Ryou instinctively stretched out his hand and grasped the gem.
The energy of the gem seemed to have been exhausted; its light faded, revealing a silver-white stone in his palm.
Suddenly, he raised his head and looked at the now-empty Holy Grail altar. Unable to contain himself, he burst into laughter.
One Heroic Spirit had just been eliminated, and the core of the Holy Grail had fallen into his hands.
No matter who sought the Grail, they would have to go through him in the end.
To obtain the final prize right from the start—if that wasn't the mark of a final boss, what was?
If he knew that nearly all the other participants were targeting his head rather than the Holy Grail, how would he feel? Perhaps he'd recite a poem?
Regardless, he now held total control in his hands.
And it was all thanks to his lucky goddess, Medea Lily.
Rewards for merit, punishment for mistakes.
With a smile on his face, Ryou walked over to Medea.
"Master, what are you doing?"
Medea quickly raised her staff in front of herself, eyeing him warily.
"You did great, so I want to reward you."
"No... Ah!"
Before she could refuse, Ryou lifted her and spun her around.
After a while, he finally set her down.
Poor Medea was left dizzy and dazed.
"By the way, I've gathered a big haul of wild game today, so look forward to it!"
Ryou said excitedly.
Ever since he'd absorbed Medea's luck, good things just kept happening.
He couldn't help but seriously consider continuing to absorb her luck from time to time.
If Medea knew what he was thinking, she might've wanted to kill him right then and there.
With the Holy Grail core gone, Medea's original plan was useless.
But who was she? She was a genius magus trained by the ancient Greek goddess of magic, Hecate.
The reason the Three Families had set up the Holy Grail in Fuyuki City was because of the city's spiritual veins—this being its largest and most active one.
All she had to do was modify the Temple functions, switching the source of magic from the Holy Grail to the spiritual vein.
This setup had even more advantages.
Unless someone destroyed the entirety of Mount Enzou, the participating Heroic Spirits in this Holy Grail War would have no choice but to flee into Medea's newly arranged Temple and face Ryou in a severely one-sided battle.
Leaving Medea to modify the battlefield, Ryou returned to Ryuudou Temple and started preparing the mountain delicacies.
...
Two hours later, Ryou used telepathy to summon Medea.
Her face was still flushed from the intense culinary experience.
When she saw her Master looking at her with a long-suffering expression, Medea felt a bit guilty.
"Master, what's the matter?"
Ryou said nothing, just stared at her intently, his gaze somewhat unsettling.
Just as her heart started pounding, Ryou's expression suddenly turned serious.
"The time for playing around is over. We need to prepare to receive our guests."
Medea immediately set aside her frivolous thoughts.
"Master, please give your orders."
Ryou stroked his chin, a cunning smile appearing on his face.
"Since we've already secured the invitation to the final stage... why not put on a show and pressure our enemies into coming to us?"
"Master, are you suggesting...?"
"We'll do it like this..."
Ryou smirked.
Medea's face immediately displayed a (?_?) expression.
"Master, you're too cunning."
"Well, not as much as a certain someone who ate the entire meal alone." Ryou's face showed a kind smile.
Medea involuntarily shuddered, her face turning serious.
"Master, I'll get to work right away!"
"Excellent! Go ahead, and make sure to do it quickly."
Ryou's smile didn't seem to change, but Medea felt like some of the overwhelming pressure had disappeared. She breathed a sigh of relief.
...
Whoosh! Pop!
Ten minutes later, nearly the entire city of Fuyuki witnessed it.
Under the beautiful night sky, countless fireworks shot up from the direction of Ryuudou Temple, exploding with a loud bang and blooming into radiant colors.
"Mom! Look at the fireworks!"
"Huh? Is there some kind of festival today?"
"Such beautiful fireworks!"
Many ordinary citizens stopped in their tracks to watch, chattering among themselves.
However, the real spectacle hadn't started yet.
In the next moment, hundreds of fireworks shot into the sky, forming several massive English letters:
"I WIN"
The other citizens were puzzled, but the participants of the Holy Grail War...
Musashi, who was eating, immediately snapped her chopsticks in half.
The teacup in Rin Tohsaka's hand slipped and fell onto the carpet, spilling fragrant tea everywhere.
Sakura Matou angrily smashed her wine glass into pieces.
At the church, Cu Chulainn twirled his magic spear in his hands, his eyes emitting a dangerously fierce light.
This was a blatant provocation!
They might have retained some rationality... but the very next second, an overwhelming aura of power and battle intent erupted from Ryuudou Temple, shooting straight into the sky.
Ryou stood at the entrance of Ryuudou Temple, brazenly releasing his aura.
For the Heroic Spirits, the message was crystal clear:
Not satisfied? Come fight!
