Chapter 156 — After Unlocking All CGs, the Type-Moon Girlfriend Came Knocking
Chapter 141 — Sajyou Manaka Is Playing a Bigger Game!
However, at that very moment, Ishtar's Noble Phantasm, that beam cannon filled with the aura of destruction, came crashing down from the sky.
Boom!
It slammed straight into the surface of the Greater Grail.
In that instant, with the Greater Grail at the center, it was as if countless ripples of magical energy spread through the air. A low, vibrating hum made Kayneth and the other Masters instinctively cover their ears.
But their eyes remained locked onto the Greater Grail, afraid that in the next second it might be snatched away.
Crack!
Then, right at that moment, everyone heard a faint sound of something breaking.
In that instant, the fighting on all sides came to a sudden halt.
They all seemed to vaguely realize something, and instinctively turned to look at that all-powerful wish-granting device.
At some point, a faint crack had appeared on the surface of the Greater Grail.
Seeing this, everyone's expression changed slightly.
Alvin froze.
Kayneth's face turned ugly. Tohsaka Tokiomi's gaze went blank. Waver had already opened his mouth wide, utterly stunned.
Even Morgan couldn't quite keep her composure.
'The Ruler of this Holy Grail War actually attacked the Greater Grail herself… and even managed to put a crack in it?'
After a brief moment of blankness, Ishtar quickly forced a calm smile onto her face, pretending to stay composed as she broke the strange silence.
"Don't worry. The Greater Grail isn't that fragile. It's just a tiny crack, no big deal…"
Crack!
The moment her words fell, more and more cracks began to spread across the Greater Grail, densely covering its surface.
Until finally, right before Ishtar's frozen gaze, the Fuyuki Greater Grail collapsed with a deafening crash.
In midair, fragments that symbolized the "Greater Grail" scattered across the ground, leaving everyone present stunned.
Ishtar stood there like a white statue, as if she might crumble into dust with the wind at any moment.
After who knew how long of being frozen, she finally seemed to come back to her senses a little. Inside, her tiny inner self was already screaming.
'Eh?'
'What the heck? What's going on?'
'How did one Noble Phantasm just make the Greater Grail disappear?'
'No matter what, the Greater Grail is a special construct built on the foundation of the Third Magic. How could it possibly be shattered by a single Servant's Noble Phantasm?'
Ishtar was clearly losing it.
Meanwhile, Alvin was also standing there stiffly, staring dumbfounded at the Greater Grail that had already turned into countless fragments in front of Sajyou Manaka.
After a long while, the corner of his mouth twitched. Even though he tried to keep calm, he still couldn't hold back a muttered, "What the hell…"
He already knew Ishtar had a long-standing habit of screwing things up, practically hereditary at this point, but he never imagined that the referee of the Holy Grail War, Ruler herself, would personally blast the Greater Grail into pieces.
"How… how could this be…"
Tohsaka Tokiomi clearly couldn't believe it. He muttered to himself as he stepped forward. When he confirmed that the fragments scattered across the ground weren't an illusion, his knees gave out, and he collapsed onto the snow, staring blankly at everything before him.
To Tohsaka Tokiomi, the Greater Grail was more important than anything else in the world. He had prepared for this Holy Grail War for so long… and now it had been destroyed in such a dramatic way by Ruler, the deity possessing his own daughter.
For a moment, he simply couldn't accept it.
"Ruler, what exactly have you done?"
In the distance, Kayneth finally snapped out of his shock. If Mordred hadn't been desperately holding him back, the Lord of the Clock Tower might have already rushed forward to demand an explanation from Ishtar.
He desperately needed a victory in this Holy Grail War to prove himself to his future father-in-law.
And yet… the Greater Grail had been destroyed like this.
Then what was the point of him coming to Fuyuki at all?
A surge of fury rose within him.
From the beginning, Emiya Kiritsugu had remained silent in the darkness. His eyes were shadowed as he stared at the fragments at Sajyou Manaka's feet, clearly still doubtful, unwilling to believe that the Greater Grail had truly been destroyed.
