Extra Chapter for Reaching 10 Reviews...... Enjoy!!
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As the last sparkles of light faded where Ishtar had vanished, the Bull of Heaven disappeared along with her. Watching the scene in awe, Iskandar, the King of Conquerors, let out a hearty sigh. "It was like witnessing a myth unfold before our eyes."
Below him, Waver looked absolutely despondent.
"I thought the Holy Grail War was supposed to be fought between Servants… No one said anything about goddesses and actual divine beasts joining in!"
"This is completely unfair. There's no way we can win against something like that!"
The young magus was nearing the edge of despair. Facing off against someone like Kayneth was one thing—at least he could steel himself for that. But gods? Even Kayneth himself would probably wet his pants in fear.
"Hahaha! Even if victory is impossible, there are still battles we must fight!" Iskandar laughed boldly, trying to reassure his Master. Though even he couldn't deny that what they had witnessed just now was beyond the scope of any normal fight. That goddess... and the man who had driven her away—Su Mo—both possessed power far beyond his own reach. Perhaps even beyond what could be considered human.
As a man, Iskandar could only admire such overwhelming might.
However—
"If we're talking about Su Mo, I'd say it's probably hopeless," he muttered thoughtfully, stroking his chin. "But that goddess? Maybe not."
"If she were her full divine self, she shouldn't have been forced back by a mere Command Seal."
"But just now, although she resisted, she still ended up forcibly recalled by her Master."
"In other words, she wasn't in her complete state."
His words caught the attention of Lancer's Master, who was surprised to hear such insight from the typically brash Rider. But Waver, Rider's own Master, disagreed with his Servant's optimism.
"Even if she's not at full power, she's still leagues above most Servants."
"The gem magic she casually tossed around earlier had power equivalent to a Noble Phantasm."
"Not to mention the divine beast she summoned—that thing was fighting at full strength without holding back."
"There's no way any Servant could go up against that."
Despite his fear, Waver's analysis of the situation was precise and clear-headed. Iskandar gave him a look of approval. The boy clearly had the potential to be a fine strategist. Still, the content of his words was troubling. Thinking back to how difficult that gem magic was to counter, even Iskandar had to nod.
"She's indeed a troublesome goddess," he admitted. "And that terrifying beast…"
Everyone's gaze turned to the aftermath of the battlefield. The once-bustling port was now a wasteland. The earth had been carved into deep, yawning chasms. The far-off coastline lay in ruins. All of that destruction had occurred in less than thirty seconds. And that was with both divine beasts trying to hold back, to avoid harming civilians. Had they gone all out, the entire city would've been reduced to rubble.
With that kind of power, Iskandar seriously doubted whether even his EX-ranked Noble Phantasm, Ionioi Hetairoi, could have done anything. That was a force no human should ever dream of challenging.
But even so—
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!" the Conqueror laughed, clapping Waver on the shoulder like an optimist shrugging off a storm. Waver yelped again in frustration, but the tension eased a bit. With the goddess gone, Iskandar's attention shifted once more to something—or rather, someone—he'd been observing for a while.
He turned to face Lancer.
The red-haired warrior scratched his head awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable as he studied him. Dressed in golden armor and radiating solar brilliance, Lancer had demonstrated terrifying battle strength from the start. Which made Iskandar's next question all the more perplexing.
"Lancer," he said, "Su Mo may be strong enough to make anyone despair. But as a Servant, don't you still have your pride?"
"Then tell me—why are you kneeling on the ground?"
That same question had occurred to both Waver and Lancer's own Master. In all the chaos, their attention had been fixed on the clash between the goddess and the living god. Only now did they notice what had happened to Lancer. At some point, the stoic, powerful, radiant Lancer—bathed in the golden glow of the sun—had dropped to his knees before Su Mo. His expression was reverent.
Had he been scared into kneeling?
Everyone was baffled.
....
....
Let's rewind ten minutes.
At the Tohsaka residence.
The taunting message sent out by Lancer had naturally been detected by Tohsaka Tokiomi. As a local magus, he had more than enough familiars deployed to monitor the battlefield. Realizing that the war was finally about to begin, he focused his surveillance on the unfolding scene.
Normally, the most efficient way for a Master to gather information is to share sensory input with their Servant by linking magical circuits. But his Servant—who loudly claimed to be a goddess—had flat-out refused.
