Or, why don’t you find another savior?

She was still dressed in black men's clothing.

"Irisviel?"

She let out a low cry of surprise as she realized what had happened.

At this moment, a loud explosion was heard outside.

Chapter 67: Sudden Change

a few minutes ago.

Looking at the hall of Einzbern Castle which was as messy as it was two days ago, Xijian Tianxi couldn't help but scratch his head.

If I have to say it, there's nothing I can do about it. To restore it to its original state in such a short time, I have to use a considerable amount of magic power or financial resources.

Besides, how could there be such free time during the Holy Grail War?

Shiomi and Morgan walked up the dilapidated stairs covered with red carpet.

“Although the magic has been solved, it is unknown how far those people have come during this period of time,” Morgan said.

She didn't go to check the results of the magic trick because she had no interest in that.

"In other words, it is very likely that they are all powerless." Shiomi carefully sensed the atmosphere in the castle. "What would happen if someone walked out before the "Garden of Disappointment" was unlocked?"

Morgan seemed to be stumped by the question. "It's hard to say."

She had indeed seen people who could survive the Garden of Disappointment until the very end without losing their hearts.

But faced with the extremely real scene before his eyes, not only did he not hurt himself or blame himself, he even took actions that were completely beyond common sense. After he walked out, what could he see?

"...Perhaps, I will see what other recipients see." There was a hint of helplessness in her smile.

Without a case to refer to, Morgan couldn't make any conclusions.

"How about you confirm it yourself?" Xijian asked.

"Is this the time to do this?" Morgan frowned.

"also--"

Xi Jian was about to agree, but the breath coming from the corner of the corridor startled him. He stopped talking and rushed out.

Kotomine Kirei.

And on his shoulders, he was carrying a silver-haired woman.

Irisviel von Einzbern.

"What are you going to do, Kotomine?" Shiomi pointed his sword at Kirei. "Are you going to continue the Holy Grail War?"

Kirei gave a strange smile, "I just don't want to be told this by you, who launched an attack overnight, Shiomi-kun."

"Tsk..."

"But I still want to thank you and your servants. Although I don't know what kind of magic that is, I have benefited a lot from you." Kirei had a sickening smile on his face, "It is also because of this that I know what I should do now."

Xijian couldn't help but gasp, "What do you mean by what you should do, is kidnapping someone else's wife?"

“Don’t you know? This woman is the Small Holy Grail provided by Einzbern for this Holy Grail War.” Kirei’s attitude became more and more shameless. “I just made sure I had the Small side first, and then I would go and secure the Big side.”

"You've changed, Kotomine Kirei." Shiomi sighed softly, her tone full of disgust.

If it was really as he said, then the reason why Kotomine Kirei's aura changed was most likely the "Garden of Disappointment".

The priest who was once abiding by morality has quietly transformed into a bastard who enjoys doing evil.

"You haven't changed at all. You still can't let go of someone who has nothing to do with you." Kirei was unmoved. "It seems that entrusting the child to you is still the right choice now."

Xi Jian narrowed his eyes, "I'm not in the mood to talk to you about Kallen right now. Let go of Einzbern as soon as possible, otherwise--"

"Unfortunately, I can't agree to your request as I did in the past." Kirei glanced at the corridor blocked by Shiomi.

At the end behind you are the windows of the castle.

It's about four stories high here, so that's no problem at all.

Shiomi, who had sensed Kotomine Kirei's motives, rushed out first, intending to cut the priest, who had undergone an unknown transformation, in two.

In the blink of an eye, the distance between the two was shortened to only one step away. A golden light appeared from the void. Xi Jian hurriedly stopped and retreated, waving the sword in his hand to block.

Noble weapons of various forms were blown away and hit the wall. The broken and collapsed wall raised a cloud of thick dust.

A strong wind blew up behind him, dispersing the smoke and dust.

It's Morgan's magic.

But compared to this, Shiomi looked at Gilgamesh who slowly appeared. He took off a dark hat from his head with a grin.

The Noble Phantasm that just blocked Shiomi's attack from killing Kirei was the one he released.

That should also be a Noble Phantasm. Until the golden Servant appeared, Shiomi didn't sense his presence in the corridor.

Gilgamesh, who has always been extremely ostentatious, actually chose to conceal his aura, which made it hard not to make people more cautious.

“You have become so bold as to trouble me to come to your rescue, Kirei.”

Although Gilgamesh spoke these displeased words, his attitude did not show any murderous intent. Instead, he seemed to admire Kirei very much.

“Originally, there was no need to trouble the King of Heroes to take action personally, but that person’s response was still as quick as ever.” Kirei looked at Shiomi and laughed, “It is inevitable that there will be loopholes in the plan that was changed at the last minute.”

click-

The sound of a bolt being pulled.

Emiya Kiritsugu walked out from the next room, pointing a gun at Kirei's back.

"Put Ai Li down." Kiritsugu ordered coldly, but the bloodshot eyes still exposed his fatigue at the moment.

The "Garden of Disappointment" also took a heavy toll on him mentally.

Assistant Hisau Maiya hasn't even regained consciousness yet.

