Kiyohime, though confined within the magic circle, showed no signs of tension. Instead, she carefully observed the battle unfolding outside.
The fight beyond was utterly one-sided. In mere moments, everyone except Diarmuid was tossed inside, making the interior of the magic circle quite lively.
"Let me out at once! I must follow Jeanne!"
Gilles shouted, relentlessly assaulting the edges of the magic circle with his weapons, but his attacks proved utterly futile. Even in his current state of fervent madness, such zeal held no sway against absolute power.
Not far away, a girl who appeared to be only eleven or twelve years old glared at them. She even sat on the steps, swinging her legs back and forth, looking utterly relaxed.
From the intelligence gathered from Kirei Kotomine, this little girl was from the Einzbern family.
Perhaps due to her confinement, or maybe because she had no desire to engage with the deranged Gilles beside her, Kiyohime truly felt that Gilles now resembled a Berserker more than she did. To avoid interacting with him, she chose to converse with the girl over there, who was likely Illya.
"Why are you cooperating with this person? Don't you want to claim the Holy Grail for yourself?"
"I don't need the Holy Grail." Illya shook her head outright, her words crisp and direct, as if the Holy Grail held no appeal for her whatsoever.
This attitude left Kiyohime momentarily stunned. She quickly followed up: "The Holy Grail can grant your wishes... any wish at all. Don't you have something you want to see realized?"
If she could persuade this girl to shatter the magic circle from the outside, they might still escape. Thus, she desperately hoped to win her over.
Yet Illya shook her head again: "I don't need to rely on the Holy Grail to fulfill any wishes. Or rather, the Holy Grail can't fulfill mine."
Illya's words stunned Kiyohime once more. She struggled to comprehend the meaning behind them.
What did she mean, that the Holy Grail couldn't fulfill her wish?
Kiyohime, of course, had no knowledge that the Holy Grail's emergence would mean Illya losing her sense of self, leaving no chance whatsoever to make a wish upon it.
As she pondered how to convince the girl to dispel the magic circle on her behalf, another man's voice rang out: "Quite the lively scene."
It was a blue-haired man in a T-shirt, seemingly unfazed by the cold. He glanced at the imprisoned group, chuckled, and handed the cup in his hand to Illya.
"Here, the hot cocoa you asked for."
"Thank you." Illya expressed her gratitude, took the cup from him, and sipped it gently, her face lighting up with contentment.
The newcomer was a Servant... and a Lancer at that!
In an instant, Kiyohime discerned his identity, which only heightened her wariness.
"Wasn't the Lancer supposed to be dead? Why is he still here?" Kiyohime's mind swirled with growing confusion. At that moment, Hassan of the Hundred Faces... who had been laboring alongside Gilles to breach the magic circle's seal... glanced at the man and murmured doubtfully: "Cú Chulainn?!"
Hassan of the Hundred Faces had already learned from Kirei Kotomine that the fallen Lancer's true identity was Cú Chulainn.
But if Cú Chulainn was dead, then who was this before them?!
"That's me. Are you all serving under Kirei Kotomine now?" Cú Chulainn remarked, shaking his head. "No way, right? Adding several new Servants all at once, and all under one Master? That's just too..."
As he spoke, he suddenly recalled how nearly all the originally summoned Servants were now working under Morpheus. He realized his speculation might actually hold water.
According to Morpheus's account, the Holy Grail's purpose was to absorb Servants, sealing them temporarily in the state they would assume upon returning to the Throne of Heroes. This would stabilize the passage from the present world to the world's outer side.
With several Servants now incapacitated for battle, it was entirely plausible that the Holy Grail had hurled the required ones onto Morpheus's opposing side... all assigned to a single individual.
"So, the Holy Grail truly possesses its own consciousness..." Cú Chulainn muttered softly to himself, then eyed the magic circle encircling the group and smiled. "Unfortunately, with this magic circle in play, the Holy Grail won't be achieving its objective."
At that instant, Diarmuid entered. Without hesitation, he stepped directly into the magic circle. This sight prompted Kiyohime to gape before asking: "You surrendered?"
Gilles, meanwhile, interrogated him even more vehemently: "Why not fight? How does this cowardice bring Jeanne back?!"
"I have no connection to Jeanne." Diarmuid frowned as he replied, then disregarded the clearly unhinged Gilles, turning his gaze toward Morpheus.
Those eyes unmistakably conveyed: "Don't forget what you promised."
Morpheus smiled, then parted his lips and began chanting the incantation.
This expulsion magecraft formula was one Morpheus had employed before... against Gilgamesh, no less... so he wielded it now with practiced ease.
Under the veil of mystic power, a passage tore open... not via the Holy Grail, but rent by a far superior force. This energy cleaved a rift between the present world and its exterior, forging a pathway. Then, another mighty surge enveloped the four within the magic circle, hurling them straight toward the fissure!
Even if the Holy Grail sought to intervene now, it was powerless; its influence was utterly barred outside. The magic circle's interior and exterior had become realms utterly distinct. The captives within were swiftly drawn into the rift, commencing their return to their respective seats in the Throne of Heroes.
As Morpheus carried out this task, he continued monitoring Illya, watchful for any shifts in the girl's condition.
Thus, with the four cast into the breach, no alterations manifested in Illya either... a discovery that allowed Morpheus to breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
"That was far too easy; it didn't feel like a Holy Grail War at all." Illya took a sip of her hot cocoa and offered her critique. "Unc, couldn't you have given them a fighting chance? It needs to be a close match to be entertaining!"
"I'm not directing a television series or film; there's no need for evenly matched foes."
"But I'm the audience here!"
"Then keep watching at your leisure... I've got matters to attend to, so I'll be off!" Morpheus shook his head with a smile and headed outside.
He intended to visit the church and investigate what the Caster-class Gilles was up to.
If the other was arranging sacrifices, he had to eliminate him before any victims came to harm!
***
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