Chapter 180: Before Returning
[We thought someone would have to sacrifice themselves like Romulus, nearly scared us stiff!]
[Good thing we didn't have to fight the true body of "Mother Goat", otherwise the Host would've survived on pure belief.]
[That final battle scene, wasn't it Mo-chan who slashed into the mud of the Holy Grail? As expected, the Ahoge family has a blood feud with the Holy Grail.]
[Hahahaha, Noah is the unluckiest one here—torn apart by Beast VI, somehow ended up as a sacrifice for "Mother Goat", and then Beast VI becomes an ally!]
[Host, are you there? Is the actress for Molay coming back? I want to see her!! I think I've fallen in love!! That Succubus design is peak perfection!!]
[Yes, yes! Please give us some beautiful pictures of big sis Molay! I'll join the Templar Order tonight on the spot!]
[Wake up, my dude, the Templar Order went extinct ages ago!]
...
[System: 'EMIYA: Alaya's Contracted Employee' has sent 500 Saint Quartz!]
[Message: Congratulations to Noah-senpai for winning this quarter's Outstanding Employee award!!!]
[System: 'Alayashiki' has sent 1,000 Saint Quartz!]
[Message: Umu, I grant Noah-kun 3 days of unpaid leave. Be sure to return to the company on time.]
[System: 'Bruce-kun' has sent 10,000 Saint Quartz!]
[Message: Even I, a capitalist, don't exploit employees like this... Sasuga Alaya-senpai, truly admirable!!]
...
[Host, hey host, say something!]
[Host's famous now, huh, so many viewers and not even a thank you for donations.]
[LMAO, has Host ever thanked for donations?]
…
Faced with the flood of comments in the stream room, Ethan couldn't hold it in any longer.
"I nearly died just now! Could you please quiet down a bit."
As soon as Ethan spoke up, the stream room instantly turned chaotic.
[HAHAHA, he's mad! Host's mad!]
[That free-fall earlier really was dangerous, but you've been floating on the water for almost twenty minutes now, get back to work already!!]
[LOL. Host was drifting like a lifeless corpse with that soulless look—I thought the stream froze or something!]
[Host, when are you giving out gifts like you promised?]
[Come on guys, Host's been streaming all day, let the bro rest a bit. Y'all are exploiting him harder than Alaya.]
Ethan floated in the seawater, no longer having the strength to argue, only raised a hand to pick up a drifting tentacle of a sea demon and held it up to the camera.
"Wanna eat some squid?"
At that moment, the tentacle in Ethan's hand even twitched slightly.
[??????????????????????]
[Ayo guys, Host's really gone mad!!]
[It's over, you keep forcing Host to work like this, he's gonna become EMIYA 2.0!!]
[The result of selling your soul to capitalism... So, how much for a kilo of squid?]
[Any side effects? Like, after eating it you start hearing whispers in your head or grow tentacles on your back or something?]
[LOL LMAO!!!]
Seeing the comments had zero concern for his mental well-being, Ethan inwardly wanted to summon Shub-Niggurath and drag everyone to die together.
"You just keep rambling incomprehensible things like that… don't tell me you've actually gone insane?"
Suddenly, a splash of water shot straight at him, forcing Ethan to dodge quickly.
Turning around, he saw Draco sitting on a piece of broken wooden plank, splashing water toward him with her foot.
Unlike Ethan who was soaked in seawater, hair tangled with seaweed, Draco leisurely sat on the plank, face calm and relaxed.
She even casually kicked the water with her foot, looking no different from someone enjoying a seaside vacation.
"Hey, stop fooling around!!"
"HAHAHA, why should I listen to you!!!"
Ethan hurriedly tried to stop her, but only got hit with another splash of water.
The small wooden plank bobbed gently, sending ripples across the sea.
When Draco's face appeared in frame, the comments exploded even more.
[Oh oh oh! It's Draco-chan!!!]
[This is the real Host now! That 'male corpse' there! Please move aside a bit.]
[That petite look, those pale hands… oh lord, Blackbeard Brother, I've achieved enlightenment!!]
[What kind of enlightenment is that, you up there?!]
[Mock Blackbeard, understand Blackbeard, become Blackbeard!!!]
...
"Oh? So you're using that very special method to absorb mana, huh."
Suddenly, Draco seemed to notice something on Ethan.
"Now that you mention it, I've noticed it for a while but never asked… Oh? How interesting."
