"Isn't that the same for us as well?"
"Isn't it because you insisted on revealing everything at this moment…"
"There was no way to keep hiding it anymore, Semiramis." Amakusa Shirou said with a smile.
"You noticed it too, didn't you? Our Caster had already realized this long ago, and shortly after the battle began she disappeared… Rather than letting someone expose it, it's better to reveal it ourselves."
"Circe? That woman really is no good!"
Semiramis snorted coldly, "Just because her function as 'Caster' was replaced by me, she chose to rebel. Truly shameless."
"I don't even know what she's complaining about. This world follows survival of the fittest. The fact that I'm more outstanding than her is simply the truth."
"As the inferior replacement, the fact that she could run errands for me already counts as fulfilling her duty. Yet she wanted more… completely unreasonable!"
She probably left because she couldn't stand you anymore... Amakusa Shirou's smile was awkward but still polite.
The saying that one mountain cannot hold two tigers was very fitting. Semiramis and Circe were both extremely troublesome Servants.
If they were in a bad mood or had a sudden whim, they could simply say, "Master, it's time to drink your porridge (wine)," and directly turn their Master into a useless person.
That was the most dangerous type of Servant, even more troublesome than Berserkers and that certain golden shining guy.
After all, Berserkers merely lacked reason, and the golden one was simply someone who sought amusement. But they were intelligent bad women.
Summoning even one of them was already troublesome, let alone putting them together. If the Caster candidate had not been a witch from the Age of Gods but instead some useless Servant, Semiramis probably wouldn't have clashed with them.
Of course, jokes aside, Amakusa Shirou wasn't foolish enough to directly criticize Semiramis. If he wanted to be poisoned to death, he could try doing that.
"Even without the hidden problem of Caster, I didn't intend to start a battle at that time, because there was an even more unstable factor nearby."
"…Berserker and Saber?" The empress's expression also became serious.
"Saber is secondary. At most she would simply oppose us. The one we truly need to watch is Berserker, whose allegiance is unclear."
Amakusa smiled with a mysterious expression. "We can now basically confirm that he's the Servant who came to the church to cause destruction, the one who prevented our Hanging Gardens from officially taking flight until now… It seems as if he knew our plan from the very beginning."
Just mentioning it made Semiramis extremely displeased. "My garden… someone like that is obviously an enemy. Why say his allegiance is unclear?"
"Because I feel he might not necessarily be our enemy. In some matters, we may even share common interests."
Amakusa thought for a moment. "There's no real evidence. You could say it's just my intuition."
Intuition might sound like nonsense, but considering that this man had once been a Ruler, his intuition in some sense was more reliable than physical evidence.
"I'll believe it for now."
Semiramis's eyes darkened. "Berserker is indeed dangerous… Someone who can kill Yamata no Orochi cannot possibly be an ordinary Servant."
"The power he displayed at that moment already surpassed what a Servant should possess. Although it declined rapidly afterward, he still can't be underestimated."
"Shirou, can't you see his True Name?"
"It's rather delicate…" Amakusa Shirou couldn't help putting away his smile when talking about this.
"After all, I'm only the previous generation's Ruler. My privileges have been weakened quite a bit. However, just by watching his battle with Yamata no Orochi, his identity can basically be determined."
"Oh?" Semiramis narrowed her eyes. "Don't tell me he's a war god? The Holy Grail shouldn't be able to summon gods."
"Among heroes from the Far East, there is indeed only one who could fight like that." Amakusa pondered.
"Perhaps he was summoned in the form of 'descending from heaven as a human.' It's not unusual for gods to incarnate as mortals or wander the world in other forms."
"Hm…"
"Don't worry. Although he's strong, aside from facing an opponent like Yamata no Orochi, he can't display power on the level of a god."
Amakusa spoke as if comforting himself. "After all, we have the advantage in numbers. He can't match all of us alone."
"As long as the Hanging Gardens of Vanity are fully completed, I won't fear even a god!" Semiramis was extremely confident. Though her words sounded arrogant, they weren't entirely without basis.
The Hanging Gardens were a rare Noble Phantasm that couldn't be summoned directly and instead required constructing a physical form in the real world.
