"What wind woke you up today, my sister, Gaia?" Alaya teased in the pure white temple, facing an unknown space, but judging from her tightly clenched hands, she wasn't as relaxed as she appeared, though she still tried her best to hold on.
"Hmph! Don't think I don't know what kind of person you are. I don't have time to chat with you! Where is Zeus?" Gaia's voice came from the space, and judging from her tone, she was very unfriendly to this 'sister'.
"Zeus? I've never seen her before! Why would you come here to ask me something like this? Shouldn't she be in the temple as her god-king?" Alaya said with great surprise. If you weren't paying attention, no one would notice the slight upturn at the corner of her mouth. When it came to acting skills and cunning, she had never lost!
"Tch! Stop pretending. Who else could escape from me but you? It's all about the inhibitory force. Don't treat me like an idiot!" Gaia said through gritted teeth. If the world weren't so fragile, she would have stabbed her 'sister' to death so she wouldn't have to see that disgusting face anymore.
"How could I dare to deceive you! My dear sister! I really don't know what happened! Now you're asking me for someone, where am I supposed to find them?" Alaya suddenly changed her tone, as if she had suffered a tremendous injustice. She sobbed and cried, as if accusing Gaia of being unreasonable.
"Hmph! We've known each other for who knows how many years, I know all your little tricks. Don't play dumb! Although I haven't caught you red-handed yet, I won't give up. Once I find Zeus, you'd better pray for yourself!" After saying that, Gaia withdrew its clone, and the space in front of Alaya disappeared.
"Tch! You old hag, do you really think I'm made of clay? Wait until Zeus gives birth to my offspring, then let's see if your old face turns green." Alaya sat on her divine throne, cursing her sister without any regard for her image. But anyone could hear the smugness in her tone.
"It's not safe here! After we finish the task for Zeus, we need to send her to a world that neither of us is very familiar with. That way, we can stop Gaia from searching for her, and even I won't be able to find her. This situation is quite troublesome!" Alaya thought of a solution, after all, he was sure to lose if he faced Gaia. In order to prevent Zeus from being found, he had no choice but to take this risky move.
Meanwhile, Erza returned to the Tohsaka family with a belly full of questions.
"Enkidu, what are you doing?" Erza asked curiously, watching Enkidu fiddling with clay.
"Erza! Actually, I'm preparing to return to Valhalla right now!" Enkidu said these frightening words without showing any sadness at their separation.
"Why? Don't you want to be with your best friend?" Erza asked, puzzled.
"I'm already very satisfied to have seen Jill once, but this descent wasn't my intention. I was just dragged down, and this body has already reached its limit!" He said, stretching out his hands so that Erza could see his slightly transparent hands.
"What is this? You..."
"That's right, I didn't have a spirit core this time. Instead, I connected with a sliver of Gilles' spirit core, which allowed me to appear in my current form!" A spirit core is the foundation of a Heroic Spirit; if it's shattered, they disappear and return to Valhalla, awaiting the next summon. But a Heroic Spirit without a spirit core—this is the first time I've heard of one, because they've been barely surviving in this world using only Gilles' magic power. Once Gilles unleashes his full power, Enkidu will disappear from this world due to a lack of magic power.
"How much time do you have left!" Seeing a beautiful cross-dresser disappear like this would be unbearable for anyone. Erza had no choice but to ask if she could see him off.
"I'll probably reach my limit around dawn." With a smile, Enkidu stated his final moments. This mindset truly befits someone who could train the arrogant blond to become a wise king.
"Okay!" Erza nodded and led Lance back to their room. Then, they went to the arcade to find Gilgamesh.
The next morning, I saw a golden retriever with a deathly look in its eyes sitting on the roof watching the sunrise!
"Smack!"
"What are you doing, you bastard woman!" The blond man covered his face with his hand, lying on the ground like a bullied little wife. His eyes were filled with resentment...uh! He glared angrily at Erza.
"Are you awake?" Erza asked the blond-haired man in front of her, annoyed. The Holy Grail War was so boring in this situation!
"Tch!" Erza walked away disdainfully, looking at the silent Gilgamesh.
"Th...thank you!" The masochistic blondie suddenly spoke, startling Erza. She hadn't expected the arrogant blondie to actually thank her; it seemed she needed to change her opinion of him.
"Want to go to the arcade?" Erza invited without looking back.
"Oh! Since you've sincerely invited me, I'll gladly go. This time, I absolutely won't lose!" Instantly reverting to his original arrogant expression, the golden-haired man was fully revived.
"Tch! Rookie," Erza retorted dismissively to the blond-haired man.
In the arcade
"Come on! Let's settle this!" The blond-haired man challenged Erza with a confident smile.
"Hmph, I hope you can still laugh later!" Erza revealed her high fighting spirit; today she was going to stain the golden hair with blood.
Eight hours later,
"You...you! Pfft!" The blond man clutched his severely injured heart, so angry that he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"I told you, you're no match for me." Erza said sarcastically to the bleeding blond man with an expression of utter loneliness.
