FATE: Target of Grand Master

As the first rays of sunlight shone into Fuyuki City, Natsumi and her friends at the private Homura Academy had already made all the necessary preparations.

Unlike the previous two days, the monsters did not appear today, which is both good and bad news.

On the positive side, Xia Yan and the others no longer need to allocate combat power to protect Fuyuki City. On the negative side, it means that Matou Ryouken no longer needs to collect magic power, indicating that the current situation is one step closer to Matou Ryouken's goal.

Xia Yan was unsure of the extent of Matou Ryouken's Gorgon skills, but neither the Beast Queen nor the Fallen Goddess were opponents that could be easily defeated.

However, Xia Yan still had plenty of confidence in Morgan, after all, Morgan was the Queen of Lostbelts, a genius among the fairies of Paradise, and the great witch who used the Gun of the End as a dart.

Therefore, the most important part of this final battle is the time before Morgan is summoned.

Since Morgan's summoning requires the strongest location in the spiritual vein, it's equivalent to Xia Yan having to summon inside the enemy's stronghold—the Great Void. Matou Ryouken would never stand idly by.

Whether Xia Yan is defeated by the enemy and thus disrupts the summoning ritual, or whether he withstands the enemy's fierce attack and successfully completes the summoning, will be the key to whether he can pass this trial.

"Let's go, it's time to put an end to this."

At Xia Yan's command, everyone except the Caster group who remained at the academy sped off towards the Great Hollow.

Before reaching the foot of the mountain, Medea released her spirit form and slowly descended from mid-air.

Under the slightly surprised gazes of everyone except Xia Yan, Medea repeated her decision. Everyone looked at her with admiration. After all, Medea, who bore the title of "betraying witch" and aspired to become Mrs. Kuzuki, would actually take the initiative to participate in the dangerous final battle. No one would believe it if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes.

Without wasting any more time, the group continued onward. With Medea joining them, their confidence grew even stronger.

"You're here."

Emiya Alter stood outside the cave entrance, looking at Xia Yan and his group at the foot of the mountain, and slowly raised the spear blade in his hand.

Bang!Bang!Bang!

clang!clang!clang!

The bullets fired by Emiya ALTER were deflected by Cú Chulainn's spear. Then, the blue lancer pushed his speed to the limit, leaving the others behind and arriving in front of Emiya ALTER first.

"Archer, to be honest, you look much worse than before."

Cú Chulainn gripped his gun with both hands, assuming a fighting stance, while not forgetting to make sarcastic remarks about Shimomiya.

"Hmph. I wholeheartedly agree."

Emiya Alter gave a self-deprecating laugh, but did not refute it.

Are you the only one here?

While keeping an eye on Emiya Alter, Cú Chulainn also kept an eye on his surroundings, but he did not sense Saber's presence.

"As a traitor, it's impossible for me to gain trust. Don't worry, this is the first checkpoint, and I'm the only one here."

"Is that so? Although you're not the main course today, it's good to start with you as a warm-up."

In order to buy time for the main force behind him, Cú Chulainn launched the first attack on Emiya Altera.

clang clang clang!

The crimson spear clashed with the black and white spear blade, producing a series of sparks.

"I was just about to say this, your weapon is even more sinister than your original twin swords. Have you completely fallen into the demonic path?" Cú Chulainn said.

"Hmph. This is the weapon that better suits my current state of mind. Although, for me now, weapons are nothing more than convenient killing tools, and there is no difference in their quality, you are right, I have indeed fallen into the demonic path."

Emiya Alter makes no attempt to hide his self-loathing.

"It seems you really are beyond saving."

Cú Chulainn would always show respect to any opponent he had fought, regardless of victory or defeat, as long as the battle had been fought fairly and squarely, except for one type of person: someone like Emiya Alter, who had absolutely no sense of honor.

Although Cú Chulainn treated killing as a job, he still experienced emotional ups and downs in the process, whether he liked it or hated it; these were all emotions that a human being should have.

Emiya Alter has become a pure killing machine. For him, killing is just a mechanical process of arriving at the location, confirming the target, and pulling the trigger. Such a guy can't even be considered human, so how can he be worthy of respect?

Emiya seemed to tacitly agree with Cú Chulainn's assessment, offering no response.

The two said no more and their movements became even faster.

Just like the previous battle at the academy, close combat is an advantage for Lancer. Emiya Alter's Gan Jiang and Mo Xie have changed from dual swords to spear blades, further reducing his close combat ability. Before he knew it, he was kicked away by Cú Chulainn.

Emiya Alter, who had been sent flying backward, braced himself with one hand and regained his balance.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth where he had been kicked, but did not immediately retaliate.

At this moment, Xia Yan and the others had also caught up, and Rin Tohsaka and Shirou Emiya stood next to Cú Chulainn.

"Lancer, thank you for your cover. Now it's up to us."

As planned, Rin and Shirou would handle this situation, while the others immediately ran into the large cavern.

"You have to survive."

Cú Chulainn wasted no time, grabbed his gun and rushed into the cave, once again clearing the way for the main force.

Only Shirou Emiya, Rin Tohsaka, and Emiya Alter remained at the cave entrance.

Rin was the first to question him: "Tell me, Archer, why did you betray us? You must have a reason, right?"

Emiya Alter chuckled and said, "Rin, you're still so naive. I'm a traitor, you won't get the truth from a traitor asking for his reasons for betraying him."

"No, Archer, no matter how much you pretend, I know you are you, and you must have a reason!"

Rin's words warmed Emiya Alter's heart.

"I'm really defeated by you."

Emiya Alter scratched his head and said, "Although I was forced to surrender at the time, I never expected that Matou Ryokon would use black mud to transform me into what I am now. I wanted to dig out more information, but Matou Ryokon was very cautious and didn't reveal any clues. However, I was still able to sense through my contract with him that his true body was always in the Great Void. And this time, he only has one physical body. As long as we find his true body and destroy it, the existence of Matou Ryokon will completely disappear."

"Archer! You really are..."

Before Rin could finish her excited words, she was interrupted by Emiya Alter.

"Rin, that's all I can tell you. The rest is up to you. However, this guy has to stay; I have some personal grudges to settle with him."

"Wait a minute, Archer, you don't need to do this now..."

"Rin, you should go first."

This time, it was Emiya Shirou who interrupted Rin.

He had been puzzled by Archer's hostility until he projected Gan Jiang and Mo Xie himself, at which point he began to pay attention to Archer's battle.

As the types and frequency of projected weapons increased, he felt increasingly familiar with Archer's movements, as if he himself were using them.

"Looks like you sensed it. Well, I guess I should be ashamed of myself for not noticing after all the skill I've shown you.

"Hey, Archer, you've been spouting vague things since earlier. There's a limit to being a riddle teller. And Shirou, you too, just say what you've figured out. There's no need for you to draw your swords against each other."

"No, Rin. We have plenty of reasons."

Shirou took out a ruby ​​necklace, which was a memento from his father that Rin Tohsaka used to save him from being killed by Lancer. It was a one-of-a-kind necklace in the world.

"Rin, when we went to the Tohsaka mansion last night to make the Jewel Sword, I accidentally saw an identical necklace in your drawer. You said Archer put it there. Do you understand now?"

Rin was taken aback, then finally understood.

"In other words..."

Shirou and Emiya Alter said in unison, "He is me."