I, Kenneth, am going to get to the root of the problem today.

Page 23

“Morgan le Fay!! Alice, don’t let her out of my sight. Contact Kiritsugu. I might not be able to handle her.”

"Sa...Saber, I can't reach Kiritsugu. Could it be that you...?"

Seeing Artoria shake her head, and her magical energy surge forth, Irisviel's expression instantly turned serious. She immediately stood beside Artoria, following her steps, and Irisviel moved slowly towards the open space. At the end of the forest, a figure that bore a seven-tenths resemblance to Artoria gradually became clear. (Don't ask why seven-tenths; it's just that I can't afford a full A-cup.)

"Morgan le Fay, are you the Caster of this Holy Grail War?"

With a wary and alert tone, Morgan's body trembled slightly. She had imagined the scene of meeting Artoria countless times. Even with Aozaki Aoko's encouragement, Morgan's heart was in turmoil when she actually saw Artoria. She raised her head and, in the tone of a thousand years ago, stared directly at the tense Artoria.

"How foolish I am! If you want to kill me, then hate me, resent me, and live a wretched, ugly life, constantly running away, just to survive. Then, one day when you have the same power as me, come and face me!"

Aliya: (?_?)......?

Aozaki Aoko: Oo? Pfft—!! Hahaha...

Irisviel: σ(???*)???

An eerie silence fell over the air. Even the crows frozen in mid-air seemed to utter the word "fool." Beneath the veil, a fair face resembling Artoria's was flushed with red. In a moment of impulsiveness, Morgan now only wanted Aoko to delete the previous timeline.

"Are you kidding me, Morgan?!"

Artoria's tone grew increasingly unfriendly. Realizing that her foolish older sister Morgan was completely unable to treat her younger sister with a normal attitude, Aozaki Aoko, acting as a competent wingman, stopped laughing wildly, rubbed her slightly sore cheeks, and hopped to stand beside Morgan.

"Well, you must be the Master of the Einzbern family. How about we follow the rules of the Holy Grail War: Servant against Servant, Master against Master?"

Faced with Aozaki Aoko's suggestion, Irisviel immediately looked at Artoria, whose face was full of wariness. Seeing that Artoria was about to refuse, Morgan, whose IQ had returned to normal, immediately said loudly:

“Artoria, I swear as the princess of Britain that I will never lay a hand on the lady beside you in the battle to come.”

With her eyes narrowed, Artoria immediately scrutinized Morgan, who was standing in front of the castle, upon hearing Morgan's oath.

"Morgan, so what if you swear an oath as heir? I am absolutely..."

"It's alright, Saber. My presence here will only distract you. Since she swore an oath using that identity, I think she would never lay a hand on me. Besides, I'm very strong, trust me!!"

Propping herself up, Irisviel showed Artoria some muscles that didn't actually exist. Faced with Irisviel's plea, Artoria looked Morgan over for a while before nodding with difficulty. With Artoria's permission, Irisviel turned to look at Aozaki Aoko, who exuded a relaxed aura.

As the crown jewel of the Einzbern family, Irisviel was extremely confident in her magical abilities. Giving Aozaki Aoko a provocative look, Irisviel turned and walked into the woods behind her.

Noticing Irisviel's provocation, Morgan almost lost his composure. On the surface, he, Morgan, was the Caster and Aozaki Aoko was the Master, but Morgan knew Aozaki Aoko's strength better than anyone else. This Einzbern homunculus really only buried herself in researching the Third Law and didn't care about anything else.

Sensing Morgan's unusual behavior, Artoria's vigilance suddenly rose to a new level. She nodded to Aozaki Aoko, and Morgan turned and walked in the opposite direction from the forest.

"Let's go, make some room for the Master, it wouldn't be good if he got hurt in the process."

Not understanding Morgan's meaning, Artoria showed a surprised expression. At this moment, Artoria thought to herself: Morgan is actually worried about accidentally hurting his Master.

Seeing that Artoria was reluctant to move, Morgan, who also didn't understand her thoughts, assumed that Artoria was worried that she had tampered with the arena beforehand. A pang of sadness flashed in Morgan's eyes, and he said earnestly:

"I didn't mean anything by it. If you think the venue I chose is not suitable, then you can decide for yourself. As long as it's away from here, it's fine."

With her eyes closed and following her gut feeling worth a few stars, Artoria chose a direction and started walking. Morgan glanced at Irisviel's back with pity and followed Artoria's steps, keeping a suitable distance from her.

