Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

However, the young man immediately realized that Kenneth was willing to give up the Holy Grail for his fiancée.

At that moment, Kenneth suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

It was as if this red-haired brat had all his and Sora's secrets.

If he refuses here, the red-haired boy will come up with other ways to target him.

The moment those twilight-colored eyes locked onto him, he and Sora had nowhere to escape...

Although he was completely devastated, Kenneth continued to put up a final stand.

"I can give up the Holy Grail War, but on one condition."

"Please say."

Kenneth gritted his teeth and said, "Give Sora the antidote first."

"This... I'm afraid that won't work." Shirou said with a regretful expression.

"A magic contract! You must sign a 'self-mandatory certificate' with me!"

"Self-mandated certificate"

Shirou doesn't understand many aspects of magic in the pan-human history, so he can't exactly pull out a toy rubber duck to explain it to himself.

He could only feign profundity and remain expressionless.

With Shirou's tacit approval, Kenneth snapped his fingers, and a drawer in the corner of the room opened automatically, from which a roll of parchment flew out.

The parchment floated gently in the air like a jellyfish before landing lightly in Shirou's hand.

Originally, there were no words on it, but with the infusion of Kenneth's magic, words gradually appeared on the parchment.

"Binding Spell"

Subject: Kenneth Elmero Archibald

"By the inscription of Kenneth El-Melloi: The oath shall become a commandment, binding all without exception, provided that the following conditions are met."

"Oath: Kenneth El-Melloi Archipelago will voluntarily withdraw from the Holy Grail War and return to London with Sora Nazele Sophiari."

"condition:……………………"

Shirou silently read the text on the parchment, feeling the magic emanating from it, and gained a general understanding of what was going on.

So that's how it is. This is a spell that uses the function of one's own magical imprint to impose restrictions on the caster.

The oath is not made with the caster's own life, but with a magical crest. This way, even if it is passed down to the next generation, they will still be bound by it and will never be able to defy the spell.

Shirou checked it over and felt that there should be no problem with the so-called "self-compulsion certificate" and that it could work.

While the technique itself is not problematic, the content is.

"Let's add a few more clauses to the oath."

Shirou thought for a moment and then said.

"Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald and his Servants are permanently prohibited from committing any act of killing or harming Shirou Amamiya."

"........."

Kenneth added this with a livid face: "Is this alright?"

"No, wait, I want to add something more. Even if you can't hurt me, it doesn't mean others can't, right?"

After careful consideration, Shirou said, "Let's add this clause: 'A permanent ban on any member of the El-Melloi faction from harming or killing Shirou Amamiya.'"

Kenneth continued to do as instructed, adding another item.

"Let me think."

Despite his constant urging, Shirou still felt that the contract was not perfect enough and had too many loopholes; at least 10 more clauses would be needed to make it perfect.

"By the way, there's more..."

"That's enough for me!"

Kenneth growled anxiously, "Sora doesn't have time!"

In Shirou's "setting", Sora was poisoned with a poison that would take effect within five minutes, so it's no wonder he was so anxious.

"Okay, okay, I just can't do anything with you."

Shirou shrugged.

Although the contract was full of loopholes, he didn't think Kenneth could kill him anyway.

"The contract is settled then, I accept it."

Shirou said, "Then please, Mr. Kenneth, fulfill your oath."

Kenneth said coldly, "According to the contract, you should give the antidote to Sora first!"

Shirou shook his head: "No, I need to see Mr. Kenneth's sincerity first."

"........."

Kenneth gritted his teeth.

Ultimately, I had no room for negotiation at all.

He gazed at the last remaining Command Seal on his right hand, and then, as Master, issued his final command.

"Give the command with a command spell—"

"Commit suicide, Lancer!"

Accompanied by a crimson light, the demon sword in Diarmuid's hand suddenly changed direction and pierced through his own chest.

The other three present—Saber, who was fighting Lancer, Irisviel, who was supporting her, and Rider, who was watching—were all shocked by this sudden turn of events, their faces showing disbelief.

However, there was one person who showed no surprise whatsoever—

Diarmuid the Demon silently watched the gushing blood, his eyes showing neither astonishment nor anger.

