Realizing that the situation was beyond his control and that the others would not simply stand by, Kayneth gritted his teeth and gave the order to retreat.
Lancer could only shake his head with a bitter smile. "Looks like we won't be fighting after all. I hope we can have a proper match next time, sir."
With that, Lancer vanished from the bayfront warehouse.
"What a dull man. Good thing he isn't my Master, or this would be no fun." Iskandar made no attempt to hide his disapproval of Kayneth.
"So that alliance declaration from earlier is void, then." Xi Jianxi shrugged.
"I had hoped to see your strategy at work, but I have no interest in this kind of battle." Iskandar snapped his reins. "Still, if you can break through this predicament by your own strength even after being targeted, and make it to stand before me in the end, I'll be all the more pleased."
"I won't accept your recruitment." Xi Jianxi pursed his lips.
Iskandar was not discouraged in the slightest, merely laughing twice.
Then he tugged on the reins of his two divine bulls. Amid their cries, peals of thunder rang out, and they rode lightning straight into the sky.
"Farewell!"
Amid thunder and flashing lightning, Rider and his Master vanished into the southern sky.
Only Artoria remained.
She watched Morgan.
"Will you fight, Artoria?" Morgan folded her arms and looked at Artoria calmly.
"No..."
Artoria shook her head. Separated from her Master, she was merely in a temporary state of independent action without orders.
"Even when facing an 'enemy,' you don't rush to attack. Isn't that a little too merciful, King Arthur?" Xi Jianxi joked half-seriously to Saber.
"This is not mercy." Artoria shook her head.
"If you have nowhere to go because you've been separated from your Master, why not come with us for now?" Xi Jianxi said.
Morgan looked doubtful. "Have Artoria come with us?"
"As you can see, I'm being targeted by the noble faction's Lord right now. But I'm not all that fond of following rules, so naturally I want to bring in a few allies..." Xi Jianxi returned the Demon Spear in his hand to Morgan. "El-Melloi may be thinking the same thing. As the foremost of the Three Knights, she would be a valuable ally to have."
"..." Artoria considered whether she should do so.
As a Servant, rashly acting together with another Master and Servant was no different from publicly declaring an alliance.
"Besides, your Master will inevitably come looking for you. Rather than actively searching, it would be better to wait for the rabbit at the tree stump." Xi Jianxi offered his view. "Perhaps... we can also talk to the Master who comes looking for you about cooperation."
"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures." Artoria made her decision. "What do you think, Queen Sister?"
"Interesting. Then let's give it a try for now." Morgan did not mind.
She could tell that Xi Jianxi intended to make use of Artoria, and that suited her just fine.
Xi Jianxi looked up. "Please come closer, King Arthur."
Artoria did not understand, but she walked over to the two of them.
The moment she stopped, a gust of wind suddenly rose. A flock of black crows appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the three of them.
"This is..."
Artoria was startled.
But before she could remain surprised for long, the crows had already dispersed, and the surroundings became clear once more.
Yet the three of them now stood in the courtyard before the gates of a Western-style mansion.
"This is my home. Allow me, as the host, to welcome the first guest to visit this place during this Holy Grail War." Xi Jianxi smiled casually.
At that moment, Morgan naturally crossed the path like the mistress of the house, walked to the front door, and took out a key to unlock it.
"All visitors are guests. So long as you do not start a fight here, I'll permit you to enter as a guest for now." Morgan played with the key as she spoke to Artoria.
After saying that, she turned her gaze to Xi Jianxi, seemingly asking whether her conduct was appropriate.
Yet Artoria could not help but laugh.
"What's so funny, Artoria?"
"Nothing. It's just that so much has happened tonight that I couldn't help but..."
Saber turned around and looked toward the courtyard gate.
"You two should go inside first. I want to confirm the situation around us."
In truth, Artoria was simply a little emotional.
Her sister had actually shown such an ordinary, human expression.
Einzbern Castle
A national highway in Fuyuki City ran away from the city's lights, extending westward from Miyama Town. Ahead of the road lay a vast, undeveloped forest deep in the mountains.
