Under the moonlight, the shimmering sea reflected a brilliant river of stars. Reality and illusion blended together on the distant horizon, making it impossible to tell which side was the true starry sky and which was merely a reflection.
Gentle waves softly brushed against pale feet, like a glutton swallowing the footprints left behind one by one.
The damp night wind swept across the slightly cold sea, chasing after the woman walking along the beach.
Her silver hair, lonelier than moonlight itself, swayed gently in the wind along with her childish steps.
Her fair and smooth calves were stained with mud and sand, only for the tide to quickly wash them away, leaving behind nothing but a faint tickling sensation.
The girl seemed to be in a very good mood. She hummed a song the boy had never heard before.
The melody drifted far away with the wind. It should have sounded cheerful, yet it turned soft and delicate instead, like a sorrowful mermaid singing upon the reefs…
Iori stood on the beach some distance away. He showed not the slightest awareness of being a mythical hero, squatting on the ground without any regard for appearance. The coolness coming from beneath him didn't bother him at all.
He waited for Cella out of sheer boredom. At first he had watched with great interest, but now he was already starting to miss a warm bed and a fragrant French dinner.
His handsome face remained expressionless until the arrival of someone familiar finally caused it to stir slightly.
Green points of light like summer fireflies gathered together, forming a small and slender figure filled with wild beauty. A skirt that should symbolize elegance looked more like battle gear when worn by her.
"Why did it take you so long to come find me? Atalanta."
"Because you've been running around everywhere."
The huntress walked up to Iori with obvious dissatisfaction and asked from above him, "Things have developed to this point."
"Fine if you don't step forward to turn the situation around, but you actually brought a woman out here to go sightseeing?"
"That makes it sound like everything is my responsibility."
Iori quietly looked out at the sea.
"As you can see, I'm just an ordinary Servant. I'm not even one of the noble three knight classes, just a mere and weakest [Berserker]. How could I possibly handle something this big?"
"…Are you serious?"
Atalanta's tone became stern.
"The reason I agreed to become your insider back then was because your promise moved me."
"I believed that cooperating with you could allow children all over the world to stay away from suffering and disasters… And now you're going to give up on yourself?"
A longbow appeared in her hand. The huntress gave him no room to argue.
"If that's really the case, then I can only follow the Father's orders and become your enemy."
"Did Amakusa Shirou send you to hunt me and Cella?" Iori asked with interest, not intimidated by Atalanta at all.
The huntress hesitated for a moment before reluctantly speaking.
"No. Just tracking. He specifically told me I don't need to use force. I only have to keep a close watch on your movements."
"A cautious guy. He probably also guessed that Cella 'possesses' the Lesser Grail." Iori smiled casually.
"But he can relax. I don't have any intention of causing trouble. With the current situation where the two great forces are confronting each other, one or two Servants can't change anything."
Hearing this, Atalanta frowned deeply and looked at Iori in confusion.
"Your aura… why has it weakened so much?"
Only now did she realize that Iori's Saint Graph strength was not only far below when he had slain Yamata no Orochi, it even seemed slightly weaker than when they had first met.
That made no sense at all.
After Iori killed the serpent, most Servants had already guessed his true name. Even top-tier Servants like Karna and King Arthur would treat him with caution.
So even though his alliance with Mordred was small and isolated, neither the Red nor Black factions intended to attack them, in order to avoid pushing him toward the other side.
As a god who had "descended to the world as a human," even appearing with an ordinary Saint Graph should place him far above normal Servants in strength.
But this…
Although he wasn't weak, he had completely lost his original overwhelming presence.
After thinking for a moment, Atalanta suddenly spoke with a hint of regret.
"I didn't expect the price of killing Yamata no Orochi to be so high… You must have burned more than half of your Saint Graph, didn't you?"
"Something like that." Iori nodded.
Two Command Seals, plus the magical energy seized from the enemy. Then burning a portion of his Saint Graph.
Only then had he managed to draw in Susanoo's divinity and use the EX-ranked Anti-World Noble Phantasm [World-Cutting Sword: Ame-no-Murakumo] to kill Ibuki and Orochi.
To borrow a line from a certain famous work, he had already "burned down to white ash" at that time.
"Sorry, Archer." Iori spoke with a dispirited tone. "Right now, all I want is to properly protect my Master until this Holy Grail War ends. I don't have the strength to deal with anything else."
"…If that's your choice, then I can only accept it. After all, no one expected Shuten to do something like that and indirectly ruin our plan. There's nothing we can do about it."
Atalanta seemed convinced. After giving Iori one last look, she turned around and left.
"I don't believe it!"
A swift figure flashed forward. Atalanta gripped an arrow like a dagger and thrust toward Iori, while the black-haired boy turned his head in surprise...
With a helpless smile in his eyes.
