Alliances and Latecomers / Sakura Edelfelt

So he walked over to the bearded man and, in the manner of a visitor, said, "Sir, may I have a chat with you?"

"Hehehe, young man, it seems you have some misunderstanding about our side?" Elizabeth noticed Shirou's gaze and asked with a smile.

"No, I just wanted to pay a visit to the representatives of the European Union athletes, and I also have some connection with your people." Shirou said calmly.

"Oh, so you're still an ally of our side? Why don't you just become one of our dependents?" Elizabeth said with a smile.

"Thank you for your kind offer, madam, but please allow me to decline." Shirou looked at the bearded man man on the other side and said, "I would much rather join the team led by this mature and dignified gentleman."

"Huh? Me?!" The blond fat man pointed at himself in surprise and asked Shirou for confirmation, his round face showing disbelief.

"Yes, I was referring to you, sir." Shirou gave a friendly, boy-next-door smile and nodded firmly.

Chapter 465 Alliances and Latecomers

The venue was so spacious that ordinary lighting was insufficient to illuminate everything. Only the central platform and the special glass screen on the ceiling remained brightly lit. In the surrounding corners, behind the supporting stone pillars, the lighting was somewhat dim.

However, this is not necessarily a bad thing for some players. In the dimly lit shadowy area, many players are hiding themselves while secretly observing the surrounding movements through various means.

Of course, Shirou's defection to the European team also caught their attention.

"Damn it! Someone made the first move, immediately rushing forward to curry favor. But... a combination with two powerful Servant is indeed worth lowering oneself to form an alliance with."

"Liar! That kid, I remember he was the brat that 'Magus Killer' used to have by his side. He's one of our underworld assassins, isn't he?"

"Tsk, the 'Magus Killer' died long ago in the Middle East. It's said that he was the only one who survived that war."

"Breaking news: the Magus Killer who became the 'White Devil' was killed by this guy."

"Wow, patricide and master murder, huh? That's quite something, kid! He's getting more and more like a cunning and treacherous fellow."

"Well... now it's up to the European Union representative to decide whether to accept it or not. Hehehe..."

The people observing from the shadows included a rebellious youth with pierced ears and a nose ring, an ordinary-looking middle-aged man with a full beard, and a wrinkled old man leaning on a cane. But no one dared to underestimate them.

In fact, these people are notorious professional killers in the world, each with at least a hundred lives on their hands, and they are not ordinary people. You should know that they charge very high prices, and ordinary people cannot afford to hire them.

Each of them specializes in a particular type of assassin. Some are assassins of teenage girls, some of young women, some of those with a love for young girls, some are skilled at taking down warlords, some at taking down gang leaders, or some at assassinating heads of state. The only thing they have in common is that they have almost never failed.

Such imaginary assassins seem to be nonexistent. However, the Magecraft's assassin was once considered one of them.

Vlad the Impaler remained silent, seemingly due to the influence of his official position. The Bloody Countess, watching the spectacle from the sidelines, wore a mask and opened and closed her mouth several times, appearing to be struggling to hold back her complaints.

"Ahem, so you want to form an alliance with me? With me!" Gordolf coughed, his sharp little eyes widening as he asked. Because the matter was important, he repeated himself twice.

"Yes! For the sake of victory, I believe that allying with the strong is the most advantageous option. Please make sure we follow you... the representative chosen by the European Union." Shirou agreed.

"??" Anastasia had also heard Shirou's words, widened her beautiful ice-blue eyes and looked at Gordolf with suspicion, wondering to herself: 'Could it be that this old man in front of me is actually very powerful, completely different from his appearance?'

"Yes!" The silver-haired girl nodded heavily, confirming her suspicions. Otherwise, she simply couldn't understand why Shirou would want to pledge allegiance to someone like that.

"Hehehe..." Gordolf suddenly burst into laughter upon hearing Shirou's words.

"Heh heh!" Countess Elizabeth, the Bloody Countess, remained silent, only revealing a somewhat dangerous smile.

"Hehehe." Shirou maintained his smile.

"Oh ho ho ho ho! Hehehehe... I see!" The blond fat man laughed loudly for a while, then turned his head away.

After receiving a reassuring reply, Gordolf rested his chin on his hand, thinking to himself, 'Huh... Could it be that being in such a dangerous place for so long has finally awakened the charisma I've kept hidden for twenty-six years?'

'I believe it...'

'I believed it without hesitation.'

'Because they were just flattering words, I accepted them all.'

