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

"Alright, now that the person in the way is gone, let me ask again."

Taking advantage of the smoke and dust from the explosion obscuring the view of the curious onlookers outside the theater, Yuuto released the greatsword in his hand, turning it back into a card. In the moonlight shining down from the vanished ceiling, he turned to face Ayaka Sajou.

Ayaka Sajou stared at him, and couldn't help but swallow.

What does he want to ask?

Should we also ask about that woman?

Or should I ask her why she came to this city?

Having just narrowly escaped death, Ayaka Sajou had not yet fully calmed down.

Logically speaking, after experiencing so many things related to unusual people, all of which were dangerous and bad, she should now have a worse attitude towards Yudo, who seems similar to those people.

But whenever she looked at Yuto, she couldn't help but think of him wielding a giant sword twice her height.

The scene was so breathtaking that her attention kept drifting towards the question, 'How did Yuuto manage to lift such a large sword with one hand?'

Finally, under her tense gaze, she saw You Du slowly speak.

"Tell me, are you my Master?"

Ayaka Sajou: "..."

She adjusted her glasses and, maintaining a wary demeanor, asked Yuuto, "Master... what is that?"

Does it refer to the person who summoned him?

In that case, it must be the man who kidnapped him here, the one who is already dead over there.

Having experienced too many things in a short period of time, Ayaka Sajou, whose mind was in complete disarray, suddenly guessed Yutari's identity.

After all, before he died, that man had very considerately explained to her that he was going to summon King Arthur.

but……

She looked up at You Du's face with black hair and black eyes.

Was King Arthur originally from the East?

Chapter 245 The Prison Route! Avoidance!

under the moonlight.

Inside the theater, now in ruins but with the stage still intact.

Yuuto wasn't surprised to see Ayaka Sajou's somewhat familiar face.

Although he didn't know the plot of FSF, he did know who the female protagonist was, who was drawn directly on the cover. How could he be surprised by her appearance?

More than the other person's face, it was their wary yet slightly confused eyes that made him feel most helpless.

Alright, it's not uncommon for the protagonist to know nothing about the Holy Grail War at the start. Even an ordinary person like Fujimaru Ritsuka cleared 7 singularities and 7 Lostbelts at the beginning, almost leading a bunch of Beasts to knock on the door of humanity.

"Hmm... You should be able to understand what it means just from the literal meaning, so I won't go into too much detail. I mainly need to explain something related to the Holy Grail War..."

Yuto was about to give Ayaka Sajo a lesson on the basics of the Holy Grail War, but before he could even speak, he heard slightly chaotic footsteps approaching the stage, and the buzzing of a helicopter seemed to echo in the night sky.

Ah, I almost forgot that police still exist in modern society...

Having frequently traveled between various Holy Grail Wars and become accustomed to leaving the Church of Christendom to handle the aftermath of gas explosions, Yuto looked around at the Grand Theater, now reduced to ruins, and made his decision without hesitation.

“Very good. Although I am not a member of the Joestar family, it’s time to use the Joestar family’s traditional fighting strategy!”

"The Joestar family's traditional fighting strategy?"

Ayaka Sajou, unaware that she was about to become the culprit who destroyed the Grand Theater, raised a question.

"What strategy?"

She did try to recall which member of the Knights of the Round Table had the surname Joestar, but after thinking for a long time, she couldn't come up with one.

“That is…” Yu Watari turned around and hoisted Ayaka Sajou onto his back like a cement bag amidst her short exclamation.

"Nig-ge-lu-da-you!"

Ayaka Sajou: "Eh?!"

Yuwatari could clearly sense that after hearing Ayaka Sajou's exclamation, the previously somewhat chaotic footsteps suddenly became more rapid.

It was obvious that either they mistook Ayaka Sajou for a criminal, or they thought she was a hostage.

Either way, it's not a good thing, so he'd better slip away first!

Let the church handle the aftermath; that's what they do professionally!

In short, he absolutely must not become a prison-type Heroic Spirit!

