My family runs an adventurer's guild.

Looking at the Einzbern Castle, which was clearly ravaged by fire and dragon breath, yet still stood firm, Tokiomi Tohsaka was puzzled.

—As a magician, Tokiomi Tohsaka's understanding of modern warfare was extremely limited. He did not understand that using artillery to destroy enemy fortifications was a precise and complex art, and could not be accomplished simply by indiscriminately unleashing firepower.

Moreover, Tokiomi Tohsaka did not possess the ability to foresee the future, so he could not know that when he last had the little female dragon Lulutia breathe fire at the Hyatt Regency Fuyuki City, the hotel's foundation had already been transformed into soft, mushy clay by the mischievous cat-like Feli using the [Fossil to Mud] spell, making it unstable. That is why it collapsed with a single blow from Lulutia's dragon breath.

Clearly, in the siege of Einzbern Castle, Tokiomi Tohsaka, as the attacker, did not have the same advantages.

Therefore, in order to remove this troublesome obstacle, Tokiomi Tohsaka had to frown and rack his brains to find another solution.

However, it wasn't long before Tokiomi Tohsaka no longer needed to think about it.

Because, after lying in wait for a long time, the Einzbern forces, who were defending the castle, finally launched a deadly counterattack against him...

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"...Report, target spotted! Identified as Tokiomi Tohsaka, head of the Tohsaka family! The enemy Heroic Spirit is in dragon form, and was just breathing dragon breath at the castle! Tokiomi Tohsaka's coordinates are xx, xx, approximately 950 meters from the castle, and he shows no signs of moving..."

Outside Einzbern Castle, behind a rock atop another small hill, Hisayu Maiya, dressed in military camouflage, calmly lay prone on the ground, observing Tohsaka Tokiomi a few hundred meters away through binoculars, calculating the enemy's location based on a pre-drawn map of the castle's surrounding terrain.

Like many traditional medieval European castles, Einzbern Castle, located on the outskirts of Fuyuki City, had several underground escape tunnels dug beforehand. Although Tokiomi Tohsaka's arson successfully burned down the vegetation around Einzbern Castle and caused some damage to the castle's structure, these underground tunnels remained intact.

Therefore, the battle-hardened Hisayu Maiya easily slipped out of the castle through a well-preserved underground passage and found Tokiomi Tohsaka without much trouble—his bright red suit was too conspicuous in the wild.

As a traditional magician, Tokiomi Tohsaka never considered putting on camouflage to conceal his presence in the eyes of ordinary people.

Of course, even if Hisayu Maiya finds the target's location, it doesn't mean she can deal with it.

After all, Tokiomi Tohsaka is a qualified Clock Tower mage, wielding his family's ancestral magical attire and protected by summoned Heroic Spirits. At this distance, even a sniper rifle might not be able to hit him during a long-range attack.

However, all Hisayu Maiya needs to do is find Tokiomi Tohsaka's location; the rest will be taken care of by others.

—In the basement of Einzbern Castle, listening to Hisau Maiya's reconnaissance report through a crackling infantry radio, Emiya Kiritsugu frowned. He picked up a pencil and circled Tohsaka Tokiomi's location on a high-precision tactical map of Fuyuki City's Einzbern Castle that he had personally drawn. After a moment's consideration, he turned his gaze to Saber—the Golden Dragon Princess Catherine—who had been waiting for a long time, and spoke in a low voice:

"...The enemy's location has been found! Right here! Saber. However, he is also protected by a Heroic Spirit, and it's a silver dragon much larger than you... If I use a Command Spell to teleport you there, can you defeat that dragon, Saber?"

"...In battles between dragons, size doesn't matter, Mr. Kiritsugu Emiya, racial dominance is the key."

Princess Catherine, the Golden Dragon, raised an eyebrow and smiled, pointing to her golden hair. "...I am a Golden Dragon, how could I be no match for a Silver Dragon?"

—Her Highness's words weren't mere boasting; she genuinely possessed great confidence that she could easily eliminate the Master wielding the silver dragon the moment she appeared. But the true source of this confidence… well, that's not something to be revealed to outsiders…

Anyway, the truth is definitely not the racial oppression she just made up; it's more like identity oppression...

However, Kiritsugu Emiya did not understand the inside story, so he was still hesitant. After all, in terms of size, the difference between the adult silver dragon in its dragon form and the humanoid golden dragon loli in front of him was too great. It looked like throwing a meat bun to a dog, with no chance of return.

However, apart from the self-important golden dragon loli in front of him, he really had no other trump cards to confront a dragon head-on.

So, after hesitating for a moment, Kiritsugu Emiya finally raised his arm. "...In that case, let's try a surprise attack...Now, I issue the command seal! Saber, teleport to the coordinates xx, xx immediately, and then kill Tokiomi Tohsaka with all your might!"

