She was still dressed as a striking woman in black menswear.
"Irisviel?"
Realizing something had changed, she let out a low cry.
At that moment, a violent explosion sounded outside.
A Sudden Change
A few minutes earlier.
Looking at the Einzbern Castle hall, which was as wrecked as it had been two days ago, Xi Jianxi could not help scratching his head.
There was nothing to be done about it. Repairing it completely in such a short time would require a considerable amount of magical energy—or money.
Besides, during the Holy Grail War, who had the leisure for that?
Xi and Morgan climbed the ruined stairs lined with a red carpet.
"Though the magecraft has been undone, there is no way to know how far those people got during that time," Morgan said.
She had not gone to inspect the results of the magecraft, because she had no interest in doing so.
"In other words, there's a good chance they've all been incapacitated." Xi carefully sensed the presences within the castle. "What would happen if someone escaped before Lost Will was undone?"
Morgan seemed stumped. "That's hard to say."
She had indeed seen people who endured until the end in Lost Will without losing themselves.
But after facing scenes so real they were right before their eyes, not blaming or hurting themselves, and even taking actions that completely defied common sense before escaping—what would they see?
"...Perhaps they would see what the other victims of the spell saw." There was a trace of helplessness in her smile.
With no precedent to draw upon, Morgan could not make any definite claim.
"Why not confirm it yourself?" Xi asked.
"Is now really the time for that?" Morgan frowned.
"Yeah—"
Xi was just about to agree when the presence around the corner made him freeze. He abruptly cut himself off and rushed out.
Kirei.
And slung over his shoulder was a silver-haired woman.
Irisviel von Einzbern.
"What are you planning, Kirei?" Xi pointed his sword at Kirei. "Are you planning to continue the Holy Grail War?"
Kirei revealed a strange smile. "I would least like to hear that from you, Xi, after you launched an attack in the middle of the night."
"Tch..."
"Still, I must thank you and your Servant. I do not know what kind of magecraft that was, but I benefited greatly from it." Kirei wore a smile that made one sick. "And because of that, I now know what I should do."
Xi clicked his tongue. "And what you should do is kidnap someone else's wife?"
"Do you still not know? This woman is the Lesser Holy Grail Einzbern provided for this Holy Grail War." Kirei's attitude became increasingly shameless. "I merely secured the smaller one first, then planned to secure the larger one."
"You've changed, Kirei." Xi spoke softly, his voice filled with disgust.
If what he said was true, then Lost Will was likely what had caused the atmosphere around Kirei to change so drastically.
The priest who had once adhered to morality had quietly become a bastard who took pleasure in evil.
"You haven't changed at all. You still cannot let go of people unrelated to you." Kirei remained unmoved. "Entrusting that child to you still appears to have been the correct decision."
Xi narrowed his eyes. "I'm not in the mood to talk about Karen right now. Put down Irisviel, or else—"
"Unfortunately, I cannot agree to your request as I did before." Kirei glanced at the corridor Xi was blocking.
At the far end behind him was a castle window.
This was roughly four stories up. No problem at all.
Realizing Kirei's intentions, Xi moved first, rushing forward with the intent of cutting the priest, who had undergone some unknown change, in two.
In the blink of an eye, the distance between them shrank to a single step. Golden light emerged from the void, and Xi hurriedly stopped and retreated, swinging his sword to block.
Noble Phantasms of various shapes were knocked flying, smashing into the wall. The collapsing wall kicked up a thick cloud of dust.
A fierce wind rose behind him and dispersed the smoke.
It was Morgan's magecraft.
But more importantly, Xi looked toward Gilgamesh, who slowly appeared as he removed a dark-colored hat from his head with a savage grin.
The Noble Phantasms he had released were what had just prevented Xi from killing Kirei.
That had to be a Noble Phantasm as well. Until the golden Servant appeared, Xi had not sensed his presence beneath the corridor at all.
Gilgamesh, who had always been ostentatious to the extreme, had actually chosen to conceal his presence. It was difficult not to be even more wary of him.
"To think you would trouble this king to come receive you. You have grown quite bold and presumptuous, Kirei."
Though his words sounded displeased, Gilgamesh showed little killing intent. Instead, he seemed to admire Kirei greatly.
"Normally, there would have been no need to trouble the King of Heroes personally, but that man's response was as swift as ever." Kirei looked at Xi and laughed without concern. "A hastily altered plan was bound to have flaws."
Click—
The sound of a bolt being pulled.
Kiritsugu Emiya emerged from a nearby room, raising a gun and aiming it at Kirei's back.
"Put Irisviel down." Kiritsugu's command was cold, but the bloodshot veins in his eyes still exposed his exhaustion.
Lost Will had also taken a heavy toll on his mind.
His assistant, Maiya Hisau, had not even regained consciousness yet.
"Hmph, a mere mongrel." Vortices lit up around Gilgamesh, and multiple Noble Phantasms aimed at Kiritsugu and Xi.
