From the staff, countless specks of light flew upward. Under Tia's control, more and more starlight spread across every corner of Fuyuki City.
Soon, the people trapped in sleep all over the city began to wake up. Though many woke with headaches and aching limbs, the pain was quickly relieved.
At Tia's home, her mother and father looked at the starry sky and smiled knowingly.
At the same time, Kayneth stopped walking. Because the whole city had been put to sleep, he couldn't leave unless on foot.
"I didn't think even a god would descend… Tia, you changed the flow of the future, didn't you? Are you sure doing this won't cause problems?" Kayneth was on his way to meet Matou Sakura. Though far from the Mion River, he could still sense the divine power of the descending god, and he had seen its hypnosis with his own eyes.
Now that people were waking up, he understood the battle at the river was nearing its end.
Lancelot too saw the people awakening after Tia's Noble Phantasm was released and knew the time had come. The octopus, however, panicked, trying desperately to shake off Lancelot and crush Tia with one strike.
But of course, Lancelot wouldn't let it. While the monster kept splitting its focus to break free and attack Tia, Lancelot finally got his chance to unleash the holy sword's power.
"Slay the god! Destroy the evil! Be released! Holy sword born from the origin! Sacred forging!"
Lancelot shouted the chant for releasing the holy sword—words that even Tia herself didn't know. The chant had flowed straight into Lancelot's mind from the holy sword the moment it was released.
The brilliance of the sword burst out, a pure white light swallowing the giant octopus charging at Tia.
Tia, who was in the middle of using Medea Lily's Noble Phantasm, didn't move or dodge. She just watched as the octopus was swallowed by the light right before her eyes and vanished completely.
"Phew…" Tia finally let out a sigh of relief and looked toward Lancelot.
Lancelot stepped in front of her. "Master, forgive me. This holy sword is yours, I…"
Hearing his words, Tia smiled. "I did this just so I could keep you here."
"Keep me here?" Lancelot froze, then suddenly noticed the bond between him and Tia was no longer tied to Command Seals. "This… Master… why?"
"Why? There's no real reason. I just want you to stay. Honestly, I wanted the King to stay too. But the King is Emiya Kiritsugu's Servant, and he still has his Command Seals. There's no way I could take the King from him by force. So for now, I kept you, Lancelot."
"But… we are Servants. We come into this world for the Holy Grail War to make up for regrets from life. Even if I stay, it means nothing. Besides, my wish is already fulfilled, and the King's wish…"
"Well… what's wrong with enjoying real life for a while?" Tia felt her thoughts waver when she saw Lancelot wasn't reacting the way she expected. Was it just her own selfish wish to keep him here?
"Sorry to interrupt, Tia. Just now… did you forge a holy sword?" Emiya Kiritsugu suddenly walked over, cutting into their talk.
"Blacksmith, I didn't expect you to reach this level. I want you as my subject more and more," Gilgamesh descended from above, completely ignoring Kiritsugu's words and instead showing his admiration for Tia. "How about it? I can forgive you for stealing my treasures and give you countless Noble Phantasms you've never seen. Too bad that god-slayer sacrificed himself to forge this holy sword, or else I would've liked to speak with him about slaying gods."
Gilgamesh had already seen that Tia used the holy sword to link herself with Lancelot, and that only made him admire her more.
Realizing he had no place in this talk, Emiya Kiritsugu quietly stepped back to stand beside Irisviel.
"Gilgamesh! Tia is my knight! Don't even think of stealing him from me in front of my eyes!" King Arthur suddenly appeared, shouting at Gilgamesh.
Yes, after using Excalibur, she had turned into spirit form to save mana. But when she saw Gilgamesh trying to steal someone away, she immediately came out again. Though her body seemed to have recovered a little, her aura was almost gone, and her armor made of mana had vanished.
Just then, Alexander the Great arrived, driving his ox cart with Waver.
"Sorry, because of me Rider had to leave the battlefield," Waver said the moment they stopped.
"Kid, don't blame yourself. This isn't on you. You're my Master—if I don't protect you, then who will?" Alexander the Great said, patting Waver's shoulder. "Still… what a fight. Even if I didn't need to guard my Master, I doubt I could've stepped in. That god… there's no way I could've handled it."
"That wasn't your job, Conqueror King. That was the god-slayer who descended on Master's body. It just so happened the King's Excalibur met the conditions to strike and dealt a heavy blow," Lancelot added.
"Hmph! Even my Ea couldn't finish him off, so how could you, Conqueror King," Gilgamesh scoffed.
"I see… looks like in the battles to come, I might be the weakest one here," Alexander the Great said with a sigh.
"That's not true! Rider, you're always the strongest!" Waver shouted at once.
"Hahaha! Kid, no need to comfort me. I know the end of this Holy Grail War is coming soon. But… this Greater Grail is already corrupted. Fighting any further is meaningless. I wonder what everyone else thinks," Alexander the Great laughed, then finally brought the talk back to the black Holy Grail.
"Now that you mention it, I still haven't gone to demand an explanation from Tokiomi," Gilgamesh frowned.
"The Holy Grail… really can't grant wishes?" King Arthur's voice sank low.
(End of The Chapter)
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