"I hope we get the chance to meet again."
In the Rayshift glow, Ophis watched Ritsuka clutch the Holy Grail she'd been given, waving with a smile as she vanished. Only then did Ophis let out a quiet breath.
Merlin and Quetzalcoatl were already gone. That Beserker who looked like an Assassin had disappeared at some point, too, and Chaldea had been the last group to leave.
The Singularity had been resolved.
A sword that cleaved heaven and earth had shattered the Mother Goddess of Creation's Saint Graph, ushering in Uruk's Sixth Dynastic Era—and carving out a future for humanity.
The crisis was over.
After all that grinding back-and-forth… it really ended with a single blast.
And in that brief clash—barely worthy of being called a fight—Ophis could feel it: she'd become stronger.
Almost at a glance, she'd obtained every last detail about Tiamat, weakness included—whether she could defeat her, what methods would work, and exactly how much power she'd need to use.
If she focused, she could even predict her opponent's possible moves going forward.
And that was only one piece of Sha Naqba Imuru's ability.
Even so, Ophis had already judged that Sha Naqba Imuru was nowhere near "omnipotent"—and nowhere close to "omniscient," either.
After all, she still couldn't see what Great Red was doing right now.
Only within the current world, then?
As for the boost in capability, it wasn't small.
The whole reason Ophis had modified the Holy Grail in the first place was that she'd coveted that "execution" function—the ability to make wishes real—using it to compensate for her own flaw: vast mana, but no means. Now, she could do something close to the Holy Grail's "anything."
Of course, the more complicated the task, the more time it would demand.
Still, her biggest weakness had been patched.
But I guess there really is no free lunch…
"All right. Now it's just a few of us left. What's the plan from here?"
Ishtar hovered off to the side, eyes half-lidded as she spoke first.
There were four still here… at least, four beings that looked human.
Ophis, the twin goddesses, and Altera.
The twin goddesses had been summoned through possession by the priestesses, so even if the Singularity vanished, they wouldn't be sent back. As for when they'd leave…
Probably not until the Age of Gods was completely gone.
"Needless to say, I'll be staying in the Underworld. Thanks to someone's reckless, no-holds-barred rampage, there's a mountain of messes to clean up over here—and I promised I'd return every last soul."
Ereshkigal clicked her tongue and glanced at Ophis.
"Besides, I still haven't reaped your soul down into the Underworld."
"Same here. I'll probably keep watching over Mesopotamia until I witness the end of this civilization. That's our responsibility as gods."
Ishtar, for once, sounded almost serious as she shrugged.
Then Ophis looked at Altera—and found Altera looking right back at her.
"…"
Ophis's head started to ache.
As a Servant she had summoned directly—and supplied directly with mana—Altera obviously wasn't going to run out of mana. She wouldn't vanish just because the Singularity was gone, or because the Holy Grail had been handed off to someone else.
Cutting her off right after using her would feel… sleezy.
And according to Sha Naqba Imuru's probing, Altera hadn't even come to help on her own free will.
And seriously—this one's background is huge…
In return for being summoned to help this time, it would be possible for Ophis to help resolve Altera's issues… but Altera didn't even know what she wanted. Ophis couldn't do anything with that.
We'll deal with it when we get there.
As for right now…
"I want to observe this era's world a little longer… from a perspective closer to humanity."
Altera studied Ophis.
"May I, Master?"
Ophis had no reason to refuse.
Before, after Ophis's death, the "snake" embedded within Altera had weakened—but now, reinforced by Ophis, it could run on its own even if Ophis wasn't in this era anymore.
Barring accidents, Altera could live all the way to the end of the world without a problem.
"Your Majestyyyy—!"
Siduri's voice carried from far away.
"Looks like your priestess found you."
Ishtar flicked a glance in the direction of the shout, then looked back at Ophis again.
"So? Going back to being your king?"
Ophis glanced over as well—seeing Siduri hurrying over with troops in tow—and gave a soft laugh as she shook her head.
"No. The Hero King is dead. Humans should be guided by humans."
She drew out a visual-recording Noble Phantasm from the treasury, poured the information she wanted to convey into it, and handed it to Altera. Then her body slowly broke apart into motes of light.
"I'm counting on you. Give this to her. This is the final contract—after that, you're free."
"And you? Where will you go next?"
Watching Ophis grow less and less real, Ishtar knit her brows.
"I want to see this world too. If there's a chance later… we'll meet again."
With a faint smile, Ophis vanished completely.
"Until we meet again."
...
"Heeheehee… heeheeheehee…"
In a sea of flowers, a girl with an angel's face spun with her arms outstretched.
Like she was dancing—like she was simply playing.
Suddenly, the girl stopped.
"You look pretty relaxed."
A voice that didn't belong to the girl came from behind her.
"Heeheehee. Can't be helped, you know? If I don't keep spinning, the ecosystem will collapse."
Not the slightest bit surprised by the sudden voice, the girl—with snow-white hair and deep ocean-blue eyes—turned around, still wearing that bright, innocent smile.
"So the kids are stupid-cute, aren't they? No matter how much they scheme, no matter how airtight their calculations are… if I stop for even a moment, the world ends. Honestly… what's the point…?"
"Who knows? Maybe they're just really committed to courting death."
Before her, a blonde, silver-eyed girl—Inori—answered with a small smile.
"Too bad. Even if you dove straight into the sun, it wouldn't affect that kid at all. That race is absolutely top-tier when it comes to staying alive."
"Oh, Big Sis, really—of course I wouldn't do something that dumb just to throw my life away. But what brings you to my little playground all of a sudden? There aren't any snacks to serve you here, you know?"
Even with the meaning threaded through Inori's words, the girl's innocent smile didn't change in the slightest.
"Mm. I don't need snacks. As compensation… how about this? Just let her enter the ROOT once. What do you say?"
For a single instant, the girl's smile twitched.
---
T/N: ohhh its gaia, lmao she has to keep spinning or everyone would die lmaooooo
ALSO BIG SIS??? GAIA CALLED INORI BIG SIS?? WHAT IS THIS VENERABLE ANCESTOR'S BACKGROUND