A Knife Against a Command Spell / Terrifying

Although this Holy Grail was a replica, its core remained largely unchanged. As the former Lesser Holy Grail, Irisviel could naturally sense that one Servant had already left the stage.

While still in Japan, she only sensed that something was 'missing,' but after arriving on this land, Irisviel was almost certain! Before the Holy Grail War had even officially begun, a Servant had already officially left the stage.

"???????????????????"

Mikaela looked completely bewildered. He thought Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel were joking, but upon closer inspection, he realized, "Who would joke about something like this?!"

"Really... dead??" Mikaela's voice was clearly filled with shock.

The Holy Grail War hasn't even fully begun yet, and Matou Zouken, one of the Master, is already dead? I can't believe it!

"Yes." Emiya Kiritsugu nodded, and said with some helplessness, "The death of Matou Zouken is not a good thing. Because he died prematurely and the Holy Grail War has not officially started, his Master position is very likely to be taken by someone else."

"?????????"

At this moment, Mikaela was bewildered more times than during the Fourth Holy Grail War. Sure enough, after stepping out of the 'script,' everything became unfamiliar.

For example, what Emiya Kiritsugu said at this moment, that after Matou Zouken's death, there would be someone else who could take over his Master position, left Mikaela speechless for a moment.

Okay, he admits that his original 70% confidence was a joke. Under the bombardment of information from Emiya Kiritsugu, Mikaela felt that he only had a 40% chance of success.

"Ahem." Seemingly noticing Mikaela's bewildered expression, Irisviel coughed a few times, suppressing her laughter, and said, "After all, the Holy Grail War has not officially begun. Command Seal and Servant are merely tickets to the Holy Grail War. If the person holding the ticket 'disappears' due to various accidents, the Holy Grail will naturally choose someone else."

"So, Matou Zouken has Command Seal and has summoned Servant, but he didn't live to see the Holy Grail War officially begin, so does that mean we need to select someone else to participate in the Holy Grail War?" Mikaela finally understood.

Emiya Kiritsugu and said calmly, "That's about right. So right now we need to be careful of that 'unknown Master '."

Chapter 154 The Slashing Command Seal

What is this thing?

While on a plane, Ryougi Shiki felt something on her hand. Looking down, she discovered something resembling a tattoo.

"??????" Ryougi Shiki was extremely puzzled. When did this thing appear on her? Could it be that someone wanted to curse her to death?

Thinking of this, a bluish iridescent light appeared in Ryougi Shiki's eyes.

Asagami Fujino, who was sitting next to Ryougi Shiki, seemed to be getting a little nervous because of the other party's actions. Her eyes were also slightly red, as if she was ready to fight.

Although she had only fought once, that one battle was enough for her to gain control over a portion of the power of her eyes.

Even with just that portion of power, it's enough to easily kill an 'ordinary person,' something Asagami Fujino knows all too well.

The plane was completely quiet at that moment. Although a small number of people were whispering, there was no sense of 'killing intent' spreading in the air.

Asagami Fujino, after observing the surroundings, saw Ryougi Shiki pull out a small knife from somewhere and quickly said, "I haven't found any enemies, Shiki, don't get agitated."

"Hmm... The enemy isn't on the plane, but is using Magecraft on me remotely. I don't know what it is, but I don't think it's anything good. It's better to get rid of it as soon as possible."

Ryougi Shiki naturally knew that there were no enemies on the plane, because if there were, they would have jumped out and attacked them while she was 'cursed'.

"Remote control Magecraft?" Asagami Fujino didn't know much about this. She had only been with Garan no Dou for two weeks. Although she had helped Ryougi Shiki exorcise spirits along the way, when it came to Magecraft... she was really an idiot.

"Watch your surroundings, I'll remove this thing first." Ryougi Shiki stared at the Command Seal in her hand, and with a slight flick of her dagger, she cut the two lines on the Command Seal.

Seemingly deprived of magical power, the red Command Seal slowly dissipated.

"It seems they weren't particularly difficult to deal with." Ryougi Shiki smiled slightly, clearly satisfied with the Command Seal dissipating.

"That..."

Beside Ryougi Shiki, Asagami Fujino looked somewhat troubled. She held out her small hand for Ryougi Shiki to see and asked hesitantly, "What... is this?"

On Asagami Fujino's small hand, bright red Command Seal were clearly imprinted.

"Whoosh—!!"

The knife sliced Asagami Fujino's hand, Command Seal disappeared silently from her hand. However, the next second, the Command Seal was in Ryougi Shiki's hand again.

It was as if the person who cast the spell was at odds with Asagami Fujino Ryougi Shiki.

Ryougi Shiki fell silent. She seemed to have underestimated her opponent. She looked at Asagami Fujino and said calmly, "After we get off the plane, let's take pictures and show them to Touko. I have her private email address."

"Kindness..."

