Or, you guys find another savior

"I see, so that's how it is," she said, offering a smile Xi Jianxi couldn't quite decipher, a mix of frustration and happiness. "To think that after deciding to intervene in this Holy Grail War, I overlooked such a crucial fact."

A magical channel existed between a Master and their Servant, allowing them to communicate and share memories through dreams during sleep.

Up to this point, Morgan had only slept once. The rest of the time, the magic supplied by Xi Jianxi was so abundant that she experienced no ill effects even without sleep.

Conversely, Xi Jianxi needed to rest, which inevitably meant he would see Morgan's past memories through his dreams.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry. It's just that when I fell asleep, I naturally started dreaming," Xi Jianxi said apologetically, averting his gaze to the empty slope. "I thought you, Morgan, would surely know about this. You just didn't cut off the interference between your deep consciousnesses; you simply didn't care."

However, Morgan didn't mind at all. She was well aware that her memories were unnaturally long, and what was more interesting was which part Xi Jianxi had seen and what he had learned.

"No need to worry. I'm more curious, what did you see?"

The two resumed walking.

Xi Jianxi slowed his pace, falling into step with Morgan again.

"It's hard to explain in a single sentence. I can only say I caught glimpses," Xi Jianxi shook his head. "The first time was fine; I dreamt of a place where it was always raining... As for the second time..."

"The second time?" Morgan raised an eyebrow slightly.

His expression, however, was grave. "I couldn't laugh at all. It was a dream of constant falling. From sharing the same boat to sharing the same hatred, and finally to fighting amongst ourselves... There's no worse story than that."

"Fighting amongst ourselves..." Morgan murmured the phrase, her usual calm expression now filled with a palpable sense of amusement. "So that's the feeling you saw."

Xi Jianxi crossed his arms in exasperation, unable to understand Morgan's delight. "Alright, I know that feeling of being enemies with old acquaintances isn't great, but you don't have to deliberately deny it, do you? Or is it that the divergence of like-minded people is unacceptable to you, leading you to habitually deny existing facts?"

Looking at his expression, Morgan knew Xi Jianxi was genuinely starting to worry about her and whether this was the reason she had descended in the Berserker class.

"Hmm, perhaps it is," Morgan said, finding it inconvenient to explain further. She shifted to a seemingly warning tone. "One of the things I hate most is being betrayed by someone I trust. You should also be careful to avoid such a thing, Tianxi."

Sensing that Morgan had no intention of delving deeper into the topic, Xi Jianxi let it drop. "Don't worry. If it were any other Heroic Spirit, perhaps. But seeing you, I feel that betraying trust would be terrible."

He said this with a smile, turning his face towards her. "Both from the perspective of personal feelings and from the perspective of the outcome."

"My husband is truly silver-tongued. Perhaps if he were an envoy to various nations, he could achieve unparalleled merit with his eloquent speech," Morgan teased.

Xi Jianxi merely snorted and waved his hand, signaling an end to the discussion.

Fuyuki Church was located on a mountain to the southeast of the city, offering a view of most of Fuyuki City.

A cold wind blew against them, and Morgan's silver hair danced in the breeze.

"My husband, since you've decided to purify the Holy Grail, to prevent any unexpected changes to the entire plan," Morgan said, her gaze drifting towards Einzbern Castle with a placid expression, "before that, it's necessary to eliminate any potential sources of unease."

"Are you referring to that King of Heroes?" Xi Jianxi asked instinctively.

He remained wary of Gilgamesh, and the presence of Kirei, still lurking in the shadows, was also a constant source of unease.

Frankly, purifying the Greater Holy Grail was as troublesome as the Holy Grail War itself.

"Let the King of Heroes wait for now. There is something you must secure," Morgan shook her head. "Artoria and her Master must be eliminated as possibilities that could hinder your plan."

"If it's a direct confrontation, I'm certainly fine with it," Xi Jianxi didn't shy away from combat.

"No need to rush. I have another method," Morgan said confidently, looking at Xi Jianxi. "Subduing the enemy without fighting. You taught me that too."

"When did I ever teach you that?"

Xi Jianxi was utterly bewildered, but that was secondary. He dismissed it as Morgan's way of flirting and put it out of his mind.

Since Morgan had other ideas, Xi Jianxi naturally let her handle it.

Chapter 60: Booze

"Oh? I didn't expect to see you drowning your sorrows, Kirei."

A little later, in Kirei's own room, he took out a bottle of red wine from the cabinet and sat alone on a single-seater sofa, sipping the wine. He heard someone greet him as he did so.

Without looking up, he knew who it was. It was Gilgamesh, who had shifted from his spiritual form to a physical one and was now leisurely leaning against the long sofa, addressing him.

Facing the golden Servant's teasing, Kirei didn't respond. He simply stared at the red wine in his glass, remaining silent.

"Hmph, it seems you're troubled, Kirei," Gilgamesh picked up the wine bottle, poured it into an empty glass, and swirled the wine in the goblet. "It's alright, tell me about it. I'm doing nothing at the moment, so listening to your troubles will be a way to pass the time."

