"Emiya Kiritsugu, what exactly happened? Who stole the Lesser Grail?"
Takatsuki didn't beat around the bush and directly revealed Irisviel's identity.
That's right, Irisviel was the Lesser Grail of the Fourth Holy Grail War, just like Ilya in the Fifth War. As long as her heart's activity could be maintained, even if her heart was directly dug out, she could still be used as a Holy Grail.
Kiritsugu had originally wanted to find an excuse, but he never expected his deepest secret to be exposed.
"Kiritugu… tell them. We've already agreed, haven't we?"
After Irisviel woke up, she also understood what had happened. Seeing Kiritsugu in a dilemma, she gently hugged him.
"Irisviel…"
He took a deep breath and began to recount the events of that morning.
It turned out that after learning the Holy Grail might be corrupted yesterday, a fierce debate erupted within the Einzbern castle.
Kiritsugu, like Artoria, had a strong desire to rely on the Holy Grail.
However, Kiritsugu had changed in the past few years.
He had a new family, a wife who loved him, and a lovely daughter.
He had once wanted to escape.
The dream of being a hero of justice, a childhood aspiration, was no longer a simple dream, but the obsession that sustained him after losing everything.
But looking back, he was no longer empty-handed.
Yet, he still couldn't give up the opportunity to realize his dream, which was within his grasp.
And the news that the Holy Grail was corrupted, whether true or false, still brought a hint of burden.
This hint of burden became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
He… wanted to withdraw from the Holy Grail War.
But Artoria was different. Artoria had no other choice but to pursue the Holy Grail.
So, no matter what, she had to witness the truth of the Holy Grail with her own eyes.
As the old saying goes, she wouldn't give up until she hit a wall.
The Magus Killer with a retreat path and the King of Knights with no retreat path, the two already had significant contradictions, and now they clashed violently. They could be said to be the most discordant pair in this Holy Grail War.
And this time, even Irisviel couldn't mediate between them, because she also supported Kiritsugu's idea.
She used to have nothing. It was Kiritsugu's arrival that made her feel like a human, allowed her to experience a few years of happiness, and have a lovely child. She didn't want this happiness to end.
But the meaning of her birth was for the Holy Grail War, for the Einzbern's tragic wish.
The current Einzbern no longer existed. All the Einzbern people, including the head of the family, were actually homunculi, persisting for that sole tragic wish.
After meeting Kiritsugu, fulfilling Kiritsugu's wish became Irisviel's new reason for existence.
Therefore, she was willing to abandon her personal will, solely to realize Kiritsugu's ideal.
And when Kiritsugu's ideal changed, she was even more willing to support it.
Just as the two sides parted ways unhappily, an uninvited guest arrived.
It was a golden king, the Archer who should have died long ago, the King of Heroes—Gilgamesh.
Irisviel could confirm that Archer's soul had already entered the Lesser Grail within her body. She originally thought that the King of Heroes before her was merely a disguise, but the other party, like the real King of Heroes, threw out countless Noble Phantasms, defeating Artoria in an instant.
Then he took Irisviel's heart and abducted Artoria. Fortunately, before being abducted, Artoria had physical contact with Irisviel to rescue her, which activated Avalon and saved Irisviel's life.
Kiritsugu and Maiya were both injured in the battle.
Kiritsugu knew he couldn't save Irisviel, so he decided to try a desperate measure and came to the Kotomine Church, hoping to save Irisviel and, incidentally, inform the supervisor, whom he felt was problematic, about the anomaly that had appeared in this Holy Grail War.
"Gilgamesh is resurrected?"
Takatsuki frowned. He could confirm, and even Irisviel could confirm, that Gilgamesh's soul was still within the Lesser Grail.
So, this newly appeared Gilgamesh was definitely not the one they had seen.
Second summoning?
Takatsuki couldn't be sure, and the other party's act of abducting Artoria was also very suspicious.
Looking at Kotomine Risei, who had already gotten up and was listening to Kiritsugu's narration instead of escaping, Takatsuki thought of something: "Kotomine Risei, Tohsaka Tokiomi and your son Kotomine Kirei, they couldn't have gone to the location of the great holy grail, could they?"
Given the current situation, Takatsuki didn't bother with any pleasantries. Seeing that Kotomine Risei was still trying to make excuses, he directly activated his Stand ability and extracted Kotomine Risei's memories.
"Damn it! That Tohsaka Tokiomi! Is he suicidal?!"
From Kotomine Risei's memories, Takatsuki saw his conversation with Tokiomi last night. After Tokiomi summoned Gilgamesh back, he used a Command Spell to prolong Gilgamesh's life, but even so, Gilgamesh's death was only a matter of time.
And Tokiomi, as the holder of Fuyuki City's ley lines, made a daring decision: he wanted to go directly to the great holy grail to obtain that corrupted magical energy.
He didn't know what Tokiomi was thinking. Did he believe he could control that power?
In any case, he took his disciple, Kotomine Kirei, with him.
Kotomine Risei didn't know what happened after that, as they hadn't been in contact since.
"Durandal, things are starting to go in the worst possible direction."
Takatsuki suddenly said.
"What happened? Do you need me to do anything?"
Durandal felt that she might deserve the name 'Durandal' at this moment, because from beginning to end, she had no idea what was going on. Even though Takatsuki had mentioned some things about the Holy Grail War's background, she hadn't grasped it.
Although part of it was her own fault, the situation had also developed too quickly.
So she chose to…
Stop thinking and leave it to her Master. All she had to do was fight and become stronger, strong enough to break through all conspiracies and schemes.
"Emiya Kiritsugu! Tohsaka Tokiomi has gone to the great holy grail! That Gilgamesh is very likely a puppet manipulated by Angra Mainyu! The evil of this world might be released soon! Do you know the locations of the other Masters? This is no longer just a matter for us few."
Although Takatsuki's words were disjointed, Kiritsugu instantly grasped the situation. After all, he still possessed considerable magical knowledge.
"I know! If we are to stop him, please let me come along. Although I no longer expect the Holy Grail to save the world, I cannot Stand by and watch it destroy the world."
Given Kiritsugu's personality, he wouldn't normally explain so much, but at this moment, he also knew that his strength was far weaker than others. With the situation being what it was, he had no choice but to compromise.
"I am willing to give you all the Command Spells on my body."
While removing Avalon from Irisviel's body, Kiritsugu also extended his hand, which was etched with Command Spells, making his decision.