On TV, Tom Cat's finger got caught in the piano, and he let out a long, miserable scream.
Mukuro Hoshimiya threw the last crayfish shell into the trash can, wiped her mouth with a tissue, and then chugged the cola down her throat.
The cool, carbonated liquid slid down my throat, and I let out a burp.
"I have an idea."
Atalanta was taking a bite out of a pizza, heard this and looked over with her green eyes, still with a piece of cheese dangling from her mouth.
Since neither of you can agree with the other's choice.
Mukuro Hoshimiya jumped off the bed, stepped barefoot onto the carpet, turned to face Atalanta, and put her hands on her hips.
"Then let's resolve this through the Holy Grail War!"
Atalanta finished chewing the pizza in her mouth and swallowed it.
"What?"
" The Holy Grail War. Fighting. Whoever wins gets to decide."
Mukuro Hoshimiya raised one finger.
"However, I will set the rules this time."
"In a little while, I'll bring out Karna and Heracles, who were sealed away, and have the three of you have a fair 3 vs 3 match against Chaldea."
She then raised her second finger.
The reward is that the method chosen by the winning team will be used to save the Earth.
The third finger.
"In addition, I can grant the winning side one reasonable request."
Anything is fine?
"Anything is fine, as long as it's not excessive."
Atalanta put down the pizza she was holding.
Her expression shifted from confusion to seriousness, and then from seriousness to a certain heaviness.
The ears slowly drooped down.
" Mukuro Hoshimiya."
"Um?"
"Me, Karna, and Heracles, I suppose that's three of us combined."
"They're no match for that archangel either."
This is not modesty.
That's a fact.
Just now in that living room, Metatron single-handedly defeated both Karna and Heracles.
Even with two top demigod heroes from the Age of Gods joining forces, they still couldn't withstand more than a few rounds against that archangel.
Needless to say, she herself was sealed away without even being allowed to participate.
"Is there any point in holding this match?"
Atalanta raised her head and looked at Mukuro Hoshimiya.
"If you're just getting crushed, what's the difference between that and not fighting at all?"
Mukuro Hoshimiya tilted her head.
"Don't worry about that."
She smiled.
That smile carried a reassuring, self-assured confidence.
"I'll help you get back to peak form. It definitely won't be a one-sided match."
Let's start with you.
Mukuro Hoshimiya turned her head and looked at the round figure on the small bed.
" Little Bei."
Belphegor's elongated straw, which was dangling from the corner of his mouth, twitched slightly, and a bubble rose to the surface of the cola.
"Can you do me a favor?"
Belphegor did not open its eyes, but some invisible force emanated from its curled-up body.
The Lord of Dreams' authority has been activated.
Atalanta sensed it.
Her body is changing.
It was not a violent increase forcibly injected from outside.
She could feel her senses expanding rapidly. Sight, hearing, smell, and touch were all stretched to an unprecedented limit.
That was his peak condition before he died.
As the first hunter of the Calydon hunt, a companion of the Argonauts, and the fastest-footed female hunter in Greece, Atalanta's physical abilities at their peak have been fully restored.
But that's not all.
A line appeared on the back of her right hand.
The two-tone light patterns, interwoven with silver and gold, resembled the circuit markings of some kind of Machine God civilization, extending from the back of the hand all the way to the forearm.
A new line of text appeared in the Inherent Skills section.
Protection of the Lostbelt Twin Gods (EX)
Atalanta looked down at the light patterns on the back of her hand, her pupils slightly contracting.
Moon Silver and Sun Gold.
Artemis and Apollo.
The power imprint of the Twin Machine God.
The same two-tone pattern also appeared on the bow of her Bow of the Firmament —Tauropolos. The bowstring hummed, as if responding to some distant call from a parallel world.
"This is..."
"You're at your strongest." Mukuro Hoshimiya crossed his arms and nodded in satisfaction. "How do you feel?"
Atalanta tried to clench her fist.
Power surged from the very marrow of his bones.
His ears suddenly perked up.
The green in his pupils became deeper and sharper.
She was surrounded by a faint, divine glow of moonlight and sunlight, and her long, green-gold hair swayed gently in the still room.
