Lancer Scáthach.
Rider Odysseus.
Both Servants of Aoko and Touko have now withdrawn from the battlefield one by one, meaning they have completely exited this Holy Grail War.
Of course, neither of them truly desired the Holy Grail. Aoko stood on the opposing side of Naoki to fight him all out, to see the gap between herself and the young man—a goal that could be pursued anytime later. Meanwhile, Touko acted because of Merry's nonsense and her own wishes.
"Defeating Rider directly is essentially the same as defeating me directly."
Touko looked at her student standing before her.
At this moment, she vaguely recalled the first time she met Naoki. He was far more naive back then than he is now. Though his eyes carried the weight of someone who had experienced much, he was still a naive child. He wanted to become her student to learn puppet-making, even claiming he could defeat Aoko to prove it, deliberately showing his strength to convince her he wasn't arrogant.
Though when he officially faced Aoko, their fight was brief.
Since they spent so much time together in the early years, Touko hadn't fully noticed his changes. But after Naoki spent five years in another world and returned, she finally realized her student might have grown to a different level.
A level she couldn't catch up to and didn't wish to reach.
Touko didn't mind this too much. She wasn't the type to specialize in combat, so being surpassed by her student in fighting strength didn't sadden her.
Still, she was Naoki's teacher. If a teacher is surpassed by their student in a certain field, they can no longer call themselves a teacher. That was Touko's little quirk.
"With this, you can say you've graduated from me." Touko smiled at Naoki, then removed the Mystic Eye Killer she always wore. "In the past, to celebrate a student's graduation, a Magus would typically gift a tool, usually an Azoth Sword. I didn't prepare one, so this will do. Catch."
Catching the Mystic Eye Killer tossed by Touko, Naoki looked at his teacher with slight confusion. "Graduated… I haven't learned all your puppet-making techniques yet, though I kept studying through the repetition device in that world…"
"Idiot, if I taught you everything, what would I live on? Did you misunderstand what graduation means?" Touko, as usual, smacked Naoki's head. "As long as you can stand on your own as a puppeteer, you've graduated from me. Besides, your original goal for learning Puppet Magecraft has been achieved. You don't need to stay under me forever."
Sajyou Rei—the starting point of Naoki's journey to learn Puppet Magecraft. To create Rei, he became Touko's student. Now that Rei exists, he no longer needs to keep studying Puppet Magecraft.
Gripping the Mystic Eye Killer tightly, Naoki placed it over his eyes. "I understand. Thank you for your teachings all this time, Sensei."
"No more Sensei—you don't need to call me that anymore, right? Like Aoko, just call me Touko." Touko hooked her arm around Naoki's neck. "Or are you trying to treat us differently? Looking down on your big sister?"
"That's normal, isn't it? I'm a hundred times better than Touko, right, Naoki?"
Aoko hooked her arm around Naoki's, pulling him from Touko's side into her embrace. "Don't forget our promise, Naoki. We still have to go all out in a fight."
"Yeah, I remember. We can start right now."
"Huh? Now?" Aoko frowned. "You're still up for fighting? You've already fought three times today, haven't you?"
"Against you, Aoko, now's more than enough."
Furious!
Aoko pinched Naoki's waist hard. "Those are your words! When I beat you later, begging won't help!"
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Three minutes later.
Seeing Aoko planted headfirst in the ground like a seedling, the others covered their mouths, unable to hold back their laughter.
Crouching and poking her sister, Touko mocked coldly, "At least last longer, Aoko. Losing in three minutes—you're pathetic. Is that what a Magician amounts to?"
"That was actually pretty long." Atalanta offered an objective assessment. "In close combat, I don't know many who could last three minutes against Naoki."
"Haaah—!"
Forcibly pulling her head from the ground, Aoko shook off the mud and glared angrily at Naoki, who was petting Mo-chan's head nearby. "You cheated, Naoki. Just wait, I'll teach you a lesson in bed!"
Fun fact: every time Aoko made such threats, she usually couldn't get out of bed the next day.
At that moment, two more figures quickly approached from the distance.
It was Ryougi Shiki and Okita Souji Alter.
Seeing the scene that looked like a grand reunion after a massive battle, they understood the situation without much explanation.
Somewhat dissatisfied, Shiki frowned and sheathed her short knife. "Too late… Just cutting down some small fry, and it's already over. Tch, boring."
"We really couldn't interfere in that fight, Miss Ryougi."
From the start of the battle until now, not much time had passed. From when Scáthach and Artoria began fighting to Odysseus's withdrawal, it was less than half an hour. The mecha battle that followed made it even harder for Shiki and Okita Alter to join in.
This left them only able to watch from the sidelines. No wonder Shiki was annoyed.
She'd chase Naoki down later and stab him a few times.
Seeing the remaining two had arrived and confirming everyone was gathered, Naoki felt a bit relieved. "With this, it's all over. All that's left is the final wish."
"About the wish, how will it be done?"
"I'll explain later. For now, let's head back." Naoki took Artoria's hand and ruffled Mordred's head beside him. "Back to where Gray and the others are."