But precisely because of that, it wasn't restricted like normal Noble Phantasms. It could raise its rank and power depending on the situation.
Simply put, the mechanism of this thing was "no investment, no strength." The more treasures invested into it, the higher its level would become.
Originally, Amakusa had spent half a century collecting enough materials. But part of it was destroyed by a certain utterly shameless person, forcing him to rob museums and other places to replenish the resources, and he even made a full effort to seize the Rhinegold.
Now, although the Rhinegold had gone missing, he gained an unexpected reward...
The "shed skin" of Yamata no Orochi.
Possibly because it was connected to the ley lines, after Orochi's death it did not completely disappear, but instead left behind something like a stone statue resembling a molted skin.
This thing had no meaning to humans or Servants. But Yamata no Orochi, as a divine beast possessing the attributes of "poison," "wine," and "corruption," happened to match Semiramis's nature.
The empress could use its concept and incorporate it into the Hanging Gardens, greatly increasing the durability of the structure.
"I'm counting on you, Semiramis."
After saying that, Amakusa Shirou seemed to think of something else. His brows knitted tightly, then soon relaxed. He muttered to himself, "If that's really the case… then perhaps this is fate…"
"Hm?"
The empress looked at him unhappily. "What are you talking about? Are you hiding something from me?"
"No, haha… I just remembered something from the past and made a guess."
Amakusa didn't want to hide things from his close comrade and spoke honestly.
"In the last Holy Grail War, the one who summoned me was the Einzbern family. In other words, the Master of this Berserker."
"Oh?" Semiramis raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're feeling nostalgic?"
"How could that be… I stopped caring about that long ago. Now, in order to achieve that goal, there's nothing I wouldn't discard."
Amakusa's tone was calm yet firm. Then he continued, "But as a Servant of the Einzbern family, I understand the essence of the Holy Grail War better than others."
"I also know that besides the Greater Grail, there actually exists something called the 'Lesser Grail.'"
"The Lesser Grail?"
"Unlike the Greater Grail, the Lesser Grail is the true 'vessel.' Its function is to store the souls of defeated Servants."
"Once a certain number is reached, those souls are released in an instant to pierce through the barrier between the inside and outside of the world, thereby opening a hole leading to the Root."
"Wait a moment!"
As a magus, Semiramis immediately understood what that meant. "This is the true purpose of the Holy Grail War? Mere humans actually trying to obtain… hmph!"
Magicians of the Age of Gods were different from modern magi. They lived in an era full of "miracles."
Just as humans in daily life don't think about capturing air, magicians of that age had little desire to reach the Root.
Semiramis's anger came from the fact that when the Three Families designed this system, they treated heroes as expendable resources.
"Even so, at most it's only a theoretical possibility. Even if humans can open the 'hole,' they might not actually be able to reach the Root."
Amakusa didn't believe it would truly succeed. Even among the Three Families, only the Tohsaka family believed in this path. What he truly cared about was something else.
"After opening the 'hole,' it becomes possible to connect with the infinite magical energy outside the world… That was Einzbern's true goal."
"The salvation of all humanity?"
Semiramis immediately understood and let out a mocking laugh.
"So your dream was borrowed from human magi. And because you lacked the ability, you abandoned the original plan and instead chose to 'extract the world's ley lines' as a substitute for infinite magical energy… Ha!"
"You're not only a 'fake,' you're also an 'inferior product,' Amakusa Shirou Tokisada!"
Assassin mocked her own Master without restraint, fully revealing her wicked nature. She wanted to see what kind of miserable and ashamed expression this always-smiling Master of hers would show.
"Yes. I'm nothing more than a 'Faker.'"
But Semiramis didn't get her wish. Shirou calmly accepted the ridicule, and with a smile said in an extremely serious tone, "Even if this ideal is borrowed, I will carry it through to the end."
"…Hmph, how unpleasant!" Semiramis suddenly lost her temper for no clear reason and turned into a flash of spiritual light, disappearing.
Watching this scene, Amakusa shook his head helplessly. He felt that he really didn't have the talent to be a Master.
But thinking about it seriously, there probably weren't many people in this world who could control Semiramis anyway.
