Chapter 8: Falling Apart


Two weeks had passed since Ritsuka resolved the Slaughter Town Minute Singularity. During that time, Ritsuka had focused all of his attention towards resolving Minute Singularities. Some missions he was able to resolve within a day, while others took a bit longer. However, each time Ritsuka returned to Chaldea he would immediately demand another mission from Leonardo. Today would be no different. Ritsuka marched into the Control Room after dismissing his team of Servants, ready to undertake another expedition into a Minute Singularity for the sake of distracting himself from his own problems.

"Mission accomplished." Ritsuka reported as he held out the Holy Grail to Leonardo. "Give me another mission." He demanded after Leonardo received the Holy Grail.

"Good job out there." Leonardo said as she inspected the wish granting device. "I'll deal with the Grail while you get some rest-" Leonardo's suggestion was cut off by Ritsuka.

"Give me another mission." Ritsuka demanded with a blank expression on his face. Leonardo sighed at Ritsuka's insistence.

"Are you sure you don't want to take a break? I mean, when was the last time you slept?" Leonardo asked out of concern for her friend upon seeing how obviously sleep deprived he looked. Ritsuka glared at Leonardo in response.

"Nine days ago, thanks to the Golden Apples." Ritsuka answered in irritation. In an effort to avoid the nightmares that plagued his guilt-ridden sleep, Ritsuka had taken to substituting his usual sleep cycle with eating Golden Apples. The supernatural fruit had the effect of temporarily eliminating the need for sleep for one day, at the cost of making one even more tired once the effects wore off. "Give me a mission." Ritsuka demanded again. With a resigned sigh, Leonardo gave in and enabled Ritsuka's bad habit once again. The Renaissance Girl turned back around and faced her console to look for more Minute Singularities.

"Ugh. We're scraping the bottom of the barrel with this one." Leonardo muttered as she tapped a few more keys on her console. "Here, it looks like someone got the idea to give the Fifth Singularity another go. We got Celts invading America once again." She informed Ritsuka as the monitor showed several images of hordes of Celtic Warriors overrunning the National Guard, police forces and civilian militias in many of America's cities. "Anyway, you know the routine by now; get in, kill anything that moves, secure the Holy Grail, get out." Leonardo said with a roll of her eyes. "Who are you bringing?" She asked as Ritsuka stared at the monitor blankly.

"Arash, Old Li, Waver-wait. Not him." Ritsuka said as he remembered that his Magecraft instructor was still resting from his last mission. "Tamamo." Ritsuka decided. Tiredness was starting to catch up to him and impair his thinking. 'I need another Golden Apple.' He thought to himself. Leonardo nodded in acknowledgement.

"The Coffins will be ready by the time you get to the Rayshift Chamber." Leonardo explained. With that, Ritsuka immediately left the Command room without even bothering to reply to her. As he made his way to the Rayshift Chamber, two people moved to intercept Ritsuka.

"Ritsuka, can we talk now?" Aki asked. She and Kentaro had tried fruitlessly to speak with their son whenever he had come back from a mission, only to be brushed off every single time. It seemed that tonight would be no different as Ritsuka did not seem to even acknowledge his parents' presence. Kentaro reached out to grab his son by the arm.

"Ritsuka, just wait a minute-" Kentaro's plea was cut off when Ritsuka simply pulled his arm free from his father's grasp and continued on his way to the Rayshift Chamber. Neither Aki nor Kentaro knew how they were going to get through to Ritsuka. Ritsuka felt his guilt well up once more at how his treatment of his parents, but he quickly crushed that feeling.

'It's better this way. I'll create a future for all of you, but I can't be a part of it. I'll just end up hurting all of you.' Ritsuka thought to himself as he left his parents behind, unaware of the actual effect that his absence had on his family. In a twisted way, Ritsuka believed that he was actually doing his family a favour by removing himself from their lives.


The deserts outside of the Holy City were as harsh and unforgiving as the heat from the sun overhead. Something would inevitably kill any unprepared traveller who traversed the dunes, whether it be marauding Soulless Ones, violent Sphinxes or patrolling Enforcer Knights. Presently, an unfortunate group of travellers had just encountered the third category. A red-haired man armed with a harp had just finished off the Hasashin responsible for protecting the travellers.

"If you wanted to save these people, then you should have made me swear to keep my fingers still." Sir Tristan taunted the dead Hassan of the Intoxicating Smoke before he strummed his harp. One by one, the fleeing civilians were cut apart by an unseen force. Screams were silenced as the sands were stained red with blood. Despite how thorough the Knight of Lamentation was in silencing witnesses, he failed to account for a third party.

Ritsuka and his team hid behind a nearby boulder, as they had just stumbled upon this scene by pure chance. Mash and Da Vinci actually had to physically restrain Ritsuka to prevent him from trying to save the civilians and risk certain death himself. Da Vinci shoved her hand over Ritsuka's mouth to prevent him from giving away their position.

"Ritsuka." Da Vinci whispered into Ritsuka's ear in a fearful tone. "I know it's hard, but we don't stand a chance against him." She practically begged as Ritsuka was forced to watch the savagery unfold. It did not take long for someone as ruthless and efficient as Knight of Lamentation to run out of civilians to kill.

"Such is the fate of all who oppose the Lion King. So sad. So sad." Tristan said before he walked away from the massacre that he just caused. Once the Knight of Lamentation had disappeared over the dunes, the Chaldeans tentatively stepped out of their hiding spot. Da Vinci was the first to speak up.

"Come on. We should get going before any more of the Lion King's agents catch wind of us." Da Vinci said, as they still had a job to do in this Singularity. Ritsuka did not respond.

Ritsuka knelt down next to one of the corpses and wordlessly began to dig into the ground with his hands. It simply did not feel right for him to leave their bodies out in the open like this, after he watched all of them die. Da Vinci raised an eyebrow at Ritsuka's actions.

"You're really doing this now?" Da Vinci asked. Mash then followed her Master's example and began to dig grave for another victim. Da Vinci gave out a sigh. "Oh alright. Have it your way then." Da Vinci relented before she too joined the others in preparing graves for the recently deceased. "Hopefully this will stop them from becoming Soulless Ones, at least." Da Vinci muttered.

Sights of such brutality would soon become a common occurrence for Humanity's Last Master.


Gudako was jolted awake by the blaring sound of an alarm. She lazily reached a hand out from under her bed sheets and blindly groped around her nightstand until she managed to hit a button on her alarm clock. Gudako then forced her eyes open.

"Ugh, I can't remember the last time I got a good night's sleep." Gudako muttered before she looked at her bedside clock. Any misery she felt was instantly melted away once she realised what was to come next. "Alright! Time to go see Xanthos." Gudako said to herself excitedly before she practically jumped out of the bed.

