Why bother with the Holy Grail War? Let's play cards!

"It's actually true?" Big Weber finally saw himself ten years ago. He covered his head and began to digest the new knowledge in his mind. "Across time and space summoning, extracting historical concepts, summoning pseudo-heroic spirits... What an astonishing Noble Phantasm. It seems that the Fourth Holy Grail War in this timeline has an extraordinary Heroic Spirit."

"Since it's true, let's start with Teacher Kenneth. Teacher, your magic furnaces haven't exploded yet, right?"

"I don't recall ever being this close to you." Kenneth tilted his head slightly, avoiding Big Weber's gaze. "Of course there's no problem. The barrier in the hotel covers all twenty-four floors, even the sewers. The corridors have been spatially transformed, and dozens of evil spirits and monsters have been summoned in place of the hounds. It's impregnable."

"That's good. The El-Melloi Clan's debt can be saved." Big Weber looked at his ten-year-old self with seven parts of relief and three parts of envy. Facing Waver's puzzled look, he said directly, "You're lucky."

Big Weber continued Kenneth's words, "Teacher, your magical skills are unquestionable, but what if the other party blows up the entire hotel?"

Kenneth's face darkened. It's not that he didn't have physical defenses, but if the opponent changed the terrain, most of his magic would be ineffective. He couldn't cover the entire hotel with defensive magic. Besides, it wouldn't be in line with the secrecy of magic.

Seeing Kenneth's expression change, Big Weber knew that Kenneth had taken his words in. "Hurry up and move the magic furnace out. We should still be able to make it."

"I should have warned you to be careful with Emiya Kiritsugu. His Origin Bullet has the concept of severing connections. Teacher Kenneth was unfortunately hit by it, causing your magic circuit to be destroyed. However, considering the effect of this Noble Phantasm, his advantage can't be brought into play. Just be careful... What's with your expressions?"

After the two told Big Weber that this mysterious rule was the effect of the Noble Phantasm of Emiya Kiritsugu's Servant, Caster, Big Weber laughed heartily in relief. "Emiya Kiritsugu, you've come to this!"

Waver had wanted to remind Kenneth about Sora, but when he saw Romulus, he was shocked by the size of his Spiritual Base, but also thankful it wasn't Dimurdo from the previous worldline. The changes in the Servant had also reduced Sora's chances of trouble. He still didn't know what this size of Spiritual Base meant.

"Next, I have a very important piece of information to share with you all: Please give up the fight for the Holy Grail!"

"what!"

"What do you mean?"

"why?"

With the exception of Romulus, all three gave surprised responses. While Waver and Kenneth had entered the battle with the intention of participating in a magic competition, that didn't mean they would easily withdraw. And Iskandar's reality was to fulfill wishes with the Holy Grail.

"Because, this Holy Grail does not contain the object of wishing, but rather—the evil of this world!"

Chapter 32: The news that the Holy Grail is a money-losing commodity has spread.

"After this Holy Grail War, I've researched a lot. During the Third Holy Grail War, the Einzbern clan illegally summoned an Avenger, causing the Holy Grail to become tainted. The Holy Grail now maliciously misinterprets wishes. For example, if you, the King of Conquerors, wish to gain a physical body and conquer the world, it will most likely transform you into a monster capable of destruction. For it, that would truly be the fulfillment of your wish."

"That's really a headache. Is there no way to restore the Holy Grail to its original appearance?" Iskandar asked.

"I'm sorry, no. This is because this 'Holy Grail' isn't a holy artifact in the truest sense of the word. It's actually a container of immense magical power, essentially composed of the incomplete third-order magical circuits within the body of Justisa, the 'Winter Saint,' who serves as its core. The evil of this world has now merged with her. Trying to eliminate the influence of this evil is no different from directly destroying the Holy Grail."

Big Weber lit another cigarette. He had originally intended to participate in the Fifth Holy Grail War to prove Iskandar's strength and prevent others from obtaining the Holy Grail, but something had delayed him. "I'm also working on dismantling the Holy Grail, but the workload is quite overwhelming, and I don't know when I'll be able to complete it."

"Turning a magician who is close to the third law into the Holy Grail... Such a costly ritual, and even contaminating the Holy Grail because of their own cheating, Einzbern is really willing to do that!" Kenneth suddenly lost a lot of interest in the Holy Grail War. The prize turned out to be a defective product. He complained about Einzbern's wasteful behavior.

"Should we notify the other Masters and tell them not to fight the Holy Grail War this time?" Weber pulled Iskandar's skin. He felt that there was no need to continue this Holy Grail War.

"Naive!" x3

Big Weber, Kenneth, and Iskandar scolded him at the same time.

Kenneth shook his head in exasperation. "Is it possible that your opponent will believe your one-sided story now? They'll just use it as a ploy to win."

