Within the Einzbern castle, Irisviel von Einzbern suddenly felt a surge of immense magical energy flow into her, causing a look of pain to contort her features.
"Another Servant eliminated?"
"This time, it's Lancer?"
Sensing the influx of magical energy, Irisviel glanced at Artoria. Seeing that Artoria hadn't noticed her distress, she slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
The victor of the Holy Grail War could make a wish upon the Grail.
However, the Grail's descent required a vessel.
The Einzbern family was tasked with providing this vessel.
The original Grail, the Greater Grail, was the magical circuit of Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern, the Winter Maiden, decomposed and magically transmuted into a human-shaped universe.
As a conduit connecting to the Root and the Throne of Heroes, a vessel for the Third Magic, the Greater Grail couldn't directly manifest in the world.
Therefore, to achieve their goal of opening a path to the Root, the Einzbern family used Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern as a template, producing homunculi similar to her.
The Winter Maiden's emergence had been a miracle.
Although the Einzbern family had created many homunculi in the same way, none had reached the Winter Maiden's level.
Fortunately, through the Einzberns' research, these imitations, while not as powerful as the Winter Maiden, possessed some of her abilities.
That is, they could temporarily store the souls of Servants. Once they had stored enough souls, they could connect with the Greater Grail, serving as its vessel.
Thus, each generation of homunculi created by the Einzbern family in imitation of the Winter Maiden was known as a "Lesser Grail."
Irisviel was the "Lesser Grail" prepared by the Einzbern family for this generation.
As long as she remained in Fuyuki City, if a Servant died, their soul would be temporarily stored within her.
And as the number of Servant souls absorbed into her body increased, Irisviel's own functions as a "Lesser Grail" would be activated, gradually losing everything that made her "human," becoming a true "vessel."
Since the Holy Grail War began, Irisviel's body had absorbed the souls of Caster, Assassin, and Lancer in the past two days, activating nearly half of the Grail's functions.
Now, Irisviel could barely even lift a teacup.
If she absorbed the soul of another Servant, she would likely lose the ability to walk.
As the number of absorbed Servant souls increased, Irisviel would gradually lose her five senses, her consciousness, and finally become the true "Grail."
Artoria looked up the sky.
Judging by the magical fluctuations in the distance, the battle between Berserker and Lancer had concluded.
That made three Servants eliminated by Berserker in this Holy Grail War.
Would she be next?
Although, from Berserker's words, Artoria knew that in a parallel world, she had achieved everything she dreamed of, becoming the "White Knight King."
Therefore, her future self must have obtained the Grail and made that wish.
But in this Holy Grail War, Artoria had no confidence in victory.
Of the four remaining Servants, she seemed to be the weakest.
Without Avalon, she didn't believe she had much chance against any of the three.
Of course, even though she wasn't at her full power, Artoria didn't complain.
To have such an opportunity was already rare. How could she possibly complain?
However, tomorrow was the day Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, and Iskandar, the King of Conquerors, would clash.
If Artoria's prediction was correct, Berserker would also challenge her.
Was she to be eliminated from this Holy Grail War so soon?
…
"You're back, Berserker."
When Ailin's figure appeared before the shack, he saw Kariya Matou waiting at the door.
"Yes, I'm back."
"But, Kariya, is it alright for you to be here?"
"Ah, it's fine. Sakura and Esdeath-san seem to be getting along quite well."
"Hmm?"
A large question mark appeared in Ailin's mind.
That's right, before attending Iskandar's feast, Ailin had left Esdeath, wielder of the Ice Teigu Demon God Manifestation: Demon's Extract, one of the top-ranked Zanpakutō within his Unlimited Blade Works, to protect Kariya and Sakura.
He couldn't imagine how the gentle, neighborly Sakura could get along with Esdeath, the queen of sadists.
However, hearing the sound of water from inside the house, Ailin had no intention of intruding to find out.
"How was it today?"
"Watched a show, killed two Servants. Barring unforeseen circumstances, there will be a battle tomorrow, and the day after, this Holy Grail War should be over."
"Ha…"
Hearing Ailin speak so casually, Kariya smiled.
"Berserker, before participating in the Holy Grail War, that old man instilled in me the dangers of the war. In fact, at first, that old man had no expectation that I would achieve final victory. But, perhaps that old man never imagined I would summon a Servant as powerful as you."
"Yes, you summoned a Servant as powerful as me, yet you still failed to win the Holy Grail War… Kariya, as a Master, you are far inferior to Sakura."
Seeing Kariya's self-satisfaction, Ailin didn't indulge him, directly shattering Kariya's fantasy, reminding him that he was now a "dead man."
His current Master was Sakura!
Not this fellow who had already been eliminated.
"Hey, Berserker, don't rub salt in the wound."
Kariya smiled wryly.
Indeed, even with a powerful trump card like Berserker, he had been careless, allowing himself to be killed.
If not for Berserker, he would truly be dead.
And what would have happened to Sakura then?
He looked up at the stars, feeling a peace he had never known before.
Kariya felt content with his current state.
Zouken Matou was dead. From now on, the Matou family would return to normal, no longer manipulated by that old monster.
Although he hadn't married Aoi, Aoi's daughter, Sakura, was now a member of the Matou family. After the Holy Grail War ended, Kariya planned to adopt Sakura, officially making her his daughter.
With that thought, Kariya took a deep breath and said earnestly to Ailin, "Berserker, I am eternally grateful that I participated in this Holy Grail War, and that the Servant I summoned was you!"
