"Aaaa?"
That voice seemed to be saying, 'You want to corrupt my child?'
"Another Servant?"
Irisviel almost blurted it out.
But very quickly, she searched through her memories and found something.
Earlier, when Alvin fought Gilgamesh, he had seemingly summoned a special familiar… and at the time, it was precisely that familiar that forced the arrogant King of Heroes to retreat.
Yet at this very moment, "Irisviel" simply couldn't connect the harmless-looking woman in front of her with the dangerous creature that had driven back the King of Heroes.
"Why doesn't the black mud work on you?"
At last, she spoke, her voice filled with disbelief.
Logically speaking, the power of the black mud should have been enough to erode any Servant participating in the Holy Grail War… In order to ensure that Saber would be corrupted, she had even drawn out every bit of power she could control.
And yet even so… "Irisviel's" thoughts suddenly stalled, and goosebumps rose across her body without her control.
Because she realized that, at some unknown moment, the black mud she controlled had actually begun to recoil instinctively, as if something was driving it away.
She abruptly raised her head, only to find that at some point, behind the woman standing behind Alvin, there had appeared a black mire even deeper and darker than the black mud itself.
It was actually devouring the power of the black mud.
The Chaos Tide!
"Irisviel" subconsciously took half a step back, staring uncertainly at the unfamiliar woman behind Alvin, and at the surging Chaos Tide behind her.
That was something far deeper and more dangerous than the "black mud"… of that much, she was absolutely certain the moment she saw it.
"What exactly is this…"
Finally pushing past her apprehension and fear, "Irisviel" said, "Who exactly are you?"
She had finally found a chance to escape from the Greater Grail, and she had even almost succeeded in making Saber her possession. Yet not only he was immune to the black mud, he had even summoned this unknown familiar?
Beneath Alvin's feet, the Chaos Tide quietly surged. Seeing the disbelief on the silver-haired beauty's face, he revealed a gentle smile.
"I was already baptized by something similar to black mud before. Even without 'Mother' here, the black mud wouldn't affect my spirit core."
"But I really didn't expect that three different consciousnesses could exist inside one person's body."
As he said the last part, Alvin couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.
Right now, inside Irisviel's body, aside from the sleeping Irisviel herself, there was also a trace of the Holy Maiden of Winter's consciousness from the Greater Grail.
And besides that, there was yet another consciousness, the special class that had been eliminated in the previous Holy Grail War. Avenger.
Whoosh!
At that moment, a streak of silver light suddenly flashed in the darkness. "Irisviel" suddenly raised her right hand. Behind Alvin, a strand of silver thread transformed into a sharp silver needle and shot toward his heart.
However, before it could even get close, the Chaos Tide beneath Alvin's feet devoured the silver thread entirely.
Irisviel's pupils suddenly widened, and she subconsciously took another step back.
But at that moment, Alvin had already arrived in front of her. Raising his hand, he lightly struck the back of her neck.
Pitch-black magical energy surged out in an instant. Irisviel's body went limp and she collapsed weakly to her knees.
Alvin reacted quickly and immediately reached out to catch the unconscious woman. Looking at the special consciousness in her chest that faintly flickered with black light, he silently raised his right hand.
In his palm, the Chaos Tide quietly surged, then little by little devoured the consciousness symbolizing Avenger.
After settling all of this, Alvin soon lifted his head and looked toward Mount Enzo.
Avenger had always hidden inside the Greater Grail in the past. Now that the Greater Grail had appeared, Avenger had appeared along with it… Judging from this, was this something Manaka had caused again?
From the moment the black mud receded earlier, Alvin had already sensed the aura of the Greater Grail coming from Mount Enzo. Even though he didn't know what Sajyou Manaka intended to do, rhere was no doubt that the Greater Grail had indeed been successfully summoned by her.
"Aaaaa? (Do you want me to help?)"
At that moment, an incomparably gentle and pleasant female voice suddenly came from behind him.
