Chapter 107: This Isn't Right
Few people knew about the changes occurring within Emiya Shirou. Even fewer understood what these changes actually meant for him.
Aside from the primary party involved, [All the World's Evil], those with a deep connection to the Holy Grail were equally in the dark.
Illya was perhaps the only one who vaguely realized that something had entered the Grail. Upon returning to the castle the Einzbern family had purchased on the outskirts of Fuyuki City, she looked toward Ryudou Temple with a face full of confusion.
"This aura... is it Shirou?
Has Shirou already made contact with the Grail? That's impossible. Not a single Servant has retired from this Holy Grail War yet; how could he have reached it?"
As she began to probe the specially adjusted Magic Circuits within her body and used her link with the Greater Grail to sense the state of Fuyuki's leylines, Illya grew even more bewildered.
Unlike other homunculi created by the Einzberns—and even unlike her mother, Irisviel—Illya had always been an extremely special existence. Her status as the "greatest masterpiece" of the Einzberns wasn't just reflected in her performance as a Lesser Grail. Even without the Greater Grail providing magical energy, she could briefly sustain a high-consumption Servant like Berserker in combat on her own.
Furthermore, Illya was the homunculus closest to Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, the Winter Saint, in the entire history of the family. To what extent was she "close"?
Put it this way: Illya knew everything about how Justeaze, along with Matou Zouken and the others, constructed the magical ritual of the Greater Grail in Fuyuki. She knew Zouken's true identity was Makiri Zolgen. She even knew of Matou Sakura's existence and how Zouken had modified her into another Lesser Grail—a black shadow designed to suppress her.
As for the pollution of the Greater Grail, she knew it started during the Third Holy Grail War when the Einzberns tried to summon Angra Mainyu, the evil god of Zoroastrian mythology, only to end up with an ordinary village youth who had merely been given that name. Because Angra Mainyu's entire existence was born from the desires of countless people for a "Necessary Evil," his soul, upon being absorbed into the Grail after defeat, naturally polluted it with those wicked wishes and curses.
Illya knew all of this.
Because the Greater Grail is, in essence, Justeaze's Magic Circuit. How could Justeaze not know everything related to the Grail?
Thus, Illya, being so similar to Justeaze, was like Archer is to Emiya Shirou. The moment she stepped onto the soil of Fuyuki and touched the magical energy of the Greater Grail flowing
through the leylines, she would unconsciously receive Justeaze's memories, undergo synchronization, and even potentially realize the Third Magic.
But now, Illya was starting to doubt the memories surging from her circuits.
"There are no signs of the Fuyuki leylines being eroded, which means Sakura hasn't lost control or become another vessel for the Grail yet.
And even if Sakura did become a new vessel, I should be able to sense it within this bounded field built by the Einzberns.
No matter who used fragments of the Grail to create a new Lesser Grail to absorb Servant souls, they couldn't possibly have a higher priority than an Einzbern."
After checking repeatedly to ensure her senses weren't mistaken, Illya remained unable to explain the current situation with her knowledge.
"What on earth did Shirou do?
Why is Shirou's aura appearing inside the Grail? And why does Angra Mainyu seem to be going mad, trying to do something to him?"
She couldn't figure it out. It made no sense at all.
In fact, it wasn't just Illya. Even Caster, who had sensed Assassin's defeat, was beginning to wonder if all the knowledge about the Holy Grail she had obtained through prayers to Hecate was actually wrong.
By the time Caster had finished healing Kuzuki Souichirou, Assassin had already lost, and Shirou's group had them cornered at their doorstep. Caster was not a Servant with extraordinary combat power; against a Saber who typically possessed the [Magic Resistance] skill, a Caster specializing in magecraft stood almost no chance of winning.
Even letting Kuzuki Souichirou fight wouldn't work. His assassination arts were only effective as a "first-encounter kill." Once the first strike failed to kill the enemy, or once his style was seen through and lost its element of surprise, his techniques became merely average.
Unfortunately, Shirou's side held the numerical advantage as well. No matter how Caster arranged her defenses, it was a dead end.
Thus, Caster immediately thought of cheating. Utilizing the Greater Grail within Ryudou Temple and the magical energy that inevitably returns upon a Servant's death, Caster intended to intercept that energy to summon another Servant and distribute the pressure. Within her territory, such a feat—deemed impossible by others—was child's play.
The problem was...
Forget the magical energy returning from Assassin's death; in Caster's perception, even a portion of the energy inside the Greater Grail seemed to have disappeared, misappropriated by someone.
This completely contradicted the knowledge she had acquired!
In that case...
"So, have you finally made your decision?" Emiya Shirou's voice suddenly rang out.
Caster had clearly not anticipated his sudden appearance.
"...Impossible! How could you get here so quickly? I laid out bounded fields all around the perimeter of Ryudou Temple; even a Saber with the strongest [Magic Resistance] couldn't have done this!"
Her voice trembled as she spoke: "And I... I didn't sense anything at all!?"
This was the most terrifying part for Caster. She had sensed nothing.
"Oh, you mean those traps outside?" Shirou nodded. "Those are indeed excellent bounded fields. Unless someone is a gymnastics expert or as small as a mosquito, it would be hard to invade quickly once you activated them, even with Assassin defeated.
While I am neither of those, I am... a bit special."
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