"……Appeared."

Irisviel and Illya in the castle discovered something strange about the barrier at the same time.

Almost all the main players of the Einzbern camp gathered in the conference room again, including Emiya Kiritsugu, Kuu Maiya, and Saber. Illya had been assigned a task by Emiya Kiritsugu in advance, and was now hidden in a corner of the castle.

In standby mode, Irisviel displayed the image of the intruder captured by the barrier on the crystal ball in front of the three people.

The intruder was wearing a pitch-black cassock, with an ominous evil aura swaying on the clothes. There were also red patterns on the clothes, as if they were stained with blood, looming in the jungle.

"Is this the caster?"

Emiya Kiritsugu saw Gilles de Rey for the first time.

Irisviel nodded to him. The figure reflected in the crystal ball was the strange heroic spirit that blocked Saber last night.

"But what is he going to do?"

What confused Irisviel was that Caster was leading a group of people behind him.

Caster did not act alone this time. He was leading about a dozen people behind him, striding forward in the forest. These people were all underage children. The oldest child among them was only a primary school student. All the children seemed to be

As if they were sleepwalking, walking staggeringly, Caster walked in front and led them forward. There is no doubt that the children are under the control of Caster's magic.

"...mental suggestion, magic doll...this bastard!"

Illya, who has already done some research on spiritual magic, naturally knows what tricks Caster used to get such a large group of children to follow her.

Caster must have seen the supervisor's announcement.

These children were kidnapped from near Fuyuki City.

"Alice. Where is that guy's location?"

"It is less than two kilometers northwest of the castle. He has discovered the existence of the barrier. It seems that he will not go deeper. Get ready for battle! The enemy is luring us out."

In place of Irisviel, Illya answered Emiya Kiritsugu's questions directly through the headset, and also revealed the other party's actions and intentions.

The barrier that opens in the forest is a circle with a diameter of five kilometers with the castle as the center. The location of the caster is the border of this barrier.

If Caster goes one step deeper into the barrier, Irisviel can assist Saber in the battle. However, Caster has seen through Alice's motives and begins to wander around the outside of the barrier.

"Irisviel! Let me attack!"

Then Saber's firm words came from the headset. If she relied on her foot strength as a Servant, it would only take a few minutes to reach Caster's place. Saber's thoughts were also conveyed to everyone's hearts. Saber's mood at this moment

I was extremely anxious and wanted to go out and beat up Caster.

"Master, let Saber go. This is why Caster brought those children here...I said he was tempting us to go out, and we have to go out for those children..."

Illya understood the reason why Saber was anxious to attack, so she suggested it to Irisviel.

"I know, those children are hostages... I guess. They must be."

Then Irisviel's melancholy voice came from the headset.

"If the traps and mechanisms set up are activated, those children will be harmed. Only if I go out directly and defeat the caster can I save those children."

The current situation is self-evident. But Irisviel also has a reason for hesitation. Saber's injury is very unfavorable, and the confrontation with Caster makes people a little worried. Moreover, Illya has been ordered by Emiya Kiritsugu to hide her whereabouts for everyone except Caster.

The intruder was on a secret strike mission, so he could not act with Saber at the same time until the mission was completed. Irisviel judged by intuition that Caster was a difficult enemy. Even at the outer edge of the barrier, Alice could not attack Saber.

Provide assistance and let Saber fight alone in this situation...

Sensing Irisviel's hesitation, Illya revealed to her in disguise what would happen next.

"Don't worry, Master! You don't have to worry so much about Saber. I'm sure there will be other Servants joining the battle on the way to compete for Caster's death. This can be regarded as a disguised support for Saber. And now

Among the few known Servants, except for Berserker and Assassin, no one would do anything against Saber at this time. If it were really them, or if Saber was in crisis, I would rush to support her immediately.

"

Just when Irisfield felt a little relieved by what Illya said.

"I came to visit you as promised last night."

The surface of the hard crystal ball in front of her began to shake, and the sound came from the surveillance location.

"Now please give me an order. Let me pay homage to those two beautiful saints again."

Saber stared at Irisviel closely, urging her to give the order quickly. As a servant, the girl was ready to fight. However, her master was still hesitant.

Caster seemed to have read through Irisviel's thoughts and showed a look of contempt. As if he was performing a one-man show, he sneered and continued:

"...Ah, it seems that I still can't make up my mind. I'm also prepared to wait for a long time, so you can prepare slowly. Oh, it's such a boring game! Can you let me borrow some from your territory?

Where’s the dime?”

Caster snapped his fingers. The children who had been following Caster obediently just now opened their eyes as if they had woken up from a dream. The children looked around helplessly, as if they could not figure out where they were.

.

"Listen kids, we're starting hide and seek. The rules are simple. Just run away from me. If you get caught by me..."

