Chapter 621

Chapter 621: Wall Slam, Another Wall Slam!

If three-stage ascension Draco was an untamed Serengeti cat—playful, competitive, yet incredibly clingy, burning with passion like a blazing flame—then her first-stage ascension form was the complete opposite. All that fiery emotion was tucked deep within her petite frame, making her more like an aloof and elegant Persian cat, her little face tense, rarely seeking affection.

Thus, coaxing the little red dragon into showing her sweet, adorable side was an incredibly rare feat. Even Sakatsuki, who had spent countless days with her, had only witnessed it once—on that summer island when Draco got drunk.

In short, it was an ultra-rare CG moment!

Gazing at the well-behaved, angelic little girl in her red dress, Sakatsuki felt his heart melt. His eyes softened, lips curling into a smile as he pulled Draco tightly into his arms, savoring her warmth and dependence.

"Mmm..." Pressing her cheek against the young man’s strong arm, the little red dragon narrowed her eyes in contentment. Her memories still lingered in the fabricated illusion of the event compilation—that sea of pure white camellias where Sakatsuki had whispered sweet nothings to her. Such precious emotions could easily capture any girl’s heart.

"Being able to form a contract with you is truly the greatest happiness," Draco murmured, her face flushed as she shyly kissed Sakatsuki’s cheek.

But this impulsive kiss didn’t last long. As a slight dizziness washed over her, the memories of her three-stage ascension self—the self-proclaimed "otherworldly reincarnation of Claudius"—flooded into her mind like a bursting dam, accompanied by her own laughter, always eager to stir up trouble.

Draco’s eyes widened in disbelief, her breath hitching.

Wait... where am I now?

Don’t tell me... I’m not in my own room?!

Click, click, click. With stiff movements, Draco turned her head, finally noticing just how lively the room was—Nero, mouth slightly agape, unable to hide her shock; Hakuno, lying on the bed, lips pressed tightly together; and the two little girls sitting side by side at the bedside, curiously observing this sudden transformation...

"Huff... huff... you—"

"What’s wrong, Draco?" Sakatsuki asked, puzzled by her sudden heavy breathing. The little red dragon in his arms felt like her temperature was skyrocketing, as if she were a cannon about to explode. "Are you feeling unwell?"

Yes, unwell—mortified to the point of wanting to die, you big idiot!

With a muffled whimper of embarrassment, Draco shot Sakatsuki a glare brimming with both shyness and anger before woodenly hopping out of his arms. Step by step, she walked to Hakuno’s bed.

She lifted the blanket, crawled under it, shoved a bewildered Hakuno onto the floor, and then curled up tightly, her dragon tail gripping the sheets as she instantly created an impenetrable sanctuary.

Absolutely refusing to come out.

Clearly, public displays of affection were still far too advanced for her.

"My, my, how adorable." Once he processed the situation, Sakatsuki couldn’t help but smirk mischievously. Tapping his chin, his fox-like eyes gleamed with amusement. Teasing the smaller version of Draco had practically become second nature to him.

But before he could act on it, Hakuno—clutching her sore backside—looked up at him with teary eyes. Draco might have looked small and delicate, but her strength was anything but ordinary. Caught off guard and with no regard for her surroundings, Hakuno had taken a solid fall, landing squarely on her rear. It hurt enough to bring tears to her eyes.

"There, there, don’t cry, Master. I’ll make you something delicious..." Nero cooed, picking Hakuno up as if comforting a child. Seeing this, Sakatsuki reluctantly shelved his plans to escalate the chaos and instead waved casually as he headed for the door.

"I’m off to buy ingredients~~"

The door to the room opened and closed. The moment Sakatsuki left, an eerie silence settled over the space. The bed had been commandeered by the fiercely adorable Draco, who remained stubbornly hidden under the covers, her trembling body the only sign of the shame still torturing her. Nero silently patted Hakuno’s back, though Hakuno rolled her eyes, knowing full well that the pain wasn’t there—and the actual sore spot definitely shouldn’t be patted. Meanwhile, Alice and Alice (the two versions) happily shared the mountain of snacks Sakatsuki had brought back, their silver-bell laughter ringing out intermittently, blissfully unaware of the tension...

