With his chest pierced through, Dirumudo struggled to turn his head one last time, casting a labored glance at Kanemori, whose life had already completely faded. He reached out with one trembling hand—as if trying to grasp something—before his body finally broke apart into countless golden motes of light, dispersing silently into the air.
Ren Kuroda felt no trace of guilt as Dirumudo and Kanemori were erased.
Because he knew Dirumudo's original fate all too well, and compared to that ending, this outcome was far more merciful.
Dirumudo had answered the Grail's call in the first place because he wished to die in battle for a new lord. Now, having fallen while protecting his Master, it could be said that he died as he wished—without regret.
"Kanemori is dead, and Dirumudo has withdrawn as a result. Earlier, I even thought Kanemori had used some special method to contract you as a Servant as well," Ren said slowly."But looking at you now… that doesn't seem to be the case. Kanemori's gone, yet your mana hasn't diminished at all."
Only after confirming Kanemori's death did Ren turn his gaze back toward the remaining figure—Golden Flash, who was still frozen in shock.
Earlier, Ren had assumed that Golden Flash must have been bound to Kanemori through some unusual means, especially given how Kanemori had been issuing orders so brazenly.
But now, it seemed things weren't nearly that simple.
"Just who the hell are you?" Golden Flash demanded, his voice low and tense."That idiot claimed you were Shuten-Dōji. But even if you were one of the so-called Three Great Yokai, in our legends you'd be nothing more than a slightly stronger monster. There's no way you should possess power on this level!"
Despite the death of the clown who had dared threaten him earlier, Golden Flash felt no satisfaction at all.
Because Ren's strength had surpassed his expectations again and again.
One of his strongest Noble Phantasms—Divine Proclamation—had been stopped barehanded even after its true name was released.Lancer, whom Golden Flash looked down on, was still a legendary warrior of his era—yet once Ren fought seriously, Dirumudo hadn't even lasted a full exchange.
And worse still—
Ren was standing on Vimana.
That meant even if Golden Flash wanted to disengage and retreat, he had no way to do so.
Countless silver chains burst forth from the golden ripples behind him.
Golden Flash knew perfectly well that the Chains of Heaven were ineffective against someone without divinity like Ren—but at this point, he had no other means of restraining him.
At the very least, the Chains of Heaven were still A-rank Noble Phantasms. With enough quantity, they might buy him a few precious moments.
And at the exact instant the chains shot toward Ren, Golden Flash extended his right hand and swiftly drew out his trump card from space itself—
The Sword of Rupture, Ea.
This was no longer a situation where he could afford to hold back.
The moment Ren was bound—even for an instant—Golden Flash would strike without hesitation.
He would only get one chance.
Ren's concealment ability had already proven terrifying. Even the treasures in his vault couldn't locate him once he disappeared.
If Ren was allowed to use that again, Golden Flash knew—he would have no chance of victory whatsoever.
Unfortunately for him, the Noble Phantasm he trusted so deeply betrayed his expectations.
In his yokai-transformed state, Ren's movements had become little more than afterimages in the air.The speed of the Chains of Heaven simply couldn't keep up.
And by the time Golden Flash fully pulled Ea from space—
Ren was already in front of him.
A single slash cut across Golden Flash's chest.
"I don't know why Archer failed to defeat you inside his Reality Marble," Ren said calmly, blade still dripping with golden light,"but your weakness is obvious to me."
He looked straight into Golden Flash's widening eyes.
"As the oldest king, you're undeniably one of the strongest Heroic Spirits. Your power is beyond question.But your flaw is just as fatal—you refuse to trust anyone but yourself, yet you rely far too much on your Noble Phantasms."
Ren paused for a moment, then continued quietly.
"As for my true identity… I'll tell you, as a final courtesy.I'm not Shuten-Dōji. I'm not even someone from this world."
Golden Flash's pupils trembled.
"The reason I'm this strong is simple," Ren said."Unlike you—mere spiritual bodies—I'm participating in this Grail War with a physical body."
Golden Flash's eyes flew wide open.
He tried to roar, to scream out his rage and humiliation—
But the fatal wound on his chest had already been judged by the Grail.
He had lost the qualification to continue fighting.
His body slowly broke apart into golden motes of light, scattering into nothingness.
And the moment Golden Flash vanished, Vimana beneath Ren's feet began to dissolve as well—like bubbles rising and popping in the air.