"I didn't expect it! It's evening again." The sun had already set when the two came out of the arcade. The entire city was shrouded in night.
"Woman, don't die before you reach me. Step over the corpses of those bastards to come before me. I will defeat you with my own hands," the blond man said, turning and leaving. Tonight! He had an appointment with the red-haired man.
"Lance, come to me. We're going to find your king." Erza used magical telepathy to notify Lance at the Tohsaka residence. Erza ignored the blond-haired man's words; she would deal with him personally. Because the blond-haired man was already resigned to death. But as king, he absolutely could not allow defeat! He would fight Erza with all his might then.
"The Holy Grail War! This time it should be approaching its climax." Erza arrived at the top of a building and looked down at the various buildings below.
"Let's go!" Once Lance arrived, Erza took him and began the teleportation.
"Is this... performance art?" Erza quipped, looking at the green-hatted... cough cough Director Ken lying in the silvery-white liquid.
"Berserker's Master, did you do this?" A sudden roar startled Erza. Oh dear! What a coincidence! Everything happened at this time.
"Well! I was just passing by, you believe me or not!" Erza said awkwardly, tilting her head.
"Oh, right! I'll give you a chance, Lancer, to fight Berserker. If you win, you can take your Master with you; if you lose, you can leave! Don't worry about your Master's injuries, I'll heal him. Even if you lose, we'll let him go. What do you say?" Although it was a bit like taking advantage of someone in distress, Erza still wanted to get rid of this guy with some skills now. That was slightly better than him leaving with resentment!
"Well, alright!" Lancer reluctantly agreed, seeing that Erza had already begun treatment.
As the two began to fight, Erza found Kiritsugu hiding nearby, ready to finish him off at any moment.
"Saber's true Master, Mr. Kiritsugu Emiya, right?" Erza greeted the wary Kiritsugu politely. But what she said startled Kiritsugu. He had kept his status as a Master a secret until now; how did this girl know?
"Don't worry, I won't kill you! But I hope you can behave for a while and not bother others, okay?" Kiritsugu was expressing goodwill, but it wasn't very effective. Erza shrugged helplessly, looking at the still wary Kiritsugu.
This champion of justice before us was a controversial figure in our past lives. Some said he was handsome, others said he was foolish! He viewed the world from a divine perspective, yet tried to resolve its problems using human methods. He was truly a contradictory person; many in our past lives probably called him a "madman"! But he genuinely wanted to save the world. The word "justice" holds particular irony in the Fate series. The original form of the Insect Lord, Machiri Zorgen, and the "Winter Saintess" Justessa Rislesie von Einzbern, originally wished to eradicate all "evil" in the world.
That's right, you didn't notice. The bug's original dream was to be a 'hero of justice,' but the more time passed, the more he realized that this dream required a tremendous amount of time, while he himself was nearing the end of his life. So he exhausted every method to prolong his life, ultimately forgetting his initial dream and becoming a monster who abandoned his physical body in pursuit of immortality…
It's ironic, isn't it? And this new generation of 'righteous hero' is about to reach the pinnacle of collapse! At the end of the Holy Grail War, he cried as he found the only survivor of the entire fire. I wonder if he ever regretted his life! But Erza really dislikes this guy. Only he can save the world. Don't be ridiculous! Can't you separate saving humanity from the world? Even if humanity goes extinct, the world will still keep turning. Besides! Does humanity even need saving? Don't impose your ideas on others. Humans only evolve through endless pain and sorrow.
Why should I live better than him when he's doing better? That's the desire for progress, that's evolution! That's motivation.
Why is he so amazing? I want to be even better than him. Motivation unleashes potential, and that's how people grow!
Because they passed the test, the pain made them afraid to repeat the same mistake. So they learned their lesson and evolved! It's that simple, yet they ultimately became extraordinary individuals who healed themselves. They said they wanted to create a world without sorrow or trouble. Bullshit! How could such a thing exist? That's all nonsense!
Are we even human if we have no desires? Even saints have desires, let alone humans!
"Is life painful, Mr. Emiya?" Putting aside her own thoughts, Erza spoke the words she had wanted to say in her past life to Emiya! "Aren't you tired of living, you bastard? Just go die and give me your wife." (crossed out)
"..." As expected, there was no answer! But Erza didn't expect a reply and turned to check on the battle!
"Tired!" A sudden sound made Erza pause, but she didn't turn around. Erza walked away!
"Lancer, take your Master and leave!" Seeing Lancer nearly killed, Erza decided to let him go. Judging by his condition, his spirit core was probably shattered; even if he did everything, he'd only last two hours!
"Thank you for keeping your promise!" Lancer wiped the blood from his mouth and gave Erza a knightly salute. He picked up the fallen Ken and walked away, leaving a bloody footprint with each step. Looks like he'd hit him a little too hard!
"Berserker, what are you doing here!" A clear, spirited voice rang out; the person in question had arrived.