Developments on All Sides

Diarmuid O'Dina was a legendary warrior from Celtic Mythology, known for his strong sense of justice, his devotion to chivalry, his loyalty, and his gentle, courteous manner. He fought for his personal honor.

He had always regretted failing to serve his lord faithfully in his previous life. His sole purpose in participating in the Holy Grail War was to fulfill the duty he had failed to complete in his former life, in the name of knighthood: to serve one lord until the very end. He hoped to prove his loyalty to that lord, and had no desire for the Holy Grail itself.

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

Lancer had never hidden his wish. Or rather, he was an open and straightforward man by nature. "To serve my lord faithfully."

Wang Xiaoming asked again:

"Then who is this lord you speak of serving? Finn, or Kayneth?"

"Of course..."

Lancer instinctively started to say Kayneth's name, but the words caught in his throat. A bad feeling suddenly welled up inside him.

"You were going to say Kayneth, right?" Seeing Lancer's expression, Wang Xiaoming guessed what he was thinking.

"Then have you ever truly understood the lord you serve now—Kayneth El-Melloi Archisorte?"

Wang Xiaoming suddenly asked.

Having been raised as a magus, Kayneth had long since grown accustomed to judging others through a magus's way of thinking. He would never completely trust anyone. His suspicion of everyone but himself had become second nature.

That was why Kayneth could never understand Lancer's almost pathological loyalty. He had always believed such feelings simply didn't exist.

"..."

Lancer was at a loss for words. He seemed to want to defend himself, but couldn't find a reason.

Lancer believed that, since Kayneth had summoned him, he only needed to offer his loyalty to the lord of this world.

But instinctively treating Kayneth as the lord he had served in life and pledging his loyalty to him—that was Diarmuid's first mistake.

"Besides, you may say you want to serve your lord faithfully, but none of your actions so far have matched that wish for loyalty."

Wang Xiaoming stopped holding back and cut straight to the point:

"Rather than serving your lord, what you've actually been doing is satisfying your own sense of chivalry."

Come to think of it—

The legends about Diarmuid seemed pretty ironic to Wang Xiaoming. He couldn't let go of love, yet he also had to honor his loyalty. In the end, his love ended in tragedy, and his lord's suspicion led to his death.

"That's why I called you a hypocrite."

Wang Xiaoming shrugged and repeated what he had said earlier.

"I..."

There were plenty of arguments he could have made, but just as they reached his lips, he saw the furious face of his former lord, Finn Mac Cumhaill, and the disappointed look Kayneth had just given him.

"Have you ever considered what matters more to you: your code of chivalry or your lord? If serving your lord means trampling on your so-called chivalry, would you do it?"

Wang Xiaoming asked the devastating question.

"..."

Lancer's face gradually turned pale, but he had no answer.

Putting the two things he valued most on a scale was, without a doubt, the harshest test of Lancer's heart.

"Honestly, if you want to keep playing at being a knight, then you shouldn't have joined the Holy Grail War. Our side will also have to reconsider our cooperation with Kayneth."

But Wang Xiaoming clearly had no intention of letting Lancer off the hook.

"The Holy Grail War is cruel and shameless by nature. Every participant will resort to any means necessary to win. If you're not even prepared for that..."

He spoke the cruel words in a voice colder than ice:

"Then you'd better leave now."

Recommended: Magical Girl Illidan

And thanks to the big shot Cheese for the trade_(:з"∠)_

Synopsis: "Just pay a small price, and even a wish like destroying the Burning Legion can come true!"

"Then what's the price?"

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

Developments on All Sides

"If you still hold on to those naive ideas, then you'd be better off leaving now."

Diarmuid's lips suddenly turned white, drained of color. Even the burn of the cigarette at his fingertips couldn't bring him back to his senses. His pupils shrank to pinpricks for an instant, then trembled violently.

"I... I..."

His voice seemed to be trying to interrupt Wang Xiaoming, but it quavered in the wind, utterly powerless.

"Nothing in this world is perfect. People always choose to ignore the darkness behind what looks bright. If your actions cause this Holy Grail War to end in failure, then all your efforts will have been for nothing, and the things you wanted to protect will still be trampled."

Wang Xiaoming's words stabbed into Lancer's heart like a sharp blade, making him stumble backward.

"So think it over for yourself: is it loyalty, or your so-called knightly spirit, that matters more to you?" Wang Xiaoming glanced at the cigarette between his fingers, now burned down to the butt. He stood and crushed it out, preparing to leave.

Before he went, Wang Xiaoming patted Lancer on the shoulder with his right hand.