It is no longer a weakened Servant.
This is the real Atalanta.
It goes even further than "real".
"It feels good."
Atalanta took a deep breath.
She raised her head again, and the light returned to her eyes.
Seeing the change in her expression, Mukuro Hoshimiya's lips curled into a smile.
"Next, Little Bei, bring Karna and Heracles over too. And while you're at it, remove the seals from them."
Belphegor's straw moved again.
Another bubble rose to the surface of the cola.
Two seconds later.
Two distorted beams appeared in the air of the room.
Two figures appeared out of thin air.
The first one is Heracles.
The great hero still bore traces of the golden light from the Metatron sealing technique, but those traces were visibly cracking and peeling off, like pieces of dried gold leaf falling away.
The seal has been broken.
Heracles knelt on one knee, his axe and sword lying horizontally beside him. He raised his head and surveyed his surroundings.
A dark purple Gothic room. A large bed. A table full of takeout food. A TV playing " Tom and Jerry ". A barefoot blonde girl sitting cross-legged on the carpet.
And next to it, on the small bed, was the chubby, Sloth devil who was sleeping while drinking cola through a straw.
The great hero's expression remained almost unchanged, but his gaze lingered on Mukuro Hoshimiya for a moment.
The second is Karna.
The white-haired hero's landing posture was much more stable.
He appeared standing upright, and the seal on his body was completely shattered the moment he appeared.
The green eyes scanned the room before finally settling on Mukuro Hoshimiya.
"Here it is?"
"My home." Mukuro Hoshimiya stood up from the carpet, patting her skirt. "To make a long story short, I've removed the seals from both of you. That Metatron won't come back to seal you again."
As for the reason I called you here...
She explained the rules again.
3 vs 3. The Dream Holy Grail War. Whoever wins gets to decide.
Karna remained silent for a few seconds after hearing this.
"I understand. My Master's will is my direction. Amakusa Shirou chose the second option, and I will fight for the second option."
But I have a question.
"Explain."
"Our opponent is Metatron. With the three of us at our current level, we have no chance of winning."
"I know. That's why I'm going to strengthen your team."
Mukuro Hoshimiya looked at the small bed again.
" Little Bei."
Belphegor's body twitched slightly.
An invisible force spread once more.
This time, the power was even stronger than the one given to Atalanta earlier.
Karna was the first to sense the change.
Start from the chest.
The golden armor plates peeled away one by one, revealing the skin beneath. But something new emerged on that skin.
The light of the sun. Not just the sun of Surya.
The protective radiance of Vishnu. The destructive flames of Shiva.
The three divine powers converged in the center of his chest, condensing into a rhombus-shaped blue gemstone that embedded itself in his skin.
The Raiment of the Three Gods.
His crimson hair rose up like flames.
His upper body was bare, and his body was surrounded by a large amount of orange-red flames and golden divine patterned halo.
The golden bracers on his right arm shone brightly under the infusion of the power of the three gods.
The Shemesh in his hand, submitting to death. That lightning- God-Slaying Spear, its shaft wreathed in three layers of divine flames—red, gold, and blue—radiated an aura of scorching heat far exceeding its previous intensity.
Karna looked down at his hands.
Then look up.
In their crimson eyes, Divinity light burned.
"This is?"
"Your best form."
Next is Heracles.
The changes in the great hero became even more drastic.
From the deepest part of the Spirit Origin, countless golden streams of light surged forth.
That is the legendary origin of him, scattered throughout the world for thousands of years, disassembled, adapted, and borrowed into other heroic stories and city-state worship.
All recycled.
Killing a venomous snake with bare hands as an infant.
The complete achievements of the twelve labor services.
Argonauts embark on a long voyage.
The battle against the giants.
Rescue Prometheus.
The battle with Thanatos, the god of death.
They conquered Old Troy.
All the adventures, all the hardships, everything that belongs to the name Heracles.
as well as.
The cremation at Mount Oeta. The mortal body is burned away, and the Divinity essence ascends to the heavens, reconciling with Hera and marrying Hebe, the goddess of youth.
The divine nature of Olympus.
They've all returned.
