Chiron felt a massive headache coming on.
He had considered everything, except that the odd creature in black armor was actually 'Mr. Li Lin's' Servant.
It possessed an aura similar to creatures of the underworld, yet its form of existence was entirely different.
Chiron searched through his vast experience but had never seen such a bizarre existence.
Have the Magi of modern human society become this eccentric?
A human shouldn't—at least, they really shouldn't.
"Regarding the accidental shot, I am deeply sorry, but I truly have no intention of declaring war on any of you." Chiron pushed aside his inner thoughts and fully deactivated his armaments, looking at the black-armored woman and Kriemhild with a sincere expression. "I can personally go to Mr. Li Lin to apologize and explain."
"Hey, regardless of your reasons, you shot her just now. That much is true, right?" Mordred fanned the flames from the side with schadenfreude. "Since you've already fired, you should properly take responsibility. Don't always think about dodging."
"So, have a satisfying fight with me!" Mordred revealed her true intentions.
She simply wanted to have a good, hearty battle.
Truth be told, as a Saber, she actually wanted to fight the Saber on the opposite side more.
But the one named Kriemhild seemed to have some complicated relationship with the Black Faction's Saber; she couldn't very well steal someone else's prey.
So, she could settle for a different opponent and fight that bitter-faced Archer.
As for the Berserker, Mordred didn't like fighting Berserkers who lost all reason once they went on a rampage.
"Red Faction Saber, is this your scheme?" Chiron looked at Mordred and asked warily. "Provoking the relationship between our Black Faction and the Ruler Faction, and inciting us to fight so that conflict arises between us."
"Huh? Who's thinking that much?" Mordred rolled her eyes irritably. "I just want to fight you guys."
"What do you think?" Chiron turned to Kriemhild and asked.
"Actually, whether we fight or not doesn't matter much." The corners of Kriemhild's mouth curled up slightly. "But preventing you from entering Sigisval Town and disturbing what the master is currently doing is our primary mission."
"It was our failure not to notice how you, Archer and Berserker, entered the town before. But since you've come out now, it's the perfect chance to intercept you both, lest you continue to disturb the master."
"Oh! That's a great excuse!" Mordred excitedly tapped her armor with her kings sword. "Exactly! My mission is to act as a guardian! Clearing out you guys with unclear allegiances from Sigisval Town is my job!"
"...It seems you all intend to have a fight here." Chiron's face darkened.
Beside him, Frankenstein was already poised to strike.
Siegfried also raised his sword once more.
"How shall we divide this? Is it a melee, or are we splitting the battlefield?" asked Albedo, who hadn't had much chance to speak.
"I will stop Siegfried," Kriemhild responded.
"Oh? Siegfried?" Mordred raised an eyebrow in surprise, then turned her gaze toward Chiron with some regret. "I'll take responsibility for the Archer then."
"In that case, I am responsible for countering Frankenstein." Albedo looked at Frankenstein while holding her giant axe.
"Uuuu—!" Electricity began to swirl around Frankenstein's body as her eyes stared intently at Albedo.
"Although our side has no intention of starting a war, it is not our style to simply take a beating." Chiron manifested his armaments again and looked warily at Mordred. "I can only do my best."
During the conversation, he had already reported the situation to his master.
Fiore also felt quite troubled, but the arrow was already on the string and had to be fired. She could only instruct Chiron that the fight should ideally be kept within limits.
In any case, Kriemhild of the Ruler Faction and the one named Albedo absolutely must not be killed.
As for the Red Faction Saber...
Although her relationship with Ruler could be guessed, as long as they pretended not to know and emphasized the hostility between the Black and Red Factions, the Ruler probably wouldn't make things too difficult for the Black Faction.
In short, there were a mountain of troubles now; she was almost too busy to cope.
Because Shishigou Kairi was currently hiding behind a wall not far from them, holding his shotgun.
Fiore had still underestimated Shishigou Kairi's methods.
Although her concealment magecraft was relatively discreet, Shishigou Kairi was an expert in combat.
Combined with the signs of ground cracking caused by the previous battle between Mordred, Frankenstein, and Chiron, Shishigou Kairi easily discovered their hidden means. After firing a shot to destroy their magecraft, he went into hiding.
"master of the Red Faction Saber, we have no hostility toward you," Fiore called out. "The previous battle between the Red Faction Saber and us was merely a misunderstanding."
"I don't think there's much of a misunderstanding," Shishigou Kairi replied. "After all, I'm from the Red Faction, and you're from the Black Faction. We were already opposing forces."
"But you are currently cooperating with the Ruler Faction on something, right?" Fiore continued to explain. "We also hope to help."
"If anything, it was your Red Faction that took the liberty of sending Lancer to try and intercept Ruler midway, while we sent out a Servant to assist Ruler." Fiore began to poke at the wound.
Intercepting Ruler midway?
Oh, that was done by that Priest Amakusa.
Shishigou Kairi continued to check his armaments.
He was already feeling fatigued from drawing the bounded field to dispel mundanes, and now encountering people from the Black Faction, Shishigou Kairi's nerves were currently strained to the limit.
The only thing that gave him some relief was probably that there were currently no Servants guarding the other side.
Only a few homunculus assistants.
He had even taken one out when he fired to destroy the concealment magecraft.
"The Red Faction's faults have nothing to do with me personally," Shishigou Kairi responded. "After all, Saber and I have been acting independently from the start."
