It was still the same sentence. Angra Mainyu bit fiercely into the fruit in her mouth, as if taking revenge on the Servant before her who refused to follow her commands.
Even the infamous [All the World's Evil] had a childish side.
"Where are those two?"
Puffing her cheeks, Angra Mainyu sat back on the sofa. "It seems they plan to leave Fuyuki City, find a place to settle down first, and then wait for the Holy Grail War to end."
Saying that, Angra Mainyu disregarded any sense of grace, crawled over the sofa, and pounced onto Satsuki, who was sitting on the other side.
Satsuki frowned; she was not used to being in such close proximity to others.
"Hey~ Too close."
"Don't mind such trivial things…" Angra Mainyu said curiously, "That day when I went out with Sakura Matou, what were you talking about with that man, Kariya Matou?"
Satsuki pushed away the head that had leaned close to her. "You're interested in that kind of thing?"
"In Kariya's Matou fate, there isn't a single element that can be called 'joyful.' The longer his life lasts, the more pain and lamentation accumulate upon him. For him, an early death would be salvation. I just thought that without him, this stage would lose much of its entertainment."
"Heh, as stubborn and soft-hearted as ever."
Satsuki remarked lightly, unaware that she wasn't exactly qualified to say that herself.
"If you have time, you should explore this place a bit more." After saying that, Satsuki stood up and walked toward the room. "This city doesn't have much time left."
Was it really fine for her to say something that only a doomsday cultist would say with such seriousness?
Since her visit to the Church, Angra Mainyu hadn't gone out again.
She lay sprawled on the sofa, counting on her fingers.
After this recent event, Saber, Archer, and Rider—so as to avoid being defeated one by one—should have gathered inside Einzbern Castle's bounded field, preparing thoroughly before launching an assault or waiting for Satsuki to challenge them.
Lancer's Master was severely injured, Caster was dead, Berserker's Master had given up the fight. Thinking about it, in this Holy Grail War, only that elusive Assassin was still roaming about.
However, that one's Master seemed to be a man named Kirei Kotomine.
"Hm, since it was my Servant who took care of Caster, shouldn't I go to the Church to collect the Command Seal reward?"
"Command Seal reward? Are you actually interested in that?"
Satsuki's voice came from across the room. The inn was small enough that even a casual mutter could be heard clearly.
"It's not about interest…"
Angra Mainyu stood up, put on a luxurious fur coat, and began brushing her hair.
Then, staring at the familiar yet unfamiliar face in the mirror, she suddenly changed the subject. "This woman… haven't I seen her somewhere before?"
The words were neither a question nor a rhetorical one—they were a statement.
"As [All the World's Evil] dwelling within the Holy Grail for years, it's only natural you'd recognize the founding families who created the Grail."
With the faint sound of water dripping, Satsuki had begun bathing again, yet her voice still echoed in Angra Mainyu's mind.
"Not the family, but the person herself. From the information I got from Kayneth, that woman's name seems to be Irisviel—a mass-produced homunculus, a vessel for the Lesser Grail. When she first met her husband, Kiritsugu Emiya, she was still floating in a tank filled with amniotic fluid."
"Eh, by any nation's laws, Kiritsugu Emiya should've been executed for that, right?"
Satsuki commented flatly. "Don't think I can't tell that you're just jealous."
"But no matter how you look at it, Kiritsugu Emiya being able to win the heart of such a beauty is really something to envy." Angra Mainyu brushed aside the snow-white hair at her temples, her crimson pupils reflecting a delicate face in the mirror.
"If it weren't for your existence, her original fate would've been to be sacrificed as the Lesser Grail's vessel, or to serve as the receptacle for the souls of Servants who lost their Masters and could not maintain their existence until the end of the war."
"Tch, rather than going through an intermediary, wouldn't it be more convenient to connect directly with me, the manufacturer of the Greater Grail?"
"…Who knows. Maybe the Einzbern family has other plans—placing a puppet in front as a representative, while the real members stay hidden behind the scenes."
As they conversed through their mental link—
Splash!
The curtain door between the bathroom and the living room slid open. Satsuki, wrapped in mist, stepped out wearing a white bathrobe. Her posture at that moment was almost identical to when she once bathed beside the spring in the world of the shinobi.
