CHAPTER 281: CHAPTER 278: MIYU’S HOLY GRAIL WAR

The faint moonlight spilled into the room through the half-closed wooden door, spreading a soft glow across the stone-tiled floor. Alfia quietly stood up and walked over, her gaze falling on Emiya Miyu.

Emiya Miyu had beautiful black hair, slightly messy strands falling by her shoulders, making her small face look even paler and more delicate.

That gorgeous kimono stood out strikingly. The outer light-blue robe was embroidered with intricate floral patterns, with red and purple peonies intertwined, like brilliant fireworks blooming amidst snow and ice. The inner deep-purple kimono was dotted with elegant white cherry blossoms, while her waist was tied with a wide sash of interwoven gold and scarlet, accentuating her slender and fragile figure.

But what Alfia cared about most were her eyes.

At the moment the girl slowly opened her eyes, Alfia held her breath. Those clear eyes were like a lake at dawn, transparent to the bottom, with golden light flickering within the pupils.

Alfia finally let out a sigh of relief, the corner of her lips curving ever so slightly, and muttered to herself in a voice only she could hear, "It really is my little sister."

While Alfia was watching Miyu, Miyu was also quietly observing this mysterious witch.

Her figure was like a phantom emerging from the darkness. A long pitch-black robe outlined a stern and solemn silhouette, its surface inlaid with dark-blue runes like starlight flowing across the night sky. Upon her head rested a crown of interwoven blue and black, exuding a chilling majesty.

Her silver-white hair flowed down like water, gleaming with a faint cold brilliance in the dim light, like a waterfall formed of condensed ice and snow. Her face was veiled by a translucent black gauze, faintly revealing sharp, beautiful lines filled with aloofness.

The witch’s eyes, one a cold blue as deep as the ocean abyss, the other tinged faintly with amber glow. Her mismatched gaze radiated indifference and weariness, as if she cared for nothing in this world.

The black staff in her hand was embedded with a dark-blue magic crystal, emitting a chilling glow. Just by standing there, without a word, she exuded a pressure that reached into the depths of the soul.

Miyu spoke subconsciously, her voice a little weak, "Who are you? Where is this? Why am I here?"

Alfia lowered her gaze slightly. Though her appearance still looked cold and unapproachable, her tone toward Miyu was unexpectedly calm and even friendly, "Ruler, Morgan, Alfia... whichever name you prefer, you may call me."

Miyu blinked. Ruler sounded like some kind of class, Morgan reminded her of the witch from the legend of King Arthur, but then who was Alfia?

She felt a little lost, countless questions flooding her heart.

"As for this place, it’s Britain," Alfia continued.

"What?", Miyu’s mouth fell open in surprise, her tone unable to hide her confusion.

Britain, a country across the world from Fuyuki City. How could she be here?

Alfia looked at her calmly, patiently reminding her, "Do you still remember what happened before?"

When facing Miyu, Alfia’s attitude was unusually gentle and kind. If her niece Bell were to see this scene, she would probably think she was dreaming.

What happened before... Emiya Miyu sank into thought.

Emiya Miyu, whose real name was Satsuki Miyu, was a Divine Child who possessed the "power to indiscriminately grant people’s wishes."

She was a naturally born, complete Holy Grail. Rather than saying she was a human with the functions of the Grail, it was more accurate to say the Grail itself had been given human personality.

When she was about to turn six, Miyu used her power to disperse the black mist devouring Fuyuki City, an event witnessed by Emiya Kiritsugu and Shirou, who were on their way to Fuyuki.

After that, Kiritsugu, in pursuit of his plan to save humanity, adopted Miyu into the Emiya family, renaming her Emiya Miyu.

At first, Kiritsugu regarded her as a tool to realize his salvation plan. However, Shirou could never bring himself to treat her as a mere tool.

After Kiritsugu’s death, in her daily life with Shirou, Miyu, once emotionless like a doll and apathetic toward the world, was gradually touched by his kindness and companionship.

One quiet night, they looked up at the stars together. Miyu silently made the first true wish of her life, "I hope to become a real sibling with Shirou."

That simple yet pure wish was unconsciously granted through her Divine Child powers. No chant, no ritual, as if the stars themselves had permitted her request.

Unknowingly, the color of her eyes changed. From their original indifferent red to a golden shade resembling Shirou’s.

As Shirou’s younger sister, Miyu spent a happy childhood.

However, that peaceful life was short-lived.

At the age of ten, she was attacked and abducted by the Ainsworth family, who used her as the vessel for the Holy Grail to initiate the "Holy Grail War."

