Group Meal

"Yeah, that man was a warrior who could take on a thousand alone. You couldn't find a man in all of Macedon who was better at fighting than him." Rider spared no praise for his teacher. "Even warriors like Lancer, Saber, or Berserker couldn't possibly be more skilled in combat than Mr. Aristotle."

Waver felt that the world had gone mad. Aristotle was a better fighter than Berserker, a demigod!!!

"History books said Aristotle was a frail old man?" Waver pulled a long face. "Looking at it now, those so-called history books had no reference value at all. They were completely misleading."

"True. When I saw that you, Rider, couldn't even reach the footstool of the Persian throne, I should have questioned the reliability of recorded history." Waver muttered, "Time has buried far too many facts."

"No, some things were true." Rider patted Waver on the shoulder. "This King really couldn't reach Darius's throne footstool."

???????

"Darius III was much more powerfully built than I was. I was just a short man in front of him." Rider scratched his head, rarely feeling embarrassed. What he said next shocked Waver once more. "That man was indeed mighty and strong. He was half a meter taller than Berserker."

If Waver remembered correctly, Berserker was over 2.5 meters tall. He recalled Berserker's figure from his memories. Thinking about it...

"Darius was three meters tall!!!" Dumbfounded—no, utterly stunned.

"Alright! The most important thing now is attending your classmate's gathering, not thinking about height. Even if there's a mountain of blades and a sea of fire waiting inside, we won't be afraid! Soldiers come, generals block; water comes, earth dams it!" Rider laughed loudly, and peals of thunder rang through the sky.

"Let's go, my little Master."

P.S.: In Fate/Apocrypha, Darnic, who would definitely lose whenever he fought a Servant, was an Archmage.

Kirei Kotomine, who could beat down Assassin, was a Red Mage.

Old Man Worm, who could fight a first-rate Heroic Spirit to a 55-45 draw and even kill one in return, was a Black Mage.

Chaldea's Master, who Saved Human Order, could trade punches with Old Man Li, and brawl with numerous Heroic Spirits, was a White Mage.

I was wondering whether the weaker someone was at the Clock Tower, the higher their rank became.

Dinner Gathering

Everyone had already fled, leaving only the empty Matou Family residence behind.

When Li Zihan proposed throwing a party at the Matou Family residence, Old Worm decisively took his entire family and left.

"Heroic Spirits are heroes who left behind illustrious achievements in history. They are like the sun, letting everyone see its light. But an old worm like me, born in the darkness, would only be roasted into charcoal by the sun's heat." The old monster left with a self-mocking laugh, taking his nominal children and grandchildren with him to make room for the gathering.

The Matou Family courtyard was quite beautiful and tranquil, elegant and refined. Though it was already winter, broad-leaved plants and lush grass grew here in defiance of all reason. Crickets and cicadas occasionally chirped amid the greenery. It was practically like the land of fairies from a storybook.

But Saber did not think so. This land constantly gave her an extremely uncomfortable feeling.

"The atmosphere here is strange." Saber furrowed her delicate brows. Her instincts told her that countless resentful spirits lay hidden beneath this mana-rich spiritual ground. "Kiritsugu Emiya, there's something wrong with this place."

The man in the black trench coat merely gave Saber a faint glance and did not reply. His brows were tightly furrowed as he carefully examined every detail of the courtyard.

It would have been stranger if a mage's residence had nothing unusual about it. This was a site carefully selected by that "ally," his home ground. It was very likely a magic workshop of extremely high specifications, perhaps even a temple.

Kiritsugu Emiya cautiously searched for traces left behind by magecraft. This was a good opportunity to analyze information about the "ally" through his home ground.

This was a rare opportunity. The "ally" could not possibly make a move while so many Heroic Spirits had gathered in one place, so he could openly analyze the magecraft used by the target through the mana in this courtyard. If he did not gather some intelligence now, he might never get another chance.

Intelligence was important, because it could save lives at critical moments.

The result greatly disappointed Kiritsugu Emiya. All the defensive spells here had been dismantled, leaving nothing to discern.