That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

Astolfo exclaimed excitedly, "Because...because I never expected that the famous Knight King was actually a woman."

Saber stared at him and replied strangely, "In that case, aren't you one of Charlemagne's twelve warriors as well?"

Astolfo chuckled, and, instead of being mistaken for a woman, happily replied, "I'm a man!"

"Huh?" Saber was slightly stunned. She looked like a woman, dressed like a woman, and was so cute.

Astolfo proudly patted his chest: "So, I am a real man."

"But your clothing is clearly more feminine."

“It suits you well, doesn’t it?” Astolfo smiled and spun around in place.

Saber didn't know how to answer, and after a long pause, she finally managed to say, "Yes."

"To be praised as suitable by the legendary Knight King~ How embarrassing, meow hahaha~" Astolfo covered his face and laughed gleefully.

“He really is a… special knight.” Saber forced a smile; her serious personality made it difficult for her to get along with someone like Astolfo.

"Rider, can you take us to the Black Faction's base now?" Hall asked.

Astolfo stuck out his tongue apologetically and said, "Sorry, I seem to have said a bit too much. Come with me, I'll take you to the Black side's position."

Saber, who was following along, sighed softly: "There are really all sorts of people among the Servants."

In the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City, both the King of Conquerors and the King of Heroes have broadened Saber's horizons.

Hall and Saber followed Astolfo through a forest, and once they emerged, the view opened up, and they could see the magnificent medieval castle in the distance with the naked eye.

Hall, feeling a little puzzled, turned to look at the forest and asked, "Why haven't I seen Lancer?"

"Lancer? Ah, you mean the guardian of the second magic node? You two know each other?" Astolfo turned his head, put his hands behind his head, and spoke to Hall as he backed away.

Hall nodded: "We've crossed paths before; this forest used to be her territory."

Astolfo thought for a moment and replied, "It would be troublesome to explain in detail due to various special reasons, because this Holy Grail War is a very special case, which has led to the creation of many rules."

"I know that."

"There are rules beyond that; you'll understand when you meet the black king."

Hall knew the rules of the Holy Grail War better than anyone; they were originally constructed by Hall and the Holy Grail system together.

······

Upon entering the castle, Hall saw mostly expressionless androids along the way. After passing through the long corridor, he arrived at the main hall of the castle, where all the Masters and Servants of the Black Faction were present. Their gazes were all fixed on Hall, the only outsider in the Black Faction, with expressions of suspicion, rejection, curiosity, or scrutiny.

Hall glanced around the main hall and recognized most of the faces. Even if he hadn't seen them in person, he had at least seen them in the anime. Only Lancer Ereshkigal was missing.

Assassin Li Shuwen met Hall's gaze and nodded in acknowledgment.

"Yes, yes, I've brought the person back! Mission accomplished!" Astolfo said cheerfully, raising his hand.

Above the main hall was the king's throne, where young Gilgamesh sat, with Master Darnic beside him.

Young Gil stood up and smiled, "Thank you for your hard work, Rdier. And welcome, Caster and Saber. We have gathered the entire Black Faction for an important matter to discuss."

"Because the Holy Grail War is different from previous Holy Grail Wars, in order to prevent any mistakes from happening again, many rules have been set for this Holy Grail War. I believe that the Servants present have already learned about them from the Holy Grail."

"In this Holy Grail War, the Red and Black factions each have two strongholds. These strongholds serve as transit points between Servants and the Holy Grail. In other words, once a stronghold is destroyed, the Servant will no longer be able to contact the Holy Grail to obtain proof of its existence. Although they will still maintain contact with their Master, their abilities will inevitably be affected."

"How to defend strongholds and how to breach enemy strongholds are the key to this Holy Grail War."

Young Gil got straight to the point: "The Black Faction has two strongholds. The first is this castle, and the second is under Lancer's protection. Due to some special reasons, Lancer cannot leave the vicinity of the stronghold, and Lancer is unusually hostile to our faction. My ally, I hope you can protect Lancer's stronghold as an outsider."

It turned out to be the case.

Hall nodded without hesitation: "Okay."

Young Gilgamesh scratched his head sheepishly and said, "I originally thought Lance could handle it alone, but after what happened last night, I know that the Red Team's Servants are not to be underestimated either."

