How About You Find Another Savior?

"Since you are the ruler of a nation, you should listen to the court physician. Your injuries are worse than mine, King of Knights," Xi Jianxi said.

With just that one sentence, Artoria had no rebuttal. She could only let Xi Jianxi carry her onto the ox cart. Rider watched the scene with great interest from the side.

"You're quite good at handling women."

"No, I'm merely good at handling kings." Xi Jianxi placed Artoria on the cart.

Though he had not served as her subject, Xi Jianxi had indeed spent countless years at that queen's side.

Embracing the Witch

After returning to Xi Jianxi's home, Artoria was temporarily settled in a guest room, with Irisviel keeping her company.

As Xi Jianxi changed clothes in his own room, he found the whole situation rather amusing.

Last night, Irisviel had been the one who needed looking after. Today, their roles had reversed, and she was now taking care of Artoria.

Was this what they meant by castling?

After changing out of his torn, bloodstained clothes and packing them into the trash bin, Xi Jianxi realized that Morgan had somehow already entered his room. She did not look pleased.

"Let me make this clear first. Artoria Pendragon was injured by Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm. That Noble Phantasm was likely his trump card; even the Holy Sword could not contend with it head-on." Xi Jianxi raised his hands slightly. "I merely—"

Morgan smiled in puzzlement. "Do you take me for such a jealous woman?"

"..." Xi Jianxi wanted to ask if she was not, but for the sake of his own safety, he decided to keep quiet.

"In any case, the fact that they chose to make their move in broad daylight means they no longer intend to follow even the rule of concealing the mysteries," Morgan said. "When I sensed your battle, I thought the final showdown was about to begin. It seems they are not fully prepared either."

Xi Jianxi agreed. "In any case, this morning's actions confirmed one thing. The only ones who can stop Gilgamesh, Kirei, and the corrupted Holy Grail are us."

"Not only that. The Einzbern homunculus also received word that there is nothing unusual at the civic hall in the new city. On the other hand, Ryuudou Temple on Mount Enzou is preparing some kind of large-scale ritual." Morgan provided another piece of information.

Of Fuyuki City's four leyline nodes, the situations at three of them had now been completely identified.

If Kirei intended to forcibly activate the Greater Holy Grail and intercept any Servants who came to interfere, he could only choose to set up his formation at the Greater Holy Grail's location on Mount Enzou.

There was already a spiritual barrier there. Any Servant seeking to invade would have to enter through the main gate.

Launching a defensive battle from above at the mountain gate would make Gilgamesh, who already held the advantage, even more troublesome to deal with.

But those were matters for later. Xi Jianxi was more concerned about something else now.

"Then why do you... look so unwell?"

Since she was not displeased because he had looked after Artoria, there had to be another reason.

"It's nothing. When I was treating the female assistant from Einzbern, I happened to glimpse part of her past." Morgan shook her head.

Maiya Hisau had indeed collapsed too quickly within Lost Will, which was why she had failed to wake up when the magecraft was dispelled.

But it was only a simple matter for Morgan. Through a bit of magecraft, she interfered with Maiya's mind while she was unconscious and resealed all the past memories awakened by Lost Will. After that, Maiya began showing signs of waking up.

"Is that so?" Xi Jianxi was somewhat surprised.

Morgan gently leaned into Xi Jianxi's embrace, and he did not move away.

"People can be so cruel to one another sometimes," Morgan sighed, unwilling to describe what she had just seen.

Sensing the sudden heaviness in her emotions, Xi Jianxi could not help questioning himself. Should he really have troubled Morgan with such trivial matters at a time like this?

"There's no denying it, but even so..." He wrapped his arms around Morgan.

This was the first time he had taken the initiative to embrace his Servant somewhere other than a battlefield.

He had never regarded Morgan as a familiar, but as an exceptional Divine Era Magus, a Heroic Spirit whose name had endured in legend.

As for treating her as a woman, Xi Jianxi always felt that would be too presumptuous.

Even though he knew she was a woman, and knew Morgan seemed to hold an excessive degree of goodwill toward him.

More than what a Servant should feel for her Master.

"Even so, I believe that the world humanity lives in is still beautiful, and that it is something that should naturally be protected." Xi Jianxi spoke from the bottom of his heart, though he had no intention of demanding that Morgan feel the same way.

"I know. I simply always held certain fantasies about an unknown world." Morgan said, "Because I had only seen it in passing, and because this is the world you live in, so..."

So she had held overly beautiful expectations for the original appearance of the world in which the person who had never betrayed her for six thousand years had always lived.

She should have discarded those naive thoughts long ago.