Gudako quickly changed out of her pyjamas and into her orange Chaldea Staff uniform. This had become Gudako's new morning routine over the past two weeks; wake up, take care of Xanthos, eat breakfast and go to work in Da Vinci's Workshop.

Just as Kiara had predicted, caring for Ritsuka's horse had drastically improved Gudako's mental health. Gudako had no problem experiencing these nightmares if it meant that the Divine Horse was waiting for her once she woke up. Gudako skipped merrily down Novum Chaldea's halls as she made her way down to the Stables. Once she arrived, Gudako pressed a button next to the door and entered.

"Good morning, Xanthos!" Gudako greeted the Divine Horse with great enthusiasm. Xanthos was already awake and munching on some hay, as were most of the other animals in the Stables. The Diving Horse stomped a hoof in greeting before he turned his attention back to the hay in his feeding trough. Gudako squealed in delight at Xanthos before she hurriedly grabbed a nearby brush and began to groom Xanthos.

Gudako hummed to herself as she brushed Xanthos' white coat, still overjoyed to actually interact with a real horse for once in her life. As she worked, Gudako's mood began to sour as her thoughts drifted to her latest dream. She was certain by now that she was in fact seeing Ritsuka's past through her dreams for reasons that were beyond her. There were two things about Gudako's latest dream that stood out to her.

The first topic of interest was the woman who bore a striking resemblance to Leonardo. 'Was that woman Leonardo's mother?' Gudako thought to herself, as that conclusion made the most sense to her. Since Gudako had not seen the older Da Vinci during her time in Novum Chaldea, she wondered if that woman was safe.

The second thing on Gudako's mind was the red haired killer with the harp. She briefly shuddered as she recalled the gruesome details of her dream. Her heartbeat and breathing quickened as the images from her dream brought back memories of her abduction that she would rather forget. Even worse: Gudako had a nagging feeling in the back of her head that she had seen that man somewhere else before. The sudden strumming of a harp broke Gudako out of her thoughts and made her tense up in fear. She slowly turned around and saw the same harp-wielding man from her nightmare standing in the doorway of the Stables.

"Oh, good morning, Master's Sister. I am Tristan." Tristan introduced himself with a strum of his harp. Gudako flinched as she heard Tristan's music.

"Ah. He-hello." Gudako greeted with a nervous stammer once she confirmed that her flesh had not be shredded by Tristan's harp. The Knight of Lamentation raised an eyebrow at Gudako's reaction to his music.

"Is something the matter?" Tristan asked as he strummed his harp once more. Gudako winced in fear as she did so, as the memories of what exactly the Knight of Lamentation was capable of was still fresh in her mind. Gudako summoned all of her courage to respond to the other redhead.

"I've... Heard that you can cut people by playing that harp." Gudako mentioned awkwardly. Gudako's eyes nervously darted around the Stables as she tried to figure out an escape route, just in case this conversation went South. While Tristan did not open his eyes, he seemed to understand what the other redhead was trying to say.

"Indeed I can." Tristan confirmed. "However you have nothing to fear: I have no intention of harming you. I am only here to retrieve Dun Stallion for my king." He explained as he opened Dun Stallion's stall and grabbed its reins. "It seems that our meeting must end here. Goodbye, Master's Sister. So sad. So sad." The Knight of Lamentation said as he lead Artoria's steed out of the stables. Gudako leaned against Xanthos and let out a breath of relief once the Stable doors closed.

Gudako did not know how Tristan came to work for Ritsuka, but Gudako knew that she would never be able to relax around such people.


In Chaldea's Armoury, two dark skinned Servants stood in one of booths of the Armoury's firing range. A certain Mage Killer was in the middle of teaching a certain Homunculus how to use a new weapon. Kiritsugu gave Chloe one last inspection.

"Alright, safety glasses on. Hearing protection on. Go ahead." Kiritsugu instructed before he took a few steps back. Chloe breathed deeply and lined up the sights of pistol against the target. She squeezed the trigger to fire a shot before she once again lined up the sights. Chloe continued to fire until the pistol's magazine ran out of bullets. She then set the safety on the gun and carefully placed it down on the bench in front of her, mindful to ensure that the barrel was pointed down the firing range and away from herself and others. As the saying went, 'treat every gun as if it is loaded.' The Mage Killer gave a slight nod of approval.

"Good job." Kiritsugu said simply, which caused the Homunculus child to smile with pride. While he normally wanted nothing to do with other people in Chaldea, Kiritsugu was surprised by how fond he had grown of his 'daughter.' After a lifetime of being alone, it was an odd but pleasant feeling to have someone else interested in learning his skills (even if the only thing he could teach her was how to kill). Chloe for her part was more than eager to learn anything that her 'father' was willing to teach her. "I think you're ready for something with a higher calibre." Kiritsugu said as he walked back to the weapons locker to retrieve a new weapon for the Homunculus.

Unknown to either Kiritsugu or Chloe, their little lesson was observed by a certain Wraith Child with envy. Jack had dealt with her father's most recent disappearance by skulking around Chaldea. She wanted to hang out with her friends today, but it seemed that every other child in Chaldea was already busy with their own respective parental figures; Nursery Rhyme was having a tea party with Raikou, Jeanne d'Arc Alter Santa Lily Lancer was watching cartoons with Gilles de Rais, Paul Bunyan was helping Thomas Edison fix a CRT television set, Abigail was cooking pancakes with the Queen of Sheba and Illya was knitting with Irisviel. It seemed as if all of her friends were unintentionally mocking Jack for her missing father.

'It's not fair!' Jack thought to herself jealously. 'We need to stab something!' She decided before she left for the Command Room.


The United States of America. A symbol of progress, of freedom and democracy, and currently host to a Holy Grail. It was too bad that a certain city was currently in flames thanks to a particularly belligerent army of Celtic invaders. However what was truly strange was that this was not even the first time that Chaldea had to deal with such a scenario.

Ritsuka and his Servants had successfully Rayshifted at their intended destination, for once. No sudden plummet from the sky. No having to trod for miles outside of the city. Just a nice clean Rayshift in the middle of a back alley. Unfortunately for Ritsuka and his Servants, they had Rayshifted right in the middle of a patrol of Celts, who were more than happy to enact violence on these time-displaced interlopers. It was not a particularly dangerous group: just four Celtic swordsmen lead by a single Druid. Ritsuka wasted no time in leading his Servants into battle.

"Old Li, take out the Druid. Arash, cover Old Li. I'll handle the swordsmen. Tamamo, back me up." Ritsuka ordered without hesitation before he immediately thrust Remnant into the nearest Celt's throat. However, the second that warm blood splashed on Ritsuka's face, something inside of him snapped.

For a moment, Ritsuka did not see his enemies as human beings. Instead, he saw the black tentacled Lahmu horrors that he once faced years ago. His body moved on its own as he plunged his hand into the next nearest Celt's mouth, gripped hard and pulled with all of his might. The Celt screamed in agony as his entire lower jaw was ripped right out of his head. Ritsuka quickly finished off the jawless man with a Magecraft Reinforced punch to what was left of his face.