"Hmph, you're just a bastard." The vortex around Gilgamesh lit up, and multiple Noble Phantasms were aimed at Kiritsugu and Shiomi respectively.

Kirei said, “Wait a minute, King of Heroes. If we fight here, there’s no guarantee that the Holy Grail won’t be destroyed as well.”

"So what do you want to do?" Gilgamesh replied leisurely, "Let me remind you, as long as the core is secured, it doesn't matter whether the container is original or not."

"You're right. It's not very convenient to evacuate with such a woman." Kirei loosened his grip, and Irisviel slipped from his shoulders, and he grabbed her neck roughly.

Kiritsugu's finger was on the trigger, ready to pull the trigger. He was not sure if he could get past Gilgamesh and hit Kotomine Kirei.

The priest, oblivious to the people around him, aimed his sword at Irisviel’s heart and smiled with joy.

He exerted force suddenly with his right hand.

The trigger was pulled and bullets poured out, but they were all blocked by the invisible wall surrounding Gilgamesh.

bang——

Fully armed, Altria heard the explosion outside, forced the door open and rushed out, only to see a scene that took her breath away.

Kirei’s hand pierced through Irisviel’s chest like piercing through paper, and pulled something out from inside.

Bright red fruit.

There is no doubt that Kotomine Kirei took the core of the Lesser Holy Grail.

That is Irisviel's heart.

He casually threw Irisviel, whose heart had been lost, to Altria, just like throwing away useless garbage.

"Irisviel!"

Screaming, Artoria had to rush over to catch it, which also caused a flaw in the barrier between her and Kiritsugu.

Gilgamesh snapped his fingers.

Chapter 68: Holy Relics

A dazzling light suddenly appeared, blinding everyone.

When the light faded, Kotomine Kirei and Gilgamesh disappeared from the corridor that was supposed to be a dead end. They must have used a low-level Noble Phantasm that interfered with the senses.

Shiomi and Morgan put up their defensive stances.

"Ellie!"

Kiritsugu dropped his gun and ran towards his wife.

On the other side, Shiomi also ran towards Altria.

There is still time. If we use the God Rune now, we can easily save Irisviel even if we lose her heart.

However, when he ran closer and saw Irisviel being snatched away from Altria's arms by Kiritsugu, he was stunned.

The same goes for Altria.

The wound has disappeared, and the area where the heart should have been opened is intact, leaving only the chest stained with blood.

It seemed as if the core being taken away was just an illusion that everyone had before.

"The injury...has recovered?" Altria felt a little puzzled.

She didn't know if this was the extraordinary regenerative ability unique to Einzbern's androids.

"Have the Einzbern's artificial humans evolved to this point?" Shiomi was also quite surprised.

Kiritsugu hugged his wife tightly, causing Irisviel, who was gradually waking up, to groan in pain.

“Kiritsugu…”

She raised her hand and stroked her husband who was crying like a child.

"I see. So, 'that' was used as a holy relic to summon Altria." Morgan, who followed slowly, spoke a certain secret in a calm voice.

"Eh..." Altria raised her head in confusion.

Emiya Kiritsugu remained silent while holding his wife.

Irisviel gradually understood what had happened. She did not lose consciousness just now, but was suddenly abducted and had no strength to react.

Logically speaking, having your heart taken away would result in certain death.

However, Kotomine Kirei's action to restrain Saber inadvertently saved her life.

That was the "that" that Morgan was referring to.

Trying hard to stand up from her husband's arms, she looked apologetically at the knight who had tried his best to protect her.

“I’m sorry, Saber, I kept it a secret from you.” Irisviel apologized, “Originally, Kiritsugu should have taken this thing, but he was afraid that something might happen to me, so he gave it to me.”

"What exactly..." Altria was still a little confused.

I just experienced the "Garden of Disappointment", and complicated things happened one after another.

Altria was unable to follow his train of thought for a moment.

"Avalon," Morgan said nonchalantly, leaning against the wall. "The scabbard should have been lost, but you can still find it in this era."

The corridor fell silent for a moment.

Shiomi felt that it was not the time to continue discussing this matter, so he said to the others, "Anyway, let's put this topic on hold for now. Einzbern just escaped death and needs to rest. Also, there were a lot of unexpected events tonight, and our original plan was disrupted."

“That means… you won’t continue to attack us, right?” Irisviel asked weakly.

"Originally, we decided to take action because you disagreed with the plan I proposed. In order to avoid complications, we decided to take action." Shiomi raised his sword and shrugged, "But it seems that someone else is making other plans... This is really a problem."

“Yes.” Irisviel did not accuse.

They are originally hostile camps. Since there is no way to cooperate, it is reasonable to exclude them first.

But now that a new common enemy has emerged, a temporary ceasefire is the best option.

Especially that weird magic trick.

Everyone in the castle fell into an illusion.

It was obvious that they could no longer continue to fight against the Shiomi camp.

Kiritsugu didn't say much, but silently picked up his wife and returned to the room. After putting her on the bed, he went to find clothes to change.

Whether it was about the scabbard or the stolen core of the Holy Grail, he had no intention of discussing it with anyone else.