Within that untamed forest stood an ancient castle in the style of medieval Western Europe.
It was the Einzbern family's property in Fuyuki City, as well as the exclusive stronghold built by one of the Three Founding Families who had created the Fuyuki Holy Grail War system.
Anyone attempting to enter the forest would be watched by the castle's masters. Through layers of illusions and magical barriers, neither Servants nor Masters could hide.
However, even though she controlled every corner of the forest and had used crystal ball magecraft capable of observing distant places, Irisviel had seen no sign of Saber entering the forest.
That made her sigh unconsciously several times.
"Are you tired, Iri?" Kiritsugu asked his wife.
Irisviel immediately put away her troubled expression and shook her head with a smile.
"You were so close to Saber and Berserker's battle. It was fortunate enough that you weren't caught up in it. You should rest properly." Kiritsugu was very concerned about her condition.
Although Maiya had promptly taken Irisviel away from the shore and brought her all the way back to Einzbern Castle, she might still have suffered some harm from being so close to the fighting.
"I'm fine... but Saber..." She voiced her worries to her husband.
Kiritsugu glanced at the Command Spells on the back of his hand. "Judging from the current situation, the King of Knights is not in trouble. I saw with my own eyes that she left with Berserker and Berserker's Master of her own accord."
Kiritsugu had remained hidden at the bayfront warehouse until the very end, but that decision had also led Saber to act on her own.
"Still, that method of retreat was more accurately something Caster would use than Berserker." Kiritsugu gave his assessment.
If not for the authority granted to him as a Master, allowing him to confirm a Servant's class, he might truly have been confused.
"About that, I didn't get the chance to tell you—" Irisviel added.
After returning to the castle and awakening under Maiya's care, she had learned what happened from the returning Kiritsugu before immediately using the crystal ball to search the forest.
After all, being separated from their own Servant had placed them in an extremely dangerous situation.
Any Master who wanted to lead a Servant in an assault on this place could march straight in without hindrance.
"Kiritsugu and Miss Maiya were too far away to see clearly. In fact, Berserker is directly connected to Saber, and Saber knows Berserker's true name." Irisviel said, "Her name is Morgan. She is Saber's sister."
The furrow in Kiritsugu's brow eased again. "This is truly troublesome. She is a Berserker with at least Rank B Madness Enhancement, yet she appears no different from an ordinary Servant. At the same time, she is a top-tier Divine Era Magus." Kiritsugu stared at the map of Fuyuki City. The more he analyzed it, the more sharply the difficulty of the Holy Grail War seemed to rise.
And that was not all. Berserker's Master, Xi Jianxi.
He knew that the man came from the Mage's Association, had received the rank of Pride at a young age, and had even participated in missions related to Sealing Designations.
Yet Kiritsugu had still believed he could assassinate such a Magus using his unique methods of combat.
All those preplanned tactics had been utterly shattered by tonight's battle.
A human Magus who could rival a Servant, hold his own against Lancer, and challenge the unfathomable Archer.
Especially when Lancer had ambushed him—Xi Jianxi had actually counterattacked in an instant, creating a situation where both sides were injured and forcing Lancer's Master to retreat.
"The urgent priority is finding Saber. If necessary, we can even use a Command Spell to force her back." Kiritsugu Emiya said. "If our Servant remains separated from Iri beyond tonight, we must leave this place and find a new hidden base."
Irisviel asked at that moment, "Then... Kiritsugu, do you know where Saber is?"
"Probably over there." Through the bedroom window, Kiritsugu pointed toward Miyama Town. "When Berserker transferred with her Master and Saber, I could sense that they moved from the bayfront warehouses behind the New City to a residential area in Miyama Town."
"That place should be Berserker's Master's base, then." Irisviel had her answer.
But another problem followed. How were they supposed to contact the other side, or should they simply pay a visit in person?
A Magus's residence was also the location of their workshop, and the exterior would inevitably be protected by extremely elaborate barriers.
What if Saber had actually been taken hostage...
