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

"That's true, but aren't you curious about just how spicy the extra spicy Mapo Tofu is?"

"..."

Rin Tohsaka fell silent.

She was indeed a little curious, but she felt that she probably wouldn't try it out of mere curiosity like Yudo did.

Are all alchemists this curious?

Rin Tohsaka remained silent, and Yuuto paid no attention. After finding a secluded spot and re-transforming into his spirit form, he continued to follow Rin Tohsaka as she familiarized herself with the city that was both strange and familiar to him.

……

Xindu, Miyuan River, Miyama Town...

Although he only had time to briefly familiarize himself with the streets of Fuyuki City in one afternoon, Yuuto still managed to confirm some important locations.

For example, Ryudouji Temple, the base of the Caster group; the church where Father Mapo lived; and the Emiya and Matou residences.

However, considering that places other than Emiya's residence might have their own means of surveillance, he only glanced at these places from a distance.

If he had more time, he would have liked to go to the outskirts of Fuyuki to look for Einzbern's castle, but unfortunately, the winter night came too quickly, so he had to give up on that plan.

"Alright, that's about it. Archer, is there anywhere else you'd like to go?"

Standing alone on the rooftop of a building, feeling the night breeze, Rin Tohsaka looked at the miniature street below and asked a question.

"Well... how about we check out your school, Master?"

A voice answered Rin Tohsaka's question from an empty place. If there were an ordinary person here, they would probably be startled by the sudden appearance of the voice.

"A school? What's so interesting about that place?"

However, Rin Tohsaka just frowned in confusion, not understanding why Yuuto would want to go there.

It's important to know that the rituals of the Holy Grail War must be conducted in secrecy, so densely populated places like schools shouldn't be the Masters' targets.

That's because I remember Rider was going to set up a protective barrier at your school, intending to use all your classmates to make soup for himself to nourish his body!

Although Yuuto doesn't know when Shinji had Rider set up the barrier, considering that Rin Tohsaka discovered the barrier as soon as she entered the school in the original series, it's very likely that the barrier was set up on the day Rin Tohsaka took leave!

Since that's the case, rather than waiting until tomorrow when Rin Tohsaka discovers it, it's better to go now, when almost everyone in the school has left, and break the barrier directly.

"Of course, just to be on the safe side!"

After Yuwatari deactivated his spirit form, he appeared beside Rin Tohsaka and spoke to her.

"Master, you're going to school tomorrow, right? So, to ensure your safety, I think it's necessary to check for any potential hidden dangers on campus beforehand."

His reasoning was both reasonable and logical. Even if Rin Tohsaka didn't believe that any Master or Servant would be so audacious as to dare to take action in a densely populated school under the supervision of the Holy Church, disregarding the secretive principles of the Holy Grail War, she wouldn't refuse this risk-free approach.

“That makes sense. Let’s do as you said, Archer, and go check out the school!”

Chapter Six: A Hero's Visit!

night.

At Suigunhara Academy, long after school had ended, a tall figure with long purple hair and an eye patch occasionally flashed through the school building, which should have been deserted.

As a Rider-class Servant summoned in this Holy Grail War, Medusa is actually an excellent Servant in terms of both her inherent skills and the number of her Noble Phantasms.

In addition, she is extremely loyal to her Master, and even if she has any thoughts about her Master's stance or the orders he issues, she will still carry them out without hesitation.

It's safe to say that if someone were to summon her in a normal Holy Grail War, it would greatly increase their chances of winning.

Unfortunately, this Holy Grail War is clearly far from 'normal'...

Since Matou Shinji, who replaced Matou Sakura as her Master, was unable to provide her with magical power, she used her Noble Phantasm to set up a starting magic circle at seven different locations within the academy under Shinji's orders.

These magic circles will form a barrier within Homurahara Academy, and can be activated after a period of time.

【The Seal of the Other. The Temple of Blood】

This is the name of the barrier, and also the name of Medusa's Noble Phantasm. It is a barrier technique that is paired with another barrier Noble Phantasm used to seal her petrifying eyes, [Self-Sealing: Dark Temple].

Before this barrier is activated, it will only slightly absorb the physical strength of the humans inside. But once it is fully activated, it will cause the humans inside the barrier to dissolve rapidly, collecting their blood and souls to replenish its magic power.

"Too slow, Rider!"

Shinji Matou, holding the Book of False Ministers, stood impatiently on the rooftop. He completely mistook the servant for a familiar and complained when Medusa approached.

"It's just setting up a few magic circles. How long do you expect me to stand here in this cold wind? Next time, be quicker!"

Medusa stood to the side with her head down and remained silent. Her submissive demeanor greatly satisfied Shinji Matou's vanity, so he stopped after saying a few words.