Clang!
Chains formed from spiritual light shot out of the air. Like spears, they locked Atalanta's limbs and torso in place, trapping her like a fish caught in a net. The agile huntress had actually failed to dodge them.
"A technique targeting spiritual bodies?"
Atalanta didn't panic. Just before the chains could fully wrap around and bind her, her slender yet powerful waist twisted and turned.
Her body was even more flexible than a wildcat's, slipping through the gaps at an unbelievable angle.
"You really were hiding something!"
The huntress could clearly sense that the magical power within those chains was not something a weak Servant could release instantly.
Just as she excitedly prepared to push Iori further, the smile on the boy's face suddenly disappeared.
He stood up seriously and stared intensely at the calm and beautiful sea.
Atalanta slowed her movement belatedly. In the next moment, she felt a powerful surge of magical energy emerging from the deep sea, not weaker than that of a Servant.
"What is this?"
BOOM!
Hundreds of tons of seawater surged into the sky before falling back down, revealing jade-like white scales, a long graceful body, and a pair of vertical crimson pupils like berries.
"Yamata no Orochi!"
Atalanta turned pale with shock, but quickly calmed down as she noticed the differences.
First, although this white serpent was huge, it was still much smaller than Orochi, and it only had a single head.
Second, in terms of magical power, Orochi had already surpassed the limits of a Servant's Saint Graph and reached the level of a god. This giant serpent… was probably just barely comparable to a divine beast.
Very strong, but not enough to bring despair.
Still, why would a divine beast with an aura close to Yamata no Orochi appear in this sea?
"Berserker… could it be you?" Atalanta looked at Iori and murmured. "You've been traveling everywhere lately. Were you searching for this?"
Iori didn't answer. He simply stared at the white jade serpent.
Cella also stopped walking. The surging waves submerged her calves. The divine beast's majestic aura nearly made it hard for her to breathe, yet a faint smile appeared on her pale face.
"ROAR!!!"
"…Let's do it, Berserker."
Clang!
Atalanta's pupils shrank.
Even with her dynamic vision, she couldn't see when Iori had moved. With just a single blink, the black-haired boy had already leapt into the air.
Like a dragon riding the mist, he flew across the sea. The divine sword in his hand left faint ripples of vapor in the air, blurring the moonlight and making the night sky even more dazzling.
"Eight..."
"ROOOAR!!!"
The crimson pupils locked onto Iori.
The giant serpent roared wildly. A powerful suction force burst from its abyss-like mouth, trying to swallow him whole.
Iori didn't dodge or resist. Instead, he followed the pull and flew straight toward the serpent's head.
At the instant before its venomous fangs could pierce him, a thick iron pillar appeared out of thin air, and he kicked it fiercely into the serpent's mouth.
"!!"
A dull crashing sound mixed with the serpent's painful roar.
Iori suddenly vanished.
In the next instant he appeared directly above the serpent. Ame-no-Murakumo in his hand was wrapped in lightning and mist at the same time, then condensed into radiant brilliance before bursting forth...
For a brief moment, it seemed as if the phantom of an eight-headed serpent flashed across Iori's body.
The divine sword in his hand became like the gaping maw of a giant beast ready to devour prey, slashing across the white jade divine beast's body almost simultaneously!
"Roa..."
The serpent's body froze.
The crimson light in its eyes gradually faded.
By the time the sword-bearing boy landed on the sea's surface, the serpent's head fell like a ripe fruit and split apart into many fragments…
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Iori stood on the sea, water soaking his ankles. Then the serpent's massive body collapsed with a thunderous crash, raising waves as tall as two people that rushed toward him and Cella...
Crash!
The cresting wave split apart like a curtain of water, avoiding the two of them before crashing onto the beach.
Blood gradually spread through the water. Yet it didn't disperse. Instead, it strangely formed the shape of a winding serpent and slowly flowed toward Iori's feet, entering the sword Ame-no-Murakumo.
Under the bright moon, between sea and sky, the boy stood with sword in hand after slaying the serpent.
His black shihakusho was decorated with crimson spots like blooming plum blossoms.
Cella quietly watched this scene. On her beautiful face bloomed a vivid expression completely different from that of ordinary homunculi. She seemed completely captivated by the stunning sight.
Farther away, Atalanta took a deep breath. Her expression turned solemn as realization dawned.
"Indeed. A monster like Yamata no Orochi wouldn't die so cleanly. Even if its body is cut apart, its evil thoughts will still pollute the surrounding water and soil… That's how those magical beasts appeared, and this serpent is the same."
The difference was that the magical beasts had been contaminated by the evil thoughts.
But this white jade serpent was almost the evil thoughts themselves.
If not for the short time that had passed and the fact that it hadn't yet developed any intelligence, this serpent could have rivaled a first-class Servant…
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, it had been killed in its cradle by Iori.