"Morgan, whatever your schemes are, I will absolutely not let you succeed!!"

Faced with his younger sister's wariness, Morgan felt a mix of emotions. Through the veil, he gazed at the girl opposite him. After thinking about Aozaki Aoko's words of advice, Morgan's tone softened with a touch of warmth.

"Lily, I know it's hard for me to gain your trust now, but right now, I just want to be your older sister. Can you call me 'older sister' again, like when we first met?"

"Bang!!"

Under Morgan's outrageous and outrageous words, Artoria, who had been repeatedly attacked on the mind, smashed the holy sword she was holding in her hand to the ground. Immediately afterward, realizing that she had been influenced by Morgan, Artoria quickly picked up the holy sword and assumed a defensive stance.

On the grass where you could hear a pin drop, Artoria's heart pounded violently. Her peripheral vision kept scanning every corner that Morgan could use to launch a sneak attack. Artoria's nerves were stretched to the limit.

A few minutes later, feeling slightly relieved, Artoria turned her pale green eyes to Morgan, who was still standing in the same spot.

"Morgan, what exactly are you plotting? I absolutely won't fall for it! Bring it on!!!"

Realizing that his image in Artoria's mind had collapsed to the extreme, Morgan sighed and slowly raised his hands to indicate that he meant no harm. However, it was Morgan's salute that completely enraged Artoria. She pushed off the ground with her feet and retreated dozens of meters in an instant as Morgan raised his hands.

Morgan: ...

The expected attack did not come. Noticing Morgan's military salute, a blush flashed across Artoria's face. A feeling of being toyed welled up inside her, but due to Morgan's bizarre magic, Artoria could only suppress her anger and stand still with her sword.

"Are you mocking me, Morgan?!"

Faced with Artoria's wariness that practically screamed "bad woman," a weary Morgan rubbed his temples and sighed. At this moment, having figured everything out, Morgan truly wanted to go back in time and strangle that crazy version of himself who was blinded by hatred.

Chapter Fifty-Seven: The elder sister is affectionate, but the younger sister is indifferent.

scumbag woman.jpg

Unlike the sister in Einzbern Castle who was in love but the sister was not, after planting the bomb, Emiya Kiritsugu confirmed with Hisau Maiya that Karna was still in the suite before heading towards the staff staircase.

In the dimly lit stairwell, just as Kiritsugu Emiya reached the second floor, the assassin's nerves began to twitch. Before Kiritsugu's body could react, thick blood instantly splattered all over the walls.

"Inherent Time Control - Three Times Speed!!!"

Just before the golden light slashed towards his head, the world in Kiritsugu Emiya's eyes slowed down instantly. He watched as drops of blood slowly flew past his eyes. As he sprinkled the blood from his severed arm onto Karna, he broke through the window and fell to the ground.

"Inherent Time Control - Four Times Speed!!!"

With a warning from his sixth sense, Kiritsugu Emiya, who had accelerated his own time by four times, dodged the bullet fired by Kairi Shishikage with a movement that defied human anatomy. As he landed, he pressed the detonation button and rolled into the chaotic crowd.

"Maimi, immediately..."

"bump!!"

Gunshots rang out again. Before the explosion could be heard, Kiritsugu Emiya looked towards the building where Maiya Hisau was hiding. Through the night, Kiritsugu Emiya clearly saw a figure falling from the sky.

Before Kiritsugu Emiya could think, the sense of crisis struck again. Enduring the excruciating pain of his hemoglobin burning, Kiritsugu Emiya activated his Time Control again, lifted the manhole cover, and crawled inside.

"Tch! What a nuisance! No wonder he's that infamous guy!"

After completely losing sight of the target, Shiki Jie Li retrieved his sniper rifle and quickly withdrew from the scene.

"Lord, I messed up. That magician assassin got away."

Carrying his guitar case, Shiki Jie Li evaded the security guards who came after hearing the noise and entered the elevator downstairs. With the help of magic, Shiki Jie Li left the heavily guarded building without any hindrance.

"It's alright, you did a great job. Now it's my turn to fight. Your plane ticket is ready. Lion, you go back to the Clock Tower first. We've made progress on the curse. Now you just need to fully cooperate with Orange's analysis."

"I understand, Lord! I will await your triumphant return at the Clock Tower!!"

Suppressing his inner turmoil, Shiki Jie Li pledged his loyalty to Kenneth before destroying his workshop with explosives and heading to the airport as instructed by Kenneth.