Ritsuka's display of sheer brutality actually horrified the remaining Celts, who decided that it would be wiser to live to fight another day. They immediately turned around and ran as fast as they could, desperate to put as much distance between themselves and Humanity's Last Master as possible. Unfortunately for them, Ritsuka was not in the right state of mind to be merciful and open fired upon them with his Calico: finishing off this war band before they could even run around the corner of the alley. Ritsuka's Servants were concerned for their Master's current state of mind.

"You are certainly more ruthless than I was lead to believe, Master." Old Li remarked after seeing Humanity's Last Master gun down his retreating foes. The Bajiquan Master's words snapped Ritsuka back to reality. Just as quickly as it came, the adrenaline from the fight wore off and Ritsuka was once more left with his crushing guilt and self-loathing. With his opponents down, Ritsuka decided to focus on the Mission.

"Come on. We've got a lot more ground to cover." Ritsuka stated before he began to walk forward onto the main road, not even bothering to listen to his Servants' response. He whistled sharply to Summon Xanthos, but the Divine Horse did not heed his call. It took Ritsuka a moment to realise why his steed did not appear. "Oh, right." Ritsuka muttered as he remembered that he agreed to let Gudako take care of Xanthos. 'Hallucinations and impaired memory. I'm already feeling the effects of sleep deprivation.' Ritsuka thought to himself before he pulled out another Golden Apple and began to eat it.


In Novum Chaldea's Command Room, a certain Genius watched Ritsuka's progress with disappointed resignation. Already, Leonardo could see the overuse of Golden Apples begin to take their toll on Ritsuka's performance. It pained Leonardo to watch her friend spiral downwards into violence, no matter how much she tried to convince herself that this brutality was for the greater good of Proper Human History.

'Where did it go so wrong?' Leonardo thought to herself. 'Oh right, every time I enabled his bad habit. Some friend I turned out to be.' Leonardo realised bitterly, blaming herself for Ritsuka's current state of mind. She was broken out of her self-blaming session by none other than Jack the Ripper, who had managed to sneak into the Command Room without anyone else noticing.

"Leonardo Lily." Jack suddenly said. "Start up the Simulator." She demanded with a determined look on her face. Leonardo turned around in her swivel chair to face the Wraith Child.

"Hello to you too, Jack. I'm doing fine, thank you for asking." Leonardo replied sarcastically. On any other day she would have been delighted to see Jack's adorable face, however today Leonardo felt slightly annoyed at both Jack's tone and at the fact that her work had been interrupted. Jack ignored Leonardo's sarcasm.

"Start up the Simulator." Jack repeated. Leonardo sighed in disappointment and turned back around in her chair.

"Fine, fine. Not like I need to monitor Humanity's Last Master or anything..." Leonardo muttered as she tapped a few keys on her console. "There, knock yourself out." Leonardo said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Jack left without even saying 'thank you' to Leonardo, leaving the Renaissance Girl alone with her thoughts once more.

'Angrily stomping into my Command Room and demanding that I facilitate her violent impulses?Jack is definitely Ritsuka's daughter, alright.' Leonardo thought to herself bitterly as she turned her attention back to Ritsuka's progress on the main monitor.


With the entire city full of hostile Celts, there was little opportunity for the usual investigation process that normally came with resolving a Singularity. Ritsuka simply continued to move forwards and kill anything that tried to stop him. The abuse of Golden Apples had afforded Ritsuka a tireless state that even surpassed that of his Servants. Eventually after many bloody battles, Ritsuka and his Servants had come across a motel, which had clearly been abandoned when the Celts invaded.

"We'll rest here for the night and push into the Celts' base tomorrow." Ritsuka announced to his Servants, who were all relieved to finally get a break from constantly fighting Celt war parties all day. It was the least that Ritsuka could do for his Servants for putting after them through so much this Mission. Once inside, Ritsuka sat down on a cushioned seat that faced the doorway, vigilant against any intruder who may arrive. "You three get some rest. I'll take the first watch." Ritsuka said before he ate another Golden Apple. Old Li and Arash left for their respective rooms without another word, eager to rest their weary bones. "You aren't going to sleep, Tamamo?" Ritsuka asked when he noticed that the Fox Miko had yet to retreat to her own room. Tamamo shook her head.

"Not yet. I'd like something to drink first. I'll make you something too." Tamamo said before she left for the motel's kitchen, Ritsuka could hear the clinking of glasses and other objects and Tamamo began to mix various ingredients into two glasses. A short while later, Tamamo had returned with a tall glass in each hand.

The clear brown drinks were served with little edible fox heads, stars, hats and magatamas. Tamamo had even put a little blue and white patterned parasol in each glass. Ritsuka wordlessly accepted the one of the glasses and drank most of it in one go. Ritsuka was confident that his Poison Resistance would protect him from anything that he ingested, but he failed to account for the Spell that Tamamo had stealthily cast on his drink. Almost instantly, Ritsuka felt the stress leaving his mind as an unfamiliar warmth spread out from the centre of his body. Tamamo smiled as her long awaited plan came to fruition. She walked up behind Humanity's Last Master and began to rub his weary shoulders.

"Ritsuka." Tamamo purred into Ritsuka's ear. "You've been working so hard lately. Come, take a little break and rest." She suggested in a seductive tone. Ritsuka numbly nodded in agreement.

"Sounds good..." Ritsuka slurred as Tamamo's spiked drink began to affect his judgement. The Fox Miko lead Ritsuka by the hand to one of the rooms of the motel. Ritsuka sat down on the queen-sized bed while Tamamo locked the door behind her. Tamamo then sat down next to Ritsuka.

"Would you like to pet my tail? Just like old times?" Tamamo offered as she waved her fluffy appendage enticingly. Ritsuka needed no further coaxing.

"Fluffy fluffy tail..." Ritsuka muttered as he reached out to stroke Tamamo's tail. Ritsuka had always felt that Tamamo's tail was the softest and most luxurious thing that he had ever touched; so fluffy and warm. He buried his face in Tamamo's tail and sighed in delight. Tamamo then suddenly turned to face Ritsuka, wrapped her arms around Ritsuka's shoulders and pulled him in for a deep kiss. Even without the effects of the drink, Ritsuka would have been too delirious from sleep deprivation to resist.

Tamamo pushed down on Ritsuka's shoulders to make him lay on the bed and continued their make-out session. She moaned in delight as some of Ritsuka's Mana was Transferred into her Spirit Origin though his saliva. The sudden feeling of a warm body against Ritsuka's own made him subconsciously take charge of the situation. He pushed back against Tamamo and rolled her over until he was on top of the Fox Miko.

"Ritsuka. I've wanted this for so long..." Tamamo moaned. Ritsuka's sleep-deprived mind conjured the image of his beloved wife in place of the Fox Miko.

