The Holy Grail's Invitation

"They've already been rescued?!" Shirou Emiya asked Mephistopheles in surprise.

"That's right, he's been rescued. I was hoping you would come to rescue him, but unfortunately, something unexpected happened." Mephistopheles's tone was somewhat helpless. Having Shirou Emiya rescue the child himself was originally the best way to treat the child's mental illness, but it didn't work out.

"No, it doesn't matter who rescued them. I know what you're thinking. Just hearing that they were rescued makes me very happy." Shirou Emiya smiled and shook his head, then asked with some doubt, "What kind of accident happened?"

"Among the Servants summoned this time, there is one that is extremely dangerous!"

"Extremely dangerous?"

Mephistopheles looked at Cú Chulainn and asked, "What would you do if you found an ordinary person?"

Cú Chulainn said, "Well, it depends. If my Master's requirement is not to reveal my whereabouts, I will choose to silence them. But if possible, I don't want to harm ordinary people."

Mephistopheles then looked at Artoria: "And you?"

Artoria frowned. "If possible, I hope to have a proper discussion with the Master to see if there are any other ways to solve this problem, such as arresting and locking the person up first."

Mephistopheles then looked at Medea, Medea laughed and said, "I imprisoned my Master for the sake of those children."

Medea has already explained her Master's situation, so everyone knows what she meant. It's a classic example of "sacrificing one's comrades for a group of unrelated people."

However, regardless of the circumstances, this demonstrates that the other party is indeed someone with their own bottom line, Medea is willing to be ruthless when it comes to protecting children.

So Mephistopheles took one last look at Medusa.

Medusa didn't have much affection for humans, but she didn't hate them either. She simply shrugged. "I obey my Master's orders, but I have no interest in killing people indiscriminately."

Mephistopheles chuckled. "There's no need to look at Heracles. He's a berserker now, only obeying his Master's orders. As for the Master..." Mephistopheles glanced at Illya, Illya immediately retorted, "I'm not a serial killer! Unless they provoke me!"

"You see, even Illya has hardly received any normal education, has no interest in killing people indiscriminately, but that guy, Gilles, his soul, which has become paranoid because of certain things, and whose consciousness has been distorted because of contact with things that he shouldn't have been exposed to, doesn't care about killing at all."

"It's more accurate to say that they enjoy the thrill of killing, especially the thrill of instilling extreme fear and despair in their victims before they die."

"So after learning that this guy was the Magecraft class that appeared this time, in order to prevent him from using the people in the church as sacrifices, I had no choice but to take action directly."

"A sacrifice?" Shirou Emiya was still somewhat puzzled. He knew, of course, that sacrifices were extremely bad, but he didn't understand why one would be used as a sacrifice. Wasn't the summoning of a Servant already a price paid by the Holy Grail?

"That's Gilles' Noble Phantasm." Artoria, who had participated in the Fourth Holy Grail War, explained, "That Noble Phantasm is terrifying. It possesses immense magical power and can draw magical power from the Great Source. By relying on something like a sacrifice, it can cast extremely terrifying summoning spells to summon the enormous monster recorded within the Noble Phantasm!"

"At the time, in order to deal with this monster, even several Servants who were originally enemies temporarily united. If he were allowed to summon it without regard for the cost, he might have sacrificed the entire city and summoned a monster that no one could defeat!"

Mephistopheles chuckled and said, "Actually, it's alright. If you find the right opportunity, you can even guide the summoned creature to kill the summoner."

This remark caused everyone to turn to look at Mephistopheles, with Artoria even asking, "Are you very familiar with this kind of thing?"

Mephistopheles reminisced about why he came to the world of FGO, saying with a touch of nostalgia, "There are only two possible outcomes: one is to summon the familiars of Evil Gods, but the familiars of Evil Gods aren't that strong in combat, so I can deal with them relatively easily."

"Another outcome is that Evil Gods is indeed summoned, but given the Evil Gods's destructive power, it will destroy the summoner along with everything around them. Whether the summoner goes mad or something else happens, the moment the Evil Gods appears, there will be an unbearable impact."

"Furthermore, after the summoner dies, the summoned entity will dissipate and return on its own, so the cost is generally just an area near the summoning zone."

Mephistopheles spoke casually, but it still sent chills down the spines of the people listening around him.

