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

That's so irrational!

Danic nodded in agreement.

Now that he needed Vlad III to obtain the Holy Grail for him, he didn't mind temporarily placing himself in the position of a subject.

So after Vlad III left, Darnic took over command, leaving Berserker Frankenstein and Saber Siegfried to deal with the two red faction Servants they had discovered, while he and Caster Avisbro went to forcibly contract Spartacus.

They even managed to contact Archer Chiron, who remained in the castle, via magical communication for support, hoping to capture all three of the Red Team's Servants in one fell swoop. Unfortunately...

"Chiron, the only one with divinity who could harm Achilles, was assigned to the castle to provide support. If he can keep Achilles here even with that, then he must be throwing the match!"

As Yuuto led Leticia toward the location where Achilles and Siegfried were fighting, he complained to her.

"However, after last night's battle, Siegfried's Master might have learned his lesson and wouldn't waste two Command Seals right away—well, it seems he still chose to recklessly charge in..."

Looking at the azure flame that appeared briefly and then suddenly went out in the distance, You Du couldn't help but marvel at how stubborn Gorde was.

He really dared to reveal his Servant's true name and unleash his Noble Phantasm right from the start, without knowing anything about the opponent...

Without even thinking, how could a Servant who could fight Siegfried to a draw, or even crush him, be an ordinary guy?

Gord was the one who chose Siegfried's relic to summon him, yet he himself didn't seem to have a detailed understanding of Siegfried's strength?

However, since the battle over there is still the same as before, there seems to be no need to go and watch it anymore. In any case, the battle will end soon after Siegfried is called back.

He had thought that since Siegfried and Karna hadn't fought to a draw yesterday, Gordes wouldn't suddenly have a relapse in today's battle... It seems he was overthinking it.

After standing there for a moment to think, Yuuto decided to take Leticia back to the place where Spartacus had been captured, despite Leticia's puzzled look.

By this time, Danic had already forcibly signed a contract with Spartacus and brought the latter, who was wrapped in mud like a ball, back to the place, leaving only a mess of footprints.

Black's fighting strength has increased by one.

After identifying the direction they had returned from the footprints they left behind, Yuuto led Leticia toward the Black Faction's castle.

Leticia followed behind, somewhat confused.

Chapter 139 Survival Instinct

"Hahaha……"

Clutching a sword, his wrist was being held as he ran relentlessly towards the forest. His newly formed lungs felt like they were being burned, and his legs were numb; he could only mechanically repeat the motion of running.

The unnamed android boy was panting heavily as he was dragged along by Astolfo, who appeared to be a pink-haired girl but was actually a boy.

Is he really able to escape?

Or even if you escape, what then?

Even now, during this escape attempt, he still finds himself unable to resist having such pessimistic thoughts.

At first, she simply followed her body's instinct to ask Astolfo for help in order to survive, but after being rescued, she learned that her life was only three years away from ending.

Unable to contribute anything to the world or leave any trace, he will simply die without accomplishing anything when his time comes.

Although he is still trying his best to escape the castle, the confusion in his heart has not lessened in the slightest because of his actions.

They ran until they crossed the flat grassland near the castle and entered the cedar forest, at which point they gradually stopped running.

It wasn't because they were safe, but because they encountered other people.

Two couples, both ostensibly one male and one female, met in this cedar forest.

Astolfo, who had just drawn his lance and assumed a defensive stance, relaxed upon seeing that the person approaching was You Du.

"Oh, it's Ruler..."

Is Ruler's identity some kind of universal pass...?

After witnessing the contrast in how others treated Yuuto before and after learning his true identity, Leticia couldn't help but mutter a complaint to herself.

"The black team's Rider?"

Yuto, standing to the side, pretended to have bumped into them by chance, and looked Sieg up and down, who was carrying Astolfo's sword—even though he wasn't called that yet.

He hadn't seen many androids, only a few besides Ilya and the ones Gord had taken with him yesterday. But even just from the surface, it was clear that Sieg was in much worse condition than them.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I'd love to get to know you, Ruler, but we're busy right now!"

