Seeing the Holy Grail

To Iskandar, the Grail was merely something he needed to grant himself a second life. But if he got screwed over because he needed the Grail, that would be far too embarrassing.

As Mo Li steered the conversation elsewhere, everyone else simply turned their attention to the Servants. Given the current situation, they were the main characters.

Lancer Diarmuid spoke first. "My challenge is simple. Challenge me with force, and we shall have a battle of honor. When it comes to martial skill, I am confident that I am inferior to none present."

Artoria asked, "Before that, I would like to know what standard will determine victory or defeat. It will be difficult for us to fight without injuring one another."

"We have naturally prepared for that. Medea, hand them the items."

Medea took out several talismans and distributed them among the Heroic Spirits. "The magical energy contained within them will form protective barriers. They can ensure your survival so long as you do not suffer an attack involving a released Noble Phantasm. If you determine that you cannot block your opponent's attack, simply activate this talisman. But likewise, once you activate the barrier, it means you have admitted defeat."

Gilgamesh toyed with the talisman in his hand. "This is somewhat interesting. However, I do not believe any of you are capable of challenging me, so I shall not set any trial. I will reluctantly deign to participate in your little games instead."

Treating everyone else's challenges as little games was truly arrogance without limits. It immediately drew glares from the Heroic Spirits; this fellow simply did not take any of them seriously.

Even Romani was left speechless by Golden Flash's outrageously provocative behavior.

Mo Li said, "By the way, the Grail's magical energy does not necessarily require you to die in battle. Strictly speaking, it only needs sufficient magical energy. It does not necessarily require the deaths of five Heroic Spirits. So long as there is enough magical energy, all seven Heroic Spirits can survive together. It is simply that Fuyuki City's Grail system is far from capable of providing such an enormous supply of magical energy, which is why at least five Servants must die before it can be activated."

Kirei Kotomine was somewhat surprised. "The Holy Grail War does not necessarily require Servants to die?"

Mo Li replied, "Right. The Grail obtained by the winner of the Holy Grail War is actually nothing more than a vessel for storing the souls of dead Servants. It is also a necessary device for stabilizing the magical energy passage between Heaven's Feel and the present world, thereby accomplishing the Third Magic. As long as there is enough magical energy, it can be activated. Under normal circumstances, the Servant souls stored in the Grail are converted into magical energy."

Mo Li was not making this up. During the Fourth War, Artoria and Golden Flash were the only ones left, yet the Grail had already begun spewing black mud. In the remade Fifth War, Artoria had not died, Archer had faked his death, and Sasaki Kojiro was still guarding the mountain gate, yet that Grail had already begun spewing black mud.

Furthermore, in the Fate/Apocrypha Worldline with Jeanne d'Arc, Shiro Kotomine simply entered the Grail after seizing it. Not long afterward, he made his wish directly, while the Heroic Spirits had not even all died yet.

It purely depended on the amount of magical energy available.

If Servants truly had to die to accumulate magical energy, then according to the setting, the death of King of Heroes Gilgamesh would be worth several Servants. Conservatively speaking, he could account for at least three. Thus, if he left the stage, three additional Heroic Spirits could survive.

Moreover, the Greater Grail could be forcibly activated. Even if there was not enough magical energy for all the Servants to die, smaller-scale wishes—wishes that did not demand changes to the world itself—could be fulfilled by forcibly activating the Greater Grail.

Which Heroic Spirits could ultimately survive depended entirely on their own wishes, their Masters' wishes, and how much magical energy the Grail had at the time. There was no need to slaughter one another until only the last one remained. Servants were merely the Grail's power banks.

Of course, in a normal Holy Grail War, five Servants would generally die. All seven dying would also be fine. It entirely depended on the scale of wish one wanted. If one did not consider enormous world-level wishes, then based on the events of Carnival, it was entirely possible for no Servants to die at all.

As for the Grail itself, once it had absorbed five dead Heroic Spirits, it would begin its self-activation process if no one forcibly activated it first.

One could refer to FZ and the FZ collaboration for that point; both the depictions and explanations had made it very clear.

For the Three Great Families, the Grail's primary purpose was to use the hole opened by Servant souls returning to the Heroic Spirit Throne, stabilize that hole with magical energy, and explore the Root. A vast amount of magical energy would be obtained during the process. If one did not intend to pursue the Root, that enormous magical energy could still fulfill most wishes.

Diarmuid was moved by this. "The souls of Heroic Spirits who die in battle are converted into magical energy? That is truly frightening!"

Mo Li patiently explained, "You are not your true bodies. You are merely a fragment of true spiritual will sent by your true selves in response to the summons. Using you up has no effect on your true bodies. If it directly devoured your true souls, the big shots behind you would have smashed this Holy Grail War to pieces long ago."

