The bond between Allen and Medusa as Master and Servant grew stronger, and the thread of fate that had still bound Medusa to this world was finally severed. Gaia, the Counter Force who witnessed this, bestowed her blessing upon them.
Mana within the city of Fuyuki suddenly surged, and the vegetation around the city began to flourish, as if congratulating them.
"Master, it seems Gaia has given us her blessing," said Medusa, slightly surprised as to why her mother would do such a thing. She could feel that several of her parameters as a Servant had changed.
Allen, who also realized this, tried checking his Servant's parameters—and sure enough, several aspects of Medusa's status had transformed.
Class: Rider → Guardian
True Name: Medusa (Gorgon)
Parameters:
• Strength: B → B+
• Constitution (Endurance): B → A+
• Agility: EX
• Magical Power (Mana): EX
• Luck: E → C
• Noble Phantasms: A+ → EX
• Avalon : EX (new)
• Bellerophon (A+) → EX
• Blood Fort Andromeda (B) → EX
• Breaker Gorgon (C-) → B+
Class Skills:
• Magic Resistance (B+) → EX
• Riding (A+)
Personal Skills:
• Independent Action (C) → EX
• Monstrous Strength (B) → A+
• Mystic Eyes of Petrification "Cybele" (A+)
• Divinity (E-) → C
• Gaia Champion: EX (New)
• To the End of the World: B+ (New)
Alongside her parameter upgrades, Medusa's Class changed from Rider to Guardian. Several stats even rose to EX, and she gained two additional blessings directly from the Counter Force.
Allen was a little surprised, since these new parameters already made Medusa capable of soloing every Servant in this Holy Grail War. But it seemed Gaia had also granted him her blessing—he could feel that he could freely draw mana directly from the Earth itself. Still, he felt there was no need to abuse it, since the world's mana was limited, and if he used it too recklessly, the planet itself might wither. Instead, he found he could actually support Gaia, offering his mana back to her.
At the same time, he realized he now had access to several parallel worlds—it felt like wielding the Second Magic. But because Gaia supported him as part of the Counter Force, he could activate or deactivate this ability at will.
While Allen was lost in thought, Medusa leaned in and kissed him on the lips. Caught off guard by her sudden boldness, Allen was shocked for a moment—but of course, he didn't reject her initiative. He opened his mouth, allowing their tongues to meet and entwine. Their kiss was deep, passionate, and lasted for several minutes.
"I love you, Master," Medusa whispered, finally confessing her feelings.
"I love you too, Medusa," Allen replied with a warm smile.
After their tender moment, they left the room together. But Medusa was carrying a box and handed it over to Allen.
"What's this?" Allen asked.
"It's the treasure that Archer gave us in exchange for our vehicle," Medusa explained, opening the gilded box.
The moment Allen saw the contents, his curiosity was piqued.
"Is this… a Golden Apple?" Allen asked as he reached out to touch it, feeling the magical energy radiating from within.
Medusa nodded. "Yes. I'm certain it will be useful to you, Master."
Allen, however, only took one. "It is useful… but I only need a single one. After this, I can analyze and recreate it myself." After studying its properties and fully understanding it, Allen placed the apple back into the box.
"This belongs to you. You're free to use it as you wish, Rider. I already have what I need." With that, he used the First Magic to replicate the Golden Apple and casually took a bite.
"This really is delicious," Allen admitted.
Irisviel, who had been watching him effortlessly recreate a Golden Apple with magic, was utterly awestruck.
"Do you want one?" Allen asked, creating another apple and tossing it toward her.
"Master, I don't think I should—"
"I don't like my generosity being refused," Allen interrupted firmly.
That made Irisviel quickly withdraw her words. "Thank you, Master."
"Good. Now make me a proper meal—I'm hungry," Allen ordered the homunculus.
Meanwhile, Medusa sat beside him, quietly eating one of the apples from the box. She thought to herself that Sakura would probably like them. With that in mind, she carefully stored the remaining apples, planning to give them to Sakura once this war was over.
.....
Meanwhile, at the Matou household—specifically in the underground chamber—Zouken's patience had finally run dry for the night. He decided it was time to strike back at the Einzbern castle to seize the Lesser Grail from their hands.
"Why… why… WHY?!" Zouken raged, his body now fully recovered from the wounds he had suffered. He then ordered Caster to unleash her Noble Phantasm, summoning a stronger army.
But that command turned out to be his fatal mistake. Caster, who had at last regained her will after breaking free of Zouken's control, turned on her Master and struck him from behind.
Upstairs, Shinji trembled in his room. Though he had finally obtained what he'd always longed for—the family's Magic Crest, the chance to walk the path of a true Magus—the price was unbearable. Every night he was subjected to torment. Worse still, his body had already been corrupted by the worms that Zouken forced inside him. Just thinking about it made Shinji want to escape this house forever.
As he was imagining his escape, a sudden BOOM! thundered through the estate. A massive explosion rocked the entire villa, destroying the Matou residence and blasting Shinji out along with the collapsing building. By sheer luck, he survived—injured and unconscious, but alive.
The blast originated from the underground chamber. After striking down her Master, Caster had used his body as the primary sacrifice to summon the eldritch monster, Cthulhu.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Caster's laughter echoed with glee.
"You… Caster, I am your Master!" Zouken desperately tried to invoke his final Command Spell to regain control, but before he could finish, his hand was severed.
