How come the Ace of Cups isn't considered the Holy Grail?

Anyway, their contract is still in effect, so Rin Tohsaka should be fine. At most, she'll feel weak and listless, and look very weak and haggard lying in bed... right?

Shaking his head to clear away these irrelevant thoughts, Youdu stared intently at the vortex in the pot, which had completely transformed into a rainbow of colors. He watched as a card, still covered by a solid shell formed from condensed magic, was slowly extracted from the center where the seven colors converged.

Yu Du suppressed his excitement, took out the card, and pried open the white casing. With a burst of seven-colored light, he saw the figure on the card with seven legendary gems embedded in its pure white body.

When all seven precious beasts are gathered, the light that connects the world will be revived here!

This is—the Ultimate Jewel Rainbow Dragon!

【Ultimate Gem Rainbow Dragon】

【10 stars】

【Dragon/Light】

[Attack power: 4000]

[Defense: 0]

This was the first high-level monster card he had ever created, and also the first monster with the word 'God' in its name.

Although it has not been summoned yet, Yuwatari can already sense that it is different from other monsters.

Is it because of the word 'god' in its name?

"Wow, so this is the Mystic Code you forged from the blueprints of the Jewel Sword? Hmm... just by sensing the magical power contained within, I know this Mystic Code is definitely extraordinary!"

"Of course! Don't you realize how much effort I put into this card?!"

Yuto: "!!!"

Realizing something was wrong, Yuuto instantly summoned his Duel Disk to block in front of him and flipped over to create distance from his original position. Since he had replenished the overlaid cards after returning yesterday, he was not in a hurry to summon monsters.

He looked up warily at the spot where he had just been standing and saw an elderly man with white hair, dressed in a black robe, standing there without making any move.

After confirming that there was no one else in the entire basement, Yuuto was certain that the person who had suddenly spoken to him was the other person.

He also recognized the other person's identity.

Jewel Weng.

Second Magician.

Kishua Zelrich Schbeinaugu.

Chapter Twenty-One: Zelrich: You seem to need a little help?

Today, the Gemstone Elder is using his second magic to explore various parallel worlds, searching for those that have successfully continued and have not yet failed or perished.

Among these scenes, the most common sight he saw was the Holy Grail War, which was all the same in every way.

As he casually passed through one Holy Grail War after another—whether they were lost, interrupted, or successful in some sense—a fleeting rainbow of light caught his eye.

"Ok?"

The unprecedented situation immediately piqued his curiosity. After all, having witnessed various situations in different parallel worlds, there were few things that could make him feel novel.

The most recent time was when he saw a red-haired young man projecting his gem sword. Because it was something that had never happened in other parallel worlds, he secretly helped the young man, which allowed him to project his gem sword using projection magic.

This time, however, the situation was different from the previous one. The rainbow light was able to cross countless parallel worlds and appear in front of him. Could it be something related to the second magic?

Following the fleeting rainbow light, Gemstone Elder quickly located that parallel world and saw Yudu about to begin the alchemy process.

"An unfamiliar Servant, summoned by a descendant of Tohsaka? But it's the Holy Grail War again... That thing doesn't seem to have been born yet? It's increasingly resembling the characteristics of a second magic..."

Gemstone Onzelridge looked at the parallel world where the worldline had changed, and thoughtfully stroked his beard.

This is because the concept of time travel is also included in the Second Magic, and the alteration of records and the rewriting of phenomena are equivalent to the operation of parallel worlds. Therefore, items with characteristics related to the Second Magic may cause time distortion.

This includes situations where the effects of birth precede birth itself. Additionally, there's the box he left at the Tohsaka house, which was also created using the Second Magic. Due to the influence of the Second Magic, the flow of time inside and outside the box is different; one hour inside the box is equivalent to one day outside.

Therefore, he did not disturb him rashly, but quietly watched as Yuto put in several gem sword design blueprints that he was very familiar with, and fused them with other materials in a way that was extremely unlike alchemy, to create a card-type magical artifact.

So, it turns out that blueprints can be used as materials for alchemy?