Morgan narrowed her beautiful eyes slightly, silently gazing at the countless shattered pieces of the Greater Grail scattered across the snow.
After a long while, her red lips parted. Her cold voice carried a hint of amusement.
"Should I say you're afraid to fight, or that you have other plans, Princess of the Root?"
As she spoke, her gaze locked onto Sajyou Manaka.
The moment those words were spoken, everyone was stunned. Ishtar immediately looked up as if she'd seen hope and instinctively said, "What do you mean? Are you saying I didn't destroy the Greater Grail?"
Hearing this, Alvin subconsciously turned to look at Sajyou Manaka.
Ever since she summoned the Greater Grail earlier, she had been standing there quietly, completely motionless.
Her golden hair flowed in the wind and snow, her long dress billowing behind her, faintly revealing a small stretch of pale calf with a crystalline sheen.
Her delicate, ethereal face showed no expression at all, as if everything that had happened had nothing to do with her.
Seeing that she didn't respond, Alvin couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious.
Thinking about it carefully, Ishtar hadn't even manifested as a proper Servant this time, she was merely a special existence possessing a little girl.
Naturally, her magical energy and Noble Phantasm would be greatly weakened.
No matter what, the Greater Grail was a special construct based on the Third Magic. Even if it was hit by accident, it shouldn't have been destroyed by a single Noble Phantasm from Ishtar, right?
'Could it be that Manaka really did something behind the scenes?'
"Saber, you believe me, right?", At that moment, Sajyou Manaka suddenly turned to look at Alvin. A smile bloomed on her face like ice melting.
'I believe you, but I also believe you're number one when it comes to stirring up trouble…'
Alvin said, "Of course. You're my Master. During the Holy Grail War, no matter what, I'll believe you."
Hearing his answer, Sajyou Manaka's smile grew even lighter and brighter. She lifted the tip of her small boot and gently stepped on the fragments of the Greater Grail, grinding them back and forth, making a soft crunching sound.
The shadows around her twisted slightly, radiating a terrifying aura that made the girl seem even more dangerous.
Aside from Alvin, everyone present looked at her with hostility… and a deep-seated wariness hidden beneath it.
For a girl like Sajyou Manaka, born with omniscience and omnipotence, there had never been anything she truly pursued. In her sixteen years of life, she had never felt even a trace of happiness.
To fall in love with a Servant, someone whose future she couldn't observe, who looked good, and spoke pleasantly… for her, that was something fresh and thrilling.
But she had always been uneasy, because Alvin already had a wife, and that wife had also appeared in this Holy Grail War.
Yet in both of his choices, he had stood on her side.
To her, that was like a shot of adrenaline, letting her finally see some "fun" in life.
As long as she could be with Alvin, the Holy Grail War, and even the Greater Grail, didn't matter.
Sajyou Manaka pressed the fragments of the Greater Grail deep into the snow with the sole of her shoe. A gentle smile appeared on her delicate face.
"I knew I didn't misjudge you, Saber."
Ishtar stared at Sajyou Manaka and said in a low voice, "Did you tamper with the Greater Grail?"
Right now, all she cared about was whether she'd have to take the blame.
If this got out, she'd become a joke in Fuyuki, no, in the entire mage world.
The great referee of the Holy Grail War personally destroyed the Greater Grail, causing herself to lose her mana supply and end the war… that just sounded ridiculously stupid.
But if Sajyou Manaka was the one behind it… that sounded way better, didn't it?
"I just made it a little 'fragile.' But the one who destroyed the Greater Grail really was you, you know?", Sajyou Manaka said.
Hearing that it really was Manaka's doing, Ishtar let out a small sigh of relief. But soon after, anger rose from the depths of her heart.
"Why would you do something like that?"
"Because you were all getting in the way. I joined the Holy Grail War just to be with Saber. But you people were fighting to the death over a stupid cup, even interfering with our normal life together," Sajyou Manaka smiled sweetly.
