Theoretically, as long as this was a Holy Grail "War," victory would absolutely belong to Li Zihan.

This confidence stemmed primarily from the armaments and tools of the Honkai world.

The Key of Erosion could, at any moment, use a signal station to summon the superfighters of this world's surface timeline and simply wipe the slate clean.

The Key of Binding could suppress half the activity of mana within its domain. In such a broken environment, any grand magecraft would be completely shut down.

And that was to say nothing of the combat power of the mini-Kevin puppet.

Having lived for over fifty thousand years, Kevin's existence was nearly as long as the entire history of humanity in the Type-Moon world. Converting his power level to this world, he might not be on par with the One God Arjuna or the Machine God Zeus, but he was at least on the same level as the Thunder Emperor, the King of the First Lostbelt. If the armed puppet, possessing one-tenth of Ancestor Kevin's full power, went all out, leveling the whole of Fuyuki City wouldn't be difficult.

It was safe to say that Li Zihan had quite a few things on him that could flatten the entire city.

So, here was the problem.

Wasn't the output of these toys a bit... overkill?

Still in London, not yet having departed, Li Zihan felt a headache coming on.

His current situation was awkward.

If he were to use only the methods of magecraft, taking on either Alice or Aoko alone would be a struggle, with a chance of defeat, let alone fighting both at once.

If he used the power of the Honkai world, he would definitely win.

However, the power output was far too excessive, and the area-of-effect was absurdly large.

And in this Black Holy Grail War, a considerable number of the participants were people he knew well.

Therefore, using Jizo Mitama's Zeroth Rated Power or the Kevin puppet wasn't really a good option.

With the vast majority of his divine equipment banned, he didn't possess an overwhelming advantage against Alice and Aoko.

Besides, what kind of Servants would those two summon?

Completely in the dark about this and unable to prepare countermeasures in advance, Li Zihan pondered his options.

Although many of his tools were unusable because this was going to be a "friendly match," that didn't mean he was out of cards.

The Oath of Judah could still be used to break grand magecraft, Yae Sakura's power within the Stigmata Space was by no means weaker than an ordinary Servant's, Beo was a killer of mystery, and on top of that, he still had his own Heroic Spirit to summon and Emiya Kiritsugu as an assistant...

Alright, let's just have a good fight.

Having roughly figured out how to handle Aozaki Aoko and Alice, the young man reached into his own shadow and retrieved the catalyst he had prepared long ago.

Next, it was time to summon his own Servant, head to Fuyuki City, and meet his old acquaintances.

Roughly thirty kilometers west of Fuyuki's bustling city streets lay a national highway running east to west, cutting through a large, sparsely populated mountain far from any villages.

On both sides of this highway was a dense forest, a region that seemed to have been forgotten by the surging wave of land development.

This land was perhaps state-owned, but according to the land registry, it was the private property of a foreign-funded enterprise whose actual existence was uncertain.

If one were to investigate this land, the first baffling thing they would encounter would be a curious urban legend.

Legend had it that deep within this dense forest, there was a castle from the age of myths.

Of course, this legend was just a silly ghost story.

Although the forest remained undeveloped, it was less than an hour's drive from Fuyuki's city center. If such a strange castle truly existed, it would surely be common knowledge.

In fact, the primeval forest had been surveyed several times in the past, but not a single trace of any man-made structure was ever found.

Only a very small number of magi knew that this castle was real.

It was a magical castle, one that welcomed its master only once every sixty years for the purpose of participating in the war.

The castle was shrouded in multiple layers of illusions and magical barriers and would never reveal itself except under extremely coincidental circumstances.

It was a strange space. Those who knew of the castle's existence called this dense forest the Einzbern Forest.

The head of the Einzbern family, Jubstacheit von Einzbern, felt that establishing a base directly within the territory of their archrival, the Tohsaka family, was an unwise move. So he activated his superpower of cash, buying up the ley line-rich land closest to Fuyuki to serve as the Einzbern family's base of operations.

Unfortunately, the source of the Einzbern's cash superpower was actually the E-rank luck Siegfried, and his "Rhinegold" was a cursed treasure that brought misfortune to its possessor.

Because of this, every time the Einzbern family entered a Holy Grail War, they would suffer a defeat, much like a certain Kamen Rider known for constantly getting trounced, whose name shall not be spoken.

A man named Emiya Kiritsugu and his wife, Irisviel, stood here now, awaiting the arrival of a certain guest.

The person they were waiting for was a man steeped in the colors of myth.

He was the only one among the Second Magician's disciples who was still alive and kicking, and the only one who would set up his magical workshop in the great magalith Albion.

