The Endless Shuttle

"……nothing."

——Saber still didn't explain to Irisviel.

Seeing this scene, Luo Pei nodded in satisfaction.

Sure enough, it's not my illusion, and it has nothing to do with Emiya Kiritsugu. All the changes are due to you, Artoria.

"Hehe, is that so... Alright, Lancer, that's it for today."

Luo Pei got his own answer and said to Diarmuid.

"There are many opportunities to fight, but now this situation can no longer be fought? We still have other things to do."

"My lord, you can decide."

Lancer nodded melancholy, and pointed the spear in his hand at Saber.

"King of Knights, let's save the duel between us for next time. I will forgive you this time. To be honest, you have disappointed me. Not only did you violate the duel between knights, but you also treated your Master so rudely. .”

"Lancer..."

Saber opened her mouth with a dejected expression, but she was unable to speak out because she was full of unspeakable secrets.

"Huh? Are you leaving now?"

The Conqueror scratched his head. "I said you really don't think about it anymore, I am willing to share the joy of conquest with you..."

Obviously, no one present paid any attention to Rider.

Until Luo Pei and Lancer left together, from the beginning to the end Emiya Kiritsugu, that cautious and cold man did not shoot, which made Luo Pei worry a lot.

I don't know if he is observing the intelligence of the heroic spirits, or he is afraid that the power beyond human will not expose himself easily.

Anyway, the first battle of the Holy Grail War has finally come to an end.

— though not perfect.

——

After the battle, Kariya Matou's situation was not optimistic.

During that battle, the foreign body in Kariya's body was awakened and began to squirm, eating his flesh and crushing his bones. The false magic cycle engraver in Kariya's body absorbed the maximum amount of magic power he could provide without hesitation, and supplied it to Berserker.

And the so-called magic cycle is activated. For him, it was just the pain of being corroded by the engraved worms, making his life worse than death.

Although Berserker was injured, after becoming invisible and becoming a spirit body, the consumption of magic power can reach the lowest limit. Even so, Matou Kariya is now suffering from uncontrollable aftereffects—a rapid heartbeat and dizziness.

"Uh... ah..."

Accompanied by the final bite of the crest worm, Kariya, who was hidden in the darkness, desperately held back the screams, and kept scratching his chest and throat. Kariya's skin was cracked and blood was oozing, and at the same time, the nails on both hands were peeling off.

"You don't look very well."

When consciousness was about to collapse, a clear voice sounded.

Holding a blade-winged insect in his right hand, Luo Pei slowly walked into this dark sewer—it was this insect that brought him here.

He looked at the inhuman Matou Kariya who was tortured by bugs with pity.

"Can you hold on?"

"You finally came……"

Panting, Matou Kariya forcibly raised his spirits, trying to lean against the wall and stand up, but his broken body did not allow him to do so, so he could only sit helplessly on the ground.

"Sorry, my time as a magician is still too short. Although I tried my best to control Berserker, he still went berserk at a critical moment and didn't follow my instructions to act..."

Seeing that good old man turned into such a ghostly look, Luo Pei's eyes softened.

His right hand lit up with azure brilliance, and the healing properties of 'water' began to work, relieving the pain in Matou Kariya's body.

"It's nothing serious, you've already done your best to help me, just as you promised. Berserker's rampage was just an accident."

"Yeah……"

Matou Kariya's expression gradually eased, he raised his head and looked at the dirty stone slab dripping with blurred vision.

"I can feel it ... it's going to be hard for my life to hold on to the end of this fight."

"I know."

"...So!" Kariya suddenly raised his head, his eyes revealed unyielding flames.

"Rope, this is a request that I bet my life on. I beg you to save Sakura. No matter what I do next, I will use all my remaining life to help you win this Holy Grail War."

After he finished speaking, he smiled mockingly.

"That old guy... said he let Sakura go after he got the Holy Grail, just give me a false hope, I won't believe him..."

"Save Sakura... Even if you already have a Heroic Spirit, can't you do it?"

Luo Pei asked the question he had always had before time travel.

——Why didn't Matou Kariya have Lancelot and didn't resist the rule of Matou Zōken?

"Hehe, stop joking."

Matou Kariya smiled wryly, and raised his wrinkled hand.

"Look at me, I'm full of that old guy's bugs... I'm already his puppet..."

Luo Pei was silent, and then slowly put his hands on his chest.

"I swear in my name that your wish will be fulfilled."

Watching Luo Pei's sincere eyes, Kariya Matou suddenly laughed, but was interrupted by the blood welling up in his throat, which turned into intermittent coughing.

"Ahem... You are really strange. You were still using words to force me to make a choice before, but now you have become so sympathetic to the weak... You really don't look like a magician."

"As I said earlier, I am a stand-in messenger, and a magician is only a part-time job."

Rope stood up and looked down at the poor man who was eaten by worms in front of him.

"What's more, people always have some bottom line, and my bottom line is that if you promise to say it, you have to do it. If you can't do it, you are like a beast."

Although Rope used Kariya Matou, he was by no means a villain who broke his promise.

"Really, that's really great, please..."