After bringing this important piece of information back to Einzbern Castle, Rin's brows remained tightly furrowed.
The information Archer brought back also confirmed that the Church had indeed been making suspicious moves.
"A corrupted Grail, and Kotomine pulling strings behind the scenes... This is really troublesome."
After learning the current situation, even Archer looked as though he had a headache coming on.
Especially after hearing what had happened to the Matou family, his expression immediately synchronized with Rin's.
Several pieces of bad news colliding at once made the already gloomy atmosphere in the room even heavier.
Fortunately, the oppressive mood did not last long.
"Someone is coming. Judging by the speed and magical energy, it is a Servant. Only one."
The moment Illya sensed the approaching presence, she straightened up and lightly clapped her hands.
Clap. Clap.
A gigantic black figure appeared outside the window.
"Berserker! Go deal with him!"
Illya confidently sent Berserker out alone.
After all, with all seven Servants already having appeared, aside from Saber, whose status was currently unknown, none of the remaining Servants should have any chance of defeating Berserker.
"That magical energy is... Wait…damn it. I am going too. Rin, prepare for battle."
The instant Archer sensed that magical energy, he seemed to realize something.
But before he could stop it, Berserker let out a roar and kicked off the ground, vanishing from the Einzbern estate.
Clicking his tongue in irritation, Archer quickly informed Rin before throwing open the window and following after him.
"...This is the first time I have seen that guy make an expression like that. Shirou, hurry up and pack. We need to get out of here immediately."
Watching the red-clad figure disappear into the forest, Rin instantly understood just how dangerous their situation had become.
If even Archer was panicking like this, then things were definitely bad.
Realizing that, she hurriedly gathered the materials she had spent the entire night organizing while urging Shirou to do the same.
"But Berserker is the strongest!"
Illya was clearly dissatisfied with Rin's reaction.
This was questioning both her judgment and Berserker's strength.
In her eyes, Berserker was the strongest.
There was no room for debate.
"I know that giant is strong, but this castle is obviously a terrible place to fight! And there is still that black phantom out there. If we get surrounded, we are finished!"
Rin understood why Illya was so confident.
But they were not facing just a single Servant.
They might also have to deal with the black phantom and that enormous mass of black mud.
Under those circumstances, remaining inside the castle would be suicide.
A castle could serve as a powerful fortress, but if the enemy surrounded it, it would become nothing more than a coffin several times larger than normal.
Fighting in the forest carried considerable risks.
However, it also greatly increased their chances of successfully retreating.
After hearing Rin explain her reasoning, Illya did not argue any further.
She turned around and began arranging for Sella and Leysritt to evacuate.
As for Shirou...
The moment Rin mentioned packing, he had already begun gathering everything he could.
By now, he was nearly finished.
He understood his own limitations.
He was not the type who could quickly come up with plans on the spot.
When he did not know what to do, following Rin's instructions was almost certainly the correct choice.
"...So the golden guy is the one attacking?"
Watching all five of them rushing about, and piecing together what she had heard earlier, Exusiai asked in confusion.
She still had plenty of questions.
For example, what exactly had Illya seen in the Matou residence?
She was not the only one curious; everyone else wanted to know as well.
Unfortunately, Illya had refused to answer, claiming that the scene was not suitable for all audiences.
From that response alone, however, everyone could more or less imagine how unpleasant it must have been.
But now the situation had suddenly taken a sharp turn for the worse.
For some reason, a Servant had boldly come to challenge Berserker directly.
Although Illya had previously described just how powerful the golden Servant was, hearing about it and witnessing Berserker's overwhelming presence firsthand were two completely different things.
The sheer impact of watching Berserker swing his axe-sword at close range was impossible to convey through words alone.
"Yes. It is that golden Servant."
Illya nodded.
"Why would he choose this moment to attack? Did Archer get discovered?"
After confirming the intruder's identity, Talulah began wondering about his motives.
Everything they knew had come either from Shirou's perspective or from Illya's explanations.
She was certain that no suspicious individuals had appeared during the events they had just discussed.
That left only one likely explanation.
The enemy had probably discovered Archer's activities.
"Half right."
Illya nodded before elaborating.
"According to that guy, he is probably here to get rid of an annoying fly and reclaim a treasure that belongs to him."
"A fly... meaning Archer? And as for that treasure, is it somewhere inside the Einzbern estate?"
Hearing Archer described as an insect left everyone with rather complicated expressions.
From the golden Servant's perspective, though...
It actually sounded surprisingly fitting.
After all, Archer had only gone to scout the area and was immediately detected. It was the sort of description that made him sound like some roadside thug, making it difficult for them to associate him with a legendary hero from history.
However, Illya's next sentence completely reshaped everyone's impression of that golden Servant.
"So when he said 'treasure,' he meant me, the Lesser Grail, To that golden Archer, all the treasures in the world belong to him, and that includes the Holy Grail."
"..."
Everyone was momentarily speechless.
That way of thinking was truly excessive.
No wonder Illya always seemed hesitant whenever she mentioned him. So that was the reason.
"This is something you will understand once you actually meet him. What I said was already a very generous description."
Seeing the puzzled expressions on their faces, Illya chuckled lightly.
For her now, Goldie, namely the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh was already a thing of the past. She no longer had many thoughts about him.
That said, if the opportunity arose, she certainly would not mind taking him out first. His manner of speaking and attitude were simply that irritating.
She could not let Shirou pick up bad habits from him.