If anything had changed, it was that her eyes had become even more radiant—and the parts of her body that were meant to mature had indeed done so.
Thus—this sight naturally drew Angra Mainyu's gaze.
As a Demon Buddha who had attained enlightenment, Satsuki exuded a faint, lotus-like fragrance. While drying her still-damp hair with a towel, she said calmly, "If you're interested in those Command Seals, I can give you as many as you want."
"Tch, I'm already part of the Greater Grail itself. Why would I need someone else to get me Command Seals?"
That statement was true enough. As [All the World's Evil], Angra Mainyu had been absorbed into the Greater Grail after the failure of the previous war, and in turn had corrupted it—yet her consciousness had somehow remained intact.
It had been thanks to that blossom—the [The Last Fragment].
"So what exactly do you intend to do?"
"The battle you're fighting here… it's almost over, isn't it?"
"Yes." Satsuki spoke faintly. "Things went much more smoothly than I expected. All that remains is to wait."
"Then, when this Holy Grail War ends, where will you go?"
"Hm? That expression doesn't suit you."
Even without turning her head, Satsuki's reincarnated eyes saw the momentary 'fragility' that flashed across Angra Mainyu's face. It surprised her slightly, yet she spoke without hesitation: "My destination will be another world. I will continue my journey."
Meanwhile, Angra Mainyu slowly walked up behind Satsuki and gently wrapped her arms around her waist.
"[Saver], can you really leave every world you've lived in behind so easily—without the slightest attachment?"
Though her tone hardly fluctuated, her soft words carried enough sorrow to break a heart. This being called [All the World's Evil], once an ordinary person, had unknowingly grown accustomed to Satsuki's presence.
Was this emotion? Or some other kind of bond? She didn't know. She only knew that when she thought of the day she would return to the Greater Grail—to that dark, empty void—a nameless fear welled up inside her.
Satsuki was the only one in countless years who had led her out of that darkness. Like a fledgling seeing light for the first time, she had found the single ray that illuminated her existence.
To follow that light, to stay beside it—no matter how insignificant her role in the other's eyes—she was content.
"Having such thoughts only proves that your resolve as [All the World's Evil] is still lacking."
Satsuki, still facing away from her, spoke calmly: "I will not stay for anyone, and no one in this world must stay for anyone else. For a mortal whose life lasts barely a century, emotions are indeed an important part of that fleeting existence."
"But you and I are different. Our paths are destined to intersect only briefly. Compared to our long lives, that moment is but a passing instant. Under such circumstances, if one cannot control their emotions or remain true to their purpose, then immortality will only turn into an endless torment."
...
For Kotomine Risei, the priest serving as the supervisor of the Fourth Holy Grail War, the number of phone calls he received today was unusually high.
This was his second time acting as a supervisor for the Holy Grail War, yet never in his wildest dreams had he imagined encountering such an unmanageable situation.
That the eighth class—[Saver]—had threatened to annihilate all other Servants… when he first heard such words from Tokiomi Tohsaka, he had found them utterly absurd.
He was no novice, but a veteran who had already overseen one Holy Grail War. Thus, he understood better than anyone the true power of Servants.
No matter who it was, attempting to eliminate every other combatant single-handedly—such a thing had never occurred in the history of the Grail Wars.
Simply put, there had never been a case where one Servant's power could completely surpass the combined might of all the others.
Furthermore, each Servant's class and Noble Phantasm differed. Their abilities were weakened relative to their true selves, and their trump cards remained uncertain and unpredictable.
Given such numerous variables, no Servant would recklessly provoke all others at once.
—Except, of course, for that Caster who had ignored all rules and boundaries of magi alike.
But that was clearly a special case.
He had dealt personally with that wandering Servant and her Master outside the seven traditional classes, and they were not that sort of people.
Yet—his own son had confirmed this information a second time…
That left him deeply uneasy.
The opponent's displayed strength had far exceeded what either the Holy Church or the Mage's Association could possibly control, throwing the entire trajectory of the Holy Grail War into chaos.
Even the progress of the research concerning the Third Magic now faced unpredictable variables.
The magnitude of these resulting complications was so great that both the Church and the Association had been shaken by the battles in Fuyuki City and had each dispatched their agents to act in secret.
