To become a king and a magician

Seeing Aozaki Aoko planted headfirst into the ground like a seedling, the others couldn't help but cover their mouths and burst into laughter.

Crouching down and poking her younger sister, Aozaki Touko sneered, "At least last a little longer, Aoko. You were defeated in three minutes? You're so pathetic. Is this what you call a mage?"

"Actually, this is already quite long, isn't it?" Atalanta gave a very fair assessment. "In close combat, there are very few people I know who can hold their own against Xia Chuan for three minutes."

"Drink up—!"

Aozaki Aoko jerked her head out of the ground, shook off the dirt, and glared angrily at Natsukawa Tora, who was stroking Xiao Mo over there: "You damn Tora, just you wait, I'll show you how I deal with you in bed later!"

Fun fact: To date, Aozaki Aoko has never made such a harsh statement before, and she usually can't get out of bed the next day.

Just then, two more figures arrived from a short distance away.

It was Ryougi Shiki and Okita Souji Alter.

Seeing the scene before them, which resembled a happy reunion after a great battle, the two understood the situation without needing to say much.

Frowning slightly in dissatisfaction, Ryougi Shiki sheathed her short sword: "You're late... It's over after just chopping up some small fry, tch, no fun."

"We simply couldn't get involved in the battle just now, Ms. Ryougi."

From the start of the battle until now, not much time has actually passed. From the start of the battle between Scáthach and Artoria to Odysseus's departure, it has been less than half an hour. The subsequent battles between the Gundams were even more difficult for Ryougi Shiki and Okita Souji Alter to intervene in.

This resulted in the two of them remaining on the sidelines, so it's not hard to understand why Ryougi Shiki harbored resentment.

Then go chase after Natsukawa Tora and stab him a couple of times.

Seeing that the remaining two had also arrived, and confirming that everyone was present, Natsukawa Tora breathed a slight sigh of relief: "Now that's all over, all that's left is to make the final wish."

"How exactly do you make a wish?"

“I’ll explain later. Let’s go back now.” Natsukawa Tora grasped Artoria’s hand and patted Mordred’s head beside him. “Let’s go back to Gray and the others.”

95. Can one truly savor joy after victory?

The return trip was short; given everyone's pace, even without going at full speed, it would only take a few minutes to get back to the base.

Just before arriving at the base.

"Has it been lifted?"

Xia Chuanhu, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky. Although the sky was no different from what he had seen before, he could feel that the barrier that had been covering the real sky not long ago had now been lifted.

This means that Meryl doesn't need to put on a brave face anymore.

(Looking back now, it seems we were all pretty reckless. The battle between demons was one thing, but then we even got into mecha battles... It was pretty cool, but Meryl must be exhausted from cleaning up the mess.)

"I need to apologize to Meryl properly later."

"Yes, that's what I think too, Master. But I think you should consider how to accept the beating you're about to receive before you apologize."

Sajou Rei's words startled the others. Natsukawa Tora scratched his head: "Getting beaten up? Is anyone else going to beat me up?"

"Of course, and they're already on their way," Sajou Rei laughed. "Oh my, they're really full of energy. They just dispelled their magic and are still weak, but they rushed out to teach their master a lesson, and even used illusion magic to avoid being noticed..."

"Ah... I think I know what's going on."

With a slightly exasperated sigh, Natsukawa Tiger snapped his fingers at the space in front of him, and a figure suddenly appeared in what had been an empty space—

Like she was chasing a debtor who owed her millions, Mary, her face filled with rage, lifted her skirt and ran straight up to Xia Chuanhu. She pulled out a staff from who-knows-where and swung it down at Xia Chuanhu's head!

"Boom--!"

The staff slammed solidly into his forehead, the resounding sound like a bell being struck.

Grabbing Natsukawa Torato by the collar, Meryl shook him violently like a madwoman: "Look at the mess you've made, Your Majesty! Even though he said he'd leave the cleanup to me, couldn't you at least tone it down a little?! One explosion, one demon, one robot—if Arcueid hadn't helped him, his head would have blown off already! Have some consideration for me!"

"I'm so sorry...it hurts!"

"Boom!"

Another blow landed on Natsukawa Tiger's forehead. Then, as if that wasn't enough, Meryl, with her mouth puffed out like a pufferfish, grabbed her fist and started pounding Natsukawa Tiger's chest with all her might.

"If you know, then! Please! Be! A little! Understanding! About! Me!

"Ouch, ouch, ouch... Zero, please help me!"

"I'm very sorry, Master, my magic power is only enough to maintain normal operations right now, and I don't have the spare power to help you. Please wait until Meryl calms down on her own." Sajou Rei smiled and took a few steps back, as if making room for the two of them.

The person I trusted most is now useless!?

"Lia! Mo!"

"Oh, leave it to me, Master—Mother?!"

"Merry, how could you treat Master Morgan like this?!"

Before Mordred and Artoria could come over and pull Merry away, Morgan suddenly patted their bodies and tied them up temporarily.