Kirei said, "Wait, King of Heroes. If we fight here, we may end up destroying the Lesser Holy Grail as well."
"What do you intend to do, then?" Gilgamesh answered leisurely. "Let me remind you: as long as the core is secured, it does not matter whether the vessel is the original one."
"You're right. Retreating with a woman like this would be rather inconvenient." Kirei loosened his grip, and Irisviel slipped from his shoulder. He roughly seized her by the throat.
Kiritsugu's finger rested on the trigger, ready to pull it. He was not sure whether he could get past Gilgamesh and hit Kirei.
Ignoring everyone else, the priest aimed at Irisviel's heart and revealed a delighted smile.
His right hand suddenly exerted force.
The trigger was pulled, and bullets poured forth, only to be blocked by an invisible wall around Gilgamesh.
Bang—
Fully armed, Artoria heard the explosion outside and forcibly smashed through the door, only to see a sight that made her breath catch.
Kirei's hand pierced Irisviel's chest as easily as paper, pulling something out from within.
A bright red fruit.
Without question, Kirei had taken the core of the Lesser Holy Grail—
Irisviel's heart.
He casually threw the heartless Irisviel toward Artoria, as though tossing away useless trash.
"Irisviel!"
With a cry, Artoria had no choice but to leap forward and catch her. This also created a gap in the barrier she and Kiritsugu had formed.
Gilgamesh snapped his fingers.
A Holy Relic
Dazzling light suddenly flared, making everyone unable to open their eyes.
When the light faded, Kirei and Gilgamesh were gone from the corridor that had previously been a dead end. They must have used a low-grade Noble Phantasm that interfered with the senses.
Xi and Morgan lowered their defensive stances.
"Iris!"
Kiritsugu threw down his gun and ran toward his wife.
Xi on the other side also rushed toward Artoria.
There was still time. If he used Age of Gods Runes now, he could easily save Irisviel even without her heart.
Yet when he reached them and saw Irisviel, whom Kiritsugu had snatched from Artoria's arms, he froze.
Artoria did as well.
The wound had already vanished. The place where her heart should have been torn open was completely intact, leaving only her bloodstained chest.
It was as though the loss of her core had merely been an illusion they had all witnessed.
"Her injuries... healed?" Artoria was somewhat puzzled.
She did not know whether this was the extraordinary regenerative ability unique to Einzbern homunculi.
"Have Einzbern homunculi evolved to this extent already?" Xi was equally astonished.
Kiritsugu tightly embraced his wife, making Irisviel, who was gradually waking up, let out a pained groan.
"Kiritsugu..."
She raised her hand and stroked her husband, who was crying like a child.
"I see. You used that as a holy relic to summon Artoria." Morgan, who had followed at an unhurried pace, leaned against the wall and calmly revealed a certain secret.
"Eh..." Artoria raised her head in confusion.
Kiritsugu Emiya, still holding his wife, remained silent.
Irisviel was gradually beginning to understand what had happened. She had not lost consciousness just now; she had merely been suddenly kidnapped and had no strength to react.
Logically, having her heart taken should have meant certain death.
But Kirei's attempt to restrain Saber had inadvertently saved her life instead.
That was the "that" Morgan had mentioned.
Struggling to prop herself up from her husband's arms, she looked apologetically at the knight who had done everything possible to protect her.
"I'm sorry, Saber. I've been hiding this from you." Irisviel apologized. "Originally, this should have been carried by Kiritsugu, but he was afraid something might happen to me, so he gave it to me."
"What exactly..." Artoria was still somewhat out of the loop.
Having just gone through Lost Will, one confusing event after another had come crashing down.
For a moment, Artoria could not keep up with the train of thought.
"Avalon." Morgan leaned against the wall and carelessly gave the answer. "The scabbard that should have vanished without a trace was actually found by you in this era."
The corridor fell silent for a moment.
Xi felt that this was not the time to continue discussing the matter, so he said to the others, "In any case, let's put this topic aside for now. Einzbern has just escaped death and needs rest. Besides, there have been too many unexpected changes tonight, and our original policy has been disrupted."
"So... you won't continue attacking us?" Irisviel asked weakly.
"Originally, your side did not agree with the plan proposed by ours. To avoid complications, we decided to act." Xi shrugged, sword in hand. "But it seems someone else has been making different plans... Now there really are complications."
"Yes." Irisviel did not reproach him.
They had been enemy factions to begin with. Since cooperation was impossible, eliminating the other side first was only logical.
But now that a new common enemy had appeared, a temporary truce was the best course of action.
Especially that strange magecraft.
It had trapped everyone in the castle inside an illusion.
Clearly, they could no longer continue fighting Xi's faction.
Kiritsugu said nothing more. He merely carried his wife back to their room in silence. After laying her on the bed, he went to find clothes for her to change into.
Whether it was the matter of the scabbard or the core of the Lesser Holy Grail that had been taken, he had no desire to discuss either with the others.
Before you continue