Both Rin Tohsaka, the Magecraft, and Shirou Emiya, an ordinary high school student, couldn't help but repeat the word Mephistopheles had uttered, "Evil Gods?!"

"Yes, that's right. The Evil Gods's true form is definitely not in the solar system, and might even be outside the Milky Way." Mephistopheles nodded. "Although the true form won't come, it's quite possible that it could send out a clone or something if someone summons it."

Seeing the fearful expressions on the faces of the people around him, Mephistopheles laughed and said, "Don't worry so much. His book isn't that advanced. It can only summon some familiars and isn't very useful. It's not as powerful as the book I wrote myself."

Mephistopheles said, shaking the book in his hand.

Medea protested, "This book of yours was specially forged by the god of fire. You made quite a few demands at the time. Comparing it to an ordinary person's Noble Phantasm is a bit much, isn't it?"

"That's not how it works! His book was translated from ancient books of Evil Gods by someone else; its content was essentially given by the Evil Gods. Mine is just a blank book created by the God of Fire; I wrote all the content myself!"

Mephistopheles spoke with righteous indignation, even going so far as to say, "Besides, those Evil Gods are far more powerful than the God of Fire. I even suspect that the White Giant Sefar, who nearly wiped out the gods of the Age of Gods, could be easily crushed by Evil Gods."

Mephistopheles's words were somewhat blasphemous, but Medea knew Mephistopheles wouldn't speak without reason, so she looked extremely serious. "Are those Evil Gods really that powerful?"

Although she did not experience the era of Sefar, she had fought the giants that grew from Sefar's corpse. They were enemies that even the gods had trouble dealing with. Not to mention, she had heard that the gods of the Age of Gods were almost wiped out by Sefar. Although they survived, it led to the premature end of the Age of Gods.

If these Evil Gods are powerful enough to completely overwhelm Sefar, then if their true forms were to descend upon Earth, no one on Earth today could stop them!

It might not even be able to withstand the full power of the Star Sword!

And this Star Sword is now in that person's hands.

Medea thought for a moment, then looked at Artoria.

Looking at the girl, she sighed.

"Although I know this person is the famous King of Knights from history, can she really unleash the full power of the Star Sword?"

Feeling Medea's gaze, Artoria looked at her with some confusion. "Is there something you need?"

"No, I was just wondering if you should take out the Star Sword and show it to Mephistopheles?"

"The Star Sword?" Artoria was taken aback, only to hear the other party explain, "It's your Noble Phantasm, Excalibur."

Mephistopheles pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "There's no need. I created the Star Sword Magecraft based on the legend of the Star Sword. In essence, it relies on the enhancement of the legend, and its operating principle is actually completely different from the Primarch in Artoria's hands."

Hearing the two talking about the Star Sword True Magic, Artoria finally found an opportunity to ask about this thing that had always puzzled her.

"How did you create this True Magic? This weapon is clearly mine..." Artoria asked.

"It's very simple. What I just said is the answer. I created this True Magic based on legend. As for why it's a legend, the terrifying being Sefar, who almost ended the Age of Gods and nearly wiped out all the gods, was actually defeated by the Star Sword."

"Sefar and the Star Sword..."

"The Excalibur you wield is the Star Sword, a treasure formed from the collective prayers of all living beings on this planet, their desire to survive. It was forged by the planet itself from these prayers, making it the largest and most powerful Noble Phantasm on this Star Sword."

"You're only using it in battle now, which only unleashes a portion of its power. To unleash its full potential, there must be certain conditions. Although I don't know the specific conditions, based on my experience using the Star Sword Magecraft, the true version in your hands will only unleash its full power when facing a life-or-death crisis for humanity."

"A crisis of life and death for humanity?!"

"In other words, it is an enemy that sees all of humanity as its enemy and wants to wipe out the entire civilization. When facing such a terrifying existence, this sword should be able to unleash its full power."

"Of course, you can also think of it as a special attack, like the Dragon Slaying I possess."

Because the school was deserted after being Bystander Evacuation, there was no need to go to school that day. As Mephistopheles told his story, time slowly passed. After finishing the necessary tasks such as eating, Mephistopheles finally found Sakura Matou and asked her, "Where are the fragments of the Holy Grail?"

"Here it is." Sakura Matou took out the fragment of the Holy Grail and handed it to Mephistopheles. Watching Mephistopheles accept the fragment, she asked, "Mephistopheles- nii-san, are you planning to use this fragment to create a brand new Lesser Holy Grail?"

