"...r, how much longer until we arrive?"
On a flight from Europe to Fuyuki, Japan, a beautiful woman with silver hair and crimson eyes asked the blonde, mannishly dressed beauty beside her.
"Irisviel, this is the fifth time you've asked that question."
Saying so, the latter showed little impatience, instead answering patiently:
"...According to the itinerary, about another hour."
"An hour, huh..."
Muttering, Irisviel subconsciously said, "Then, Kiritsugu should be arriving soon too, right?"
"Irisviel, you're a bit too anxious. There's no need to worry so much," Saber comforted her with a touch of helplessness.
The former nodded.
According to Kiritsugu's predetermined plan, he and she would take two different flights to avoid attracting attention. Coupled with the arrangement for her to pretend to be Saber's Master, Kiritsugu could then hide in the shadows.
Together with his assistant, that woman named Maiya Hisau, he could secretly gather intelligence on other Masters and Servants, while also looking for opportunities to ambush Masters unprotected by their Servants... That should be how it was.
Irisviel knew Saber was right. She was probably just anxious about participating in a Holy Grail War from which there was no return, perhaps even feeling a bit insecure. But in reality, it was unnecessary—after all, the battlefield of the Holy Grail War was in Fuyuki City. As a secret magical rite, she didn't need to worry too much before officially arriving in Fuyuki City and joining the battle.
But... for some reason, the closer she got to Fuyuki City, the more uneasy she felt.
"Perhaps you could get some good sleep?" Noticing Irisviel's unusual state, Saber suggested.
"Hmm..."
She accepted the suggestion and slowly closed her eyes. As an Einzbern homunculus, her body's parameters had already been adjusted to near perfection before participating in the war. But if possible, proper rest would undoubtedly help maintain her body in an even more perfect state.
Her restless heart also needed timely tranquility to soothe it.
If nothing unexpected happened, by the time she opened her eyes again, she would probably be able to see Fuyuki City.
Japan... a place she had never been to. Of course, for Irisviel, who had never left Einzbern Castle, her previous footsteps were indeed limited to that forest castle of the Einzberns.
Therefore, she was full of anticipation for this final journey of her life.
But—
Reality is always full of surprises.
Though she was having a rather 'sweet' dream in her beautiful slumber—much to Irisviel's pleasant surprise, her adorable daughter Illya had turned from one into two!
Although it seemed a bit strange, for a lady who was childish at heart, loved to play, and adored cute, well-behaved daughters, one Illya becoming two Illyas could only be described as 'double the happiness, love from Illya'!
It didn't matter if the dream was strange, as long as there was love, right?
Being able to see the adorable Illya in her sleep while leaving Einzbern Castle for the final journey to Fuyuki, the initially worried lady instantly became extremely satisfied, even somewhat reluctant to wake from this beautiful dream.
However, things always change more rapidly than expected.
Violent turbulence quickly shattered the beautiful dream, also waking Irisviel from her slumber.
As a magical creation, the Lesser Grail, after her initial daze and unhappiness at having her wonderful dream with the two adorable Illyas interrupted, she quickly became alert.
Similarly, of course, was Saber beside her.
"This magical energy!"
She looked shocked, gazing out the window. Approaching Fuyuki... no, probably anywhere in the Japanese region, one could see that terrifying phenomenon. Being on a plane, they could see it even more clearly.
The immense magical energy collision, with crimson and orange-yellow lights clashing, directly cleared the atmosphere in this area, and the environment became extremely harsh.
Undoubtedly, this was the impact caused by the clash between Ea and Enkidu.
Under the influence of this terrifying magical energy fluctuation, the plane Irisviel and Saber were on was like breaking into a strong convective layer. The entire aircraft began to bump, tremble, and creak.
Ordinary people, of course, couldn't understand why this was happening. The flight crew and pilots also had no idea what was going on with this strange phenomenon. They could only try to calm the passengers' emotions according to the company's training manual.
But Saber understood clearly that such efforts were meaningless.
Under this level of magical energy impact, even mere aftershocks were enough to disintegrate this modern creation.