"Doing nothing?" Kirei found it a bit strange. "Xi Jianxi summoned all the Masters and Servants participating in the Holy Grail War and announced such a major event. Aren't you going to do anything?"

Gilgamesh took a sip of the red wine. "Purifying the Greater Holy Grail? The more I hear about it, the more utterly boring the plan sounds. A cup stained with malice is perfectly suitable for drinking. The only drawback is that it might have a slight taste of blood."

"...If you're not satisfied, why didn't you object?" Kirei asked.

"Because while the plan is boring, the person is interesting," the King of Heroes commented with a cold laugh. "With just a few words, he managed to consolidate the interests of the rabble, achieve the consensus he needed, and push everyone towards his own goals. That fellow has no self-awareness at all."

Regarding Xi Jianxi, although Kirei had some personal interactions with him due to their past collaboration, Kirei was confident that person could take care of Karen.

But... Kirei also didn't truly understand Xi Jianxi. The judgments he could voice were merely that the man was very practical in his dealings and never aimed too high.

On this point alone, Kirei felt it was enough to give Xi Jianxi high praise.

Whether as a Magus or as a person, he was far too normal compared to Kirei.

"What exactly is this 'self-awareness'?" Kirei asked.

"Don't worry about it. It's a topic unrelated to the present," Gilgamesh seemed to know a lot but was too lazy to explain it all to Kirei. "Let's get back to the previous question, Kirei. What is it that has piqued your interest in drinking? Is it that person you're so fixated on?"

Kirei fell silent.

To deal with Gilgamesh's words and actions previously, and to cooperate with Tokiomi's plans, Kirei had, as requested, ordered Assassin—Hassan of the Hundred Faces—to gather intelligence on the other participating Masters.

However, after all that effort, Kirei had obtained nothing of value. Gilgamesh had merely, out of curiosity, asked a few more things about Xi Jianxi.

"I don't know," Kirei said, taking another drink.

Originally, Kirei had only attended the meeting in secret as arranged by his father and master.

Kirei could also guess that Kiritsugu Emiya's appearance here, abandoning his covert operations, was likely forced by Xi Jianxi.

After all, with all the other Masters present, it was hard not to suspect that a consensus might be reached to eliminate the Saber faction first.

But compared to the fact that the Greater Holy Grail was corrupted, Kirei was more surprised by Kiritsugu's reaction.

The corruption of the Greater Holy Grail meant that wishes could not be fulfilled normally, nor could it serve its function of reaching the Root.

Since the facts were laid out, everyone present had to accept this reality to some extent. Only Kiritsugu Emiya's reaction was too extreme.

Even though he verbally refuted Xi Jianxi and Berserker's claims as an insult to the Einzberns and thus denied their entire motive, Kirei could still see that Kiritsugu Emiya's reaction was one of extreme agitation.

That man must have something that could only be placed on the Holy Grail, which was why he absolutely could not accept this fact.

Merely sensing this, and not yet understanding who Kiritsugu Emiya truly was, Kirei already felt a sense of incomprehensible excitement.

Thanks to this, even the wine, which he usually found dry and uninteresting and merely collected, suddenly tasted mellow.

Therefore, Kirei had to drink something to relieve this emotion.

"...Just thinking about Kiritsugu Emiya's lapse in composure at the meeting makes the taste of the wine change infinitely," Kirei frowned deeply. Although he understood the immorality of his own mindset, he couldn't suppress this feeling.

Or perhaps, it was simply to mask his own disappointment with all of this.

"To dream beyond one's capabilities, only to find that the means to achieve it have also turned to dust..." Gilgamesh chuckled mockingly, offering his assessment. "Listening to the sound of dreams shattering, even I find it quite pleasant. Kirei, it's only natural that you would react this way. From this perspective, Saber and her Master are truly cut from the same cloth, aren't they?"

"But what... what's the point..." Kirei remained deeply troubled.

He wanted to deny his act of finding pleasure in the suffering of others, as it went against the moral code he had built so far.

"The point?" Gilgamesh finished his drink. He seemed about to explain to Kirei, but suddenly changed his mind. "If you want to know the point, then confirm it with your own eyes. If even that doesn't work, why not ask the corrupted Holy Grail directly?"

Kirei's eyes widened as he looked at the King of Heroes in confusion.

"If you don't want to be troubled like this for the rest of your life, then pick up the pace," Gilgamesh reminded Kirei with great amusement. "Otherwise, it will be too late for both the man you are obsessed with and the corrupted Greater Holy Grail."

At this point, the clergyman realized what the Golden King was hinting at.

"Are you saying... it's very likely that Xi Jianxi will make a move against the Saber faction tonight?" Kirei had no doubt about Xi Jianxi's efficiency.

Kirei knew to some extent that that person had been forced to participate in the Holy Grail War from the very beginning, so he would naturally seek to end everything as soon as possible and avoid any complications.

"Perhaps," Gilgamesh said noncommittally. "At least in my eyes, Saber and her Master combined are no match for that man, let alone with that fairy by his side."

