early morning.
Sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains.
The streets of Snowfield City were deserted.
There wasn't a single car on the road. There wasn't a single person on the sidewalk.
The automatic door of the convenience store on the roadside was open, but inside was only a clerk who was dozing off.
The entire city seemed to have been hollowed out.
The television news has been playing the same message on a loop since 6 a. m.
"This morning we learned that several explosions of unknown cause occurred in the central area of Snowfield City last night. Preliminary investigations suggest that they were caused by a chain of explosions in underground gas pipelines due to unknown reasons."
The exact cause is still under investigation, but experts warn that the possibility of further explosions cannot be ruled out.
To ensure public safety, the municipal government has temporarily closed off an area within a three-kilometer radius of the city center. Citizens are urged not to approach the closed-off area...
The image shows the city center, completely devastated by the bombing.
The ruins of buildings, overturned cars, and craters and cracks all over the ground.
From an aerial perspective, the entire city center looks as if it had been hit by a meteorite.
Gas pipeline explosion?
How did they blast such a huge crater?
The residents of Snowfield City aren't stupid.
A gas pipeline explosion can cause this much damage? Who are you kidding?
People are filled with anxiety.
Starting in the morning, large numbers of residents left Snowfield City, dragging suitcases, carrying children, and stuffing their car trunks full.
The highway was once jammed with long lines of cars.
Those who didn't have time to leave, or those who couldn't leave, chose another strategy: staying at home and not going out.
The entire Snowfield City has become a ghost town.
There wasn't a single person to be seen on the street.
The only sound was the rustling of the trash bags by the roadside in the wind.
Top floor of a commercial building.
Origami sat in the main seat of the sofa.
She was wearing an oversized white sweatshirt, the hem of which covered her thighs, her legs curled up on the sofa, and she was hugging a pillow.
The TV is on.
But that's not news.
The large screen TV on the opposite wall is playing a recently popular anime.
Origami glanced down at the time on her phone.
10:30 AM.
Daytime is the default truce period in the Holy Grail War.
This rule wasn't officially established, but Servant an unspoken understanding among Servant.
Daytime is the time for ordinary people to live, Servant are active during the day, which can easily cause unnecessary civilian casualties.
Of course, rules are just rules.
There will always be people who don't follow the rules.
For example, Heracles.
Origami recalled the arrow that flew from afar yesterday afternoon.
However, that guy has already been dealt with by Origami.
In a rather thorough way.
"What will happen next...?"
On the other side of the city.
A large Western-style mansion.
The mansion was located on the edge of a residential area in the southeast of the city, and had a rather large courtyard. The lawn in the courtyard had been mostly burned yellow by the aftershocks of the bombing.
The interior of the mansion is relatively intact.
The living room is large, with a rectangular dining table and ten chairs.
The fireplace on the wall still held remnants of yesterday's firewood ash. The light from the crystal chandelier illuminated the entire living room.
This is where Jester summoned the Hassan of the Zealot.
However, when Hassan of the Zealot was first summoned, she killed everyone present, including her Master.
Only Jester survived thanks to the life-saving effect of her Mystic Code " Six-Fold Male Garb ".
This mansion has now been temporarily requisitioned as a base for Sajyou Ayaka friends.
After a night's rest.
Everyone sat around the dining table.
Sajyou Ayaka sat at the end of the table, a cup of now-cold black tea in front of her. Her eyes were dark-rimmed, clearly she hadn't slept well.
Richard sat beside her, wiping a simple iron sword he had found on the spot with a cloth.
Hassan of the Zealot stood leaning against the wall, her hood obscuring most of her face. Her injuries had been completely healed thanks to Sajyou Manaka's treatment.
Sigma and the now-awake Tsubaki Kuruoka sat on the sofa in the corner.
Chun's eyes were red, clearly she had just been crying, but she didn't say anything, she just gripped Sigma's sleeve tightly.
The shrunken Bull of Heaven was squatting in the courtyard outside the mansion.
Its massive size, several tens of meters long, prevented it from entering the room. It could only peer through the floor-to-ceiling window, like a large dog locked out of a door.
