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

In the past, she had been resentful that Aozaki Touko hadn't chosen her, but now Lovi's invitation was undoubtedly a form of recognition for her, which directly resolved the knot in Luvia's heart.

"Then you can come find me directly after you get back to London."

When he saw that Luvia did not refuse, Luo Wei was not surprised.

However, when it comes to oranges, there is indeed only one last question left.

Where is Aozaki Touko?

And there's also Aika Sajou.

Wasn't it said that the Holy Grail War was something they orchestrated together?

It's already this late, and the two parties involved still haven't shown up.

Could it be that he's cosplaying as the mastermind behind everything?

So, Luo Wei turned his gaze to Rin Tohsaka once again.

Although this guy said he didn't know where Aozaki Touko went, Luo Wei felt that she must have some clues, but she just ignored them.

So Luo Wei asked Rin Tohsaka, "Rin, when Toki asked you to go back to Fuyuki City, did she tell you any specific place or time, or where to wait for her?"

"Location? Time?"

Upon hearing Luo Wei's words, Rin Tohsaka paused for a moment, then thought about it seriously, and then she actually came up with something.

"It seems there really is... Teacher Orange specifically mentioned a location, it seems to be the ley lines near Ryudou Temple, right? She told me to pay more attention to it, but I've been a bit out of my mind lately because of Ishtar, so I haven't had time to go check it out... What's wrong?"

"...Ryudouji Temple, just as I expected."

Hearing Rin Tohsaka's mutterings, Luo Wei's face showed an expression of no surprise.

Ryudouji Temple, the node of the Fuyuki City ley line, the source of everything.

If it really is that place, then all of this makes sense.

Thinking of this, Luo Wei immediately got up, ready to go there and see for himself.

Although everything could be said to be over, he always felt that Orange and Aika were up to something.

Seeing that Rowe was about to leave, Reines and Grey, who had finally reunited, naturally followed, fearing that Rowe might suddenly disappear again. Luvia, having just become Rowe's apprentice, naturally wanted to curry favor and planned to go with him. Even if they encountered danger, Astraea would be there to help, so she wasn't worried at all.

Only Rin Tohsaka...

She glanced at Reines, then thought of her master.

Especially considering the look that Reines might give off—a look that seemed to say, "I want to see you jealous of me"—Rin Tohsaka felt that she would definitely suffer if she went, so she quickly shook her head, indicating that she would never go.

Although everyone else was speechless at her behavior, it wasn't a big deal. One more or one less wouldn't make a difference, and it wasn't that important. There was no need to take her away.

Soon, she was left all alone in the huge Tohsaka house.

Watching the others leave, Rin Tohsaka sighed helplessly.

Fortunately, her own mechanism allowed her to escape unscathed.

However, just as she was about to go back to her room for a nap...

Not long after, the door to the Tohsaka family's house was pushed open once again.

This made Rin Tohsaka frown.

"Couldn't you guys knock before you came in? You should at least show some respect..."

Just as Rin Tohsaka was about to complain, thinking that Luo Wei and the others had forgotten something and run back, a head of bright red hair blocked her vision.

Her eyes widened suddenly, and her mind immediately cleared up considerably.

"Oh, my lovely silly apprentice, it's been a long time!"

The red-haired woman, a cigarette dangling from her mouth, smiled faintly and then spoke casually.

"Have you missed me at all?"

……

Meanwhile, the same thing happened at Kiritsugu Emiya's residence.

Because Kiritsugu Emiya was too exhausted, he was currently recovering his energy at an inn in Fuyuki City.

So when Hisayu Maiya and Illya heard the familiar knocking, they opened the door without any suspicion.

However, this time when they opened the door, they were not greeted by Kiritsugu Emiya's triumphant return, but by a woman with long, bright red hair.

"Hello, Little Grail. Although you probably don't recognize me anymore, I'm really happy to see that you're still alive and well."

Aozaki Touko looked up and smiled at Illya and Hisayu Maiya, then turned her gaze past Hisayu Maiya to Illya and spoke softly.

"Originally, what happened next had nothing to do with you, but because of a lot of unexpected factors, I came to pick you up. Be a good boy and come with me."

Chapter 393 The Dark History of the Past

As everyone knows, Ishtar has always been a lawless ruler.

No matter the situation, the word "give in" does not exist in her dictionary, nor has she ever been truly afraid. Even when faced with an awkward situation, she will swiftly leave the awkward situation to her master to deal with, and then return.

But even Ishtar, with her formidable strength, this time...

At this moment, Ishtar looked at the orange-red-haired woman in front of her with a somewhat unpleasant expression, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Because of this strange person in front of me, I was able to break free from Ereshkigal's suppression and was forcibly dragged to the surface to retake Rin Tohsaka's body.

Logically speaking, escaping from prison and regaining her freedom should have been incredibly joyous news for her, but...

She was surprised to find that she couldn't move her body at all.

His body was completely immobilized, and he couldn't even crawl back into Rin Tohsaka's body. He could only stand there dumbfounded, staring at the vicious woman in front of him who swayed like a flame.

Just now.

When Aozaki Touko suddenly visited, Rin Tohsaka was startled by her teacher appearing in front of her.

At the same time, her expression showed surprise, after all, this was the first time she had seen Aozaki Touko in several months. But before she could even finish speaking, a huge handprint appeared in front of her and slapped her forehead.

Because the scene was so sudden, even with Ereshkigal's warning, Rin Tohsaka couldn't dodge at all and could only watch helplessly as Aozaki Touko controlled her body.

Although Rin Tohsaka knew that the person in front of her must be her teacher, after all, she was very familiar with the smell of smoke and her signature nasty expression, it did not mean that she would not fight back when faced with danger.

