With a new day starting, I no longer needed to watch for any attacks, so I focused fully on rectifying what had happened the night before. As the forest would be good on its own, I mostly focused on cleaning the battlefield and removing traces of the carnage that occurred there.
I moved all the deceased homunculi I could from there to the spece near the castle and created a makeshift cemetery for them. The bones and stones from the golems and Dragon Tooth Warriors were used by me to bury and cover the marks left by the fighting. The issue that remained was the mostly destroyed Yggdmillennia Castle, and as repairing it quickly was impossible, I decided to cover the reason for the destruction rather than restore it.
By manipulating nearby earth and trees, I speedily made everything look like a landslide had occurred here. That way, even if some curious people wander nearby, the last thing they would think is that a war occurred here during the time they were sleeping. And so, most of my job was done, allowing me to return and meet up with everyone else. The moment I landed close to my tower, I was surrounded by the Heroic Spirits and magicians who waited there.
-"Is everything ok?"-I asked Jeanne, who looked tired.
-"It is not."-She shook her head.-"We failed to stop him."
-"It's not surprising, after all, he had years to prepare. So what is your plan now?"
-"The Black Faction is basically done for."-Fiore sighed sadly.-"Aside from me, my brother, and uncle Gordes, everyone else is gone. Archer, Rider, and Saber alone won't be able to deal with Lancer, Rider, Caster, and Assassin in their fortress, not to mention Ruler hiding there."
-"What about you two?"-I turned to Red Archer and Saber.
-"If I want to claim Grail, then I must defeat them, so I guess you can count me as on your side."-Saber dodged my gaze and answered as such.
-"I'm waiting for you to uphold our deal."-Atalanta extended her hand to me.
I nodded and grabbed her hand. A few seconds later, red marks of command spells appeared on my palm. I looked at the mark, and unsurprisingly, yet what I wasn't expecting, the mark looked exactly like the Laterano's coat of arms. Seeing this direct reminder, I couldn't help but feel slightly melancholy.
-"Eno?"-Jeanne seemed to notice my strangeness and also looked at my hand.-"This sign?"
-"A ghost of my past."-I shook my head and stopped thinking about it.-"I'm all right."
Jeanne nodded, but her eyes conveyed that she didn't fully believe me.
-"Well then, I suggest we first get some rest before reconvening later to plan our future actions."
-"You should agree, Master."-Black Archer looked at Fiore.-"You've been up for more than two whole days; you need to rest."
-"Our masters are also exhoused, so let's do as you say."-Black Saber agreed with my idea.
-"Come, my little Master!"-Black rider dragged familiar homonculi away; it would seem that his previous Master met an untimely end.
With that, everyone went to their assigned tents. I also decided to get some sleep after assigning the remaining tasks. Everything that happened this night left me exhausted, so I quickly fell into a deep sleep. But before I could truly rest, I found myself in another dream.
This time, I wasn't in the forest like in almost all previous dreams, but in an opulent city full of high towers and luxurious places. But all this wealth couldn't cover the demonic stench and rot. I walked the empty streets, looking at this shell of a past glory. Next to me walked a noble-looking man, who had long blond hair, a rather distinct characteristic in all my dreams.
-"So the situation on the front is so dire, huh?"
-"Thanks to the timely arrival of reinforcements from other races, we were able to push them back, but then demons started destroying everything in their wake."-I sighed, thinking about all the destroyed forests.-"This stalemate can't continue."
-"So that's why you are here."
-"Yes. I need your help."-I nodded.
-"You want me to betray the Queen?"-He looked at me, his eyes warning me.
-"No, I want you to save our brethren."
-"Save?"-He asked, not knowing what I meant.
-"I suspect that demons will go and use our people as sacrifices for their rituals."
-"The Queen won't allow it!"-He rebuked me loudly.
-"The Queen won't know, at least not until it's too late. Demons don't respond to her, nor do they respect her. She is but a figurehead needed for their plans."
-"You should respect Her Majesty more."-The man gave a side eye.-"As someone who almost became her Knight, you shouldn't speak like that."
-"It's all in the past."-I looked at the gloomy sky above.-"Now I'm one of the people she must hate the most. Defiling noble magic, turning to the druidic nature."
