Chapter 1641: This Is the Cunning Old Fox’s War

Illya stood motionless, she was certain that if she dared to make a move, the Heroic Spirit behind her would unhesitatingly sever her neck.

“Berserker, stop.”

With Illya’s command, Hercules stopped in place to await orders. It must be said that Illya was quite adept at controlling Berserker, more so because her entire body was comprised of Magic Circuits, or rather she had been modified to the point that she was not like a human; her body merely served as a vessel for Magic Circuits.

“You have five minutes.”

Unless absolutely necessary, Su Xiao did not intend to kill Illya for a simple reason: she was the vessel for the Lesser Holy Grail. If Illya were killed and there was no other vessel to store the embryo of the Lesser Holy Grail, it would transform into a Heavenly Hole. At that point, forget about looking for Kirei Kotomine; all Heroic Spirits would appear and battle in chaos near the Heavenly Hole.

Muddled waters make it easier to fish. As one stealthily hidden in the shadows, Su Xiao did not want things to get chaotic, which would favor the Blood Gate more as they would seize the opportunity to complete their team’s main task.

Now was not the time to kill Illya, but if she did not comply, Su Xiao would consider incapacitating her and then using Endless Darkness. Even a Witch Queen like Mo Yi Nora cannot withstand Endless Darkness, let alone Illya, this little brat.

“You… ugh~”

Just as Illya opened her mouth, Su Xiao stuffed a marble-sized ‘Candy’ into her mouth. This piece of ‘Candy’ was milky yellow in color, and it was a biologically-engineered bomb specially created by Su Xiao to invade an enemy’s body. It had an intriguing structure, devoid of gunpowder, made entirely of biological materials, making it hard to detect and allowing rapid absorption by the human body.

In principle, it’s an incredibly stable form of Jue, absorbed by the stomach in a short amount of time, turning into a substance similar to citric acid. Pure Jue + citric acid is harmless and can even enhance the absorption of calcium by the body. However, if Jue + citric acid + water molecules, combined with the phenomenon of spiritual power resonance, forms a cellular repulsion reaction, culminating in a bang of flesh and blood exploding.

As proven by facts, every proficient Alchemy Master is a monster who develops weapons that appear harmless but are truly terrifying.

Forced to eat a piece of ‘Candy,’ Su Xiao then sheathed the Dragon Slash and released this cute girl. Illya was a bit dazed, but she quickly noticed that something was wrong within her body. From her stomach came a cooling sensation, as if something was being rapidly absorbed by her stomach and merging into her bloodstream.

“What strange thing did you feed me?”

As Illya spoke, she trotted to Hercules’s side, her slender fingers reaching into her mouth, inducing vomiting several times, but she only ended up with her hands covered in saliva.

“Just a piece of candy, a piece of candy that can blow you into fragments at any time.”

Before coming, Su Xiao indeed did not expect the situation to unfold so smoothly. Controlling the Lesser Holy Grail undoubtedly gave him a significant advantage. Ultimately, Heroic Spirits lacking reason are just beasts, no matter how strong their overall quality is. If Hercules had reason, he could certainly leverage the advantage of being resurrected 11 times to fight Su Xiao to the death.

“Berserker, kill him!”

Illya, appearing gentle, actually turned stubborn when cornered.

“Miss, we don’t have to…”

Serra, the maid beside Illya, spoke in a rushed tone.

“Serra, stand down, I’m not afraid of death, wah~”

As Illya’s voice fell, she felt a pain deep in her bones, forcing her to regain her composure.

“Berserker, wait a moment.”

The moment he was about to charge, Hercules stopped abruptly. Had his physique not been strong, he certainly would have strained his lower back.

Illya struggled with a conflicted expression; though she was not afraid of death, she feared pain. At the end of the day, she was not a warrior.

After wrestling with her emotions, Illya whispered something to Serra beside her. Serra, dressed like a nun, let out a long breath and quickly ran into the castle.

Soon, Serra returned with an old-style telegraph machine and handed the antique telegraph to Su Xiao.

“You should be satisfied now.”

