Under Wu Ling's practiced persuasion, Melusine agreed to form a contract with Fujimaru Ritsuka.
After all, as Wu Ling said, if Saber Alter and Lancer Alter obtained this world, their goal might be to build a new Britain. That goal would naturally place them in conflict with Wu Ling and Chaldea.
Melusine was different. Even if she owned this entire world, she would not know what to do with it. Their goals did not oppose each other.
Wu Ling breathed out in relief. Melusine was strong. In the Lostbelt 6 story he knew, her battle record could only be called stunning.
Before that story even began, she fought Muramasa in the air, pierced his Spirit Core twelve times, and shot him down. In the main story, while using the Fairy Knight Lancelot Saint Graph, she fought Caster Cu and Muramasa at the same time and only lost her mask. When she briefly released the True Name Melusine, she burned away one of Koyanskaya's tails on the spot. In her Calamity of Flame state, she fought the Storm Border in aerial combat on even terms, and her voice lines implied she had been holding back. After taking a double specialty attack from the Lance of Selection to the face and surviving, she regained her senses and blasted a hole through the Abyssal Wyrm.
As far as Wu Ling knew, no normal Heroic Spirit could catch Melusine once she accelerated and broke the sound barrier in 0.3 seconds. Machine gods and Space Ishtar type exceptions did not count. Even he would find it almost impossible to deal with a Melusine determined to flee. Worse, the power Tiamat had given him had developed a problem.
So persuading Melusine into joining Chaldea solved more than half of this world's strategy.
At the same time, Siegfried and Sigurd also took the chance to form contracts.
Seeing that, Fujimaru Ritsuka and the rest of Chaldea were delighted. First, they no longer had to fight these powerful Servants. Second, they had obtained several Holy Grails at once.
After that, however, another problem appeared: how to bring them out of the Singularity Belt.
Siegfried and Sigurd were simple. Once they returned to the Throne of Heroes, Chaldea could summon them again. Melusine was special. No one could be sure whether the Melusine summoned later would still be this Melusine, so nobody dared make a casual decision.
Wu Ling clapped his hands and drew everyone's attention back to him.
"Do not worry. I already have a method. But before we return, we still need to handle the other three Servants and resolve this world.
"Ritsuka, what do you want to do with the remaining three, Shuten Douji, Kiyohime, and Elizabeth? Should we recruit them like Melusine, or should we crush them with overwhelming force?"
Wu Ling handed the decision over to Fujimaru Ritsuka.
"Eh? I decide?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka paused, then began thinking. She sounded as if she were talking to herself and also explaining to everyone.
"Miss Elizabeth helped me before, so she should count as a good Servant. As for Kiyohime and Shuten Douji..."
Fujimaru Ritsuka fell silent. She might not know every legend from other countries, but she certainly knew famous legends from her own.
"One is Kiyohime from the legend of Kiyohime, who burned Anchin alive after he hid inside a temple bell. The other is the great monster of Mount Oe in the Heian period, ruler of a band of oni.
"Um. Neither of them sounds easy to get along with. But many Servants I have met so far differ from the legends in small ways. Maybe those two are not as bad as the stories say.
"So let us ask them face to face. If they want to join Chaldea, we make contracts. If they do not... then we eliminate them."
Fujimaru Ritsuka rubbed her hair in distress, but finally made her decision.
Wu Ling agreed without hesitation. The Throne of Heroic Spirits inside him already contained Kiyohime and others, but under his influence, those versions could be treated as different Servants who shared the same source. There were countless parallel worlds. There might well be a calm Kiyohime somewhere. After thinking about it, Wu Ling chose not to mention the matter and accepted Fujimaru Ritsuka's plan.
"Good. Our side is strong enough now. We can push straight through."
Because this Singularity Belt had formed from several parallel versions of the same Singularity overlapping each other, the world's size had not changed much. With Melusine's speed, she returned with information in less than five minutes.
"The three of them are together now. Due east. About thirty kilometers away."
"Understood. Mash, I will leave Ritsuka to you again. Melusine, please go ahead and hold them in place. We will follow right after you."
"Understood. I will go now."
"Yes. I will protect Senpai properly."
After nearly an hour of travel, Wu Ling and the others finally met the last three Servants.
Fujimaru Ritsuka explained the situation to them. Elizabeth agreed immediately, but asked to hold a concert in Chaldea. Kiyohime wanted Fujimaru Ritsuka to promise never to lie. Shuten Douji asked for nothing.
According to Shuten, she had no wish to entrust to the Holy Grail. That had been true in the past, and it remained true now. Living as she pleased and acting according to her mood was her nature.
As for why she had a Holy Grail, it was simply because she collected antiques and rare objects. Something as interesting and rare as a Holy Grail naturally belonged in her collection. But now that Holy Grails were practically in everyone's hands, they had lost their rarity. In her mind, one Holy Grail was not even worth a pot of wine.
And so, a Singularity Belt that should have been harder than every previous one was cleared in less than half a day.
No one in Chaldea believed that happened because of them. It happened because of that one man.
If Wu Ling had not acted at the start, Fujimaru Ritsuka might have died under Saber Alter's beam. Siegfried might have fallen trying to rescue her. Most important of all was Melusine. If Wu Ling had not known her, they would not have avoided a brutal battle.
Afterward, the Servants gave their Holy Grails to Wu Ling first. Wu Ling opened a space for them inside the Throne of Heroic Spirits. Then, with the Rayshift, everyone returned to Chaldea.
No one noticed that at the final instant of the Rayshift, Wu Ling reached out and grabbed something.
Back in Chaldea, Wu Ling had just stretched when a small white beast leaped onto Mash.
"Fou, so this is where you were."
Seeing the Fourth Beast, Wu Ling approached with interest.
"Oh, so this is Fou..."
The moment he looked at Fou, Wu Ling seemed to notice something. His expression changed at once.