Whoosh—
In the blink of an eye, a blue meteor streaked across the sky, drawing closer and closer to the crowd.
At the same time.
Within Chaldea, the staff monitoring the Temple of Time suddenly detected violent energy fluctuations on their sensors.
"It's a summoning ritual!! Summoning circles are appearing all over the world!!"
"Spirit Origin reactions are increasing continuously!!"
"This is? This is??!"
Inside Chaldea's control room, Roman witnessed the miracle unfolding before his eyes and was so excited he momentarily lost the ability to speak.
"Servants!! They're Servants!! They've manifested by their own will!!"
"In the Temple of Time, cut off from leylines and isolated from space-time, they've manifested here through sheer willpower!"
"A miracle!! Have they sensed Ritsuka Fujimaru and Miss Jeanne's resolve and come to lend Chaldea a hand?!"
Whoosh—whoosh—
Blue meteors streaked across the void one after another, weaving a magnificent meteor shower across the sky.
"Oooooh! Is this the Counter Force responding to my—no, to Jeanne's summons?!"
Gudako grew excited as well, slapping Jeanne twice on the shoulder.
"Not bad at all. Who would've thought you could call for backup here?"
"Eh?"
Jeanne looked a little bewildered.
"I... I just prepared a very cool pre-battle speech. I wanted to encourage everyone..."
Without a doubt, this was the "Rain of Stars."
According to the original storyline, when Chaldea faced the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars, they were outnumbered and alone. The Heroic Spirits who had formed bonds with them throughout the first seven Singularities would appear one after another.
They would manifest by their own will and help Chaldea defeat the enemy.
Now that the Demon God Pillars had already been wiped out instantly, the outcome was a bit different. Still, Gudako and Roman certainly wouldn't mind having a few extra helpers.
"Tch, in this so-called 160th episode, who's even going to show up?"
Gudako's face was full of curiosity.
Thanks to Setsuna's ability to tear through space, most of the Heroic Spirits from the Singularities had already been hauled into the capital. It was hard to imagine who would still be willing to come help voluntarily.
"Vlad the Impaler? Romulus? Someone who can actually fight? Romulus, can you log in with your main account for once...?"
"Or maybe Heroic Spirits from other timelines would be fine too?"
She stared expectantly at the first meteor.
Not far away, a girl with golden hair and green eyes landed lightly on the ground. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, and she wore white knightly armor.
Her appearance was identical to Artoria's, though slightly more innocent. At her waist hung a Holy Sword of similar design.
"Um... nice to meet you for the first time. As I am still an inexperienced swordsman, please call me Saber Lily. I look forward to working with you from now on."
The girl politely greeted Gudako.
"?"
"Wait... who are you?!"
Gudako was stunned.
No matter how she looked at her, this was clearly Artoria Lily.
The youthful version from just after drawing the Sword of Selection, still training daily and honing herself to become king—a half-fledged girl knight.
The adolescent version before the King of Knights ascended the throne.
"Ah... it's me."
Artoria Lily nodded.
"I... sensed a certain power, as if urging me to come here and save the world together with you."
"This is also part of my training, right?"
With that, she gave a courteous bow.
"???"
The King of Knights herself and the Lion King stared at Lily with utterly astonished expressions.
Large, medium, and small ahoge had gathered together in one place.
"Uh... why is it you? Did you sense your future self?"
Gudako didn't quite understand but felt it was somehow impressive.
"Maybe the King of Knights and her different forms share some kind of bond? ...How mysterious."
After thinking it over, it did make sense that one would have a connection with oneself. With the Temple of Time's space-time laws in complete chaos, Heroic Spirits passively summoning alternate versions of themselves wasn't impossible.
"Sure, fine."
Seeing how adorable Saber Lily looked, Gudako decided it wasn't a bad thing.
Then—
Whoosh—
Several more meteors descended.
A golden-haired girl with long flowing hair stepped forward, dressed in white, gold, and black ceremonial mage robes and holding a staff.
"Phew—"
"Is it my turn to make an appearance? I am the magician Artoria. Within the limits of my ability, I will help you!"
Her appearance was also nearly identical to the King of Knights. She looked at the others with open curiosity.
"Huh? Why do you all look so much like me...?"
"Huh?!"
"Another King of Knights? Artoria Caster?! Did you run over here from a Lostbelt or something?!"
Gudako was flabbergasted.
"Hm?"
Caster tilted her head in thought for a moment before giving the same answer as Lily.
"I sensed a power connected to me calling me here to do something. Of course I had to come take a look~"
"???"
They hadn't even exchanged more than a few words.
Another ahoge descended, clad in black armor, with golden hair and golden eyes, gripping a black-and-red holy sword.
She scrutinized Gudako and the King of Knights for a moment.
"...I have answered the summons. Was it you who called me? Or someone else? Strange... why would I respond..."