Alvin's heart jumped. He subconsciously turned his head to look behind him, and shock quickly appeared on his face.
"Why are you still here?"
Logically speaking, Tiamat was only a Noble Phantasm he had summoned. Once the time was up, she should disappear on her own. However, Alvin clearly noticed that the body of the woman in front of him seemed to be gradually becoming "materialized."
"Aaaa…"
Tiamat pointed at the puddle of black mud on the ground.
Alvin's mind stirred slightly, and he suddenly remembered something important.
'Come to think of it, any Servant drenched in black mud would gain a "physical body."'
'Could it be that Mama Tiamat has also gained a body because of the black mud?'
Just as this thought flashed through Alvin's mind, he quickly noticed that Tiamat's body, which had just solidified, soon began to slowly become illusory again.
Tiamat froze for a moment, then lowered her head in disbelief to look at her own hands, confusion in her eyes.
Alvin was just as baffled. She had clearly obtained a body, so why had it suddenly disappeared again?
After a brief moment of surprise, Alvin quickly accepted it.
Although black mud could grant Servants a body, Tiamat's existence was too special. After all, the "Chaos Tide" itself was something extremely similar to black mud, and it could also contaminate a Servant's spirit core.
"I'll handle the rest from here, Mother."
Seeing the woman's regret and disappointment, Alvin couldn't help but reach out and gently pat her head.
"If I run into trouble, I'll summon you again."
"Aaaa…"
Like a cat, Tiamat rubbed against the boy's palm. In the end she glanced at him once more, then quietly closed her eyes and turned into light, disappearing into the air.
After silently watching the woman leave, Alvin finally lowered his gaze to the unconscious silver-haired beauty in his arms.
'What should I do next?'
'Anyway… I should first head over to Mount Enzo and take a look.'
After a brief moment of thought, Alvin quickly made up his mind. Carrying Irisviel's soft body, he left the balcony and walked into the living room.
The night was quiet.
Inside the living room, a silver-haired little girl was hugging a soft pillow with her eyes tightly closed. A happy expression rested on her lovely little face, and she looked like she was sleeping very soundly.
Because the black mud had covered the entire balcony earlier, there hadn't been much noise. Illya clearly hadn't been woken up.
Seeing the sleeping silver-haired girl, Alvin's expression softened slightly. His originally restless mood suddenly calmed a lot.
Sometimes people are like that. When you see the girl you protect living happily, you also feel an indescribable sense of achievement and happiness.
He first placed Irisviel on the sofa. After taking a blanket from the side and covering both mother and daughter, he finally walked out the door.
"Saber…"
At that moment, a weak and delicate girl's voice suddenly came from behind him.
Alvin subconsciously turned around and looked back. He discovered that Matou Sakura, who should have been sleeping inside, was somehow already standing at the doorway, staring straight at him.
"Sakura, why are you awake?", Alvin asked instinctively.
"You made such a big commotion. I heard it earlier."
Matou Sakura's eyes were full of worry.
"You should just form a contract with me… At least I can supply you with some magical energy…"
"I won't need it for now. If I really do need it, I won't be polite with you."
Matou Sakura couldn't help but look up at Alvin one last time. Seeing his calm smile, she was about to continue speaking when she heard him add,
"It's a bit cold tonight. You should go back inside first."
Sakura hesitated for a moment, but in the end she softly said "Mm," lowered her head, and turned to return to the house.
Only then did the smile on Alvin's face fade. Turning around, he looked toward Mount Enzo, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Although he didn't quite understand what Sajyou Manaka was thinking, given the current situation, he couldn't just ignore her.
After all… if that thing was really summoned, or even destroyed, then Fuyuki would truly turn into a city of nuclear peace.
If he could persuade Sajyou Manaka to help purify the corrupted Greater Grail, that would naturally be the best outcome.
And if persuasion didn't work, then he would switch to another method and sleep-persuade her.
