Book 6: Chapter 71:1: The Various Uses of the All the World’s Evils, Part 1 |
Luo Li always felt that using the Holy Grail to restore Chen Heng’s memories was a bit dubious. She wanted to enhance its capabilities but couldn’t modify it because it was meant for Chen Heng’s use. She found this quite frustrating.
To be honest, Luo Li had some knowledge about Holy Grails due to her system. In her pursuit of points and other rewards, she had transmigrated, dealt with reincarnators, and collected numerous items, including Holy Grails. She had disassembled Holy Grails of different models and become quite skilled at it.
However, she considered a Holy Grail rather unremarkable unless it served the purpose of reviving Chen Heng; that was the same for everything else. She had a low opinion of the all-powerful Holy Grails, which she eventually handed over to the system to get consolation prizes.
Luo Li knew that Chen Heng didn’t have many points to his name, but she couldn’t just offer hers. She didn’t want Chen Heng to feel like he was freeloading off her.
Changing the scene…
Archer Group:
Within the Tohsaka residence, Tohsaka Tokiomi paced back and forth in the hall, contemplating Gilgamesh’s words. Gilgamesh was the King of Heroes, with the Noble Phantasm known as Sha Naqba Imuru: The Omniscient Omnipotent Star. He had to take Gilgamesh’s words seriously because of that Noble Phantasm. Occasionally, he glanced at the three Command Spells on the back of his hand.
Meanwhile, Gilgamesh was at Kotomine Kirei’s place, indulging in some wine. He was quite intrigued by Kotomine Kirei, especially after using Sha Naqba Imuru: The Omniscient Omnipotent Star.
Initially, Gilgamesh had sealed this Noble Phantasm upon his summoning, but due to the unexpected twist in the first Holy Grail Carnival game, courtesy of Ryougi Shiki (Root), he decided to use it once.
In other words, as long as you didn’t get caught, cheating was fair game, right?
Gilgamesh was too proud to cheat during the game, but he couldn’t tolerate others, especially enemies, cheating. He managed to restrain himself from confronting Root, a decision born out of prudence. Therefore, he simply observed and thought, Whatever pleases you.
Gilgamesh was arrogant, but he was no fool or brute. As for confronting Root…he had given up hope of victory after using Sha Naqba Imuru: The Omniscient Omnipotent Star once.
Why Root had personally intervened remained a mystery.
Evaluation: The Archer group was unique among the groups. Both Master and Servant harbored intentions of eliminating each other, making their compatibility disastrous. Tohsaka Tokiomi had summoned Gilgamesh, whom he greatly respected but also intended to eliminate by forcing Gilgamesh to commit suicide. This was because Tohsaka Tokiomi wanted to enter Root. Therefore, don’t take Tohsaka Tokiomi’s respect for Gilgamesh at face value…he still wanted to kill Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh went without saying. Having used Sha Naqba Imuru: The Omniscient Omnipotent Star once, he was fully aware of Tohsaka Tokiomi’s intention to eliminate him. If it weren’t for the entertaining act of regicide, he would have taken matters into his own hands long ago. As for Tohsaka Rin, she was just another re:lifer, nothing particularly extraordinary. With the Root and that individual called Luo Li in play, the rest of them… Well, Gilgamesh wasn’t one to boast, but apart from that Archer on the opposing side, he considered everyone else present to be rather lackluster.
Saber group:
Due to the Holy Grail Carnival taking place during the day and the many eyes on them, not even Emiya Kiritsugu had considered a major daytime operation. However, preparations could be made in advance.
Jeanne d’Arc had already communicated the Holy Grail’s situation to the various Masters, including the fact that they would need to wait three days before making their official wish, along with dealing with the All the World’s Evils in advance. Although Emiya Kiritsugu had reservations about the latter, suspecting that Ruler was involved with the opposing side, and despite the Holy Grail appearing unproblematic from his perspective (since no one could see the All the World’s Evils due to their angles), the fact remained that they had to wait three days before making their wish.
Saber, at this moment, was indulging in a hearty meal. According to her, warriors couldn’t afford to go hungry on the battlefield. In simpler terms, it was because they didn’t know if they would win, so they didn’t want to starve and die like a fool. On the other hand, Irisviel von Einzbern watched King Arthur eat.
Emiya Kiritsugu and his mistress, Hisau Maiya, were engaged in pre-battle preparations. Make no mistake; it was serious business, focusing on maintaining their weapons. Emiya Kiritsugu was loading Origin Bullets into his beloved firearm, while Hisau Maiya inspected other items like submachine guns and grenades.
[TL Note: Here’s more information about Hisau Maiya: https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Maiya_Hisau.]
[TL Note: Origin Bullets are special Conceptual Weapons containing parts of Emiya Kiritsugu’s soul that utilize his Origin of Severing and Binding to its fullest extent by actualizing it within a target. You can read more about it here: https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Kiritsugu_Emiya#Thompson_Contender.]
Although it wasn’t a wise choice to snatch the Holy Grail away at this moment, it didn’t hurt for Emiya Kiritsugu to scout the situation and gather information. After all, knowing one’s enemy was essential for victory.
Evaluation: Since there hadn’t been a genuine Holy Grail War, Emiya Kiritsugu and King Arthur’s relationship, though strained, hadn’t reached the point of rupture. Furthermore, despite their rocky relationship, King Arthur got along well with Emiya Kiritsugu’s wife.
Lancer group:
Kayneth was actively preparing. Even though the Holy Grail was currently in the hands of the black side, there was no rule against snatching it. Besides, that bothersome Ruler had already departed. Kayneth had no intention of admitting defeat in this Holy Grail Carnival. In his view, the reason they had failed in the game was solely due to their own Servants’ incompetence, not his.
But…what annoyed Kayneth most was seeing his fiancée daydreaming. Lancer!
Evaluation: The misfortune of this group stemmed from Kayneth’s fiancée. Why involve her when he could handle it himself? And why make her responsible for the mana supply? On the bright side, Lancer didn’t need to commit suicide anymore, a reason for celebration.
Rider group:
This group had decided to hold their position for the time being. It was because Iskandar had engaged Luo Li head-on in that game of international chess. Iskandar had unleashed his Noble Phantasm, but…he still got decapitated. Iskandar couldn’t fathom how he had met his end.
Hence, they chose caution and let others scout ahead. The most critical objective now was to execute their grand strategy before the Holy Grail War came to an end. What if they ended up losing?
Evaluation: The combination of the King of Conquerors and his queen has surprisingly good synergy. If not for Gilgamesh’s presence in the actual Holy Grail War, this group’s chances of success would have been quite high.
[TL Note: The King of Conquerors refers to Iskandar, also known as Alexander the Great. As for the queen, that is not referring to Iskandar’s wife but to Zhuge Liang, a Heroic Spirit. This results in Waver being a Pseudo-Servant. I’m not sure if it happened in the Fourth Holy Grail War, but Zhuge Liang possesses Waver. Zhuge Liang was an ancient Chinese politician and a master strategist. Here is more information about Zhuge Liang: https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Zhuge_Liang.]