"Furthermore, the Holy Grail won't reveal its true form until it has acquired sufficient magical power," Big Weber added. "Just because we think so doesn't mean others will agree. We can gain intelligence from the future, and so can others. Especially Caster, he must be able to see the future as well. He hasn't expressed his opinion yet, so the Holy Grail War must proceed normally."

"Just what I want! Whether or not there's a Holy Grail as a reward, I, King of Conquerors Iskandar, will challenge all the heroes of history! Boy, let's begin here!"

"I agree with Rider." Kenneth agreed with Iskandar's idea. "Whether you want to prove yourself or waste your excess kindness, you must first overcome me. Waver Velvet, the magician's quiz is about to begin!"

"Yes! Then, I activate my own effect, revealing three cards from my deck, choosing one to add to my hand, and sending the rest to the Graveyard. The card I'm adding is this one, [Iskander]!"

"As expected of my Master!" Iskandar responded.

"Use Iskandar's effect to release a Servant from your hand and Special Summon it in Attack Position. Come, King of Conquerors, let your subjects once again watch you charge!"

Iskandar rode his beloved horse into the battle area amidst lightning.

[Iskander] 7-star Rider, attack power 2800

"The effect of the King of Conquerors,"

"How can the King of Conquerors be without a mount, Master?" Iskandar urged Waver to continue, impatiently.

"You're too impatient! I'm activating the Equip Magic Card [Godly Wheel] to increase the Conqueror King's attack power by 500 points! Conqueror King, get on board!"

The flying-hoofed thunder bull pulled the chariot to Iskandar's front, and the King of Conquerors was ready to charge.

Iskandar: Attack Power 2800 → 3300

"The King of Conquerors cannot fight alone," Waver said, feeling himself rising in excitement. His words gradually became more confident. "I activate [King of Conquerors' Shadow Warrior]! Special Summon [Hephaestion] from the Deck!"

A female Servant dressed similarly to Iskandar joins the battlefield.

[Hephaestion] 7* Pretender Attack Power 2800

"King of Conquerors... I actually have no face to meet you in this way..." The woman, perhaps named Hephaestion, saw Iskandar's surprise at first, then she suppressed her smile and knelt on the ground.

"You used your brother's name? As for what you said, I never thought of it that way. I should laugh heartily when I meet my former subordinates." Iskandar pulled Hephaestion up and pointed his sword forward. "Follow me and fight together again!"

"My pleasure, King!"

"[Hephaestion]'s effect: while she's on the field, the opponent can't target other Rider servants to activate their effects. Finally, I'll cover a card in the backfield and trap it. This ends the turn. Sensei, it's your turn."

"I draw a card on my turn! You truly deserve to be my Servant." Kenneth looked at the cards in his hand with great satisfaction.

"In this situation, Lancer can easily break through. I activate..." When Kenneth just raised his hand, a resistance came from the card. He couldn't take the next step no matter what. Even the magic power in his body seemed to be frozen.

Kenneth glanced at Romulus and continued his actions. "Well, my own strength is enough. I activate the Spell Card [Rank Up], liberating a Rank Servant from the field or hand, and Special Summoning it from the Deck in Attack Position, the next Rank Servant."

"I summon, [Kenneth Color (Brand)]"

[Kenneth Color (Brand)] 4* Master, Attack Power 2000

"It's not that different from the current situation. If there were a champion myself, I'd really like to experience it."

After stretching his body slightly and feeling the flow of magic, Kenneth activated his own effect. "My effect summons a Continuous Magic Card [Moon Spirit Marrow Fluid] from the deck to the field. Boil my blood."

The silver sphere made of mercury followed Kenneth obediently.

"My trump card, [Moon Spirit Marrow Fluid], is indestructible by effects and combines defense, attack, and enemy detection. Of course, it consumes a tremendous amount of mana. Here, I can continuously activate its effects at the cost of discarding cards in my hand. Waver Velvet-san, let me show you the true power of the Lord of the Mineral Department!"

Chapter 33: Weber, I am the monarch of El-Melloi!

"[Moon Spirit Marrow Fluid]'s first effect: discard a card from your hand and select a card on the field to destroy. Hidden tactics are the most deadly and must be dealt with first. Moon Spirit Marrow Fluid, destroy the face-down card in the backfield!"

The gushing mercury turned into a sharp blade, shattering Weber's only cover in the backcourt.

"Since we can't choose Iskandar, let's break his defense first. Use the Moon Spirit Marrow to destroy Hephaestion. Slash!"

"My king, it's time for me to fulfill my duty." Hephaestion took the initiative to face the Moon Spirit Marrow Fluid and disappeared in the golden light.

