Saber and Lancer's battlefield had by now turned into a swamp of blood and mud.
No matter how many were cut down, the tentacled Sea Monsters would appear endlessly. Mountains of corpses, splattered organs, and mixed together, stirred by spears and swords, formed a blood-and-flesh mire more terrifying than hell. The number of monsters Saber and Lancer had slain was beyond count.
"...To be able to summon monsters without end like this is truly astonishing and admirable." Although Lancer showed no signs of fatigue, his murmuring sounded quite bitter. There was no discernible trend towards victory or defeat.
Even with two Knight-class Servants displaying their might, the number of grotesque demons, repeatedly summoned and filling the gaps in the encirclement, still hadn't decreased.
"It's that grimoire, Lancer. As long as his noble phantasm is active, this battle won't change."
"I see, so that's how it is."
After hearing Saber's whisper, Lancer sighed in frustration.
"But, to get that book away from him, we must break through this wall of cannon fodder."
The Sea Monster swarm slowly approached, their tentacles swaying as if in mockery. These grotesque creatures probably felt no fear of death, nor any pain. They seemed to think that being cut down was their happiness, and they charged madly at Saber and him.
Dealing with both Saber and Lancer simultaneously, Caster continued his war of attrition. Since this was his strategy, he must have had a sure chance of victory. The magical power displayed by Caster and his noble phantasm was, literally, inexhaustible.
Caster casually mocked the two Servants, as if he were an audience member watching the battle from a safe distance. He was simply elegant, composed, and at most, he would taunt them to provoke their nerves; his "attack" was sufficient at this level.
"Be terrified! Despair! There's a limit to the numerical disparity that can be overcome by brute force. Feel humiliated? Be crushed and suffocated by these puppet monsters with no glory or honor! For heroes, there is nothing more shameful than this!"
Even when being gleefully mocked by his opponent, Saber remained unyielding, simply wielding the sword in her right hand with a resolute and calm expression.
Her unwavering gaze was fixed solely on—the victory that must be achieved.
"Hahaha, that beautiful face... now, let it contort in grief for me, Joan!"
The swarm of monsters roared in unison. They let out strange cries, whether of joy or hatred, as they charged towards the center of the encirclement.
Saber wielded her holy sword with firm resolve, repeatedly, countless times, dismembering these ugly monsters. She neither grew impatient nor despaired, searching for an opportunity to strike down Caster's noble phantasm.
To attack Caster, they had to break through this encirclement of monsters, but... countless tentacle Sea Monsters formed a wall of flesh, blocking Saber and Lancer, making it impossible to advance even a single step.
Just as Saber decided to make a desperate stand, a sudden storm erupted from the direction Caster was facing! Gusts of wind exceeding twelve on the Beaufort scale instantly swept all the tentacle Sea Monsters and scattered flesh and blood debris into the air. Even Saber and Lancer could only barely control their bodies in the gale, unable to move.
The fierce wind blew for only a moment, and immediately following it, the overwhelming swarm of tentacle Sea Monsters, swept into the air, shattered into pieces, churned into a mass by the residual force of the wind, and slammed down towards the wide-eyed, stunned Caster.
Saber and Lancer watched the instant change on the battlefield before them with immense shock, their gaze following the wind's movement to Caster, or rather, to the figure that suddenly appeared behind Caster.
Its color was as dark as a cloudy night sky, its armor terrifyingly grotesque like a monstrous beast, enveloped in a black mist formed by negative energy. A pitch-black cape, which should have symbolized glory but was devoid of any color, and a V-shaped crack in its perfectly fitted helmet, filled with a serene blue light of reason. Yet, in its hand, it held a long sword, as brilliant as a lotus flower, raised high and crashing down towards Caster!
Yes, it was a smash. Even with the blade facing forward, it could only be described as a smash. With a single strike, it carried the weight of a thousand pounds. The wind pressure generated by the swing of the sword crushed Caster's bisected remains into a pulp, sending flesh and blood debris splattering everywhere and blasting a muddy pit into the ground!
"Berserker?!"
Saber and Lancer looked at this suddenly appearing powerful ally, but the battle was not over. From the muddy pit where Caster had been smashed, several thick, disgusting tentacles suddenly burst out, coiling around Lancelot, instantly binding the dark Berserker tightly.
"Snap!"
With a crisp tearing sound, the giant tentacles, several times thicker than those that had just trapped Saber, were easily torn into countless pieces like paper ribbons from Lancelot's body.