Heracles ' axe and sword had vanished. In their place was a massive olive wood club, and a bow and quiver filled with Hydra Poison.
The Nemean Lion's Pelt was draped over the shoulders, with the lion's head hanging down to form a hood.
His face became more resolute and profound, his eyes calm and dignified. There was no longer any trace of Mad Enhancement, nor the cold Pride of a deity.
That was a being who had completed the entire path of "mortal suffering - the trial of atonement - death and cremation - ascension to Olympus ".
Hero and god. The complete embodiment of duality.
Heracles gripped the olive wood staff in his hand tightly.
His power was completely contained within his body; outwardly, he appeared to be just a weathered warrior.
But Karna and Atalanta, standing beside him, could both feel the oppressive aura emanating from this man, like a silent mountain range.
"Reinforcements complete."
Mukuro Hoshimiya clapped his hands.
"So, what's next?"
She looked at Belphegor.
" Little Bei, help me build a battlefield."
"Hmm... the place needs to be big. Big enough for all six of them to fight at full strength."
"Let's use the moon. There's already one in the dream anyway."
Belphegor's straw slipped from the corner of his mouth.
The round body rolled over.
Then the entire space in the room began to distort.
The ground beneath everyone's feet disappeared.
Instead, a vast, boundless gray-white wasteland appeared.
Moon.
The moon in the dream world.
There is no atmosphere. There are no clouds.
Above us stretched an endless, dark starry sky, with the distant Earth hanging in the celestial canopy, its blue arcs illuminating the craters beneath our feet.
The greyish-white lunar soil stretched beneath the feet of the six people to the horizon.
Desolate. Silent. Magnificent.
But there is air. There is gravity.
Because this is a battlefield created by a dream, the laws of physics can be modified at will.
Mukuro Hoshimiya himself did not come.
But her voice came from the starry sky above, like some kind of broadcast.
"Everyone--"
Can you hear me?
"Next, I will announce the rules of the Dream Holy Grail War."
On the other side of the lunar wasteland, the Chaldea group was also teleported here.
Ritsuka Fujimaru stood at the very front, looking up at the sound coming from the starry sky.
Mash stood beside him, shield in hand, her purple eyes scanning their surroundings warily.
Metatron hovered in mid-air, his expression icy.
Arcueid stood a little further away, his crimson eyes reflecting the blue arc of light from the distant Earth.
Merlin and Astolfo, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada and Semiramis.
Jack and her Master, Reika Rikudou, were also there, but they were standing further back, clearly not on the list of participants.
Mukuro Hoshimiya's voice continued to come.
The rules are simple.
"3 vs 3."
"These are Atalanta, Karna, and Heracles."
"You should also send three people out from your side."
"Fight until one side is completely unable to continue fighting."
"The winning team's chosen plan will be used to save the Earth."
"Furthermore, the winning side can make one reasonable request of me."
"The battlefield is this moon. Fight all you want. It doesn't matter if it gets destroyed, it's just a dream anyway."
Is there a problem?
Ritsuka Fujimaru silent for a few seconds.
Then he turned around and looked at the group of people on his side.
Metatron lowered his gaze and said calmly, "This was a trap she set. But the rules are fair. There's no reason to refuse."
Arcueid's lips curled into a slight smile.
"Interesting."
"Finally, I don't have to just stand by and watch anymore."
Ritsuka Fujimaru took a deep breath.
"Then--"
"The three people we sent on this side are..."
Metatron.
" Mash."
Arcueid.
Two ends of the lunar wasteland.
The six people stood in their respective positions.
On one side was a huntress enveloped in a divine glow of moonlight, silver, and sunlight.
The Raiment of the Three Gods, a gift from heroes, are enshrined in crimson, gold, and blue flames.
And the heroic god draped in the Nemean Lion's Pelt and wielding an olive wood club.
On the other side was an archangel with all four wings outstretched.
A guardian paladin wielding a massive golden-white cross shield.
And the planet's will representative, with golden hair reaching the ground and cold, red eyes.
The grayish-white lunar soil trembled slightly under the pressure of the auras released by both sides.
The last sound of Mukuro Hoshimiya sky.
"So."
" The Dream Holy Grail War."
"Start."