Chapter 501: Huh?

San Yue Qi scratched his head, turned around and pressed his back against the cold wall.

The face that was always full of vitality now forced out an awkward smile.

"Um... uh... let's wait a bit first."

San Yue Qi's voice was a bit airy, "Hmm, let's wait a bit, then see how things go."

Lin blinked, not quite clear what had happened, but seeing San Yue Jie's expression, could guess a few things—surely Rewind had been used many times, and the results were not ideal.

"Alright, banana." Lin nodded, without asking further.

Outside the window, the world still maintained that apocalyptic scene.

Dust churned, flames shot upward, and the battle between the two Sabers in the distance continued, golden light and black light occasionally tearing through the smoke.

Occasionally, fragments of stone struck the ground, producing a muffled "bang bang" sound.

Just then—

"Um..."

A faint whimper came from the corner.

Tengcun Lixiang propped herself against the ground and slowly sat up.

Her orange short hair was messy, her face dusted with ash, and the chest of her school uniform had a huge tear, covered in gray ash.

She looked around blankly, then at the two girls before her, her eyes full of bewilderment.

"This... where is this?"

Lixiang's voice was hoarse; instinctively she raised a hand to touch the back of her head, "Sss—so painful... why does the back of my head hurt so much?"

Lin opened her mouth, at a loss for how to explain.

Lixiang's gaze lingered on Lin's face for a second, then on San Yue Qi's face for a second, and finally returned to Lin's face.

"Tohsaka classmate?"

Lixiang blinked, a confused expression on her face, "You... how are you here? And this person is..."

Lin took a deep breath and decided to be brief: "Fujimura classmate, listen to my explanation, banana. You are safe now, but we ran into some... rather complicated circumstances. In short, banana, you were drawn into the Holy Grail War, and just now almost got caught in the battle; it was San Yue Jie who rescued you, banana."

Lixiang listened in a daze, processing for a few seconds.

(Why does Tohsaka classmate add a banana at the end of her sentences?)

Then she suddenly widened her eyes: "Tohsaka classmate, you... you're also a Master?!"

Lin's expression froze subtly for an instant.

(Why does she say "also"?)

(Right, she was already a Master, the Master of Saber!)

Lin quickly ran through the logic in her mind, then inexplicably felt a wave of embarrassment.

Everyone is a Master, competitors, yet she just now didn't hesitate to have San Yue Jie rescue her—what kind of thing is that?

But the words have already been spoken, the person rescued, she couldn't now say, "Oops sorry we're actually enemies, do as you wish."

"... Yes." Lin nodded, trying to make her tone sound a bit more natural.

Lixiang fell silent.

Her eyes lowered, staring at the back of her hand—the three bright red Command Spells still clearly visible in the dim light.

"So today, Tohsaka classmate, you didn't go to school..." Lixiang's voice was soft, "because you have to take part in this... Holy Grail Battle?"

Lin nodded again.

"I see..."

Lixiang said nothing more.

San Yue Qi watched the subtle atmosphere between the two girls and couldn't help scratching his head.

Why does this conversation sound so strange? Like some "so you're also..." meet‑up scene?

But there is something more important right now.

"Fujimura miss."

San Yue Qi leaned over, trying to make his tone sound friendly, "May I ask what exactly happened just now? How did you faint there alone?"

Lixiang lifted her head, looking at the unfamiliar pink‑haired girl.

She hadn't seen her before.

But the other saved her, so she should... be trustworthy, right?

Lixiang began recalling what had happened before.

Then her face suddenly turned red.

The redness spread from her cheeks to the base of her ears, even tinting her neck with a light pink hue.

San Yue Qi tilted his head, a puzzled expression, "Why are you blushing?"

Lixiang obviously couldn't say—what Saber had done to her.

That close‑up face.

(No, no, no, can't think about it!)

Lixiang shook her head hard, shoving those images out of her mind, trying to restore a normal expression.

"That... is..."

Her voice still a bit airy, "I was walking on the street with Saber, and suddenly a black Saber appeared... wearing black armor, a mask on its face, looking terrifying... then Saber made me hide, and she fought that black one..."

Lixiang paused, rubbing her temples.

"And then... I don't remember. I think I fainted."

San Yue Qi nodded thoughtfully.

A black Saber, indeed.

Lixiang looked at the dilapidated surroundings, then heard a faint rumbling from outside, and her face turned pale.

"Where are we? Why is it so noisy outside?"

San Yue Qi scratched his head, organized his words: "Um… this is a bit complicated to explain. Simply put, we are now in a… another world. It's kind of like a mirror version of the real world, but with no people, only a bunch of inexplicable Monkeys. Those two Sabers outside are fighting, and we can't get out for now."

Lixiang's mouth slowly opened, widening more and more.

"…Huh?"

She thought she must not have woken up yet.

Another world? Mirror version? Inexplicable Monkeys? Two Sabers fighting?

What kind of development is this?

"Am I dreaming?" Lixiang muttered to herself, pinching her own thigh hard, "Sss—so painful!"

Not a dream.

Lixiang's face collapsed.

Lin, standing beside her, comforted: "Although it's hard to accept, Fujimura classmate, this is indeed reality. All we can do now is hide, and wait for the outside to become safe before we figure something out."

Lixiang opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but finally closed it again.

Forget it, it's already like this anyway.

At that moment—

Outside, a sudden burst of dense footstep sounds came.

"Tap tap tap tap tap tap—"

As if countless feet were running.

The three fell silent simultaneously, carefully moving to the window, sticking half a head out to look outside.

Then Lixiang's eyes widened like copper bells.

On the street outside, a dense mass of yellow figures were running.

Monkeys.

All Monkeys.

Those Monkeys varied in size, but each had round black eyes and a tuft of banana‑shaped hair on top of its head.

They leapt and darted among the ruins, some running on the ground, some climbing the walls, some swinging from the roof of one building to another.

Their number was at least a thousand, packed densely along the whole street.

"This… this this this…"

Lixiang pointed outside, her fingers trembling, "What on earth is all this?!"

Lin lowered his voice: "It's the Monkeys that San Yue Jie mentioned… I have no idea where they came from."

San Yue Qi stared at those Monkeys, and a scene suddenly flashed in his mind—

Rewind before, at the exit, the gushing "Monkey Waterfall".

At this moment, it should be the time when that group of Monkeys had just burst out.

He was thinking, when suddenly the atmosphere felt off.

Those Monkeys running all over the ground all stopped at the same time.

Not one or two, but all of them.