"If you want Berserker to help Tokiomi Tohsaka win this Holy Grail War, if you want Tokiomi Tohsaka to obtain the Grail, it is not me you should be begging. It's that daughter you abandoned and sent to the Matou family, little Sakura!"
"What?"
At Kariya Matou's words, Aoi Tohsaka's expression instantly changed.
As Tokiomi Tohsaka's wife, Aoi had some understanding of magecraft.
She also knew that, for her husband Tokiomi Tohsaka, magecraft took precedence over everything.
Would Tokiomi Tohsaka be unaware of her relationship with Kariya Matou?
He knew.
However, knowing that the Matou family's participant in this generation's Holy Grail War was Kariya Matou, and that the Servant Kariya Matou had summoned was powerful enough to rival Archer, he came up with the idea of having her invite Kariya Matou out.
The purpose of having her meet Kariya Matou alone in this secluded church was self-evident.
His only purpose was to have Kariya Matou's Servant assist him.
For the sake of magecraft, Tokiomi Tohsaka would even sacrifice her.
This cold reality chilled Aoi Tohsaka's heart.
However, faced with her husband's request, Aoi had come.
But now, Kariya Matou's words left Aoi Tohsaka at a loss.
The pain of the slap Kariya had delivered to her face was nothing compared to this news.
Before coming here, Tokiomi had told Aoi that to become the sole victor of the Holy Grail War, she had to kill all the other six Masters.
And now, the Matou family's representative in this Holy Grail War was not Kariya Matou, but her daughter, Sakura, who had been adopted by them only last year!
Did this mean that, in this Holy Grail War, either her husband or her daughter would inevitably die?
"Hmph!"
Seeing Aoi Tohsaka's verge of collapse, Kariya felt a surge of satisfaction.
This was retribution.
However, thinking of Rin, Kariya Matou felt a pang of regret.
Ultimately, Kariya Matou shook his head, ignoring Aoi, and walked out of the church alone, leaving her to weep alone in the church.
…
"Ugh, ugh…"
Seven-year-old Rin Tohsaka struggled to drag the suitcase, almost as tall as herself, down the stairs of her room, one step at a time.
Although only a few days had passed, Rin Tohsaka seemed to have grown up instantly.
"Mother, I've packed everything. Let's go."
Dragging the suitcase with one hand and holding the hand of the dazed Aoi Tohsaka with the other, Rin Tohsaka walked firmly towards her home.
Yesterday, Aoi had found Rin late at night and hugged her and cried uncontrollably.
This was the first time Rin had seen her mother so distraught. She asked her mother what had happened, but her mother just shook her head, crying, and wouldn't tell her anything.
At that moment, Rin knew that something terrible had happened in their family.
Early this morning, her father's disciple, the man Rin greatly disliked, came and handed her a dagger, telling her that her father, Tokiomi Tohsaka, had been assassinated last night and became a casualty of the Holy Grail War.
Connecting this to her mother's crying last night, Rin guessed that her mother had learned of her father's death before her, which was why she was so heartbroken.
So, Rin told her mother directly that even though her father was dead, she was still here, and the Tohsaka family was still here.
However, to Rin's surprise, after she said her father was dead, her mother suddenly became mentally unstable.
At that moment, Rin had a premonition.
Perhaps, after losing her father, in the near future, she would also lose her mother.
Now, Rin was taking her mother back to the Tohsaka residence.
According to the detestable priest, her father was already a failure in the Holy Grail War, and the other magi would no longer focus on the Tohsaka family.
That is, the current Tohsaka residence was safe.
Behind Rin, Kariya Matou quietly followed.
Even Kariya Matou hadn't expected that Tokiomi Tohsaka, after thinking of having his wife recruit him the night before, would be killed himself.
And Aoi, after learning of Tokiomi's death, had become mentally unstable.
He didn't quite trust Rin, so he followed behind them.
