? Or three?
And even if someone somehow got past the White Dragon, King Arthur and Morgan le Fay were still waiting behind him.
"But I can feel it… the Age of Gods is almost over," Tiamat wrote.
Tiamat continued writing.
Her eyes dimmed noticeably as she wrote those words.
Once the Age of Gods ended, Britain would slowly meet its own end as well.
And when that happened, she would have to return to that empty Imaginary Number Space and sleep alone again, in a world without a single living soul.
Even Alvin could only stay with her for a short while.
The rest of eternity… she had to face it alone.
Seeing her mood sink, Alvin paused, then asked, "Have you been happy during your time in Britain?"
Tiamat nodded, though her expression was clearly gloomy. "But soon, it will be only me again."
"Not necessarily," Alvin said quietly. "Even in the modern era, I might find a way to see you."
Tiamat's eyes lit up, but then dimmed again. "My Saint Graph… the modern world can't sustain me."
"What if it's not as a Beast?" Alvin said with a small smile. "What if it's just the level of a Servant?"
"Then what if it wasn't on the scale of a Beast's Spirit Origin?"
Alvin smiled. "What if... it was just a Servant-class Spirit Origin?"
Logically speaking, a being of Tiamat's caliber couldn't manifest in the present world even through Heroic Spirit summoning.
But if Tiamat created a "juvenile" clone of herself as an avatar... then the Holy Grail would be able to summon her.
The only requirement would be one of her relics.
At that thought, Alvin couldn't help but look deeply at the woman in front of him.
Come to think of it... Tiamat wasn't wearing any actual clothes.
The "garments" on her body were all condensed from the Sea of Life.
How exactly was he supposed to obtain a relic from her?
Noticing his scrutinizing gaze, the gentle yet slightly airheaded woman blushed faintly.
She seemed a little uncomfortable and shook her head, her bewitching crimson eyes misting over as if covered by a layer of tears, glistening under the light.
In the end, she lifted her little notepad to shield her face, peeking out only with those sparkling eyes, looking at him with faint resentment as new words quietly appeared on the notepad: "Stop staring at me... it's embarrassing."
'I really love the usual airheaded, adorable Tiamom... but this version of her right now is pretty cute too, huh?'
Looking at the adorable girl in front of him, a sudden idea came to Alvin's mind and his eyes lit up. "I've got it... Mother, I have a way to summon you in a future Holy Grail War, but I'll need something that belongs to you."
Tiamat tilted her head. "What...?"
'Why do I feel like right now, even if I told her I could only explain after we slept together, she'd believe me...?
Seeing her adorably confused, head-tilted expression, a ripple stirred in Alvin's heart, and for a moment he was seized by the impulse to let their relationship cross that line.
However, looking at her innocent eyes, he forcibly suppressed the thought, locked eyes with Tiamat, and enunciated clearly, word by word:
"A relic."
"A relic from my body...?"
Tiamat tilted her head. "But right now I'm only a spiritual body."
The moment she finished speaking, Alvin revealed a mysterious little smile.
"Who told you a spiritual body can't produce a relic?"