At last, the restless night silently slipped away.
Not long after Shirou Emiya returned to the makeshift encampment set up by Yggdmillennia's homunculi, the sky began to lighten, signaling the arrival of dawn.
The surviving homunculi efficiently tended to the injured.
On the plains nearby, those homunculi still able to move independently joined the remaining Yggdmillennia magi and Jeanne d'Arc in erasing traces of battle, restoring the terrain to its original state.
Of course, Mordred's Master, Kairi Sisigou, had joined as well.
He'd originally intended to leave after Mordred's departure, continuing his drifting existence.
But Shirou Emiya had called out to him, asking him to stay. Sisigou figured he had nothing else pressing, so he might as well lend a hand.
Though Shirou was the Master of the Servant who'd eliminated his own, Sisigou bore him no resentment.
The moment he'd learned Shirou Emiya's Servant was Arthur Pendragon, he'd vaguely foreseen Mordred's ultimate fate.
At least Mordred had departed smiling—so Sisigou couldn't truly hold it against Arthur.
Despite the fierce chaos their battle had caused, the incident could conveniently be explained away as a gas explosion.
No ordinary citizens had directly witnessed the Holy Grail War—they'd only felt the ground shaking beneath them throughout the night.
Without a clear point of origin, the explosion would hardly attract lasting attention.
Regarding the town that had previously become a battlefield, the Yggdmillennia family maintained their principle of concealment for as long as possible, continually upholding barriers to keep curious onlookers away.
At least, for now, no media had reported a sudden disappearance of any small town.
It was fortunate that the town, situated at the outskirts of Trifas, saw very few visitors. Had the battle occurred on a heavily trafficked area like the nearby plains—crucial trade routes—concealment would've been impossible.
Darnic stood before the ruins of Yggdmillennia Castle, gazing sorrowfully toward the rising sun, heaving a deep sigh.
He had already received word that the Greater Grail had been taken; now, the Black Faction had truly reached the end of its rope.
Not only had they lost the Greater Grail, but only a single Servant remained among their ranks.
Astolfo, the Rider of Black.
Other than Astolfo:
Siegfried (Saber), Vlad III (Lancer), and Frankenstein's Monster (Berserker) had all exhausted themselves completely in the fight against Karna, ultimately forcing the mighty Lancer of Red to fall.
Avicebron (Caster), having lost his Master, vanished after unleashing his Noble Phantasm.
Chiron (Archer) had fallen while battling his student, the Rider of Red Achilles.
Jack the Ripper (Assassin) was entirely uncontrollable. Even now, Darnic had no idea who her Master was—she was completely unreliable.
The extra Servant, Arthur Pendragon, had fallen alongside the Saber of Red Mordred in their duel.
The only small comfort Darnic found was that the Red Faction had paid a heavy price as well:
Berserker Spartacus had self-destructed; Lancer Karna had perished from Vlad III's impalement; Saber Mordred had been struck down by Arthur's blade.
And according to Jeanne, Archer Atalanta had fallen the previous night, while Red's Caster had somehow vanished during the chaos.
Thus, Red Faction's remaining Servants were Rider Achilles and Assassin Semiramis, with her immensely powerful Hanging Gardens.
Based on available intelligence, Darnic easily inferred Assassin's true identity, given her notorious Noble Phantasm.
As for Red's Caster, he had never appeared openly on the battlefield—Jeanne had not even encountered him once—so naturally, his true name remained unknown to Darnic.
In fact, superficially, the strength between the factions now seemed balanced.
Each side had only a Rider and Assassin remaining.
But—
When it came to their Rider, Darnic had no words.
He might as well not exist at all.
This dire situation plunged Darnic into deep despair.
Even the proud Yggdmillennia Castle had been utterly destroyed, reduced to mere rubble.
Moreover, the homunculi originally created to supply magical energy through mana division were now completely compromised.
The hearts of those homunculi, stored in cultivation tanks beneath Millennia Castle, had all been harvested.
A brief thought was sufficient to realize that Black's Assassin had visited the castle and collected them. After all, everywhere she appeared, hearts were torn from magi and even ordinary humans alike.
Those homunculi had undoubtedly become fuel for Assassin's mana.
"Uncle—"
The gentle turning of wheelchair wheels approached, as Fiore slowly came to Darnic's side.
"Regarding Rider's Master…"
Fiore glanced at the young man standing beside Astolfo in the homunculi's makeshift camp, voicing her inquiry softly.
"Rider has already made it clear enough—"
Darnic closed his eyes wearily, clearly unwilling to dwell on this topic.
Given that Astolfo had changed Masters, it was obvious what had happened to his original Master, Celenike, who'd gone after him. Even without asking, Darnic knew her fate.
Darnic held no illusions. If Celenike had still been alive, she would never have permitted Astolfo's Master to change.
Thus, her demise was all but certain.
Because of this, most surviving Masters within Yggdmillennia naturally assumed that the pair standing before them had murdered Celenike to take control of Rider's contract.
Had Darnic not intervened, they likely would've attacked each other by now.
Currently, Astolfo was the only Servant remaining to Black.
Darnic understood perfectly—whether or not Astolfo's Master had changed, Astolfo remained a Servant of the Black Faction, and still belonged to Yggdmillennia's cause.
If they wanted any chance at obtaining the Grail, they had no other choice but to depend upon Rider.
---
T/N: LETS GOOOOO ASTOLFO