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

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Chapter Fifty-Seven: There is no obligation to face an enemy that cannot be defeated.

Nighttime.

The territory of the Einzbern family.

Sensing a powerful magical force approaching, Artoria, who had just rested in the castle for a day and was barely recovering from her injuries, frowned.

"Kiritsugu, the aura of a Servant is rapidly approaching this place."

"Ah... I understand."

Upon hearing Artoria's reminder, a weary-looking Kiritsugu Emiya in the castle took a deep drag on his cigarette, then looked up at the sky with his heavily dark-circled eyes, letting out a soft sigh that left everyone wondering what he was thinking.

To be honest, he had actually anticipated the Servant attack, after all, he and Tohsaka Tokiomi had recently teamed up to blow up their base to the ground.

Having committed such an act and incurred such a grudge, he was well aware that the other party would not let him off easily. Therefore, Emiya Kiritsugu was not surprised by the arrival of Servants to attack him; rather, it was a matter of course.

What truly troubled him was the current hopeless situation. His sneak attack had indeed blown the enemy's stronghold to smithereens, even destroying the building itself. Logically, this should have been a great success.

Unfortunately, when he attempted to blow up Kenneth's stronghold, it seemed that someone on the other side had anticipated his plan and added specialized external defense magic to the core layer of the workshop, thus preserving the people and important items inside.

But that's not all. In the workshop they raided, not only was Lancer present, as they had planned, but also two other top Servants, Scáthach and Iskandar, coincidentally. And to Kiritsugu Emiya and Tokiomi Tohsaka's utter surprise, the burly, fierce-looking red-haired man, who seemed to have nothing to do with a mage, actually possessed a Reality Marble, a technique that seemed completely out of place with him. This caused the situation to spiral completely out of control.

His Innate Boundary not only protected Kenneth's base, but also wiped out the Assassins, who were known for their assassinations and sheer numbers.

This also caused their original plan to send two Servants to ambush Kenneth alone and then quickly finish the battle to be thwarted by the enemy's forced reduction of one of their combat strength at the very beginning, leaving only Saber to struggle on the other side.

As a result, Saber was almost killed by Scáthach's shot, and only managed to escape in a panic when Berserker was confused and caused infighting, barely preserving her fighting strength.

Last night's plan undoubtedly ended in another crushing defeat for them.

Not only did they fail to make any progress, but they also seriously injured Saber and lost a valuable Command Seal, which made Kiritsugu Emiya very worried.

The current situation is that he cannot find Irisviel, the most important person, and has no way to eliminate any opponents. The combat power he has is also completely insufficient to compete with the opponent, and he is almost completely trapped in a dead end.

This inevitably made him feel even more anxious.

From the moment he began preparing to participate in this Holy Grail War, all sorts of unpleasant things kept happening around him.

First, Aozaki Touko launched a surprise attack on the Einzbern family, not only withstanding the Origin Bullet but also stealing a large amount of data on the Third Holy Grail War. Then came El-Melloi, the Mineral Division monarch who claimed to be strong but remained extremely cautious, completely overwhelming them. Later, the Origin Bullet was also disarmed, effectively sealing this deadly weapon. And before any of them could react, Irisviel was stolen from her, and to this day, he has found no clue whatsoever.

Moreover, King Arthur of Camelot, the guardian of humanity whom Ahadron had placed high hopes on, was far from as capable as Ahadron had predicted in this Holy Grail War. He was utterly defeated by all sorts of monsters and demons. He was even nearly killed by Scáthach's spear yesterday. His hard-won collaboration with Tokiomi Tohsaka failed to yield any progress, and instead, they faced the fiercest counterattack. Kiritsugu Emiya's already uneasy heart became even more desperate.

He began to doubt whether he really had a chance of winning this Holy Grail War.

Does it really exist?

"Yes...right? Yeah, right. Right now, he's struggling to even survive."

For a moment, Kiritsugu Emiya began to reflect on why every thing he planned in advance always ended up going in the wrong way.

