"I see. So that's how it is." She wore a smile Xi Jianxi could not understand, one that seemed both frustrated and delighted. "Despite deciding to intervene in this Holy Grail War, I overlooked such a crucial fact."
There was a magical connection between a Master and Servant that allowed them to communicate with one another. Through dreams during sleep, their memories could also be shown to each other.
So far, Morgan had only slept once. The rest of the time, Xi Jianxi's excessive supply of magical energy meant that she showed no ill effects even without sleeping.
But Xi Jianxi needed rest. That meant he would inevitably see Morgan's past memories through his dreams.
"Sorry. I wasn't trying to peek. I just naturally dreamed about it after falling asleep." Feeling somewhat guilty, Xi Jianxi looked away toward the deserted side of the slope. "I thought that, being you, Morgan, you definitely knew about this. You simply didn't care enough to sever the interference between our deeper consciousnesses."
But Morgan did not mind at all. In fact, she was well aware that she possessed an abnormally vast store of memories. What part Xi Jianxi had seen and what he had learned were the more interesting questions.
"There is no need to mind it. I am more curious about what you saw."
The two started walking again.
Xi Jianxi slowed down and fell back into step beside Morgan.
"It's hard to explain in a single sentence. I can only say I caught glimpses of it." Xi Jianxi shook his head. "The first time was all right. I dreamed of a place where it was always raining... As for the second time..."
"The second time?" Morgan raised an eyebrow slightly.
But his expression was grave. "There was nothing funny about it. It was completely a dream of endless falling. From standing together through hardship, to sharing a common enemy, and finally to turning weapons against one another... There could not have been a worse story."
"Turning weapons against one another..." Morgan murmured the phrase. The pleasure on her usually indifferent face deepened. "So that was what you felt."
Xi Jianxi folded his arms helplessly. He could not understand why Morgan was so pleased. "All right, I know going against old friends feels terrible, but you do not have to deliberately deny it, do you? Or is it that people who once shared the same ideals going their separate ways is simply too unacceptable to you, so you instinctively deny the facts already before you?"
Looking at his expression, Morgan realized Xi Jianxi truly seemed to be worrying about her. He was even beginning to wonder whether that was why she had manifested as a Berserker.
"Well, perhaps that is indeed the case." Morgan found it inconvenient to explain too much, so she instead adopted a seemingly warning tone. "One of the things I hate most is being betrayed by those I trust. You should take care to avoid such a thing as well, Jianxi."
Noticing that Morgan had no intention of pursuing the subject further, Xi Jianxi stopped there as well. "Don't worry. Other Heroic Spirits might be one thing, but when I see you, I feel that betraying someone's trust would be truly awful."
As he spoke, he turned toward her with a smile. "Both on a personal level and in terms of the outcome."
"My husband truly has a silver tongue. If you were sent as an envoy to the nations, you could likely establish unparalleled achievements with nothing but your eloquence." Morgan teased.
Xi Jianxi could only click his tongue and wave a hand, signaling that the matter was over.
Fuyuki Church stood on a mountain in the southeast of the city. From here, one could see most of Fuyuki City.
The cold wind blew straight at them, sending Morgan's silver hair dancing in the breeze.
"My husband, since you have resolved to purify the Grail, we must prevent unforeseen changes from disrupting the entire plan." Morgan gazed toward Einzbern Castle with a calm expression. "Before that, it is necessary to eliminate any possible sources of concern."
"You mean the King of Heroes?" Xi Jianxi asked instinctively.
He had always remained wary of Gilgamesh. On top of that, Kirei, who still lurked in the shadows, was no less unsettling.
Objectively speaking, purifying the Greater Holy Grail was already as troublesome as the Holy Grail War itself.
"Set the King of Heroes aside for now. There is something you must ensure first." Morgan shook her head. "Artoria and her Master. You must first eliminate the possibility that they will interfere with your plan."
"If it comes to a direct fight, I have no problem with that." Xi Jianxi did not shy away from battle.
"There is no need to be impatient. I have another method." Morgan looked at Xi Jianxi with confidence. "Subduing the enemy without fighting—this is something you taught me too."
"When did I teach you that?"
Xi Jianxi was utterly baffled, but that was a minor matter. He dismissed it as Morgan's version of flirting.
Since Morgan had another idea, Xi Jianxi naturally left it to her.
"Oh? I never thought I would see you drowning your sorrows in drink, Kirei."
Later that night, in Kirei's room, he took a bottle of red wine from the cabinet and sat alone in an armchair, drinking from his glass one sip at a time when someone greeted him like that.
He did not need to look up to know who had shifted from spirit form into a physical body and was lounging leisurely on the long sofa as he spoke to him.
Gilgamesh.
Kirei did not respond to the golden Servant's teasing. He merely stared silently at the red wine in his glass.
"Hmph. It seems you are troubled, Kirei." Gilgamesh picked up the bottle, filled an empty glass, then gently swirled the wine in its stemmed cup. "No matter. Tell me about it. I have nothing to do at the moment, so I may as well pass the time by listening to your troubles."