After all, the reason Sajyou Manaka wanted to summon the Greater Grail was simply because she hoped Alvin would stay by her side forever.
But in reality, making Alvin stay didn't have only one method.
———
Boom!
At the peak of Mount Enzo, two figures were currently clashing.
Perhaps due to the surge of magical energy, Sajyou Manaka's eyes seemed to be dyed gold at this moment, surrounded by a special magical aura.
Her gaze swept across the mountaintop, which had already become a battlefield, searching for Kiritsugu Emiya's position in the darkness.
Being born connected to the Root gave Sajyou Manaka extremely powerful perception. Even though Kiritsugu had just hidden himself using the terrain, she could immediately pinpoint where he was hiding.
The reason she hadn't attacked immediately was because she sensed that there wasn't only one enemy on this battlefield.
There was also a Servant hidden here.
Even though she was omniscient and omnipotent, to ensure she could kill this Servant without fail, and survive to the very end of the Holy Grail War, Sajyou Manaka still chose to go all out.
Snowflakes fell one by one onto her face, cold and slightly damp.
The chilly sensation made her feel awful. Even the most powerful magus couldn't avoid having their shoes and socks soaked by the snow.
There was still some time before the Greater Grail descended. Perhaps because of that, the various Masters had yet to appear. She should quickly deal with this troublesome fellow first, then go change into a new set of clothes.
Thinking this, magical energy beneath Sajyou Manaka's feet suddenly began to surge quietly.
The semi-transparent magical power spread out silently. In an instant, powerful perception spread outward from her as the center, as if trying to capture everything around her into her mind.
Soon, a pleased smile appeared on her face.
She suddenly turned her head and looked toward the rooftop behind her.
"Over there?"
The elements in the air were instantly mobilized. Fire and wind mixed together, tearing up the tiles of the roof. Kiritsugu Emiya, who had just been hiding on the roof during the fight, slid down and dropped to the ground.
Just as he steadied himself, a sharp whistling wind came rushing toward him from the distance, sweeping up metal fragments hidden in the snow along with it, forming something like a tornado.
The rotational speed at the center of the tornado was astonishing.
Kiritsugu's pupils shrank slightly. He had seen tornadoes before, and the magecraft released by the girl before him was already extremely close to a small natural tornado.
If someone were caught in it, their bones would likely be shattered instantly.
Yet at this critical moment, a figure suddenly appeared in the darkness. He grabbed the back collar of Kiritsugu's coat and yanked him out of the tornado's range.
Sajyou Manaka raised her head and looked over. When she saw the Servant's figure in the darkness, an amused smile suddenly bloomed across her face.
"So it really is you… the Master who became an exception to the Holy Grail War's rules."
After the rules of this Holy Grail War had been modified, two additional Servants could be summoned.
One was Ruler, who appeared to balance the Holy Grail War, and the other was also a Servant of a very special class.
It had to be said that Kiritsugu Emiya's judgment on the battlefield was indeed sharp. On the very day the Holy Grail War's rules changed, he had already summoned a Servant to secure his combat strength.
But he had still underestimated Sajyou Manaka.
Or rather, even the Magus Killer had never imagined that a monster like her would exist in this Holy Grail War.
"Master, we should retreat for tonight."
The ninth Servant clearly spoke in an extremely low voice, deliberately hiding his identity.
He could sense that although the Greater Grail had appeared, there was still some time before it truly "descended". At the very least, if the various Masters didn't appear tonight, it wouldn't descend immediately.
Under these circumstances, confronting the Root Princess head-on was not the correct decision.
Kiritsugu Emiya's expression darkened. His emotionless gray eyes stared fixedly at Sajyou Manaka.
Although unwilling, he ultimately let out a low response.
"Understood. We retreat."
"Trying to run away just like that… aren't you two underestimating me a little too much?"
Sajyou Manaka smiled.
Inside the tornado that had almost completely dissipated, a streak of fire suddenly flared up.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.