Immediately following, as Kiritsugu Emiya's Command Seal disappeared from the back of his hand, Princess Catherine was instantly teleported out of the castle...

Then, while Tokiomi Tohsaka was still pondering his next tactic, he felt as if a sudden fear gripped his heart.

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Command Spell.

This is the "certificate of qualification" bestowed upon each Master by the Holy Grail System, and it is also the last line of defense for Masters to restrain their respective Servants.

From the outside, it is a graphic composed of three strokes, with each stroke representing the right to exercise an absolute command.

In other words, a Master has only three Command Seals and can issue a maximum of three mandatory commands.

However, even if you use up all the Command Seals, it will not terminate the contract between the Master and the Servant; it will only prevent the Servant from carrying out orders.

Of course, to prevent Servants from betraying and killing their Masters, no one would rashly use up all their Command Seals.

Furthermore, because Command Seals react with other Command Seals, their presence is immediately detected when Masters encounter each other. However, since they are activated by their own magical energy, it becomes difficult to detect when a Master shuts down their Magic Circuits. Moreover, for Command Seals from different Masters to react, they would need to be at least as close as a street apart. To detect an enemy's location solely based on the reaction between Command Seals… such a feat has never been accomplished in any Holy Grail War.

In addition to controlling the actions of Servants, Command Seals also enhance their combat abilities. Basically, within the Master's magical range, Command Seals can be used to make Servants do things that are normally impossible, such as spatial teleportation.

Generally speaking, this allows the Master to summon a Servant to teleport to their side to rescue them when they are ambushed and in critical condition.

However, in the hands of Kiritsugu Emiya, a veteran of the battlefield, the Command Seals had another, opposite use.

That is to use Command Seals to teleport one's Heroic Spirit directly to the enemy Master whose position has been exposed, and launch a decapitation strike!

Thus, caught off guard, Tokiomi Tohsaka was forced to his side by Catherine, the golden dragon princess who was a Saber!

To make matters worse, the moment she was teleported there by the Command Seal, Princess Catherine unleashed her full dragon talent – ​​Dragon's Might!

In an instant, Tokiomi Tohsaka, who was being watched by the predator at the top of the world's food chain, was overwhelmed by boundless fear.

—Even though what appeared before him was just a blonde, delicate, and adorable little girl in a ruffled dress, dressed in a Western style.

However, this mere little girl gave him a sense of oppression far surpassing that of any jackal or tiger! It almost made him feel suffocated!

Caught completely off guard, Tokiomi Tohsaka was completely suppressed. He couldn't even speak, let alone use magic, and naturally couldn't use Command Seals to save his life... Fortunately, he wasn't fighting alone; Archer, also a dragon, was by his side.

With Archer's massive size, crushing this seemingly fierce little girl in front of him shouldn't be a problem, right?

However, when Tokiomi Tohsaka, who was unfortunately hit, turned his head with great difficulty to check on Archer's condition, he found that the little dragon Rurutia was still squatting ten meters away, just staring at him indifferently, without any intention of moving or stopping him.

What on earth is going on? Why isn't she coming to rescue her master?!

Before Tokiomi Tohsaka could even react to what was happening, a burst of highly compressed and magically amplified golden dragon breath erupted from Princess Catherine's cherry-like mouth, easily piercing through Tokiomi Tohsaka's protective spells and striking him precisely in the chest.

Before he could even let out a final scream, he was instantly incinerated by the dragon's breath, turning into scalding ashes.

—Tokiomi Tohsaka, the Archer Master of the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War and the current head of the Tohsaka family, one of the "three founding families" that constructed the Holy Grail system, was defeated and killed in a duel against a participant from the Einzbern family, and his body was burned to ashes by dragon breath...

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The next moment, Princess Catherine retrieved a trophy from Tokiomi Tohsaka's ashes—a wand topped with a large ruby. But after only a glance, she disgustedly tossed it away—Tokiomi's wand had been essentially destroyed in the dragon's breath attack. The ruby ​​at the tip had melted and deformed, turning into a murky, chewy mess, and the wand itself was broken, making it utterly uninteresting to collect.

Only then did the little dragon Lulutia slowly approach, taking her first steps. She lowered her head and asked Princess Catherine, "...Your Highness, how do you feel about this victory? Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"...Weak! This guy is so weak! Defeating such a weak opponent doesn't give me any sense of accomplishment at all!"

Princess Catherine, the Golden Dragon, pouted and said, "...However, I did see some interesting things along the way, which were quite novel to me...By the way, besides you, who are the others waiting for me to duel?"

"...Only two are left: the little fairy saleswoman from the pastry shop next door and our sleeping goddess, Princess Mengmeng..."