"Nothing to do?" Kirei found that strange. "Xi Jianxi gathered every Master and Servant participating in the Holy Grail War and revealed something that significant. Are you really planning to do nothing?"
Gilgamesh took a sip of red wine. "Purifying the Greater Holy Grail? The more I hear of it, the more unbearably dull the plan sounds. A cup tainted with evil is perfectly suited for drinking wine. Its only flaw is that it may have a slightly bloody taste."
"...If you are dissatisfied, why not oppose it?" Kirei asked.
"Because while the plan is dull, the man himself is interesting." The King of Heroes gave a cold smile. "With only a few words, he unified the interests of those mongrels, achieved the consensus he required, and pushed them all toward his own goal. That man has no awareness of it whatsoever."
As for Xi Jianxi, Kirei had worked with him before and had some private acquaintance with him. That was why Kirei could be certain the man would take care of Karen.
But... Kirei did not truly understand Xi Jianxi. The only judgment he could voice was that Xi Jianxi was exceptionally practical in the way he handled matters and never indulged in unrealistic ambitions.
On that point alone, Kirei felt Xi Jianxi deserved high praise.
Whether as a Magus or as a person, Xi Jianxi was far more normal than Kirei himself.
"What exactly is this awareness?" Kirei asked.
"Never mind. It is irrelevant to the present matter." Gilgamesh seemed to know quite a few things, but he could not be bothered to explain them one by one to Kirei. "Let us return to the earlier question, Kirei. What has made you take an interest in drinking? Is it that man to whom you are so deeply attached?"
Kirei fell silent.
Previously, to accommodate Gilgamesh's words and actions and cooperate with Tokiomi's plans, Kirei had followed their request and ordered Assassin—Hassan of the Hundred Faces—to gather intelligence on the Masters from the other factions.
Yet after all that work, Kirei had obtained nothing of value. Only Gilgamesh, out of personal interest, had casually asked a few more questions about Xi Jianxi.
"I don't know." Kirei took another drink.
Originally, at the arrangement of his father and teacher, Kirei had hidden in the shadows to listen in on the gathering.
Kiritsugu Emiya's decision to abandon covert action and appear there had most likely been forced by Xi Jianxi. Kirei could infer as much.
After all, if every other Master had arrived, it would be difficult not to suspect that they might reach a consensus to eliminate the Saber faction first.
But compared to the fact that the Greater Holy Grail had been corrupted, what truly surprised Kirei was Kiritsugu's reaction.
The Greater Holy Grail being corrupted meant that wishes could no longer be granted normally, nor could it fulfill its function of reaching the Root.
With the facts laid bare, everyone present had more or less been forced to accept them. Only Kiritsugu Emiya's reaction had been far too intense.
Though he verbally denounced Xi Jianxi and Berserker's claims as an insult to Einzbern, and thus rejected all of their motives, Kirei could still see that Kiritsugu Emiya's reaction was one of extreme agitation.
That man must have had something he could entrust only to the Holy Grail. That was why he could not accept this reality no matter what.
Merely noticing that was enough for Kirei, who still did not know what kind of man Kiritsugu Emiya truly was, to faintly sense an incomprehensible excitement.
Thanks to that, even the wine he had always found dry and uninteresting, kept only as part of his collection, suddenly became rich and mellow.
That was why Kirei had no choice but to drink something to ease those feelings.
"...Whenever I think of Kiritsugu Emiya losing his composure at the meeting, the taste of wine becomes endlessly varied." Kirei frowned deeply. Though he understood the immorality of his state of mind, he could not suppress the feeling.
Or perhaps he merely wanted to conceal the disappointment in his heart toward all of this.
"Seeking a dream beyond one's capabilities, only to discover that the means to truly achieve it has also turned to foam..." Gilgamesh smiled mockingly as he gave his assessment. "Listening to the sound of dreams shattering is rather pleasant even to me. Kirei, it is only natural that you would react this way. From that perspective, Saber and her Master truly are the same kind of fools."
"But what... meaning does this have..." Kirei remained deeply troubled.
He wanted to deny this conduct of his, this act of treating another's suffering as pleasure. It went against the moral values he had built up until now.
"Meaning?" Gilgamesh drained his glass. He seemed about to explain it to Kirei, but abruptly changed his mind. "If you want to know its meaning, then confirm it with your own eyes. If even that does not work, why not simply ask that corrupted Grail?"
Kirei's eyes widened as he looked at the King of Heroes in confusion.
"If you do not wish to remain troubled like this for the rest of your life, then pick up the pace." Gilgamesh reminded Kirei with great delight. "Otherwise, it will be too late for both that man who obsesses you and the corrupted Greater Holy Grail."
With matters put that plainly, the priest had already realized what the golden king was hinting at.
"You mean... Xi Jianxi may very well make a move against the Saber faction tonight?" Kirei did not doubt Xi Jianxi's efficiency in handling matters.
Kirei knew to some extent that Xi Jianxi had only entered the Holy Grail War out of necessity from the start. He would surely seek to end everything as quickly as possible and avoid further complications.
