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Attacker — The way of the Grandmaster Assassin: when the prey is distracted, while hiding all killing intent, launch the most razor-sharp attack.

Assassin Okada's method of assassination is simple yet deadly—he only releases the slightest breath when striking. By the time his target notices, it's already too late. All they can do is stretch their necks... and die.

Swish!

The light of the blade flashed across the neck. A faint, almost imperceptible sound followed, but the blade left no dramatic motion, no unnecessary splash—just clean, lethal efficiency.

"Success. So this is the strongest Heroic Spirit? Pathetic. The final winner of the Holy Grail War... is me."

Okada Izo's voice echoed across the open field. In the blink of an eye, he had already reappeared ten meters away.

"Despicable bastard, a sneak attack?!"

Rin Tohsaka screamed in fury. Magical energy surged through her in an instant—she was ready to avenge Kain. As the heir of the Tohsaka family, she'd been taught to restrain her tongue from vulgarity. But rage still needed an outlet, and magic would suffice.

"Calm down, Tohsaka," came a familiar voice.

"As I said before—losing the head is just that. Losing the head. Death is another matter entirely. People assume that decapitation equals death, but that's a misunderstanding. Cutting off the head and dying are not the same thing."

Kain's severed head suddenly spoke. The Tailed Beast Bomb in his hand faded out of existence. Then, casually, he reached up and reattached his head to his broken neck. A green light flashed from the wound.

In the next second, the wound vanished, and his head was back on—intact.

Tohsaka Rin stood frozen in place, mouth agape. She could've fit an egg in there—and probably more.

Everyone present, except Tsunade who'd grown used to these absurdities, was utterly stunned.

Okada Izo's expression twisted. Gripping his blade with both hands, he sneered,

"Tch. Some kind of healing artifact? I underestimated you. But next time, you won't be so lucky."

"Next time? Who gave you the confidence to believe there will be a next time?"

Kain replied with a faint smile.

"Coming in blind... you really had no intel, huh? Pathetic."

RUMBLE!

A thunderous explosion roared in the distance. From the sky, Black Saber descended like divine judgment. Her blade, the Sword of the Oath of Victory, surged with overwhelming magical energy as she slashed directly at Okada Izo.

"Hyaaah!"

The strike landed. Okada Izo couldn't even react before his right arm was severed. Black Saber followed up instantly—landing and then delivering a brutal sideways kick that sent him flying.

He tumbled through the air before landing violently—right at Kain's feet.

"Damn you!"

Izo tried to get up, but chains suddenly coiled around his limbs and neck, pinning him down. A dagger, attached to the chains, stabbed deep into the ground—immobilizing him.

Black Saber appeared beside him in a flash, stepped on his back, and pointed the Sword of the Oath of Victory at his neck.

Kain, carrying Joan of Arc in his arms, stepped forward with a calm smile.

"Remind me... who did you just say was the final winner of the Holy Grail War?"

"D-Damn—"

"Kill him."

Without hesitation, Black Saber brought down her blade. Okada Izo's head rolled on the ground.

Another Servant... gone.

Six Servants had now returned to the Holy Grail. Though it wasn't yet more than half, the war was already under Kain's control.

"That's that. Jeanne, you misplayed your hand this time. You underestimated the power the Holy Grail granted you. If you had come to me from the start... things might have turned out differently."

As he spoke, Kain turned his palm upward. The Tailed Beast Bomb formed once more in his hand—this time uninterrupted.

Joan of Arc stared at him, eyes filled with confusion and awe. As the rules of the Holy Grail War activated, her borrowed form began to shimmer, eyes turning to starlight—before she vanished from Kain's hands.

Joan had returned to the Throne of Heroes.

There are seven Servants.

Kain had already experienced the workings of the Little Holy Grail.

If this were a normal Holy Grail War, the return of Servants at this point could be used to pierce the world's boundaries and reach the Root. But what Jeanne had said still lingered in Kain's mind—seven Servants weren't enough. To travel through worlds and reach the Root, fourteen were required.

