"Your Majesty, please calm your anger."
"..."
"I am also deeply apprehensive, but this is all for the greater plan. I hope you can understand."
"..."
"My deepest gratitude."
"..."
"I shall obey your will. There will not be a next time."
Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, Tokiomi Tohsaka let out a long breath. At last, he had persuaded his Servant and kept their greatest trump card from being exposed. However, the price had been one Command Seal and the displeasure of the King of Heroes.
A powerful Servant could certainly provide greater assurance of victory, but being too powerful brought the drawback of being impossible to coordinate with. With Archer's A-rank Independent Action skill, the only reason he was still barely following Tokiomi's plans was because his interest in Tokiomi had not yet completely faded.
He acted only as he pleased, while Tokiomi wanted to use his own will to control a king. The crack that had always existed between them only widened further.
However, for Tokiomi, who lacked all understanding of human nature due to following the "path of the orthodox magus," this was something he could not possibly notice.
Now that he had recovered from his tense state, he asked his disciple, "How are things on Assassin's side? Any progress?"
"She was discovered while searching for Caster."
"What?!" Tokiomi was startled again. If word got out that Assassin had not been eliminated, his "perfect" battle plan would be completely ruined. "Why did you not report something this important sooner?"
"My apologies, Master." Kirei Kotomine still spoke in that flat, reciting tone, making it impossible to tell whether he truly felt sorry. "I did not believe the situation was especially urgent for the time being."
Tokiomi said nothing, merely nodding for Kirei to continue.
"Caster did not discover Assassin's identity. Furthermore, he is an insane madman and revealed his own true name: Gilles de Rais, a commander under Joan of Arc. He should have manifested in the form he took after falling into depravity following Joan's death."
"Oh, I see. Then what is Assassin's current situation?" Tokiomi continued asking as he processed the information.
"Caster can summon powerful familiars. Assassin is currently surrounded."
"Where is she now?"
"Near the outskirts, close to Einzbern Castle. She originally seemed to intend to lure Caster there and have Saber confront him. That way, she could find an opportunity to escape while also gathering some information on Saber."
After quickly weighing the matter in his mind①, Tokiomi found no fault with Assassin's plan and instructed, "Let her proceed as planned, Kirei. Use a Command Seal to assist her if necessary."
"As you command, Master."
Tokiomi Tohsaka did not notice the unreadable glint in the eyes of his beloved disciple, concealed as he lowered his head in salute.
------------------------Beloved♂Disciple----------------------------------
"Is that so? So that was what truly happened? Ah~ What sorrow, what agony! After arranging such a miserable fate, would the gods in heaven also strip away that beauty?"
The stage was made of ruined stones and tiles, the audience grotesque monsters, and the lighting a cold silver moon. In such a theater, the man who looked more demonic than his own summons performed an incomprehensible script with exaggerated gestures, hands clasped over his heart, in the tone of a hymn.
"Do not take it too much to heart, my friend Gilles. So long as one's heart remains, outward appearance is unimportant."
Playing along with that strange man was someone wrapped in a black robe, her head tightly concealed beneath a mask and hood. Yet from her clear voice, one could still tell that she was probably a young girl.
"Ah~ How compassionate and kind you are! Even under the weight of such cruel fate, you have not lost that pure radiance. And it is precisely that radiance that makes me so, so..."
The man extended his claw-like hand and walked toward the girl. One step, then another, with the gait of a demon.
"Gilles, blindly trusting another person without thinking for yourself is foolish. If everyone had not believed in me so superstitiously back then, perhaps they would not have lost the war simply because I was gone."
The girl clasped her hands before her chest, turned toward the starry sky, and spoke. At the same time, she discreetly moved several steps farther away from the man.
Ah, ah... How had things turned out like this?
As she continued circling around Caster, Jizi found that thought arising in her heart.
Actually, it was a short story—
Surrounded by tentacles and a creepy old man, she was about to have her mask torn off and her true identity exposed. Then some grotesque scene would likely follow. Was she really supposed to accept such a future willingly?
Of course not!
Countless thoughts flashed through Jizi's mind in an instant. Her logical circuits quickly assembled those scattered thoughts into a practical plan, and she ultimately chose the most feasible option—
The innate skill every transmigrator possessed—Oscar-winning acting!
How could you call yourself a transmigrator if you could not play weak? How could you call yourself a transmigrator if you could not pretend to be a pig and devour a tiger? Although Jizi was not pretending to be a pig to devour a tiger right now, but rather pretending to be a tiger to scare wolves, the principles of the world were mostly the same, so there definitely would not be a problem!
Thus, the "Oh hello, Gilles, long time no see. It's not that I like wearing this mask, it's that my face was burned beyond recognition when I was executed by fire back then. I wear it to protect everyone else's eyes, ahahahahaha" operation began.
At the same time as she used that excuse, which she had made up on the spot in three seconds, to fool Marshal Gilles, Jizi also sent out a distress signal to Kirei Kotomine and reported the current situation and her subsequent plan as quickly as possible.
