Medea—Caster—ultimately accepted Shichen's help.
She couldn't find a reason to refuse.
To begin with, she was already on the verge of disappearing. If she hadn't met Souichirou Kuzuki, she would've been gone long ago. Her only wish was simply to stay with Kuzuki.
The Holy Grail War itself didn't really matter.
She knew she couldn't win—and even if she did win, the outcome would likely end up the same as what Shichen was offering now.
Becoming an ordinary human… she actually preferred it.
She was a mage from the Age of Gods, but she didn't need that identity anymore. Becoming normal, living out a peaceful life with Souichirou until old age—it sounded like happiness.
Not being able to use magecraft wasn't a problem either. She could be protected by Souichirou. That alone would be enough.
Turning Medea into a normal person didn't require Shichen to do anything "special" to her—he'd long since been able to shape bodies at will.
The reason he had to "bite" Jeanne and the others before was to turn them into his familiars—so they could share power with him.
Once they were linked to his power, they could even use his summoned beasts.
Though at this point it couldn't really be called mana anymore—it was divine power.
His beasts, too, had transformed from mana constructs into divine constructs. It wasn't just that they'd gotten stronger—some of them had gained entirely new, even more overwhelming powers.
It's just that the Holy Grail War wasn't the right stage to unleash them… otherwise Shichen would've shown everyone what "a gentle breeze" really meant.
After Medea became human, Shichen left with Rin and Lily—while also taking the Greater Grail hidden beneath Ryuudou Temple with him.
Leaving that thing behind would only invite disaster.
With the Greater Grail gone, the three founding families of Fuyuki—Einzbern, Tohsaka, and Matou—would never be what they once were. From here on out, Fuyuki would almost certainly never host another Grail War.
When they descended the steps and returned to where they'd run into Sasaki, he was already gone.
With Medea no longer sustaining him—and with no other source of magical energy—he couldn't remain in the world for long.
But the time he had left was enough to let him take in the world properly.
Shichen wasn't worried he'd cling to the world, seek out a new Master, or slaughter civilians to convert their life force into mana.
Before he left, he would thoroughly check everything he'd "put down" and make sure nothing would spiral.
"…So that's it? It's over?" Rin still felt like it wasn't real.
What happened tonight felt like a joke—nothing like a Holy Grail War.
She'd been prepared to fight for her life, but ever since Shichen showed up, everything had turned into a farce.
From the outside, it probably looked like they were playing house.
"Then what else should it be?" Shichen laughed.
He could tell Rin had a real competitive streak.
"I thought… there'd be a huge battle tonight."
"A huge battle? It's not that dramatic," Shichen said. "Isn't it better to resolve things peacefully?"
"It is… but it still feels kind of off," Rin admitted, frowning.
"I feel the same," Lily chimed in. "I was hoping I could show off my skills and make Master look at me differently."
"But I already know how capable you are," Shichen said, patting her head.
"…Master, you're probably just thinking I'm the same as my 'sister,'" Lily said honestly. "I'm not. I'm far weaker than she is."
Even if they were "the same person," their experience and growth were different—so their strength was different too. Even their weapons weren't the same.
Lily still wielded the Sword in the Stone.
Artoria's weapon was the Sword of the Lake.
"How could I not know your strengths?" Shichen shook his head.
"Master, don't praise me like that… I know my limits," Lily said—though she was clearly delighted.
She was young, after all. Praise like that hit extra hard.
"Have some confidence, Lily," Shichen continued.
"…Then give me a chance to prove myself," Lily asked quietly.
"There probably will be…" Shichen thought. If anything, the only one who could've given Lily a satisfying fight was Cú Chulainn, but he likely wasn't around anymore.
Back when Shichen killed Kirei Kotomine, Cú Chulainn had already become Kirei's Servant.
Kirei had summoned him in secret, but it didn't matter—Shichen's barrier simply cut off the contract entirely.
Command Seals meant nothing inside that.
Now that Kirei was dead, Cú Chulainn was gone too—finally freed.
His true Master had never been Kirei in the first place. He'd been stolen.