Ah Fu is so cute.

Additionally, a stronghold can be understood as two barracks in League of Legends, or a stronghold in Fate/Grand Order.

I originally planned to add an extra chapter today, but I got stuck on the first chapter for a long time. What should have been an hour took me more than two hours to write.

Because there are too many Servants appearing in the Holy Grail War, it would be confusing to use their class names directly. From now on, we'll just use their names.

Chapter 163 Black's Dilemma (Bonus Chapter!)

There are four strongholds for both the Red and Black sides. Each stronghold corresponds to the upper three riders and the lower four riders. If a stronghold is destroyed, the corresponding servant will be subjected to the heavy pressure effect, and all attributes will decrease by one level.

The strongholds were naturally one of the things Hall added to the Holy Grail system. If only one stronghold was set up, the battle between Servants would likely turn into a chaotic melee. Two strongholds would be just right, but three strongholds would result in the distribution of Servants' combat power being too loose.

Although Hall designed the Holy Grail War as a MOBA game, it actually lacks the function of killing minions and has no defensive towers. He could only make do with some rudimentary functions to increase the conflict of the Holy Grail War.

The will of the Holy Grail will gladly accept any design that is completely fair to both sides and will promote their battle.

Originally, the Holy Grail War was one of the preparatory systems for the Holy Grail War. If an accident were to occur again, the Holy Grail system would have no way to make up for it.

One thing that troubled Hall was that the purpose of the Holy Grail War was to collect the souls of Servants. If seven Servants were on the same side, why didn't the Yggdrasilia clan just use Command Spells to order all the Servants to commit suicide? Why did they have to do this fancy thing?

The Holy Grail War system itself is also very problematic. Which one of the three starter families added it? And if Eastwood were to activate the Holy Grail War system and summon fourteen Servants at once, it would probably drain Eastwood's spiritual veins completely, and it would take hundreds of years to recover.

After the Black faction's meeting, Hall asked Young Gil some questions privately and roughly figured out his current position.

Although Yggdrasilia honors Young Gil as king, Hall, as Young Gil's ally, is not recognized and is treated as an outsider, similar to Lancer Ereshkigal.

The appearance of Lancer Ereshkigal among the Servants summoned by Yggdrasil was completely unexpected.

Danic originally intended to summon the Hero King Gilgamesh, and prepared the relics of Uruk that he had painstakingly found. However, because he could not identify the specific information of the relics from that era, he summoned them using a certain offering that was presented to the goddess of the underworld, Ereshkigal, and they possessed the homunculus originally sent by the Einzbern family to monitor the Holy Grail War.

Ereshkigal, as a noble goddess of the underworld, looks down on ordinary humans. Upon seeing Danic, she was enraged and unleashed a crimson lightning strike from the underworld. Fiore, as her Master, had no choice but to use two Command Spells to restrain Ereshkigal.

Danic desecrated the soul, extending his own lifespan by merging with a pure (infant) soul.

In subsequent encounters, Ereshkigal became even more disgusted with the fact that Yggdrasilia created humans to serve as batteries for supplying mana to Servants.

After Danic summoned the Hero King Gilgamesh for the second time, he banished Ereshkigal, who refused to cooperate, from the castle.

Young Gil personally persuaded and reached an agreement, leading to the current situation where Ereshkigal will not take the initiative to help Yggdmirrenia.

Ereshkigal is not considered a servant of the Black faction. If the last Command Seal is used up, the goddess of the underworld, Ereshkigal, will not hesitate to use her Underworld Crimson Lightning to reduce Yggdrasilia's castle to ashes.

It was precisely because the Black faction lacked a suitable Servant to guard the second stronghold that Gilgamesh was forced to hand over the young Gilgamesh to Ereshkigal.

Ereshkigal is not considered a high-ranking deity. Her power can only be maximized when a temple is built and her authority is used. Previously, Gilgamesh believed that she could protect the stronghold on her own, until Ishtar's appearance last night disrupted Gilgamesh's plans.

The most suitable person to cooperate with is an outsider like Hall, who is not a member of the Yggdrasil family and will not be hostile to the goddess of the underworld.

Young Gil doesn't need Hall to obey his or Yggdrasil's orders; he can do whatever he wants as long as the second base is protected.