The little dragon Lulutia replied respectfully, "...that little imp can be ignored, but His Highness Hypnos might not give you face..."

"...It's alright, it's alright, winning or losing doesn't matter anyway! I don't need a dormice to go easy on me in the game...I remember back when she wasn't yet a god, I often borrowed her, put a collar and chain on her, and stuffed her into the doghouse in the dollhouse to be her pet!"

Catherine yawned and casually blurted out, "...Alright, that's all for you now, go back and get back to what you're doing!"

"...Yes, Your Highness. I'll be leaving now. I hope you have a pleasant and satisfying trip..."

Next, amidst bursts of flame and scattered light spots, the Archer-class dragon Lulutia chose to self-destruct and leave the battlefield.

Author's message

P.S.: I just saw the editor's notification suggesting that I make this a paid chapter this week. I have to say that my current number of favorites is really bad, and I still have a lot of drafts saved up. I've already finished the Marvel chapter and started writing the Ainz Ooal Gown chapter, so I'll wait until the end of this month.

To celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, I'm adding an extra chapter today. I also hope that the number of favorites and comments will increase even more.

When I wrote my first book ten years ago, it was free for two months and got 20,000 favorites before it became a paid book. If I'm not as good as I was back then, I'll be laughed at by my peers.

Uh, by the way, it seems like "Invincible Urban Management Officers" released free chapters for four months, totaling almost 500,000 words.

Chapter 73, The Final Three-Way Battle (Part 1)

In the dark basement of Eindzbern Castle

Although Kiritsugu Emiya had learned through his female assistant, Maiya Hisau, via radio communication that the teleportation raid had been a great success and that the enemy mage, Tokiomi Tohsaka, had been successfully killed, for some reason, he felt no joy of victory deep down.

On the ground before him lay Mrs. Irisviel's cold body—as the "Lesser Grail," she had completely lost all signs of life, and her internal organs had long since returned to the form of the Grail's vessel, awaiting only the retrieval of the remaining Heroic Spirits' souls.

Then, not long after, the remnant soul of Archer, who had been eliminated, arrived as promised.

Thus, with the impact of the fourth Heroic Spirit Archer entering, the spell that originally sealed the "Minor Grail" within Irisviel's body finally disappeared completely. The powerful magical energy surged and flowed, bringing a scorching heat like that of purgatory to the surroundings, instantly destroying the shell that encased the Grail.

And so, Mrs. Irisviel's beautiful, Sleeping Beauty-like corpse was instantly incinerated by the intense heat of the magical transformation, turning into a pile of ashes. Only a gleaming golden Holy Grail burst forth, rolling to the ground with a clatter amidst the swirling ash. The residual heat from its burning left a series of scorching marks on the solid stone floor.

He waved his hand to cool the Holy Grail, then held it in his hands, gazing at his wife's last remains. Kiritsugu Emiya was overwhelmed with mixed feelings—although he knew from the beginning that his wife would meet such an end, he still did not expect that the end would come so quickly.

Indeed, for Mrs. Irisviel, who was the "Minor Grail," it was her inevitable fate from the start of the Fourth Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City, or rather, from the moment she was created by the Einzbern family, to become the Holy Grail and die, to be buried with the Holy Grail for its descent.

However, according to Kiritsugu Emiya's plan, this Holy Grail War should be like the previous ones, where the participants would not rashly engage in a life-or-death battle upon first meeting. Instead, they would conduct reconnaissance, probing, confrontation, and negotiation in a methodical manner, and the real decisive battle would not take place until several days later.

In that case, Irisviel should still have a few days to live normally and be able to use this last part of her life to see the vast world outside Eindzbern Castle in Germany and personally experience this beautiful yet ugly wonderful world.

And this was the last little gift that this incompetent husband could offer Irisviel.

However, Kiritsugu Emiya never expected that less than twenty-four hours had passed since he arrived in Fuyuki, and everything had already come to a head. The scenery he wanted Irisviel to see, she would never see again.

And those regrets that were not fulfilled in time, there is now no chance to find a way to make up for them.

In the deserted basement of the castle, Kiritsugu Emiya, holding the small Holy Grail that his wife had transformed into, burst into tears like a child...

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Meanwhile, at the Fuyuki Cathedral, the site of the Fuyuki City Church.

Father Kirei Kotomine was stunned when he saw the light representing Archer on the [Spirit Weapon Disk] suddenly disappear.

Although he was reluctant to believe it, he immediately understood what it meant.

—Archer has left the stage, but Saber is still here, which suggests that his teacher, Tokiomi Tohsaka, must have been defeated.

Considering that the Einzbern family's participant in the war was the cold-blooded, bloodthirsty, and infamous "magician killer" Kiritsugu Emiya, then the chances of Tokiomi Tohsaka, the teacher, surviving the defeat were probably very slim.

