That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

But it was too late; the Command Seal took effect as a command.

······

"Why haven't you made a move yet?"

At an altitude of 3000 meters, Hall kept a close eye on the situation below, wondering to himself. He had been waiting for quite some time, his purpose being to seize the Greater Grail when the Vanity Gardens of Valor retrieved it.

Whoever controls the Greater Grail system holds the initiative in the Holy Grail War.

“Master, there’s movement at the aerial fortress,” Saber suddenly warned.

Hall contacted the wind elemental familiar and projected the scene the familiar saw in front of him. The huge aerial fortress slowly turned around, erected huge stone slabs, gathered light, and shot out a magic beam with power comparable to the Sword of Excalibur.

shuh~

The sky was briefly illuminated by the magic light cannon, and on the projected image, a green dot of light slowly emerged, flying at an extremely fast speed.

"What is this?" Hall controlled the wind elemental spirit familiar to continue capturing the scene, and it was none other than the black side's Rider Astolfo, who was riding a hawk to dodge the magic beam cannon of the aerial fortress.

The scene before him made Hall deeply understand what it meant to use a cannon to shoot a mosquito.

Should we save him?

If it were any other Servant, Hall might have worried that it was a ruse orchestrated by the enemy.

But sending Astolfo, who possesses the ability to "evaporate rationality," to act is quite difficult.

Rational Evaporation

Grade: D—D+

Reason has evaporated, making it impossible to keep any secrets. One might accidentally reveal a companion's real name or weakness, or forget something important. This skill also incorporates intuition, allowing one to sense the most suitable choice for oneself during combat.

Of course, even so, Hall wouldn't act rashly, sending a wind elemental familiar to bring the coordinates of the Radiant Ship to Astolfo.

I'm feeling down.

My body couldn't take it after two hours of air conditioning.

Feeling cold, dizzy, and short of breath.

It took a while to recover, which caused the update to be delayed even more.

Let's see if I can get into a better state of mind today.

Chapter 203 So cute, even a boy

"Whoa~ Isn't this dangerous?!"

"This is too reckless! A single hit from a magic beam of this magnitude would vaporize your spirit origin! No~ no~ no~ it would definitely hurt!"

"Also, why did the Master use all three Command Seals at once? If I run out of mana, won't I be forced to leave the battlefield?"

"What on earth happened?!"

Astolfo's pitiful cries echoed through the castle. He narrowly avoided the magical light cannon of the Sky Garden of Vanity, though a small part of his cloak was caught in the cannon and instantly vaporized by its terrifying heat.

The eagles, flying rapidly to evade, cried out repeatedly, urging their master to quickly find a solution.

"I know! But now that I don't have a Master, I don't know where I'm going. I need to think about it carefully. Ha, you say now is not the time to think? Hmm... that seems to be true."

Astolfo mumbled to the eagle, when suddenly a breeze whispered in his ear.

He paused for a moment, then stroked the eagle's head, raised his right hand to the sky, and beamed with excitement, "It's decided! The target is the sky! We're going!"

The eagle raised its head and cried out. Seeing that several more stone gates of the aerial fortress were pointing at it, its figure flickered and transformed into golden light before several magical light cannons could be fired, making a dimensional leap from its original position. Each flash covered at least several hundred meters.

"GO~GO~GO~!" Astolfo shouted excitedly in encouragement.

At this moment, in the main hall of the castle, the Assyrian Empress Semiramis, who was in charge of controlling the vain Hanging Gardens, was full of resentment: "This is really annoying. What's wrong with this servant? He's like a sewer rat, only when he's running away can you catch him."

“No, firing a magic beam cannon is just a waste of magic power. That divine beast can jump between dimensions unless the entire space is sealed off.”

A moment later, she gave up controlling the Vanity Hanging Gardens to unleash magical bombardment and reported dejectedly, "I'm sorry, Master, the Black Faction's Rider escaped. He ran in the direction directly above the sky, so he should have reunited with the Black Faction's Caster."

Kotomine Shiro smiled gently: "Don't worry about it. Astolfo, one of Charlemagne's twelve warriors, is a Servant specializing in escape abilities and also has a high luck stat."

