"Ah, today was truly fulfilling."
Xia Yu looked up at the starlight dotting the sky and stretched comfortably.
"Firefly, you're mean!" Fujimaru Ritsuka stuck out her tongue and looked at her with a look of grievance. "Mapo Tofu... is it always such a terrifying food?"
"Ugh, I can't feel my tongue, and it feels like there's a fire burning in my stomach..."
"Senpai..." Mash's state was even worse. Ritsuka could at least speak clearly, but Mash was completely thick-tongued. She said piteously, "I can'f feel my fungue eifer..."
"Sigh, you simply don't know how to appreciate it," Xia Yu looked back at them with a beaming smile. "This is nothing. I take it you two don't usually eat anything spicy or stimulating?"
"As expected of an Alien Combat Weapon," Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at her with narrow eyes. "To be able to eat a whole plate of Mapo Tofu without changing your expression... is your stomach made of iron?"
"Actually, you don't need a stomach made of iron," Xia Yu said kindly. "You just need to eat it often. You'll get used to it slowly."
"Forget it, forget it, I can't take it," Ritsuka and Mash shook their heads repeatedly.
"To think I took you to the shop I consider the best to treat you," Xia Yu shook her head, feigning sadness. "I didn't expect... you to hate it so much..."
"If you knew our tastes, don't give us such bizarre food!" Ritsuka rolled her eyes. "You clearly look like a delicate young girl; shouldn't you prefer small cakes?"
"True, I absolutely love Oak Cake Rolls," Xia Yu nodded and said seriously. "Ritsuka, you must remember: in the future, if you stand on the opposite side of me and lose, as long as you offer up an Oak Cake Roll as tribute, I'll spare your lives."
"Well, that's just great then," Ritsuka rolled her eyes.
"Come on, the nightlife is about to begin. As our guide, where are you taking us next?" She puffed out her chest and looked like she was heading to an execution. "I'll consider this risking my life to accompany a friend!"
"Nightlife?" Xia Yu looked at her meaningfully. "Ritsuka, this is Fuyuki in 2004. It's just an ordinary little coastal town, not your bustling metropolis of 2015. There... isn't much nightlife here."
"Even if there is, it won't be around midnight."
"Really? That's a shame," Fujimaru Ritsuka grabbed Mash's arm. "Sigh, my poor junior here has never seen the bright lights and wine of a real big city. She's been out fighting and killing with me since before she was an adult."
"Along the way, it's been France in 1431, London in 1888, even Rome around the turn of the era and a sea voyage in 1573... such a hardworking junior... it's truly piteous."
"And so?" Xia Yu looked at her with interest.
"So, to commemorate our friendship, let's go sleeping feet-to-feet tonight," Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at Xia Yu and said with a smile, "Just like in Romance of the Three Kingdoms!"
Beside her, Little Eggplant's face suddenly turned red again for some reason. Fortunately, Ritsuka's attention was entirely on Xia Yu and she didn't notice.
"Sure," Xia Yu continued to trade barbs with her leisurely. "You go back first, and I'll head over in a bit to commemorate our friendship with you. Sharing a bed? It actually sounds quite nice."
At this point, a meaningful smile appeared on her face. "As long as we aren't sharing a bed but dreaming different dreams."
"Of course not," Fujimaru Ritsuka met her with a smile. "Friend, how could you think that? And why make it so complicated? Let's just go back together."
"I still have a few things to do," Xia Yu blinked.
"If a good sister has things to do, how could I not help out? To just leave like that? Would we still be good sisters?" Ritsuka patted Mash beside her. "Don't worry, Mash is very strong!"
"Senpai, Miss Firefly..." Mash's gaze shifted between the two faces, and she hesitated.
"It seems Ritsuka is having a lot of fun," back at Chaldea, Da Vinci-chan said to the Doctor. "How long has it been since we saw that child show such a relaxed smile?"
"...Sigh," the Doctor shook his head. "If it were possible, no one would want to push a child into that position... but..."
Since she was the only one left in Chaldea.
"Straight talk, sister," Xia Yu reached out and hooked her arm through Fujimaru Ritsuka's. "What exactly are you plotting against me? You had a look of 'it's either you or me' yesterday."
"Either you or me? That's too harsh, sister," Ritsuka refused to be outdone, reaching out to hook her arm around Xia Yu's waist and pressing her whole body against her. "That was just a tiny disagreement; it doesn't affect the bond between us, right, sister?"
The innocent Mash had fallen into total confusion.
"So, are you here for her?" Xia Yu looked at the woods behind them.
