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"Mika!"
"Enhance!"
"Healing Drop, Tears of Light..."
"Overlimit Dia Fratel!"
Before even reaching Mika's side, Airmid, seeing him lying on the ground, swiftly activated a combination of Nen and magic.
Brilliant light enveloped Mika, rapidly healing his wounds.
As the excruciating pain that wracked his body began to subside, a smile returned to Mika's face.
"Mika! Are you alright?!"
Airmid rushed to his side, her eyes filled with worry.
Sensing her concern and fear, Mika reached out and grasped her hand, a gentle smile gracing his lips. "I was in trouble, but I'm fine now."
"After all, you're here with me."
Airmid's anxiety immediately vanished, replaced by a blush that crept up her cheeks.
Mika chuckled softly, observing her reaction.
Then, he lifted his head slightly and saw Mellie, her face etched with worry as well.
Noticing her gaze, Mika pushed himself up with his left hand and sat up, leaning against a nearby rock.
"Mellie!"
"Yes!"
Mellie, who had been standing frozen in place, quickly responded to Mika's call and beckoning gesture.
She hurried over from behind Airmid and stood before Mika.
Without hesitation, Mika reached out with his other hand and grasped her hand as well.
"If you're worried, come and check for yourself!"
"How am I doing? Healing up nicely, right?"
Looking at Mika's rapidly recovering body bathed in brilliant light, Mellie nodded shyly.
It was worth noting that Mika and Mellie were usually quite close, often seen with their arms around each other without a hint of embarrassment from Mellie.
However, under the current circumstances, even she couldn't help but blush.
"How sweet," Merlin sighed, observing the scene.
He couldn't help but reminisce about his own past.
Before entering Avalon, Merlin had been quite the womanizer.
His romantic escapades were countless.
"Seeing this makes me wonder if I'm getting old," he mused, shaking his head.
"Nonsense! I'm the eternally beloved big brother. How could I possibly be old?"
Hearing Merlin's musings, Gabriel, floating in mid-air, suddenly regarded him with suspicion.
"I absolutely cannot let him corrupt Mika," she thought to herself, her resolve hardening.
...
A gentle evening breeze caressed their faces. As they enjoyed the tranquility of their victory, a commotion erupted in the surrounding area.
It was the sound of people chattering.
Despite the distance, Mika's keen ears quickly identified the source of the disturbance.
"It's the bounded field. It's malfunctioning," Mika announced, rising to his feet. "Perhaps Gilgamesh's final attack, Enuma Elish, disrupted the bounded field we set up."
"The people who originally lived in this area are panicking outside the ruins. They might come in at any moment. We need to retreat quickly."
"Let the Church handle the cleanup."
Upon hearing Mika's words, Airmid and Mellie also stood up.
The blush that had just begun to fade returned to their faces with renewed intensity.
"Mika, you should change your clothes."
"Huh?"
Mika was momentarily confused by Airmid's soft voice, then he remembered.
His clothes had been completely incinerated by the flames.
And during his final confrontation with Enuma Elish, the armor he wore had been nearly shattered by the chaotic storm, with fragments falling off at the slightest movement.
After enduring numerous impacts, his armor was no longer capable of concealing anything.
Under the moonlight, Mika's body was exposed for all to see.
"Oh, this is awkward..."
An air of embarrassment filled the air as Airmid and Mellie blushed, while Merlin and Gabriel struggled to suppress their amusement.
"Gabriel!"
"Yes, yes, yes."
Gabriel floated over with a chuckle, retrieving a spare set of clothes from her dimensional pocket and handing them to Mika.
"What's with that expression?" Mika grumbled, noticing Gabriel's teasing smile.
"Can't you act like a normal girl? Like Airmid and Mellie?"
"Please, I've seen it all before."
Mika's mind flashed back to the realization that within Gabriel's petite form resided the soul of a goddess who had lived for over a hundred million years.
As the saying goes, even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen a pig run, right?
For a goddess as ancient and experienced as Gabriel, very few things outside of her Familia could faze her.
