My transformation into a beautiful girl started with a hemorrhage.

The determination on her face and her willingness to do anything for honor made Kiritsugu Emiya shake his head inwardly.

"You will escort Irisviel to the castle outside the city." Kiritsugu Emiya had no intention of arguing with such a pedantic old man.

Artoria continued to question, "How could you leave Irisviel alone in such a dangerous situation? She is your wife."

Artoria became even more certain that her master was a scumbag.

But in fact, Kiritsugu Emiya had already placed the Avalon scabbard inside Irisviel's body.

Kiritsugu Emiya completely ignored Artoria and said to Maiya, who was standing to the side, "Let's go."

Without giving Artoria a chance to speak, Kiritsugu Emiya left with Maiya.

Artoria had no choice but to return to the scene, and together with Irisviel, they got into the car arranged by Kiritsugu Emiya and headed towards the castle on the outskirts of Fuyuki City.

However, as they sped along the mountain road...

But a real Caster blocked their way.

He has a sadistic personality and a love for killing, and refers to himself as "Bluebeard" to his Master.

Artoria got out of the car with a solemn expression.

The real Caster Gilles de Rais was once a victorious military commander. Driven by the death of his friend Joan of Arc, he attempted to resurrect her by researching witchcraft and alchemy using children, ultimately becoming a murderer and losing his mind.

"You... are Caster?" Artoria asked after looking at Gilles de Rais.

“Ah, I am Caster,” Gilles de Rais exclaimed excitedly. “Joan of Arc, I have finally met you.”

Caster had previously seen Artoria through the crystal ball and concluded that she was Jeanne d'Arc.

“You’re a Caster, so before…” Artoria suddenly remembered that Hui had never said she was a Caster; they just assumed the other person was.

“Joan of Arc, I have been praying for your resurrection, waiting for the miracle of seeing you again, even now that time has come to an end.”

Artoria's attention returned to the somewhat abnormal Heroic Spirit in front of her: "You've mistaken me for someone else. I've never heard of your name before, and I have no recollection of the name Jeanne that you mentioned."

"Ahhh, it's me, Gilles de Rais, Jeanne, look at me again." Caster was a little overwhelmed and pleaded with Artoria again.

Artoria shook her head again: "You've really mistaken me for someone else. I'm not Joan of Arc, and I truly have absolutely no recollection of you."

Artoria paused for a moment, then solemnly declared, "Since you have already given your name, I will also, according to the etiquette of a knight, reveal my true name."

My name is Artoria, the legitimate daughter of Uther Pendragon, King of Britain, and I have descended to earth in this Holy Grail War as the Saber class.

“How could this be? This is so tragic! So pitiful! You have lost your memory, and even your mind has become disordered. Damn it… Damn it…” Gilles de Rais broke down, kneeling on the ground and pounding his fists on the concrete driveway.

Thump, thump, thump...!

The bodies of the Heroic Spirits have all been enhanced. Even Caster, who is not good at close combat, has a body strength comparable to that of ordinary hard stone. He smashed two fist-sized holes in the cement road.

He pounded the ground, screaming in despair, "What cruel punishment will God inflict on my beautiful maiden!"

"That's enough, this is outrageous!" Artoria snapped.

"It's all God's fault, all God's fault. As long as God is killed, God is killed, Joan of Arc will return... Wait for me, Joan of Arc, I swear, I will free your soul from God's curse."

After Gilles de Rais finished speaking excitedly, he stood up, bowed, and then transformed into a spirit and departed.

All of this was observed by Assassin, who was tracking Artoria.

……

When Artoria brought Irisviel to the castle in the suburbs, Kiritsugu Emiya arrived there first.

He and Maiya had previously located the hotel where Lancer's Master Kenneth was staying, but they only gathered intelligence and did not launch an attack.

Under normal circumstances, he would not let go of this excellent opportunity to eliminate Lancer.

However, because of Hui's appearance, he changed his strategy.

His goal has always been singular: to achieve final victory in the Holy Grail War.

Under normal circumstances, killing Lancer's Master would indeed be a step closer to the final victory in the Holy Grail War, but now, killing Lancer's Master will only have the opposite effect.

Ena's power to disrupt the balance is so great that it would take the combined strength of all Masters to defeat her.

Every bit of combat strength is extremely valuable and should not be wasted.

He planned to wait until the other Heroic Spirits joined forces to defeat Berserker, then sit back and reap the benefits.

And what we need to do now... is to survive.

No, it's waiting!

Waiting for that opportunity to arrive.

As he expected, it arrived very quickly.

The next morning.

As dawn slowly drew back the curtain, it was another bright and sunny day.

Father Risuke Kotomine of the Fuyuki City Church issued a summons.

As the overseer of the Holy Grail War, he had the authority to change the rules of the Holy Grail War, and declared:

"The Holy Grail War is now facing a major crisis, as it has been confirmed that Osaka has been completely destroyed by the Berserker's attack."

Therefore, I am now using my special oversight authority to temporarily change the rules. All Masters must immediately cease all combat activities and focus all their efforts on annihilating the Berserker.

Furthermore, as an exception, I will grant additional Command Seals to those who successfully annihilate Berserker and his Master.

