Ophis stood atop a building, staring at the high-rise before her.
The Hyatt Hotel.
So long as the question wasn't too complex, Sha Naqba Imuru would produce the answer Ophis wanted even without her deliberately activating it.
And the answer it gave was this: Lancer's faction's base was here.
Since she'd said she'd finish this quickly, Ophis had no intention of letting the enemy rest and recover.
Once things here were dealt with, she'd go take care of Berserker as well.
After that, she'd track down Caster and remove him from the board. At this stage, there would be no opponents left to deal with.
Then all that remained was to wait for Chaldea to prepare the stage, and this war would end for good.
In truth, if not for the two unexpected variables—Chaldea and Lily—Ophis had originally planned to resolve this farce in a single night.
Now, she would have to drag it out a while longer.
Ophis's body gradually faded, growing insubstantial.
With the ability to become intangible, even the strongest bounded field couldn't bar her way.
Of course, she could simply blow the entire hotel apart—but there was no need to go that far.
With Enkidu's request in mind, Ophis would not, unless absolutely necessary, casually harm innocents or scar the land.
Just as she was about to slip inside, she suddenly sensed something, and her gaze dropped.
Ophis didn't possess a skill like Clairvoyance, but a dragon's eyesight was sharp to begin with—and with the corrective boost of the Archer class, picking out every detail below from here was effortless.
Her eyes locked onto a man who strode straight into the hotel without the slightest attempt at concealment.
Ophis didn't pay much attention to most people, but this man had left an impression—especially the aura of chronic overwork hanging off him.
Her eyes brightened, as if she'd found something interesting. Ophis hid herself, then left her perch.
...
"'No matter what, the fact is Lancer is badly wounded. Striking this team now has a very high success rate—this is undeniably the best timing for Kiritsugu Emiya.' …That's what Lord El-Melloi II said. Seems his prediction was right."
Kiritsugu Emiya stared, grim-faced, at the orange-red-haired girl in front of him—or rather, at the figure behind her, shrouded from head to toe in a black robe.
They'd predicted his objective with pinpoint accuracy… and from that robed figure, Kiritsugu felt a sharp, oppressive sense of danger.
With his abilities as a Master, he could confirm it was a Servant—and by its parameters, it was very likely the last one yet to appear: Caster.
But after Ophis's earlier example, Kiritsugu no longer dared judge an opponent solely by parameters.
Either way, he prepared himself to reveal his identity as a Master at any moment and summon Saber… and given that earlier prediction, it was entirely possible his being a Master wasn't a secret to them, either.
"Now, now, Mr. Emiya… that's fine to call you, right? You don't need to be so tense. We don't mean any harm."
Seeing Kiritsugu on guard, Ritsuka hurriedly waved both hands.
Naturally, Kiritsugu didn't relax at that.
Even so, he realized the girl in front of him… didn't seem nearly as deep and calculating as he'd expected. She really did look—inside and out—like nothing more than a young girl.
What mattered was the "Lord El-Melloi II" she'd mentioned.
"…Who are you?"
After a moment's thought, Kiritsugu asked the most basic question.
Partly to buy a little time elsewhere. Partly because he genuinely wanted the answer.
"I'm a Master from Chaldea. And Lily is one of my Servants—ah, Lily's the one right next to me."
Ritsuka stuck out her tongue as she said it.
"And you can stop stalling. Your assistant should be getting intercepted right about now."
Kiritsugu's heart jolted. He immediately pulled out his radio and confirmed the situation with his assistant, Maiya Hisau.
When he lowered the radio, his mood sank.
The one who'd stopped Maiya was a shield-bearing girl in black sleeveless armor.
Maiya had, of course, tried to break through—and had been driven back without a single opening to exploit.
From what he'd been told, unless it was an unusual Mystic Code… or someone with a very specific cosplay habit… there was only one likely answer.
A Servant.
A second Servant on their side.
Considering that even the Holy Grail War—already abnormal beyond saving—had produced a second Berserker this time, it was only natural things would be even more warped, but still…
This was too much.
There were more than seven Servants now.
"Chaldea… I've never heard of such an organization. And… a Master? What exactly are you? What is your objective?"
Seeing that the girl hadn't launched a surprise attack while he spoke with his assistant, Kiritsugu fell silent for a moment, then spoke slowly.
...
"In that case, Lord El-Melloi shouldn't have any objections, correct?"
"Hmph. I don't dislike someone with talent. If you can be of use to me, then an alliance is no problem—but I'll need to observe you a bit longer."
In a luxurious room on the top floor of the Hyatt Hotel, Lancer's Master, Kayneth, sat across from Lord El-Melloi, discussing how to deal with Archer.
Lancer was seriously wounded and couldn't recover anytime soon. Lord El-Melloi's terms were simple: protect Kayneth's safety under those circumstances, and once Lancer healed, Kayneth would have Lancer assist in the subjugation of Archer.
For Kayneth, it was an extremely advantageous pact.
He didn't know what the man before him was really after—but Kayneth had no reason to refuse.
In Kayneth's eyes, the other party had likely sensed Archer's overwhelming strength as well.
Even though Kayneth had retreated, he wasn't foolish. He hadn't forgotten to leave a familiar behind to keep collecting information. Through it, he'd witnessed Archer instantly erase Berserker—and heard the True Name she proclaimed.
The oldest king of mankind—recorded in history, yet riddled with unanswered doubts.
Ophis, the King of Heroes.
By the old rule that the more ancient the Mystery, the greater its power, Ophis's threat needed no explanation. Wanting to join forces against her was only natural.
In the familiar's footage, Kiritsugu Emiya withdrew.
"So, this should settle it, yes? With the area being so lively, we couldn't act directly and expose Mystery to the public. We only forced him to retreat. But that still upholds the alliance."
"Understood. For now, I'll regard you as allies I can trust. The alliance is formed."