So, almost instantly, Rin Tohsaka had Ereshkigal replace her without hesitation, hoping to escape from Touko Aozaki's clutches with the help of the goddess of the underworld.

However, just as Ereshkigal was about to take over, Aozaki Touko seemed to have anticipated this. A smile appeared on her lips, and as she retreated, she snapped her fingers at Rin Tohsaka's brain.

In the blink of an eye, Ereshkigal, who had just logged in and was preparing to teach Aozaki Touko a lesson, suddenly felt as if her soul had been struck by an extreme blow.

"Wow!"

The next moment, she screamed and fell into a coma.

The next scene shows Ishtar being forcibly awakened by Aozaki Touko and immobilized.

Forced awake, Ishtar felt a powerful restraint on her body. She tried to break free, but it was no use. This guy had tampered with Rin Tohsaka's body, a kind of soul-level manipulation, which neither she nor Ereshkigal had noticed.

That's why he was so helplessly restrained in Aozaki Touko's hands.

only……

Ishtar couldn't understand why humans could achieve such things in the realm of the soul. This constraint on the soul reminded her of Grandpa Enki's secret.

But how could mere humans achieve this?

The idea of ​​simultaneously restricting the souls of two main gods is simply impossible, no matter how you look at it.

But the reality is right in front of us: this human actually did just that.

After thinking it over, Ishtar realized that this guy must be the one Rin Tohsaka mentioned, the one who planned the Holy Grail War. The next moment, Ishtar seemed to realize something.

Her eyes widened suddenly, and she looked at Aozaki Touko in disbelief, demanding, "You're the Third Magician?!"

"The Third Mage? Heh... If someone had praised me like that before, I might have been happy, but now, I don't have that obsession anymore." Hearing Ishtar's words, Aozaki Touko didn't answer directly, but smiled, then lit another cigarette and sighed softly.

"However, although her appearance and behavior seem unreliable, she is ultimately a goddess of Mesopotamia and has good eyesight. This is indeed the power of the third magic."

She continued, "A long time ago, I did something small in Rin Tohsaka's soul. It was harmless, but it was better to be safe than sorry. She is my eye for observing the Holy Grail War."

"So he was prepared all along? This guy!"

Upon hearing Aozaki Touko's admission, Ishtar's eyes widened.

Feeling she'd been tricked, she shouted, "Aren't you Rin Tohsaka's teacher? Why are you doing this? What's your purpose? Are we part of your plan too?!"

"Oh, you have too many questions. I'll answer them slowly."

Hearing Ishtar's question, Aozaki Touko was not in a hurry. Instead, she scratched her head and sat on the Tohsaka family's sofa, saying calmly, "First of all, I am not the Third Magician. I have only figured out the secrets of the Third Magic. Becoming a magician would cause too much of a stir, and I have long since lost that desire. I am temporarily taking on the role of another terrible guy."

"Besides, I am Rin Tohsaka's teacher after all, so I would never harm her. I'm just using her as my eyes. Originally, I wanted to make sure she could win this Holy Grail War, but through her eyes, I saw too many things, especially when that guy came back without saying a word. I was speechless. So I had to put the plan on hold and rethink my actions."

Aozaki Touko offered a calm explanation.

As she spoke, she recalled how she had just gathered all the necessary elements.

All I had to do was secretly use some tricks to get Sakura, Reines, and Rin to team up and eliminate the others. Then, I could control Rin and have her fight the two of them. Whoever won, once the Holy Grail War ended, I could bring that guy back. It was a pretty good plan.

However, through Rin Tohsaka's perspective, she saw that Lovi had returned before she made her wish, which disrupted the entire process.

Logically, this should be a good thing, because then there would be no need for the Holy Grail War to continue.

However, for certain reasons, this ritual must be prevented from being disrupted and must be completed from beginning to end.

As she said, the Third Magician is not Aozaki Touko; she merely borrowed the Third Magic. Someone else has taken her place, and she is currently trapped in the former Third Magician's location.

Inside the Holy Grail's central core.

Because the Holy Grail is essentially the third magic, and the Winter Saintess, Yusatis, is the most crucial element, but since the Holy Grail War was dismantled, the Winter Saintess is long gone, and therefore the Holy Grail is also gone.

In order to recreate the strongest Greater Grail, it would be impossible without the most important third magical vessel. Therefore, to ensure that this is the strongest Greater Grail, she collaborated with that terrible guy to create this ritual, with Ayaka Sajou serving as the temporary Winter Saintess. She would control the ritual, and all that was needed was for Sakura, Reines, or herself to win and successfully sacrifice seven Servants.

But because of Lo Wei's sudden return, all of this effort became a joke.

Logically, this kind of thing shouldn't be important to Touko. She doesn't care about the outcome of the Holy Grail War; as long as her wish is fulfilled, that's enough. But now it's unstoppable. The program she set was that only after the Holy Grail War was completed and all the Servants died could she make a wish, and only then could Sajou Aika, who was temporarily serving as the saintess, return.

However, due to Kiritsugu Emiya's recklessness and Loewy's interference, not a single Servant died, so Ayaka Sajō naturally couldn't emerge. And that obsessive guy, after realizing this, had already made the situation spiral out of control.

She told Aozaki Touko to come up with a solution immediately, otherwise she would have to use her own method.

Just thinking about what methods that guy would use gave Aozaki Touko a headache; it was definitely going to be another major crisis.

So she decided to temporarily activate the backup plan, letting the Lesser Grail replace the Greater Grail to get rid of that troublesome guy. So she sent out other puppets to kidnap Ilya.