"You still have some kind of hidden trump card, don't you?"
At that moment, 'Matou Sakura' slowly opened her eyes. Those enchanting eyes seemed to see through everything as she stared straight at Alvin.
"What makes you think that?"
Normally, Alvin would put on a mysterious smile and throw out a "Guess?" before leaving the other side with nothing but his mysterious silhouette.
But right now, he was in 'Matou Sakura's' hands. Since he was relying on someone else's mercy, he didn't dare act too cocky and could only answer another way.
'Matou Sakura' circled around the boy, looking him up and down, "I've looked into your story. You're the kind of person who plans ten steps ahead after taking one step."
When Alvin stayed behind to buy time and escort Tohsaka Rin's 'escape,' 'Matou Sakura' had already prepared herself for a fierce battle.
Who would've thought, Alvin didn't resist at all and simply let her bind him and bring him into her temple.
No matter how she thought about it, it made no sense.
"Senpai… what exactly are you trying to do?"
Matou Sakura gently touched the boy's face. Those alluring eyes paired with that pure, pale face gave off an indescribable temptation.
"If I really had some kind of trump card, I would've used it already. Why wait until now?"
Alvin looked helpless on the surface, but inside, he was secretly startled.
Once the remaining three desire crystals inside the temple 'matured,' she would become a complete Beast. Logically speaking, she should already be celebrating early, yet he hadn't expected her to still be this cautious.
But Kama's suspicion was correct.
Alvin really did still have one final card hidden in his hand.
A special Noble Phantasm that could still be used even while restrained by the 'black mud.'
It was just that he didn't want to use this special Noble Phantasm unless it was absolutely necessary. Calling Mom.
Back when Tiamat manifested and absorbed the 'black mud' inside the Greater Grail, she had almost awakened her true body sleeping within the Imaginary Number Space.
Alvin could feel that the temple was filled with dense 'black mud' energy. It was constantly feeding the 'desire crystals.'
Once the remaining three 'desire crystals' above the dome matured, this Beast that had lurked within Fuyuki for ten years would probably truly evolve from its juvenile state into a complete Beast.
But if he summoned Tiamat now, once she devoured the black mud here, her true body would probably awaken immediately.
Which was harder to deal with, Kama or an awakened true-body Tiamat, the answer was obvious.
Seeing that Alvin stayed silent for a long time, 'Matou Sakura' stared at him with interest and said nothing.
Only after quite a while did she slowly speak again, "Come to think of it, I seem to have forgotten to remind you of something."
Under Alvin's doubtful gaze, she looked up at the pink crystals above the dome and said, "Heroic Spirits who die during the Holy Grail War are temporarily stored inside the Lesser Grail. Once enough Servants are eliminated, the Greater Grail can descend through the ritual."
"So far, it seems like not a single Servant has been defeated yet, right?"
At the end, 'Matou Sakura' smiled at the boy while a bow quietly formed in her hand, "Senpai, do you want to become the first Servant to lose?"
As soon as she finished speaking, an arrow engraved with countless Sanskrit characters formed in her left palm.
'Will there be some kind of defeat CG if I lose? My CG system still isn't fully completed yet,' Alvin grumbled inwardly.
While the two spoke, 'Matou Sakura's' eyes never left Alvin's. The moment he made any movement, the arrow in her hand would pierce straight through his heart.
Yet from beginning to end, Alvin showed no intention of resisting.
He simply closed his eyes, as though he had already given up struggling.
Thump! Thump!
At that moment, 'Matou Sakura' suddenly felt her heart pounding violently, as if warning her about something.
Her eyes narrowed almost immediately, and the way she looked at Alvin gained a dangerous chill.
'What's so good about this guy anyway? The girl sleeping inside my body is actually showing signs of waking up because of him.'
Soon, a bright smile appeared on Kama's face, "Looks like your existence affects this child Sakura quite a bit. If I'm not mistaken, you should be her final 'bottom line,' right?"
"I just wonder, if that bottom line disappears, will this child completely fall into despair?"
The bowstring was pulled into a full moon.
She stared expressionlessly at Alvin, as if sensing whether magical energy was flowing inside his body.
Yet no matter what, she couldn't detect any circulating mana from him. The black mud's power held him tightly in place.
"Goodbye."
Kama suddenly released the bowstring.
The next moment, the sharp arrow representing the 'Arrow of the God of Love' shot toward Alvin at terrifying speed.
Whoosh!
The arrow barely grazed past Alvin's cheek before flying straight toward the temple gates.
The expected explosion never came, because someone outside the temple caught the Arrow of Love.
"Your perception is even sharper than I expected, Miss Matou Sakura."
Right after that, a clear and pleasant girl's voice echoed through the temple hall.
Kama's smile faded slightly as she looked toward the people appearing before the temple entrance. Soon, the corner of her lips lifted again in delight.
"So many people gathered together to save you at once… You really are popular, Senpai."
Sajyou Manaka gripped the shaft of the Arrow of Love while her golden hair danced wildly in the rampaging mana.
She raised her emerald eyes, which reflected the boy trapped inside the black mud, "Using the Greater Grail's rules to cheat and control him… you really will use any method available."
"Although I already had a vague feeling from the beginning, I didn't expect you to really participate in this Holy Grail War too, Alvin."
