"Also…"
Morgan glanced lightly at Gilgamesh. Her red lips parted, her voice calm and certain, "There's no way he would lose to any of you."
"Is that so?"
Gilgamesh quickly revealed a faint smile.
"Then I'll see for myself just what kind of capacity the Saber you believe in has to withstand Rider's Noble Phantasm—"
As his words fell, the space suddenly began to tremble violently.
Crack!
Faintly, it sounded like something was breaking.
Gilgamesh narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the space.
Soon, the cracking sounds grew more and more frequent.
Until finally, the Reality Marble known as Ionioi Hetairoi shattered completely.
———
As for what was happening outside, Sajyou Manaka naturally had no idea.
At this moment, the backyard seemed to be completely covered by some kind of ominous "black mud."
The petite, delicate blonde girl stood quietly in the center of the black mud, her eyes closed as if sensing something.
The structure of the Greater Grail involved the "Third Magic," so even someone as omniscient and omnipotent as Sajyou Manaka couldn't easily analyze or modify its rules.
But if it was just purifying the black mud within the Greater Grail… that wasn't difficult.
In the end, the Greater Grail had been contaminated because of the pollution caused by the death of Avenger in the previous Holy Grail War.
In other words, as long as all the black mud was extracted from the Greater Grail, the problem would be solved.
Of course, it sounded simple, but even Sajyou Manaka needed to put in quite a bit of effort.
As more and more black mud flowed out of the Greater Grail into the backyard, the deep, pitch-black magical energy grew increasingly intense.
If any Servant were to walk into the backyard and see this scene, most would be struck with fear.
The amount of this "black mud" was far too massive. If it were to flow down Mount Enzo into the center of Fuyuki, the consequences would be unimaginable.
And just as Sajyou Manaka was focused on analyzing the structure of the black mud, she seemed not to notice that in the darkness behind her, a figure shifted slightly.
Then, an Assassin wearing a skull mask and holding a dagger silently emerged from the shadows.
Even the Servants outside probably hadn't expected that in this Holy Grail War, a Servant who had been ignored for so long, and whose combat strength was extremely weak, had quietly infiltrated the backyard of Ryuudou Temple.
Step by step, he approached behind Sajyou Manaka, slowly raising his dagger.
Then, he stabbed fiercely toward the girl's back.
Without a doubt, in a normal Holy Grail War, this would have been a fatal strike.
For this moment, the Assassin known as Hassan-i-Sabbah had been lurking since the very first day of the Holy Grail War.
Under the orders of his Master, Kotomine Kirei, he had been secretly gathering intelligence. The identities of all the Servants and Masters, this Assassin knew them like the back of his hand.
Although there were magical barriers set up around Ryuudou Temple by Sajyou Manaka beforehand, for an Assassin, slipping through them silently wasn't difficult at all.
After a series of movements like some kind of acrobatic "dance," he easily passed through layer after layer of barriers and stepped into the backyard of Ryuudou Temple.
And now, he had silently circled behind Sajyou Manaka, about to complete this fatal strike.
Just thinking about it made Assassin grow more and more excited. The dagger in his hand gleamed with an eerily enchanting light in the night.
Ten centimeters.
Five centimeters.
One centimeter.
The blade, infused with magical power, drew closer and closer to Sajyou Manaka's back. The moment it fully made contact and pierced into her, a pleased smile had already appeared beneath Assassin's mask.
Even the strongest Master would have no chance if approached at such close range by a Servant, not even Sajyou Manaka would be an exception.
As the dagger pierced into her back, this Servant was already filled with anticipation. Anticipating how Saber, who was currently fighting Rider outside, would react upon sensing his Master's death.
However, in the very next moment, Assassin's smile froze.
His pupils shrank as he stared at the girl in front of him in disbelief.
The dagger had clearly pierced her back, even through her heart… yet her life showed no sign of fading?
'Why is this happening?'
'More importantly, the feeling is wrong, how can a human body not bleed after being injured?'
'Wait, something must be off. Stay calm… damn it, could it be some kind of illusion?'
'No, impossible… if it was an illusion, there is no way I wouldn't notice anything strange. I am already here, no matter what, I have to kill her!'
After a brief moment of shock, Assassin finally reacted. Magical energy gathered in his hand as he prepared to release his Noble Phantasm.
Whoosh!
But at that moment, the black mud on the ground suddenly surged.
Then, it rushed toward Assassin like a tidal wave.
Assassin's pupils contracted. He dodged in a flash, while a thread wrapped around Sajyou Manaka's arm and yanked her violently!
As the girl was flung out, the dagger slashed forward.
Without any surprise, the blade pierced through her chest.
"Did it… work?"
Seeing Sajyou Manaka collapse weakly into the black mud, Assassin finally let out a small breath of relief.
"What are you talking about, 'work'?"
At that moment, a clear and pleasant voice suddenly came from behind him.
