Normally, the Holy Grail War would only feature seven Servants, who would fight with each other until a victor emerged to summon the legendary 'Greater Holy Grail,' the wish-granting device.
But according to Kirei Kotomine's knowledge, there was another scenario where an eighth Servant could appear.
—When the Holy Grail War took an exceptionally unusual form with unpredictable outcomes, requiring a Ruler to judge the winner.
Alternatively, if the Holy Grail War's influence risked distorting the world... a Ruler would also descend.
All Servants capable of being summoned as Ruler shared one trait: they had no wishes before their death.
If an eighth Servant had truly appeared in Fuyuki, it was highly likely to be a Ruler...
The question was, who was this Ruler?
"Ruler, huh... In Fuyuki's past three Holy Grail Wars, I've never heard of a Ruler being summoned."
Tohsaka Tokiomi walked to the church's entrance, gazing toward the port and saying softly,
"It seems even the 'Holy Grail' believes there's something wrong with this Holy Grail War."
After tonight, every Servant had made an appearance, and Tokiomi had a rough sense of their strengths.
First, there was his own summoned Archer, the Hero King... whose power was undoubtedly at the pinnacle of Servants.
Yet Caster hadn't fallen behind when clashing with Archer... which was enough to show that Caster was a Servant on par with Archer.
As for Saber, there was no need to say more, earlier tonight, he had personally killed the Einzberns' Berserker.
Among all the Servants, Saber posed perhaps the greatest threat.
It could be said that from the moment the Servants revealed themselves, Tokiomi had felt things slowly slipping out of his control.
And now, with the apparent arrival of a Ruler... was this a good thing or not?
As Tokiomi pondered this, his phone suddenly rang in his pocket.
He took it out and said in a low voice, "Hello? Aoi...? What's wrong?"
Tohsaka Aoi, his wife, had been told before the Holy Grail War began to focus on this 'battle,' and she had been understanding.
Given his wife's personality, she wouldn't call unless she was facing some difficulty.
As soon as the call connected, Aoi's voice came through, on the verge of breaking down. "Rin..."
"What?" Tokiomi frowned, not understanding.
On the other end, Aoi struggled to suppress her emotions to stay calm, but her voice was still filled with despair and helplessness.
"Rin... Rin's gone missing!"
Boom!
Hearing this, Tokiomi's eyes widened slowly, his mind reeling as if struck by lightning, filled with disbelief.
"How is that possible...? Have you searched the area?"
Tonight, all the Servants and Masters had appeared, so logically, no one should have had a reason to kidnap Tohsaka Rin.
"I've looked... One of her shoes was found in the park. She didn't just get lost," Aoi said, her voice trembling with panic and a hint of tears.
Tokiomi's expression shifted rapidly.
Both of his daughters, Matou Sakura had run away from home shortly after being adopted into the Matou family and was now in Saber's hands.
And now, even Rin had gone missing..
However, Magis are, in a sense, very cold-blooded creatures.
Although they are human, they are absolutely rational.
Although he had feelings for his two daughters, Tohsaka Tokiomi also valued the inheritance of magic... and Tohsaka Rin was the child who was the most suitable for gem magic..
No matter what, she absolutely must not come to harm.
What could have happened?
Was she kidnapped by one of the Masters?
If she was kidnapped, where could Rin be now?
Tohsaka Tokiomi's mind raced and suddenly, as if realizing something, he instinctively looked toward the port.
"Could it be related to Ruler's arrival...?"
A new Servant had seemingly been summoned at the port, and Rin had gone missing at the same time...
Could these two events be connected?
But Archer had just fought Caster tonight, expending a significant amount of magical energy.
Heading to the port now might play right into the enemy's hands.
Should he give up...?
As Tokiomi wrestled with his thoughts, a golden figure quietly appeared in the darkness at the center of the church.
The faintly dazzling light quickly drew the attention of both men present.
"It's rare to see you looking so flustered, Tokiomi."
The proud, amused voice of the Hero King echoed through the hall.
Even in such a situation, Tokiomi didn't forget to bow respectfully. "Rin is very important to both me and my wife, so... I may need to trouble you, my King."
At his final words, the man evem bowed deeply.
Gilgamesh merely glanced at the man coldly. "Saber is there too."
Saber...?
Tokiomi froze for a moment, a question quickly forming in his mind.
Could this... have something to do with Saber?
...
Alvin, naturally, was unaware of the commotion outside.
At that moment, he was utterly dumbfounded.
What the heck?
Just by touching her hand... my Master changed?
Is this really in line with the Holy Grail War's rules?
Not only was Alvin stunned, but Manaka Sajyou was equally shocked, staring in disbelief at the silver-haired beauty before her.
Soon, she let out a soft, wistful sigh.
"After transferring the Lesser Holy Grail, I shouldn't have let you live, Miss Irisviel... Or perhaps I should call you the Winter Saint?"
Manaka Sajyou possessed [Omniscience and Omnipotence], capable of foreseeing the future, but it couldn't predict anything related to Alvin.
In other words, even she hadn't anticipated that 'Irisviel' could transfer Saber to her side in this way.
Facing Manaka's dangerous gaze, Irisviel's expression remained gentle and serene.
Her lips were slightly pale, and her plain white dress made her appear even more delicate in the heavy snow.
Her eyes carried the mature, knowing gentleness of a married woman, her skin so fair and tender it seemed it could drip water.
Compared to Manaka Sajyou, she was far weaker in both magical energy and presence.
Her only advantages were perhaps her striking figure and fragile aura, which evoked an instinctive desire to protect her.
"You transferred the Lesser Holy Grail, and I took Saber... Isn't that a fair exchange?" The woman's voice was soft and melodious as she spoke.