She looked intrigued and stepped closer to Ethan, observing him closely from head to toe.
"Isn't it because you didn't do anything?!"
If it weren't for the fact that Draco remained so calm and composed, completely unpanicked, only saying she had sent out a signal and was waiting for rescue—then he wouldn't have ended up floating on the ocean like a corpse doing a livestream!
Ethan originally thought he would be rayshifted back to Chaldea mid-air, but it seemed that because the Holy Grail hadn't been retrieved yet, Chaldea was unable to initiate a transfer.
He had no choice but to keep floating like this to conserve energy, waiting for either a rescue or a rayshift—whichever came first.
"Big Sis! Target sighted!!!"
Suddenly, a voice shouted from afar.
Ethan immediately turned to look.
In the distance, the Golden Hind was slowly making its way toward him.
"It's that brat and the girl!"
A pirate observing from the deck shouted down.
"Good! Get them aboard immediately!"
Drake, standing on the deck, gave the order right away.
Seeing the Golden Hind slowly approach, Ethan finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Just as the Popess said. Get him up quickly!"
Drake promptly ordered the crew to toss down a rope.
With the help of the pirates, they managed—after just a few tries—to pull Ethan, who had been soaking in the water for half the day, up onto the deck.
As soon as he got on deck, Ethan saw Mash running straight toward him.
"Senpai!!!"
Mash reached him with a joyful expression and gently removed the seaweed tangled in Ethan's hair.
"Mash, so you're on the ship too?"
Ethan stood up, took off his Combat Uniform, and wrung the water out to dry it a bit.
Fou immediately jumped onto Ethan and scratched at his face with a paw.
"Yes, I was found by Captain Drake right after I fell. Not just me—everyone is on board."
"Oh?"
Ethan casually brushed Beast IV off of him and glanced around the deck.
"Looks like you're still safe and sound, Master."
Standing at the front to greet him was Johanna.
She stood upright, smiling gently as she greeted Ethan.
"You're so slow, Master!"
Mordred spoke up right after. She was leaning lazily against the railing, gazing out at the vast ocean.
"This place is boring as hell, and in the end, I didn't even get to meet Father. Let's just hurry back already!"
"You've really got a tough life."
Jeanne Alter also walked over, arms crossed as she looked Ethan up and down—he was still wringing out his soaking clothes.
"Jeanne Alter, you're okay too? That's great!"
Ethan looked at her and immediately spoke.
"You… Hmph, don't underestimate me! If I can't even handle something this minor, then how can I still be called the 'Dragon Witch'?!"
Jeanne Alter blushed slightly, then turned away quickly and left the deck in a hurry.
Right after that, Ethan also noticed: on the other side of the deck, Heracles was sitting silently.
However, he was surrounded by a group of pirates, all gazing at him with eyes full of admiration and reverence.
"At first, the Golden Hind was nearly swallowed whole by those giant squids. It was thanks to him that we were saved. That's why everyone on the deck is deeply grateful to him."
Drake also stepped over, standing beside Ethan as they looked toward Heracles.
"I never thought I'd fight alongside people like you all… Even managed to drive off a monster so huge it could block out the entire sky… It's something I couldn't imagine even in my dreams!"
Even so, she soon gave a somewhat apologetic smile.
"But I'm truly sorry… I didn't help out all that much."
"Not at all…"
Ethan shook his head.
"The Captain helped us a lot. Besides, if you hadn't rescued me, I'd still be soaking in the sea right now."
As he spoke, Ethan continued wringing the water out of his Combat Uniform.
"Hahaha, stop trying to flatter me."
Drake let out a hearty laugh.
"If I could become a Servant, I'd probably be a lot more impressive. But that's a bit too much to hope for… A pirate like me can't exactly become a Heroic Spirit—how could I ever become a Servant, right?"
"A brilliant leader like you, Captain, will definitely be honored as a hero one day."
Ethan declared confidently.
'…And later, she'll become a Buster AOE with 50% NP charge, Ignore Defense, and Ignores Invincibility. Absolutely formidable.'
"If you say so, I guess I'll believe half of it. But that's the charm of setting sail—no one knows whether you'll face storms or clear skies!!!"
"That's right! Being able to follow Big Sis through this one-in-nine-lives kind of battle—man, that's a tale I can brag about for the rest of my life!"
One of the pirates who had helped pull Ethan aboard laughed proudly.
"Hahaha, even if we just closed our eyes and fired cannons, we were still part of the fight!!!"