However, to Kariya's surprise, Rin, though only seven years old, handled things in an orderly fashion, displaying the demeanor of the future head of the Tohsaka family.
Seeing this, Kariya finally felt at ease and returned.
…
"Berserker, you're definitely going to win this Holy Grail War."
After returning to the shack where he and Sakura were temporarily staying, Kariya said this to Ailin.
"Oh?"
Ailin looked up and gave Kariya Matou a curious glance. "Kariya, is it not a given that I can win this Holy Grail War? Do you think I would be defeated by the other Servants?"
"Haha, haha…"
Hearing Ailin's words, Kariya chuckled dryly while scratching the back of his head.
"It's not that, I just feel like I'm always dragging you down, afraid of becoming your weakness and causing you to fail in this Holy Grail War. But now I'm not worried."
"Do you know what news I heard when I went out today? The Master of that Archer was assassinated last night. That is, your strongest opponent has already withdrawn. The remaining two Servants are no match for you, Berserker!"
"My foolish former Master…"
Ailin approached Kariya and patted him on the shoulder.
"Have you forgotten that you are no longer my weakness? And, just as you were assassinated by another magus, yet I haven't withdrawn from the Holy Grail War…"
"Why do you assume that when a Master dies, their Servant will also withdraw? As long as their magical energy reaches a certain level, or they possess a class skill like 'Independent Action,' they can remain in the world for a period of time even after their Master's death."
"Although Archer's magical energy isn't as strong as mine, from my understanding of Archer, he possesses an A-rank 'Independent Action.' This means that even if Archer loses his Master, he can remain active in the world for over two days."
"If Archer finds a new Master within these two days, it means he can continue to participate in the Holy Grail War as a Servant. Kariya, do you still dare to confidently say that Archer has withdrawn?"
"This…"
Kariya Matou was speechless.
Indeed, the Servants in the Holy Grail War didn't withdraw simply because their Master died.
He himself was living proof.
Two nights ago, he had been killed.
Only because his soul hadn't dispersed was he resurrected by Berserker using a powerful Noble Phantasm.
If Berserker had vanished instantly after his death, how could he be here now?
However, Kariya Matou was defiant.
"Berserker, even so, Archer may not be able to find a new Master within two days, right?"
"How is that impossible?"
Ailin raised an eyebrow. "Kariya, have you forgotten about the Master of that Assassin?"
"The Holy Grail War has progressed to this point, and the relationships between the Masters are pretty much out in the open."
"At first, the Servant attacking the Tohsaka residence was killed by Archer, and Assassin's Master entered the church seeking refuge, withdrawing from the Holy Grail War."
"But from last night, we can see that Assassin didn't die in the Tohsaka residence. Or rather, the one that died in the Tohsaka residence was merely one of Assassin's many duplicates."
"Later, these Assassin duplicates attacked me, their purpose being to uncover my strongest trump card."
"From this, we can see that Assassin's Master is in a cooperative relationship with one of the other participants in the Holy Grail War, and in this cooperative relationship, Assassin's Master is in a subordinate position, forced to sacrifice his Servant to gather intelligence for the other Master."
"You also know that in these three days, I've killed Caster and his Master, and Assassin has been killed by me, and Lancer has also been killed by me."
"But Lancer's Master, I personally watched him leave Fuyuki City. Of the remaining magi, only Tokiomi Tohsaka fits the profile of someone who could command Assassin's Master."
"I think that if Assassin's Master had any rebellious intent, sneaking up on Tokiomi Tohsaka and killing him wouldn't be impossible. If that's the case, that Assassin's Master is now Archer's Master."
"What?"
Kariya Matou's expression changed. He had seen that Assassin's Master talking to Rin Tohsaka today.
"Will Rin be in danger?"
"Don't worry, Kariya."
Ailin reassured him. "Since Tokiomi Tohsaka has withdrawn, his family naturally has no value. The other Masters are unlikely to target the Tohsaka family."
