---o---
While Li Zihan and Miss Guda were griping about how terrible Kiana's cooking was, what were Romani and Merlin up to?
"Ahead of us is the sacred peak, Mount Ebih."
The white-haired pretty boy, who seemed as fickle as the wind, stood at the foot of the sacred peak, Mount Ebih, and introduced it in a clear voice to the man he had dragged along for a great distance.
"Yep, that's the unlucky mountain from the myths that was blown up by the goddess Ishtar. Her temple is right up there."
"Haaa..."
"Are we finally here?"
The doctor, who had nearly run himself out of breath trying to keep up with Merlin before being unceremoniously slung over his shoulder and teleported the rest of the way by the incubus who could have opened a portal from the start, gasped for air.
He swore, he was not done with this old dog Merlin, who had deliberately refused to use spatial magic at first just to have fun at his expense, dragging him all over the place!
If he hadn't relinquished all his powers, he would have used his fists, imbued with the Ten Commandments, to show this good-for-nothing what "fun" really meant.
While Li Zihan was having a tender moment with his girls, Romani and Merlin had actually almost reached Ishtar's temple.
It couldn't be helped.
Because a certain someone was a pervert who was so busy coaxing his girls that he had completely abandoned the two of them to the cold winds of the ruined city of Babylon.
They had been left out in the cold until the sky turned dark. Who could stand that?
Since Li Zihan had clearly mentioned that he was staying at Ishtar's temple before he left, they weren't so miserable as to have to just keep waiting.
Under Mr. Merlin's guidance, Romani had finally arrived.
"But, speaking of which, why would a sun god from a foreign land be living in the temple of the Mistress of Heaven?"
The doctor stood at the foot of the sacred peak, frowning.
If he remembered correctly, the Mistress of Heaven, Ishtar, existed in this era, right?
A foreign sun god had occupied her temple, and there hadn't been a fight?
It was truly strange.
The doctor, unaware that the former tyrant of Heaven had been neutralized by Rin into a money-grubbing fool, mused.
"Who knows about that sort of thing?"
The incubus, who had heard a little something about Ishtar's behavior, sauntered over to Romani's side, a lewd yet polite smile on his face.
"Maybe she paid the rent with her body."
"After all, from the video you recorded, that unknown sun god, while not quite as handsome as your big brother Merlin, is still quite good-looking."
Extremely narcissistic words spilled from the incubus's mouth.
"To be suddenly taken a fancy to by Ishtar, then use his body to pay for lodging... it's not entirely incomprehensible."
"Do you really think that's possible?"
Romani listened to the incubus beside him and rolled his eyes.
"Who says it isn't? Just last night, I slept with the tavern owner's wife to get a place to stay at the tavern!"
The incubus, who had been found out after scamming Anna out of her allowance to pay for prostitutes and had been kicked out of the annex by a furious Anna—that is, Medusa Lily—shouted loudly.
"If I hadn't given in to my craving for alcohol in the middle of the night and tried to steal some from the wine cellar, getting caught by the owner, I'd still be staying there today!"
This guy...
This guy was truly hopeless.
Romani covered his face. He really, really didn't want to admit that he and this guy were the same class of being—Grand Caster.
"Alright, let's not talk about this."
Merlin, who saw no problem with his own statements whatsoever, stretched languidly, then pulled two holy swords from his staff, offering one to Romani.
This guy was a holy sword wholesaler.
"In any case, we've arrived at that sun god's base."
Merlin, who was actually just a phantom of a Servant, pointed upwards and said.
"In the worst-case scenario, we might have to deal with both the Mistress of Heaven and the unknown sun god who holds the Holy Grail at the same time. We should be on our guard."
"There's no need for that."
Romani did not take the holy sword Merlin offered.
He sighed and said.
"Although I don't know the principle behind it, that sun god has a track record of killing the Grail-holding Kingu in five rounds. Now that he has the Grail himself, there's no way you and I could defeat him."
"Huh? He's that strong?"
Merlin, who wasn't really clear on the situation, looked astonished.
"Hey, hey, the demonic beast commander Kingu is a guy who's not the least bit weaker than Gilgamesh in his prime. You're telling me that guy took out Kingu in five rounds?"
"That's right. If I wasn't afraid that bringing a Holy Grail down here would attract the attention of 'Solomon', I would have wanted to equip you with a few Holy Grails before we went to see him."
Romani, who felt that the unknown sun god was even more ridiculous than the Lion King—the goddess Rhongomyniad—who had appeared in the Sixth Singularity, sighed.
"That level of strength doesn't seem like a Divine Spirit's Divided Spirit at all. It's more like the main body of some god."
Hearing Romani's description, Merlin fell silent.
The next moment, with extreme deftness, Merlin slid the holy sword back into his staff.
And then—
His expression grew solemn, and he asked with great seriousness.
"Is it too late to run?"
"It's too late."
Romani sighed and then pointed in another direction.
There, space was rippling like ocean waves. A door, with an orange-glowing edge, slowly opened.
A youth, as dazzling as the sun, stepped out from within.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Romani."
The person who had stood Dr. Romani up for a long time greeted the man who had just sent him a message saying, "I've arrived at the foot of the sacred peak."
"And it's a pleasure to meet you too, Meri."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord of the Sun."
Romani, who had come on behalf of Chaldea to trade some supplies for the return of Gudako and Mash, returned the greeting with neither humility nor arrogance.
Then, he froze.
Just now, he thought he had heard the sun god say, "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Meri."
Where was Meri?
Romani, who was a die-hard fan of Magical Girl Meri-chan, fell into deep thought.
And then—
His face changed drastically.
There were only three people here.
Himself, the unknown sun god, and...
The incubus who claimed to be Magical Girl Meri-chan's manager—Merlin.
A color, just like Otto's eyes, suddenly crept onto the face of the #1 fan on the Grand charts, and it continued to spread.
No... there's still hope.
Maybe Meri, who is close to Merlin, is just hiding somewhere nearby, and was discovered by the sun god's keen senses.
The man, unwilling to accept reality, desperately searched for a reason.
And then—
His dream shattered.
"Oh my, I never thought that the great Lord of the Sun would also know about that personal page I run."
Those words came from Merlin's mouth.