Her mom's voice pulled Tia straight out of her mind. She instantly returned to sitting cross-legged on her bed. The holy sword was still in her hand, but now it felt different.
Before, when Tia held the holy sword, it felt like a dead object. She didn't even know how to store it away. It wasn't like her own forged weapons that she could just dismiss with ease.
But now, it felt alive—like holding someone's hand when her fingers wrapped around the hilt.
Just then, the holy sword spoke.
"Master, now I am the sword, and the sword is me. It seems… that first seal designed by Senji Muramasa was made to turn me into the holy sword's core. Last night, when it put you to sleep and pushed you out, it was so I could fully merge with the core inside the sword," Lancelot said as he changed back from the sword to himself.
Tia rolled her eyes.
What is Muramasa, some kind of master of immortal sword forging? Why does it suddenly feel like this sword's whole tone just changed?
Did Lancelot just become a sword spirit? Am I moving from magecraft into some kind of sword-cultivator path?
I just finished this "sword-drawing" moment. The only thing missing was the sword-drawing theme song playing in the background.
Now I'm basically flying around with a sword—shouldn't there be some Chinese RPG background music playing in my head right now?
What kind of nonsense is this? Since when does the Type-Moon world play like this?!
Every other mage is after the Root, and here I am playing immortal cultivator? The whole style has changed.
"Master, what's wrong?" Lancelot looked at Tia, who was spacing out, and reminded her.
"It's nothing. I was just amazed that people can turn into swords, ahahaha~~" Tia snapped back when Lancelot called her and laughed as she replied, "The teacher is still waiting outside. Let's go."
She said that, got out of bed, and left the room, while Lancelot turned into spirit form and followed her.
"Tia, you're finally out! Come with me, everyone's waiting for you," Waver shouted as soon as Tia came out. "Sir, ma'am, I'm taking Tia with me."
"Alright, just don't stay out too late," Tia's dad nodded.
"Stay safe," Tia's mom added casually.
Tia left with Waver just like that.
"Professor Waver, what's everyone waiting for me for?" Tia asked as soon as they stepped outside.
"To go to the place where the Greater Holy Grail is—underground at Mt. Enzō where Ryuudou Temple is. Gilgamesh found out from Tohsaka Tokiomi last night. Everyone's planning to go there now, so we were waiting for you," Waver said.
"Tia, you know the most about the Greater Grail, so I called you here. If possible, we're planning to dismantle it today!" Alexander the Great appeared as he spoke.
"Now? This early? And didn't Gilgamesh kill Tohsaka Tokiomi yet? Why are we suddenly going to take down the Greater Grail?" Tia quickly asked after hearing Waver and Alexander.
"Because of Matou Sakura. When Gilgamesh went to Tokiomi last night, Sakura happened to be there. The moment Tokiomi's teacher was about to take her away, Gilgamesh didn't kill him right away—he waited until Sakura left and then started questioning him. Just then, the Holy Grail War supervisor Kotomine Risei came with Kotomine Kirei to talk to Tokiomi about erasing all the memories of Fuyuki's citizens. Tokiomi escaped death that way but also realized Gilgamesh was asking about the truth of the war. He had no choice but to spill everything. So Risei offered to work with me and the Einzbern family to destroy the Greater Grail. But Risei doesn't know who you really are—he thought after Senji Muramasa left, you were useless, so he didn't even contact you."
Waver went on and on explaining everything.
Tia curled her lips but didn't say anything. She never cared much about this guy who, in the original story, got killed by Kayneth.
Even up to his death in the original, he thought his son Kotomine Kirei was a saint and even gave him all his Command Seals on one arm. That's just…
"What's wrong? You're not mad at the supervisor, are you? Forget it. You're already pretty much out of the Holy Grail War now. You still have a Servant, but you're not bound by Command Seals. Once this war ends, he's gone, and you'll never have to deal with him again, so don't worry about it!" Waver said to comfort Tia.
Tia smirked a little. "I'm fine. Let's go. Where are they?"
"Underground at Mt. Enzō. Everyone's already there. Rider and I volunteered to come get you. They're probably still figuring out how to destroy the Greater Grail," Waver said. "Let's hurry so we don't waste time."
Tia nodded but honestly had no idea how to do it. Breaking down the Greater Grail needs a special method—calling her won't help.
Still, she remembered the Greater Grail was built using a magic circle, so there should be a way to dismantle it through another circle.
That circle… should be in the hands of the Three Great Families.
Soon, they all got in a car, with Alexander the Great as the driver.
"Tia, do you know how to dismantle it?" Waver asked again.
Tia shook her head but added, "I don't know, but the Three Great Families should. The Greater Grail was built using a magic circle, so the circle must still be in their hands. If we can reverse it… maybe we can dismantle it."
"A magic circle! So Tokiomi really lied to us. He said he didn't know anything! Damn it!" Waver said angrily.
Tia began recalling what she knew about how the Greater Grail was built.
About 200 years ago, Justeaze, Tohsaka Nagato, and Matou Zouken—originally Makiri Zouken—went underground beneath Ryuudou Temple and created a circle. Justeaze lay at its center and then was crushed by a giant falling stone.
This whole process was certified by the Magus Marshal, Jewel Wenzelrich.
After a while, they reached Ryuudou Temple. Alexander drove straight to a spot in the woods at Mt. Enzō where the temple stood.
"We're here. It's inside."
Alexander parked the car outside the forest.
(End of The Chapter)
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