Yet after seeing it for the first time, they had begun to grow again.

"Is that so? That must have been difficult for you," Xi Jianxi said softly, understanding.

Without realizing it, Morgan buried her head a little deeper.

"How are your injuries?"

But then she caught a lingering scent of blood and involuntarily regained her composure.

"They are nothing serious. Wounds of this level won't kill me." Xi Jianxi released Morgan and stated the fact with a confident smile.

Morgan lowered her gaze slightly, as though thinking. "But the King of Heroes' trump card is conservatively speaking something beyond standard classification. This time, we could only oppose it with great magecraft because Artoria released the true name of her Holy Sword."

"I agree." Xi Jianxi stood and paced around the room. "So when we face the King of Heroes next, we must join forces with Saber and Rider. We need to attack together and keep Gilgamesh from having the time to draw that Noble Phantasm."

"You need not be so pessimistic." Morgan said, "There are not many methods capable of opposing that Noble Phantasm head-on. If I pay the price of having my Saint Graph as a Servant perish, I can also create a chance of victory for my husband."

Xi Jianxi froze. "Do we really have to go that far?"

He did not fear death, nor was he afraid of fighting the King of Heroes until he bled out his last drop of blood. But now that their positions had suddenly reversed and the burden of sacrifice had been placed on Morgan, Xi Jianxi hesitated for no clear reason.

If it had been Iskandar or Artoria doing such a thing, he would have been able to accept those assumptions.

"It is merely one possibility." Morgan lightly flicked the broad sleeve of her blue kimono and told Xi Jianxi in an elegant tone, "Though it is unpleasant, there is indeed another method. When the time comes, however, my husband will need to exercise that silver tongue of his and persuade someone to part with a treasure they spent tremendous manpower and resources obtaining."

Xi Jianxi immediately understood what Morgan meant.

"That thing can instantly heal injuries as severe as losing one's heart, and it can also be used to defend against the King of Heroes' Noble Phantasm?"

"Do you not trust your wife's judgment?" Morgan asked.

"...If it is the judgment of the great magus Morgan, then of course I trust it..."

As he muttered his response, he sighed inwardly. He truly was still not very good at dealing with this witch.

The Final Strategy Meeting

Xi Jianxi's dining table had never been so lively.

The long dining table was packed with guests, startling both Sakura and Karen, who were used to its ordinary daily appearance.

They sat to Xi Jianxi and Morgan's left and right, in the seats closest to them.

Further down the table, on either side, sat Waver and Iskandar, as well as Irisviel and Artoria.

The sudden arrival of so many guests filled the two girls with curiosity.

But in truth, this was merely a meal before they entered the final battlefield after nightfall.

Thus, both Sakura and Karen keenly sensed the subtle atmosphere and did not speak carelessly.

Iskandar, on the other hand, remained as composed as ever. As he ate, he told childish jokes to amuse the two little girls, easing everyone's mood considerably.

Maiya Hisau had only just awakened and was resting at the base. Kiritsugu Emiya did not show himself at all.

According to Irisviel, he was conducting further investigations throughout the city and making various other preparations. He had entrusted all matters related to the Holy Grail War to his wife, even transferring his Command Spells to Irisviel.

Lost Will seemed to have affected that free Magus even more deeply than expected.

However, the supply of magical energy to the Servant still rested with Kiritsugu Emiya. Morgan had casually offered some guidance, allowing the husband and wife to share the contract.

No one knew that Kayneth had spent quite some time before successfully unraveling this method of breaking apart the Holy Grail War's contract structure and rewriting its details.

Xi Jianxi, who did not know Kiritsugu Emiya well, had no intention of probing further. Like Waver, he simply accepted the situation as one of the allied Masters.

After dinner, Sakura and Karen obediently returned to their room to play and rest. The remaining people gathered in the living room for the final strategy meeting and to exchange information regarding their Servants' Noble Phantasms.

Now that they had confirmed the ritual site was Ryuudou Temple, the remaining questions were how to attack and how they should fight once the attack began.

"Regarding that, you fought that golden bastard during the day, didn't you? You forced him to bring out his trump card." Iskandar looked at the map spread across the coffee table, at the marked location of Ryuudou Temple. "Just what level was it?"

Xi Jianxi leaned against the armrest. "Beyond standard classification. It exceeds ordinary ratings."

"If Xi Jianxi had not supported my defense with magecraft, I might have been injured even more severely." Artoria reluctantly admitted the truth. "Therefore, confronting Archer's ultimate Noble Phantasm head-on is probably not a good strategy."