The surrounding observers were inwardly cursing.

'Could it be... that this man is actually easy to fool? Is he really as gullible as he appears?'

Those observing from the shadows, looking at Gordolf's fat face, couldn't help but feel suspicious. However, they quickly dismissed the idea themselves.

'No, no! He's still a representative chosen by the European Union, one of the world's three major powers. But he's really putting on a good show! If Los Angeles hadn't sunk, he could have won an Oscar for Best Actor. Thank goodness! This man is definitely not to be underestimated; he truly deserves to be the man chosen by the European Union!'

At this moment, Gordolf regained his confidence, his spirits lifted, and a confident smile appeared on his round face, almost revealing his pearly white teeth that shone brightly.

Shirou was following the plan, wanted to gain Gordolf's trust and thus form an alliance. He would use his Projection Magecraft to assist the two Servant.

If they can overcome the inherent weaknesses of the vampire race, Dracula and Camilla, as the two most famous vampires in Europe, would be top-tier king-level fighters. Aside from a few exceptionally large monsters, they should be able to handle them all, and at least eliminate most of the opponents in the arena.

Shirou planned to wait until that time to act according to the circumstances, as this was the shortcut to victory.

Inside the venue, various factions began to look for partners, and at least reached a verbal agreement to temporarily cease hostilities and prioritize attacking their common enemy.

However, some people disdain this kind of group behavior.

"Hmph! All they do is use their petty tricks and schemes! But let them be. Before absolute power, all their conspiracies and schemes are meaningless, don't you think? Our great Sun King!" said the bearded man with a white turban, turning his head to look at the man sitting high on a luxurious gold-threaded carpet, and bowing in greeting.

The object of the man's worship was a shirtless, black-haired, brown-skinned man with multiple gold ornaments hanging around his neck and shoulders. As an absolute king, he exuded an aura of looking down on all beings around him from beginning to end.

"All people need only look to the glory of the sun and bow down. As for the enemy in the darkness, I will not underestimate him, but we already have a plan." Although he did not answer directly, he was confident that he would not lose.

"Yes, all the data from the meeting has been entered into my brain and is being analyzed." Standing behind the king who spoke this time was a bespectacled female secretary. She looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old, with long pinkish-purple hair and a vermilion dot between her eyebrows, giving the impression of being somewhat Indian. However, she was actually an artificial human from the Tesla Institute in Africa— Rani VIII.

The one person, the one android, and the one Servant here represent the Egyptian Pharaoh's team, which is based on Africa.

"Hmph! Another self-important King. Watch me rise up in rebellion!" The blonde girl with her hair in a topknot said with a defiant smile, carrying a silver and red Greatsword.

"Wait, Lord Mordred, don't forget our mission. We're here for the reconstruction of Britain," Jekyll warned.

Mordred dismissively tossed her hand and said, "Whatever, I think I've already destroyed one before?"

A woman in a red military uniform with braided hair standing nearby asked, "An accident? Are there any wounded who need treatment? The amputation tools are all ready."

Mordred agreed, "Hmm? They're all sunk to the bottom of the sea anyway. Those who couldn't be rescued are probably fish food by now. You should just give up, Nightingale."

"We must never give up treatment until the very last moment. Even if someone is about to die, we must amputate their limbs. If they're still inside the fish, we'll amputate them together with the fish!" Head Nurse Nightingale replied firmly.

"Hmm... I don't quite understand, but you're got a good spirit! Anyway, keep it up," Mordred replied with a smile.

"Sigh... sigh..." Honest guy Kijeel sighed twice. The first sigh was because of his two unreasonable teammates. The second sigh was because if he took the drug and became Hyde, he would be no different from those two, and they would even get along well.

The above is the Berserker team from the Britain representative team.

At this moment, the bunny girl with a ponytail on the platform checked the time, then raised the microphone and loudly announced, "Since the contestants here have already sparked a chord, then! Then~! It's almost 9 PM, the agreed time, and it's about time to close this tower."

The bun bunny girl continued, "Once the Tower to the Sky closes, everyone here will be considered as contestants who have signed a waiver of life and death. From then on, wealth and status will be left to fate, and life and death will be irrelevant."

At this moment, there was less than a minute left until nine o'clock on the clock. The two burly men in black who had been guarding the gate earlier came in, pushed the door to close, and prepared to lock it.

"Wait a minute!!!" Two female voices came from outside.

At that moment, the door was violently slammed open by a great force. The two burly men in black who were closing the door were also shaken by the force and stumbled backward, almost falling over.

