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After completing his transaction with Matou Sakura, George teleported back to the church.
By this time, Emiya Shirou and Tohsaka Rin had already dealt with the issue of the orphans and had also finished off Kotomine Kirei.
Tohsaka Rin was no ordinary high school student. As the heir to the Tohsaka family, she had made thorough psychological preparations long before ever participating in the Holy Grail War.
It was just a matter of killing someone. Especially since the person she killed was the nemesis responsible for her father's death, it was naturally impossible for her to show any mercy.
"There's no need to be so sad. You will have a chance to meet again."
The conditions had already been agreed upon, so George did not stand on ceremony. He transferred all of Tohsaka Rin's and Illya's Command Spells to his own hand.
Tohsaka Rin was fine with it. It had only been a day since she summoned her Servant, so she hadn't developed any deep attachment and didn't particularly care about the red-robed Emiya's departure.
Illya, on the other hand, was quite heartbroken. This was because she had actually summoned Heracles a long time ago, and the two shared a bond much like that of a father and daughter.
Therefore, as he was transferring the Command Spells, George offered her a word of comfort.
However, this comforting remark was actually not a lie.
Originally, his plan was to first study the Noble Phantasms of the eight Heroic Spirits, then summon the Holy Grail, purify the black mud contaminating it, and finally use the eight Heroic Spirits to open a passage to the Root and enter the Swirl of the Root.
But after reviewing Matou Zouken's memories and gaining a deeper understanding of the Third Magic and Heaven's Feel, he now knew that this would likely be extremely difficult to achieve.
This was because the Swirl of the Root symbolized the very origin of the world. If he attempted to smuggle himself inside, he would be obstructed by the two great Counter Forces.
Therefore, even if a previous Holy Grail War had proceeded perfectly smoothly and had not been polluted, it would still have been impossible for someone to follow the Heroic Spirits back to the Throne of Heroes and enter the Swirl of the Root by tagging along.
The "hole" would indeed be opened, but the prerequisite was that you had to be able to withstand the obstruction from the two Counter Forces.
It was entirely possible that what awaited you on the other side of that hole was the entire collective of Heroic Spirits from the Throne of Heroes.
Although George considered himself immensely powerful, he had never tested this, so he could not guarantee that he could successfully break through the blockade of the two Counter Forces.
Thus, he decided not to be in a hurry to purify the Holy Grail.
It wouldn't be too late to purify the Holy Grail, confront the two Counter Forces, and enter the Swirl of the Root after he had studied everything thoroughly, especially after he had successfully learned the Five Magics.
Moreover, according to his line of thinking, even if the ritual was fully completed, it wasn't impossible to keep these Heroic Spirits from leaving.
As long as the hole was opened, he could simply kick these Heroic Spirits back into the present world as he was entering, allowing them to remain.
Gilgamesh was able to use the black mud to reconstruct a physical body and continue living in the present world. Was he, George, not far stronger than the black mud?
Now that he controlled the Holy Grail and understood the laws governing it, it wouldn't be impossible for him to directly and completely resurrect these few individuals in the present world.
The eight sets of Command Spells merged into one, granting him control over all the Servants. George did not go back on his word. He began to help Illya by extracting the Holy Grail from her and reconstructing her body.
The entire process was not difficult. It simply involved first removing Illya's small heart, and then using his "Red Hand" ability to grow a new, healthy one for her.
At the same time, he modified Illya's Magic Circuits, repairing the various hidden ailments and internal traumas throughout her body that had been caused by the Einzbern modifications. The entire procedure was completed in less than ten minutes.
"This can be fused perfectly into one!"
After healing Illya, George took out the Lesser Grail (pseudo-Holy Grail) that he had extracted from Matou Sakura's body. He placed Illya's heart into it and directly synthesized the two components into a new, complete Holy Grail.
The actual creation of the Holy Grail vessel was not considered overly difficult. Its primary function was simply to serve as a container for the souls of the Heroic Spirits killed during the Holy Grail War.
