"Takatsuki-nii, you're amazing."
Sitting in the back passenger seat of the car, Medea materialized her body and sat in the back.
"You actually defeated that most ancient king."
Not just defeated, but instantly killed without any suspense.
Although it sounded impressive, Takatsuki knew that it wasn't because his strength surpassed the opponent's.
It was because the opponent hadn't used his full power at all.
Gilgamesh's strength composition had significant issues.
He himself was too weak compared to other Heroic Spirits, but his Noble Phantasms were too powerful.
As a result, if one could launch a surprise attack with an attack speed exceeding his own reaction speed, then he could be killed before he even reacted.
But when fully armed and prepared for a confrontation, Takatsuki felt that nothing in this Holy Grail War could kill him.
"It's not that I'm stronger than him, but that he was careless."
Takatsuki spoke the truth.
"Gilgamesh's strength lies in his Noble Phantasms. Inside his Gate of Babylon, there are prototypes of all the treasures in the world, which can be said to be inexhaustible, and even divine artifacts are not uncommon, not to mention he also has the legendary Noble Phantasm that created the world, Ea; if he were to draw that sword, he could instantly kill seventy percent of the people present."
Seventy percent was mentioned because Takatsuki would not be killed by Ea, and in fact, this instant-death attack would have no effect on him.
And the remaining one was that if the Saber could use the scabbard within Irisviel, she would be able to block Ea.
But she naturally wouldn't block for others.
"Ah, is it that exaggerated?"
Medea was very surprised, but thinking about it, it was indeed true. After all, that was the most ancient king, so collecting all the treasures in the world was normal.
"Hmm, but his combat prowess doesn't seem strong."
Durandal also spoke: "Not as strong as Diarmuid."
"Naturally, he's a king, not a warrior or a brave. Durandal, after fighting Diarmuid, who do you think is stronger, Diarmuid or Lancelot?"
Durandal thought for a moment: "In terms of martial arts, Lancelot's martial arts are stronger, and his strength far exceeds Diarmuid's. Their speed is similar, but Diarmuid is harder to deal with than Lancelot. Lancelot has no reason; he just instinctively attacks and defends."
"Is that so? In close combat, Diarmuid can go toe-to-toe with Artoria, but that's based on strategy. If Artoria liberates her Holy Sword, he won't be her match."
Takatsuki roughly calculated Durandal's current strength ranking among these Heroic Spirits: "If you were to face Artoria now, you would still have a good chance of winning."
"Not enough."
What Takatsuki didn't expect was that Durandal shook her head and said such a sentence.
However, when Takatsuki pressed her for why, she refused to say, instead going to chat with Medea about magic.
You can't learn it, so why are you talking about it?
Although he thought so, Takatsuki didn't stop them, until Durandal suddenly spoke to Takatsuki.
"Takatsuki, I've thought of my wish."
"Is that so? You've figured it out?"
Durandal watched Takatsuki stop the car. Unbeknownst to them, they had already returned to the Matou Residence parking lot.
"I want to improve my strength."
"..."
Takatsuki didn't expect Durandal to propose such a simple and unadorned wish.
"Hiss… your wish is a bit… if there's no clear standard, then is a small improvement also considered an improvement?"
Takatsuki rolled his eyes. Such ambiguous words made Takatsuki a bit speechless. He had many ways to improve Durandal's strength, but putting aside everything else, just teaching Durandal a little something would also be an improvement.
Although the improvement wasn't much, just tell me, was it an improvement or not?
"I'm not that black-hearted. You set a standard. If it's like me or Gilgamesh, then I'm sorry, I can't do it."
Takatsuki didn't try to trick Durandal. After all, he wasn't playing word games, but genuinely wanted to build a good relationship with her.
"Then… like Diarmuid."
"But, isn't he no match for you?" Takatsuki didn't understand. To improve to the level of a defeated opponent, was she lowering herself?
But Durandal shook her head: "That's because I had the advantage of information and weapons. His martial arts far surpassed mine."
"Martial arts, huh…"
Takatsuki had watched Durandal grow at an exaggerated rate during this short period, but no matter how exaggerated, the gap from years of training was difficult to close.
"Ah! I've got it. If you want to improve your martial arts, I really do have a way, but it requires a bit of a price. I don't know if you can accept it. This is the fastest method. If you can't accept it, I'll think of other methods."
Takatsuki thought for a moment, suddenly remembered something, and said to Durandal.
"What's the price?"
To gain power, Durandal was willing to go to great lengths, but she wasn't foolish. There were some prices she couldn't accept.
"It's like this." Just as Takatsuki was about to speak, he saw Medea in the back seat listening curiously. He coughed twice, beckoned Durandal to lean in, and whispered a few words into her ear.
This act of avoiding Medea made her puff up her cheeks in anger.
Especially after seeing a faint blush on Durandal's cheeks after hearing it, she became even more curious.
"I have no problem, as long as I can improve my strength."
Durandal gave this reply, as in her opinion, although it was a bit embarrassing, it wasn't much of a price.
"Alright, let's go back now. I hope Kariya hasn't slept yet."
Takatsuki immediately returned with the two of them.
Actually, Takatsuki was overthinking it. Anyone else might sleep, but Kariya was definitely not going to sleep tonight.
He had already guessed that Tokiomi's Servant would go to the battle in the warehouse district.
If he were still alone, he would definitely not hesitate to cause trouble for Tokiomi, but now, he couldn't use Crest Worms to investigate the situation, nor could he control ordinary familiars, so he could only wait.
But now he also had to protect Sakura at home, so he hadn't slept, waiting for Takatsuki and the others to return. When they entered the door, they saw Kariya sitting blankly on the sofa.
Seeing Takatsuki and the others return, Kariya's pupils instantly focused, and he stood up with a whoosh: "So… how did it go?"
"You're still awake, huh? Perfect, Kariya, I need your help with something."