"Is that the Greater Grail?" Atalanta murmured to herself with a stunned expression. With vision akin to an eagle's eye, she indeed saw the Greater Grail below. But what truly shocked her wasn't that. Not only Atalanta, but even Karna, Achilles, and Shakespeare were momentarily dumbfounded. The vast, unchanging, colorless, transparent magical energy that had accumulated over sixty years was now swirling there.
"So that's the Holy Grail! Good! That's wonderful!
Excellent! Excellent, excellent, excellent!! The
overwhelming magical energy that even I can feel from here!"
"It even makes me want to pounce in and drown in it, even yearn to become one with it! Despite that, the exposed, human-like ugliness! As they say, 'Fair is foul, and foul is fair'!" Shakespeare let out a passionate, joyous laugh. If it was this Greater Grail, it truly wasn't an exaggeration to call it an "omnipotent wish-granting machine" as long as the wish wasn't too grand. It was only natural for these Servants to become so excited.
"Hmph, it's already completely merged with the spiritual?. It seems it will take some time to peel it off.
But we can't just stand by. It's coming, everyone." There was no need for Semiramis' reminder; the Servants present all noticed the change. To prevent the Greater Grail from being forcibly taken, the Black Faction Servants arrived one after another.
"I must temporarily focus my power on the Greater Grail; I'll leave the rest to you. If you don't hold out during this time, your wishes will turn to smoke, so act cautiously, okay?" Hearing her speak these words with a mocking smile, Atalanta and Achilles retorted without concealing their hostility: "I know this even without you saying it, but make sure you don't fail."
"I'll naturally do what needs to be done, but don't go pointing fingers here. I know what to do even if you don't say it." However, despite enduring such obvious hostility, Semiramis's composed demeanor remained unchanged.
"That being said, someone came back in quite a sorry state just now!" Everyone knew Semiramis was referring to Achilles, as he had returned in a truly miserable condition earlier. Achilles's face changed drastically, and he then said coldly, "My business is none of yours!"
Achilles knew very well that he was about to face his master, Chiron!
"Is that so? Just make sure you know what you're doing!"
Glancing at the grim-faced Achilles, Semiramis stopped fanning the flames. "Well then, thanks to the Greater Grail, I've suddenly found inspiration for creation, so I'll take my leave first!"
"I say, you should at least help out." Ignoring everyone's helpless gazes, Shakespeare hurriedly ran to the workshop specifically built for him, his study.
"Oh, by the way, there's one thing I forgot to mention.
This garden does not belong to Romania. You might want to keep that in mind during the battle." After leaving that remark, Semiramis disappeared. As for the Greater Grail, although quite slowly, it was indeed being peeled away from Trifas bit by bit. Since the garden was now close to Millennia Fortress, a Servant could probably reach it with a single leap.
At this moment, offense and defense switched. The Black Faction Servants had to retrieve the Greater Grail before it was completely taken. The Red Faction Servants, on the other hand, had to defend the Greater Grail before it was fully acquired. With the change in offense and defense, the situation had reversed. Millennia Fortress, once known as an impregnable stronghold, was now a useless waste. The Red Faction now held the
overwhelming advantage.
However, two other problems still existed in the current situation. First, the Black Faction clearly had more combat personnel than the Red Faction, making the battle situation quite disadvantageous for the Red Faction. Second was the presence of the Ruler, who was rushing towards them. However, only Semiramis, Shakespeare, and their Master, Shirou Kotomine, understood this point. Whether Black Faction, Red Faction, or Ruler, they all knew that this was entirely a race against time. In the few minutes before the Greater Grail was stripped from the spiritual? and fully contained within the Hanging Gardens, they all had to fight with all their might and do everything they could.
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"He blocked it after all!"
"It's great that he wasn't taken out with one hit by the
enemy!"
"Are you being modest? With your Noble Phantasm, you surely wouldn't be harmed by such an attack!" Hearing the suddenly appearing voice, Jeanne, extremely familiar with it, asked in confusion, "Shirou?"
"That's right, it's me!" The person who suddenly appeared before Jeanne was none other than Shirou. Upon seeing Jeanne in the forest, he immediately rushed over. After all, he was currently avoiding Darnic's orders. When Semiramis's Hanging Gardens descended upon Millennia Fortress, Darnic had ordered Shirou to come quickly. At that time, Shirou had brushed him off with words like, "I got a bit injured in the fight with Achilles; I'll be there shortly."
If Avicebron weren't currently with Vlad III in the Hanging Gardens, and all the ground magic surveillance devices hadn't been destroyed in Spartacus's earlier self-destruction, it would have been difficult for Shirou to tell such a lie.
"Why are you here?"
"Why can't I be here?" Hearing Shirou's counter-question, Jeanne immediately pointed at the aerial fortress in the sky and asked, "Shouldn't you be there stopping the Red Faction's movements right now?"
"Or are you not planning to stop the Greater Grail from being taken?" Noticing Jeanne's sharp gaze, Shirou smiled and said, "As expected of the famous Saint of Salvation, truly clever!"
"So, it's true?" Seeing Shirou frankly admit it, Jeanne asked seriously.
"Indeed!"
"Why?"
"Because my purpose isn't the Greater Grail. It's more advantageous for me if the Greater Grail isn't with the Black Faction."
"Is that so?" Under a strong intuition, Jeanne knew that Shirou wasn't lying. But this made her even more curious about Shirou's purpose. But now was not the time for her to be curious. She had more important things to do now!
"Are you going to stop me from going to the Hanging Gardens?"
"How could I? We're friends! How could I stop you?"
"Besides, taking the Greater Grail doesn't violate the rules, and you wouldn't interfere anyway!"
"Why would I stop you!"
"In that case, I'll be going now, to the Greater Grail!" As soon as she finished speaking, Jeanne, holding her banner, charged towards the Hanging Gardens.
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