"Rider, what do you think?"
After leaving the mansion, Waver headed toward the city hall with the transfer order in hand.
As he walked, his eyes weren't on the road. Instead, he kept his head down in thought, occasionally seeking opinions from the red-haired giant beside him as if lost in contemplation.
"Hmm? Cursed spirits? I haven't seen many, so I don't have much to say about them."
Iskandar pondered for a moment before shrugging frankly.
"No, we've already got leads on the cursed spirits. I meant that guy named Roy—what do you think of him?"
"That white-haired kid?"
Iskandar widened his eyes in surprise as he looked at Waver.
"What, do you suspect him? Think he might be the mastermind?"
"Not at all."
Waver made a face that said "how could that be possible."
"I just think his knowledge about cursed spirits is inexplicably deep. Even his deduction process earlier—it didn't seem like reasoning, more like he already knew the answer and was working backwards... I think he's quite extraordinary and wanted to ask how strong he is."
"I see. Though we haven't fought, that kid definitely has presence. He's undoubtedly very powerful!"
Recalling his brief encounter with Roy earlier, Iskandar continued:
"He clearly knew my identity, yet all he showed was caution—no fear whatsoever. Rather than thinking 'this is bad,' his attitude was more like 'this is troublesome.' He must have great confidence in his abilities."
Despite knowing Iskandar was a Servant, Roy remained merely guarded, not frightened in the slightest—no sweat, no pressure.
This confidence likely stemmed from his belief that he could hold his own in a fight.
"So you're saying he's strong, right?"
"What, couldn't you understand what I meant?"
"Don't look down on me!"
Waver glared at Iskandar.
"I meant, in your current state, how would a fight between you two turn out?"
At this, Iskandar's bushy eyebrows furrowed tightly, his face twisting into a troubled expression.
"That's hard to say. At my peak, I'd be confident in crushing any foe. But you know my current condition—though I've shaken off the corruption and even managed to incarnate, I'm not even at half my former strength..."
It had taken Waver a full ten years to cleanse Iskandar's corruption.
Countless texts researched, innumerable magecrafts attempted, endless effort expended—he'd spent nearly every waking moment of that decade on this single pursuit, often forgetting to eat or sleep.
The result was successful.
But not entirely ideal.
Iskandar had indeed been freed from the corruption, but over half his power had been lost in the process.
To extract him from the corruption, Waver had devised a scheme—splitting Iskandar in two, pulling an uncorrupted Iskandar out from within the blackened version.
The Iskandar by his side was the normal Iskandar, but he only possessed a fraction of his power, while the corrupted Iskandar held the majority of it.
This happened on the eve of the Holy Grail War, about a month ago.
Originally, he and the normal Iskandar were being pursued by the corrupted Iskandar. They had planned to participate in the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City, using the power of heroic spirits to oppose the corrupted Iskandar. However, the corrupted Iskandar relentlessly hounded them, preventing them from breaking free and causing them to miss that year's Holy Grail War.
It wasn't until one night twenty days ago, when the corrupted Iskandar suddenly vanished into thin air, that they managed to escape. It was only afterwards that Waver learned that the Holy Grail War had ended that very night. The Greater Grail had disappeared without a trace, and the corrupted Iskandar, having lost the source of his manifestation, returned to the Throne of Heroes, allowing them to narrowly avoid disaster.
However, Iskandar's power had not fully returned. Though he had incarnated into a living being capable of existing in the world, his strength was less than half of what it once was.
If Roy could face the full-powered Iskandar without flinching, then confronting an Iskandar with less than half his strength would likely result in a one-sided battle should they truly fight.
"But there's no need to be so wary of him, right? We might not even end up fighting him. He doesn't seem to have that intention."
"That would be for the best. Still, I can't shake the feeling that he's no ordinary man..."
Waver let out a long sigh.
Sadly, his instincts about people were usually spot-on.
"Perhaps in the future, we might find ourselves in a confrontation with him."
"Hahaha! Surely he doesn't intend to compete with this king for dominion over the world?"
Iskandar burst into laughter.
"I don't understand... What's the point of conquering such a world—"
"Hahaha! The meaning of conquest lies in the journey itself! My Master, you've grown quite remarkable, but you still lack passion!"
"Hmph! I'd rather not have that kind of thing!"
Though they bickered, the atmosphere between them was oddly cheerful.
In this lighthearted mood, the two walked side by side toward the city hall, now visible in the distance.
...
In a dim, lightless space.
Oumaru opened his eyes.
His gaze was slightly dazed, and a throbbing pain pulsed at the back of his head.
"I remember... the cursed spirits attacked the school, and then I escaped the church..."
He had dragged Nino as a human shield to buy himself some time, then used magical energy to reinforce his body and shattered the stained-glass window of the church, leaping out of the hall.
After that, he recalled desperately fleeing the church grounds—only to feel a sharp pain in the back of his head moments later, before everything went black.
"Oh, you're awake?"
A voice suddenly echoed through the dark space.
It was light and airy, gentle yet carrying an eerie undertone, like a ghost whispering in his ear.
Oumaru jolted upright, turning toward the source of the voice.
"Y-You are...?"
"My name is Mahito."
The person sat across from him on a chair, legs curled up against his chest like a child.
In the dimly lit space, Oumaru couldn't clearly make out the person's features, only vaguely discerning a head of fluffy long hair and a loose robe draped over their frame. From the silhouette, it appeared to be a man.
"Real...ly you?"
"Indeed, it was I who saved you from the cursed spirits surrounding you."
The man whispered in a soft, eerie voice before standing up and staggering step by step toward Oumaru.
Only at this close distance could Oumaru barely see his face clearly—and immediately shuddered in horror.
The man's face and neck were covered in sutures, as if stitching together a broken corpse, while his pupils emitted an unnatural, chilling glow.
Looking down at Oumaru, who trembled uncontrollably, he curled his lips into a malicious grin.
He reached out and placed a hand on Oumaru's shoulder.
His tone was unnervingly gentle.
"I saved you, so you owe me a favor. That's the unspoken rule of human society—one that shouldn't be broken, right?"
"Y-yes..."
Overwhelmed by the thick stench of curses, Oumaru nodded fearfully, not daring to utter a single word of refusal.
"In that case, I have a task for you."
Raising his head, the man cast his malevolent gaze upward.
"Lure the magi here for me. The method doesn't matter!"