To become a king and a magician

"Near the Greater Grail? How did I get here?"

"Ask yourself," Mordred said irritably. "When that catgirl and I were fighting the Black Faction here, we saw the Sky Garden suddenly collapse as we flew over. I thought it must have been you, Master, who demolished it. I didn't want to get involved, but then this guy suddenly noticed you fell from there, so we rushed over to save you."

As Mordred spoke, he pointed to another person beside him.

It is Atalanta.

"How could a man like you fall from there? Was the Sky Garden attacked?" Atalanta asked.

"An attack... I guess you could call it that. First, I fought Karna, then Gray fought the priest, and finally Gray unleashed her Holy Lance. All those things added up could have demolished that courtyard."

One astonishing revelation after another came from Natsukawa Tora's mouth. Mordred, who already knew the inside story, was alright, but Atalanta was genuinely shocked.

"You...you fought Lancer? And that priest and the Empress...why?"

"That's a long story. To put it simply, it's a matter of ideology, and also, if we don't stop him, humanity will go extinct." Natsukawa Tora spread his hands. "If you want to hear it, I can explain it to you in detail later."

"No, never mind, it's not necessary."

Atalanta shook her head.

"I think I can understand what's going on here."

"That's good, saves me the trouble of explaining... What's the situation with Black?"

“They’re all wiped out,” Mordred replied. “No, to be precise, Rider and Berserker were taken care of by me and this guy. As for Black Archer… well, that depends on that heel.”

Achilles and Chiron?

Achilles won before, and he probably will again, but even if he loses, Natsukawa Torato wouldn't be surprised. In that one-on-one arena, victory or defeat depends solely on individual ability.

"In other words, both Black and Red are now in a state of near annihilation."

Standing up, Natsukawa Tora stretched his arms and legs: "However, in terms of the remaining combat strength, it can be considered a victory for the Red side, and at least for now, Atalanta, you are the only remaining Servant for the Red side."

"I guess so. What are you trying to say?"

"Shall we go and collect your prize—the Great Holy Grail?"

The Holy Grail?!

Atalanta was momentarily excited, but she quickly looked at Mordred: "No, according to the rules, after all the black players are eliminated, the remaining red players need to have an internal battle to determine the final winner, Saber—"

"I am no longer a Servant, and my wish has already been granted," Mordred said. "On the first night, after we destroyed the Black Faction's castle, my Master and I went to the Greater Grail to make our wish."

"What? But the Greater Grail isn't just for the winner—"

“Who told you that only the winner can make a wish?” Natsukawa Tiger laughed. “The fact that the winner can make a wish is only because by then, there will be no one else to wish for except the final winner. In reality, anyone who obtains the Holy Grail can make a wish.”

Atalanta was a little confused. This master and servant actually ignored the rules and used the Holy Grail to make a wish on the very first night? Wasn't there supposed to be a Ruler in this Holy Grail War? Wasn't she going to do anything about it?

"Well, you can follow the rules if you want, but if you want to be the final winner..."

Xia Chuanhu turned around to face behind him, and not far away, a battered man was walking towards him.

It's Achilles.

“Hey, big sister, and Saber and her Master—no, judging from what just happened, you’re not Saber anymore, are you?” Achilles swept his cross spear over the group before landing on Atalanta. “So, now it’s just me and big sister left.”

“Indeed. Judging from your appearance, you have defeated your teacher.” Atalanta glanced at his heel—it was bleeding.

"Has his immortality been broken? And his once-proud leg strength has also been lost."

Achilles gave a wry smile: "My teacher is still amazing. Even though I defeated him, he still managed to break through my weakness with his Noble Phantasm... Thanks to that, I've lost half of my power now."

"If I were to fight my older sister who was almost uninjured in this situation, I would definitely lose, right?"

As he said this, Achilles had already pointed his spear at Atalanta.

"But don't expect me to surrender. A soldier can never surrender. Don't let me off easy just because I'm injured, big sister."

85. The Holy Grail finally made a normal appearance for once.

The entrance to the Greater Grail.

Mordred watched Atalanta walk inside: "Can't you not follow, Master? If it's really as you say, then the wish this catgirl wants to make has quite a big impact, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it is indeed quite large, but the prerequisite is that the Holy Grail must be able to grant wishes of that level."

As he spoke, Natsukawa Tora sat down in front of Achilles, who had more than a dozen arrows stuck in his body.

"It's true that the Greater Grail can grant wishes, but it requires magic to do so. Atalanta's wish was to create a world where all children could grow up in loving care, which is tantamount to reshaping the existing world or completely changing the mindset of all humanity. The Holy Grail alone doesn't have that kind of power."

"If we really want to realize this wish, we have to follow Amakusa Shiro's idea and use some kind of vehicle to take the Greater Grail on a world tour, spreading the influence of the Grail to all parts of the world."

"So, my elder sister's wish can't be fulfilled?" Achilles, whose body had already begun to dissipate into specks of light, said with a wry smile. "If that's the case, what exactly is the purpose of this Holy Grail War?"

The battle between Achilles and Atalanta, the final battle of the Holy Grail War, ended in Achilles' defeat, as is now shown.

With his heel pierced, losing his immortality and greatly weakened, Achilles, having previously engaged in a life-or-death duel with Chiron, no longer had enough strength left for him to defeat Atalanta, who was almost unscathed.