"Kiyohime..." Ritsuka muttered in delirium as he began to ravish Tamamo in earnest.


In a certain room in Novum Chaldea, Kiyohime was alone. With her husband out on another mission and her daughter busying herself in the Simulator, Kiyohime had found herself with nothing to do. With a rare moment of free time at hand, she capitalised on the opportunity to indulge in one of her hobbies: drawing. Kiyohime set up the final pages of her latest doujin on the table and was about to add the final touches before she heard a knock on the door. With a slightly irritated sigh, Kiyohime opened the door to reveal none other than Aki. Aki gave her daughter-in-law a forlorn smile.

"Hello Kiyohime, may I come in?" Aki asked. Kiyohime nodded.

"Of course, Mother." Kiyohime replied before she stepped aside to allow her mother-in-law inside. "I take it that you were unsuccessful today as well?" Kiyohime asked her mother-in-law once the two of them were seated. Kiyohime was a bit disappointed that her husband had not yet returned from his latest bout of repeated missions, but the presence of her mother-in-law gave her some comfort. Aki groaned in frustration.

"I don't remember Ritsuka ever being this stubborn, even when he was a child." Aki said as she rubbed her temples. Kiyohime shared in her mother-in-law's frustrations.

"This needs to end. Rest assured, Mother, that when Ritsuka comes back from this mission, I will find him and make him sit down for a talk with you and Father." Kiyohime said resolutely. Aki swore that she could see small sparks of blue fire come from the Dragon Woman's mouth as she spoke.

"Thank you, Kiyohime." Aki said sincerely with a smile, which Kiyohime returned. "Has he ever done something like this before?" Kiyohime frowned as she thought back.

"No, the closest thing would be back when Ritsuka undid the Incineration." Kiyohime revealed with a regretful tone. "Ritsuka was close friends with the previous Director of Chaldea, Doctor Romani Archaman. However, Doctor Romani was killed on a mission, and Ritsuka has always blamed himself for how things turned out. He dealt with his grief by throwing himself into his work, focused on finishing off the remnants of the Demon Pillars." Kiyohime explained. While hunting down the remaining four Demon Pillars had given Ritsuka some measure of catharsis over Roman's death, his current situation with Gudako left no convenient target that Ritsuka could focus on (not that killing Ruler would improve his standing with Gudako anyway).

"However, even back then Ritsuka did not completely cut himself off from everyone like he has now. Ritsuka had been holding himself together well enough, up until the Bleaching happened." Kiyohime stated as she looked away from Aki. "I have tried to ease his burden. I have tried tried to provide him with respite and give him a reason to come back from missions alive." Kiyohime confessed sadly. "But I fear that Gudako's abduction was the straw that broke the camel's back." She finished as the room grew even more sombre. Aki nodded.

"I understand, but it's not like we can just tell Gudako to suddenly stop being afraid of her brother." Aki pointed out. Psychology was a delicate matter and far above either Aki nor Kiyohime's areas of expertise. "All we can do about that is trust that her therapy sessions work." She added before stood up from her chair. "Anyway, I should get going. Good night, Kiyohime." The Fujimaru Matriarch said before she turned around and began to walk towards the door.

"Good night Mother. You are always welcome here." Kiyohime called out with a forced smile as Aki left her alone in her home. With her guest now gone, Kiyohime could focus on her hobby once more. "Well, at least I can finally get this doujinshi done tonight." Kiyohime muttered to herself with a sense of pride. After a few hours, Kiyohime had finished what she had set out to do. She just needed to add one last thing.

'With love and dedication to my husband.' Kiyohime wrote on the final page. "Please come back soon..." Kiyohime whispered as she tried to ignore the feeling of dread that had built up in the back of her mind.


Unlike Kiyohime, Tamamo did not have years of experience to get used to the sheer amount of Mana that Ritsuka could produce during a Mana Transfer, even in his saliva. In spite of how badly she wanted it, Tamamo had passed out from pleasure before Ritsuka could properly Transfer Mana to her. The spell from Tamamo's drink had been broken once Tamamo had lost consciousness, and Ritsuka was hit with the full realisation of what he had done. Shame completely engulfed Ritsuka as he blamed himself for nearly succumbing to his own weakness. He quickly got out of the bed and left the sleeping Fox Miko behind. He put on his Mystic Code, stumbled into the motel bathroom and looked into the mirror.

"I could have spent time with Jack. Instead I'm here, killing people and fucking Tamamo." Ritsuka muttered in disgust as he glared at his own reflection. He could barely recognise the man in the mirror anymore: unshaven, underfed and with visible bags under his eyes, Ritsuka looked more like an undead than a man by this point. The last time that Ritsuka could remember his physical condition deteriorating this much was, ironically enough, back in the Fifth Singularity. The comparison brought back memories of that previous expedition into the United States.


It had been a hard fought battle that nearly reduced the Capitol to rubble, but Humanity's Last Master and his Servants had prevailed against the corrupted version of Ireland's Child of Light. Cu Chulainn Alter lay on the ground, slowly bleeding to death from wounds that even his prodigious Battle Continuation Skill could not overcome.

"You are ill. I recommend death." Nightingale stated as she glared at the corrupted Child of Light. If Cu Chulainn Alter found any humour in the Angel of Crimea's words, then he did not show it. Ritsuka meanwhile took this opportunity to bring up something that had been bothering him ever since he first encountered Cu Chulainn Alter.

"I don't get the feeling that you even enjoy fighting anymore: it's just something you do now." Ritsuka remarked. Cu Chulainn Alter seemed to contemplate Ritsuka's words as he lay bleeding on the ground.

"Yeah. I kill people because there's nothing else going on in my life. Sinking my spear into an enemy is the only thing I can feel anymore." Cu Chulainn Alter confessed with an almost sombre tone of voice. He then glared at Ritsuka in contempt. "And guess what? It'll happen to you too, Humanity's Last Master. I can already tell." He spat out. Ritsuka was taken aback by the Corrupted Child of Light's accusation.

"What?" Ritsuka asked in surprise and confusion. Cu Chulainn Alter continued to glare at Ritsuka even as his form began to dissolve into golden particles.

"Mark my words: one day, you're gonna look in the mirror and the bastard staring back at you is gonna be the nihilistic fucker that everyone's calling a monster. Then you're gonna realise that my way was right all along." Cu Chulainn Alter said with a cruel smile before his Spirit Origin dissipated.


Ritsuka broke out of his memories and vomited into the sink, disgusted at himself and his actions. This was the lowest point of his life. As if his body were on some sort of auto-pilot, Ritsuka staggered out of the bathroom and made his way out of the motel with Remnant in hand. Ritsuka needed to distract himself. He needed to kill something. Now.

