Lia lowered her head, sinking into her own world of melancholy. Coming to her senses, Irisviel wanted to reach out and comfort her, but she didn't know what to say.
She hadn't spent much time with Lia and didn't know her very well. If she said the wrong thing, it might only make the other woman feel worse.
The attentive Mash noticed Lia's low spirits and thought to herself that she should have a chat with her later...
Having met other versions of Miss Artoria, the purple-haired girl understood her reasonably well.
At the same time, she also understood the other's wish.
On the other side, Kiana—
Bang—!
After the two traded punches, they both slid backward for a distance.
"You're pretty good, Solomon."
Kiana looked at her slightly reddened knuckles and gave Solomon an appreciative glance.
To be able to hold her in a stalemate of technique for so long, he truly lived up to being a King with God-given skills.
Though, a large part of this was because the things her current body possessed were incomplete.
But she was having quite a bit of fun right now.
Solomon must feel the same way, right?
Kiana saw that the other's expression was no longer cold as before. At some point, a slight curve had appeared at the corner of his mouth, perhaps without him even realizing it.
After his omniscience and omnipotence were banned, did Solomon's mindset undergo a slight change?
He no longer looked like that detached, weary man from before; a flicker of humanity now sparkled in his eyes.
"Whew~ that felt good. Let's call it a day."
Kiana withdrew her stance, waved her hand, and turned to walk toward Tohsaka Rin, who had been watching the show all along.
"You held back, didn't you?"
Tohsaka Rin crossed her arms, her small nose twitching slightly as she tilted her head with an "I've seen right through you" expression.
Soon, a hand covered the top of her head and began to mess up her hair.
"It was just a spar. Why use full strength and turn it into a life-or-death duel?"
"You... are really strange."
Tohsaka Rin raised an eyebrow slightly, brushed Kiana's hand away, and smoothed her messy hair, re-tying her Horsetail while she was at it.
This inexplicable goddess was truly odd. Logically, she shouldn't be ignorant of the rules of the Holy Grail War, yet she still maintained such a naive attitude...?
Not exactly. It seemed that, just like Kiana, she didn't take this Holy Grail War seriously at all and had come purely with a playful mindset!
Thinking of this, Tohsaka Rin felt it was normal. Why should a deity playing in the mortal world be bound by rules and regulations?
Kayneth of Team C saw that Solomon didn't seem to have much of an advantage throughout the fight, and his expression couldn't help but darken.
He didn't understand why King Solomon didn't utilize the magecraft he was most proud of, but instead chose to engage in close-quarters combat with that white-haired girl.
Although King Solomon's close combat appeared flawless, this fighting style of avoiding his strengths to focus on his weaknesses left Kayneth bewildered.
Unable to fathom Solomon's thoughts, Kayneth shook his head and turned to leave.
"Let's go, Caster."
"..."
Hearing this, Solomon gave Kiana a deep look before turning to leave the area.
When he was summoned for this Holy Grail War, the mist he saw with his Clairvoyance must have had thousands of connections to this person.
No, that indistinguishable mist was likely her herself...
Solomon lowered his eyes, recalling the illusion he had fallen into when his Clairvoyance was banned.
That purple sphere that resembled a giant eyeball was a product far beyond what this world could comprehend.
Through that giant eyeball, in the second before his Clairvoyance was banned, Solomon had still managed to glimpse a tiny bit of information.
For example, the class of that white-haired girl...
It was actually Foreigner...
Add to that the Hero King, the Chains of Heaven, the Goddess Ishtar, the Demon God Pillar that shouldn't have appeared and didn't belong to him, plus the descending Archangel Ruler...
Not to mention, he had seen the descent of *that* kind of thing before this...
In this Holy Grail War, even with his Clairvoyance, it would be impossible to completely control the outcome.
Will everything be destroyed in the end...?
Perhaps not...
There were many variables in this Holy Grail War, variables that even he could not see clearly...
Solomon and Kayneth finally disappeared into the shadows of the nighttime pier.
Up on the crane, Kiritsugu and Maiya had been aiming their sniper rifles at their heads until they left.
They didn't fire because, with that Servant protecting them, no amount of shots would have done any good.
"Retreating, Maiya."
Receiving the order, Maiya nodded. Kiritsugu quickly disassembled and packed his sniper rifle, lit a cigarette, and swiftly descended from the crane to the ground.
The two then took advantage of the dark night to return to their base, the Einzbern Castle located in the forest.
"Whew... looks like it's finally over."
Seeing no more enemies, Fujimaru Ritsuka finally breathed a sigh of relief. She rested her chin on Mash's soft shoulder with a comfortable expression, completely ignoring the fact that Mash was already blushing from embarrassment.
Then, as if remembering something, she turned her eyes toward the holy Lion King.
"King..."
"You may call me Artoria directly, Master."
The Lion King's eyes crinkled slightly, looking at this still-naive Deliverer with a soft gaze.
"Um... Artoria, about what you said earlier, that this world isn't a singularity but a parallel world, what's that about...?"
"Senpai... now is not the time for that, there are still people over there!"
Mash tilted her head, looking at Fujimaru Ritsuka's beautiful face and speaking with a red face and a hint of anxiety.
There were still suspected enemy Servants present; how could Senpai let her guard down so soon!
"Mash, don't worry~"
Saying this, Fujimaru Ritsuka looked at the two people walking over while pinching each other's cheeks and smiled slightly:
"Look at how harmonious they look. They don't look like enemies at all, so Mash, you still need more training~"
"Hmph~ Senpai, really..."
Mash puffed out her cheeks slightly, looking very cute in her feigned anger, causing Fujimaru Ritsuka to instinctively nuzzle against her.
"My Mash is indeed the best in the world!"
"They really have a good relationship."
Irisviel looked at the two cuddling with some envy. She also wanted a best friend who had such a relationship with her.
Lia temporarily escaped from her hell of melancholy. Seeing the heartwarming scene made her feel a little better.
Then she locked her gaze onto the approaching Kiana and the other girl, her brow furrowing as she wondered what they were coming for.
These two showed no hostility at all. Could they be here to form an alliance?
Soon, Kiana and Tohsaka Rin arrived at the Saber team's location.
"Good evening, everyone."
"Hey, greeting them without even knowing if they're enemies, are you an idiot?"
Tohsaka Rin rubbed her slightly reddened cheeks and gave Kiana an annoyed glare.
"I don't know if the Einzberns are enemies, but the two—no, three from Chaldea surely won't be my enemies."
As Kiana spoke, she walked up to Mash and familiarly pulled her into a hug, giving her a wink:
"Right~ Little Eggplant~?"
"Eh... EH?!!"
Mash really hadn't expected the other party to be coming for her. But she soon came to her senses, looking at Fujimaru Ritsuka with a pleading gaze and said:
"Th-that, you're too close, Miss..."
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