With the exit of Kirei Kotomine, the dueling space collapsed. The man known as Kirei Kotomine vanished without a trace, leaving behind not even a mark.
Rin Tohsaka let out a breath of relief. She had successfully avenged her father. Sakura's issue had been resolved too—life, one could say, was complete. All that remained was to claim the Holy Grail.
"So… are we still going after Caster?"
Shirou Emiya raised the question. From his perspective, taking care of scumbags like Caster was reasonable, but the methods were rather extreme. Inviting all the magi in Fuyuki to play a massive battle royale across the city? That was just way too reckless.
"Of course we are!"
Rin Tohsaka grit her teeth. This was her turf—Jiang You acting so willfully would definitely provoke retaliation from other mage organizations. When that happened, not just she, but all participants of the Holy Grail War would be dragged into the mess.
"If he keeps dragging magecraft into the public eye like this, no one's going to let it slide. He must be stopped!"
"I'm afraid not everyone feels that way. The temptation of a crystallized Third Magic is far too great."
Archer, who had been watching the show quietly, took the radio from Shirou's hand and turned it on again. A commentator-like voice came through:
"At least until someone gets the crystal of the Third Magic, Caster is safe."
"If only we had a TV, it'd be even better. One of Assassin's clones is livestreaming on site."
Thanks to Archer's keen eyesight, he could spot the transmission screen showing in the living room of a nearby residence. It was playing footage of some duel, with a crowd of clueless bystanders watching intently.
["Oh? This unnamed magus has quite the tight defense—he actually blocked three consecutive attacks. And this three-star 'wild mob' is no slouch either. Behind that teacher's appearance lies the heart of a professional killer. If this were a normal fight, the magus might actually be in trouble. Miss Medea, which side do you think has the edge?"]
["Hundred-Faces… why are we even doing this dumb commentary...? Ugh, fine. Honestly, I don't have faith in either side. Sure, magi have an overwhelming advantage over normal people, but this guy's mana control is so clumsy I can't bear to watch. So I'd say the 'wild mob' has a better chance."]
["Alright, the magus has activated his family magecraft—successfully breaking through the enemy's frontline Servant! Nice! A flurry of attacks from his familiars! Only 300 LP remaining! The 'wild mob's' life points are like a candle in the wind! Could this be the moment where Duel City sees its very first victor?!"]
"Wow, they're not even trying to hide it anymore. That earlier announcement could've been brushed off as a joke, but now it's completely out in the open."
Jason hadn't expected Caster to go this far—now he was openly antagonizing the entire magical world.
But soon, Jason noticed something else. "Wait a minute, what about my glorious exploits? I took down the hardest guy of them all, and nobody's even showing my battle?"
Jason wasn't a modern magus—he didn't care if the world of mystery was being exposed. After all, in the Age of Gods, that was the norm.
"Were you always this shameless in the legends?"
Cú Chulainn walked in, spear resting on his shoulder. "Pretty sure it was Heracles doing all the heavy lifting. As for the lack of coverage… some guy in black, wearing a weird mask, came over lugging some odd contraption. I stabbed him on reflex. Guess that's why there's no footage."
"..."
Jiang You stared at the unexpected reward notification in his inbox: a soul crystal and [Gilgamesh] ×1. That confirmed Kotomine's defeat. If Kotomine had shown just a bit more restraint, he wouldn't have gone out so fast. But no—he'd given up his life in pursuit of 'fun.'
"But what good is just one card? Where's the King's gold?"
Jiang You looked disdainfully at the baffling card in his hand. His deck didn't even have any equipment cards! Still, he relayed the information he had to Hundred-Faces.
["According to the latest update, the grand prize from the Church District has been claimed by Miss Rin Tohsaka! Congratulations! With her seeded two-star bonus, she now holds seven stars and has taken a commanding lead! A big prize is just around the corner! Now, let's return to the live duel coverage!"]
"Ilya, I remember you once told your mother—the Third Magic is your family's long-cherished wish, right?"
Raikou had somehow appeared beside Rin without a sound, faint arcs of lightning gliding along her blade.
"Then something like that can't be left to others. Shall we take her down now?"
Rin tensed up immediately. Everyone knew how obsessed the Einzbern family was with the Third Magic—there was no way Ilya would give it up.
"Rin, didn't you say you also planned to fight Caster?"
Ilya's ruby-like eyes locked onto Rin.
Even if she didn't fully understand what Ilya meant, Rin nodded. It was her duty as the de facto manager of Fuyuki.
"Then next time we meet—we're enemies. Caster can only be defeated by me."
Ilya didn't care about exposing the magical world—she just wanted to snatch Jiang You away, then reunite with her mother. And, of course, a big part of it was simply that she enjoyed spending time with Jiang You. When he did crazy things, he always brought her along—like a playmate. If Jiang You wanted to play like this, she would play along.
But this time, he hadn't brought her. That made Ilya very unhappy. She was definitely going to beat Jiang You up—but that didn't mean she wanted to see anyone else lay a finger on him.
"Berserker, we're leaving."
Ilya whispered something in Raikou's ear, which instantly made Raikou beam as she sheathed her sword. She swept Ilya into her arms and leapt into the night, vanishing into the moonlight.
"Sakura… you'll help me, won't you?"
Rin was worried Sakura might give the same answer as Ilya.
"Of course I will, Sis. What are you saying?"
Sakura replied with a gentle smile, full of warmth.
Shirou looked at the junior he'd known for so long and couldn't shake the feeling that her smile wasn't quite genuine. But out of politeness, he said nothing—perhaps it was just his imagination.
"I was only planning to explain the details of the Holy Grail War today, but so much has happened already… and now that it's come to this, Shirou, what do you think?"
"Of course, I'll help you and Sakura."
Shirou felt that Caster dragging so many ordinary people into this mess had gone way too far.
"As an Enforcer of the Clock Tower, it's my duty to step in when something this egregious happens."
Without waiting to be asked, Bazett made her stance clear. She'd always been firm. "I've already reported this to the Clock Tower. Reinforcements will arrive in a few days. This is no longer just a Holy Grail War issue—Caster must be eliminated as soon as possible!"
And thus, the four of them formed a solid (…maybe?) alliance of shared interests.