"Yosh, little girl, you've arrived unannounced. Have you come to settle the fated battle between you and I?"
The cheerful and boisterous King of Conquerors stepped forward and loudly addressed Rin with a smile. Rin also replied with a smile:
"That's right. Let's meet at the place I told you about after nightfall. Then, we'll fulfill the fated battle between us."
Waver listened to Rin's words completely bewildered, unable to understand how a life-or-death duel could be spoken of so casually, like a date.
"Oh? Yosh, then I look forward to nightfall. However, regarding the question I posed last time, will you be able to give me an answer tonight after dark?"
The King of Conquerors readily agreed to Rin's words.
"I've been thinking about that question and searching for an answer. After rejecting Saber, am I still suitable to be a King? I'll answer that question after sunset."
"Is that so? Then, Berserker's Master, do you have the courage to tour this city with me?"
The King of Conquerors, completely disregarding the utterly astonished Waver, extended an invitation to Rin.
"Hey! Rider..."
"Huh?" Rin let out a slight gasp of surprise, then chuckled:
"Is this an invitation for a date?"
"A date? What's that? Kid, what does 'date' mean in this era?"
Waver, with a speechless expression, didn't know how to answer this big oaf's question. However, the King of Conquerors and Rin had already moved on to the next topic at some point, walking towards the city center and chatting animatedly, as if there was no communication gap between people from such different eras.
"Speaking of which, I'm also a bit curious. Why is it that despite the massive commotion and destruction caused by the battles these past few days, the people in this city show no intention of leaving for shelter?"
"Because there are informed individuals who possess power and are concealing the truth. The world in the eyes of ordinary people must be covered by a glossy, false shell over the corpse of truth. After all, the truth can only be held by a select few."
"I see. This era is indeed much more complex than mine, but fundamentally, it's still the same. The torrent of material desires, the illusion of power—this outward display merely blinds people to the true light of their inner dreams. As long as a King can illuminate it for them, they will find the true path in life..."
"Speaking of which, if you get the Holy Grail, how about adding a wish for an immortal body?"
"Immortality? That's a good idea. If I could live forever, I could conquer the ends of the universe!...But speaking of which, there's also a fool here who once achieved immortality and gave it up. Hmph, that scoundrel is still quite intriguing."
"Don't worry, you just need to focus on how to deal with me tonight. I'll defeat that guy..."
Tohsaka Rin and King of Conquerors, two individuals with vastly different appearances, walked side-by-side on the street, yet there was no sense of incongruity. It was as if Tohsaka Rin, whose height barely reached King of Conquerors's chest, possessed an invisible stature that put her on par with him. And Waver Velvet, who followed silently behind them the entire time, seemed to be hidden in the shadows of Tohsaka Rin and King of Conquerors, completely inconspicuous.
Waver Velvet looked at the backs of the two people ahead, who seemed to have met too late. These two, in the face of a miracle said to grant all wishes, one's wish was merely to obtain a human body, while the other simply had no wish at all, instead wanting to dismantle the omnipotent wish-granting machine to understand its operating principle. How foolish that sounded.
However, for those who compared the Holy Grail to themselves, believing their own value to be higher, that seemingly narrow wish and having no wish at all were perfectly acceptable.
What kind of people were these two, so arrogant, so confident in their own strength?
Waver Velvet had specifically researched historical records, but the more he learned about the traces his Servant had left in history as listed in history books, the more deeply he felt that this man possessed an incurably powerful, utterly unmatched capacity that no mortal could ever rival!
Recalling the invincible army in his dream, an army so grand and elite that it worshipped him until death, believed in him like a god, and would even sacrifice their lives for him.
Finally, Waver Velvet had to admit that those who mocked King of Conquerors's wish as a trivial one were the truly foolish ones, dragging around their stinking hides and living idle lives every day.
And who was Tohsaka Rin, who could stand shoulder to shoulder with such a great man? Not a Heroic Spirit but a person of the current era, a human living in this age just like him, Waver Velvet, yet her strength had truly left him utterly devastated.
Her initial battle with King of Conquerors was a draw, she had the upper hand against the immensely powerful Archer with his endless noble phantasm, she conversed and drank with three King Heroic Spirits with composure, and she single-handedly killed Assassin and Lancer. Two of the three known Servants who had been eliminated were slain by her. The highest number of beheadings in this Holy Grail War actually belonged to her, the Master!
The only Magus Waver Velvet, living in the modern era, could think of who could contend with her was the head of the Clock Tower. Perhaps some of the Grand Title Holder elders from the three great noble families could also compete.
Perhaps she had not done anything in the past, but her accomplishments in this Holy Grail War alone were enough to be forever etched in the history of the Holy Grail War. Compared to her, the noble scions and honor students at the Clock Tower, who swaggered around and despised him every day, didn't even qualify as trash!
King of Conquerors Iskandar, the most outstanding conqueror in human history, and Tohsaka Rin, an unparalleled talent among modern human Magicians—these two incredibly powerful individuals were about to engage in a life-or-death battle tonight. To whom would victory belong?
No, it should be Tohsaka Rin, after all, the protagonist of the Holy Grail War should originally be the Servant. Tohsaka Rin was just a Master like himself, and she also had a Berserker, no weaker than any Servant, standing beside her in spirit form.
His Servant was the strongest, there was no doubt about that. Even if he won all the way and finally obtained the Holy Grail, it would only be because of Rider's strength. And if Rider was defeated, it must be because he, the Master, was weak and incompetent and could do nothing!
So, where was the victory that belonged to him, Waver Velvet?
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