At dawn, all was silent.
A sliver of light appeared on the eastern horizon, cautiously seeping into the pale blue canopy of the sky. A new day gradually approached from the distance.
At this time, Durandal opened her eyes.
Compared to her usual mornings, her spirits were not particularly high today.
The soundproofing of the walls in Yae Shrine was not very good.
And her next-door neighbor...
Durandal, who had been forced to listen to the sounds for a whole night, let out a yawn, her expression slightly melancholic.
It was too noisy.
In the first half of the night, Durandal, who was experiencing such a stimulating event for the first time in her life, was constantly blushing. In the second half, she was plugging her ears, forcing herself to sleep.
Seriously, can't they be a little quieter?
And what was with that dual channel sound?
What kind of weird play was that?
Durandal, who clearly had not slept well, complained in her heart. She got up, changed her clothes, and pushed open the door.
Then, she saw the guy who lived next door to her.
This fellow, who should have been utterly exhausted, was instead full of energy.
It could even be said that there was not a single trace of fatigue on him.
---o---
"Yo, you're awake."
The young man, who had clearly been waiting here for some time, smiled faintly and greeted the Dull Goose he had disturbed all night.
And then—
Durandal snapped fully awake.
She smelled an almost unconcealable scent of blood on the person before her, as well as a genuine sense of danger.
The Captain was strong.
Durandal was well aware of this.
But his strength lay in his wide array of methods, his skill at leveraging situations, and his strange abilities.
He was the most terrifying assassin in the world.
With his strange and abundant methods, and possessing multiple Divine Keys, he could silently make an enemy far stronger than himself fall silent forever.
But that was in an assassination scenario.
Now, however, Durandal felt a tangible sense of crisis from Li Zihan.
It was an ominous feeling, like an unnamable beast extending its barbed tongue to lick her skin.
Standing before her was someone who could possibly kill her on a direct battlefield.
The greatest assassin had suddenly become a breaker-class warrior.
This was very wrong.
Sensing that something was wrong with the young man opposite her, Durandal waved her hand. The long spear known as Black Abyss White Flower flew out from her room and into her hand.
"Who are you?"
Feeling as if the person before her had been replaced by an imposter, Durandal's expression turned icy as she questioned him.
"Calm down, Durandal."
The young man looked at the girl who was clearly frightened by his change and had drawn Black Abyss White Flower to confront him, and he simply shrugged.
In the latter half of the night, he had left the room, reconstructed the spiritual foundations of Gilgamesh and Cú Chulainn, and then seized the power that resided in their bodies.
Then, before constructing the Three-God Garment, he had completed a flawed Three-Target-Garment.
A complete Karna spiritual foundation + a flawed Gilgamesh spiritual foundation + a flawed Cú Chulainn (Berserker) spiritual foundation.
Honestly, the power of every single top-tier Servant was terrifying. When the spiritual foundation of one complete top-tier Servant devoured parts of two others, the resulting stats...
...were truly horrifying.
If one were to use a Servant stat sheet to represent Li Zihan's current state, it would probably look like this:
[Strength: A+]
[Endurance: A++]
[Agility: A++]
[Mana: A+]
[Luck: C]
[Noble Phantasm: EX]
Without a doubt, these were stats that were at the absolute ceiling among Servants, a typical ancestor template.
---o---
"I look a little different because of a small enhancement."
The young man, whose combat power had practically exploded, said to the Dull Goose whose expression was slightly horrified.
As his voice fell, two long spears appeared in his hands.
One was so magnificent it didn't seem to be of human craftsmanship, while the other carried a thick, bloody aura—the god-slaying spear of the Celestial Emperor Indra, Vasavi Shakti, and the spear of avarice, Gáe Bolg.
"So, Captain... you got stronger mid-mission?"
Durandal, who could indeed feel that the current Li Zihan was completely different from the one she met yesterday, felt the corner of her mouth twitch.
What is going on?
"What's wrong, is there a problem?"
Li Zihan promptly retracted Vasavi Shakti and Gáe Bolg and asked Durandal.
"It's nothing. I just feel a little envious that you can get stronger without even training."
Durandal, who had always considered herself a hardworking commoner, looked at the young man who seemed to have instantly leaped to a terrifying level with her azure eyes.
Her eyes were filled with envy.
The young man, who had gotten stronger purely by following the path of the sacrifice flow, looked at Miss Bianka, who worked hard every day to become a cheat-character, and was stunned.
Come on, I got this strength by exploiting a ton of loopholes and abusing countless bugs.
In terms of being a cheater, this girl is obviously on a higher level!
"No, you're the one who's more worthy of envy."
Li Zihan sighed and said.
"I just work a little harder than the average person. You're the real genius, Captain."
Bianka, who might have some misunderstanding about what "effort" means, said with great seriousness.
Looking at the Dull Goose who could get stronger just by trying hard, Li Zihan fell silent. For a moment, the power he had just obtained didn't seem as sweet as before.
---o---
"Forget it, let's not talk about this."
The young man, who really didn't want to discuss "effort" with a cheat-character like the Dull Goose, sighed and then spoke.
"According to Lord Otto's information, Saint Kallen may appear here in the next two days. This means that a formal mission may be coming up."
"A formal mission?"
Hearing this, Durandal's expression immediately became serious.
"Next, I will explain the division of labor."
The young man, who had dragged Durandal along precisely to find a tool-man—no, a tool goose—cleared his throat and spoke to her.
Durandal the Dull Goose also listened with a serious expression.
"From now on, you are to squat by the side of that river every day and wait for Saint Kallen to float over."
????
Wait for Saint Kallen to float over?
A great deal of confusion appeared in Durandal's eyes.
"According to historical records, the seawater backflow has been quite severe in the Far East these past two days. Saint Kallen was washed ashore because of this."
The young man, who couldn't be bothered to think about why a seaside village hadn't seen rain in three months and why an exorheic river was being flooded by seawater, gave Durandal her orders.
"Understood. Leave it to me."
Durandal, who was an absolutely steadfast and reliable team member, saluted her captain.
And then—
She did not receive a salute in return.
The short-haired young man was already walking back towards his room.
Squatting for that dopey Saintess? What kind of moronic job is that?
It's nowhere near as good as going back to keep Seele company.