Where's the promised harem of Heroic Spirits? Why is it all just me?

She had indeed had enough. Ever since she was summoned, she had been treated as a mere tool by the man in front of her, and even the battle plan was handed over to Irisviel.

Kiritsugu Emiya never thought of winning the Holy Grail War through normal means. From the beginning to the end, he was implementing some sinister strategies.

Emiya Kiritsugu didn't look at Altria and finished bandaging her ear as if nothing had happened.

Just at this moment, the table suddenly shook again, but this time it was not because of Altria's fist.

The crystal on the table flickered like a warning signal.

"Here it comes..." Kiritsugu whispered.

"What?" Altria was stunned.

Kiritsugu did not answer her, but stood up from behind the table and walked towards the door step by step.

Altria realized that this guy had done something again without telling her, and she followed him with a frown.

No matter how unhappy you are, you must protect him. After all, this is the Holy Grail War, and the existence of the Master is the cornerstone of the Servant's existence.

.

"Thank you for accompanying me here, Kirei." Tōsaka Tokiomi stood in front of the Einzbern Castle, expressing his gratitude to his proud disciple.

"Do you need me to accompany you later?" Kotomine Kirei asked with a frown.

"No need. After all, you just had a fight with Emiya Kiritsugu yesterday. In order to make the negotiations go smoothly, I have to put you in an awkward position." Tōsaka Tokiomi said gracefully, "Shouldn't you catch your plane?"

"..." Kirei was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Then I'll be leaving first."

With that, he turned and walked into the jungle, leaving Tokiomi standing in front of the castle, straightening his clothes.

Just as he entered a position where his figure was hidden, Kirei turned his head silently and looked at Tokiomi's back thoughtfully.

A lit Command Seal was stored on the back of his hand, glowing faintly.

.

The person who opened the door was not Kiritsugu, but his assistant Maiya. She brought Tokiomi into the castle and came to Kiritsugu who was sitting on the sofa in the living room.

Altria stood behind the sofa, looking at Tōsaka Tokiomi's face with an inexplicable look.

"You unlocked the hidden barrier set up around the castle and released magical fluctuations. I guess it was to invite us to meet you." Tokiomi maintained his composure and sat down in front of Kiritsugu first.

"...My wife has been kidnapped by Black Archer. I need your help to rescue her."

Emiya Kiritsugu lit a cigarette in front of Tokiomi, which made Tokiomi's eyelids twitch.

This guy has absolutely no manners and no respect for magic.

If I didn't need to promote this alliance, I probably wouldn't come here even if I died.

"Oda Nobunaga is invincible in Japan, but Archer is very interested in her. With my help, she will definitely win." Tokiomi smiled.

"Didn't Archer tell you?" Altria suddenly asked from behind Kiritsugu.

"what?"

“…Nothing.” Seeing that Tokiomi really seemed to have no idea, Artoria looked away.

If it wasn't for the fact that the golden servant didn't have the patience to wait until last night's result, then their relationship wasn't very good, perhaps even worse than that between Artoria and Kiritsugu.

At least if Altria had any information, she would report it to Kiritsugu no matter how unhappy she was.

She was inclined to the latter. After all, although Gilgamesh was unwilling to join the battle that night for some reason, he did seem very interested in their outcome.

The moment Altria turned around, she caught a glimpse of a light in Kiritsugu's eyes.

It seems that he was able to find out the opponent's strengths and weaknesses with just one test... What was he thinking?

"You come to our magic workshop alone, aren't you afraid that we will take action?" Seeing that Artoria was quiet, Kiritsugu asked in a low voice.

"Of course not, after all, we are in the same group." As he spoke, Tokiomi tilted his head, deliberately letting them see the window behind him. "However, Archer really cares about me and insisted on protecting me outside."

“…” Artoria raised her head. Outside the window was a dense jungle, and no heroic spirit could be seen.

She couldn't imagine Archer's personality being such that he would hide to protect his Master. Considering the fact that they didn't even share information, Tokiomi was most likely bluffing.