"And while you're thinking it over, try to get to know Kayneth."

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

After turning away, Wang Xiaoming sighed softly—

More than a knight who sought fairness and justice, what his side needed was a Servant who would obey.

After giving someone a tongue-lashing, Wang Xiaoming felt much better. Even the awkwardness from earlier in the room had eased.

But when Wang Xiaoming returned to the door of his room, something happened that left him utterly dumbfounded.

The doorknob wouldn't turn. Then a symbol appeared on the door.

A circle, with a burning cigarette inside it and a diagonal line slashed across the cigarette.

The meaning of the person inside was obvious.

"..."

Fine. I'd better make do in the room next door tonight.

Wang Xiaoming could only sheepishly head to the adjacent room. It was winter, but the Matou House's heating worked just fine.

He lay down on the sofa in the next room and drifted off to sleep.

Though the protagonist had fallen asleep, time didn't skip ahead to the moment he opened his eyes the next morning.

Beneath the night sky, deeper currents stirred silently—

A visitor had arrived at the Tohsaka residence.

"Teacher..."

Tohsaka Tokiomi sat in a wide, comfortable armchair in his room and watched Kirei Kotomine enter and bow to him.

"Is something important happening for you to come at this hour?"

Tohsaka Tokiomi valued this first-rate student of his, who also served as an Executor. What's more, Kirei was currently the Master of Assassin, who had been secretly gathering information.

"Assassin has discovered Caster's whereabouts."

Kirei quietly relayed the information Assassin had gathered.

"Caster...?"

Tohsaka Tokiomi stood, casually selected a bottle of red wine from the cabinet, and poured himself a glass. Swirling the wine, he said leisurely:

"There must be more to it. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come in person."

"Assassin spotted Matou Sakura with Caster's group."

At those words, Tohsaka Tokiomi's hand froze. Looking at his reflection in the blood-red liquid in his glass, his expression became difficult to read.

"Sakura..."

"Hey! Rider, what are you doing here?"

The frail Waver shivered in the night wind and called out loudly to the Servant beside him.

Thud—

After their usual round of subduing him, Rider looked at the road, now battered beyond recognition, and lamented, "What a shame to have missed the battle between two warriors. Still..."

Rider stroked the short beard on his chin, deep in thought.

The damage looked like it had been caused by Saber and Lancer. After all, a battle with Archer, with all his arrogance, would surely have made an enormous commotion.

As for Berserker—

Even Rider had given up trying to communicate with that mad Servant. Surely any battle with him would have been even more chaotic than this.

It looked like the Saber group had been defeated, since even their base had been reduced to ruins. Rider found that troublesome. Now he had nowhere to go for a drink with anyone.

"Come on, boy!"

He grabbed Waver by the back of his collar and tossed him onto his Noble Phantasm, then climbed aboard himself.

"Idiot, what did you come here for?!"

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

"To get a close look at my opponents' strength! And the result..."

"What was the result?" Waver asked curiously, poking his head out.

"The result is... it's made me want to conquer them even more!"

Rider let out a hearty laugh and sharply flicked the reins. The hooves of the two divine bulls pulling the chariot produced purple lightning, and the Gordius Wheel shot off into the distance amid thunderous noise and Waver's wails.

Inside a house in Miyama Town.

"Saber, this house is so lovely."

After touring all the rooms, Irisviel said excitedly to Saber. Compared with the Einzbern Castle in the forest, this garden residence in Miyama Town felt much more novel to her.

"Yes, it is, Iris..."

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

"I once told Kiritsugu that I wanted to live in a house like this. He really did remember." Irisviel sounded delighted.

"I see."

Saber couldn't imagine that the man with the expressionless face could do something so romantic and tender.

"Speaking of which... Iris, how is Kiritsugu doing now?"

Only then did Saber remember and ask Irisviel.

"I used healing Magecraft to stabilize his injuries. He should wake up soon." Irisviel's expression dimmed slightly when she mentioned Kiritsugu, but she quickly pulled herself together.

"Good."

Saber nodded at the answer.

Inside the room—

The man lying on the futon suddenly opened his eyes. As he took in his surroundings, his expression shifted from wary to relaxed.

Iris must have brought me back.

Emiya Kiritsugu gazed at the dark ceiling, thinking this as he recalled his earlier battle with Kayneth.

Nowhere to Hide—

That was the most immediate impression Emiya Kiritsugu had taken from the battle.

Kayneth seemed to know all of his trump cards. He hadn't given Kiritsugu any chance to change his ammunition.