Without Sakatsuki as the linchpin, this "kingdom of girls" quickly fractured into isolated factions. Even if Hakuno had wanted to break the awkward atmosphere, the label of "amnesia" left her powerless to do much.

But wait—Sakatsuki had gone out alone to buy ingredients, right?

Which meant... this was a rare chance for some one-on-one time?!

A lightbulb went off in Hakuno’s head. Blinking, she suddenly stood up. "I want to go out for a walk by myself!"

"Master, you want to go out?" Nero asked, confused. "But your memories haven’t returned yet. You should stay in bed and rest... Oh. Right."

She glanced at the small lump on the bed, her expression turning complicated.

In a way, it was "herself" who had stolen the Master’s resting spot...

"But I’m worried about your safety, Master. Every time you go out, you somehow end up getting attacked," Nero quickly countered with another reason. Hakuno, however, was prepared.

"It’s fine, Saber. Look, Alice is here." Hakuno reached out and plucked the white-haired girl from her spectator seat. "She’ll protect me."

"Well... if you say so..." Nero couldn’t help but sneak another glance at Draco. Though she wanted to follow Hakuno, the dragon in the room demanded more attention. "Be careful, Master."

Her distracted state kept her from realizing that Hakuno had initially claimed she wanted to go out alone.

Perhaps Draco sensed the lie, but her overwhelming shame refused to let her think about it. And so, Hakuno effortlessly slipped out of the room with Alice in tow.

Moonlight spilled across the hallway as usual, its shifting brightness the only marker of time’s passage. Hand in hand with Alice, Hakuno walked down the school corridor like a student skipping class—her heart fluttering with nervous excitement.

"Thanks for earlier, Alice."

Now was the perfect time to fulfill her promise. Smiling, Hakuno said, "We agreed on three lollipops, right? No matter how expensive, I’ll treat you."

"Hmm?" Alice tilted her head in confusion at Hakuno’s generous offer. "Only three, March Hare?"

The two stared at each other. Seeing the faint hurt in Alice’s eyes, Hakuno suddenly realized something was off. Hesitantly, she asked, "Wait... when you held up three fingers earlier, did you mean...?"

Alice brightened, spinning in a circle with her arms outstretched, proud of her own brilliance. "It didn’t mean just three lollipops! Alice isn’t some greedy little kid—I meant breakfast, lunch, and dinner! You have to take care of all three meals for me!"

Hakuno: "..."

"What if you held up four fingers?"

"Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and afternoon tea."

"Five?"

"Breakfast, lunch, dinner, afternoon tea, and... hmm, midnight snack?"

A vein throbbed at Hakuno’s temple as she inwardly chastised herself for underestimating Alice. No matter how young she looked, this little girl had spent years navigating the digital seas as a wandering spirit. In some ways, she might have even more life experience than Hakuno herself.

"March Hare, you’re not going back on your word, are you?"

Under Alice’s pitiful gaze, Hakuno could only admit defeat, donning a pained expression. "Got it. From now on, I’ll prepare all three meals for you in advance."

"Yay! March Hare is the best!"

Today’s winner: Alice-chan, absolute victory!

As they chatted, the two arrived at the cafeteria. The school store was located inside, and Hakuno carefully peeked through the doorway, scanning for a certain young man. What she saw, however, made her heart clench.

The first thing she spotted was Sakatsuki, draped in his red coat and carrying a bag of ingredients. Even with his aura subdued, his presence was impossible to ignore.

And beside him, a sun was rising.

The golden-haired, youthful king-saint—the strongest candidate in this Holy Grail War, the uncrowned king of the real world—Leo Bistario Harwey.

The famed Knight of the Round Table, Gawain, was nowhere to be seen. For what Leo was about to do, the knight’s absence might have been for the best.

