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Alex ended his meditation around eight in the morning and finally opened his eyes.
He descended from the castle tower and made his way to the lounge.
By then, the girls had all woken up and were gathered for breakfast.
Luo Hao seemed quite pleased with Alex's dedication today — that's how martial training should be, she thought.
As everyone sat around the table, enjoying breakfast, Irisviel glanced at the two maids standing quietly behind her. Gathering her courage, she turned to Hestia.
"Lady Hestia… would it be possible for Sella and Leysritt to join your Familia as well?"
The whole table went quiet. All eyes turned toward the two maids behind her.
Sella and Leysritt both froze in shock, hardly believing what they'd just heard.
As Irisviel's closest attendants, they already knew a bit about Alex and the others — enough to understand the weight of such a request.
They never imagined that Lady Irisviel would go so far as to want them to join a divine Familia.That kind of luck was almost terrifying. The two of them didn't even know how to react.
Though artificial beings, they had been granted souls, personalities, and minds of their own. They could tell right from wrong — and they understood gratitude.
At this moment, Irisviel was clearly trying to give them a future.
Hestia studied the two women quietly, then nodded."Not bad. Good potential… though your physical structures have issues. Your bodies will age faster than normal humans."
Irisviel tensed immediately, her hands clenching."Then… does that mean they can't—"
Before she could finish, Hestia smiled."They can. Once they receive my blessing and grow stronger through it, those artificial defects can be cured."
"That's wonderful!" Irisviel exclaimed, practically jumping in joy.
Behind her, Sella and Leysritt quickly bowed, their voices respectful but trembling with excitement."Thank you, Lady Hestia!"
Hestia waved dismissively."No need to bow every time. Respect is something you carry in your heart. A Familia is one big family — help each other, trust each other, and live in harmony."
Roxy grinned. "Awesome! Our Familia's getting stronger by the day!"
"How many members do we have now?" Alex asked curiously. He hadn't really kept track.
Hestia counted with her fingers, looking rather proud."Eleven, including you. Besides you, we've got Saeko Busujima, Miko Yotsuya, Kurumi Tokisaki, Roxy, Shinobu Kocho — those are the group members. Then from the Type-Moon world, there's Irisviel, Sakura, Illya, Sella, and Leysritt."
"Already eleven?" Alex blinked in surprise.
He remembered that in DanMachi, even by season four, Hestia had only gathered five members.According to the latest volume, Luliruca had joined, bringing it to six in total.
But now, before the DanMachi story had even begun, she'd already reached eleven thanks to the chat group.
He couldn't help wondering if Bell would ever get the chance to join her Familia at this rate.
"Only eleven? That's nothing!" Hestia huffed, puffing up her cheeks. "The Loki Familia has over a hundred members!"
Alex gave her a blank look."Uh… that's not exactly a fair comparison."
Loki's Familia was massive — even with the chat group's help, overtaking them would take years.Unless some of the truly powerful members from the group, like Erza, Tsunade, or Esdeath, decided to join her personally.
After breakfast, Hestia began bestowing her divine blessing — one by one — upon Irisviel, Sakura, Illya, Sella, and Leysritt.
All five started from scratch: base stats at zero, no skills, no magic.It seemed that the DanMachi-style blessing didn't record the magecraft from the Type-Moon world at all.
In DanMachi, magic and skills were innate awakenings, not something you could learn from books.Combat training, swordsmanship, or gun skills didn't show up in the blessing — just like learning martial arts wouldn't be recorded.
Still, the five girls had good magical potential — each of them had three magic slots, meaning they could awaken up to three innate spells in the future.
Once the blessings were done, the Holy Grail War was nearing its end.
Alex left Sakura and Illya in the care of Sella, Leysritt, and Maiya — who had just recovered — while Hestia erected a divine barrier around the castle to keep everyone safe.
Then, guided by Hestia's divine sense, Alex and the others finally located Waver and Rider.
At that moment, Iskandar was staring down at a world map, a deep frustration clouding his face.
He longed for a real body — to live again, to continue conquering.But this era had been peaceful for far too long. There was no place for war in this world.
If his wish were granted — if he returned to Europe to wage conquest again — it could very well trigger a third world war.A wish like that would be a direct challenge to humanity itself.
When he noticed Alex and the others approaching, Iskandar sighed."I'll fight you — but whatever the outcome, please spare my Master."
"Rider!" Waver shouted, his voice cracking.
After all these days together, he'd learned so much from Iskandar. The thought of losing him was unbearable.
Alex nodded. "Alright."
He turned to Artoria. "A fair duel. Think you can handle him on your own?"
"No problem," she said firmly. "I'll bring you victory, Master."
As she spoke, her magical energy surged. The black suit she'd been wearing shimmered away, replaced by her battle armor and flowing skirt of steel.
Across from her, Iskandar did the same — his power flaring as his modern outfit transformed into ancient armor and a crimson royal cloak.
The battle of kings… had begun.
Watching them, Alex couldn't help remembering the original story — where Gilgamesh had faced Iskandar instead.
Back then, Iskandar's chariot — the Gordius Wheel and Divine Bulls of Thunder — had been destroyed by Artoria's Excalibur, and Gilgamesh's treasure countered him completely.Without his mount, a cavalry king was at a massive disadvantage.
Even so, Gilgamesh had been forced to use Ea, the Sword of Rupture, to destroy the Army of the King.If Iskandar had still possessed his chariot and bulls, even Gilgamesh's Chains of Heaven might not have caught him so easily.
Of course, Gilgamesh would still have won in the end — Gate of Babylon was simply too powerful — but Iskandar wouldn't have fallen so miserably.
Now, though, the opponent was different. This time it was Artoria — not Gilgamesh — standing before him.
Could Iskandar win?
Alex's heart stirred with anticipation.
Win or lose, Iskandar's fate was sealed. If Artoria won, that would be ideal — she'd personally end his story.If not… well, then Morgan and Merlin could just join in.
After all — nothing says "justice" like a proper team beatdown.
"..."
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