Chapter 76

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief as they watched the sea monster disappear in the glow of the Sword of Promised Victory.

"Phew, that battle was quite tough." The chariot of the Conqueror King landed on the ground, and even the divine bull that controlled lightning was panting heavily.

"I have never dealt with magic in my lifetime, so this was quite an eye-opener." Kenshin sheathed his fully bladed sword; the battle had been quite draining for him, who lacked endurance.

"Thank you all for helping me deal with Caster, this evil heretic. Now..." The King of Knights didn't finish her sentence as Shin looked at Lancer with a troubled expression.

"Excuse me, Lancer. I have some bad news for you." Hearing Shin's words, Lancer immediately became tense.

"What is it? What happened?"

"Your current Master, Sola-Ui, has had her right hand cut off by a woman named Kirei Kotomine. If you hurry, you should be able to catch up with her." Shin's communicator displayed a surveillance video from the base, showing Sola-Ui being taken away by a woman who looked like an assassin. The woman was equipped with modern weapons, and the Master using modern weapons in this Holy Grail War was likely the King of Knights' Master. Diarmuid looked at the King of Knights with a suspicious gaze.

"I swear by the name of a knight, my Master's actions are not related to me." Understanding the situation, Artoria declared her stance and stepped aside.

"Go and save your Master, Lancer. I still look forward to our battle." Kenshin urged Diarmuid. Seeing that the Servants were not taking advantage of the situation, Diarmuid bowed slightly to thank everyone and then spiritized to rush to Sola-Ui's aid. The King of Knights also bid farewell to Shin and others, and left with Illyasviel in the limited-edition Mercedes. Now, only Shin's group remained at the Unfar River.

"Shin?" Seeing that Shin didn't move, the Conqueror King called out curiously.

"… It seems Lancer couldn't save Sola-Ui…" Shin shook his head helplessly a few seconds later. On the communicator's screen, Lancer was frantically searching the place where Sola-Ui had been, but only a small pool of dark red blood remained, indicating that the attacker had left some time ago.

"Unfortunately, the King of Knights' Master will likely use interrogation to make the proxy Master reveal Lancer's true Master's location. That girl will probably suffer." The Conqueror King said with a regretful expression, seeing that Lancer couldn't find Sola-Ui.

"Perhaps Sola-Ui has already revealed Kenneth's location. The silver car the King of Knights is in is now heading towards the abandoned factory where Lancer and his group are." Shin turned to Waver. "Waver, do you plan to save your lecturer?"

Caught off guard by Shin's sudden question, Waver couldn't answer immediately. Since joining the Holy Grail War, he had hardly contributed much. His Servant was the legendary Conqueror King, possessing an EX-ranked army-class Noble Phantasm, making him one of the strongest Servants in the history of the Holy Grail Wars. His ally was an unknown magician who didn't have a family crest, but was incredibly powerful. Even Servants that magicians were almost impossible to defeat were no match for him, and his knowledge was vast, far surpassing even the most learned lecturer Waver had ever known, Kenneth. Even if Waver found Caster's workshop, his ally had probably already discovered Caster's location and only mentioned it after seeing Waver send Rider to fetch water, perhaps to give Waver a chance to show his worth. But Waver thought such an opportunity was better not taken.

Waver joined the Holy Grail War to prove his strength and talent to the stuffy lecturers at the Clock Tower. With a powerful Servant and ally, he could win the Holy Grail War safely if nothing went wrong. His ally had no interest in the Holy Grail and wouldn't compete with him, but such a victory would be a disgrace to Waver. A victory by mere luck wouldn't prove anything, and the Clock Tower people would likely say, "Waver? The guy who got lucky in the Holy Grail War?" He thought his ally would handle everything, but now his ally was asking him a crucial question.

"I… Uncle Tendou, you decide, I…"

"I just want to hear your opinion. Based on my estimation, the King of Knights' Master, Kiritsugu Emiya, will send Saber to fight Lancer. With Sola-Ui as a hostage, Lancer won't be able to fight effectively. Moreover, even without Command Spells, Diarmuid will still follow Kenneth's orders due to his stubbornness. Another possibility is that Kiritsugu will use Sola-Ui as a bargaining chip to make Kenneth sign a self-compulsion clause, forming an alliance between Lancer and Saber. After all, the Golden King's strength is unknown but is at least stronger than the King of Knights. With two Servants openly allied and me, we can easily defeat Saber, so Kiritsugu must be restless."

"… I think, for Kiritsugu, once Kenneth's Servant is killed, to prevent Kenneth from finding a new Servant, Kiritsugu will… No, even though the lecturer was harsh on me, he is still my lecturer, and one of the people I want to prove my talent to and make look down on me. So…"

Although Waver didn't finish his sentence, everyone understood his meaning. The Conqueror King laughed and ruffled Waver's hair.

"Hey, big guy, what are you doing?"

"Ha ha ha, Waver, you've finally grown. When you first summoned me, you mentioned your lecturer with fear, but now you speak about him openly and boldly in front of the Conqueror King and Shin. The change in your demeanor is impressive, even to me, the Conqueror King of Istvan."

"Where, I just expressed my thoughts." Waver looked embarrassed at Shin and the others, waving his hands in the air.

"No, Waver. To boldly express your thoughts without fear or tension shows that you have the capacity to lead people. Back then, the Conqueror King told his soldiers to find the edge of the world and see the infinite sea Oceanus, a seemingly impossible task, yet it gathered countless followers to explore the unknown." Yae Moon walked behind Waver and encouraged him with a gentle voice.

"…" Seeing everyone say this, Waver could only avoid further discussion by not responding, but he was secretly very happy. Being recognized by Servants and top magicians truly fulfilled his wish for joining the Holy Grail War.

"So, our next strategy is to prevent the alliance between the King of Knights and Diarmuid. If possible, we'll bring both sides together. Archer's strength is beyond my imagination, and the King of Knights' Sword of Promised Victory can be very useful."

"Alright, Shin, kid, Kenshin, and Miss Yae, get in the car. Let's continue our conquest, hahaha." The group boarded the Divine Chariot, and the divine bull, stepping on lightning, pulled the chariot into the sky, heading towards the abandoned factory in the suburbs...

PS: I'm thinking of writing some side stories... Otherwise, some important characters that appear later might be confusing for some readers...

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