In Type-Moon, it all starts with adopting Sakura.

"So, why are you suddenly wearing this outfit again? Is this a classic skin comeback?"

"What's wrong? Is it not suitable? Although I haven't worn it in a long time, it should be fine."

Kiritsugu Emiya reached out and tugged hard at his black jacket, feeling it inexplicably tight.

"It's normal for people to gain weight in middle age, isn't it?"

Lovi glanced at Kiritsugu Emiya, who was struggling to put on his old jacket, and smiled, saying, "Besides, your life has changed a long time ago, so it's normal to be lazy, lack exercise, and gain weight."

“You’re right… No one can stay the same as they were at the beginning, because everything changes.”

Upon hearing this, Kiritsugu Emiya gave a helpless smile.

He is completely different now than he was ten years ago. He no longer needs to travel to the Middle East, North America, and the most dangerous areas of the world every day to fight against magicians and Dead Apostles.

Her dreams and wishes have also changed from grandiose and empty dreams of saving the world to cherishing the people she values, protecting Ilya, the most beautiful snowflake, and not letting Hisa Maiya, the woman who has followed her all her life and given everything, down.

At this moment, he was no longer the Magician Killer, but just a father, a man named Kiritsugu Emiya, and of course he could no longer wear the things that belonged to the Magician Killer.

"The past is gone forever, and I can never recapture it now."

Kiritsugu Emiya tried, but after realizing that he couldn't put on the jacket even if he was prepared to be strangled, he finally gave up the idea and took off the tight jacket.

"..."

After a moment of silent, awkward eye contact, he sighed and said, "So, what exactly did you come to see me for? Was it really just to chat?"

"How could that be? I'm actually here to help you solve a problem."

"Solve my problem?"

Emiya Kiritsugu was somewhat puzzled.

"Yes, let's listen to the experts' opinions."

Rowe answered his question casually, then looked at the empty space beside him and called out, "Caster, come out and help!"

"..."

The calls echoed, but no one responded.

"..."

Lovi was speechless, then exchanged a glance with Kiritsugu Emiya, and then called out to him, "Merry, come out and see your old friend."

"..."

However, no one responded this time either.

At this moment, Lowe was stunned. He realized that Meryl really wasn't by his side this time, and wasn't playing hide-and-seek with him or throwing a tantrum.

Meanwhile, Kiritsugu Emiya on the other side simply lit a cigarette and watched quietly as he began his performance.

He even wondered if Rowe was joking with him.

Oh well, if he's not here, he's not here.

Seeing that Mary hadn't come out, Lowe assumed she had left for some urgent matter, so he spoke up directly.

"In short, as you can see, Kiritsugu Emiya, you are now facing one of the strongest Grand Mages in the entire modern era, and the one I summoned is Caster, a genuine Great Sage of the Age of Gods. Although I am indeed not as good as Touko Aozaki in puppet magic, I am proficient in other systems of magic. After our last meeting, I seriously thought about a solution. I have a few ideas, but there is not enough time. This time I brought my Servant with me so that she could see Illya's situation and then we could think of a solution together."

"I'm so glad to hear you praise me like that. Although I really want to help you, it's indeed a bit difficult, darling."

As soon as Rowe's voice fell, the next moment, Mary's voice suddenly appeared in his ear.

"You're still here? I thought you had left."

Luo Wei looked at the beautiful figure that had suddenly appeared, somewhat speechless, and said, "You didn't even respond when I called you just now."

"Because I was checking on that little girl just now. I was completely focused on using illusion magic to defend against that powerful Hercules, so of course I didn't have time to respond to you."

"So...you've done it all..."

"Yes, I know almost everything."

Meryl nodded. "Although I risked being discovered and almost slapped to death, I still managed to examine her successfully. Based on my observation, the little girl's condition is indeed similar to what you described; she's reached a critical point."

"Do you have any other way to stop it? The puppet magic I envisioned is too late. Even Orange doesn't have the ability to create a vessel that can contain Ilya's soul and successfully replace her body in seven days. As for other methods, I can't use divine miracles because I've returned everything to my father. As for the magic aspect, there's no time for either tuning or modification, which is why I came to you."

"As a top magician of the Age of Gods, and having witnessed Mordred's magic, you should be familiar with magic related to homunculus, right? The magic of the Einzbern family cannot possibly compare to yours."

In terms of magic, Lowe had great confidence in Merry.

Upon hearing about androids, Kiritsugu Emiya's hand holding the cigarette trembled involuntarily, and hope ignited in his eyes.

The ancient mage was indeed not capable of solving the problem his daughter faced, but if it were a mage who had studied artificial human technology, then perhaps…

"If that's your thinking, you're likely to be disappointed."

“I didn’t create Mordred. I’ve only studied her, I’m not an expert. Besides, this little girl is too similar to Mordred in form, she’s not the most common type of android. You should know this better than I do.”

Meryl raised her finger and explained, "The purpose of androids is to create a life form similar to a normal human, albeit through magic, incorporating the creator's own ideas. Essentially, it's no different from normal childbirth; both aim to create a life, a normal life. But Mordred and this little girl are different. Every bone, every organ, every drop of blood, even every cycle in their bodies is predetermined, designed for a specific purpose. They're less like androids and more like machines, their bodies filled with parts. Their existence is solely for fulfilling that purpose. Mordred's purpose is to unleash enough power to defeat Artoria, and as for this little girl, I don't need to elaborate, right? To give an example..."