Still, the battle in the distance continued. Kain turned his head and asked Medusa, who stood beside him,

"Are there many enemies? Is Medea struggling?"

The demand for magical energy had surged—several times higher than usual, nearly matching the output required to maintain a magical barrier. For Medea to need this much power, Kain could only guess that multiple Servants and Masters were attacking her at once.

"I don't know. I only saw three, and none of them looked like Masters. They shouldn't be able to match Medea,"

Rider replied with a shake of her head. If there were truly a crowd of enemies, she would have already gone to help.

"Forget it. I'll go deal with the aftermath. Fuyuki City really is cursed with misfortune. At this rate, it'll be a ghost town in ten years,"

Kain said, sighing as he created a shadow clone to assist.

Hearing this, Rin Tohsaka couldn't help but complain,

"It's not surprising. When you Servants fight, it's like a natural disaster. People are already planning to evacuate the city."

"Don't talk nonsense. I hate fighting, and I rarely get involved directly,"

Kain replied with a shrug. He wasn't wrong—Masters rarely entered the battlefield themselves, unless their subordinates were overwhelmed.

As they spoke, the battle in the distance drew to a close. A moment later, Medea flew over, carrying someone.

When she landed, she tossed the person at their feet. Kain, Rin, and the others quickly recognized who it was:

"Emiya-kun? What are you doing here?"

Rin asked in surprise. She hadn't thought much about Shirou lately, assuming he'd left Fuyuki City after their last encounter. She certainly didn't expect him to be involved in the war again.

Tsunade stepped forward, examined him briefly, and shook her head.

"His body's been altered. Temporary magic circuits like this wreak havoc on the body. Or... is this insect work?"

Insect?

Kain turned sharply to Medea and asked,

"Did you just fight Emiya Shirou?"

"No. It was actually Soichiro-sama, but... he was under someone else's control."

Kain's eyes narrowed.

"Soichiro Kuzuki? Explain."

Medea calmed the anger in her voice and recounted what had just happened.

While intercepting the group of Masters and Servants approaching the area, she came across Matou Zouken and Emiya Shirou. She immediately attacked, but Zouken tried to convince her to join forces with him—and even used Soichiro Kuzuki to appeal to her.

But Soichiro wasn't himself anymore. Though he acted normal, Medea sensed that he was just a puppet—completely controlled by Matou Zouken. She didn't hesitate and launched an attack.

Zouken had transformed Soichiro into an insect envoy, strengthening him far beyond a normal human. With his original martial arts skills enhanced, he was now stronger than even some of the weaker Servants.

Alongside him was Emiya Shirou, whose combat power was now comparable to a Servant. Zouken had clearly invested heavily in turning Shirou into a weapon, even tutoring him in magecraft personally. As a result, Shirou had rapidly matured as a magus in a short time under the influence of someone who had lived for centuries.

Even so, they were still no match for Medea—the most powerful magus from the Age of Gods, now consumed with fury. She obliterated Zouken's Zourok Ink Insect and annihilated his final clone left in the world.

Then, she shattered Shirou's limbs and brought him back.

Medea had originally planned to kill him. But after destroying Zouken, her anger eased slightly. Thinking Kain might find a use for Shirou, she spared him—for now.

"So that's how it was," Kain said after listening.

"He's useless to me. Just a passerby."

Then he turned to Medea.

"Do as you please with him. By the way—Okada Izo, the Servant from earlier. He was probably Shirou Emiya's."

The command seal hadn't fully faded. That meant Shirou had recently formed a new contract—with Okada Izo as his Servant.

"Emiya-san, why are you doing this? The Holy Grail War isn't everything. You clearly have no reason to keep fighting. After losing Saber, you should've withdrawn!"

Tohsaka Rin said to Emiya Shirou, a complex expression in her eyes. On one hand, she didn't want to care about him—especially after Matou Zouken's involvement—but on the other hand, Shirou had once been her ally. His ideals had always been pure.

"Kain, I'll head back first. Doesn't look like there's anything left for me to do here."

