After Rikka and the others left, the atmosphere inside the old warehouse returned to silence. Ritsuka let his body drop, sitting on a block of iron while catching his breath.
*'Arthur, what did you actually want to tell me?'* Ritsuka thought.
Instead of responding via telepathy, golden light suddenly gathered in front of the young man. Arthur manifested his astral form directly. He stood in silence. His emerald green eyes stared deeply at Ritsuka, radiating an expression filled with immense guilt and sorrow.
"Arthur...?" Ritsuka asked hesitantly, feeling confused by the atmosphere that had suddenly become so heavy.
"Master..." Arthur's deep voice sounded soft and trembling. "You have fought so hard. Far too hard... to the point that your soul has become full of wounds and wails like this."
Ritsuka instantly froze stiff. His breath caught in his throat. His eyes widened, staring at the knight before him. "Y-you... you saw my memories?!"
Arthur did not answer with words. He only nodded slowly, confirming that while residing inside the young man's body, he had inadvertently witnessed all the horrors, trauma, and hellish burdens Ritsuka had carried in the past.
"Forgive me, Master. Forgive me for not recognizing you at all when we first met," Arthur said with a deeply remorseful tone.
The blonde knight slowly bowed his head deeply before Ritsuka.
"I have failed as your sword. Both in this life... and in my previous one. I was not there to help you carry the heavy burden of this world. Even though you are just an ordinary human... you were forced to face such a cruel fate entirely alone in order to save humanity." Arthur clenched both of his hands until they trembled. "As a knight who wields the Holy Sword... I am truly, truly disappointed in myself."
"Arthur!" Ritsuka snapped in annoyance.
Without a second thought, the young man threw a hard punch aimed straight at the knight's face. However, because Arthur was currently manifesting in an intangible spirit form, Ritsuka's fist passed right through as if punching empty air.
Feeling a bit awkward and embarrassed because his dramatic action failed completely, Ritsuka hastily turned his face away and cleared his throat loudly.
"Have you forgotten?!" Ritsuka continued, raising his voice again. "You also bore an equally massive fate! You protected Britain, became the King who closed the door to the Age of Gods! You lived in a transition era that determined the fate of humanity—whether they would continue to be slaves to the gods or live freely on their own two feet! And not only that... even after your death, you still continue to wander across various worldlines just to hunt down one of the Evils of Humanity, the Beast!"
Ritsuka stared at Arthur with an unyielding gaze. "You have already carried an impossible burden, Arthur. So, before you lament over my problems, take a look at yourself in the mirror! No single person deserves to be blamed for the circumstances and the path I have taken!"
"That is an entirely different case, Master," Arthur gently yet firmly argued.
He met Ritsuka's gaze with deep regret. "I was prepared for that fate from the very beginning. I was educated and trained by the greatest magus, and even my existence was intentionally created solely to carry out that heavy duty. Whereas you, Master... you are nothing more than an ordinary human. And as an ordinary human, it was already my duty as a knight to protect you from that kind of hell."
"Arthur..." Ritsuka rubbed his face roughly. "Arrrgh! Your stubbornness really is exactly the same as your female version, isn't it! This argument will never end if we keep it up!"
Ritsuka let out a long sigh, trying to lower the tension of the argument. "Listen, we have very limited time here. Just forget about this issue for a while. Tell me quickly, what was the important thing you actually wanted to discuss earlier?"
Arthur looked down for a moment, still seeming reluctant to let go of his guilt, before finally yielding.
"Very well..." Arthur answered heavily. He looked back at Ritsuka seriously. "But promise me... after this Holy Grail War is over, we must resume this conversation."
*'Wow... that last sentence was really an obvious 'death flag', you know...'* Ritsuka muttered inwardly.
"Master... this is about your body. More precisely, about the Dragon Core that Merlin implanted inside you," Arthur began, his expression hardening.
"You certainly know that if even one Merlin starts taking action, it is guaranteed that the outcome will never end well. And in this case... there are two Merlins at once. One of them is the version from my world's timeline."
"Yeah, I am very well aware. You don't need to explain it again," Ritsuka quickly cut in, his face turning pale, as if just hearing the flower magus's name made him nauseous. "I would much rather suffer in hell than have to live peacefully but with Merlin by my side."
