Chapter 11: Two Huge Traps
(Knight of the Lake)
[Amid flashes of lightning, the scene shifted beneath the bridge.]
[Iskandar charged across the water in his Gordius Wheel. Seemingly spotting something worth getting excited about, he broke into a brilliant smile.]
[The perspective shifted. A strange man, pitch-black all over, lay prone in front of Iskandar's Gordius Wheel.]
[Looking at Iskandar, the man also revealed a mouthful of large gold teeth.]
Waver: "Whoa, who's this pitch-black guy?!"
Rin Tohsaka: "Father, this one is definitely a Heroic Spirit, right?"
Tokiomi Tohsaka: "..."
He could not argue. After all, the black man in the video looked nothing like a normal person.
Kayneth: "Could he be a Heroic Spirit from Africa?"
King of Conquerors: "Hahaha, so it's him."
Iskandar had already recognized the black man's identity, but he was somewhat puzzled as to why he would appear in this War of the Holy Grail. After all, he was not among the seven Servants at all.
[The scene shifted again to the other side of the bridge, where Irisviel and Artoria were watching the battle taking place there.]
[Just then, a man wearing a red cloak, his entire body wrapped in bandages, leaped out of the woods behind them and thrust a blade at Irisviel.]
[The video ended there.]
"Who is that?!"
Seeing someone actually attempt to assassinate Irisviel, Kiritsugu Emiya immediately grew alert.
A dagger, a surprise attack, and an assassination attempt-the man should be an Assassin.
But why did he seem so familiar?
[How many Masters and Servants appeared in the video in total?]
Waver: "Why is it another analysis question?"
Kayneth: "What are you whining about? Compared to the last question, this one is much easier."
Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Indeed. The Masters and Servants in the video are actually quite obvious."
"Easy? Heh..." Feng Xi nearly laughed aloud.
This question had two huge traps, guaranteed to trip up everyone in the group.
[Time is up. Answers are now closed.]
[The answer will now be revealed.]
Then the figures who had appeared in the video began appearing on the screen, accompanied by introductions.
[The three people in the first scene, from left to right, were: Waver Velvet, Master; Lord El-Melloi II [Zhuge Liang], Pseudo-Servant; Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, Master.]
Kayneth: "Wait! Lord El-Melloi II? What the hell?!"
He was the current head of the El-Melloi family, so how had a Lord El-Melloi II suddenly appeared?
And what the hell were the Zhuge Liang and Pseudo-Servant labels after his name?
Zhuge Liang-wasn't he the famous chancellor of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period?
It was not just Kayneth. The other group members were also baffled by this Lord El-Melloi II.
[The three people in the second scene were: Mash Kyrielight, Demi-Servant; Knight of the Lake, Servant; Gilgamesh, Servant.]
Waver: "Demi-Servant? Why has a Demi-Servant suddenly popped up too?!"
They had yet to figure out what a Pseudo-Servant was, and now there was a Demi-Servant.
Artoria: "Mash Kyrielight... Did I guess wrong? No!"
No, there was absolutely no way she could have mistaken the shield in Mash's hands.
[The two people in the third scene were: Iskandar, Servant; Darius III, Servant.]
King of Conquerors: "Hahaha, it really was him."
Waver: "Darius III, I remember he was..."
King of Conquerors: "That's right. He was a formidable opponent on my path of conquest."
Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Darius III, the last king of Persia's Achaemenid Dynasty. But how did he become so black?"
King of Conquerors: "I don't know either. He wasn't this black when I defeated him."
Feng Xi: "Could he have gotten that tan on the Throne of Heroes?"
Waver: "Do you think the Throne of Heroes is Hawaii?"
[The three people in the fourth scene were: Irisviel von Einzbern, Master; Artoria Pendragon, Servant; Emiya [Assassin], Servant.]
"Emiya [Assassin]!"
Kiritsugu Emiya's mind reeled.
He had felt that red figure looked familiar earlier, and now he finally realized why.
Wasn't that him?
Although the man's face was wrapped in bandages, he could not mistake that build or those techniques.
But why would he kill Irisviel?
Wait, no. That version of himself was a Heroic Spirit?
He had actually become a Heroic Spirit?!
But even if he became a Heroic Spirit, why would he try to kill Irisviel?
He could tell that his self in the video was not putting on an act. He truly intended to kill Irisviel.
Wait, he seemed to have overlooked something else.
Irisviel in the video was a Master!
That was impossible. Although he had Irisviel pretend to be King Arthur's Master, he was still King Arthur's true Master. The system should not have gotten that wrong.
After all, the previous question had already revealed all seven Masters of this Fourth Holy Grail War. Now it had suddenly changed a Master. Wasn't that a contradiction?
Or was Irisviel contracted to a different Servant?
[A total of four Masters and eight Servants appeared in this question's video.]
Waver: "Four Masters?"
Waver: "That's not right. Weren't there three?"
[Lord El-Melloi II is both a Master and a Servant.]
Kayneth: "What does that mean? Explain it properly."
Kayneth: "And who exactly is this Lord El-Melloi II?"
[A Pseudo-Servant is a Heroic Spirit who uses a human body as a vessel, possessing it to act, while the possessed person also gains the Heroic Spirit's power.]
[A Pseudo-Servant is generally dominated by the Heroic Spirit's consciousness, with the possessed human usually remaining asleep. However, Lord El-Melloi II is a special case. The consciousness of the human Lord El-Melloi II is dominant, while the Heroic Spirit Zhuge Liang voluntarily entered a dormant state after leaving behind his Spirit Origin.]
[Therefore, Lord El-Melloi II is both a Master and a Servant.]
Everyone was astonished after hearing the system's account.
Waver: "That's possible?!"
Tokiomi Tohsaka: "A human gaining a Heroic Spirit's power... Can that really be done?"
Chapter 12: Who Is King Arthur?
(Artoria)
Kayneth: "Then what about that Demi-Servant? Is it the same as a Pseudo-Servant?"
[A Demi-Servant is the product of an experiment conducted by Chaldea in the future to grant humans the power of Heroic Spirits.]
[The result is almost identical to Lord El-Melloi II's situation.]
Waver: "Chaldea? I've never heard of it. Does the Mage's Association have a department like that?"
Kayneth: "Never mind you, I haven't heard of that department either. Could it be established in the future?"
Magus Killer: "System, the developments in this second question seem somewhat different from the situation in the first."
Kayneth: "Magus Killer, you still haven't changed your name?"
Kayneth: "Stop pretending. I already know who you are. After all, you're notorious in the world of magi."
Magus Killer: "..."
Seeing that he had already been exposed, Kiritsugu Emiya stopped hiding and changed his name to his real one.
[Of course there are differences, because the stories in the first and second questions come from two different parallel worlds of the Fourth Holy Grail War.]
Waver: "Parallel worlds! They actually exist?!"