As an old man who has lived since the time of King Solomon, Zelrich couldn't help but sigh inwardly that he seemed to have inadvertently fallen behind the times, not even knowing that alchemy had developed to such an extent.

While magic is generally considered to be more powerful the older it is, that doesn't mean the magician himself has to be an old relic, especially since Zelrich is a second magician who likes magical girls.

Therefore, he is very willing to accept new things, especially in the area of ​​magical girls. For his own hobby, he even created magical costumes for transformation, just like those in magical girl anime.

It is clear that he is definitely not some stubborn old-fashioned person.

But he had never seen such alchemy before. Could it be that he was so engrossed in magical girl anime or watching other parallel worlds that he had inadvertently overlooked the development of magic and alchemy?

"Hmm... I'll try to visit the Atlas Institute when I have some free time later..."

However, now that he has seen that after Yuwatari finished his alchemy, Zelrich used his second magic to send his soul into that world, and a bunch of gems instantly gathered in the basement to form Zelrich's body.

He watched as the card shed its outer shell and burst forth with dazzling light—a seven-colored light that could shine beyond the world.

When the radiance faded, looking at the card-shaped Mystic Code, Zelrich couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

He didn't care that Youdu quickly distanced himself and became wary after his exclamation; he simply stayed where he was, carefully recalling the sense of familiarity he had just felt.

It is indeed very similar to his second magic, and it is not influenced by the second magic, but rather it has some characteristics of the second magic itself.

Is it possible to do this with just those materials?

Recalling the materials the other party had used before, Zelrich pondered for a long time but still couldn't understand how he had done it.

If he were to do it, he could achieve a similar effect by applying the second magic, but he couldn't create a Mystic Code with the characteristics of the second magic without using it.

Moreover, this Holy Grail War seems to have been altered from the very beginning by the existence of this Servant, unlike the Holy Grail Wars in several other parallel worlds.

Change is good! He's been watching parallel worlds for so many years, and all he wants is to see change!

Perhaps there's a way for this world to avoid destruction...

Thinking about his goals over the years, Zelrich, with the same joy as pulling a gold card in a single gacha pull, prepared to give this budding seedling a little help.

Just like the last time he helped that red-haired boy.

However, since he has already revealed his presence this time, there is no need for him to provide assistance in secret as he did last time.

“I’m saying, barging into someone else’s workshop and then getting distracted like this, isn’t that a bit too rude of you, Old Deng?”

Yuuto frowned as he looked at Zelrich, who was standing there blankly, seemingly lost in thought, and felt somewhat surprised.

He thought the card would only attract Zelrich's attention, but it unexpectedly drew the card directly to the cardholder.

why?

"Haha, sorry, sorry, I'm just an old man getting on in years, and I tend to get lost in thought sometimes. Don't worry, I don't mean any harm..."

Faced with Yudo's disapproving gaze, Zelrich chuckled twice, then said seriously.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Kishua Zelrich Schbein Augu. I am just an ordinary second mage. Some people call me Gemstone or something, but none of that matters."

In terms of seniority, I am actually your Master's grandmaster, but I did make a mistake this time. As an apology, um... I think you must be an alchemist, right?

I happen to have a few nice gems here, which should be good alchemical materials..."

As he spoke, Youdu saw Zelrich flip his previously empty, white-gloved hand, revealing several gems of different colors, each one instantly appearing to be of high quality.

Yudu: "?"

So you mean you made a special trip here just to meet a relative and give them some gems?

Isn't that reason a bit far-fetched?

Chapter Twenty-Two: Rin Tohsaka: Where did I get my grandmaster from? ? ?

Zelrich left, leaving behind several high-quality gems. He then separated his soul and transformed into a pile of gems on the ground right in front of Yudu.

If someone saw this, they'd probably think I turned a person into a pile of gems...

You Du glanced at the pile of gems.

The gems are of decent quality, but they don't seem to contain any magic; they're just ordinary gems. I wonder how Zelrich managed to assemble his body from these gems...

However, this back and forth actually increased Rin Tohsaka's gem inventory. The gems sent by the Gemstone Elder were all of A-grade quality, the same level as the gems that Rin considered her trump cards.