"Berserker's Master must have reached some kind of agreement with Saber for her to agree to go with them first." Kiritsugu explained to Irisviel apologetically.
He knew full well that he bore responsibility for this.
Because he had refused to communicate with Saber and had his wife act as Master in his place, the result was that once Iri and Saber became separated, as they were now, they lacked the necessary means of contact.
"Don't worry about it, Kiritsugu. I expected something like this to happen long ago." Irisviel gently comforted her husband.
Then a disturbance in the barrier made Irisviel's heart tighten.
"So soon? Is a Servant already coming to attack us?" Kiritsugu guessed from his wife's expression, then picked up his weapon to prepare for battle.
Maiya at the door was also ready to move at any moment.
"No, it's a messenger familiar." Irisviel walked over and opened the window.
A blue bird landed on the windowsill.
Irisviel reached out toward it. The familiar released magical energy, and the message was transmitted through that energy for her to receive.
Once the message had been read, the blue bird scattered like mist from a phantom, making Irisviel unable to help admiring its master's ingenuity.
She closed the window.
"Kiritsugu, Berserker's Master sent word. He hopes Saber's Master will meet him tomorrow, and Saber will return later to reunite with us." Irisviel turned back to relay the message. "He said there is an important matter to discuss, but did not say what it was."
"That certainly sounds suspicious." Kiritsugu could not help but sneer.
"Then, should we refuse?" Irisviel asked.
"No, of course we should go. He even offered to let Saber return first, clearly intending to ease our concerns as much as possible." Kiritsugu put down his gun. "Besides, we need to reunite with our own Servant as soon as possible."
At that moment, Maiya, who had remained on standby at the door without speaking, said, "Then tomorrow, I will drive Madam to Berserker's Master's residence to reunite with Saber. Kiritsugu will, as usual, monitor the surrounding situation from the shadows."
"Yes, let's do that. What do you think, Iri?" Kiritsugu asked his wife for her opinion.
Irisviel revealed a confident smile. "Of course we should go. I also want to see what kind of person Morgan's Master is."
A Night of Underlying Currents
The Xi residence's living room.
"I delivered the letter to Artoria's Master as you requested." Morgan sat beside the sofa, looking at Xi Jianxi.
"Thank you. I could have done it myself..." Xi Jianxi shook his head.
Morgan wore a subtle smile. "I was merely fulfilling some of my duties as a wife."
"Uh... are you really going to commit to that role?" Xi Jianxi asked weakly.
Any man would be shaken by being called husband by a beauty capable of toppling nations, but the problem was... this was Morgan le Fay.
Even if it was only a nominal title, could he really handle it?
"May I ask what you intend to discuss by inviting my Master to your residence?" Artoria asked with feigned seriousness only after listening to the two banter.
She also knew the contents of the familiar's message.
"As you saw, Lancer's Master has declared war on me and has even pronounced a death sentence." Xi Jianxi took a deep breath and spoke slowly. "Therefore, my immediate priority is to defeat Lancer and his Master as soon as possible. So long as Lancer is eliminated—"
"That is simply the nature of war. That is precisely why my husband seeks an alliance." Morgan took over. "If you do not intend to accept, Artoria, I do not mind. It merely becomes a matter of whether we deal with you first or the Lancer faction first."
"Big sister..." Artoria felt deeply helpless.
But that was simply Morgan's style of doing things, and Artoria understood it to some extent.
Even if her Master had his own strategic ideas, if Morgan disagreed, she would oppose them.
"You have heard it already. My husband needs Lancer eliminated. Once the Servant is gone, his Master will be easy to kill." Morgan calmly took control of the conversation and said to Artoria, "If we are to fight them, we must prevent other Servants and Masters from interfering and obstructing us."
"So we need cooperation." Artoria understood.
If necessary, she and Irisviel might even need to help hold off the other groups who could interfere with Xi Jianxi and Morgan's campaign against Lancer.
Xi Jianxi had revealed too much tonight. Kayneth would not be the only Master to regard him as the greatest threat.
Before you continue