Gudako, who had arrived on the third floor, skipped out of the elevator first. Then Gudako took a deep breath of fresh air and stretched.
Kiritsugu Emiya, who followed out of the elevator, was gazing at the enormous stone array in the distance that encased the elevator leading to the lower floors.
As Martha, who was the last to exit the elevator, also stepped out, Gudako excitedly pulled Martha along and rushed towards the stone array.
"Martha, let's hurry! I can't wait to save the world!"
Meanwhile, within the stone array, Rin was slowly descending with ishtars bow, landing in front of 'Waver' who was drinking tea below.
'Waver' put down his teacup, looking at Rin slowly descending from the air, and shook his head with a troubled expression. After Rin landed, 'Waver' stood up from the tea table and bowed to Rin with clasped hands.
"It turns out the Master of this place has graced us with her presence. This prime minister has failed to welcome you! Failed to welcome you!"
Rin, who had landed, also quickly returned the bow to 'Waver'.
"How dare I make Prime Minister Zhuge stand to greet me!"
Zhuge Liang, in Waver's appearance, picked up his feather fan and gently waved it.
"As a goddess and the creator of this place, you naturally deserve my bow. However, may I ask what important matter brings you to this prime minister?"
"Uh! Prime Minister Zhuge, I believe with your wisdom, I shouldn't need to explain."
Zhuge Liang glanced at Rin in surprise, then seemed to realize something, revealing a self-deprecating smile. He then returned to the tea table, knelt, and gestured for Rin to sit opposite him.
Rin came to the tea table, knelt in Zhuge Liang's posture, and watched Zhuge Liang brewing tea without interrupting, obediently waiting for him to speak first.
At this moment, Zhuge Liang, having finished brewing the tea, handed a teacup to Rin, then picked up the feather fan beside him and slowly fanned himself.
"Of course, I know your purpose. This place is good, and I like it. I will join your plan, but those three little ones outside must pass my test to go up. Of course, for your sake, I will not take their lives."
"That's enough. Thank you, Prime Minister!"
With that, Rin, in a hurry, transformed into a mass of Spiritrons and vanished before Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang waved the feather fan in his hand, took Rin's untouched teacup, took a small sip, and said.
"How ill-mannered!"
Meanwhile, the three who had entered the stone array were already dizzy and disoriented. Soon after entering, they discovered the array's strangeness, but having entered, they had no chance to retreat. Completely unable to distinguish directions, the three could only press on through Zhuge Liang's Eight Trigrams Array.
As time passed, Martha, who had been blindly wandering in the array for a whole morning, could no longer bear it. She raised her fists and began a violent demolition, attempting to punch open a path.
As her iron fist struck the stone wall, a huge pit appeared. Their eyes lit up, and the three were about to pass through when a volley of arrows, seemingly from nowhere, forced them back. As the arrow rain ceased, the stone wall quickly returned to its original state.
"Damn it! Who set this up? If I find out, I'm going to give them a good beating!"
Gudako looked at Martha, who was constantly complaining, and nodded in agreement, feeling the same way. Suddenly thinking of something, Gudako asked Martha.
"Martha, your Noble Phantasm is a dragon, right?"
"That's right! I can have Tarasque clear the way!"
No sooner said than done, Martha unhesitatingly unleashed her Noble Phantasm and summoned Tarasque.
With the giant dragon clearing the way, the group crashed through the stone walls and arrived at the elevator to the next floor.
Zhuge Liang, watching them break through the challenge through a mirror, shook his head. Just as he was about to do something, Zhuge Liang suddenly remembered Rin, sighed, waved his feather fan, and returned to his thatched hut.
"Forget it, forget it. I'll give the Master of this place some face!"
As Zhuge Liang waved his fan, three bolts of lightning instantly struck Gudako, Martha, and Kiritsugu Emiya, leaving them numb and paralyzed on the ground.
About 10 minutes later, Martha, who recovered first, cautiously approached Gudako, who was lying on the ground unable to move, and carried her into the elevator.
Gudako, lying in Martha's arms, kept signaling with her eyes for Martha not to forget Kiritsugu Emiya, but Martha seemed not to notice, carrying Gudako directly onto the elevator.
Kiritsugu Emiya, lying on the ground, watched the elevator begin to charge. He surprisingly recovered a small amount of mobility through sheer willpower, and before the elevator started, he struggled to worm his way onto it like a caterpillar.
Martha, who was standing at the entrance ready to kick Kiritsugu Emiya off, pouted when she felt Gudako's intense gaze from behind her. She turned around expressionlessly and walked away.
When the elevator slowly stopped on the fourth floor, a space covered in heavy snow appeared before the recovered Kiritsugu Emiya. Kiritsugu Emiya frowned, looking at the snowy scenery outside the elevator, and a strange image suddenly appeared in his mind.
It was the scene of Kiritsugu Emiya standing by the window, refusing Irisviel's request to embrace the newborn Illya.
"Iri! I will definitely create a world where no one cries!"
Kiritsugu Emiya unconsciously clenched his fists and said this. Then, having recovered, Kiritsugu Emiya unclenched his fists, raised his hands in confusion, and looked at them, completely unaware of what he was doing.
At this moment, Gudako, who had walked out of the elevator, curiously looked at Kiritsugu Emiya, who had a strange expression and was examining his hands, and asked.
"Kiritsugu! What are you doing here?"
Kiritsugu Emiya wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and said calmly.
"Nothing, just a strange memory appeared in my mind."
Gudako pouted, holding the back of her head, and said to Kiritsugu Emiya, displeased.
"I envy you for having memories. I don't even know my own name yet!"
"You'll find it!"
Hearing Kiritsugu Emiya's words, Gudako clenched her fists, put them to her chest, and said confidently.
"En! I feel like I can find it too. Alright, Kiritsugu, let's go!"
Saying that, Gudako led Martha into the wind and snow.
Kiritsugu Emiya shook his head, pushing the previous image out of his mind. Then he tightened his trench coat and followed Gudako into the wind and snow.
By evening, Gudako and Kiritsugu Emiya, frozen stiff, finally discovered a church about thirty kilometers from the elevator.
After discussing, the two decided to stay overnight at the church and then head for the elevator tomorrow.
"Kiritsugu, why is this floor so much bigger?"
"I observed from below, the overall structure here is diamond-shaped, meaning the 1st and 10th floors are the smallest, and the 5th floor is the largest. This is the fourth floor, so theoretically, it should be three times the size of the first floor."
Kiritsugu Emiya and Gudako walked to the church door, chatting idly.
Gudako came to the door, vigorously knocked on the knocker, and shouted loudly.
"Hello, is anyone there? We are passing travelers, could you let us in to take shelter from the wind and snow?"
After a long while, Gudako, seeing no response, exchanged a glance with Kiritsugu Emiya and slowly pushed open the heavy church door.
Gudako and Kiritsugu Emiya walked in and saw the empty church hall. They both found a chair and sat down, seemingly intending to spend the night there.
But a sudden crisp sound of footsteps made Gudako and Kiritsugu Emiya become alert. At the same time, Martha revealed herself and stood in front of Gudako.
---------------------------------
I hope you enjoy this fanfiction! If you're having fun and want to read 30 chapters in advance, feel free to check out my Patreon: patreon.com/TLScarlet
Your support means a lot so if you like the story, don't forget to drop a Power Stone.