Tamamo woke up some time later and found that Ritsuka was nowhere to be seen. She looked around and noticed to her shock that Ritsuka's communicator had been left behind on the nightstand beside the motel's bed. It would not be easy to track down Ritsuka without it...


Unbeknown to Ritsuka, Jack had been watching his progress on his various missions over the past two weeks. She had seen the brutality that Ritsuka inflicted on his enemies, and in her naivete the Wraith Child had concluded that the best way to get her father's attention was through imitation.

The Simulator had been set to an environment that was very familiar to Jack: the misty streets of London. Instead of her usual white dress, Jack had worn her black cloak and sleeveless top that she usually wore when she was on a mission (or rather, back when Ritsuka took her out on missions). Jack fought against wave after wave of simulated Shadow Servants. The Wraith Child was a blur of motion; running from target to target, slashing and stabbing at vital points and dodging retaliatory blows by a hair's breadth. Jack sweated heavily as she pushed herself to her physical limits.

'We need to stab more. We need to get stronger. We need to be more brutal. Then Mommy will love Us again.' Jack thought to herself before she slit the throat of the last Shadow Servant. With the last opponent defeated, Jack took a moment to catch her breath.

"You seem to be working hard this late at night, Wraith Child." A new voice called out, startling Jack. The Wraith Child turned around and saw none other than the Chaste Huntress Atalante.

"Hello Cat Lady." Jack greeted politely. "We're gonna get stronger so Mommy brings Us out on missions again." She explained with confidence. Atalante could not help but feel pride towards Jack.

"Your dedication to self-improvement is commendable. Just remember not to push yourself too hard. Your parents would be distraught if you ended up hurting yourself." Atalante warned. While they may have once been enemies, Atalante was happy that the child whom she had once failed to save had been adopted by a loving family. Jack nodded.

"We won't." Jack replied before an idea suddenly crossed Jack's mind. "Cat Lady, can you help Us get better?" The Wraith Child asked with pleading eyes. Atalante's heart melted at the sight of Jack being adorable, but she quickly hardened her gaze to the task at hand.

"I can, but I should warn you: I do not hold back when training." Atalante stated as she drew her bow. Jack was elated that something was going her way for once.

"We can handle it." Jack declared confidently as she drew her knives. Atalante smiled at Jack.

"I am sure that you can." Atalante said before she swiftly knocked an arrow and took aim at Jack. The Wraith Child instantly darted away into cover and looked for an opportunity to flank the Chaste Huntress. Atalante was pleased at Jack's initiative and aimed her arrow upwards. "To the Twin Gods, I offer this prayer." Atalante recited as she prepared her Noble Phantasm.


The outside of what had once been the mayor's office of the city had been reduced to a war zone. Not that it was a particularly appealing sight after the Celts initially arrived, but the arrival of a new opponent had brought a new level of destruction.

Ritsuka had carved a bloody path through the defending Celts, leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake. He needed to distract himself from what he had done. So he killed, and killed, and killed. More and more Celts fell to his spear and sword. By this point, Ritsuka had already run out of ammunition for his Calico, so instead he put Scathach's training to good use and showed these Celts what a student of the Queen of Shadows could do with a forked spear. Despite his string of small victories, Ritsuka felt no satisfaction.

"It's not working." He muttered in both disappointment and despair. This new sense of guilt from his infidelity was unlike anything else Ritsuka had felt. Compared to his usual guilt over destroying Lostbelts, no numbers of adversaries slain could distract his mind from his actions. At that moment, an arrow from one of the Celtic Archers actually managed to hit him. Ritsuka stared at the arrow that was stuck in his chest. He was surprised by how little it bothered him.

"It's like I don't feel any pain." Ritsuka muttered as he pulled the arrow out of his chest. "No. It's more like I don't care that I'm in pain. Hahahaha." Ritsuka realised with a mirthless laugh. "This is it: no more going back for me. I've killed countless innocent people. I've scarred my sister for life. I've driven away my parents. I've betrayed my wife. I've abandoned my daughter. There's nothing else for me to live for." Ritsuka ranted to himself. A small part of Ritsuka always knew that this would be how he would die. "Come on then. Which of you wants to be the last person I kill?" Ritsuka challenged as he prepared to once again charge straight into battle.

Unfortunately, all strength left Ritsuka's body once as the Golden Apples began to wear off, so his charge ended up being little more than a small stumble. Four Celts took up Ritsuka's challenge and tackled him to the ground as one. With the fatigue of over nine days without sleep hitting him all at once, Ritsuka was helpless as the Celts rained down a series of stabs on the vulnerable Ritsuka, intent on ending him then and there. More than a few stabs made it through Ritsuka's Reinforced Mystic Code, but Ritsuka mustered up enough strength to throw off his attackers despite the pain in his punctured torso. While Ritsuka managed to cast one last Healing Spell, he only had enough Mana left to heal the worst of the damage to his internal organs, so he was still bleeding heavily on the pavement. Ritsuka shakily stood back up to his feet, intent on continuing his futile fight despite barely hanging onto consciousness.

"That's enough of that." A new voice suddenly said before Ritsuka could carry out his poorly thought out plan of attack. Ritsuka turned around too see who spoke, but before could react someone punched him in the face with enough force to send him flying into a nearby curb. "God, that was satisfying." Ritsuka's attacker added before he suddenly drew a gun and opened fire on the remaining Celts, until only Ritsuka and this new person remained. With a groan of pain, Ritsuka looked up from the ground got a good look at this new adversary.

Ritsuka saw a dark-skinned middle aged man with white hair and an NFF Services uniform. Ritsuka then recognised that the man's gun was a Calico Liberty: a carbine made by the same company that designed Ritsuka's own Calico M950. Ritsuka quickly realised who this man must have been.

"Saver..." Ritsuka whispered. He tried to get up and engage this new adversary, but his body was simply too tired. The Golden Apples had worn off at the worst possible moment: he was now at Saver's mercy, slowly bleeding to death.

As Ritsuka lay on the ground, he was surprised to find that his approaching demise did not instil a sense of catharsis, but rather one of regret. Ritsuka imagined the news of his death reaching his family, and the despair that would be felt by his wife, his daughter, his sister and parents. He would never get to hold Jack or Kiyohime again, never get to make amends with Gudako nor would he ever get to apologise to his parents for how he had treated them.

At that moment, Ritsuka finally realised that nearly all of his personal problems were self-inflicted; he took out his frustrations on unrelated people to satisfy his own conscience, treated his allies as mere tools, he distanced himself from his own family, pushed away his friends and even lashed out at those who simply wanted to help him. As he was now, he was a far cry from the man who stood against Goetia. 'If I survive this, I swear I'll make it up to all of you.' Ritsuka thought to himself before he finally lost consciousness in a pool of his own blood. Fortunately, Ritsuka still had allies who would see him survive.

