[Artoria Alter Mood +10]
[Artoria Alter Mood +10]
[Artoria Alter Mood +10]
...
At that exact moment, Artoria Alter caught sight of another figure stepping out from the shadows beside Adam.
[Mash]
Artoria Alter stared in stunned silence at the pristine, saintly [Mash], then glanced over at Chaldea's purple-armored Mash. Her frown deepened, confusion piling on top of confusion.
Adam had already summoned Morgan just outside the cave entrance earlier and had given her a full briefing on the current situation.
Morgan turned her gaze toward Artoria Alter, and an overwhelming wave of pure delight washed over her.
"My dear husband, allow me to confirm one last time…"
"This Artoria Alter isn't the one from Chaldea, correct?"
Though this Morgan was not the version from Proper Human History, she carried that Morgan's memories. In every way that mattered, the two were essentially the same person.
Adam nodded at her question and looked back at Artoria Alter.
"Correct. This Artoria Alter is merely a Servant bound to this Singularity."
"You're free to cut loose, Morgan."
The corners of Morgan's mouth curved upward in a smile she couldn't possibly suppress.
It was obvious she had been nursing quite a few long-held ideas about Artoria Alter for a very long time. Now she could finally act on them.
Seeing how battered the Chaldea group looked, Adam wanted to go help them. He turned to Morgan beside him.
"I'll leave Artoria Alter to you, then."
Morgan's voice practically vibrated with excitement.
"With pleasure, my husband!"
Right now, Morgan was absolutely thrilled—she could hardly contain herself!
Adam blinked, momentarily taken aback. It was rare to see such an openly animated expression on her face.
He then set off toward the Chaldea team together with [Mash] and Cú Chulainn.
The moment the Chaldea group spotted Adam, a collective wave of relief swept through them.
Ritsuka looked ready to leap to their feet, throw both arms in the air, and shout, "The big shot's here!!! We're saved!!!"
Olga Marie, on the other hand, was so overwhelmed she nearly started crying on the spot.
She rushed straight into Adam's arms and poured out everything that had just happened.
"I was so scared… I really thought we were finished back there."
"Thank goodness you got here in time."
Facing a shaken Olga Marie who clearly needed reassurance, Adam gently stroked her hair and spoke in a soothing tone.
"Relax. You're safe now."
By then Medusa had limped over, leaning on Ritsuka for support.
Adam immediately cast an area recovery spell on her.
Medusa felt most of her wounds and lingering negative effects vanish in an instant. She no longer needed anyone to hold her up.
She looked at Adam with clear regret in her eyes.
"I'm sorry… I failed to live up to your trust."
She meant her inability to defeat Artoria Alter.
Adam simply waved it off.
"That wasn't your fault."
He then thought back to his experience in Singularity F and scratched his head, a little puzzled.
In his memory, the Artoria Alter of Singularity F had seemed to hold back quite a bit. So he wasn't entirely sure just how strong this version truly was.
But after seeing those several colossal beams shooting straight into the sky outside Mount Enzou earlier, it was obvious she hadn't been holding back at all.
In fact, she had gone far beyond simply going easy—she had practically unleashed the ocean itself.
Once Medusa was steady on her feet again, Ritsuka hurried over to check on Mash.
Mash was still unconscious nearby. Ritsuka looked worried.
"Adam, is Mash going to be okay? No matter how much I call her, she won't wake up."
Adam glanced at his combat uniform and saw that his area recovery skill was still on cooldown.
He was about to check if any of his lower-star Servants had strong healing abilities when [Mash] suddenly seemed to get an idea.
She leaned down close to the unconscious Mash's ear and whispered something slowly.
"Adam and Ritsuka together…"
No one else could quite make out the exact words.
But whatever it was, the effect was instantaneous.
Mash shot upright like someone jolted back from the brink of death.
She sat up in a panic, eyes darting frantically between Adam and Ritsuka.
After confirming the two weren't "connected" in any way, she let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Mash, you're awake!" Ritsuka exclaimed happily.
Adam looked at the newly revived Mash in surprise, then turned to [Mash] with genuine curiosity.
"Mash, what exactly did you say? That worked incredibly well."
[Mash] didn't answer right away. She simply closed her eyes.
For some reason, Adam thought he caught a faint trace of helplessness on her face.
"It's a secret…"
Mash felt as if she had just heard a demon's whisper and suffered through a nightmare.
As for the content of that nightmare…
It mainly involved Adam and Ritsuka.
As for the specific details…
Recalling the scenes that had flashed through her mind, Mash felt an even stranger emotion stirring inside her.
She wanted to talk to someone about it and turned to [Mash].
"Master, I—"
[Mash] cut her off and patted her shoulder gently.
"No need to say anything. I understand. I understand completely."
For some reason, Mash felt like she saw a look of shared suffering reflected in [Mash]'s eyes.
Meanwhile, Medusa felt her injuries had recovered enough that she wanted to rejoin the fight.
Adam placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.
"Since you're hurt, you should rest properly for now."
"Leave Artoria Alter to Morgan."
Medusa looked a little disappointed, but she eventually nodded.
"Alright~"
Cú Chulainn had been quietly wondering who this woman Adam had suddenly summoned really was. The aura she gave off made him feel extremely uneasy—he had stayed on high alert the entire time.
It even dragged up some rather unpleasant memories of that goddess with the terrible personality…
Then he heard Adam say the name "Morgan," and his eyes widened in shock.
"Wait a second, lad. Did you just say Morgan?"
"As in King Arthur's sister?!"
Adam nodded, confirming it.
"Pretty much, yeah."
After receiving confirmation, Cú Chulainn finally understood why he had felt so on edge earlier…
He then looked over at the standoff between Artoria Alter and Morgan, recalling the complicated love-hate relationship between the two in legend. His face twisted into an expression he could barely keep under control.
"Lad… you really know how to stir up trouble."
Adam didn't reply. He simply struggled to hold back his laughter.
Ritsuka, hearing the unfamiliar name, voiced their confusion.
"Who is Morgan?"
Olga Marie was in no state to explain right now.
So Cú Chulainn took it upon himself to explain Morgan's identity to Ritsuka.
"Morgan is…"
***
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