The scattered monster flesh and blood on the ground twisted and piled up, eventually reforming into Caster's strange, emaciated figure.
For a moment, Saber and Lancer, in cooperation with Lancelot, surrounded Caster in a triangular formation, completely blocking all of his escape routes.
Until the victor was decided, what echoed in Saber's mind were the final screams and tears of the children who had been brutally torn apart and slaughtered before her.
"...You've made your choice, evil demon."
Saber quietly uttered her angry words, raising her golden sword with her right hand. The tip of the sword pointed directly at Caster. However, Caster, surrounded, showed no panic, a strange smile on his strange face, as if mocking the heroic spirits present.
At this moment, Lancelot lowered his poised fighting stance. Such an action, with the enemy not yet defeated, was illogical. Saber and Lancer couldn't help but look at this strange Berserker with confusion.
Lancelot, as if unconcerned, casually tossed the chunjun (ancient sword name) in his hand. But even a casual toss sent the noble phantasm hurtling towards Caster like a cannonball, instantly shattering the frail Caster into pieces. However, it was merely a pile of fragmented tentacles and tendrils.
"Fake?!"
Saber was both shocked and enraged, immediately realizing she had been fooled by Caster. The Caster who had just gathered clearly had a Spirit Core reaction, and she didn't know whether it was an incredibly convincing disguise or some kind of instant movement spell.
Just as Saber and her companions were fuming over Caster's deception, Tohsaka Rin, who had been tracking Irisviel and Maiya Hisau, was also quite annoyed.
Maiya Hisau, dressed in a black suit, and Irisviel, in a purple dress, had been silently making their way out of the forest from the castle's back door without stopping.
The two, without a word, simply hurried on in a silent atmosphere, which greatly puzzled Rin. Kirei Kotomine, who should have entered the bounded field shortly after Irisviel left the castle and been detected by Irisviel, leading to an active battle, had never appeared.
Rin, following the two invisibly, scratched her head in distress. This plot wasn't right. Throughout this Fourth Holy Grail War, shouldn't the Mapo Tofu priest be chasing Kiritsugu around like a stalker? Why hadn't he come? Had he already been enlightened by Gilgamesh and decided to pursue pleasure? Or had he gone the wrong way, and Kirei Kotomine actually attacked from the front, leaving Irisviel helpless?
No, I need to ask and find out.
Deciding to reveal herself, Rin no longer concealed her presence, directly dispelling her invisibility spell and calling out to the two as they moved forward:
"Irisviel, wait a moment."
Irisviel in front paused for a moment, while Maiya Hisau, with her rich combat experience, quickly turned around at the first sound, drawing her gun and standing in front of Irisviel.
"Tohsaka Rin..."
"Rin?"
Irisviel was full of doubt and curiosity, clearly surprised why Rin was here, as the information from the boundary field did not include any news of Rin's intrusion. Meanwhile, Maiya Hisau was on high alert and serious defense, because Rin's strength was undoubtedly the biggest obstacle in Kiritsugu Emiya's path to pursuing the Holy Grail.
Rin looked at the two with vastly different attitudes, shrugging with a smile. She paid no mind to Maiya Hisau's gun pointed at her, as it posed no threat. Calmly, she said to Irisviel:
"Irisviel, neither you nor the lady beside you are Masters, and I don't want to fight you. I just want to ask you one thing."
Irisviel blinked her eyes curiously.
"What is it?"
"Damn, so cute, and you're a mother..." Rin thought speechlessly to herself, then seriously said to Irisviel:
"Kirei Kotomine, has Kirei Kotomine come into this forest? Within the range you can sense, please tell me, this is very important to me."
"Kirei Kotomine..." Irisviel murmured softly, recalling. She remembered seeing a photo of that man in the intelligence Kiritsugu had gathered. He was a tall man in a black priest's robe, with a commanding presence and a very serious short-haired look.
Irisviel closed her eyes and concentrated, using her connection to the domain boundary field to employ clairvoyance magic, observing all the scenes within the boundary field. After scanning for a moment, Irisviel opened her eyes and regretfully said to Rin:
"Rin, the person you are looking for, Kirei Kotomine, has not entered this boundary field."
He didn't come? Has everything really changed? But what caused Kirei Kotomine to search for Kiritsugu Emiya? Doesn't he want to find Kiritsugu for an "answer" anymore?
Never mind. If he doesn't show up tonight, I'll force my way into the church tomorrow and kill him. Although offending the church will be troublesome, I can't worry about that now!
Since that's the case, I'll go to the castle first.
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