Dragon Factor Enhancement; Aoko and Alice Arrive! / Rin's Greed and a Skirmish Outside the Church!

"Sakura, Fujino, you two... Ah! I really don't know what to do with you."

Hearing Rin's words, Fujino walked over to her with a grin, wrapped herself around Rin's arm, and said coquettishly.

"I knew Master couldn't bear to punish us!"

Not to be outdone, Sakura came to Rin's other side and hugged her arm, while glaring fiercely at Fujino.

With Fujino and Sakura each clinging to one of her arms, Rin felt somewhat uncomfortable and pushed them both away. She glanced at the Command Spells on Sakura's hand and said,

"Enough fooling around. Call out your Servants."

Sakura nodded, and Archer soon appeared behind her.

Looking at Archer before her, Rin's eye twitched. Why is it this guy? Good thing Gil isn't here. If Gil saw this knockoff Master, they'd probably start fighting on the spot.

After materializing, Archer first sized Rin up. So this is Rin from this world? Then he turned to Sakura and asked with some confusion,

"Master, what did you summon me for?"

"Archer, my sister wants to see you. From now on, you must treat my sister's orders as my orders!"

Archer froze for a moment, then turned to look at Rin and asked her in a flippant tone,

"So, what are this young lady's orders?"

"Archer, your Independent Action skill is quite high for your class, right? Then act independently from now on. Go gather intelligence on the other Masters and Servants in this Holy Grail War."

Archer was taken aback. Rin's arrangement suited him perfectly; he also wanted to know exactly how this world differed from his original one.

"As you command!"

Archer answered loudly. After bowing to Rin, he lightly leaped up and dissolved into particles of light in the air.

Seeing Archer vanish completely, Fujino walked over to Rin and said,

"Master, there's something wrong with that Servant. Sakura and I had only planned to form a temporary contract and use the Grail to strengthen my Servant transformation, but that guy was actually summoned through such an incomplete ritual. He also refuses to reveal his identity. I feel like that Servant definitely has some kind of ulterior motive!"

"Fujino, it's fine. Archer may not say it, but I know his true identity. His goal doesn't conflict with ours, so let him do as he pleases. All right, Fujino, Sakura, go back to your rooms at the villa and rest first. I need to see Da Vinci about something."

"Mhm." x2

After parting with Sakura and Fujino, Rin entered the basement. Seeing Da Vinci wearing glasses and busy at work nearby, Rin greeted her before walking over and asking,

"Da Vinci, how is the Dragon Factor extraction going?"

Da Vinci led Rin over to a machine and opened it. As it activated, a thin mist formed from magical energy slowly drifted out.

At the center of the machine was the Dragon Factor Da Vinci had extracted. It was stored in a test tube, looking like a mass of golden liquid that glimmered with faint starlight. Though it appeared unremarkable, even resembling some kind of beverage, the magical mist around the test tube that was constantly liquefying and evaporating demonstrated the Dragon Factor's extraordinary nature.

Da Vinci took out the test tube, turned to Rin's puzzled expression, and explained,

"Rin, the Dragon Factor extracted from Gry's blood was originally red and possessed a fire attribute. But after I elevated it using the Tiamat Crystal you provided, this Dragon Factor was promoted into one carrying divinity, which is why it turned gold. But precisely because of that, this Dragon Factor is far more powerful than that of a red dragon, which is why the magical energy has begun liquefying!"

"What about the side effects? It can't have been elevated without any cost, right?"

Da Vinci shot Rin an annoyed look.

"Rin, I'm Da Vinci. How could there possibly be side effects? If you insist on calling it one, then Tiamat's Dragon Crystal must be transplanted into your body together with the Dragon Factor, otherwise the Dragon Factor will revert to its red dragon form."

"Ah, sorry! I shouldn't have questioned your research."

Da Vinci had not expected Rin to actually apologize and thought in confusion, What's gotten into Rin? Of course, Da Vinci had no idea that after what Aiga had done to her, Rin had become even more focused on pursuing power.

"Then let's begin. Rin, come with me."

Da Vinci led Rin to a corner of the basement. Then a flash of magical light appeared, and as magical energy surged through the wall, a door emerged.

Beyond the door was an even more advanced and spacious laboratory. The equipment Rin had damaged last time by using her Bounded Field was also sitting in one corner. This was the true laboratory that Rin, Da Vinci, and Touko had kept hidden.

Da Vinci brought Rin to a machine that resembled a CT scanner and gestured for her to lie down.

Rin looked at the machine before lying down on it. As the Magic Furnace in the laboratory began supplying power, Rin soon felt exhausted and gradually drifted into sleep.

Da Vinci looked at the sleeping Rin, walked aside, and began changing into surgical clothes...

