The adorable cat ears and tail unmistakably belonged to the Red Faction's Archer, the famous huntress of ancient Greece, Atalanta.
Atalanta, affectionately known as Neko-tan, leaped agilely from one treetop to another like a nimble lynx.
During the fierce battle in Sighişoara, Atalanta's cat ears twitched. Her delicate face became serious, and her movements noticeably quickened.
"Who's there?"
At that moment, Atalanta's expression changed abruptly. She gracefully flipped in mid-air, drawing the bow and arrows gifted by the Moon Goddess in one seamless motion, aiming the arrowhead directly at a shadow.
"Atalanta, long time no see."
Under the moonlight, a figure clad in a silver gossamer mage robe slowly emerged from the shadows.
Who else could it be but Medea lily?
"Medea!?"
Atalanta's small mouth opened in surprise, and the taut bowstring in her hand instinctively relaxed.
As fellow members of the Argonauts who sought the Golden Fleece, Atalanta had a very close relationship with the young Medea, one of the rare female members.
"You…"
Atalanta suddenly came to her senses, looking at Medea with a complex expression.
She had many questions in her heart but ultimately found herself speechless.
Medea, ever so perceptive, naturally understood her old friend's thoughts and smiled charmingly.
"Why don't we sit down and have a good chat? It's been a long time, and I have much to talk about with you."
"Alright."
Atalanta hesitated only briefly before agreeing to her invitation.
As for the fake priest's order to investigate Sighişoara, who cares about that?
Leaving aside the intimate conversation between the two old friends.
...
In the city, after driving away Jack the Ripper, Ryou and Jeanne quickly rushed to Siegfried's side.
Seeing the enemy reinforcements arrive, Mordred clicked her tongue in annoyance before being summoned back by Kairi.
Left behind was a bruised and battered Siegfried.
Ryou glanced at him, his face showing little change in expression as if he were the one unscathed.
Ryou understood Siegfried's thoughts well.
The reason Siegfried was willing to cut out his own heart for Sieg, aside from Sieg's aura of the protagonist, was because Siegfried himself was mentally exhausted.
In life, he fulfilled everyone's wishes indiscriminately, and as a Heroic Spirit, he was still at the beck and call of magi.
Siegfried's spirit had been weighed down for too long.
To others, his act of giving his heart to save Sieg seemed inexplicable, but in reality, it was because this dragon-slaying hero was truly tired and wanted to relinquish all responsibilities.
That was why he used such an almost escapist method to hand over the responsibility to a homunculus.
Earlier, he likely fought Mordred with the resolve to die on the battlefield.
Ryou had no solutions for Siegfried's nihilistic thoughts and didn't want to waste time on someone seeking death.
Let him be.
"Master, I have convinced Atalanta, but she wants to speak with you before making her final decision."
Medea's telepathic message suddenly echoed in his mind.
A hint of joy immediately appeared on Ryou's face.
With his relentless recruitment efforts, the Black Faction's strength had significantly diminished, leaving only Vlad, Chiron, and Frankenstein.
The Red Faction wasn't in much better shape either; their strongest asset, Karna, had been slain by him, and Mordred was acting independently. Atalanta was to be persuaded by Medea.
Only Achilles and Empress Semiramis remained, with Caster being nothing more than a background character.
Both sides' forces had been significantly weakened by Ryou.
However, he knew that the real challenge was yet to come.
The key was how to break through the Hanging Gardens.
Thinking of this, Ryou glanced at the blue Command Spells on the back of his hand.
Then, he communicated telepathically with Medea.
"I've taken care of things here. Bring her over."
A few minutes later, Ryou saw Atalanta, the petite and cute huntress, once again.
As for Jeanne, some of the Servants had been fighting fiercely in the city, and as the Ruler, she had to handle the aftermath. Tonight, she was incredibly busy.
"I never thought that Medea's Master would be you."
This was the first thing Atalanta said upon seeing him, her expression very complicated.
"Didn't you already guess before coming here?"
Ryou said with a smile.
For someone about to join his team, he showed 200% goodwill.
Especially since Atalanta was both strong and eye-catching. After all, catgirls were one of the sacred symbols in the hearts of otakus.
"That's true. Knowing so many secret pieces of information, summoning Medea illegally isn't surprising at all."
Atalanta smiled self-deprecatingly.
"Oh? It seems Princess Atalanta has already seen through Amakusa Shirou's true nature?"