First and foremost, he could barely keep up with Atalanta's speed, and his prized chariot was shot down in the battle with Chiron, leaving him constantly at Atalanta's mercy.

Of course, the battle was not one-sided. Although it was a victory, Atalanta only won by a narrow margin and suffered serious injuries. It was probably her limit to be able to hold on until she reached the Greater Grail.

It's a lose-lose situation.

"What is the Holy Grail War held for?" Natsukawa Torato chuckled. "Of course, it's for the inherent flaws of humanity. Yggdrasil launched the Holy Grail War to reach the Root, for power, for status, for fame... for everything that humanity desires. Simply put, it's like the Trojan War you participated in during your lifetime."

The Trojan War.

Wars fought for beauty, treasure, and fame.

Achilles curled his lip: "No matter how much time has passed, humanity is still the same in this respect. Well, I'm pretty much the same myself... But it's really a pity. In this Holy Grail War, besides my teacher, you are the opponent I most want to fight."

Do you want to get hit by the moon too?

"Oh!" Achilles, who was regaining some of his strength, replied expectantly, "If I could shoot down the moon with my own hands, then as a warrior I would have almost no regrets. Unfortunately, in my current state, let alone shooting down the moon, even the slightest movement could cause me to disappear completely."

"Then next time."

Natsukawa Tora laughed, "The Holy Grail War is being held in every parallel world. Even if it's not in this world, you might be summoned again in some Holy Grail War. If I'm there then, I wouldn't mind letting you challenge the moon."

"Hahaha! That's for the best! Then I'll look forward to the day we meet on the battlefield, magician—Xia Chuan."

Achilles, the hero of the swift wind, vanished before Natsukawa Tora after uttering these words.

At this point, only Atalanta remains of the fourteen Servants in the Holy Grail War.

——————————————————————————————————

underground.

Where the Greater Grail exists.

Dragging her battered and bruised body, Atalanta limped here and looked at the gleaming golden Holy Grail before her.

"The Holy Grail...is this the Holy Grail?"

It's not quite what I imagined; it's not shaped like a cup, but that doesn't matter, as long as it can fulfill my wish.

As if sensing the arrival of yet another wisher, or perhaps sensing that the Holy Grail War had finally produced a victor, the Greater Grail suddenly shone brightly before Atalanta, instantly enveloping her.

When the light faded, what appeared before Atalanta was an endless white world and a beautiful woman draped in white heavenly robes.

"You are......"

[Yestesa Risleich von Einzbern, that was her former name, but now she is merely a personality that performs the functions of the Greater Grail]

Atalanta, the final victor of the Holy Grail War, please state your wish.

Oh, and my wish.

It doesn't matter where you are, or who the person in front of you is; what matters most is your own wish.

"My wish is... to create a world where every child grows up surrounded by love."

[Wish accepted, execution begins—]

It worked!

Atalanta felt a sudden sense of relief. The Holy Grail had granted her wish, and now she no longer needed to worry about children in the world having a past like hers, and beings like Jack the Ripper would never appear again.

It's finally going to be completed, a world that can bring happiness to children.

Atalanta closed her eyes contentedly.

Meanwhile, on the surface of the earth.

"Oh dear, it's really started."

Looking at the light rising from the ground, Natsukawa Tora sighed with some distress and rubbed his head: "So, it really is this way of fulfilling wishes, rewriting thoughts... The Holy Grail's method is really straightforward."

The Holy Grail grants wishes by directly providing the result, shortening or skipping the intermediate process. To use an analogy, the Holy Grail is like a car that speeds towards a predetermined destination, smashing through all obstacles in its path. Magic is the power used to overcome those obstacles and the fuel that keeps the Holy Grail car moving.

Now, after sixty years of continued magical power, and having absorbed the souls of a large number of Servants, the magical power inside the Holy Grail has accumulated to a rather terrifying level—that being said, it is still not enough to fully fulfill Atalanta's wish.

The Holy Grail's method of fulfilling wishes is to forcibly implant the idea of ​​"loving children" into the minds of all humanity. However, even now, the Holy Grail's magic is probably limited to covering the entirety of Romania.

"If this continues, who knows what kind of subsequent impact it will have on society... Will an entire country become a lifelong member of a child protection association?"

"What is that thing? It sounds disgusting." Mordred frowned. "Master, aren't you going to stop this?"

"Is there any need to stop it?" Natsukawa Tora pointed to the sky. "The suppressive force hasn't made a sound, which means that this level of change won't affect them. And they've always been too lazy to care about things that don't affect the survival of this planet or humanity as a whole."

"Besides, in terms of the outcome, it's not a bad thing to have more people who like children. It's better for children to grow up healthy than anything else, isn't it? -- Let's go, it's time to meet up with Grey and the others."

86. The shameless old man and the shameless young man

half a month later.

A room deep inside the clock tower.

For the magicians of the Clock Tower, this room is generally best avoided. Even if they must approach, they must be extremely cautious, often bringing several people with them to prevent any mishaps during their approach. The only way to enter the room safely is by being personally summoned by the person inside.

In the past, many people didn't know about it, but now, at the Clock Tower, it's said that fewer than ten people have ever been called in.

"—That's what people outside are saying about your place, old man Gem."

Now, in this room, Xia Chuanhu is sitting here, acting like he's just visiting a neighbor, chatting quite familiarly with an old man across the table.

Jewel Elder, Second Magician.

Or to put it simply, Your Excellency Zellridge.