Yuuto quickly carried Ayaka Sajou backstage, then summoned the Black Magician to lead them away from the unfamiliar grand theater.

Isn't this much faster than figuring out the way on your own?

So, when the police officers in black suits arrived at the only intact stage, and the three helicopters also arrived at that moment and illuminated the stage with searchlights, all they could see were strange magic circle patterns painted in red on the wooden floor—

And the corpse of a man without a heart.

……

Hmm... It seems a bit late to say this now, but let me introduce the city of Snowfield City anyway!

This is a remote city located in the western part of the continental United States, slightly north of Las Vegas, situated in a vast wilderness.

Once night falls, the brightly lit city becomes particularly eye-catching in the dark wilderness.

To the north of Snowfield City lies a vast valley that resembles a grand canyon; to the west, a deep forest stands in stark contrast to the arid wilderness; to the east, a wide lake area stretches out; and to the south, a vast desert where classic landscapes meet barren landscapes.

Undoubtedly, Snowfield City, surrounded by land of these different types from all sides and sitting firmly in the very center, is an anomaly that stands out from its surroundings, having no connection to farmland.

According to records, at the beginning of the 20th century, this was a barren land with nothing but scattered indigenous peoples.

But starting 60 years ago, this place suddenly developed rapidly, like a compressed towel that absorbs water and expands. Now, in the 21st century, it has transformed into a metropolis with a population of 80.

Such rapid development, such a city, such land...

Although this situation could happen anywhere, it still makes one wonder about the reasons behind it.

Why has this city developed so quickly?

Perhaps in other worldviews there would be various different answers, such as policy support, the discovery of gold mines underground, or people's preferences, but since this is the Type-Moon worldview, the answer is quite simple—

Holy Grail War.

That's right, it's the Holy Grail War!

Because Snowfield City was developed specifically to host the Holy Grail War!

In the Third Holy Grail War, the Assassin's Master, a puppeteer with ties to the Faldeus family, left his memories of the events that occurred during the Holy Grail War within the puppets he used.

When Faldeus's grandfather learned of the Holy Grail War, he joined forces with politicians and the military to seize Snowfield City, whose spiritual vein quality was comparable to Fuyuki City, and made large-scale adjustments to its spiritual veins to make them more compatible with Fuyuki City.

Since then, Snowfield City has gradually expanded in preparation for hosting the Holy Grail War, hiding some magical items brought from Fuyuki City within the city.

Normally speaking, due to the unique nature of the Holy Grail War, apart from the Holy Grail War held in Fuyuki City, the Holy Grail Wars held in other places are basically sub-Holy Grail Wars, rather than true Holy Grail Wars.

However, when it was passed down to Faldius's father, they successfully stole a part of the Fuyuki Holy Grail through a magician who was connected to the government's secret service!

By combining this fragment with the spiritual veins of Snowfield City, and replicating the system of the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City to summon six pseudo-Servants, replenishing the weakened ley lines in the area, and creating an environment suitable for the Holy Grail War, this 'pseudo' Holy Grail War can be transformed into a true Holy Grail War!

By refining the fake into the real, a corner of the Holy Grail War is recreated here!

Well, as I said before, this was Faldius's original plan.

When he discovered that the Master of the pseudo-Lancer faction he had chosen wanted to summon not a Servant, but a god, he knew that his plan had gone drastically off course.

Fortunately, in the end, the silver wolf chimera he created, which served as a catalyst for summoning, replaced the magician as the Master. What was summoned was not a god, but Enkidu, a puppet created by the gods.

While it's still shocking enough that Enkidu was summoned as a Servant, it's certainly better than a real god.

Afterwards, the opponent went to fight Gilgamesh, who was summoned as a pseudo-Archer, and even used his Noble Phantasm.

Faldius sent people to investigate and found that the familiars sent there all seemed to have died from disease.

This indicates that a third party has intervened.

That's fine, after all, it's all in the past. The Holy Grail War is still a long way off, they can't possibly fight like this every day, can they?

