Chapter 39

Beneath the night sky……

The "hole" in the heavens vanished……

However, the cloud layer pierced through by the magical energy impact still gaped open with a distinct rift, like a wound in the firmament……

Bright, pure moonlight poured straight down through this rift, and in this thick darkness, bathed every inch of Fuyuki City's land in its radiance.

Once everything returned to calm——

This long night no longer seemed to harbor any more variables or surprises.

That figure which once towered into the clouds, magnificent in momentum, had already vanished without a trace, shedding its illusory form like a fleeting dream.

In its place stood a tall, silent silhouette atop the ruins of Liu Dong Si, sash fluttering in the wind, crowned with Nine Qi Crown, splendid robes interwoven.

As the black mud's malice — the source of turmoil, the filthy impurity — gradually dissipated completely, the energy within Xia Zhi's body was naturally brought under his complete control, smooth and effortless as breathing, like an extension of his own body without any issue.

And the Ether Body, originally composed of magical energy——

Now, on the premise of fully mastering his own power, it could naturally recover to its original form at will.

This also counts as a power-saving mode; although his current magical energy quantity is terrifying enough to make one's hair stand on end, there's also no need to squander it casually — Xia Zhi still understands this principle; resource management is still necessary.

Xia Zhi sensed his current condition, then glanced at those few people standing dazed over there, and walked quite casually to the front of that silver-haired girl.

He planted his feet, tilted his head, and observed Miss Sakura's situation.

"W-wait! Don't do anything, don't do anything——"

A hasty, panicked tone, the voice carrying a hint of tension.

The black-haired pigtails girl finally reacted, hurriedly broke free of Saber's palm, and ran over at the fastest speed, nearly tripping on a protrusion in the ground mid-run, but still stumbled her way to the front of Xia Zhi just like that.

She tremblingly helped the silver-haired girl lying on the ground up gently, fingertips trembling slightly, but only after confirming the other still had a faint pulse and breath did she let out a slight sigh of relief.

Thank goodness……

At least Sakura is still alive……

"Master, as far as the current situation goes, this Miss Sakura is the Holy Grail you wanted to obtain." Xia Zhi calmly gazed at this deeply affectionate scene before him, revealing the fact straight out.

Although it sounds incredible, the "Holy Grail" everyone contended for in this Holy Grail War seems to be this Miss Sakura herself.

But thinking carefully it's not a problem; generally speaking, the Holy Grail is just a vessel — what form it takes doesn't matter.

"Sakura isn't some Holy Grail——"

Rin Tohsaka clutched the silver-haired girl tightly in her arms, as if carefully protecting some treasure, and hearing this subconsciously retorted loudly.

"Master, what I mean is, as the complete Victor of the Holy Grail War…… no one will dispute with you on the matter of how to handle Miss Sakura." The youth's voice carried a hint of amusement.

Although there are still as many as three remaining Servants, completely against common sense.

However, so many unexpected situations have already occurred, one more tiny bit doesn't matter anymore.

This Holy Grail War has indeed drawn its curtain.

Rin Tohsaka couldn't help but open her mouth, finally comprehending the deep meaning in the other's words.

She looked at that person with deep gratitude, then immediately turned her head away anxiously, calling Sakura's name softly with a heart full of worry. However, the silver-haired girl in her arms still gave no response, merely quietly, quietly——

As if she would die at any moment.

"What to do……"

The voice trembled somewhat; Rin Tohsaka subconsciously looked toward that person beside her again.

Just like before, in the most critical moment, subconsciously relying on the other like that, and now she likewise couldn't help but want to seek help from the other, especially after the other just displayed the power to turn the tide, this impulse was even harder to suppress.

"Anyway, first sever her connection with that black mud; after all, that thing needs a bit of time to refine……"

Xia Zhi withdrew his gaze sizing up the silver-haired girl, and directly turned his eyes toward Medea who was walking over.

"Caster, use that move of yours from before, that little knife that can directly release a Heroic Spirit contract — should be able to do it, right?"

"Heh……"

The Witch lady returned a smile to him, but terrifyingly her eyes weren't smiling.

She's hated me.

Xia Zhi naturally knows why, but anyway the plan has already succeeded, even if seen through now it doesn't matter…… he adopted an utterly unconcerned appearance, directly pretending nothing was wrong, smiling as he looked at Medea who had walked up close.

"Should be confident, Caster?"

"……Yes."

The Witch lady took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, didn't look at him, strode straight forward, and simultaneously drew that short Noble Phantasm from her bosom.

If this short knife had killing power, she'd truly want to stab this fellow once; unfortunately it doesn't — this knife can at most sever the contract attached to the other. However, for the other who swallowed the Great Holy Grail and no longer even cares about the Lesser Grail, this act is truly meaningless.

"Caster, please……"

Rin Tohsaka held her breath, watching this scene with a heart full of tension and anticipation; Medea cast her gaze on her, sized her up briefly, then looked away.

——Seems this Master Lady didn't realize that fellow's deception at all; but thinking about it, even I was deceived, so she naturally had no way of knowing.

