Thud.
Cú Chulainn jumped down from the rooftop into the courtyard, then saw the figure walking into the yard.
"It's you... What are you here for? Have you come to fight?"
After seeing it was Zuke who entered the courtyard, Cú Chulainn narrowed his eyes. His right hand gripping the red spear couldn't help but tighten, clearly full of vigilance toward Zuke's visit.
After all, he was very clear that his own strength was far inferior to Zuke's. If a battle truly broke out, he would be instantly killed by Zuke, probably without even a chance to release his Noble Phantasm.
Under such a huge power disparity, Cú Chulainn didn't directly surrender. On one hand, it was because of his self-respect—he couldn't do something as shameful as surrendering upon meeting.
On the other hand, he also held a sliver of hope, thinking that perhaps other Servants would also realize Zuke's threat level and come to ally with him. Maybe then there would be a chance to resist Zuke's power a bit.
"Saying it's a battle wouldn't be wrong... But to be more precise, I've come to end the Holy Grail War."
Zuke looked at Cú Chulainn who had jumped down from the rooftop, revealing a slight smile—right now the Lesser Grail had already been filled. All that was needed was to resolve one Servant and use their soul as the switch to activate it.
Just like a cup of water that had already been filled, but before the water in the cup overflowed, one final drop of water needed to be added—Cú Chulainn's soul was that drop of water.
Of course, if Zuke was willing, other Servants could also serve as that drop of water to officially manifest the Lesser Grail.
But among the remaining Servants, besides Zuke, there were only Sitonai, Mordred, and Medusa.
Sitonai need not be mentioned—Zuke had left her in the real world. She and the Grail system could be said to be completely separated, and Zuke couldn't possibly bring her here now to use as a sacrifice.
As for Mordred, Zuke had already made an agreement with her beforehand. To prevent being troubled by Mordred if he entered other TYPE-MOON parallel worlds in the future, Zuke planned to keep this Mordred by his side.
As for Medusa... this was purely a personal preference. Because in the original work, Medusa took good care of Sakura Matou, Zuke decided to keep her as well.
After all, Zuke couldn't possibly stay in this world forever, so leaving a Medusa by Sakura Matou's side would prevent her from feeling too lonely.
Counting this way, only Cú Chulainn could serve as the sacrifice to officially manifest the Lesser Grail.
"I'll be blunt—right now the Lesser Grail is only one step away from manifestation. As soon as you die, the Holy Grail ritual will be complete, so don't expect any other Servants to come help you."
Zuke wasn't hiding anything from Cú Chulainn either, letting him die with understanding.
"Right now the Lesser Grail has already been taken to Ryuudou Temple by my people. That's one of the Lesser Grail's manifestation locations."
"...I see. That's why I couldn't see any other Servants these past few days—they were all taken care of by you?"
Cú Chulainn's mouth twitched. He never expected that his earlier guess would actually be true—he hadn't encountered other Servants these past few days because those Servants had all been resolved by Zuke.
Of course, Zuke's method of "resolving" might be somewhat different from what Cú Chulainn imagined. For instance, Sitonai and Medusa hadn't been taken down by Zuke at all—they were both still alive and well.
"Also, there's no need for Bazett to hide in the bushes nearby. I can sense your presence."
As he spoke, Zuke also turned his head to look at a bush in the courtyard—under Zuke's perception, Bazett's "qi" was clearly hiding in that bush.
Zuke could roughly guess Bazett's thoughts. She probably wanted to coordinate with Lancer and, when Zuke made a move, use her Mystic Code "Fragarach" to counter-kill Zuke.
Bazett's Mystic Code "Fragarach" was no simple matter. It could even distort causality to achieve a "strike-first-despite-moving-last" effect. Once activated, it would definitely strike the opponent before the opponent's attack.
In the original work of the Hollow Ataraxia, Bazett even used this Noble Phantasm to counter-kill Artoria. It could be said to have very impressive battle achievements.
However, for Zuke, even if "Fragarach" could definitely hit him, it was meaningless—after all, hitting and penetrating were two different things, and that thing couldn't break through his defenses.
Moreover, Zuke now had an even simpler method to prevent Bazett from launching a sneak attack.
Bazett in the bushes also heard Zuke's words. Of course she wasn't planning to just come out like that, but instead was still planning to continue executing her plan.
After all, she couldn't determine whether Zuke had truly sensed her presence or was bluffing—what if she was tricked into coming out, wouldn't she then have zero chance of winning?
However, in the next moment, Bazett felt her body suddenly lose her control.
Her pupils trembled, and then she found her body violating her own will. Just as Zuke requested, she suddenly stood up from the bushes.
That's right, Bazett was a member of the Mages Association, so the current Bazett was unable to disobey Zuke's commands.
Zuke told her not to hide in the bushes, so she couldn't continue hiding.
"Master!"
Seeing Bazett actually walk out, Cú Chulainn's heart leaped—but seeing Bazett's somewhat pale face, he also realized that Bazett hadn't come out of her own will.
He turned to look at Zuke, secretly speculating:
"Is it a word-spirit type ability? Or is it..."
"Alright, Cú Chulainn, you're the last one, so I'll allow you to strike at me."
Zuke spread his hands toward Cú Chulainn, his face carrying a slight smile—he was quite idle right now anyway, so he didn't mind giving Cú Chulainn some gaming experience.
"I'll give you a few minutes. You can do your utmost to launch attacks at me... This is your last chance."
"You're really... being thoroughly looked down upon."
Cú Chulainn's mouth twitched, veins bulging at his temples, very dissatisfied that Zuke would look down on him so much.
But at the same time, he had to admit that from their previous contacts, if Zuke attacked, Cú Chulainn truly had zero hope of victory.
So in the end, Cú Chulainn also didn't refute Zuke's proposal. Instead, he gripped his spear tightly with both hands, then aimed at Zuke:
"Then pay the price for your arrogance, Berserker!"
Although he knew Zuke was very strong, Cú Chulainn hadn't witnessed just how exaggerated Zuke's strength was. What he sensed was merely that Zuke possessed terrifying power and speed.
So he still felt that his Noble Phantasm might achieve victory through surprise, because his Noble Phantasm was the "Spear of Piercing Deaththorn," possessing the "guaranteed hit" attribute.
"Gáe Bolg!"
In the next moment, Cú Chulainn released his Noble Phantasm without hesitation—blinding red light flashed, and the sharp spearpoint thrust toward Zuke's chest at a speed no one could react to.
That was the same as "Fragarach"—at the instant of the strike, it determined the result of "the opponent's heart being pierced," an absolute "guaranteed hit" spear!
To be continued…