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Sa!

The strong wind, like a storm, fell directly on Saber's face, blowing her golden hair into a frenzy.

But the danger she felt even more was the silhouette of a figure behind the storm. Brahma, holding a golden lightsaber in one hand, swung it out like a slashing machete, striking directly at Saber's invisible sword.

boom!

The sword slashed out, hitting Saber's invisible blade like a cannonball, causing her arms to sink noticeably.

Amidst the howling of the fierce storm, there was a sound as if bones were cracking. Saber felt as if a mountain had suddenly been thrown down upon the blades held in her hands, nearly breaking her arms.

Her body was in jeopardy for only 2 seconds when the two sides encountered each other, and the strength in her arms could no longer withstand the heavy blow.

Saber's body was instantly blown back dozens of meters like a kite flying backwards, crashing into a huge tree trunk with a bang, splashing a large amount of smoke and dust.

Fan Yu replaced Saber's original position and looked towards Irisviel's position.

Without Saber's obstruction, Ryougi Shiki's agile posture quickly caught up with Irisviel's figure. Before this special being with silver hair and red eyes could react, the dagger in Ryougi Shiki's hand was already placed on her neck, flashing a sharp cold light.

"I advise you not to run any further. It's better for both you and me." Ryougi Shiki said easily.

Irisviel opened her mouth, then looked down at the dagger across her neck, sweat dripping down her forehead. This was a dire situation—

But it gets worse than that.

Irisviel saw the defeated Saber falling into the large pit of the broken tree trunk. Although the powerful Knight King had his own influence and was unable to exert his full strength, such a result was still unacceptable.

Saber slowly stood up from the dust, clutching her nearly broken arm and looking to the side with a look of embarrassment on her face.

The silver-white figure in her field of vision had been captured. Saber stared at the figure beside Ryougi Shiki, her face suddenly filled with shame. "Irisviel..."

"Saber, I'm so sorry." Irisviel also felt that she was holding back.

Fan Yu stood at the center of both sides and raised his eyebrows: "Let's save the touching words for later. The situation will be clear now."

Fan Yu looked at Saber. Although her body was covered with dust, she did not have any fatal injuries.

To be honest, the opponent's martial arts skills seem to be very strong.

Or……

In terms of intuition and dynamic nerve reflexes when encountering danger, the other party has an unimaginable intuition.

[Also... for such a petite body, she possesses surprisingly great strength.]

Fan Yu's physical fitness has experienced several worlds. The previous head-on collision with Hercules was enough, but this little guy can do so much.

"Saber, you are such a chivalrous person, you don't want your Master to be hurt, right?" Fan Yu said playfully.

His tone was not without a hint of ridicule, but Saber could keenly read the malice within it and said in a deep voice, "Aren't you ashamed?!"

"King against king, general against general, this is already fair." Fan Yu said lightly.

"..." Saber's gaze fell on the little girl who had been placed there at some point behind the other person.

The little girl's Servant hasn't even appeared yet... How hopeless it is.

She glanced at Irisviel, who was not far away, and gave her a hint. The latter understood the meaning and immediately raised her hand to transfer her magic power.

The next moment, the invisible blade in Saber's hand suddenly lost all its concealing effects.

Golden particles slowly appeared and formed into a shining golden holy sword!

Fan Yu's eyes showed surprise: "Oh?"

Among the holy relics he had collected before, there was a collection of information on European holy relics, among which there was relatively additional information about the three legendary holy swords in Europe.

And the gleaming lightsaber before my eyes is undoubtedly one of them...

"However, it's too late to turn the tables now." Fan Yu said seriously.

He had no intention of continuing the collision. He moved to Irisviel's side in a flash and turned to look at Saber.

Those eyes seemed to be repeating the words from before—'You don't want Irisviel to get hurt, do you?'

Chapter 69 Emiya Kiritsugu

Saber: “…”

What a despicable guy he was, but she could do nothing about it.

The golden holy sword scattered brilliant golden particles in the atmosphere. The surging magic power on it had lost the possibility of attacking at this moment and could only ring in vain in the void.