Then another girl's voice followed.
Alvin's eyes shifted slightly as he subconsciously turned toward the temple entrance.
"Reines?"
The words almost escaped his mouth as shock filled his face.
At this moment, Reines stood at the entrance together with the others. Volumen Hydrargyrum swirled around her like silver snakes, and precise magic circles floated across the liquid metal's surface.
Not only Alvin was shocked. The moment Reines entered the temple and saw Alvin, she was equally stunned. Then, a look of understanding appeared in her eyes.
She was surprised because she hadn't expected Alvin to manifest as a Servant. As for the understanding, after traveling to Britain, she had already vaguely realized the truth, so although she was shocked, it wasn't to the point she couldn't accept it.
An awkward look appeared on Alvin's face, "Reines, this is a long story…"
"Then we can talk slowly once we return to the Clock Tower."
Reines looked toward the enchanting silver-haired girl, "Let's deal with this woman first."
"Lancer!"
As her voice fell, a heroic and valiant woman with flowing purple hair quietly appeared beside Reines, like a Valkyrie.
Merlin looked up at the girl with a smile, "Miss Matou, you've already lost. Why not release this Reality Marble now?"
"Merlin, so you were the one who brought them into my temple?"
Kama narrowed her eyes.
"Although my Clairvoyance isn't especially useful, it can still help once in a while."
Merlin smiled casually, "If I were you, I'd let Alvin go right now. You don't have a chance anymore."
Even Merlin himself hadn't expected everything to go this smoothly. After all, Masters in the Holy Grail War usually acted independently. Situations where multiple sides cooperated were extremely rare.
Yet Alvin's existence had become the exact reason everyone chose to work together.
Even Kama, before evolving into a complete Beast, had no chance of victory against multiple Heroic Spirits and a cheating-level 'Manaka.'
That was how it should have been, yet while facing everyone's encirclement, the smile on Kama's face only became more mocking.
Merlin frowned slightly without realizing it. For some reason, a bad feeling suddenly rose in his heart.
"By the name of my Command Seal—"
At that moment, a girl's voice suddenly rang out from outside the temple.
"Assassin, return to my side!"
As the power of the Command Seal descended, the black mud wrapped around Alvin reacted as though provoked and almost spiraled out of control.
It clung to Alvin tightly.
Sajyou Manaka raised her right hand. Thorn-like golden patterns instantly filled the temple.
The rules of the Greater Grail.
Not only 'Matou Sakura,' but Sajyou Manaka had also once seen through the true nature of the Greater Grail ten years ago. Although the Greater Grail had changed greatly over the past decade, she could still temporarily suppress the raging black mud with her own power.
Alvin suddenly felt his body turn into spirit particles in the next moment, and the Command Seal's power pulled him free from the black mud.
"Are you okay?"
Seeing the boy return to her side, Tohsaka Rin hurried forward and anxiously checked his condition.
Compared to her usual self, she looked rather disheveled right now. Her hair was slightly messy, and worry filled her eyes.
Alvin couldn't help gently patting the girl's hair and shook his head, "I'm fine. I'm not hurt."
'Rather, I just experienced the difference between an older sister's kiss and a younger sister's kiss…', Of course, there was no way Alvin would bring that up in this situation.
Reines looked between Alvin and Tohsaka Rin with a strange expression. Even without knowing the details, she could tell the relationship between this Master and Servant pair was somewhat ambiguous.
Sajyou Manaka frowned slightly and looked at Tohsaka Rin with hostility.
Sensing the strange atmosphere, Alvin quickly coughed lightly, withdrew his hand, and looked toward the girl standing alone in the center of the temple, "If I were you, I'd leave Sakura's body right now… Kama."
'Kama?'
The moment they heard that name, strange looks appeared on everyone's faces.
Tohsaka Rin's eyes widened even more as she said in disbelief, "Kama? The god of love from mythology? The thing attached to Sakura is actually her?"
A playful smile soon appeared on 'Matou Sakura's' face, or rather, Kama's.
"When did you figure it out?"
'I read the original work, what do you think?', Alvin slowly replied, "There are two Beasts of Desire… Beast III/L and Beast III/R. Back in Britain, I met the other Beast of Desire. Her name was Sessyoin Kiara."
"The other Beast of Desire? Does she even understand what true desire really is?", Kama curled her lip in disdain.
Although they were both Beasts of Desire, the two Beasts actually hated each other because the 'desire' they followed was fundamentally different.
"And besides, you don't actually think having more people means you'll definitely win, right?", Kama spoke in an amused tone.
Above the dome, the desire crystals released an enchanting pink glow.
As the desire crystals matured, Kama's silver hair gradually transformed into silk flowing with starlight, while the crystal skirt around her slowly became replaced by pink desire crystals.
An indescribable and terrifying magical power filled the temple.
Alvin stared at Kama and subconsciously muttered, "A complete Beast?"
"Your perception is pretty sharp, Senpai~"
A mocking smile appeared on Kama's face, "It's time to end this, everyone."
She raised her right hand and elegantly snapped her fingers.
BOOM!
The temple floor suddenly collapsed, exposing the crimson Holy Grail buried deep within the leylines.
"The Greater Grail!"
Illya nearly shouted it out.
"What is this woman trying to do?"
Even Reines looked stunned.