Assassin's body straightened. He spun around sharply.
At some point, within the writhing black mud behind him, a blonde girl had quietly emerged into view.
She wore a pure, bright smile, but to Assassin, it looked utterly terrifying.
After all, even when he had approached Sajyou Manaka earlier, he had tried his best to avoid touching the black mud… yet this girl had practically bathed in it and remained completely unaffected, with no signs of corruption at all?
"Why are you still…"
He spoke in disbelief.
"You're asking why I'm still alive?"
Sajyou Manaka casually twirled a strand of hair around her finger and said lightly, "Isn't that obvious? The black mud beneath your feet can reconstruct a physical body. As long as you use it to form a body and infuse it with magical power… even a Servant with sharp perception wouldn't be able to tell it isn't a real person."
"Even so, if you didn't know a Servant had infiltrated, you couldn't have prepared in advance."
Assassin stared at her, his voice low, "You already knew I was here?"
"No matter what, you're still an Assassin. With Presence Concealment, even I wouldn't be able to detect you."
Sajyou Manaka smiled faintly, "I just had a feeling I might encounter danger ahead of time, so I made a little preparation."
'A feeling of danger in advance?'
Assassin was clearly stunned.
What she said sounded more like predicting the future
'But how is that possible?'
He instinctively wanted to deny the thought, but his gaze wavered as he stared at her.
'Do beings that can foresee the future exist in this world?'
Assassin had never doubted that possibility… but he couldn't connect a young girl in the prime of her youth with something as godlike as omniscience.
But if that were really the case, then who could possibly win this Holy Grail War?
No matter what, he had to inform his Master of this as soon as possible.
Thinking this, Assassin already had the urge to retreat and unconsciously took a step back.
"Isn't it a bit late to think about running now?"
Sajyou Manaka smiled sweetly, "The Greater Grail still needs a few Servant souls to descend, so just consider it a sacrifice for the Greater Grail, Assassin."
Her voice was clear and pleasant, yet her words carried no warmth at all.
Assassin immediately turned to flee.
Sajyou Manaka watched him with a cold gaze, making no move to pursue.
But the black mud beneath his feet suddenly surged upward, like countless tendrils shooting out, quickly grabbing onto Assassin and dragging him into it.
Before he was completely swallowed, Assassin struggled to open his mouth. His voice was filled with fear and despair.
"You… monster…"
His voice faded away, and the disturbance was completely swallowed by the black mud, as if nothing had ever happened.
Sajyou Manaka calmly withdrew her gaze, as if nothing had occurred, and murmured to herself, "With this, the black mud has basically been completely extracted from the Greater Grail."
Next, she just needed to find a way to compress and condense the black mud together, then send it out of Fuyuki.
'Even Saber probably wouldn't have expected me to finish so quickly, right?'
'What kind of surprised reaction will he have?'
Thinking of this, Sajyou Manaka felt a sense of anticipation and turned toward the front courtyard.
But just as she reached the entrance to the courtyard, her steps slowed slightly.
At this moment, several Servants had already gathered in the courtyard. However, there was no conflict like she had imagined, they all seemed to be waiting for something.
'A Reality Marble?', Sajyou Manaka quickly realized something and glanced instinctively toward a certain point in the space.
She could clearly feel the Reality Marble breaking apart.
'Saber is fighting another Servant?'
Just as that thought crossed her mind, she suddenly sensed a particularly noticeable gaze among the crowd.
That person had noticed her presence the moment she stepped into the courtyard.
Sajyou Manaka followed the gaze and looked up, immediately seeing Morgan le Fay, dressed in a luxurious gown, her aura cold and proud.
Morgan quietly sized her up for a few moments, then frowned slightly.
She could sense something extremely "disgusting" from Sajyou Manaka… black mud.
She wasn't the only one to notice this, Artoria beside her had also sensed it.
"Miss Sajyou… you shouldn't have any interest in the Greater Grail, right? Causing such a huge commotion tonight, what exactly are you trying to do?", Artoria spoke up.
Morgan said nothing, only watching Sajyou Manaka with cold scrutiny.
The joy in Sajyou Manaka's heart gradually settled. She glanced at the blonde King of Knights and smiled faintly, "I really am not interested in the Greater Grail… but that doesn't mean I'm not interested in anything."
Morgan, however, replied calmly, "What you're interested in doesn't concern me. Compared to that, I care more about something else."
"Miss Sajyou… how long exactly do you plan to cling to him?"
As Morgan's words fell, the courtyard seemed to fall into silence for a brief moment.
Sajyou Manaka instinctively looked up at the woman ahead. Her platinum-blonde hair flowed down, and her clear, cold eyes quietly fixed on the girl.
Faintly, it felt as though a special kind of magical energy drifted through the courtyard, and the atmosphere instantly became tense, like drawn swords and bent bows.
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