For these two great powers, the situation had reached the point where arguing over territorial boundaries was meaningless—they now had to prioritize cleaning up the mess.
They even had to consider how to eliminate the unpredictable element that was Iphis and her Servant.
As for the strange incident near the Mion River, it was publicly attributed to toxic gases produced by a chemical reaction involving industrial wastewater—a report sufficient to mislead the public for now.
Patrol vehicles roamed the streets, broadcasting warnings: inhaling the gas might cause hallucinations, and nearby residents were urged to seek immediate medical attention.
When the endless phone calls finally ceased and he could rest for a moment, the night was already deep.
Risei sighed as he pulled his chair closer and resumed his duties as the war's supervisor.
Just then, footsteps echoed outside the church.
As a priest, he had no choice but to rise, fatigue weighing on his every step, to greet the visitor.
After all, the unrestrained magical pressure radiating from the other party made it clear—a Master was approaching. That realization made his heart sink.
"Miss Iphis…"
His voice carried unhidden exhaustion.
From the dimly lit pews came a faint, almost ghostly chuckle.
"Father, judging from your tone, it seems you've been quite busy lately as the supervisor."
Accompanied by that voice, a figure emerged gracefully from the darkness.
The visitor possessed a flawlessly beautiful, symmetrical face, eyes of ruby red, and glistening silver hair like snow.
Within her gaze shimmered both mockery and disdain—utterly unlike the docile flower who claimed to have secluded herself within Einzbern Castle, she now resembled a rose blooming with venomous thorns.
"Father, regarding my request—what decision have you made?"
Her voice, though calm, carried a hint of intimidation that mirrored the stiff smile upon her lips. Since her conversation with Satsuki, Iphis seemed to have undergone yet another transformation—to the point that she no longer bothered with even the most basic pretense before others.
Things had clearly developed far beyond what Risei had hoped for.
In his original expectations, the Command Seal reward for defeating Caster should have gone to Tokiomi Tohsaka, an ally of the Church—or, at the very least, to his own son.
Allowing an unknown homunculus from the Einzbern family to receive that prize—and moreover, one who was among the main culprits behind Fuyuki's current chaos—was absolutely unacceptable.
However, an agreement was still an agreement—and even setting that aside, based purely on the opponent's power, as the supervisor, he neither had the strength nor the standing to challenge her.
Unless he wished to ruin this Holy Grail War himself and have the Church prepare his obituary in advance…
He could only set aside his secret alliance with the Tohsaka family for now. For the sake of the Church's dignity, he had to honor his word.
"Indeed, in the battle against Caster, your Servant played a crucial role. That much has been confirmed in the supervisor's report."
"So, that means there's no doubt I'm qualified to receive a Command Seal, correct?"
"Even so…"
Father Risei frowned, glancing at Iphis with a look of disbelief.
"Of course, according to the agreement, you are entitled to a corresponding reward… Miss Iphis, may I take it that I can regard you as an official Master in this Holy Grail War?"
In an instant, a look of disgust flashed across Iphis's crimson eyes.
"You may choose not to—but be prepared to bear the consequences."
"…"
Father Risei sighed, abandoning any attempt at stalling through rhetoric.
The other party's brazen attitude left him completely powerless. After all, the strength of her Servant defied all logic.
Even quibbling over procedural details would accomplish nothing.
"…Very well. I acknowledge your qualification as a Master. Come, Miss Iphis, please extend your hand."
With practiced precision, Risei drew a secret sigil on Iphis's outstretched right hand, transferring one of the Command Seals from his own wrist to hers. The process took only a few minutes—without pain, without resistance.
"Then, please continue to fight honorably as a Master—"
"Wait, Father, there is one more matter."
"Oh? And what is that?"
"It concerns the request made by Lancer's Master, Kayneth."
Rolling up her sleeve, Iphis glanced toward the holy statue above the altar. "At present, Archer, Saber, and Rider have formed an alliance. In light of that, will the Church's plan to eliminate Kiritsugu Emiya still proceed?"
"This…"
For a moment, Father Risei was speechless. The question was a troublesome one, even for him. It shouldn't have been so complicated, but due to the interference of this enigmatic [Iphis] and her Servant, the situation had become utterly tangled.
Just then, a calm and low male voice sounded from the side door of the church.
"This matter… allow me to answer it."