"Finally, the King of Conquerors is not immune either. The effect of the Moon Spirit Marrow will destroy [Iskander]!" The third card in hand was thrown into the graveyard, and the Moon Spirit Marrow attacked the King of Conquerors.

"That won't do!" Waver raised his hand and activated the card effect in the graveyard. "[Hephaestion] Effect: While this card is in the graveyard, banish it and negate the effects of one Rider Servant on the field."

Hephaestion's shadow stood in front of Iskandar, blocking the attack of the Moon Spirit Marrow Fluid, and the shadow warrior completed his mission.

"Well done, Hephaestion!" Iskandar never hesitated to praise his subordinates.

At this time, Kenneth only had one card left in his hand. Kenneth glanced at the situation on the field: If Iskandar was destroyed, it would indeed cause direct damage to Weber, but he would lose all his protection in the next round, which was not a rational choice.

"As expected of a Heroic Spirit I once admired, I'll give you a small compliment, King of Conquerors." Kayneth subtly wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand and said something similar to a certain Gilgamesh. "My turn is over."

"Wow, I was scared. Is this the strength of the Clock Tower Lord? He almost broke through the situation." Weber breathed a sigh of relief and had a more intuitive understanding of his teacher.

"Even if you praise me, I won't let you off." Kenneth snorted slightly through his nose.

"I really mean it." Weber suddenly felt that Kayneth wasn't that difficult to get along with, if he was just playing along. "My turn, draw a card!"

Waver's eyes widened when he saw the card in his hand, rubbing them in disbelief. "Is this really me? I activate [Lord El-Melloi II Case Files] during my Draw Phase. By continuously revealing this card that I normally draw, I can activate it at the start of Main Phase 1 of that turn. Summon any number of Servants with [El-Melloi] or [El-Melloi Classroom] in their names. These cards cannot activate their effects during the turn they are summoned. I'm really looking forward to it. Do I have students too?"

[Lenice El-Melloi Archizolti] 4-star Caster, Attack Power 1800

[Flat Escaldes] 2-star Master, Attack Power 1000

[Yvette L. Lehman] 3* Assassin, Attack Power 1500

[Caules Fulvige Eugdomrenia] 2 stars, attack power 600

In an instant, trembling students of all shapes and sizes filled the battle area.

Lanis and Yvette were the first to react, assuming combat stances. Soon, they all accepted the knowledge Jiang You's Noble Phantasm provided.

"Wow, it's my teacher from ten years ago, so cute!" Yvette pounced on Weber, but was lifted up by the Conqueror's collar.

"What an interesting Noble Phantasm! I wonder how much magic power it must have consumed to achieve this level. What kind of Master or Master could provide enough magic power?" Lanis narrowed her eyes and surveyed her surroundings with interest, finally resting her gaze on Kenneth. "Isn't this my adopted brother who died young? Or, more accurately, my uncle? You still look so high-spirited now. You don't look like you'll suffer a crushing defeat in the future."

"Lenice, my adopted sister. Your personality has become even worse after all these years than it was as a child." Kayneth cleared his throat awkwardly, reminding her to be more measured with her words. "But why are you in this poor student's deck? As a true El-Melloi, you should be on my side."

"Is this the King of Conquerors that the teacher has been thinking about? Is this the Holy Grail War? So cool!!" Flat shouted excitedly, but no one paid any attention to him.

"El-Melloi, what is that? Am I not preparing for the Holy Grail War? But this is obviously not Romanian territory." This was Corles. Just because of his gentle personality, he didn't speak loudly to disturb others, and no one paid attention to him.

"That's because my useless brother died in the Holy Grail War, causing El-Melloi to fall apart. Not only did outside forces seize the family property, but many branches also withdrew after the plunder. Only the name of El-Melloi and a huge debt remained." Lanis looked at Kenneth with a (? ? ?) expression. "I say, brother, you should retire as soon as possible and return the rented magic furnace. This will save us from being in debt. By the way, give the classroom to Weber. He teaches much better than you!"

"I can prove that what my teacher teaches is at least ten times better than what my master teaches?" Yvette raised her hand to show her opinion while struggling with her feet off the ground.

"And it's developed even better than when you were here, Master!" He gave Evil Flat another blow without saying a word.

"Don't look at me, I don't know!" Colles, who was suddenly the focus of everyone's attention, raised his hands. He didn't know anyone here at all.

Ignoring that last useless piece of information, Kayneth felt something shatter inside him. He unconsciously clutched his heart. "How is that possible? I am the best monarch of the Clock Tower. Laness and you, I'm different this time. I will win this Holy Grail War and prove it to you! Weber, what are you waiting for? The duel continues!"

"Yes, all right. I will enter the battle phase. King of Conquerors, please begin your journey of conquest!"