"Still planning to struggle? But you should know it's useless."
Sajyou Manaka revealed a cold smile, "Caster already set up an ambush before you arrived. There's no way you can escape the barrier he prepared. Everything you do now is pointless."
Rider said nothing and slowly reached out to remove her blindfold.
She possessed two different Noble Phantasms, and the one she planned to use now was the special Noble Phantasm capable of petrifying everything, the Mystic Eyes of Petrification.
In the past, this Noble Phantasm had caused great trouble for many powerful enemies, but neither Sajyou Manaka nor Merlin seemed flustered at all.
Sajyou Manaka was right. Merlin had long ago set up a magical barrier. This barrier could be considered a weakened version of "Avalon." As long as they remained on Mount Enzo, Rider's Noble Phantasm could not affect anyone.
But neither Sajyou Manaka nor Merlin expected that Rider had never planned to run from the start.
Facing the cooperation of two powerful enemies, a mocking cold smile instead appeared at the corner of Rider's lips.
She raised her right hand and slowly opened her palm.
A flying insect with complicated patterns fluttered upward.
"Pointless struggle!"
The next moment, Sajyou Manaka stepped forward. The snow beneath her feet rapidly melted as if exposed to some terrifying heat, while countless magic bullets descended like golden rain of light.
The light rain filling the sky was too grand, instantly covering the iron-gray heavens.
But that was not the end, because Merlin also swung his staff at the same time. Pink flower petals mixed with snowflakes drifted down. When Rider tried to evade, she discovered she could not move at all.
Merlin's illusion.
Just as Illya had said, from the moment Rider stepped onto Mount Enzo tonight, there had already been no possibility of escape, because they had prepared a trap in advance and waited for her to jump in herself.
Facing the attack from both sides at once, Rider seemed to truly give up resisting and slowly lowered the chain in her hand.
She raised her head and looked at the sky.
That Crest Worm mixed with the "Chaos Tide" was flying straight upward.
Then, it shattered in midair.
A drop of black mud quietly fell.
Like ripples spreading across a calm lake, that drop of mud suddenly expanded countless times. A graceful black figure bloomed from the black mud like a mandala flower.
The moment that woman emerged from the black mud, large amounts of snow on Mount Enzo rose upward against gravity, as if willingly crawling beneath her feet.
Facing the descending rain of light, the figure within the black mud raised her right hand.
The light rain seemed drawn by some force, rapidly gathering together before being swallowed by the power of the Chaos Tide in an instant.
Everyone present stared at this scene in shock. Even Rider herself looked full of disbelief.
That figure silently descended from the sky and arrived behind Rider.
"Tonight really is lively. Good thing I left some preparations behind, or you probably would've become the first Servant eliminated, Rider."
A cold and indifferent voice quietly sounded in the snowy night.
She wore black clothing that completely hid her face beneath a loose hood.
Her waist-length hair spread like a waterfall, dancing in the wind, with a brilliance like a starry night faintly visible between the strands.
"Sorry…"
Rider said softly.
Merlin's eyes narrowed slightly, "This person is Rider's Maste…"
Sajyou Manaka frowned slightly, "All the World's Evil?"
She had been the final "winner" of the previous Holy Grail War, and she had also controlled the black mud back then, so she was very familiar with the aura of the person behind Rider.
However, the aura from this person… was not merely All the World's Evil. It also seemed mixed with something even deeper and more terrifying than the black mud.
At that moment, Illya seemed to realize something and blurted out,
"It was you… it was you! You're the source that polluted the Greater Grail. You actually escaped from the Greater Grail?"
In the previous Holy Grail War, the Greater Grail had been polluted. Although it was later destroyed, the source of pollution inside it, the black mud known as "All the World's Evil," had never been completely purified.
Over these years, the three founding families of Fuyuki and the Holy Church had worked together to purify the Greater Grail. The "black mud" inside it should have already been nearly completely removed.
Yet at this very moment, Illya could clearly feel an incomparably dangerous power gathering behind this mysterious woman.
Merlin had not spoken since earlier. He only stared at the mysterious woman behind Rider.
His gaze was extremely deep. After staring for who knew how long, he finally spoke quietly.
"No wonder I saw the future destruction of humanity… so that's how it is?"
"A fusion of All the World's Evil and the Chaos Tide. That's your true form, am I right?"
Illya subconsciously looked toward Merlin. At this moment, her eyes held both shock and understanding.
When the Greater Grail was destroyed back then, the "black mud" polluting it had also been almost entirely destroyed. Logically speaking, after ten years of purification, the remaining black mud should have already been basically eradicated.
That had been the common judgment of the three founding families of Fuyuki, including the Winter Saintess.
Yet no one expected that all these years, someone had secretly continued polluting the Greater Grail, mixing the black mud known as the "Chaos Tide" into it.
The woman behind Rider, or rather, the darkened Sakura, was slightly stunned for a moment. Then she quickly burst into charming laughter, hugging herself as she laughed so hard her body trembled.
"Caster… court mage of Britain. Your Clairvoyance really can see many things."
"But I also have a question."
"Matou Sakura" smiled at the white-haired mage behind Illya, her voice carrying a trace of seduction.
"Since your Clairvoyance can see so far…"
"Have you ever seen your own death?"
Her gentle voice suddenly became cold as if devoid of all emotion, as though two completely different voices were speaking at the same time.
The barrier Merlin had set up on Mount Enzo emitted faint cracking sounds. A chill rose down his back.
At almost the same time, everyone present sensed the magical energy fluctuations coming from Matou Sakura.
