"Gordes! Take me to the basement where the Greater Grail was stored!"
The moment Shirou entered the conference room, he grabbed Gordes by the shoulder, startling him badly.
"Huh... Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden? You already took the Greater Grail away! There's nothing there now!"
"I know! That's not the point right now. Forget it... Just take me to that room!"
Shirou had realized something.
What was Lancer's most urgent desire now that he had become a vampire?
There was only one answer. The Greater Grail.
More than eliminating his rivals, more than increasing the number of his blood kin... what the vampire wanted most was to seize the Greater Grail for himself.
Back when he had still been the Magus Darnic, he had spent sixty years by the Greater Grail's side.
To him, nothing took priority over obtaining the Holy Grail.
And.
The vampire who had been forced to withdraw early last night due to his injuries probably had no idea what happened afterward.
Naturally, he would assume that the Greater Grail was still inside the Fortress of Millennia, under the protection of the Magi of Yggdmillennia.
In other words, Count Dracula's target tonight was this castle!
"I... I understand! Follow me!"
Gordes read the gravity of the situation in Shirou's eyes.
Although he did not know what had happened, he chose to trust the Heroic Spirit before him, the one Siegfried had acknowledged.
"Saber-sama? What's wrong? Is there anything we can do to help?"
The Homunculi did not understand the situation either.
"You all take shelter first. I'll explain everything later."
Shirou looked at Toole, and she nodded.
Just as the Homunculi were preparing to evacuate, while Shirou and Gordes were about to head for the basement, a chaotic, unsettling noise came from the corridor.
The conference room door opened, and behind it appeared several corpses with pale blue skin and stiff, lifeless faces, shambling toward Shirou and the others.
"Are those... ghouls!?"
Gordes cried out in panic. "Ahh, an enemy attack? Damn it! Is it a Servant? Or those people from the Mage's Association...!"
The red-haired boy beside him said coldly, "They're humans converted by Lancer."
"Huh? You mean Lancer...!?"
Gordes went deathly pale, his legs trembling uncontrollably.
Shirou narrowed his eyes. "So humans have already been killed..."
It made sense. Even if a vampire was far weaker during the day than at night, that would not stop it from attacking defenseless civilians.
If the severely wounded Lancer wanted to recover his Mana, he had to drink blood.
And because his injuries were so severe, he could not convert them into high-ranking vampires. All of the victims had become mindless, low-ranking ghouls instead.
Just as expected...
As Ruler had said, Lancer was an existence that could not be allowed to remain in this world for even another moment.
Shirou closed his eyes in pain. At the same time, blades manifested out of thin air and pierced through the attacking ghouls, cutting them down.
After wiping out the ghouls that had invaded the conference room, the group encountered even more enemies in the corridor, along with Caules and the domestic service artificial lifeforms being besieged by ghouls.
Shirou exchanged a glance with Toole, and the two nodded in silent understanding.
The Homunculus combat unit would clear out the ghouls that had invaded the castle, while Shirou would search for Lancer. The two sides split up.
"Gordes, does this castle have any Mystic Codes that can counter vampires? Something Church-related?"
Shirou did not think he would lose to Lancer, but letting him escape again like he had last night was absolutely unacceptable.
Shirou needed a decisive weapon capable of reliably destroying a vampire, something like the Holy Weapon of Ruler's banner.
"...How were we supposed to know we'd be fighting a vampire in advance? We don't have that kind of weapon!"
"It doesn't have to be a weapon. A Catalyst or holy relic with Mystery will do."
The Magus thought for a moment, then said, "When we were searching for Chiron's Catalyst, we found a fragment of the sword that killed the monster Gorgon...! It should be in the warehouse. It's on the way to the basement!"
"Good. Let's go! Also... you really should think about losing some weight."
Shirou glanced at Gordes, who was following behind him, panting for breath.
The warehouse of the Fortress of Millennia was crammed with items judged useless for the current Holy Grail War.
From within a heap of miscellaneous objects, Gordes dug out a metal fragment stored inside a box.
