"Will anyone really fall for this trap? It feels like a waste of gems."
Medea asked as she watched Roland take handfuls of gems from a jeweled golden jar and throw them on the ground carelessly as if they were bait.
"If it were a normal person, they probably wouldn't be fooled, but unfortunately, if it was that goddess who came, and the object of possession was Tohsaka Rin, we should just treat her as an idiot. Look, isn't it coming?"
Roland looked at the brightly lit search device and smiled mysteriously.
——
"Ishtar!"
When she found that the other party seemed to be searching for her as well, Tohsaka Rin began to call for her Servant.
Suddenly, she changed from a powerless little girl to a Servant capable of crushing ordinary magicians. The change was so fast and hidden so deeply that even the shrewd Zouken Matou failed to detect it.
However, Tohsaka Rin's heart is still filled with gloom.
This was not only because of his own carelessness, but also because of the unchanged expression on the face of the enemy in front of him.
From the beginning, this guy knew about the existence of the Servant! He came prepared!
"Ma Anna!"
As a pseudo-servant of two in one, Ishtar also understood this, so she did not attack the opponent immediately. Instead, she let her spirit suit attack autonomously, and grasped the dagger that was like a symbol in the ceremony, swung her hand and slashed at the blue-gray arms that stretched out from the shadows.
In close combat, Ishtar, who can fly freely, is not inferior, but she must consider the condition of Tohsaka Rin. Being entangled like this will be too disadvantageous for the subsequent battle.
But before her weapon could touch those arms, they naturally melted away and turned into a quagmire-like darkness, stretching out ropes made of shadows and entwining around her body.
"Damn it!"
One wrong step leads to another. All the actions that caused you to lose the initiative due to greed have now paid their own price.
While she still had time to move, Ishtar crushed another gem, allowing a huge amount of magic power to linger around her, forming a barrier to resist attacks and helping her break free from the shadow-like rope.
Fortunately, Ma Anna was released at the first moment, and the opponent could only attack once at most. Next, it was time to return to our own rhythm and let the enemy understand what the wrath of the goddess Venus is!
But the mysterious enemy walked straight up to her without any regard for the attack from above.
The attack shot from the spirit bow like a cannonball was blocked by the invisible barrier around it before it touched Roland's body.
Seeing the caster suddenly appear and follow closely behind Roland, Ishtar finally realized the seriousness of the situation.
Not caring about the noise, Ishtar gritted her teeth and injected all of her magic power into the spiritual suit in the sky with the help of the invisible connection. She wanted to replicate the bombardment that wiped out the Matou family. Even if it would affect herself, it was better than falling into the hands of the enemy.
But Roland didn't even turn his head, he just spoke calmly.
"Berserker."
A swift black shadow leaped up from the ground like a cheetah and grabbed the spiritual suit that was accumulating power. The dark red magic power corroded it and turned it into a longbow, but in essence it was Tianzhou's spiritual suit, causing it to let out an unbearable whine.
Although she may not be able to use its functions as skillfully as Ishtar, but in front of Lancelot, who can turn everything in his hands into his own treasure, the knight will not die with his bare hands. Maanna can only be used by him like a mallet and wastefully.
"Human, remember this!"
Seeing this scene, a trace of anger flashed in Ishtar's pupils, and the shadow rope began to break under the surging magic power, but the purple magic chain quickly took over this role and burst into strange electric light, suppressing Ishtar's struggle.
"If you are too careless, this will be the end of you in the Holy Grail War. However, it is really terrible. Being bound like this, a normal Servant would have lost the ability to resist long ago. The magic power in your body is still surging. Master, it seems that you can't trap her for long."
Medea looked at the deflated Ishtar and said with some sarcasm.
"Who cares about the Holy Grail? It's just like the Great Cup of Uruk. Although I am tempted, I would rather wait for the offerings from mortals than the troubles associated with it this time!"
Hearing such a naive idea, Roland sneered and took over the conversation.
"It doesn't matter whether you have this idea or not. The key is that you have the ability to fight for the Holy Grail, just like the Tohsaka family will seek the church as an ally, right, Tohsaka Rin?"
When she heard Roland calling out her name, the anger in Ishtar's red eyes was gradually replaced by confusion and bewilderment. She looked at Roland's face for a long time before revealing a look of surprise.
"It's you, the big brother from the convenience store... You're also a Master..."
Perhaps because the memory of being caught buying chocolates was too deep, after a period of time, Tohsaka Rin still had an impression of Roland. But because of this, Tohsaka Rin felt even more uneasy. Although it was not a secret, the dangerous Master in front of her, whose purpose was unknown, had seen her and her mother, and knew their identities very well.
"Master, there are some problems." At this time, Medea also came over and observed the state of Tohsaka Rin. "In the servant state, their souls can also be transformed. This is a very deep level of possession. When I use my treasure to cancel the contract, it will also release the restraints on them. If this goddess is unwilling and still resists by force, it will be very troublesome."
"Humph, of course. I wasn't born from a formal summoning, but I chose Rin to make a contract because of the compatibility of the Holy Grail. Are you scared, human? In consideration of the offering you made before, if you can offer another one of equal weight, I would consider forgiving your disrespect just now."
"What a greedy goddess," Roland laughed dumbly, and slowly walked towards the bound Ishtar and raised his index finger.
"Hey, rude human, what do you want to do? I am a goddess, I cannot be a Servant. If it is not my own will, even if the contract is terminated, as long as I am unwilling, I will merge with Rin at a deeper level. No matter what conspiracy you have, it will not succeed..."
"Unless your body is destroyed as well?" Roland sneered. Such a cruel statement made Ishtar pale.
"It would have been more convenient to do it this way, but luckily I have a simpler method. You should be thankful that there is something useful left in that worn-out wisdom."
"What do you want to do?"
Ignoring Ishtar's words, Roland looked at Ishtar and muttered to himself: "First, let the owner of this body regain the initiative...Tohsaka Rin, Sakura is in my hands now, do you want to see her?"
"Where is she!"
The anxiety and guilt accumulated throughout the night turned into eagerness, causing Tohsaka Rin to switch into the main personality of this Servant's body. This was exactly the opportunity Roland had been waiting for.
He pointed his index finger at Ishtar's forehead, and under the flow of magic, a dark mark formed on his fingertips. After he finished outlining it, the chains that bound Tohsaka Rin disappeared instantly.
But along with it, Tohsaka Rin's spiritual outfit was also shattered.
"ah--!"
She turned back into the little girl in a red coat and pigtails, and fell steadily into Roland's arms from mid-air.
"Ishtar?"
Grabbing Roland's clothes, Tohsaka Rin subconsciously called out to her reliable partner, but there was no response from the goddess in her mind.
Holding the little girl in his arms, Roland smiled warmly and began to explain.
"Don't worry, she's fine. I just trapped the goddess' soul in your body. She can still hear and see everything you've experienced, but she can't come out anymore. Although most of the remaining rituals are black magic, I know a thing or two about air magic itself."
Tohsaka Rin looked at the road mirror at the corner of the street. On her forehead, a pitch-black Chinese character was quietly staying in the center.
As a well-educated top student who had been exposed to Chinese studies at a very young age, Rin Tohsaka recognized the word.
——That is, anger.