"This is already a softened version of him...? That is really hard to imagine."
Learning that what she had heard was not even the most authentic side of him, Alina smiled helplessly.
She seemed to recall how Archer had often compared certain people from Ursus to someone he knew. Now she could roughly understand that he had probably been comparing those Ursus people to this golden Servant.
"But even if Berserker and Archer cannot defeat him, they should at least be able to drive him back, right? Overall... the situation should not be too bad?"
Compared to the others, Exusiai remained more optimistic.
Although Shirou and the others were in an extremely dire situation, she still believed he would find a way.
After all, she knew that Shirou ultimately won the Holy Grail War. With that knowledge in mind, she simply could not think in a pessimistic direction.
"You idiot. There is still the black mud and the ghost."
After Exusiai finished speaking, Texas copied Shirou's manner and chopped her on the head with her hand.
Exusiai clearly had not been paying attention to Rin's explanation. Though it was understandable; even Texas herself found Rin's analysis somewhat headache-inducing.
From Penguin Logistics' perspective, if they could not beat an enemy, it simply meant their firepower was not strong enough. There was nothing that could not be solved with overwhelming firepower.
And if there was, they could always ask Shirou for support.
But Shirou's current predicament was obviously not something that could be resolved through sheer firepower. Those beings known as Servants were not opponents that could be taken down with one or two Caladbolgs.
Especially now that Saber, whose firepower was even greater, had already been eliminated. Shirou's side had fallen completely into a desperate situation.
She wondered what method he had found to break through this deadlock. According to the rules of games, he should have obtained some stronger weapon or ability.
"That is true! That side is the real problem."
Only after being smacked on the head did Exusiai remember that such an enemy still existed.
While they discussed the finer details, Shirou and the others in the image had already left the Einzbern Castle and were moving swiftly through the forest.
One maid carried a backpack stuffed with documents, while the other carried Illya in her arms as she ran.
Shirou and Rin moved ahead, scouting the path and keeping watch on their surroundings.
Boom—boom boom boom boom boom boom—
After they had run some distance, a continuous series of explosions echoed from deep within the forest. If they looked up, they could even see faint flashes of firelight.
"Good thing we left quickly. That level of firepower is completely absurd."
Listening to the endless explosions, Rin felt relieved.
But before she or anyone else could relax, Shirou suddenly stopped and raised a hand to prevent them from moving any farther.
"Is there something ahead, Shirou?"
After being stopped, Rin's first thought was that Shirou had spotted something.
But when she saw the unusually grim expression on his face, she called his name again and followed his line of sight.
The target was far away, making it difficult for her to see clearly.
But she knew exactly what those things were.
Black mud.
And within that black mud, a vague figure clad in pitch-black armor.
"That thing followed us too...? Was it attracted by the battle between the Servants?"
Illya could not see clearly either, but she only needed to know that the black mud was surging toward them.
What else could she say? Fortunately, they had escaped early. Otherwise, they really would have been trapped in the castle waiting to die.
"...Run! We have to run now! Tell Archer and Berserker to find a way to escape too!"
Unlike Rin and Illya, Shirou could see everything clearly.
The black mud.
The ghost.
And the figure standing at the very front of the black tide.
Although her hair color was somewhat different, her armor had turned pitch black, and a mask now covered her face,
Shirou could still recognize who she was.
The situation truly could not get any worse than this.
"I understand."
Although she did not know why Shirou was reacting so intensely, Rin still contacted Archer when she saw his trembling hands.
"Shirou, what did you see?"
Seeing Shirou's condition, Illya checked on him out of concern.
She was mainly worried that the ghost attack from the previous day had left him traumatized.
"The person standing up there... is Saber."
After taking several deep breaths, Shirou forcibly calmed himself and revealed what he had seen.
Perhaps because he was too tense, his voice still trembled as he spoke.
But after hearing his words, everyone present understood why he was reacting that way.
"Saber? Then how are we supposed to fight this?!"
Thinking of the worst-case scenario they had discussed the previous day, Rin only wanted to go back in time and beat herself up for saying so much.
Not a single good prediction had come true, yet every bad one had.
After learning that the approaching enemy was Saber, the group immediately changed direction and fled toward the other side.
The good news was that the black mud had indeed been drawn away by the magical energy released during the Servants' battle.
The bad news was that Saber had noticed them.
Even through her mask, Shirou could feel her icy gaze fixed upon him.
"Guh..."
Clenching his teeth, Shirou was overwhelmed by a flood of complicated emotions.
Having a comrade who once fought beside you become your enemy was painful enough.
For Shirou, it was even worse.
After all, it was because of his mistake that Saber had ended up like this.
It should not have happened.
She should never have been reduced to this state.
She should never have received an ending like this.
"Whatever it is, we can talk about it later. Right now, staying alive comes first."
Without even looking at Shirou, Rin already knew what he was thinking just from the sound he made.
But she did not criticize him.
Instead, she told him to focus on the immediate situation and leave everything else for later.
"I know."
Hearing Rin's words, Shirou could only push those thoughts aside and concentrate on watching their surroundings.
The constant explosions.
The gaze following them from behind.
And, for some unknown reason, his Magic Circuits, which remained in a strangely unusual state.
Countless worries and pressures weighed heavily upon Shirou, leaving him physically and mentally exhausted.
But he could not stop moving.
Nor would he stop moving.
At the very least, he could not allow Saber to remain under the black mud's control.
That was the last thing he could still do for her.