In the vast starry sky dotted with stars, a meteor streaked quietly across with a long tail. If someone was not yet asleep and happened to see it, they could make a wish, and perhaps it really would come true.
Miyu and Ritsuka are biological sisters; this was actually achieved later, under a meteor.
Sitting in the familiar spot, the original Kiritsugu and Ritsuka were replaced by the current Ritsuka and Miyu, both looking at the stars in the sky.
As the meteor streaked across, Miyu made a wish to become real sisters with Ritsuka. Thus, the heavens granted her wish, and her crimson eyes turned orange.
So, meteors might really be able to grant people's wishes.
On that final night, as Kiritsugu looked at the sea of stars, what exactly was he thinking? Ritsuka still hasn't been able to understand.
She only knew that Kiritsugu trusted her and chose her decision. Even if only to not let Kiritsugu down, she had to do everything possible to find Miyu.
Ritsuka is not a hero. If she had to choose between family and the world, there was simply not much room for maneuver.
If she had the ability, she would of course save both... Stepping on the thin layer of snow, Ritsuka walked on the way back to the Emiya Residence.
After spending nearly a day burying the deceased Sakura, Ritsuka sat for a long time at the place where Emiya Kiritsugu was buried before finally returning to the Emiya Residence.
With no lingering attachments in her heart and her existence increasingly collapsing, her time was running out.
Immortality could keep her body from breaking down, but her existence would one day be burned away, likely in no more than a week.
Moreover, limited by the speed of internal replacement, the closer she got to collapse, the closer Ritsuka's power would be to the things inside the crystal dice.
That is, increasingly approaching the power of the true Avenger Alcides and the Archer Emiya Shirou.
If she managed her time well, it wouldn't be too difficult to overturn the Holy Grail War.
The only problem might be the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, whom Sakura didn't have time to mention.
The oldest of humanity, the King of Heroes.
Although his status in various myths is not as famous as Heracles, through mythology, one can still understand that he possesses terrifying strength.
In an unknown situation, the Einzbern definitely have a trump card.
That child named Erica possessed the aura of a true god, a world of difference compared to the divine energy Beatrice could obtain through her Noble Phantasm, the Belt of the War God.
She would exhaust all her strength to save Miyu from the Einzberns, then find a way to arrange things for the future. After that, she could go find Sakura, whether it be through the cycle of reincarnation or the depths of the underworld; though, the most likely outcome would be the complete annihilation of her soul.
"Seven participants, four left."
Putting away the three class cards in her hand, Ritsuka stood on the rooftop, gazing into the distance in search of her prey.
Her gaze was like a ferocious beast released from its cage!
With a faint flicker of turbid gold in her eyes, Ritsuka looked toward Mount Enzou in the distance, the location of the famous Ryudou Temple in Fuyuki City.
Over there, the aura and figure of a servant had appeared.
Drawing her bow, she initiated Projection Magic. A spiral sword was twisted into a slender shape by Ritsuka and notched onto the Hydra Bow.
Turbid golden glimmers flickered in the depths of her eyes as Ritsuka slowly drew the bow to full tension.
"A Magecraft Workshop? It should be Caster..."
An extremely dangerous atmosphere rose from Ritsuka's body, a mix of crimson and black, as eerie magical energy surged around her.
"Nine Lives!"
Like black mud entwined with calamity, a giant nine-headed venomous serpent that devoured fire, frost, and lightning alike—a pressure akin to the Hydra itself crushed the air as a supersonic-level shot whistled forth.
Putting away her bow, Ritsuka leapt from the roof and rushed toward Ryudou Temple.
While traveling at speeds slightly exceeding the speed of sound, Ritsuka narrowed her eyes and softly chanted—
"Phantasm Collapse!"
———
———
Inside Ryudou Temple, a Magician who had arrived at the Leyline point a step ahead began constructing a Magecraft Workshop using the power of the Caster card.
One must understand that the combat power of a Magician assisted by a Magecraft Workshop is worlds apart from one without.
A Magecraft Workshop is equivalent to a territory that provides massive buffs to oneself. This leads most Magicians to rely too heavily on it, and the user of the Caster card was no exception. In a sense, he was somewhat like a certain Director Kayneth this time.
Both were the types to be blown away directly.
The initial construction of the Magecraft Workshop was complete. All that remained was to further refine it and wait for the enemy to come to him.
The Magician, breathing a sigh of relief, suddenly saw meteors approaching from the sky. An absurd sense of crisis surged in his heart as nine meteor-like long-range strikes descended instantly.
Eight gold and one blue—a total of nine consecutive attacks.
It's a Noble Phantasm!
The thought flashed through his mind, and then Caster lost consciousness.
The roaring explosion spread throughout Fuyuki City, the vibrations waking countless people from their dreams, and the flames lighting up the night.
In a scene resembling a nuclear blast, a giant fireball rose from the center of the explosion, and the resulting storm snapped countless trees.
The exploding arrows turned into pure spheres of fire, melting everything from the inside out. Whether it was the temple or the walls, all turned directly to dust. The simultaneous arrival of eight beams of light plus a Phantasm Collapse of the Pseudo-Spiral Sword sublimated the entire temple.
The magical barriers were fragile. Even a fully completed Magecraft Workshop would find it difficult to withstand such an attack, which was comparable to a top-tier Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm.
And this actually didn't consume much magical energy... The sound of explosions was endless, broken rocks slid down the mountain, and the subsequent noises continued one after another.
The entire Fuyuki City was in chaos, as if the past fire and black mud had reappeared. Fuyuki City had always been a city plagued by disasters.
Kirei Kotomine stood on the distant bridge, admiring the view. He couldn't help but scratch his hair, thinking about how to cover up the explosion.
A gas leak?
Good heavens, dear God, he'd bet that not even an idiot would believe such a reason.
Feeling like his hair might be getting thinner, Kirei Kotomine sighed faintly and turned to leave. He had to act quickly to handle this incident; if he let it ferment, there was a risk that the supernatural would be exposed.
Moreover, he had a premonition that this kind of thing might happen a few more times... The rolling waves of flame shot into the sky, and even Mount Enzou seemed a bit shorter.
The monks of Ryudou Temple had all been driven away beforehand by Caster using suggestion magecraft, so there were no casualties. As for Caster, he met 'God' amidst the glory and the fire.
The ground was scorched black and red. A slender figure walked closer; there was no longer any trace of Ryudou Temple in the vicinity.
Scanning the area, Ritsuka walked to a certain spot and picked up the class card belonging to the unknown Magician. The cloaked Caster was successfully captured, bringing the number of class cards in her hand to three.
She needed at least seven.
Her nostrils were filled with a choking, strange smell. Ritsuka turned and left the nuked Ryudou Temple.
Descending the mountain and returning to the city, Ritsuka, wearing a hat, walked along the street, planning to go home and rest for a while. After this, she wouldn't have time to sit down and rest.