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

Therefore, Medea had no choice but to change her strategy. Instead of taking advantage of the other Master alliances to launch proactive attacks and defeat them one by one, she opted for a conservative defense of Ryudouji Temple, relying on the temple-level magic workshop she, a witch from the Age of Gods, had built to defeat the invading enemy.

At the same time, she seeks opportunities to use her Noble Phantasm 'Breaking the Contracts of All Things' to break the contracts between other Masters and Servants, and pulls the Servants into her own side to increase her combat power.

Her magic workshop is equipped with an anti-aircraft warning array. If the enemy tries to invade from the sky, they will be overwhelmed by endless magic bullets. To enter through the mountain gate, one must pass through the barrier of Sasaki Kojiro.

Although she was somewhat annoyed that he couldn't leave the mountain gate, Medea was still quite satisfied with his strength.

Even other parts of Ryudouji Temple were equipped with magic arrays by Medea that combined early warning, defense, and counterattack, forming a magic workshop that could be described as an impenetrable fortress.

"So here's the question: if I fly up into the sky but don't enter Ryudouji Temple, and simply keep a distance to monitor you, how would you respond?"

At the foot of Mount Enzo, Yuto drew a card, but instead of placing it on the duel disk, he held it between his two fingers and infused it with magic power.

"Come out, Winged Kuriboh!"

"Curry, curry~"

Watching the winged chestnut ball that occasionally flapped its small wings and flew in front of him, Yuuto explained the requirements for monitoring it, and gave it a detailed description of Zouken Matou's appearance, reminding it to immediately de-materialize and notify him once it saw the other party appear.

"Kuri Kuri!"

"Then I'll leave the rest to you, Winged Kuriboh!"

After saying that, Yuuto watched the winged Kuriboh fly towards Ryudouji Temple on the mountaintop, and then he heard Rin Tohsaka's voice in his mind.

This is a magical effect that allows Masters and Servants to communicate remotely.

'So, Archer, how did you know Caster's magic workshop was located at Ryudou-ji Temple?'

'This is simple reasoning, Master…'

Faced with Rin Tohsaka's curious question, Yuuto, without changing his expression, transformed into a spirit and left Mount Enzo, answering in his mind.

'Master, have you seen the news lately? There have been many cases of residents in Fuyuki City rapidly weakening, and all of these incidents are centered around Ryudou Temple…'

'You mean...their life force was stolen by Servants?'

"I can only say it's very likely, and Ryudou Temple is located on the largest spiritual vein in Fuyuki City. Considering all these factors, Caster, who could have built the magic workshop, is naturally the most suspicious."

Rin Tohsaka, who stayed at home and only communicated with Yuu Watari through magic, listened to this series of deductions and couldn't help but wonder if she should put a TV at home to watch the news.

But she really doesn't know how to use these electronic products...

……

Matou Residence.

Countless flying insects entered the room and coalesced in front of Matou Sakura into the terrifying form of Matou Zouken.

"Hehehe, Sakura, I've already told that kid named Emiya about why you can't make it today..."

Sakura Matou remained silent, simply keeping her head down, letting her bangs cover her eyes, refusing to meet Zouken Matou's gaze.

"However, I think you probably won't be able to go to that kid's house until this Holy Grail War is over..."

Seeing her closed-off heart, only trembling slightly when he mentioned she couldn't go to Shirou Emiya's house—a sign that she was still alive and not a corpse—Zouken Matou didn't mind. He simply casually reminded her as he turned to leave:

"After all, it seems that the red-haired kid has also been chosen by the Holy Grail as its Master..."

"What? How could this be? How could Senior—"

When Matou Sakura heard that Emiya Shirou had become a Master and might have to participate in this extremely dangerous Holy Grail War, and might even become her enemy, her emotions were clearly shaken.

"Hehehe...who knows? But it seems he hasn't summoned his Servant yet, so he's probably just an ordinary person who was accidentally caught up in the Holy Grail War, right?"

Zouken Matou intentionally stirred up Sakura Matou's negative emotions to ensure she established a connection with the gradually forming Black Grail.

After the Fourth Holy Grail War ended, Kiritsugu Emiya used a Command Spell to order Saber to unleash her Noble Phantasm and destroy the Black Grail that was about to be formed. Zouken Matou took the opportunity to obtain some fragments of the Black Grail.

