I am the protagonist

After examining Lord El-Melloi's physical condition, Shirou concluded that the man's body was completely ruined.

Although it is unknown how this was done, the magic circuits and magic crests have indeed been completely burned. In this situation, a magician is essentially a cripple, and everything that this person owned in the past has become worthless at this moment.

This body would have no value anywhere else.

"Is this person being deliberately kept alive so that this body can become the medium for the Holy Grail's descent?"

Yes, even if this body's value as a magician is now equivalent to zero, his adoptive father still hopes to heal it and keep it alive as long as possible, even at the lowest possible level.

"This is the simplest way; you don't need to find other Masters to bring down the Holy Grail."

Efficiency is what Kiritsugu Emiya pursues. Since the Holy Grail's descent requires the sacrifice of a vessel, a medium is now right before our eyes.

Since we already have a medium in front of us, there's no need to continue considering finding another one.

"Well, that makes sense."

"What's Saber's opinion?"

"I agree too."

"In that case, let's use his body as the medium for the Holy Grail's descent."

Shirou opened his hand, and two hearts appeared above his palm.

Kiritsugu Emiya also saw the two hearts, one large and one small, but strange crystals could be seen on both hearts, and the hearts were still beating.

Shirou used magic to create a slit in Lord El-Melloi's chest and placed two hearts inside his body.

Soon, like sharks that have smelled blood, the two hearts began to dive into the torn crack.

"This kind of thing..."

"The Holy Grail is such a thing. Its existence is for the purpose of descending, and its descent contains calamity. The Holy Grail exists to satisfy the desires of magicians, and it is not something that looks friendly."

“I understand, but I didn’t expect it to be such a disgusting thing.”

The thought that this is what a group of Heroic Spirits are pursuing makes Saber feel a little disgusted.

Shirou could understand Saber's somewhat nauseating feeling, since he had felt the same way when he first saw these things. However, after witnessing human desires, that nausea gradually subsided.

This is something I really don't want to get used to, but it's something I really need to get used to.

"Boom!"

Lord El-Melloi's body trembled.

Upon seeing this, Shirou immediately placed his hand on his head, and the tremor was quickly brought under control.

"The fusion of heart and body is complete."

“So easy?”

"Saving lives is always more difficult than killing them."

"The Holy Grail entered this person's body in the form of invasion, forcibly fusing the fragments of the Holy Grail with this person's heart. It was less of an invasion and more of an erosion. Now this body can no longer escape; it can only exist as a vessel for the Holy Grail's descent."

As the master of this vessel, his life is practically over, and the remaining magical crests in his body are unlikely to be recovered again.

The El-Melloi family is definitely going to suffer in this timeline, but Shirou certainly won't care.

Of course, this state of the Holy Grail is not without its advantages.

"Conversely, because the core has become the Holy Grail, he has been able to use magic once again."

"Therefore, some measures are still necessary."

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

The hand covering Lord El-Melloi's head emitted a faint blue light, and soon the body began to react strongly.

This kind of reaction is nothing more than a meaningless struggle.

This state lasted for about ten seconds before disappearing completely.

"Shirou, are you alright now?"

"Yes, I have completely destroyed the consciousness of the brain. Now this body has become a vessel."

Since it is a conscious being, it is enough to let this body return to a state of complete unconsciousness.

Methods that damage the body.

Methods to disrupt consciousness.

These are all applications of magic that Shirou learned from Medea, and he applied them to this body without any hesitation. It would be troublesome if this body reacted badly later, so taking proper precautions now would prevent future problems.

"Now all we need to do is place this body in a suitable location and provide it with the ability to sustain life using magic."

"Is it difficult?"

"This is not difficult. Just guide some of the magic from the ley lines over. Even for survival, there is nothing that needs to be done. In order for the Holy Grail to descend, the Holy Grail itself will work hard to bring it down."

Kiritsugu Emiya took a deep look at Kenneth's body.

This looks like a really troublesome thing.

[Does this consciousness already exist within them? Is that why they so eagerly anticipate the arrival of the Holy Grail?]

"Shirou, did some great calamity occur after the Fourth Holy Grail War?"

"Yes... there was indeed a disaster ten years ago. It seems that nearly several thousand people were engulfed by an unusual fire, and almost no one survived."

[A vast area encompassing thousands... Did the Holy Grail ultimately descend in the city center?]

It seems someone did something wrong that led to the destruction of the Holy Grail and this situation.

It seems we need to investigate the Holy Grail War more thoroughly.

Having made up his mind, Kiritsugu Emiya decided to investigate the truth of the Holy Grail War once again.

The three starter families definitely knew, but since the Einzbern family has been destroyed and all those who knew are dead, we can only investigate through other means.

"I'm going back."

“If I disappear from the Assassin’s sight for too long, they will become suspicious.”

"Okay, I'll take you back now."

With the help of the runes, Shirou sent Kiritsugu Emiya back to the hotel.

The castle now needs to be renovated.

“Saber, we need to rearrange this castle now, and we will use it as our base.”

"I see."

Chapter 161 Next up is Caster and Assassin

Shirou moved around the outside of the castle, setting up a defensive formation as he went.

