While Aslan enjoyed delicious food and the admiration of beautiful girls,
Other Masters chosen by the Holy Grail had also successfully summoned their Servants.
In Germany, inside the Einzbern Church.
"Fill, fill, fill..."
"Let your three great incantations, from the wheel of inhibition, the guardian of balance, fulfill."
Accompanied by light from the glowing Summoning Array, which then faded.
A girl in a blue dress, golden ornaments on her armor, her long golden hair gently fluttering in the light, holding a golden Holy Sword with a determined expression, appeared in the center of the Array.
"Excuse me, are you my Master?"
Saber, or Artoria Pendragon—the strongest swordsman summoned with the Holy Relic Avalon.
Artoria looked at the man in a coat with a cold expression, her gaze curious.
The Holy Grail's contract told her this man was her Master.
But for some reason, she felt her compatibility with him wasn't very good.
"Lia, step aside. Let me speak to him."
A voice very similar to her own, yet far more mature, echoed in her mind.
Artoria Pendragon, summoned as Saber in this Holy Grail War.
Of course, she was also granted a Grand Spirit Origin by the Counter Force, but her strength still differed greatly from a true Grand Servant.
So the Counter Force ignored Artoria's consciousness and directly inserted another Artoria into her body.
This included, but was not limited to: Saber (in a dress), Saber Alter, Lancer Artoria Alter, Saber Lily, Mysterious Heroine X, and Mysterious Heroine X Alter.
Of course, since she descended in the form of normal Artoria, her primary consciousness remained Saber, the king wrapped in a cloak—the original Saber.
The one who just spoke was the most mature Artoria, the one who had drawn the Holy Lance.
Compared to Saber, who firmly held onto idealism and chivalry, Lancer Artoria was more mature and Machiavellian.
[T/N: To prevent future confusion, I will use different names for different personalities.]
Therefore, Lancer Artoria's compatibility with Emiya Kiritsugu, the Ally of Justice, was far better.
"Umm."
Facing her more mature self, Saber chose to trust.
But this didn't mean they got along well—rather, as the same Artoria, each had their own desires and rejected one another.
Now, they were only temporarily setting aside their differences to deal with the Outer-Demon God who might destroy this world.
However, Saber, as the dominant personality, still had much initiative.
When Saber agreed to switch, Artoria's girl-like body gradually grew, and the Holy Sword in her hand transformed into the Holy Lance.
Rhongomyniad!
"Master, I won't talk much. Have you found any useful information about that person?"
Lancer Artoria appeared very resolute. After all, this was a matter concerning the survival of the world—there was no room for relaxation.
Kiritsugu's expression remained cold, but it was clear his mood had greatly improved.
He knew very well that someone like him didn't have good compatibility with a straightforward, chivalrous Saber.
Many of his tricks might be despised by her, but the Lancer Artoria before him was far better.
There was some compatibility between them. Both were people who wouldn't hesitate to use any means to achieve their goals.
"I haven't found any clues. Even Fuyuki City remains as peaceful as usual."
Kiritsugu shook his head helplessly. For the past few days, he and Maiya had followed the Counter Force's clues and investigated the entire Fuyuki City.
They even dealt with a murderer who kidnapped and killed children.
"However, I haven't checked Fuyuki Church, the Tohsaka family, or the Matou family yet."
"Perhaps..."
Kiritsugu didn't continue. No one knew better than he, a Magus Killer, what kind of people Magi were.
In the eyes of Magi who wouldn't hesitate to seek the Root by any means, if the Outer-Demon God could give them a chance to find the Root, even rebelling wouldn't be surprising.
"Then, let's mark these three locations as suspicious."
"If there's no other choice, we'll enter directly."
Lancer Artoria said casually. In her eyes now, the desire for the Holy Grail or anything like it wasn't as important as saving the world.
The Counter Force promised that after dealing with the Outer-Demon God, the Holy Grail War would return to normal.
As for directly entering the Matou and Tohsaka families possibly affecting innocent people?
Sorry, before saving the world, this was a necessary sacrifice.
Lancer Artoria would mourn for them, but she would never hesitate.
Kiritsugu was even more so—he would be far more resolute.
Even before achieving his primary goal of saving the world, Fuyuki City itself could become a casualty.
"Don't rush. Wait a moment. Wait for the reactions of the other Holy Grail War participants."
Kiritsugu wouldn't believe he was the only one chosen by the Counter Force to summon a Grand Servant to save the world.
He had an intuition that perhaps all the Holy Grail War participants were chosen by the Counter Force.
So the Masters participating in this Holy Grail War might not only be allies to save the world, but also competitors in the Holy Grail War.
He had already set up surveillance cameras at various locations in Fuyuki City and hacked into the city's monitoring system.
Faced with the Outer-Demon God whom the Counter Force claimed could destroy the world, no preparation was excessive.
After that, Lancer Artoria also left, and Saber returned to her previous Saber state.
She understood the conversation between Lancer Artoria and Kiritsugu, but if she truly had to do it, it might be slightly difficult for her.
After a while, Kiritsugu also said,
"Then, Iri. As planned, you'll replace me as Saber's Master?"
Kiritsugu spoke to the beautiful woman with snow-white silver hair.
Although he also didn't want his wife to take this risk, to save the world, he had to hide in the shadows and investigate.
Though it was extremely dangerous for Irisviel.
But Kiritsugu could only believe that under Saber's protection, Irisviel was the safest among them.
"It's fine, Kiritsugu."
Irisviel agreed with a smile. She knew very well what kind of man he was, but for her husband, she was willing to take this risk.
Saber had no objections to this. After all, she preferred acting with Irisviel over Kiritsugu.