The Disliked Black Grail

Justicia returned to her initial calm smile. "...Hehe, then I'll have to treat you properly. You're so persistent that I can hardly refuse you~ But all of that depends on you achieving final victory and standing before me alive to make your wish~ As for now, I'm afraid you'll have to stay here with me for a while~ Without a Master present, I imagine it will be very difficult for your Servant to win, won't it?"

Mo Li said, "Since I dared to come, naturally I made arrangements."

"My~ It seems you truly are a very special wish-maker. Since you're so special, if you lose, why not tell me your last words first? Perhaps I'll be kind enough to fulfill them for you~"

Mo Li smiled carefree. "Heh."

As for the others.

Iskandar watched the scene before him: himself riding modern armored vehicles, continuously conquering one region after another and slaughtering countless people from hostile nations. The longer he watched, the deeper his frown became.

At last, Iskandar sighed. "I may be the Conqueror King, and it is true that I pursue conquest, but recklessly chasing the conquest of everything like some arrogant wild dog, with nothing but conquest in mind—that is simply the wrong path!"

"Indeed, it would be more accurate to call it a path of slaughter. This is not conquest, nor is it the way of a king. If this is the conquest you mean to show me, then you truly are disappointing."

How could the path of the Conqueror King possibly be nothing but indiscriminate slaughter? This figure before him had killed everyone under heaven into submission, with nothing beyond killing. And that deserved to be called the Conqueror King?

Speechless, Iskandar broke free from the illusory world through his own will.

Kiritsugu Emiya, meanwhile, encountered the cruise ship dilemma that seemed specifically designed to oppose him. Although Mo Li had already told him about the Grail before they entered, he still could not help himself upon seeing it again.

After personally strangling the false wife and daughter created by Angra Mainyu, he too broke free from the illusion.

Irisviel had not entered the Grail. She merely waited outside for Kiritsugu Emiya to emerge. Along the way, she overheard the conversation between Ritsuka Fujimaru, Mash Kyrielight, and Medea. Though curious, she did not go over to chat with the girls.

Hassan of the Hundred Faces also left the illusion in great disappointment. The Hassan of the Hundred Faces shown to her by the illusory world had indeed become unified, leaving only one personality. But hilariously, the personality left behind after the fusion was not her primary personality; all the personalities had merged into an entirely new one. That was not what she wanted.

Artoria stared at the scene the Black Grail showed her in utter disbelief. The king had not changed—it was simply that she had become bloodthirsty and violent, killing every problem cleanly away while it was still only beginning to emerge, leaving the world in peace.

As long as she killed early enough, Britain during the reign of the King of Knights would never fall!

"This damn Grail..." Artoria broke free from the illusion in exasperation. That was not the future she wanted.

It could be said that no one could easily accept the illusions of the Black Holy Grail.

The only reason was that the Grail had not yet amassed a vast amount of magical energy, and All the World's Evil had not fully manifested. Otherwise, the scenes they witnessed would have been far more infuriating. But if it truly came to that, they certainly would not have time to care about the Grail's illusions. With so many people gathered here, they could basically be considered caught in the Black Grail's net all at once.

The Greater Grail was still in the stage of storing magical energy. It had not reached the stage where it would materialize and begin to enact the Third Magic Heaven's Feel, so All the World's Evil had not yet flowed out through the opening it created in the world—the substance commonly known as black mud.

For now, the inside of the Grail remained relatively calm. Medea still had to purify it. If everything had not been properly arranged, how could Mo Li possibly have rashly entered?

What Kayneth saw, meanwhile, were worlds where all manner of wishes had been fulfilled. He had entered merely to see what the so-called Third Magic Heaven's Feel could accomplish, but the result disappointed him greatly.

The Black Holy Grail itself could never produce a good outcome. Naturally, the illusion it displayed could not be what Kayneth truly wished to pursue, but only an ending twisted by malice.

It was not so easy to make use of the Black Holy Grail. After all, the one condition it would absolutely obey was that it would fulfill the wish-maker's wish no matter what. That was the only unshakable point. However, how it fulfilled that wish depended on what the Black Holy Grail chose to do.

Finding it dull, Kayneth broke free from the illusion in annoyance. "Truly disappointing. So it really is nothing more than a contest from some backwater place."

At the same time, Sola also left the illusion and remarked, "The illusion this Black Holy Grail showed me was truly low-class. A forced, obsessive outcome—far too ordinary."

Although the Black Grail was far inferior to Heaven's Feel, merely seeing the results of their wishes made everyone deeply disappointed in it.

Tokiomi Tohsaka looked at himself after reaching the Root, omnipotent and all-powerful, but offered no thoughts on it. He simply broke free from the illusion.