Apparently, despite appearing calm, something must have happened that made Tokiomi anxious, to the point where he even resorted to bluffing in order to visit Kiritsugu in person.

What exactly is it?

Although she couldn't guess it for the time being, Artoria felt a lot more relieved. Tōsaka Tokiomi was the local boss of Fuyuki. Since he wanted to form an alliance, it would undoubtedly be the biggest help in finding Irisviel.

"boom--"

While Artoria was still thinking, the whole castle suddenly shook violently, like an earthquake.

The dust from the ceiling fell slightly, causing the people who were still talking to interrupt their conversation.

"It was an enemy attack. Someone directly triggered the castle's defense system." Kiritsugu reacted and stood up from the sofa.

After hearing Kiritsugu's explanation, Artoria immediately jumped up, holding the sword in her hand.

"It seems that the meeting needs to be suspended first." Tokiomi said calmly, but his fingers were clenched on the hem of his clothes, and sweat was oozing out of his palms involuntarily.

Outside the castle, the black knight was flung away by the outer barrier of Einzbern Castle like a hand that had accidentally touched an electric mosquito swatter.

He landed on the ground, his feet leaving a trail in the mud.

“Ah——” He raised his head and let out a sharp roar, then raised his hand and smashed a sapling beside him with one punch.

Artoria walked out of the castle, holding up her holy sword. "Unknown Servant, where do you come from?"

Unexpectedly, upon seeing Artoria, the Black Knight's body seemed to be on fire, and his anger was poured with a spoonful of oil, burning even more fiercely.

The red light of his eyes lit up in the helmet wrapped in black mist. He picked up the sapling, and at that moment, the whole sapling turned into a black treasure.

"Ah--!!!" Roaring, he rushed towards Artoria.

The sapling in the knight's hand hit Artoria like lightning, and the Knight King quickly raised his weapon to block it head-on.

The soil under her feet was pressed down, and the powerful blow of the stick made Altria's palm numb.

Why does this scene seem familiar?

Lancelot was much stronger than Mordred at the beginning. He continued to exert force, forcing Artoria to step back to avoid the blow.

The stick hit the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

"Who are you?" Artoria frowned.

On the city wall behind them, Kiritsugu and Tokiomi stood together, staring intently at the battle scene below.

"Berserker? Isn't he dead?" Tokiomi stared at the current situation on the battlefield in a daze.

"Berserker?" Emiya Kiritsugu grasped the key point.

He had learned about the Black side's configuration from Artoria. It was reported that the Black side's Berserker had appeared before.

During that team battle, a pink servant with sharp horns and fighting with a hammer appeared, and fought against groups of assassins together with the black team.

The Servant who was fighting with Artoria clearly didn't look like a girl, and Saber didn't look like she had ever seen him before.

"Isn't it time to send Archer out for reinforcement?" Kiritsugu suddenly spoke again.

Of course he guessed that Tokiomi hadn't brought any servants with him, but it was better to test things more often to draw a conclusion.

"Archer will only attack those who offend him and those who hurt me." Tokiomi looked calm and composed. "You've seen how he behaves, right?"

He just didn't come at all.

Kiritsugu put his hand in his pocket.

In the ever-changing battlefield, all plans can be adapted to changing circumstances.

Kiritsugu counted the Heroic Spirits that had left the stage so far. As far as he knew, starting with the Red Lancer, there were four of them, two each from the Red and Black sides.

Although it appears to be equal, the actual situation is much more complicated than this "appears".

Tōsaka Tokiomi's Servant is undoubtedly the most powerful among the remaining ones.

Originally, Kiritsugu recruited people to investigate Irisviel's whereabouts with the help of others. He even deceived himself, and even Artoria was willing to believe that he thought so.

But the actual situation is much more complicated. There is only one person who can hold the Holy Grail. Moreover, Kiritsugu's plan is just to make the Holy Grail appear.

As the Lesser Holy Grail, as the Holy Grail War continues, Irisviel's death is only a matter of time.

As long as the Holy Grail appears as soon as possible, what does it matter if Irisviel can't find it?

