The heavy breathing grew more and more rapid, his finger gradually tightening on the trigger.
And at that very moment, a woman's cool, pleasant voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.
"The Greater Grail never had the power to save the world from the very beginning. You should give up, Mr. Emiya."
Emiya Kiritsugu instinctively turned his head. When he saw the silver-haired beauty stepping out from the darkness, he almost blurted out without thinking,
"Irisviel… Irisviel?"
"You're okay? You're still alive?"
He had thought that Sajyou Manaka would have already killed Irisviel… and even Illya. He never expected her to appear in front of him alive and well.
"No… that's not right… you're not Irisviel…"
But very quickly, Kiritsugu shook his head. His eyes were full of caution as he raised his gun and aimed it at the silver-haired woman.
"Who are you?"
Irisviel… or rather, the consciousness of the "Holy Maiden of Winter" looked at the man indifferently and said calmly, "You may call me the creator of the Grail."
Kiritsugu's eyes flickered slightly, as if he quickly realized something.
"Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern?"
When the Einzbern family hired him to participate in the Holy Grail War, Kiritsugu had also learned some things about the family.
Justeaze was Irisviel's ancestor, the head of the Einzbern family, and one of the three great families who planned the first Holy Grail War.
Later, she became the foundation of the Greater Grail, and was known as the "Holy Maiden of Winter," a great magus.
He never expected… that she was still alive?
Kiritsugu's gaze quickly turned cold again.
"What did you mean by what you just said?"
The Holy Maiden of Winter looked up at the night sky and the snowflakes slowly drifting down. Her cold, elegant aura seemed to blend with the falling snow, so beautiful it felt unreal.
"From the moment I created the Greater Grail, I already realized that it does not have the possibility of saving all of humanity."
"The Third Magic is something close to a delicate woven construct. Even saving a single person takes years… as for all of humanity, even the Greater Grail could never fulfill such a wish."
Kiritsugu froze for a moment. Then the chill in his eyes deepened.
"That's impossible… how could that be…"
Even as he said that, for some reason, a sense of fear crept into his heart. Or rather, something inside him was starting to waver.
Because of everything he had gone through, personally killing his childhood friend, his father, and even the woman who later raised him, using the Greater Grail to realize his version of justice had become his only emotional anchor.
And now, learning that the Greater Grail was nothing more than a lie… that kind of truth shook him to his core.
The Holy Maiden of Winter looked at him with pity.
"Mr. Emiya… you've placed some emotional reliance on Irisviel, and on that artificial daughter who has no blood relation to you, haven't you?"
Kiritsugu frowned, "What do you mean?"
"I was an artificial human created by the disciples of the Third Magic's magus. Later, I offered myself as a living sacrifice to create what is now known as the Greater Grail. After that, all the specially made homunculi of Einzbern Castle exist to serve the Holy Grail War."
Under Kiritsugu's gradually widening gaze, the Holy Maiden of Winter spoke softly, "If I told you that the Greater Grail could still be restored, but it would require sacrificing Irisviel or Illya, who serve as the Lesser Grail… would you accept it?"
———
The battle was over.
No one knew who had won between Morgan and Sajyou Manaka. Likewise, no third party knew that on the final night of the Fourth Holy Grail War, the Holy Maiden of Winter and Emiya Kiritsugu had a conversation.
And after that conversation, Kiritsugu left Fuyuki with his female assistant.
Ryuudou Temple was already in complete ruins. Countless broken tiles littered the ground, a clear sign of the fierce battle that had taken place here.
Waver stood there, staring at the devastated "battlefield," silent for a long time.
Even though he had only participated in the Holy Grail War for a few days, those few days would be unforgettable for him.
Even after returning to the Clock Tower in the future, he would likely never forget this Holy Grail War, nor everything that happened when he summoned Rider.
"Waver—"
At that moment, Kayneth's imposing voice suddenly rang out beside him.
Waver's body trembled instinctively. He turned his head sharply and saw the blond, blue-eyed Lord of the Clock Tower walking toward him with his hands behind his back.
"P-Professor…", Waver stammered.
After all, he had stolen Kayneth's relic to summon the King of Conquerors in this Holy Grail War. Now that the war was seemingly coming to an end, it wasn't hard to imagine what kind of punishment awaited him once they returned to the Clock Tower.
Thinking about that, cold sweat began to trickle down his back.
"Tomorrow morning, wait for me in the airport hall. As your teacher, I think it's necessary for us to have a private talk," Kayneth's tone was icy.
The Lord of the Clock Tower was clearly in a bad mood. After all, this Holy Grail War had no winner, and he had failed to prove his ability to his future father-in-law.
Sensing Kayneth's cold gaze, Waver opened his mouth slightly, but in the end, he lowered his head dejectedly.
"Yes."
Kayneth soon turned his head and looked at the shattered remains of the Greater Grail.
A man dressed in a red suit, elegant in both demeanor and appearance, was walking forward.
"What are your plans next, Archer's Master?", Kayneth asked slowly.
"The Matou family of Fuyuki, the Einzbern family, and the Tohsaka family are responsible for maintaining the Greater Grail system and keeping it hidden from the outside world," Tohsaka Tokiomi said in a low voice, "I will naturally remain in Fuyuki… to be honest, I don't believe something like this could be destroyed so easily."
His ambitions as a magus were all placed upon the Greater Grail. Even now, he couldn't accept that it had truly been destroyed.
