As soon as that happened, Alvin immediately called out "Aaa" toward Tiamat in the air, summoning her back to his side.
Tiamat looked at Alvin with shining eyes, wearing an expression that clearly said "Praise me! Praise me!" completely unaware that the two men already had headaches from this situation.
Because the black mud inside the Greater Grail was mixed with the Sea of Chaos, Merlin originally believed Tiamat would easily devour all the "black mud" inside the Greater Grail.
However, even Merlin had not expected Tiamat's true body to already be close to awakening. If outside forces disturbed her further and her true body woke up, then the most troublesome thing would no longer be the Beast in Fuyuki.
"At this point, we can only think of another way."
After a brief silence, Merlin sighed.
"No matter what, the priority of the Mother Goddess of Creation is higher than the Beast in Fuyuki. Her true body absolutely cannot awaken."
As he spoke, he rubbed his forehead with a headache.
Before one problem had even been solved, another had already appeared.
At that moment, Tiamat poked Alvin's arm.
She took out her small notebook from her chest.
[Did I not do well?]
When she asked this question, her eyes were filled with unease and worry, as though she feared Alvin might blame her.
Seeming to notice what she was thinking, Alvin could not help laughing.
"You already did very well. I'll think of a way to handle the rest."
As he spoke, he gently patted Tiamat's head.
Tiamat raised her head and stared into the boy's eyes. Only then did a smile appear on her dazed-looking face.
[If there's trouble, you can keep calling for me.]
After writing those words in the notebook once again, Tiamat's figure quietly disappeared.
Mount Enzo gradually returned to silence.
Looking toward the dark night sky, Merlin sighed, "I'll think of another solution after I go back. No matter what, we can't just leave that juvenile Beast alone."
A juvenile Beast and a complete Beast were two entirely different things in terms of destructive power.
'But if even Tiamat could not "purify" the Greater Grail, then who else could devour this "black mud"?'
For a while, Merlin fell into deep thought.
———
Not long after Alvin and Merlin left Mount Enzo, a purple-haired woman quietly appeared on the summit.
She coldly swept her gaze across the outer area of Mount Enzo.
Dense red threads spread throughout the mountain. As long as a mage or Servant stepped into the area, the barrier would resonate with the magical energy inside their bodies and trigger the alarm system.
"As expected of Britain's court mage, even Assassin would have trouble entering a place like this, huh?"
'Matou Sakura' looked toward a certain direction on the mountaintop, and a mocking curve soon appeared at the corner of her lips.
"But in the end, he's still just a Servant summoned by the Greater Grail."
If she wanted, she could forcefully break through the detection barrier and enter Mount Enzo right now.
But since the enemy had already left, there was no need.
Without even thinking, she knew the White Dragon had probably tried to completely devour the "black mud" inside the Greater Grail not long ago, only to fail.
But that was normal.
What existed inside the Greater Grail now was no longer "All the World's Evil," but something mixed together from black mud, the Sea of Chaos, and a massive amount of negative emotions.
Only she in this world had the qualification to devour such a thing.
"You can count yourself lucky. If you had run even a little later. Hmph!"
Thinking this, 'Matou Sakura' seemed to imagine something amusing, and a smile quickly appeared again.
"But even if you escaped now, sooner or later you'll still belong to me... Senpai~"
It was impossible to tell whether the voice belonged to Matou Sakura or the Beast.
———
That same night, Alvin quietly returned to the Tohsaka residence. He originally planned to rest for the night before making further plans.
"Where did you go?"
At that moment, a clear girl's voice suddenly came from beside him.
Alvin turned his head and saw Tohsaka Rin in pajamas with her long hair hanging loose.
There was no expression on her face, and her gaze toward the boy looked somewhat complicated.
Clearly, after receiving Alvin's "answer" tonight, Tohsaka Rin had no desire to sleep at all.
"I looked into the identities of the enemy Servants and Masters a little. There are still quite a few Masters hiding in the dark right now," Alvin answered naturally with a smile.
"I see," Rin replied.
Then came another long silence.
"Sorry," After a long while, Rin finally broke the silence.
Her expression was complicated. She hesitated for a moment, then under Alvin's puzzled gaze, unconsciously looked away.
"No matter what, I shouldn't have forced you with a Command Seal."
"?"
Alvin tilted his head, looking at Rin as if he were seeing her for the first time.
'This Rin... did someone switch her account?'
'She actually apologized on her own... That really is rare.'
"Why are you looking at me like 'this person actually apologized on her own'? It took me a lot of effort to make up my mind!"
Rin's cheeks turned red. As if giving up entirely, she raised her head and met Alvin's eyes.
"You've helped me a lot before, so using a Command Seal over something like this really wasn't right, okay?"
"And even if you really do have some kind of relationship with Sakura, I don't have the right to interfere. It's her own choice."
By the end, she unconsciously lowered her head. For some reason, her mood felt strangely heavy.
Even after getting the answer she wanted tonight, she did not feel relieved at all.