In Saber's lifetime, from the moment she was summoned from Einzbern Castle in Germany until now, the only despicable people she could think of were Morgan and her own manipulative Master...

But at this moment, she had to add this existence.

Moreover, compared to the first two, if this guy was the other party's servant showing such great power, Saber could still accept it, but her intuition told her that the other party was a human.

A trace of struggle appeared in Saber's eyes. She was now in a dilemma.

Who would have thought that he would run into Assassin and other servants and masters just by accompanying his wife to visit the bridge.

Irisviel, who was standing aside, had her neck held across by Ryougi Shiki's sword. She looked at the look in Saber's eyes, took a deep breath, and made a decision.

"Your threat to Saber is meaningless, Assassin's Master. I am only Saber's acting Master, not her real Master!" Irisviel said solemnly.

Saber's pupils flashed with confusion: "Irisviel..."

She knew exactly what Irisviel meant by saying this. In this battlefield that threatened her, Irisviel would still be valuable if she were her Master.

But if this identity did not exist, then she would just be a magician who had strayed into the battlefield.

With such an identity, entering the battlefield where heroes fight will only lead to death.

Saber stared at the silver-haired, red-eyed woman across from her. Determination was evident in her eyes. This Canary, who had lived in the castle her entire life and had never seen the outside world, was clearly ready to die.

"I see." Fan Yu gradually understood what Irisviel said. "This body is not a female creature like a human. It is simply used by your Master as a magic energy absorber for your activities, right?"

Irisviel: "No, Kiritsugu is not like that."

Fan Yu's expression didn't change much. Seeing Saber's complicated expression, he said slowly, "So, if her identity is exposed, it will be useless, right? Is your Master hiding in the dark, or is he trying to use her as bait?"

Saber did not respond and fell silent.

"No wonder you called me despicable before. Is your Master the same type?"

The words, like a provocation, pierced into Saber's heart. Even though she knew that the other party was deliberately trying to interfere with her mentality, Saber could not help but be affected by the other party's words, and an uncomfortable feeling arose in her heart.

“That’s enough, Master Assassin!” Saber interrupted Fan Yu’s words with a sharp shout. She tightly grasped the holy sword in her hands, her eyes cold: “I will not give up on Irisviel just like that…”

however--

Just when she was halfway through her words, her body suddenly stiffened.

The weapon she held in her hands suddenly disintegrated into a ball of golden particles, and the armor on her body also disappeared at once.

Like a puppet whose magic power supply was suddenly cut off, Saber's body flickered. Her emerald eyes widened in disbelief, "Emiya Kiritsugu?!"

Assassin and Fan Yu saw this scene, and they felt it was inexplicably strange.

Especially for Fan Yu, this scene seemed familiar.

It seems that when he was at the Tōsaka residence, the Hero King Gilgamesh was in the same situation. At that time, Gilgamesh was about to activate his Noble Phantasm, but was forcibly stopped by his master Tōsaka Tokiomi with a Command Seal.

At this moment, Saber was clearly in a resolute fighting posture just a second ago, but now she is about to give up the fight and enter the spirit form. How similar is this completely different display of will to Gilgamesh's in the past?

Saber's figure slowly dissipated from near Fan Yu and gradually became transparent.

There was anger in her eyes, as well as shame towards Irisviel, but it was completely hidden in a wave of unwillingness.

Not long after, Saber appeared in an inn a few kilometers away. Her eyes glared at the weathered man in the windbreaker before her: "Master, why did you use the Command Spell to make me retreat?"

Emiya Kiritsugu's voice was flat, "I had Maiya observe your battlefield through a telescope. Besides Assassin, there's also Berserker behind the bridge. Putting that unusual man aside, choosing to retreat when facing two alone was a perfectly reasonable decision."

But in the end, Saber chose to get ahead of herself, causing him to waste a Command Seal and force a retreat, which made Emiya Kiritsugu feel regretful.

Originally, he had planned to use the Command Spell to strengthen Saber's spiritual base and to gather some intelligence from the other party.

Saber: "Reasonable? Is it enough to make me do such a shameful thing and abandon my wife?"

