Fight Magic with Magic (Continued)

"Huh? Leonidas, Benkei, you're back too."

Merry greeted the two of them, and Ushiwakamaru walked up to them at that moment.

These three, like Merlin, were summoned by Gilgamesh to relieve the pressure in Uruk and to Heroic Spirit Human Order.

"Yes, I don't know why, but recently the Demonic Beast have become much weaker than before. Many of their previous wisdom and tactics seem to have disappeared, as if they have turned into real beasts. This has made the pressure on our front line much easier."

Upon hearing Merry's question, Leonidas, who was in charge, burst into laughter. Although he didn't know much about the changes that had occurred on the Demonic Beast side, he believed that the changes were undoubtedly a good thing. This gave the Heroic Spirit who were eagerly awaiting the front lines a chance to relax and return home for a rest.

"... Oh, that sounds really good."

Upon hearing this, a mysterious smile appeared on Merry's face.

Ushiwakamaru and Leonidas didn't quite understand this change, but she knew it all too well.

Kingu has now given up and will no longer attack humanity. Therefore, only the Demonic Beast Goddess Gorgon is left to hold the line. Without Kingu, the master of micro-management, Gorgon's creation of Demonic Beast is merely cannon fodder, which simplifies matters.

"Hello." At this moment, Ushiwakamaru also turned his head, his gaze falling on Rovey and Anna. His eyes lit up slightly, and then he said, "Could these two be the newly summoned Heroic Spirit of Gilgamesh?"

"Oh, actually, he's my husband, and the other one is my friend."

Without a second thought, Merry gave a surprising answer to the question.

"Eh? Husband? Miss Merry is already married?" Ushiwakamaru looked at Merry in surprise, especially after confirming that her eyes were serious. He was even more surprised. After all, Merry looked like a young girl and you couldn't tell that she was married. More importantly, she herself had never said that.

But as soon as Merry finished her rambling, Anna, who had just come downstairs, coldly replied, "You're talking nonsense again, Nightmare. I'm not a friend of humans."

"Similarly, I'm not this perverted husband either." Rovey nodded, adding, "Of course, we're not lovers either."

"Huh?!" Ushiwakamaru looked at them, feeling somewhat bewildered.

Seeing this, Merry wasn't annoyed. Instead, she chuckled and explained, "Anna -chan likes to use irony, and Rovey is just shy. We're the kind of people who even dream about each other~"

"It's not sarcasm." Anna, standing next to Rovey, puffed out her cheeks and said unhappily, "I hate every single Nightmare. And don't add weird suffixes to my name; we're not that close."

"Waaah~ Anna hates me, it really hurts my heart. Even the beloved Lady Avalon has to cry, waaaah... What should I do? I'm so heartbroken, I need my husband's comfort to get back on my feet, so..."

"—A great opportunity!!"

While wiping away her tears, Merry looked for an opportunity to pounce on Rovey.

However--

Snap!

Sacred Right appeared in a flash, and facing the white moth that pounced on her, she spun it around like a top, sending it flying far away. Her body transformed into a spinning white Caster and flew out, even though she didn't seem to be Magus but a Pretender.

Anna silently gave Rovey a thumbs-up in her mind. "Finally, some peace and quiet."

Rovey: "No need to thank me, I'll kill her illusions right now."

Looking at Merry's head stuck in the wall, Ushiwakamaru laughed loudly, "Really, I never expected that Ms. Merry would have such a lively side. I thought you had always been the noble and gentle type."

"Of course! You have to maintain a ladylike demeanor in front of strangers, but you should be completely open and honest with the person you like, right?"

Merry replied without any concern.

"That's right, friends should be honest with each other."

Upon seeing this, Ushiwakamaru nodded, agreeing with her statement.

Indeed, there's absolutely no need to pretend in front of friends and lovers; being honest with each other is the best way to get along. And seeing Merry like this, she found it quite amusing and inexplicably felt a sense of closeness.

However, Miss Merry's family problems are indeed quite unusual.

Ushiwakamaru silently glanced at Rovey, who no longer wanted to speak.

"Fine... whatever you say."

Seeing how shameless this guy was, Rovey didn't want to correct him anymore, because it would be a waste of time.

After all, this woman's skill in being shameless is absolutely top-notch.

"Um... won't we come in and have a seat?" Ushiwakamaru asked Rovey.

Merry was too exhausted to entertain them, so Rovey gestured for the three of them to come in, saying, "Please come in."

The group gathered around a table and set out drinks. Because Rovey was afraid that Merry would continue to add a bunch of computer parts to his computer and cause trouble, he went to ask Siduri for some food. Upon hearing that the Heroic Spirit had gathered together, Siduri was very happy and hurriedly sent someone to deliver Sumerian delicacies, as well as a large cake that was originally intended to be offered to Gilgamesh.