"Archer, Rider, even that Assassin who's been secretly watching me… if everyone who gets in my way could just die, that would be perfect."
Her appearance was adorable, her tone lively and cheerful, yet the words she spoke sent a chill down everyone's spine.
Tohsaka Tokiomi's body trembled slightly.
He could tell that Sajyou Manaka wasn't joking at all… she genuinely believed that everyone participating in the Holy Grail War who interfered with her should die.
'Just to live peacefully with the Servant she summoned… someone would join the Holy Grail War for a reason like that?'
That was something Tokiomi couldn't understand at all.
At that moment, light particles began to appear on all the Servants present, including Alvin.
Their forms started to blur. They were about to disappear from this Holy Grail War.
Because the Greater Grail had been destroyed, the Servants could no longer maintain their spiritual forms. Even Sajyou Manaka's Servant was no exception.
"You… what are you trying to do? If you want to be with my father, then why destroy the Greater Grail?"
Mordred lunged at Sajyou Manaka in fury. But before her fingers could touch Manaka's body, they turned intangible, passing straight through her.
Sajyou Manaka ignored Mordred. She simply reached out and gently touched the boy's face, but her fingertips quickly passed through his body as well.
"What exactly are you plotting, Princess of the Root?"
Morgan looked at her coldly. A trace of chill flickered in her beautiful eyes, while her veiled face radiated a seductive, elusive charm.
A woman like her didn't even need her face to captivate others. Her figure and bearing alone were enough to be considered peerless beauty.
But anyone who knew Morgan understood one thing clearly, the witch of ancient Britain was truly angry now.
She had finally crossed into the modern world, and before she could even start enjoying herself, Sajyou Manaka had already flipped the entire chessboard.
But would she really give up on Alvin?
The answer was no.
The Princess of the Root… what exactly was she planning?
"I'm just pursuing my own love. And I don't want to continue this meaningless Holy Grail War anymore. That's all," Sajyou Manaka's voice was soft and gentle.
"Of course, if Princess Morgan wants to continue, I'll accompany you."
Even Morgan le Fay couldn't possibly know that the real Alvin was actually at the Clock Tower, right?
In the Holy Grail War, she still had to worry about Morgan's side, and even Ishtar and the others competing with her.
But at the Clock Tower, all those nuisances would be gone.
Thinking of this, anticipation grew stronger in Sajyou Manaka's heart, and a charming smile appeared on her face.
She turned to look at the boy and said softly,
"Wait for me, Saber."
"I'll find you very soon… very soon."
Her words carried a deeper meaning.
———
The heavy snow continued to fall, but the once lively battlefield had suddenly gone quiet.
All the Servants, and even the Greater Grail, had completely disappeared. The Masters present clearly harbored deep hatred toward Sajyou Manaka.
Morgan silently observed everything before shifting her gaze to the girl ahead.
Sajyou Manaka was also looking at her, "Are you still planning to make a move?"
She asked with a smile.
Morgan didn't answer.
Instead, what greeted the Princess of the Root was an endless surge of black shadows spilling out from beneath Morgan le Fay's feet.
And within that darkness, the muzzle of a handgun pointed at Sajyou Manaka's back.
Emiya Kiritsugu's fingers trembled slightly. This man, who had always been calm, now had eyes filled with manic killing intent.
He had accepted the Einzbern family's commission, even marrying into the family to participate in the Holy Grail War. All of it was for the Greater Grail, for his ideal.
And now, someone had crushed the Greater Grail, along with his ideal, underfoot… all for something as trivial as "love"?
'To abandon the justice of saving the world for the sake of personal love, what exactly does this girl, who might be connected to the Root, think justice even is?'
[T/N: For me the best part of bringing you chapters everyday is reading your comments. Be it anything witty or a simple "Tftc", they all keep me motivated to keep posting chapters. So, do comment and please give a REVIEW.]
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