Type-Moon, the Path of a Magician

Iskandar shook his head, then drove the Divine Wheel towards the hospital.

"No, we can't go to the hospital... Kiritsugu Emiya must be waiting there..." Xia Yuan hurriedly stopped him.

"Emiya Kiritsugu? Do you know who the murderer is?"

"That's about right. After all, the only person who could do something this crazy in this Holy Grail War is that scumbag magus."

"He took advantage of our visit to the church to lure the tiger away from the mountain. And that Amakusa Shiro guy had already guessed that we would not join his camp, so he cooperated with Emiya Kiritsugu to ambush us in advance, hoping to catch all of us in one fell swoop and get rid of the biggest enemy, hiss..."

Feeling the burning pain in his body, Xia Yuan frowned.

Although he was in urgent need of healing, he had already been separated from Kenneth, and with the two of his own wounded, he had no way of fighting the other enemies. If Kiritsugu Emiya knew that he was still alive, he would definitely take this opportunity to set up an ambush in advance and catch them all in one fell swoop.

There is no problem with moving the base to recuperate now, but we must not go to the hospital, as that would only play into Kiritsugu Emiya's hands.

But what about the Count? He had clearly anticipated the possibility of Kiritsugu Emiya stealing the house, so how could this happen? Why did Kiritsugu Emiya still succeed in blowing up the hotel?

"Then I will take you to a safe place."

"Wait a minute."

Xia Yuan called out to Iskandar, and while enduring the severe pain, he stretched out his left hand that was burnt black.

"Rider, come and help me check. Is the Command Seal on the back of my hand still there?"

Chapter 33 The Coming Storm

It's late at night, the moon and stars are sparse.

Compared to the hustle and bustle of Fuyuki City at this moment, the woods in the suburbs seemed a lot quieter.

The fire was lit again in the empty and spacious church, and several figures stood on the high pulpit.

"Things aren't going very smoothly..."

Amakusa Shiro rubbed his temple and said in distress: "I didn't expect that Tousaka Tokitoki would refuse. That king is not easy to deal with..."

"However, fortunately, we still have enough combat power. As long as we use it properly, we will definitely win. Moreover, we have more powerful trump cards here—"

Amakusa Shiro glanced at the figures gathered around him, smiled slightly, and then felt relieved.

"Is Tousaka Tokiomi's Servant famous?"

A male voice came from the corner, accompanied by footsteps, and a figure's face emerged in front of the candlelight.

The nearly rotten face looked somewhat hideous under the light.

It turned out to be Matou Kariya, who had never shown up, who appeared here at this moment.

Like Emiya Kiritsugu, Amakusa Shiro found him yesterday and successfully won him over by offering a suitable price, so he did not appear here.

In addition to Emiya Kiritsugu, who has the same goal as Amakusa Shiro to save humanity, Amakusa Shiro also used helping him find the meaning of his own existence as a bargaining chip to successfully win over Kotomine Kirei, the emotionally deficient agent. Counting Matō Kariya, they already have sufficient combat power for three Servants.

Unfortunately, his strength has obviously declined since he was incarnated by the Holy Grail last time. Apart from still retaining the rank of Ruler, he has become a third-rate servant.

[Reincarnation], or reshaping the body, has only one benefit for a Servant - it allows him to stay in the world. Other than that, it has no benefits at all, not to mention becoming stronger.

When a Heroic Spirit becomes a Servant, he becomes weaker, and when a Servant becomes a Human, he becomes even weaker.

The body of a Servant is composed of the spirit body and the spirit core. It is the "essence" of the Servant and is not subject to the laws of physics.

The entity is composed of magical power and is a "temporary body" of the Servant created using the principles of the third magic, and it obeys the laws of physics.

Therefore, whether the Heroic Spirit or the Servant takes on flesh, they will only be weaker than before, not stronger than before.

This is even more true for Amakusa Shiro. With his current strength and the help of his Noble Phantasm, he can fight against a few clones of Assassin or other magicians, but it is absolutely impossible for him to fight against other Servants and win.

However, the conditions of the Servants in other groups were much worse than theirs.

Kiritsugu Emiya's efficiency did not disappoint Shiro Amakusa. The explosion plan that had been prepared in advance successfully caused serious injuries to several opponents who had posed the greatest threat.

That was special explosive strengthened by Berserker. Even Kiritsugu Emiya, a genius in blasting, marveled at its exaggerated power.

However, Matou Kariya, who provided the explosives, did not know that Xia Yuan and Kenneth had already gotten together, and that his explosives indirectly harmed his benefactor.

