She was so happy now, able to touch Miyu once again...
No matter what that man, Kiritsugu Emiya's original purpose had been, it was already in the past. At least at the end of his life, that man had entrusted her with this.
To take good care of her little sister!
This was not only Kiritsugu's final request, but also her own resolve.
After Kiritsugu died, in the eyes of the girl named Emiya Ritsuka, there was nothing in this world more important than Miyu.
"Because you're my most important little sister, the person I treasure most. From beginning to end—you've been more important than the whole world."
PS: The fight scene with Angelica could originally have taken several chapters, but since I already wrote two chapters in the prologue volume, the ending of Volume One is coming soon.
After Volume One is released, I'll take a day off to sort things out. Also, I haven't finished revisiting the Dungeon storyline yet, so I need some time.
Of course, I don't want to be like other authors and write about the Hestia Familia. The main Dungeon route has been done to death, so the plot may be a little different from what everyone expects...
We might go to the Loki Familia.
In Miyu's suddenly widened beautiful eyes, Ritsuka pulled open her coat and took out a stack of cards from her chest—the Class Cards.
These were Noble Phantasms containing the power of Servants. In essence, they could recreate the powers of those heroic figures from history. She had put in a great deal of effort to gather them all.
Unfortunately, Ritsuka herself could not use the power of the Class Cards. After she chose to overdraft her future, the twenty-sided Crystal Dice she had possessed ever since a certain incident underwent another mutation, rejecting the power of the Class Cards.
She could not say she regretted it, but it was indeed a pity. Her body was already falling apart.
The Class Cards in her hand slowly floated upward as Ritsuka slightly raised her head to look above.
Sakura's smiling face flashed through her mind, along with the dreamlike glow that had accompanied her flower-like ending. Ritsuka pressed her lips together and placed the doll Sakura had returned to her into the Crystal Dice.
She no longer had the means to save Sakura...
"Holy Grail, please answer my wish."
Hazy lights flickered in midair as the seven Class Cards formed a circle. Ritsuka's smiling face was reflected amid the swirling rainbow light as she began to set down her wish for Miyu—a simple wish held by an older sister.
Gently taking Miyu's hands, Ritsuka held them against her chest and slightly furrowed her brows.
The pain in her body was constantly worsening. Even with the trace of immortality carried by the power supplied from within the Crystal Dice, her body could not endure much longer.
And another troublesome person had arrived outside, someone with an aura frighteningly powerful. Her sensory abilities were frantically warning her.
"Please let the world treat Emiya Miyu kindly. Miyu is a gentle child. Please become a world that will never make her suffer again..."
"Let her continue living as a normal person. Let her meet kind people who can care for her, let her gain a new family and friends, and let her remain happy forever."
Her wish caused the enormous magecraft formation on the altar to react. Miyu, who had been altered by Enzō and could essentially grant wishes, was enveloped by Ritsuka's wish as a colossal pillar of magical energy shot into the sky, shrouding the small girl in a brilliant halo.
The rectangular platform shattered. Ritsuka slowly rose to her feet and released Miyu's hands.
"Big Sister..."
"Miyu! You have to hold on to happiness, okay? Goodbye... no, perhaps we should never meet again."
Never meeting again was Ritsuka's greatest blessing for Miyu. Her ending had already been decided. Even if she began restraining herself from this moment onward, her body would eventually collapse and she would die.
The immense, stagnant magical energy flooded her Magic Circuits, blue patterns rising across the left side of her face. Ritsuka clenched her fist, took a deep breath, and turned away, no longer looking at the scene behind her or at Miyu, whose tears had spiraled out of control.
Her goal had been accomplished. While waiting for the Holy Grail to grant the wish, Ritsuka still had work to do. Her expression relaxed slightly.
Beneath her resolute expression was a magnificent, resplendent scene. Miyu within the pillar of light watched Ritsuka depart, the three trailing panels of her black formal dress fluttering in the air as the torrent of light pulled Miyu upward.
PS: Due to chapter adjustments and because this book is now paid, I split the two chapters that were originally meant to be moved, to avoid charging for them.