He remained remarkably calm about killing himself with his own hands.

Lancer looked back at the top floor of the Hyatt Hotel and immediately understood everything.

"So that's it, it was that brat..."

For him, this was the second time he had been murdered by his lord.

Diarmuid Ua Duibhne's wish was to overthrow that unfortunate ending, which is why he accepted the call and appeared in the world.

If it were him back then, he would probably be overwhelmed by immense despair and sorrow by now.

Despite his only wish to be loyal to his master, he was constantly plotted against and ultimately repeated the tragic mistakes of the past.

He would surely weep blood and curse everything in the world with vicious swearing.

However, Diarmuid is no longer the knight he once was.

Having easily accepted his inner darkness, he didn't feel much about being schemed against and killed by his lord.

It is common sense that one will stop at nothing to win, and Lancer, who accepts this set of values, can naturally accept such a fate.

In a man's heart, there is no resentment or humiliation, only a lingering regret.

"Hmph, we should have killed that brat back then. What a misjudgment..."

Lancer's jet-black form transformed into a golden breeze and vanished into the night.

"Looks like being an anti-hero isn't really my thing after all. In the end, my luck stat didn't even improve... Damn it..."

……

……

Kenneth stared blankly at the shadow of the follower drifting into the night sky.

His Holy Grail War has come to an end.

After a brief pause, the man resolutely turned his gaze back indoors.

"Now you can hand over the antidote, right?"

He gazed at the boy with expectant, eager eyes, but the words that came from the boy's mouth were the most cruel and heartless in the world—

"An antidote? There was never such a thing in the first place," Shirou said calmly.

These words made Kenneth feel as if he had fallen into an icy abyss in the dead of winter.

He asked in a trembling voice, "You've been deceiving me from the very beginning?"

Shirou nodded firmly: "That's right."

Kenneth collapsed to his knees, too desperate to speak.

He stared blankly at the carpet, not even having the thought of killing Shirou to vent his anger.

Shirou slowly walked towards the only large bed in the room, and then said, "Although there's no antidote, but..."

"You're a disgrace, Kenneth."

A cold, sarcastic female voice rang out in the room.

Kenneth, momentarily thinking it was his imagination, subconsciously looked up—

He saw Sora being helped to sit up on the bed by Shirou.

"……what?"

Sora continued speaking with a look of disgust on his face.

"To actually listen to the enemy and easily give up the Holy Grail War, you are probably the most cowardly man in the world."

Kenneth's mouth dropped open: "Sora, why... weren't you already..."

Sora frowned and said, "Are you trying to say I'm dead?"

"No, but weren't you poisoned? How could you—"

"Needless to say? Because I was never given any poison in the first place."

"…………What?"

Sora crossed her arms and explained everything to Kenneth.

Twenty minutes ago, Shirou broke into the room where Sora was being held captive.

Sora has always been strong-willed and naturally unwilling to submit easily. It took Shirou some effort to subdue her—it took 05 seconds.

"If you think you can use me to blackmail Kenneth, you're sorely mistaken!"

While bound hand and foot, Sora roared continuously.

At that moment, Shirou suddenly spoke up.

"Big sister, shall we make a bet?"

"Do you think Mr. Kenneth would be willing to give up the Holy Grail War for you?"

I guess he will.

Shirou's bet immediately piqued Sora's interest.

Kenneth would give up the Holy Grail War for me? No way.

As the daughter of a prestigious magic family, she knew magicians better than anyone.

Ultimately, she was nothing more than a tool for marriage cultivated by her father.

Kenneth, like his father, was a complete magician.

She doesn't value herself, just as her father never valued his daughter.

Just as Sora was about to retort, Shirou took out a pill and stuffed it into her mouth.

"Ugh... What did you feed me?!"

"This is a drug that can keep people awake while they are asleep. Big sister, just stay there and wait for the results."

As Shirou spoke, he tossed Sora onto the bed and then dialed Waver's communicator.

After that, Sora fell into a conscious sleep.

In a dreamlike deep sleep, she heard Shirou and Kenneth talking.