Considering the earlier fireworks display...
The provocation meter was off the charts.
Musashi immediately put down her bowl, ready to rush to Ryuudou Temple, only to be stopped by Shirou after much persuasion.
Rin Tohsaka gritted her teeth in anger, but seeing Archer seriously injured by Musashi Miyamoto, she could only temporarily swallow her rage and focus on speeding up Archer's recovery.
Meanwhile, in the Matou family dining room...
In addition to the three girls from the previous day, a new figure stood behind Miss Shinji. She was a tall, beautiful woman with long purple hair, dressed in revealing black leather and an eye mask.
However, the atmosphere in the dining room was as cold as ice.
This wasn't an illusion—the windows had somehow accumulated a thick layer of frost.
Shinji looked fearfully at her sister, feeling as though she were sitting inside an ice cave.
The bright lights brought no warmth.
Just as Shinji thought she might freeze to death...
"Master, please calm down!"
A cold, emotionless voice broke the silence.
Salter, with a cold expression, looked at her.
Matou Sakura took a deep breath, and the chill in the room gradually dissipated.
"Sorry, Rider, I lost my composure."
Artoria nodded slightly, offering no further comment.
"Like me, my Master is eager to kill that man, but this is a trap set by him."
"You're right. We shouldn't play into his hands..."
A sharp glint suddenly flashed in Sakura's eyes.
"So, I just came up with a good idea..."
Sitting across from Sakura, Shinji secretly glanced at her sister, her eyes filled with a hint of envy.
Unexpectedly, Sakura's gaze fell directly on Shinji.
Shinji jumped in fright, thinking she'd been caught peeking.
But Sakura gave her an unreadable smile.
"So, now it's time to ask for your help, dear sister."
"W-What do you need?"
Shinji's face showed a fearful expression, worried that her devilish sister had come up with some new way to torment and manipulate her.
"Please head over to Musashi Senpai's house and keep an eye on his every move... This should be something you'd want to do, right?"
"Well, since you put it that way, I guess I'll go."
Shinji's tone was reluctant, but the joy in her eyes was obvious to anyone.
Sakura's eyes flashed with amusement before she turned her gaze to Medusa behind her.
"As for Assassin, I'll have you go to Tohsaka's house and keep an eye on my foolish sister."
Medusa glanced at the blue-haired girl, Shinji and, seeing no objection, gave a slight nod.
"And you, Rider, come with me to the church. I've heard the church has a new overseer. It's about time we visit them."
A cruel glint flashed in Sakura's eyes.
...
At the same time, at the church Sakura mentioned, Cu Chulainn was walking out with his hands in his pockets.
"And where do you think you're going? Wasn't getting injured last time enough? Are you planning to throw your life away this time?"
A cold voice suddenly rang out. A small figure with silver hair, dressed in a nun's habit, emerged from the shadows.
Her voice was pleasant but incredibly sharp, to the point that even the great ancient hero Cu Chulainn couldn't stand it.
"You're so annoying, woman! Since the other side has issued a challenge, isn't it only natural for me to accept?"
"First of all, let me correct you. I'm still a pure nun, so don't address me as a woman. Of course, if your eyesight is as bad as an amoeba's, feel free to ignore me. Also, with your love for fighting, is your origin that of a wild dog?"
Watching her small mouth continuously spout venom, Cu Chulainn felt as though his head was about to explode.
He decided that the dumbest thing he had ever done in his life was responding to this girl's summon.
"I'll be right back!"
After throwing those words behind him, Cu Chulainn dashed off at lightning speed.
The nun stood there quietly, watching the bustling city of Fuyuki in the distance, lost in thought.
As if venting his frustration from the encounter with the nun, Cu Chulainn sprinted across the entire city of Fuyuki in just a few minutes, arriving at Ryuudou Temple.
Running up the long stone steps, he ascended like a bolt of blue lightning.
Within seconds, the gates of Ryuudou Temple came into view.
The moment Cu Chulainn passed through the temple gates, a transparent membrane appeared in the air.
Cu Chulainn, not paying it any mind, crashed right through it.
Rip!
There was a faint sound like paper being torn.
Suddenly, Cu Chulainn felt an invisible shackle bind his body.
He immediately felt heavier, and his reflexes slowed significantly.
It felt like his magical energy supply had been cut off, leaving him weak.
After passing through the temple gates, he saw a vast open courtyard leading to the main hall.
At the center of the courtyard stood two figures, as if they had been waiting specifically for him.
One was a young man dressed in black, and the other was a girl wearing an ancient Greek priestess robe.
"I didn't expect the first fool to charge it would be you. But that's fine—no, it's great."
At this moment, the young man in black spoke, and what he said next left Cu Chulainn stunned.
"This should be our first time meeting, right, Senpai?"