With the Public Security Bureau mobilizing at full speed, evacuating the civilians became significantly easier. Officers surrounded the shaken teachers and students, guiding them past the warping edges of the Hollow and into reinforced medical tents. Medics performed rapid contamination checks, treated injuries, and stabilized anyone suffering early-stage Ether Corruption.
By the time everyone had calmed enough to speak, the same story kept repeating over and over:
They survived because of a transfer student, Hoshimi Nagant.
Zhu Yuan and Qingyi exchanged looks, their eyebrows rising in rare unison.
Slowly, their gazes shifted to the corner where Tsutsumi Ryoko stood, arms crossed, expression blank, pretending very poorly that the name had nothing to do with him.
Tsutsumi sighed, not even waiting for them to accuse him. "Blame my mother. I don't wanna go to school."
That was enough explanation.
Zhu Yuan and Qingyi's expressions instantly softened with understanding, no further elaboration needed. Only Hoshimi Miyabi could force Tsutsumi Ryoko to attend a normal school.
Before either woman could say anything else, a breeze swept past them.
And Tsutsumi was gone.
The two scanned the area, but there wasn't even the echo of a footstep left behind.
Qingyi shrugged lightly. "Well… let's just tell Miyabi."
Zhu Yuan nodded. "Yeah."
Neither pursued the matter. They knew his is more than capable of handling dangerous situations by himself.
An Aurora Curtain shimmered open in the distance like a vertical pool of liquid light. Tsutsumi stepped through, feeling reality subtly shift as he returned to his own world.
He exhaled long and deep.
Then rubbed the bridge of his nose. He knew the Hollow's appearance had nothing to do with him directly, but being Decade meant being blamed for everything bad that happened. If he lingered any longer, someone would inevitably point at him and yell, "Damn you, Decade!!"
He lifted his head, staring up at the bright moon hanging over the training forest. Cool night air brushed against his face, a stark contrast to the heat and distortion of the Hollow.
"Now what do I do…" he muttered.
Boredom settled over him like a blanket. He didn't want to go back to work. He didn't want to go to school. He definitely didn't want to fight anything else today.
He summoned another Aurora Curtain.
"Let's see where this will take me."
Then he gently waved his hand back, sending the Aurora Curtain toward him and sending him into another world.
The moment Tsutsumi appeared, he found that he was sitting on the ground. He was inside an old shed. Dust filled the air. The dim moonlight leaked through gaps in weathered planks.
A gust of wind swept through the broken boards. His hair fluttered, and a shadow fell over him, someone standing in the doorway, blocking out the bright moonlight that shone. Casting their shadow over him.
The moonlight framed a slender figure in blue and white. Her skirt rippled in the wind. Armor gleamed faintly on her chest and shoulders. Golden hair, braided with royal precision, shimmered beneath the pale sky.
"I ask of you…" The woman turned, voice calm, regal. "Are you my Mas-"
She paused, seeing his face, and Tsutsumi also saw hers. They both stared, letting the silence stretch on between them.
Then their expressions instantly twisted into pure hatred.
"You!"
Both Tsutsumi and Artoria said at the same time, still remembering their first meeting.
Tsutsumi remembered her clearly, the face identical to Jeanne's, yet this was one of the people who stopped him and caused Jeanne's death.
Artoria remembered him just as vividly. That humiliating, painful "violation" burned so deeply into her soul that she had forced it into the Throne itself just to make sure she would never forget, no matter which version of her appeared. She would remember and pay him back.
Her grip tightened. Invisible Air tore apart with the hiss of wind, revealing her gleaming Excalibur.
She didn't hesitate and charged.
"Henshin!"
Kamen Ride: Saber! Brave Dragon~! Rekka Issatsu!
Flames erupted around him, his clothes shifted in a flare of red, white, and black shaped like a storybook knight. He drew his blade and met her head-on. The clash shattering the shed walls in an eruption of fire and wind, as flame and golden light erupted between them.
While the two fought, the blue lancer holding a red spear nearby stood dumbfounded. He has chased this kid down from that school, only to find out that he actually summoned the last Servant, Saber.