There will always be quiet times...

That's what he thought, until he received a report from his subordinates that evening.

"What do you mean that unidentified cult members held a blood sacrifice at the Grand Theater, then blew it up, and are now on the run?"

"What does it mean that the girl who was kidnapped as a sacrifice was never even seen in her body?"

Chapter 246 After listening for a long time, I finally made out four words: certain death.

"Too bad..."

Outside the grand theater, which was completely destroyed, Ayaka Sajou and Yuuto hid among the onlookers, like two bystanders who had come to join in the fun.

Because Yuwatari's clothing wasn't the same as the armor or robes worn by other Servants, it didn't seem out of place in this modern society. At most, others would just glance at him curiously before continuing to watch the show.

However, looking at the police officers searching for a girl who was suspected of being sacrificed to a cult, the helicopters providing lighting for them in the sky, and the fire trucks parked on the roadside to prevent secondary explosions and fires, Ayaka Sajo felt a wave of dizziness as if her brain was deprived of oxygen.

Didn't the guy who kidnapped her know to avoid the security cameras?!

Please, you're committing a crime!

How could someone kidnap someone and then walk around with the kidnapped person on a street full of security cameras?

Oh no, she's probably going to be famous throughout the city now...

She should be able to see her missing person ad on TV by tomorrow morning, right?

How is she supposed to go out now?!

"Oh, this has really caused quite a commotion."

Yu Du stood beside her, shading his eyes with his hand as if looking into the distance, carefully observing the situation inside the ruins. His indifferent and detached demeanor made it impossible for anyone to believe that the explosion of the Grand Theater had anything to do with him.

He was observing whether there were any members of the Holy Church among the people coming and going, and trying to find other Masters or their familiars who might be participating in the Holy Grail War.

With such a commotion here, if other Masters were here, they should at least have sent their familiars to investigate.

Alternatively, it would be best if someone from the Holy Church were available, as that would save them the trouble of explaining the Holy Grail War to Ayaka Sajou.

Unfortunately, he looked around for a long time but didn't see anyone who seemed to be associated with religion, priests, or the church, but...

"Master, you've caught a fish..."

Looking at the red tattoo on the back of the hand of the blond boy who ran in front of the reporter's camera, waving and shouting happily at the lens, You Du felt a little incredulous for a moment.

Wow, are all FSF Masters as reckless as him?

This person looks familiar. Have I seen him somewhere before?

Yuuto subtly glanced at the blond boy out of the corner of his eye, memorizing his appearance. He remained wary of any Servants who might be around the boy, and after a moment's thought, he couldn't recall where he had seen him before.

Alright, let's go first. On the way, I'll give Ayaka Sajou a little lesson on the Holy Grail War...

After all, Ayaka Sajou was just an ordinary person, and after experiencing so much, she would naturally feel extremely exhausted. So, after confirming that no one from the Church of Sanctuary had come, Yuuto took her away from this place of trouble.

……

Their destination was the motel that Ayaka Sajou had previously chosen.

If she hadn't been kidnapped along the way, she probably would have already checked into a room and was resting there, instead of having to worry about being wanted by the whole city the next morning...

Since Yuwatari can become a spirit as a Servant, she only needs to book one room.

With the help of the black magician's suggestive magic, Ayaka Sajou successfully registered for a room under a different identity in the eyes of the hotel receptionist. She couldn't help but sigh as she recalled what Yuuto had told her about the Holy Grail War on the way there.

She knew it all too well; how could something good be the Holy Grail War that the white-haired woman would specifically curse her with and threaten her life into participating in?!

What kind of magic is hidden beneath the surface of the world, what kind of servants can summon heroes from past myths and legends to the present day, and what kind of omnipotent wish-granting machine can grant any wish...?

She only caught four words in it.

There is no doubt that he will die.

Ah... it feels like she's hanging from a pot of boiling oil with a rope around her neck...

You either die immediately, or you die a little while later.