"As you said, after we returned, he couldn't hide it any longer and admitted it. Not only that, he directly told us his wish."
Atalanta's expression became serious.
"I just want to ask you one thing. If Amakusa Shirou obtains the Holy Grail and truly wishes to turn the world into one without conflicts, thereby saving the children of the world, fulfilling my wish as well… why should I help you?"
"Hahaha!"
Ryou burst into laughter, filled with an amused tone.
"What are you laughing at!?"
Atalanta's face immediately showed an angry expression.
"I admire Amakusa Shirou's character but laugh at his naivety. You're the same, Atalanta. Do you think that by his plan, the world will become peaceful? Don't be ridiculous. Conflict is human nature. Humanity progresses through constant struggle."
"He thinks that by wishing with the Third Magic to make humanity immortal, conflicts can be avoided. How laughably naive!"
Ryou, having read the original work, knew exactly what Amakusa Shirou's wish was.
He intended to use the Holy Grail with the Third Magic, "Materialization of the Soul," to make all of humanity immortal, thus avoiding conflicts.
But the issue was, did wars happen because of lifespan limitations? How could that be!
Nations go to war over land, beliefs, resources—all potential sources of conflict.
Even between individuals, there can be conflicts due to differences in ideals, personalities, interests, or simple jealousy.
Solving the lifespan issue alone doesn't qualify as resolving all sources of human conflict.
Perhaps with greater power, human conflicts could become even more intense.
Amakusa Shirou's character was impeccable, but unfortunately, he was an idealist.
"As for you, Atalanta, your wish is to save those helpless children, right? But have you considered how the Holy Grail would fulfill that wish? You should know the Holy Grail is just a wish-granting machine. Vague and broad wishes cannot be realized."
After criticizing Amakusa Shirou, Ryou turned his attention to Atalanta.
"..."
Because of her tragic childhood as an abandoned baby, Atalanta had an intense obsession with saving children with similar experiences. However, she had never thought specifically about how to achieve this wish, so she remained silent.
"Princess Atalanta, have you heard of the Children's Aid Foundation?"
Seeing her reaction, Ryou finally revealed his trump card.
Atalanta nodded immediately. As a Servant summoned into this world, the Holy Grail endowed her with common knowledge, so she naturally knew this term. However, because this knowledge was unrelated to combat, Atalanta hadn't paid much attention to it.
With his reminder today, Atalanta recalled this knowledge, and her eyes immediately lit up.
Compared to Amakusa Shirou's unrealistic dreams, the Foundation's modern economic model, which could operate in a long-term cycle, was much more reliable.
"Moreover, not just in this world, but in any world, children are always a vulnerable group that needs saving."
Ryou saw that Atalanta was wavering and immediately threw out another bargaining chip.
His words sparked a sense of sacred mission in Atalanta's eyes.
However, the catgirl didn't catch the hidden meaning in Ryou's words.
To save countless children from different worlds, wouldn't she have to sign a contract with him to gain the ability to traverse worlds?
Unfortunately, Atalanta, fully immersed in her sense of sacred mission, overlooked the implication in his words.
"The Holy Grail is not omnipotent. Ultimately, it's a magical tool created by magus to reach the Root. Instead of pinning your hopes on the Holy Grail, why not take solid steps to achieve your wish yourself?"
In the end, Ryou reached an agreement with Atalanta: she would establish children's aid foundations in various alternate worlds herself.
Atalanta officially joined his team.
As for the agreement, Ryou claimed that any problem that could be solved with money wasn't a problem at all.
As long as he had energy points, he could exchange them for any world currency or even hard currency like gold and gems in large quantities.
Moreover, with the power of a Heroic Spirit, protecting the foundation would not be an issue.
To avoid any unforeseen complications, Ryou spent 300,000 energy points in exchange for a C-rank Heroic Spirit contract.
Given Atalanta's strength and reputation, a C-rank contract was just right.
After signing the contract, Ryoug instantly felt a subtle sense of closeness with Atalanta, similar to the state when he signed a contract with Ais.
Atalanta, too, transformed from her magical Servant form into a more powerful Heroic Spirit form.
Ryou had the system open Atalanta's attributes and glanced at them, finding them almost identical to the ones in the mobile game "Fate/Grand Order" that he had played.
However, there were three additional Noble Phantasms.
They were: "Agrius Metamorphosis," "The Disputed Spoils of War," and "The Seven Arrows of the Big Dipper."