Unless she used her A-rank Riding skill, it might be possible to stabilize it.
After quickly pointing this out, Irisviel understood the situation.
"Go, Saber. I'll assist you with magecraft."
Simple hypnosis, suggestion, and sleep-inducing magecraft could quickly handle the crew. The moment Saber gripped the plane's controls, the shaking, trembling fuselage instantly stabilized—Saber had previously stated that as long as there were reins, she could pilot any vehicle below the Phantasmal Beast level.
Irisviel had found this somewhat amusing at the time, but now, this skill was being put to good use.
Although there were some bumps and jolts, they finally managed to land at Fuyuki Airport.
Of course—
With good news naturally comes bad news.
The good news was that Irisviel and Saber had landed safely.
And the bad news...
"Oh dear, Kiritsugu... his plane crashed, you know~"
Perhaps thanks to the enthusiastic gift from a certain capitalist uncle, [Illya], lounging on a sofa in a luxurious private jet, watched the scene in the magic mirror, her words carrying a subtle tone.
Undoubtedly, the mirror showed the plane Kiritsugu was on disintegrating under the influence of the magical energy aftershocks.
"Really now... What are you sighing about?!" Little Illya, who also saw this scene, had tears in her eyes. Anxious and annoyed, she puffed out her cheeks, tugged at the former's sleeve, and complained, "Kiritsugu! Kiritsugu is going to fall to his death!"
The girl, pointing at the magic mirror, wished she could jump in and scoop up Mr. Kiritsugu, who was currently performing a free fall, like捞 french fries.
Falling from such a height, he would definitely die, right?! Absolutely!
Why should bystanders suffer when those two monsters were fighting?!
"Relax~ It's the sea below. Kiritsugu is blessed by fortune; he'll definitely be fine."
"Besides, he still has Command Spells. He can just call Saber over at a critical moment... Though, knowing his personality, he'll probably try to save that Command Spell and try to manage on his own."
Stretching lazily, [Illya] watched the free-fall event as if it were a sports program, clicking her tongue in amazement.
"Can something like this be solved by effort... Impossible, right?! It looks impossible no matter how you see it!"
"You lazy bum, get a move on!" Like a steam engine, with steam constantly puffing from her head, Illya waved her tender little fists, pummeling the former's head—launching a 'painful attack' on this completely unmotivated, rather lazy version of herself. "Go save Kiritsugu!"
Complaining dissatisfiedly, little Illya was full of resentment—Damn it, why, even though they were both Illya, was this world's version of herself so awful?!
"Ouch, ouch, ouch... Alright, alright..."
[Illya]—Mr. Jiang Qiao—felt quite helpless about this, sighed, then glanced aside and stopped moving.
"You're not doing anything at all!"
"Baka... It's Mystic Eyes, Mystic Eyes!" Saying so, her ruby-like eyes sparkled. He unceremoniously bonked Illya on the forehead.
"Mystic Eyes of (Determinative) Precognition, a type of future sight. It can fix a perceived future possibility."
"That sounds amazing... So, this world's me has something like that?" Illya looked bewildered, nodding as if she half-understood, then a little envious.
Although she didn't fully understand, she somehow felt...
Well, in short, it was very impressive!
"Just Mystic Eyes. In the end, it's just a type of magecraft."
"Then... Is Kiritsugu okay?"
Illya sat obediently like a duck.
"Yes, I used my Mystic Eyes to fix his future towards a better outcome... Honestly, even without Mystic Eyes, there wouldn't have been any problems."
In the magic mirror, one could see Kiritsugu Emiya, using Time Alter, adjusting his free fall in mid-air to a perfect posture—but the truth was, even if he did nothing, giant seaweed and vines growing from the sea perfectly cushioned his fall.
"It's that Enkidu, after all."
Looking at those magical creations, Kiritsugu Emiya趴 on the wreckage of the plane floating on the sea, and the green, verdant figure in the sky, the girl pursed her lips.
Gilgamesh aside, that sarcastic, arrogant Goldie definitely wouldn't care about the lives of others.
