Chapter Summaries

Duke accepted Lancelot’s limits regarding King Arthur and prepared for the Holy Grail War as the other Masters summoned their Servants. The next morning, Duke made an imitation Underworld Armor and sent Lancelot to locate the final Servant so they could target an enemy first.

• Duke asked whether Lancelot could fight King Arthur, and Lancelot admitted he might be unable to win for his Master if they met.
• Duke examined Lancelot’s formidable parameters and restored the lifespan Matou Kariya had lost to magecraft.
• Kiritsugu Emiya summoned Artoria Pendragon, Tohsaka Tokiomi summoned Gilgamesh, Kayneth summoned Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, Waver summoned Iskandar, and Kirei Kotomine summoned Hassan-i Sabbah.
• Lancelot prepared breakfast for Sakura, who declined his attempt to rub her hair and asked him to summon Duke to eat.
• Duke finished enchanting an imitation Underworld Armor while Sakura waited, then explained that Lancelot should find the final Servant and help eliminate an enemy first.
• Lancelot worried about leaving Duke unprotected, but Duke told him the clinic was his Magecraft Workshop and sent him to gather intelligence.

On the second day of the Holy Grail War, Duke learned that Assassin had supposedly been killed, but Lancelot doubted the report. Duke then disguised himself as an aged mage named Erik Gandalf and ordered Lancelot to pose as his Master while he gathered intelligence.

• Sakura told Duke that her familiar had seen Assassin's corpse, and Lancelot argued that the report was probably false because Assassin could hide with Presence Concealment.
• Duke reassured Sakura that Assassin was no threat to Lancelot and praised Lancelot, who became eager to prove himself in battle.
• Duke ordered Lancelot to stay behind and act as the Master while Duke went out disguised as a Servant, threatening him with a Command Spell when Lancelot objected.
• Duke used Life Return to age his appearance and told Lancelot to call him Erik Gandalf.
• Duke claimed that Gandalf was a melee-focused mage and boasted that he had beaten Lu Bu, leaving Lancelot bewildered.

Duke rode his Nightmare Steed to Fuyuki Harbor after sensing Lancer's challenge, while Lancelot stayed behind to protect Sakura. Saber and Lancer began a fierce duel as the other Masters and Servants watched, with Kiritsugu and Maiya searching for Lancer's Master.

• Duke ordered Lancelot to guard Sakura, then summoned his Nightmare Steed and rode toward the harbor.
• Saber and Lancer met openly at Fuyuki Harbor, identified each other's classes, and prepared to fight without revealing their names.
• Saber concealed Excalibur as the True Unseen Sword, and she and Lancer began exchanging attacks that damaged containers, concrete, and streetlamps.
• Iskandar watched the duel from a distant bridge with his Master and queen.
• Kiritsugu Emiya and Maiya Hisau watched from separate positions and searched for Lancer's Master.

Kiritsugu Emiya and other observers watched as Duke arrived openly at the harbor battlefield, where Saber and Lancer paused their duel to acknowledge him. Lancer then revealed his Noble Phantasm’s ability to sever magical energy, leaving Saber’s defenses ineffective.

• Kiritsugu Emiya spotted Assassin and a mysterious mounted Servant, while Maiya Hisau reported that the Servant had noticed her too.
• Duke rode his Nightmare Steed into the battlefield, drawing attention from Assassin, Rider, Kiritsugu Emiya, Saber, and Lancer.
• Duke assured Saber and Lancer that he had come for an honorable duel, and Lancer resumed the fight by revealing his long spear.
• Lancer’s spear dispelled Saber’s Invisible Air and pierced through her magical armor, though Irisviel healed her wound.
• Saber deduced that Lancer’s Noble Phantasm severed magical energy, and Lancer confirmed that her magical defenses could not stop it.

Saber and Lancer’s duel ended in a stalemate after Lancer wounded Saber with Gae Buidhe, but Rider’s dramatic arrival interrupted their fight. Rider and Duke both revealed their identities, leaving everyone stunned by Duke’s claim to be Erik Gandalf, the first mage of Middle-earth.

• Saber discarded her magical armor and charged at Lancer, who used a feigned stumble to lure her into a trap with Gae Buidhe.
• Saber dodged a fatal strike but suffered a cursed wrist wound, while Lancer recognized her as the King of Knights and she identified him as Diarmuid Ua Duibhne.
• A lightning-wreathed chariot arrived between Saber and Lancer, and Rider ordered them to sheathe their weapons.
• Rider announced that he was Iskandar, King of Conquerors, and Waver protested that he had exposed his true name.
• Rider challenged Duke to reveal his identity, and Duke declared himself Erik Gandalf, the first mage of Middle-earth and a Berserker.