Because Amakusa Shiro only told him that it would be used to attack Lancer's workshop, and did not tell him that Xia Yuan was also one of the targets, which kept him in the dark.

Lancer and his Master were still in critical condition, while Rider and the other two Masters were fleeing. It would be difficult for them to gather together and launch a counterattack in such a short period of time.

Moreover, he has already asked Kotomine Kirei to send Assassin to search for their traces. With Assassin's spies spread throughout the city, he believes that results will be obtained soon.

So the most urgent task now is...

"Concentrate all our forces and attack Tōsaka Tokiomi first!"

Amakusa Shiro glanced at the three people present and expressed his thoughts.

"The Servant summoned by Master Tōsaka is very powerful. He is the ancient hero king, whose real name is Gilgamesh. His strength is among the best in the entire human history. Our first goal must be to make him retire first to avoid any accidents in the next plan."

"King of Heroes, Gilgamesh?"

Hearing this, Emiya Kiritsugu was stunned, obviously a little surprised by the result, but thinking back to the scene of Gilgamesh's great power at the port that night, he suddenly felt that everything made sense.

"I didn't expect that Tōsaka Tokiomi could actually summon the famous Hero King. No wonder he has the power to suppress many Servants."

"Gilgamesh..."

Upon hearing this name, Matou Kariya was silent for a moment. Although he was not an orthodox magician, he was obviously not unfamiliar with this name as he had studied human history.

The oldest heroic king, the king who brought prosperity to Uruk, and the absolute protagonist of the epic of Gilgamesh.

The Servant he summoned was also the famous Knight of the Round Table in Celtic mythology - Lancelot. His strength was definitely top-notch even among the Servant, but there was no doubt that Lancelot could never be Gilgamesh's opponent.

The specifications of the two are really too different.

Seeing the two of them remain silent, Amakusa Shiro said, "Don't worry, gentlemen. Although Gilgamesh is very powerful, we don't need to defeat him. It is enough to make him leave."

"Let him leave..."

Emiya Kiritsugu raised his eyebrows slightly, obviously understanding what Amakusa Shiro meant.

"Do you want us to attack Tōsaka Tokiomi directly?"

"That's right. As long as the Master is killed, Gilgamesh's magic supply can be cut off. Without the magic supply, no matter how powerful he is, he will be defeated. Moreover, this method is much easier than defeating the King of Heroes."

"I think this matter should not be difficult for you, right? Mr. Emiya Kiritsugu."

Amakusa Shiro looked at Emiya Kiritsugu, his intention was already clear.

He still has great confidence in the ability of this magician killer.

"..." After a short silence, Emiya Kiritsugu did not hesitate and nodded and replied, "Leave it to me."

For him, assassinating a magician was nothing new. As long as he could hold Gilgamesh back, assassinating Tōsaka Tokiomi would be a piece of cake.

"Then I'll trouble you to go again."

"No, I refuse!"

Matou Kariya suddenly spoke up, and said in a firm tone: "That guy Tōsaka Tokiomi must be defeated by me personally! There is a grudge between him and me that must be settled, and no one else can interfere!!"

"Um……"

"Um……"

The two were silent for a moment, and looked at Matou Kariya at the same time, then Amakusa Shiro confirmed: "Are you sure you want to do this? Although we can contain Gilgamesh, but...Tōsaka Tokiomi's attainments in magic are also very high. If you fight alone, you will most likely die in his hands."

His meaning was very clear, he was telling Matou Kariya: You can't beat Tōsaka Tokiomi.

"I'm sure, but I will definitely defeat him! Don't forget the agreement you made with me."

Matou Kariya's tone was very serious, full of the implication that it would never change.

The deal he made with Amakusa Shiro was to help him settle things with Tōsaka Tokiomi and heal the hidden injuries on himself and Sakura.

After confirming the decision made by Matou Kariya, Amakusa Shiro no longer insisted.

"Well, since you insist, let's change our strategy."

"Let Saber and Berserker hold back the King of Heroes, and let Matou Kariya deal with Tōsaka Tokiomi. Mr. Emiya Kiritsugu will take over and help you, Assassin, to continue searching for the other Masters. Then, we will eliminate them all in one go. Is that all right?"

"I have no objection. Regardless of whether he loses or not, I will get rid of Tōsaka Tokiomi afterwards." Emiya Kiritsugu said calmly.

"Really? That's really reliable..."

Amakusa Shiro smiled slightly.

"But to ensure everything goes well, I'll give these to you first."

Amakusa Shiro rolled up his sleeves, revealing the dense red marks on his arms. Everyone present couldn't help but widen their eyes.