Tohsaka had once made the request. Her response?
"Dumbass. Are you looking to die?"
And that was that. He dared not bring it up again. That was the biggest problem with this particular Servant. She had the foulest mouth imaginable. If that were all, it might still be bearable. As a mature adult man, Tokiomi could endure being called a mongrel or a fool every day—as long as his Servant was competent. After all, reaching the Root was worth some verbal abuse. But what really made it unbearable… was that she was using his daughter's body to hurl those insults. As a middle-aged man, he held two things sacred: his pride as a magus… and his dignity in front of his wife and daughter.
However, all of that had been utterly destroyed by Ishtar. He was getting scolded like a toddler by his own daughter—every single day. Even a Buddha would lose patience eventually. And if that were all, perhaps he could still endure it. What truly broke him, however...
Was the realization he'd had recently. His daughter—his well-mannered, obedient, lovely daughter Rin Tohsaka—seemed to be getting infected by Ishtar. Now and then, when she spoke, she'd casually blurt out a "Dumbass" at Tohsaka Tokiomi. That alone, he might still have tolerated. But what he could not accept—
Was his own reaction. The moment his daughter called him a dumbass...
Tohsaka Tokiomi reflexively kneeled down. And apologized to the goddess Ishtar. He still remembered the look on Rin's face when he looked up. From the initial panic of saying something wrong, to confusion at seeing her own father kneel, and then... to a subtle, unspoken glimmer of delight. Tokiomi had no idea what his daughter was thinking at that moment. But he could never forget the look Rin gave him in the end.
—The expression that said, "Ah, I think I finally understand everything now."
From that day on...
Tohsaka Tokiomi couldn't shake the feeling. That the one scolding him every day wasn't Ishtar... but his own daughter. And even though he suspected it, he didn't dare say it aloud. He didn't dare ask.
Because he knew—if he ever questioned her—
Ishtar would immediately take over the body again. Just the thought of it brought tears to the eyes of the middle-aged magus.Getting cursed out daily by your own daughter and not being allowed to talk back...
Was there anyone more pitiful than him?
He let out a long, drawn-out sigh. These recent days had been too tragic. Even remembering them made it hard to keep his composure. But fortunately, the Holy Grail War had begun. Once it ended, and the goddess left, perhaps he could return to his peaceful and fulfilling life. With that in mind, he resumed watching the situation at the port through his familiars.
At first, it was the fight between Lancer and Saber. Although the battle seemed far more intense than usual for a Grail War, Tokiomi wasn't worried. After all, he had someone who was likely a goddess on his side. Even when Rider made his appearance, which was somewhat unexpected, Tokiomi remained unbothered.
That loudmouth who announced his identity from the very start was no match for Ishtar. Better to let them fight each other, then reap the rewards after the chaos. That was his plan. But then, Rider started hurling taunts at everyone, using blatant provocation. At that moment, Tokiomi panicked.
That prideful goddess would never tolerate being insulted. She was definitely going to appear in person! That was completely against the cautious strategy Tokiomi had planned. And it wasn't just about revealing their strength.
The real problem was—
"You're using my daughter's body, dammit!"
If anything happened to her, Rin would die too! Tokiomi wasn't naive enough to believe that if Ishtar were defeated, the other Servants would simply let Rin walk away unharmed.
Luckily...
For all her terrible personality traits, Ishtar's power was absolutely overwhelming. A single gemstone spell from her was enough to force the Servants into retreat. Even Rider could barely hold on. Tokiomi, initially brimming with pride at the power of his family's jewel magecraft, suddenly felt something was off.
Wait a minute...
Where had Ishtar gotten those jewels?!
He definitely didn't give them to her. And they looked eerily familiar...
"No way—!"
A terrible premonition struck him. Tokiomi dashed to his basement and tore open the multi-layered barriers around his prized storage chest. And just as he feared...
The once carefully sealed vault containing decades of accumulated magical gems was now empty. Only a few worthless, small gem shards—rejected by Ishtar—remained.
The larger ones?
Gone. All of them.
"You son of a—!"
Tohsaka Tokiomi, the ever-composed magus who prided himself on his elegance and restraint—
Finally snapped and cursed out loud for the first time in years. This wasn't something a human being would do! Generations of the Tohsaka family's savings—all of it—pillaged by a single goddess. Tokiomi nearly had a stroke from the sheer rage.