Duke, a fictional Heroic Spirit from Middle-earth, explained his unusual Berserker class and revealed that his Noble Phantasm let him identify Servants and see through magic. After exposing Irisviel’s secret, he rejected Rider’s invitation to conquer Middle-earth and challenged the gathered Servants to attack him together.

• Rider and Waver questioned why Duke, who claimed to be a mage, had descended as a Berserker, and Duke explained that he preferred fighting with heavy weapons.
• Duke said he was a fictional Heroic Spirit from Middle-earth and claimed his All-Seeing Eye revealed Servants’ true names and legends; he proved it by identifying the concealed Assassin as Hassan-i Sabbah.
• Duke examined Irisviel and told Saber that Irisviel was not her Master and was not a woman in the true sense, leaving Irisviel pale and Saber alarmed.
• Rider invited Duke to join him in conquering Middle-earth, but Duke rejected the proposal as tyrannical.
• Rider decided that Duke had to be eliminated, and Duke invited everyone to attack him together.

Duke and Lancer fought fiercely, with Duke overwhelming the spear-wielding Servant until Rider charged into their battle on his Divine Chariot. Duke stood his ground and prepared to stop the chariot, declaring that he would not yield the road.

• Duke forged a golden war spear with Alchemy: Transmutation Array and attacked Lancer, overpowering him with superior speed and strength.
• Lancer fought beyond his limits and wounded his lower abdomen while narrowly surviving Duke’s attack.
• Rider judged that Lancer was close to defeat and decided to charge into the fight with his Divine Chariot, despite Waver’s confusion and fear.
• Lancer jumped clear as Rider’s chariot entered the battlefield, but Duke planted his feet and let his spear crumble into golden dust.
• Duke faced the charging chariot and declared, "A mere ox cart dares demand that I yield the road!!"

Duke stopped Rider’s Divine Chariot and endured its lightning attack without injury, earning the other heroes’ admiration for his scars and courage. Rider’s taunt drew Archer into the open, where Duke identified him as Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, and the heroes’ mockery enraged him.

• Rider charged Duke with his Divine Chariot, but Duke halted the bulls and ramhead with his bare hands.
• Divine Chariot struck Duke with chain lightning, which destroyed his armor but left him unharmed.
• Duke’s scars impressed Rider, Lancer, Saber, and Irisviel, while Rider praised his valor.
• Rider challenged the heroes hiding nearby, and Gilgamesh appeared atop a streetlamp as Archer.
• Duke identified Archer as Gilgamesh, prompting Rider and the others to mock him until he angrily confronted Duke.

At the harbor, Archer attacked Duke with Gate of Babylon, but Duke evaded the barrage and revealed his ability to restore his youth. Duke summoned Frostmourne and Fire's Delight and challenged Archer, who unleashed another storm of Noble Phantasms.

• At Tohsaka Residence, Tokiomi worried that Archer's revealed identity and Assassin's survival would drive the other Masters to ally against him.
• Archer aimed eight Noble Phantasms at Duke, but Duke dodged them and emerged from the explosions unharmed.
• Archer summoned over a hundred Noble Phantasms, but Duke said he was ready to get serious and used Life Return to regain his youth.
• Duke claimed to have mastered the mysteries of soul and flesh, then formed two swords and named them Frostmourne and Fire's Delight.
• Archer, enraged by Duke's defiance, launched a golden rain of Noble Phantasms at him.

Duke overwhelmed Archer in close combat and explained that he had died after slaughtering the gods of Middle-earth. As Archer prepared for a decisive fight, Duke summoned his Five-Emperor Dragon magecraft, leaving the battle poised to escalate.

• Duke dodged Archer’s Noble Phantasm barrage, closed the distance, disarmed Archer, and wounded him with his paired blades and Frostmourne.
• Archer mounted Vimana and asked Duke how he had died, acknowledging him as a formidable opponent.
• Duke claimed he had led Middle-earth’s races against Sauron, then killed the gods and perished with them during Ragnarök.
• Archer prepared to bring out his strongest Noble Phantasm, but Duke asked him to wait and began casting a vast magic circle.
• Duke raised five elemental dragon heads and introduced his magecraft as the Five-Emperor Dragon.

