Kiritsugu Emiya looked deeply at Ren Isana and spoke in a low voice, "What exactly do you want?"
Since it wasn't that kind of intent, what was the point of specifically bringing up Irisviel and his daughter? Kiritsugu stared intently at Ren Isana, his mind racing with a thousand thoughts.
How did Ren Isana know he had a daughter? He didn't recall meeting the man, and he hadn't even told anyone about joining the Einzbern family as a son-in-law.
Was it Maiya Hisau? Looking at Maiya Hisau, who was immobilized by Ren Isana's constraints, he quickly dismissed the idea. It couldn't be her; Maiya would never betray him, and she didn't look like she'd been hypnotized.
"Put Irisviel down. The Holy Grail War is already over. You wouldn't want Irisviel to lose her life because of the Holy Grail, would you?" Ren Isana looked at Kiritsugu Emiya calmly.
He wondered how the man would choose. The departure of just three Heroic Spirits had already caused Irisviel to fall into a deep coma. If more Heroic Spirits were eliminated and their Magic Power returned to the Greater Grail, Irisviel would likely dissolve on the spot.
"Are you here for the Holy Grail?" Hearing this, Kiritsugu Emiya looked down at the unconscious Irisviel. After a long silence, he slowly said, "I understand."
Just as he finished speaking, Irisviel's body began to twitch. Another surge of Magic Power flooded into her. Ren Isana sensed it and realized Da Vinci-chan had finished her part.
Seeing this, Kiritsugu knew that if things continued, Irisviel might die right here. Having lost all hope of obtaining the Holy Grail, Kiritsugu couldn't help but say, "If you can, please save her."
Ren Isana was somewhat surprised to hear the Magus Killer ask him to save Irisviel. Who would have believed such words would come from him?
After saying that, Kiritsugu placed Irisviel on the ground, threw his weapons aside, and stepped back with his hands raised. His intent was clear: he would not resist.
Resisting when one knew victory was impossible was just a death wish. If one wanted to die, they might as well put a gun in their mouth; there was no need to resist like this.
Kiritsugu's immediate surrender caught Ren Isana slightly off guard. Since the man was being so cooperative, Ren stopped giving him a hard time. He walked over to Irisviel and, seeing her pained expression, began to think of how to extract the Holy Grail from her heart.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Just as Ren was pondering the problem, the universal Da Vinci-chan arrived. She appeared beside him out of thin air, and Ren's eyes lit up the moment he saw her.
"Da Vinci-chan, I'll need your help with this. Could you extract the Holy Grail for me? I'm not very good at this sort of thing." With the universal Da Vinci-chan here, why would Ren need to stress?
With his external brain online, Ren Isana could just relax. He'd leave the rest to the universal Da Vinci-chan; she would provide the perfect answer.
Hearing Ren's request, Da Vinci turned her gaze to Irisviel. She nodded and said, "That's actually quite simple. It won't be difficult at all."
As she spoke, she explained the principles to Ren and immediately began working on Irisviel.
Kiritsugu, standing aside, had been listening to their conversation. When he heard Ren call out that Heroic Spirit's name, he truly fell silent.
He had naturally heard of the [Universal Man]. Coupled with that Morgan, Ren Isana essentially held a pair of jokers in his hand while being four-of-a-kind in deuces himself. It was an unwinnable game.
Ren Isana didn't know what Kiritsugu was thinking. In just a few minutes, Da Vinci extracted the Holy Grail hidden inside Irisviel's body. Ren nodded at the golden cup.
"Next, we go to the location where the Greater Grail is hidden." This Lesser Grail was just the key to opening the Greater Grail, used to absorb Magic Power. Once full, the Greater Grail could be accessed directly.
To fill this Grail with Magic Power, at least six Heroic Spirits—meaning the Magic Power of six Servants—were required. However, that wasn't a problem for Ren Isana.
To be honest, Ren could fill the thing up by himself. So, the remaining three Servants weren't needed. Besides, Ren wasn't about to use Morgan to fill the Grail.
"Does Master have a wish he wants to grant?" Da Vinci looked at Ren with curiosity. The Holy Grail was known as an omnipotent wish-granting machine, though it seemed a bit underwhelming to her.