As he said this, Astolfo confidently led the still somewhat nervous Sieg past Yudu, when he suddenly noticed the ground trembling slightly.

The four stone golem cores gathered the surrounding soil, sculpted their own bodies, and blocked their path.

"Wow, you're really popular..."

His relaxed body tensed up again. Astolfo raised his lance to meet the stone golem's arm as it came crashing down. Sieg, who was hiding behind him, awkwardly raised Astolfo's sword to help.

The Black Faction's Servants, along with the Black Faction's Homunculi and Stone Golems, were locked in battle. This strange sight made Leticia hesitate slightly and tug at Yuuto's trench coat.

"They...shouldn't they be on the same side? Why are they fighting amongst themselves?"

Not long ago, she saw Astolfo and these stone golems working together to capture Spartacus. How come now Spartacus is fighting the stone golems instead?

Was the change in attitude a little too fast?

The girl, being an ordinary person, obviously couldn't understand this behavior of starting a civil war on the second day of the Holy Grail War.

"Are they fighting amongst themselves? Is that why you came here?"

Letitia guessed.

Does the referee even have to intervene in battles within the same faction?

"Internal strife? No, this can hardly be called internal strife."

Upon hearing this, You Du smiled and shook his head, but did not offer any further explanation, because Siegfried, who was in charge of capturing them and taking them back, had already arrived.

"But you're right about one thing, I did come because of this battle between our own factions... Just watch, this should be the last battle of the day!"

He turned his gaze back to the arena, where Siegfried stood in front of Astolfo, who had just dealt with four stone golems. The two were locked in a standoff, and Astolfo, knowing how powerful his opponent was, dared not relax at all. While blocking the opponent's sudden attack, he hurriedly told Siegfried behind him to run.

However, Yu Du discovered that he seemed to be the only one who had come here.

What about Gold?

Shouldn't that guy have been sent by Danic to retrieve Sieg because he wasted two Command Seals for himself?

He stood there pondering, while Siegfried, having experienced two battles in the past two days, finally crushed Astolfo's lance, achieving his first victory in this Holy Grail War.

So it seems Siegfried's luck really was a bit bad...

Despite being a Servant with considerable strength, not only was her Master a useless brute, but she also encountered two top-tier Servants from the Red side in the first two battles.

If he hadn't come today, Siegfried would probably have taken out his heart and replaced it with Siegfried's, and then left the field with this pitiful record!

While Astolfo was using his persuasive skills on Siegfried, Yuuto and Leticia headed in the direction Siegfried had left.

Clearly, even without Gordes blocking his way, Sieg didn't manage to run very far. Yudu didn't go far before finding the android boy sitting against a tree, breathing heavily.

When he heard footsteps, Sieg nervously looked up at them, but relaxed when he saw that it was the ferryman whom Astolfo called Ruler.

In reality, he didn't know what Ruler represented; he simply trusted Astolfo, who had led him out of the castle.

"How do you feel now?"

Yu Du came to his side and asked.

The android boy, who was experiencing life for the first time, did not understand the significance of his question and simply expressed his current feelings in a blank manner.

"My body is so tired, my limbs are so heavy I can't lift them, my lungs feel like they're going to explode, and even the air I breathe feels painful..."

Because of his panting, his speech was punctuated by strange pauses, giving the impression that he was about to die.

Nodding, You Du continued with his second question.

Have you thought about where you'd go and what you'd do after you escape?

"...No, I haven't thought about these things at all."

Zieg shook his head blankly.

He has no past to sustain him, no future to give him the will to live, and even the present, which represents his life, is in jeopardy. This is the predicament he faces as an android.

At this moment, even Leticia noticed something was wrong with Sieg.

He harbored a primal fear of death and wanted to live, but he hadn't thought about what he would do after he survived.

This isn't about wanting to live; it's simply about not wanting to die—it's the survival instinct of a living being.

This boy is now...

They haven't become human yet.