Iskandar scratched his beard. Though he had not witnessed the clash between the King of Knights and the King of Heroes' Noble Phantasms, the traces left afterward told him that it had been a Noble Phantasm with a wide attack range after its true name was released.

It was an entirely different type from the King of Conquerors' own ultimate Noble Phantasm, which he had yet to reveal. They could not be compared so simply.

"Being unable to oppose it head-on does not mean we lack a means to defend against it." Xi Jianxi looked toward Artoria and Irisviel as he spoke.

The two immediately understood.

"I had originally intended to return this Noble Phantasm to Saber. I simply did not expect you to encounter Archer's attack at the church." Irisviel pressed a hand to her chest and sincerely stated her position.

The authority over the conceptual armament known as Avalon also rested with Irisviel.

Kiritsugu was now wholeheartedly traveling everywhere to gather information on ending the Holy Grail War, while also preparing to retrieve Illya afterward.

Compared to a thousand-year wish, the scales in Irisviel's heart had shifted with reality toward her more important daughter.

"But if you do that, Irisviel, your body will—" Artoria hesitated.

She naturally knew that Noble Phantasm belonged to her. Yet after losing her heart, she had survived only through the King of Knights' Noble Phantasm. Even now, it was only because the Noble Phantasm remained in her body that she could maintain her condition.

"You need not worry about that. Having lost the functions of the Lesser Holy Grail, she is now merely an ordinary homunculus." Morgan offered her analysis from a magecraft perspective.

Normally, Morgan did not care much whether anyone besides Xi Jianxi lived or died. But Xi Jianxi was the sort of person who could kill decisively, yet became overly fussy when saving people.

If they were not in front of him, he did not care. But once they were, he would definitely interfere. Morgan found it rather helpless, but she did not reject it either. So before dinner that afternoon, she had made a simple assessment of Irisviel's condition.

"I see." Artoria understood.

Xi Jianxi turned his face away, revealing a thoughtful expression. "Leaving aside how much this Noble Phantasm can defend against, I think we need to clarify one thing."

"What?" Waver was confused. He had only just relaxed somewhat after learning they had a countermeasure, and now Xi Jianxi's words made him uneasy again.

"Archer is probably extremely proud of the Noble Phantasm called Ea, and does not believe there is another Noble Phantasm capable of opposing or defending against it," Xi Jianxi said. "So if possible, I think we should prepare two plans."

Iskandar looked at Xi Jianxi approvingly. "You mean, on one hand, we should secure victory before the King of Heroes has a chance to bring out that Noble Phantasm, while on the other hand, we should ensure we only need to use it once?"

"Exactly."

Xi Jianxi nodded.

Everyone present agreed with this idea.

They should keep their trump card hidden for as long as possible, and once they used it, they had to finish the fight. If Gilgamesh learned they had a countermeasure, he would likely use other methods to disrupt and hinder them.

"Then when the time comes, the King of Knights, the King of Conquerors, and I will attack from the front and engage the King of Heroes." Xi Jianxi extended a finger and placed it on Ryuudou Temple's location on the map. "Morgan, Miss Irisviel, and Waver will head to the activation point of the Greater Holy Grail."

Morgan merely nodded silently, while the others were once again surprised.

"Why not have Queen Sister strike with us directly? You could deal with Kirei as well," Artoria asked.

"In terms of magecraft alone, no one present can compare to Morgan." Xi Jianxi stated his reasons seriously. "And I have no idea what needs to be done to purify the Holy Grail and end the ritual. Therefore, Morgan needs to focus as much as possible on handling the Holy Grail's ritual."

"My husband has spoken. Everyone, do as he says." Morgan smiled knowingly.

Understanding that Xi Jianxi and Morgan had already reached an agreement, and unable to find a better strategy, the others could only accept it.

After all, Xi Jianxi's combat strength was also an extremely important trump card.

Command Spells

After the strategy meeting ended, everyone dispersed. Xi Jianxi allowed the guests to move freely through the residence and make their final preparations.

He returned to his room alone and changed into clothing more suitable for battle.

"I truly did not expect this Holy Grail War ritual to reach its end in such a manner." Morgan sat properly at the edge of the bed.

Xi Jianxi had already stopped thinking too deeply about whether it was reasonable for her to barge in while he was changing.

"Where exactly did things go wrong...?" Xi Jianxi sighed. "The first three Holy Grail Wars ended without result as well. Perhaps a wish-granting device truly is beyond what humanity is capable of handling right now."

Morgan shook her head. "That is impossible to know. However, the Holy Grail War is almost over, yet you have never revealed your wish."

"You have not revealed yours either."

"Because mine has already been fulfilled, it is better left unsaid," Morgan said calmly.