"Is it over?"
Atalante narrowed her eyes, gazing at the dust kicked up by Penthesilea's fall.
When the dust settled and the battlefield became clear, she froze.
In the forest clearing, Penthesilea, who should have been lying on the ground, had vanished. The only person remaining was Souya, looking rather helpless.
"I couldn't help it. I didn't expect her to survive a direct hit from my ultimate water strike. At the very last second, her Master used a Command Spell to teleport her away."
Souya shrugged and explained as the Hunter jumped down from the tree and walked up to him.
After her initial surprise, Atalante quickly accepted the reality. She shook her head.
"That is to be expected. That foolish woman possesses the blessing of Lord Ares. Killing her in a single strike is as difficult as having Jason defeat Heracles in a duel."
"Hmm..."
Hearing Atalante's words, Souya's mind raced, and he asked tentatively.
"So, these divine blessings... in Greece—I mean, the Greece where I exist—do many people have them?"
"What are you thinking, idiot? How could divine blessings be handed out like cheap trinkets?" Atalante frowned, sounding dissatisfied.
As a child raised by the Moon Goddess and Goddess of the Hunt, Artemis, Atalante's reverence and respect for her were deeply ingrained. Hearing Souya's somewhat dismissive tone regarding Greek gods displeased her slightly.
But she wasn't stupid. Having spent time with the Souya of Greece—Orpheus—she knew him inside and out. After a moment of thought, she deciphered the hidden meaning in his question.
"So, you are asking if the version of you in Greece also possesses divine blessings?"
"Exactly! You are so smart, Atalante!"
Souya's hesitant expression instantly vanished, replaced by a beaming smile as he looked at her.
"Bastard! Stop talking like that!"
Hearing him speak so familiarly, Atalante's face flushed slightly. Not wanting to show that expression to Souya, she feigned ferocity while her cat ears twitched.
"To answer your question: yes, absolutely. As someone favored by the gods, I wouldn't believe it if you didn't have several divine blessings. However."
"However what?"
Souya, who had been overjoyed during the first half of her sentence, immediately sobered up and stared nervously at the finger Atalante raised.
The green-haired Hunter smirked mischievously, highly satisfied with Souya's reaction. She didn't drag it out.
"However, I do not know exactly how many blessings you possess. It could be many, or it could be few. But possessing the gifts of the gods, you definitely aren't weak."
"I see."
Souya breathed a sigh of relief.
At the very least, knowing that his Greek self possessed divine blessings meant he wouldn't be weaker than Lamorak. In that case, he didn't need to worry about his future paths taking a wrong turn.
Relieved, Souya resolved to use the opportunity of this Holy Grail War to learn more about his story as Orpheus from Atalante.
Whether destiny truly existed or not, and whether he could actually change things on his journey of engraving Heroic Spirits, gathering more information beforehand was always beneficial.
Pushing the matters of the second path to the back of his mind, Souya returned his focus to the most critical issue: the Holy Grail War.
"So, Atalante, what is the current situation?"
Souya looked at Atalante, the fastest and most perceptive scout among the Red Faction Servants.
Atalante shared the detailed intelligence she had gathered regarding the entire battlefield.
After listening, Souya fell silent for a moment before looking in the direction of the Hanging Gardens.
It was already past midnight. Amakusa should have prepared the Gardens to snatch the Greater Grail by now. Why had he not made a move?
Or rather, what was he hesitating about?
Suddenly, Souya's vision blurred. Indistinct, shadowy scenes began to manifest before his eyes, accompanied by faint whispers echoing in his ears.
"Is this... Revelation?"
Souya was slightly surprised but mostly accustomed to it.
What puzzled him was why God was calling him at a time like this. Were the fries at the dock no longer tasty, or was He dissatisfied with the drama unfolding between His Saintess and Holy Son?
Souya allowed his consciousness to sink into the vision. Once he fully grasped the warning conveyed by the Revelation, a look of horror washed over his face. He stared toward the Millennia Fortress, his blue eyes filled with shock and profound worry.
"Are you kidding me?! The Black Faction's Caster isn't Merlin or Proto-Merlin?! How could it be her?!"
***
Meanwhile, on the other side.
In stark contrast to the Red Faction's apparent inaction and stable atmosphere, the Black Faction was immersed in heavy, somber silence.
Looking at Penthesilea, who had collapsed before him with a dangerously weak life aura and Spirit Origin, Caules clenched his fists.
He had known that as the Amazon Queen, Berserker would inevitably lose control when facing the enemy Achilles. But he never expected that the one to severely injure her wouldn't be Achilles, but the enemy Master, Kotomine Souya.
"Is that guy... really human?"
Recalling the images transmitted through Penthesilea's perspective—the boy clad in blue-black armor, wielding a white-gold lance—Caules felt immense pressure.
As a half-baked magus and a shut-in, it was the first time Caules felt the overwhelming presence of facing a final boss in reality.
But what was hardest to accept was that with Berserker's defeat, the Black Faction's morale hit rock bottom.
Watching the remaining Servants still fighting on the projections, the Black Faction Masters felt incredibly gloomy.
Saber Siegfried was pinned down by the Red Berserker, Kriemhild. For obvious reasons, as a husband, he couldn't bring himself to strike a lethal blow against his wife. If they used a Command Spell to force Siegfried to kill her, given his previous suicidal tendencies, it was highly likely they would lose one of their strongest Servants entirely.
As for the others, while Archer Chiron managed to suppress the enemy Rider Achilles in their duel, he couldn't defeat him quickly enough to assist elsewhere. Their Rider, Astolfo, and the suspected Assassin had already been defeated. Now came the news of Berserker's fall.
At this point, aside from Lancer Vlad III, there seemed to be no hope for victory.
But when everyone turned their eyes to the projection monitoring Lancer, their hearts sank further.
On the surface, Vlad III appeared to be fighting evenly with the enemy Lancer. However, his Noble Phantasm, Kazikli Bey, seemed to be heavily countered by the enemy's flames.
If this continued, the twenty thousand iron stakes would eventually run out. If he failed to achieve significant results before then, they would be utterly defeated.
Realizing this, everyone turned their gazes back to Darnic, seated at the head of the room.
Even the most rebellious Gordes had to admit that with the Yggdmillennia clan driven into a corner, all hope seemed to rest on Darnic, the true leader of the clan.
So, what was Darnic, the architect of this war, thinking at this moment?