"You said... your Master is who?"
The surging magical energy instantly stalled. Ishtar's body reacted faster than her consciousness.
Like Souji, her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at Irisviel, as if hearing an unbelievable answer.
"My Master is Ryuya. Oh, right, Master said he has another name, Isbel... Isbel something?"
No longer sensing hostility from Ishtar and Souji, Irisviel immediately felt confident again.
'Ryuya, is it really you?'
Remaining silent, Ishtar stopped moving, pondering if the person Irisviel mentioned could be the scoundrel she knew. She wanted to discuss with Okita Souji about a temporary truce.
"Um, Master, I..."
"Rider, let's call a truce with the other side for now. I think I might know the person they're referring to."
Before Ishtar could speak, Souji addressed Ishtar first.
Exchanging a glance, despite living in different eras, the two felt an eerie sense of familiarity.
"Could it be... you also know Ryuya?" x2
The moment they spoke, they realized something was off. Just as Souji and Ishtar were about to say more...
"Oh, I was wondering who the last Servant would be. So it's you, Ishtar."
"And you... are you Chiyo?"
After picking up Enkidu and the Yukinoshita Sisters, Ryuya followed the magical energy from Artoria and Irisviel to find them.
From a distance, he spotted Ishtar and Souji.
He was familiar with a certain Venus Goddess to a negative distance. Ryuya knew Ishtar's depths, and Ishtar knew Ryuya's lengths.
But regarding Souji, this being who had now transcended humanity, this was Ryuya's first time seeing her.
The more he looked at Souji, the more familiar she seemed. He realized, 'Isn't this Majin Souji? The ultimate Souji born from a certain timeline, one who altered her own Spirit Origin for a goal, one of the 'Four Girlfriends Outside the Shield'.'
It was until their eyes met. The moment Ryuya saw Souji, it was as if he had returned to the Bakumatsu Era, the time of Rashomon.
Hesitating slightly, he tentatively asked, "Is it you, Chiyo?"
"..."
Silence. The figure she hadn't seen for nearly 200 years reappeared. Unlike Gilgamesh and the others, who at least enjoyed time with Ryuya, Souji's situation was different.
Struggling to survive in a chaotic era since childhood, she finally found the warmth of home in Ryuya.
But this beautiful life shattered before she could experience it for long.
Opening her eyes, seeing Ryuya return from Rashomon, the Okita Souji back then could only witness her brother's final moments.
She didn't even get the chance to tell Ryuya her name.
Wordlessly gazing at Ryuya, her golden eyes contained countless suppressed emotions. Her entire being seemed mechanical, yet their former tacit understanding lingered between them.
Finally, step by step, she moved before Ryuya, afraid he might disappear. Souji only dared to gently touch the man's cheek, then said softly;
"Is it you? Ryu-nii..."
…
Inside the Einzbern Castle.
Never expecting that a single evening outing would lead to finding all the known False Masters and Servants, and that all of them were lovers he had encountered in previous simulations...
He was happy, very happy. After calling Einzbern to have the homunculus maids arrange a bus to bring everyone back to the castle, Ryuya looked at his lovers during the ride.
He briefly explained their identities to each other while inquiring about the remaining Servants who hadn't arrived.
Ishtar: "Ereshkigal and the Mother Goddess? They should be fine. Although those two aren't great at governance, Siduri is there. No need to worry."
"Besides, it's been so many years. The Hundred Races have their own established lifestyles. Everyone has integrated their cultures well. Except for the demons' still bizarre aesthetic sense, the other non-human races are quite good."
Glancing at Gil-chan sulking not far away, Ishtar felt extremely smug inside.
It couldn't be helped. Although she and Gilgamesh were good sisters, they just couldn't see eye to eye.
In the days without Ryuya, all the Uruk girls got along fine, except for Ishtar and Gil-chan.
Those two would argue whenever they met, fiercely enough that even humanity couldn't stop them.
"What Ishtar said is correct. With Siduri and the Mother Goddess there, Babylon won't have any issues."
Nodding, Enkidu first looked at Artoria and Morgan, then at Kaguya and Merlin, finally settling her gaze on Irisviel and Souji.
Faintly sensing the approach of an unfamiliar kind of war, the Chain of Heaven felt not a trace of tension, but was instead full of anticipation.
It couldn't be helped. Enkidu was unfamiliar with everything at birth.
Growing up following Ryuya, she was originally a girl with very little bottom line or shame. This was evident from her calling Ryuya 'Daddy' for the candied fruit and rocking rides.
There was a time Enkidu would even call out 'Daddy' a few times at night, showing her true nature around someone she truly loved.
While on the surface, Enkidu appeared to be a very elegant, gentle girl.
"Mmm, Siduri is indeed reliable."
Nodding, Ryuya turned his gaze to Merlin and Artoria. He had already heard their answers in the morning.
Camelot eventually merged back into the mundane world after centuries, but Artoria, Morgan, Merlin, Vivian, and Mordred lived in Avalon, the Inner Sea of the Planet, which is a kind of special existence.
"Gareth, Agravain... they didn't want immortality. The Round Table Knights, having faithfully fulfilled their duties, chose to accept natural aging and enter the Throne of Heroes."
"But Mordred was different. That child was stubborn, insisting on seeing her 'bastard father' to properly vent her anger by fighting him. So she was the only Round Table Knight who came to live in Avalon with us."
Adding the follow-up about Britain, Morgan's tone carried a hint of grievance, full of unhappiness.
"Speaking of which, Is, you never told us you had the ability to travel to other worlds. And you actually found so many sisters. Although we don't mind, suddenly gathering us all together like this... aren't you afraid we might fight?"
As she said that, she looked at the massive group of eleven women, and she also heard from Enkidu and the others that a few more hadn't arrived, which made it close to twenty people.
Enough for a full football team, complete with the reserve player.
A slight smile appeared on her lips, and the Witch of Britain began contemplating her own little schemes.