"Now that everything's done, let's get going, Rider... huh?"

Just as Shinji Matou was about to leave the rooftop with Medusa, he suddenly saw someone standing at the main gate of Homurahara Academy.

"That person is... Tohsaka? Wasn't she sick and absent today? Why is she at school at this hour?"

Although they were far apart, Shinji Matou recognized Rin Tohsaka immediately because of the red trench coat she was wearing.

"Tsk, what a troublesome fellow. Why did she have to come at this time? It would be bad if she discovered Rider's barrier now... Rider, go and take care of them!"

Shinji Matou frowned and scoffed. Annoyed by these unexpected situations that might hinder him, he waved his hand and decided to let Rider handle these unforeseen factors.

Medusa nodded, then vanished in spirit form before Shinji Matou's eyes.

……

"This magic... it's terrible. I didn't expect you to be right..."

As soon as she stepped into the school gates, Rin Tohsaka sensed an unfamiliar magical presence within the school.

She could sense that this magic had already begun to form a barrier, enveloping the entire Suigunyuan Academy.

Although the purpose of the barrier is still unclear, even someone with a modicum of common sense like Rin Tohsaka could guess that this barrier was definitely not a good thing.

"Seriously, where did this rookie magician come from? Not only did he violate the principle of the Holy Grail War being conducted in secrecy by planning to attack a large number of ordinary people, but the barrier he set up was also so obviously suspicious that it was noticeable..."

"Isn't he worried about being discovered by the Church of Christ?"

As the head of the spiritual veins in Fuyuki, Rin Tohsaka naturally wouldn't have a good impression of someone who was causing trouble on her turf, and doing it so poorly.

"Perhaps it's because he himself doesn't notice anything unusual, so he assumes that others won't either?"

As Yuuto, now in spirit form, followed the furious Rin Tohsaka, casually remarking on Shinji Matou's complete lack of magical talent.

Rin Tohsaka forced a cold laugh.

"This guy is truly an amateur among amateurs. This barrier is already so obvious even before it's activated. Once it's activated, won't it be visible to everyone in Fuyuki?"

whoosh-

As soon as Rin Tohsaka finished speaking, a faint whooshing sound rang out, and a short sword connected by a chain shot swiftly from a hidden corner toward her head.

Such a fast attack! Is it a Servant?

Realizing that this was an attack from a Servant, Rin Tohsaka stopped trying to dodge, because she knew that she couldn't avoid it under these circumstances. But it didn't matter; after all, Servants should deal with Servants!

"Archer!"

"Trap Card activated! [Hero's Visit]!"

Yuuto's voice rang out almost immediately after Rin Tohsaka's call, and a purplish-red card, as tall as a person, suddenly appeared in front of Rin Tohsaka.

This card's effect activates when your opponent declares an attack. Your opponent must choose one card from your hand. If the chosen card is a monster card, you can Special Summon it; otherwise, you send it to the Graveyard.

Furthermore, whether in or out of a duel, if you only have one monster card in your hand when you activate this ability, you can skip your opponent's selection phase and Special Summon it directly.

Right now, Yudu only has one card in his hand.

"Appear! [Elemental Hero Neos]!"

In just a moment, Neo-Universe, with his entire body in silver-white and a round crystal emitting a soft blue light embedded in his chest, leaped out of the [Hero Visit] card image, stood in front of Rin Tohsaka, grabbed the flying short sword, and pulled it away forcefully.

Medusa, who was in the corner, naturally wouldn't just sit there and wait to die. She tried to use the superhuman strength that her inherent skills gave her to snatch the short sword back from the New Universe Knight.

But is this really the right choice?

As we all know, a Servant's stats are closely related to the Master's magical power. Only when the Master's magical power is strong enough will the Servant's stats approach the legendary level; otherwise, the Servant's stats will be lowered.

Medusa's current Master, Shinji Matou, has almost no magical power within him. Even the magical power that Medusa needs to be supplied daily has to be collected by Medusa's own Noble Phantasm. Therefore, it is natural that Medusa's stats have decreased significantly.

Originally, his Strength (rank B), Endurance (rank D), and Agility (rank A) were all reduced by one rank. Even now, thanks to the effect of his inherent skill [Super Strength: B], which temporarily increased his Strength by one rank, he has only returned to his original rank of B.

So what about Xinyuxia?

As a hero who lives in a new space in a distant universe and protects that universe, even though Yuuto did not measure the strength of the Neospace Warriors, even without contact and fusion with other Neospace Warriors, the Neospace Warriors' power is undoubtedly above Medusa's.

In a mere instant, Medusa was defeated in that brief confrontation and was pulled over by Xinyuxia. With his other hand, he clenched his fist and gathered a shimmering white light, waiting to end the battle with this one strike once Medusa was pulled over.

