Chapter 19: What? Tōhsaka Tokiomi is a teammate?
The cool night breeze blew slowly through the silent cathedral as Kotomine Kirei was praying.
The early morning light penetrated through the church glass and fell into the silent darkness. The beginning of the Holy Grail War also came to an end at this moment, but he was not in a good mood.
It's not because his servants are not good enough, but because his servants are too good. she is so good that she wanders around without the command of their Master and almost sends his own teacher out. Her superb disguise and agility make her worthy of the name of assassins and she can hold her own in a head-on battle with King Gilgamesh.
He couldn't understand the fierce battles between the Servants. The Noble Phantasms almost scratched Miss Illyasviel's cheeks and body, making the back of this spectator wet with cold sweat. It was simply a horrifying ghost story that an assassin could compete with the Archer, one of the Three Knights.
He didn't understand who was winning or losing, but he was deeply shocked by the battle.
She was like a poisonous snake that had no fear of her enemies. The rule that assassins should flee thousands of miles away if they failed to strike was like a joke.
A mythical battle, a re-enactment of a fantasy story, from the firepower contest between familiars and treasures to the close hand-to-hand combat. This is a terrifying height that is unimaginable for a magi. Even with the help of Miss Illyasviel's perspective, he can only see afterimages in most cases. It is even difficult to see how Miss Illyasviel moves and how she fights against King Gilgamesh.
Humans cannot fight against Servants. Even the magi in legends find it hard to contend with them. They are heroes from ancient myths who transcend the limits of human beings.
Kotomine Kirei couldn't help but think this way. Even if he thought that his martial arts were quite impressive, he would never be able to withstand a single Noble Phantasm from King Gilgamesh.
If both parties had not had concerns and were not disturbed by ordinary people, one of the servants would have definitely left tonight.
"From the results, Assassin can move freely after activating her Noble Phantasm and still has enough energy to hide and kill. She should be evenly matched with Archer..."
At the end of his prayer, he made a silent judgment in his heart.
He didn't know that King Gilgamesh had not been serious at all from the beginning to the end, and the assassin girl couldn't break King Gilgamesh's golden tortoise armor. He could only judge from his own personal perspective that Miss Illyasviel was a very powerful and terrifying assassin.
"Master, listen to my explanation. Things are not as you see them. I strictly abide by the rule that the Holy Grail War is a hidden magecraft ritual."
"And you can see that my Noble Phantasm is not the type that would cause nuisance and destruction. That area was leveled and the mountain was destroyed. I am really not the main culprit. Look at my innocent eyes. I am really just an assassin with poor attributes."
Miss Illyasviel, who was sitting on the church bench behind Kotomine Risei, saw her Master finish his prayer.
She tried to explain her struggle carefully. After all, considering her master's identity as a member of the Holy Church, she had made a mistake this time.
Although she is insidious and cunning and will do anything to survive, her master is always a teammate. When facing her partners in the same camp, she will subconsciously gives them special respect.
"These are not important. The Cathedral will handle it and explain it as a gas leak."
"Hmm.....Is this explanation really okay?"
"In all previous Holy Grail Wars, the Holy Church sent supervisors to supervise and cover up. This time is no exception. Don't underestimate the power of the Holy Church. In the surface world of modern society, the prestige of the Holy Church is far greater than that of the Clock Tower."
Kotomine Kirei turned around expressionlessly, looking at his Servant who had transformed back into a barefoot little girl in a white nightgown and explained in a cold tone.
If you hadn't watched them fight, it would be hard to associate the little girl in the nightgown with the Viper Assassin.
"Moreover, how did you come up with the idea of going to the villa of the Tohsaka family? And how did you confirm that there were people living in the Tohyama Manor?"
"I said it was a coincidence, Master, do you believe it? At that time, I thought that since it was the first day of the Holy Grail War, there must be a Master who didn't have time to summon the Servants. In addition, the Holy Grail gave information that the three major families were inevitable participants, and the Tohsaka family was also quite famous in the city. In addition, my familiars also detected the presence of magecraft there, and that mansion was not far from your Cathedral Church, Master..."
'I see, a blind cat happens to catch a dead mouse. Tohsaka Tokiomi was unlucky and was caught by his own Servant.'
Kotomine Kirei sighed, barely understanding the other party's motives.
"If the seven Servants are not summoned in unison, the Holy Grail War will not begin."
"But the Holy Grail information says that the Command Seal will not change. If we take the Command Seal, graft it, use magecraft to hypnotize an ordinary person to summon a new Servant, and then use the Command Seal to make that Servant commit suicide, wouldn't that be possible?"