That was right. None of the Servants possessed their true souls. Their true selves sat high in the Hall of Heroes. Even Artoria's true body was still at the moment just after the Battle of Camlann ended; what was here was merely a fragment of true spiritual will.

Iskandar smiled. "Even so, that is still quite frightening."

Irisviel suddenly looked at Berserker Lancelot, who sat quietly in the last seat. "That Berserker... does he have a wish?"

Mo Li answered calmly, "His wish has already been fulfilled. Lady Irisviel, neither Caren nor I have any wish that requires reliance on the Grail. Furthermore, Medea and Berserker Lancelot's wishes are also very simple. We are not participating in this Holy Grail War because what we desire is not that extravagant."

Hearing this, Irisviel sighed. "It is clearly an omnipotent wish-granting machine, yet it is always being rejected."

Mo Li shook his head slightly. "It is merely a half-baked wish-granting machine. Since everyone is here now, I will first show you the polluted Black Grail. Its magical energy is currently insufficient, so it cannot be activated even if someone wants to activate it. At most, it can only tempt people. Who wants to take a look?"

Kayneth said, "I would like to see it. If such a product as a Magic could truly be nurtured in a place this small, I believe it would be sufficiently shocking."

Sola, who had not said a word until then, finally spoke as well. "I would also like to see that Grail, Kayneth. I will go with you."

Kiritsugu Emiya, who had been silent for a long time, seemed to have regained his composure. He said steadily, "I would also like to see this Grail."

Gilgamesh said indifferently, "I have no interest in that sort of half-baked wish-granting machine."

Iskandar said seriously, "I want to see that omnipotent wish-granting machine too. Perhaps you do not need it, but I very much want a second life."

Artoria said, "I would like to take a look as well."

Diarmuid said, "My own wish does not require the Grail, but for my lord's safety, I must accompany him."

Kirei Kotomine had been thinking since earlier, but in the end, he gave up. "The Grail is not something indispensable to me either. Hassan, if you wish to see that Grail, go on your own."

Hassan of the Hundred Faces said in a muffled voice, "That Grail was identified as an ominous object from the very beginning. Even I would not dare place my trust in such a thing. Still, there is indeed a need to see it in person."

Ritsuka Fujimaru quietly asked Mo Li, "Um... Senior Mo, could the Third Magic Heaven's Feel help us?"

"Clearly not. Do not think too much about it. Your problem is far beyond what a single Third Magic Heaven's Feel can solve."

Mo Li's words left Ritsuka Fujimaru somewhat disappointed.

Romani said, "Since you are going to see the Grail, we will not disturb you any longer. Ritsuka Fujimaru, Mash, be careful."

Ritsuka Fujimaru and Mash Kyrielight answered at the same time, "Okay."

Mo Li said, "Remember to receive the supplies the day after tomorrow."

Romani replied, "All right."

Chaldea's communication was cut off.

Mo Li rose to his feet. "Everyone, if you wish to witness the polluted Grail as it is now, follow me."

The Grail was in this Great Hollow. Though it had been hidden away, Medea could easily make the Greater Grail appear.

Aside from a very few people, everyone followed close behind. Even Ritsuka Fujimaru and Mash Kyrielight came along.

Kirei Kotomine looked at Waver Velvet. "What? You came to take part in the Holy Grail War, yet you're not going to see the Grail?"

Waver looked somewhat embarrassed. "I didn't come for the Grail..."

He couldn't exactly say that, in a fit of anger, he had stolen his teacher's Holy Relic and come here to prove himself. That would be far too embarrassing.

Kirei Kotomine paused, then found it amusing. "Is that so? I thought a young man like you would harbor great ambitions. I never expected that even you wouldn't need the Grail. Do you not know what wish you want to make?"

Waver looked at the motionless Lancelot. "An all-powerful wish-granting device is certainly nice, but I haven't figured out what my true wish is. Rather than not knowing my wish, it's more like I'm not even sure what I want to wish for. I do want everyone's recognition, but when it comes to something as weighty as a wish, I really can't be certain right now."

"You're not even sure what wish you want... Hmph." Kirei Kotomine saw a glimpse of his own past in Waver. He, too, had once been deeply lost.

"Yeah..."

Mo Li's group arrived inside the Great Hollow.

Ritsuka Fujimaru marveled, "I didn't expect the inside of this mountain to be hollow."

Mo Li said, "For the sake of the Grail, hollowing out a mountain to use as a hiding place is perfectly normal. Medea, summon the Grail."

"Okay, okay, I'm summoning it." Medea waved her staff. Without needing to chant, vast amounts of magical energy surged forth as she began summoning the Greater Grail hidden within this area.

Concealing the Greater Grail also involved spatial magecraft. Even if an ordinary person happened to stumble into the Great Hollow by chance, they still would not be able to see the Greater Grail.