He could vaguely sense that an invisible hand was manipulating the entire Holy Grail War, making each group act according to its rules. He felt as if he was living in the shadow of the other party, unable to see any hope, and now he was being driven to a dead end step by step.

His empty eyes stared at the night sky, which was covered by dark clouds tonight, obscuring the moon and stars and making the atmosphere particularly oppressive.

Let alone the fact that he doesn't know how to read the stars, even if he did, he couldn't possibly see anything from this kind of night sky.

In the end, he could only turn the thousand words in his heart into a single thought of longing.

"Alice...where are you?"

Kiritsugu Emiya murmured to the night sky, as if he wanted to convey his words to Irisviel, who was being examined by Touko Aozaki deep underground in the Fuyuki City stadium.

However, even though the situation had reached the point where he could have surrendered, Kiritsugu Emiya had not given up in his heart.

He could not fall down until he had fulfilled his wish and achieved the salvation of all mankind.

Even if the road ahead is only endless darkness, he has to try.

He had already carried far too much on his shoulders: his biological father, adoptive mother, wife, assistant, and the expectations of countless others waiting to be saved. He had to respond to them all.

It's just the Holy Grail War, just a battle against those filthy magicians. He's never lost before, and he won't this time either!

Exhaling slowly, Kiritsugu Emiya had already made up his mind. He looked at Saber beside him and said calmly, "Prepare for battle, Saber. The enemy is coming for us. We have no way to avoid it now. We have no choice but to fight."

Although his tone remained calm, Artoria could clearly hear the pain and trembling unique to this man in his voice.

She understood, of course, that her Master was going all out.

"I have already sent a request for help to the Tohsaka family, but I cannot guarantee whether they will come."

Kiritsugu Emiya put on his jacket and grabbed his gear. As he tidied himself up, he said to the assistant who had just entered, "Maiya, you should leave through the back door quickly. This place will soon become the most brutal battlefield, and it might be my burial ground. You don't need to die with me. Leave here, live well, and start a new life with the wealth we earned together."

Emiya Kiritsugu gave what might be the last smile of his life to Hisamu Maiya, the assistant who had followed him for many years and accompanied him through thick and thin.

"Wait, Kiritsugu, if you're going to leave, let's leave together! You know the difference in strength between the two sides is just too great; this is a battle that is impossible to win."

Upon seeing Kiritsugu Emiya, who was fully prepared and ready to die, Maiya Hisau, his assistant, hurriedly shouted.

"Kiritsugu, you've already given it your all, haven't you? No one will blame you for fighting to this point. You have no obligation to face enemies you can't possibly defeat!"

'An invincible enemy...'

Kiritsugu Emiya shook his head, his expression unchanged, and his movements unabated. "I'm sorry, Maiya. Escaping together is impossible. The enemy has highly mobile units like Riders; trying to escape from them is pure wishful thinking."

"Besides, at this point, I don't understand any talk of invincibility. All I know is that it's my turn to sacrifice for justice."

Kiritsugu Emiya said calmly, then looked at Artoria, who was standing in front of the door with a hesitant expression, and nodded to her.

"Then... Saber, let's go together to face our final battle."

“I understand, Kiritsugu.”

Looking at Kiritsugu Emiya before her, Artoria nodded solemnly and replied, "Although I cannot agree with many of your actions, Kiritsugu, please remember that as long as the contract remains, I will always be your Servant."

"Now, let's go and fight this final battle together!"

Inspired by Kiritsugu Emiya's will, Artoria was now filled with fighting spirit as well.

At this moment, facing a truly desperate situation, the master and servant, who had previously harbored resentment towards each other, put aside their prejudices and truly achieved a meeting of minds, preparing to complete the final leg of this Holy Grail War together.

"Kiritsugu..."

Watching the two figures disappear, Hisayu Maiya reached out her hand from behind, as if to say something more, but the next moment—

The powerful magic that had been predicted in advance had already arrived not far from the main gate of the castle.

"They've arrived." ×2

Kiritsugu Emiya and Artoria exchanged a glance, then walked out together.

……

……

The main entrance to the castle.