Hmm... These gems shouldn't have been taken from Rin Tohsaka in some parallel world, right?

No, no, no, the second mage shouldn't do such a thing, right?

After hesitating for a moment, You Du put the gems away.

After all, with these gems replenished, he could even try to forge another Rainbow Dragon!

...But let's leave it for now. His magical energy is recovering very slowly, and Rin Tohsaka, as his Master, is probably not feeling too well either. Let's wait until their magical energy recovers before discussing this matter.

Glancing at the time, which was already close to 8 o'clock, Yuuto tidied up the messy desk, found a cloth to take the pile of gems and the Jade Beast cards he had created, and left the basement to go to Rin Tohsaka's room on the second floor.

After knocking on the door and waiting for a while without hearing a response, You Du decisively pushed the door open.

"Master, I'm coming in."

Rin Tohsaka's room is basically the same as the other guest rooms in terms of style and furnishings, with a desk, bookshelves, and wardrobe. Apart from a four-poster bed, Rin Tohsaka herself did not add many items of her own personal preference to the room.

At this moment, perhaps disturbed by the noise caused by Yuuto, Yuuto saw the blanket on the bed, which was curled up in a ball, move slightly and then deflate, and Rin Tohsaka, who looked delirious, crawled out from inside.

Her chronic low blood pressure had already made it difficult for her to get out of bed, not to mention that You Du had drawn a lot of magic from her last night. Now she felt dizzy and her brain was all jumbled up.

Rin Tohsaka struggled to open her heavy eyes, trying to see who had disturbed her peaceful sleep.

"What? It's Archer... Is there something you need?"

Despite her conscious, instinctive ability to communicate without using her brain, Rin Tohsaka is still able to converse with people she knows.

"Master, your grandmaster just came by."

Seeing her like this, Yu Du didn't intend to disturb her sleep too much. He simply mentioned that Zelrich had come and placed the non-magical gems on her desk.

"These gems were left by your master. I think they were a gift for you, and I put them on your table!"

"Okay, Master..."

Rin Tohsaka barely heard what Yuuto was saying, and simply repeated what he said on her instincts, looking as if she might fall asleep at any moment.

Well... whatever, he already said it anyway...

Yuuto shrugged, picked out the cards of the precious beasts and put them together with the pile of gems, then left Rin Tohsaka's room.

He felt that the other person might sleep for a very long time.

……

When Rin Tohsaka woke up and looked at the dimly lit room, she was completely bewildered.

Strange, this scenery looks so familiar...

She felt like the room was this dark before she went to sleep...

Did I wake up after only a short nap?

Rin Tohsaka remembered that she seemed to have dreamt that Yuuto came to her and told her that her master had come, and that he had brought a bag of jewels...

As expected of a dream, she could never have imagined such a convoluted and absurd plot in her daily life.

After all, where did she get her grandmaster from?

Feeling the familiar fatigue in her body, Rin Tohsaka roughly understood why she was so tired last time. She picked up the alarm clock next to her and saw that the time was more than ten minutes backwards from when she went to bed.

"Huh? Is the alarm clock broken?"

With her mind still not fully awake, Rin Tohsaka was having some trouble coping. It took her two seconds to realize that it wasn't the alarm clock that was broken, but that she had slept all day!

Turning her head again, she saw a familiar cloth bag on the desk next to her.

It was a bag that Youdu brought to him in a dream, saying it contained gems given to her by her master.

"No way... that wasn't a dream?"

Because she's been sleeping for too long, Rin Tohsaka now feels disconnected from the world.

She walked over and opened the bag, revealing a pile of gems of varying quality that contained no magic, along with cards scattered on top of it, which shone exceptionally brightly against the backdrop of the gems below.

"There really is one... but where would I get a grandmaster?!"

Picking up the jewels and cards from the bag, Rin Tohsaka muttered to herself with a hint of disbelief.

……

living room.

You Du sat on the sofa with a cup of freshly brewed black tea, glancing at the time on the clock. His magic power had already fully recovered.