It felt like an enormous mountain slowly pushing in from the distance, suppressing everything and making it impossible to breathe.
Whether it was the Root Princess, Britain's mage, or Fuyuki's Lesser Grail, as long as they were in Fuyuki, she was the only god.
Even if the Greater Grail had not yet been fully corrupted by the Chaos Tide.
The Chaos Tide surged around Matou Sakura. Beast-like patterns spread along her pale skin. Red markings also covered her ample chest, adding a seductive beauty.
"Matou Sakura" raised her right hand, condensing black mud powerful enough to erase everything. Merlin's barrier emitted glass-like cracking sounds under the pressure of the terrifying magical energy.
"This is bad. This is really bad… She clearly hasn't fully transformed into a 'Beast' yet, but she seems to have special support from the Greater Grail…"
Cold sweat seeped from Merlin's forehead. If it were his true body, he naturally had ways to deal with it. But in the end, he was still a Servant manifested using the Greater Grail as a base… As long as one was a Servant within the Holy Grail War, it was impossible to oppose the power of the Greater Grail itself.
Black mud surged across the sky, mixed with countless insects, every single one a Crest Worm corrupted by the Chaos Tide.
"Let this end here—"
Matou Sakura raised her right hand indifferently. However, at that moment, she seemed to sense something, and her voice abruptly stopped.
An incomparably familiar fluctuation of magical energy pierced through the snowstorm like a blade cutting through her chaotic consciousness.
Alvin's presence!
The black mud in midair shattered into tens of thousands of insects in an instant.
Matou Sakura suddenly raised her head. At the far end of the snowstorm, the black-clothed boy was rushing toward them while carrying his Master in his arms. Those golden vertical pupils shining like daylight in the darkness seemed to pierce through the storm and look directly at her.
Light instantly bloomed in Sajyou Manaka's eyes as she almost blurted out,
"Alvin?"
"Master?"
Rider noticed the abnormality behind her and subconsciously spoke.
Matou Sakura staggered backward, her fingers beneath the black clothing digging deeply into her palms.
"Take me away from here, Rider."
She tried desperately to suppress the urge in her mind constantly repeating "kill everyone," her voice trembling as she spoke.
"It's not time yet. I don't want him to see me like this."
As if sensing Matou Sakura's intention to flee, rainbow light bloomed from Merlin's staff, while Sajyou Manaka's magic crests spread across the ground into golden thorns.
At the same time, Alvin was getting closer and closer.
However, at that moment, black mud suddenly wrapped around Matou Sakura's ankles like living creatures.
A Crest Worm silently flew onto the snowy ground ahead, sparks of fire leaking from its abdomen.
"Master, watch out!"
Merlin's pupils suddenly shrank as if he realized something. He immediately raised his staff, and pink flower petals formed a barrier around Illya.
Alvin set Rin down from his arms and said, "Wait here for me!"
After speaking, he was about to step forward, but at that moment, a deafening explosion suddenly rang out beside his ears.
BOOM!
The next moment, the explosion caused by the Crest Worm swallowed most of the area.
Alvin stopped just in time at the edge of the explosion.
The corner of his eye seemed to notice something. He stepped forward and picked up a half-burned insect wing from the ground. Dark red patterns wriggled in his palm.
A Crest Worm.
'Why are there Crest Worms here too?'
A flicker passed through Alvin's eyes as the thought surfaced in his mind. Soon after, he raised his head and looked ahead.
When the smoke finally cleared, only scorched snow and winding traces of black mud remained, like mocking snake shadows pointing toward Ryuudou Temple.
"What's wrong, Assassin?"
Rin's somewhat worried voice sounded, pulling Alvin back from his thoughts.
He loosened his hand, allowing the insect wing to scatter into the wind, "Nothing… probably just my imagination."
After saying that, he turned and returned to Rin's side.
Only then did he notice that not far away, three pairs of eyes were staring at them at the same time.
Then came Sajyou Manaka's voice, filled with surprise and joy.
"Saber?"
Alvin froze for a moment and subconsciously turned his head.
The expression on his face quickly stiffened.
"Manaka?"
Although the girl looked to be in her early twenties now, she had not changed much overall, so he recognized her immediately.
Rin's heart ached slightly, and she asked with some concern, "You know her?"
Only then did Alvin react and withdraw his gaze, "She was my Master in the previous Holy Grail War."
'A Master from the previous Holy Grail War is actually participating in the Fifth Holy Grail War too?'
Rin looked toward Sajyou Manaka again, and her gaze became slightly strange. At this moment, the girl suddenly had an extremely subtle feeling.
It was practically like an ex-wife showing up to find her current boyfriend… something like that.
'One Illya is already enough, so why is there suddenly another Sajyou Manaka now?'
But as his current Master, shouldn't she properly greet the former one?
Just as Rin thought that, she suddenly saw Sajyou Manaka's figure flash past her.
Under the girl's confused gaze, Sajyou Manaka directly threw herself into Alvin's arms.
Like a kitten, she gently rubbed against Alvin's chest, her crisp and sweet voice full of longing.
"I finally found you, Saber~ I missed you so much."
———
It was early winter. A distant cold wind blew in from the coastline as goose-feather snow drifted down.
At this moment, Sajyou Manaka was hugging Alvin closely like a koala, her face overflowing with surprise and nostalgia, as if she had completely forgotten the battle that had just happened here, and forgotten that Alvin was no longer her Servant.
[🎉 Shoutout to Aethergray and what_iz for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]
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