Inside the church in Fuyuki City, a seemingly devout priest was leafing through a scripture.
A figure appeared in the church. The priest looked up and asked, "How did it go?"
The man, dressed in blue, form-fitting armor, was none other than Cú Chulainn, the Lancer.
Cú Chulainn casually sat on a chair, addressing the priest, Kirei Kotomine. "Pretty strong. An Archer who could keep up with me in close combat."
"An Archer?" Kotomine said, glancing to the side where a man in a modern suit sat, his red eyes, golden hair, and arrogant expression... accentuated by an earring... giving him an otherworldly air.
"An Archer? Letting your guard down just because they're an Archer could cost you," The golden-haired man sneered, his lips curling. "Of course, that's mainly because you're too weak. If it were this king, those mongrels wouldn't stand a chance."
Ignoring the golden-haired man's disdain, Cú Chulainn vanished.
The golden-haired man looked at Kotomine. "What's your plan for this Holy Grail War?"
"As always, I'll follow my own plan."
The man's lips twitched upward. "Your plan, huh? Let's see what you make of this War. Don't bore me, or you'll regret it."
Kotomine's expression remained unchanged, as if accustomed to or ignoring the man's tone, continuing to read his scripture.
Years of coexistence had made them familiar with each other's habits... nothing too outlandish.
…
Morpheus intended to escort Rin Tohsaka home, but she shook her head, rejecting the idea.
"We can't go back yet. We should scout around. Other Servants might investigate after that fight, and we could use this chance to flush out those hiding in the shadows!"
"Alright, your call," Morpheus shrugged, effortlessly scooping Rin up. She was light, barely a burden even with his human strength.
With a leap, he soared several meters into the air, landing on a high vantage point after a few bounds.
"No hidden Servants nearby," Morpheus said, scanning the surroundings.
"You can detect others' traces?"
"Yeah, my eyes are special. Not much escapes them," Morpheus said, his eyes shimmering with a silvery glow. Rin peered closely, noting they gleamed like moonlight.
"What's that…?"
"Try syncing with me. You can borrow part of this ability," Morpheus suggested. As Rin synced her mana with his, her vision transformed.
It wasn't like looking through a telescope to zoom in on distant objects.
Rather, it was like an analytical overlay, marking mana residues, footprints, and other traces in her field of view.
"This… this is like…"
"Like the HUD in a sci-fi shooter game, right?" Morpheus grinned, voicing what Rin struggled to articulate.
This was Artemis's blessing... a divine gift ensuring perfect accuracy and the ability to see through everything, or at least a facet of it.
Perhaps because Artemis was originally a machine god, a starship with a sci-fi essence, this ability felt distinctly futuristic when used.
Some old-fashioned types might find it jarring, but Morpheus was perfectly at ease with this data-analyzing, quick-processing power.
"What's this ability?"
"A gift from Artemis... perfect aim and all-seeing vision," Morpheus explained casually, carrying Rin as he leaped toward the distance.
Or rather, flew.
His physical enhancements were still active, capable of supersonic movement if needed.
Feeling the night breeze, Rin let herself be carried through the air.
The sensation of soaring thrilled her, sparking fantasies of flying on her own.
"Want to learn a flight spell?" Morpheus asked suddenly.
"N-no way!" Rin blurted, then softened. "Okay, maybe just a little…"
"So you are thinking about it."
Morpheus adjusted his spell slightly, transitioning from leaping to true flight.
Rin hesitated. "But flying's tough, right? From what I know, flight magecraft is rare. Even Servants who can fly are uncommon, like in legends. The original Golden Fleece's ram could fly, but that was divine."
"Pegasus can fly too."
"That's born from Medusa, possibly sired by Poseidon... another divine offspring," Rin countered.
As a child of a magus family, Morpheus knew flight was rare. Temporary levitation via mana wasn't hard, but sustained flight was.
If flight were easy, Greek heroes wouldn't have needed the Argo; they'd have flown, saving countless troubles.
In short, in a limited attack range, a flying magus could dominate a non-flying one, unless the latter had something like an anti-air weapon.
Of course, this was the Nasuverse.
In the Toaruverse, flight spells weren't that difficult. While not exactly commonplace, they were fairly widespread.
Morpheus knew that in England, any random knight or witch could likely fly.
Yet, despite flight spells' prevalence, Toaruverse magicians still used planes for long-distance travel.
Beyond convenience, there was a serious reason: the global Christian spell, the Downing Spell, automatically shot down non-Christian magical fliers.
Thus, in the Toaruverse, Morpheus rarely used flight spells to avoid being struck down.
But in the Nasuverse, no such restriction existed.
So, after flying for a while, even changing directions mid-air, Rin finally noticed.
"You're not just leaping... you're flying!"
Morpheus grinned. "Want to learn?"
"I… I can learn?"
"Of course, but you need a solid foundation. No handy tools like the Moonstone here... just pure magical skill. Fail, and you'll crash."
The allure of flight and new magical knowledge ignited Rin's enthusiasm. "I'm plenty talented. No problem!"
She glanced at their direction, puzzled. "Where are we going?"
"Shinto. Didn't we say we'd scout? We were in Miyama, now let's check Shinto. Maybe we'll find something," Morpheus said, flying toward Shirou Emiya's house.
Tonight's events had diverged entirely from the original Fifth Holy Grail War. Without Shinji Matou, Shirou didn't stay late, so he didn't encounter Cú Chulainn.
Without Cú Chulainn, Shirou wasn't injured, needing no rescue from Rin, preserving her jewel and preventing it from becoming a relic to summon the future Shirou.
As for Shirou, safe and training in magecraft, he was still a novice. Without danger's push, whether he'd summon a Servant was uncertain.
"Perhaps this Fifth Holy Grail War will lack some Servants. Shirou might miss this fight entirely. I've checked Ryuudou Temple several times... no sign of Medea or Sasaki Kojirou…
"Could this War lose two Servants? Without them, can it even proceed…?"
Morpheus pondered, speeding up his flight.
But as he neared Shirou's house, a glint of cold light flashed from the courtyard, aimed at him!
He was under attack!
And charging at him was a woman clad in full armor!
***
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