With a "whoosh," the flames suddenly shot into the sky, and a fiery tornado lit up the night in an instant.
Like a blazing dragon, it swept toward the direction where Kiritsugu Emiya stood.
However, at that moment, a calm and low female chant suddenly came from the darkness.
Within that chanting voice, the flames that had just burst forth quietly went out.
As if the world had returned to silence, Kiritsugu Emiya no longer hesitated. He turned around and swiftly retreated from the "battlefield" together with his Servant.
Sajyou Manaka narrowed her eyes slightly and turned to look not far beside her.
There, in front of the staircase, a woman was slowly descending from the sky.
She looked like a true goddess of the heavens. The aura around her was extremely powerful, and a pair of enchanting red eyes shone brightly in the darkness.
"Ruler, huh…"
Sajyou Manaka said softly.
At this moment, the one who had appeared on Mount Enzo was none other than Ishtar, who held the Ruler class for this Holy Grail War.
"You're clearly the Servant I summoned, yet the moment I summoned you, you cut off our contract. You really can't be trusted at all."
Sajyou Manaka quickly said, her tone carrying a hint of teasing.
Ishtar showed a faint, indifferent smile and said lightly, "The one who truly summoned me wasn't you, but this Holy Grail War itself."
"Former Master of Saber, if I were you, I would leave this place now and stay away until the Holy Grail War reaches its end."
Ishtar stared at the incredibly petite girl in front of her and said slowly, "I must ensure the fairness of the Holy Grail War."
At the same time, a Command Seal quietly lit up in her hand.
Sajyou Manaka silently examined the woman before her. Soon a charming smile appeared on her delicate and lovely face.
"I refuse."
Beneath Sajyou Manaka's feet, restless magical power seemed to be surging faintly.
She spoke as if to herself, "Ruler, although you have two Command Seals you can use on every Servant, you seem to have forgotten that Command Seals are useless against a Master."
In the next moment, she suddenly raised her head, and the surging magical power instantly condensed.
But just then, Sajyou Manaka noticed that Ishtar also had a faint, indifferent smile on her face.
"Who told you that the Command Seal just now was aimed at you?", Sajyou Manaka froze.
A sudden chill ran down her back.
She quickly turned around, only to see a very familiar figure quietly appearing behind her.
"Saber?"
She almost blurted it out, her tone carrying a hint of confusion, as if she were truly shocked.
"Why would Saber be here?"
Meanwhile, Ishtar revealed a faint smile.
As Ruler, she could sense any Servant approaching her immediately. So when Alvin approached while concealing his presence earlier, she had already begun setting things up for him.
The moment he got close to Sajyou Manaka, she used a Command Seal to supply him with magical energy, allowing him to deliver a fatal blow, a plan so perfect it couldn't be more perfect.
Thinking of this, a pleased smile appeared on Ishtar's face.
Sajyou Manaka seemed to realize something as well. The expression on her face instantly turned extremely cold as she said quietly,
"You still plan to stop me, Saber—"
At the same time, magical power from the Root suddenly gathered in an instant.
"Saber, now!"
Ishtar immediately shouted a reminder.
Naturally, Alvin knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. From the moment he had infiltrated Mount Enzo earlier, he had been waiting for exactly this chance to get close to Sajyou Manaka.
Under the gaze of the two of them, Alvin stepped forward toward Sajyou Manaka.
Then he pulled the girl's soft body tightly into his arms.
"Manaka, I like you."
The magical power of the Root that had just gathered seemed to collapse instantly.
The girl known as the Princess of the Root blinked her eyes, but she seemed not to have processed what had just happened. She stood there completely stunned.
After an unknown amount of time, she finally looked up at Alvin instinctively.
Her delicate face, as flawless as snow, seemed to be tinged with a captivating blush in the dim light. The coldness in her eyes had faded, and her small, alluring cherry lips parted slightly.
But she still seemed to be in a state of complete confusion, almost disbelief.
"Eh?"
"Eeeh?"
———
'Why did it suddenly turn out like this?'
Snowflakes fell from the night sky onto the peak of Mount Enzo. Under the dark sky, a special circular opening representing the "Greater Grail" emitted a deep blue glow. Deep. Mysterious.
Now that the Greater Grail had suddenly appeared tonight, all the Masters had begun stirring restlessly, even preparing themselves for a fierce battle.
After all, the appearance of the Greater Grail this time clearly looked like the result of someone secretly manipulating things. The enemy was very likely hiding somewhere in the shadows, waiting for the various factions to start killing each other.
Almost every Master thought this way.
In fact, Sajyou Manaka had originally planned exactly that.
However, even the omniscient Princess of the Root clearly hadn't expected that Alvin would take the initiative to come to Mount Enzo and even appear openly in front of her.
Wasn't he afraid she might ambush him at this moment?
The distance between them right now was extremely close. If she exploited a loophole in the Greater Grail's rules, she might even be able to seize Saber again and make him her Servant once more.
But Sajyou Manaka still made no move at all.
She simply looked completely at a loss.
"Eh… eh?"
Very quickly, the calm composure that the Princess of the Root had always maintained completely collapsed.
Meanwhile, Ishtar at the side had somehow turned into what looked like a white statue that might crumble in the wind at any moment, standing in the snowstorm with a stunned expression.
When she sensed Alvin approaching earlier, she had even prepared to coordinate with him inside and out. She had even deliberately used one Command Seal to replenish his magical energy.
