The Conqueror King's offhand question plunged the atmosphere in Kayneth's underground workshop into an awkward silence. Apart from Waver's occasional groans, none of them could pinpoint the whereabouts of the magician Aoko Aozaki.
"...Karna, take this artifact, remain in spiritual form, and do a few laps around Fuyuki City," Kayneth said after some thought. "When you spot the King of Knights or Miss Blue, contact me immediately."
"Understood, Master!" Karna took the artifact Kayneth handed him and immediately set off, vanishing into spirit form within the workshop.
"...As for you, Rider," Kayneth continued, "you'll handle the security around the workshop. I need to prepare an elixir to keep Waver alive."
Kayneth rubbed his weary forehead and returned to his alchemical station to get back to work.
...
The Holy Grail War had reached its fourth day. So far, only Berserker had been eliminated. To activate the Greater Grail, at least five Servants' souls were still needed.
Aoko and Touko have another Servant in their possession, but the Servant's nature is so malevolent that his involvement would only further corrupt the Grail. Thus, they continued to confine the Avenger.
According to Aoko's plan, in this Holy Grail War, all Servants—apart from Artoria and King Solomon—were merely fuel to activate the Greater Grail.
No matter how legendary their lives had been or how tragically they had died, none of it mattered to Aoko. She had no intention of showing mercy for any reason.
However, Aoko bore no particular grudge against the other Masters. Even someone like the eccentric Kiritsugu Emiya—so long as he didn't provoke her—wasn't worth her effort to eliminate. Killing a mercenary with a questionable mindset wasn't high on her priorities.
News from Marisbury suggested that Solomon's Great Temple was nearing completion. He proposed moving the Greater Grail there once its leyline charging was complete. That way, no matter what schemes their opponents devised, their alliance would be invincible.
Initially, Aoko had reservations about transferring the Greater Grail to Solomon's territory. But after careful consideration, she concluded there was little to fear from such a move.
As Aoko pondered, her familiar, Stark, returned. After wolfing down some food quickly, it began reporting on its reconnaissance findings.
"Kiritsugu Emiya's Servant is a pointy-eared woman, caw caw," Stark said. "A floating castle has risen from the ruins of the Einzbern estate."
"Oh?" Aoko's interest was piqued. "Was the Servant dressed in a black gown?"
"Yes," Stark nodded. "They fought a major battle last night. Kayneth's disciple was injured by a bullet. It seems Tohsaka Tokiomi and Kiritsugu Emiya have formed an alliance. Even Gilgamesh provided support to that female Servant last night."
"...Should I commend this guy for his strategic insight, or laugh at him for screwing up at a critical moment?" Aoko mused. One thing was certain: Kiritsugu Emiya was not a reliable ally. Aoko was 100% sure this double-crossing man would eventually stab Tokiomi in the back.
After several consecutive missions, Stark was now visibly exhausted. Having devoured the food and water Aoko provided, it burrowed into her familiar pouch and fell fast asleep. It seemed it wouldn't be able to work again anytime soon.
Aoko returned to the main hall of Ryuudou Temple, where Touko was busily making final adjustments to Mash's body.
In treating Mash's defects, Touko had gone to great lengths, even using her trademark Mystic Codes and techniques to replace some of Mash's original organs with artificial ones. This would prevent Mash from suffering organ failure as she matured.
Additionally, drawing upon Einzbern's research, Touko creatively further fused Mash's Galahad spirit origin with her physical body.
In terms of fusion level, Mash had evolved from a Demi-Servant to something akin to a three-quarters Servant.
"How's it going, Touko? Mash?" Aoko asked as she approached the experimental table, where Mash lay wearing a hospital gown. "Feeling better?"
"Yes, Miss Aoko!" Mash responded cheerfully. "After Miss Touko's treatment, I feel so much lighter! It's like all the fatigue I had accumulated has been wiped away."
"Hmph, the original Chaldea technology used on you was just awful," Touko remarked disdainfully. "The spirit origin synthesis experiment they performed on you was barely functional and on the verge of collapse—a completely amateurish job."
"Ah, um..." Mash faltered, unsure how to respond to Touko's harsh critique.
While she had indeed suffered greatly in Chaldea, there had also been many who sympathized with her and cared for her. For instance, Dr. Roman had always shown her great concern, and Mash knew that many within Chaldea had made sacrifices to protect her.
Mash was content with her current state—or rather, her expectations for the future had always been modest. Until meeting Ritsuka Fujimaru, she had never even dreamed of seeing the world beyond Chaldea.
Mash valued her current companions deeply and was willing to fight to protect them. They were the entirety of her world, and she would give everything she had, even her life, to keep them safe.
This was the core reason behind Mash's ability to wield Galahad's spirit origin and the Round Table Shield to their fullest potential. Without her unwavering resolve, she wouldn't have been able to withstand Goetia's Noble Phantasm.
Only the purest of hearts could fully unleash the power of such a heart-driven Noble Phantasm, where the strength of the shield depended on the strength of the heart.
"Let's not dwell on unpleasant matters," Aoko said casually, waving her hand. "Touko, get ready. We may need to move the Greater Grail to Marisbury's workshop."
"Did something happen?" Touko asked. "Handing over your trump card to someone else isn't like you."
After Aoko shared Stark's intelligence with her, Touko began pacing, lost in thought.
"No wonder I sensed the revival of True Ether last night," Touko murmured. "It seems the Einzberns have been hiding quite a bit from us."
"Acht only cares about activating the Greater Grail and achieving the Third Magic," Aoko shrugged. "Who accomplishes it is irrelevant to him."