Surely they know what this thing is?

The arm was densely covered with Command Seals, which could allow a Servant to perform beyond normal capabilities. A Master only had three, but now there were so many? !

"These are the Command Seals left behind by previous generations of contestants. Now is the time to put them to use."

"No matter how powerful Gilgamesh is, with so many Command Spells strengthening the Servants, he can definitely be contained."

Amakusa Shiro smiled, and then gave two Command Seals to each of the three people present.

"Then let the plan begin, gentlemen, let's fight for our mutual wishes."

"I won't lose. I will definitely defeat Tōsaka Tokiomi myself."

"Then I wish you good luck."

Matou Kariya left without looking back.

……

...

Just after the three people left, a ball of black flame ignited in the corner of the church.

"What a clever idea, using the power of these three guys who all have their own needs to help you clear the obstacles."

"However, when the plan is over, how will you fulfill their wishes? That pathetic man named Matou Kariya is fine, as his wish has not yet deviated from the limits of magic, and can be easily fulfilled by using the remaining magic power. But what about their Servants? Just fulfilling the wish of King Arthur will almost use up all the magic power you have accumulated, right? After all, different wishes require different amounts of magic power."

"Traveling across time and space and playing with history is not an easy task. You must know this."

"Then what do you think I will do?" asked Amakusa Shiro with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe we should let her leave. As long as she dies, her wish doesn't need to be fulfilled, just like as long as the creditor dies, the debt doesn't need to be repaid. You are thinking the same thing, right?"

"After all, King Arthur's wish was a little too fantastical. If the Holy Grail were to help her realize the wish of traveling across time and space, the remaining magic power would not be enough to help you achieve the so-called salvation of all mankind."

"Yes, if the wish she made was just a simple one like the one made by Matou Kariya, I certainly wouldn't mind helping her realize it. Matou Kariya's wish only required a little bit of magic power to heal his broken body, but King Arthur's wish would definitely not come true."

"In other words, I will not help all the Servants realize their wishes this time. Although the Holy Grail that has completed the [Soul Materialization] has almost infinite magic power, it is only a source. The activation of its essential hub still requires a key."

"And different Servants are the keys to activate the Holy Grail. If you want to reach the source with the Holy Grail, seven riders must arrive at the same time, but if you want to activate the function of fulfilling wishes, at least five riders are needed."

"So you want to treat them all as consumables?" The Cave King paused.

"Don't forget that you signed a compulsory contract with them, sworn by your spiritual foundation. You can't hurt them. If you can't fulfill that compulsory contract, you can imagine what will happen to you."

“Well, so didn’t I leave some room for it? Although I said to fulfill the wishes of each group of Servants, but I wrote that I would fulfill the wishes of each group of Servants. Each group has two people, and I didn’t say to fulfill anyone’s wish in particular.” Amakusa Shiro tilted his head and said very easily.

"By then, if King Arthur riots, I believe Emiya Kiritsugu will make the right choice."

"Give him so many Command Seals, he could just order Saber to commit suicide."

"Oh, this is really a trick that magicians often use. You intentionally leave loopholes in the contract, but you can still make them serve you wholeheartedly. When they really find out, they will make a more cruel choice and let them kill each other."

"Once he learns the truth, given that man's character, he will definitely use the Command Spell to control Saber to commit suicide without hesitation, turning her into nourishment for the Holy Grail."

"After all, there's nothing we can do about it..." Amakusa Shiro smacked his lips.

"You can think whatever you want, but it has nothing to do with me. I am not interested in your wishes or your fights."

"But I'm surprised you didn't try to contact that golden guy."

"Don't be ridiculous. With that king's personality, he would definitely not accept my plan. With his personality, he would definitely say, 'Although your wish is a good performance, I will never allow it.' Isn't that right?"

"I originally wanted to use Tōsaka Tokiomi's Command Spell to make him leave early, but Tōsaka Tokiomi didn't play by the rules. However, thank you for your hard work tonight. If you hadn't restrained him, tonight's plan would definitely not have gone so smoothly."

"No need to thank me, it's just a deal." The Cave King looked up at the moon.

"Just a deal? I don't know what you can get from me..."

"Why on earth are you helping me?" Amakusa asked.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Saint, I'm not helping you. What I'm doing is also for myself."

"So far, all I have done is to complete the tasks assigned to me by the power of inhibition. Now I just want to do something I really want to do, just like the long-cherished wish you want to fulfill, but I didn't succeed..."

Having said this, the Cave King withdrew his gaze.