Chapter 366

Chapter 366: Chapter 366

"Not bad at all. Rider’s definitely strong enough. Looks like we’ve got ourselves another excellent sparring partner."

Kiriya nodded in satisfaction as he watched the battle.

Rider already possessed B-rank Strength, and with Monstrous Strength layered on top of it, she could clash head-on with opponents whose raw Strength reached A rank without difficulty.

Combined with A-rank Agility and A-rank Mana, her attacks were extraordinarily fierce.

Even Esdeath’s seemingly overwhelming barrages of ice could barely withstand a single exchange against her.

Perhaps because she had suffered such a humiliating defeat at Kiriya’s hands earlier, Rider had been carrying around a considerable amount of frustration.

Now that she had encountered an opponent as suitable as Esdeath, there was no reason for her to hold anything back.

The two women quickly became evenly matched, neither willing to give the other an inch.

The fight grew increasingly intense until both of them seemed reluctant to stop.

In the end, Rider was the one who came to her senses first.

She was still a Servant, after all, and however enormous Kiriya’s reserves might be, she had no intention of draining her Master dry simply because she had gotten carried away during a sparring match.

There would be plenty of opportunities in the future, so there was no need to settle everything today.

The underground complex was spacious enough for large-scale combat, and the numerous bounded fields Zouken had erected made it exceptionally difficult for outsiders to detect what happened inside.

Kiriya therefore decided to keep the Matou basement as a future training ground.

After leaving a Flying Thunder God mark behind, he finally led the others away.

...

Once they left the lifeless Matou residence, Sakura guided the group to a secluded estate on the outskirts of Fuyuki City.

She personally dismissed the servants responsible for maintaining the property, then immediately disappeared into the kitchen.

Sakura intended to prepare a lavish late-night meal.

Partly, it was her way of thanking Kiriya and the others for saving her life.

More importantly, however, she wanted to prove that she could still be useful.

She might not be suited for battle, but she could at least support everyone through cooking, cleaning, and other logistical work.

Kiriya and the others naturally had no intention of rejecting such a sincere gesture, so they settled around the dining table and chatted while waiting for the food.

"This Holy Grail War is actually pretty impressive."

Esdeath was still savoring her earlier fight with Rider and was already looking forward to facing more powerful enemies.

"Summoning heroes and great warriors from every era and making them fight one another? Whoever came up with that had a good idea. A very good idea."

She pointed toward Rider.

"Kiriya, are all the Servants in this war around her level?"

"Probably not," Rider answered calmly before Kiriya could respond. "I only reached my current state because I happened to contract with an exceptionally capable Master. The other Servants may not enjoy the same conditions."

"Now that’s what I like to hear."

Kiriya gave Rider an approving look.

Then his tone shifted.

"But you’re wrong about one thing. This Holy Grail War really does have quite a few monsters participating."

"Oh?"

That immediately drew everyone’s attention.

Kiriya began counting them off.

"The most famous king in the world—the King of Knights of Britain, Arthur."

"The Child of Light of Ireland, the Hound of Culann—Cú Chulainn."

"One of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology, a supreme demigod—Heracles."

"A Magus from the Age of Gods, a witch whose Magecraft approaches the realm of True Magic—Medea."

"The oldest king in human history, the King of Heroes—Gilgamesh."

"And then there’s this one."

He gestured toward Rider.

"A being who was both divine and monstrous, someone who exceeds ordinary standards altogether—Medusa."

Ryuu and Esdeath did not react much to the names themselves, but Jeanne and Rider both sucked in sharp breaths.

"W-What is going on with this war?"

Jeanne stared blankly at Kiriya.

"Why are so many figures of that caliber appearing together?"

"This is Fuyuki City."

Rider’s expression was equally complicated.

"What did this little city ever do to deserve a lineup like that?"

"Wait."

Esdeath’s eyes were practically glowing now.

"Are those people really that strong?"

"Yes."

"Very."

Jeanne and Rider answered almost simultaneously before beginning to explain the Holy Grail War to Ryuu and Esdeath.

In this world, great heroes whose achievements became legends and whose names continued to be praised after death were recorded upon the Throne of Heroes, a realm outside ordinary time.