They were almost all manufactured by the Einzbern family.
In the beginning, it was just a separate, standalone Lesser Grail. It was only because the first few Holy Grail Wars were all unexpectedly destroyed before they could reach their conclusion that the design was changed to place the vessel inside a homunculus.
With the knowledge he had obtained from Matou Zouken, combined with his own exceptional level of magecraft, creating an entirely new Holy Grail from scratch would probably still be somewhat difficult.
However, merging these two existing parts into one and giving it a physical form was not difficult at all.
"Seal!"
The very instant he finished merging the two parts into the true Holy Grail, George immediately cast a sealing spell to seal it.
If he didn't seal it right now, the Holy Grail, upon its complete formation, would immediately connect to the Greater Grail buried beneath Fuyuki City. This would, in turn, allow the cursing power of the black mud to seep out.
He was not in a hurry to purify the curse and officially end the Holy Grail War just yet, so sealing it for the time being was the correct course of action.
"Alright, everything is settled. In that case, everyone, we will meet again if fate allows!"
Having achieved his objective, George did not linger. After saying his farewells, he directly vanished from the spot, taking all eight Heroic Spirits with him.
Seeing George and all the Heroic Spirits disappear, Emiya Shirou, Tohsaka Rin, and Illya couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with complex emotions.
Emiya Shirou was reflecting on how the experiences of these past few short hours had been more eventful than his entire life over the last ten-plus years.
From witnessing a battle between Heroic Spirits to being killed, then being resurrected, then summoning his own Heroic Spirit, then transferring that Heroic Spirit away, and continuing to watch the subsequent battles as a mere spectator, before everything finally returned to calm.
Tohsaka Rin was reflecting on how she had prepared for the Holy Grail War for so many years, only for it to end in such an anticlimactic and simple fashion. But, on the bright side, she had successfully avenged her father, so her greatest wish could be considered fulfilled.
At the same time, she marveled that a magus as overwhelmingly powerful as George actually existed in this world. It made her realize that she herself was still far too lacking in her own magical abilities.
Illya, besides marveling at the night's incredible experiences, also felt a profound sense of bewilderment.
With the Holy Grail War ending in this manner, the Einzbern family matriarch, according to their internal regulations, would shut down the entire homunculus factory and place all the homunculi into a standby state.
This also meant that she would finally gain her freedom. She would no longer need to return to the Einzbern family to continue living the restricted life of a homunculus.
Yet, although she had obtained this long-desired freedom, she found that she now had no idea what to do next.
"What are your plans now?"
On the way back home after leaving the church, Emiya Shirou was the first to break the silence and ask.
Tohsaka Rin looked up at the stars in the night sky.
"Compared to Mr. George, I feel so insignificant. Because of that, I plan to travel to the Clock Tower in England to formally study magecraft. I am going to restore the reputation of our Tohsaka family."
Her father's murderer had been avenged, and the Holy Grail War would no longer continue. The Tohsaka family, once renowned in the magus world, now had only her left.
After truly witnessing her own weakness, she no longer planned to just drift along aimlessly in a regular high school. She decided that as soon as this semester ended, she would set off to study at a true academy for magic.
"You also have a talent for magecraft, you know. If you want to go, I can give you a recommendation."
"No, that's okay. I think my current life is pretty good."
Emiya Shirou thought of Matou Sakura and Fujimura Taiga, and he shook his head.
As today's events clearly showed, the world of magi was extremely dangerous. With his meager and limited magical abilities, it was better for him not to get involved.
"Illya, what about you?"
"I... I don't know," Illya said, lowering her head. "I can't go back to my family anymore, so I don't know where to go."
Seeing her distress, Emiya Shirou immediately extended an invitation:
"Why don't you come to my house? That house was originally bought by Father, so you should have a share in it, too."
"It's perfect. I can also tell you some things about Father."
"The place where Father lived?"
An image of her father, Kiritsugu, playing with her in the snow surfaced in Illya's mind, and she nodded her head vigorously.
(End of this chapter)