Back in Britain, she had already met Alvin before, so Rin believed she understood him to some extent.
At the very least, his character passed her standards. Even if he truly was in a relationship with Sakura, she could not really criticize him for it.
"Why are you apologizing?"
At that moment, she suddenly heard the boy's puzzled voice beside her.
Rin froze slightly. Confusion appeared on her flawless face.
"Because I used a Command Seal on you—"
"You're Sakura's sister. It's normal for you to worry about her."
Alvin said helplessly.
"And if anyone should apologize, it should probably be me... I kept this from you the whole time."
Rin stared blankly at the boy in front of her.
She saw Alvin step half a step closer, then under her gaze, he reached out and gently stroked her head with a smile.
"And you're my Master... Using one Command Seal is nothing."
'It was just a bit wasteful.'
Alvin kept that last sentence to himself.
Their eyes met.
For a brief moment, Rin's gaze seemed dazed.
Only after a while did she suddenly snap back to herself. She hurriedly took a small step back and nervously played with her hair while stammering, "Y-you... Even though we're Master and Servant, since you're dating Sakura... when we should keep our distance."
By the end, she gradually calmed down and lightly took a breath before slowly letting it out.
When Rin raised her head again, her usual elegance had already returned to her face.
She smiled and said, "If Sakura saw this, it might cause unnecessary misunderstandings."
Clearly, for her sister's sake, Rin had even decided to deliberately keep her distance from Alvin.
Alvin took in all of the girl's reactions without missing anything.
He silently looked at her.
After a long while, under Rin's stunned gaze, he reached out and pulled her soft body into his arms.
And just like that, the elegant smile on the eldest daughter of the Tohsaka family froze completely.
———
[Einzbern Castle]
"This really is troublesome. Taking action won't work, but if we do nothing, we're just waiting to die. How exactly are we supposed to deal with that Greater Grail?"
At that moment, Merlin, who had just returned to the castle, had a splitting headache.
Leaning on his staff, he sat on the staircase covered with a red carpet, holding his forehead in deep thought.
"What's wrong, Caster? Why does your expression look so terrible after going out?"
At the end of the stairs, the silver-haired girl tilted her head slightly and looked at the white-haired mage in confusion.
"Did you run into some Servant even you couldn't handle?"
"The thing giving me a headache is related to this Holy Grail War, but it's not because of a Servant."
Merlin sighed.
"If we don't solve the 'black mud' inside the Greater Grail, there's a question of whether this Holy Grail War can even continue normally."
"All the World's Evil..."
Illya muttered softly, then suddenly asked, "Did you meet Nii-chan tonight?"
"How did you know?"
Merlin looked up in surprise and stared at the silver-haired girl in disbelief.
"I could roughly guess. After all, he was the last Servant alive in the previous Holy Grail War. He understands the danger of the black mud better than anyone, so it's normal for him to want to get rid of the thing inside."
"But with Rin's Magic Circuits, she probably can't let him display his best strength," At the end, Illya sighed with some regret.
Merlin smiled, "Sorry for taking up your precious slot. But just so you know, Merlin-nii here isn't inferior to Alvin, okay?"
As a Grand candidate, after being summoned this time, he had been repeatedly disliked. Even though Merlin had no heart, he still felt a bit defeated.
Just what had Alvin done to his Masters during the last Holy Grail War? The four Masters in this war all seemed to have a strange attachment to the White Dragon.
If not for the hidden threat of the "Beast," Merlin seriously doubted whether the upcoming Holy Grail War would turn into a battle over Alvin.
"And even if you found Alvin now, he would never agree to become your Servant," Merlin continued.
"I know. But if I really wanted to, it's not impossible."
Illya gave a light snort and took out a thin book from her chest.
Merlin's eyes narrowed slightly, and he almost blurted it out immediately, "The Rule Breaker Book?"
———
[Matou Residence]
Matou Sakura returned to her room like a ghost, without making a sound.
Thinking back on everything that happened tonight, the girl let out a quiet sigh.
"Looks like I need to speed things up."
In the past, in order to let the Beast of Desire complete its "evolution," she had always hidden in the shadows while damaging the purification barrier and constantly collecting the "emotions" of the people in this city as food.
But now Merlin and Alvin already knew the secret of the Greater Grail.
'At this rate, it will not take long before they start suspecting me, right?'
'If he learns my true identity... he will probably be disappointed.'
'I have to completely transform before that happens.'
Matou Sakura hesitated for a long time before finally raising her fingertip.
Buzz!
The faint sound of insect wings flapping spread through the air.
Looking carefully, one would discover that in the snowy night, countless insects were currently pouring out from the worm storage and flying toward every corner of Fuyuki.
'Ten thousand desire insects... They will "add fuel" to the couples in this city.'
[🙇🏻 You Can Support the Story Through P@tr3on—AmbitiousTranslator. It also has 40+ Chapters of all the novels and fanfics. Thanks for reading~]