Dragon Factor Enhancement, Arisu and Aoko Arrive!

Da Vinci carefully operated the machine, using it to directly pass through space and pierce Rin's heart. Then, with extreme care, she used the machine to place Tiamat's Dragon Crystal into Rin's heart.

After confirming that the crystal had been placed in Rin's heart, Da Vinci raised her head from the machine, picked up a towel nearby, and wiped the sweat from her forehead. At the same time, she glanced at the Dragon Factor steadily flowing into Rin's body through an IV.

Da Vinci then pulled Rin out of the machine. One hand maintained Healing Magecraft over Rin's chest while the other effortlessly lifted Rin up. At the same time, she held the fluid bag continuously supplying Dragon Factor into Rin's body between her teeth.

"I didn't expect Rin to be this light!"

Carrying Rin over to an operating bed, Da Vinci gently laid her down and hung up the fluid bag. Then she pulled over a mechanical arm, switched it on, and as the magic circle on the arm activated, the light of Healing Magecraft shone from it.

With the mechanical arm taking over the healing, Da Vinci put on the Noble Phantasm she had created for herself, "Omniscient Wisdom, Knowledge of the Foundation." Using the Noble Phantasm, Da Vinci began connecting Rin's nerves, blood vessels, muscles, and Magic Circuits to Tiamat's Dragon Crystal through space and across Rin's chest cavity.

Time passed second by second. After operating the Noble Phantasm with complete concentration for a long time, Da Vinci raised her head and let out a long breath.

"A great success! Haha, I really am incredible!"

Da Vinci then put away the mechanical arm and Noble Phantasm, walked aside, picked up a glass of water, and drained it in one gulp.

"Ahh~ Now all that's left is to wait for Rin to wake up after adapting to the Dragon Factor and the crystal. I wonder how Touko and the others are doing. If Touko could have helped with that surgery just now, I wouldn't be this tired."

Inside a doll factory in Fuyuki City.

This factory had been purchased for Touko with Tokiomi's funding after she came to Fuyuki City. Over the years, Touko had turned it into her own Magecraft workshop.

The factory, which normally should have been bustling with voices, was now completely silent after Touko announced paid leave before the Holy Grail War began.

At that moment, a car drove into the factory grounds from afar.

Aoko stepped out of the car with her luggage and surveyed the factory.

"Touko! This is pretty nice! Looks like you've been living well with Rin these past few years!"

Touko ignored Aoko and opened the trunk together with Arisu, taking out three suitcases.

Unlike Aoko, who carried only a small bag containing a few changes of clothes, Arisu had brought nearly all the Mystic Codes and materials required for Fairy Tale Magecraft in order to provide Touko and Rin, her two close friends, with the greatest possible support in this Holy Grail War. The three large suitcases contained precisely those Mystic Codes and materials.

Touko carried the luggage and led Arisu and Aoko into the factory.

After arriving at the rooms Touko had prepared on the factory's second floor and waiting for Arisu and Aoko to put down their luggage, Touko proudly led them out onto the balcony. Facing the puppet production area below, she clapped her hands.

In an instant, magic circles unfolded and covered the entire factory. Then, a group of dolls in the corner of the warehouse lit up their eyes, tore off their packaging, and walked out. They began working around the machines that had originally produced ordinary dolls, constantly manufacturing new dolls that rolled off the assembly line.

"Well? Aoko, interested in trying out my dolls?"

Aoko looked at the self-producing army of dolls below and decisively refused.

"No."

Arisu calmly withdrew her gaze, looked at Touko, and asked,

"Did you use Servant technology on the dolls below?"

Touko said proudly,

"Of course. I've continuously improved them over the years. Although, just as Rin said, I still can't produce dolls with Spirit Origins, dolls whose strength and speed can rival ordinary Servants can be made by the hundreds in a single day as long as I have enough materials!"

Aoko looked at Touko in confusion.

"Wait, Touko, where did you get so much money to buy materials? The Tohsaka family can't be that wealthy, can it?"

Hearing her younger sister's question, Touko rolled her eyes.

"You could call it Tohsaka family property. But sitting on a mountain of treasure while begging for food—that describes this family perfectly."

Aoko became even more confused after hearing Touko's words.

"Huh?"

"Didn't you hear Rin talk about her experiences in the Fourth Holy Grail War? Garden of Avalon, that aerial fortress made with materials Gilgamesh provided, is still lying on Mt. Ryudou. There are piles of priceless materials inside. Just picking up a little of it can make you a fortune! The money I've made selling the materials I picked up from there over the years is enough to assemble tens of thousands of dolls like these!"