"Tch, Kariya, I didn't realize you, a grown man, could say such corny things. Ugh—"
Ailin shuddered, giving Kariya a dismissive look before vanishing in his spirit form.
Kariya said he was grateful to have summoned Ailin. But to Ailin, it was the same.
In his past life, there were countless regrets in those many fictional worlds, making one want to take up a knife against the authors.
Now that he had the opportunity to come to a world where these many fictional worlds might exist, Ailin naturally had regrets he wanted to mend.
Saving Kariya Matou, changing Sakura's fate for the next ten years, had brought Ailin a sense of satisfaction.
…
Under the bright moonlight, a slender figure arrived at the church.
The lights inside the church cast a soft, yellow glow on the pews, creating a hazy atmosphere.
Kariya Matou walked along the red carpet.
The church was empty. In the dim light, a beautiful woman with long black hair sat quietly in the front row, as if waiting for someone.
Hearing footsteps, the woman's body trembled.
And Kariya, as if sensing something, stopped in his tracks.
But soon, Kariya continued forward, sitting down in the seat next to the woman.
"Aoi, it's been a year, hasn't it?"
After sitting down, Kariya spoke with a sigh.
Today, Kariya had received an invitation from Aoi Tohsaka.
If this had been before, Kariya might have been overjoyed, not thinking too much about it.
But perhaps because he had died once, or perhaps because Kariya had already fulfilled his wish, becoming the father of Aoi's daughter.
So, coming to Aoi's appointment this time, Kariya felt as if he could no longer see the light emanating from Aoi.
"Yes."
Aoi lowered her head, responding softly.
Since Kariya had learned that Tokiomi Tohsaka had given Sakura to the Matou family a year ago, and Aoi hadn't stopped him, Kariya and Aoi hadn't seen each other.
Ailin didn't know about Aoi's side of things.
As for Kariya, it was difficult to say.
Every day, enduring the pain of the Crest Worms gnawing at his flesh, Kariya was almost driven mad.
If not for Sakura being his spiritual support, perhaps Kariya wouldn't have successfully summoned Berserker, and would have already been tormented to madness by Zouken Matou's Crest Worms.
Seeing Aoi's demeanor, Kariya understood.
"Aoi, did Tokiomi ask you to invite me here?"
Rising from his seat, Kariya scanned the church. "Where is he?"
"What's going on? Tokiomi, I'm here. Why are you hiding?"
"Come out!"
Silence.
Only Kariya's voice echoed through the empty church.
But to Kariya's disappointment, the man didn't emerge from any corner of the church.
"Um, Kariya…"
Aoi's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, but Kariya still heard it.
Turning to look at Aoi, he saw her sitting in her seat, her face flushed, her hands fidgeting, as if she wanted to say something but found it difficult to speak.
"Tokiomi didn't come today. It's just me."
"What?"
Kariya was stunned, then enraged. "That bastard Tokiomi, does he even know what he's doing? Doesn't he know the situation we're in? Why would he let you come out alone at such a dangerous time?"
Kariya was truly furious.
When was this?
The Holy Grail War.
Although there were only seven magi and seven Servants, a total of fourteen participants, it was called a "war," proving how dangerous it was.
Having been killed once, Kariya was acutely aware of the ruthlessness of the enemies in this war.
Snipers, hotel explosions, balcony assassinations…
Kariya didn't know about the experiences of the other Masters.
But in just three days, he had encountered multiple crises.
If not for Berserker…
And because of this, Kariya knew that even if you drew the strongest SSR card in the Holy Grail War, it didn't guarantee victory.
He himself was the most obvious example.
This was a war where Master and Servant had to cooperate, to work together to have any chance of reaching the end.
Kariya believed that, aside from himself, the other Masters surely had ways of knowing all the information about the participants in the Holy Grail War.
Aoi Tohsaka, having lived in Fuyuki City for ten years as Tokiomi's wife, her information was undoubtedly in the hands of those resourceful Masters.
In this situation, Tokiomi hadn't hidden Aoi away in a safe place, but instead let her appear alone, especially since Aoi had invited him to meet at an empty church at night.
Did he want Aoi dead?
Kariya couldn't understand Tokiomi's motives, but he was furious.
"Kariya, don't say that. Tokiomi told me about the dangers of coming out at night. But this time, I wanted to help Tokiomi."
Hearing Kariya's scolding of Tokiomi, Aoi squeezed the folds of her skirt, raised her head, and defended Tokiomi.
"Is that so? Then, Aoi, how do you intend to help Tokiomi? Do you know what terrifying things can happen to a woman who enters a battlefield? I know, but for Tokiomi, for the Tohsaka family…"
With that, Aoi rose from her seat.
"Kariya, Berserker's Master is you, right? I want you to use Berserker to assist Tokiomi in this Holy Grail War, to let Tokiomi win. As long as you're willing to assist Tokiomi…"
Kariya's pupils suddenly constricted. He looked at Aoi, who was preparing to remove her clothes, and a nameless fire ignited within him.
It was a feeling of humiliation, as if his most cherished possession was being discarded by another.
"Slap!"
A crisp slap echoed through the silent church.
Aoi tilted her head, a red handprint appeared on her face.
And Kariya was also stunned.
He never imagined that one day, he would strike Aoi.
But, to Kariya's surprise, this time, he didn't feel heartbroken. Instead, he felt… liberated.
"Aoi, you've disappointed me. I am not Berserker's Master. Tokiomi's plan was wrong from the start. Now, Berserker's Master is the next head of the Matou family, Sakura Matou."