He looked at Darnic on the throne and said calmly, "Well then, Darnic, each of you should recall your own Servants. The battle between the Black side's Assassin and the Red side's Rider seems to be quite intense. If left unchecked, one of them will inevitably be eliminated and another severely injured. During the recovery of the Greater Grail system, we need to preserve our fighting strength and keep them as safe as possible."

"Reclaim the Greater Grail System? What do you mean by that?" Danic asked in surprise, his mind suddenly clearing. So that's how it is. Under the guise of granting wishes, they demanded that the Black Faction reduce one Servant in exchange for reclaiming the Greater Grail System located in the center of the castle. No, it should be said that they killed two birds with one stone.

Kotomine Shiro smiled and said, "Hanging Gardens of Babylon, for the past sixty years since I came into contact with the Holy Grail and became flesh, I have been trying to collect the materials to build it and summon the Servants who can build it. Its purpose is definitely not to kill enemies."

Kotomine Shiro looked up at the dome of the main hall, his gaze seemingly piercing through the walls to see the massive aerial fortress outside. His tone was resolute and certain: "The Vanity Hanging Gardens is the tool I envisioned to realize my wish, the container for the Greater Grail system."

"A container!? What exactly are you seeking?"

Kotomine Shiro replied with a smile, "Didn't I say that? The direction I pursue and the purpose of participating in the Holy Grail War are all for the salvation of humanity and to realize the Third Law [Soul Materialization] for all mankind."

"Ridiculous!" Danic scoffed. He knew exactly what the Greater Grail System was. It could allow one person to access the Root, but the idea of ​​saving all of humanity was simply impossible. The magical power required for that wish was astronomical; even draining all the spiritual veins in Romania wouldn't be enough to achieve it.

“Danick, I know exactly what you’re trying to say. The Hanging Gardens of Vanity is about turning the impossible into the possible. After we reclaim the Greater Grail System, it will travel the world, draining the magic from all the ley lines along the way to save humanity.”

Danic was horrified: "Do you know what you're saying? You want to use this planet as a sacrifice, to kill it and fulfill your wish?"

Kotomine Shiro remained calm throughout, his voice revealing unwavering resolve: "It doesn't matter. Once humanity is saved, it will no longer need this so-called planet. At that time, it may even live on the other side of the world like the gods. Don't worry, as long as the plan goes smoothly, I will assist you in fulfilling your wish. Originally, our wishes did not conflict."

······

The eagle landed on the deck of the Radiant Ship, and Astolfo greeted Hall excitedly: "Wow~ it really is Caster and Saber! Why are you here? Weren't you supposed to be with the King to defeat that terrible monster?"

Seeing Astolfo's adorable appearance, Hall silently reminded himself that he was a boy and said, "It's resolved. But it seems you guys are in trouble. What happened?"

Astolfo hesitated and shook his head: "I'm not really sure either. I was fighting the enemy's Rider when my Master suddenly ordered me to leave the battlefield with Command Spells. He used three Command Spells at once. That's too much, isn't it? Once I run out of mana from three Command Spells, I'll just leave the battlefield. Although I knew beforehand that my Master was a nasty guy, I don't know if Assassin can win without me."

"I see."

Hall nodded, having more or less guessed what had happened. After all, he still had some impression of Astolfo's Master. That cruel female magician was a true yandere Astolfo fanatic. Using up all three Command Seals meant the situation was quite urgent, and it was very likely that she had protected Astolfo from some kind of danger.

"This must be the king's vehicle. Where is the king?" Astolfo asked, looking around curiously.

Hall said crisply, "Dead."

Astolfo chuckled and waved his hand, saying, "Haha~ That kind of joke isn't funny these days~"

Saber stepped forward, her small face filled with seriousness, and emphasized: "Master's words are not false. The King of Heroes committed suicide in front of Master and me."

"Suicide?! Really?" Astolfo was stunned.

“That’s right, it must be the effect of the Command Seals.”

"Command Seals? You said the Master used Command Seals to order the King of Heroes to commit suicide... Why would the Master and the others do such a thing?"

Saber shook his head, clenching his fists, also feeling quite displeased with this matter. He said in a deep voice, "We are not very clear about this, but the fact that the Black Faction's Master faction has undergone a huge change is confirmed by your experience."

"Oh, I see... This is really a headache." Astolfo rubbed his forehead and smiled wryly. Even someone as oblivious as him could roughly understand his current predicament.

The atmosphere remained silent for quite some time before Hall broke the awkward silence: "Astolfo, I need your help now."