He implanted the Crest Worms cultivated from those fragments into Matou Sakura's body, thus connecting her with the Black Grail and turning her into a miniature Grail, much like the homunculus from the Einzbern family.

Once Matou Sakura's consciousness is gradually influenced by the Black Grail and she loses herself, becoming its vessel, he can use his original body, hidden within her, to seize Matou Sakura's body and thus fulfill his wish for immortality!

However, I really have to thank Shirou Emiya and his dead, useless grandson for making this possible...

After all, it's practically impossible to stir up negative emotions in a doll without a heart. It was Emiya Shirou who gave her a heart, while Matou Shinji's death caused Matou Sakura to experience some negative emotions, thus establishing a weak connection with the Black Grail.

He originally planned to start with that boy named Emiya, but he didn't expect that Shinji's death, that good-for-nothing, could also stir up Sakura's negative emotions...

Well, I suppose the negative emotions from being betrayed by someone you love are probably greater than the death of someone you love.

Chapter Fourteen [The Magic Cylinder]! Kid!

"An ordinary person like that would probably die to another Servant on the first night of the Holy Grail War, right?"

After saying this in a sinister tone, Zouken Matou left the room, leaving Sakura Matou, who realized that Shirou Emiya was likely to die in this cruel Holy Grail War, to collapse helplessly on the ground.

Eh?

Sakura Matou still had an expression of disbelief on her face.

The senior might—

die?

Just like my brother... died?

Thinking of Medusa, who had returned with her tattered body that seemed on the verge of dissipating at any moment, Matou Sakura's mind began to flash back to the charred corpse of Matou Shinji and the face of Emiya Shirou. The two images kept flashing and eventually overlapped.

She saw Shirou Emiya's skin turn black, crack, and peel off, leaving only a black skeleton reaching out to her, its mouth opening and closing as it called her name.

'cherry……'

don't want--!

"cherry!"

Seeing that Matou Sakura's emotions had affected the stability of her magical power, Medusa, who had become her Servant again and recovered from her injuries, quickly appeared and hugged Matou Sakura, who was kneeling on the ground.

Gradually, in Medusa's embrace, Matou Sakura calmed down.

"No... I must protect my senior... I command with a Command Spell—"

Looking at the two remaining Command Seals on the back of her hand, Matou Sakura muttered to herself as she raised her left hand, and the bright red Command Seals immediately emitted a dazzling red light.

"Rider, you must protect your senior no matter what!"

"cherry?!"

Medusa, who was holding Matou Sakura in her arms, was stunned and couldn't understand why Matou Sakura would spend a precious Command Seal to let her protect someone else.

This is even stranger than the order that made her Shinji Matou's Servant.

However, Medusa eventually agreed.

"I understand. Since this is Sakura's wish, I will protect that man..."

"...Thank you, Rider."

Sunlight streamed into the room through the window, and under its rays, Matou Sakura's shadow flickered and distorted for a moment, like a TV channel on a distorted screen.

……

night.

Emiya Shirou, who had chosen to work since he had no classes today, was practicing enhancement magic in the warehouse when his mind involuntarily drifted to the two strange people he had encountered earlier that day.

One was Sakura's grandfather, whom he saw when he opened the door in the morning, and the other was the white-haired little girl he met on his way home from work.

What impressed him most about these two people was that they both said strange things.

Sakura's grandfather said that Sakura wouldn't be able to come to his house during this time, and the white-haired little girl was saying things like "she'll die if we don't summon her soon," which sounded rather cryptic...

Did something happen to Sakura?

"Honestly, I can't concentrate at all because I'm so focused on it..."

With a sigh, Shirou Emiya tossed the iron pipe aside and lay back on the warehouse floor, staring at the ceiling.

"Let's go visit Sakura tomorrow..."

Turning over, Emiya Shirou, feeling drowsy, slowly closed his eyes, unaware that an intricate circular magic circle was gradually appearing beneath him. At the same time, the red tattoo on the back of his left hand, which he had initially mistaken for a bruise, now flowed and filled completely, like blood.

It was a pattern resembling a sword and its sheath.

……

Meanwhile, Yuwatari, who had come to Emiya's residence under the cover of night as planned to check whether Saber had been summoned, encountered an unexpected person.