Ritsuka massaged his temples. "Ever since I realized what the two of them did to my body in the Fuyuki Singularity when I lost consciousness... I have already predicted thousands of worst-case scenarios and mentally prepared myself. So, tell me the honest truth, Arthur. How crazy is their plan?"
"It is good that you already understand. In that case, I will not keep anything a secret," Arthur replied heavily.
He took a deep breath. "Firstly, within the laws of the world, when someone acquires the attributes of a dragon creature—whether by bathing in dragon blood or inheriting its blood—it is absolutely certain that they will eventually mutate into a dragon themselves. And the Dragon Core is the very essence of that red dragon entity."
Arthur stared intently at Ritsuka.
"However, I and my female counterpart are exceptions. The reason we did not transform into dragons is that Merlin stabilized and implanted the Dragon Core perfectly, then taught us how to suppress and control it."
"As for your case..." Arthur clenched his fists until they trembled, holding back his anger, "not only did the two of them implant and fuse two different Dragon Cores into a mortal human body, but Lady Avalon—the Merlin from my world—intentionally manipulated the Dragon Core to make it deliberately unstable!"
Ritsuka's eyes widened.
"She designed it specifically so that your body would truly mutate into a dragon exactly when something fatal tore through your chest!" Arthur pointed toward Ritsuka's chest, which had just healed thanks to the Mahoraga Wheel. "And the stab from Lancer's red spear earlier... that was the primary trigger! I am absolutely certain that this entire sequence of events has been cruelly manipulated by the Merlin of my world, Master!"
"Damn it... this really is the worst-case scenario," Ritsuka cursed.
The young man slumped rigidly, grabbing his own hair in despair.
"The Director indeed predicted that sooner or later my body would begin to mutate into a dragon because of that Dragon Core. But I never expected this conspiracy to be the result of direct interference from the Merlins! We truly are like puppets dancing in the palm of their hands!"
"But that is not all, Master. There is one more crucial thing I must tell you," Arthur interrupted, his tone far bleaker than before.
"When you just regained consciousness from that transformation earlier... your soul was briefly connected directly to the Will of the World. You were almost completely transformed into an Agent of Gaia because your existence began transitioning into a Dragon."
Ritsuka's jaw dropped upon hearing that. His face instantly lost all of its color.
"N-no... that's impossible!" Ritsuka denied, his voice trembling in horror. "Are you saying... I almost lost my ego and got turned into Gaia's pet dog, a.k.a. its slave?! Just like those Elementals or True Ancestors?!"
"Correct, Master. Except, in your case, you would be classified as the Pinnacle of the Phantasmal Species," Arthur answered, confirming the young man's worst fears.
Arthur let out a long sigh of relief. "Fortunately, that wheel hovering above your head possesses the capability of adaptation. The wheel reacted to halt the death of your ego and prevented your human consciousness from being completely taken over by Gaia's will."
Arthur looked straight into Ritsuka's eyes very sharply, ensuring the young man understood just how close he came to an eternal regret.
"Master, listen to me carefully. If that wheel had reacted even a second too late... then the moment you opened your eyes, your first instinct as an extension of this planet would be to immediately target the nearest threat," Arthur said with a chilling, trembling tone.
"You most likely would have instantly killed your own little sister. Because as an Agent of Gaia entity, you would be strongly programmed to be hostile toward and exterminate humanity."
Ritsuka shuddered. "I-I wanted to kill Rikka," Ritsuka said.
"You only nearly had that intention due to the mutation's instinct. You did not actually do it. Remember that, Master. You have not done anything terrible at all," Arthur comforted him gently, trying hard to pull Ritsuka back from the abyss of his regret and fear.
Ritsuka fell silent for quite a long time. He looked down at his two hands, which were still trembling slightly. Slowly, the young man stood up and patted the dust off his pants. A long sigh escaped his lips, carrying away the remnants of his despair.
"Alright, Arthur," Ritsuka said in a low, heavy voice. "After we finish our business here and manage to return to Chaldea later... my first agenda is to form a secret alliance."
"An alliance?" Arthur repeated in confusion, not expecting such a drastic emotional shift from his master.
"Yes... the Anti-Merlin Alliance!"
