He was able to defeat Vlad III, one of the strongest Servants of Black, with his 'Possessed Ability' without any surprise. This was not a surprise to him, after all, as a representative of the Lord, it was their duty to eliminate monsters that fed on humans, so they naturally had many ways to deal with them.
But there was no hint of a smile in his eyes at this time. It can even be said that they were full of sadness, but as the sadness was gradually hidden, his eyes became even more determined.
So many people had already sacrificed for his wish, so he could not fail even more!
'I must use the Greater Grail to save humanity! This way, the sacrifices of others will not be meaningless.'
That's right, this was Shirou Kotomine's wish. This seemingly ethereal wish was his greatest desire from the bottom of his heart. He was even willing to sacrifice himself for it.
And the only reason he was still alive was because it was not yet time for him to sacrifice himself.
But just as Shirou Kotomine was staring blankly at the pile of ashes on the ground after the Grand Duke disappeared, Semiramis had already walked over.
She looked at the wound on Shirou Kotomine's neck with a face full of concern, and then privately took off her dress to bandage Shirou Kotomine. Besides his initial surprise when the other party wrapped her arms around his neck, he remained calm. Instead, Shakespeare, who was standing to the side, was touching his chin with a face full of curiosity.
It was obvious that he wanted to say something, but in the face of a certain woman's murderous gaze, he, who had a strong will to live, chose to shrug and pretend not to see it.
But there are always some people in this world who don't read the room, like Siegfried.
Holding the 'holy sword' in his hand, he and Jeanne rushed into the ritual site almost at the same time. The two first looked at the 'Greater Grail' floating in the distance and then had completely different reactions.
Siegfried drew his sword without hesitation and aimed it at the three heroic spirits in front of him, while Jeanne looked at Shirou Kotomine with a face full of disbelief.
"Are you the sixteenth Servant of this Holy Grail War?"
Faced with Jeanne's question, Shirou Kotomine didn't say much. Instead, he first bowed to show his respect, and then he shook his head.
"That's not quite accurate. Strictly speaking, I am the 'first Servant' of this Holy Grail War, and I am also a Servant with the same class as you --- Ruler."
The reason why Shirou Kotomine, or rather, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada, hid his identity at the beginning was to be able to blindsight Black at a critical moment, and there was no doubt that he had already achieved his goal. What's more, when he was facing Jeanne, who had similar abilities to him, there was even less need for him to pretend.
As for complaining about the other party, 'You said that Rulers don't get involved in both sides, but why are you revealing my identity here so I can't blindsight Black a few more times?'
But considering the positions of both sides, there was no point in asking such a question.
However, looking at Jeanne, who was on high alert, Shirou Kotomine did something very bizarre.
He actually squatted down in front of everyone and carefully collected the ashes left behind by the Grand Duke when he was 'purified', and Semiramis, at some point, took out an exquisite small box and handed it to her Master.
The four Servants present just watched Shirou Kotomine doing something that was completely unrelated to the Holy Grail War until he closed the box.
"Sorry, Ruler. I wasted a lot of time."
Jeanne had thought that Shirou Kotomine was doing this to lure them into attacking and that it was a trap, but until the end, the other party didn't make any move, which was undoubtedly a bit strange, but Shirou Kotomine himself had no intention of explaining, after all, there was no need.
"Alright, now let's deal with the matter between us..."
With Shirou Kotomine's words, Shakespeare, who was standing beside him, took a step back without hesitation.
"Master~! I'll leave it to you! I believe you can do it! Just like how you dealt with Black's Lancer before~! I believe in you~!"
Although he had already known that Shakespeare was such an unreliable person, it was still a bit annoying to be sold out so unhesitatingly by a comrade on the battlefield.
He took a deep breath to barely maintain his blood pressure and hadn't opened his mouth to scold him yet, when Jeanne spoke first.
"Caster! You, as a Servant, actually let your Master fight! Where is your honor as a heroic spirit!!"
Jeanne's rebuke was merciless. This seemed to be different from the 'outsider' image that Jeanne had always shown, but if you think about it carefully, it's not strange at all. After all, if we were to talk about who was the number one Jeanne hater in history, then Shakespeare would definitely be the most powerful contender for the number one spot!
"Yo~ Miss French Witch~ According to Master, as a Ruler, you should be able to see through my Noble Phantasm, right? Then you should know that I'm not actually good at fighting other Servants, so it's only natural for me to watch the show here. And my Master hasn't even spoken yet, and you're already speaking. Isn't that a bit..."
Although he didn't finish his sentence, the provocation in his eyes was not concealed at all.
In reality, there was no actual grudge between Shakespeare and Jeanne. For him, he was more 'curious' and had a 'prankster' mentality towards Jeanne. After all, he described the other party as a witch and a promiscuous woman in his work purely because of the demands of the people in power at the time, and he had no other choice.
But with his personality, he also unhesitatingly talked back to Jeanne's provocation. After all, he was a person who would be unreasonable and still try to be right, let alone when he was facing someone who was provoking him.
And on the other side, Jeanne, looking at Shakespeare's arrogant expression with his head held high, couldn't help but glance at Shirou Kotomine, as if wanting to tell the other party that she was speaking up for him, but unfortunately, from the moment Jeanne appeared, he had always maintained that smile that seemed like it would never change.
However, one person could no longer wait.
Before Siegfried went to the 'Hanging Gardens', he had already received an order from Gordes --- 'Deal with Caster and get rid of that strange Noble Phantasm in the sky'.
The reason he had been waiting for the other party to finish was similar to Jeanne's. He was afraid that the other party had a plot, but now that the battle had officially started, he unhesitatingly held his 'holy sword' and charged towards the other party, and Amakusa also very simply drew the long sword that was always tucked into his waist --- Denta Mitsuyo.
The true battle begins now!