Close behind her, another Heroic Spirit clad entirely in black armor, resembling the Lion King in appearance, leapt down from high above astride a black warhorse and landed not far away.
Her voice was cold and resolute as she greeted them.
"Lancer, Artoria."
"Is it time for battle? Then let us crush them all."
"Black Saber? Black Lancer too?! Did I just stab into an ahoge nest or something?!"
Gudako and Setsuna, who was monitoring the situation from Chaldea, were both stunned.
"Commander, this isn't what we agreed on, is it?!"
"Weren't the ones coming supposed to be Heroic Spirits who have bonds with me?! Why did the entire King of Knights family show up instead?!"
"Uh..."
Roman had never seen a situation like this either. He propped his chin in his hand and pondered for a moment.
"Maybe the Heroic Spirits who have bonds with you are already assembled here? After all, they originally fought alongside you as Servants."
"And then their counterparts in other planes sensed the call of another version of themselves and came to help? ...Well, I suppose that also counts as a kind of bond?"
"...Huh?"
Gudako reluctantly accepted this explanation.
Still, looking at the pile of ahoge-faced individuals before her felt surreal.
Whoosh—whoosh—
The meteors continued to fall without pause. She already had a rough idea who the next ones would be.
"...Sister? You're here too. Mm... wait, why does the aura around you feel the same as mine? You are...?"
A certain Heroic Spirit with purple hair and purple eyes looked at Stheno, Euryale, and Anna with visible confusion.
"Eh? You're Medusa too?!"
"Huh? Another little sister?!..."
"...You formed a contract with Nitocris. In that case, you are my contractor as well, are you not?"
"Me? I am Anubis—no. I am both Nitocris and the god Anubis."
"..."
"..."
All manner of strange alternate counterparts descended one after another.
They staged deeply moving reunions with versions of themselves from other planes. At one point, the gathering of ahoge nearly erupted into an internal war.
"...So you all just called over your relatives, is that it? What about Space Ishtar? Why didn't she come?"
"???"
"Wait, there's a space version of me too?!"
Ishtar pointed at herself, dumbfounded.
"Of course. She's more than a whole tier stronger than you. Goetia wouldn't even qualify to sit at the same table as her."
Gudako shook her head and cleared her throat.
"Ahem. Forget it, forget it. This is fine. Better this than a bunch of completely random weirdos showing up."
"We'll skip the small talk and pointless greetings. We're about to set out to subjugate Goetia. It's an honor to have your assistance."
"Ooooh!!—"
Saber Lily gripped her sword, brimming with enthusiasm.
"But you can't come with us for now."
Gudako abruptly changed tone.
"Why?!"
The ahoge army protested in unison.
"Because you'd get instantly wiped. In your standard Servant forms, you can't compete with a Beast. He has anti-summoning abilities. He can send you all back in an instant."
"If you charge in all at once, all you'll do is pad that guy's KDA. If you all vanish, the Commander is going to come after me for it, you know?! Re-summoning you is a pain."
She answered seriously as she began calling out names.
"That includes the King of Knights herself, Shishou, Mordred... you as well. Go find the Commander first."
"Once we deal with Goetia, we'll come back for you."
"Uh..."
Many Heroic Spirits looked unconvinced. However, seeing Gudako's absolute confidence—and knowing that the local Heroic Spirits had indeed reviewed information regarding Goetia—they ultimately chose not to argue further.
"We responded to the summons to help out for once. Don't be like that..."
"It's fine. In the Starsea Empire, there will be plenty of opportunities for you in the future."
"Besides, you can watch me tear Goetia apart live, right?"
"?"
"Hey?!"
...
Inside the Temple of Time.
A man with dark brown skin, dressed in magnificent attire, sat upon a throne.
His long white hair cascaded down his back as he gazed into the distant void. Within his crimson pupils flickered a trace of savagery.
His appearance was identical to King Solomon's, though far more ruthless.
"My King, the temple has been breached."
A twisted monster stepped forward to report.
"The Demon God Pillars have been completely annihilated by Heroic Spirits. Among the Servants accompanying Chaldea are Mesopotamian deities—and the goddess Tiamat."
"They are advancing toward the temple. We must deploy the Bands of Light that mark the moment of birth, thereby correcting all phenomena, and incinerate the Heroic Spirits entirely."
"Hmph—"
He closed his eyes, his voice low and cold.
"Absurd. Utterly absurd."
"As Heroic Spirits, they should be able to perceive our objective. The Bands of Light are both the reckoning of obsolete Human Order and the guidepost toward a superior one."
"Knowing this, they still choose to attack us... How foolish."
Solomon's voice grew increasingly severe, as though speaking to himself—or issuing a silent accusation.
"There are indeed some remarkable individuals among Chaldea's ranks... Even they cannot understand me?"
"In that case... heh—"
He tilted his head upward, gazing at the colossal, planet-sized band of blinding light condensing in the sky.
Incineration—
They would all be incinerated together.