[You got enough rest.]
[This was the most peaceful sleep you'd had since Sakura Tohsaka summoned you.]
[The final act of the story slowly began to unfold.]
Thump, thump, thump— A knock at the door. Ian opened his eyes and found Morgan, who had been sleeping beside him, gone.
"..." Although curious about Morgan's whereabouts, Ian knew he had to open the door first. After all, the person outside seemed very eager, as if they would tear the door down any second.
However—upon opening the door, Ian saw an unexpected figure. Atalante stood there with her hands behind her back, wagging her tail, looking at the man before her with a happy expression.
"Master!" she exclaimed. "Time to wake up—everyone's waiting for you now!"
"Oh... huh?!" Ian, who was still a little muddled, instantly became wide awake. "Everyone's waiting for me?"
"Yes!" Atalante nodded. "Everyone's in the living room now—only Master is missing!"
"..." Ian immediately realized the situation and became serious—after all, they now had a common enemy. "I understand, I'll be there after I change."
"Then I'll help Master change!"
"..."
[With Atalante's "help," you somewhat arduously changed your clothes.]
[Upon seeing the situation in the living room, you realized one thing.]
[That the subjugation of Caster was inevitable.]
The living room was now filled with people. On the left sofa sat the sisters Morgan and Artoria. A little to the right were Sakura Tohsaka and Rin Tohsaka. Scathach herself occupied a large portion of a sofa alone. No one wanted to sit too close to the Queen of the Land of Shadows—after all, she had a "record." And in the leftmost spot was Ibaraki Doji, holding Illya. Having witnessed the scene on Mount Enzou, she seemed to have directly "become" the Master's mother.
Given this scene, even without any hints, Ian completely understood what was happening. That's right. Although various issues still existed between them, because of Ian, they ultimately chose the same path—to eliminate the overly powerful Caster. And before this, they had probably already exchanged information.
"This is great," the man said, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, his eyes filled with inexpressible emotions. "You're all willing to participate in this subjugation battle."
"Alright, alright~" Atalante reached out and pushed Ian to the center where everyone could see him, then directly sat beside her Master, Rin Tohsaka. "Talking about these things now is a bit redundant. Let's discuss how to deal with Caster first!"
"You're right." Ian composed himself and adopted an incredibly serious demeanor. He knew that every girl present was waiting for him to speak. "Then—" The man's gaze fell on Scathach, who was sitting alone. He decided to help her out of her awkward situation. "Scathach, you're the only one among us who has directly faced Caster—could you describe it in more detail?"
At his words, everyone else's gaze fell upon Scathach. The latter didn't decline, simply nodding directly. "I understand." Having responded, Scathach began to recount her thoughts.
"Firstly—I want to remind everyone that although the opponent is Caster, his close-quarters combat ability is no worse than anyone here."
"..." Artoria pondered for a moment, then posed a question that concerned her greatly. "Scathach, can I understand this as a Caster who specializes in close-quarters combat?"
Scathach first shook her head, then nodded. "You could say so, but you could also say not."
"What do you mean?" Artoria's eyes became filled with confusion. "Are you saying he can gain the upper hand in close combat, but at the same time doesn't know how to fight in close combat? But isn't that a contradiction?"
"You can't put it that way," Scathach continued to explain. "From what I observed, Caster's own combat ability isn't his strongest point. Anyone here, even Archer, might be able to exchange a few blows with him face-to-face. But the problem is—he has absolute initiative."
"Absolute initiative...?" Ibaraki Doji interjected. "Are you saying Caster can dictate the flow of battle?"
"Yes, that's what I mean to convey. Because—" Scathach hesitated, seeming to worry that what she was about to say would make those present uneasy. Seeing this, Ian immediately said, "It's fine. Scathach, say whatever you need to—now isn't the time to hide anything. We're here to subjugate Caster, not to have a tea party."
"..." Probably knowing Ian was right, Scathach nodded and continued to elaborate on her thoughts. "Don't be afraid of what I'm about to show you." Having said this, Scathach quickly began to gather her magic. Streamlines shimmered at her fingertips, finally settling into a specific form. The light faded, and two dark-red long spears appeared in Scathach's hands—they were her Gáe Bolg Alternative! The moment they appeared, the Britannian sisters and the Tohsaka sisters immediately became alert. After all, to them, Scathach's spear carried an extremely ominous connotation.
Ian also realized this and immediately reached out, stopping the four women's movements. "It's fine. Trust Scathach—she's on our side now."
"..." Hearing this, a warmth spread within Scathach. After all, among all these people, only Ian trusted her unconditionally—even though he had clearly been pierced by her spear once. Ian's words were indeed effective. The four quickly calmed down, all silently watching Scathach. Clearly, they wanted to know the purpose of her pulling out Gáe Bolg Alternative.
Scathach naturally understood what was happening; she immediately began to explain. "My Gáe Bolg Alternative, once unleashed, will always hit its target. No matter how agile the opponent, they will absolutely not escape this strike."