She looked at the Master in front of her as if she were staring at a monster: "I really can't understand your attitude towards life, Emiya Kiritsugu."

Emiya Kiritsugu's eyes moved: "...Aili, I will find a way to rescue him. According to our investigation, when that man first came to Fuyuki City, he used 'Yang' as his pseudonym. He fought with Tōsaka Tokiomi and kidnapped his wife and daughter."

Saber: "What?"

"And at present, the wife and daughter are still active in the hotel under Mount Enzo. So, Eri's life will not be in danger." Kiritsugu Emiya whispered.

This information was gathered by him and his assistant, Maiya, after having been in hiding for a long time in Fuyuki City. Furthermore, there was the man who seemed to be the 'relic thief' who had recently caused trouble among the magicians, and after the battle with Lancer a few nights ago, they had seen from a distance that this man, combined with his own Servants, seemed to be able to fight Lancer head-on.

As for why he said this...

There was no doubt that it was because of the other party's identity as 'King Arthur' Altria Pendragon.

As the legendary Knight King, the noble spirit of chivalry he possessed was beyond the comprehension of a magus like him.

But he knew that if he wanted to make good use of this power, he would inevitably have to go against his own ideas.

Chapter 70 I Will Not Betray Kiritsugu

Saber——

Or rather, the anger on Altria's face eased a lot after hearing his words.

"So how do we move forward?"

Emiya Kiritsugu said calmly, "I've already sent Maiya to the foot of Mount Enzo."

Altria's face froze as she suddenly realized something: "Are you planning to...use that Tōsaka Tokiomi's wife and daughter to exchange for Irisviel?"

Emiya Kiritsugu hummed, "According to our intelligence, Tōsaka Tokiomi's Servant is Archer Hero King Gilgamesh, and the girl the man was holding is Tōsaka Sakura, the daughter of Tōsaka Tokiomi who was adopted by the Matou clan.

I have no way of accurately determining their identities, but this possibility and risk is worth taking!

Altria opened her mouth. She wanted to say that her Master's method was despicable, but she had no better alternative.

"Using kidnapping to replace kidnapping..."

Emiya Kiritsugu nodded: "This is the priority plan I can think of at the moment. Also - the process of Master Caster's existence this time is abnormal, we need an ally."

Altria: “…”

After thinking for a long time, Altria hummed and said, "It's a good idea."

Emiya Kiritsugu: "Then let's do it this way!"

"Hmm..." Altria looked at the taciturn man and said hesitantly, "I'm sorry, Master."

She had thought that he would continue to sacrifice Irisviel with the same absolutely rational attitude of reasonable sacrifice as before, but perhaps for this cold-blooded Master, there was also a soft side deep in his heart.

Emiya Kiritsugu was silent for a long while, and said nothing: "..."

Is it a misunderstanding?

King Arthur, who was known for his "perfection" in history, obviously misunderstood something.

He doesn't think there's anything unreasonable about what he's doing.

Because her wife, Irisviel von Einzbern, is one of the androids created based on the 'Winter Saint' Justissa Rizleich von Einzbern.

As an android, Irisviel's purpose had already been determined during the design phase, so both her body and mind were kept in optimal condition. It was also because of this that she possessed the qualifications to become a proxy Master.

However, the real purpose for which Ellie was created is not the point.

She existed during the Fourth Holy Grail War as the Lesser Holy Grail prepared by Einzbern.

Once a Servant is defeated, or loses its Master and is unable to continue to exist... the souls of those Heroic Spirits will be collected into the Lesser Holy Grail and detained until the end of the war.

When the Holy Grail War draws to a close, that is, after most of the fighting has ended and enough souls have been collected, she will complete an important task in the final stage of the ritual performed by the Greater Holy Grail.

This is the real reason why Emiya Kiritsugu wants to save his wife!

But there was no need to tell King Arthur all this.

……

the other side.

At the edge of the bridge in Fuyuki City.

Ryougi Shiki stared blankly at the hostages she held and the target her master wanted to threaten, who transformed into spirits and disappeared from their original locations. She was speechless for a moment.

Fan Yu also stood there in a daze, looking at the place where Saber disappeared, lost in thought.