Duke rode the Five-Emperor Dragon over Fuyuki City and confronted Archer with the dragon’s overwhelming power. Archer’s Gate of Babylon was pushed back by the Five-Emperor Dragon’s Forbidden Dragon’s Impact, forcing him to flee upward.

• Duke summoned the Five-Emperor Dragon and flew above the port, leaving the watching Masters and Servants stunned by its size and Dragon’s Might.
• Waver and Rider discussed the dragon’s power, while Rider looked forward to testing his army against it.
• Lancer prepared to fight for Kayneth, who doubted their chances, and Kiritsugu Emiya left the port after warning Irisviel and Saber to retreat.
• Tohsaka Tokiomi reconsidered his strategy after judging that Archer could not defeat Duke alone.
• Archer attacked with Gate of Babylon as Duke unleashed Forbidden Dragon’s Impact, and Archer activated his ark and fled upward when his attack was overpowered.

Duke forced Archer to withdraw with Tohsaka Tokiomi’s Command Spell, then intercepted Saber and Irisviel on Mount Fuyuki and demanded that Saber leave the war. Irisviel offered to go with Duke to spare Saber, but Saber refused to abandon her as Duke prepared to fight.

• Archer prepared to use the Sword of Rupture, but Tohsaka Tokiomi used a Command Spell to order him back.
• Duke pretended to summon a powerful Noble Phantasm, provoking Archer to challenge him before the Command Spell made Archer vanish.
• Duke discovered the other Masters and Servants had left, then set out to find someone to take with him.
• Irisviel drove Saber along Mount Fuyuki until Saber sensed Duke waiting on the road atop the Nightmare Steed.
• Duke demanded Saber leave the Holy Grail War and revealed his interest in Irisviel, who offered to go with him if he spared Saber.
• Saber refused to leave Irisviel behind, and Duke summoned Frostmourne as they faced off.

Duke defeated Saber by taking Irisviel hostage and brought her unconscious to his clinic, where Lancelot questioned his intentions. The chapter ended with Duke mocking Lancelot over his past affair with the queen.

• Saber attacked Duke, but he used the Nightmare Steed's ability to appear beside Irisviel and take her hostage.
• Duke knocked Irisviel unconscious and escaped on the Nightmare Steed, while Saber swore to defeat him and went to alert Kiritsugu Emiya.
• Gilles de Rais waited on the mountain road for the woman he had mistaken for Jeanne d'Arc.
• Duke returned to the clinic, where Lancelot reported that an Assassin double had watched the Magecraft Workshop.
• Duke ordered Lancelot to tie Irisviel up, then mocked him for claiming his love for the queen had been only Platonic.

Duke captured Irisviel and investigated the Einzbern homunculus technology, discovering Avalon inside her and extracting her soul into a clone. After studying the Lesser Holy Grail and explaining the Holy Grail War’s true purpose, he began planning the next stage of his scheme.

• Duke interrogated the captive Irisviel and used her blood to grow a soulless clone in a cultivation tank.
• Duke tried to extract Irisviel’s soul, discovered Avalon inside her, and removed the sheath before pulling out her soul and placing it in the clone.
• Irisviel’s original body transformed into the Lesser Holy Grail, which Duke examined while Irisviel struggled inside the cultivation tank.
• Duke explained that the Holy Grail War was designed to open a passage to the Root through the deaths of Heroic Spirits.
• Duke considered using Xiaolan and several others to break through the world’s boundary and set his next plan in motion.

Duke kept Irisviel captive in his workshop, explained his supposed method for summoning Gandalf, and left her hoping he might save her daughter. Across Fuyuki City, the other Masters considered how to oppose Berserker, while Kiritsugu struggled with Irisviel’s capture and Kayneth faced Sola’s infatuation with Lancer.

• Duke warned Irisviel not to leave his workshop, then accepted her thanks and told her he had already obtained the Holy Grail he wanted.
• Irisviel asked what Holy Relic Duke had used to summon Gandalf, and Duke claimed he had summoned him using his own knowledge.
• Fuyuki residents concluded that aliens had invaded Earth after the Five-Emperor Dragon appeared, despite the Church’s statement.
• After learning Irisviel had been captured, Kiritsugu became too anxious to plan attacks against the other Masters, allowing Kayneth’s fortified workshop to remain undisturbed.
• Sola criticized Kayneth as an unqualified Master and openly flirted with Lancer, who stopped her before she could continue humiliating his Master.

