Dating Caster

Diarmuid O'Dina, a legendary warrior from Celtic Mythology, is known for his sense of justice, devotion to chivalry, loyalty, and gentle, courteous nature, fighting always for the sake of his personal honor.

Because he carried deep regrets over failing to fully serve his lord in his previous life, his sole purpose for participating in the Holy Grail War was to fulfill his duty as a knight, serving a master until the very end; he had no personal desire for the Holy Grail itself.

"What is your wish?" Wang Xiaoming suddenly asked Lancer.

Lancer never hid his wish, or rather, he was a man of upright and open character: "To serve my lord with absolute loyalty."

Wang Xiaoming asked again:

"Then who is the lord you speak of serving? Is it Finn or Kayneth?"

"Naturally, it is..."

Lancer subconsciously wanted to say Kayneth's name, but the words caught in his throat, and a sense of foreboding began to rise in his heart.

"You wanted to say Kayneth, right?" Seeing the change in Lancer's expression, Wang Xiaoming guessed his thoughts.

"Then have you ever truly understood the master you are currently serving—Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald?"

Wang Xiaoming asked suddenly.

Born a magus, Kayneth had long been accustomed to viewing others through a magus's lens, and he would never fully trust anyone. For Kayneth, maintaining suspicion toward everyone but himself had long since become an instinct.

Therefore, Kayneth could never understand Lancer's almost pathological loyalty, as he firmly believed that such an emotion simply did not exist.

"..."

Lancer was speechless, seemingly wanting to defend himself but unable to find any reason to do so.

Regarding Kayneth, who had summoned him, Lancer believed that he only needed to offer his loyalty to his master in this world.

But by subconsciously treating Kayneth as his lord from his previous life and offering his devotion, Diarmuid had made his first mistake.

"Furthermore, while you speak of loyalty, all your previous actions have not matched your wish for devotion in the slightest."

Wang Xiaoming no longer held back, pointing out the truth with piercing accuracy:

"Rather than serving your master, what you have actually displayed is more akin to satisfying your own sense of chivalry."

Come to think of it—

Diarmuid's historical legend seemed quite ironic to Wang Xiaoming; he could neither let go of love nor disregard his duty, and in the end, his love did not have a happy ending, and his master's suspicion led to his death.

"That is why I call you a hypocrite."

Wang Xiaoming shrugged, repeating his earlier words.

"I..."

There were clearly many words of rebuttal, but just as they reached his lips, the face of his lord from his previous life—Finn McCool—filled with fury, along with the look of disappointment he had just seen on Kayneth's face, flashed before Lancer's eyes.

"Have you ever considered whether your chivalry is more important, or your master? If you were to be truly loyal to your master, you would have to trample upon your so-called chivalry. Would you do it?"

The soul-piercing question came from Wang Xiaoming.

"..."

Lancer's expression turned pale, but he was left speechless by Wang Xiaoming's question.

Placing the two things he valued most on a scale was undoubtedly the most severe mental torture for Lancer.

"Honestly, if you want to continue playing your knight games, then don't participate in the Holy Grail War. My side will also re-evaluate our cooperation with Kayneth based on this."

However, it was clear that Wang Xiaoming was not prepared to let Lancer off the hook.

"Because the Holy Grail War itself is cruel and shameless; all participants will use any means necessary to pursue victory. If you don't even have that much resolve..."

The cruel words were delivered in an incredibly cold tone:

"Then you had better withdraw early."

Chapter Recommendation: Magical Girl Illidan

Also, thanks to Cheese-dazhe for the trade_(:з"∠)_

Synopsis: "As long as you pay a small price, even a wish like destroying the Burning Legion can be granted!"

"Then, what is the price?"

In short, it is the story of Illidan Stormrage becoming a magical girl and fighting in different worlds in order to fulfill his wish of destroying the Burning Legion.

Chapter 44. Movements of All Parties

"If you still hold onto that naive way of thinking, then you might as well withdraw early."

Diarmuid's lips suddenly turned white, losing all color, and even the burning pain of the cigarette reaching his fingertips could not bring him back to his senses. His pupils shrank to pinpricks for a moment, then trembled violently.

"I... I..."

His voice seemed to try to interrupt Wang Xiaoming, trembling in the wind yet sounding so powerless.

"There has never been anything perfect in this world; people always deliberately ignore the darkness behind the glamour. If your actions lead to the failure of this Holy Grail War, then all your previous efforts will have been in vain, and what should have been trampled upon will remain trampled."

Wang Xiaoming's words were like a sharp blade stabbing into Lancer's heart, making him stumble back a step.

"So, whether your choice is loyalty or so-called chivalry, you must weigh that yourself." Glancing at the cigarette butt burning between his fingers, Wang Xiaoming stood up, stubbed it out, and prepared to leave.

Before walking away, Wang Xiaoming patted Lancer on the shoulder with his right hand:

"While you're considering it, try to take some time to understand Kayneth as well."

After saying this, Wang Xiaoming turned and left, leaving Lancer alone on the rooftop, looking lonely and desolate.