For him, as long as he was happy and enjoying himself, everything else could be ignored.
But Enkidu was different.
As a creation of the gods, a clay figure made by gods, just like his immense life force, although he was an out-and-out battle maniac when fighting, he valued life exceptionally.
Even in battle, he would try to consider the impact on lives that might be affected by the fighting.
For this reason, he even deliberately lured Goldie out to sea, preventing the battle from erupting on Japanese soil, minimizing the impact of this fight as much as possible.
One had to know, this was undoubtedly a weakening for Enkidu, who could draw infinite magical energy as long as he stood on land.
Things like the plane Kiritsugu Emiya was on crashing, as long as there was an opportunity to take care of it, Enkidu definitely wouldn't ignore it.
"Hmph, to think such trivial matters would disturb our reunion."
"After all, these are innocent people affected by our battle. I can't just ignore them."
"Still the same old you. In this aspect, you still have room to grow."
"Alright, now that these foolish mortals have been dealt with, don't let them disturb our contest any longer..."
Noticing Gilgamesh's expression change, Enkidu said so.
"It seems something has happened to you. In that case, let's pause this battle for now."
"We still have plenty of time, Gil."
With that, he smiled and left, while Gilgamesh disappeared with a cold, stern face.
Leaving Kiritsugu Emiya on the open sea, lying on the broken wing of the plane, looking as if he had just survived a disaster.
Not long after, with the roar of a motorboat, Maiya Hisau, who had located him via communicator, came to pick him up with Irisviel and Saber—on the way back, it was Irisviel driving the boat, successfully making the already dizzy Mr. Kiritsugu vomit all over the place.
And in the Holy Church, Mr. Tokiomi Tohsaka, upon waking, was undoubtedly questioned by Father Risei.
Although the Tohsaka family was on good terms with the Church, and he, for various reasons, didn't mind pulling strings for Tokiomi Tohsaka and cleaning up his messes.
But... this was going too far!
The night before the Holy Grail War even began, such a large-scale magical energy clash!
It was a good thing it happened at sea. If it had been in Fuyuki City, half of Fuyuki... no, probably the entire city would have been blown away!
Damn it, the Mage's Association and the Holy Church headquarters sent inquiries overnight—What do you mean, your magical secret rite isn't kept secret at all? Such a huge commotion, it could be observed from London!
Couldn't cover it up, completely couldn't cover it up!
"The Church and the Mage's Association will send additional personnel to supervise later," Father Risei said with a helpless and annoyed expression.
It was truly too outrageous!
"This..." Tokiomi Tohsaka looked embarrassed and also somewhat aggrieved.
He knew what the priest meant. Causing such a commotion, the Association and the Church would definitely send people to watch, no matter what. In that case, the priest wouldn't be able to help him call fouls anymore.
But did he feel good being scolded like this?
Damn it, Tokiomi could pat his chest and guarantee—I'm innocent! Damn, more innocent than Dou E! * (Note: Dou E is a famous character in Chinese drama known for being unjustly accused.)*
He had only planned for his 'old man' to show off a little, to confuse the other participants.
But then... the 'old man' just inexplicably ran off, and even revealed his trump card right from the start.
What was worse, perhaps dissatisfied with his attitude, Gilgamesh, possibly with the intention of punishing or warning him, directly unleashed a high-powered Ea, almost draining Tokiomi's mana bar completely.
If those two were allowed to continue fighting, there would be no Holy Grail War to fight. The people sent by the Mage's Association and the Church wouldn't be supervisors, but would be coming to seal him.
With things having turned out like this, whether for the sake of his mana bar, to avoid further revealing his trump cards, or to appease the anger of the Church and the Association, Tokiomi could only pinch his nose and use a Command Spell to bring his 'old man' back.
But the result...
"Tokiomi."
Visibly, he could see the undisguised anger and killing intent on his 'old man's' face. At this moment, Mr. Tokiomi Tohsaka looked as if he had lost his parents.
However, according to Murphy's Law.
When you think things are already bad, something worse will often happen.
For example—
"Rin is missing!"