And Sajyou Manaka.
She sat in the very center of the dining table.
He was relaxed, a smile playing on his lips, one hand supporting his chin, the other gently tapping on the table.
"Alright, everyone's here."
Sajyou Manaka looked around at everyone present.
Let's discuss how to deal with that Miss Satan.
No one responded.
Richard stopped wiping his sword and looked up at Sajyou Manaka.
"Do you already have a solution?"
Of course!
Sajyou Manaka stood up from her chair.
Then she reached her hand into the air.
A flash of light.
A key appeared in her palm.
A golden key.
To be precise, it is an intricately designed gold artifact.
It is about 20 centimeters long and has a slender cylindrical shape. It reflects a dazzling golden light under the light.
Everyone was stunned for a moment.
Sajyou Ayaka the first to speak.
"What... is this?"
" The King's Key."
Sajyou Manaka held the key up to her face and examined it for a moment.
"The relic used when summoning Caster Gilgamesh. It is also the key to his Gate of Babylon."
Sajyou Manaka twirled the key in her hand.
"Specifically, this key is the passage to the Gate of Babylon. And the Gate of Babylon contains all the Original Noble Phantasm from human history."
"... all?"
"All."
Sajyou Manaka smiled.
Without offering any further explanation, she simply inserted the key into the void.
It was like turning an invisible lock in the air.
Click.
A slight sound.
Centered on Sajyou Manaka's body, golden ripples suddenly appeared in the air.
The ripples spread, then coalesced, eventually opening several golden ripple-shaped gates around her.
Every single door was exactly the same as the ones Gilgamesh had opened during the battle yesterday.
Golden circular ripples, with a deep spatial passage in the center, as if leading to an endless treasure trove.
Everyone looked at those familiar golden ripples.
It is indeed exactly the same as the one Gilgamesh used to launch his Noble Phantasm during their battle.
"This key can open the Gate of Babylon, but it can only take out the contents; it cannot control them at will like Gilgamesh."
As Sajyou Manaka spoke, she reached her hand into the nearest golden ripple.
She fumbled around for a while.
Then something was slowly pulled out.
A short sword.
The sword was extremely short, only about a foot long. The blade was jet black, with almost no reflection, as if it had been polished from black jade.
The hilt of the sword is wrapped in dark leather, without any extra decoration.
" Fish Intestine Sword."
Sajyou Manaka placed the short sword on the dining table.
"Used by Zhuan Zhu, an assassin during the Spring and Autumn Period of Huaxia."
Zhuan Zhu concealed this sword inside the belly of a fish and assassinated King Liao of Wu while offering the fish as food. A deadly assassination Noble Phantasm of killing with a single blow.
Then she took two more swords from another ripple.
Two identical swords, one entirely black and the other entirely white, appeared as a pair.
"Gan Jiang and Mo Xie"
Sajyou Manaka placed the two swords side by side next to the Fish Intestine Sword.
"The Yin-Yang Twin Swords of the Spring and Autumn Period in Huaxia. Gan Jiang is the male, and Mo Xie is the female. The twin swords, male and female, are inseparable."
Next was a straight sword.
The sword is straight, about three feet long, and dark red patterns are faintly visible on the blade, like congealed blood.
The sword guard is an ancient bronze ornament with illegible seal script engraved on it.
" The Crimson Heaven Sword."
Place it on the table.
"The sword of Emperor Gaozu of Han Liu Bang, who slew the serpent to start his uprising."
Finally, there was a bow.
A large bow.
The bow is over 1.5 meters long, the bowstring is made of some kind of dark gold silk, and a roaring tiger is carved on the bow arm.
" The Jeweled Eagle Bow. The bow used by Lü Bu when he shot the halberd at the gate of the camp in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms."
Sajyou Manaka placed the bow in the center of the table.
Now, five Noble Phantasm are neatly arranged on the table.
A short sword.
Two Yin-Yang swords.
A straight sword.
A large bow.
The people looked at these things with various expressions.
Richard's eyes were shining.