Fate: How About a New Savior?

"Aren't you going to help?"

Sakura and the others had joined forces to push Ishtar out of the main hall. The fight had now moved to the steps before the Divine Tower.

From the throne inside the hall, Hakuno could still get a general view of the battle.

"Don't worry. Those girls are strong. Even for a goddess like Ishtar, taking them down quickly won't be easy," Shiomi said calmly. "Besides, if things really turn south, we'll intervene."

The reason the fight had been left entirely to Sakura and the others was that Magi needed to refine their skills and gain experience through real combat.

After splitting up and regrouping, and enduring the battles at the Singularity, they had gradually grown into warriors well-versed in the ways of the battlefield.

"That's good to hear..." Hakuno hesitated briefly, then nodded in agreement.

Her Servant and aide, Gilgamesh, was rendered unable to fight due to the concept of "negation" brought about by this Singularity. He couldn't even leave the Divine Tower easily.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to maintain his existence within this Singularity unless he chose to leave it altogether.

"Then let's return to what we were discussing earlier—" Shiomi said seriously. "On our way here, we heard from your court Magus, Mari, that the 'Absolute Demonic Battlefront: Babylonia' you established is now facing an entity known as the 'Three Goddess Alliance.'"

Hakuno gave a deep nod. "That's right. But as of now, we only have information on one of them—Ishtar. We know very little about the other two."

"However, we've now learned that another of them is the goddess of the jungle, who's transformed the southern region of Ur into a tropical rainforest," Mari said regretfully. "We've already lost two Servants—Amakusa Shirou and Fūma Kotarō. They went to investigate that area and never came back. Their Spirit Origins have completely vanished."

"As for the third goddess, we still have no clue about her," Hakuno added.

From the information they had, the situation in Uruk looked grim.

Before Chaldea arrived, someone had already summoned Servants by some unknown method to defend the city and survey the surrounding area. At least two of them had been lost in the process.

Just then, Siduri glanced at Hakuno. "King, we seem to have more matters requiring your attention. Could we put this meeting on hold and resume it after the goddess Ishtar has left?"

"But Miss Siduri is also supposed to stay here and assist me..." Hakuno said thoughtfully, then called out, "Archer, come here."

Moments later, the Archer Hakuno had summoned stepped into the hall—a white-haired female Servant dressed in the style of ancient Japan.

Behind her were Sakura and the others, having just repelled the goddess Ishtar.

According to Sakura, Ishtar hadn't shown much of a will to fight. In fact, after catching sight of Ana, she seemed to realize something on her own, muttered a threatening remark, and left.

"But even without a desperate will to fight... god-class Servants are absurdly strong," Olga Marie sighed helplessly.

"Thanks for your hard work, everyone. Archer will take you to your rooms so you can rest," Hakuno said with a wry smile, offering a few words of comfort. "What do you think about arranging the guest rooms in the side hall of the Divine Tower, Gilgamesh?"

"Don't bother me with such trifles. Handle it yourself," Gilgamesh replied lazily.

Hakuno nodded in understanding and turned to Archer. "Then I'll leave it to you to take care of our guests. Originally, I was going to send you to the front lines to relieve Lancer…"

"No need to worry, King," Archer replied with a bow. "Welcoming important allies is also part of maintaining the northern wall's defenses. Besides, you've already proven yourselves capable of driving back the goddess Ishtar."

She then turned to the group from Chaldea.

"Allow me to show you to your rooms."

Just then, she remembered something.

"I'm the Servant Archer, assigned to the defense of Uruk. My True Name is Tomoe Gozen."

The girls immediately reacted with recognition.

Tomoe Gozen—a famed warrior of the late Heian period and wife of Kiso Yoshinaka. While not universally renowned, her name was still quite familiar to those of Japanese origin.

After briefly parting with Hakuno Kishinami and the others, the group followed Tomoe Gozen out of the royal palace to the side hall of the Divine Tower, where their accommodations had been arranged.

Compared to roughing it through the previous six Singularities, being able to stay in one of the most luxurious palaces of the era in this seventh Singularity gave Shiomi a rare sense of relief. Even if the path to restoring the Singularities was still uncertain, at least for now, they could rest a bit easier.

"Archer, from what you said earlier, it sounds like... the Moon King summoned more than one Servant to Uruk?" Shiomi asked.

"True Names are fine, everyone," Tomoe Gozen replied gently. "About six months ago, after the Moon King and King Gilgamesh arrived, they summoned seven Servants to protect Uruk. In addition to myself, there were Amakusa Shirou, Fūma Kotarō, Ibaraki-Douji, Ushiwakamaru, Musashibō Benkei, Leonidas I, and Lady Avalon."

"More than half are Japanese," Shiomi noted.

"Perhaps it's because the Master is the Moon King," Tomoe Gozen explained. "Only Leonidas I and Lady Avalon were chosen based on King Gilgamesh's recommendations, though it seems the latter was originally meant to be Merlin-dono."

"How many Servants are still active?" Scáthach asked.

Tomoe Gozen's expression turned slightly grim.

"Besides the two you already know, Ushiwakamaru went missing during a battle two months ago. Benkei-dono lost his will to fight afterward and left Uruk."

Although Ushiwakamaru—Minamoto no Yoshitsune—had been the one to bring down her husband, Kiso Yoshinaka, Tomoe Gozen still felt regret over his loss under the current circumstances.

"As for Ibaraki-Douji-dono, she found defending the city too boring and ran off," she added with a troubled expression. "Right now, Leonidas I and I take turns holding the front, and Lady Avalon is handling external investigations."

The girls were settled into a palace room, leaving only Shiomi, Morgan, and Scáthach in the corridor.

Tomoe Gozen clearly intended to place them elsewhere.

"Wait just a moment," Morgan said lightly, smiling. "Naturally, I'll be staying with my husband. And Scáthach should stay with the other girls in the larger room."

"Ahahaha…"

Tomoe Gozen gave a strained laugh. Her instincts told her there was more to Shiomi's relationship with these two than met the eye. It seemed far more appropriate to have them all stay together.

...

(100 Chapters Ahead)

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