"The Lesser Grail… could it exist?"
"If it does exist, then with two Servants already eliminated, it should have begun 'accumulating'… In this war, are there actually two ways to achieve a wish?"
Amakusa fell into deep thought. Compared to the Greater Grail, which required extracting ley lines, the Lesser Grail that could grant infinite magical energy once conditions were met actually fit the definition of a "universal wish-granting machine" more closely.
But soon he reaffirmed his conviction.
Whether the Lesser Grail existed or not was uncertain. But the function of the Greater Grail extracting ley lines had already been confirmed, and it was enough to meet his needs.
The truce with Medea was merely a temporary measure. The moment the modification of the Greater Grail was completed would also be the moment the final battle arrived.
Even if Medea could create a "temple," once the Hanging Gardens were completed, their functions would be overwhelmingly superior.
Medea, possessing both Red and Black Casters must give you plenty of confidence… but you would never expect that among the Masters there is also someone who can connect to the Grail.
The one who will pluck the fruit from the tree, seize victory, and raise all humanity to heaven will be me, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada.
———
For the residents of the small European city of Trifas, ever since the "gas explosion" that happened in the suburbs a few days ago, the situation had gradually become strange.
It clearly wasn't the season for fog, but recently every night fog would descend. It was so thick that you couldn't see your own hand in front of you. Even light couldn't penetrate it.
From deep inside the fog, strange wind-like sounds would occasionally emerge, like the chanting of a deep-sea monster, making people feel extremely uneasy.
Naturally, no one dared go out in such ghostly weather. But once a drunk fell asleep on the street and only woke up at night. By then the fog had already descended.
His brain, numbed by alcohol, didn't understand fear at all, and he even wandered around outside, boldly groping his way toward where the sound was coming from.
What happened afterward even the drunk himself couldn't remember clearly. He only remembered seeing an enormous shadow.
A pair of scarlet eyes looked at him through the fog. Just one glance was enough to make him faint from the overwhelming pressure in that gaze.
When people later found him, the drunk was miraculously unharmed. But nearby there was a large pool of blood, and claw marks like those left by a brown bear were scratched into the wall. It looked as though some large wild animal had fought there.
This was a small city, and the news quickly spread to everyone. Quite a few cautious people chose to leave with their families, visiting relatives or going on trips, in short temporarily leaving the city.
However, most people still chose to stay. After all, only strange incidents had occurred and there were no real casualties.
Most believed it was some unusual natural phenomenon, while the blood was probably from animals like deer or bears that had gotten lost in the fog and wandered into the city.
The authorities gave no explanation, or rather one so perfunctory it barely counted as an explanation. The public had no expectations from them anyway.
As time passed, the heavy fog showed no signs of fading. Instead it grew even worse. Sightings of those "beast-like shadows" also became more frequent.
Fortunately, as long as people stayed indoors and didn't enter the thick fog, they wouldn't encounter those strange things.
More and more people left, and Trifas gradually became deserted. During the daytime it still looked like a quiet and peaceful beautiful town. But at night it turned into a ghostly place with no pedestrians at all, completely submerged in thick fog.
For ordinary people this was a major change, but for magi and Servants, this period had actually become unusually peaceful.
Medea, who occupied the Yggdmillennia castle, successfully gathered the Black Servants under her control through both force and persuasion, using Command Seals and the Greater Grail.
However, unlike Vlad III before her, she didn't rule them. Instead, she and the Servants reached a compromise and formed a strange cooperative relationship.
It was similar to Amakusa on the Red side. That priest also didn't have absolute authority over the Servants under him. He merely made them reluctantly accept his leadership.
Although the two factions had nominally called a truce, in reality both were secretly preparing for the next confrontation.
Amakusa was obviously focusing on the Hanging Gardens. Coincidentally, Medea was also doing construction work.
With the help of the ley lines and the Greater Grail, the Yggdmillennia castle on the surface was controlled by Vlad III.
Under the effect of his Noble Phantasm, it became a "spike fortress" that existed somewhere between a Reality Marble and a magical workshop.