"Tokiomi Tohsaka's death has brought peace to the Tohsaka family. This deal, it's hard to say whether it's worth it or not. But for Tokiomi Tohsaka's family, being far from the dangers of the Holy Grail War is an undeniable fact."
"Alright, I was being impulsive."
After comforting Kariya, Ailin instantly entered his spirit form and began to scout the vicinity.
Since Kariya had already met with Kirei Kotomine, Ailin couldn't tell if Kirei Kotomine had sent a familiar to follow Kariya Matou to discover the place where he and Sakura were living.
If Kirei Kotomine had found this place, with the "evil" that Gilgamesh had awakened within him, he might come to harm Kariya and Sakura to seek pleasure, to savor the pain in others' hearts.
However, Ailin's search didn't reveal any suspicious presence.
Returning to the rooftop, Ailin didn't dwell on the matter.
After all, even if Kirei Kotomine did find this place, he believed Esdeath would give Kirei Kotomine a surprise.
He just didn't know if Esdeath was interested in training a priest with no emotions.
He also wondered if a priest with no emotions, after being trained by Esdeath, would develop an emotion called "fear"?
The day passed uneventfully.
Night fell, and the dark world began to bare its fangs.
Ailin flew to the outskirts and released his aura.
According to the conversation at last night's feast, today's battle should be Iskandar, the King of Conquerors, against Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, and Ailin against Artoria.
However, to Ailin's confusion, he had been releasing his aura here for half an hour, and Artoria still hadn't arrived.
Had something happened?
Also, Ailin hadn't sensed the battle aura of Iskandar, the King of Conquerors, and Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes.
Ailin wasn't surprised by this.
The battle between Iskandar, the King of Conquerors, and Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, would definitely take place within Iskandar's Reality Marble.
A Reality Marble was a completely different space from reality. It was normal to not sense the battle aura of the two from the outside.
Another half hour passed, and Artoria still didn't appear.
At this point, Ailin was ready to go back.
After all, even if Artoria didn't come to find him today, there would be other Servants looking for him tomorrow.
For him, ending the Holy Grail War a day earlier or a day later made no difference.
However, at this moment, a thunderclap suddenly echoed through the sky.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ailin looked up. Two bulls with hooves of lightning, pulling the Gordius Wheel, descended from the sky, treading on lightning as they flew towards Ailin's location.
"Huh? Could it be that Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, was defeated in his battle with Iskandar, the King of Conquerors?"
Seeing the arrival of Iskandar, the King of Conquerors, this thought popped into Ailin's mind.
Although Gilgamesh was the ceiling of Servant combat power in the Type-Moon world, that didn't mean Gilgamesh wouldn't be defeated.
For the arrogant King of Heroes, many times, he would be defeated because of his carelessness.
At least, as far as Ailin knew, the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, had been defeated by a mere seventeen-year-old youth.
He had been defeated by Artoria, who possessed Avalon.
He had been swallowed whole by a certain carrier of the Holy Grail…
However, this thought had only just surfaced in Ailin's mind when he dismissed it.
If this was the Fifth Holy Grail War ten years later, with no Servants worthy of Gilgamesh's attention, he would naturally indulge his arrogance and be reckless.
But in the Fourth Holy Grail War, Gilgamesh didn't have the right to be careless.
After all, Ailin was a powerful Servant who had twice clashed with him, forcing Gilgamesh to reveal his strongest Noble Phantasm, the Sword of Rupture.
Iskandar, the King of Conquerors, had also declared, after seeing the strength Gilgamesh had displayed, that he would empty Gilgamesh's treasury.
Although Artoria hadn't said anything, the Sword of Promised Victory she possessed was likely one of the few Noble Phantasms in Gilgamesh's treasury that could withstand Artoria's attack.
"Hahahaha…"
"Boom, boom…"
Seeing the Gordius Wheel charging directly towards him, Ailin didn't indulge Iskandar, the King of Conquerors. He raised his index finger, and blackish-red spiritual pressure condensed at his fingertip.