FATE: Target of Grand Master

Just then, Hercules, who had recovered his body through his Noble Phantasm, pounced over, grabbed Artoria Alter's head, and slid it across the ground.

The Black Knight Princess tried to use her magic to cut off Hercules's hand that was holding her, but the power was greatly reduced, and she only managed to break Hercules's skin.

Stimulated by the pain, Hercules spun Artoria Alter several times in mid-air before slamming her heavily against the castle wall.

Hercules' power was immense; even Artoria Altera, who was protected by ample magical energy, had her armor shattered by his attack.

Without speaking or showing any expression, Artoria Alter forcefully pulled herself out of the crater in the city wall.

Upon landing, facing the charging Cú Chulainn, the Black Knight Princess immediately unleashed astonishing magical power.

With a swing of the black holy sword, a magical sword aura blocked Cú Chulainn's path.

Then, Artoria Alter flashed to Cú Chulainn's side and kicked him toward Hercules, who was rushing in from another direction.

Hercules caught Cú Chulainn's foot and swung it around several times, trying to throw Cú Chulainn over like he had thrown Artoria Alter earlier.

"Wait! Berserker! I'm not your weapon! Aaaaaaah!"

A blue lancer with a spinning thrust! I never expected to see this Noble Phantasm in a proper Holy Grail War! No, this isn't the time for sentimentality! Lancer is my Servant.

Xia Yan immediately snapped out of his daze, ready to use a Command Spell to call Cú Chulainn back at any moment.

At the same time, Artoria Alter's magical power surged further, a prelude to unleashing her Noble Phantasm.

"Saber, control your magic. You only need to kill one of Berserker's lives."

Matou Riki's command was conveyed to Saber through telepathy.

"King's Hammer, Reverse the Dawn! Devour the light, Sword of Excalibur!"

A massive black wave of light swept towards Hercules.

Just as Xia Yan was about to call Cú Chulainn back, Hercules threw Cú Chulainn aside, showing no intention of using him as a human shield.

Xia Yan immediately realized this was a golden opportunity and shouted to Cú Chulainn, "Lancer, use your Noble Phantasm on Saber!"

As the Child of Light of Ireland, Cú Chulainn was naturally a battle-hardened warrior. Even after being tossed around countless times and thrown aside without warning, Cú Chulainn still managed to pinpoint Artoria Alter's location and hurled his crimson spear.

At the same time, Saber's Noble Phantasm hit Berserker, while Lancer's Noble Phantasm hit Saber.

Unfortunately, Lancer's Noble Phantasm was interfered with by Saber's Noble Phantasm's magic before it made contact with Saber, and with Artoria Alter's intuition, it missed its vital point by a hair's breadth. However, it was still a blow that could be considered a serious injury.

Blood spurted from Saber's mouth and chest. The black-clad knight princess pulled out the crimson spear that had pierced her own chest and barely managed to support her swaying body with her black holy sword.

Just as Cú Chulainn was about to deliver the final blow, the black mud spread from Artoria's feet while rapidly repairing the Black Knight Princess's spirit origin.

Cú Chulainn had no choice but to immediately get up and retreat, while Hercules, who was still repairing his body, was completely covered by the black mud.

"Alright, Saber, your mission for today is complete. Take Berserker and retreat."

Following Matou Ryouken's orders, Artoria Altera propped herself up and slowly walked to Hercules' side.

"Saber!"

Shirou Emiya suddenly called out to Artoria Altera, "Saber! Is it really you?"

Artoria Alter's lifeless eyes suddenly cleared for a moment, and her body paused for a second, but she ultimately remained silent.

The Black Knight Princess lifts Hercules and prepares to leave.

"Wait, do you think I'd let you just leave like that?"

Cú Chulainn recalled his crimson spear, preparing to hurl it at Saber once more.

However, the black mud on the ground suddenly transformed into waves, rushing towards Cú Chulainn.

Cú Chulainn gritted his teeth and hurled his crimson spear, but it was deflected aside by Artoria Alter's black holy sword after passing through the waves of black mud.

Then, Artoria Altera took this opportunity to disappear from everyone's sight.

"hateful!"

Emiya Shirou slammed his fist into the ground, as if only physical pain could alleviate the agony in his heart.

Xia Yan wasn't in a good mood either. The old bug had really figured out how to deal with the black mud. Not only had he replicated the combat power of Sakura's side in the HF route, but he had even left behind more trump cards.

"Shirou."

Illya patted Shirou's head, trying to comfort him.

"Why? Ilya, why wouldn't you come with us yesterday? If you had come with us yesterday, Saber wouldn't have..."

Shirou angrily slapped Illya's hand away.

Illya was startled by Shirou's question.

Seeing Illya's state, Shirou immediately realized that he had taken his anger out on her.

"sorry."

Illya shook her head and gently hugged Shirou's head.

"It's okay. Shirou must be in a lot of pain. It'll make you feel better if you let it out."

Shirou could no longer hold back and burst into tears.

Rin Tohsaka and Archer arrived at this time. Seeing the four of them, Rin had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

"Xia Yan, let's talk privately."

After briefly understanding the situation from Xia Yan, Rin sighed. Everything was developing in the worst possible direction. If things continued like this, the winner of this Holy Grail War would undoubtedly be Matou Ryouken.

With Shirou, Illya, and two dying maids, Xia Yan and the others temporarily retreated to the academy.

Thanks to Medea and Rin Tohsaka's treatment, the two maids are temporarily out of danger, but the morale of the group has plummeted.

As darkness fell, the monsters, following their usual pattern, began to evacuate the city.

After dinner, Xia Yan left the academy with Cú Chulainn.

Even if the enemy of my enemy is not my friend, he can become my ally. The only hope he can think of right now is to unite with the Hero King Gilgamesh.

Finding this Hero King is not difficult; Cú Chulainn's runes have the function of detection and tracking.

Soon, Xia Yan saw the Hero King, clad in golden armor, standing atop the Fuyuki Bridge.

Without relying on Cú Chulainn, Xia Yan walked alone along the arc-shaped steel beam to the top of the bridge.

"Hmm? It's you. I'm in a bad mood right now. I advise you not to court death, you bastard."

Gilgamesh glanced at Xia Yan and then dismissed him.

Based on Xia Yan's understanding of Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes was not heartless, but rather arrogant and did not regard ordinary people as human beings.

As for the reason why Gilgamesh was in a bad mood, Xia Yan naturally had a clue.

Currently, apart from Xia Yan and others, the only person with the qualifications of a Master and the ability to kill Kirei Kotomine is Matou Ryouken.

Although he had previously instigated the conflict between the two behind the scenes, Matou Ryokon's physical body had indeed been destroyed by Kotomine Kirei, and given his personality, he would naturally seek revenge.

Although Kirei Kotomine could never have reached the same level of importance in Gilgamesh's heart as Enkidu or Siduri, the ten years they spent together must have brought the King of Heroes considerable pleasure.

Therefore, when the King of Heroes learned of Kirei Kotomine's death, he was bound to be in a bad mood.

The reason Gilgamesh didn't go directly to Matou Ryouken was probably because he was still looking for fun and wanted to see what kind of trouble Matou Ryouken could cause. However, once Matou Ryouken bored him, he would immediately kill Matou Ryouken to avenge Kirei Kotomine.

What Xia Yan needs to do now is to make Gilgamesh lose interest in Matou Reiken's behavior and kill him in advance.