Emiya Shirou participated in the Grail War. Though the process was far from smooth, he ultimately emerged victorious.

The mastermind of the Grail War, Julian of the Ainsworth family, wished to use the Divine Child’s power to save the world. But when Shirou was forced to choose between the world and Miyu, he chose Miyu.

"Because I am the older brother, I must protect my little sister."

He made a wish to Miyu, who had become the Grail: that the world be transformed into one where she would no longer suffer, where she could meet kind people, find friends to laugh with, and seize upon warm, small fragments of happiness.

However, when Miyu opened her eyes again in response to Shirou’s wish, what she saw seemed to be the exact opposite of happiness.

The apocalyptic Britain.

Shattered earth, dark skies, air thick with death and despair.

Before she could even make sense of it, she encountered a witch who called herself Ruler Morgan, and a terrifying black swordsman radiating an aura that seemed to devour all life.

Emiya Miyu: "I–Is this right?"

The wooden door creaked open with a dull groan, cold wind carrying the scent of dust seeping in through the crack.

Miyu instinctively looked up to see a tall, shadowy figure standing at the doorway, his form encased in heavy black armor, like a war demon rising from the abyss.

Step by step, he entered the room, heavy iron boots echoing firmly upon the wooden floor. A ferocious skull mask hid his face, engraved with twisted patterns.

Most striking of all were the eyes burning within the mask, blue flames, cold and deep, as though gazing upon the end of life itself.

Such a terrifying appearance would have filled most people with dread, too afraid to look directly. But surprisingly, when he stepped into the room, all sense of oppression seemed to withdraw by some unseen force.

He merely stood there calmly, then lowered his head slightly, nodding politely to Miyu with composed restraint.

Miyu froze for a moment, then hesitantly gave a small smile, speaking softly, "Um, hello."

Clearly, his appearance was like something out of a horror story, and yet she didn’t feel afraid at all.

Though, in truth, Miyu was socially awkward, often clumsy about ordinary manners.

"May I ask... are you Saber?", Miyu asked.

After all, the armor, the greatsword, this pressure, it all screamed of the Saber class.

The black swordsman paused briefly, not surprised by the question. His blue flame-like eyes flickered slightly, and with a low, calm voice he simply answered, "Assassin."

"Hello, Mr. Assassin," Miyu replied, her tone carrying a touch of nervousness.

She didn’t doubt his class at all and accepted it quite naturally.

But then, suddenly, Miyu felt a strange daze, as though something was prying open a gap at the edge of her consciousness. She seemed to see... a hallucination?

At the corner of her vision, a vague phantom appeared. A cute white-haired girl clutching her head, screaming in despair, ["Assassin? With that armor, that greatsword, that body, are you sure you’re Assassin and not Berserker? This killing intent is like you just ’assassinated’ two hundred people!"]

At that moment, Assassin spoke calmly, his voice still cold and detached, lightly adding, "The two hundred magi who chased after me, I have already assassinated them."

As soon as the words fell, Miyu seemed to hear the white-haired girl shout again in exasperation, ["You really killed two hundred? And you call that assassination?"]

The voice exploded in her mind, striking her funny bone, and Miyu couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

She quickly lifted her head to glance nervously at Assassin, worried he might misunderstand her rudeness. Luckily, he remained as calm as ever.

Miyu looked around, trying to confirm what that hallucination was. But aside from herself, there was only the witch Alfia who called herself Ruler, and the armored Assassin with his burning blue eyes beneath the mask.

There was no sign of any white-haired girl, not even the echo of her voice. That sudden memory was like a mist, spreading suddenly then vanishing quickly, vague and unreal, fading from her mind.

Miyu carefully raised her head and spoke, "Um, Miss Ruler, Mr. Assassin, could you please tell me what exactly is going on now?"

Alfia’s mismatched eyes curved slightly, "Ruler sounds too distant, no need to be so formal."

She paused, as if recalling something, then lightly coughed and added casually, "Just call me sis... ahem, call me Sister Alfia."

Then, Ruler pointed at the silent black swordsman beside them, "As for him, he’s Old Man King Hassan."

From Alfia’s tone, this black swordsman seemed to be someone surnamed King, named Hassan, an old gentleman.

Miyu blinked, but still nodded seriously, "Th-then... Sister Alfia, Grandpa King Hassan."

At that, the old man lifted his head, blue flame eyes flickering. After a brief silence, he nodded heavily, very seriously.

Alfia sat casually beside Miyu, "By now, you should realize this is still that apocalyptic world... only your location has shifted from Fuyuki to Britain."

Miyu nodded, listening intently.