It was too ridiculous. While reaching the Root was indeed the pursuit of the Three Great Families, there had never been any record—at least among the Three Great Families—of someone reaching the Root and then returning. Much less returning as an omnipotent being who could do whatever he pleased in this world.

It could be said that the outcome displayed satisfied every beautiful fantasy of an ordinary person: omnipotence, doing whatever one pleased, ruling over all beneath heaven, and so on.

Yet the more it was like this, the more Tokiomi Tohsaka scoffed at it.

Something the Three Great Families had never even recorded or witnessed, yet a Grail created by the Three Great Families presented it so perfectly? That was difficult to believe.

Did it think people had no brains just because the scene was so full of temptation?

Then there was Caren. She merely did not want anything like what had happened in the church to happen around her again, and wanted to be properly together with Mo Li. That was all.

Seeing this, the one called Angra Mainyu simply kicked the little girl out of the Grail's illusion. What a joke! Was his power meant to be used to coax little girls?

He had to admit that what the girl had encountered back then was indeed very serious. Had Mo Li arrived any later, things would have been terrible. But why did such a matter need to be laid before Angra Mainyu?

Couldn't a brat just go home and enjoy the good life of having been saved? Why did she have to appear before him?!

Thus, everyone who had come to watch, whether human or Heroic Spirit, withdrew from the illusory world.

Iskandar noticed something strange. "Huh? We're all out. Where's Mo Li? Logically, he should have been the first one out."

Medea said, "Mo Li said that if he met an old acquaintance inside, he would come out a little later. If he encountered Angra Mainyu, he would come out immediately. But even if he did not meet that old acquaintance, he still needed to make some things clear before leaving. All right, since you have all seen what you pursue, leave this place for now. I'm going to begin purifying the Grail."

Irisviel said, "I want to stay and see Heaven's Feel after it has been purified."

Medea said, "Mm, that's fine. The process will be fairly quick anyway. The preparations were completed long ago."

Artoria asked, "Irisviel? Are you sure you want to stay and watch?"

Irisviel looked at Justicia's statue within Heaven's Feel. "Yes. This is the Grail pursued by our Einzbern Family. If I cannot see it purified and restored to the original Third Magic Heaven's Feel with my own eyes, I won't be at ease."

"...All right. Then I'll stay here with you." After saying that, Artoria glanced at those already heading out. Virtually no one felt any attachment to this place.

Artoria looked at the third party staying behind. "Conqueror King?"

Iskandar came back to his senses from his thoughts and said, "Ah, I'm leaving as well. I need to prepare outside for my own challenge. This Grail is indeed extremely unreliable right now. We'll still have to trouble Mo Li to resolve its problems. Speaking of which, King of Knights, what is your challenge?"

Artoria said, "Mine? It's actually rather similar to Diarmuid the Lancer's."

"So you're another one proficient in martial arts? How troubling... Well then, I'll be taking my leave first." With that, Iskandar turned and departed.

"Mm." Watching the other party leave, Artoria turned to Mash. "If I heard right, your name is Mash, correct?"

"Ah? Yes! That's me!" Mash immediately replied. Though she had no idea why the King of Knights had singled her out, it looked like she had something to say.

Artoria said, "Since we have nothing to do while Medea purifies the Holy Grail, I'll teach you how to fight—and how to properly use that shield."

Mash was startled. "We're fighting now? Here? Won't it affect the Holy Grail?"

Ritsuka Fujimaru, standing nearby, was worried as well.

Senior Mo was still inside the Holy Grail. If anything happened, that would be disastrous.

Artoria knew what she was worried about and said with a smile, "Don't worry. We won't use mana or abilities. We'll simply spar with martial skill—sword against shield. I'll teach you how to fight."

"Is that so? All right!" Mash stepped forward with her shield and said to Artoria, "Mash Kyrielight is now seeking instruction from Senior King of Knights! Please teach me well!"

"Ha! All right, take this!" Artoria swung her sword at Mash.

Nearby, Medea, busy purifying the Black Grail, merely glanced over before no longer paying them any mind.

Irisviel came to Ritsuka Fujimaru's side and asked with a smile, "You aren't participants in the Holy Grail War, are you? Why did you get involved?"

Ritsuka Fujimaru said helplessly, "We didn't want to either. If not for the accident, we wouldn't have come to Senior Mo's place. He's the only person we know here, so naturally, we could only follow him. But after some time—probably once the Holy Grail War ends—we should be heading back."

Irisviel said, "If you can return sooner, then you should do so as quickly as possible. If nothing unexpected had happened in the Holy Grail War, it would probably be very dangerous by now."