Once he had turned away, Wang Xiaoming let out a soft sigh—

Compared to a knight who pursued fairness and justice, what his side needed more was an obedient Servant.

After putting someone in their place, Wang Xiaoming felt much more at ease, and even the awkwardness he had felt in the room earlier dissipated significantly.

But when Wang Xiaoming returned to his room door, something happened that left him completely bewildered.

The doorknob wouldn't turn, and a symbol suddenly appeared on the door.

It was a circle containing a burning cigarette with a line striking diagonally through it.

The meaning of the person inside was self-evident.

"..."

Fine, I'll just make do in the room next door for the night.

Wang Xiaoming could only walk to the adjacent room, feeling rather sheepish. Although it was winter, the heating in the Matou House was perfectly fine.

Wang Xiaoming lay down on the sofa in the next room and drifted off into a hazy sleep.

Although the protagonist had fallen asleep, time would not simply skip ahead to the moment he opened his eyes the next day.

Deep undercurrents were surging quietly beneath the cover of night—

At this moment, the Tohsaka residence welcomed a visitor.

"Teacher..."

Tohsaka Tokiomi sat in his spacious, comfortable armchair, watching Kirei Kotomine walk in from the doorway and bow to him.

"Is there something important that brings you here at this hour?"

Tohsaka Tokiomi valued this first-class disciple and Executor of his quite highly, especially since he was also the Master of Assassin, who was currently hidden in the shadows gathering intelligence.

"Assassin has discovered the whereabouts of Caster."

Kirei Kotomine lowered his voice and relayed the information Assassin had gathered.

"Caster... is it?"

Tohsaka Tokiomi rose, casually selected a bottle of red wine from the cabinet, and poured it into a glass. Swirling the liquid, he said leisurely:

"There must be other news, otherwise you wouldn't have come here in person."

"Beside the Caster pair, Assassin spotted the figure of Matou Sakura."

Upon hearing this, Tohsaka Tokiomi's hand froze mid-motion. Watching his own reflection in the blood-red liquid, his expression became unreadable:

"Sakura..."

"Hey! Rider, what on earth are you doing here!"

The scrawny Waver couldn't help but shiver under the assault of the night wind as he shouted at the Servant beside him.

Thud—

After the usual suppression, Rider looked at the highway, which had been destroyed beyond recognition, and sighed with regret: "To have missed the battle between two warriors is truly a pity. However..."

Rider stroked his short beard, lost in thought.

This kind of battle scene must have been caused by Saber and Lancer; after all, given Archer's arrogant nature, a fight with him would surely have been much more explosive.

As for Berserker—

That mad Servant, whom even Rider had given up on communicating with, would surely have caused even more chaos had he been the one fighting.

It looked like the Saber pair had been the ones to retreat, given that their base had been reduced to ruins. This gave Rider a headache; now he didn't even have a place to go find someone to drink with.

"Kid, let's go!"

He grabbed the back of Waver's collar, tossed him onto his Noble Phantasm, and vaulted up to stand within it himself.

"You idiot, what did you even come here for!"

Waver clung to Rider's leg inside the Gordius Wheel, trembling with fear.

"Just to observe the strength of my opponents up close! And the result..."

"The result what?" Waver asked, curiously poking his head out.

"The result is... it just makes me want to [conquer] them even more!"

Rider let out a hearty laugh and gave the reins a sharp flick. Purple lightning crackled beneath the hooves of the two divine bulls pulling the chariot, and the Gordius Wheel soared off into the distance, accompanied by thunderous roars and Waver's wailing.

In a house in Miyama Town.

"Saber, the style of this house is wonderful."

Having toured every room, Irisviel said to Saber with excitement. Compared to the Einzbern castle deep in the forest, this courtyard located in Miyama Town gave Irisviel a much fresher feeling.

"Yes, it is indeed, Iris..."

Still worried about the battle, Saber forced a smile when she saw how excited Irisviel was.

"I told Kiritsugu before that I wanted to live in a house like this once, and he actually remembered it well." Irisviel's tone was filled with joy.

"Is that so?"

Saber could not imagine that the expressionless man was capable of such romance and tenderness.

"Come to think of it... Iris, how is Kiritsugu doing now?"

Saber finally remembered this and asked Irisviel.

"I have already stabilized his injuries with healing magic; he should wake up in a little while." When mentioning Emiya Kiritsugu, Irisviel's expression dimmed slightly, but she quickly cheered up.

"I see, that's good."

Having received the answer, Saber nodded.

Inside the room—

The man lying in the futon on the tatami mats suddenly opened his eyes. After taking in his surroundings, his gaze shifted from alert to relaxed.

He must have been saved by Iris.

Emiya Kiritsugu thought this to himself, staring at the pitch-black ceiling while recalling the scene of his battle with Kayneth.

Nowhere to Hide—

This was Emiya Kiritsugu's most direct impression of that previous fight.

Kayneth seemed to know his trump cards clearly, leaving him absolutely no time to reload his ammunition.