In the spiritron computer hall of the real world, Rin turned her head in disbelief at the Buddha light emanating from the computer. Under the light's illumination, the monsters and tentacles in the hall slowly melted away like spring snow meeting the morning sun.
Seeing the monsters vanish, Rin bowed toward the spiritron computer. She stopped her spellcasting and, barefoot on the cold floor, looked at Da Vinci, who was sweating and focused on modifying the computer's parameters. Rin began to reflect on the gains, losses, and follow-up of her plan.
In the Spiritron World, the Buddha light slowly dissipated in the void, leaving only The Enlightened One, the Holy Grail, the bizarre flesh mass, and an unconscious Gudako.
"Amitabha!"
A Buddhist invocation rang out. A tall man wearing a scholar's scarf and Hanfu appeared beside the three objects opposite The Enlightened One, waving a feather fan.
"I, Zhuge Liang, greet the Venerable One. There is no need to trouble you further; please leave the rest to me!"
Zhuge Liang, no longer appearing as Waver, spoke to The Enlightened One. With a wave of his feather fan, massive stone pillars descended from the sky, forming a precise Eight Trigrams Array to trap the bizarre flesh. Simultaneously, an altar appeared before him.
Zhuge Liang set down his fan, lit the Seven-Star Lamps on the table, and began reciting the Yellow Court Scripture.
Then, a portal of light appeared in this void. Sakura and Fujino, along with BB and several other Servants, stepped through the portal.
When BB and Lilith saw The Enlightened One's gaze, they were so frightened they hid behind Sakura.
"My mission is complete. I wish you all the best."
After The Enlightened One spoke calmly, a golden vortex appeared behind him. He sat upon a lotus pedestal and slowly faded into the vortex, vanishing from this world.
Having finished his ritual, Zhuge Liang picked up his fan, walked to where The Enlightened One had vanished, and gave a respectful bow. He then shook his head and spoke.
"I originally had no desire to help those as impolite as you. However, fate is a fickle thing. Please build me a thatched hut and provide a few acres of land here, so that I may stay and guard the flesh of these Old Ones."
Hearing Zhuge Liang's lecture, Sakura and Fujino blushed. In their tension, they had completely forgotten their manners. Now reminded by Zhuge Liang, they and the other'Sakuras' quickly bowed toward where The Enlightened One had departed, and then bowed to Zhuge Liang.
After finishing, Sakura handed the Holy Grail over to Fujino and Gudako to BB and the others, while she stayed behind to use the system permissions to create a paradise for Zhuge Liang, centered around the seal.
Da Vinci pressed the last letter and then hit enter.
The spiritron computer, having finished its defense system upgrade, vibrated slightly and began a self-diagnostic to repair the components that had previously been transformed into flesh and disappeared.
Once the spiritron computer entered its self-test process, Da Vinci slumped onto the floor without regard for appearances, leaning against the console and complaining to Rin.
"Rin! Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused this time!"
Rin scratched her head guiltily, looking at Da Vinci, whose face was puffed out in anger, and said sheepishly.
"Ahem, Da Vinci, you agreed to this plan when it was being formulated."
"But you didn't tell me that the so-called 'Magecraft Seed' you provided was a product of those Old Ones! You should know that those monsters from outside the world once eyed our universe greedily and even came to Earth; the people of the Age of Gods barely managed to drive them away! You almost let them back in just now, do you realize that?!"
"Oh no!"
Suddenly remembering that a few monsters had run out of the hall and into the passage earlier, Rin ignored Da Vinci's lecture and activated her magecraft, flying swiftly toward the passage.
The Old Director, who had entered Inner Chaldea with the Doctor, encountered several eerie monsters just as he stepped out of the elevator.
Seeing these bizarre creatures, the Old Director seemed to understand something. Protecting the Doctor, he continuously cast magecraft to attack the eerie monsters.
When Rin arrived at the scene and saw the monster corpses littering the ground, she patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Marisbury. If they had really escaped, I would have been in deep trouble!"
The Doctor—Romani Archaman—frowned as he looked at the monster corpses beginning to dissolve into bloody water and asked Rin.
"vice director! What on earth is going on?!"
Meanwhile, the Doctor thought to himself,'Something's wrong. Logically, the Demon Gods shouldn't have started moving this early!'
Seeing Rin stammering and unsure of how to explain, the Old Director stepped forward to interrupt her hesitation.
"That's enough, Archaman. According to my agreement with Rin, her independent project is not for us to question. However, Rin, if you're going to conduct such dangerous experiments in the future, please inform us. After all, if those things had reached the surface just now, an unprepared Chaldea would have suffered heavy casualties."
"No, no, this was just an accident. It won't happen again."
"I see you're busy cleaning up this mess, so Archaman and I won't disturb you. We'll head back to continue testing the fate system."
With that, the Old Director turned and led the Doctor into the elevator.
As the elevator doors closed, both Rin and the Old Director breathed a sigh of relief.
Inside the elevator, the Old Director discreetly gripped his right forearm with his left hand. A small wound on his arm, hidden beneath his clothes and sprouting eerie tentacles, revealed that he was hiding something.
After seeing off the Doctor and the Old Director, Rin first summoned maintenance puppets, then went to the underground passage to retrieve Da Vinci. Together, they opened the Life-support pods of the experiment participants.
Sitting up from the Life-support pod, Kiritsugu Emiya rubbed his head, which was dizzy from the influx of memories. He looked at the familiar yet strange Chaldea as if it were a lifetime ago, his eyes filled with confusion.
Just then, a pair of arms wrapped around Kiritsugu Emiya's neck, and a familiar scent reached his nose.
"Iri?"
Sure enough, turning his head, Kiritsugu Emiya found Irisviel standing tenderly behind him, leaning down to embrace him.
"Kiritsugu! I heard you've given up on your dream, is it true?"
Illya, wearing a thin lab gown and barefoot, ran excitedly to Kiritsugu Emiya's Life-support pod and asked her parents.
"Yes."
"That's wonderful!"
Illya leaped happily into the Life-support pod and lay on Kiritsugu Emiya's chest, acting spoiled just like when she was little.
A happy smile appeared on Kiritsugu Emiya's face, but the tears in his eyes wouldn't stop falling. He held Irisviel and Illya tightly, repeating over and over.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry..."
Kirei Kotomine opened his eyes and, controlling his weak body, stepped out of the Life-support pod to survey the unfamiliar surroundings. At that moment, Caren entered Kirei Kotomine's private room, leading Shirou Kotomine, who had a bright red handprint on his face.
"Kirei, you're awake."
Unlike the enlightened Kiritsugu Emiya, Kirei Kotomine, who clearly understood his own heart, simply walked calmly to Caren and Shirou's side and reached out to rub the heads of his children, who were much taller than in his memories.
"Kirei, aren't you even willing to say a single apology?"
Turning to leave the room, Kirei heard Caren's words behind him. He turned back calmly and said to her.
"Caren, I am evil. I have spent my whole life on the path of seeking my true self. I was like this before, I am like this now, and I will be like this in the future. I will not regret, and I will not feel sorry."
"Kirei... you're still the same after all. So... Father... were you broken from the very beginning?"
Kirei Kotomine did not answer; he simply gave Caren a smile before turning and walking out of the room.
"Kirei... no matter what, you are my father..."
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