These are the Command Seals left over from the Masters who were eliminated in past Holy Grail Wars. To you all, these seals should hold invaluable worth. The Holy Grail War will continue from the moment Berserker was defeated—”

However, he hadn't finished speaking.

boom!!

A terrifying magical power descended from the sky, and the protective barrier of the Holy Church itself vanished completely in less than a second.

Kotomine Risei's last memory was of a flash of silver light before his eyes... and he knew nothing more after that.

Chapter 383 Secret Talk

Late at night, a few hours ago.

Fuyuki City Church.

Kirei Kotomine and Risei Kotomine are talking to Tokiomi Tohsaka.

Kirei Kotomine sat in front of a megaphone and said, "Sensei, Assassin just sent a message that they have discovered Caster's whereabouts, and according to Assassin's subsequent investigation, Caster and his Master are the serial killers who have been abducting sleeping children recently."

"Caster?! Are you sure it's Caster, not Berserker?" Tokiomi Tohsaka asked, somewhat surprised.

"Ah, I'm sure. It seems that the god actually descended in the Berserker class."

"Berserker? I never expected that a god would descend in the rank of Berserker. No, perhaps it is precisely because the other party is a god that he descends in the rank of Berserker."

Tokiomi Tohsaka suddenly remembered that while the Berserker class was suitable for heroes who went berserk in battle, there was another situation in which this class was also suitable: when a non-human, humanoid mythical creature was summoned as an anti-hero.

Huina's casual act of slaughtering 2.7 million people is nothing short of anti-heroic.

As for why the other party remained rational, it is not surprising at all, given their divine status.

"Has Assassin found Berserker's Master?" Tokiomi Tohsaka asked.

"Assassin only had time to see Berserker moving towards the Matou family before he was killed, so he doesn't know who his Master is," Kirei Kotomine replied.

"Just knowing that is enough."

Tokiomi Tohsaka suddenly realized.

A perfect god is almost impossible to summon as a servant, but there are always more solutions than problems.

As the Matou family, who devised the Servant system in the Holy Grail War and invented the method of "binding them with Command Seals," it is not impossible for them to summon gods as Servants.

Each of the three starter families has its own area of ​​expertise.

The Tohsaka family has been a renowned family of magicians since ancient times, managing the spiritual veins of Fuyuki and providing land for the Holy Grail War. They are skilled in jewel magic.

The Einzbern family and their group of homunculus humans primarily constructed the Holy Grail War system.

Moreover, Tokiomi Tohsaka became even more certain of his guess when he thought that there was only one magician in the Matou family now, that old monster who had lived for 500 years.

"Has that old monster finally given up waiting...?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka believed that Kei's Master was Zouken Matou, which made sense, since he had given his daughter to the Matou family and naturally knew that the Matou family was losing its magic talent, with only Zouken Matou supporting the entire family. "However, even if you are a senior in the magic world, the Holy Grail will ultimately belong to me."

"Teacher, what should we do now?" Kirei Kotomine asked. "Caster and the others are using magic without any restraint and without hiding any trace, as if they don't care about the Holy Grail War at all."

"Caster's matter is not urgent. No matter how many people Caster kills and leaks magic, it is nothing compared to what that god has done. The most important thing now is how to get rid of that god."

Tokiomi Tohsaka turned to Risei Kotomine as he spoke, "Father, how is the situation in Osaka?"

Kotomine Risei replied, "The Holy Church has urgently mobilized all its resources in the Far East to eliminate the abnormal scene in Osaka. I believe that by tomorrow morning, the world will only think that Osaka was unfortunately struck by a meteor last night, which caused such a tragedy."

"Has the Church taken no action against Berserker?" Tokiomi Tohsaka asked.

“This…” Kotomine Ritsumasa paused before slowly saying, “The Church’s higher-ups said the Holy Grail War is a matter for the three Far East families.”

Tokiomi Tohsaka could hardly believe his ears. The once arrogant Holy Church had actually backed down?!

Then, Ryomae continued, "However, the church's higher-ups provided information about that god."

“Oh, what is it?” Tokiomi Tohsaka said.

"That god's Noble Phantasm is very likely her power, which has reached the level of the Star Realm. However, according to the Church's speculation, she would have to consume a Noble Phantasm when she used that power."

Moreover, this consumption erases the entire legend, history, and all traces of the existence of the Noble Phantasm. This is a power that transcends countless time and space, reverses cause and effect, and even forcibly interferes with history.

The church had previously observed changes in history through special channels, but the specifics of those changes remained unknown because that period of history had been corrected by the world and disappeared forever.

"I see...!" Tokiomi Tohsaka was beginning to understand why the Holy Church had backed down.

Change the past now!

Faced with a god capable of such a feat, even if the Holy Church sends out its strongest combat mechanism—the Burial Mechanism—can it necessarily defeat the opponent?

Although the members of the Burial Agency are said to be able to fight on par with Servants even when they are human.

However, this "servant" absolutely does not include gods who possess Star-level Noble Phantasms.

And even if you can defeat the opponent, wouldn't you have to pay a price?

It is obvious that the Holy Church is not willing to expend its own power for a Holy Grail War. After all, the Holy Grail War is only a temporary phenomenon and will not last forever. Even if left unattended, that god will eventually disappear.