Which raised an important question.
With Ren's current durability and physical stats in his yokai-transformed state…would falling from several thousand meters actually hurt?
The answer, of course, was no.
He smashed into the ground from the sky, carving out a gigantic crater like a meteor strike. Nearby residents were convinced a celestial object had fallen from the heavens.
And with that, the interception battle finally came to an end.
Because his private jet had been destroyed earlier, the enormously wealthy Einzbern patriarch simply chartered an entire aircraft upon reaching a nearby airport and rushed back to Fuyuki City overnight.
With both Dirumudo and Golden Flash withdrawing one after the other, their mana returned to the Lesser Grail—which meant Illya's condition would inevitably worsen.
As the head of the Einzbern family, the old man was exceptionally skilled in homunculus technology. After only a few days of preparation, he had already assembled a complete set of equipment in Fuyuki.
And to prove he hadn't been deceiving Ren—and to dispel any lingering suspicion—the Einzbern patriarch allowed Ren to participate in nearly every step of creating Illya's new body.
This decision, however, greatly displeased Kiritsugu Emiya.
Because the body prepared for Illya this time was no longer a child's—
It matched her actual age.
Roughly the same as Rin Tōsaka and Shirō Emiya.
During the homunculus creation process, Illya's new body lay completely exposed, immersed in a cultivation tank—something entirely normal from a technical standpoint.
But a certain doting father was filled with resentment, insisting that Ren was a complete outsider to homunculus research. Any "help" he offered was either unnecessary meddling—or, worse, him eyeing his daughter's body.
In response, Ren—now dressed in a white lab coat—declared that he was a researcher at the moment, that minor details didn't matter, and that he was a man of integrity.
Kiritsugu was clearly judging a gentleman with a villain's mindset.
And even if Ren did have any impure thoughts—
With his mastery of homunculus technology now, did he really need to stare at Illya?
No matter the age. No matter the measurements.
He could just make one himself.
Once all preparations were complete, they began the body-transfer process for Illya.
"The Azure Emperor of the East, the Crimson Emperor of the South,the White Emperor of the West, the Black Emperor of the North,the Yellow Emperor at the Center—the Northern Dipper, the Three Terraces, the Celestial Patterns, the Five Stars.
Let the dead return to the living world,let the departed speak again.By spirit as guide—return at once!Swiftly, in accordance with the law!"
Four people stood in the laboratory.
Medea, wearing an indifferent expression.Kiritsugu, tense and anxious.The Einzbern patriarch, filled with barely contained anticipation.And Ren, performing the ritual.
As Ren's incantation and hand seals flowed together, an Eastern ritual array—entirely different from a Western magic circle—was rapidly drawn across the floor, blazing with brilliant light in the darkness.
"Not a Western magic circle… but an Eastern ritual formation?" the Einzbern patriarch exclaimed."And these symbols—why can't I understand them at all? Are they spells from the Magecraft Association? I've never seen anything like this!"
Before he could finish marveling, changes began occurring within the formation itself—prompting him to shout in shock.
Illya, who had been unconscious, began to glow at the chest as spiritual energy gathered.
A soul became visible.
It was a bluish, semi-transparent figure—identical in appearance to Illya, though its expression was hazy and unfocused.
The Einzbern patriarch nearly lost his composure at the sight.
This—
This was what the Einzbern family had pursued for generations.
For centuries, the Einzberns had strived toward the Third Magic, studying the soul extensively.
Yet even after a hundred years, they had never once managed to manifest a soul so clearly before others.
Even Zōken Matō, who possessed the deepest understanding of soul manipulation in Fuyuki, could only prolong his existence by transferring fragments of his soul through crest worms.
That method allowed survival—but not without severe side effects.
Repeated fragmentation and transfer weakened his mana over time and twisted his personality beyond recognition.
Compared to the Heaven's Feel of the Third Magic, such methods were worlds apart.
But now, the Einzbern patriarch could see it clearly—
Illya's soul, though weakened and hazy due to the Lesser Grail's influence, was fundamentally intact.
Once her soul adapted to the new body, there would be no lingering damage.No side effects whatsoever.
The Einzberns didn't know what the legendary Heaven's Feel truly looked like.
But what stood before them now—
Was unmistakably a form of materialized soul.
And when combined with Einzbern homunculus technology—
The immortality of the Third Magic was no longer an impossible dream.