After hearing the report from her Candy Soldier subordinates, Illya ran all the way to the palace hall in high spirits.
"Kiritsugu! Mama!"
Illya looked at her parents excitedly and, like a happy little bird, lunged toward Irisviel's embrace.
Facing the approaching Illya, Kiritsugu's hand trembled as he pulled out his handgun, pointed it at Illya's head, and said coldly.
"Stop!"
Illya looked in disbelief at Kiritsugu, who was pointing a gun at her head, and the apologetic Irisviel.
"Kiritsugu? Mama?"
"Illya, I'm sorry. You should remember our promise! I'm sorry, I need to go to the top floor. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
Illya looked blankly at Kiritsugu's distorted face and his continuously falling tears. She pulled the Sovereign's authority from her body, held it in her hand, and said to Kiritsugu.
"Of course I remember! Look, this is the Sovereign's authority. As long as I crush it, we can go to the upper floor together!"
Kiritsugu froze, a rare look of embarrassment appearing on his face as he asked Illya.
"Doesn't going to the next floor require defeating the Sovereign?"
"Yeah! If the authority is destroyed, doesn't that count as being defeated? And then, as someone who isn't a Sovereign, can't I help Mama and you fulfill your dream, Kiritsugu? I've always remembered our promise!"
At this point, Chloe, who was being watched by Gudako, could no longer hold back and burst into loud laughter.
"Pfft! That's too funny! Can Kiritsugu Emiya actually make a face like that? Hahahahaha! I can't take it, hahaha~"
Kiritsugu put away his gun. Utterly embarrassed, he didn't quite know how to face Illya. Kiritsugu, who always planned everything based on the worst-case scenario, had completely failed to anticipate this scene.
Fortunately, Irisviel saw through Kiritsugu's thoughts. She first went to Illya's side, picked up the small girl, and brought her to Kiritsugu. Then, using her Servant strength, she placed Illya on Kiritsugu's shoulder, just like when she was little.
But what Irisviel didn't know was that after everything Illya and Kiritsugu had been through, it would be very difficult for them to return to the way they were before—unless Kiritsugu let go of the obsession in his heart and abandoned his pathetic dream.
Gudako felt somewhat lonely as she untied the rope binding Chloe. Watching the Emiya family interacting nearby, Gudako murmured.
"Who are my mom and dad? Who are my relatives?"
The Seat of the Summit.
Rin, who had been in a standoff with The Enlightened One for several days, could no longer hold back and spoke to him.
"Venerable One! Could you help me complete her?"
Hearing Rin's question, The Enlightened One opened his eyes and replied.
"This is a good deed; naturally, I can!"
After answering, The Enlightened One didn't give Rin a chance to ask again. He closed his eyes once more, returning to a state of being unseeing, unhearing, and unfeeling.
"Then, my thanks to the Venerable One!"
Rin bowed to The Enlightened One and, with a slight sense of frustration, flew toward Kirei Kotomine below.
Kirei Kotomine opened his eyes, saw Rin arrive before him, and spoke.
"Rin! Is the Master unwilling to stay?"
"Yeah! I was a fool to try and match patience with a projection of The Enlightened One. But at least he agreed to help me solve Gudako's problem!"
Hearing this, Kirei Kotomine turned to look at the Twin Trees. Using the power of the Twin Trees to peer into the causes and effects of the Spiritron World, he said to Rin.
"Do you really believe I can become the 'Good' required for your plan?"
As he spoke, Kirei Kotomine raised his hands, a faint smile of pleasure appearing as he looked at the dried blood on them.
"Of course I know your true nature! I've guided you for so many years. Who knew you'd so casually be brainwashed by that guy Kiritsugu Emiya with a goal of salvation? But it's a good thing it's salvation! Otherwise, I might have killed you long ago!"
"I understand! I am born evil, which is why I have doubts about your choice. Do you really want to choose me to act as 'Good'?"
"Naturally! To possess the essence of evil yet act with good deeds—isn't that exactly who you are now? Only someone like you won't be an absolute good. I would never hand over authority to a being of absolute good."
"I see!"
After finishing, Kirei leaned against the sapling of the Twin Trees, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.
After staying on the sixth floor with Illya for several days, the group had now reached the seventh floor.
Just as they stepped out of the elevator, Illya's mouth twitched as she looked at the skyscrapers and the bustling city before her.
If it were a normal city, Illya probably wouldn't have had such a strange reaction. What made it different was that this city was filled with Rin—Rin's sculptures, Rin's posters, Rin's graffiti, Rin's advertisements. In short, everything was Rin.
At that moment, Fujino, dressed in a red kimono, walked gracefully to the elevator doors and spoke to the group as they stepped out.
"So you've arrived!"
Illya put her hands on her hips and said to Fujino.
"You perverted woman, what on earth is this floor of yours supposed to be?"
Fujino proudly held up a Rin keychain and said to Illya.
"This is my respect and love for my Master as her disciple! Is there a problem?"
As she finished, a surge of killing intent burst from Fujino's eyes as she looked at the group, whose mouths were twitching.
Feeling Fujino's killing intent, everyone hurriedly shook their heads. No one wanted to have a conflict with this woman over such a matter.
Fujino looked at everyone's reaction with satisfaction, then carefully put away the keychain. She then drove the group into the city to a Rin-themed restaurant—though it seemed this city only had Rin-themed restaurants.
As everyone took their seats, several humanoid puppets quickly filled the table with various delicacies.
Fujino gracefully picked up a special crystal glass carved in the likeness of Rin, poured some fine wine, and after gesturing to the group, she turned the glass to the side with Rin's lips and took small, continuous sips of the wine.
Her face flushed after drinking the wine, Fujino said to the group, who were looking at her strangely.
"I know you want to go to the next level, right!"
Gudako, who did not know Fujino, saw that she looked like a Yamato Nadeshiko but was actually a pervert. Not wanting to spend even another second with Fujino, she quickly replied.
"Yes! Miss Fujino, can you let us pass?"
"Of course! For Master's plan, I will certainly let you pass! However, Tohsaka Sakura's origin on the next level seems to have some issues. If you are in a rush to die, it puts me in a difficult position!"
After the Holy Grail War ended, Illya came to Chaldea and became very good friends with Tohsaka Sakura. Hearing Fujino say that Tohsaka Sakura's origin had problems, she quickly stood up and asked Fujino.
"What happened to Tohsaka Sakura?"
Fujino looked at the anxious Illya and spoke unhurriedly.
"The Servant that Tohsaka Sakura fused with seems to be a very strange character, so she chose to fall into a self-induced slumber to digest the Servant's memories. However, for some reason, the sleeping Tohsaka Sakura is continuously creating all kinds of fairy tale monsters."
"Is Tohsaka Sakura going to be alright!"
"Of course! How could Master let anything happen to Tohsaka Sakura? As long as this experiment ends, Tohsaka Sakura will naturally return to normal when she returns to the outside world, and her power will also increase significantly!"
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