Seeing the pirates laughing and chatting so cheerfully, Ethan felt a sense of relief in his heart.
"Too bad… these achievements, I'm afraid you won't be able to brag about them."
Suddenly, an image of Doctor Romani appeared from Mash's wristband.
"Uwaa! Big Sis! That weird short guy popped up again!!!"
"Who are you calling a weird short guy!?"
Romani protested in frustration, then explained:
"Because this Singularity has been resolved, everything related to us… will be completely forgotten by the people here."
"I see…"
Drake nodded, quickly accepting this reality.
"But even so, I'll never forget this voyage."
"Hey, are you guys done chatting yet? How about finding the Holy Grail first!"
Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of Ethan.
A young man in a black military uniform, looking older than his actual age, with long brown hair tied into a high ponytail. He was looking at Ethan with sharp eyes.
"You are…?"
"Already forgotten me so quickly?"
The other party took a step forward, looking slightly displeased as he said:
"I'm Noah."
"You're Noah?!"
Though the face was the same, the overwhelming pressure of a Grand Class was now completely gone.
Ethan froze for a moment, then turned to Romani's image.
Romani gave a nod—what the other said was true.
"To completely drive off that criminal extraterrestrial enemy, all of my authority was entirely consumed. Now I can barely exist with this ordinary Saint Graph."
Noah explained.
"At the moment, within this Saint Graph, Captain Nemo's portion holds slightly more weight."
"I see…"
It seemed that to defeat "Mother," Noah had to give up his Grand Saint Graph as well.
But… as long as everyone made it out safe, then perhaps this could be considered misfortune within fortune.
"In any case, this era has been corrected. To minimize the impact on this timeline's history, we should find the Holy Grail quickly and return. For now, start by searching the surrounding seas."
Noah, clad in his military uniform, gave the order firmly.
…As expected of the Captain.
"Chiu chiu————————!!!"
Suddenly, Tonbi spread its wings and flew in from afar, landing on Johanna's shoulder and chirping nonstop about something.
"Master, it seems the Holy Grail has been found."
Right after, everyone spotted a towered ship approaching from the distance.
It was the very ship Xu Fu had used to set sail.
As the vessel drew closer to the Golden Hind, the sailors threw ropes over and temporarily lashed the two ships together.
Suddenly, a figure from the opposite deck leapt over—and before Ethan could react, he was caught in a tight embrace.
"Hahaha, so it is Ethan!"
A cheerful young girl with twin ponytails hugged Ethan tightly, beaming with joy.
"U-uhm… Your Majesty… I… I can't breathe…"
"Ah! Sorry, sorry!"
Immediately afterward, Himiko spotted the small Draco standing nearby.
"Draco-chan!!!"
Before Draco could resist, Himiko had already wrapped her in an enthusiastic embrace.
"You're safe too! That's wonderful!!"
"Let me go! You impudent wretch!!!"
Despite Draco's struggles, she couldn't escape the bear hug.
Standing nearby and watching, Ethan couldn't help but marvel inwardly—
Truly a naturally blessed body. Such vitality that even a 'Beast' couldn't wriggle free.
"The Envoy! It's the Envoy!"
As soon as she saw Ethan, Xu Fu quickly climbed up to the rail of her tower ship, calling out warmly.
"Xu Fu? So you're safe too."
"Thanks to the Envoy's grace, I somehow survived. Who would've thought this voyage would turn into such a life-or-death ordeal… No wonder the immortality elixir is so hard to find…"
"…Wait, what does that have to do with the elixir…"
Then Xu Fu waved at Ethan.
"To repay the Envoy's aid, I present to you a treasure I've found."
Xu Fu reached into her sleeve and pulled out a Holy Grail, radiating a powerful magical aura.
"This is a treasure I happened to see fall from the sky—surely it's something the Envoy needs."
"Senpai, that's the Holy Grail! We can finally retrieve it!"
Mash said happily.
"Oh, right, Envoy."
Xu Fu continued speaking to Ethan.
"In addition to finding the Holy Grail, I've also captured a thief."
Saying that, Xu Fu stepped aside, revealing to Ethan someone tied tightly to the ship's mast.
There, both a silver-haired girl and a strange black goat were securely bound.
"Molay?!"
Ethan looked at her in surprise.
So she was still alive!
Molay met Ethan's gaze and gave him a soft smile.
"We meet again, Master of Chaldea."