It also saved him from having to watch her die with his own eyes.

Kiritsugu Emiya hesitated and struggled for many days. He exhausted himself and immersed himself in self-blame every day, not because he could not find Irisviel.

Instead, he was torturing himself, forcing himself to accept it, and forcing himself to give up the love in his heart for his long-cherished wish.

Sometimes, it is necessary to sacrifice the self for the sake of more important things and abandon some meaningless details.

He slowly pulled the pistol out of his pocket, preparing to attack Tokiomi.

First crippled his limbs, then forced him to order Archer to commit suicide before killing him.

No, this is not safe. It is entirely possible that he can summon the Servant directly through the Command Seal. It is better to kill him directly. In such a short time, even if Archer finds someone else to sign a contract, without this experienced magician Master, the combat effectiveness may be greatly reduced.

Just as Kiritsugu drew his gun, he noticed Tokiomi suddenly took out a petal.

what is that?

Tokiomi crushed the petals, much faster than Kiritsugu could draw his gun, and a beam of magical light shot towards the horizon at the speed of a laser.

"What is that?" Kiritsugu's heart sank.

"It's not just you and me who want to form an alliance to defeat Oda Nobunaga." Tokiomi turned and looked at Kiritsugu, "I'm gathering them...Mortal weapons are useless in a battle between Servants, not to mention there's no magical aura."

"..."

The second half of Tokiomi's words clearly showed that he had seen the weapon in Kiritsugu's hand, but he seemed to think that Kiritsugu wanted to support Saber.

Is it true belief in oneself, or is it the arrogance of a magician?

Kiritsugu put away his gun.

Now that we can gather allies, it might not be worthwhile to kill Tokiomi now.

On the battlefield, just as Artoria and Lancelot were still fighting head-on, a breeze suddenly blew, and flower petals fell between them like raindrops.

"Father!" A muffled voice sounded because it was covered up. Artoria turned her head and saw a fully armed knight descending from the sky on a sea of ​​flowers.

142. For Faith

Two days ago, after the team match he had finally organized suffered a disastrous defeat, Tokiomi fell into despair and anxiety.

At this moment, Caster suddenly appeared and said that he could organize an alliance against the strongest enemy. This alliance could cover either side, after all, the opponent was the most dangerous and unstable one.

At that time, Tokiomi was still hesitant.

"We just had a fight, right? It's not that easy to cooperate."

Perhaps because he was upset, he expressed his concerns to Caster directly.

But the white-haired Servant always maintained a perfect smile: "We are only enemies because of the Holy Grail War, but the relationship between us can still be good."

As she said this, she handed Tokiomi a petal.

"When you need help from your allies, crush it. But it's best to do it when you need help, okay?"

"..."

Tokiomi accepted the petals. He urgently needed to break the situation, regain his prestige, and... rescue Sakura who was missing.

Last night, after Kiritsugu attacked Kotomine Risho, as a private ally, Risho told Tokiomi everything that happened and the outcome.

He figured out that Emiya Kiritsugu was the real Master of Red Saber, and he also knew that Kiritsugu was looking for his lost wife, which meant that he had to ask me for help.

After all, who made Tokiomi the only local tyrant left in the entire Fuyuki?

Even if Tokiomi actually knew nothing, it would not prevent him from using this to gain an advantage in the negotiations.

Therefore, he dared to enter the territory of Emiya Kiritsugu, who was famous for his despicableness, alone, in order to establish his authority and prepare for the leadership position in the alliance... although it did not actually have the effect of establishing his authority.

Flower petals rolled into the battlefield from the jungle, like dry ice special effects on the stage. Looking at Mordred who rushed out first, Tokiomi was deeply impressed.

No wonder Caster was so lazy in the previous battle. Was it because he was planning to form an alliance behind my back?

Tokiomi was not angry about this. After all, he had not yet established his leadership in the Red Team, so their actions could not be considered as betrayal.

However, after getting rid of the most dangerous Oda Nobunaga, we will have to deal with the complicated relationships between the various parties.