Chapter 529: The Giant and the Young Girl

Bai Cangshu's fanatical smile gradually twisted; after experiencing several sharp pains, he realized the movement inside his body seemed to have stopped.

Bai Cangshu frowned, and the next moment, he reached out his hand directly toward his own chest and stabbed down with a *pfft*.

The reason Bai Cangshu dared to have this crazy plan was because the Lesser Grail he saw was Ilya; unlike her mother, she was a Lesser Grail artificially transformed, not existing as a Lesser Grail by birth.

To be precise, Ilya's heart was the core of the Lesser Grail.

And Bai Cangshu had long since transcended the limitation of ordinary organisms that die upon leaving their hearts.

*Pfft! *

Accompanied by flashing lightning and sprayed blood, charred cracks were struck into the ground.

Bai Cangshu's 【Thunder Emperor Heart】 was cut out directly, and it was indeed flashing with a strong luster of Magic Power now.

It echoed with the light of Magic Power erupting from the ruins of 【Yuanzang Mountain】 in the distance.

That was the location of the 【Greater Grail】.

The 【Greater Grail】 was actually constructed by the ancestor of the Einzbern family, the Saint of Winter Justeaze, using her own body as the ritual core, plus the Command Spell provided by Matou Zouken (Makiri), and the Spirit Line underground in Fuyuki City and Yuanzang Mountain provided by the Tohsaka ancestor.

The Saint of Winter was an artificial lifeform created by the disciples of the one who once mastered the 【Third Magic (Heaven's Feel)】 in order to research and pursue the Third Magic, but that was not because they had mastered the Third Magic and the technology.

It was merely a unique, once-in-a-lifetime coincidence.

The Einzbern family was the product of such research and experimentation.

In order to pursue the true 【Third Magic】, the Saint of Winter used her own life and body to activate this ritual.

And under the witness of the top Magician in the Type-Moon World, the 【Magus Marshal】, 【Jeweled Scepter】, 【Controller of the Second Magic】, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, it finally took shape.

On the surface, it was a war where Magicians and Heroic Spirits fought to realize their wishes; in reality, the massive Magic Power capable of realizing wishes was merely an auxiliary product of this ritual.

The three families—Einzbern, Makiri, and Tohsaka—all intended to utilize the hole in space-time that appeared when a Heroic Spirit returned to the Throne of Heroes from the Lesser Grail after the 【Holy Grail War】 ended, and use the Magic Power accumulated by the ley lines over sixty years to fix it.

Thereby reaching the 【Root】 directly!

Bai Cangshu held the heart high, but felt that the impact of the Heroic Spirit was insufficient; not only had the so-called space-time hole not fully appeared, but even the Greater Grail had not fully unfolded.

His gaze wandered, and the next moment, it fell upon the pitch-black giant Heracles.

This pitch-black giant did not continue to fight Bai Cangshu, and at the same time, he did not walk far away, seemingly just guarding Ilya from afar.

Step, step...

Bai Cangshu started his Footwork, and the next moment, the silver-haired, red-eyed girl spread her arms, blocking Bai Cangshu's path.

She frowned, her face showing confusion and unbearable pity, her eyes unwilling to look at the heart held in Tao Baibai's hand.

"Assassin, what are you... doing..."

"Berserker is my Servant, I will not allow you to kill each other!"

Bai Cangshu was completely unmoved; his strength was immense, and dragging Ilya along as he moved was no more difficult than picking up a cat.

The luster of the Command Spell on Ilya's body lit up, and Bai Cangshu frowned, voluntarily stopping his steps.

Ilya was covered in Command Spells; theoretically, she was indeed one of the very few existences here capable of killing him.

But the girl had no such intention; looking at her expression, Bai Cangshu felt she only wanted to use the Command Spell to stop him from killing Heracles.

The pain of the Soul being torn continued, but something had likely gone wrong in the Consciousness Space; just as Bai Cangshu hesitated whether to enter the Consciousness Space voluntarily, he heard *thump, thump* footsteps.

The Berserker, polluted by Black Mud, actually walked toward him voluntarily, the heavy, giant axe-sword in his hand dragging on the ground.