Asagami Fujino didn't ask why Mikaela Ryougi Shiki hadn't told Mikaela that she had Touko's email address when she called earlier.

"So, your current state is rather delicate?" Emiya Kiritsugu fell into deep thought. He looked at Mikaela with a cigarette in his mouth and said helplessly, "Using the Lesser Holy Grail as a second heart is indeed a good idea, but your magical power is simply not enough for normal combat."

Emiya Kiritsugu, who knew Mikaela inside and out, was well aware of just how terrifyingly powerful the opponent's mana consumption was!

Even Emiya Kiritsugu suspected that the reason the Lesser Holy Grail didn't immediately unleash its 'malice' after all six Servant had left the stage during the Fourth Holy Grail War was probably because it had been drained of its full potential by Mikaela.

Emiya Kiritsugu didn't really think that the magical power accumulated over just three years would be enough to make Mikaela unleash her true abilities.

"Pretty much, but I'm quite satisfied with this condition." Mikaela didn't think there was anything wrong with this condition; it was perfectly fine for combat.

As long as no one of Gilgamesh's caliber appears in this Holy Grail War, then Mikaela has nothing to fear!

"I see..." Emiya Kiritsugu glanced at Irisviel with some difficulty.

Even Irisviel knew very well that without the support of a large amount of magic power, Mikaela could not unleash her true strength and obtain a large amount of magic power in a short period of time.

Alternatively, we could find a Mana Furnace specifically to supply magic to Mikaela.

Alternatively, they could use a large-scale Magecraft to inject the magic power from the ley lines into the Lesser Holy Grail within Mikaela's body.

The former is impossible. Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel don't have that much money. They simply can't be as wealthy and powerful as Kayneth, who could directly bring in three Mana Furnace to provide magic power for his Magic Workshop and his Servant.

The latter is even more troublesome. Large-scale Magecraft cannot be created overnight. If Emiya Kiritsugu had known about Mikaela's existence earlier, he might have had a way...

But now, that's unlikely.

"Aila-chan, I'll sleep with you tonight." Irisviel smiled and said gently, "We haven't talked in a long time, let's have a good chat tonight."

"... There will be plenty of time to talk in the days to come, there's no need to rush."

Mikaela shook her head, rejecting Irisviel's suggestion. She looked at Emiya Kiritsugu and said calmly, "Have you prepared the Holy Relic?"

"No." Emiya Kiritsugu said in a somber tone, puffing on his cigarette. "We are also short of mana. We don't plan to use Holy Relic to summon Servant. Instead, we hope to summon Servant based on our own affinity."

"Affinity summoning? Same as me." Mikaela wasn't too surprised.

Emiya Kiritsugu's actions were within his expectations. If he used the scabbard to summon Artoria, then Emiya Kiritsugu would be a complete idiot.

Knowing full well that in this Holy Grail War, the Holy Grail will not allocate much magical energy to the Servant in the mortal world, and that most of the magical energy expenditure will be provided by the Master.

Summoning Servant Artoria's caliber would consume an astronomical amount of mana, not even counting the mana cost of releasing the Noble Phantasm 'Excalibur'.

"We lack magic power, we all lack magic power." Emiya Kiritsugu out his cigarette again and said calmly, "Therefore, we need magic power, lots of magic power..."

"Is this alright?" Mikaela understood what Emiya Kiritsugu meant. He said in a somewhat indifferent tone, "I don't care about mana consumption. My goal is not the Holy Grail."

"I need the Holy Grail 'core'. We want to save that child. I will act in secret, just like in the Fourth Holy Grail War ... I will make Irisviel the apparent Master, and at the same time have her provide magical energy to the Servant."

Although he said he didn't care, how could Emiya Kiritsugu not care at this moment?

"...well."

Mikaela sighed. In the end, it was still a lack of magic power. At this moment, Irisviel was no longer the Lesser Holy Grail. Although she had twice as much magic power as an average Magecraft, it was only twice as much.

Chapter 155 Terrifying

"Splash splash splash~~~"

In the bathroom, the sound of running water could be heard softly. Mikaela waited quietly; he had already taken a shower and was now lying in bed.

To be honest, he could fully imagine what would happen next, and from the perspective of the opposite sex, he was not averse to these things.

Because no matter what, having a beautiful wife throw herself into your arms is something countless men dream of, but Mikaela couldn't be happy.

He did not refuse Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel, because he 'sense' that the two of them were prepared to pay any price to obtain the Holy Grail Core in order to save their daughter.

If simply Replenish Magic could grant them the Holy Grail, I believe Irisviel would be more than willing to offer her body to Mikaela for her.

After all, Replenish Magic is something that benefits both parties. As long as it's not particularly shameful, both parties will experience a significant increase in mana.

"Crunch."

The bathroom door slowly opened, Mikaela's body tensed up. He decided to play dead, since he couldn't open his eyes anyway, making him a complete "blind man"!