"Yes, it's a similar plan. If we can achieve our goal without creating Lesser Holy Grail, that would be ideal." Mephistopheles nodded. "If we must create a Lesser Holy Grail, then using special True Magic to create the necessary body should be possible, or we could simply create a small cup."

"Is this considered a different choice?"

"No, actually it's different speculations. Although I've researched part of the Holy Grail, the methods I've come up with so far are all theoretical. Whether they'll actually work still needs to be tested."

As Mephistopheles spoke, he threw the fragments of the Holy Grail directly onto the ground and began to inscribe True Magic circles around them.

The fragments of the Holy Grail actually possess a portion of the Holy Grail's power. Moreover, as a part of the Greater Holy Grail that was fully revealed in the Fourth Holy Grail War, although it is a fragment, the power contained within it is still enormous.

If it were used as material and then forged into a Noble Phantasm, there would be no problem.

Mephistopheles attempted to completely seal the Holy Grail fragment, and then began to try to construct a special passage based on its connection to the Greater Holy Grail, hoping to use this passage to cut off Illya's direct connection with the Greater Holy Grail.

But after trying it, he found that he had failed.

"The connection between Illya and the Greater Holy Grail is quite close, and this method alone cannot replace it. Even if it succeeds, the passage will first be established on Illya's side..." Mephistopheles muttered to himself, then casually reached into his pocket and pulled out a small clay figure.

This isn't a fresh clay figure; at least the clay has dried, and judging from its surface, it's clear that a layer of glue has been applied to maintain the figure's shape.

Sakura Matou blinked and asked excitedly, "Substitute Doll?"

"Yes, Substitute Doll exist in many folk customs. They rely on substitutes to avoid the harm that one would normally suffer. What achieves this is to mislead people about curses and the like."

"I collected some of Illya's hair and used it to make a core, which is now inside this clay figure."

As Mephistopheles spoke, he placed the clay figure together with the fragments of the Holy Grail.

Then, a miraculous scene unfolded: the shard of the Holy Grail adhered tightly to the clay figure, and they could no longer be separated!

"To enhance the effect, I also used some special allusions for this clay figure. God created man from clay, so the clay figure has human qualities, but it does not yet have a spirit."

"Illya's hair has replaced this spirit, and with the addition of the Holy Grail fragment, this clay figure now possesses both flesh and spirit, as well as the Magic Circuits of the Lesser Holy Grail. With this combination, let's see if it can be successful."

Mephistopheles began to re-establish the connection between the clay figure and the Greater Holy Grail.

This time, he smiled.

"Perfect result, it's a success! The Greater Holy Grail really can't figure out which one is Illya, but now, under my interference, it's starting to believe that this is Illya, the Lesser Holy Grail it's been trying to connect with!"

Chapter 110 The Holy Grail's Invitation

After constructing a new Lesser Holy Grail using fragments of clay and the Holy Grail, and beginning to encroach on Illya's position, Mephistopheles temporarily stabilized the area and did not rush to proceed to the next step.

"It will take a little more time. Once Illya has lost most of her powers, we can begin the next phase of the plan," Mephistopheles said.

Sakura Matou nodded gently, then asked, "If the Greater Holy Grail is summoned, what wish does Mephistopheles- nii-san plan to make?"

"A wish? It depends on the situation. We'll see what the specific circumstances are, and then we'll make a wish accordingly. From a safety perspective, it's safer not to ask Holy Grail for anything, nor to ask it for world peace. Instead, we should simply ask it to tell us some information."

"Intelligence?"

"For example, if there are gold or oil mines that are relatively easy to extract with current technology, but haven't been discovered by humans yet, or if you want to obtain some knowledge, such as the basic principles of the Third Magic, these should be safe, since many things are already recorded in the Root."

Mephistopheles's answer was quick and seemed unusually confident, which made Sakura Matou ponder for a moment before she said, "Could it be understood that the Holy Grail's major problems stem from people overestimating its abilities?"

"You can understand it this way: even if the Holy Grail doesn't have any hidden dangers from the past, if it can't fulfill a wish, in order to do so, the Holy Grail will inevitably distort the wisher's wish and fulfill it in an alternative way."

