People Arrive in Type-Moon, Now Out of Contact

"Do you have any other requests?" Kaineth asked Kiritsugu Emiya.

"I want Rider to unleash his Territory Creation and envelop the Sea Monster. When Rider dispels his Territory Creation, I want the Sea Monsters inside to fall upon a location I designate. This will reduce the number of witnesses when Saber unleashes her Noble Phantasm, minimize the leakage of mystery, and also lessen the damage to the city," Kiritsugu Emiya said, completely trusting Li Zihan's information. After all, Saber's intuition had already confirmed that Li Zihan wasn't lying.

"Wait, Rider can't even use magic, how could he possibly have a Territory Creation?" Waver pointed out the problem and voiced his doubt.

"That, this King may not know magic, but if it's a Territory Creation, this King has no problem," Rider, sensing the anomaly behind him, rushed over and heard the conversation, scratching his head.

Waver was taken aback. Waver felt betrayed by Rider. Waver's worldview was shattered.

"Are you willing to use your Territory Creation to reduce the damage to the city and the leakage of mystery when Saber unleashes her Noble Phantasm?" Kaineth asked Rider.

"This King has no problem with that." Rider steered his chariot towards the ground, dragging the utterly devastated Waver onto it. "It's a perfect opportunity to show my peerless army to my little Master! Hahahahahaha—"

Watching the Rider duo soar into the sky, aiming to be shoulder-to-shoulder with the sun, Li Zihan shrugged. "They live so happily."

"Do you have anything you want to say?" Kaineth gazed at his disciple. "You're not the type to wax poetic about life in front of your teacher."

"You didn't make a trade?" Li Zihan said. "If you negotiated based on Lancer's reduced strength after his Noble Phantasm was destroyed and Saber's greatly increased power, you could have obtained one or two Command Spells from Saber's Master."

"Now is not the time to haggle with a war dog," Kaineth said calmly. "The tactical situation can change at any moment. If I were to lose the opportunity to defeat the Sea Monster over petty gains, it would be the greatest disgrace in the history of my family and my school."

"Is this the resolve of a family head and a lord?" Li Zihan chuckled.

"No, it is simply the resolve of Kaineth El-Melloi Archibald," Kaineth stated proudly.

Li Zihan clapped his hands. The familiars hidden elsewhere emerged all at once, then retreated like a tide. Since there was no negotiation, these entities, meant to stall for time for Kaineth and Kiritsugu Emiya, were now useless.

The outcome of this battle was already decided.

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ps: This salty fish is begging here, please give me all your votes!

After signing the contract, I need results, otherwise, I won't get good recommendations! Ahhh!

Chapter Twenty-Three: Reunion with Matou Zouken

The Sea Monster was dead. Utterly dead. Its ashes had evaporated. Though, it was questionable whether it even had ashes to begin with.

However, this had nothing to do with Li Zihan. Before Saber unleashed her Noble Phantasm, he had used a displacement spell to retrieve the Codex of the Great Holy Grail and then transplanted it into himself as a conceptual Noble Phantasm, hiding it away.

"This thing is quite dangerous," Li Zihan said, sitting in the Matou family's pavilion and talking to the withered, tree-like old man about the thrilling process of acquiring his latest toy. "If I hadn't used a sealing technique to lower its activity to the absolute minimum, I probably would have been controlled or driven mad by it."

On the table lay a peculiar book made of strange material. The cover depicted a masked woman's face contorted in agony, and the book's decorations were also filled with an evil aura, resembling eyeballs that were half-open, half-closed, giving it a particularly sinister appearance.

It was the trump card of Caster in this Holy Grail War, the A-rank Noble Phantasm, the Codex of the Great Holy Grail.

"Your trip was truly fruitful, Li-kun," the old man in the kimono said. "The value of this Grimoire alone is enough to drive the people at the Clock Tower into a frenzy."

"Would you like to study it, Senior?" Li Zihan pushed the Codex of the Great Holy Grail towards Matou Zouken, his eyes as clear as pure water. "If it's you, Senior, I can lend it to you."

"There's no need for that. This old man doesn't have such good fortune." Matou Zouken coughed a few times, refusing the invitation that would have driven half the Mages at the Clock Tower insane.

Li Zihan pouted. Matou Zouken actually refused his offer. He had wanted to see the result of the clash between the old worm's damaged soul and the soul-crushing pressure of the Codex of the Great Holy Grail. The old worm had chickened out, which disappointed Li Zihan a bit.

"Why have you specifically sought me out, Li-kun?" Matou Zouken asked, tapping his wooden staff, speaking unhurriedly.

"It's nothing. I just discovered a method that might make immortality possible," Li Zihan retracted the Codex of the Great Holy Grail and smiled at the old Mage, who had been tormented into a vengeful spirit by his obsessions.