Chapter 140 Are you afraid of the referee?

People need a reason to live.

When a person's reason for living changes from various things to simply not wanting to die, or the fear of death, it means that the world no longer holds any appeal for that person.

The only thing that kept him alive was the most primal, instinctive will to survive.

Eating when hungry and sleeping when tired, without any enjoyment or pleasure, such a being is no longer human, but no different from a wild beast.

Just like that old bug that was crushed to death by the swam.

If you have no inner support and are merely living for the sake of living, you will eventually be twisted into an inhuman monster.

Yudo didn't ask any further questions because Siegfried had already been persuaded by Astolfo's persuasive words, and the two of them came looking for him together.

"Are you OK!"

Yu Du made way, and he and Leticia stood quietly to the side watching Astolfo express his concern for Zig.

Even though Siegfried wasn't seriously injured by Gordes as in the original story, after hearing that he only had three years left to live, Siegfried muttered something like "I've gone down the wrong path again" while preparing to rip out his own heart.

It can only be said that it perfectly matches Yuwatari's stereotypical impression of him...

So he decisively stopped Siegfried's actions.

Just kidding. Before he came, Fei Ge dug out his heart. After he arrived, Fei Ge dug out his heart again. Didn't he come for nothing?

"Wait a minute, Saber from the Black side."

Siegfried, who was about to forcefully rip out the heart, stopped abruptly upon hearing Yudo's voice. It wasn't that he listened to Yudo, but simply because Yudo had summoned the Blue-Eyes White Dragon at the same time.

Upon seeing the white dragon suddenly appear beside Yudo, Astolfo, who was about to get up to stop him, immediately stopped his lunging motion. He even nearly strained his back due to the sudden change in movement.

Seeing that the other three people present besides him and Leticia were frozen in place, lying on the ground crying in pain, and holding their swords and trembling with fear of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, he calmly spoke.

"If all you want to do is improve this android boy's body and extend his lifespan to the same level as a normal human, I have a way to do that."

"Really? Please, save this child, Ruler!"

Upon hearing Yudu's words, Astolfo, who had been lying on the ground, immediately jumped up. Suddenly, he felt no more pain in his legs, and his back—well, it still hurt a little…

Even Siegfried stopped moving because his body was stiff, and instead put his hand down, looking at Yuudou with a firm gaze and pleading.

"If you can, please, Ruler."

His only purpose was to save the boy who had not wished to be saved by him, and he didn't care who saved him.

"Of course, but if he uses my method, then he will no longer be able to participate in this Holy Grail War. He will have to go to another unfamiliar city until the Holy Grail War ends before he can return."

You Du nodded and explained the restrictions to them beforehand.

After all, he is still the referee of this Holy Grail War on the surface, and he still needs to maintain the appearance of fairness.

Otherwise, if Sieg were to fight against the Black side afterward, wouldn't that be equivalent to him providing the Red side with a combat unit, and fighting against the Red side would be equivalent to him providing assistance to the Black side?

As for the fact that he caused the Black faction to lose one homunculus... didn't he also save the Black faction's Saber's life, preventing her from leaving the stage now?

Trading the life of a homunculus for the life of a Servant shouldn't be a difficult choice for the Black faction, right?

None of the people present objected to his request.

Before finding something he wanted to do and developing the idea of ​​saving the other homunculi, Sieg had no intention of participating in the Holy Grail War and naturally expressed his agreement.

Seeing that none of them had any objections to his terms, You Du took out the "Angel's Blood" scroll.

Having already used it to improve the physique of an artificial human once, Yudo naturally found it very easy.

However, before he began to infuse the magic, he remembered that Gordes was absent, so he asked Siegfried about it out of curiosity, only to receive an indescribable look from him.

"Hmm... Master seems to be saying that the impression you left on him last time was too... deep, so after learning that you were here, he planned to wait until everyone else had arrived before coming over together..."

It was clear that Siegfried had really racked his brains to find a way to subtly convey that Gold was afraid of Ruler, who had helped them.

Yudu: "?"