"..." Hearing this, Rin Tohsaka was the first to react—because there was a similar theory in Bajiquan. "Scathach, if what you say is true, shouldn't Caster have been severely injured? After all, your Gáe Bolg Alternative is a guaranteed hit, right? Plus, with Lancer fighting alongside you, you should have achieved some battle results no matter what."
"..." Scathach nodded, but showed no signs of being pleased at being understood. On the contrary, her expression became even more serious. "Yes. Under normal circumstances, the combination of Lancer and myself, even if we couldn't win, should have at least inflicted some damage. After all, no matter how you look at it, this is an attack that will definitely have an effect once thrown. But the problem is—" Scathach looked at the Gáe Bolg Alternative in her hand, her eyes looking somewhat complex. "At that time, it did not hit Caster."
"..." "..." "..." A speechless atmosphere permeated the living room in an instant. Except for Illya, who was completely out of the loop, everyone clearly understood what Scathach's words meant. Her Gáe Bolg Alternative had been nullified!!!
"Scathach," Ian said, unable to believe such a thing. "Are you... mistaken?"
"I'm not mistaken," Scathach faced the man's doubt directly. "Ian, I truly did not hit Caster—even with Lancer's assistance."
"..."
[Scathach rarely admits defeat.]
[Even when you defeated her under the pseudonym Misaya, she struggled for a long time before accepting it.]
[But now she directly admitted that her Gáe Bolg Alternative was ineffective against Caster.]
[This means she must have tried various methods.]
[You realized that the Caster she faced that day was probably far more terrifying than imagined.]
The living room fell into a deathly silence. But at that moment, Sakura Tohsaka seemed to think of something. She looked at Scathach and asked a somewhat aggressive question.
"Then—when you fought Caster, were you still launching sneak attacks from the shadows as before?"
"..." Scathach's expression became somewhat awkward. But she knew this wasn't the time to dwell on such things. The Queen of the Land of Shadows shook her head, denying Sakura Tohsaka's suggestion.
"No. This time... it was an open duel—or rather, an unexpected encounter. After all, I didn't expect to run into Caster before that."
"If that's the case—" Sakura Tohsaka's gaze fell on the Gáe Bolg Alternative in Scathach's hand, stating her thoughts. "Is it possible that the opponent knew about your spear beforehand and set up a magical trap in a specific location, ultimately leading to its nullification?"
"..." Scathach froze for a moment. She felt that the kind of trap Sakura Tohsaka described seemed familiar. Wait, wasn't that the strategy she used before?
"Now that you mention it... it's not impossible."
"Then if that's the case—" Sakura Tohsaka continued to express her thoughts. "This time, we need to adopt a more passive approach."
"A passive approach?" Scathach was a little confused. "Then how do we subjugate Caster?"
"Wait for him to come to us," Morgan, who had been silent until now, articulated her student's idea. "As long as we set up corresponding magecraft in a certain place beforehand, and then spread enough rumors to make Caster aware. Given the current situation, he'll definitely come looking for us. This way, we can reverse the situation and take the initiative, without worrying about our magecraft or Servants' Noble Phantasms being nullified. If we want to be cautious, we can even set up some widely applicable counter-magic in advance—that way, we can further weaken Caster's strength."
"Sakura," Morgan looked at her student and smiled faintly. "That's what you meant to convey, right?"
"..." Sakura Tohsaka was silent for a moment, then finally nodded. "Yes, what Teacher just said is exactly what I was thinking."
Scathach thought for a moment and then had a new question. "Then, according to you two—we need to find a suitable battlefield. Have you... already decided on a location?"
"Of course, it's where Mama is!" Illya, sitting on Ibaraki Doji, suddenly spoke at this moment. "If it's there, Mama will definitely come to help us!"
"Let me explain," Ibaraki Doji poked her head out from behind Illya. "The place Master is talking about is called Mount Enzou. If it's not useful—please pretend you didn't hear it."
"..." Scathach recalled the Fourth Holy Grail War. It was on this mountain that she had obtained enough magical energy to survive independently after separating from her Master, Kayneth.
"No. This place is excellent," she affirmed.
"That's right," Morgan added. "There's a spiritual leyline there—it's very beneficial for setting up magecraft."
"In that case—" Ian summarized everyone's opinions. "Let's set up our battlefield against Caster at Mount Enzou!"
[As if by fate, everything returned to Mount Enzou, the endpoint of the Fourth Holy Grail War.]
[You began to set up the corresponding magecraft there.]
[To minimize impact, you managed to spread rumors, causing everyone in the mountain to leave in advance.]
[After some time, all preparations were complete, awaiting only Caster's appearance.]
[But what you didn't know was that Caster had already detected this operation.]
At the foot of Mount Enzou. Marisbury and Solomon arrived.
"Magic King, the magical energy density nearby seems to have been deliberately set to a very high concentration. This might be a trap." Marisbury warned. "Perhaps... we should just destroy this mountain?"
"No need," Solomon said, looking at Mount Enzou, his eyes devoid of arrogance, as if in his view, it was not a dangerous mountain range. "Let me experience all of this personally—I'm very curious. What level of magical ambush they can lay for me."