To most of the Gods in Danmachi world, their small Familia was their entire world.
Realizing he was only making things more awkward, Mika quickly retreated behind a pile of rubble to change into the spare clothes.
"Let's head back quickly," Mika said, eager to escape the awkward atmosphere.
"Yes," the others agreed without hesitation.
With that, Mika and his companions swiftly made their way back towards the Matou residence.
As they approached the mansion, they were surprised to find it almost completely unscathed amidst the surrounding devastation.
"The Matou residence, our primary target, is practically undamaged, yet the surrounding area has been utterly destroyed. What kind of twisted logic is this?"
After expressing his bewilderment, Mika suddenly remembered Kariya and Sakura Matou.
Weren't they the true residents of the Matou household?
"Airmid, where are Sakura and Kariya?"
Recalling that the two of them had been with Airmid and Mellie before he ascended into the sky for the final battle, Mika directed his question to Airmid, who had shown great concern for Sakura.
"When Assassin attacked, I instructed Kariya Matou to take Sakura and seek shelter elsewhere."
"I see."
Mika decided they couldn't simply leave the two of them to fend for themselves.
"I'll go find them," he declared, seizing the opportunity to escape the awkward situation.
"Perhaps I should go instead? Your body has only just recovered, Mika," Airmid offered.
"As you said, I've already recovered. Please have faith in your own skills, Dr. Airmid!"
Mika winked playfully and headed off, giving Airmid a flattering compliment.
"Let's go, Gabriel!"
"Take care, Mika."
"Don't worry!"
Waving to the others, Mika followed Gabriel's guidance towards the undamaged areas of the city.
---
"This way!"
Floating in mid-air, Gabriel, holding a spirit board, guided Mika from above.
As a precaution against Kiritsugu Emiya's assassination techniques, Mika had asked Gabriel to create a special Nen tool.
It was called the Tracking Spirit Board.
By collecting a person's aura, it could mark their location on the board.
Its monitoring range extended to a radius of fifty kilometers.
If the target left this range, their aura would disappear from the board.
Even if they re-entered the monitoring range later, the board wouldn't react unless their aura was collected again.
Following Gabriel's guidance, Mika quickened his pace.
At the same time, he couldn't help but marvel, "It's amazing that you can create so many different tools so easily. Anyone else would have reached their limit long ago."
The number of Nen abilities a Nen user could develop was limited.
Therefore, most Nen users focused on developing one or two abilities that best suited them, then refining and enhancing them further.
Mika, for example, felt he was approaching some kind of limit after developing Calamity Wings, Angel Armament, Yahweh's Shield, and Right Hand of Fire.
"Of course! I'm a goddess, after all!" Gabriel boasted, puffing out her chest with pride.
"Yes, yes, yes. Gabriel is the strongest," Mika replied absentmindedly.
"You're just humoring me!"
Gabriel glared at Mika playfully before turning her attention back to the task at hand, leading them towards a narrow alley.
"They're inside here."
She pointed at the Tracking Spirit Board, her expression serious.
"Here?"
Mika frowned, looking at the alley.
When the Nen tool had been created, the auras of everyone in the Matou residence had been collected as a precaution.
But now, the Tracking Spirit Board was leading them to this alley.
There was no place to hide two people in such a confined space.
Could something have happened to them?
Seeing Mika's expression growing grim, Gabriel quickly clarified, "I know what you're thinking, but only Sakura is here."
"As for Kariya Matou, he's over there."
Mika followed Gabriel's pointed finger and fell into deep thought.
"They've separated. It seems they really did encounter an enemy."
Quickly entering the alley, Mika found Sakura hiding under a discarded piece of cardboard.
"Sakura, are you alright?"
He gently lifted Sakura into his arms and checked her condition.
"Mika-nii!"
Seeing Mika, Sakura burst into tears.
"Uncle Kariya encountered an enemy. He went to fight and hasn't come back."
"I'm so worried about him!"
Hearing Sakura's sobs, Mika quickly comforted her. "It's okay, the battle is over. Mika-nii will take you to find Uncle Kariya."