Even from outside the cafeteria, Hakuno could hear Leo’s earnest invitation.

"Sakatsuki," he said, "become my Servant!"

It was currently mealtime, and the Masters gathered in the cafeteria had been watching Leo and Sakatsuki from the start. These two "honor students," who had stood out even in the preliminaries, still held everyone’s attention with their every move.

Upon hearing Leo’s proposal, the crowd gasped—but no one was truly surprised.

Given Sakatsuki’s repeated displays of overwhelming strength, he had effectively become the deciding factor in this Holy Grail War. It was no exaggeration to say that whichever Master secured him would undoubtedly claim victory.

That alone was reason enough for Leo, the uncrowned king, to extend an olive branch.

So, would Sakatsuki accept? Or would he set conditions? Or perhaps...

Refuse?

The moment this thought surfaced, the Masters quickly dismissed it with wry smiles. Every person here had come seeking some form of desire, and no matter how wild their dreams, they all had to acknowledge the sheer might of Leo—or rather, the Western European conglomerate backing him.

Without exaggeration, the Western European conglomerate, which controlled most of the planet, functioned almost like a wish-granting device.

Wealth, power, beauty, territory... Even creating or destroying worlds—the conglomerate could make it happen.

Leo had entered the Moon Holy Grail War solely to prevent the Grail from falling into the wrong hands. In other words, if Sakatsuki agreed to become his Servant, even the Grail’s wish-granting authority could be his to command!

This was the most generous, most advantageous, and most outstanding Master one could ask for!

Yet, faced with Leo’s offer, Sakatsuki merely smiled calmly and shook his head, gesturing to the bag in his hands.

"I’m sorry, but my answer hasn’t changed—I’ve already formed a contract with my Master. From now on, my loyalty belongs solely to her. So, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to cooking."

With that, he casually brushed off the invitation from the king of this world.

Leo, of course, wasn’t about to give up. "Hmm, so ordinary terms won’t sway you? Then how about this?"

Right in front of the spectators, Leo suddenly closed the distance between them. Sakatsuki instinctively stepped back until his back hit the wall. Then—thud!—Leo planted a hand against the wall, trapping Sakatsuki in place.

The crowd erupted in gasps. Hakuno, still peeking from outside, felt her cheeks burn as her eyes widened.

"This... this move is...!"

"A wall slam?!"

"Oh my god, this ship is sailing!"

Amid the uproar, Leo chuckled, his youthful yet handsome face radiant as sunlight. "So, Sakatsuki, have you reconsidered becoming my Servant?"

Truly befitting a young king-saint, his charm transcended gender, leaving even Sakatsuki momentarily dazed. As he studied Leo’s face, he inexplicably caught a glimpse of a familiar figure—Artoria Pendragon, the King of Knights. This boy undoubtedly shared some of her qualities.

But that brief moment of distraction was misinterpreted by the onlookers. The cheering grew louder, and even Leo’s smile faltered slightly. Just as Sakatsuki snapped out of it and prepared to decline, a cascade of chestnut-brown hair entered his vision.

A faint floral scent filled the air as Hakuno—right in front of Leo and everyone else—grabbed Sakatsuki’s arm.

"Sorry, Leo," she said, forcing a smile at the boy who was even shorter than her. "My Servant seems to have caused you some trouble."

Before anyone could react, she stiffly dragged the so-called "Servant" out of the cafeteria.

And Sakatsuki didn’t resist.

Only when Hakuno had pulled him far from the cafeteria—and even further from their room—did he finally speak up. "Uh, Hakuno—"

Thud!

The familiar sound, the familiar motion. Her long hair obscured her expression as Hakuno, in a corner of the hallway, roughly pinned Sakatsuki against the wall. Tilting her head up as if going in for a kiss, her eyes burned with desperate resolve.

Copying the move perfectly, she wall-slammed Sakatsuki once more.

"Sakatsuki," she declared, "become my Servant!"