Chapter 38: The Raid Concludes

My name is Lin Hao.

The Church has made its presence felt.

150:39:43

At midnight, the bustling New Fuyuki City temporarily quieted down. Most citizens had long since drifted into dreams, and even the young people who thrived on nightlife had grown too weary for boisterous chatter.

Tohsaka Tokiomi, however, felt no drowsiness. He was currently leading his two disciples and their Servants, clearing the magical traces left behind in the hotel by Kayneth’s workshop.

The top two floors of the hotel had vanished completely. Such a bizarre occurrence might cause trouble for the Church, which was responsible for the aftermath, but it would likely be dismissed as a natural gas explosion.

As the steward of the Fuyuki ley lines, Tokiomi had long been dissatisfied with those so-called orthodox magus families. Even though his various inventions and improvements in gem magecraft earned him substantial annual patent fees from the Clock Tower, it could not erase the resentment caused by those who secretly labeled him a "country squire."

Magi master "mysteries" completely incomprehensible to ordinary people; regardless of how they are categorized, one’s location should not be the standard for judgment. Setting aside lineage, in terms of the sheer number of ley lines he controlled, Tokiomi far surpassed those fellows at the Clock Tower who could only purchase time on ley lines using "contribution points" and "credits."

And now—Tokiomi waved his cane, incinerating a phantom that had emerged from behind the wall—having challenged and repelled the "genius Kayneth" while bearing the derisive title of a "country magus," he was certain that once the Clock Tower learned of this feat, his next patent fees would be delivered to his doorstep without him having to beg for them.

Yet, compared to reaching the Root, these minor achievements were not worth mentioning.

"Gwaaaaaaah—!" The thunder of the passing Via Expugnatio interrupted Tokiomi’s reverie. The ox-cart, wreathed in ominous black-red mist, ignored the corridors and hallways, smashing hole after hole through the hotel walls.

"Ryunosuke?" Tokiomi’s cheerful mood remained unperturbed. He twirled his cane and turned to look at his senior disciple.

"Sorry, Master, this is completely unexpected—ugh, argh!" Uryu Ryunosuke was gripping his right hand, which now held only a single Command Spell, as if it were causing him uncontrollable agony.

Yes, only one remained. To force the mindless Berserker to perform such flawless coordination and ultimately seize the Rider’s Noble Phantasm, Ryunosuke had already used one with Tokiomi’s consent, but currently, it seemed he had been too optimistic.

*Knight of Owner*: This skill of Berserker’s allowed any object termed a weapon to be strengthened to the level of a D-rank Noble Phantasm. If the target was already a D-rank or higher, it would retain its original rank while granting him control.

However, the resulting magical consumption had to be calculated separately.

Ryunosuke’s current state was the direct result of his magical circuits being frantically drained by the Servant. Furthermore, the Berserker class itself was one that gained great combat strength by demanding more from its magus.

"I suggest we destroy it now, Master." Kirei Kotomine, the second disciple and former Executor, watched the ox-cart and offered his advice. "Otherwise, it will likely be reclaimed by Rider."

The Via Expugnatio was not entirely an inanimate object; the two bulls were also part of it. Even if it could be controlled temporarily with magical energy, any lapse in concentration would cause it to go berserk again. A mad Servant driving a mad Noble Phantasm—if it weren't for Ryunosuke’s absurdly vast magical circuits, he would likely have fainted long ago.

"Master..." Tokiomi saw Ryunosuke, who was struggling to control his Servant, look back at him. There was no hesitation in his eyes; he seemed prepared to follow instructions to the letter.

Although Ryunosuke had only one Command Spell left, if he were to be as stingy and worried about losses as other Masters, what would be the advantage of possessing three Servants?

"I permit you to use one more Command Spell to maintain control, Ryunosuke," Tokiomi said confidently. "Even if it must ultimately be destroyed, it shall be destroyed while charging toward the enemy."

150:13:07

Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri was furious.

It was not because she had lost their base; after all, anything could happen in war, and victory or defeat were common occurrences. But the fact that Kayneth had fled at the first sign of strategic disadvantage, before the outcome was even decided, made her blood boil.

In the control room on the "thirty-second floor of the Hyatt Hotel," a massive magic circle was drawn across a large round table, with Sola and Kayneth standing beside it.

"So, just because you lost a pathetic cart, you activated the emergency protocols and ran away?" She stood with one hand on her hip, glaring at Kayneth, who was operating the alchemy circle. "You are a genius! The genius Kayneth! Even with only two floors left, the support from the magical workshop should have been enough to restrain that pitch-black monster!"

"Err, our situation was very unfavorable, Sola," Kayneth said, sweat beading on his forehead. "The Assassins were no longer affected by the 'Otherworldly' state because the workshop’s magical nodes had failed, and Berserker had stolen Rider’s chariot. Between the gains and losses..."