With that, Mika carried Sakura towards Kariya's location.
However, as they approached, Mika noticed the situation from afar and gently placed Sakura on the ground.
"Sakura, stay here with Gabriel-nee. It's not a good scene for you to see. I'll go alone."
"Be a good girl and wait for me here."
Gabriel immediately descended to the ground, standing beside Sakura and gently stroking her head.
"Mika-nii, is Uncle Kariya okay?" Sakura asked anxiously, worried about Kariya's safety.
"Don't worry, your Uncle Kariya is fine."
Even from a distance, Mika could sense Kariya's breathing.
"Okay, then Sakura will wait here for Mika-nii to come back."
Sakura nodded resolutely.
"Good girl, Sakura. I'll be back soon."
Mika smiled reassuringly at Sakura before turning and continuing towards Kariya's location.
...
"So, you've failed after all, Kariya."
Based on the surrounding scene, Mika quickly assessed the situation.
However, even though Kariya had lost, Mika didn't blame him.
After all, his opponent was Tokiomi Tohsaka, an elite among mages.
"I was wondering why Tokiomi Tohsaka didn't use a Command Spell to recall Gilgamesh before I could kill him."
"Was he worried about being unable to control Gilgamesh without any Command Spells remaining?"
"Or did he simply not have enough time?"
"I never expected him to be defeated before Gilgamesh."
Mika chuckled softly, looking at the unconscious Tokiomi Tohsaka lying nearby.
Indeed, in Mika's eyes, Tokiomi was also a loser.
As for Kariya, although he lost the battle, he had succeeded in another way.
He had single-handedly shattered Tokiomi's last shred of hope.
He had utterly destroyed the ideals Tokiomi had dedicated his life to.
Even if Tokiomi survived this Holy Grail War, for a mage so obsessed with reaching the Root, his existence might be more painful than death.
After all, when he summoned Gilgamesh, he believed the Root was within his grasp.
There was nothing more painful than losing something just as you were about to obtain it.
And to lose it to a man he had always looked down upon, a man who harbored feelings for his wife, no less.
The pain must have been unbearable.
Mika briefly empathized with Tokiomi's plight and felt a pang of sympathy.
It was agonizing!
"Have you already treated your wounds? Then I won't bother you any further."
After offering a brief farewell to the unconscious Tokiomi, Mika hoisted Kariya's limp body onto his shoulder and started walking back.
Mika had no intention of killing Tokiomi.
After all, there was no deep-seated hatred between them.
It was Kariya who held the grudge.
Furthermore, compared to other mages, while Tokiomi possessed the characteristic coldness of a magus, he still valued his family.
His initial intention in sending Sakura to the Matou family had been noble.
It was akin to an emperor with two exceptionally talented sons, both capable of leading the empire to greatness.
However, there was only one throne.
And the loser might face death.
In the world of magecraft, a mage with extraordinary talent but lacking the protection of a powerful family was incredibly vulnerable.
Tokiomi simply hadn't seen through Zouken Matou's true nature.
Carrying Kariya, Mika quickly returned to where Sakura and Gabriel were waiting.
"Uncle Kariya!"
Sakura rushed over, her eyes wide with concern as she saw Kariya's unconscious form.
"Don't worry, Sakura. Your Uncle Kariya has just fainted. Once we get back, Airmid-nee can heal him."
"Thank you, Mika-nii."
"You're welcome. Let's go back to the Matou residence."
Holding Sakura's hand, Mika started walking towards the mansion.
As they walked, Sakura suddenly asked, "Is that Father?"
Mika was taken aback for a moment before replying with a wry smile, "Yes, that's him."
"I see."
Sakura's voice was devoid of emotion.
"Was the one who dropped bombs from the sky earlier also Father's Servant?"
"..."
"Yes," Mika answered honestly.
"I see."
Her voice remained flat, but Mika detected a hint of sadness.
"Let's go home, Sakura," Mika said gently, tightening his grip on her hand.
"Yes, let's go home, Mika-nii."
Sakura replied with equal sincerity.
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