"RITSUKA!" Tamamo cried out as she unleashed a spell that engulfed Saver in a magnificent burst of fire. However when the flames died down, Saver was completely unharmed. The Kevlar clad man barely seemed to acknowledge that he was just assaulted with Magecraft as he locked eyes with Tamamo.

"Ah, Tamamo. Good timing. Catch." Saver said calmly before he tossed a Holy Grail at Tamamo, who managed to catch it. "Give that to Humanity's Last Master when he wakes up." Saver ordered before he calmly walked over to Ritsuka's unconscious body. Saver's eyes and Magic Circuits glowed green as he knelt down to touch Ritsuka's shoulder, and then the wounds on Ritsuka's body began to mend themselves. "There. I've stabilised his condition for now, but he'll probably need a blood transfusion. You can handle the rest from here. Bye." Saver explained in an almost hurried tone as he stood up. Tamamo was confused by this turn of events.

"Wait, why did you-" Tamamo did not get to finish her question as a dark portal opened up next to Saver. A large purple tentacle suddenly appeared from a portal, wrapped itself around Saver and pulled him in before the portal closed, leaving no evidence that Saver was ever there. "What in the world?" Tamamo muttered in confusion before she quickly focused on the task at hand. "Da Vinci! Get us out of here!" Tamamo screamed into her communicator as she grabbed onto Ritsuka's unconscious form.

Tamamo and Ritsuka both disappeared in a flash of light as the Minute Singularity began to correct itself.


Uruk had fallen. Ritsuka had seen countless horrors on his Gruelling Journey, and he would continue to see more monstrosities in the future. However, none of those compared to the utter inhumanity of the Lahmu. Twisted parodies of humanity, their teeth contorted in a permanent mocking grin as they acted solely on their sadistic whims. The creatures swarmed over Mesopotamia: the ground was covered with the writhing Chaos Tide while the skies were blotted out by winged Bel-Lahmu. Defeating the Lahmu horde would be impossible, as each Lahmu was capable of fighting on par with a Servant. To make matters worse, Tiamat, the Primordial Mother and Beast II herself was on the verge of encroaching the city. Only the King of Heroes, Humanity's Last Master and a handful of Servants remained atop the Ziggurat. Fortunately, a plan to stop Tiamat was about to commence.

"ISHTAR! NOW!" Ritsuka commanded. If the Primordial Mother was invincible so long as other life existed, then she would be need to be taken to a place that held no life: the Underworld of Kur. The method to bring Tiamat to Kur was surprisingly simple. High above Ur, the Goddess of Fertility raised her arms.

"Fly Maana! Gate Open! Hehe, you should be honoured." Ishtar stated as a hole appeared in the sky. "Behold my full strength! Annihilate them! AN GAL TA KI GAL SE!" Ishtar shouted as a small star (well, small for a celestial body) fell out of the opened portal. The miniature star then crashed down to the Earth with blinding speed. Countless Lahmu were evaporated instantly, and countless more were reduced to paste by the resultant shock wave of such an impact.

Ishtar's Noble Phantasm had blown a hole straight down to the Mesopotamian Underworld in a spectacular display of power. The Primordial Mother howled in indignation as she plunged into the Land of the Dead. However, Tiamat had one more card to play. A beam of violet energy shot out from the Primordial Mother's eye, aimed at Humanity's Last Master. At that moment, a sudden shove saved Ritsuka at the last second, much to his confusion. The blood from Ritsuka's face drained when he realised what had happened.

"GILGAMESH!" Ritsuka yelled in alarm. The King of Heroes had pushed Ritsuka out of the way of Tiamat's attack and took the blow himself. Despite the hole in his torso, Gilgamesh merely gave Ritsuka a confident smile in response.

"Hah! Worry not, Mongrel, this is nothing: just a fatal wound!" Gilgamesh boasted in his usual kingly arrogance before he began to cough up blood. "I will leave the rest to you. Be honoured that I give you this trust." The King of Heroes said to Ritsuka before he collapsed from his wounds.

Ritsuka looked out over what was once a thriving city. He remembered how not even a day ago, Kur was a bustling hub of activity in spite of the Demonic Beast invasion. Men walked the streets and worked, women chatted amongst themselves and children happily ran through the streets. Now the city was silent and empty. Ritsuka thought back to everyone who had died on his Mission to resolve the Seventh Singularity.

Quetzalcoatl.

Benkei.

Leonidas.

Ushiwakamaru.

Merlin.

Siduri.

Ana.

Gilgamesh.

By now, Ritsuka was no stranger to death, but that did not make the loss of his comrades any easier. How many more would need to die before Ritsuka could finally rest?

Ritsuka would have to grieve for the fallen later: Gilgamesh and the rest of Mesopotamia had sacrificed too much for Humanity's Last Master to waste this opportunity on sentimentality. With a deep breath to steel himself, Ritsuka set off into the gaping abyss of Kur with the intent of finishing off Tiamat once and for all.


"Fujimaru Gudako, Fujimaru Aki, Fujimaru Kentaro, please report to the Infirmary." Leonardo's voice called out over the intercom, waking Gudako from her dream. She groggily looked around the room and saw that the announcement had also woken up her parents, who were in a similar state of tiredness.

"Any idea what she wants with us?" Gudako asked as she pulled her bed sheet back and began to climb out of bed. Her parents mirrored the redhead's actions.

"No." Kentaro responded bluntly as soon as he stood up. His wife Aki yawned and stretched her arms a bit.

"It must be important if she's calling us at this hour." Aki remarked as she noticed that it was nearly four in the morning. "Come on." She ordered gently as she walked towards the door. With that, the three quickly left the room in their pyjamas. The Fujimaru Family's walk to the Infirmary was an uneventful trip, as almost no one else was awake at this hour. The sterile smell of the Infirmary made Gudako shudder as she remembered the last time that she was in the Infirmary, and how she reacted to Ritsuka's presence. Upon their arrival, the door to the Infirmary was suddenly opened from the inside by none other than the Angel of Crimea before anyone could even knock on the door.

"Good. You're here. I'll make this quick: the Master's condition... Is not good. He needs a blood transfusion." Nightingale explained tersely before she turned around and walked over to an Infirmary bed that was concealed by the curtain. The Fujimaru family gasped in horror by what they saw once Nightingale pulled the curtain back.

Ritsuka was unconscious on the bed, his eyes shut as bandages covered the entirety of his bare torso. Blood seeped through the bandages at certain spots as the machinery that Humanity's Last Master was connected to monitored his vitals. Kiyohime sat down by Ritsuka's bedside with her head hung low in a quiet sob as she held her comatose husband's hand. She was so distraught at Ritsuka's current state that she did not even look up as her In-laws approached.

"How did this happen?!" Aki screamed in shock at the sight of her son's condition. Gudako had a similarly panicked reaction, and even Kentaro looked a bit disturbed at what he saw. The family had never seen Ritsuka so badly injured. All three rushed to Ritsuka's bedside just as a certain Genius made her presence known.

