"Hahahaha! As expected, even the Throne of Heroes must acknowledge my talent." Upon hearing the pinnacle of Heroic Spirits declare that he alone was the most suitable Grand candidate summoned in this Holy Grail War, Lord El-Melloi Archibald laughed heartily.
"Isn't this already a victory? I'd love to see the expressions of the other Masters when they find out the truth." Though he knew that Romulus, for various reasons, could not take direct action nor reveal the circumstances of his summoning, Kayneth, satisfied by this validation of his vanity, was completely at ease.
"That's enough. Lancer, from here on, you may act freely as you see fit."
His Servant was simply too powerful, bearing a special mission beyond the war itself. This realization sapped Kayneth of any competitive spirit—he decided instead to enjoy this rare leisure time with his fiancée.
"You, Lord El-Melloi, were the one who warned me to be wary of ambushes from other magi, yet here you are, strolling about without a care in the world. If anyone should be withdrawing from the Holy Grail War, it's me!" Waver sighed deeply. The ever-stern Kayneth had suddenly transformed, indulging in romance with Sola while he himself was stuck here struggling through extra lessons.
"Rome was not built in a day. Your present hardships pave the road to the future. What you become later is the accumulation of your efforts now," Romulus encouraged Waver in his own way. "Do you not look forward to meeting your future students again?"
"I have a feeling my future will only be even more miserable..." Waver collapsed onto the ground, drained. "Besides, Lancer, your Noble Phantasm literally allows you to build Rome in a day. Are you sure you should be using that saying?"
"This is Rome!" Romulus answered with an incomprehensible certainty.
Just as Waver prepared to fire back with another complaint, an unusual energy surge spread from somewhere nearby.
Romulus immediately sprang to his feet. His urgency caused him to misjudge his own strength, nearly shattering the floor beneath him.
"Archer's Saint Graph has vanished! And this presence…!"
For the first time, Waver saw genuine tension on the face of the mighty Heroic Spirit.
-
About Three Hours Earlier
"Haha—hahahaha! The one and only king reigns supreme!"
Seated atop a sleek arcade racing bike, clad in a black jacket and modern attire, Gilgamesh let out his signature laugh as he gazed at the leaderboard displaying his name at the top—"NO.1." Without hesitation, he entered the name "HERO KING" as his moniker.
The surrounding visitors sent him puzzled glances, but the King of Heroes was utterly unfazed. A man like him had no reason to care about the opinions of ordinary people.
"Now then, where else shall I leave my mark?"
Golden eyes scanned the arcade, yet every game and challenge had already been conquered by his name. With no interest in what he had already claimed, his excitement quickly faded.
"How dull."
Leaving the arcade behind, Gilgamesh casually kicked an empty can on the ground, sending it flying like a shooting star across the sky. Ever since his defeat at the hands of Jiang You, it had weighed on his mind. Yet, rather than immediately seeking revenge on the Caster, he found himself more intrigued by Romulus's unusual summoning as a Grand Servant.
Romulus had made it clear that he was protecting Caster, which suggested an extraordinary connection between them.
Gilgamesh had sought out Romulus for answers, but the Grand Lancer offered nothing concrete—only vague remarks about following the flow of Jiang You's Noble Phantasm and a warning not to strike a fatal blow against him.
"Since when did the title of Grand fall to the level of a mere babysitter?"
Gilgamesh purchased a few high-end desserts with his inexhaustible wealth, eating as he strolled, trying to quell his irritation. "Even I am being kept in the dark. Just what is going on? Hmph, if I had been summoned as a Caster, I too would have been qualified as a Grand."
The King of Heroes had always found himself drawn toward the things he could not grasp.
Romulus would not speak. Gilgamesh had too much pride to directly question Caster. This left him with an unsatisfied curiosity gnawing at his mind.
Gilgamesh was not one to sit idle.
After much thought, he came up with a solution. "Since this is a Holy Grail War, then the Holy Grail itself must be the key. If the Grail could summon that damned Caster and a Grand Lancer, there must be something unique about it. Investigating the Grail should provide answers."
He had no interest in consulting his own Master, Tohsaka Tokiomi. Instead, he simply retrieved an artifact from the Gate of Babylon, one capable of locating the Grail. Injecting it with his mana, he soon received a response.
From deep within the cavern beneath Mount Enzou came a magical reaction akin to the Greater Grail. Something unknown lurked within its depths.
"Hmph↑ Hmph↓, as expected, it's not that simple."
Smirking at his own brilliance, Gilgamesh wasted no time heading toward the Greater Grail's location.
Yet, at the back of his mind, a lingering doubt remained.
If the Greater Grail was truly active, then why did the response feel… off?
-
"Has Illy already been separated from the Lesser Grail?!"
Kiritsugu Emiya clutched the phone tightly upon hearing the news from Jubstacheit von Einzbern (abbreviated as Acht). It had taken much persuasion from Jiang You for the stubborn old man to even consider using this method of communication.
"This is fantastic!"
Kiritsugu couldn't suppress his joy. "Thank you, Lord Acht."
"The one you should be thanking is Lord Caster. Furthermore, Irisviel has already departed for Fuyuki, carrying the Lesser Grail's vessel."
Acht's voice was as cold and mechanical as ever, devoid of emotion. "Lastly, there is one crucial matter."
What he said next immediately shattered Kiritsugu's composure.
"According to your reports, two Servants have already been eliminated. However, upon examination, the Lesser Grail has not absorbed a single soul. To be precise, there was a trace of a soul once, but even that has now vanished."
"…What?"
Kiritsugu's mind raced. The Holy Grail's fundamental purpose was to collect the souls of slain Servants, allowing the ritual to open a hole to the Reverse Side of the World, through which an immense amount of magical energy would be released to grant a wish. If no souls were collected, the Holy Grail could not activate.
"And yet the ritual continues, and the Holy Grail War is still underway. This means the Servants' souls have not returned to the Reverse Side. In other words, something has stolen the souls that were meant to be absorbed by the Grail."
As an artificial being created to continue the legacy of the Third Magic, Acht was an expert in the study of souls. He had already deduced the possible cause of the anomaly.
-
"Let's see just what kind of trickery this so-called Holy Grail is hiding."
Standing before the temple gate adorned with the characters "Ryūdō Temple," Gilgamesh took a step forward.