"So after all that, it still comes down to settling it on the battlefield?"
The King of Conquerors sighed, then filled his cup again.
"But for now, this is still a banquet. We can at least finish the wine before we start talking about anything else."
Ophis didn't object, and neither did Artoria. So the three of them truly drank as if this were just an ordinary gathering.
"By the way."
In the middle of the feast, Artoria suddenly seemed to recall something and looked to Ophis.
"I've been wondering since the beginning, Archer—why do you know that name?"
Ophis had been calling Artoria "Lily" all along—a nickname from before Artoria became king. Even if Ophis could see True Names, it still didn't make sense for her to use something like that on someone she'd never met.
As for having known each other—setting aside the fact that their eras were separated by thousands of years, Artoria had no memory of Ophis at all.
"It's nothing. Just a thread of fate that may have happened in the past—or may happen in the future. It has nothing to do with the Artoria of now."
Ophis smiled slightly as she answered.
To begin with, the Holy Grail War system had no way to summon Servants carrying the complete memories of their originals in the Throne of Heroes, and this Artoria also seemed not to have fully transitioned into a Servant state—so there was no way she could remember anything about Ophis.
"Because of those threads, I originally intended not to strike at Artoria… But if I did that, Artoria wouldn't accept it, would she? So from here on… I will use my full strength against Artoria."
The change in how she addressed her marked the line Ophis had drawn between "Artoria" and "Lily."
From this moment forward, there would be no more restraint.
"Is that so?"
Artoria answered Ophis with a bold, spirited smile.
"Good. That's exactly what I want."
Beside them, the King of Conquerors scratched his head and looked around, feeling like he'd just missed a prime chance to show off.
Far away, in the Tohsaka residence, Tokiomi let out a helpless sigh.
This had been a perfect opportunity to probe everyone's hidden cards, but with a Servant like Ophis being so uncontrollable, he had to conserve both Assassin's strength and his Command Spells as much as possible. He had no hand he could afford to play—and could only watch such a golden chance slip by.
"My teacher. The Assassin assigned to surveillance was wiped out in an instant."
"What?!"
At Kirei Kotomine's report, Tokiomi's heart jolted.
"None of the three kings appeared to move, and there was no warning at all… It doesn't seem like any of them did it."
Tokiomi sighed again.
The number of bizarre enemies in this Holy Grail War just kept growing.
...
Before the ruins of the Matou residence, El-Melloi frowned.
"The familiar's been dealt with."
He didn't want to enter Ophis's sensing range, but he wasn't foolish enough to throw away a chance to gather more information on her.
None of the three looked like they'd acted. Artoria and Iskandar didn't have methods this eerie… so was it the King of Heroes?
But after letting someone watch for so long, what was the point of dealing with it only now?
Swallowing down the urge to sigh, El-Melloi drew his focus back.
"Find anything, Dr. Romani?"
"The residual prana concentration and the Divinity response are too high. It's hard to pick out any clear leads. But so far, there are no signs of life. We can infer everyone inside the estate has been wiped out."
Dr. Romani's reply came swiftly through the communicator.
Wiped out…
El-Melloi's thoughts churned.
The Matou were one of the Three Founding Families of the Holy Grail… but at this point they weren't actually that closely tied to the Grail itself. Zouken Matou had secrets, sure, but at least this time they didn't seem to matter much to the Holy Grail War itself.
Was this the work of someone ignorant, trying to dig the Grail's secrets out through the Matou?
But the other side was a god. A god shouldn't do something like that…
Unable to come up with a reason, El-Melloi flicked ash from his cigar and let out a faint sigh.
First he had to deal with Kayneth's side. Then he needed to dig deeper into what Ophis had said tonight… From what he could tell, the key to the Singularity lay with her—or with that god. The god was still out of reach, so his only option was to find a breakthrough through Ophis.
"Let's go. We won't find any leads here. We'll finish what needs doing tonight first."
Only that girl named Sakura… what a waste.
Even if this Singularity was something that would turn illusory once resolved, El-Melloi still felt a knot in his chest.
Even if it was only a mirage, he wanted to bring about a perfect ending… And now, it seemed he'd truly failed.
...
At the banquet, Ophis's hands—cradling her cup—trembled slightly.
"What, it's over already? The best part just ended?"
Cradling the little sister of the body she was wearing, the goddess of Venus appeared in the courtyard at some point without anyone noticing. Waver scrambled backward several meters in shock, and Artoria nearly reached for her holy sword.
Ishtar didn't care in the slightest. She dropped down beside Ophis like she owned the place, snatched Ophis's cup, and downed it in one gulp.
"Mm… Looks like this cute little girl isn't so simple."
Iskandar rubbed his chin, watching Ishtar with interest.
"Well then, little girl—want to join my army?"
"Hah? What kind of stupid talk is that? I'm not interested in some guy made of meat from head to toe."
Ishtar waved him off in open disgust, then turned her gaze to Ophis.
"Hey. You alright? If you're fine, come with me."
"Mm."
Ophis nodded, stood, and looked to the King of Conquerors.
"Hahaha. Sounds like the little girl has business. We've said about all there is to say tonight anyway—shall we end the banquet here?"
The King of Conquerors laughed twice, rising as well. Artoria stood with him.
"Then next time we meet, we'll likely cross weapons. Anything you want to say before that?"
"Cross weapons?"
Ophis smiled faintly.
"Perhaps. But you two…"
"Oh? Are you suggesting there's a chance I might fight alongside this little King of Knights?"
"That depends on what that strategist can do. Let's go, Ishtar."
Ophis shook her head, then left with Ishtar.
The final stage was drawing closer and closer…
---
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