According to him, this was a fragment of the divine sword used by the hero Perseus in Greek mythology to behead the Gorgon. The "Immortal Slaying Scythe (Harpe)."
It was said that this scythe-like sword possessed the power to nullify immortality, and any wound it inflicted would never heal.
It was with the "Harpe" that Perseus cut off the head of the immortal monster Gorgon.
"Will this thing work on vampires?" Shirou asked suspiciously.
Gorgon... That was the monster that shot petrifying rays from her eyes, right?
Cold sweat ran down the middle-aged Magus's face. "Uh, it should... right? Y-you see, didn't the Gorgon go into a magical rampage and fall into becoming a monster because she drank human blood?"
So Medusa drank blood too? That was the first Shirou had heard of it.
While thinking that he really did need to read more in the future, Shirou stared at the metal fragment with half belief and half doubt, then began analyzing its structure.
The "Harpe."
Although it was called a sword, it seemed to actually be a long-handled scythe.
But that was not a problem for Shirou. His "Projection Magecraft" covered a very broad category of swords.
For example, on one trip with Iri and the others, Shirou had secretly copied the "Vajra" made from the bones of a holy sage and housed inside a temple.
To Shirou, that thing, just like the "Harpe," was a "sword" with the outward form of a spear.
"Done..."
"That fast!?"
Shirou returned the Catalyst to Gordes after storing it away, leaving the man staring at him in disbelief.
Just by observing it up close, he could perfectly reproduce an Immortal-slaying weapon from the Age of Myths?
Gordes felt as if the worldview of Magecraft he had built over all these years was about to collapse.
After leaving the warehouse, the two rushed to the basement that had once been used to store the Greater Grail.
"Tch... Are we too late!?"
In the basement left exposed by Spartacus's Noble Phantasm, there was no sign of Lancer. Only two ghouls were wandering around.
Just as Shirou was about to test the effectiveness of his new weapon on them, a scream came from the great hole above, followed by the sound of breaking glass.
That voice just now had not belonged to an artificial lifeform. It was filled with intense emotion... It had to be Fiore.
"I'll leave these two ghouls to you."
Shirou patted Gordes on the shoulder, then floated into the air.
"Huh? W-wait a minute...! Don't leave me in a place like this!"
Gordes grabbed onto the boy's calf.
No matter how incompetent Gordes was, he was still a Magus chosen as a Master. Two ghouls naturally posed no threat to him.
What he feared was running into even more ghouls, or Lancer himself.
Gordes had always feared Darnic. If he encountered him now as a vampire... he would probably wet himself on the spot.
"If you're also a Master of Yggdmillennia, then fight... Stop relying on Servants and Homunculi all the time!"
Leaving those words behind, Shirou flew straight into the night.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it! Why are all Heroes so... so fond of doing whatever they want!"
Gordes gritted his teeth. "Siegfried was the same... He disappeared without leaving a single word behind! Don't screw with me!! Fine... I'll prove it to all of you! I, Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia, am the finest Magus even without relying on Heroic Spirits!!"
As he spoke, the portly Magus wrapped Mana around his right arm and sent the ghoul lunging at him flying.
...
As the next head of the Yggdmillennia clan, Fiore was the Magus who knew the Fortress of Millennia best after Darnic.
After taking over the Barrier, she sensed the approaching danger a little earlier than everyone else.
Ruler had left with their Servants. Was the enemy aiming for this exact moment?
Fortunately, "Black" Saber had stayed behind in the castle. He was someone she could trust. As long as he was here...
Ah, no! Seriously, I'm relying on someone else again! I can't keep depending on Saber-san!
The girl took a deep breath, then tapped her forehead with her fist, finally regaining her composure.
Her wheelchair moved swiftly and quietly down the corridor toward Fiore's own workshop, where she kept her combat-use Mystic Codes.
Fortunately, Fiore encountered no obstacles along the way and returned to her room without incident.
"Claudere!"
