"So, what about this widow? Do we need to kill her too?" Jalter glanced around. Now that the main target had been dealt with, the atmosphere had grown tense. Bored, she tried to liven things up, but it seemed she lacked any experience in this area.
Jeanne tried to cover the mouth of her outspoken "sister," but Jalter flatly refused. After snarling, "Who do you think you're getting so familiar with?" she began to brawl with Jeanne.
"There's no need for you two to get your hands dirty; I'll take care of it myself." With Amakusa dead, Semiramis, who shared his wish, had no desire to continue existing. All their own preparations had culminated in a farce. If Amakusa had died a grand, glorious death, she might have had no regrets, but the reality was far crueler—he had been smashed to death like a common rat. Mocking herself, she drank her own poisoned wine.
In the past, Jiang You would have tried to obtain Semiramis's cards, but now he couldn't be bothered. Aside from his own deck being so overpowered that it had made him lazy, he saw no reason to recruit someone so completely misaligned with him, nor did he lack a few cards of her caliber.
"It's like punching a cotton ball, so powerless. I was all fired up for a grand battle, and then this happens..." Astolfo suddenly popped out. He had answered the Holy Grail's summons just to have some fun, and now he suddenly felt his interest vanish. "A fair fight between both sides would have been pretty interesting, like a knight's duel. Now that things have come to this, do we still have to fight for the Holy Grail?"
"Of course we have to continue." The Lord had no intention of giving up so easily. He had answered the summons to clear his name and had long wanted to rid himself of the absurd title of "vampire." "Our wishes have not yet been fulfilled, so this ritual cannot possibly end. Everyone has their own reasons. If you don't want to participate, you can withdraw."
"Can I? Really?" Astolfo suddenly became excited. He had long wanted to run away with a certain homunculus. If Tiamat hadn't appeared and caused such panic recently, he wouldn't have been able to protect her so easily.
"Now that Darnic is dead, the distinction between the Red and Black Factions is meaningless," the Lord said, recalling the Master. Because Darnic had not only stolen the Greater Grail but also tried to establish a new Mages' Association, the Clock Tower had sent the Red Faction to suppress him. But now that Darnic, the head of the family, was dead, the Yggdmillennia, which was already a loose collection of factions, would soon dissolve and never become a major force (the Clock Tower would probably still be hunting them down at the time). So the Red Faction no longer had any reason to continue attacking. Now, there were only Masters and Servants competing for the chance to make a wish. Moreover, the only Servants in the Red Faction who could truly act now were Karna and Mordred. "From now on, everyone is an opponent."
"It should have been this way from the start." Mordred curled her lip dismissively. She had been itching for a fight for a long time. "Before, it was all 'this isn't allowed' and 'that's not allowed,' so much nagging. We should have just fought..."
While Mordred was talking big, she met her father's grown-up gaze, which was filled with disappointment that she hadn't improved. Her momentum suddenly weakened, her voice grew quieter and quieter, and finally, she even lowered her head.
"Can I interject?" Jiang You interrupted everyone present. Although he used a consultative tone, everyone understood that he was the true decision-maker, even if he wasn't a participant in this Holy Grail War. Thus, everyone immediately stopped talking and turned their gazes toward Jiang You. "Everyone, it's not easy to descend into the Mortal Realm like this. There's no need for a life-and-death struggle."
"Lord Jiang You, we understand your good intentions." The Lord consciously used honorifics, noticing that even Tiamat, in some sense, was following the instructions of this Eastern Servant. Based on previous actions, this person's logic aligned at least partially with the Lawful side and would not take a life without good reason. "However, we manifested in the Mortal Realm to fulfill the long-cherished wishes we couldn't achieve during our lives, even if we must pay with our lives."
"I'm not trying to stop you from fulfilling your wishes." The Holy Grail here was a standard model, and while not omnipotent, it could still do many things. There was no need to stop them from competing for it. "I just want to change the rules a bit."
"Change the rules?" The Lord looked at the others and found that everyone looked bewildered. After all, they were heroes of history. As the saying goes, if there's a first place in literature, there can't be a second, and if there's a first place in martial arts, there can't be a second. The best way to determine victory or defeat was battle, deciding both who was superior and who lived or died. That way, no one would be dissatisfied with the outcome.
"Let me finish first." Jiang You considered it for a moment. He decided to insert a performance mid-way into the Fuyuki Duel Tournament. There weren't enough people like Kiritsugu in Fuyuki, so this would be a perfect chance to show them some high-quality matches (compared to ordinary Magi). The Servants who were defeated would still be able to participate in the other Holy Grail War in Fuyuki, giving them another chance. They probably wouldn't have any complaints about that.
Jiang You explained his abilities in detail, as well as the points to note for the duel.
"Eh? You mean I can summon my old comrades?" Astolfo suddenly leaned in, the watery eyes on his face, which showed no masculine features, seemingly twinkling with stars. "Can I even summon the likes of Charlemagne and Roland??"
Jiang You glanced sharply at Jalter, feeling that Astolfo was more feminine than her.
"What are you looking at?" Even though Jiang You hadn't said anything, Jalter inexplicably felt an inexplicable sense of annoyance. "Believe it or not, I'll gouge your eyes out!"
Jiang You shrugged before turning back to answer Astolfo's question: "No problem. In theory, all Twelve Paladins can be summoned. I just don't know what'll happen to the ones who haven't been released as playable units yet."
"Yay!" Astolfo seemed to want to give Jiang You a hug in gratitude, but for the sake of his own physical and mental well-being, Jiang You still dodged.
"Although I've already experienced it, the situation was urgent at the time, so I didn't get a proper look at my Deck. Because of that..." Atalante was the first to express her opinion. "I agree to this method, it's quite interesting."
"I also have many people I'd like to see again, so I agree as well." Chiron had no objections either.
"Forgive me, but I agree as well." Siegfried also sided with Jiang You.
"I really don't want to..." Mordred had some objections. Her relationship with the other members of the Knights of the Round Table was not exactly on good terms. However, she glanced at her Father and then gritted her teeth in agreement. "Tch, fine! I agree too!"
Almost everyone had expressed their opinions, leaving only the Lord and Karna. The Lord hesitated for a long time before finally casting his vote in favor.
As for Karna—
"Before this, I'd like to briefly remind everyone," Karna finally spoke up after everyone else had finished. He had already carried his Master on his back. "Due to Assassin-san's passing, these Hanging Gardens are about to collapse."