I stood beside the now stable Sakura. My diagnosis concluded that she should recover to full health within a week.
My gaze shifted to Medea, who had drawn closer and was leaning against the bed. Medusa hung back, yet her eyes remained fixed on Sakura's peaceful face, even through her blindfold.
"Should we head back now, Master?" Medea asked as she straightened up, trotting over to me.
"We still have something left to do." I spoke, not reacting even as she wrapped her arms around mine.
"Hmm... I don't think anything else is left, right, Master?" Her voice was coy, despite knowing it would have no effect on me.
"We still need to settle Medusa's Master and Servant bond." I glanced at Medea, then brought my gaze to Medusa.
She looked away from Sakura and met my eyes, giving a small nod of acceptance.
"You mean... you want to have Rider as a Servant too!? Absolutely not! Your magic circuits would implode under the pressure of supplying three Servants with mana, Master." Medea's grip on my arm tightened.
"I never said anything about forming a Master and Servant bond with her." She sighed in relief—though it was short-lived. Her gaze snapped back up to my face.
"Then what are you thinking, Master?" A hint of curiosity threaded through her voice as she braced herself for another revelation.
"Nothing groundbreaking. Medusa told me she possesses [Independent Action (C)]. With it, she can remain manifested for approximately a day without a Master." I stated.
"Where are you going with this, Master?" Confusion slowly replaced her curiosity.
"Medusa can sustain herself by drinking blood. Combined with [Independent Action (C)], she could theoretically extend her manifestation from a single day to three or four, provided she receives enough blood." Medea's eyes widened in shock, then immediately narrowed with scepticism.
"But Master, the amount of blood needed for something like that would be tremendous." Her voice carried a clear note of doubt.
"A moderate amount of my blood can compensate. [Beast Will] has granted my blood certain properties similar to those of dragons." Medea fell silent at those words.
"So... you want me to use [Rule Breaker] to sever her Master and Servant bond. Turning Rider into a Masterless Servant?"
"Yes." I affirmed.
"And then you'll let her feed on your blood to keep her manifested?" She pressed.
I gave her a nod.
"Master... What if she betrays you? Without command seals, you'd have no control over her actions." Medea cautioned, eyeing Medusa like a foreign cat encroaching on her territory.
Medusa returned that gaze, her own expression blank.
"If she entertains thoughts of betrayal, I'll know. You should understand that much by now." Medea had no retort to that.
"Very well. Use [Rule Breaker]. Shirou Emiya should be close to waking." I pulled my arm from her hold.
Medea stepped toward Medusa and raised her own hands above her head.
«This is a sword of negation and betrayal, that nullifies every kind of magecraft in the world.»
An iridescent, jagged dagger materialised within her grip. Its blade was thin, blunt, and deceptively brittle in appearance.
She drove the dagger down, straight between Medusa's cleavage. It did not injure the Gorgon in any way—instead, it severed her contract with Sakura.
Medea could have struck anywhere else. She chose not to.
Medusa looked down at that point of contact. Her expression remained unchanged.
Then she walked past Medea without a word—straight toward me.
"I need more... blood. Sakura can no longer provide... mana." She looped her arms around my neck without hesitation.
Right under Medea's wide-eyed stare, she bit into my neck and began to drink.
Medea raised a finger, pointing it straight at Medusa's back.
"You! You! How dare you!?" Magic circle upon magic circle spun to life behind her, each one aimed squarely at Medusa, charged with a tremendous amount of mana.
Medusa did not react. Instead, she used her heel to pivot, turning us both—placing my back toward Medea.
The frantically rotating magic circles froze, then dissolved into particles.
Medea rushed toward us.
"You snake woman! Get your forked tongue off Master!"
...
..
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Home.
"Uhm..." Artoria looked across the table at Illyasviel sitting opposite her, tears still streaming down the girl's face.
How do you stop children from crying? Merlin never taught me something like this.
Artoria rose from her chair, fumbling with an awkward expression. She stumbled into the kitchen a moment later and returned carrying some of her favourite snacks.
With visible reluctance, she pushed them toward Illyasviel.
"Ahem... Don't cry anymore. Have these." Those words from Artoria only made more tears spill down Illyasviel's face.
The King of Knights watched that reaction and felt tears well up in her own eyes.
Master. Caster. Why did you leave me with something like this?
...
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.
Tohsaka Manor.
"What do you think, Archer? Did we at least take out a single Servant from our earlier clash?" Rin asked while brewing a cup of hot coffee.
Archer materialised at her question, sprawled across the sofa.
"Master, I can't speak for the others, but at least Lancer is gone for good." EMIYA spoke, staring at the ceiling above him.
"Are you sure? Lancer might have survived somehow." Rin questioned, her attention split between their conversation and the coffee.
"No chance. He's gone for good." Archer even thumped his chest once.
"How can you be so sure?" Rin asked, curious.
"Because both of us have similar luck." He said.
"Huh?" His reply left Rin dumbfounded.
...
..
.
Kirei passed by a public park with a grocery bag in hand.
He stopped suddenly. His steps shifted as he veered into the park, approaching a bench currently occupied by a child who appeared lost.
"Child... Are you lost? Do you want me to take you to your parents?" Kirei asked with a gentle smile.
The child sniffled, then looked up at Kirei.
"Sorry, Uncle. My parents told me not to trust people with shady faces." Kirei's perfect smile stiffened.
"I don't want to hurt you, child. I'm here to help." Kirei retrieved a chocolate from his grocery bag, offering it to that child.
The child looked at that chocolate, then back at Kirei.
"Not to be rude, Uncle, but you look like a priest who has a bunch of kids locked in his basement. I don't feel safe taking anything from you." Kirei's eye twitched.
"Come now, child. Take it. Uncle doesn't want you going hun—" Kirei's words were cut short as that child leapt up from the bench.
"My mom's here! See you later, shady priest Uncle!" The child bolted toward his mother, waving back at a frozen Kirei.
The chocolate?
Crumbled into fine dust within his grip.
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***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[5 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
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[Author's Thoughts]
Damn! A child absolutely destroyed Kirei. As they say... Children are the most perceptive of them all.
Hahahaha.
Anyway. May you all have a wonderful day!
(*Waves bye)