Thanks for the invitation! I am in Honkai, still connected

It was afternoon. The sky was clear, and the sun was bright.

One could say it was the perfect time for a leisurely trip or a scenic stroll.

However, for a clandestine ritual like the Holy Grail War, this time of day was, by default, a period of truce.

But in a place with no people around, that rule could be thrown out the window.

The witch with shoulder-length black hair and the fourth Magic User, inheritor of the Fifth Magic, walked slowly along a path in the forest known as the Einzbern Forest.

The girl named Aozaki Aoko sized up the castle—a structure that only ever appeared during a Holy Grail War—examining it closely.

"I guess this is the Einzbern family for you, huh? To think they've set up a defensive structure of this level."

After a long moment, she praised it with sincere admiration.

"It is indeed a high-level defensive position."

The fairytale witch raised her head and gazed forward.

The Einzbern family's base of operations was a magus's castle.

The castle was shrouded in multiple layers of illusions and magical bounded fields, placing it in a special space akin to a different dimension.

If it weren't currently occupied, it was likely no one would ever be able to see this castle at all.

The defensive measures were extremely tight. Without the owner's permission, most magi would simply get lost in the forest, or even die within it.

"However, it's not very practical."

Miss Kuonji, herself a witch with incredibly high standards, nodded as she looked at the forest and castle before them.

But it was merely high-level.

These defenses were all founded on alchemy, making their structure too simplistic and their lethality insufficient. Against a sufficiently skilled magus or Magic User, they would become a rather useless feature, like a simple maze.

"Still, for homunculi who don't know how to adapt, to have achieved this much is already quite impressive."

Miss Aoko, who seemed somewhat different from her usual self, commented on the castle ahead.

Her tone was very much like that of a young and promising professor critiquing a senior who had high seniority but insufficient ability.

"Aoko, how could you tell all that?"

Miss Alice, sensing that something was off about Aoko's tone, looked at her teammate with a hint of confusion.

Aozaki Aoko was, through and through, a mystic arts slacker.

Aside from her talent with magic bullets, she had practically no skill in any other magical arts. She was a complete and utter magecraft failure.

Yet, the tone she had just used to critique someone was more like that of the Grand-level Touko.

"I remember you not being very good at observing the structure of bounded fields," Alice said, recalling how she once had to drag Aoko through a long period of remedial lessons precisely because of this weakness.

"That's because I've been studying in private."

The girl named Aozaki Aoko, feeling her companion's gaze, awkwardly raised a hand and scratched her cheek a couple of times.

Studying magecraft in private?

Miss Alice's expression grew even more bewildered.

In her memory, Aoko was not the type to seriously study magecraft.

Could it be... she'd been replaced?

At this thought, her expression turned stern, and she hugged Nursery Rhyme in her arms tighter.

"Hey, hey, Alice, you don't actually think I'm an imposter, do you?"

Sensing Miss Alice's wariness, Aozaki Aoko stretched out her hand and waved it in front of Alice.

The three very vivid Command Spells were clearly visible.

Is Aoko really this knowledgeable?

Miss Alice remained doubtful.

Seemingly sensing that her identity was being questioned, Miss Aoko sighed.

"Saber, get over here and vouch for me."

With those words, Saber, her sakura-pink hair tied in a ponytail and a tachi gripped in each hand, materialized behind her.

It was the Saber of this Holy Grail War, true name Miyamoto Musashi, a top-tier sword master and Aozaki Aoko's Servant.

"Master is Master."

Saber, with a bit of grease still at the corner of her mouth as if she had just finished a grand feast, let out a powerful belch and then spoke.

Since Saber was here, she couldn't be an imposter.

"Sorry, I think I was just a little too on edge."

Feeling that she had probably been tense due to the approaching final battle and had misjudged the situation, Miss Alice apologized to Aoko.

"Don't worry about it."

Miss Aoko's tone was cheerful and magnanimous, with a hint of boyishness.

"I understand how you feel."

"After all—"

She glanced into the distance and nudged her chin.

The certain someone who had allied with the Einzberns was waiting for them in the castle ahead.

The Mad Hatter's base?

The girl, who had already prepared her dungeon, felt her thoughts begin to drift.

"Alright, stop spacing out, it's time to go!"

The energetic girl grabbed her housemate's hand and quickened her pace, charging toward the magus's castle.

"Gogogogo!!"

And then—

An arrow descended from the sky, embedding itself in the ground thirty meters in front of Aoko.

Immediately after, golden particles materialized around the arrow, and a man clad in a red mantle stepped out from them.

A piercing aura emanated from him, carrying an oppressive force that no ordinary person could withstand.

However, this same man had a rather large basket hanging from his arm. A quick glance was enough to see high-end sake and gourmet food within.

But that wasn't the point. The point was—

The tableware was made of silver and gold!

Looking at that basket, the daughter of the Aozaki family and Miss Musashi simultaneously gulped, their eyes filled with a light of envy, jealousy, and hatred.

Damn rich bastard!!

Using gold and silver as tableware!

"Outsider magi, this area is not receiving guests at the moment. Please halt."

Assassin, who had already steeled himself to take a beating, maintained his cold and indifferent expression.

"If we stop just because you say so, wouldn't that make us lose a lot of face?"

The expressions of the very poor Saber and the daughter of the Aozaki family turned hostile.

"Then there is no other choice."

Assassin, standing silently beside the arrow, wore a solemn expression as a bone-chilling killing intent permeated the forest.

In this world, there exists a grand magic known as a Reality Marble.

Once activated, this ability changes the surrounding space into a completely different landscape.

A materialization of one's inner world. In other words, a Reality Marble replaces the self with the world, while the boundary itself remains unchanged.

In that moment, the scale of the self and the world are swapped, and the world is completely sealed within a tiny vessel.

Assassin was one of the few people in this world who had mastered this grand magic.

And now, he would unleash this very strike here.

"So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works."

The long-prepared magic activated with an exceedingly short chant.

The world twisted.