Yet instead of Saber going to fight him and protect her master, she turns her blade toward him, and the boy who has been running from him not long ago. Suddenly drew his blade and fought her equally.
Lancer has chased him down and almost killed him, but not once did he even fight back. Now, he was exchanging blades with his own Servant while ignoring him.
"…Oi. OI! Don't ignore me!!" Lancer yelled, insulted beyond reason, and sprinted toward them.
"Get lost!" both Tsutsumi and Artoria snapped without even looking.
Artoria brought down a golden arc of Excalibur, blasting Lancer straight into the air.
Final Attack Ride: S-S-S-Saber!
Tsutsumi leapt up and drop-kicked Lancer mid-flight. His right foot ignited in crimson flames. He crashed a blazing kick into Lancer's stomach, sending him rocketing into the night like a blue comet.
Lancer vanished into the night sky.
Tsutsumi dropped back down, landing in a spray of gravel. Flames dissipated around his boots. When the last spark faded, he and Artoria found themselves once again face-to-face.
The two raised their weapons and were about to charge toward each other again, only to pause; both sensing the presence of another servant nearby.
"I'll deal with you later!"
"I'll deal with you later!"
Artoria: "..."
Tsutsumi: "..."
"Don't copy me!"
"Shut it!"
"You are really starting to pissed me off!"
"Artoria is a bitch!"
Artoria: "..!!"
"You bastard!" Her sword exploded with golden fury as she rushed him again.
Tsutsumi flicked another card.
Form Ride: Saber! Primitive Dragon!
A skeletal blue dragon materialized behind him, its massive ghostly bones wrapping around his body like a cursed guardian. Its maw roared in silent rage, and blue flames spiraled up around him.
Artoria's blade descended, and Tsutsumi raised his sword to meet it.
The night split apart in a cascade of gold and blue flame.
...
Nearby on the street, a girl in red and black with long twin tails was being carried under Archer's arm as he ran. Rin was about to complain again when she felt him suddenly tense up.
"Archer? What now-"
Archer stopped and looked up with a strange expression.
Rin followed his gaze.
Up in the sky, Lancer, blue tigh, red spear, the same man Archer had been fighting earlier, was being sent flying far into the distance, getting smaller and smaller until he vanished.
"…That's not normal," Rin muttered.
"Something isn't right, Rin," Archer said quietly. Without hesitation, he turned and jumped back, putting more distance between themselves and whatever caused that.
Once he reached a safer point, Archer stopped and narrowed his eyes toward the direction of the house they were originally heading to.
What he saw made his expression darken.
Saber was there, but she wasn't fighting Archer's opponent. She was clashing violently with a boy in strange clothes, the two tearing apart the field with every strike. And Saber clearly wasn't summoned by the Master Archer remembered.
"This doesn't match the situation I know," Archer said, voice low.
Rin frowned. "…What is going on over there?"
Archer shook his head. "Let's retreat for now, Rin. If someone can launch Lancer that far, fighting them head-on is a bad idea."
Without waiting for her response, he turned and continued running, carrying his master away from the battlefield.
...
Back in the courtyard, Tsutsumi and Artoria were still busy beating the hell out of each other.
Tsutsumi slammed Artoria's face into the ground, his right foot pinning her hand, his left hand wrenching her other arm back. The whole position looked wrong to anyone watching, her spine bent at an angle, his stance on top of her looking way too suggestive for a battlefield.
Artoria didn't care. She twisted hard, kicked him off, and tackled him. She sat on his waist, her arms locked around his neck as she tried to choke him with her forearm.
Tsutsumi grabbed her wrist, shoved it aside, and slammed her hand into the dirt. Her free hand shot straight to his neck, squeezing hard.
He headbutted her.
She snarled. He tore off the metal plating on her chest with one rough pull, used the shift in momentum, and flipped her under him, pinning her the same way she had pinned him.
His fist hovered over her face, then stopped. Her resemblance to Jeanne cut right through his killing intent.
Artoria used that moment to bite into his hand, hard. He swore and jerked away.
From that point on, the "fight to the death" devolved into a completely sloppy brawl that barely counted as a fight.