She knew perfectly well that a wooden door could not stop an enemy, but the act of casting a spell itself helped calm her nerves.
Just as Fiore turned her wheelchair toward the suitcase on the nightstand, she suddenly felt an unbearably cold gaze.
"...!"
The girl turned her head, trembling.
What stood in the corner of the room looked like something straight out of a horror movie.
A pale-faced vampire with fangs protruding past his lips stood there.
"Ugh...!"
Fiore was so startled that she fell hard from her wheelchair.
Even as a genius heir to Magecraft, she was still a girl not yet twenty.
After seeing such a terrifying sight, Fiore let out an instinctive scream.
The vampire's expression remained cold. He gave no reaction to the girl's scream and merely looked around the room with great interest.
Was it her imagination?
For an instant, Fiore felt as if there was warmth in the vampire's gaze, as though he were examining the room with deep nostalgia.
"Lancer... no, is that you... Uncle Darnic...?"
The vampire turned his face toward her.
The fleeting warmth and emotion in those murky pupils vanished.
A chill ran up Fiore's spine, and she nervously backed away.
She still had one last resort left, the Command Spell.
But Fiore could not use the Command Spell. Rather, the thought of using it did not even occur to her.
The vampire's terrifying presence had robbed her of even the most basic ability to think.
Lancer, clad entirely in black, asked, "Where is the Holy Grail?"
No matter how much of Darnic's will remained within the vampire's soul, he had already lost all interest in Fiore, the heir he had once poured his heart into nurturing.
In the vampire's eyes, there was only the Holy Grail, the vessel that could grant his wish.
The Holy Grail is not here. It has already been taken away.
Fiore was about to say that, but the words caught in her throat.
If she told him that, the vampire would surely ask where the Holy Grail had gone.
In other words, I would have to betray Saber-san...
Fiore's reason told her that keeping Lancer calm right now was the best choice. With some luck, she might even survive.
But...
No matter what, the girl could not betray the hero who had once saved her and her loved ones.
"The Holy Grail... I hid it. Those people from the Mage's Association were trying to get their hands on it."
Fiore gathered her courage and spoke while moving closer to the suitcase containing her Mystic Codes.
Even if she equipped her Mystic Codes, could she really escape the vampire's grasp?
Fiore was not sure, but staying like this meant certain death.
"Where did you hide it?"
"Ahh!?"
The girl screamed again.
In the blink of an eye, the vampire disappeared from Fiore's field of vision and appeared at her side.
His right hand, with its long, sharp nails, reached toward Fiore's neck.
"Educere!"
Fiore's fingers touched the old prosthetic limb lying out in the open. As danger closed in, she decisively gave up on the suitcase.
What slipped from her lips was the activation Chant (Gate Word) of her Mystic Code. It automatically sensed its master's body heat, writhed like a snake, then instantly wrapped around the girl's back and expanded into four mechanical arms.
"Mars!"
One of the prosthetic arms fired a bullet of light, aiming at the vampire's claws as they reached for Fiore.
It had no effect.
Vlad III's Magic Resistance had not decreased after becoming a vampire. If anything, it had improved.
The magic bullet vanished the instant it struck his arm, as if nothing had happened at all.
"Ugh...!"
The vampire lifted the girl with one hand and repeated his question.
"Where is the Greater Grail?"
"..."
Fiore gritted her teeth and held on while driving her prosthetic limbs into another attack.
Clearly, it was impossible for a mere Magus to wound a vampire at night.
Fiore closed her eyes in despair.
I'm sorry, everyone... I think this is as far as I go...
The girl thought she would be eliminated tonight.
But she had overlooked one thing. The vampire had no need to kill her.
For the vampire, turning the girl into his servant would be enough to dominate her will and learn the Holy Grail's whereabouts.
At that thought, a look of intoxication spread across the vampire's pale face.
The wish-granting machine he had pursued for sixty long years was now within reach.
Although the Holy Grail War was only halfway over, that Holy Grail had been modified by Darnic.