Tsunade suddenly cut in. Though three Servants still remained, with the power Kain and the others wielded, even legendary demi-gods wouldn't last long. The cost? Likely the complete destruction of the city's surface. Her staying would make little difference—she'd done all she could.

"You're leaving already?" Rin asked in surprise. She still had questions for Tsunade, but it seemed she'd missed her chance.

"Yeah. Your wish has been fulfilled, Tohsaka. There's no point in me staying any longer. See you around."

With those words, Tsunade turned into particles of starlight and returned to the Holy Grail.

"Geez, why'd you go back so fast?"

Rin scratched her head and muttered in frustration.

Kain glanced at her and said,

"It's probably your fault. Have you been asking too many questions lately? Digging too much into the future?"

"So what if I did? Everyone wants to know what's coming,"

Rin muttered, a little embarrassed. She turned her head and gave a small huff.

"The more you know about the future, the more you'll want to change it—and that creates a new future. But forget it. You wouldn't understand even if I explained. Just focus on your studies."

Kain waved her off lazily. Explaining things to idiots was too much trouble.

Then he turned back toward Emiya Shirou, who still lay motionless on the ground. After watching him for a moment, Kain suddenly remembered something.

Avalon.

That Noble Phantasm was still hidden within Shirou's body—placed there long ago by Emiya Kiritsugu.

"Ahhh!"

Without warning, Kain bent down and shoved his hand straight into Shirou's chest. Rin gasped in shock, but quickly realized there was no blood—no wound. She forced herself to stay calm and watch.

Golden light flared from Shirou's chest. When Kain withdrew his hand, he was holding a beautiful, ornate scabbard.

"Bingo. The ultimate defensive Noble Phantasm—exclusive to King Arthur. If Artoria had this from the start, this whole Grail War might've gone very differently."

Avalon—when activated at full power—could even render Gilgamesh helpless. It was that strong.

What a pity. During the last Holy Grail War, Kiritsugu never gave it back to Saber. If he had, things might have been much simpler. Saber could've crushed the opposition with ease.

Shirou, still conscious, heard this and felt a wave of regret. If he had known such a treasure was hidden within him, he would've given it to Saber without hesitation.

Kain turned his head toward Medea.

"I've read his memories. He really didn't know about Kuzuki Soichiro. Whatever you want to do with him now is your call."

At that moment, Kain's shadow clone returned. The local police, Interpol, and even nearby civilians who had come running had all had their memories altered. Tomorrow, they would believe it was simply an earthquake.

With things wrapped up, Kain used Apparition and teleported back to Matou's villa.

The Holy Grail War was drawing to a close. It was time to prepare for what came next. But before leaving, he had taken care of Gilgamesh—even though the King of Heroes had obtained a human body, Jeanne d'Arc had judged him as one of the Servants involved in the war.

As for the FBI and CIA—Kotomine Kirei may have been dead, but with three Masters and Servants still active, they could still be used. After all, no one—magus or not—could escape the boundaries of human society.

If he stayed in Fuyuki much longer, someone would eventually uncover his presence.

After Kain left, Medusa didn't stick around either. She vanished, quietly returning to Matou's villa.

"Zero Tail can be preserved. The product of the Greater Holy Grail has infinite curse energy… maybe even enough to deal with Shuma-Gorath."

Kain stared at Zero Tail's growth state and nodded, satisfied.

Each time a Servant died in this war, the Black Holy Grail inside Matou Sakura released more negative energy. But all of it had been absorbed by Zero Tail. If not, Sakura would've already transformed into a monster.

Not long after, Medusa, Medea, and Tohsaka Rin returned one after another.

Rin dragged her exhausted body into the basement, flopped onto the sofa, crossed her black-stockinged legs, and groaned,

"Ugh, I spent so long convincing that crazy woman to let Shirou go. So many little things happened tonight. My whole body's sore..."

"Oh?"

Kain looked up from his magic book, a bit amused. He set it aside and tilted his head.

"So... are you here because you want me to help you get rid of that fatigue?"

…

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