Astolfo slapped his cheeks hard to cheer himself up, and said confidently, patting his chest, "Leave it to me if I'm still of any use."

"This is something only you can do: use the Eagle's abilities to seize the Greater Grail System."

"Oh~ Leave it to me. Now that I'm free from my Master's constraints, I'm the freest man. Specifically, what should I do?"

Chapter 204 The Great Grail Appears

"Master, the location of the Greater Grail system has been confirmed."

"Isolation spell complete."

"The cutting ceremony is complete."

"All that's needed now is your command, and the Hanging Gardens of Vanity will dig the Greater Grail out of the ground."

Hearing Assassin's voice reporting in his ear, Kotomine Shiro nodded and muttered to himself, "Thank you for your hard work, Semiramis. Any news from Caster on the Black Faction's side?"

"No, it's extremely difficult to observe from a height of three thousand meters, not to mention that the enemy is no ordinary person. All the familiars they sent out disappeared when they reached a height of two thousand meters."

"In that case, we can only treat him as an enemy."

"Isn't Caster of the Black faction a member of the Yggdrasilia clan?"

Kotomine Shiro smiled wryly: "According to Danic, for unknown reasons, a homunculus summoned Caster and possessed the homunculus. Then, the black side's Caster used a loophole in the Holy Grail War rules to summon Saber. The black side's Caster is regarded as an ally by the King of Heroes, who is at the top of all Servants. We cannot let our guard down."

“No matter how powerful he is, we have an overwhelming numerical and strength advantage, so there is nothing to worry about, my Master.”

"The closer I get to the day I realize my dream, the greater my anxiety becomes. I worry that even a small mistake could lead to complete failure."

"You are the Master I acknowledge, you should have more confidence in yourself."

"Thank you, Semiramis. Let's begin. Retrieve the Greater Grail System! Watch out for any movements from Caster (Black Faction)."

"clear."

Kotomine Shiro bowed slightly to Danic on the throne in the main hall, then turned and left.

The Black Faction Assassin's Master, Gordes, twitched his chubby face, clenched his fists, and growled in resentment, "Lord Danic, is it really okay to just let them go like this? Are you really going to hand over the Greater Grail System like this?!"

On the throne, Darnic said expressionlessly, "It is an undeniable fact that the Yggdmillennia clan has been driven to the brink of destruction, but similar situations have occurred many times in the past hundred years. Before we can ensure victory, patience is a necessary prerequisite. Or, Gord, do you think we can still defeat the Red Team's Servants without the King of Heroes?"

Gold was stunned: "This..."

“Continuing to entangle us will only increase unnecessary sacrifices. Now, what we need is to accumulate strength.” Danic got up and left through the side door. This is the way of life of the magician Danic. After abandoning humanity, he will also abandon dignity without hesitation. He has no hesitation or shame about failure or betrayal. Under the humiliation he suffered and the passage of time, only the goal of contacting the Root has become purer.

Of course, Danic only told half the truth to the magicians of the Yggdrasilia clan. He was the only one qualified to access the Root and become a magician, which is why he chose to cooperate with Shiro Kotomine, the narrowest path.

Even if it is seen as charity, he will not accept it without any hesitation.

Gordes paced back and forth, cursing, "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! What happened? Why did that kid king lose? Isn't he supposed to be a Servant killer? How could he be forced to cooperate with the Red Team? Is Danic serious?"

Also present was the female magician Fiore, who was in a wheelchair. She passed by Gorde and whispered a word of advice: "You should respect your uncle's decision more. This is how the Yggdmillennia family has always lived."

"Humiliation! What a humiliation!" Gold angrily turned and left.

······

Hall stood at the bow of the Radiant Ship, his magical eyes fixed on the aerial fortress below, judging its movements from the massive flow of magical energy: "There's movement. I'll take charge of the vanguard. Saber, you'll hold off the red team's Rider. Rider, wait for your chance; you only have one opportunity."

"I will certainly live up to your mission," Saber replied solemnly.

Astolfo smiled and raised his hand: "Yes, yes, leave it to me! Let them see the true glory of Charlemagne's Twelve Warriors!"

The pink-haired pretty boy with a whip patted the hawk beside him hard: "You have to do your best too. This is also for the Master who was betrayed. We can't waste three Command Seals."