And yet… After receiving that magical supply, Alvin had no intention of attacking at all. Instead, he pulled his former Master into his arms.
'Am I a little unnecessary right now?'
Just as Ishtar was still standing there in complete confusion, she suddenly noticed the look Alvin shot her.
There was a clear hint of suggestion in his eyes.
He wanted a bit of space alone with her.
Ishtar glared fiercely at Alvin.
'Does this guy even realize what his identity in this Holy Grail War is right now?'
And his former Master had clearly been violating the rules. Even as Ruler, she couldn't just ignore Sajyou Manaka.
Thinking of this made Ishtar extremely annoyed.
She glanced at Sajyou Manaka and sneered.
"Saber's former Master. If you show any sign of secretly tampering with the Greater Grail again, I will expel you from this Holy Grail War in my capacity as Ruler."
Clearly, this goddess had a sharp tongue but a soft heart.
Even though she looked unhappy, she ultimately decided to turn a blind eye for the moment.
If she were in her "Goddess of Venus" state, Ishtar might not have been so easy to talk to. But right now she was possessing Tohsaka Rin's body, so her personality was inevitably influenced by the host.
With a "whoosh," Ishtar rode Maanna and flew into the night sky.
The mountaintop at night became quiet again, with only the sound of the wind and snow whistling.
Two figures stood facing each other.
Sajyou Manaka kept her gaze lowered the entire time. Ever since earlier, she hadn't heard a single word Ishtar said. Alvin's words kept echoing in her mind.
'He likes me?'
Ever since the first time she saw him, she had already decided that Alvin would become her knight in the future… She had even looked forward to their encounter during the Holy Grail War.
But—
'Why did it have to happen so suddenly?'
"Like."
It was only a very short word, yet it worked even better than a magical incantation, leaving the young girl frozen in place for several seconds without recovering.
It wasn't until she noticed footsteps moving around from behind her to in front of her that Sajyou Manaka finally reacted slightly.
She raised her head subconsciously.
Her pure and radiant face was flushed with shy redness. Her two small hands didn't seem to know where to go, clasping together awkwardly before she occasionally brushed her hair with her fingers to calm herself.
"Why did you suddenly…"
Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz.
But before she could finish, Alvin spoke again.
"I was originally the Servant you summoned. Isn't it only natural for a Servant to like their Master?"
'Eh?'
Sajyou Manaka froze for a moment.
"Is that what you meant just now?"
Liking one's Master and liking Sajyou Manaka, those were completely different things.
Sajyou Manaka pressed her lips together. The brightness in her eyes quickly dimmed, as if she were a little disappointed.
Although she was called the omniscient Princess of the Root, a girl of this age still didn't know how to hide her feelings.
Alvin almost immediately sensed the disappointment in her heart.
He had always felt that mature women like Artoria Alter and Lily were better, but this kind of girl who looked pure and lovely, the type who might cry for a long time after being punched once, was also pretty cute… Alvin thought.
Of course, the Princess of the Root's appearance was extremely deceptive. She looked delicate, but if she had time to prepare, her magecraft alone could easily rival a Servant.
But now wasn't the time to think about that. The important matter came first.
For Sajyou Manaka, she had only ever had one goal from the very beginning, to keep the Greater Grail permanently manifested in the world.
The reason was simple. She didn't want the bond between her and Alvin to end once the Holy Grail War concluded.
But what if, even after the Holy Grail War ended, Alvin could still remain in the present world even without the Greater Grail?
After silently staring at Sajyou Manaka for a long time, Alvin suddenly spoke.
"Manaka, how much time is left on your travel countdown?"
Before Sajyou Manaka could answer, Alvin asked again, "Will your next jump still be to Fuyuki?"
This was something he had suddenly thought about not long ago.
The reason Sajyou Manaka appeared in Fuyuki was because her travel destination had shifted from ancient Britain to modern Fuyuki.
But once the countdown ended, would her next destination still be Fuyuki?
Sajyou Manaka quickly hid the disappointment in her heart and said softly, "I'm not sure. But even if the countdown ends and I return to my original era. I'll still find a way to summon you again as a Servant."
"In fact, even without the Greater Grail, I won't disappear."
However, just as she finished speaking, Alvin's voice sounded again beside her.
Hearing this, Sajyou Manaka was clearly stunned and instinctively looked up at the boy in front of her.
"What did you mean by that just now?"
Once the Holy Grail War ended, Servants would disappear. That was inevitable. If it weren't, she wouldn't have tried to keep the Greater Grail permanently present.
Soon, she gave a cold laugh.
"Do you really think I'm the kind of little girl who gets happy just because of a few sweet words, Saber?"
"After the Holy Grail War ends, you can go to a place called the Clock Tower. I'll be waiting for you there."
Alvin decided to go all in.
He had been hiding the matter of the Clock Tower until now. On one hand, although it was a gathering place for magi, there were far too many old monsters there. If they noticed Sajyou Manaka's special magic circuits, it might attract unwanted attention.
On the other hand, in Sajyou Manaka's understanding, Alvin had always been the White Dragon of Britain. If he suddenly turned from a white dragon into a student of the Clock Tower, that would require a lot of explanation.
"The Clock Tower?"
Sajyou Manaka repeated the name with doubt. Soon a thoughtful look appeared in her eyes.
Of course she had heard of the Clock Tower. It was extremely far from Japan and was also a special association of magi.
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