If the wish was small in scale, meaning it did not require changing the world, then forcibly activating it now and granting the wish was entirely possible.
Increase my body, strengthen my body, fill out my body.
A wish of that level should be no problem.
Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia. He had already begun to think of that name as belonging to someone else.
But this man understood that the end result of pursuing the Holy Grail was the fact that he was here now.
So rejoice, Darnic! Your wish is about to come true!
The vampire opened his mouth wide, bared his fangs, and bit down toward the girl's fair, alluring neck.
Then he suddenly felt a powerful killing intent directed at him.
It was the fear called "death," something the vampire had not experienced in a very long time.
Seized by a moment's cowardice, the vampire instinctively leaned back.
With a flash of purplish-black light, Fiore vanished from the vampire's sight.
"Gah...?"
Looking closer, he realized it was not only the girl who had disappeared. His right arm was gone as well.
"Who is it!?"
The vampire roared in fury.
The one who had snatched the girl from his grasp was the red-haired youth who had once fought the Guardian of Romania.
He held Fiore in one arm, while his other hand gripped a scythe connected to a chain.
"You again, 'Black' Saber...! I will kill you!"
"That's my line, Vampire."
The monster that had once been Lancer, now consumed by rage, charged forward with claws bared.
His long black cloak transformed into countless bats, trying to block Shirou's vision, but with one flash of the scythe, the bats were torn apart. This time, they did not return to the vampire's body.
Count Dracula's claws tore through the Barrier Fiore had set up in the room, but the boy leaped back lightly and avoided the attack.
At the same time, he grabbed the end of the chain and swung "Harpe" like a helicopter rotor.
Maybe his experience with the "Blades of Chaos" had come in handy at that moment, but Shirou felt as if this scythe were an old companion.
Although Shirou had the ability to read the memories and experiences of weapons, very few weapons felt as natural in his hands on the first try as "Harpe."
The wildly spinning scythe carved through the air, its Mana-wreathed blade cutting into the vampire and driving him back with repeated screams.
Realizing the situation had turned against him, the vampire tried to retreat, but Shirou would never let him return to harm anyone else.
The chain shot out and hooked the vampire's right leg, dragging him to the ground.
The vampire barely managed to crawl back up, only to collapse again the next instant. This time, the flying scythe had severed his left leg.
The immortal-slaying weapon of Greek mythology, combined with Shirou Amamiya's god-tier swordsmanship, completely overwhelmed the bloodsucking monster.
Even with a vampire's superior physical abilities, he was now like a small boat caught in a storm, battered so badly he could not fight back.
The fact that his severed flesh could not regenerate shattered Count Dracula's confidence and hastened his defeat.
"Ahh! Ahh! Stop... no, no... My Holy Grail! My dream! Nooooo!"
The vampire let out a resentful roar and collapsed heavily to the floor.
Shirou released Fiore's waist and set her down beside the bed.
Then he walked over to the vampire and planted a foot on his back.
"Sorry, I'm not a Father, so I can't offer you a final prayer. But..."
Shirou spoke coldly and raised the gleaming scythe high.
"I'll put you out of your misery right now."
The death scythe traced a beautiful arc through the air.
The head of the vampire, who had once been a devout lord, then a Magus, and finally a monster, flew away.
The headless body released a golden light, the sign of a Heroic Spirit's soul returning to the Throne.
"..."
After leaving behind a resentful wail and a final desperate gasp, the vampire was completely sublimated, not even a trace remaining.
Both the hero who had saved his homeland and the clan leader who had commanded the Magi were dead.
The old king had fallen, and the current king sang his triumph.
"Phew..."
Shirou put away the scythe and let out a long breath.
What a seriously unsettling night. When Ruler came back, he was absolutely going to complain to her.
Suddenly, something slammed into him.
The red-haired boy looked down in confusion and found Fiore had thrown herself into his arms.
"Saber-san! I was so scared...!"
The girl clung tightly to his waist and whispered with a flushed face.
Shirou was speechless. What kind of medical miracle is this?
***
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