Kirei Kotomine called for the Masters to unite against Caster and Ryunosuke Uryu, while Tohsaka Tokiomi used the meeting to propose a separate deal. The next morning, Duke and Lancelot headed to Caster’s location, where Duke got Lancelot to agree to help him capture Saber.

• Kirei Kotomine announced a temporary truce and offered extra Command Spells to Masters who helped eliminate Caster and Ryunosuke Uryu.
• Tohsaka Tokiomi’s magecraft construct invited the Masters to discuss a deal, and Kirei rebuked him for bringing unrelated schemes into the church.
• The next morning, Duke brought Lancelot to a forest upstream in Fuyuki, explaining that Xiaolan would protect him while he disguised himself as a Servant.
• Duke asked Lancelot to capture Saber alive and help restrain her, and Lancelot reluctantly agreed to stand watch after swearing in King Arthur’s name.

Duke and Lancelot tracked Caster and Ryunosuke Uryu to their lair in Fuyuki City's underground drainage system. Duke froze Caster's water demons, then pursued the fleeing pair until they returned to their lair to make a last stand.

• Lancelot swore an oath at Duke's urging, then joined him in searching for Caster beneath Fuyuki City.
• Duke sensed Caster's lair, while Caster detected them and sent his water demons to attack as he and Ryunosuke fled.
• Lancelot held off the water demons with his sword, but Duke discovered that Caster and Ryunosuke were escaping.
• Duke unleashed a powerful wave of frost that froze the water demons, then drank a mana-replenishing potion and urged Lancelot onward.
• Duke tracked Caster through the underground waterways until Caster and Ryunosuke, exhausted and unable to escape, returned to their lair to make a desperate stand.

Duke and Lancelot stormed Caster’s underground workshop, where they discovered the murdered children and defeated Caster and Ryunosuke Uryu. Duke found the children’s souls in a crystal ball and promised to try to save them, then secured Lancelot’s oath to capture Saber alive without revealing that she might be Jeanne d’Arc.

• Duke smashed through Caster’s water demons and magical traps while Lancelot fought his way toward Caster.
• Caster and Ryunosuke Uryu lured Lancelot into the workshop’s final defenses, where he found the mutilated children and confronted their killers.
• Caster’s water demons captured Lancelot, but Duke arrived on the Nightmare Steed and killed Ryunosuke Uryu despite Caster’s attempt to use Lancelot as a hostage.
• Lancelot broke free, revealed himself as a Servant, and killed Caster; Duke revealed that he was Lancelot’s Master.
• Duke found a crystal ball containing the children’s souls and said he would try to save them, lifting Lancelot’s spirits.
• Duke reminded Lancelot to capture Saber alive, and Lancelot agreed after Duke suggested Saber might be Jeanne d’Arc.

Tohsaka Tokiomi gathered the Masters to negotiate a pact against Berserker, but their talks collapsed when Kiritsugu Emiya demanded that Lancer lift Saber’s curse. News that Berserker had killed Caster ended the Church’s truce, and Archer attacked the other Masters and Servants in the conference room.

• Tohsaka Tokiomi convened Kirei Kotomine, Waver, Kayneth, and Kiritsugu Emiya to discuss joining forces against Caster and Berserker.
• Tohsaka Tokiomi presented a pact against Berserker, but Kayneth rejected its vague terms and the Masters refused to sign.
• Kiritsugu Emiya asked Kayneth to have Lancer lift Saber’s curse, and Kayneth angrily refused.
• Maiya Hisau’s familiar brought Kiritsugu Emiya news that Berserker and his Master had killed Caster, prompting Kiritsugu to leave.
• The Masters realized the Church’s truce had ended, and Archer declared he would kill the others before unleashing the Gate of Babylon.

Duke revived more than ten souls in young clones and sent the girls toward the police station while he studied the Holy Grail. Irisviel tried to escape but returned in tears after Duke’s spell destroyed her hospital gown, and Duke decided to take Lancelot hunting for another Servant and Master.

• Duke revived more than ten souls in clones made from Irisviel’s blood, while Irisviel dressed the silver-haired girls in hospital gowns.
• Duke instructed Irisviel to escort the girls to the front door, where they would go to the police station, and began examining the Holy Grail.
• Irisviel left the clinic but met Sakura, who warned her that Duke would punish her if he discovered her escape.
• Irisviel stepped outside, and Duke’s spell destroyed her hospital gown, so she ran back to the basement in tears.
• Sakura recorded her satisfaction at Irisviel’s misfortune, while Duke gave up studying the Holy Grail and planned to hunt with Lancelot for another Servant and Master.