No matter how much Irisviel screams, he can just play dead; after all, things haven't gotten to that point yet.

If the enemy summons only weak Servant, Mikaela alone can probably wipe them out.

"Are you asleep?" Irisviel, wrapped in a bath towel with steam still rising from her body after a hot shower, looked at Mikaela, who was lying motionless on the bed with her eyes closed, and smiled gently.

As expected, just like three years ago, Aila-chan is a very gentle girl. She had already said that he didn't need to mind, and that it was her and Kiritsugu's decision.

"..."

Mikaela could sense Irisviel's emotions; she seemed happy, while Mikaela's own feelings were incredibly complex.

In this situation, how can you still be happy? Are you even a married woman?!

How can you face your husband and daughter?

Um... even though your husband cheated on you, and right in front of you, that's not important. What's important is... ah! Never mind!! Just pretend to be asleep!!

Mikaela, who thought she could take everything lightly, suddenly found that she couldn't calmly accept it all.

"What's wrong, Ella-chan?"

Irisviel approached Mikaela, wrapped in a bath towel, and looked at Mikaela with a smile as she looked at her closed eyes. She chuckled and said, "Where is your indifferent demeanor that used to be, able to ignore everything? Back then, you made me and Kiritsugu replenish our mana for more than ten hours. Now it's your turn, why are you pretending to be dead?"

Irisviel had initially had mixed feelings, but now that she saw Mikaela's 'pretending to be dead' act, she suddenly felt no more conflicted.

Instead, I started to feel a little happy! Is this still the same Aila-chan?! She's so cute!! I really want to torment her!!! Such a dark thought.

"..."

Mikaela felt she didn't need to speak anymore; she could just pretend to be asleep, since it was none of her business! Irisviel, if you want to speak, then speak.

I can say it's fine to stay up all night. Anyway, I can go five days without sleeping and my mental state is still as good as ever.

"Are you very resistant?" Suddenly, Irisviel changed the subject. She sat down next to Mikaela and said very gently, "You probably haven't experienced something like this before."

"Yes, even if you don't say it, I know... you're actually a boy with no experience."

Mikaela couldn't keep up the act any longer. He sat up and looked at Irisviel, saying, "Get some rest. You don't have to push yourself."

"Not pretending to be asleep anymore?" Irisviel said rather subtly when she saw that Mikaela had stopped pretending to be asleep. "I thought you were going to stay in bed until tomorrow morning."

Mikaela held up one finger and said very seriously, "First, if I want to sleep, I can force myself to fall asleep, but I'm afraid you might do something strange while I'm asleep."

"Secondly, I don't think you need to do this. You have your own family, and you love Kiritsugu very much. Although I look like a woman, you know what will happen if I really try to Replenish Magic."

Mikaela spoke very seriously, saying that Replenish Magic in the Type-Moon World is humanity's most primal desire.

To put it nicely, it's about exchanging magic; to put it bluntly, it's about exchanging bodily fluids without any limits.

Mikaela didn't object to the couple doing this; on the contrary, she felt it was a small pleasure in life and harmless.

Lovely Irisviel and Mikaela are not a couple; they are friends, or you could say best friends.

Who would have friends who sleep together?! This is utterly absurd!

"Aila-chan, you said you wanted to go home, right?" Irisviel maintained her gentle smile, softly stroking Mikaela's black and white hair, a hint of heartache flashing in her eyes.

During the Fourth Holy Grail War, Mikaela and Irisviel had already discussed this issue with each other.

Mikaela wants to return to her original world and to her real family, and the Holy Grail is essential for this goal.

Unfortunately... the Holy Grail was corrupted. Although Mikaela survived by sheer luck, his body never fully recovered. A child of only fifteen years old bore a weight that should not have been borne by someone his age.

This made Irisviel, overflowing with maternal love, want to heal Mikaela and make him consider this place his home.

However, in the Fourth Holy Grail War, there was simply no extra time for Irisviel to heal Mikaela's already somewhat weary heart.

"Yes, this is my ultimate goal. I'm willing to give anything for this wish." Mikaela nodded. He wanted to go home, back to his warm and peaceful little home.

"So, do we have a reason to 'use' each other?"

Irisviel gently embraced Mikaela, letting him nestle against her ample bosom, and whispered, "I want to save Illya. I need a lot of mana to prepare for the battle ahead. You need to go home and obtain a Servant's Spirit Origin in this Holy Grail War."

Mikaela, buried deep within Irisviel's heart, remained silent, unsure of what to say.

"You... don't regret it."

Mikaela raised his head and slowly opened his eyes. Although he couldn't see anything at the moment, it didn't mean he couldn't open his eyelids.

"How beautiful." Looking at Mikaela's dim eyes, Irisviel reached out and placed her hand on the other's delicate face, seemingly praising her spirit, or perhaps praising her appearance.