The breeze blew lightly, sending Serra’s silver hair fluttering in the wind. It had to be said that the homunculi made by the Einzbern Family looked remarkable and were absolutely loyal to the Einzbern Family, which is why they persisted in homunculi technology.

“Farewell, you two.”

Although Serra’s tone was courteous, her expression was not very pleasant.

“Farewell?”

Su Xiao accepted the old telegraph machine. Now controlling the Lesser Holy Grail, why would he be eager to leave the Einzbern Family castle? It was essentially a fortress of magic defense.

“This is my home!”

Illya, noticing something was amiss, shouted urgently. She no longer cared about the dignity of a City Lord, or put simply, with a knife held to her throat and a strange item forcibly being stuffed into her mouth, she was far from possessing the majesty of a City Lord.

Of course, Su Xiao did not plan to leave. Simultaneously reported by the Tohsaka family and Einzbern Family, even the high and mighty Clock Tower had to take notice.

Su Xiao walked into the castle casually. Seeing this, Illya was almost infuriated to the point of passing out, and the artificial human maids were utterly bewildered, unsure of how to proceed. Their Miss’s life was under the opponent’s control, leaving them in despair.

“Really, I’ve been telling you not to start a war; this time we’ve lost our home.”

Rin Tohsaka’s somewhat helpless voice came through, prompting Illya to turn her head upon hearing it.

“Rin, how despicable of you.”

“Ay~”

Looking at Illya’s expression of betrayal, Rin Tohsaka felt very helpless inside.

“If it weren’t for me, the consequences would be far worse now. Let me tell you a secret while we’re at it.”

Rin Tohsaka’s voice became increasingly low. After hearing her words, Illya’s face was full of disbelief, clearly expressing, “Are you questioning my intelligence?”

“Even if you don’t believe me, I can’t help it. The command seal in my hand is just for show.”

Rin Tohsaka headed inside the castle. Seeing this, Illya dismissed the artificial human servants.

“This isn’t good.”

Illya placed one hand on her chest. The abnormal sensation within her body had entirely vanished, which was even more terrifying.

The combination of Illya + Hercules seemed strong, but in reality, it was not. If Illya possessed a tenth of her father’s ruthlessness and unscrupulousness, she wouldn’t be in her current predicament.

Neither Rin Tohsaka, Illya, nor Shiro Emiya were suitable for being a Master, no matter their outstanding qualifications. There are things that cannot be compensated by qualifications.

The last generation of Masters, like Emiya Kiritsugu, Tokiomi Tohsaka, Kenneth, and Kirei Kotomine, were truly the Kings of the Holy Grail War. Facing these rivals, Su Xiao would never directly assault him; that would be suicidal.

Su Xiao’s opponents this time were Stan, Kirei Kotomine, and another Master who had yet to appear.

Inside the castle’s living room, Su Xiao was inspecting the vintage telegraph machine before him. Clearly, he did not know how to use this device.

“Rin, send a message to the Clock Tower, tell them everything Kirei Kotomine has done.”

“No problem.”

Rin Tohsaka opened the telegraph machine, which, surprisingly, seemed not to require electricity.

“Should I tell them the truth?”

“…”

Su Xiao glanced at Rin Tohsaka. After all, having gone through so much, how could he possibly expect the ‘truth’ to reach the Clock Tower?

“Embellish as much as you can, splash as much dirt on him as possible, killing one’s master, betraying one’s father, as a supervisor intervening in the Holy Grail, collaborating with the previous Holy Grail War’s Heroic Spirit to disrupt this Holy Grail War, secretly capturing children to provide magic power for Heroic Spirits from the previous war using their life energy, conducting human experiments, attempting to open Heavenly Hole.”

The more Su Xiao talked, the more astonished Rin Tohsaka’s expression became.

“Isn’t throwing so much dirt… a bit excessive, perhaps too exaggerated.”

“Who told you that this was throwing dirt? These are all things Kirei Kotomine has done; I’m asking you to add embellishment to these facts.”

Rin Tohsaka was still too innocent and did not understand the world of cunning old foxes.

“All are… facts?!”

Rin Tohsaka suddenly realized, maybe there was no need to throw dirt after all.