"From the moment it was manufactured, its final fate and purpose were already planned. Once a precise direction was determined, everything else simply needed to be built in that direction. Things like life and health were not considered. Because this machine itself is merely a consumable; its sole purpose in existence is—"

"Complete the final objective, then destroy."

Kiritsugu Emiya sighed and said the result he had known all along.

"Yes, it seems you already knew. If things proceed normally, once the Holy Grail War begins, your daughter will inevitably face this fate. Whether the ritual succeeds or fails, she will die. Because she is also part of the Holy Grail War's gear system; once the machine stops running, the gears will stop; once the machine is destroyed, the gears will break down. However..."

Merry glanced at Lovi, then at Kiritsugu Emiya.

"I know that no matter how clearly I explain it, you humans will not listen. After all, humans only accept the answers they receive when they reach the end."

"Isn't that obvious?"

Luo Wei said, "If you give up before the very end, what's the difference between that and staying put to die? Right, Kiritsugu Emiya? I know you won't give up easily, so remember that—"

"Magic and miracles don't come for free."

Lovi nodded, then looked again at Emiya Kiritsugu, whose hands were clenched and whose gaze was firm.

"..."

Although the other party did not answer, his intentions and thoughts at this moment were already very clear.

Never give up!

"So...you really have no way, Mary?"

Lowe raised his head and looked at Meryl again, asking, "I don't believe you're helpless when even I can think of some solutions."

"You really trust me... But you're right, this isn't a dead end."

"Do you have a solution? What solution?!"

In a dramatic turn of events, upon hearing these words, Kiritsugu Emiya, who had been filled with grief, felt as if a ray of light had shone into his darkness.

"Don't worry, there are ways, but none of them are simple. The simplest way is to give that little girl a new body, but there's not enough time. And readjusting the internal mechanisms also takes time, so..."

Mary raised her finger and waved it, saying, "No matter what you do, you must ensure that your daughter survives this Holy Grail War without interference. Only then will I have a chance to solve the problem and turn her into a normal person. There is no other way at the moment."

"So, isn't what we need to do now quite clear?"

Upon hearing this, Kiritsugu Emiya pondered for a moment, then replied, "Thank you, I understand."

Then he looked up and made a promise.

"I will never repeat the same mistake again. This time I will protect everything."

"The courage to fight against all Servants? You're quite something."

Seeing this, Meryl narrowed her eyes.

"Although you are prepared and have powerful Servants to help you, the other Servants are not easy opponents either. Can your body... hold up? How long can your current body last?"

In fact, although Kiritsugu Emiya still looks young and strong, he did enter the Evil of This World, the Black Mud, with Kirei Kotomine. Although he was pulled out in time this time because of Kirei Kotomine's resolve, the Black Mud still affected his body.

This caused his physical functions to gradually decline, and he gradually became somewhat powerless.

After that, Kiritsugu Emiya had no reason to continue fighting, so he reduced his combat activities, and therefore his physical weaknesses didn't surface for a short time. However, once he returned to normal combat, his physical limitations would gradually become apparent. This was the reason why Loewe and Merry advised him against it.

Although Hercules' strength is beyond the norm, there is no doubt that he is a top-tier Servant on par with Gilgamesh. He possesses numerous Noble Phantasms, and his stats are ridiculously exaggerated.

However, everything has its advantages and disadvantages.

Just like Karna, although he has both absolute offensive and defensive capabilities, making him an impeccable Servant, he also has his own drawbacks.

That's the problem of consuming magic power.

To utilize multiple Noble Phantasms, achieve top-tier stats, and maintain and maximize these abilities, a Master's Mana supply is essential. This is the drawback of these Servants. Therefore, a Servant's strength is linked to their Master. If the Master is too weak, the Servant will also become weak and unable to unleash their full potential.

As for Kiritsugu Emiya, a middle-aged man of mediocre talent who has made no progress in the path of magic throughout his life and has now wasted ten years, he is clearly not worthy of Hercules' strength. So it is obvious that if he were to forcefully fight to stop all the masters and servants, his body would undoubtedly suffer a huge burden.

but……

"No problem, I won't fall down until I'm sure my daughter is safe and sound."

Kiritsugu Emiya clutched his heart and spoke earnestly.

Tell me, what should I do now?

"Since you're so aware of this, I hope you can do it. It's not complicated at all; I'll help you solve any problems. All you need to do is..."

"Destroy the central hub of the Holy Grail."

Merry stroked her chin and said, "This will buy you a lot of time, which is more than enough to save your daughter. But remember, just as you thought before, don't let any Servant die during this time, so as not to put any burden on your daughter's body."

"I understand, thank you."

Upon hearing these unsurprising words, Kiritsugu Emiya nodded and then expressed his sincerest gratitude.

"No, it's just a small matter. I also have my own thoughts on it."

Meryl smiled, unusually refusing to accept Kiritsugu Emiya's thanks.

"In that case, I wish you good luck. But you can rest assured about our group. We don't need the Holy Grail. Now, let's fight well, like a father."

Loew patted Kiritsugu Emiya on the shoulder, then stood up to leave.

However, just as he was about to leave...

Suddenly—

Boom!!!

A deafening explosion was heard coming from the direction of the park in Fuyuki City.