-"If not for High Councilor's advice, all of this might never have happened."-He sighed.-"It was also he who opposed your appointment."
-"Don't diminish his achievements."-I laughed hollowly.-"He singlehandedly destroyed my name, killed my family, exiled me, and finally even stripped me of my honor. While I'm now somewhat grateful for everything that led me to meet them... Her... The old hatred still burns in me."
The man patted my back silently, knowing that no words could help me.
-"Thanks."
-"No matter what will happen, you'll always be my friend, and an honored guest of my family."
-"Let's hope we never have to test this promise."
With that, the dream ended.
When I opened my eyes, it was already afternoon. Despite sleeping for six or seven hours, I felt barely rested. At first, all those dreams were welcomed by me as they allowed me to learn many useful spells and abilities, but after some time, I felt that all those memories started to affect me. Now, I would sometimes doubt that those were memories I had forgotten, questioning my own past and sanity.
With the Grail War occurring at the same time, the exhaustion started to accumulate. It was still manageable, though not long-term. Luckily, this War should be about done, so I just needed to hold on for a little longer. I lay in bed for a few more minutes before rising up and refreshing myself quickly.
Outside, most of the other Masters and Servants, along with girls under my protection, were already waiting while eating some quick meal. When I entered the room, everyone's attention focused on me.
-"I apologise for my tardiness."
-"We never agreed on a time, so you're not late. Not to mention that there are still some people missing."-Red Saber waved her hand as she dismissed my apology.
-"Here, Eno. I left some food for you."-Jeanne smiled and motioned me to sit next to her.
I also smiled and sat down. I ate my food quietly while listening to the talk around me.
-"So that fortress hadn't left that far?"-Red Saber looked at Luvia, who spoke about what had happened since the morning.
-"Yes. It's still close enough that we don't have to chase it."
-"Good. But I thought that they would run so that we can't interrupt them."
-"I believe that can't do so."-Black Archer spoke up after collecting his thoughts.-"While I'm not familiar with rituals involved in the making of the Holy Grail, I can deduce that Servants are both tools and fuel for it to work."
-"You mean that too few Servants died. They can't use the Greater Grail with so few sacrifices."-Atalanta finished his words.
-"They indeed can't do so."-Jeanne confirmed his guess.-"With fourteen Servants, at least ten need to die, all if wish is too great. And from what I understand, he seeks salvation."
-"Wait."-I couldn't help but speak up.-"Salvation?"
-"Yes. He wishes to save all people from sin and death."
-"Fool."-Red Saber scoffed.
Others also agreed with her.
-"This might be our breakthrough."
-"What do you mean?"-Fiore looked at me, not following my train of thought.
-"This confirms that they need to kill all but one or two servants to continue. With my understanding of their side, Caster and Lancer might agree to leave the War if ordered, but what about Assassin and Rider? Even if we safely assume the base ten of Sacrifices, they still need to kill most of our side to achieve that without infighting. And that gives us the most important thing, the initiative."
-"Indeed. We no longer need to blindly chase them."-Black Archer agreed with my assessment.
-"Can you confirm the state Greater Grail is in?"-I asked Jeanne.
-"Not precisely, but I'll know if someone attempts to activate it."
-"How much time will we have then?"
-"I can't be sure, but no less than an hour."
-"I can work with that."-I nodded and started thinking about our strategy from now on.
Now that we know that we are not pressed for time as we thought before, we can change our approach from attack to defense, where we would hold a greater advantage. But before planning in case we had an advantage, I needed to consider the worst-case scenario. If we were mistaken about Greater Grail, we would have had only an hour; this was far from enough for any solid plan, but a mad rush, sacrificing all Servants on our side, should be fast enough.
I hoped that it wouldn't come so that, and with all my understanding about the Holy Grail War, I was rather sure that it wouldn't, so I focused on how to get an advantage in the upcoming battles. First, I needed to find a way to find a way to disable or at least force the flying fortress to the ground. From what I saw last night, while I envy the person who possesses such great construction, there were some weak points I managed to see.