Hanging up the phone and looking at the severed arm before him, Kenneth, who had been deep in thought, showed a relieved expression.

"Master, it was my mistake."

Although he didn't understand why his gun hesitated for a moment when it was aimed at Kiritsugu Emiya's neck, Karna, as the most perfect Servant, would never use such reasons to shirk his responsibility.

"It's alright, Lancer. That guy's got a tough life. God isn't on my side. I'm already satisfied that I managed to cut off his arm."

Seeing that Karna still looked guilty, Kenneth patted Karna on the shoulder and said in a serious voice:

"Since you mind so much, Lancer, then do your best to win the Holy Grail for me. You should know that it's very dangerous to stay by my side."

"Master, I will not break my promise!!"

A smile played on Kenneth's lips as he looked at the Command Seals on his severed arm, feeling increasingly confident about the upcoming Holy Grail War.

Meanwhile, facing Artoria's rapid and fierce sword attacks, Morgan, who had completely lost the will to fight, could only passively defend against Artoria's slashes.

"Lily, do you know? I used to hate you, I always saw you as the enemy who stole my throne, and I always tried to stop you with the most despicable means. Even now, I still don't understand why I became like that..."

Faced with Morgan's incessant chatter since their first meeting, and not wanting to be misled by his lies, Artoria completely ignored Morgan's words. As if unaware of Artoria's attitude, Morgan had at this moment transformed into a nagging old woman.

"I was stupid, I was really stupid. I never realized what I wanted, Lily, I'm sorry."

The ahoge on her head twitched. Artoria could ignore what Morgan had said before, but she could not ignore Morgan's apology. Her pale green eyes narrowed, and Artoria subconsciously began to interpret Morgan's apology with malice.

"What exactly are you plotting, Morgan?!"

With a raised hand, a barrier of magic blocked Artoria's slash. A gust of wind lifted her veil, revealing Morgana's face, which was identical to Artoria's.

“I’m sorry, Lily. I don’t expect you to forgive me. I just want to hear you call me ‘sister’ one more time. You know, Lily, before I brought you into Avalon, I imagined countless times the exhilarating feeling of revenge, but I was wrong.”

"When I saw you on your deathbed, I felt neither the satisfaction of revenge nor any sense of peace. At that moment, I was lost. An unprecedented emotion welled up inside me. I didn't know what it was, but I knew I was in great pain!!"

"Since then, I left Avalon and have been wandering the earth for centuries, tormented by that pain. During this time, I did many things, but my only thought was to see you one more time..."

The veil was blown away by the raging wind, and Morgan looked into her tear-filled blue eyes at Artoria, who remained vigilant.

“A dozen days ago, a magician summoned me. I sensed your presence and responded to the summons. It was only a few days ago, through Aoko’s words, that I understood what my feelings were. It was guilt, my guilt towards you.”

"Ah, when did it start that I began to hate you? How could I have forgotten something so important? From the day I forgot, my life has been nothing but hatred. Why is this happening? You were the one I loved most—you training with Kai, you sneaking food into the kitchen, and you even helping civilians when you finally had a chance to rest..."

……

Artoria's hand holding the sword sank, and she had to admit that her heart was in turmoil again. In just one night, Artoria had suffered too many shocks. Regardless of whether Morgan was telling the truth or not, she, upholding the code of chivalry, really couldn't bring herself to attack Morgan, who had completely given up and surrendered. The holy sword hung above Morgan's head, and the ahoge on Artoria's head shook violently with its owner's inner turmoil.

"what do you want to say in the end."

Maintaining her wariness of Morgan, Artoria's pale green eyes were filled with turmoil as she placed the holy sword against Morgan's neck. Her capable voice carried a hint of complexity as she opened her tightly closed eyes, and Morgan's vision became completely blurred.

"Lily, all I want to do now is be your older sister. Are you still willing to accept me, the older sister who ruined everything for you?"

With a choked voice, Morgan, who had finally opened her heart after a thousand years, collapsed to the ground, ignoring the cut on her cheek from the holy sword. Morgan tried her best to control herself from crying out loud.

Karna's revelation and Morgan's frankness completely overwhelmed Artoria. With Artoria's single-minded chivalry and the indelible blood ties, she simply couldn't bring herself to swing her sword.

Seeing Morgan in tears, Artoria's ahoge (cowlick) started spinning rapidly like a propeller. Just as Artoria was struggling with her dilemma, a clapping sound rang out from her side.