Setting up a base is Shirou's forte right now, so creating one is quite easy, especially when using runes.

As long as the corresponding runes are buried underground, a stronghold can be quickly formed, and this method gradually becomes more and more convenient after being used more and more often.

In addition to the defensive array, we also need to prepare some perception arrays.

[Those Assassins pass through these magic circles too easily, but if the magic circle is made with runes, even those Assassins wouldn't be able to completely avoid it.]

Unless Assassin has some knowledge of magic, he can enter the magic circle without triggering any alarms.

Dealing with that group isn't particularly difficult, but completely eliminating them is extremely troublesome.

Considering Assassin's situation, Shirou felt that this year's Assassin should be the most troublesome.

Those who only think about staying in the shadows will never step forward.

Without a doubt, those guys were pure assassins, only interested in gathering intelligence and carrying out covert assassinations, and would never engage in direct, hand-to-hand combat. If an Assassin were to do that, it would just be a low-class act.

Sending Assassin into battle would be a complete idiot's move, unless Assassin's individual abilities have reached that of the samurai.

But can a normal Assassin reach that level of combat prowess?

It's obvious that the samurai was a completely abnormal Assassin.

Assassin is currently the biggest problem.

However, fortunately, Assassin is still under Uncle Tohsaka's control, and I think they should be aware of the threat Assassin poses. Kirei Kotomine's existence is definitely a huge threat, and keeping Assassin in his hands is a major problem.

I just don't know when that opportunity will arrive.

Shirou was a little concerned about the timing, but he could wait calmly for now, since it wasn't the time to rush.

During wartime, one must not be impatient; calmness should be the primary focus in all matters.

Caster will no longer serve any other purpose.

[Once Caster starts rioting in the city, it will inevitably provoke the combined wrath of all Masters and Servants. After all, the Holy Grail War must be conducted in secrecy, and Caster, who violates this rule, will certainly be targeted by the other Servants and Masters.]

[But is there a way to deal with the other Servants and Masters now?]

The other Servants and Masters in the Holy Grail War are also a bunch of troublemakers.

The Lancer team has now been completely defeated.

Lancer has withdrawn from the stage of war, and Lancer's Master, Lord El-Melloi, has become a vessel for the Holy Grail's descent. The Lancer group has been utterly defeated.

Of the remaining six Servants and Masters, the Saber group is considered an allied unit.

Of the remaining five Master units, there is one Uncle Tohsaka who will help them achieve final victory. However, he will inevitably have to fight against the Heroic Spirits under Uncle Tohsaka's command in the end, and that battle is unavoidable.

Even if it's unavoidable, I hope it can be delayed until the very end.

That Heroic Spirit's power is undoubtedly the strongest existence Shirou has ever encountered so far, and it is a completely different concept from other Heroic Spirits.

The concept was already understood after just the first meeting.

[Rider's trump cards are still unknown, which is a big problem. I'm also very curious about what other trump cards the famous conquerors of history had up their sleeves.]

What the Conqueror King's trump card is is something Shirou is quite concerned about.

No Heroic Spirit should be underestimated; underestimating the power of any Heroic Spirit may ultimately lead to endless regret.

This kind of thing has happened to Shirou many times, so Shirou would never feel regret because of this kind of problem.

If only we could predict the future.

At times like this, Shirou deeply misses his past self, who possessed the ability to see the past and future, but this ability is now gradually being sealed off.

Yes, this ability will be locked as time changes in the future.

The laws of time were not blocked.

However, the ability to see into the past and future is blocked.

Future changes will also affect my predictions about time.

Or perhaps, my time-manipulation techniques are gradually becoming limited by the world.

It's hard to say for sure, because right now only the ability to see into the future and the past is affected; the ability to perceive time is still usable.

It can only be said that in the future, things may become a situation where the future and the past are no longer visible.

Although it's unclear whether this ability can be used during combat, it's still best to be prepared not to watch, otherwise there's a high possibility of unexpected setbacks.

The inability to see the future may have a significant impact on Shirou, but he cannot rely too much on one ability.

Now that he's decided to change his fighting style and ability mastery, Shirou feels he needs to control his use of time manipulation in the future. He'll try his best not to use time manipulation in the next world, using a one-world cycle to break his habit of using time carelessly.

Compared to Rider and Archer, Berserker is much weaker.

Although that martial skill is unparalleled, it's not enough to pose a threat. Should we find a time to completely defeat the Matou family's Master?

Shirou's mind is not currently focused on Berserker.

Even though we've witnessed Berserker's astonishing martial arts skills even in a frenzied state, which almost completely negates the abnormal state of frenzy, is this ability truly excellent enough?

No, this level of martial arts skill is not considered particularly outstanding.

Berserker's past experiences simply gave him the ability to use superb martial arts even in a frenzied state. However, this martial arts skill did not exceed a certain level, so the combination of these skills was not considered a threat.

Even if Berserker can wield superb martial arts skills in a frenzied state, his frenzied nature remains unchanged.

Only when superb martial arts skills are combined with a calm mind can they unleash extraordinary combat power.

In situations like Berserker, if handled properly, even Caster can completely wear down Berserker.

No, let's forget about it.