"The idiot finally bit off more than he could chew." Leonardo answered solemnly, revealing herself to Ritsuka's parents and sister. "A bunch of Celts held him down and turned his torso into Swiss Cheese with their swords." She explained as she slowly walked over to the foot of the bed. "Healing Magecraft can only do so much: nine of his wounds were torn back open when we tried bringing him over to the Emergency Room." Leonardo said with regret in her voice before she turned to face Gudako. "Back to the matter at hand, I need an answer, Gudako. You have the same blood type as your brother. Will you save Ritsuka?" Leonardo asked seriously as she stared intently at Gudako.

Gudako felt uncomfortable as all eyes were suddenly on her. Nightingale and Leonardo awaited Gudako's answer. Her parents looked at her with pleading eyes (although it was more subtle in Kentaro's case). Even Kiyohime looked up from her husband for the first time to stare at her sister-in-law with tears still streaming down her face. Gudako in turn looked towards her unconscious brother on the bed.

Just like that, all semblance of fear or trepidation Gudako felt towards her brother vanished into thin air. This was not a Magecraft-enhanced monster lying in front of Gudako: this was her older brother who had been nothing but kind and protective towards Gudako for her entire life. In truth, Gudako wanted nothing more than to get along with Ritsuka once again, however that would never come to pass if Humanity's Last Master died here. Blood-stained hands or not, Ritsuka was still family.

"I'll do it." Gudako said resolutely as she held out her arm. Nightingale wasted no time to begin the blood transfusion that would save Ritsuka's life.


"Say hello to our new home." Ritsuka announced as he, Kiyohime and Jack stood in front of a modest suburban house. After the disbandment of Chaldea, Ritsuka had used the Holy Grails that he had accumulated to incarnate his wife and daughter into living bodies, alongside a few other Servants who had chosen to settle down in the modern era. The Fujimaru family was eager to enjoy their new peaceful life that everyone had fought so hard to achieve. Jack in particular was excited by this new development.

"What happens next, Mommy?" Jack asked her father with enthusiasm. Ritsuka smiled warmly and gave his daughter a headpat.

"We'll enrol you in school, you'll make lots of friends, and we'll never have to fight again." Ritsuka explained gently. Kiyohime shared in her husband's appreciation.

"And soon Jack, you will have a little brother or sister to play with." Kiyohime stated as she fondly stroked her swollen abdomen. With her newly incarnated body, Kiyohime was finally able to conceive a child with Ritsuka. "Please work hard to support our family, Honoured Husband." Kiyohime said sweetly.

While Ritsuka had amassed so much QP that he did not need a job, he decided to become a history teacher at his old high school nonetheless. Employment would help occupy his mind, as well as set a good example for his children. Besides, who better to teach history to the next generation than a man who had actually experienced most eras of Proper Human History? Ritsuka gave Jack a small nudge forwards.

"Go on, Jack. Pick any room you like." Ritsuka said, which made the Wraith Child run off into the house with a wide smile on her face. Ritsuka followed after his daughter as he helped his heavily pregnant wife walk through the front door.

There would be no more fighting, no more pain, no more sacrifices. Ritsuka had successfully saved humanity and secured a peaceful future for his family. However despite his accomplishments, the only thing that Ritsuka felt was soul-crushing misery.

'I don't deserve this. Not after the entire oceans of blood I've spilled.' Ritsuka thought to himself as he walked through his family's new home.


Ritsuka's eyes stung as the bright light of an unfamiliar ceiling filled his vision. He quickly figured out that he must have been in the Infirmary of Novum Chaldea. His return to the waking world made him think back to his dream. 'That couldn't have been just a dream. It felt too real.' Ritsuka deduced, as he realised that the experience was more similar to the Dream Cycle of one of his Servants. 'I really hope that memory didn't belong to who I think it did.' Ritsuka thought to himself with a sense of dread as his eyes adjusted to the light. Suddenly, Ritsuka felt the cool air of the infirmary on his legs, which caused him to stir.

"Seriously? That woke you up?" A familiar voice asked in disbelief. Ritsuka wearily looked around and saw that it was none other than Leonardo by his bedside. Ritsuka was not surprised that Leonardo would be at his bedside in the infirmary. What did surprise Ritsuka was the fact that Leonardo seemed to be in the process of lifting Ritsuka's patient gown off of his lower half.

"Two questions; how long was I out and why are you looking up my robe?" Ritsuka asked with a hoarse voice, which pained his throat slightly since he had not spoken in several days. Leonardo quickly covered up Ritsuka's lower half in response, which made Ritsuka notice that Leonardo was wearing a pair of medical gloves on her hands.

"You've been out for over a week. Those Golden Apples finally caught up with you. " Leonardo explained as she made her way over to a nearby waste bin. "As for your second question, it's time to change your catheter." She added as she removed her disposable gloves and threw them away. "Would you rather have Nightingale to put it in for you?" Leonardo asked sarcastically as she walked back to Ritsuka's bed. Ritsuka groaned in response at the notion.

"...Good point." Ritsuka conceded as he shuddered at the thought of what Nightingale would do to his genitals given the chance. Leonardo seemed to find some amusement in Ritsuka's discomfort, but that was quickly suppressed.

"You're lucky that Nightingale isn't here or you'd never hear the end of it. If Tamamo had been even one minute late you would have bled to death with those injuries." Leonardo stated in a serious tone. "By the way, Goredolf has banned you from ever using Golden Apples again without his explicit permission." She informed Ritsuka, who winced at the mention of the resplendent fruit.

"Probably for the best..." Ritsuka agreed with reluctance and shame as memories of what he had done when he had become over reliant on the Golden Apples filled his mind. Leonardo then pulled out a small notebook and pen.

"Now, what do you remember from your last mission?" Leonardo asked as she sat down on a chair next to Ritsuka's bed. Ritsuka thought back to what happened.

"I remember..." Ritsuka began to recount. 'Cheating on Kiyohime with Tamamo.' He recalled in his mind with shame before he wisely decided to omit that bit of information. "...Getting my ass kicked by someone with an NFF uniform. I think he might have been Saver." Ritsuka recounted. Leonardo nodded in affirmation as she wrote something down in her notebook.

"Your sister confirmed that your attacker was Saver when I showed her a recording of the mission." Leonardo told Ritsuka, whose eyes widened in shock. "Don't worry, I didn't show her anything graphic. Don't want to trigger another panic attack, after all." The Renaissance Girl added to reassure Humanity's Last Master. "You want another mission?" Leonardo asked, to which Ritsuka shook his head.

"No. I think I'm good for now." Ritsuka admitted wearily. He did not feel up for another Rayshift after this latest brush with death. Besides, he still needed to sort things out with his family. Leonardo smiled at Ritsuka, quite pleased that her friend was finally starting to see some sense.

