Chapter Forty-Three: Simultaneous Warfare

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My name is Alaya.
Wars have broken out everywhere simultaneously.
130:23:19

"Oh Saber, this King has come to take you as his bride just as we promised~"
"There was no such promise whatsoever!"

While a fierce battle erupted somewhere deep within the forest, an ancient flying vessel gleaming with golden light brazenly bypassed all outer defenses of Einzbern, descending directly into the garden behind the annex.

Gilgamesh stepped down from the craft and spoke those utterly exasperating words once more to Saber Lily, who stood ready in battle array, when a ferocious blast of black wind struck violently from the flank.

[Hammer of the Vortigern]!

"Clang!" A crimson giant axe that suddenly materialized in the void blocked that fierce blast, while it was simultaneously knocked far away. It was only then that the ambushed Gilgamesh turned his head with an expression of irritation.

"Hoh, what arrogant fool is this—" The blood-red pupils of the King of Heroes suddenly contracted, and the words he was about to utter were directly interrupted by what came into view.

It was a female knight in black armor leaning forward, maintaining a charging posture. Her pitch-black armor was entwined with blood-red patterns pulsing like rising flames, and her face was concealed by a mask covering the upper half, revealing only her dark golden hair and the black longsword that had just delivered that attack.

This was the other Saber. Although it was only a fleeting glimpse in the surveillance footage within Tohsaka Tokiomi's workshop, Gilgamesh could recognize that she had worn a long dress as gorgeous as an evening gown rather than armor at that time. Her face could not be seen clearly, but the ominous black sword with blood-red rings and stripes was undoubtedly the same one.

Even setting aside other conditions, the King of Heroes had to admit that this black Saber's appearance and temperament reminded him of a lion, an animal that highly suited his tastes.

"Hmph, it seems this King's luck is rather good today, being able to gather two Sabers of differing styles into my treasury." The golden-glowing heroic spirit looked back and forth between Saber Lily and Saber Alter, and then said arrogantly, "This King grants you permission to express your gratitude."

"Stop joking!" the white Saber said angrily. "Pestering someone even after your marriage proposal has been rejected—if we were in Camelot, you would have been hung from the city gates and whipped ages ago!"

"Oh? You are welcome to try." Several golden ripples lit up behind Gilgamesh. Although nothing emerged from them temporarily, the intent to threaten was already self-evident.

[Hammer of the Vortigern]! The black wind struck once again.

"Clang!" The nearest ripple materialized a broad-edged sword to block the blow.

This time, the King of Heroes saw it clearly: as the black-armored Saber swung her sword, the red and black aura entwined around the blade instantaneously condensed and smashed toward the direction she pointed. Its form was just like an iron hammer, and because its raw material was merely the air, it consumed no magical energy whatsoever, making it completely impossible to anticipate in advance.

"If I do not speak, were you planning to sit and listen to his nonsense forever?" Gilgamesh heard the voice of the black Saber. Compared to the white Saber, whose words and actions carried greenness, hesitation, and even innocence akin to a lily, this one's speech was filled with ruthlessness, confidence, and the madness of doing whatever it took to achieve her goal.

"Uh... I was just..." Though their voices were almost identical, the pure white Saber was completely overwhelmed in terms of presence.

"When one monarch proposes a marriage alliance to another, if they fail to simultaneously submit solutions regarding a series of critical issues such as the wedding, territory, and succession rights, that act can basically be deemed an insult to the entire nation and must be met with an immediate declaration of war without the slightest hesitation!" Saber Alter's unquestionable words made Saber Lily's eyes widen in astonishment.

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"Wait... Merlin... the other Round Table... Britain..." The white knight stammered incoherently, even drawing upon the memories of the future bestowed upon her by the Holy Grail when she was summoned, yet she could find absolutely no way to stop this "future self."

"Hmph," Alter shifted her gaze from Lily to Gilgamesh, raising the black Sword of Promised Victory toward him. The mask on her forehead then dissolved into light points and scattered away, revealing her golden eyes with pupils shaped like those of a dragon: "Artoria, King of Britain, formally declares war on you. Show me whether you truly possess the qualifications to claim yourself unique above and beneath the heavens, O Hero King of Sumeru!"

"Hahahahaha!" The King of Heroes burst into wild laughter, his crimson eyes seemingly emitting light: "Black Saber—no, Knight King who has forsaken the path of chivalry, you are destined to become this King's possession!"

At that instant, the golden ripples of the Gate of Babylon blotted out the sky.
130:19:56

The plan to attack the Einzbern castle, formulated cooperatively by Tohsaka Tokiomi and his disciples, had basically achieved its projected goals.

Sending Berserker to charge straight in without any fancy tricks, while those forests filled with magical barrier webs served as a natural bounded field, would undoubtedly draw Caster out.

Then there was that King of Heroes who had forcefully pushed for this assault; naturally, he would dash directly toward the destination rather than waiting for the "mad hound" to clear the path. Thus, as a matter of course, he would end up entangling those two inexplicably appeared Sabers.

At this moment, the frigid winter that froze a vast expanse of the forest and the magical energy shockwaves coming from the direction of the castle, resembling a tsunami, indicated that the "frontline battlefield" involving heroic spirits had unfolded just as anticipated.