"Perhaps." Gilgamesh neither confirmed nor denied it. "At least in my eyes, neither Saber nor her Master, even combined, is a match for that man. Especially when he has that sort of fairy by his side."
Kirei put down his wineglass.
He did not know what exactly he was going to do, or what he could do.
But if he could at least watch Xi Jianxi kill Kiritsugu Emiya and see the unwilling expression on Kiritsugu Emiya's face before death, perhaps it would be worth hurrying there under cover of night.
Toward the Einzbern Forest.
Einzbern Castle.
Irisviel and Kiritsugu Emiya's circumstances had now completely reversed from what they had been a day earlier.
As the Lesser Holy Grail, her body had already absorbed the souls of Lancer and Caster. Its functions were gradually beginning to decline in every respect.
She could still move around freely, but she no longer had any strength in her body. Even with all her effort, she could not firmly hold something as simple as a key.
"Iri, the new base has been chosen. Tomorrow, Saber will take you there." Kiritsugu sat beside the bed and spoke to his wife, who was resting there. "Maiya will be waiting for you there tomorrow."
"More importantly, how did the meeting go?" Irisviel opened her eyes and asked after seeing her husband return to the castle.
Kiritsugu's expression immediately darkened. "Do not concern yourself with it. It was all nonsense, nothing more than lies meant to make us lower our guard and voluntarily give up the Grail, handing victory to them."
"Lies?" Irisviel found that strange.
She had only spoken with Xi Jianxi a few times. Her impression of him was simply that he was kind and approachable, an ally who could be trusted.
But if someone said Xi Jianxi was full of lies, Irisviel would not believe it. Even if it came from Kiritsugu, she could not help but have several doubts.
For Kiritsugu to characterize it so harshly, Xi Jianxi must have proposed something her husband could not accept.
Such as handing over the Lesser Holy Grail.
"It is all right. I have already established our strategy for what comes next." Kiritsugu gently comforted his wife, but did not further explain what had happened at Fuyuki Church.
Knowing that her husband did not wish to continue the topic, Irisviel did not press him.
After speaking with Kiritsugu a little longer, he left the room first to make further preparations elsewhere.
The one who came to look after Irisviel in his place was Saber.
"Do not speak too much, Irisviel," Artoria advised.
She knew Irisviel was not an ordinary human, but a homunculus, a being created through alchemy.
Her current condition was merely Irisviel, as a homunculus, sealing off one of her five senses to suppress her nature as the Lesser Holy Grail and ensure she could still move to a certain extent.
But this was only a temporary measure. If she continued absorbing the souls of other Servants, Irisviel would sooner or later completely lose the ability to act and transform into the Lesser Holy Grail.
That process was unavoidable, but—
"Say, could you secretly tell me what happened at the church during the day while Kiritsugu is not here?"
While Saber was lost in thought, Irisviel's question pulled the sword-wielding Servant back.
"Just as Xi Jianxi said when yesterday's mission to subjugate Caster ended, he gathered all the Masters who had not yet been eliminated and, together with Queen Sister, explained the Grail's current condition." After much hesitation, Artoria finally said it.
As a Servant, she should not have disclosed what Kiritsugu had left unsaid.
But Saber, who had sworn in the name of a knight to protect Irisviel, understood that her own wish had already become impossible in this Holy Grail War. Therefore, while there was still time, she wanted to reveal the truth and let Irisviel make a choice.
"The current condition... So Saber's sister, Morgan, has already grasped the full truth about the Grail?" Irisviel was not particularly surprised.
"Yes." Saber nodded.
"Then... what exactly happened to the Grail?" Irisviel asked.
"According to Queen Sister, corroborated by the Holy Church's overseer, the Greater Holy Grail was corrupted during the Third Holy Grail War." Saber's expression was exceedingly grave. "The source of that corruption points to Irisviel's family. In the previous war, they summoned the irregular class Avenger, Angra Mainyu, the embodiment of All the World's Evil."
Irisviel gave a weary smile. "If that is the case, then it is probably true."
"You knew, Irisviel?" Saber was somewhat surprised.
"I only investigated the records of Einzbern's past participation in the Holy Grail Wars while preparing for this one," Irisviel said. "Perhaps because summoning an irregular class in the previous war still did not bring victory, Great-Grandfather made such thorough preparations specifically so Kiritsugu could summon you, Saber."
She smiled apologetically at Saber. "Actually, I only knew Avenger's true name. In addition, the previous Holy Grail War ended without a result because the Lesser Holy Grail was destroyed at the end. The Tohsaka Family likely knows nothing either."
It was precisely because they discovered that the Lesser Holy Grail could easily be destroyed before a victor was determined that Einzbern gave it a humanoid form, intelligence, and the ability to act, allowing it to be better protected.
"So I am sorry, Saber. Einzbern summoned you, yet Einzbern is also the reason your wish cannot be fulfilled." Irisviel spoke sadly. "Kiritsugu insists that Mr. Xi is lying, likely because he cannot accept this fact either."
She understood her husband very well. If the Greater Holy Grail had truly been corrupted by an evil wish, Kiritsugu's wish would surely be granted in the cruelest possible form.
Before you continue