"Ahhh… you… No, stop! I beg you… Ahhh, no…!" Zouken screamed, his voice breaking into terror.
But it was too late. His insects and worms—his life's foundation—were drained of their life force and twisted into a monstrous form that devoured him whole.
Thus ended Zouken Matou, powerless and consumed by the very Servant he thought he controlled.
From Caster's feet, a grotesque shadow began to spread, gathering over the ruined and collapsed villa. The shadow then slipped away, vanishing into the sewers, while the dark aura it released continued to grow stronger and stronger.
The other Servants could also feel this malevolent presence intensifying, but since night had not yet fallen, they remained still. To act now would risk being seen by countless humans, and that would be disastrous—witnessing a battle between Servants and Magi was something the world could not afford.
...
Allen, who was on the phone with Sakura to give her permission to stay at her mother's place, suddenly went quiet mid-conversation.
[Onii-chan… hello? Why did Onii-chan stop talking?] Sakura's voice came through the receiver.
"Ah, sorry. I just forgot what I was about to say," Allen lied smoothly—of course, he couldn't involve Sakura in the current state of the war.
[Okay then, Sakura's heading out now. I love you, Onii-chan.]
"I love you too, 3000," Allen replied, quoting something Tony Stark's daughter once said in the MCU.
Naturally, Sakura's face flushed red after she hung up.
Meanwhile, after Allen ended the call, he muttered to himself, "It seems things are getting noisy over at the Matou residence. Has Caster finally broken free from Zouken's control?"
Indeed, it wouldn't be long before Caster (Gilles de Rais) would descend into his final madness.
Meanwhile, Velvet was strolling through the shopping district in Fuyuki City when she wandered into a bookstore. She seemed to be searching for something among the shelves, and she stopped at the History section, where a title caught her eye—The Life Journey of Alexander the Great.
Velvet opened the book and began to read.
"After his victories, the King entrusted the government and politics to the royal family, while he himself, along with his army, marched eastward."
"This is just like my dream," Velvet muttered to herself.
"His only goal was to reach the end of the sea, to set foot on Okeanos and continue his expedition," she read, recalling Iskandar's smiling face as he gazed at the endless ocean.
But before long, as Velvet became engrossed in the biography, a familiar voice called out to her.
"Kid, where've you been—oh, so here you are," said Iskandar, who had finally tracked down his Master's location.
Velvet hurriedly closed the biography and put it back.
"You're so small, kid, it was a real pain to look for you. So, did you enjoy browsing?" Iskandar teased, clearly aware that his Master had been reading about him.
"You idiot, of course most people are smaller than a bookshelf," Velvet shot back, taking a jab at Iskandar's oversized frame that dwarfed even the shelves.
"Anyway, what did you buy, Caster?" Velvet asked.
"I just grabbed a few console games," Iskandar said cheerfully, showing off a case of one of the latest popular titles in Japan.
"Alright then, kid, let's go home and play together," Iskandar said with a grin.
"I'm not interested in playing such vulgar, boring games," Velvet replied flatly.
"Good grief… why do you insist on locking yourself inside that tiny little world of yours?" Iskandar said, disappointed.
"Shut up. That's none of your business, and if you want to waste time having fun with—"
Before Velvet could finish, Caster cut her off, waving the biography in his hand. "Hey, aren't you interested in this book?"
"You're so weird, kid. The man himself is standing right in front of you—why not just ask me directly?" Iskandar continued with a laugh.
Velvet, caught red-handed, blurted out in embarrassment, "Fine then, let me ask you!" She snatched the book back, flipped through the pages, and pointed to a passage.
"This book says you were short, but then why do you look so ridiculously huge here?"
"So the book claims I was short?" Iskandar said, glaring at it in disbelief.
"Well, I guess you don't need to believe everything written in a book," Iskandar answered casually.
"Aren't you angry? They're describing you so inaccurately," Velvet asked, puzzled at his calmness.
"What's the point of getting mad at something like that?" Iskandar replied with ease. "What matters to me is being remembered, being recorded in history, so people continue to recall my name. That alone is enough. After all, countless heroes were never remembered by anyone, and only about one percent of us even made it into history."
"…Then, did you really die in your early thirties?" Velvet asked quietly.
"That's true," Iskandar nodded.
Velvet fell silent after hearing the answer.
Later that evening, as night fell, Velvet and Iskandar walked home together.
"What's wrong, kid? You can be honest with me—you've been thinking about something all this time, haven't you?"
"…It's nothing," Velvet replied, head lowered.
Iskandar sighed deeply.
"Caster… you're such a powerful Servant. Even if we win, I won't feel proud. I feel like I'm not worthy of being your Master," Velvet admitted.
"Kid, saying that won't change anything. In fact, I'm glad my Master is you," Iskandar said with a warm smile.
"Caster…" Velvet's voice trembled slightly, moved by his words.
"Listen, kid—the most important thing in life is how you discover your ideal ambition. Once you find it, you've got to fight for it," Iskandar said firmly.
As they spoke, the city of Fuyuki had already transformed from dusk to night. Their path brought them near one of the city's great bridges. Velvet turned his gaze to the bridge, appreciating the view—until he noticed something.
"There… isn't that Rider and his Master? What are they doing up there?" Velvet said, pointing toward the figures standing atop the bridge.
"Oh? You spotted them? Where exactly?" asked Caster.
"They're right there, standing on the bridge," Velvet confirmed, his finger extended toward the sight.