Fuyuki City! I'm Back!

"Rin, Marisbury, protect me! I'm about to begin the final stage!"

The Double Serpent Staff was a Great Magecraft Kotomine Kirei had developed after the Fourth Holy Grail War, pouring immense effort into combining the fields of minerals and spirit invocation. The mineral effects had already been demonstrated; next came the spirit invocation.

Hearing Kotomine Kirei's words, Rin and Marisbury quickly moved to his side. Together with Lainas, the three formed a horn-shaped formation and watched Dr. Heartless vigilantly.

As Finn stood frozen in place, Kotomine Kirei began chanting again, and a transparent silhouette was gradually pulled from Finn's body.

The calm smile vanished from Dr. Heartless's face at the sight. Thinking of Sajyou Manaka and what he would face if he failed, he shuddered and roared anxiously.

"Damn it!"

The Child of Phul began to riot, countless branches blotting out the sky as they surged toward Kotomine Kirei like waves.

Facing the crisis, Rin shouted and crushed a gemstone containing ancient starlight. Her wings of light once again released an ancient, pure radiance of destruction.

At the same time, Marisbury cast aside his usual elegance and composure, chanting rapidly as he continuously fired Magic Bullets.

Meanwhile, the manager of the Mystic Eye Collection Train, who had been monitoring the battle outside the train, could no longer sit still. Though she had merely been caught in the crossfire, she had no time to worry about that now. She swiftly ordered the auctioneer to load the Mystic Eyes. After a burst of transformation, the Mystic Eye Collection Train opened fire!

Boom!

Explosions rang out continuously, but there were simply too many of them. The Child of Phul had far too many branches. Even though Rin and the others fought desperately to stop them, quite a few branches still broke through their blockade and advanced toward Kotomine Kirei.

At that critical moment.

"Wail!"

Lorelei appeared like a savior. Hovering high in the air, she pointed her riding crop, and a violent hurricane pulverized every branch that had broken through the blockade.

Seeing that all the branches had been stopped, Rin finally had a moment to catch her breath. She gave Lorelei a thumbs-up.

"Lorelei! That was perfect timing."

"Of course. I'm a Bartholomello, after all."

"Not good!"

Just as Rin and Lorelei relaxed their guard and began chatting, Dr. Heartless endured Lainas and Marisbury's Magic Bullets and charged straight toward Kotomine Kirei.

"Die!"

Even as Dr. Heartless broke through Lainas and Marisbury's attacks, Kotomine Kirei showed no sign of stopping his chant. Just as Dr. Heartless's left hand, burning with green flames, was about to touch Kotomine Kirei—

The Moon Cell Essence, Kotomine Kirei's supreme Mystic Code that everyone had overlooked, revealed its might once more. Since it could be operated through his Magecraft Crest alone, Kotomine Kirei could still use the Moon Cell Essence even while casting a spell.

"Argh!"

Dr. Heartless clutched his severed left arm and collapsed to the ground. The arm that had been cut off by the Moon Cell Essence lay nearby, then was reduced to ashes by the green flames of its out-of-control magecraft.

'Mercury!'

As Kotomine Kirei cried out once more, Finn was pulled from his Saint Graph. After smiling and nodding at Kotomine Kirei, he turned into starlight and vanished from the world.

Marisbury looked regretfully at Finn as he faded away, then wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Is it over?"

Supported by Lainas, Kotomine Kirei walked over to Dr. Heartless, who lay on the ground, and looked down at him from above.

"Of course! Marisbury, if you need information on Servants, you can trade with me. As agreed, I'll be taking Dr. Heartless."

"No. He's still useful to me, so you can't have him."

"Who is that?!"

Everyone turned toward the voice and saw Sajyou Manaka, like a fairy descended into the mortal world, skipping toward them from the wreckage of the Child of Phul.

"Rin-chan, we meet again!"

"Sajyou Manaka!"

Everyone except Rin discovered that they could not utter a single word. They could only stand there helplessly.

"Rin-chan, you can't have him. I still need him. Let me take her away, okay?"

Though Rin could still speak, she could not move her body either. She could only let Aiga cling to her arm and act spoiled.

Rin stared nervously at Aiga, who was hugging her arm and acting like a little girl. She was terrified that Aiga's expression would change the next second and she would tear off Rin's arm.

"Rin-chan, if you don't say anything, I'll take that as agreement. Hey, you piece of trash, get up and come with me."

Seeing that Rin said nothing, Aiga wore a bored expression. She turned to speak to Dr. Heartless, then left with him.

After Aiga and Dr. Heartless had gone far away, Kotomine Kirei, a Clock Tower Lord, swallowed nervously.

"That was Sajyou Manaka from the Department of General Fundamentals, wasn't it? Are all you people from the Far East monsters?"

Marisbury looked thoughtfully in the direction Aiga had left. In a voice so low that no one but himself could hear, he murmured.

"The calamity of the Root!"

Lorelei gritted her silver teeth, gripping her riding crop so tightly that it creaked.

Bartholomello Lorelei, the Queen of the Clock Tower—her obsession with victory was an emotion she could not control. Lorelei believed she would always win, that she would win forever. Yet a single glance from Aiga had left her unable to move. To the immensely proud Lorelei, that was nothing less than humiliation.

"Rin, you know her, don't you? Take me to her! Now!"

Rin looked at the enraged Lorelei, shook her head helplessly, and turned toward the train.

"Rin Tohsaka! I order you to take me to her! Did you hear me...?"

"Lorelei, admit it! What could you do even if you saw Aiga now? Kill yourself?"