'Refusing to accept reality, huh…'
Kayneth glanced at the ruined Ryuudou Temple, a faint cold smile forming at the corner of his lips as he turned and left.
On Mount Enzo, only Tohsaka Tokiomi remained, one of the three founding families of Fuyuki.
He stood silently in the wind and snow, lost in thought for a long time.
There was disbelief, frustration, and anger.
The Greater Grail was far too special. He had always regarded it as something sacred, yet it had been tampered with by the Princess of the Root and destroyed right before his eyes.
And after her battle with Morgan le Fay not long ago, she had still managed to retreat unharmed.
No one knew where Sajyou Manaka had gone, nor what she planned to do next.
For this Holy Grail War, he had invested too much time and money.
And in the end, all he was left with… was a ground full of shattered fragments, and a twin-tailed girl lying unconscious on the ground.
Tohsaka Rin.
His daughter was safe… that alone was a blessing, something he should have been happy about.
But after witnessing the destruction of the Greater Grail, there was no way he could feel joy.
Tohsaka Tokiomi silently stepped forward, bent down, and picked up his daughter, preparing to leave Mount Enzo.
At that moment, he suddenly heard faint footsteps behind him.
A fierce battle had just taken place here, and everyone had already left.
So who would still be approaching now?
Tohsaka Tokiomi frowned slightly and slowly turned around.
A black-haired little girl walked barefoot across the snow toward him.
"Sakura?"
The moment he saw her, Tokiomi blurted out, his eyes filled with surprise and joy.
Earlier, Matou Sakura had been taken away by Alvin. And not long ago, with the disappearance of the Greater Grail, Alvin had also withdrawn from the Holy Grail War. He had been worried about his daughter, but never expected her to come here on her own.
But just as Tokiomi moved to greet her, the small, fragile-looking girl walked right past him.
Her bare feet stepped into the snow as she walked toward the place where the Greater Grail had shattered.
"Sakura?"
Tohsaka Tokiomi called out instinctively.
But Sakura didn't respond. She bent down and picked up a fragment of the Grail buried in the snow.
Tohsaka Tokiomi stared without blinking, and suddenly noticed that the shattered fragments of the Grail had begun to emit a soft, gentle glow.
Then, those fragments began to rapidly piece themselves back together, merging and reshaping.
Tohsaka Tokiomi's pupils shrank sharply as he watched in shock.
Then he quickly looked at Sakura and murmured, "You can… repair the Greater Grail?"
———
It was like falling into the deep sea. Endless darkness filled both vision and consciousness.
Alvin suddenly opened his eyes and sat up from the bed, stretching lazily.
Warm sunlight filtered through white curtains, casting shifting shadows across a classical redwood desk.
The dormitories at the Clock Tower were always luxurious. The soft white bed felt like lying on clouds, making Alvin squint comfortably, a hint of drowsiness returning.
"So I'm back…"
Even though this Holy Grail War had no winner, at least with the Greater Grail gone, Kayneth no longer had any reason to stay in Fuyuki.
'That means Kayneth should be safe, unless the plane crashed… but under normal circumstances, the odds of a plane crash are even lower than winning the lottery.'
Thinking that, Alvin let out a long breath, as if trying to release all the exhaustion from the past few days.
He rubbed his temples, then opened his personal interface, ready to check the results of this trip.
"Looks like I really did complete quite a few CG achievements on this trip to Fuyuki… but why is the CG collection only at 90%?"
When he saw the progress bar showing 90%, Alvin frowned.
Originally, he thought that after completing the CG achievements related to Sajyou Manaka, the progress bar should be close to 100%.
But instead, it had only gone from 87% to 90%.
'Could it be… that I still haven't completed all the CG achievements with Manaka?'
———
Five hours earlier.
The flight had taken off in the early morning. Kayneth sat by the window, looking out at the gray sky, expressionless.
Beside him sat his fiancee, Sola.
Waver, meanwhile, sat in the seat in front of them.
The boy looked utterly dejected, his head lowered. It was obvious he had just been thoroughly scolded by Kayneth in the departure hall.
Even after giving Waver a harsh lecture, Kayneth still looked displeased. If one looked closely, there was even a trace of worry between his brows.
"Are you worried about him?", Sola suddenly asked.
She wore a purplish-red evening dress. Her face was delicate, her watery eyes paired with long lashes, giving her the mature charm of an adult woman.
Holding a glass of red wine brought by a flight attendant earlier, she didn't drink it, but instead asked, "You had people look for him yesterday, didn't you? Still no news?"
As a Lord of the Clock Tower, Kayneth had many students, but Alvin was one of the few who caught Sola's attention.
After all, magi were inherently proud and valued bloodlines highly. Sola had been betrothed to Kayneth largely because she lacked magical aptitude.
Her father arranged the marriage not so much for her future, but more like a transaction. What he truly valued was the El-Melloi family behind Kayneth.
Because of that, she had originally hated the engagement deeply. Even Kayneth could see the resentment she held.
Back then, it was Alvin who often acted as a bridge between them. Through him, Sola gradually began to see Kayneth's good points and slowly tried to accept this arrogant man.
Now that Alvin had mysteriously disappeared in Fuyuki, it was only natural for her to care.
Kayneth slowly shook his head.
"I've already had people search for him. There's no trace of Alvin's activity anywhere in Fuyuki."
Not long ago, on the night the Holy Grail War ended, Kayneth had tried to contact Alvin by phone, but couldn't get through.
Waver couldn't help but mutter, "How did Alvin even end up in Fuyuki in the first place?"
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