A strong aura rose in an Instant, like two wild beasts.

Ilya was startled and turned her head back as well, waving her hands continuously.

"Berserker, I also do not allow you to fight Assassin!"

"I hope you can both live on..."

She actually knew that even if a Servant died, the Heroic Spirit would not die.

But the end of the Holy Grail War was bound to be accompanied by death; she hoped that sorrow would be enough if it were only her own.

Bai Cangshu sensed the girl's thoughts, lowered his eyelids, and spoke coldly.

"Heracles, if I don't end the Holy Grail War in this state now, Ilya is destined to die."

"No matter who wins the Holy Grail War in the end, she will die."

Bai Cangshu's voice was incomparably indifferent, yet certain. *Tap, tap, tap... *

Amidst the chaotic Footwork, a black-haired man with vacant eyes came running wildly from afar.

It seemed that the blood-moon phenomenon revealed at this moment allowed the other party to finally act unscrupulously.

Emiya Kiritsugu's eyes immediately noticed that terrifying Tao Baibai, a Servant focused on slaughter like none he had ever seen before.

He had even thought before that if he had joined forces with a Servant like Tao Baibai during the Fourth Holy Grail War, he could have ended most of the battles through assassination at the very beginning of the Holy Grail War.

But he then recalled that the 【Greater Grail】 now contained absolutely no dreams.

That was pure, twisted malice.

Such a thing must never be allowed to descend!

Emiya Kiritsugu ran; he actually knew that if it was Tao Baibai who had survived that previous battle, he would have had no way to deal with it.

The next moment, the running Emiya Kiritsugu saw the red-haired boy slumped by the wall, clutching his neck, with bloodstains seemingly appearing between his fingers.

His heart sank, and he was about to run toward the boy, but the next moment, he was completely stunned on the spot.

A silver-haired girl, possessing ruby eyes like Irisviel's, stood timidly between Tao Baibai and the pitch-black giant, her hands spread wide, seemingly trying to stop the two from fighting.

*Bang! *

Emiya Kiritsugu subconsciously fired directly at Tao Baibai; Tao Baibai's left hand lifted instantly, and the bullet fell directly into the Two Fingers of the other party.

Tao Baibai flicked his finger.

*Pfft! *

The bullet pierced directly through Emiya Kiritsugu's throat.

Ilya...

Emiya Kiritsugu reached out his hand; that was his daughter, his own flesh and blood daughter!

After the Fourth Holy Grail War ended, he had gone to the Einzbern family countless times, wanting to take his daughter away, but affected by the Black Mud, his body gradually necrotizing, he could not even see his daughter at all.

He had not expected that at this moment, he would see her again.

The pitch-black giant slowly raised his hand, and that massive axe-sword was lifted high.

"No, no, no, no... no!"

Emiya Kiritsugu once again recalled everything he had seen in that illusion.

The pain of losing his loved ones made him roar like a madman.

He did not want to be any messenger of Justice anymore.

He did not want to make any more choices.

He also did not want to go and fight for it anymore.

He only wanted... to not lose anything ever again!

Like a whimpering stray dog, yet another person who once harbored noble, cruel, and mechanical ideals was completely broken at this moment.

Pfft!

Fresh blood gushed out.

Emiya Kiritsugu froze completely.

Ilya's pupils also dilated, her expression twisting bit by bit.

Bai Cangshu half-closed his eyes; the corners of his mouth seemed to be smiling, yet also seemed sorrowful.

He reached out his hand, looking at Heracles, whose massive axe-sword was hacking into his neck.

"Dark Soul, enter the body!"

A powerful force of absorption surged like a storm, and Heracles's body turned into pitch-black particles in an Instant, pouring into Bai Cangshu's body.

The next moment, in the form of the purest Spirit Particles, it directly tore through Bai Cangshu's flesh and Soul.

As blood sprayed from Bai Cangshu's face, the heart in Bai Cangshu's right hand immediately emitted a golden luster.

The Holy Grail had appeared.

"Berserker!"

Amidst Emiya Kiritsugu's joyful smile, the girl's desperate wail.

(End of chapter)