NOTE: Christmas-New Year Sale is coming, offering FLAT 30% Discount on Inheritors and Glitched Plus UItra tiers.
I hope some of you will take advantage of it and support the work, as the next Sale will be around March only.
If you do, I will HIGHLY recommend accessing all the original images of this volume. Also, all the remaining chapters of this Volume (nearly 50) are pure action, leading to the end of the Holy Grail War. It will be best if you read it one go, for those who are planning to subscribe.
Alright. That's it from me.
Enjoy the Great Holy Grail War!
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It was almost evening, the sunset washing over the forest's canopy with an orange, dusky hue.
One by one, figures began appearing at the foot of Mt. Enzo.
Black, Shirou, and Rin remained in the back. Both Shirou and Rin had only one Command Spell remaining for their Servants. On the other hand, as far as they knew, Black had used all three ones related to Berserker.
That made sense to them as, without the help of Command Spells, how could Berserker have survived against Saber Alter, Lancer's ambush, and then later release the Reality Marble to kill a Heroic Spirit?
But Black was different from a normal Master.
He was a Homunculus and had Super Regenerative abilities, his raw strength rivaling that of a Servant.
The same was now true for Shirou Emiya as well, despite him not truly getting how it all happened.
So, for now, they were acting as Rin's personal bodyguards, as she also held two Servants and was the most vulnerable in the coming fight.
Surrounding the three Masters were the Heroic Spirits.
Berserker, Caster, Archer, Assassin, Saber, and Rider — six of the seven Servants of the Fuyuki Holy Grail War had gathered on one side with a strange turn of fate in this timeline, the seventh being already dead.
Medea looked over her shoulder, and her eyes matched Black's. Unknown to everyone, Black had all the Berserker's Command Spells left. But only she knew that they were useless, as her Master couldn't use them.
Black also had one Command Spell related to her remaining in his arsenal.
He had used one during the Zouken Matou Inheritance incident to empower the Ruler Breaker. The second he had used just before leaving the Tohsaka Mansion.
— You cannot die.
Medea remembered the three words her Master had uttered with a smile on his face.
Did he know what I was planning on doing in the upcoming War? Medea wondered, her heart bouncing against her chest. Perhaps… he didn't. Perhaps… he did. What does it matter? He wants me to live… But he also wants me to win… So…
At first, Medea had decided to summon the Dragon of Colchis.
She neither knew how to summon the dragon nor could she control it. However, she had a vague guess that she could try summoning it by sacrificing herself. Then, the Dragon of Colchis could have helped her Master against the Blackened Rider's transformation.
Now… Medea had to let go of that wild thought.
On the other side, Assassin looked at Shirou, having his own thoughts.
Kiritsugu Emiya… That was his name, they had told him, in the times before he became a Heroic Spirit. From all the stories and evidence, Assassin didn't doubt those words. Yet, the constant push of Counter Force didn't give him a moment to focus on his past, continuously urging him to end the All Evil.
If he had just a day… half a day… an hour… to be himself.
Perhaps, then, he could have remembered the boy who admired him so much, Assassin believed.
Archer looked at Assassin from the corner of his eyes, sighing within. Before coming here, Rin had confronted him about his past as well. Turned out, she had been having weird dreams related to how… Archer became a Heroic Spirit.
When Rin asked if he remembered his past, Archer had no choice but to nod, then.
It had happened the moment Shirou had woken up after being wounded by him. There had been this strange… connection that he had felt.
Learning that Shirou had actually summoned the twin swords during the fight with Berserker's Master, Archer had taken it upon himself to strengthen his Magic Circuits. It was then that he found that Shirou's entire body had become a Reality Marble, strengthening it to the level of a Servant.
Still, Archer had remained skeptical about it.
But when he saw Shirou projecting Kanshou and Bakuya Overedge, two weapons he shouldn't have any knowledge of, Archer had to accept the bitter truth.
So, before coming here, Archer had a talk with Shirou regarding the Reality Marble as well. Because in the coming fight, getting held by ego would mean death… especially when he might not live to see the end…
Behind him, Rin sighed inwardly, looking at Archer.
Then, her eyes landed on Rider, who was already shaking to barge in, going after Sakura.
Flanked by Black and Shirou, Rin knew that she was the weakest link of this group. Still, taking some pride in herself as a Mage, and holding the hilt of the Jeweled Sword at her waist, she drew a deep breath.
"Let's go…" Rin said.
However, just as everyone took the first step, wind rustled over their heads.
Three more figures appeared not far from them — their combined strength rivaling almost all the six Heroic Spirits standing together.
The Rulers had appeared!
Jeanne d'Arc held her flagstaff, the white banner on it flapping lightly. Next to the Holy Maiden, Betty Shaw stood, wearing a white suit, and holding a Video Camera on his shoulder.
Leading the duo, Enkidu stood, smiling.
Suddenly, Jeanne turned around to face the other Heroic Spirits. "I will assist you," she declared, shocking everyone. "In return, I want you to protect my Master."
"Fine by me," Black readily accepted, his eyes matching the Glitched Order's Contestant's.
Betty Shaw simply nodded with a smile at his fellow Contestant.
"I also have one set of Command Spells left," Enkidu added, his long green hair waving behind his head. "But I will have my hands full with Gil. So, don't count on my assistance other than a momentary boost…"
All Heroic Spirits nodded in return, openly showing gratitude.
Enkidu suddenly sensed something, and his gaze landed on Rin. "That's a powerful artifact you have there," he remarked. "You are not planning to use that on me, right?"
Rin gasped. "No. I…"
"He's just joking," Shirou said.
"Haha… Well…" Enkidu said, laughing wryly. "You caught me. Alright. Let's go in, then. I can feel them…
"… They are getting… restless."
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