"...Master, look what's coming from over there?"

Standing calmly at the doorway, Artoria, ready for battle at any moment, stared intently at the approaching magical energy, her eyes gleaming, and powerful magical energy emanating from her body.

"It's a sports car, isn't it..."

Kiritsugu Emiya calmly replied, "It's also a means of transportation, but it's not as practical as a military vehicle."

"Then, Master, should I strike first?"

As the sports car drew closer, Artoria's magic surged, and her original black butler's uniform instantly transformed into her blue and silver battle armor, with the Sword of Victory tightly gripped in her hand.

Meanwhile, Kiritsugu Emiya had somehow picked up a pre-prepared RPG rocket launcher, ready to give the oncoming sports car a good start.

"Hey, Einzbern family, is this how you welcome guests?" Just before he was about to pull the trigger, a white horn suddenly popped out of the sports car in front of him, and the person inside started shouting at the two men who were about to take action.

"guest?"

This sudden telepathic transmission startled both Kiritsugu Emiya and Artoria slightly, and their expressions turned strange. After exchanging a glance, they both stopped what they were doing.

Immediately afterwards, the red sports car sped past them at an extremely high speed on the road in front of their castle, and then veered off course, leaving a taillight trailing behind it, before coming to a steady stop in front of the castle's main gate.

"Oh, we meet again, Saber."

An elegant female voice came from the car, and then a tall, purple-haired beauty in a dress stepped out of the car, accompanied by a black-haired young man whom Saber had never seen before.

After getting out of the car, Lo Wei greeted Kiritsugu Emiya: "Long time no see, Mr. Kiritsugu Emiya."

Emiya Kiritsugu: "..."

"Lancer?"

Upon seeing the familiar face of the purple-haired beauty beside Lovi, Artoria couldn't help but speak up.

"Yes, it's me. Hmm, you seem to be recovering quite well, Saber. Anyway, I'm relieved to see you so energetic."

As Scáthach stepped out of the car, she narrowed her crimson eyes and examined Artoria's chest. Seeing that her injuries had almost fully healed, she couldn't help but marvel at the incredible resilience of her body.

However, compared to Scáthach, Lovi's expression was rather strange at this moment. He looked at Kiritsugu Emiya, who was on guard, and asked in confusion.

"Don't you remember me, Mr. Kiritsugu Emiya? We met on the other side of the first night."

"Of course I remember you, Lord El-Melloi's student, but I never expected that you would be Scáthach's Master. You really kept it a secret from everyone. I originally thought that Aozaki Touko had cooperated with the Matou family to summon Scáthach and Berserker, but I never expected that the person hiding in the shadows was you, someone that no one paid attention to or had time to notice."

Kiritsugu Emiya nodded, then couldn't help but sigh, "You're the one who had Aozaki Touko infiltrate the Einzbern family to obtain information, and then personally participated in this Holy Grail War, right? To be able to control the whole situation from the shadows, to have planned to this extent, that's truly a remarkable tactic..."

Upon meeting Lovi, the numerous fragments of information that had been troubling Kiritsugu Emiya's mind were finally pieced together and gradually became complete and orderly.

All the answers were now readily apparent in his mind.

"Yes, it was indeed me, but I didn't deliberately hide it. It's just that you never expected it from the beginning. Not only that, you also imagined things to be like that."

Lovi shrugged, then smiled and replied, "Besides, in the Holy Grail War, some people specifically target their Masters. If you're not careful, you might not even know how you died, right, Mr. Emiya Kiritsugu?"

"..."

Kiritsugu Emiya did not answer, because he knew that Loew was mocking him.

Lovi looked at the silent Kiritsugu Emiya in front of him, then glanced at Artoria with a strange expression, and asked with a puzzled look, "But what's with you two? Is someone coming to attack the castle? Are you surprised to see us?"

Lovi glanced at the Excalibur in Artoria's hand and the RPG rocket launcher on Kiritsugu Emiya's shoulder. Seeing their murderous expressions and their fearless eyes, he couldn't help but feel a little strange.