The Holy Grail

"What... is that?"

Artoria stared blankly at the pitch-black hole floating in the sky, a vague sense of unease welling up within her.

"That's the Holy Grail..." Arkhan squinted his eyes slightly. "More precisely, it's the spatial tunnel connected to the magic circle of the Greater Grail, hidden in the altar beneath Ryuudou Temple. It's the 'hole' of the Holy Grail."

Artoria stared for a while, then shook her head with a bitter smile.

"So, everything you said was true. The Holy Grail has indeed been contaminated."

"I see... So that thing is the Holy Grail..." Iskandar scratched his head and sighed helplessly. "Hahh... Damn it! Am I really fighting for something like that? I thought I had the opportunity to continue conquering the world in the flesh by wishing for a body, but if the Holy Grail turned out to be something like that, it would be meaningless. I won't let that thing tarnish me."

"Although the Holy Grail has been contaminated, theoretically, it can still allow a Servant to manifest in the flesh." Arkhan glanced at him. "It might affect your will, but if it's you, maybe you can endure it."

"Guhahaha, forget it. I, the King of Conquerors, am proud. If it were an ordinary Holy Grail, maybe, but since it became that kind of thing, it has no meaning." Iskandar laughed without any attachment. "I don't want to tarnish my legend for something like that, absolutely."

"Well, that's you for sure." Arkhan shook his head, smiling.

Suddenly, a somewhat serious voice from Kayneth echoed in his mind.

"Big trouble, Lancer."

Shortly after, Kayneth quickly explained the situation to Arkhan.

"I see, Tohsaka Tokiomi has been corrupted by the 'R'lyeh Text', trying to summon the so-called Great Old One here?" Arkhan's eyes couldn't help but show a hint of gravity.

If Tokiomi succeeded, not only Fuyuki but the whole world would be in jeopardy.

At that moment, the bizarre magic circle covering the sky suddenly changed. Soon, like a tide, black mud continuously flowed out from the hole of the Holy Grail, violating the laws of physics as it reversed its flow, quickly covering half of the sky, a pitch-black mass resembling inverted lava.

Even by just looking with the eyes, one could vividly feel the profound evil and curse within the deeper darkness of the mud than the night itself.

Seeing this scene, Artoria finally extinguished any lingering delusions.

The magical energy accumulated for sixty years with the 'All the World's Evil' soon disappeared, and the hole suspended in the sky gradually closed. The peculiar magic circle created by the 'R'lyeh Text' rose higher into the sky, merging with the black mud.

As if a switch had been flipped, the center of the mud suddenly collapsed inward, and the rest of the mud was stirred by an invisible force, continuously collapsing towards the central position like a vortex, flowing into an unknown space.

An indescribable sense of heaviness and pressure soon emanated from the vortex.

*Rumble—*

In an instant, lightning flashed and a fierce wind rose, as if the entire world was trembling for the impending presence.

"Hahahahaha! It's a success, the ritual is finally successful!"

Tokiomi, with a fiery gaze, stared at the black mud vortex in the sky. He danced around like a lunatic, his face filled with fanaticism.

"Descend, O Great Old One, it's time to show your supreme power to this world!"

*Swish!*

Suddenly, the scale of time was infinitely stretched, and a dark figure rushed out from the depths of the forest, as fast as lightning. In the blink of an eye, the dark figure reached behind Tokiomi, and the small knife in their hand mercilessly stabbed toward his heart.

However, at that moment, as if ignoring the constraints of time, the 'R'lyeh Text' in Tokiomi's hand flipped on its own.

*BOOM!*

A massive surge of energy emanated, instantly knocking the dark figure away.

"I knew you were here, Assassin..."

Tokiomi turned around with a smirk on his face, looking at the mysterious figure with a hood.

"Thought you could sneak up on me while I'm not looking? You're too naive. Under the protection of the Great Old One, your little tricks are useless against me."

Meanwhile, the nearby Kiritsugu gazed at Assassin with a mix of surprise and suspicion. The earlier scene felt all too familiar. His gaze shifted slightly downward, focusing on the seemingly ordinary small knife in Assassin's hand.

In an instant, his pupils shrank to pinprick size.

'It can't be, isn't that knife...'

Assassin EMIYA remained silent, not uttering a word, just lifting the knife in his hand, preparing for another attack.

"It's useless. If solving the problem were as simple as killing him, I would have acted long ago." Kayneth said in a deep voice. "Not to mention whether you can break through the protection of the R'lyeh Text, the ritual is complete now. Even if you manage to kill him, it won't stop that thing from descending."

"..." EMIYA turned to look at Kayneth, and after a moment of silence, asked with a hoarse voice. "So, what do we do now?"

"The only way now..." Kayneth looked at the vortex in the sky. "Is to send that thing back to where they belong."

"Heh, I thought Lord El-Melloi could come up with some brilliant strategy with his vast knowledge. Turns out, it's just a futile effort. No, to be more accurate, your actions should be called a dead end." Tokiomi sneered, showing considerable disdain for Kayneth's misguided plans.

"Hmph, don't joke with me. I am the noble ninth-generation head of the Archibald family and Lord El-Melloi. How could I possibly die in a place like this? Moreover..."

Kayneth quickly raised his right hand, and the two command spells on the back of his hand emitted a bright light.

"I still have a wedding to attend when I get back!"

*Whoosh—!!!*

But suddenly, the vortex in the sky rotated much faster than before, fierce winds howling, silver lightning dancing wildly.

The thick and viscous black mud hung heavily in the sky as if it could fall and engulf the entire world at any moment.

In this apocalyptic scene, near the collapsing gateway to the unknown, dark blood-red tentacles, each comparable to skyscrapers, slowly emerged from the vortex.

They bore numerous mysterious and intricate patterns, twisting like pythons.