With his hands shaped like a megaphone, Morgan, feeling that things weren't bad enough, added fuel to the fire: "Merry, it's okay to push a little harder—you excluded me when you merged with Leah before, I want to merge with Leah too (whispering)."

"Morgan! You—Aoko! Teacher... no, Orange!"

"Ouch~~~~ The place where I was hit hurts a bit, Orange, can you help me up?"

"I can't carry you, you pig."

Despite saying that, Aozaki Touko still lent her shoulder to Aozaki Aoko, and the two walked past Natsukawa Torata looking quite amicable, without even glancing at each other.

How come everyone is turning a blind eye?

"Mode......"

"Figure it out yourself, I'm not in a good mood right now. Meryl, you finish your turn and I'll take over."

"That's enough!!"

--------------------------

A few minutes later, in the living room.

"Welcome back, brother... eh?"

Grey, who had been waiting there, immediately stood up and greeted him with a smile when she heard the voice behind her. But when she turned around, she saw her brother looking disheveled and Merry looking refreshed, as if she had vented all the dirty desires in her heart.

Behind the two were Aozaki Aoko and others, who were also secretly pleased—Altoria and Mordred, however, were not among them.

What's going on here?

"Oh, Grey, I'm back."

"Brother...did you get a really bad beating? Caster is that..."

"They hit him!"

Mary proudly puffed out her chest and patted it.

Grey's little head was immediately filled with big questions. As soon as her sister Mary lifted the barrier, she ran out. Wasn't she supposed to be welcoming her brother back? Why did she run out and beat him up instead?

"Don't mind them, Gray." Aozaki Aoko smiled and ruffled Gray's hair. "There's a saying that 'a beating is a sign of affection,' and that's exactly what they are."

"Have you misunderstood this sentence?"

Xia Chuanhu sighed helplessly. He didn't think that the beating Meili had given him earlier was an expression of love. She wouldn't do something so direct. Her way of expressing love would be to throw him into some kind of hell full of monsters and traps and watch him struggle inside.

She was just genuinely angry.

"I'm sorry, Mary, I went a little too far this time."

"Good to know. Well, there's no need to apologize. They're not angry anymore after they beat you up."

After pulling Natsukawa Tora to sit down on the sofa, Meryl naturally sat on his lap: "More importantly, what's the result? Since everyone's back, it means it's a complete victory, right?"

A complete victory.

That's one way to put it. Lancer fulfilled his desire to die by being defeated by Artoria. Rider also proved Natsukawa Torama's power to Aozaki Touko, and fought a full-scale battle against an opponent of equal strength before returning without any regrets. Caster also reached an agreement with Natsukawa Torama.

In terms of the outcome, it was indeed a complete victory.

"Merry, there's something I need to tell you about our wedding... Could we postpone it for a few years?"

96. Even a heartless person might still have a conscience.

If I win the Holy Grail War, he will agree to marry me.

—This was the answer Merry gave him five years ago when he proposed to her in a dream. His participation in this Holy Grail War is also for this purpose.

Now, all the enemies have either been defeated or are no longer enemies. In fact, Natsukawa Torato has indeed won in the end, and his promise to Merry has been fulfilled.

but--

"Postponed?" Meryl frowned in confusion. "Why do you say that? Is there someone else who hasn't been defeated? Could it be Arcueid?"

"No, it's not that anyone else forgot... well, to be specific, it's probably just me being stubborn," Natsukawa Tiger laughed. "Our agreement was to win in the end, but I don't think I won the match against King Solomon."

King Solomon conceded defeat. After considering various factors, he concluded that he was currently unable to defeat Natsukawa Torato, and thus chose to concede. This decision was also made after taking into account future events.

Natsukawa Torato could understand his decision and accept the victory, but he always felt that the victory was not thorough enough.

"I want to fight King Solomon again, and after that victory, we will—"

"Ten years later, is that right?" Meryl interrupted Natsukawa Torato with a smile. "You two were fighting in my world. I heard your conversation. I can think of some of the things that the Magic King could think of."

Ten years later, after the Burning of Humanity, in order to end the Burning of Humanity, Natsukawa Torato will inevitably have a final battle with it—against the conscious magic created by King Solomon, Beast I Goetia.

Goetia is a magic created by King Solomon, and it is also the unity of the seventy-two demons. Defeating it is equivalent to defeating King Solomon. These two meanings are the same.

"Ha, you really are stubborn." Mary sighed helplessly. "I don't care. Anyway, we're practically immortal until the end of the world. You can get married whenever you want, or even postpone it for a few years."

After all, there are probably more than just these few people who are getting married.

Seeing that Meryl agreed, Natsukawa Tora breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whoo~~~~~~"

However, a series of uniform sighs suddenly rang out throughout the living room. Xia Chuanhu was taken aback. After glancing around, he found that, apart from a few people, almost everyone else had a look of relief on their faces.

What does it mean?

Do you wish you could stay single?

"It seems there's still a long way to go, Master," Sajou Rei chuckled. "But you still don't seem to understand women's feelings. Shall I teach you about this from now on?"

"What the heck is going on...?"