"I..."

Lorelei fell silent, standing rigidly where she was.

Fuyuki City! I'm Back!

Outside London Airport.

Kotomine Kirei walked up to a car parked by the roadside and lightly knocked on the window. As it slowly rolled down, he spoke.

"Lorelei, aren't you going to see Rin off?"

Lorelei looked at Rin and the others in the distance as they entered the airport, then replied haughtily to Kotomine Kirei.

"None of your business!"

Rin, who had reached the entrance of the airport, turned around and waved at Kotomine Kirei and Lorelei, shouting something that seemed to be a farewell.

"Looks like Rin noticed you, Lorelei."

Lorelei's face reddened, and she turned her head away.

"None of your business! Drive. We're going back."

Rin smiled as she watched the vehicle drive away. At Sakura and the others' calls, she pushed her luggage and followed them inside.

Marisbury smiled at Rin before him, recalling his meeting with Aiga after returning to London. After hesitating for a while, he spoke to Rin.

"Rin, this is as far as I'll go. I look forward to your return with sufficient funds."

"Don't worry. I'll return with enough money to fulfill our contract."

"Then have a safe journey."

"Goodbye!"

In Fuyuki City, the plane slowly descended into the airport.

Rin had returned once again to the land of her birth. She raised her hand and looked at the Command Spells left behind from the last great battle. Come, Holy Grail War. This time, I'll be the victor too!

Rin left the airport with Sakura, Fujino, Waver, and Gry, immediately spotting Touko leaning against a car outside while smoking.

"Touko!"

"Rin!"

The two smiled at each other.

Tohsaka Villa. Touko first drove everyone back from the airport here.

The moment she got out of the car, Rin saw Da Vinci standing at the front gate, pouting unhappily and staring at her with an intensely solemn expression.

"Uh, Da Vinci, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Ah! Rin, you bastard! What kind of British 'cuisine' was that? Star Gazing Pie? More like a pie of dead fish staring in horror! Do you know I was so scared that I crawled under the table? You have to compensate me!"

"Fine, fine, I'll compensate you. Tomorrow, I'll go shopping with you. I'll buy whatever you want, okay? We have guests right now."

Rin then turned to Waver, who held his luggage with a nostalgic expression, and Gry, who was curiously surveying the surroundings.

"Waver, Gry, come in. Welcome to Tohsaka Villa."

Rin and Touko led Waver and Gry to their prepared rooms to put down their luggage. After showing them around the upper floors of Tohsaka Villa, Rin stood and bid them farewell, returning to the car with Touko, Sakura, and Fujino as they left.

Waver sat in the hall of Tohsaka Villa with a cigar in his mouth. Ignoring Da Vinci's curious glances from time to time, he spoke to the somewhat nervous Gry.

"Gry, Rin's experiment is in your hands. Don't worry, Rin promised me that she absolutely won't hurt you!"

"Mm!"

At noon, after being away for many days, Rin, Sakura, and Fujino finally returned home. After putting away their luggage in their rooms, they came to the hall together.

"Sorry for making you worry, Mom." X2

Tokiomi Tohsaka sat at the head of the dining table, elegantly swirling the red wine in his glass.

"Oh, you're only apologizing to Aoi? Don't you have anything to say to me?"

Rin walked behind Tokiomi and slapped him on the back, startling him so badly that he spilled wine everywhere.

"Dad, where did you learn that routine? Don't tell me it was from another TV drama?"

As Tokiomi wiped the wine from his hands with a napkin, Rin exposed him, and he laughed awkwardly twice before saying nothing more.

"It's all right. Sakura, Fujino, it's enough that you returned safely."

Hearing that her mother was not blaming her, Sakura happily hugged Aoi and buried her head in Aoi's chest as she acted spoiled.

"Mom, you're the best!"

Tokiomi, standing nearby, was not pleased.

"Sakura, isn't Dad good too?"

Hearing Tokiomi's words, Sakura pulled away from Aoi's embrace, hugged Tokiomi's arm, raised her head, and smiled at him.

"Of course Dad is just as good."

Rin noticed the lonely look in Fujino's eyes. She walked to Fujino's side and hooked one arm around Fujino's shoulders.

"Fujino, don't overthink it. You're family too."

Hohngawara Academy. As the dismissal bell rang.

Shirou Emiya turned to look at Sakura's empty desk and could not help sighing.

Shinji Matou walked over to Shirou Emiya's side and followed his gaze toward Sakura's desk. His expression changed drastically, and he cautiously leaned close to Shirou Emiya's ear to ask.

"Hey, Shirou, what are you doing? I've noticed you staring at Sakura's seat all the time lately. Don't tell me you like Sakura? If Rin Tohsaka finds out, she'll beat you to death."

Shirou Emiya froze and looked at Shinji Matou in disbelief.

"Shinji, what are you thinking? How could I possibly like Sakura?!"

"Ah! You don't? Then why do you keep looking at Sakura's seat?"

Shirou Emiya looked around at the other students, picked up his lunchbox, and pulled Shinji to the empty rooftop before finally answering.

"Shinji, don't spread this around, okay? I heard from my father that Sakura secretly went to the Clock Tower with Rin. You know what the Clock Tower is, right?"

Shinji Matou curled his lips.

"Of course I know. It's the magecraft world's top academy, right? Oh! I get it. You're worried Sakura won't come back?"

"Yeah. We've been playing together since we were little. If Sakura suddenly leaves, wouldn't that hurt?"

Shinji Matou rolled his eyes at Shirou Emiya.