"Ryu, is that you?"
The moment she spotted Ryuya entering the sake bar, Gilgamesh's divine face froze.
Her mind was flooded with every moment they had shared back in Uruk. She never imagined she would see Ryuya at this moment.
"I... am I dreaming?"
Standing up, she took one step after another forward, gently reaching out towards Ryuya's distant figure. Her pace was slow, as if moving too fast would make him disappear.
"Ryu, is it really you?"
Tears actually welled up in her crimson eyes. She could only utter that one sentence… a thousand words were stuck in her heart, and Gilgamesh, unable to vent them, felt like she was going mad.
"Gil, it's actually you."
There was a moment of astonishment upon seeing Gilgamesh, but it was quickly followed by immense joy.
Initially, when the countdown for Kaguya and the others' arrival reached zero, Ryuya hadn't seen them appear near him.
He had ordered the Einzbern personnel to search Snowfield City for traces of the Servants and the Yukinoshita Sisters, all while watching the Command Spells disappear from his hand one by one.
Frankly, when he first summoned Artoria and Morgan, Ryuya had wondered if the other summoned Servants might also be his lovers.
But before he could even start searching, he saw the King of Heroes appear before him.
He waved at Gilgamesh, but before he could step forward, a silver figure rushed over.
"Is!"
The speed that surpassed a nightmare's limits was undoubtedly the fastest Merlin had ever run in her life.
In a flash of silver, Ryuya felt a large homebody crash into his arms.
"Is, Is, Is, Is! I missed you so much!"
Merlin, whose eyes were already red from crying, charged straight at Ryuya the moment she saw him.
She clung to Ryuya's body entirely. Merlin's mind didn't even register what she was doing… she just acted on instinct.
It was a memory ingrained in her very being.
Gilgamesh; "???"
Stuck awkwardly mid-step, her scarlet eyes narrowed slightly. Female Gil felt just great.
'Damn it all. And here I thought this Succubus had a lot in common with me. Turns out she's an assassin? Not a mage?'
For some reason, her initial pleasure turned into irritation. At this moment, Gilgamesh profoundly felt the sentiment, 'Startled from my deathbed, I realize the clown was myself all along.'
"Huff... Ryu, care to explain who they are?"
Smiling a strained smile, she pointed at a certain someone clinging to Ryuya and the Morgan holding his hand tightly.
The oldest King, Gilgamesh, was clearly... jealous!
Meanwhile, outside, Ishtar and Souji, who were shopping, apparently wanted to play on the rocking horse, at least Ishtar did.
However...
"Five little monkeys jumping on the bed..."
As the cheerful music of the rocking horse played, a certain Einzbern Princess named Irisviel was happily playing alongside a group of five-year-old children.
Exuding the aura of a ringleader, Irisviel stood beside a somewhat bemused Artoria.
It wasn't until Souji and Ishtar approached that the four eyes met. All three women sensed the flow of magical energy from each other.
Clearly, at such close range, they recognized each other as Servants and Masters.
"Master."
"Mmm, Rider, prepare for battle."
Facing the dense magical energy radiating from Artoria, Souji and Ishtar quickly switched to formal address and adopted a fighting stance.
"Iri, they're enemies."
Pulling Irisviel up swiftly, Artoria couldn't even worry about the numerous ordinary people present.
She directly materialized her spiritual attire. As sharp magical energy flared, Lancer Artoria, clad in British armor, stood before Irisviel, holding the Holy Sword in one hand and the Holy Lance in the other.
"Interesting. Let me see how powerful so-called Servants really are."
Having not fought anyone for a long time, Ishtar cracked her knuckles and stretched slightly.
Glancing at the ordinary people around, she pointed towards the sky at Artoria.
"You there, there are too many civilians here. Dare to fight me somewhere else?"
Influenced by Ryuya, Ishtar's divine indifference had lessened considerably, and she didn't want to involve ordinary people.
"I was thinking the same."
Also unwilling to drag the Holy Grail War's influence into a battle involving civilians, Artoria nodded.
However...
Glancing back at Irisviel behind her, the King quickly remembered she wasn't fighting alone with the Round Table Knights backing her up anymore.
Her body, which had been about to move, paused. She considered releasing a burst of magical energy to notify Morgan and Ryuya.
"Worried about your Master? Understandable."
Honestly, Servant battles are also struggles between Masters. After all, if the Master dies, no matter how strong the Servant is, it's meaningless.
Also seeing Irisviel behind Artoria, Ishtar disdained attacking the woman in her capacity as a goddess.
She only needed to handle Artoria.
She looked back at Souji, her meaning clear: "Master, your call."
"Fight in an uninhabited place? I have no objections."
Nodding, Souji certainly didn't want to harm other ordinary people either.
Agreeing to change locations with Artoria, she wanted to protect the world that Ryuya had protected even at the cost of himself.
Even if Ryuya back then might have only wanted to protect the Shinsengumi children and the youkai, she still wanted to preserve the peace of ordinary people.
Bowing slightly to the frightened children and their parents to apologize, Souji was just that kind of earnest person.
"Eh... Lily, they're enemies?"
Seemingly a bit slow on the uptake, Irisviel, having been born for less than a year and overly protected by Ryuya, was much more naive than her original counterpart.
Blinking belatedly, she suddenly realized the two beautiful girls before her seemed to be her enemies.
"Iri, they are undoubtedly Master and Servant. Be careful."
Still keeping Irisviel within her protective range, to be honest, Artoria wasn't confident of victory.
Because whether it was Souji or Ishtar, she sensed power from them not inferior to her own. Especially the one with red eyes, apparently the Servant Ishtar, gave her an overwhelming pressure, like that of a god.
Taking a deep breath, she already wanted to call for her sister, Morgan and Ryuya.