Then everyone sat down together, first taking a few sips of Uruk's yellow wine, and then introducing themselves to each other.

Upon learning that Rovey was a living being, Master, and a godlike being, the Heroic Spirit were greatly surprised. At the same time, they recalled the crimson hand that had suddenly appeared, and their eyes filled with awe. However, they actually took Merry's words seriously and regarded them as a couple with a strange way of getting along.

Just as Anna was being introduced, Benkei, who had been drinking the whole time, and Leonidas began to react. "Medusa, Anna..."

The two of them looked thoughtful.

Seeing this, Ushiwakamaru asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

Leonidas shook his head and said, "No, it's because my ancestors were related to Perseus, so I'm familiar with the name Medusa."

Anna: "..."

Hearing Leonidas mention that name she could never forget for lifetimes, Anna unconsciously gripped the scythe.

"——"

In response, Merry and Rovey also felt that he seemed to be too straightforward, and bringing up that name in front of Medusa was just asking for trouble.

However, Rovey reached out and pressed Anna's head down to calm her down. Leonidas hadn't done it on purpose, and the matter was considered closed out because of Rovey and Leonidas's apology.

Benkei's answer was quite interesting. His connection with Anna dates back to the earliest times. He vaguely remembered being summoned to a Singularity where King Arthur, wielding the Holy Grail, corrupted him. Medusa was one of the people corrupted there, but he couldn't quite recall the name of the city.

"Fuyuki City."

Rovey answered him without even thinking.

"Yes, yes, that's it. How did you know, Rovey...?"

Benkei belatedly realized what was happening and looked at Rovey, asking him a question.

"Because I actually have a significant connection with Fuyuki City; I was the Master of a certain Holy Grail War," Rovey explained.

"I see... Oh right, you're a Master." Benkei nodded, then looked at Anna again, saying thoughtfully, "Could you be the one from that time..."

"Yes, that was me, but not in this particular state. I vaguely remember that memory." Anna held the milk that Rovey had just poured for her, nodded gently, and admitted it directly.

"Haha, you two have such a relationship? Isn't that too perfect?"

Upon hearing this, Ushiwakamaru pointed at Benkei and Anna and said with a smile, "It's amazing that we can meet again in both Singularity."

"Yes, it's just a temporary illusion."

Anna and Benkei shook their heads. The experience of being corrupted and controlled by the Holy Grail and forced to do bad things was truly unpleasant.

However, that Cú Chulainn was really strong back then, you could even say he was ridiculously strong.

Incredibly, she quickly dealt with the corrupted Musashi and Heracles. As for Benkei, she was just a nobody. She remembered that when Cú Chulainn used an AoE attack, Benkei disappeared without even finishing her lines. This experience probably terrified Benkei for a long time.

As he listened to the two discussing C-rank Cú Chulainn, Rovey silently took a sip of his drink, a vague guess forming in his mind.

He also vaguely remembered that, in addition to the many Heroic Spirit in FSN who had turned evil, there was Benkei among the Shadow Servant in the Fuyuki City Singularity. He replaced Cú Chulainn as Lancer, while Cú Chulainn was existing as Caster at that time.

In his previous life, he had read an analysis on a forum that suggested C-class Cú Chulainn couldn't be summoned purely; Cú Chulainn was too deeply bound to the Demon Lance, and the Demon Lance existed regardless of class. If Caster-class Cú Chulainn were summoned, it meant something was definitely involved, and Cú Chulainn's Rune were connected to— the Northern Europe god Odin.

Back in the Fourth Shinobi World War, he intended to summon Cú Chulainn because he remembered Dog Brother's godlike performance in the prologue, where he single-handedly defeated Heracles, Medusa, and Emiya, and wielded the Holy Grail as King Arthur. However, the response was Scáthach, so he didn't know whether Caster Dog Brother was actually Odin.

As everyone chimed in with their own comments, the atmosphere quickly became lively. Rovey didn't mention the speculations about Cú Chulainn and Odin, since it was all in the past. If you really had to put it in perspective, it was Cú Chulainn who helped Medusa and Benkei escape their predicament.

"If Cú Chulainn were to come and help, this war would surely be much easier."

Upon hearing Benkei and Anna's account of how a dog, accompanied by two inexperienced girls, single-handedly defeated Cú Cú Chulainn, a Caster-class Holy Grail War, Ushiwakamaru and Leonidas couldn't help but sigh in admiration, expressing their awe at the power of that Child of Light. After all, Heracles alone was enough to overwhelm both of them, let alone defeating multiple opponents at once.

"Anyway, it's definitely better than Merlin," Merry replied with a smile. "After all, that guy is always lazy and doesn't do anything productive, right?"

