"Leave Berserker for now."
"Understood."
"Also, my King -- Gilgamesh has a ley line connection I personally established for him."
"In that state, his mana replenishes endlessly. Shall I tell you how to sever it?"
Kirei offered yet another piece of intelligence.
"Obviously! Otherwise that guy would be nearly impossible to deal with!"
"No wonder he had that kind of mana reserves!"
Before Lelouch could respond, Waver had already blurted his answer.
It all made sense now. During the extermination battle, Archer had never once run low on mana. He'd been tapped into Fuyuki's ley line the entire time.
Everyone else had been fighting with canteens. Archer had been carrying the entire spring.
"Risei."
"At your service!"
"How many Command Spells does Tohsaka Tokiomi currently hold?"
"He still has only two. The bounty reward was delayed due to the Church's post-incident cleanup."
Lelouch absorbed this calmly.
"Rider?"
Waver stood stiffly, unable to follow the thread.
"How many Command Spells do you have?"
"Still twelve."
"Is that so?"
Waver stared at Risei's sleeve, pulled back to reveal rows upon rows of crimson sigils. His jaw dropped.
He knew the Church overseer safeguarded Command Spells from past wars. But twelve was absurd.
"Kirei. Don't touch Archer's ley line."
"Your only task is to complete the mission."
"No matter what, kill Emiya Kiritsugu."
"By your will!"
Watching Kirei depart, Waver was brimming with questions.
He knew Lelouch always had his reasons, but the Emperor's thoughts remained impenetrable.
"The timing isn't right yet."
"If we want to succeed, Archer needs to remain a credible threat."
A slow smile spread across his face. Armed with this wealth of intelligence, assets, and pawns, Lelouch had conceived the perfect strategy.
Then, to Waver's bewildered expression, he spoke.
"The formula for victory... may already be in my hands."
"Welcome back, Assassin."
"..."
Seeing Kirei return from the church, Kenshin paused while polishing the recovered Kusanagi.
'Is it just my imagination?'
Something felt... off about Kirei.
"I've received word. Emiya Kiritsugu appears to be planning an attack."
But the words that followed redirected Kenshin's focus entirely.
Saber's face surfaced in his mind. The King of Knights with her holy blade.
Considering every other faction's current status, perhaps it was time for a final reckoning between them.
Their very first clash had kicked off this entire war, after all.
"Hmm?"
His eyes caught Kirei opening a cabinet and retrieving something from within.
"He's coming for revenge, isn't he?"
"Then I should prepare a fitting gift."
Kenshin observed Kirei tuck the object into the inner lining at his flank. He didn't inquire further. This kind of devious behavior was exactly what he'd come to expect from the man.
Back turned to Assassin, the Geass sigil flickered briefly in Kirei's eyes.
"A reunion with his wife and assistant, and all that..."
"I'm certain he'll be pleased."
"Hmm?"
"A message from Kirei?"
In his workshop, Tohsaka Tokiomi received a communiqué from Kirei via familiar.
"Fighting Emiya Kiritsugu now?"
Frowning, Tokiomi did not approve. At the very least, they should wait until Archer had recovered.
He tried reaching Kirei through his own familiars, but received no response.
Slam!
Unable to comprehend why his disciple would "disobey," Tokiomi struck his desk as the severity of the situation hit.
If Kirei won, fine. If Kiritsugu captured or killed him, Tokiomi would lose a major asset for nothing.
Even with Archer's innate power, losing Kirei would reduce his overall advantage.
Archer was still recuperating. Rider couldn't intervene either. But with the unpredictable Berserker lurking, why would anyone pick a fight now?
If both combatants wore each other down, Berserker could swoop in and reap the rewards. A devastating loss.
"!"
The realization struck. Tokiomi's expression darkened.
Emiya Kiritsugu.
That man had planned this deliberately.
Launching the attack now, using the "alliance" with Rider's faction as a shield.
If Berserker intervened, both Tokiomi and Waver would be forced to commit assistance to prevent being picked off. Kiritsugu was banking on that.
It was a calculated gamble. Kiritsugu and Kirei in mutual danger? The two alliance partners would have to respond.
Even Berserker wouldn't willingly face four Servants at once.
The logic was airtight. Add to that Berserker's own depleted state from the extermination and the reasoning behind Kiritsugu's bold solo assault became clear.
He'd exploited every faction's position to engineer this one-on-one.
"Tch."
Being outmaneuvered like this left a bad taste. But Tokiomi found himself with no real options.
Trust Kirei to win. Accept his loss. Or wait for Berserker to intervene and commit to a joint defense.
For the moment, his hands were tied.
"Berserker, aren't you going to join in?"
The familiars spread throughout the city easily detected the two parties' movements. Kariya posed the question to the armored warrior cooking dinner beside him.
[No need.]
[If I go, it'll just unite the remaining factions against us.]
In surprisingly neat handwriting, Berserker conveyed his position on a recipe notepad.
Let them fight. Regardless of the outcome, somebody would be eliminated.
And then the endgame would be near.
The headache was what came after.
He knew what Sakura wished for. The situation was delicate on every level.
If he actually wanted to, he could charge out now and crush all four remaining Servants in their weakened state. But that would mean...
Sakura would win. She'd get the wish.
A wish to make him stay in this world permanently.
Berserker didn't want that. He still had people waiting for him back home.
That was his bind.
Win for Sakura, and he'd be trapped here. Refuse to fight, and Sakura would be in danger. Either path violated the reason he'd answered the summons in the first place.
Truly, it was a dilemma of fighting and not fighting.
Having such a "troublesome" Master was no simple matter.
If he could choose, Berserker sincerely hoped some competent person would just hurry up and end this war.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]
PS: Kiritsugu's strategy was based on a sound reading of the current landscape. Under normal circumstances, it would have played out exactly as he envisioned: Archer and Rider wouldn't intervene due to injuries, and Berserker's faction would stand down to avoid provoking a four-Servant coalition.
A perfect 1v1 stage against Kotomine Kirei.
What he didn't account for was Lelouch's hidden "Geass," and Berserker being constrained by Sakura's "wish," not strategy.
So ironically, his careful calculations still led to the duel he wanted -- just for entirely different reasons than he assumed.