"I don't have any wishes it can grant. This Grail isn't capable of it anyway. It was corrupted long ago, filled with the Evil of This World." Ren looked at the small cup in his hand and explained as he injected Magic Power into it.
Kiritsugu, who had been silent, turned pale upon hearing this. He clearly couldn't believe what Ren said. The thing he had been pursuing was corrupted? Was this some kind of joke?
"Oh? Corrupted? If that's the case, it really is useless." Da Vinci felt relieved after hearing Ren's explanation. If Ren said so, it was basically the truth.
She trusted her Master implicitly. Besides, Ren had no reason to lie to her, did he?
Da Vinci was quite confident in her ability to read people.
"Besides, I suspect Alaya is tricking me into doing free labor. My companions were scattered all over the world, and now they've all somehow gotten involved in these strange events." Ren was a bit speechless mentioning this.
Ren Isana had made up his mind. Free labor? No way. He was definitely going to the Root. Even just a glance would be enough for him.
The Root recorded the source and laws of everything in the world, along with all knowledge from ancient times to the present. Even a single glance would likely allow Ren to master countless subjects instantly.
As for the [Third Magic], there was a half-ruined version in the great cavern beneath Mount Enzou. He could just go there to study it. He might even be able to complete it. While it might not grant immortality, it could certainly provide a massive amount of Magic Power.
Da Vinci was amused by Ren's words. Alaya and Gaia were indeed the types to pull something like that. If a group of outsiders entered the world, why wouldn't they make them handle the messy business?
Ren put away the Holy Grail and looked at Kiritsugu Emiya. "Alright, you two can leave. I'm taking the Lesser Grail from her body. Also, please transfer your [Command Spell] to me. You're done with this Holy Grail War."
Kiritsugu listened to Ren, checked on Irisviel, and saw her breathing was steady even if she hadn't woken up. He nodded and agreed.
He raised his hand, looking at the unused [Command Spell]. "How do I give it to you?"
Ren stepped forward and directly stripped the [Command Spell] from him. In that moment, the authority over Artoria shifted to Ren Isana.
Having handled that, Ren spoke to Morgan. "Morgan, I have your sister's [Command Spell]. Bring her here. Saber, no resisting!"
Ren used a [Command Spell] to issue the order. Saber was currently being schooled by Morgan. When the authority transferred and her Magic Power was suddenly restored, she intended to counterattack, only to be hit by the sudden binding force of the [Command Spell].
Once she realized she couldn't move, Saber was stunned. Morgan, on the other hand, smiled. She stopped her assault and strolled over to Saber, grabbing her armor. "Dear sister, come along with this Queen!"
Having been on the receiving end the whole time, Saber was incredibly frustrated. Though they hadn't used their [Noble Phantasm]s, they'd used every other trick up their sleeves, but Saber simply was no match for Morgan.
Now that she was in Morgan's hands, Artoria felt an urge to return to the Throne of Heroes immediately, as this didn't look like it would end well.
Furthermore, her [Command Spell] was now held by Morgan's Master, which worried Artoria immensely. She didn't know what had happened to Irisviel. Had Morgan's Master killed her?
Her expression darkened at the thought. If that were the case, she would never forgive him... She silently allowed Morgan to drag her to where Ren Isana was.
On the way, Morgan couldn't help but ask, "My foolish sister, why did you participate in the Holy Grail War this time?"
In high spirits, Morgan began chatting with Artoria. After all, this was her sister, and she had just given her a sound thrashing, which felt great.
Even if this wasn't the Artoria she knew, it was still satisfying. Such opportunities were rare. If it were the original, a real fight might not have been this easy to win.
"And what about you, sister? Why did you descend?" Artoria didn't answer, but questioned Morgan instead. According to her understanding, a Holy Grail like this shouldn't have been able to summon Morgan.
"To beat you up, of course. My Master said you were in this Holy Grail War, so I came. Otherwise, someone else might have descended instead." Before coming, she had dealt harshly with those who tried to take her spot.
This descent was thoroughly satisfying for Morgan. Not only had she beaten those guys in the Throne of Heroes, but she'd also gotten to thrash the sister of this era. It was an incredible feeling!
Artoria couldn't believe her ears. She came down just to beat her up? And her participation was known from the start? Had hiding her True Name been for nothing?