When Medusa realized that her opponent's power completely overwhelmed her, she felt every cell in her body was sending her a warning when she saw the accumulated light in the hands of the New Universe Warrior.

Will die!

If that blow hits, you'll definitely die!

Realizing this, she decisively released the chain in her hand, and then saw her chain being tossed aside in Xin Yuxia's hand like a light piece of yarn.

Without a doubt, if she had hesitated even slightly, she would have been instantly killed by the immense power gathered in the opponent's fist.

This is an enemy that she would have to fight with all her might even in her prime, and she is no match for it now that she is in a completely degraded state.

There's absolutely no room for holding back anymore.

Thinking of this, she was about to break the seal on the Petrifying Eyes, but an order from Shinji Matou suddenly stopped her.

At the same time, Shinji Matou's voice came from the rooftop.

"What a coincidence~ Tohsaka, I didn't know you were also one of the Masters who participated in the Holy Grail War?"

Chapter Seven [Lightning Strike]

It was only when Shinji Matou saw the appearance of the Neos Knights that he realized Rin Tohsaka was also one of the Masters participating in this Holy Grail War.

However, since he was looking down from the rooftop, he only saw a white figure blocking Rider's attack.

Without using magic to enhance his vision, Shinji Matou naturally mistook the white figure for a Servant summoned by Rin Tohsaka, and the purplish-red card that had appeared earlier was regarded as some kind of protective Mystic Code.

Since Rin Tohsaka and he are both Masters in the Holy Grail War, perhaps it would be a better choice to team up with each other to eliminate the other Masters and Servants first, rather than having Rider take care of him here?

As for the possibility that Rin Tohsaka would refuse to team up with him... are you kidding me? Does she think she has a choice?

Shinji Matou failed to notice anything amiss in the brief duel between Medusa and Neos, still believing that he was currently in the lead.

She even thought to herself that if Rin Tohsaka disagreed, she would have Rider take care of her!

Although it was only for a day, Shinji Matou had already gotten used to Medusa's compliant personality, and felt increasingly dissatisfied and resentful towards Rin Tohsaka, who had repeatedly rejected him in the past.

So, upon seeing Medusa preparing to unseal her Mystic Eyes, he decisively contacted Rider through the Book of False Servants to stop her, and then, with the air of a victor, condescendingly greeted Rin Tohsaka:

"What a coincidence~ Tohsaka, I didn't know you were also one of the Masters who participated in the Holy Grail War?"

"Shinji Matou? I see..."

Rin Tohsaka was naturally familiar with the Matou family, one of the three families that established the Holy Grail War ritual together with the Tohsaka family, especially Shinji Matou, the guy who often bothered her at school.

So despite her reluctance, she instantly recognized his identity from his arrogant and disgusting tone. She clicked her tongue in annoyance and was about to speak when she suddenly heard the voice of Yu Du in his spirit form.

"Shh... Master, he doesn't seem to have noticed me yet. Draw his attention a little, and I'll go up and see if I can take him out... Keep these cards for self-defense; you only need to inject magic power when you use them."

On the other side, Medusa, relying on her agility, is now struggling against the New Universe Warriors, like a dancer teetering on the edge of a knife, and could be killed at any moment.

Perhaps it will only take a little longer for Medusa to become the first Servant to be eliminated in this Holy Grail War.

However, Yuuto still felt it was a bit slow, so he decided to take this opportunity to go up and take care of Matou Shinji directly.

Rin Tohsaka nodded slightly without saying a word, calmly taking the dozen or so Jewel Knight cards she had seen in the basement from the spirit-like Yuuto's hand. Then, pretending to have been thinking, she spoke sarcastically:

"I was wondering where some novice magician came from who set up this third-rate barrier, and it turns out it was you who did it! You actually targeted ordinary students in the school. Aren't you worried about being wanted by the Holy Church?"

"Don't put it so harshly. I just want to extract a little of their life force to replenish the magic of my Servant."

Shinji Matou didn't think there was anything wrong with what he was doing.

Anyway, they're just a bunch of ordinary people without any talent. Rather than letting them live such mediocre lives, it would be more meaningful to use their life force to replenish Rider's magic and help him, who has talent, win this Holy Grail War.

After saying that, Shinji Matou extended an invitation to Rin Tohsaka.

"How about it? Why don't we team up to eliminate the other participants in the Holy Grail War first, and then the two of us can fight?"

"I don't think so."

Rin Tohsaka crossed her arms, showing absolutely no interest in Shinji Matou's suggestion.

In the past, she would probably have walked away without looking back, since every word she said to such an idiot was a waste of her precious time.