A rare trace of seriousness appeared in Iskandar's eyes as he said slowly, "Saber's presence seems even stronger than just now."
Waver's heart tightened slightly.
For Rider to say something like that, it was not hard to imagine just how dangerous Saber was at this moment.
Mordred looked toward the direction Alvin had left and instinctively wanted to follow.
"Lancer, don't act on your own for now."
At that moment, Kayneth's voice quickly came through, "We're not certain the enemy is alone, be careful of a trap."
Mordred's departing steps came to an abrupt halt. She frowned and said, "Are we just going to let him face the enemy alone?"
"You said he's your father, right? You should trust him very much. Not just the bond and feelings between you, but his strength as well," Kayneth said.
"Of course… There won't be any Servant stronger than him in this Holy Grail War. At least, I don't believe anyone can defeat him."
When she reached the end, Mordred clicked her tongue, "And that's exactly why someone resorted to sniping his Master directly."
Once Father's Master died, even if he possessed Independent Manifestation, he would not be able to maintain his spiritual body for long.
'Can he kill the enemy before his magical energy ran out?' [T/N: Nah! He won't be able to kill anyone. He is a just an over-confident sissy.]
At that thought, worry crept into Mordred's heart.
"What's wrong, Sister?"
Not far away, Artoria noticed Morgan le Fay seemed to be deep in thought and asked instinctively.
Ever since just now, Morgan had not said a single word. She had only been staring at the girl lying in the snow ahead.
Morgan could sense that Sajyou Manaka, whose heart had been pierced, had already reached the end of her life.
That was precisely why Alvin had been so enraged. After locking onto the enemy's position, he had gone alone to their stronghold.
"I just feel like something isn't quite right," Morgan frowned slightly and spoke softly.
The all knowing imperial princess connected to the Root should have already known her own future before the Holy Grail War even began.
If that was the case, she could not possibly have been unaware that a Master would try to kill her, and that she would truly die during the war.
'If she already knew the future, why did she not attempt to change it?'
Snowflakes fell from the sky onto the girl's cheeks. Morgan stepped forward and gently touched Sajyou Manaka's face, feeling the coldness of a body that had already lost its life.
At her chest, a faint deep blue defensive barrier could be seen covering the area.
Morgan froze for a moment, her eyes flickering.
Artoria also sensed something unusual and said instinctively, "She used defensive magecraft in advance to protect her heart?"
"But if that's the case, how did the bullet get through?"
'And also, Sajyou Manaka's life force has already faded, yet her magical energy is still so strong?'
———
On the other side—
On a rooftop high above—
Emiya Kiritsugu faced the cold wind, put away his sniper rifle, took out a communicator, and said in a low voice, "Prepare to withdraw."
"Understood."
Hisau Maiya silently put away her communicator and then packed up the set sniper rifle as well, turning to look at the Berserker beside her, or rather, Vortigern.
"We should go."
Yet when she spoke, she noticed Vortigern had not moved at all. Instead, he lifted his head and smiled as he gazed into the deep darkness ahead.
"Hisau Maiya… are you overestimating your stealth, or underestimating Saber?"
"When did you get the illusion that you could kill Saber's Master and still leave safely?"
Hisau Maiya froze.
Then her body trembled slightly, and a dense chill crept up her spine.
She quickly stepped back while drawing her handgun, but a hand immediately pressed it down.
"Step back. Leave this to me."
Vortigern smiled as he looked ahead, "In this Holy Grail War, the only one qualified to fight him is me."
At some point, in the snowy night rooftop, a black figure had appeared silently in their sight like a ghost.
His black robe fluttered in the night wind. Beneath the white mask on his face, a pair of dark eyes quietly watched ahead.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time, Alvin."
Vortigern spread his arms with a smile, his expression filled with madness, "From the day I accepted the summoning, I've been looking forward to meeting you every single moment."
"Do you remember, back in Britain, when you and Morgan devoured me together?"
"Now I'll do the same. I'll tear into your flesh and blood—"
BOOM!
Before he finished speaking, a holy spear had appeared in Alvin's hand at some unknown moment. Golden magical energy rapidly gathered.
The Spear that Shines at the End of the World, Rhongomyniad!
The next instant, a golden beam blasted out from the holy spear.
Vortigern's pupils shrank sharply as he raised his right hand.
The wings symbolizing "fairy" spread out behind him. In the next second, his body seemed to turn illusory, and the holy spear barely grazed past him.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion of magical energy erupted in the sky behind Vortigern.
The muscles on Hisau Maiya's face twitched slightly as she stared solemnly at the black robed Servant.
'This guy… he clearly lost his Master. Why is his magical power still this overwhelming?'
"The holy spear is in your hands?", Vortigern was surprised at first, then quickly shook his head, "No! This does not seem to be the true holy spear, only a remnant shadow of it?"
The one that had once killed Vortigern was that legendary anchor of the storm that bound the stars, the holy spear.
