"What... what are you talking about?" Miao stammered, his mouth hanging open in shock.
"What 'dream'?" Wayland spat the word with pure venom. "You've spent your life hiding behind that word while shamelessly hurting everyone around you. You even raised a hand against your own childhood friend. You claim this was for your 'dream,' but did you ever once ask Karina what hers was? Did you ever ask if she was willing to sacrifice her life for your vanity? You asked nothing. This wasn't a dream, Miao. It was nothing but pure, unadulterated greed!"
Perhaps Wayland didn't truly understand the mindset of a magus, but he could at least respect those who fought for their goals with their heads held high. He had no respect for those who skulked in the shadows and lived a life of hollow entitlement.
If Miao had stood up and taken responsibility for his actions, Wayland might have at least viewed him as a man. But this...
He turned his attention to Regina. "Why did you choose to protect him for so long?"
"As twins, we possess a resonance that allows us to feel each other's emotions and will to a certain degree," Regina said, her voice hollow. "In her final moments, the thoughts Karina sent to me were... love for Miao, and a desire to help him."
"So... even at the end, she was willing to die for him..."
Wayland looked over at the sleeping, lifeless form of Karina. "I... I truly don't know what to say to that."
Suddenly, a series of sharp, emerald-green blades erupted from Touko Aozaki's chest.
Miao's face withered instantly, his skin sagging until he looked like a dying old man. His fingertips were stained with the residue of a potent, hidden elixir.
"Hah... Hahahaha!"
He burst into a manic, desperate laugh.
His body was skeletal now, a ghastly figure cackling with insane glee. "Do it again! Do it all again, Touko Aozaki! Use your 'Cinderella' magecraft on Estella and Regina... every one of them... do it again! If you don't, you'll die! That elixir has already bonded with your magical circuits and your Crest! If you try to remove it, you'll have to tear your own soul out with it!"
"Oh?"
Touko offered a bright, cheerful smile. "That sounds like an incredibly impressive medicine. But there's one small problem: I don't actually have a Magic Crest."
In the next instant, her body split open from the sternum down.
A wave of crushing prana flooded the room, carrying with it an aura of absolute, bottomless despair. A pitch-black portal yawned open within the ragged wound.
A monster emerged.
It was an eldritch horror of thorny tentacles and razor-sharp hooks, a mass of shifting shadows that defied common sense.
"I was attacked once before," Touko's voice said calmly from within the chaos. "So, as a precaution, I decided to install 'this' within my own body. Don't worry, everyone,it only attacks the one who initiated the hostilities."
Miao's manic laughter was instantly replaced by a scream of pure agony. The tentacles began to methodically devour him, starting from his feet.
"Gray."
Wayland knew how the original story ended: Gray was supposed to step in and save Miao's life. But here, in the physical reality of this world, Wayland found he had no desire to see the man saved.
To murder the person you claimed to love... it was unforgivable.
He caught Gray by her wrist, his grip firm and steady. "Gray, don't. You are nothing like him. Why should someone like you waste your effort on a man like that?"
"I..."
Gray's hand was already closed around Add, who had shifted into his lethal scythe form. But when she saw the look in Wayland's eyes,a look as firm and unshakeable as their mentor's pursuit of the King of Conquerors,she slowly relaxed her grip.
***
The Tower of the Sun.
Wayland sat alone in his room.
After the monster had finished devouring Miao, it had retracted back into Touko's specialized suitcase.
In the aftermath, Lorelei Barthomeloi had wasted no time. Citing the massive deception and the dual murders of Diadra and Karina, she had officially frozen the Iselma territory. Estella, Regina, Islo, and Byron were all taken into custody by the Bureau of Policies for a full inquiry.
Reines and Gray had departed for London shortly after the official proceedings had concluded.
Wayland, however, had been stopped by Irigal. She told him he needed to wait for Touko Aozaki, claiming there was a 'transaction' he needed to complete. Touko's original body had been destroyed, but he knew she would have already 'respawned' elsewhere; it was only a matter of time before she came back for her suitcase.
Lorelei and Inora had both been wise enough not to touch Touko's familiar. There was no sense in making an enemy of a Grand-rank puppet master, unless the Sealing Designation was officially reinstated.
Lorelei had left the cleanup of the Iselma house in the hands of Hishiri Adashino, leaving Wayland to temporarily guard Touko's suitcase.
"Alright, Irigal. You can tell me now. Why did I have to stay?"
["I'll tell you. But first, I need you to confirm one thing!"]
Irigal's voice sounded unusually serious, with a faint, hopeful tremor. ["Master... tell me: who do you plan to summon for the Fifth Holy Grail War?"]
Wayland was surprised. He'd expected her to ask this much later, perhaps after he'd completed his third branch mission and secured a high-level catalyst.
"That... is a very difficult question to answer," he admitted.
["What?! Haven't you already decided?"] Irigal shouted, her voice loud and demanding. ["Quickly! Tell me! Who is it?!"]
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Wayland rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, is the 'System' really that eager to get rid of me?"
["I'm NOT!"] Irigal's response was instantaneous and defensive. ["Just... just tell me already!"]
"Alright, alright. I'll stop teasing you. To be honest, I decided a long time ago. My choice is obviously the lovely, beautiful, kind-hearted, and generous 'Eresh-chan.'"
["You... you... what did you... say...?"]
Her voice dropped so low it was almost impossible to hear.
"You're the one who told me to choose, didn't you?" Wayland asked, feeling genuinely confused by her reaction.
["Right... yes! Good! Excellent!"] Irigal coughed, clearing her virtual throat. ["But Master... you do realize that Divine Spirits cannot be summoned by the Holy Grail, right?"]
Wayland nodded. He knew the Fuyuki Holy Grail War was merely a 'minor ritual.' It could summon Heroic Spirits from the Throne, but only in their states as the 'strongest humans' they had been in life. Summoning a literal Goddess of the Underworld should have been impossible.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]