Sasuke Uchiha, Where Exactly Do You Come From

Miyama Town, Fuyuki City.

Emiya Residence.

Ten o'clock at night.

In the living room of the Emiya residence, Shirou Emiya, Rin Tohsaka, and Saber sat around the table.

Archer stood alone, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, lost in his own thoughts.

Sasuke sat at the table, looking at everyone present with a calm expression:

"So."

"Why did you call me here at this hour?"

Currently, only three pairs of Masters and Servants remain in the battle for the Holy Grail, with Rin Tohsaka and Shirou Emiya still working in cooperation.

Even if they were to find Lancer and defeat him, it would still be feasible for the two of them to decide the victor between themselves later.

Although the Holy Grail had long since been cursed.

No matter who obtained it, they would not meet a good end.

This was something Gilgamesh had already revealed regarding the true nature of the Holy Grail during his battle with Sasuke yesterday.

Sasuke had just explained it to them in detail once more.

This was the reason for the silence among everyone present.

Saber, in particular, seemed somewhat dazed upon learning that the Holy Grail could only be used by mages.

At this moment, Shirou Emiya looked at Sasuke and spoke without a hint of hesitation:

"If the Holy Grail will only bring disaster, then I will absolutely stop it!"

Before anyone else could speak, Archer, who had been silently leaning against the wall, let out a soft chuckle:

"To have no ability of your own, yet always thinking of saving everything."

"How truly..."

Before Archer could continue, Rin Tohsaka interrupted him directly:

"Archer!"

"Shirou is not wrong."

"Or are you saying, Archer, that you still hold expectations for the Holy Grail?"

Hearing this, Archer frowned instantly, but smoothed his expression the next moment and sneered:

"Rin, I should have told you from the beginning that I have no wish that must be fulfilled."

"And that box of sins that fulfills human greed is certainly not something I need."

Rin Tohsaka frowned and remained silent. Although Archer had indeed told her that he had no wish he needed the Holy Grail to fulfill, she had never heard him mention the latter part before.

This couldn't help but make Rin Tohsaka feel a bit of anger; Archer claimed to have amnesia, yet all signs indicated that he knew a great deal.

However, Rin Tohsaka did not press the issue, as Archer had not finished speaking:

"Do you think that all Servants participate in this war to fulfill their wishes?"

"How could that possibly be?"

"It is merely a matter of following the flow; we Servants have no freedom of thought."

Archer looked at Shirou Emiya, then shifted his gaze to Saber:

"The only one who responded to the summoning of her own volition is you, Saber."

Hearing this, Rin Tohsaka's frown deepened.

Shirou Emiya looked at Saber in shock.

As for Artoria, who had descended into the world once more as Saber, she looked at Archer with a grave expression:

"Archer, who exactly are you?"

But Archer did not respond to Saber's question, continuing instead:

"In the end, a Servant is nothing more than something summoned by the will of others, like a tool to be discarded after use."

"The idea that a Servant would help humanity from the bottom of their heart—how could such a thing be possible?"

"A Servant is merely a device, summoned when there is a need, and vanishing once the mess is cleaned up."

"Stripped of consciousness, forever becoming a cleaner used by humanity."

"That is what a Servant is, euphemistically called a Counter Guardian."

Hearing this, before anyone else could speak, Shirou Emiya retorted, unable to understand Archer's words:

"To call them tools..."

"Saber is a person; she would refuse to do things she does not want to do."

"Even if you've reached this point, you still have a choice, don't you?"

Archer looked at Shirou Emiya without changing his expression:

"Perhaps."

"Heroic Spirits who become Servants regain the humanity they had when they were alive, recalling their past obsessions and regrets."

"Just imagine the feeling of a Heroic Spirit who died without fulfilling their wishes, only to be summoned and ordered around by humans after death."

Saber stared at Archer as he spoke, asking in confusion:

"Then why did you..."

Archer's gaze finally shifted to Saber:

"I am different from you, who became a Heroic Spirit solely through your own radiance."

"I became a Heroic Spirit by offering up my post-mortem self; at best, I am merely a Counter Guardian."

How could Saber not have heard of Counter Guardians? Her gaze toward Archer grew even more complex:

"I have heard that Counter Guardians become part of the Counter Force after death to protect humanity."

"Even if the experiences differ, you are still a Heroic Spirit nonetheless."

Archer remained expressionless:

"You are mistaken, Saber. A Counter Guardian is not an existence that protects humanity; they are nothing more than cleaners."

"However, Saber, you are indeed different from other Heroic Spirits."

"Knowing the truth of the Holy Grail, you are likely more disillusioned than anyone, aren't you?"

This meeting today felt like a final confession.

Saber's expression was filled with bewilderment:

"Archer, who exactly are you?"

Shirou Emiya, standing to the side, looked at Saber, as she had never mentioned such things to him before.

Archer looked at the bewildered Shirou Emiya and posed a question:

"What, she hasn't told you?"

"Saber's wish—the reason she would throw herself into this cruel slaughter just to obtain the Holy Grail."

Whether it was Rin Tohsaka, Shirou Emiya, or Saber, they all looked at Archer in confusion.

It was as if Archer knew everything.

Seeing that Archer intended to reveal her wish, Saber interrupted him.

Rather than having someone else explain it, she would rather explain it herself:

"Shirou, I wish to use the Holy Grail, that omnipotent wish-granting machine, to undo a choice I once made."

"To make up for my mistakes and change the fate of Britain's destruction."

"I cannot fall yet, which is why I desire the Holy Grail."

"But now, it seems that has become an impossible task."

For a moment, the entire living room fell into silence once again.

Clearly, everyone present had yet to recover from the thoughts stirred by Archer's words.

But Sasuke Uchiha was different.

He felt that none of this mattered, nor did he have any desire to save humanity.

A cursed Holy Grail?

In the end, it was merely a man-made creation.

Sasuke Uchiha did not believe it to be a curse of any great power.

With that, Sasuke Uchiha slowly stood up, preparing to leave:

"If you cannot even reach a consensus,"

"Then there is no need to call for me."

This was a point that Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka could not deny.

Whether it was the strange Archer or Saber, who now knew the truth.

The Sasuke Uchiha who had come to the Emiya residence was merely a Shadow Clone, so seeing this situation, he intended to dispel it.

However, at that very moment, Archer suddenly looked at Sasuke Uchiha with a grave expression:

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Where do you truly come from?"

"You didn't belong to this world from the very beginning, did you?"

"What, in the end, is your purpose?"

As soon as Archer spoke these words, the atmosphere in the living room plummeted to freezing point.