Normally, only the World itself possessed the authority to summon a complete Heroic Spirit.

However, the Matou, Tohsaka, and Einzbern families had devised the Greater Grail system.

By extracting information from the Throne and using the Greater Grail as the foundation, they could reproduce a Heroic Spirit’s personality and power in a temporary vessel.

That reproduction was what people called a Servant.

And the strength of a Servant depended heavily upon the legend, achievements, and original abilities of the Heroic Spirit from which they had been copied.

Heracles and Cú Chulainn, for example, had been demigods even while alive.

They had slain countless mighty enemies and monsters, and the limits of their strength were difficult to measure.

Gilgamesh, the oldest King of Heroes, had been an existence approaching divinity itself.

The number of Noble Phantasms and extraordinary powers in his possession was almost impossible to estimate, and calling him one of the highest-ranking Heroic Spirits would hardly be an exaggeration.

When Servants of that caliber were paired with Masters capable of properly supporting them, the resulting combat power became terrifying.

With an exceptional Master, they might even reproduce seventy or eighty percent of the might described in their legends.

Rider fell silent for several seconds.

Then she inhaled sharply.

"Master, this situation is more serious than I thought."

Her mind worked rapidly as she considered their options.

"I suggest we avoid direct confrontation with the strongest Servants and target their weaker Masters first. If we eliminate the Masters, our chances of winning the Holy Grail War will increase considerably."

"Target the Masters?"

Kiriya waved both hands immediately.

"What’s the point of beating up people that weak? We came here specifically to fight those powerful Servants."

"Exactly!"

Esdeath slapped the table and laughed openly.

"You don’t understand, Rider. Fighting the strongest opponents is where the fun is."

Even the normally reserved Ryuu nodded in agreement.

Only sufficiently powerful enemies could drive their Statuses higher.

Only battles of sufficient weight could produce meaningful feats.

"...What?"

Rider stared at them.

Was this still the Holy Grail War she knew?

"You don’t want the Holy Grail?"

"Of course I do."

Kiriya slowly clenched one hand into a fist.

"I want the exhilarating battles—and I want the Holy Grail at the end."

His grin widened.

"I’m taking both."

Then he pointed at Rider.

"And that means you’re not allowed to decide on your own to go after enemy Masters. Understood?"

"...A-All right."

Rider nodded with considerable difficulty.

Kiriya, Jeanne, Ryuu, and Esdeath immediately launched into an enthusiastic discussion about how they should divide the coming battles.

The central principle was very simple: Everyone got a turn.

Nobody was allowed to monopolize the strongest opponents.

Rider listened with a numb expression.

Before long, Sakura emerged from the kitchen carrying the late-night meal.

The rich aroma immediately interrupted the strategy meeting. Everyone abandoned the discussion and turned their full attention toward eating.

Rider, being a Servant, had no need for ordinary food, so she simply remained nearby and watched.

It was then that she noticed something interesting.

Sakura kept stealing glances at Kiriya.

Not once.

Not twice.

Again and again.

No matter how often she looked, she seemed unable to stop herself.

’Don’t tell me... this girl has fallen for him already?’

Rider immediately became alert.

She had only known Sakura for a few days since being summoned, but she already regarded the girl as family and sincerely hoped that Sakura would finally have a good future.

Under normal circumstances, there would have been little to worry about.

Sakura was young and beautiful, with an exceptionally graceful figure, a gentle personality, and excellent cooking skills.

Wherever she went, people would naturally regard her as an outstanding young woman.

Someone like that would hardly be mismatched with Kiriya.

The problem was Sakura’s past.

She had grown up in the Matou family.

Rider feared that everything Sakura had suffered might cause Kiriya to look down on her.

And if Sakura became increasingly attached to him only to be rejected because of those experiences...

Rider genuinely could not imagine how deeply that would hurt her.

’No. I need to find out what he actually thinks.’

Rider quietly made up her mind while keeping her expression perfectly neutral.

After everyone finished eating and returned to their respective rooms for the night, Rider’s eyes shifted slightly.

Then she began weaving a small spell.

Dream Weaving—begin.

---------

Read 40 Chapters ahead and support me on patreon.

patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator