Change Your Savior Instead

So he wanted to avenge his prized disciple.

"No, there has been no progress so far," Kirei said. "I came here to ask Master Tokiomi for a favor."

"Please, go ahead." Tokiomi did not refuse.

Drawing upon the full strength of the Tohsaka Family, Tokiomi would do everything in his power to help Kirei find the true culprit.

"I have secured the core of the Lesser Holy Grail, but I lack a suitable enough vessel."

"What?" What Tokiomi heard had nothing to do with the matter at hand.

But he immediately lost the ability to think about what was happening.

His right hand, marked with Command Spells, flew through the air.

Kirei had cleanly severed it in an instant, and the heavy blow to his abdomen made Tokiomi lose consciousness before the pain could even reach his brain. He collapsed in the room.

"What I wished to borrow was precisely Master Tokiomi's body as a Magus." Kirei revealed a pleased smile. "In the end, you never understood my true nature, my teacher."

"What a speechless excuse for a man. Killing your own father was not enough, and now you intend to lay hands on your own teacher as well."

A golden figure gradually materialized onto the sofa. He did not even spare Tokiomi a glance, merely coolly passing judgment on Kirei.

Because his Servant was right there, Tokiomi had let his guard down considerably, unaware of Gilgamesh's change of heart.

"After all, my teacher still has Command Spells. If he had activated one before falling unconscious, even the King of Heroes would have found it troublesome, would he not?" Kirei said unconcernedly.

"Well done." Gilgamesh sneered as he looked at Kirei. "But the Grail has only recovered the souls of two Servants. It cannot be activated at all, can it?"

"Should Assassin commit suicide?" Kirei asked.

"Leave that shadow alive for now. Though it has little strength, handled properly, it can still serve as useful cannon fodder." Gilgamesh rose to his feet. "Though it irritates me, let Tokiomi continue serving as this king's Master and offering up mana for the time being."

Command Spells were merely a means of maintaining the contract. Even once they were exhausted, the practical relationship between Master and Servant could continue as long as the Servant did not sever the contract.

Besides, Tokiomi's hand bearing the Command Spells had now been cut off, leaving him even less able to use them.

"Then let us preserve the contract for now and discuss it later, King of Heroes." Kirei revealed the Command Spells on his right arm, which were managed by the Holy Church. "If necessary, these Command Spells can be used to provide mana."

They had originally been under his father's management. Even after his death, special encryption methods remained, making them impossible to strip away directly.

"Oh? How did you get your hands on them?" Gilgamesh, who understood the details behind those Command Spells, seemed somewhat interested as well.

Kirei revealed an evil smile. "For that, I can only say it was thanks to an old friend."

He meant Xi Jianxi.

When they had once carried out a mission together, the target had put up a desperate resistance and had been killed by Xi before he could reveal any information.

Xi had therefore taught Kirei a special form of necromancy—Speak With Dead.

According to Xi, this magecraft could only be used to converse with the dead by someone other than the person who had killed them.

So Kirei had merely decided to try it on his dead father last night.

To his surprise, it had barely worked. It failed after giving only a brief answer.

But one sentence was enough. Kirei had learned how to obtain those Command Spells.

John 4.

Because it had happened too suddenly, the lingering spiritual power of the dead Rin Tohsaka had not even managed to completely reject his own son, Kirei.

"That man again."

The interest on Gilgamesh's face grew ever stronger.

Strategy Meeting

At the same time, at the Xi residence.

Unlike the last time they had arrived riding a Noble Phantasm chariot, Rider and Waver had come properly by car this time.

"You're early. I thought you would come around noon."

Xi teased them as he opened the door.

"I came as soon as I received the message from your familiar." Waver curled his lips, apparently dissatisfied with being contacted so early in the morning for a meeting.

"More importantly, how did things go against that Saber fellow? Did you win or lose?"

As the two followed Xi through the courtyard toward the house, Iskandar concerned himself with a different matter.

"There was no outcome." Xi smiled helplessly as he opened the door. "Originally, since the Saber faction had not accepted what we discussed yesterday, we planned to first restrain them or directly force their Servant out of the war. But the strategy had been intended to avoid bloodshed as much as possible, and something went wrong."

"Something went wrong?" Waver found that strange.

"And that problem is precisely why I invited you here." After saying that, Xi stepped into the entrance hall.

After leading the two into the room and taking seats in the living room, they found that Morgan had changed clothes again. She was no longer dressed in the modern blouse-and-skirt outfit from the past few days, but in a blue kimono with a distinctly Japanese style.

The tea served to the guests had also changed from black tea to a more traditionally Japanese gyokuro.

But those were minor details. Once they sat down, Xi gave Waver and Iskandar a rough account of what had happened last night.

First came curiosity, then surprise, and finally unease.

Even as mere listeners, Waver could already sense from Xi's account that the Holy Grail War was once again heading into an abyss no one could predict.

"Wait, wait. Didn't your familiar say that you had gathered the other Masters to discuss things?"

Having processed the report from last night, Waver asked the most crucial question.

Xi's familiar had not delivered messages one-on-one. It had contacted both Waver and Tokiomi at the same time.

"Because the familiar sent to contact Tokiomi was not accepted, it eventually disappeared on its own." Xi calmly explained what had happened. "Aside from the Saber faction that fought us last night, I sent requests to meet with both you and Mr. Tokiomi. But in the end, only your side came."

Though Xi had more or less guessed that Tokiomi had been betrayed by his own Servant, considering Gilgamesh's words and actions throughout the Holy Grail War so far, that Archer likely had no loyalty to Tokiomi at all. On the contrary, Tokiomi needed Gilgamesh's power and had no choice but to treat his Servant as a sovereign.

"So you mean Tokiomi Tohsaka refused your request to meet today?" Waver was just about to drink from his teacup.

Iskandar slapped Waver on the back, nearly making him scald his tongue on the hot tea. "At a time like this, do not be so conservative. Judging by what this young man means, Archer has most likely betrayed his Master. No, calling it betrayal is a bit much. He has simply abandoned him."

For a Master's disciple to turn against him was effortless, and restraints such as Command Spells had likewise become merely formalities.

"So there are several matters we need to discuss first." Xi got straight to the point and stated his position to Waver. "If you do not accept, then you do not accept. No matter what, Kirei and Gilgamesh definitely do not intend to let the Holy Grail War end—whether they wish to continue it or use the corrupted Greater Holy Grail for something. The ceasefire will likely be limited to our two groups. Einzbern has not yet shown any sign of approaching us, so for now, we can only wait and see regarding them."

In truth, after being struck by Lost Will, neither Artoria nor the others would have suffered only minor mental exhaustion. Someone like Kirei, who had not only emerged completely unharmed but had even reacted swiftly enough to try and seize the Lesser Holy Grail's vessel, was the true wildcard.

"Kid, you're the Master. The decision is yours." Iskandar placed a hand on Waver's shoulder. Usually bold and free-spirited, he was unexpectedly earnest this time, like a mentor guiding someone through life.

In just a few days, Xi could sense that Waver had become steadier than when they had met on the night of their first battle.

"Tell me first. What do you have in mind?" Waver looked at Xi.

In terms of magecraft, especially combat under pressure, Xi was far superior to him. Given the current situation, Lancer had already been defeated as well.

That meant Xi had even defeated Kayneth, a man called a prodigy and genius even among the many elites of the Mage's Association.

After all, that man had been a Lord of the Clock Tower.

"First, Tokiomi Tohsaka not accepting my familiar's message and allowing it to disappear does not necessarily mean something happened to him. He may have gone to the Holy Church early in the morning. The Tohsaka Family is, after all, the administrator of this land of Fuyuki, and purifying the Greater Holy Grail is an extremely important matter." Xi raised a finger. "But we cannot rule out the possibility that Mr. Tokiomi has already been harmed. Once we are prepared, we need to visit the Tohsaka Family first and investigate the situation there."

"Yes, he is an important figure, after all." Waver found that acceptable. If it had been him, he would also have tried to further confirm Tokiomi's condition at a time like this.

"Second, Kirei." Xi frowned. "You should have noticed as well that although Kirei entered the Holy Grail War as Assassin's Master, he is actually the son of the Holy Church supervisor, Rin Tohsaka."

Iskandar looked slightly surprised. "That old man looked to be in his seventies or eighties, didn't he? Yet his son is only in his twenties. Did he have a child in his old age?"

"Probably." Xi could only smile bitterly at the King of Conquerors' point of focus. After all, Alexander the Great had died suddenly in his thirties, so perhaps that was why he found it strange.

He composed himself and continued, "So the second place is the Holy Church. I believe it is necessary to visit the church again and make contact with that old priest."

Of course, that was only the plan under ideal circumstances.

Considering Kirei's abnormal words and behavior last night, Xi could only assume the worst... that man had followed his nature and completely fallen into evil.

If that were the case, then Rin Tohsaka, the Holy Church supervisor nominally still sheltering Kirei, had likely already suffered at his hands as well.

But whether he was dead or alive, no matter how likely either possibility was, they still needed to confirm the result in person.

"So what you mean is, our two groups will each investigate the Tohsaka Family and the chur—"

By this point, Waver had already understood what Xi intended to do. Just as he was about to ask for confirmation, the doorbell rang.

Investigation Plan

The visitors were Saber and Irisviel. Kiritsugu Emiya continued to adhere to his previous principle of not showing himself, operating in the shadows.

After inviting the two into the room, they were somewhat surprised to see Waver and Iskandar, as well as by Xi's efficiency.

"Are your injuries no longer a problem?" Xi asked politely.

"Yes." Irisviel said, "Avalon is an exceptionally powerful conceptual weapon. Merely being touched by its original owner, Saber, caused my stolen heart to begin regenerating rapidly."

