[153] The Masters in Action

In the Holy Church, four familiars gathered together.

"...As the supervisor, I acknowledge the evidence submitted by the Saber faction and confirm Caster's disappearance on the spiritual energy board. Therefore, on behalf of the Holy Church, I recognize the Saber faction's eligibility to receive Command Spells."

Although he was troubled by having to distribute Command Spells to someone other than Tokiomi, Risei Kotomine suppressed his emotions and continued to announce to the assembled familiars.

"At the request of Saber's Master, the transfer of Command Spells was completed last night. The disruptive Caster faction has been eliminated. I urge all of you to continue fighting with dignity as Masters."

With that, Risei turned and disappeared into the serene and profound atmosphere of the Holy Church.

Unlike the previous gathering when Sakatsuki was declared a target, this time the familiars did not immediately disperse. Even though they had received the notice, they remained in place, still reeling from their Masters' shock.

"The other familiars aren't moving."

Maiya Hisau, controlling a bat familiar, calmly reported.

"Is it because they don't believe the information?"

Kiritsugu Emiya sat beside Maiya, looking at the Command Spells on his hand that was restored to three.

"It's normal not to believe it, right?"

Saber stood nearby, shaking her head.

"After all, someone who defeated Berserker and Rider in one night and injured Archer—how could they be so easily eliminated?"

"Not to mention, we didn't agree to make the evidence public."

Irisviel leaned back in her chair, a wry smile on her face.

"After all, the light in that crystal was Saber's ultimate Noble Phantasm, Excalibur..."

At this, the three of them, along with Saber, fell silent.

The other factions might be skeptical, but they knew one thing for certain—the one who unleashed "Excalibur" was definitely not Saber.

Therefore, Sakatsuki's death was undoubtedly a ruse.

"Increase surveillance, especially around the Church."

Kiritsugu frowned slightly and issued the order.

"Although I don't know why Caster's presence disappeared from the spiritual energy board, Sakatsuki is definitely not dead. He's hiding in the shadows, watching our every move."

"Understood."

Maiya had just responded when her expression shifted.

"A familiar has requested communication with us."

***

"Do you believe Sakatsuki is dead, Rider?"

In the Mackenzies' home, Waver Velvet temporarily disconnected from the shared senses and turned to ask his Servant.

Rider's wounds had long since healed, and he was now lying on the tatami, watching TV. Hearing this, he waved his hand impatiently, as if to say such matters shouldn't bother him.

"Isn't it obvious? That's the guy who left a mark on me."

Someone who could triumph over a King would not be so easily killed.

"Right, that's what I thought too. But 'how'? What about the evidence and the spiritual energy board...?"

Waver muttered softly, then suddenly spoke up.

"Rider, do you mind finding allies?"

"Oh?"

Iskandar rolled over, facing Waver directly. After a long moment, he grinned broadly.

"Such trivial matters, you decide."

"Then it's settled."

Taking a deep breath, Waver reconnected with his familiar and used it to send out a small pulse of magical energy.

The information contained in the pulse was simple, something anyone with basic magical knowledge could understand.

[Meet in the garden outside the Church.]

***

Outside the Church, in the garden.

A bat, a rat, a bird made of gemstones, and a cat formed of water gathered together, their eyes glowing with an eerie light.

After confirming each other's magical frequencies, Waver initiated the conversation.

"I am Rider's Master. The reason I called you all here is simple—none of you believe Sakatsuki is dead, right?"

"Archer's Master, Tokiomi Tohsaka."

A steady male voice came from within the gemstone bird.

"Regarding this, I would like to ask Saber's Master, did you confirm the death of Caster's Master, Sakatsuki? Why didn't you choose to make the evidence public?"

"The reason for eliminating Caster's Master was that Saber unleashed her Noble Phantasm—this is information that must be kept secret."

Kiritsugu explained from the side, while Maiya relayed his words through the communication device installed in the bat.

Due to the Command Spells, they had no choice but to help Sakatsuki conceal the truth.

"A flawless answer."

The gemstone bird nodded slightly.

"But can we assume that you have allied with the Caster faction and staged this act to obtain the Church's Command Spells?"

"Aren't you being too hasty, Tokiomi?"

Before Kiritsugu could respond, Kariya Matou interjected with a sarcastic tone.

"Is it because these Command Spells were supposed to be yours, but were taken by the Saber faction, so you're angry?"

At this, the already tense atmosphere grew even more strained. It seemed that thanks to Sakatsuki's meddling, the collaboration between the Tohsaka family and the Holy Church had become common knowledge.

Waver silently watched the bickering among the participants, a bitter smile forming in his heart.

Although he knew the atmosphere among the participants wouldn't be harmonious, to start arguing after just a few words... it was a bit too intense.

The fragile trust between them—was this also the work of that guy?

Thinking this, Waver loudly coughed, cutting off the meaningless probing and arguing.

"I understand that our positions are adversarial, but even so, at least when it comes to dealing with Sakatsuki, we share the same goal."

At this, the other familiars gradually quieted down. Clearly, in everyone's eyes, their personal grudges paled in comparison to the threat of Sakatsuki's feigned death.

The Master who killed Lancer's Master, orchestrated Lancer's departure, executed Assassin, severely injured Kirei Kotomine, dismantled the King's Army, and fought three Servants without defeat... Unknowingly, everyone had come to see this young man as the greatest threat in this Holy Grail War.

And Waver did not disappoint, cutting straight to the point.

"I hope all of you will increase your surveillance efforts to locate Sakatsuki. Because if there's even the slightest chance he faked his death, it means we're in a situation where the enemy is hidden, and we're exposed... This is the same for everyone. Only when it comes to dealing with Sakatsuki can we form a temporary alliance."

"And please, Head of the Tohsaka family, understand that while we won't monitor the Holy Church's interior, we will still set up surveillance on its perimeter. Because aside from the questionable evidence, there's also..."

"The spiritual energy board, right? Caster's presence disappeared from it."

Tokiomi Tohsaka rubbed his temples, a headache forming as he spoke.

At this point, he had no choice but to reveal this information to distance himself from Sakatsuki's feigned death.

"Regarding this, the spiritual energy board mysteriously disappeared yesterday afternoon and returned to its original position early this morning—if it weren't for Kirei's foresight in secretly installing a camera in the room, we wouldn't even know Sakatsuki had tampered with the board."

Hearing this, Waver was stunned, a chill running down his spine.

In other words, Sakatsuki had already planned everything hours before his battles with the three Servants?

Then... did his unusual actions during the day have some deeper meaning?

Without voicing his thoughts, Waver concluded the communication after agreeing on the areas each faction would monitor, then recalled his familiar.

"Rider, help me pull up the records from yesterday afternoon. I need to see where Sakatsuki went!"

***

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