“Well said, Morgan, you’ve finally spoken your mind.”

Looking in the direction from which the sound came, Artoria immediately met Aozaki Aoko's gaze.

"Miss Aozaki, are you telling the truth? I never imagined that Saber's sister really only wanted Saber's forgiveness."

"Alice, you..."

When Irisviel met Artoria's gaze, she tilted her head and stuck out her tongue as Aozaki Aoko used the pretext of an alliance to arrest her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Saber, I couldn't beat this Miss Aoko."

As the vessel for the Lesser Grail, Irisviel felt that her safety was not a concern before the war ended. Facing Aozaki Aoko, who didn't seem like a villain, Irisviel suppressed her worries in order not to reveal too much information. Staring at Irisviel, who had a childlike face and no sense of crisis, Artoria felt her small breasts start to hurt.

Chapter 58 Kiritsugu Emiya's Temporary Departure

At this moment, the atmosphere became awkward. Morgan was slumped on the ground sobbing, Irisviel had no sense of being a prisoner, and Aozaki Aoko and Artoria were staring at each other with wide eyes.

Looking at Irisviel, who was directly discussing the alliance with Aozaki Aoko, Artoria felt she needed to do something.

"Master of Caster, if possible, how about we exchange prisoners?"

"Huh? Artoria, what are you talking about? When did I become a prisoner? We're allies!!"

Before Aozaki Aoko could even speak, the clever Irisviel, who was focused on extracting information, immediately shut down Artoria's trade request. Veins bulged on her forehead, and with a deep breath, Artoria placed her sword against Morgan's neck while looking at Aozaki Aoko, the threat in her eyes unmistakable.

Indeed, even though she was influenced by Morgan's words, Artoria, who was deeply manipulated by Morgan, would not easily trust him. No matter how sincere Morgan's words were, Artoria would not let down her guard against him.

"Caster, it seems you've left quite a shadow on your sister. You'd better treat her better from now on!"

"What do you mean?"

Seeing Artoria's confusion, Irisviel wanted to remind her of something, but the next moment, before Artoria could react, Aozaki Aoko's figure appeared in front of Artoria like a lagping slideshow.

"Actually, I really don't want to interfere in your sisters' affairs unless it's absolutely necessary."

With a touch of his fingertip to Artoria's brow, Artoria, in her Servant form, was suddenly frozen in place. At that moment, apart from her active thoughts, Artoria could not feel the existence of her own body at all.

Watching Artoria fall victim to the attack at the same speed as herself, Irisviel silently turned her gaze aside, snapped her fingers, and the timeline that had been stripped from the castle was restored, allowing the sounds of night to once again flood into the group's ears.

Now, Artoria finally understood what Morgan meant by "stay away." The magician in front of her was definitely a monster far beyond the level of a Servant.

However, there was no time for Artoria to regret it. A feeling of weakness washed over her, and Artoria, her eyes wide open, immediately realized one thing: her contract with Kiritsugu Emiya had been severed!

"Did you feel it? Looks like that guy succeeded too. I won't say anything more. From now on, you are all my prisoners!! Ahahaha!!"

"Oh dear, Miss Aoko, have I become a prisoner too? Didn't we agree to coexist peacefully and form an alliance?"

After tapping Irisviel on the head, Aozaki Aoko quickly tossed Irisviel and Artoria, who were tied up like dumplings, into the back seat, and put the still-crying Morgan in the passenger seat. Aozaki Aoko, who had been itching to get her hands on the car, stepped on the gas and sped everyone out of the Einzbern family's castle.

"Hahaha, that's the speed! Great car, no wonder it's a limited edition sports car!!"

With another press of the accelerator, the Mercedes 300SL crashed through the highway guardrail and took a shortcut. The tears on Morgan's face also hit the roof of the car in the weightless feeling of the rapid descent.

"Ah—!! Aoko, slow down, slow down!! There's a cliff below!!"

"Hahaha, I've wanted to do this for a long time! Don't worry, I've already upgraded this car. I'm a seasoned driver!"

‘Boom! ! ’

With a dull thud, the Mercedes 300SL crashed heavily onto the gravel. Irisviel and Artoria, who had been thrown into the back seat, were slammed against the door frame by Aozaki Aoko's 'exquisite' driving skills. The sports car's taillights were lifted high by the violent impact, and the spinning wheels kicked up a puff of white smoke before sinking into the gravel. After a screeching tire burn, the black Mercedes turned into a black shadow and 'whooshed' away.