The caster reached out his hand from the sleeve of his cassock and grabbed a child beside him.

"stop!"

Saber knew that her restraint had no effect, but she still couldn't help but scream.

"Damn it! Even if the person who has been cast a magic doll is rescued, as long as the spell is not released immediately, he will still die under the other person's thought..."

Ilia, who was hiding in the dark, could only think about it unwillingly after knowing the true meaning of magic. She did not reveal this to Saber and the others because it would be very dangerous to be distracted and think about it during the battle.

of.

The sound of skulls shattering, brains flying everywhere, and eyes sliding in the air. Those nightmarish scenes were engraved in everyone's minds.

The children let out heart-wrenching cries and fled in all directions. Caster, standing in the center, laughed happily and licked his bloody fingers with his tongue.

"Hurry up and run away. I will start chasing you after I count to a hundred. So Jeanne, how long do you have to prepare before I catch all the children?"

Seeing this scene, Irisviel no longer hesitated. It was impossible to hesitate anymore. She was also the mother of a child. The child who was killed and then abandoned, his petite and pitiful body was just the same as her own.

Daughter Ilia is the same size.

"Saber, knock down that caster."

"As commanded."

The King of Knights' answer was unusually brief. When Irisviel heard Saber's answer, she had already disappeared from the conference room. Only the gust of wind blowing behind her was filled with unusual anger.

And Illya, who used her mental power to detect the conversation between the two, just sighed and said to herself:

"It's useless...those children...were hopeless from the beginning..."

Irisviel held her breath and stared at the direction of the battle in the crystal ball.

The ominous thing that Saber predicted was already obvious.

Considering the characteristics of the Servant class, Saber has an overwhelming advantage against Caster. When she reaches the level of the sword's heroic spirit, her resistance to magic has been greatly enhanced. If Caster uses magic as his main weapon,

If he fiercely resists Saber from the front, he has no chance of winning.

However, this caster is a magician who can summon demons.

Saber's magic resistance is only when someone uses magic to target her.

The ability to resist magic can only work. But it cannot prevent Caster from summoning magical beasts from another world. Moreover, once those magical beasts are summoned, they will materialize, thus possessing a threat different from magic. The teeth and hooks of the magical beasts have the same power as swords.

Saber can only rely on his own sword and body to deal with these monsters. As time goes by and Saber enters a protracted battle, she will be at a disadvantage due to the injury to her left hand.

From a tactical point of view, Caster adopted a protracted battle tactic. He did this in order to tire Saber out, use up all his energy, and then defeat Saber in one fell swoop. And Saber had completely jumped into Caster's trap.

If Saber had not been injured, maybe the battle situation would have been different. Dealing with these hordes of mobs would have been a piece of cake for Saber. But now Saber's left hand is trapped by a spell. You can see Saber's hand through the crystal ball.

From her expression, she was clearly anxious that she couldn't fight as she pleased.

"Is there no sign that another master has entered the forest yet?"

Emiya Kiritsugu's questioning voice came from behind Irisviel. Obviously, Emiya Kiritsugu didn't take Saber's current predicament to heart. Irisviel was extremely disappointed with Emiya Kiritsugu. But Emiya Kiritsugu

Emiya Kiritsugu didn't seem to care about his wife's disappointment at all, and just silently prepared weapons. Emiya Kiritsugu put various grenades and small machine guns one by one in the suspenders under his coat. This situation is unbelievable.

, this was the preparation for the magician who was about to go to the battlefield. However, Irisviel saw that the holster on Emiya Kiritsugu's waist contained a single-shot magic gun that Emiya Kiritsugu only equipped at critical moments. She understood.

My husband is ready to fight.

"Maiya takes Alice to hide in the refuge room of the castle, where holy has prepared a protective barrier."

After hearing Kiritsugu's order, Maiya nodded without hesitation. However, Irisviel could not conceal her inner shake.

"Stay here...can't you?"

"Saber is fighting far away from here, which means that this castle is no longer safe. Because there are people who have the same idea as me. So this place is very dangerous. Once the opponent is plural, and she fights with holy, she

It is possible that your safety will not be taken into consideration."

Maybe someone really wants to take advantage of the opportunity and attack Saber's Master while Saber leaves the castle. If you want to kill the Master, the best time is when the Master and the Servant take separate actions. And Kotomine Kirei

Illya's existence was not informed to anyone, so Emiya Kiritsugu could guess his thoughts and actions.

Which one is the easier enemy to defeat, the Master under the protection of the Servant, or the Magician holding his position alone? ...If it were Emiya Kiritsugu, he would definitely choose the latter. If there were other Magicians who could compete with Emiya

If Kiritsugu chose the same answer, the magician, without knowing Illya's existence, would definitely snipe Irisviel while he was still in the castle as long as he learned that Saber was fighting alone.
To be continued...