The door was flung open to reveal two figures entangled together, shoving each other as they struggled to their feet.

The moment Shirou heard the sound, his brow twitched; he had a feeling that some troublesome fellow was coming.

Following the light, one could see that one of them was a mixed-race beauty with long, slightly wavy black hair, blue eyes, wearing a long red coat and white fur-lined high-heeled boots. She appeared to be around 25 years old.

She seemed to suit the double ponytail look very well when she was younger, but now she just lets it down, draping it over her shoulders, which makes her look more like a mature woman.

However, her current appearance was a complete waste of her beauty; her face was covered in sweat, and she was panting heavily as she ran in from outside.

"Wait... Tohsaka! Don't think you can leave me behind..." Following closely behind was a blonde woman with permed hair, still clinging to the shoulder of the woman in front of her. She looked even more disheveled than the black-haired woman, because her current attire was really unsuitable for running. She wore a luxurious dress with a mink coat over it and a pair of high-heeled crystal shoes. It was unclear which rich young lady she was from.

"Thank goodness! I made it! I made it, right?!" The black-haired, regretful beauty looked around nervously and asked.

In response to the black-haired woman's question.

The bunny girl with the bunny hair nodded and replied, "Yes, Ms. Tohsaka, who participated as an independent participant, and Ms. Luviagelita Edelfelt from the South American team, have both been registered. Please rest assured."

Rin Tohsaka and Luviagelita Edelfelt both breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, the bells rang out nine times in the hall, and then the dimly lit hall was illuminated by white lights, making every corner bright and clear.

"Yes, yes! It's exactly nine o'clock tonight. So, these are all the contestants. Everyone here will be registered as a participant in this competition! Now! Close the door!" The bunny girl with the ponytail clapped her hands and announced with a smile.

As soon as he finished speaking, the black door was pushed shut again, and two burly men in black put several heavy locks on it.

The bunny girl with the bunny haircut held her notebook seriously and explained to everyone, "To ensure the fairness of this conference, various measures will be implemented. From now on, this Tower to the Sky will be sealed off from everyone in the venue."

The entire venue will be shielded from outside radio waves, mobile phones and other communication devices will be disabled, and all entrances and exits will be completely sealed off.

But please don't worry, once this tournament is completely over and the strongest person has been determined, the doors will reopen to the other losers."

"Of course, that's assuming... you're still alive back then~! Hahaha!" The bunny girl with a single ponytail leaned forward and added with a laugh.

"Heh heh heh." The contestants in the venue laughed instead of getting angry. 'If they didn't even have this much awareness, they wouldn't be here.'

Even the blond, mustachioed, chubby young man Gordolf, remained expressionless at this point.

However, in his mind at this moment, things were quite different. His face was ashen, his eyes were filled with only the whites, and his mouth was wide open, as if something white was about to float out of them.

'What?! Is it really that dangerous here? If I kneel down and beg the vampires, will they agree to protect me? It seems unlikely... I guess I should go find that humble white-haired young man from before, at least establish an alliance to help each other.' Gordolf thought to himself in panic.

"Anna, let's go to the other side..." Shirou glanced at the two familiar women by the door and whispered to the silver-haired girl beside him, preparing to take her away from this troublesome place as soon as possible.

Chapter 466 Sakura Edelfelt

At that moment, Rin Tohsaka looked towards the tightly locked door, knowing that if she had been a few steps slower, she would have been eliminated. She patted her chest with lingering fear and said, "That was close... That was really great... I almost missed the tournament because of that little brat!"

"Miss Tohsaka! This is your fault for starting a fight with me halfway through!" the drill-coil-wearing young lady complained.

"No! It's Luviagelita Edelfelt who's completely clueless about timing. The moment you run into me, you start bragging about how good and fast your private jet is!" Rin Tohsaka said irritably, hating these clueless rich people the most.

"Huh? I invited you to fly here with me! You refused and chose to take a flight instead. You had to take a car after arriving in Japan, and you dragged your feet all the way here, which is why you're late! What an idiot." Luviagelita Edelfelt said arrogantly, arms crossed.

"Huh? Is this the kind of invitation you're offering with this attitude? How ill-mannered do you have to be to have such a misconception? You were just waiting outside for me to come over, then you stood on the steps and laughed at me, weren't you?" Rin Tohsaka retorted sarcastically.