——Or perhaps in this Master Lady's view, everything that just happened was that fellow's trump card, so she didn't think that much, easily accepting everything that followed.

Medea gently shook her head, scattering all chaotic thoughts like smoke, then gripped the short knife tightly and unhesitatingly stabbed it into Sakura's body.

"Mmph……"

The girl sunk in unconsciousness instinctively let out a pained groan, but still did not wake from her coma.

"How is the situation?"

Rin Tohsaka couldn't help but hug the girl in her arms even tighter, her tone filled with anxiety and urgency as she pressed.

"Already severed…… the connection with that thing." Medea nodded, hesitated a moment, for a time also not knowing what to call that thing — that black mud which surged forth from the other side of the "hole," clearly the main body of malice.

Like a necessary evil constantly cursing the mortal world……

It was precisely because a connection was established with this thing, even controlled by it, that this Miss Sakura became the incarnation of the Black Grail.

"Then Sakura she……"

Rin Tohsaka right now doesn't care about anything else at all, only her younger sister's condition.

"Her condition remains concerning, but employing Healing Magecraft might bring some improvement..." Miss Witch examined Sakura's state, giving her assessment, while also proposing: "Or there's an even better, more effective method... make a wish directly to her, Master."

"What?"

Rin Tohsaka blanked for a moment.

"As you can see, Miss Sakura was previously the Holy Grail's incarnation, and because of prior circumstances, she still retains an immense amount of magical energy..." Medea explained calmly, "Taking advantage of the connection just now being severed, her function as the Holy Grail hasn't completely vanished yet; a wish can be made to her."

"Although as an incomplete Holy Grail, there are clear limitations on the range of wishes that can be granted, that amount of magical energy is still an absolutely staggering figure, completely sufficient to entirely reshape Miss Sakura's life..."

She saw that Rin Tohsaka truly didn't care about the Holy Grail, only cared about this Miss Sakura.

Since that was the case, then this was the most suitable resolution to solve the current problem.

"I understand..." Rin Tohsaka seemed to have caught a glimmer of Mors Dawn, nodding repeatedly, but then her brows couldn't help but furrow slightly, her gaze sweeping over the companions around her, as if pondering something.

"Don't mind me, I'm not very interested in the Holy Grail..." Medea stated her true feelings indifferently; she actually had no thoughts on the Holy Grail.

"I..."

Artoria, who had been maintaining silence since just now, unconsciously tightened her grip on the sword hilt.

"I don't need this either."

This swordswoman girl finally parted her lips slightly, then released the sword in her hand powerlessly, making the decision to give up in her heart.

Not to mention that person standing quietly to the side, gazing gently at the scene...

Even setting aside other factors, Artoria could not persuade herself deep down to take advantage of the void in such a situation, committing an act contrary to morality.

Moreover, Miss Sakura before her eyes, though still in Holy Grail form, was no longer a complete and flawless Holy Grail; just as Medea said, her wish-granting ability had been greatly weakened, and would likely be unable to satisfy Artoria's requirement.

After all, the wish she longed to make was to reverse the historical wheel of Ancient Britain, return to that critical juncture of the King Selection Day, and rewrite everything...

For the Holy Grail, this probably also counted as a high-end affair.

"Looks like everyone's reached a consensus then..." clapping his hands appropriately at the side, Xia Zhi said with a congratulatory tone, "Then this Last Holy Grail War can be considered satisfactorily concluded, right?"

"Last..." When Rin Tohsaka heard that key phrase, she also blanked for a moment, then subconsciously bit her lip.

Indeed...

Now that the Great Holy Grail has become history, this undoubtedly marks the end of an era — this truly is the Last Holy Grail War...

And in the Saber opposite's eyes there likewise flickered a trance-like color; her just-relaxed palm tightened its grip, to the extent that her finger joints turned pale from excessive force.

Even this era's Holy Grail War has been terminated...

Then when will I be able to reach that unattainable Holy Grail...

The next opportunity, just how distant a future will it wait for me in...

Taking in all of Artoria's reactions, Xia Zhi maintained that expression on the surface, merely raising his eyes to look toward the sky's direction; tonight's moonlight was also pretty good, this unplanned trip had also reached its ending time.

emmmmmm... should consider what stuff can be packed to take back.

Although judging from the current situation, this trip's unexpected gains were already sufficiently abundant.

————

————

A new day arrived quietly.

The sun rose as usual, Fuyuki City still peaceful as ever.

As if nothing had happened at all, people still lived their lives as usual in this far-eastern seaside town, spending the not-too-cold winter comfortably.

"Mm..."

In the dim room, morning light shone in through the curtains' cracks; though only a faint strand, it still fell onto the bed. Perhaps stimulated by the change in light inside the room, as if wanting to wake from sleep, the purple-haired girl's eyelids twitched slightly.

Then, she slowly opened her eyes.

Sakura lay on the soft bed just like that, staring blankly at the ceiling, as if she hadn't woken from her dream.

She felt that this clearly incomparably familiar room, this incomparably familiar ceiling, seemed somewhat strange to some degree, as if she hadn't actually lived in this room before, lived in this Western-style mansion.