Walking step by step toward the cave entrance, Ritsuka, now out of Miyu's sight, raised her head and looked at the figure ahead, narrowing her pretty eyes.
"You came again. Another holder of a Class Card—you're the seventh. Honestly, you people have caused me quite a lot of trouble."
Though she spoke of trouble, Ritsuka wore an utterly impatient expression as she silently raised one hand and gave the silent person the middle finger.
These people really were persistent. She had already made her wish.
Or had their objective changed? Were they here specifically to deal with her?
Ritsuka felt she had probably guessed the answer.
She took out the crystalline twenty-sided die that no one else could see. The thing Ritsuka had named the Crystal Dice slowly floated up and began spinning rapidly before landing on one face, engraved with the image of a tall figure seemingly shrouded in darkness.
Over two meters tall, with a long piece of cloth draped over his head and concealing his face, his reddish-black skin was covered in scars.
Please, lend me your strength once more, Alcides.
As she murmured inwardly, two items appeared over Ritsuka's tattered tracksuit.
The Divine Beast's Fur that rejected the armaments of human civilization, and a belt symbolizing War God Ares.
The former was tied around Ritsuka's neck like a scarf, its trailing end fluttering behind her, while the belt emitted waves of divinity—the aura of a god.
Perhaps sensing Ritsuka's intent to resist, the maiden standing some distance away had a change in her stern expression. She looked somewhat displeased.
"Your wish cannot be granted. You're merely an ordinary person who barged into the Holy Grail War. You defeated a few weaklings through tricks, and now you think you're impressive?"
Her face cold, the blonde twin-tailed girl who bore the name of a certain tyrant had several golden ripples emerge beside her. Countless armaments that had appeared only in ancient legends and myths of civilization slowly emerged from within, revealing extraordinary sharpness.
"Hah..."
"Of course I don't think I'm impressive. But Miyu is still fighting, so how could I possibly retreat?"
Ritsuka smiled faintly. Magical energy gathered in her hand, and Projection Magic activated. Illusory magical energy formed a framework, and a distinctly Chinese-style longsword appeared in her hand.
"Hmph! Stubborn to the end! In that case, I'll defeat you first, then take the Holy Grail!"
Angelica waved her hand, and all the Noble Phantasms emerging from the Gate of Babylon shot toward the motionless Ritsuka.
All that emerged from the golden ripples were weapons that had existed throughout history. Their unmatched sharpness gave the sensation of piercing skin the moment they were fired, seeming to strike Ritsuka's body.
As the cold gleams drew near, Angelica watched Ritsuka, who seemed to be courting death, and slightly frowned, sensing that something was wrong. The next instant, the Noble Phantasms whistled through the air and all slammed into Ritsuka, only to be completely deflected.
"What...?!"
"I'm truly sorry, but defeating me is not one of your options right now, King of Heroes."
Her sword tip aimed directly at Angelica, Ritsuka let out a soft breath and revealed a fearless smile. More strands of hair before her forehead were stained a mottled white.
There was probably not much time left.
"Before I die, no one can defeat me!"
An incomprehensible sight unfolded before Angelica's eyes.
The girl named Emiya Ritsuka radiated only unremarkable magical energy, yet merely by standing still, she had effortlessly neutralized the Noble Phantasms' attack. She had shattered Angelica's understanding.
"A mere human without even a card?!"
A subtle change came over Angelica's face as she projected another cluster of Noble Phantasms. Knives, spears, swords, and halberds filled Ritsuka's vision.
Ritsuka chuckled. Her purpose had already been achieved. If Angelica insisted on bypassing her to interrupt the Holy Grail's operation, then forcibly stopping Angelica with her current abilities might leave an opening. But if Angelica focused all her attention on defeating her...
She might die.
That was fine. Miyu could seek out her own future and happiness, and perhaps Ritsuka could follow Sakura's trail as well.
Noble Phantasms came one after another, only to all be deflected. Seeing Angelica's tightly furrowed brows, Ritsuka stepped forward and chose to take the initiative. She could not give her another chance to probe her.
"Humans have to carry something on their backs in order to become strong..."