"Agrius Metamorphosis" was the pelt of the Calydonian Boar, a beast sent to the mortal realm by Artemis. When Atalanta wore it, she would transform into a demonic state.
As the saying goes, "blackening increases strength, whitening weakens by three points."
In this state, Atalanta would gain A-rank "Mad Enhancement" and the A-rank "Transformation" skill, which grants certain traits depending on the environment and allows her to recover an amount of health equivalent to the damage dealt to enemies.
At the same time, the "Tauropolos," the bow gifted by Artemis, would transform into the more powerful "Tauropolos Skia Thermokrasia." This bow could generate arrows from magical energy, allowing rapid fire with all arrows possessing Noble Phantasm-level power.
The only drawback was probably the loss of her sanity.
"The Disputed Spoils of War"—
This Noble Phantasm's background is the aftermath of hunting the Calydonian Boar, where a group of Greek heroes killed each other over the spoils.
Upon releasing its magical power, Atalanta could perform long-distance high-speed dashes in a straight line. During this movement, anyone along her path, regardless of ally or enemy, would fall into confusion and start killing each other.
It's akin to a mobile madness aura.
The arrows, like meteors, come from the "seven stars of Ursa Major" in the sky, capable of executing a seven-hit combo.
Only the first strike can be freely targeted; the subsequent attacks will focus on a single target. Although the target cannot be changed during the attack sequence, if the target dies halfway, the remaining attacks will be randomly distributed among the other targets present.
Unlike "Phoibos Catastrophe," this is a powerful single-target Noble Phantasm.
These three Noble Phantasms belong to Atalanta at her peak.
From this small detail, Ryou glimpsed the frightening capabilities of the system.
It can directly elevate a contracted Servant to their peak state, a truly terrifying power.
Moreover, this ability has evolved into a loophole that isn't a loophole.
As long as Ryou can contract with powerful Servants in the instance worlds, they will be restored to their true Heroic Spirit forms, with their combat power increasing more than tenfold.
At this point, it's no exaggeration to say that Atalanta could easily crush certain opponents without any pressure. Ryou initially planned to arrange an intense clash between Achilles and his centaur tutor, but now, it's entirely unnecessary.
Just having her go over is enough.
With Atalanta, plus his reducing the power of both the Red and Black factions, how could he lose this Holy Grail War?
Though the 300,000 energy points he painstakingly saved were reset to zero by exchanging for a C-rank contract, he felt the energy points were well spent.
Judging by the pure stats, Atalanta is equivalent to a C-rank Heroic Spirit.
However, once Atalanta uses "Agrius Metamorphosis" to demonicize, her combat power might not be inferior to a B-rank Heroic Spirit.
Evidently, the saying "Archers are OP" is not an exaggeration.
With a professional long-range member finally on the team, Ryou was in a great mood, feeling smug and elated.
"Welcome to my team, Princess Atalanta."
Ryou extended his hand, palm up, seemingly asking for a hand-kiss.
Slap!
Atalanta slapped his hand away.
"One more thing, Master, please remember not to call me Princess," Atalanta said, a clear look of annoyance flashing in her eyes.
Ryou immediately understood. Atalanta was abandoned by her father as an infant, and when she grew up, her father used her as a tool for political marriage. It would be strange if she had any fondness for the title of Princess.
However, since she had joined his team, how could he not tease her a bit?
After all, she was a rare catgirl!
So Ryou, smiling, reached out and began to pat her head, paying special attention to her ears.
So soft! Feels so good!
Perhaps Ryou's actions were too sudden, and since her ears were Atalanta's sensitive spot, she didn't react in time and allowed him to rub her ears back and forth.
A blush appeared on Atalanta's cheeks, and she showed an embarrassed and angry expression, grabbing his wrist.
"Don't push your luck! Be careful, or I'll turn you into a pincushion with my arrows!"
"Sorry!"
Ryou apologized quickly.
Although Atalanta wanted to put a few holes in him, the contract set by the system was incredibly strong.
Being able to react like Scathach was already the limit. Truly trying to kill Ryou, her Master, was impossible.
Angry and embarrassed, Atalanta turned her head away, ignoring him.
Ryou could only awkwardly scratch the back of his head.
With Atalanta, a fully-fledged Archer, on the team, capturing Jack the Ripper became much easier.
This time, Ryou was determined to eliminate that vicious loli from the game.
PS: 1 Power Stone = 1 Push up