Of course, this possibility was probably just wild delusions from having just woken up, not fully lucid, and not something the girl took too much to heart.

She quickly denied this groundless thought herself, subconsciously glancing at the alarm clock beside her.

"Crap, I'm late..."

Rubbing her bleary sleepy eyes, in an instant her brain fully woke up; she hurriedly sat up, put on slippers and ran out of the room, and soon a burst of noisy commotion came from outside.

"What is it, today's a holiday, no school... Sakura, are you sleep-stupid?"

Wearing pajamas, dragged up from bed, Rin Tohsaka scratched her head with a collapsed expression, scratching her head full of smooth black hair into a mess.

"Eh? Eh! Today's a holiday?"

The purple-haired girl had a completely bewildered expression, couldn't help but look at the wall calendar beside her, as if unable to process it.

"It's definitely a holiday, I told you yesterday..." Rin Tohsaka said with lifeless eyes; what had she suffered, she hadn't slept a single good sleep during this period, finally waiting for that matter to end, thinking she could rest properly.

Result was unexpected, these two days were both dragged up early early by Sakura.

"Oh oh, seems like it... sorry, Sister, I... I'll go make you breakfast now." The purple-haired girl showed an embarrassed expression, hurriedly nodded, turned and went downstairs.

Thump thump thump—

Sakura went downstairs in a flurry...

Rin Tohsaka also sighed helplessly, could only drag her exhausted body, also went back to her room to change clothes and went downstairs. Since she was already awake, going back to sleep probably wouldn't work anyway.

Just as she reached downstairs, about to walk into the kitchen, she suddenly blanked, hurriedly rushed out the front door... she sensed that aura, very obviously flashing by in an instant.

"How are you... still here?!"

Hurriedly walking out onto the street, turning to look around, the black-haired twin-tailed girl saw the youth standing at the street corner.

She walked over quickly, asked in a low voice, though her tone contained irrepressible surprise.

"Didn't you already return to the Throne of Heroes?"

"No, just before Medea returned, I asked her to stab me with a knife, releasing the Heroic Spirit Contract..." Xia Zhi spread his hands. "Anyway this has no impact, my current magical energy is completely sufficient to maintain manifestation in the Mortal World, no Master needed either."

"Eh?" Rin Tohsaka widened her eyes.

"Eh, what? If we don't do it this way, how will we make the people from the Clock Tower believe the Holy Grail War really ended? If you still have the Contract on you, it'd be easy to tell, right?" Xia Zhi shook his head.

"Actually there wouldn't be a problem, it's just that this time the commotion was a bit big... ten years ago a Clock Tower Aristocrat died here too, and it didn't attract any attention either." Rin Tohsaka couldn't help but pout her lips.

"The people over there all think our place here is a backwater Place, they fundamentally don't want to meddle; the ones who came to investigate the past two days were just going through the motions."

"This perfunctory? What about the Holy Church's attitude?"

Xia Zhi raised an eyebrow; that Magic Association is really slacking off, or could it be they've long known the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City is a rotten mess, already learned their lesson, so that's why they have this attitude?

Of course, it's also possible that behind this little girl, there are some more reliable connections.

Thinking about it, it makes sense; at six years old her father passed away, not long after her mother died too, and then she alone supported the Tohsaka Family's affairs; under such circumstances, she could still maintain her status in the Magic Association and her identity as Fuyuki City's manager...

To say no one is backing her, that really doesn't hold water.

"The Holy Church is the same, they say they'll send another Overseer soon... wait, you said before you were going to handle the traces, that priest wasn't killed by you too, was he?" Rin Tohsaka answered listlessly, then immediately seemed to think of something, looking at him suspiciously.

"No, when I got to the church he was already dead... it was a sudden heart Rupture."

Xia Zhi decisively denied: "And there's the remaining Aura of that Black Mud; I'm afraid that fellow contacted the Black Mud as early as ten years ago, maybe even died once already, just relying on the Black Mud filling his heart to live until now..."

So when the Black Mud Main Body was completely refined—

That priest also directly dropped dead in the church, dying silently.

"What? Black Mud?"

Rin Tohsaka seemed a bit shocked; that priest contacted the Black Mud long ago? Then why didn't he tell her?

"Yeah... right, I don't have much time left now either, there's one more thing I need to tell you, I found the whereabouts of another Holy Grail, it's that previous White-haired Loli..." The young man nodded, then directly brought up another matter.

"W-wait, not much time left?" The girl's Expression froze.

"The Correction's Mors Strength is getting stronger, the Magic Power needed to Xiang Kang is increasing; even though I analyzed the Class Skill 'Independent Action' of generations of Archers from the Great Holy Grail's records, it's still useless... resisting leaving is not worth it." He shook his head, upon discovering that inside the super-high-grade Magic Furnace Core he swallowed, there were still stored records of past Summonings—

Including Heroic Spirits' Spirit Origin Portraits, Class information, Skills, Noble Phantasms, etc. afterwards...

He set about taking action.

It's just a pity, this World doesn't seem to intend to give him more time; even though he analyzed 'Independent Action A+' from Goldie's records, he still couldn't continue Stopping.

(Chapter End)