Her feet accelerated as Ritsuka charged toward Angelica. "Come, fight another round with me, King of Heroes!"
Her figure vanished from where she stood, and the distance between them disappeared in an instant. Ritsuka, whose hair was gradually drying and turning mottled white, slashed at Angelica in the distance. The projected longsword wrapped in divinity was absolutely no less durable than a high-quality sword-type Noble Phantasm.
The longsword drew a brilliant arc of light. The ground behind Angelica was split apart in one blow, and a huge roar filled their ears as Angelica rapidly retreated through the sand and shattered stone.
Sword collided with sword as Noble Phantasms shot from the Gate of Babylon, blocking Ritsuka's pursuit. Projecting a second longsword, she crossed both hands before herself and formed a dense net of blades.
The sword in her right hand had already shattered. It was only a counterfeit temporarily projected from magical energy, with quality at most Rank C. With the support of divinity, surviving a single volley of Noble Phantasms had already pushed it to its limit. There was no reason to be too surprised.
She forcefully threw the only remaining sword in her left hand to interfere with Angelica, then Ritsuka projected a great bow—
"Hundred-Beast Slayer!"
Broken Phantasm!
The spiral blade straightened, then was nocked against the bowstring. Like rushing lightning, it vanished in an instant, becoming nine streaks of light that charged toward Angelica ten or twenty meters away. Firelight burst before her eyes.
Boom—!!
The man known as Emiya the Heroic Spirit had been most skilled in Projection Magic. In his hands, Projection Magic had surpassed the limits of magecraft itself, eventually allowing him to construct the Inherent Domain known as a Noble Phantasm.
As for another skill he possessed, Broken Phantasm, when layered with the high-ranked projected Noble Phantasm Fake Caladbolg, it was likely his strongest offensive method aside from his Inherent Domain.
Smoke and dust filled the air as flames erupted. Several silver chains burst from within and surged toward Ritsuka as though they were automatically locking onto their target.
"False counterfeit, hideous form—how dare you expose such a form before Enzō? For this sin..."
"Repay it with your life!"
Angelica roared repeatedly as the chains coiled around Ritsuka's body. Ritsuka, who had intended to leap sideways, was pinned in place.
Suspended slightly above the ground, Ritsuka's expression changed.
"Even if you keep overdrafting your body, the final price will only be your own destruction. I truly don't understand what trick you're trying to pull."
Ripples appeared beside Angelica's hand as she directly drew out a greatsword. This was a Divine Construct!
Ritsuka froze slightly, then gave a bitter laugh—
"So you already noticed. The Divine Beast's Fur is ineffective against Divine Constructs."
Even after reaching one hundred percent and extracting the power to replicate it upon herself, the Noble Phantasms she could wield were still limited. Her body could no longer withstand any greater power.
Feeling the storm of magical energy pouring out from the cave behind her, the wish was surely nearing its final stage. Then she had no choice but to stake this broken body and try to struggle a little longer!
"Even now, you still don't intend to take my life? Unexpectedly, you're quite a cute girl."
At those words, Angelica's expression changed drastically. "Hah?!"
Even at such a tense, life-or-death moment, Ritsuka still could not sense any killing intent from Angelica. To be honest, that surprised her somewhat.
But she did not have the luxury of lingering over it. If she kept holding on like this...
"My goal is to exhaust this remaining life, and to defeat you by any means possible!"
Ritsuka clenched both hands into fists and violently shattered the Chains of Heaven around her body. To someone like her, who possessed no divinity, they were merely rather sturdy chains. They were still far from capable of binding the Greek Demigod.
A stone axe appeared in her hand, and Ritsuka swung it at Angelica with all her strength. The wind pressure created by that brute force made Angelica instinctively raise her greatsword to block.
"My Body Was Made of Swords."
"My heart was steel, my blood was glass."
The enormous force of the stone axe sent Angelica flying. In the end, she was using a weakened version of a Class Card, and Angelica's strength did not even reach Rank B.
With both sides restricted, Ritsuka in her Alcides state was still superior in every physical aspect.
"I have crossed countless battlefields without defeat."
"Nor have I suffered a single loss."
Before you continue