Chapter 8: Chapter 7: The First Battle Full of Doubts
"What do you think, Morgan?"
With the help of the familiars placed in various locations around Fuyuki City, Tatsuya Suzuki quickly got a glimpse of the initial battlefield.
The Tohsaka family estate is located on a hill in Miyama Town.
Under the order of his Master, Assassin raided the Tohsaka mansion, which had long been surrounded by 10 to 20 layers of detection and defense barriers, making it look like a military fortress.
However, Assassin easily broke through the barrier with his agile body, and when he tried to remove the cornerstone of the first barrier, he was instantly killed by Archer, the Servant summoned by Tohsaka Tokiomi.
The whole process happened so quickly that Tatsuya barely had time to switch the familiar's vision and perspective, only managing to see the majestic golden figure from afar.
The first battle ended with Assassin's defeat.
Tatsuya must not have been the only Master who witnessed the first battle of the Holy Grail War.
He froze the image generated by the familiar's record, leaned on the desk beside the workshop, and asked his Servant.
"It's a pretty despairing gap in combat power." Morgan sat down on the chair in front of the desk, crossed her legs elegantly, and leaned on the backrest.
From an outsider's perspective, the distance between the two made it seem as if they had an intimate relationship.
But there was no one else here, so it didn't matter.
"At least judging from the attacking moves, all the weapons that penetrated Assassin are Noble Phantasms." Tatsuya crossed his arms. "Servants in the Holy Grail War usually have only one Noble Phantasm, while special Heroic Spirits might have two or three..."
However, considering the quantity alone is of little value; what should really be measured is the type and level of the Noble Phantasm itself.
A Noble Phantasm can be a weapon, a concept, or an ability or special skill.
"Or maybe those numerous weapons are just a single type of Noble Phantasm." Tatsuya analyzed to himself. "The prototype of the Gae bolg held by Scathach, the Queen of the Fortress of Shadows, can split into countless forms to launch attacks... When necessary, it can even transform into a nunchaku, a dagger, or a longbow..."
Speaking of this, Tatsuya couldn't help but recall the time when he was in the Shadow fortress and couldn't tell the passage of time.
Because he arrived in the Land of Shadows and survived among the undead and ghosts that could appear at any time, he was discovered by Scathach, who came out to investigate, took a liking to him, and then became her student.
Even though he had already survived the merciless actual combat training, Tatsuya still couldn't help but shiver when he thought of it.
Fortunately, that person cannot die, and therefore cannot descend into such a Holy Grail War as a Servant.
"You are very familiar with the Queen of the Shadow fortress, Master." There was a hint of dissatisfaction in Morgan's voice.
Coming back to his senses, Tatsuya thought that it was probably because Morgan was too proud of being a Servant to accept that the Master used other Heroic Spirits or heroes as reference templates.
"It's not that bad." Tatsuya didn't want to reveal his experience to anyone, so he answered ambiguously, "After all, I have to participate in the Holy Grail War, and I have done a lot of homework."
Morgan looked at Tatsuya indifferently, as if she wanted to see something from his expression. After a while, she withdrew her gaze and looked at the record of the first battle with her usual cold smile.
"I didn't expect Assassin to be defeated just at the beginning. It seems that those assassins are even more useless than expected."
It is understandable that she would make such an evaluation.
Among the seven classes in the Holy Grail War, Assassin and Caster are known as the two weakest classes.
Because his class is that of a medium, he can only summon one of the Assassins' servants named Hassan Sabbah during the Holy Grail War.
"That's not the case. If we get a response from the first Hassan Sabbah, the outcome of this Holy Grail War will be determined in advance." Tatsuya disagreed.
"It's too arrogant for a mortal magician to want a response from that old man." Morgan said sarcastically, "After all, since the Master can come up with such an idea, he should know that it is impossible."
"As you said." Tatsuya did not deny that he was just joking.
As for Caster, since the three knights and even Rider are all resistant to magic, even if an excellent Caster-class Servant is summoned, they still have to endure this disadvantage in compatibility.
However, what would happen if Morgan descended as a Caster instead of a Berserker? This made Tatsuya quite interested.
But those are all hypothetical topics and are not worth discussing now.
"But don't you think everything is happening too smoothly?" Tatsuya looked into Morgan's eyes and asked the question bluntly.
Morgan wanted Tatsuya to give a reason for asking this question. "What do you mean?"
"From the time Assassin showed up and tried to lift the barrier to the time Archer counterattacked, the interval was too short. It was as if he knew the opponent was coming and was waiting for him to take the bait. Moreover, Assassin has a class skill called 'Presence Concealment.' It's too unqualified to be discovered so easily." Tatsuya listed his opinions. "It's impossible that Archer actually has a skill similar to 'Presence Detection,' so he can detect it?"
"We don't even know Archer's real name, so how can we judge what kind of abilities he actually possesses?" Morgan did not agree immediately. Instead, she seemed to be discussing the possibilities with Tatsuya with great interest.
Tatsuya raised his eyebrows. What Morgan said made sense, but another question followed.
"In that case, why did Archer deliberately reveal his true identity?" Tatsuya pointed out another problem. "If he had the ability to detect Assassin's invasion in advance and then conduct a perfect ambush, then hiding the Servant so that no one can know any information would be the best strategy." Tatsuya raised his finger and a confident smile appeared on his face. "In this way, there is only one situation left."
"Tell me about it." Morgan nodded.
"This was a pre-arranged 'fake match.' Assassin's Master teamed up with Tohsaka Tokiomi to arrange this so that the fact that he lost his Servant and had to leave the game would appear reasonable enough." Tatsuya pinched his fingers, making a crisp sound.
The smile in Morgan's eyes turned subtle. "You participated in the Holy Grail War just to get the almighty wish-granting machine, and then left so easily. Aren't you thinking it's too simple?"
"Who knows? After all... Assassin's Master is Tohsaka Tokiomi's disciple." Tatsuya presented the information he had collected on other Masters.
Finally, Morgan's expression changed. "It seems that this Holy Grail War in the Far East will be more interesting than expected."
"Anyway, the Holy Grail War has officially begun. It's time for us to take action."
Tatsuya stood up from the desk and walked out of the workshop. Before stepping onto the stairs, he suddenly turned back.
"As for what you said earlier, you can teach Sakura to learn magic. If you have time later, I'll trouble you. After all, a magic teacher should be as good as possible."
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