"Then, let us part ways here for now, Ryunosuke." Dressed in a burgundy suit and holding a cane, Tohsaka Tokiomi maintained his habitual elegance even amidst a forest without paths. He stopped, turned around, and said to the disciple behind him.

"Did you discover something, Teacher?" Uryu Ryunosuke asked in confusion, wearing a purple casual jacket and jeans. After all, according to the original plan, master and disciple were supposed to break into the castle—which no longer had heroic spirits guarding it—under the escort of Assassin to conduct a search.

"The plan has changed; Rider has participated in the attack against Berserker," a ghostly figure appeared beside the two, "and Assassin, who sneaked into the castle while Gilgamesh was holding down Saber, discovered that the enemy Master has already fled."

This was an ordinary Assassin responsible for escorting Tokiomi and Ryunosuke, relaying essentially the information Kirei had obtained through empathy while remaining behind at the Tohsaka residence.

"There are signs that the enemy Masters have separated," Tohsaka Tokiomi nodded. "I will search for Emiya Kiritsugu near the castle, and Ryunosuke, you go and search for that Country C girl away from our direction of breakthrough—do not harm the homunculi of the Einzbern family."

"Um..." Ryunosuke seemed to have thought of something, hesitating with words on the tip of his tongue.

"You need not worry about me. No matter how strong that 'Magus Killer' is, he cannot be a match for a Servant," Tohsaka Tokiomi planted his cane firmly on the ground. "However, if an attack fails and the enemy intends to use Command Seals to summon a Servant, retreat immediately."

After all, the extent to which an Assassin incarnation could crush ordinary magi was identical to the extent to which a normal heroic spirit could crush them.

"Then, Teacher, please be extremely cautious of that method capable of destroying magic circuits." Ryunosuke finally nodded in agreement.
130:03:14

"Mr. Waver, please answer: what method should be used to make a frontal breakthrough against the protective barrier of a magical workshop?"

In the old district of Fuyuki, before the magnificent residence belonging to the Tohsaka family, a tall Western man with blond hair and a blue tunic was questioning the slender young man with black hair and dark eyes beside him. His tone was as if he were conducting a practical class, and as the target, the protective barrier to be "broken through" was right before their eyes.

Feeling an attitude from Professor Kayneth that was entirely consistent with classroom questioning, Waver twitched the corners of his mouth and began to observe the barrier at the main gate intently.

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Hmm... access control, identity recognition, automatic attack, secondary verification. If that is the case...

"...Use disguise magecraft to make the access control system think you are the master, and sneak in while it's confused?"

"Correct. Go ahead and do it." Kayneth nodded.

"Uh..." Waver shrank his neck, walked over, placed his hand on the gate, and began disguising his magical energy fluctuations as those of a member of the Tohsaka family. A few seconds later, the gate slowly swung open, but simultaneously, more than a dozen scorching rays of light shot toward Waver from all directions.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—

While Waver was so frightened that he hugged his head, those beams of light were completely blocked by a green-spandex-clad figure that had abruptly appeared beside him. They vanished completely on Diarmuid's red spear as if they had been absorbed.

"There are a total of six barriers set up at the front gate of the Tohsaka residence. You basically pass," Kayneth walked past his student inward. "Next, for the magical traps and barriers inside the residence, just try to dismantle them. Whatever exceeds your ability will be handled by me and Lancer."

"Understood, Professor Kayneth!" Waver hurried to keep up. The next instant, a giant arm that materialized out of thin air and smashed toward him was intercepted by Lancer.

"Hoh, stealth and backtracking-type trap barriers. Lancer, keep a full eye on him. No objections, right?" Kayneth walked ahead, leading the way. Waver could even sense that various kinds of magical energies gathered wherever his teacher walked, only to be struck down one by one.

"Of course, it is my absolute pleasure." Diarmuid swung his twin spears with delight. No matter what, looking after a junior on behalf of his master was also a part of fulfilling his loyalty.

"I heard Emiya Kiritsugu made a complete mess of the basement when he rescued his assistant." At the entrance leading to the basement, Kayneth halted his steps. "We won't go challenging those places with no difficulty."

He strode toward the upper floors instead.
130:02:12

Kotomine Kirei was busy exchanging intelligence with the departing Assassins through empathy, while Emil curled up in his arms, sleeping soundly. According to the habits he had grown accustomed to during this period, he ought to tuck the small female Assassin into bed right away; however, before leaving, Ryunosuke had specifically instructed him to make sure he kept her by his side at all times tonight.

"This place is very likely to be ambushed tonight, Junior Apprentice Brother. You might be too busy to notice the intruders, but as long as you carry this Assassin incarnation with the highest luck parameter, there will be no problem at all!"

Although the reason was unclear, following the instruction would not take much effort. Kirei relayed the situation around Einzbern to his teacher and senior apprentice brother while observing Kayneth and his student, who were fighting their way into the residence from the front gate in broad daylight.

Watching the two advance like a hot knife through butter deep into the residence with their heroic spirit, the young priest—who had learned something through empathy—wore a bizarre smile:

"Oh? Guarding the deep mountain western-style mansion all alone?"

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