Miss Illyasviel tilted her head, somewhat unable to understand. No one said that the Holy Grail War couldn't be conducted in this way. Anyway, all she had to do was let others summon servants and commit suicide. The rules of the Holy Grail War were loose and did not prohibit such behavior.
So this isn't a bug, but a special manipulation that even the Holy Grail recognizes.
"I can't comment." Kotomine Kirei felt speechless. How could his Servant's train of thought be so weird and eccentric that he even wanted to find loopholes in the rules of the Holy Grail War.
If what Miss Illyasviel said is true, can a powerful magi also imprison other Masters, coerce and bribe them, and make the imprisoned magi summon Servants to work for him, and control multiple Servants by himself?
"Listen to me first. Tohsaka Tokiomi is my teacher."
"Just tell me...ah?"
"He is a good friend of my father, Kotomine Risei, and he is also my mentor. Long before the Holy Grail War began, Tohsaka Tokiomi and I had already formed a secret alliance."
"Master, are you serious? Holy Grail War Alliance?" Miss Illyasviel raised her head and opened her mouth slightly. It was still the pre-war alliance. What kind of operation was this?
'Could it be that my Master doesn't want to make a wish from the Holy Grail?'
That is a universal wish-granting machine, and it might be able to give you a glimpse into the origins of all the traditional magi's lifelong wishes.
Kotomine Kirei nodded calmly: "You are right. I do not desire the Holy Grail. Assassin, if you have a certain wish, I am sorry. I cannot lead you to victory and hold the almighty wish-granting machine. I am sorry that I did not explain this to you at the beginning."
Miss Illyasviel's face turned cold: "Master, you are telling me this now. Aren't you afraid that I will kill you and find someone else to sign the Holy Grail Contract?"
A partner who doesn't want to share the Holy Grail with others will probably send her to be cannon fodder.
She could accept that her master was a lazy person, but she could not accept that her master sold her out at the very beginning.
"If you can do it, you can try to see whether my Command Seal is faster at this distance, or whether you, Assassin, can kill me faster."
"Or, you want to try whether it's faster for you to disappear after killing me or for you to find a new master to sign a contract with."
Miss Illyasviel removed her Noble Phantasm, and her attribute values fell back to their original low levels.
With this distance and familiarity, the opponent will definitely not be able to kill him with one blow.
Moreover, if a servant loses its master and its mana is cut off, Miss Illyasviel's attributes will drop sharply. It is just wishful thinking to want to find a new master to sign a contract in a short time.
"We have a low compatibility, Illyasviel. I'm sorry about that, too."
With a slight sigh, Kotomine Kirei expressed his apology. The compatibility between them was really bad. He originally wanted to summon a servant who didn't have much desire for the universal wish-making machine, and Illyasviel was obviously not one of them.
"I see…"
Hearing this, Miss Illyasviel suddenly laughed. She was not laughing because of Kotomine Kirei's threats and apologies, but because she couldn't help wanting to laugh from the bottom of her heart.
Faced with this sudden brilliant and lovely smile, Kotomine Kirei frowned slightly.
"Master, don't you think that what you say and your actions are contradictory?"
"What I said is true. This is what I really think."
The compatibility between them was really terrible, and Kotomine Kirei had no idea why Miss Illyasviel was laughing.
"What do you think in your heart? Hehe, that's not necessarily true. You said you didn't have any wishes, so why were you chosen by the Holy Grail? You know, the mechanism of the Holy Grail is well known to everyone." Miss Illyasviel crossed her arms with one hand and supported her chin with the other, staring straight at Kotomine Kirei who seemed puzzled.
"Maybe there was something wrong with the selection of the Holy Grail..."
"Are you still deceiving yourself? Master, we are very compatible~"
"?"
"Master, being humble and old-fashioned is just your disguise. You are living the way others see you. You are a born villain. I am also a villain, so villains summon villains. That's why you can summon me~"
"Nonsense, I am a clergyman...."
However, looking at Miss Illyasviel's pure yet malicious eyes.
Kotomine Kirei's voice became increasingly weaker. He felt as if Miss Illyasviel had seen through him completely, and he also realized where he had gone wrong.
"Master, you just lack an enlightener, an enlightener who can help you recognize your inner desires~"
The girl in the white nightgown bent down slightly, put her hands behind her back, and raised her head with an innocent and lovely smile.
She did not activate her disguise skill, but she was born with a keen sense of malice. She looked down at Kotomine Kirei with a smile on her face.
"You saw it, didn't you? When I assassinated Tohsaka Tokiomi, if you, Master, really didn't want the universal wishing machine, why didn't you recall me right away? Don't you want to?"
"Or are you looking forward to and enjoying the thrill of seeing me kill your teacher?"