Mephistopheles said, looking at the girl and smiling, "You didn't just come here specifically to ask these questions, did you? So, what is it?"

Sakura Matou hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "My sister found out my secret..."

Mephistopheles was taken aback at first, then realized what the other person was talking about. "You mean your current identity as the leader of the Secret Cult?"

Sakura Matou nodded gently. "Yes, she followed me when I was at the church. Although she thought she was well hidden, I actually discovered her a long time ago."

Mephistopheles looked at her, and seeing that Sakura Matou remained silent, he opened his mouth and asked, "What are you worried about?"

Sakura Matou remained silent, and Mephistopheles continued, "Because we've suddenly been in more contact lately, it feels like we can start to restore our relationship from before, but your secret has been exposed, and you're worried that the other person might have some difficulty accepting it?"

No answer was needed; just looking at Sakura Matou's bewildered face, Mephistopheles knew he was right.

He walked over, reached out his hand, and gently patted the girl's head to soothe her anxiety.

Feeling the warmth from that hand, Sakura Matou's heart calmed down a little. Then, she heard Mephistopheles's voice, which entered her heart.

"Don't underestimate her. She's your older sister, the one who inherited the Tohsaka family. Although your father is really inadequate in certain areas, he's still quite good at trusting his daughter."

"I think you can trust her, and I think she trusts you too. Besides, she's always cared about you. Given your current situation, I think she's probably more worried about your safety than whether you're doing anything wrong. As long as you explain things clearly, there won't be any problems."

Sakura Matou pondered Mephistopheles's words for a while, then gently raised her head, letting her cheek touch his fingers, and whispered, "I understand. I'll talk to her about it tomorrow."

Mephistopheles smiled and said, "I think now is fine too. She's definitely not asleep yet. You two can chat together in the room. It's a good way for sisters to strengthen their bond, so sleeping in the same bed is perfectly acceptable, right?"

These words froze Sakura Matou on the spot. Seeing this, Mephistopheles immediately pushed her towards Rin Tohsaka's room, encouraging her as he did so. "And you can scare your sister a little, don't you think that's great?!"

He figured that if Rin Tohsaka saw Sakura Matou walking in carrying a pillow, she would definitely have a very funny expression on her face.

Mephistopheles was eagerly anticipating this moment.

In the stillness of the night, when all things sleep, Rin Tohsaka, nestled in her blankets, finds herself unable to fall asleep.

She clearly remembered that at the site of the church ruins, Sakura Matou had a close connection with those mysterious strangers. Judging from how respectful they were to Sakura Matou, she knew that Sakura Matou held a high position within that mysterious organization.

Moreover, those people are family members of victims of the Fourth Holy Grail War. They are not only against the Holy Grail, but they might also oppose the Magecraft families who created the Holy Grail.

Hatred is a terrible thing!

If my younger sister were to accidentally fall into such Abyss and sink deeper and deeper...

Rin Tohsaka dared not think any further. A pained expression crossed her face as she muttered, "So, what exactly is Sakura's situation now...? Could there be some bad people among those people who want to take advantage of her? After all, she's Magecraft, and very talented, and she's from the Matou family."

"Oh, Sakura hasn't been tricked by those people, has she? They say they want to prevent the tragedy from happening again, but actually they want to use her to obtain the Holy Grail, and use the Holy Grail to gain the power to dominate the world..."

The door was suddenly pushed open, Rin Tohsaka looked sharply towards the doorway, only to see a figure standing there.

It's Sakura Matou!

Furthermore, Sakura Matou was also holding a pillow!

Seeing the other person standing hesitantly at the door, staring at her, Rin Tohsaka's mind went completely blank.

"W-What's going on?! Sakura suddenly appeared outside my bedroom? And she's carrying a pillow? Did she come into the wrong room?! Ah, how could that be? She wouldn't come into the wrong room!"

"So what's going on now? Does Sakura want to sleep with me? No, no way?! It's been so many years, and she almost never talks to me!"

Just as Rin Tohsaka was struggling to get her brain working again, another figure appeared in the doorway. This person pushed Sakura Matou, who was standing in the doorway, into the room, saying, "Alright, you two have a good chat. I won't disturb you any longer!"

After saying that, he slammed the door shut, locking the two girls inside.

Upon hearing that voice, Rin Tohsaka gritted her teeth—it was Mephistopheles's voice!