"You are currently cooperating with the Ruler Faction's Caster to purify and pass on Jack the Ripper, aren't you?" Seeing how difficult Shishigou Kairi was being, Fiore grew somewhat annoyed and got straight to the point. "Coincidentally, our purpose for coming to this town is also Jack the Ripper."
"Because Jack the Ripper has been slaughtering Magi on our territory, we are preparing to eliminate her from this Holy Grail War." Fiore continued, "We can assist the Ruler Faction in maintaining the security of the 'Shrine'."
"You're asking the wrong person for something like that," Shishigou Kairi said with a twitch of his mouth. "You should be asking the people of the Ruler Faction."
"I'm just following my Servant's suggestion to do the Ruler Faction a favor. I don't have such a deep relationship with them that I can just bring people into the vicinity of the 'Shrine' at will."
Fiore bit her lip, staring intently at the place where Shishigou Kairi was hiding.
She utterly detested foreign Magi who stepped onto the Yggdmillennia Clan's territory without permission.
Especially Magi from the Mage's Association, who were currently an opposing force.
If it weren't for the fact that Shishigou Kairi had somehow connected with the Ruler Faction for unknown reasons, she would have insulted him and started fighting without hesitation the moment they met.
The reason she was wasting time chatting with him now was also to stall for time, giving Caules a chance to circle around to another street and scout Shishigou Kairi's situation.
A first-rate tactical mage—she didn't dare underestimate him.
One careless mistake, and she might flip and be killed by the opponent.
"Astar, Blanca, Comet, Wolf."
At Fiore's low command, the four prosthetic arms behind her immediately sprang into action.
Following Fiore's own will, the joints began to shift their operation, maintaining her movement and preparing for an attack.
This was Fiore's masterpiece, a Mystic Code she designed and completed herself.
Acting in place of her immobile legs, they functioned simultaneously as her armor and weapons.
With low mana consumption and a light burden, plus the weapons she had designed herself, even Fiore—who had never been on a battlefield—could possess the ability to fight a first-rate tactical mage with these four prosthetic arms.
It was because of this talent that Fiore was the hope of Yggdmillennia, designated by Darnic as the successor to the next clan head.
The four prosthetic arms, while minimizing their range of motion and sound as much as possible, crawled slowly through the alleyway using the walls on both sides.
Shishigou Kairi instinctively sensed something was wrong and had already planned his next tactical move early on.
For instance, a tactical retreat.
First, return to the Ruler Faction's side.
Of course, to prevent his actions from being seen through by the opponent, he specifically arranged a voice-recording magecraft on the spot to buy some time for his retreat.
As for Mordred's side... he could only trust that the proud knight could handle everything.
Thus, when Fiore and Caules performed their pincer attack, what they saw behind the corner was merely a medium used for voice-recording magecraft.
Shishigou Kairi's figure was nowhere to be found.
Fiore's expression changed, and she immediately climbed toward the higher levels of the building.
She had a bad premonition.
That guy Shishigou Kairi—could he have abandoned a warrior's pride and chosen to retreat back to 'Mr. Li Lin's' side!
Sure enough, with the help of the prosthetic arms, Fiore saw the situation around 'Mr. Li Lin' and caught sight of Shishigou Kairi running to his side, panting.
Continuing to hide was no longer necessary.
Moreover, if nothing went wrong, he should have already received feedback on Chiron's battle through Kriemhild.
Continuing to hide would likely serve no purpose other than carving a rift between the Black Faction and the Ruler Faction.
The attacks from the Red Faction's side had completely gone silent.
"Caules, get ready. We're going to have a personal talk with Mr. Li Lin." Fiore sighed, then looked at her brother, who was staring at her blankly.
"Eh? Okay." Caules was stunned for a moment, then without asking much, he obediently did as his sister requested.
Hopefully, Chiron and the others can stay steady and not cause any more trouble.
Fiore prayed silently in her heart as she moved.
---
Screech—
Accompanied by the friction between shoes and the ground, Atalanta appeared before Artoria once again.
"I want to join your faction!" Before Artoria could say anything, Atalanta spoke first, saying something that left even Artoria a bit dazed.
"What do you mean... join our faction?" Artoria raised an eyebrow and questioned Atalanta.
"By joining you and being with you, I can also contribute to saving those tens of thousands of children!" Atalanta explained. "If that's the case, then I want to become a member of your faction as well."
"Speaking of which, your Ruler Faction has a Lancer, a Caster, and a Berserker, but no Archer, right? My joining will add a new class!" Atalanta continued to emphasize why she was useful.
"In short... I also want to contribute to saving those children, please!" Atalanta was almost begging.
"Are you planning to defect from the Red Faction?" Artoria looked at Atalanta with a strange expression and asked.
"Yes! I've already decided!" Atalanta nodded and replied. "Please complete the ritual for transferring ownership as soon as possible! If it's any later, I'm worried my former master from the Red Faction will use command spells to forcibly transfer me back."
"I understand. Then come with me." Artoria nodded with a'seen it all today' expression, then led Atalanta toward the town.
"Shouldn't we make some preparations first? Rider should be arriving soon," Atalanta reminded.
"There's no need for any preparations," Artoria replied. "When I returned just now, I already set up a boundary around the town that allows exits but no entries. Unless Lancer decides to release his Noble Phantasm, ordinary attacks won't be able to break through the boundary I've set."
"Of course, if Rider decides to use his chariot, he might be able to break in... but first, he'd have to forcibly break through the town's first line of defense."
Just as Artoria's voice fell, dozens of Purification Knights suddenly appeared.
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