Since Rin had agreed to Kiritsugu Emiya's request, she wouldn't delay too much. The sooner the better; if the Einzbern people were to harm Illya too late, even if Rin's skills could rescue her, Illya would still suffer an unforgettable, undeserved pain.
So, three days later, Rin, accompanied by Jalter, Artoria, and Black Ya (Black Saber), arrived at the Fuyuki Airport waiting room with Kiritsugu Emiya, quietly awaiting the arrival of their flight to Germany.
Eliminating all those old Einzbern folks who had long gone mad for the Holy Grail and rescuing the little loli Illya would complete the mission objective!
However, Rin, sitting in the waiting room chair at this moment, was not in a good mood. A rare look of dejection appeared on her usually smiling pretty face, with Jalter and Artoria accompanying her on either side.
"Master, don't be sad. I think Uncle will understand after some time. He will surely comprehend your painstaking efforts."
Artoria comforted Rin with a touch of pity, and Rin silently nodded in response.
Over the past three days, Rin's family members had returned to the Tohsaka Residence, but aside from Aoi, whom she had met before the Holy Grail War began, her meetings with Sakura and Tokiomi were not ideal.
After Tokiomi Tohsaka returned to the Tohsaka Family, he directly refused to see Rin, locking himself in his room for three days without stepping out. Meals and drinks were brought back and forth by Aoi. Rin herself had once brought dinner to her father, but Tokiomi remained silent in front of Rin, his face dejected and uncommunicative no matter what Rin said to him. Even when Rin presented the chalice's magic to prove that the Tohsaka Family had completely won the Holy Grail War, it couldn't change Tokiomi's attitude towards Rin.
Or rather, after seeing the chalice's Magic Crest, Tokiomi's attitude towards Rin became exceptionally cold after a long period of stunned silence.
Now that she was back home, it was no longer a time to solve things with magic. Rin could understand her father's behavior; after all, the Tohsaka Family had begun preparing for this Holy Grail War long before Rin was born, during the previous generation. A war meticulously prepared by two generations of the Tohsaka Family for decades was completely disrupted by their own new generation. Such feelings must be difficult to describe.
"The plane has arrived, let's go."
Kiritsugu Emiya, standing to the side, looked eagerly at the flight schedule. When the low air pressure sound of the plane landing echoed, he somewhat excitedly said to Rin and her group.
"Mhm, let's go."
Rin stood up and smoothed her clothes, which had become a bit wrinkled from sitting for a long time. She said to Jalter and the others beside her, "Let's go, board the plane."
"Mhm."
Kiritsugu Emiya led the way without another word. Compared to Rin, who was already eager to return home even before leaving, Kiritsugu Emiya was even more anxious, but he was too embarrassed to openly rush them! After all, he had made a huge profit from this deal.
All the Einzbern Family's collections? Just kidding, they weren't his to begin with. Rin wanting them was simply a case of borrowing flowers to offer to the Buddha for Kiritsugu Emiya.
The Innate Time Control in the Emiya Family's Magic Crest was completely useless to Kiritsugu Emiya, whose body had suffered incurable black mud wounds and was no longer able to use it.
‖Adding to that the previously given avalon, without King Arthur's magic, avalon was merely a relic, unable to exert any power. For Kiritsugu Emiya, who was no longer Artoria's Master, it was nothing more than a magnificent antique.
Thinking this way, to be able to rescue Illya by only giving up these things—Kiritsugu Emiya, who had originally intended to exchange his life, only asked Rin to protect his daughter's safety. He suddenly realized that he might still have a chance to live with Illya, to watch her grow up, to see her marry and have children. When he passed away peacefully, Illya could still be by his side... Even though Illya hadn't been rescued yet, a warm smile had already appeared on Kiritsugu Emiya's face. The cold, machine-like Magician Killer was completely a thing of the past.
The enormous roar of the plane sounded, carrying away Kiritsugu Emiya's intense longing for his daughter, and also carrying away the Einzbern's nightmare... As for conquering the Einzbern, Rin didn't really care much about it, nor did she attach much importance to the idea. Although the Einzbern's legacy had continued for over a thousand years, the family itself was not known for its combat prowess. The fact that they absorbed Kiritsugu Emiya as a son-in-law to participate in the Holy Grail War on their behalf showed that there wasn't a single individual stronger than Kiritsugu Emiya in the entire Einzbern Family.
To be honest, if Kiritsugu Emiya's body hadn't been corroded by the black mud, severely weakening his strength to the point where he could barely circulate magic, perhaps he would have already rescued Illya himself.
After more than ten hours of flight, the plane finally landed safely at a German airport. The group wasted no time, found a car, and headed straight for the Einzbern Family headquarters.
As they continuously advanced towards their destination, the surrounding scenery became increasingly desolate. Eventually, they delved deep into the barren mountains, where a raging snowstorm obscured the sky. All around was a vast expanse of white snow, making it impossible to even distinguish directions.
This land truly deserved its name as the Eternal Frozen Earth. Snowflakes, like goose feathers, fell ceaselessly. The car could not proceed through the snowy mountain ridges, so everyone continued on foot through the heavily falling snow. After walking for about an hour, Kiritsugu Emiya, who was leading the way, stopped in an open snowfield.
"We're here."
Rin frowned, scanning the snowfield before her. Not to mention a castle, she didn't even sense any magical reaction from a hidden barrier. Her spiritual vision, using magical sight, still showed nothing.
"The Einzbern Family has always been poor at combat, so they put a lot of effort into the barrier concealing their family residence. They enveloped and isolated hundreds of kilometers around the castle from the surface world. The entrance to open it is right here; one step further and you'll have crossed it. And this isolated barrier can only be opened from the inside. From the outside, even if you know the location, you can't touch it."
Kiritsugu Emiya explained, and Rin nodded in agreement. It seemed the Einzbern knew themselves well; being poor at combat, they hid themselves perfectly, completely isolated from the world, not revealing their location at all. No matter how strong an enemy was, if they couldn't find or touch it, it was meaningless.
The Einzbern Family's Alchemy and Homunculus technology were renowned throughout the mysterious world, earning astronomical fortunes annually. Since they weren't good at combat, how else could they have continued their legacy to this day without hiding their existence well?
Unfortunately, such a family fears nothing more than a strong individual who can directly tear open their illusory disguise. After that, their weak and powerless essence would be fully exposed.
"Ahad, the Einzbern patriarch, cannot open the barrier for us from the inside, but I think you should be able to forcefully break through from the outside."
Kiritsugu Emiya looked at Rin with expectant eyes, which made Rin smile with pleasure.
"Of course."
When Kiritsugu Emiya mentioned that this was a barrier isolated from the surface world, Rin had already activated her Jeweled Sword. The magical miracle of interfering with space easily detected the anomaly in the space before her. Simply put, there were actually two paths ahead: straight ahead was naturally the open snowfield, while the other was hidden beneath the physical laws of the surface world, impossible to touch directly.
Magic's brilliance shone, and the Jeweled Sword materialized in Rin's hand.
The short sword, like an exquisite decoration, was thrust forward by Rin, half its blade disappearing into the void.
Then, with a sudden burst of space-shaking fluctuations, the world everyone was in shattered like a broken mirror, and the scenery between heaven and earth abruptly changed.
Amidst the snow, a towering, massive castle was now faintly visible!
City of Snow...
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