Naoki felt like he had been quite busy lately.
He had been going back and forth in this large Fuyuki City several times, especially Enzou Mountain. He had come four or five times in the past two weeks.
"Actually, you guys didn't need to come."
Walking on the mountain path, Naoki looked towards Caren and Gray behind him.
"I myself am actually more than enough."
"Who asked me to supervise you? Relax, I'll find a place to hide myself, so you won't get beaten up because you had to protect me." Caren waved her hand casually, "This little one can just stay with me too. Besides, you don't need to constantly follow your big brother, do you?"
Caren's invitation made Gray nod. She was following now just out of habit, with no intention of hindering her big brother.
Seeing their self-awareness was so high, Naoki couldn't say anything more, only turning around and continuing to walk.
According to the Church's surveillance, about half a day ago, an unknown spatial distortion occurred on Enzou Mountain. Although generally similar to the spatial changes caused by a Class Card, there were still slight differences. And after the spatial distortion ended, a portion of the once lush green forest had turned into a snowy dead tree forest, as if it had instantly changed from summer to winter.
And, whether by coincidence or not, the location where the dead tree forest appeared was right above the Great Hole.
The Great Hole where the Holy Grail descended, spatial distortion, a snowy dead tree forest... various strange phenomena made the Church truly unable to not react to this.
'Half a day ago... the trap I set didn't react, does that mean the Ainsworth Family hasn't arrived yet? Or are they on their way?'
Thinking of this, Naoki stopped for a moment, then asked Gray: "Gray, before we came out, did you see the situation at Luvia's house? Were there people in their house?"
"All the lights were on, it seemed like they were all there."
"Good, then let's resolve this before attracting their attention."
Naoki knew that Miyu was very afraid of the Ainsworth Family, afraid of them from the bottom of her heart. Even though she was now a magical girl, this wouldn't change. So Naoki didn't intend to let her face this fear again. Elementary school children should just enjoy the happiness of their childhood; there's no need to fight and kill, facing the fear in their hearts can come later after they're a little more mature.
This time, it wasn't an elementary school student's turn to save the world, and it wasn't an elementary school student's turn to fight to the death.
Because this time, he, a reliable adult, was here.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
The entrance to the Great Hole was already in sight. Looking at that pitch-black cave that seemed to lead to hell, Caren suddenly stopped and pulled Gray along with her.
"We'll wait for you here, leave the rest to you."
"Big Brother... please don't push yourself too hard."
Without answering, Naoki just waved his hand behind him, then without turning his head, he stepped into the darkness.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
The traps inside the cave were much fewer than before.
The last time, for the sake of the Mana pathways, Naoki had dismantled quite a few, but he didn't reinstall everything he took down, only a part of it.
It was indeed partly out of laziness that he didn't reinstall many, but more to comply with the rules of concealing mystery.
If the traps inside the passage were triggered, it meant that the people of the Ainsworth Family were almost outside, and if a battle occurred, it wouldn't be able to be concealed. He himself didn't feel it was a problem, but Caren, who would ultimately deal with it, would definitely complain to him at length.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Inside the empty Great Hole.
Passing through the passage and arriving inside the empty Great Hole. As Naoki stepped into this room, a dazzling light suddenly lit up on the platform not far away, creating ripples within the room.
And when the light faded, two figures appeared without warning on the platform.
"It's really troublesome, looking for that little girl in this big world, where are we supposed to search?"
Beatrice Flowerchild, wearing a red dress with two red pigtails, showed an impatient expression. Her enormous arms carried a giant stone hammer and swung it in the air a few times, as if venting the dissatisfaction in her heart.
"No need to worry, it's only been a little over a month since then, Miyu-sama is still a child, she shouldn't have moved too far. She can be found if we take our time."
Beside Beatrice, Angelica Ainsworth, wearing a white shirt and a long black skirt, said without expression. Her blue eyes, just like Naoki's, showed no luster.
"That's why I want to ask, how long will it take? Could it be as long as one or two months, or even half a year? Julian-sama cannot wait that long."
"By the way, I've been wanting to ask since earlier..."
Looking towards the exit, Beatrice glanced disdainfully at Naoki who had appeared there.
"Why is it that as soon as we come here, we immediately encounter a weak Magus—"
*BANG!*
Beatrice's words weren't finished because before that, a beam of Gandr that shot out instantly hit her face, sending her flying directly into the stone wall of the Great Hole.
Raising his hand, the Mana in it hadn't dissipated, Naoki laughed: "Meeting both of you as soon as I arrive, it seems my luck is good, I can end this battle as quickly as possible. It's just a little regrettable for the two of you, having just come to a parallel world for a business trip vacation, you already have to be sent home by me. Oh right, if you don't want to go home, it's fine to just die here by my hand too."
"In terms of results, I greatly respect the choices of women."
A foreign man.
At the same time, he was the enemy.
Angelica assessed this as she took out a Class Card. Black light flashed across her body, and in an instant, she, who had been wearing ordinary clothes, had changed into white silver armor with a super large V-shaped cleavage on her chest, and two curved black horns grew on her head.
And in her hand, a large white silver sword with a sapphire embedded at the tip emitted an aura that made Naoki's heart beat a little faster.
'This form... so that's it, if there's no Gilgamesh Class Card, she uses her own.'
"Damn it—!"
A curse suddenly sounded. Beatrice, who had just been thrown far away by Naoki, directly returned to the ground, both her eyes glaring at him angrily: "How dare you throw me like that... you really have guts, you bastard, just watch how I'll throw you!"
"Is that alright! Angelica!"
"No objections, seeing the current situation, he doesn't seem to intend to let us leave. We can look for Miyu-sama after defeating him."
Although Naoki's appearance made the two of them a little confused, what was important was that they understood he was an enemy obstructing them. And for obstacles that blocked them, the Ainsworth Family's way was always to directly eliminate them.
Just like the treatment of that man named Emiya Shirou.
"Don't think you can easily die by my hand, let's see how many times you can endure me! You wretched insect!"
"Those words, I'll return them to you intact."
Naoki laughed as he clapped his hands.
Instantly, the dim underground Great Hole suddenly lit up with a bright blue light. One after another magic circles lit up on the vast stone walls, densely filling the entire ceiling, shining brightly like a starry sky!
"Come, let me see, little girl, how many times you can withstand my attack."
Infinite Gandr Reflection Barrier!