At first glance, her words seemed reasonable, but to Manaka, they were piercingly sarcastic and mocking.
After all, the only reason she had transferred the Lesser Holy Grail and did all this, was to ensure that the Holy Grail War could continue indefinitely, so that Alvin would always remain in the world...with her.
But now...
She had successfully transferred the Lesser Holy Grail, only to have 'Irisviel' steal her base in the same moment.
It was as if, in a game, her team had demolished all three lanes and reached the enemy's high ground, thinking it was a guaranteed victory.
Only to find... their base had been stolen.
Moreover, although she had exploited a loophole to summon the eighth Servant, Manaka couldn't sense this Servant's presence at all.
Had they rejected her summoning...?
No... The eighth Servant had indeed appeared, but it seemed they hadn't manifested as a proper Servant?
Manaka quickly gathered her thoughts and turned her gaze forward.
Regardless, the most important thing now was to deal with this infuriating woman in front of her.
Faintly, a dangerous aura seemed to emanate from the air.
The snow fell heavily, yet it didn't touch Manaka Sajyou's body, melting silently before it could as she stared at the silver-haired beauty not far away. "Irisviel... You'll regret what you just did."
As she spoke, a faint ripple of magical energy seemed to spread from beneath her feet.
"Undo the contract between you and him... This is your last chance."
'Irisviel' gazed calmly at Manaka Sajyou.
After a brief silence, she spoke in a clear, crisp voice: "From the moment you summoned the eighth Servant, Saber ceased to belong to you."
"He is now my Servant."
At her final words, she tightly clasped Alvin's arm with both hands, then lowered her voice. "Saber... let's leave this place."
Alvin's eyes flickered.
He could sense that the Winter Saint was far too weak, her consciousness so fragile it seemed it could dissipate at any moment.
The body the Winter Saint was inhabiting belonged to Irisviel, who had been trapped in the warehouse until recently, leaving her already in a weakened state.
If this were the Winter Saint from two hundred years ago, wielding the Third Magic, she might have been able to stand her ground against Manaka Sajyou, well...at least not loose to badly.
But now... managing to exploit a loophole to claim Alvin as her Servant was already an impressive feat.
If they didn't leave now... Although he might be fine, but Manaka Sajyou would never let 'Irisviel' walk away unscathed.
Watching their hushed exchange, Manaka's face lacked any trace of her usual elegant smile.
Her deep blue eyes lingered on the two of them for a long time.
More precisely, on Irisviel's intimate gesture of holding Alvin's arm.
"Irisviel..."
Beneath her feet, an intense concentration of elemental energy began to gather.
Boom!
"Get away from my Servant!!!"
In an instant, a fiery tornado coalesced and surged toward Irisviel.
Alvin's eyelids twitched.
If possible, he didn't want to fight the girl in front of him.
After all, not only did he like her, and even though he didn't know the reason why she wanted the Holy Grail War to continue..or maybe he did..
But he certainly knew the reason for her current anger.
However, even so, he couldn't stand by and let Manaka harm Irisviel.
As these thoughts faced in his mind, a golden holy sword materialized in his hand and he swung it forward.
Whoosh!
With a flash of the holy sword's light, the fiery tornado shattered instantly.
Manaka's gaze silently fixed on the young man as she said softly,
"Saber... Are you standing against me?"
"Don't you think we could just sit down and talk this out?"
Alvin said helplessly.
To be honest, he really couldn't quite grasp what this Root Princess was thinking.
Because she wanted to be with Saber forever, she hoped to make the Holy Grail War continue indefinitely...
What kind of logic was that?
That's some extreme Yandere logic, right?
He couldn't fathom how this sweet looking girl suddenly became like that.
"I'd be happy to sit down and talk with you... but there's a condition."
Manaka's gaze drifted coldly to the silver-haired beauty behind Alvin as she spoke.
"This woman... is really in the way."
From the start, she'd been sticking close to Saber, and now she was even clinging to his arm... She should never have spared her in the first place.
How could there be such a shameless woman...?
She was the one who summoned Saber first, so why was this woman now standing by his side so naturally, even forming a new contract with him?
And since earlier, she'd been deliberately brushing her indecently large chest against his arm...
This kind of person...why didn't she just die, die, die, die, die, die...?
Intense negative emotions surged within Manaka Sajyou.
Seeing that Alvin showed no intention of backing down, a chilling glint appeared in her eyes.
"So you still want to protect her?"
"She was originally Berserker's Master, and after Berserker's death, she somehow managed to form a contract with Saber so brazenly... and even seduced him."
A captivating smile suddenly bloomed on Manaka's pure, delicate face. "Fine... I know you must have been deceived by her... But it's okay.
Once I deal with Irisviel, you'll come back to my side, Saber~"
"This time, I won't let you leave me again."
['Irisviel's' intimate actions with you have sparked jealousy in Manaka Sajyou.
She despises the Winter Saint for stealing you and is determined to kill her at all costs, then use a Command Seal to keep you by her side forever.]
[Root Connection (Temporarily Sealed)]
[This plot will have profound effects on the future. Host, please proceed with caution...]
The Root Connection's sharing could actually be temporarily sealed?!
Could it be Manaka's doing?
Alvin was stunned, but after he came to his senses, he felt a chill in his heart as he looked at the slender and beautiful figure of the girl in front of him.
'..We must leave this place as soon as possible!'
However, as soon as that thought came to his mind, he suddenly saw a golden halo quietly light up in the night behind Manaka Saijyou.
whoosh!
The next moment, a golden blade flew out from the King's Treasure and shot straight towards the girl!