"Did you not see that the black brute could barely handle the Via Expugnatio? If Rider had simply cooperated, Lancer could have taken it back with a single strike," Sola said, not believing that Kayneth could be unaware of things she herself had noticed. "As for those assassins, wasn't 'Ionioi Hetairoi' a perfect counter?"

"But, but the walls had already been smashed through by Berserker, and Archer might have intervened..." Kayneth struggled to stabilize the alchemy circle.

"Hmph!" Sola frowned as she looked at the circle. She stepped forward, reached out, and tapped the diagram on the table; the flickering light immediately steadied.

Although she lacked a Magic Crest and could not use systematic magecraft, she had no trouble handling these technical aspects.

"Thank you, Sola." Kayneth finally found a moment to take out a handkerchief and wipe his brow.

"You are the most outstanding lecturer at the Clock Tower, a genius recognized by all," Sola’s voice softened. "But if you don't adopt a strong demeanor, those pampered fools you look down upon will eventually bully you, and my father will not help you in that regard."

"Well, I was afraid you would get hurt..." Seemingly affected by Sola’s tone, Kayneth looked up at her. "The original battle plan was based on the premise that 'Rider had the Via Expugnatio, which could take us away at any time.' You know that in magical experiments, if a key condition is missing, the whole experiment must be halted."

*Boom—* The ground suddenly shook violently.

"Is that your reason for initiating the final escape method?" Sola ignored the vibration and brushed a lock of wine-red hair from her forehead. "You're just a coward, aren't you?"

"Err... I will reflect on this." Kayneth found it impossible to admit or deny.

"I am terribly sorry! It was entirely due to my failure that Berserker escaped, leading to this situation." Lancer suddenly manifested beside Kayneth and Sola, dropping to one knee to plead for forgiveness.

"It is not your fault," Sola said coldly, then looked toward the door. "Little Waver? Are you not coming out?"

"Hahaha! You really are impatient, Lancer," the door to the control room opened, and Iskandar walked in, laughing, with Waver following behind looking frantic. "Why do you insist on interrupting lovers bickering?"

"Who is bickering—" Sola’s eyes widened, but halfway through, she noticed Kayneth sheepishly looking away, so she stomped her foot and turned to leave. "I’m going to go see Luna!"

"Hahaha, your two masters are truly interesting." Iskandar, seemingly unbothered by the theft of his vehicle, clapped a heavy hand on the shoulder of Lancer, who had retreated in embarrassment.

"It is my Master and the Lady," Diarmuid replied earnestly.

Compared to the Servants and Masters who seemed completely out of sync, Waver stared out the window. For the first time, he agreed with the claim that his teacher was a "genius." Perhaps Tokiomi Tohsaka and his disciples didn't think this was anything remarkable, but Kayneth had truly achieved something only legendary magi could accomplish.

At this moment, the top-floor suites of the Fuyuki Hyatt Hotel, the thirty-first and thirty-second floors, were suspended two thousand meters above Fuyuki City, wrapped in a magical barrier.

Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald had built a floating city.

146:45:21

The Spirit Disc was a detection device similar in diameter and appearance to a common washbasin, and its observation interface rippled like the surface of water. Every time Risei Kotomine used it to observe Servant intelligence, he had the illusion that he was about to wash his face.

It was originally a tool used by the Church to monitor supernatural entities, such as Dead Apostles and self-awakened magi, to deploy Executors accordingly. However, as naturally occurring supernatural beings became increasingly rare, it had become almost useless. Yet, the one in his hands had been modified to monitor the Servants in the Holy Grail War.

Although it could not display real-time visuals, it could track classes and locations. This was not particularly useful, as even though Risei provided the location intelligence to his son, Kirei, the outcome ultimately had to be decided through direct combat.

Now, he was trying to locate the Kayneth faction, which had vanished after Tokiomi Tohsaka’s raid on the Hyatt Hotel.

"There is finally something even your Assassins cannot find," the somewhat stout Risei put on his glasses and spoke to the black, hulking figure beside him before injecting magical energy into the Spirit Disc.

Although what stood there was an avatar of the Assassin Servant, Kirei was certainly watching through "empathy," so treating it as his son was perfectly fine.

"Hmm... Berserker and Assassin at the Tohsaka residence, and that Archer is still untraceable," Risei observed the light dots on the water and the map of Fuyuki. "In the forest, that is Saber and Caster... hmm... Rider and Lancer..."

A moment later, Risei looked up in confusion. "Nothing found at all. You said that the magus from the Clock Tower fled in defeat, right? Perhaps he is still using magecraft to mask his detection?"

"I will return." Assassin relayed Kirei’s words and prepared to leave.

*Hum—*

The "water surface" of the Spirit Disc suddenly emitted a glow, drawing the attention of Risei and Assassin.

"This is..." Under the old man’s surprised gaze, Rider and Lancer appeared in the mountain forests south of Fuyuki, and in that same location, there was an additional Servant signature labeled as "Unknown."

At the same time, at the location that should have been the Einzbern Castle, the Saber signature, which had originally only been slightly larger, slowly split into two.