Underground, the original space was greatly expanded, allowing Asterios's Noble Phantasm, the "Labyrinth That Never Changes," to manifest physically.
Many traps and methods were arranged within it, making its danger level even greater than the mythological original.
The Greater Grail itself was placed at the center of the labyrinth, guarded jointly by the two witches, Medea and Circe, along with Asterios.
Even people like Artoria were rarely allowed to enter the labyrinth. What the two witches of the Age of Gods had turned it into, and how many trump cards they had prepared, was impossible for anyone to predict.
But one thing was certain.
In order to build this labyrinth, Medea even deliberately slowed down the modification of the Greater Grail.
Because she understood that on the day the Greater Grail officially activated, things definitely wouldn't go smoothly. She had to prepare thoroughly beforehand.
Aside from these two major factions, the three wandering outside, Iori, Mordred, and Jeanne, had completely become idle.
Especially Iori. He truly seemed unconcerned about who would obtain the Grail. These days he simply took Sella sightseeing. They even left Trifas for a few days to travel elsewhere.
The duo of Kairi and Mordred had remained in Trifas. Kairi once contacted the Mage's Association to try doing something, but eventually gave up.
It was obvious that the Mage's Association in this world line couldn't produce forces capable of fighting magicians from the Age of Gods. Facing two witches backed by top-level magical reactors and super workshops, there was little they could do.
Originally they could have relied on the Red Masters… but hadn't they all been wiped out by Amakusa…
The Association and the Holy Church were probably arguing lawsuits over this matter right now.
In the end, the carefully selected magi of the Association were completely useless. The only two survivors were both "externally hired," once again repeating the strange phenomenon where the academic faction loses to the wild ones.
"…That's basically the situation. The higher-ups of the Association are quite anxious now. There was even a Lord-level figure who wanted to personally come to Romania, but in the end they were persuaded not to."
In a bar with very few customers, Kairi met with an envoy from the Association. Because the Holy Grail War had already gone out of control, Romania had become a forbidden zone in the eyes of insiders. Anyone who still dared to come here could practically be called a suicide squad.
This envoy indeed came with that level of determination. But after actually arriving, he discovered that things weren't as dangerous as he had imagined.
Forget Romania as a whole. Even Trifas, which belonged to the Yggdmillennia territory, could be freely traveled through.
The dense fog at night was certainly strange. But during the day even ordinary people could move around freely.
As long as he honestly stayed hidden at night and went out during the day, living like a well-behaved early sleeper and early riser, he could complete his mission and return home smoothly… it was so easy it felt unsettling.
Of course, he didn't know that this was the result of the joint "efforts" of the Red and Black factions.
Neither of their leaders were villains in the traditional sense. Even Medea, who carried the name of witch, wouldn't harm ordinary people unless necessary.
This time she could use the ley lines and the Greater Grail, so there was no need to steal the pitiful magical energy of ordinary people.
As for the saint-like Amakusa, there was even less need to mention it.
Under them, most of the Servants summoned this time were also neutral or aligned with good. With Shuten already dead, the most dangerous people in all of Trifas were Circe and Semiramis.
Though infamous in myth, compared to some modern magi they were actually relatively mild types.
Even when the two factions clashed, they avoided involving ordinary people and even consciously prevented it.
From this perspective, although the scale was huge, this Holy Grail War was the only one that truly followed the "principle of secrecy."
That wasn't surprising either. Both sides were professionals and wouldn't do unnecessary things.
Of course, this gentle situation only existed for now. Once the Greater Grail activated, no matter who controlled it, Trifas, Romania… or even the entire world would face a huge disaster.
"A Lord, huh… even if one came it wouldn't help. Right now Trifas is like a black hole. No matter how many magi you throw in, it won't cause any ripple."
Kairi felt completely helpless. Although he was an experienced mercenary, he had truly never seen a situation like this.
The envoy nodded.
"Indeed. If the Servants go out of control, magi alone can't solve it. The only thing that can fight Servants… is Servants."
After saying that, he stared straight at Kairi. The old mercenary felt uneasy under his gaze.
"What?"
[🎉 Shoutout to Little_Demon, Thanh, WetWatee, Slashdog, Darklouche and Michael for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]