The first rays of dawn had just pierced the horizon. A futuristic-looking supersonic aircraft was slowly landing at an airport in Tokyo.
As the aircraft's cabin door slowly opened, Sumire, the Water Demon and one of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors, stepped out while stretching.
Following closely behind, the White Wing Duke, Trhvmn Ortenrosse, said to Sumire with an elegant posture and a relaxed expression.
"Sumire, if you don't drop that act, Gransurg (Black-Winged Duke) is going to start killing people."
Sure enough, the Black-Winged Duke, not far from where the plane was parked, was glaring at Sumire with a grim expression, casually cleaving in two several of his subordinates who had been bewitched by her.
Sumire shrugged nonchalantly and walked up to the Black-Winged Duke.
"Gransurg, you can't blame me for this! It's just a natural effect of this skin. But Gransurg, when did the quality of your subordinates become so poor?"
As she spoke, Sumire tilted her head and looked at the Black-Winged Duke's subordinates, who were completely infatuated with her.
The White Wing Duke, having approached the Black-Winged Duke, added.
"Gransurg, as my old rival, why have you resorted to collecting such trash upon coming to this backwater?"
"Shut up! Sumire, you constant drunkard, get back to your water! And Trhvmn, it is not your place to mock me!"
Sumire raised an eyebrow, glaring at the Black-Winged Duke with an unfriendly expression as she said sinisterly.
"Gransurg, are you looking to start a war with me?"
At this moment, the White Wing Duke reached out to separate the two, who were on the verge of fighting, and asked the Black-Winged Duke.
"What is going on here! Your emotional state is highly abnormal!"
Hearing the White Wing Duke's question, the Black-Winged Duke, not wanting to lose face in front of his old rival and thinking to stall for time, spread his wings and flew away from the airport without hesitation.
Having failed to get an answer from the Black-Winged Duke, the White Wing Duke turned his head and signaled to Sumire.
Understanding the White Wing Duke's intention, Sumire proactively cast a charm on the Black-Winged Duke's subordinates, who were already dumbfounded by her, and asked.
"Tell me, what is going on with the Black-Winged Duke?"
The Black-Winged Duke's subordinates then scrambled to recount everything that had happened the previous night to Sumire.
Knowing the full story, the White Wing Duke frowned and said.
"Could it be that here in Japan, aside from Aoko and Zelretch, there is another Magus?"
On the outskirts of the human camp, after a night of summoning, the King of Conquerors had finally managed to manifest his entire army of thirty thousand from his Reality Marble into the physical world before the sun broke the horizon.
As he led his army into the human camp, the King of Conquerors scratched his head in annoyance after hearing Fujimaru Ritsuka's explanation of the previous night's battle.
"That magecraft from last night was the work of Little Miss! As expected of Little Miss! Still, it is truly a pity to have missed the battle last night."
Mordred walked over to the King of Conquerors, stood on her tiptoes, raised her arm, and managed to pat the King of Conquerors' shoulder as she asked.
"Big guy, are those your subordinates?"
The King of Conquerors looked at Mordred with great interest and laughed heartily.
"Hahaha, what do you think? My peerless army! As long as you join my ranks, I can let you lead them—how about that?"
"I'll cut you down! Big guy, if you say that again, I really will!"
"Rejected again, hahaha!"
"Hey, Big guy, how about we take your troops out for a spin? You don't know, but that Master stole all the limelight last night! We're the Servants, aren't we? You should be annoyed by that, right? Let's take this opportunity to wipe out all that trash!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka, Mash, and Lily, who had overheard Mordred's plan, shouted in unison.
"Don't agree to her!"
The King of Conquerors spread his hands in response.
"Look, your plan is opposed even by your young King Father!"
"Tch!" Having been opposed and rejected, Mordred muttered "Coward" with disdain. She then walked to a nearby open space, thrust her Noble Phantasm into the ground, leaned against the hilt, and sat down, closing her eyes.
Lily looked helplessly at the childish Mordred, then walked over and sat down beside her on the open ground.
"Mordred, there will be plenty of battles in the future. There is no need to rush; there will always be a time for you to shine. Besides, those human soldiers are very tired right now, and we need to give them some time to rest."
"I know, I know! I was just making a suggestion, hmph!"
As time passed and dusk approached in the Millennium Castle, Rin, Arcueid, and Zelretch were walking along one of the castle's long corridors.
"Rin, have you thought about the conditions proposed by True Moon?"
Rin shook her head at Zelretch.
"No. I truly don't understand why True Moon's condition would be to save the Six Authorities. Hasn't the 'entire world' already been occupied by them? Could there be a hidden enemy in this world?"
Upon hearing Rin's words, Arcueid tilted her head and said to her.
"No! If there were truly anyone capable of threatening the Earth, gaia would have granted me power and urged me to resolve it, but I don't sense anything at all right now."
Zelretch nodded in agreement.
"Indeed. If the White Princess has received no feedback, then there certainly isn't any force or individual capable of threatening the Earth hiding in the shadows. And I do not believe that any force or individual incapable of threatening the Earth could possibly threaten the Six Authorities—unless True Moon intends to take action against the Six Authorities himself. However, True Moon currently lacks a physical body, gaia has provided no feedback, and this also contradicts True Moon's conditions."
Hearing this, Rin ruffled her hair in frustration and shouted.
"The more we talk, the more confused I get! I'm done thinking about it! Anyway, things will work out in the end. By the way, Master, what are the enemy's movements?"
"Although you eliminated millions of Ghouls and Dead Apostles, given the speed at which they are acquiring reinforcements from the surrounding areas, I fear they will launch an attack again tonight."
"Do they already have enough manpower to launch an offensive so soon?"
Zelretch stroked his beard and nodded.
"After what you did last night, there are probably only about a hundred thousand Dead Apostles left hiding in buildings within the Tokyo area. However, at their current rate of reinforcement, hundreds of thousands of Ghouls will arrive tonight. Actually, whether it's hundreds of thousands or millions, it's an incredible number for us, isn't it?"
"When you put it that way, it really does seem to be the case! Isn't this just endless?"
At this moment, Zelretch wore an expectant smile as he looked at Rin and asked.
"That is the situation. So, what do you intend to do?"
Seeing the smile on Zelretch's face, Rin stopped in her tracks.
"Master, are you waiting for me to propose a decapitation strike?"
"A decapitation strike? Excellent, let's go with that! I'll go notify everyone immediately!"
With that, Zelretch instantly opened a gate of light and nimbly stepped through it.
Rin finally understood how Zelretch's disciples had been driven to ruin by him.
She had originally assumed they were used for Zelretch's experiments, or that he simply taught them a bunch of chaotic magecraft, but Rin finally realized that her previous assumptions were entirely wrong.
Zelretch was the type to dig pits for his disciples to jump into; those with insufficient strength were pitted to death, and those with enough strength would likely collapse under the mental and psychological pressure as he continued to dig more pits.
Looking at the dissipating gate of light, Rin clutched her head and shouted down the corridor.
"Zelretch! You old trickster!"
This made Arcueid, who was standing nearby, cover her mouth as she convulsed with laughter.
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