What mattered for me now was energy and magic utilized by the fortress. Thanks to Jeanne's information, I learned the identity of the owner of this fortress, the famed Queen of Assyria, Semiramis, who was summoned to this War as the Assassin of Red. Despite being a rare Servant with a Double Summon skill, she is, first and foremost, an Assassin, meaning she wasn't a Caster due to something, either a lack of qualification or some other issue.
Taking into account some other details, I can safely assume that she possesses great knowledge of mystery and magic, but lacks talent and ability, relying on her faint divine blood and fortress as a medium to cast spells. While this didn't seem like much at first glance, in actuality, it gave all the information I needed.
Confronting the fortress head-on would be like fighting a Caster in his territory, but if I were to fight her in any other environment, I would only be confronting an Assassin. This brings me back to the issue at hand, disabling the fortress, but this time, I don't need to worry about confronting a Caster while dealing with it; the fortress and the Caster are effectively the same being.
This also exposed the weakness of the fortress: rigidity. It could easily defend against conventional attacks, and with Semiramis' knowledge, she could prevent other indirect methods of attack, but her power limited her. This was a fatal weakness in confrontation between mages.
Fights between mages are different from those of warriors due to not only different weapons and abilities, but also due to the balance between aspect of the combat. In a fight between two warriors or knights, one can differentiate three main elements of combatants strength: ability, such as strength or agility, skills, such as mastery of weapons, and equipment, which is self-explanatory. Each possesses an impact on the outcome of a fight, and one can make up for a lack in another, but what is important, none can win a fight alone.
No matter how strong a warrior is, if he meets someone with great skill, he will be defeated, even if his opponent is weaker. But skill alone also can't guarantee victory, as, for example, someone with great wisdom or a powerful artifact can still emerge victorious. The balance between those three elements is what makes warriors and knights always pursue greater skill, strength, and better weapons.
Battles between mages are different in this aspect; this balance can be broken if one element vastly overpowers the other side. If an Archmage who mastered spells of enormous power were to encounter a novice mage who possesses an artifact that negates magic, he would be unable to win a fight. Similarly if of two mages of equal skill, one possesses magical power far outclassing his opponent, he can achieve easy victory by overpowering his enemy, but were he to be lacking skill, his opponent can use magic he lacks understanding of to emerge victorious. This is why mages pursue extremes rather than average, but overall strengthening.
And comparing Semiramis to me, we can assume to have similar skill, and with my tower, the difference in equipment is minimized, but in pure raw magical power, I outclass her without a shadow of a doubt. If I could sever her connection to the fortress for even a second, she wouldn't be able to contend against me to regain it.
To achieve it, an attack akin to one I unleashed on the Adam before would be enough, but as I have time to prepare, I can achieve it with a more efficient method. I spent a few minutes shifting through my memories, both real and from dreams, looking for a spell that would fit my need perfectly, and finally settled on a combination of three.
The first two were an ice storm, I learned thanks to a scroll from Zamor in the Lands Between, while the other was also an ice storm, but this one was a 4th circle spell from my dreams, one of the iconic spells of those lands. By combining them, I could create a spell that would create a powerful storm of ice that would hurl icicles at the enemies, as well as blow cold wind that would slow down and weaken anyone within. Even with Fortress defenses, this spell would require some effort to resolve.
And hidden beneath it would be a third spell, the true attack. A simple 2nd circle spell from my dreams, mind spike. A direct mental attack aimed at Semiramis to sever her connection with the fortress. If it succeeded, then my ice storm would quickly bring the fortress down, but even if it were to fail, it would give a brief moment that would be enough for our side to enter. With the fortress breached, the battle would be much easier...
-"Back in reality?"-Red Saber waved hand in front of my eyes.
-"Sorry, I got lost in thought."
-"Did you find anything at least?"
-"Yes. I'll deal with the fortress. You'll only need to deal with enemy Servants and the rogue Ruler."
-"Perfect!"
-"We still have to prepare a plan in case something goes awry."-Black Archer spoke up.
-"Of course."
We continued our meal while discussing the plan of action. By the end of the meal simple plan of action was formed. Everyone got tasks assigned to them, as such they went to prepare themselves during these last few hour of sunlight. I also returned to the tower to prepare my spells, but surprisingly Atalanta followed me there. She sat in a free place and watched me work, not interrupting my preparations.