"Alright. We can afford to wait until you've made a full recovery." Leonardo informed Ritsuka as she continued to write in her notebook. If there was one positive side to Ritsuka's constant undertaking of missions, then it was that it enabled him to provide an abundance of resources for Chaldea. "Anyway, I'll tell your family that you're up and about." The Renaissance Girl said before she put away her notes and walked over to the wall mounted intercom. "Fujimaru Kiyohime, Jack Fujimaru, please report to the Infirmary." Leonardo spoke into the intercom. She decided to only call over Ritsuka's wife and daughter, mindful of the tense situation going on with the rest of the Fujimaru family. "I'll leave you to it." Leonardo said before she began to leave the Infirmary. Ritsuka decided to get something off of his chest at that moment.

"Leonardo, one thing before you go." Ritsuka called out just before Leonardo could open the door to the Infirmary. "I'm... Sorry, for how I've been treating you for the past few weeks. You've done nothing but look out for me the entire time, even when I've been using you to get more missions. We're supposed to be a team: you didn't deserve any of that." Ritsuka admitted honestly. While he was aware that his words did not even come close to making up for what he had done, it was still and important first step towards becoming a better person. Leonardo was pleasantly surprised at Ritsuka's sudden bout of humility.

"It's alright, Ritsuka. I've already died for you once, and I'd do it again. We're friends and nothing is going to change that." Leonardo said with a sincere smile. She was happy that Ritsuka was finally getting his act together. 'It only took a near death experience for you to pull your head out of your ass.' She thought to herself snidely. Just as Leonardo opened the door to the Infirmary, a blur suddenly shot into the room, leapt onto the bed and knocked the wind out of Ritsuka.

"Oh wow, that was quick." Leonardo said once she noticed that Jack had already arrived at the Infirmary, with Kiyohime following in at a more steady pace. "I'll give you three some privacy." Leonardo said before she left the Infirmary. Once Ritsuka had regained his bearings, he looked down and saw that it was none other than Jack who had tackled him.

"Mommy..." Was all that Jack said as she buried her face in Ritsuka's chest. Ritsuka smiled at Jack and give her a reassuring headpat as his wife approached the bed. Kiyohime then lifted their daughter off of Ritsuka and set her down beside the bed. Ritsuka sat up in the bed to properly face his daughter and wife.

"Honoured Husband." Kiyohime said sweetly before her face twisted with anger. She suddenly slapped Ritsuka hard across the face with a loud 'smack.'

"... I deserved that." Ritsuka admitted as his cheek stung. Kiyohime then slapped him across the face again. "I deserved that too." He added. Kiyohime slapped Ritsuka again, and again, and again. As she continued to slap her husband, her strikes became weaker as tears began to well in her eyes. Eventually Kiyohime broke down sobbing and buried her face in her husband's chest.

"You stupid, SELFISH OAF! Do you have ANY idea of how much grief you have caused us for the past week?!" Kiyohime cried out through her sobs. "Jack almost lost her father, Gudako almost lost her brother, Aki and Kentaro almost lost their son and I almost lost my husband." She choked out while her tears created a damp spot on Ritsuka's hospital gown. After a few minutes of crying, Kiyohime backed away and straightened her posture after she wiped away her tears. "I am your wife! Why do you not trust me to help you through this?!" The Dragon Woman asked in despair. Ritsuka turned his gaze away from Kiyohime.

"...Because I didn't feel that I deserved your help." Ritsuka admitted with self-loathing. His addiction to violence was just as much about punishing himself as it was about distracting himself from his own problems. Going for over a week without sleep did not help matters either. Understandably, Ritsuka's answer only infuriated his wife.

"YOU DON'T GET TO DECIDE THAT!" Kiyohime shouted at her husband with blue flames of rage spouting from her mouth. Kiyohime then took a moment to get her emotions under control. "Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Kiyohime asked with a scowl. Ritsuka took a deep breath before he responded.

"Kiyohime, Jack. I'm sorry. I promised that I would stay with you both, but then I went on constant missions and almost got myself killed." Ritsuka said remorsefully. "I... Have a problem. Lots of problems, and I need professional help to get through them." He admitted as he looked Kiyohime in the eyes. Kiyohime's scowl remained, despite her knowing that her husband had answered honestly.

"Yes, you WILL get professional help for your psyche." Kiyohime said as she pressed her finger into Ritsuka's chest hard enough to force him to lie back onto the bed. "You WILL talk to your sister and parents." Kiyohime continued as she pressed down hard enough to leave a bruise."You WILL apologise to Leonardo and the other Servants for how you have been treating them." Kiyohime stated as she pressed down hard enough to force the air out of Ritsuka's lungs."Finally, you WILL stay here in Novum Chaldea until all of this has been sorted." Kiyohime finished as she pressed hard enough that Ritsuka could feel his rib cage begin to crack. No longer would Kiyohime just stand by and let her husband ruin himself: she would drag Ritsuka to Kiara for treatment kicking and screaming if she had to. Otherwise, Kiyohime knew that it would only a matter of time before her husband relapsed into his addiction to violence.

"Yes Kiyohime..." Ritsuka said remorsefully. Seeing the grief and pain that his own selfishness had brought to the two most important people in his life was far worse than anything Ritsuka had imagined. Which was why this next step needed to be taken for Ritsuka's rehabilitation. "Jack, do you mind leaving the room for a bit? I need to talk to your mother about something important." Ritsuka gently asked his daughter. The Wraith Child was not at all happy to be pushed away from her father once again.

"...Okay, Mommy." Jack relented before she stood up from her chair and quietly left the room. Kiyohime was curious about what Ritsuka had in mind.

"What did you want to talk about, Honoured Husband?" Kiyohime asked calmly. Ritsuka took a few more deep breaths in preparation.

'It's not enough to be sorry: I need to be better.' Ritsuka thought to himself as he steeled himself for the first step in his redemption. Ritsuka needed to tell Kiyohime of his infidelity and face her judgement.


First off, allow me to apologise for how long this chapter took to complete. While there has been some things going on in my personal life that delayed my writing (such as having family members end up in hospital), most of it was just my own laziness. However, I have not given up on this story. Thank you everyone who has followed, favourited and reviewed this story so far: you all gave me the motivation to finally finish writing this chapter.

Some of you have voiced your concerns over how I've portrayed Ritsuka's character and the effect that his Gruelling Journey has had on him, and I have found myself agreeing with those opinions. Rest assured that Ritsuka's angst and abrasive qualities will be toned down as part of his character development: now that Ritsuka has reached the lowest point of his life, the healing process can begin. Let it not be said that I don't listen to constructive criticism. There will be one more chapter in this current 'arc' before we move on to something less depressing.

By the way, the spiked drink that Tamamo gave Ritsuka is indeed a reference to the Valentine scene of her Summer Version.

Please feel free to leave a review, and thank you for reading.