After all, whether she could deceive him was still uncertain. Receiving the support of a Command Seal was the best way to escape danger.
The subsequent developments went so smoothly that even Jizi could hardly believe them. Marshal Gilles did not seem suspicious at all. After hearing Jizi's fabricated story, he looked deeply moved, shedding tears while cursing the gods.
Jizi was also happy to keep acting with him and stall for time. Seriously, that Mapo guy was taking forever. Was using a single Command Seal really something worth agonizing over for so long?
Back to the scene.
Jizi stepped back, barely avoiding Caster's claws. However, Caster did not give up and continued forward, leaving Jizi no choice but to retreat again.
"My Saint, why do you avoid me? Could it be that you despise this fallen form of mine?"
"Well... Gilles, although I can understand the sorrow in your heart, venting your anger upon innocent children is truly beneath your reputation as a hero! I am sorry, but I fear I cannot treat you as I once did."
As their verbal exchange continued, Jizi was gradually forced into a corner with nowhere left to retreat.
"It is truly regrettable, but it cannot be helped. Still, it does not matter. I will not mind, because my Saint, my Saint, she—"
Two enormous eyeballs suddenly bulged outward. With a savage expression, Caster shouted:
"My Saint, she—was never you in the first place! Liar!"
Behind her, above her, below her, and directly ahead where Caster was closing in, countless tentacles shot up and extended. Their target was Jizi, trapped on all sides.
"Impersonating my Saint is enough of a crime to sentence you to the cruelest execution! Not to mention that, in order to ensure you had nowhere to run, I had to perform that nauseating act with you!"
As for Jizi, who seemed to have been driven into a dead end—
"You can stall for time, so why can't I? Mapo's Command Seal buff has finally arrived. Farewell, **!"
Her previously faint Mana presence surged explosively in an instant. Jizi leaped into the air, rising far higher than before and evading the tentacles attacking from the front, behind, and below. As for those above her, she nimbly dodged them, using the tentacles as footholds to jump even farther away, leaving Caster unable to catch up for the moment.
"Ahhhhh! Die! Woman! I have decided! I shall treat you to the finest possible death, a terror so deeply branded upon your soul that you will never forget it even after returning to the Throne of Heroes!"
"Heh." Having escaped danger, Jizi twisted her body in midair to face Caster directly and raised both middle fingers.
"Come at me head-on!"
"Crash!"
The crisp sound of something shattering put everyone in Einzbern Castle on full alert.
The excitement of entering the outside world for the first time had faded with time, replaced by exhaustion from the long journey and drained energy. Yet even so, after sensing that the castle's magical barrier had been forcibly destroyed from outside, Irisviel adjusted herself as quickly as possible and prepared to deal with the attack.
It was fine—the Holy Grail War had only just begun. This should merely be a probe. And even if something unexpected happened, Saber was here.
Opening the bedroom door, Irisviel saw armed maids running through the corridor. They all lowered their heads in salute and made way for their mistress. These people had once protected her safety, but now Irisviel could not place that responsibility upon them. This enemy was unlike any they had faced before. The only person who could protect her—
She hurried toward the entrance hall at nearly a run. There, she saw the knight who had sworn to protect her already fully armed and waiting in battle formation.
"Airi!"
"How is it, Saber? Have you made any judgment?"
Her knight was not someone skilled at reconnaissance, but with the enemy already at their doorstep, it should not have been difficult to gauge their strength from their Mana and presence.
"Two presences, but neither carries any obvious killing intent toward us. There seems to be another reason. What should we do, Airi?"
"Let us go out and take a look, Saber. At the very least, we should understand the basic situation."
Saber nodded, raising her battle presence as she walked toward the main gate. Irisviel hurried to her side as well, forcibly suppressing her unease and giving Saber a smile.
"You will bring me victory, won't you? My knight!"
"I fight for you, my lady!"
When the door connecting the hall to the outside was finally opened, the first thing Saber and Caster saw was a terrifying-looking man standing atop the tentacles of an enormous jellyfish. At the same time, he turned his gaze toward them.
Then the man froze as if struck by lightning for several seconds, before crying out in a voice of wild delight:
"Ah~ Is this another farce designed by those vile gods? It does not matter! This time, I will never let your conspiracy succeed!"
"I shall save that girl from your hands! I shall hold her in my arms! I shall claim that radiance and purity!"
"It has been a long time..."
"My—Saint—my—Saint—!"
-----------------------Notes and PS--------------------
① Since the Einzbern family possessed the Lesser Grail, Tokiomi knew Assassin's fake death could not be concealed from them. That was why he agreed to let Jizi lure Caster there.
PS1. Fantasy Kaleidoscope and Dream Summer Days have both been released, so I thought I would make an appearance too.
PS2. You only regret not studying enough when the time comes; you only regret not having enough money when the end of the month arrives. The ancients truly did not deceive me.
PS3. Suddenly felt like wishing everyone an early Happy New Year.
PS4. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Spring Festival.
Before you continue