At that moment, inside the Doll Mansion.
"The Reizenkan father and daughter want to see you."
Koyanskaya hung up the phone and turned to Samael. Her long, narrow fox eyes flickered with suspicion as she slightly furrowed her brow.
"Could it be a trap? Showing up at this time is a little too convenient..."
"Convenient, perhaps. But not necessarily a trap."
Leaning against the corridor wall, Samael pondered for a moment. His gaze touched the bedroom door behind him, and realization dawned on him.
"Do you remember how Alice's condition came about?"
"The Holy Grail Ritual?"
Ereshkigal answered instinctively. Then inspiration flashed through her mind, and she caught Samael's implication, suddenly understanding.
"I get it. They turned on each other!"
"Of course! Activating the Holy Grail Ritual requires Servant souls as sacrifices. We already withdrew from Fuyuki City, and everyone is still alive. So even if that woman survived and escaped back, the sacrifices she chose would have to be the pieces in her own hand!"
Rin Tohsaka, standing nearby, reacted a beat slower, but quickly figured out the answer as well.
Seeing that the two goddesses' normally impressive intelligence had finally come online, Samael felt a little relieved. He was especially pleased with his own master.
It seemed Ereshkigal had learned quite a lot during her years abroad.
However, Koyanskaya fully embodied the Fox Spirit's cautious and suspicious nature. She pushed up the glasses perched on her nose purely for decoration and asked with a frown.
"But even if there are two victims, how can you be sure they're victims rather than here to deceive us?"
"That's because they..."
Samael fell silent for a moment and let out a faint sigh. A trace of indescribable pity surfaced in his eyes.
"...are legendary unlucky bastards..."
If one ranked the Masters