A petite girl with white hair and red eyes sat on the shoulder of a black giant. The two, who were originally walking towards the Emiya residence, bumped into Yuwatari, who was heading the same way as them, at a bend in the wall.

At this moment, Yudu was in a state of spiritual transformation, while Hercules stopped in his tracks, stared intently at him, and let out a roar.

"Hmm? Someone's over there? I can't see them, is it a Servant?" With that thought, Ilya gave Heracles the order to attack without hesitation.

"Crush him! Berserker!"

"Roar--!"

The enormous axe blade, carrying an unstoppable force, slashed towards You Du, but was blocked midway by a circular mirror barrier.

"Tsk! Trap Card activated! [Divine Shield - Mirror Force]! Come and taste your own attack, you big guy!"

As Hercules' attack was blocked, Yudu had already pulled back some distance. At the same time, an axe blade exactly the same as the one in Hercules' hand flew out from the mirror-like barrier and shot towards Hercules.

"Roar!"

After a roar, Hercules shattered the reflected image with a single axe strike, then kicked off with both feet, sending himself and Ilya, who was sitting on his shoulders, hurtling towards Yudo like a cannonball.

Trouble... This area is a residential area. If we want to deal with Hercules' twelve lives without harming ordinary people, it will probably take some time.

Yuto frowned, pulled out a card without even looking at it, and inserted it into the Duel Disk, completely ignoring the 'human cannonball' that was about to hit him.

"Activate the Spell Card [Neuro Fusion]! Using [Elemental HERO Neos Knight] and [Elemental HERO Goldblade Knight] as Fusion Materials, come forth! [Elemental HERO Neos Knight]!"

Ilya and Hercules were still wary of the strange words spoken at the ferry crossing when, unexpectedly, a cylinder with a question mark pattern suddenly appeared in front of them. Hercules, who was in mid-air, spun around and tried to brace himself against the edge of the cylinder.

But just as he was about to grab the edge of the hole, the cylindrical opening widened outwards like a soft jelly, just grazing Heracles and causing him to fall in.

Trap card [Magic Cylinder]! Kid!

This is the source of Youdu's confidence that he is not flustered at all.

Yuuto glanced at the Neo-Universe Knight standing beside him, who looked like a Neo-Universe Knight dressed in knight's attire, and nodded to him. Then, Ilya and Hercules were launched from another cylinder in front of him.

"Whoa! What kind of weird magic tricks are these?!"

Seeing that she had been launched like a cannonball, Ilya was furious.

Whether it's the barrier that reflected the attack just now, or this strange cylinder now, it's impossible to tell what class this Servant is!

But judging from these bizarre magic tricks, could he be a Caster?

As if to confirm her conjecture, Heracles used the landing Illya to look across and saw that Yuuto had taken out a magic book from somewhere and was holding it in his hand. Then he saw countless magic bullets being fired at her.

Furthermore, upon seeing the white knight standing guard over Youdu, she automatically categorized him as a demon.

This guy is definitely a Caster!

"Damn Caster, they're using us as cannon fodder! Let's go! Berserker!"

"Roar!"

With a puffed-up Ilya giving the order, Hercules carried her on his back and charged towards Yuwa, taking the brunt of the magic bullets with his bare hands.

Upon seeing this, the New Universe Knight immediately blocked his path, but Ilya completely disregarded this familiar and simply had Hercules deal with him as well.

However, when Hercules swung his axe at the New Universe Knight, Ilya was astonished to find that the Knight had easily blocked Hercules' axe with his shield.

Are you kidding me? Berserker's strength is A+ level, how could it be blocked by a mere familiar?

What the hell is this familiar?!

The people behind were not surprised by this.

After all, the Neos Knights before their fusion possessed the power to severely injure Medusa with a single punch, so it's not surprising that the Neos Knights after their fusion easily blocked Hercules' attack.

Just then, Yuuto heard Rin Tohsaka's voice in his mind.

'Sorry I'm late. Are you fighting another Servant right now?'

Very well, it seems his Master finally discovered he was fighting someone through this abnormal mana consumption...

Chapter Fifteen: We, the heroic players, also have our own Ernest!

What's wrong with the familiar that Caster summoned?!

When Hercules' attack was blocked by the New Knights, Ilya, realizing something was wrong, jumped off Hercules to avoid interfering with his battle.