Schk.
Wu Ling's First Hassan drove his greatsword into Alaya's First Hassan from behind. The massive blade almost cut Alaya's First Hassan in two.
The blue light in Alaya's First Hassan's eyes gradually dimmed. After a soft sigh, his body dissolved into spirit particles and vanished into the air.
Wu Ling remained seated on his throne. By now, he held a bag of potato chips and kept feeding them into his mouth. In his current state, he did not have to worry about gaining weight at all. His body would always remain at its ideal form.
Watching First Hassan leave the stage, Wu Ling said to his own First Hassan, "First Hassan, look at that. As expected of you. Even with you, Ibuki Douji, and Angra fighting together, it still took most of the night to kill him."
First Hassan gave no answer and disappeared from sight. Off to the side, Ibuki Douji, who had a cut across her body, burst into laughter.
"Ah, that was a satisfying fight. That old man is as strong as a monster. He was weaker than me in raw strength, yet he blocked or dodged me every time. If I had fought him alone, things might have gotten dangerous. Right, Angra?"
As she spoke, Ibuki Douji reached out and slapped Angra hard on the shoulder.
Angra almost stumbled from the blow. He swatted her hand away, but he did not deny her judgment of First Hassan. The arm he had lost had not been cut off by First Hassan. He had torn it off himself.
At first, he had planned to use his own death to take First Hassan with him. In Angra's mind, if a weak Servant like him could trade himself for First Hassan, it was more than worth it. But First Hassan was immune to instant death, so Angra could only keep injuring himself to disrupt First Hassan's movements.
The final opening had come when he ripped off his own arm. That action froze the arm Alaya's First Hassan had meant to use for defense, and Wu Ling's First Hassan ended the fight with one slash.
"Master, is there anything else here? If not, I am leaving. I can sense several interesting people. I am already getting restless." Ibuki Douji swung the Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi in her hand. A whole night of fighting had stirred the battle hunger in her blood. Especially after the slash First Hassan landed on her, if Wu Ling had not ordered them to resolve the fight steadily according to plan, she would have opened with her Noble Phantasm long ago.
Wu Ling saw how eager Ibuki Douji was to fight. He said nothing more and tossed her a transparent bottle.
Ibuki Douji caught it. "Hm? Is this alcohol?"
Wu Ling nodded. "Of course. Water of Life vodka. Ninety-six percent alcohol. Normal people cannot drink it."
In the half minute Wu Ling spent explaining, Ibuki Douji snapped off the glass mouth of the bottle and emptied the whole thing in one go, like an adult chugging a tiny bottle of milk.
"Gulp, gulp. Ah. That is strong. Completely different from sake. Too bad there is so little."
Wu Ling chuckled and tossed Ibuki Douji a larger bottle. "All right, Ibuki. Go raise hell."
Ibuki Douji caught the bottle and grinned, showing her sharp little fangs. "Understood, Master."
After Ibuki Douji left, Angra looked at Wu Ling. Seeing his expression, the kind that said he wanted something but felt too embarrassed to ask, Wu Ling tossed him a lollipop.
"Children should not drink. Have something sweet."
Angra protested with some annoyance. "My real age is far older than yours, Master." He said that with his mouth, but his hands honestly put the lollipop into his mouth.
Watching Angra act stubborn while doing exactly what he wanted, Wu Ling smiled. "Heracles has run into a little trouble. Go help him."
"Yeah, got it."
After everyone left, Wu Ling moved his finger, and the screen appeared before him again.
"The preparations are complete. Let me see whether you can reach me."
It was early morning, before the sun had risen. Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others were still in their deepest sleep, the time when a person's guard was at its weakest.
A black shadow stepped out of the darkness. His footsteps were light and made no sound. Even the defensive Magecraft around the camp was bypassed with ease.
He restrained his killing intent and hostility so completely that even Musashi did not notice him. Like that, he quietly reached Fujimaru Ritsuka's side.
A dagger appeared in his hand. All he needed to do was bend down slowly, and he was confident he could slit Fujimaru Ritsuka's throat. But just then, the hand holding the dagger stabbed behind him instead.
Suddenly, one hand seized his wrist. Another, longer hand clamped around his face and lifted him into the air.
"I see. Hassan of the Hundred Personas," the owner of those hands said. His voice woke Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others.
"You are... Cursed Arm!" the clone of Hassan of the Hundred Personas said in a muffled voice while being held up.
Hassan of the Cursed Arm stared at the man for several seconds before reaching a conclusion. "Only a clone."
The clone of Hassan of the Hundred Personas tried to resist, but a clone with its power divided could not compete with a true Servant. Hassan of the Cursed Arm killed it immediately.
Then Hassan of the Cursed Arm turned toward Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others. Mash said in delight, "Mr. Hassan of the Cursed Arm?"
Hassan of the Cursed Arm paused for a moment, then admitted it. "Yes. I am Hassan of the Cursed Arm. I came here to help Chaldea's Master. I did not expect to encounter Hundred Personas' assassination, so I acted on my own... though it seems my actions were unnecessary."
He said that last part because he saw something like a raincoat covering Fujimaru Ritsuka's moving body. If he had not seen the way light bent around Fujimaru Ritsuka as he moved, even he would not have noticed it.
Moriarty stretched a hand toward Fujimaru Ritsuka. That layer of clothing turned into a ruler and fell into his grip. His calculating ruler was not an ordinary ruler. It was an all-purpose weapon that could transform into any weapon, and its rank reached B++.
After all, if they were sleeping, how could they possibly rely on only one layer of defense?
"Words alone are not enough for us to trust you. Do you have proof?" Kadoc asked Hassan of the Cursed Arm.
Hassan of the Cursed Arm scratched his head with his arm, which was longer than it should be. Then he thought of a solution.
"I can form a contract with the magus here and now. If I am on the enemy side, a contract should be impossible. How is that?"
Kadoc considered it, then agreed. Under Musashi's protection, Fujimaru Ritsuka successfully formed a contract with Hassan of the Cursed Arm. That proved Hassan of the Cursed Arm was indeed on their side.