"Haha, is that how Ms. Merry describes her brother? Well Merlin would cry then..." Ushiwakamaru burst into laughter upon hearing Merry's assessment of Merlin.

"It's his own fault for making a fool of himself, yet he always watches me like a thief, afraid that I'll do something dangerous."

"He probably cares about you."

Merry: "Concerned about me? Ha... He doesn't have that kind of feeling."

Listening to their conversation, Rovey also learned that Merry was operating here, claiming to be Merlin's sister.

After all, the two were of the same race, and even their appearance and hair color were very similar, so no one suspected anything.

But when he heard it, it just felt weird.

So you're treating yourselves like your own little sisters? These two Nightmare are quite the players...

Later, Ushiwakamaru asked about Merry and Rovey's past, especially their racial differences, and whether there were any problems.

Then, Merry confidently declared, "As long as it's true love, racial differences are no problem, and this guy's almost dead anyway, so lifespan theory doesn't apply to them. Therefore, they're a perfect match," and then happily received a "flying package" from Rovey.

They acted up for a while before calming down.

However, this guy started getting emotional again and answered the question again.

"My relationship with him was a tragic one. No matter which version of me I am, I would change whenever I met him. It was a complete waste of my life."

Merry glanced at Rovey, then added with a heavy heart, "Every version of me becomes unlike myself. For me, as long as I'm happy, that's enough. Everything else is meaningless. But it's turned out like this, I actually have attachments, and I truly understand what liking someone means..."

"..."

Ushiwakamaru found this strange and asked, "Then, Ms. Merry, do you feel any regret?"

"No way! I'm just so lucky to have understood love and to have someone I love. This means I'll never be bored!" Merry downed her wine in one gulp, then raised her glass and said with a smile, "Let's all have a drink to fight for Human Order!"

Hearing that they were fighting for Human Order, Heroic Spirit present, except for Anna, stood up and raised their glasses.

Anna said, "I hate humans, so I'm not fighting for them."

"It's alright, no need to force us, let's drink."

Merry said with a smile, "It's clear that she's much better at engaging people than Merlin."

Rovey and the others raised their glasses and clinked them together lightly before drinking them down in one gulp.

Because it was a rare break, the banquet lasted until late into the night. Apart from Ushiwakamaru, who could drink eighteen large bowls of Ushiwakamaru like Wu Song and still keep drinking, everyone else was a little too tired to keep up. Even Leonidas fell into a deep sleep.

After all that fooling around, Rovey lost his will to sleep. He went up to the roof with his hands behind his back and looked up at the sparsely starry sky above.

As the evening breeze blew by, I felt an immense sense of coolness.

Although he had drunk quite a bit of alcohol and hadn't used his constitution to purify himself, leaving him slightly tipsy, his consciousness and mind were still exceptionally clear. He opened his arms, looked up at the dark night sky and the full moon above, and his mind was filled with countless thoughts.

However, just as he was about to lie down and sleep until the next day, he heard a familiar voice.

"Oh dear, aren't you afraid of catching a cold sleeping here? Besides, a stiff neck can be really uncomfortable~"

"Mind your own business. Why are you looking for me here in the middle of the night instead of resting?"

Merry: "Nightmare doesn't need rest. I prefer to stay by your side rather than lie in bed."

Upon hearing this, Rovey did not turn around and remained lying on the roof, letting Merry walk to his side, reach out and lift his head to rest on her soft knees.

"That should make you feel much better, right?"

Rovey replied, "Yes, but it probably wouldn't be very comfortable for you, would it?"

Hearing this, Merry smiled, then lowered her head to meet Rovey's eyes. "It's okay, as long as you're comfortable, I'll be comfortable too, right?"

"How cheesy..."

"Hmph, the only way to deal with someone like you is to be straightforward, isn't it? After all, you're just a blockhead."

Upon hearing this, Rovey paused for a moment, then closed his eyes and whispered, "A straight shot won't work either."

"Is that not possible? How about this then..."

Merry gave a strange smile, leaned down and gently kissed Rovey's forehead, but this time Rovey didn't launch her.

"Huh? You're not going to hit me?"

This unusual situation struck Merry as odd; she was prepared to be launched away by Rovey and then run back to be with him again.

"It's no longer necessary."

Faced with Merry's question, Rovey opened his eyes and looked at the brilliant night sky, then said softly, "I resisted you before because I felt you were making fun of me about this, and also because I've always had a lot of prejudice against you. Now..."

"No more prejudice?"

"No, it's even bigger."

"Then why...?" Merry tilted her head, somewhat puzzled.

"Prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain, very difficult to move directly." Rovey shook his head and continued, "However, my opinion of you has changed a bit. Before, I thought you were just using me for fun, as a second toy, but when I saw that you actually came from all over the world to help me, I was actually quite moved. Anyway..."