He had tamed a Golden Wolf, a creature at the pinnacle of Phantasmal Species; he had rejected the advances of the Fifth Magus; he was the holder of a Gray title at the Clock Tower...

Honestly, Emiya Kiritsugu had never imagined that he, a man who could only be considered a second-rate magus, would ever have dealings with such a favored son of heaven.

But one year before the start of the Holy Grail War, that very man had appeared before him.

"This, uh, how should I address you?"

"How about 'Father-in-law'?"

The young man, who in rumors was as elegant, calm, and deadly as a famed blade, had said this as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Father-in-law, are you interested in cooperating with me?"

"The kind of cooperation where, if you die, I'll take care of Illya and support Lady Irisviel."

Without a doubt, Emiya Kiritsugu was enraged by this statement and launched an attack.

Innate Time Control activated, Origin Bullet loaded.

And then his entire body was stuffed into the ground, with only his head left sticking out.

The magecraft that man used was taught personally by the Second Magician. It contained knowledge of the Second Magic, one could even call it a fragment of the Second Magic itself.

In a battle between magi, the ability to deconstruct the opponent's magecraft often determined the victor.

Emiya Kiritsugu's level of magecraft was clearly insufficient to support him in deciphering the incredibly high-mystery Imaginary Magecraft that man used.

So, he was defeated in an instant.

Then, that man had come before him and calmly signed a Self-Geis Scroll, guaranteeing that every word he was about to say was the truth.

Subsequently, Emiya Kiritsugu heard the news that shattered his greatest dream.

The Fuyuki Holy Grail had already been ruined by the Einzbern family, losing its qualification as a wish-granting machine.

If this meaningless Holy Grail War were to continue, both Irisviel and Illya would die for nothing.

"Why are you telling me this?"

To this day, Kiritsugu still remembered his own hoarse voice from that moment.

"Even if the Holy Grail War is ruined, you can still reap plenty of benefits if you manage it properly," that person had said.

"It is a special tool capable of connecting to the Throne of Heroes. With proper use, summoning a Grand Magus capable of creating a Holy Grail is by no means difficult."

"So, we can completely destroy this Grail and rebuild one that doesn't possess the Third Magic. Hmm, in other words, a super-accelerator that can skip the process and directly obtain the result."

"I imagine that for a magus who doesn't wish to use the Grail to reach the Root, there isn't much difference between the rebuilt Grail and the Fuyuki Grail."

The casual tone in which he spoke of rebuilding the Holy Grail was truly incredible, yet everything he said had a ring of feasibility to it.

"I think the new Grail would be even more attractive to you. After all, a rebuilt Grail wouldn't require your wife and daughter as the Lesser Grail."

Emiya Kiritsugu was silent for a long time.

His wife and daughter were both Lesser Grails, artificially created vessels.

"In this Holy Grail War, follow my command, and I won't mind lending you that wish-granting machine of limited capability for a few days."

That man's words were concise, but the meaning he intended to convey came through with perfect clarity.

Listen to me, and I can help you obtain the Holy Grail.

"Why did you choose me as your assistant?" Kiritsugu asked, knowing full well that magi, himself included, were pathological and selfish creatures.

His plan was extremely thorough and incredibly tempting. If he were to spread this information, he could find allies far more outstanding than himself.

And then, Emiya Kiritsugu heard words that nearly made his head explode.

"Believe me, in ten years, your daughter will be absolutely amazing!"

"Kiritsugu, is there something wrong with this ally you mentioned?"

The beautiful woman with long, silver-white hair (who was nine years old) couldn't help but ask as she watched the ever-changing expressions on her husband's face.

"That guy is willing to be my partner because he has his eyes on Illya."

Emiya Kiritsugu, who didn't know that a certain someone called the father of every pretty girl "Father-in-law," wore a grim expression.

A person who can be interested in an eight-year-old girl and start looking forward to what she'll be like in ten years... no matter how you think about it, there's something wrong with him!

Why does heaven always bestow outstanding talent upon such problem children?

"So, Kiritsugu, what are your thoughts?" Irisviel asked.

Having met Emiya Kiritsugu at birth and then been promptly married off as a tool for an alliance, Irisviel could not understand her husband's current mood.

Lacking common sense, she hadn't detected anything wrong with the situation.

"That guy might be a pervert. I'll do my best to keep Illya away from that gu—"

Emiya Kiritsugu's words were cut short.

"Hey, hey, hey, am I really that bad?"

The young man, exceptionally skilled in spatial magecraft, held a blade named "Exorcism Armor: Kiritsugu" to Emiya Kiritsugu's neck, his tone unfriendly.