"Do you have any other requests?" Kaineth asked Kiritsugu Emiya.
"I hope Rider can deploy his Territory Creation to enclose the Sea Monster. When Rider dispels it, the Sea Monster inside can fall at a location I designate. That will reduce the number of witnesses when Saber unleashes her Noble Phantasm, limit the leakage of Mystery, and lessen the damage to the city." Kiritsugu Emiya had complete faith in Li Zihan's intelligence. After all, Saber had already confirmed through Instinct that Li Zihan was not lying.
"Wait, Rider can't even use magecraft. How could he possibly have a Territory Creation?!" Waver spotted the problem and raised an objection.
"Well, while I may not know magecraft, if it's a Territory Creation, I have no problem with that." Having noticed an abnormality behind them, Rider rushed over at high speed. After hearing the conversation, he scratched his head as he spoke.
Waver charged in. Waver suffered a backstab from Rider. Waver's worldview took a blow.
"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.
"I have no objections." Rider drove his chariot toward the ground, dragging the utterly shattered Waver aboard. "Perfect! I can show my little Master my peerless army! Hahahahaha—"
Watching the Rider pair fly into the sky, apparently intending to stand shoulder to shoulder with the sun, Li Zihan shrugged. "They really live happily."
"Is there something you want to say?" Kaineth stared at his disciple. "You are not someone who likes to wax philosophical in front of his teacher."
"You didn't negotiate for benefits," Li Zihan said. "If you bargained over Lancer becoming weaker after his Noble Phantasm was destroyed while Saber grew much stronger, you could have demanded one or two Command Seals from Saber's Master."
"Now is not the time to haggle with war hounds," Kaineth said calmly. "The battlefield can change at any moment. If I lost the chance to defeat the Sea Monster over such petty gains, it would be the greatest disgrace in the history of my family and school."
"Is this the resolve of a family head and a Lord?" Li Zihan asked with a smile.
"No. It is merely the resolve of Kaineth El-Melloi Archibolt," Kaineth declared proudly.
Li Zihan clapped his hands. The familiars hidden elsewhere emerged all at once, then receded like a tide. Since there would be no negotiations, these creatures that had been used to buy time for Kaineth and Kiritsugu Emiya's discussion were no longer needed.
The outcome of this battle had already been decided.
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Chapter 23: Reunion with Matou Zouken
The Sea Monster was dead—thoroughly dead. Even its ashes had evaporated, assuming that thing had ashes in the first place.
But that had nothing to do with Li Zihan. Before Saber unleashed her Noble Phantasm, he had used Teleportation Magecraft to retrieve the Codex of the Great Holy Grail, then transplanted it into his body as a Conceptual Material and concealed it there.
"This thing is truly dangerous." Li Zihan sat in the Matou Family's pavilion, chatting away to the old man who resembled a withered tree as he recounted the perilous process of obtaining his newest toy. "If I hadn't used sealing techniques to reduce its activity to the minimum, it might have controlled me or driven me mad."
Resting on the table was a bizarre book made from some strange material. Its cover bore the image of a veiled woman's face screaming in agony, while its ornaments radiated sinister energy—like half-open, half-closed eyeballs scattered across its surface. It looked especially eerie.
It was none other than Caster's trump card in this Holy Grail War: the A-rank Noble Phantasm, the Codex of the Great Holy Grail.
"Li-kun has gained much from this journey," the kimono-clad old man said. "The value of this Grimoire alone would be enough to drive those people at the Clock Tower mad."
"Do you want to study it, Senior?" Li Zihan pushed the Codex of the Great Holy Grail toward Matou Zouken. His gaze was as clear as water. "If it is you, Senior, I can lend it to you."
"That will not be necessary. This old man does not have such fortune." Matou Zouken coughed several times, refusing an invitation that would have been enough to drive more than half the magi at the Clock Tower insane.
Li Zihan curled his lip. Matou Zouken had actually refused his invitation. He had wanted to see what would happen when Old Worm's broken soul clashed with the spiritual pressure brought by the Codex of the Great Holy Grail. Old Worm had chickened out, leaving Li Zihan somewhat disappointed.
"Li-kun, what business brings you specifically to this old man?" Matou Zouken tapped the wooden cane in his hand and spoke unhurriedly.
"Nothing much. I merely discovered a method that may make immortality possible." Li Zihan put away the Codex of the Great Holy Grail and smiled at the old magus who had been tortured into a demon by his obsession.
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