······

Outside the castle, Hall and Saber walked together, Hall looking down as he flipped through the books he had just found.

Saber asked curiously, "Master, is that a book you're holding?"

"The book about flowers was just delivered from Tulifas by my familiar."

"Master, are you interested in flowers?" Saber asked, quite surprised.

“Appreciating beauty is a human instinct, but unfortunately I am a cold-blooded magician and have no interest in flowers that have nothing special about them. This is an offering.” Hall smiled.

"Whose tribute?"

“Goddess of the Underworld, and this bag of flower seeds too.” Hall took a bag full of seeds out of his pocket.

Saber hesitated and said, "As an offering to the goddess, flowers alone would be too simple."

"Saber, what do you think would be more suitable?"

"I don't know. In my time, gods were basically an unfathomable group of beings."

"Whether something is valuable or not depends on the individual. There are no plants in the underworld. What are ordinary flowers to ordinary people, with their bright colors and vitality, have a different value to that goddess."

"Merlin also liked to say similar things. I can understand that feeling. In the countless days and nights I spent in my life, I wondered what kind of life I would have lived if I hadn't drawn the Sword of the Chosen King."

As they spoke, the two arrived at the outskirts of a desolate forest where the sun could not reach.

"A little further on from here is another world, unsuitable for human habitation. There is no life, only a cold atmosphere and the agonizing moans of the dead being tortured."

Saber smiled confidently and said, "My sword will protect my Master."

Stepping into the underworld is just a step away. The temperature difference between the underworld and the outside world is at least twenty degrees Celsius. Goosebumps appeared on my skin, and I could feel a distinct chill. This chill wasn't just affecting my physical body; my spirit was more easily swayed in this world, and my soul was influenced by the underworld.

Even during the day, it was pitch black all around. In just over a week, the forest had completely lost its greenery. Dead trees and branches were intertwined, and a putrid smell permeated the air. Faint sighs and whispers came from the depths of the dark forest.

“An annoying place.” Saber frowned and muttered, golden light flashing in her hand as she materialized Excalibur, infusing it with magic to transform it into a beam of light. With a thrust, the many strange phenomena of the Netherworld Forest dissipated.

The Holy Sword gathers the faith of soldiers who died on the battlefield and uses it as fuel, making it far superior to mere vengeful spirits.

"Your curry stick is quite useful as a lantern." Hall looked at the supposedly strongest holy sword with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

“Of course.” Saber readily accepted the compliment.

Extra chapter! Please recommend!

Chapter 164 The Seven Gates of the Underworld

Upon setting foot on the old land, Hall had no means to contact the goddess of the underworld, Ereshkigal. He couldn't very well cause a ruckus in the underworld and then claim to have come to her for cooperation after his master emerged.

Imagine someone is sleeping with the door open, a stranger breaks into their home, wreaks havoc, and smashes all sorts of furniture. When they wake up, the stranger claims to be seeking a collaboration.

If Hall were in this situation, he would at least kick him out of the house, or at worst beat him half to death and throw him out.

Hall's goal was to cross this forest and reach the miniature world he had created in this underworld.

This isn't the real underworld, and Hall, being a Caster, possesses the [Territory Construction] class skill at a fairly high level, so creating a small world to absorb magic and nurture the flower field isn't difficult.

Ereshkigal loves beautiful flowers, so he would naturally value that little world highly and would surely be able to detect someone approaching it.

Saber walked ahead carrying the holy sword. The sword's radiance dispelled the gloom of the forest, and a faint warmth could be felt when it touched the skin. Within the range of the holy sword's radiance, the undead and demons avoided it like the plague, saving a lot of trouble.

"Please be careful, Master," Saber whispered, reminding Hall to be aware of the chaotic terrain of the forest.

"Uh." Hall was somewhat amused and exasperated, feeling that Saber was treating him like an ordinary magician, probably a habit she had picked up when she was still the King of Knights.

"This is!"

Saber was suddenly startled and reached out to stop Hall. Her azure eyes were fixed on the long, narrow birdcage stuck in the desolate ground, its interior shimmering with a faint blue light that provided a pitiful illumination to the dark forest.

Hall heard faint, low murmurs coming from the birdcages, filled with pain and helplessness.