It wasn't until night that Rin finally rushed back to Fuyuki City after the war.
As for why it took so long to return after the battle ended at sunrise, that, unfortunately, is Gilgamesh's fault.
Originally, Rin had vaguely seen the distant town lights from the battlefield and had always assumed the battlefield was off the coast of Fuyuki. However, after the battle ended and she landed ashore, she realized that this was actually a coastal city in the central part of Honshu Island!
But looking at the city that had been completely annihilated by the massive tsunami triggered by the aftershocks of her final clash with Gilgamesh, Rin couldn't help but silently thank Gilgamesh in her heart. If they hadn't been completely far from Fuyuki, her hometown would have been destroyed by her own hands, and even the neighboring town where the Zenjou Household was located would not have been spared.
If the family members she had painstakingly saved were ultimately killed by the collateral damage of her own battle, no matter how strong Rin was, she would surely collapse. After all, in the face of such a city-destroying, nation-slaughtering natural disaster, even a Grand Title Holder Magus could only protect themselves.
With no mood to mourn the victims, Rin, eager to return home, immediately embarked on her journey back. The destroyed city could not retain its transportation functions; there wasn't even a single intact vehicle. The entire city had been utterly destroyed by the tsunami's thousand-meter water pressure and impact, with no survivors. Even the bodies were dragged into the sea by the receding tide, becoming food for countless fish and shrimp.
"No choice. If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves. Who told you to be so weak..."
Looking at the desolate, ruined city, Rin silently uttered a flat sentence, then used MIKU to transform into the appearance of her own vehicle. The structure of the heavily modified motorcycle she had completely analyzed and reinforced remained intact in Rin's mind. Rin rode MIKU like this, taking the entire day to return to Fuyuki City, which had been ravaged by war.
Well... MIKU has become a vehicle again, huh? It handles daily life and combat without issue; truly a convenient and versatile familiar.
Standing on the completely charred ruins of the former Ryudoji Temple and looking down the mountain, she saw the charred remains of a ruin less than ten meters from the wall in front of her Tohsaka Residence, and let out a long sigh of relief. The black mud of all the worlds evils had indeed overflowed, flowing down from Mount Enzou and submerging Miyama Town.
There were no longer any wails or cries over the ruins. There was no possibility of survival under the cursed flames of all the worlds evils. At this moment, only construction crews and rescue personnel were busy working through the night on the ruins, carrying out charred bodies devoid of life.
It was impossible for Rin to be completely unaffected by the sight before her. Even if she cared little for the lives of strangers, those who died before her were, after all, human beings like herself. The fragility of life and the powerlessness of the weak were starkly revealed to the world in the face of such an uncontrollable natural and man-made disaster.
"To see you return completely unharmed is more reassuring than anything, Master."
Jalter's still relaxed and casual voice rang out from behind Rin. Rin was not surprised by this; after all, their souls were linked, and they could sense each other's presence no matter where they were. However, Jalter's voice then became dejected.
"Unfortunately, I couldn't fulfill my mission. Whether it was the black mud of all the worlds evils or keeping the Holy Grail safe for you, because of one guy's meddling, it all failed spectacularly. But thankfully, I still have a new gain for you."
At close range, Rin could sense that Jalter's heart had suffered a massive injury. As the source of mystery, being attacked was far from as easy to recover from as external physical wounds. With such an injury, Jalter could at most exert her full strength in close-quarters combat, and her noble phantasm was essentially sealed.
"Since there's a new gain... Eh! This, this is..."
Rin, curious about Jalter's new gain, turned around, but her eyes were stunned the moment she saw Jalter. She stared at Jalter, speechless, or rather, at the person beside Jalter, speechless.
"Saber?"
However, unlike her original self, her splendid, dazzling golden hair had turned the same pale white as Jalter's. Her brilliant blue dress and shining silver armor had now become as black as ink. Even the dazzling golden Sword of the Star had turned a pure, dark abyss black, and the elven script engraved on its blade had become several ominous, interlocking runes. And the girl's originally heroic and spirited face had, at this moment, become cold and emotionless, her emerald green eyes also turning the same amber-gold as Jalter's.
Black Saber!
She appeared in the original work/canon's Fifth Holy Grail War, in Sakura's route, also known as the Heaven's Feel route. Her concise and ruthless personality made her seem completely different from the original Saber, but upon closer contact, one would realize that her fundamental core had not changed at all.
Even Artoria, who had never fallen into evil during her lifetime, still harbored confusion and entanglement, dissatisfaction with herself, and sighs about the world in her heart.
The Black Saber's appearance was due to the erosion of the curse, which brought these emotions to the surface and inverted her thoughts. Her purpose and ideals themselves had not changed; it was just that the normal Artoria strictly disciplined herself and maintained her integrity for her ideals, while the corrupted Artoria believed that even tyranny was an acceptable means to achieve her ideals.
However, Tohsaka Rin looked at the black Saber in front of her and she did not seem like someone who would resort to tyranny... In her clear, dark golden eyes, there was only pure innocence, her gaze as pure as a newborn baby's.
"W-what's going on!?"
"Let me explain this question."
"Huh, huh, huh, huh!!! This, this, this..."
A splendid blue dress, shining silver armor, dazzling golden hair styled in an updo, and the Excalibur in her hand, radiating the light of victory and hope. Her holy green eyes, like a clear green lake, reflected Tohsaka Rin's surprised face.
Saber!
Saber, Black Saber, Saber, Black Saber... These two are completely the same person; one is just the corrupted, inverted state of the other. How can two of the same existence exist simultaneously?!
Seeing Tohsaka Rin's utterly astonished expression, the normal Saber offered a wry smile and answered her questions.
"First, I must apologize for the misfortune this city has endured. Even if it was unavoidable due to command spells, it was still because of me that she failed to stop the spread of the black mud..."
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