"The Holy Grail War has started again. But this time it’s different," Alfia continued, "The Servants have no fixed Masters; they exist independently. Because of this, a Ruler like me is needed to descend and maintain order."

This was a lie.

The true Ruler class, as the arbitrator of the Grail War, would never appear casually in a normal war.

Only when the Grail War’s form was extremely irregular, its outcome uncertain, or its impact grave enough to distort the world itself, would Ruler be summoned by the Grail in the role of judge.

Moreover, only heroes who died without regrets or unfulfilled wishes were eligible to serve as Ruler.

As for Alfia, her very essence did not fit this standard at all.

She wasn’t summoned by the Grail, but instead, by exploiting a special privilege within the Counter Force, forcibly borrowed the Saint Graph of the Black Madonna Morgan, descending illegally under the Ruler class.

Morgan le Fay, elder sister of King Arthur Artoria Pendragon, in Proper Human History held the Ruler arbitrator class.

Why Morgan agreed to aid Alfia: first, they were similar in many ways; second, Alfia seemed capable of causing trouble for Artoria.

Ruler should embody fairness, calmness, neutrality, guarding the rules of the Grail War without bias.

Yet Alfia’s illegal descent bore none of that. She openly admitted she came purely for selfish reasons. Because she wanted to get close to her "little sister" Emiya Miyu.

No fairness, no neutrality, purely a biased Ruler, such was Alfia (Morgan).

Inside the house, Alfia crossed her legs elegantly, her fingertips sketching lightly in the air, as though painting upon an invisible canvas. Tiny ripples of mana condensed at her fingertips, forming trails of light that interwove into a magical map of the world.

With a tap of the witch’s finger, six brilliant lights appeared on the map, like dazzling stars scattered across the earth.

"Six Servants have already descended across the world. Next, Miyu, you need to seek them out one by one, and subdue, no, I mean, gain their recognition. Then, gather their power to defeat the Ainsworths."

Alfia gestured toward the black swordsman standing nearby, adding:

"As for this Assassin, he is your starting Servant."

Miyu faintly felt the phantom white-haired girl return again, ["What is this, some kind of Pokemon game? Six Servants scattered everywhere, and you have to ’gain recognition’ from each of them?"]

["And you even said ’subdue’ just now, didn’t you? You almost let it slip!"]

["And wait, having King Hassan as your starting Servant is way too strong! What kind of weird mod is this?"]

["One Servant like him is enough to deal with Ainsworth already. What more Servants are you even preparing, don’t spoil the kid so much!"]

Within her hallucination, the cute white-haired girl spat out complaint after complaint.

"But why six Servants? Normally, the Grail War has seven, right?", Miyu asked.

"One Saber has yet to descend," Alfia replied.

After long silence, King Hassan suddenly spoke, his deep, raspy voice like a cold wind sweeping through ruins, "The bell has tolled for the fallen magi of this land."

At the end of the world, abominations ran rampant, and the Ainsworth family weren’t the only ones scheming.

In fact, as the headquarters of the Mage’s Association, London had even more such people.

Some planned to cast all humanity into a massive illusion spell at the last moment of the world, using Achilles’ "paradox" of converging infinite series to extend the final second of the world indefinitely.

Some sought to sew together all human bodies, fuse all human minds, to forge an ultimate concept of "humanity," allowing this omnipotent "being" to weather the apocalypse.

Some attempted to use genetic and magical technology to completely remake humanity into a new race capable of surviving in extreme environments.

The magi of the Clock Tower lacked only the Grail itself, their thinking was broader than even the Ainsworths.

And now, as the living Holy Grail, Miyu was in London.

Under the gloomy sky, the ancient, weathered buildings loomed faintly in the mist. Narrow, damp streets, cold wind carrying a faint scent of decay.

It all felt like something out of a horror movie.

Yet when Miyu glanced at the dark guardian beside her. The Old Man of the Mountain, clad in heavy black armor, skull mask gleaming, eyes of blue flame burning with unearthly calm and authority. Yes, all sense of danger vanished instantly.

"As Ruler, I cannot intervene freely," Alfia said.

But in truth, it was simply that she couldn’t be bothered to act herself.

Alfia: "Assassin, do as you please. Resolve this quickly. After that, we’ll head to Europe to seek out Lancer Achilles and Rider Iskandar."

The hallucination of the white-haired girl cried out, ["I knew it! Of course it would develop like this! Who’s Berserker, Sun Wukong? Is Caster Merlin or Solomon?"]

["Ahh... I’m already starting to feel sorry for poor Mr. Darius Ainsworth!"]