At that glance, Artoria vaguely sensed some malice and could not help demanding:
"What deal did you make with Caster?"
Kiritsugu Emiya looked away. As he pondered whether to tell her the truth, Nero suddenly spoke:
"I will heal his wife. In exchange, you will compete with me fairly."
"I see."
Artoria quietly breathed a sigh of relief. At least it was not an order forcing her to surrender outright.
Unexpectedly, Kiritsugu Emiya had done something good.
"Fine, come on!"
As soon as she spoke, she gripped her invisible sword tightly and assumed a fighting stance.
Seeing this, Nero smiled.
"It is not a fight. I do not like fighting, so we will compete by singing."
"What? I refuse."
"You have no right to refuse."
Nero chuckled and turned to Kiritsugu Emiya.
"Sorry, Saber."
Kiritsugu Emiya lowered his head slightly, raised his Command Seal, and shouted:
"By Command Seal, I order you, Saber: compete with Nero by singing. The loser must give up the Holy Grail."
After using a Command Seal, he left the Colosseum without looking back.
"Damn bastard!"
Artoria gritted her teeth as she watched Kiritsugu Emiya's retreating back, desperately wanting to stab him from behind.
Nero looked Artoria up and down, then said with a smile:
"King Arthur, who looks exactly like me, I admit that your military strategy surpasses mine. But if we are competing in art, I absolutely will not lose."
Artoria fell silent for several seconds before looking up and asking:
"How will we determine the winner? Surely you cannot simply decide whoever you say wins?"
"Simple! Once we have both finished singing, Kariya and Lancelot will vote by raising their hands. Whoever they say wins, wins."
"If they disagree, then it will be impossible to determine a victor, will it not?"
"Do not worry. I already considered that possibility. So we will add three more people: Kiritsugu Emiya, Irisviel, and Taiga Fujimura, who is carrying her around looking for a doctor."
Artoria immediately began calculating in secret.
Nero had two kinds of singing. One was exceptionally good, heavenly even. The other was exceptionally terrible, utterly tone-deaf.
Looking at it this way, she probably had a fifty-percent chance.
Among the five voters, Irisviel and Lancelot would definitely choose her.
That limping man, meanwhile, would most likely choose Nero.
That meant the final key would be Taiga Fujimura and Kiritsugu Emiya.
She did not know Taiga Fujimura, so she would set her aside for now. But Kiritsugu Emiya would certainly not give up the Holy Grail so easily.
If she had a chance to win, he surely would not hesitate to support her.
Three out of five. The odds were high—almost certain.
"Fine, but I demand that you heal Illya first."
"No problem," Nero said with a smile.
At that moment, both sides believed they had excellent odds of winning. They were practically certain of victory.
Aoi Tohsaka, who had been searching everywhere for Kariya Matou in hopes of asking about Sakura's situation in the Matou family, suddenly caught a faint scent of blood and unconsciously stopped walking.
Sniff, sniff...!
Following the scent step by step, she entered an alley by the roadside.
The next moment, a scream rang out. Aoi Tohsaka stood frozen, her whole body swaying as though she might collapse.
She braced herself against the wall, staring fixedly at the corpse in the distance, unable to believe what she was seeing.
Her husband, who had always worn such a confident expression, was gone just like that?
What was she supposed to do, left alone from now on?
About ten minutes later, Kiritsugu Emiya ran into the Colosseum with his wife on his back.
Beside him was Taiga Fujimura, who looked like a high school girl.
"Your Majesty Nero, please save Illya."
"Do not worry. I will begin at once."
The crimson longsword in Nero's right hand instantly transformed into a ball of red flame floating above her palm.
She lowered her head and gazed at it reluctantly for a while. Then, with a soft sigh, she pressed her left hand against Irisviel's chest.
A flash of golden light appeared, and a beating heart emerged in her palm before instantly turning into a cube.
She slowly extended her right hand. The flame immediately became a red beam of light and entered Irisviel's body.
In the blink of an eye, Irisviel, who had already lost all signs of life, slowly opened her eyes.
At the same time, the powerful sound of a heartbeat came from her chest.
In just a few seconds, her body had fully recovered.
"My Primal Fire is the strongest magical Noble Phantasm. Even after becoming your heart, it retains its original functions. Use it well from now on."
Lying in Kiritsugu Emiya's arms, Irisviel looked back and forth among the people around her before her gaze unconsciously stopped on Nero's left palm.
"That is... an incomplete Lesser Grail?"
"That is right. Once two more Servants die, it will descend."
"Why am I still alive?"
"I used a magical Noble Phantasm to replace your heart and saved you."
"Thank you."
Irisviel lowered her head slightly, then turned to Taiga Fujimura.
"After I fainted, I was saved thanks to your help. Thank you very much!"
"No... no need to thank me." Taiga Fujimura secretly glanced at Kiritsugu Emiya and cautiously asked, "Are you Mr. Emiya's wife?"
"That is right."
In an instant, Irisviel understood what she was thinking and smiled unconsciously.
However, she truly had no time to tease an underage girl at a moment like this.
"Your Majesty Nero, what do you plan to do about the remaining two Servants?"
"Hmm... Assassin is the only lone Servant left."
Nero chuckled as her gaze swept over Artoria and Lancelot.
Lancelot immediately stepped forward and volunteered:
"In that case, please permit me to take my own life."
"My Lord Lancelot, it has not come to that yet." Artoria could not help interrupting. "What exactly happens will depend on the result of my competition with Nero."
Lancelot answered with silence. As King Arthur's knight, he desperately wanted to tell her that everyone present supported Nero, and the competition's outcome had already been decided.
But he simply could not say it.
Besides, he still held onto a faint hope.
As long as Nero sang like she had in her first song, the King would definitely win.
"Let us begin the competition, Nero," Artoria said again.
"Fine. Shall I go first?"
"Yes, you first."
Artoria nodded slightly, thinking seriously:
If Nero sings like she did in her second song, I must give it my all.
But ever since becoming King, I have not sung at all. I am somewhat rusty.
In any case, I still hope she sings like she did in her first song.
"I am about to begin."
Nero smiled slightly and began singing once more.
The first line was perfectly normal—practically flawless.
However, the second line took a sharp turn for the worse, with every word wildly off-key.
By the third and fourth lines, and all the way through the rest of the song, it had become a Gian concert.
"I have finished singing. Now it is your turn to perform."
"Mm."
Artoria nodded slightly, unable to stop herself from thinking:
Looks like I have this won.
This competition is a little unfair.
Still, that is fine. It will save me some effort.
Artoria sang a nursery rhyme. Her voice was not particularly beautiful, merely decent and unremarkable. Yet paired with her dignified expression, it created an excellent visual effect.
When the song ended, Artoria asked somewhat nervously:
"How was it?"
Nero began applauding first, then smiled at Kariya Matou.
"Kariya, you go first."
"Yes!" Kariya Matou answered without hesitation. "Naturally, the victor is Your Majesty Nero!"
The moment he finished speaking, he activated a Command Seal and spoke again:
"By Command Seal, I order you, Lancelot: say the same thing as me."
"What?"
At that moment, Lancelot did not dare look Artoria in the eyes. His heart was filled with regret.
If he had known Kariya would use a Command Seal, he should have declared his support for the King immediately.
As long as he had spoken quickly enough, Kariya would not have been able to stop him.
In the end, he could only grit his teeth and say unwillingly:
"Naturally, the victor is Your Majesty Nero!"