They crashed through the courtyard, through the front door, over furniture, breaking tables, knocking over shelves. They slammed each other into walls, rolled across the living room floor, hit the kitchen, dented a fridge, broke a chair, knocked over a sink rack, stumbled into a bathroom, shattered some tiles, then finally tumbled into the bedroom.
By the time they stopped, the entire house looked like a hurricane had gone through it. At least it was still standing.
"Why won't you just kill me already…" Artoria snapped with pure hatred, clutching a blanket tight against her chest to cover herself; her dress was torn off.
"If only you weren't blonde…" Tsutsumi muttered, sitting nearby with only his pants and ripped shirt.
He hated how much she looked like Jeanne. Because of that, he couldn't bring himself to finish her off. He'd cut off her mana supply just enough to weaken her so she couldn't kill him either, which turned the whole "death match" into the world's worst fistfight.
"What is that supposed to mean?" she growled, pulling the blanket tighter and glaring daggers at him.
"How about we get you a hair dye. Maybe then killing you would be easier," he said flatly.
Artoria's entire face twisted.
"Bastard!"
"Bitch!"
"Scumbag!"
"Failure!"
"Pervert!"
"Whore!"
Their shouting echoed through what was left of the room.
...
The night sky stretched endlessly, a sea of bright stars scattered across the void.
"Do stars have some kind of magical effect?" a calm voice asked.
Artoria turned and saw Tsutsumi sitting on the same porch where they had fought not long ago. A young girl sat beside him. Both gazed upward, silent, as if the stars themselves held secrets meant only for them.
"I don't think so," Tsutsumi replied softly. "It's more like… an aria. A way to send your wish to the stars."
Artoria felt it instantly, what this was. Her Master's memories, bleeding through the shared contract between Servant and Master.
Miyu smiled beside him. For once, Tsutsumi looked almost… peaceful. It was a stark contrast to the man she had fought.
The memory twisted as snow began to fall, each flake a silent witness to the past.
Tsutsumi's voice cracked. "A form of justice... A form of family... A form of human… I was only chasing after them, only imitating them, to cover myself, a demon in human skin!!"
"I was wrong from the start… even I know that. But… that's why…" His voice broke again, softer now, desperate, almost pleading.
"I… wanted to start being something real!!"
Artoria watched him shatter. His voice splintered in a way she never thought possible. She hated him, she absolutely hated him, but a strange, twisting sorrow gnawed at her seeing him like this.
"Miyu…" His head bowed. His voice broke into fragments. "Give my sister back to me…"
The memory shifted violently.
"Run, Aki!" Tsutsumi shouted, stretching his hand toward her with every ounce of desperation he had.
The girl looked back, eyes soft and apologetic. "Ryo… I'm sorry…"
"Zabaniya!!"
The strike hit before he could reach her. A hole tore through her chest. Artoria saw the collapse of his expression, raw and hollow, as she fell.
The memory twisted again.
Now Tsutsumi held another girl in his arms. She trembled, tears streaking her face, her form fading like sand slipping through fingers.
"I… I love you… Tsutsumi." And then she was gone, utterly.
Artoria's chest tightened. She hated how her heart thudded painfully, how every breath felt thick and wrong.
The dream shifted once more.
A burning stake. A blonde woman, unnervingly like Artoria, was being consumed by flames while a silent crowd looked on.
Tsutsumi stood among them, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles whitened. A single tear traced down his chin. The woman's ghost appeared, serene, apologetic.
"Ryo, you promised me you wouldn't cry."
"Devils never cry," he muttered, barely holding the edges of himself together.
"Maybe… even a devil may cry when he loses his loved one."
Her spirit faded, leaving emptiness in its wake.
Artoria's eyes snapped open. She was back in the wrecked bedroom, lying on the cold floor. Morning light bled through the ruined window, washing the room in pale gold. Her hands gripped the blanket so tightly she didn't notice until the pain bit.
A warm drop rolled down her cheek.
She touched it, staring at the tear that clung to her finger.
"…Tch." She clicked her tongue, a storm of emotions curling in her chest. Another tear fell, unbidden, tracing a path down her jaw.
"Damn it…" she muttered, voice rough with everything she couldn't say.