Ritsuka's emerald eyes suddenly glinted wildly, filled with madness. "The members will be you, me, Artoria Alter, Fou, and that old geezer Zelretch! I am certain there will be even more Servants and other victims who will gladly join! We are going to establish a cross-timeline Anti-Merlin Alliance! No... we will spread our wings across all other worlds if we have to!"
Ritsuka raised his fist high into the air, his laughter beginning to sound unhinged. "I will make sure those two nightmare demons—both Merlin and Lady Avalon—experience the most cruel terror every time they go to sleep! I will make both of them suffer nightmares until they wake up screaming in fear! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
As Ritsuka laughed loudly, a voice called out from afar.
"Brother! It looks safe outside! Everything is fine!"
Rikka's shout came from outside the warehouse rubble. The girl stood waving her hand cheerfully.
"A-alright! I'll be right there!" Ritsuka replied with an awkward smile.
He turned around and walked briskly towards Rikka, leaving Arthur's astral form behind, who could only smile and sigh in resignation at the absurd antics of his truly miraculous Master.
. . .
"So... this is the Matou family residence?" Ritsuka muttered, staring intently at a large, old-fashioned house that looked dark, silent, and radiated a gloomy aura before him.
"Brother, what is actually your teacher's main goal in sending us to a place like this?" Rikka asked, rubbing her arms as she felt a slight chill looking at the eerie atmosphere of the place.
"I have no idea; I don't know for sure either," Ritsuka answered calmly. "But as far as I remember, the Matou family is one of the three founding magus families of this Holy Grail War."
The young man began to step forward toward the gate. However, just a few steps into the yard, Ritsuka's body suddenly stiffened. His brow furrowed sharply.
"A Bounded Field...?" he murmured.
But it was not just a magic barrier that stopped him in his tracks. Right as the soles of his shoes stepped onto the soil of the Matou yard, Ritsuka felt an incredibly disgusting sensation creep up from beneath his feet. Something utterly vile struck his mind; it felt as if he were stepping into and sinking into a sea of thousands of writhing insects, a sensation that successfully made his stomach churn violently.
"Senpai, what is it?" Mash's voice suddenly startled him, pulling Ritsuka out of the disgusting hallucination.
The young man hurriedly steadied his breathing. "Oh, it's nothing. Let's knock on the door. Perhaps Sensei just wants us to negotiate amicably with the owner of this house," Ritsuka said, covering up his discomfort. The three of them then continued walking toward the front porch.
However, even before Ritsuka's finger could touch the doorbell, the giant wooden door creaked open on its own from the inside.
Behind it stood a frail, bald old man, his hunched body supported by a wooden cane.
His appearance was like that of a walking corpse.
The moment Ritsuka's eyes met the old man's—Zouken Matou—his survival instincts and every cell in his body screamed loudly. There was something terribly wrong and unnatural about this man, as if the laws of nature themselves were whispering in Ritsuka's ear to immediately exterminate the filthy monster before him.
"What business does the Master of Caster have coming to my decaying residence?" the old man's hoarse, terrifying voice dragged on slowly.
Ritsuka was just about to open his mouth to reply, but the words caught in his throat.
His attention was completely stolen by a small silhouette standing trembling in the shadows of the dark hallway right behind the old man. The figure of a little girl with short purple hair and a ribbon tied on the side of her head. Ritsuka's emerald eyes widened. The little girl's eyes stared blankly forward—a dead gaze that had lost all hope, light, and childhood emotions.
That sight was like a gun's trigger being pulled right in front of Ritsuka's face.
His jaw clenched. His entire body trembled violently. An old memory from the past—from whichever Singularity or Chaldea timeline corridor—echoed back in his head. The gentle voice of a woman he knew very well whispered sorrowfully in his memory.
"Senpai... if someday, in some other place or timeline... you meet little Sakura... please... please save her."
That tragic plea instantly shattered Ritsuka's sanity. Pure murderous intent exploded from within his soul, impossible to contain.
Ritsuka clenched his right fist with full force. A golden glow of light instantly erupted, gathering in his palm. Even before the holy light particles finished manifesting the full form of his sword, Ritsuka had already dashed through the air like a cannonball.
"I'LL KILL YOU, BASTARD!!!" Ritsuka roared with blind fury.
He lunged forward, smashing through the main door, and slammed into the figure of the old man with all his might.
KABOOOM!!!