Amidst the orderly and well-equipped Egyptian army, Reines, riding alongside Jeanne, asked,
"Has Marie gone back?"
Jeanne seemed to be in a very good mood and nodded happily to Reines.
"Yes! Master, thank you!"
"Don't thank me, thank Rin! If Rin hadn't agreed, no matter the outcome, it would have been nothing but a pipe dream."
Jeanne looked up at Rin, who was sitting with Cleopatra atop the giant serpent at the front of the army, and murmured,
"I will!"
In the marching ranks not far from Jeanne, BB stood with her hands on her hips, looking happily at the dejected Lilith and saying proudly,
"Hahaha! I was right after all! I knew that bullshit Saint would be easy to handle! Lilith, according to the bet, the job of looking after Kinpurotia on the battlefield is yours!"
Lilith glared unhappily at BB and couldn't help but turn her head to glare fiercely at Jeanne nearby.
"I know! Tsk!"
"Oh! Little misses, what are you chatting about?"
The King of Conquerors' chariot landed with a clatter between the BB sisters, and he asked with a smile, spreading his arms.
Mordred, with one hand on Lily's shoulder and her Noble Phantasm over the other, stood boldly in the chariot and asked along with the King of Conquerors,
"Yeah! You look like you're having such a fun chat, let's hear it!"
Boom boom boom!
Suddenly, a series of earth-shaking sounds were heard as Kinpurotia ran with a crying face from the foot of the Pyrenees, reaching BB and the others on the mountainside in a few giant strides.
"Um! Did Kinpurotia do something wrong again? Why didn't you sisters wake me up? Do you not want me anymore?"
As she spoke, Kinpurotia looked like she was about to cry, just waiting for one of them to say no so she could burst into tears.
However, Kinpurotia, who had no concept of her own size, didn't realize that her sudden rush up the Pyrenees had caused falling rocks and landslides, creating no small amount of trouble for this section of the Egyptian army.
Feeling the mountain tremble, Rin turned back and saw the giant Kinpurotia and the Heroic Spirits she had summoned. After apologizing to Cleopatra, she said to Fujimaru,
"Fujimaru, please take Illya and the others to help the army in the back, and tell BB and the others to stop messing around... honestly!"
"Oh! Okay."
Fujimaru and Mash shared a look, then used magecraft to leap down from the giant serpent's head, quickly disappearing into the nearby army.
Rin looked at Mash, who was staring intently at the rear with concern, and walked over to her with a smile, patting her on the shoulder.
"Mash, stop looking. If you keep staring, you'll turn into a stone statue waiting for her husband!"
Mash's face turned bright red instantly, and she stammered in protest,
"Director, stop joking, I... I... I..."
"Alright! No more 'I-I-I'. Mash, after this is over, go find Da Vinci! Tell her I sent you!"
"Director, is there something you want me to see Lady Da Vinci about?"
"It's nothing, just having Da Vinci craft a set of Mystic Codes for you, so certain people don't spend all day overthinking things! Hahaha!"
Watching Rin's laughing figure as she walked away, Mash bowed gratefully toward her back and then murmured softly.
"Thank you, Director!"
---
Deep within the Great Forest of Wales.
A mischievous little squirrel, clutching a pinecone, hopped through the feet of a group of skeleton soldiers and darted into a deep, dark cave.
The playful little creature let out a few squeaks in the darkness. Then, its eyes lit up as if it had found a perfect spot to bury its pinecone, and it scurried over in a flash.
"Have we been discovered by that person again?"
"Yes! Her power seems to have grown stronger. This time, she appears to have found our location based on Instinct alone, and she is currently leading her knights toward us in a straight line."
"It'll be the same as before. I'll go intercept her. I'll have to trouble you to use the old method to transfer the Land of Shadows immediately!"
"Wait! Scáthach, you were already injured in your previous battle. If you go alone this time to block her and her army, I'm afraid..."
"Hahaha, I actually hope she truly can kill me! Huh?"
Scáthach, who was standing before a door slightly ajar and covered in mysterious runes and hymns of death, looked curiously at the little squirrel that had burst into the stone chamber. She crouched down and let the squirrel jump onto her hand.
"This little fellow isn't afraid of us?"
Kiyohime chuckled, covering her mouth as she looked at the squirrel in Scáthach's hand.
"It's either a very thick-skinned little thing or just a little fool!"
Elizabeth Bathory, who usually didn't get along with Kiyohime, nodded in agreement this time.
"Kiyohime is right!"
As she spoke, Elizabeth reached out to grab the squirrel on Scáthach's hand. Perhaps the squirrel's perception was indeed slow, for it had been calm until then, but it suddenly seemed to be struck by immense fear and bolted out of the stone chamber, vanishing from their sight.
"Stop fooling around. Scáthach, I really have a bad feeling about this!"
Elizabeth turned around to look at the Heroic Spirit behind her, who was almost identical to Scáthach except for her outfit and temperament.
"Skaði, don't worry! Big Sis won't be defeated by that dark one. If they didn't have so many people, Big Sis would have finished her off long ago. Right, Big Sis?"
Scáthach didn't answer Elizabeth. She simply leaned on her magic spear and pondered for a moment. Then, she reached into the stone doorway behind her and pulled out a battered Holy Grail.
"If you're worried, I'll take this with me this time."
Seeing Scáthach take out the Holy Grail, Skaði felt slightly relieved and nodded.
"Scáthach! Stay safe. If anything unexpected happens, contact me immediately. I will have the Valkyries support you at the first opportunity!"
"Yes, I will! Elizabeth, Kiyohime, you two don't cause any trouble. Stay here and protect Skaði until I return!"
With that, Scáthach picked up her magic spear and vanished from the stone chamber in a single stride.
"Hey, Skaði, why don't we allow that dark one to enter the Land of Shadows? If we just let her in, wouldn't we avoid having to fight her?"
Skaði shook her head at Elizabeth's question and explained.
"Because that fellow Merlin used a prophecy to make Scáthach swear an oath. We cannot allow the Artoria of this world to obtain the Holy Sword and that corpse he placed within the Land of Shadows..."
Elizabeth scratched her head.
"Then why don't we just transfer directly to somewhere else?"
Thwack!
Kiyohime, unable to watch any longer, smacked Elizabeth on the head with her fan.
"You dummy, it's obviously because of the prophecy! And why are you asking so many questions? Don't disturb Skaði while she's transferring the Land of Shadows!"
"Ah! Kiyohime! Not only did you hit this idol's head, you called me a dummy! I'm going to kill you!"
Skaði glanced at the bickering Elizabeth and Kiyohime, then turned to the gate of the Land of Shadows. She began to activate the runes inscribed on the door, guiding the transfer of the entrance.
"Merlin... I hope your prophecy can truly save my world."
---------------------------------
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