"Why do you look so happy even though I'm the one being held hostage?!"
Rin Tohsaka struggled to break free from Serenity's embrace, but even an E-rank Strength Servant was far beyond what an ordinary human—or even a magus—could resist. She couldn't shake the feeling that this Assassin was taking advantage of her.
"Just try to understand for a moment."
Now that he didn't have to fight personally, Jason had visibly relaxed. "You have no idea how tense I was before. All the signs made me think that this time, the Caster was—well, her. Sure, she was at fault first, but my cheating was also a fact. It's best if we just never meet again. But now that I've seen this Noble Phantasm, I can finally breathe easy."
"Then why does she look happy too?!"
Rin hurriedly activated a Duel, feeling Serenity's hands growing bolder. If this continued, she had no idea what might happen next.
As the Duel Field expanded, its rules forced Serenity to be moved a sufficient distance away.
Rin Tohsaka: 4000 LPSerenity: 4000 LP
"...My... purpose is to stop you... So I won't start a Shadow Duel... But if you want to wager your life... I have no objections. In that case..."
"I'll take the first turn!"
Serenity's personality wasn't suited to an aggressive opening, and Rin, glancing at her starting hand, couldn't wait to seize the initiative.
"Master, you look incredibly weak right now."
Jason had already taken a seat among the spectators, surrounded by his Argonauts, fully embracing the role of an entertained onlooker. Then, Atalanta promptly punched him to the ground.
"Shut up. My nose just feels a little stuffy."
Rin's hands trembled slightly as she held her cards. After double-checking them, she placed one in the battle zone.
"I Normal Summon [Tokiomi Tohsaka]! Father, it's been a long time. Please open your eyes and see me again!"
A refined middle-aged man in a crimson suit appeared on the battlefield, holding a stack of documents.
"This is... Caster's Noble Phantasm?"
At this moment, Tokiomi Tohsaka was handling mundane affairs—dealing with the aftermath of the Holy Grail War, the reconstruction of the Tohsaka estate after its destruction by an ancestor, and managing the crushing debts left behind. He had been forced to personally oversee the revival of abandoned industries.
"Wasn't the Holy Grail War already over? Why is there a Duel happening now?"
Seeing Serenity on the opposing field, he initially mistook her for one of Hundred-Faces' personas.
"Assassin, where is your Master, Caster? And why does your opponent have—"
Then he saw the name on the card's owner and froze.
He might not recognize what his daughter would look like ten years older, but there was no mistaking the magical circuits within her. Realization struck: This isn't just a projection—this is another timeline.
"So it's the same as that girl from the Einzbern family... Except this time, I've arrived ten years into the future? Has time-traveling through the Second Magic reached such an absurd degree?"
"...Is it really you, Father...?"
Rin's voice trembled, tears threatening to form. She was deeply grateful to whoever had summoned that Caster—because now, she could let her father see how much she had grown. She could give him peace before his final rest.
"Father, I've grown into an excellent magus. I may be clumsy, but I can manage the leyline affairs on my own now. Please watch over this Holy Grail War—I won't bring shame to the Tohsaka name. Witness me as I claim victory!"
"Wait a moment!"
Tokiomi's sharp mind immediately caught onto something in Rin's words. He had always been strict, but never so negligent as to force his daughter to shoulder the entire family's burdens alone at her age.
"You said you are managing the leylines? You're not even twenty yet, are you? Has the me of this timeline become that lazy?"
"Father... don't you remember? You died after losing the Holy Grail War."
Rin assumed that the summoning worked like a Heroic Spirit invocation, and that the Tokiomi standing before her was the one who had perished in the Fourth War.
"While it's true that I lost the Grail War... I'm very much alive."
The Tohsaka lineage had inherited magic loosely connected to the Second Magic, and Tokiomi was well-versed in its concepts.
"Rin, tell me exactly how the last Holy Grail War unfolded in your timeline."
Rin glanced at Serenity. She still retained some of the unneeded elegance passed down from her father and hesitated out of politeness.
Serenity, however, only needed to stall for time. She knew her own limitations—Jason himself wasn't particularly strong, but his deck was undoubtedly filled with heroes from the Argo. She had no intention of winning.
In fact, this Duelist's Noble Phantasm was a severe disadvantage for her; it rendered her most lethal skill—poison—completely useless. Yet, she harbored no resentment. In fact, she was grateful.
Now, she could finally touch others.
Although someone had forbidden her from using her Noble Phantasm on anyone else—out of the usual possessive tendencies of male players—she found she didn't mind. If anything, it made her feel a little happy. She interpreted it as a sign of her Master's affection and concern.
After hearing Rin's account of the Fourth Holy Grail War in her timeline, Tokiomi began to grasp the situation.
"So this isn't the future of my timeline."
He explained his own experience:
"In my world, Emiya Kiritsugu didn't summon Saber. Instead, he summoned a Caster named Jiang You. His Noble Phantasm is the Duel system you see now—which means he must have been summoned here too."
"Jiang You? That sounds like a name from the Eastern nations... but I don't recall any historical figure by that name."
"That's irrelevant. His stats, aside from his Noble Phantasm and Luck, are all rated E. His main ability is tied to these Duel rules—but that didn't stop him from claiming the Holy Grail."
Tokiomi recalled the Beast, a monstrous entity even Gilgamesh could not oppose. That thing, which could have effortlessly consumed an entire city, had fallen before Jiang You.
Still, considering Jiang You's nature—the way he had helped Sakura and used the Grail to resurrect 800,000 civilians—Tokiomi was reassured that he wouldn't be too harsh on Rin. If anything, letting her experience this war might serve as a valuable lesson.
"Rin, use this Holy Grail War to prove yourself. That Caster has an unusually strong sense of compassion—he'll likely ensure the other Masters' survival. But listen to me carefully: Never agree to a Shadow Duel. Always choose a regular battle instead!"
"...And one last thing. Sakura—she's still in the Matou family in this timeline, isn't she?"