So… there really might not be another chance in this war.
"Master, why did you pause?" Lily noticed immediately. "Does that mean… there's no chance after all?"
"…Yeah. I thought about it, and I think you're right," Shichen admitted.
"How could it be like this…" Lily looked crushed.
"Don't worry. There will be chances later," Shichen said. "Maybe not in this Grail War—but later, for sure."
Whether it was the Konosuba world or the Strike the Blood world, Lily would have plenty of chances to shine.
"Later… does that mean," Lily asked carefully, "you want me to stay with you forever?"
"That's what I'm thinking," Shichen said. "Do you not want that?"
"I… don't know…"
"Then that's a yes," Shichen declared shamelessly. "You're my Servant—if you don't follow me, who else would you follow?"
"But… is that really okay? And… isn't my 'sister' already here?"
"Of course it's okay," Shichen said firmly. "I went through all this trouble to summon you—I'm not letting you go easily."
"Master…" Lily stared at him, dazed.
"I'm still here," Rin cut in.
Lily snapped back to herself and turned her head away, embarrassed.
Shichen shot Rin a look. Perfect timing. Ruined the moment.
Lily was still simple-minded—keeping her close would take some careful coaxing, and affection could be nurtured slowly over time.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Rin snapped. "You're the one who ruined my 'Holy Grail War dream' first!"
"Holy Grail War dream, my ass." Shichen flicked her forehead. "Without me, you'd get hurt. Guaranteed."
"I entered the war knowing the risks! I had it all planned out!"
"Planned out my ass—I don't want to see you hurt," Shichen said bluntly, tapping her forehead again.
Rin held her forehead, biting her lip as she looked at him.
"You… don't want to see me get hurt?"
"Is there a problem with that?"
"N-no…" Rin's lips curled into a small smile.
"Anyway, the Grail War isn't something to romanticize," Shichen said. "This way of ending it is good enough."
"Mhm. Master is just too strong—he can solve it easily," Lily nodded, fully back to praising.
"But how did you even know who Caster and the others really were?" Rin couldn't resist asking. "That's not normal."
Unless they had a shared legend or personal ties, Servants usually couldn't identify each other that easily.
And in the beginning of a Grail War, Servants specifically avoided revealing weapons or signature skills—those were the biggest clues to their identities.
"You're asking why I know them?" Shichen replied.
"Yes! It's weird! You even know what they've done!"
"Because Master is amazing!" Lily said immediately, zero hesitation.
"Lily…" Rin gave her a helpless look.
"What? Don't you agree?" Lily asked innocently.
"…You're not wrong," Rin sighed.
Seeing Shichen clearly didn't want to explain, Rin decided not to push.
She still didn't even understand why her sister had "only aged one year." She hadn't gotten an explanation for that either.
But she would. She'd already decided to live together with Shichen and Sakura.
Which meant she'd eventually reach all his secrets anyway.
After leaving Ryuudou Temple, Shichen didn't take them straight home.
There was still something left to handle.
He grabbed both girls, lifted into the air, sensed for a presence, and flew toward it.
"We're flying! How are you doing this?!" Rin yelped.
"Master is incredible!" Lily beamed.
"This is just basic flight magic—easy stuff. I can teach you later," Shichen said casually.
"M-magic?!" Rin jumped.
In this world, "magic" meant something else—supernatural technique was usually called magecraft.
"Not the kind of 'magic' you're thinking of," Shichen clarified.
"Then what is it?"
"I'll explain later. We still have business."
Soon, Shichen descended into a forest and landed.
The moment their feet touched the ground, Rin froze.
"…Why is this place…?" she whispered.
All around them were animal corpses—predators, birds of prey, everything—like someone had been hunting them deliberately.
"Master… what happened here?" Lily asked.
Shichen didn't answer. He stared forward and called out.
"Still not coming out? You can't run anymore."
Rin and Lily followed his gaze toward a pile of carcasses, holding their breath.
The forest stayed silent for a beat—
Then footsteps.
A blond man stepped out from behind the mound of dead beasts.