Moreover, even if the situation wasn't so bad, what good would it do if Tokiomi Tohsaka, who was defeated, survived by sheer luck?

Regardless of whether Tokiomi Tohsaka, who was defeated, is alive or dead, the Tohsaka family has completely lost their chance at victory in this Holy Grail War.

As an ally of Tokiomi Tohsaka, the Church's plans and sacrifices for this Holy Grail War naturally all came to naught.

Looking back on these past days, in order to help Tohsaka-sensei win this Holy Grail War, she did not hesitate to give up her Command Seals and Heroic Spirits, and her father, Kotomine Risei, even sacrificed his life. In addition, the entire Fuyuki City was burned to the ground, and tens of thousands of citizens and soldiers who were kept in the dark died or were displaced because of this.

What's worse is that the US and Japanese governments, who just inexplicably went to war, are now embroiled in a diplomatic dispute. With the help of various ambitious individuals, who knows what kind of explosive situation will unfold next... In the end, they ended up with such a mess—what was the point of all the sacrifices and costs they made before?

However, for some reason, Kirei Kotomine did not feel any sadness or indignation. Instead, he felt a kind of... indescribable pleasure.

Oh no! This is terrible! How could I have such a thought?!

As a clergy member serving God, I should be shedding tears and grieving for all these human tragedies!

But why can't I control myself? This is just... so incredibly pleasurable!!!

Thus, the moment he learned of his teacher's defeat, Kirei Kotomine was immediately caught in a tangle of emotions—pleasure, distress, irritability, and self-loathing. He lost all his energy, slumped helplessly onto the bench, his head hanging low, like a walking corpse.

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More than an hour later, Kiritsugu Emiya, carrying the golden Holy Grail that his wife had transformed into, with two pistols hanging at his waist, strode out of the Einzbern Castle, which had been charred black by the fire, stepping on the broken and cracked stone slabs and the embers that were still radiating scorching heat.

Behind him, a group of Einzbern family android maids, each carrying boxes, bundles, battle axes, spears, and various other items such as large firearms, followed closely behind Kiritsugu Emiya as they filed out of the dilapidated castle, like an army embarking on a campaign.

"...Kiritsugu Emiya, are you... planning to abandon the castle and move to a new base?" Catherine, the golden dragon princess who is a Saber, asked Kiritsugu Emiya, who had a gloomy face and seemed to be in a bad mood, as she walked slowly with the group.

"...That is indeed a consideration, but if possible, I would prefer to settle this matter today..."

Kiritsugu Emiya replied with a livid face, while loading precious Origin Bullets into the magazine. "...Irene is gone, and the opponents are down to only two groups. I have no patience to continue fighting them... Let's settle this with a decisive battle today!"

At this very moment, the car that Kiritsugu Emiya and his party had used to travel from the airport to this castle yesterday, because they hadn't taken any precautions and had parked it directly in the courtyard without any cover, had long since been burned into piles of charred and broken wreckage after this catastrophe.

However, as a backup mode of transportation, Kiritsugu Emiya had also hidden several three-wheeled motorcycles with sidecars in a cave near the castle. Although they couldn't carry everyone, they could still allow some people to leave first, while the rest dragged their luggage and walked slowly.

And so, accompanied by the sputtering of motorcycle engines and billowing smoke, and the scorching ashes kicked up by the rubber tires, more than an hour later, Kiritsugu Emiya, with half of his men, successfully arrived at Mount Enzo, located in the southwest of Fuyuki City, along the winding mountain road. This place is the convergence point of all the spiritual veins near Fuyuki City, and also the foundation for the "Great Grail System" built two hundred years ago.

Before the outbreak of this Holy Grail War, the Mage's Association and the Holy Church had set up a powerful barrier with Ryudouji Temple on the top of Mount Enzo as the base, so that all living beings except Servants could only enter the barrier through the mountain path.

However, now, after being burned by the forest fire, the once lush Yuanzang Mountain has become a torch. The entire mountain has turned almost black charcoal color, and the cracked rocks still bear traces of carbon and residual heat. As for the barrier that shielded Yuanzang Mountain, it was naturally destroyed by the fire and burned to pieces.

Therefore, Kiritsugu Emiya and his party easily ascended Mount Enzo, where smoke still lingered, and entered Ryudou Temple, which had been burned to ruins.

Then, he began to use this natural place where spiritual energy converged to set up an altar for the Holy Grail Descent ceremony.

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—Although the name contains the word "war" and it resembles a small-scale special war, the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City is ultimately a magical ritual similar to a sacrifice.

For the ritual to succeed, certain rules must be followed; victory is not simply achieved by killing the opponent.

Therefore, as each Holy Grail War nears its end, a location must be chosen for the Grail Descent ritual.