Chapter 97: Class Advantage is Everything, Trait Bonuses Slay the Gods
Although Emiya Shirou intended to take this matter slowly— From making Saber stop being obsessed with the Holy Grail, to liberating her from a responsibility that never belonged solely to her, so she could willfully pursue a wish she truly desired— That was precisely why he had shifted the topic.
He didn't give Saber the time to ponder or retort.
He wanted this perspective to linger in Saber's mind for a longer duration.
But within that diverted topic, the situation on Lancer's side was indeed not very optimistic.
It wasn't that Matou Zouken was so formidable that he could actually take on two, or even five, opponents by himself and suppress two Servants like Lancer and Caster.
There were also Bazett and Kuzuki Souichirou, two combat experts whose fighting power rivaled Servants.
Furthermore, whether it was praying to Hecate to analyze the magecraft Zouken placed on Assassin, or using [Rule Breaker] to sever the contract that was essentially Assassin's Servant summons ...any of these could allow Assassin to recover and form yet another combat force.
Even though among these five people, several were close-combat masters with extremely poor compatibility against Matou Zouken, Aside from Assassin, who specialized in swordsmanship, and Kuzuki Souichirou, who was not a magus, Lancer and Bazett both knew Rune Magecraft.
Not to mention Medea, who manifested in the Caster class and was an Age of Gods priestess of Hecate.
Unless Matou Zouken had swapped brains with Matou Shinji, he would absolutely not stay at Ryudou Temple to duel such a heaven-defying lineup.
However, Matou Zouken had retreated.
With the external threat gone, Caster and her group now had things to "settle" with Lancer and his side. After all, while Lancer's group was pinning down Matou Zouken, Caster had successfully used the Temple attribute of Ryudou Temple to contact Hecate and lift the curse on Assassin. The offensive and defensive positions had completely flipped.
Just as Matou Zouken held a class advantage over Assassin, Assassin similarly held an advantage over Lancer and Bazett.
Without even using a Noble Phantasm—or even his "Secret Sword" technique which was a Noble Phantasm in all but name—Assassin could defeat Bazett in close quarters. Possessing incredibly high Instinct, where nearly all his skills related to mental states like intuition and perception, he could use his high-rank [Eye of the Mind (False)] to evade Lancer's causality-altering Noble Phantasm.
Assassin, Sasaki Kojiro, was just that specialized against the likes of Lancer.
Even if Caster didn't know the specifics of these mechanics, in terms of raw combat power, three against two was a tangible advantage. Caster, who had only previously entered a brief alliance with Lancer, had no reason not to tear that pact to shreds now.
"Fight, let the battle become even more intense!
If you do not start fighting, how can this old man achieve my goal?"
Matou Zouken's insect familiars, which had been cleared out almost without resistance in front of Lancer earlier, now had a few survivors remaining in corners unnoticed even by Caster, watching the standoff between Lancer's and Caster's parties.
"But that fellow Shinji really is a piece of trash.
Not only was his Master identity discovered so early, but he was attacked at home, and the key is—he actually lost."
This last point was the most critical. In any other Holy Grail War, Matou Shinji only survived by luck because Tohsaka Rin lacked a complete orthodox magus education and still harbored "meaningless" things like sympathy. But after losing Rider, it meant the Matou family had lost their qualification to participate in this Holy Grail War.
'Speaking of which, the Master who dared to break into the Matou house, find Shinji, and defeat Rider... that was the little girl from the Tohsaka family, wasn't it?
That fellow Tokiomi was truly lucky enough. Before fathering Sakura, a second daughter with excellent talent, he actually produced an eldest daughter like Tohsaka Rin who is on par with Sakura.
The Tohsaka family's reproductive and inheritance abilities truly make this old man envious.'
Of course, if Tohsaka Tokiomi hadn't been exceptionally gifted at producing daughters, Matou Zouken would never have had the chance to adopt Matou Sakura.
Fortunately, although Matou Shinji had exited the stage, Matou Zouken never relied on him.
No, it should be said that Matou Zouken didn't even rely on Matou Sakura.
For a man who had lived for five hundred years—to the point where his original wish had been forgotten and distorted—his primary consideration was no longer the victory of a single Holy Grail War, but how to continue living.
Using the Holy Grail to realize his wish was one way.
Continuing to use Worm Magecraft to sustain himself was another.
Therefore, when he realized that Emiya Shirou and the others had somehow gathered nearly half of the Servants in the war to settle accounts with Kotomine Kirei, Matou Zouken became very nervous.
It wasn't that the Holy Grail War was likely to produce a final winner.
Rather, as someone whose primary goal was survival, Zouken was naturally patient; if he didn't succeed in this war, he would prepare for the next. As long as he lived long enough, he would eventually claim victory. But that was under the condition that no one came looking for trouble with him. Given Matou Zouken's understanding of Kotomine Kirei...
A "pleasure-seeker" like Kotomine would absolutely be happy to sell Zouken out, provided it caused Tohsaka Rin to make interesting expressions of breakdown or despair upon learning of Sakura's plight.
Just like the messages sent back by the insect familiars he left at the Matou residence— Tohsaka Rin snatched Matou Sakura away after defeating Shinji and Rider? This unusual move by Tohsaka Rin was very bad news.
It wasn't just the possibility that Tohsaka Rin knew something and wanted revenge.
Matou Sakura, who had never craved anything before and only gained something she cared about after meeting Emiya Shirou... If she saw the women around Emiya Shirou, especially if her sister was among them, Zouken couldn't guarantee she wouldn't lose control.
He wanted to turn Matou Sakura into a Holy Grail, not have her rebel against him once she became one. He needed a method to better combat Servants and counter Matou Sakura.
Thinking of this, Matou Zouken continued to fan the flames:
"Allow this old man to add a little more fire for you all..."
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