Kirei put down his wine glass.

He didn't know what he was going to do, or what he could do.

But if he could only witness Xi Jianxi killing Kiritsugu Emiya and see the unwilling expression on Kiritsugu Emiya's face before his death, perhaps it would be worth rushing out into the night.

Heading towards the Einzbern Forest.

Chapter 61: Wish

Einzbern Castle.

The current situation for Irisviel and Kiritsugu Emiya had completely reversed from a day ago.

As the Lesser Holy Grail, her body had previously absorbed the souls of Lancer and Caster, and her functions were beginning to decline.

She could still move freely, but her body lacked strength. Even with all her might, she couldn't even hold something like a key firmly.

"Airi, the new base has been chosen. Saber will take you there tomorrow," Kiritsugu said, sitting by the bed and speaking to his wife who was resting on it. "Maiya will be waiting for you there tomorrow."

"More importantly, how was the meeting?" Irisviel opened her eyes and asked her husband after he returned to the castle.

Kiritsugu's expression immediately turned gloomy. "Don't worry about it. It was all nonsense, just lies meant to make us let down our guard, willingly give up the Holy Grail, and hand over victory."

"Lies?" Irisviel found it strange.

She had only spoken to Xi Jianxi a few times, and her impression of him was only that he was kind and approachable, a trustworthy ally.

But if Xi Jianxi was full of lies, Irisviel wouldn't believe it. Even if it came from Kiritsugu's mouth, she would still have several questions in her mind.

It must have been some proposal from Xi Jianxi that Kiritsugu couldn't accept that made him characterize it so crudely, right?

Perhaps something like handing over the Lesser Holy Grail?

"It's alright, I've already formulated the next course of action," Kiritsugu comforted his wife gently, but he didn't provide any further explanation about the meeting at the Fuyuki Church.

Knowing that her husband didn't want to continue talking, Irisviel didn't press further.

After a few more words with Kiritsugu, he left the room to make preparations in other rooms.

Saber took his place to look after Irisviel.

"Don't talk too much, Irisviel," Artoria advised.

She knew that Irisviel was not an ordinary human, but an artificial human created through alchemy.

Her current condition was simply that Irisviel, as an artificial human, was suppressing her existence as the Lesser Holy Grail by sealing off some of her five senses, to ensure she could still act to a certain extent.

However, this was merely a temporary measure. If other Servant souls were to continue to be collected, Irisviel would eventually lose all ability to act and transform into the Lesser Holy Grail.

This process was unavoidable, but—

"Say, can you secretly tell me what happened at the Church during the day while Kiritsugu isn't here?"

As Saber was lost in thought, Irisviel asked the question, pulling the Saber-class Servant's attention back.

"Just as I said yesterday after we finished dealing with Caster, Xi Jianxi gathered all the Masters who hadn't withdrawn yet and, along with Queen Sister, explained the current state of the Holy Grail," Artoria said after much hesitation.

As Kiritsugu hadn't mentioned it, she, as his Servant, shouldn't have revealed it.

But Saber, who had sworn an oath as a knight to protect Irisviel, understood that her own wish had become hopeless in this Holy Grail War. Therefore, she wanted to tell her the truth while there was still time, so that Irisviel could make her choice.

"The current state... So Saber's sister, Morgan, has grasped the full picture of the Holy Grail?" Irisviel wasn't too surprised.

"Yes," Saber nodded.

"Then... what exactly happened to the Holy Grail?" Irisviel asked.

"According to Queen Sister's account, and corroborated by the supervisor from the Holy Church, the Greater Holy Grail was already polluted during the Third Holy Grail War," Saber said with a very heavy expression. "And the source of the pollution points to Irisviel's family, who summoned the anomalous Avenger class during the last war – Angra Mainyu, the embodiment of all the evil in this world."

Irisviel smiled wearily. "If that's the case, then it should be correct."

"You knew about this, Irisviel?" Saber asked, somewhat surprised.

"I just investigated the Einzbern family's records from their past participation in the Holy Grail War when I was preparing for this one," Irisviel said. "Perhaps it's because they didn't win even after summoning an anomalous class last time, that Grandfather made such thorough preparations so that Kiritsugu could summon you, Saber."

She smiled apologetically at Saber. "Actually, I only knew Avenger's true name. Plus, the last Holy Grail War ended without a victor because the Lesser Holy Grail was destroyed. I doubt the Tohsaka family was aware of this either."

It was precisely because they discovered that the Lesser Holy Grail could easily be destroyed before the victor was decided that the Einzberns decided to humanize the Lesser Holy Grail, giving it intellect and the ability to act, thereby providing better protection.

"So I'm sorry, Saber. Even though the Einzberns summoned you, it's also the Einzberns who made your wish impossible to fulfill," Irisviel said sadly. "Kiritsugu's insistence that Mr. Shiomi is lying is probably because he can't accept this fact."

She knew her husband very well. If the Greater Holy Grail was indeed polluted by evil wishes, then Kiritsugu's wish would undoubtedly be realized in the most cruel way possible.