'Wait. Could there be more than one serpent like this?', Atalanta suddenly thought of something.
If Iori was constantly hunting down Orochi's lingering malice, then what exactly had his Saint Graph become?
...Unfortunately, no one would answer that question for her.
———
During this time, Iori and Cella weren't just traveling around sightseeing. They were also clearing away the lingering poison of Yamata no Orochi.
Although he wasn't in Trifas, the fact that the small city had remained stable until now meant Iori's contribution wasn't small.
Atalanta seemed to have realized something, but it wasn't very clear. She suspected that Iori still had other hidden cards.
Because according to normal logic, both Medea and Amakusa Shirou were actively expanding their strength and preparing war fortresses.
If Iori was merely strengthening his personal Saint Graph, it would seem rather insufficient.
Even if he joined forces with Mordred and Jeanne, it would still be difficult to shake the military forces of both the Red and Black factions…
When the huntress focused her gaze on the sea again, the serpent's body had already begun to dissipate.
The black-haired boy's aura surged to an extreme level for a brief moment, but soon weakened again, seemingly returning to the level of an ordinary second-rate Servant.
But this time, Atalanta was certain that was only an appearance…
As expected, if she wanted to stop Medea and Amakusa Shirou and seize the Greater Grail to save the children...
Cooperating with Iori was the only path.
"Hm?"
Iori was using the Ame-no-Murakumo sword to absorb the blood of the dragon-serpent when a night wind suddenly passed by. A cherry blossom petal drifted past his eyes and stuck to the hair beside his ear.
At the same time, a frivolous yet relaxing voice drifted over.
"…"
The boy listened attentively for a moment.
The petal vanished like an illusion, and a joyful smile appeared on his face.
"So you've finally arrived… Chaldea!"
He turned and said to Cella, "Let's go, Master."
"Alright."
Cella brushed the loose hair by her ear aside and spoke softly and calmly.
"Let's depart, Berserker. No matter where we're going."
She had been very happy during this time.
Although they had indeed been hunting evil thoughts along the way, the scenery they saw during their journey was not false.
Since her birth, she had almost always been surrounded by magical knowledge and various Mystic Codes.
To fulfill the family's long-cherished wish, she had turned herself into a tool without blood or tears.
Not only did she rarely experience joy, even simple leisure time was scarce. Even the way she slept to restore stamina efficiently had strict rules.
Only after meeting Iori did she realize that there was a completely different way to live.
There was no need to pursue meaning. No need to weigh gains and costs. Completely different from a magus's mindset, it was a loose and relaxed life.
No rules, no goals, no plans, no pain…
At first Cella felt lost and even ashamed because of it. But after she gradually adapted, she realized something.
Perhaps simple "happiness" itself was the most meaningful thing.
It was just that everyone pursued happiness in different ways.
Ordinary people enjoyed love and family.
Ambitious people longed for power.
Saints practiced their own justice.
For someone like Iori, he could gain incomparable satisfaction from adventure. Although he never praised himself as something great, Cella felt that this was actually what a "hero" should look like.
As for Cella's own happiness…
She still didn't quite understand it.
But there was one thing she could confirm.
During the time she had spent with Iori, the feelings stirring in her heart were greater than everything she had experienced in the rest of her life combined.
As a homunculus, she even felt that she had begun to experience what it meant to be "human."
Because of that, she felt endless gratitude toward Iori and decided to give him the only thing she could leave in this world...
Ownership of the Lesser Grail.
If the end of her life was already decided, then Cella hoped it could feel the warmth of that person's hand in her place.
…However, while thinking about all this, she never once asked Iori what he thought about it.
———
"It's getting dark. We'd better find an inn to stay in."
At dusk, Jeanne, dressed in ordinary student clothes, led Ritsuka and Mash through the streets of Trifas.
The Master-Servant duo looked rather strange, but fortunately Chaldea had plenty of experience.
They had prepared accessory-type Mystic Codes for Mash that lowered her presence so ordinary people wouldn't notice her.
On top of that, there had been so many strange events lately that even if a few people with sharp senses noticed the unusual "cosplay trio," they quickly walked away with the mindset that it was better not to get involved.
And so, on the nearly empty and quiet streets, Jeanne explained to the two of them, "After night falls, a thick fog will descend."
"The magical beasts from the wilderness will wander into the city, but as long as you stay inside a house there won't be any problem."
"Magical beasts won't attack houses?" Mash asked curiously. "Why?"
"It's some kind of field magecraft similar to a barrier that keeps people away. I don't really understand the details, but it should be the work of a certain witch."
When the abnormalities first began, Jeanne had driven away the magical beasts that wandered into Trifas in order to protect the residents. At that time their numbers were still small, so it wasn't difficult to drive them away.