He knew better than anyone how powerful it was.
Alvin glanced at Hisau Maiya and said, "You weren't the one who pulled the trigger, where is Emiya Kiritsugu?"
"Hey now, even if he was the one who sniped your Master, your opponent right now is me, isn't it?"
Vortigern smiled, "If you want to find him, you'll have to get past me first."
"But with just a mere shadow of the holy spear, I'm afraid it's far from enough—"
As he spoke, his voice suddenly stopped.
His eyes locked onto Alvin. More precisely, onto the holy sword that had formed in Alvin's hand.
Hisau Maiya looked at Vortigern in confusion, not understanding what had just happened.
["Seal Thirteen, Decision Start!"]
When that voice echoed faintly from somewhere unseen, the holy spear seemed to be filled with successive voices saying "Approved."
Vortigern's face changed drastically, fear creeping into his voice, "Promised Sword of Victory?"
When he heard the voice through the communicator, Emiya Kiritsugu slowly closed his eyes.
It seemed that after his Master's death, Saber had truly gone berserk.
And, Berserker might not be able to stop him.
Though it was somewhat unexpected, it was still within the plan.
At the very least, with Saber's Master dead, victory in the Holy Grail War was one step closer.
Emiya Kiritsugu crushed his cigarette underfoot and turned, planning to return to Einzbern Castle first.
Beep!
At that moment, his phone suddenly rang.
In the darkness, the ringtone was especially piercing. Kiritsugu took out his phone, glanced at it, and quickly frowned.
A call from Einzbern Castle.
For some reason, he suddenly felt that something was very wrong.
He answered the phone, his voice low, "What is it?"
On the other end was the old butler of Einzbern Castle, his tone filled with urgency, ["Kiritsugu… come back, quickly!"]
["Irisviel and Illya have been taken!"]
Boom!
In an instant, Kiritsugu felt his head buzzing. For the first time, killing intent appeared in his dull gray eyes… along with panic.
This man had always called himself a partner of justice. For his grand ideal, he had sacrificed far too much.
He had accepted employment to participate in the Holy Grail War in order to use the Grail to make the world peaceful.
Even so, there were people he could never give up.
His wife… and his daughter.
And at that moment, Kiritsugu suddenly heard a girl's clear and pleasant voice coming from the phone.
But to his ears, it sounded like a ghost returning from the underworld, sending chills down his spine.
["Hello? Can you hear me, Mr. Emiya Kiritsugu?"]
'Sajyou Manaka!'
———
[Einzbern Castle]
In the coastal city of Fuyuki, there was a territory belonging to the Einzbern family. Outside the territory was a dense forest, filled with layers of magical barriers.
If any external enemy invaded, the barriers would immediately sound an alarm.
And just on the first night when the various Servants had begun clashing in the old district of Fuyuki, all the Masters noticed one thing.
Saber was very strong, and his Master was also very strong, even able to provide him with almost uninterrupted magical energy.
To defeat Saber, one would first have to get past his Master. That was the common understanding among the Masters participating in the Holy Grail War.
For the sake of the war, the Einzbern family had specially hired the "Magus Killer" known as Emiya Kiritsugu. Their goal was to bypass the Servants and directly kill the enemy Masters.
Their first target was Saber's Master, Sajyou Manaka.
The specially prepared bullet, fired through a sniper rifle, had pierced Sajyou Manaka's heart. Logically speaking, this plan should have succeeded.
But now… this girl had appeared at Einzbern Castle like a ghost crawling back from the underworld?
At that moment, an indescribable chill rose in Kiritsugu's heart, and he instinctively tightened his grip on the phone.
"Saber's Master… why are you still alive?"
"Origin Bullet. The bullet causes irreversible damage to the 'one who is struck.' Even if the wound appears healed on the surface, nerves and capillaries cannot regenerate. Most importantly, it destroys a magus's magic circuits."
Sajyou Manaka's delighted laughter rang in the man's ear, ["A bullet that can shatter a magus's circuits and ruin their magical energy… no wonder you're called the Magus Killer."]
["However… even if the Origin Bullet destroys magic circuits, it won't harm me at all. After all, I don't have any so called magic circuits to begin with."]
The Origin Bullet would directly destroy a magus's magical energy when it struck them.
Yet Sajyou Manaka had been connected to the Root since birth. For her, magical energy was something endless and inexhaustible.
The Origin Bullet that had always been unstoppable against great magi in the past had, on this most crucial night, deceived him.
The body lying in the snow had indeed been Sajyou Manaka's, and the Origin Bullet had indeed pierced her heart.
But for Sajyou Manaka, who had already become a Beast, unless her magical energy was completely destroyed, she would not die.
Sajyou Manaka's Omniscience had foreseen the future even before she killed Matou Zouken.
Her later 'death' had merely been to mislead others.
"What exactly do you want?", Emiya Kiritsugu asked in a low voice.
[🎉 Shoutout to DarkLost for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]
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