"Don't think I don't know. Just as you rushed to the door, you lifted your leg back, trying to kick me out the door, right?" Luviagelita Edelfelt questioned.

Once these two started arguing, they completely disregarded their surroundings, ignoring the stares of everyone in the hall. Now, the argument escalated, and they rolled up their sleeves, seemingly preparing for a major fight before the meeting even began.

"As expected, even if we change worlds, they won't change at all..." Shirou said helplessly, covering his face.

Inside the venue, a gentle lady with long, straight black hair, a red ribbon tied to one side of her hair, lifted her skirt and ran to the two arguing women, gently trying to persuade them.

"Wait, sister...!"

Upon hearing the lady's voice, both women turned around simultaneously and asked softly.

"What? Sakura!?" x2

Before the other party could reply, Rin Tohsaka stepped forward, reached out, and affectionately hugged the girl with long, straight black hair, whispering softly in her ear.

"Ah, Sakura, we've finally met again! When did you arrive?"

"Rin... Sister, Luviagelita Edelfelt came back to Finland on a private jet to pick me up. I clearly asked Luviagelita Edelfelt to invite you, so why didn't you come?" Sakura replied, being hugged.

"Ah, if I had known the plane would be picking you up, I would have said yes. It's all because of someone's unclear words," Rin Tohsaka replied.

"Wait! Sakura was clearly calling me just now! Stop nagging her!" Luviagelita Edelfelt, who had been left aside, pushed Rin away in annoyance and pulled the woman into her arms, saying this.

Rin Tohsaka drew out her words, vehemently denying the blonde, perky-hair claim. "No--! Miss Edelfelt, no matter what, I am Sakura's blood relative. This is a time for us sisters to reunite after a long separation and catch up. Please, have some self-awareness!"

Luviagelita Edelfelt puffed out her proud chest, looking down at the black-haired woman with a mocking smile, and said, "Oh dear! Miss Tohsaka, stop being so stubborn. Sakura has spent the last ten years or so with me."

"Haa~!"

"Hmph!"

A major battle is imminent.

"Wait, calm down, Rin-neechan, Luviagelita Edelfelt- neechan, stop arguing here." The girl with long, straight black hair, called Sakura, tried to persuade the two of them with difficulty.

The lady was a year younger than the two of them. Her name was Sakura Tohsaka. She was born in Japan but grew up in Finland.

Due to the change in the world line, in the Third Holy Grail War, Zouken Matou, the Mage of the Insects, was severely injured in a fierce battle with Darnic Preston, who later founded the Thousand Tree Family. His life was hanging by a thread, and he was no longer able to maintain the operation of the Macchiato family's Magecraft lineage. He could only huddle in a corner of the villa, barely clinging to life. It wouldn't be surprising if he died at any time, let alone train a successor to Magecraft.

Therefore, the wise Tohsaka patriarch would naturally not send his exceptionally talented youngest daughter to a completely declining Magecraft family.

So the then- head of household Tokiomi Tohsaka, contacted his distant relatives in Europe, a Magecraft lineage, and had Sakura adopted into the Edelfelt family Magecraft family in Finland.

For ancient, established Magecraft family in Europe, there is a surplus of Magic Crest. Often, there are several branches within the family, so the distribution of Magic Crest is not an issue. Therefore, they warmly welcome new family members with talent and potential to join.

In fact, the Edelfelt family also possesses a unique technique called the Gemini Magecraft Property, and the family tradition is that the heirs are usually two people. However, due to an accident during the Third Holy Grail War, only the elder sister survived, while the younger sister went missing in Fuyuki.

The specific reasons are unclear, but since then, the Edelfelt family, which had been actively involved in various activities, announced its permanent withdrawal from the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki and regarded the Tohsaka household of Japan as an enemy that had brought shame upon the family.

In the same year, the Tohsaka patriarch, who had survived the Third Great Holy Grail War, married a foreign woman. Several years later, they had a son of Eurasian descent, named Tokiomi.

So, in a way, adopting Sakura into the Edelfelt family is a ritual of returning her to her rightful owner. The Edelfelt family will treat her like a precious gem, carefully nurturing and polishing her.

Although the Edelfelt family is known as the 'most beautiful hyenas in the world' because they appear wherever there is something good and fight tooth and nail to get it, they are actually quite upright in their dealings with others, and they use both overt and covert strategies in their competition.

Perhaps for this reason, their family lineage was chosen as one of the disciples by the righteous, tireless instructor, and also ruthless destroyer Second Magus Fearsome King of Mages.