"But as the price, your function as the Lesser Holy Grail was taken from you as well." Morgan, who had been quietly listening, spoke up unusually.

Xi had long since reached an understanding with her about the whole matter, so there was no need for her to waste words repeating her opinion. But when it came to Einzbern's homunculi, Morgan knew Xi could not explain much, which was why she spoke up specifically.

"Regarding that, I gradually realized it after waking up." Irisviel's expression was complicated, neither joyful nor sorrowful.

Xi sat down again. "In that case, Kirei probably never imagined that his ill intentions would end up doing a good deed."

Jokes aside, they still had to continue the discussion. Though they had arrived a little late, Xi quickly went over their previous conversation with Artoria and Irisviel again.

"So, what we need to do now is reconfirm the situation at the Tohsaka Family and the Fuyuki Church, as well as whether Tokiomi Tohsaka and the supervisor are dead or alive?" Irisviel indicated that she understood. "In the current situation, Mr. Xi's side is the only one able to seize the initiative. Combined with the previously drafted plan to purify the Greater Holy Grail, we at Einzbern agree to participate."

Hearing her say it, Xi did not want to ask whether her word carried any weight. He was certain Kiritsugu would no longer object. After experiencing the upheaval of losing and regaining his wife last night, combined with Lost Will, Xi guessed that he probably no longer wished to pursue the Holy Grail and only wanted to resolve this mess as soon as possible.

"That is the idea. With Einzbern joining us now, we have reached three against two in terms of Servants." Xi smiled faintly. "Considering that our opponent is the King of Heroes, who possesses an uncertain number of Noble Phantasms, it is difficult to say how much of an advantage we truly have. Still, it is something worth being encouraged by."

The others present silently agreed with his view.

"And the final point I have not mentioned yet is that we need to locate Kirei. If Gilgamesh has already formed a new contract with him, they will certainly be acting together now." Xi said, "But that comes later. We should first carry out the two plans we just discussed."

Irisviel thought for a moment. "Then Saber and I will investigate the Tohsaka Family, while the Holy Church—"

"But in your current state, if you encounter a battle, you will only burden your Servant, won't you?" Xi rejected her proposal. "Leave the Tohsaka Family to Waver and the King of Conquerors. As for the Holy Church, we will continue with the method used when intercepting Caster before. Saber and I will investigate the church, while Morgan will remain here to guard the house, preventing Assassin from being sent to launch a surprise attack and abduct the children as hostages."

Although Morgan was a Berserker, she also possessed the Caster class's special Territory Creation skill. Combined with the already established workshop at the Xi residence, even the King of Heroes would pose no problem in a defensive battle here.

Of course, Xi's selfish motive was that only with Morgan guarding Sakura and Karen could he head to the front lines without worry.

"Do you like acting together with Artoria that much, my husband?" Morgan suddenly asked.

Xi rubbed his forehead. "Do not say things like that at a time like this. You know why I need you to hold the rear, don't you?"

"I was only joking. I wanted to help you relax." A faint smile appeared on Morgan's face. "At present, both that priest and the King of Heroes are hidden in the shadows. If the situation becomes urgent, use a Command Spell to call for me."

"Mm."

The somewhat tender exchange eased the originally tense atmosphere a little. Led by Iskandar, the others all began to laugh, leaving even Xi, who had been composed until then, embarrassed for quite some time.

Only Morgan calmly continued drinking tea.

"There is one more thing..." Irisviel spoke up hesitantly at that moment.

"Please, go ahead." Xi had been about to prepare for departure, so he sat back down.

Irisviel looked helplessly at him and Morgan. "Actually, Miss Maiya still has not woken up. She seems to have been affected by that large-scale magecraft last night as well."

Morgan looked slightly startled at those words.

After all, Lost Will had long since been lifted. If she was still unconscious now, then there was most likely only one possibility.

That female assistant, who appeared so calm that she had worn down her own emotions, had been completely unable to withstand Lost Will.

"If it is convenient, bring her to my humble home and let Morgan examine her personally." Xi looked at Morgan questioningly. Only after she gave a slight nod did he say this.

After receiving their agreement, Irisviel's expression finally seemed to brighten somewhat.

She had spoken with Kiritsugu for a long time last night, about the Holy Grail War, about that ideal, and about their daughter Illya.

Everything. All of it.

Kiritsugu had made his choice. Irisviel knew it was painful, but if he had not done so, what awaited him might have been an even deeper pain... one he would never be able to erase for the rest of his life.

"Come to think of it, Waver Velvet." As Xi rose to his feet, he remembered something he had forgotten earlier. "You have not encountered anyone attacking you with magecraft, have you? Something like controlling insects?"

Waver was full of question marks. "Magecraft that controls insects? No, I do not think so..."

Though he was not an especially outstanding Magus, he was not a complete outsider who knew nothing about magecraft.