"Who?!" Mash sensed something was wrong instantly. In the blink of an eye, she completed her transformation and turned to face the pitch-black woods.
"That is..." Fujimaru Ritsuka also dropped the warm smile from her face, her expression gradually growing solemn. "The Corrupted Holy Grail?"
A twisted figure slowly emerged from the forest. Though it was only the height of a person, that eerie aura was enough to make anyone stay on high alert.
"This Saint Graph..." The communication from Chaldea opened instantly, and the Doctor's voice came through. "You're kidding, right? This Saint Graph... is it really a Beast?"
"Logically, Miss Sakura isn't a Servant, so it's impossible for her to have a Saint Graph," Da Vinci-chan also spoke. "So, is this the Zoroastrian Evil God Angra Mainyu inside the Holy Grail?"
"His current state... seems similar to Mash, as if he is an依凭 for a Servant. But compared to the Heroic Spirit who chose Mash, as a god representing the concept of evil... he is simply too overpowered..."
"Ritsuka, I have bad news," Da Vinci-chan said with a frown. "If we have to face him, then all the Heroic Spirits summoned in this Holy Grail War are unusable. Their contracts are within the Greater Grail, and as the basis for their manifestation in the Living World, they have no power to fight back against the Evil God Angra Mainyu!"
"Servants summoned by the Holy Grail simply cannot resist the Grail!"
"That is truly terrible," Fujimaru Ritsuka realized the gravity of the situation. After all, despite all the grand talk before, she hadn't seen any real threat yet; everyone had been speaking to her politely...
"No, Ritsuka, you can't think like that," hearing this, Xia Yu had an idea.
She stepped in front of Ritsuka and opened her arms toward her.
"You've lost them, but you still have me, don't you? I can completely be your partner on the path to salvation, can't I?"
"Eww~" For some reason, Fujimaru Ritsuka felt a wave of goosebumps. "Firefly, why do I feel a chill when you say that?"
"It's right that it feels off," Xia Yu dropped her hands and said with a beaming smile. "Those aren't exactly kind words."
"Miss Firefly, watch out!"
Just then, Mash looked behind her and cried out, raising her shield to step forward.
Clang!
The ribbon-like appendages of the Corrupted Holy Grail shot forward, slamming directly into her shield!
"How can you be so carele—" Ritsuka was about to say something when she saw that, at some point, a red-and-black ribbon had already coiled around Firefly's wrist.
The red-and-black patterns had already begun to erode her palm.
"Mash!" Seeing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka's lips trembled. She screamed, "Cut it off!"
Mash looked back in shock, only to realize she hadn't completely blocked the Corrupted Holy Grail's attack. She immediately raised her Great Shield and smashed it down toward the ribbon coiling around Miss Firefly's palm!
But unexpectedly, Xia Yu simply raised her hand, causing her to hit nothing but air.
Then, with a few quick movements, she easily snatched the Great Shield from Mash's hands.
Mash, who never let go of her shield, was stunned.
"How can this be..." She looked at her empty hands, her eyes full of disbelief.
"Mash," Fujimaru Ritsuka reached out to hold her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Senpai," Mash stared fixedly at the Great Shield in Xia Yu's hands. "I just..."
"Oh no! Ritsuka!" Just then, the Doctor's panic-stricken voice came through. "Don't forget what we just said! Servants summoned by the Holy Grail cannot resist the Grail!"
"She's already being eroded! Run! Run quickly!!!"
All of Chaldea was in a total mess. Everyone had approached this mission with a relatively relaxed attitude, thinking they had a super-expert to rely on—wasn't this just a free carry?
They didn't expect that in just one round, the expert they were so confident in would go down!
"Next, you'll have to face an unhatched Beast and a super-soldier from the future... No, how are we supposed to fight this?" Da Vinci-chan was also completely flummoxed. "Miss Firefly alone was enough to make us despair, and now there's a Beast too!"
"And now we can't rely on any Servants summoned by the Grail..."
Was... was this a dead end?
Fujimaru Ritsuka didn't know.
She just instinctively sensed something was wrong. Ritsuka didn't follow the Doctor's instructions to run with Mash. Instead, she confidently studied the expression on Firefly's face.
Seeing that half-smile...
"I say, what are you all whispering about over there?" Xia Yu looked at them out of the corner of her eye. "And Mash, why start a fight without saying a word? When did Sakura provoke you?"
"I clearly remember you two expressing with great ambition yesterday that you absolutely couldn't accept an ending that sacrificed her as the price."