After hearing Touko's explanation, not only Aoko but even Arisu, the young lady of the Kuonji Group, could not help drawing in a sharp breath. Although Arisu had little concept of money, she could roughly understand the value of the dolls before her. The materials for each one probably cost several million dollars, and tens of thousands of them... wasn't that tens of billions of dollars?

"Touko, you didn't tell Rin, did you? No, you have to give me a share. I only want ten billion dollars, or I'll tell Rin!"

Touko shrugged at Aoko.

"Go ahead and tell Rin. You should know that I've invested most of the money into Rin and Da Vinci's laboratory over the years. I haven't kept much for myself. Even if Rin found out, she wouldn't say anything. And don't get any ideas about Garden of Avalon either. I've already picked clean all the materials on the outside, and everything inside has been used to set up magecraft traps!"

Hearing Touko's words, Aoko's expression changed. A sweet smile appeared on her face as she grabbed Touko's arm and said in a syrupy voice,

"Big sister, dear big sister! Just give me some. Have pity on your poor little sister!"

Touko gave Aoko a mocking look and tried to pull her arm free, only to discover that no matter how hard she struggled, even when the veins in her arm bulged, she could not pull it out of Aoko's grasp. This woman! This body is Servant-class, yet I'm still no match for her! Is she some kind of muscle maniac?

Arisu simply stood to the side, watching the sisters' squabble with a faint smile on her lips.

"Aoko, Touko, I haven't seen you two like this in a long time!"

After a long bout of bickering, Touko, unable to do anything about Aoko, finally compromised. Panting heavily, she took a check from her pocket and tossed it to the delighted Aoko.

Aoko happily caught the check, looked at the amount written on it, kissed it joyfully, and carefully tucked it into her clothes.

Seeing that the two had settled things, Arisu spoke from the side.

"Touko, tell us about your plan..."

Meanwhile, inside the hidden laboratory at Tohsaka Villa.

Rin slowly opened her eyes. Then golden light shone from them, and as it faded, her pupils had turned gold. At the same time, an enormous amount of magical energy flowed continuously through the Dragon Factor-enhanced Magic Circuits, blood, and muscles in Rin's body with every breath she took.

Rin sat up from the bed and clenched her fist hard.

Bang!

The air crushed by Rin's hand exploded!

Rin then closed her eyes and sensed the state of her body. After a while, she opened her eyes, their pupils restored to azure blue, and murmured,

"So this is what I'm like after merging with the Dragon Factor!"

Thanks to Ereshkigal the Cutest for the blade and monthly ticket! Thanks to Homebody Dragon God for the monthly ticket! Thanks to all readers for your votes and rewards!

Rin's Love of Money and an Encounter Outside the Church!

"Da Vinci."

Da Vinci, who had been nearby dealing with the aftermath of the surgery, heard Rin call out. She quickly put down the tablet in her hands and hurried toward Rin's operating table.

"Rin! You're awake. How do you feel?"

"It feels strange. A weird feeling I can't describe. But now I don't need to worry about magical energy anymore. I should be able to bring out those trump card spells of mine."

Compared to the latter half of Rin's words, Da Vinci was more concerned about the first half.

"A strange feeling..."

Da Vinci pondered seriously for a moment, then suddenly realized something. She clenched her left hand into a fist and struck her open right palm.

"I understand. It must be because the Dragon Factor you fused with is too high-ranking. You've inevitably developed certain dragon habits. Wait here, Rin!"

With that, Da Vinci turned and ran somewhere.

Soon, Da Vinci returned carrying a box. Rin looked at her in confusion, unable to understand what Da Vinci intended to do. Then Da Vinci opened the box, and Rin involuntarily swallowed. The moment she saw what was inside, her pupils instantly turned gold.

Da Vinci looked at Rin staring blankly at the gems in the box and nodded, confirming her guess. But then an enormous force suddenly struck her. Rin could no longer resist the temptation of the jewels and leaped off the bed, instantly tackling both Da Vinci and the box to the floor.

Sitting on top of Da Vinci, Rin's face was flushed as she continuously picked up the scattered gems from the floor and stuffed them into every place on her body that could hold them.

"Ah! Rin, you're so heavy! Get off me, you're crushing me to death!"

Rin had not suddenly become heavier. Rather, stimulated by the jewels, she had unconsciously activated the Dragon Factor. An enormous amount of magical energy was converted within her body, so much that it even affected Rin's weight, causing it to soar.

Hearing Da Vinci's cries, Rin finally came to her senses. She first looked at herself, covered in gems, then at the disheveled Da Vinci on the floor. Her cheeks reddened, but she reached out, grabbed Da Vinci by the neck, and shouted,

"Da Vinci, this is what you call no side effects? Now whenever I see gems, I can't control myself! How am I supposed to fight like this?"

"Let go of me, cough, cough, cough!"