Bab 240: The truth about Assassin/Irisviel lands on Japan
"Assassin is dead," Drako suddenly said.
After putting Sakura to sleep, Drako had called the girls to talk to them about the war. With Assassin's false death, the ritual called Holy Grail War to reach Heaven's Feel had begun.
"What?" was the reaction of Mordred.
She understood the concept of the Holy Grail War better than the other two Servants, who had had no reaction beyond "so fast" or "if he died so quickly it was because he was weak". For a Servant to die so quickly was extremely rare, as none of the Masters would let them use their Noble Phantasms so soon.
The Noble Phantasms are the trump cards of the Servants. Deploying your Noble Phantasm quickly could bring you victory and end an enemy Servant. However, your identity would be revealed to all other Masters and Servants. This is very counterproductive, for then you would reveal your identity along with your weaknesses.
That is why they are not usually used at the beginning of the war and are reserved for the end or life and death combats.
However, the peculiarity of Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm made it very difficult to guess his identity. Unlike Excalibur, Gate of Babylon, it was not so conspicuous and did not make clear who Archer was.
"But this is a false death," Drako said.
The girls were surprised. What did Drako mean?
"Assassin indeed died, and many of the Masters have seen it," Drako explained. "However, that is only one of the Assassins."
"What do you mean?" Zoe asked with a scowl.
"The Assassin of this Holy Grail War is one of the Hassan-i-Sabbah; more specifically, he is Hassan of the Hundred Faces. His Noble Phantasm is one of the Zabaniya, Zabaniya: Delusional Illusion. Assassin is a single entity, but he possesses a compartmentalized soul and multiple personalities that allow him to divide his spiritual potential to materialize up to eighty different Servants. Though limited by his physical body during life, his thousand souls are now free of such limitations as a spiritual entity. As each segment can materialize as an individual, they can all be materialized simultaneously in different shapes. Even if one of them has died, there are still 79 of them there."
"80 Servants?" Kuroka asked. "Didn't you say that Assassin was weak? How can a Servant who is divided into 80 be weak?"
"It is as I said, Assassin is the weakest," Drako did not step back from his statement. "While Assassin has many numbers, none possess a Noble Phantasm of their own. Any of us could easily take them on, as our Noble Phantasms can eradicate them. At the same time, Zoe just has to keep a safe distance and finish them off arrow for arrow."
In a war where brute force prevails, mere numbers can do nothing to win. And when it comes to numbers, Rider is the best at it.
"Ah," Mordred seemed to have realized something. "That means that the Church, Kirei Kotomine, and Tohsaka are in cahoots!"
Drako smiled. "That's right. Although I think this is an inefficient strategy on Tokiomi's part. I mean, they have the strongest Servant. Tokiomi would only have to wait until the end of the war to force Gilgamesh to use his most powerful Noble Phantasm and take over the Grail."
"So many schemes are just a waste of time, aren't they?" Kuroka asked.
"Exactly," Drako nodded. "Besides, it only puts a damper on your own Servant, which will take its toll later."
Tokiomi Tohsaka, his attitude to war will lead him to be betrayed by his own Servant and his disciple. Gilgamesh will find in Kirei a person much more interesting than his Master, while Kirei... is Kirei.
"But they are not the only ones who have plans for this war," Drako told them. "Kiritsugu Emiya and Saber also have a couple of surprises."
The word "Saber" caught Mordred's attention.
"Hey, Master, who is the Servant Saber of this war?" Mordred asked with excitement in her voice.
Drako smiled mysteriously, which caused a slight chill in Mordred's body.
"That is a surprise I have in store for you, my little princess," Drako said with that smile. "In a few days, you'll know who she is."
"Don't be like that, Maasteer," Mordred pouted out her complaints.
But Drako didn't give in to her. The surprise was too great to ruin her at this point.
"Well, let's get back to the point. Kiritsugu is the official Master of Saber; he's not going to act as the Master. It is Irisviel Einzbern who will be acting as Master, while Kiritsugu will be acting in the shadows."
"It's different from what Tohsaka and Kirei want to do, but the essence is the same," Mordred said as she clenched her teeth. "They are all cowards, running away from the battlefield and attacking from behind."
Mmmm... Isn't that the same thing you did in the past, Mo-chan?
"For now, I want Zoe to go and guard the airport," Drako ordered.
"Okay, who do you want me to watch?" Zoe asked.
"You'll know the moment you see them, they're both unmistakable."
…
Just at the time when Emiya Kiritsugu and Hisau Maiya were in a cheap hotel in the Shinto area, the charter flight Volare Italia from Germany was landing on runway F of the airport near Fuyuki City.
Even though they were under the same freezing winter wind, that wind from Japan could not be compared in intensity to that of Einsbern Castle. Looking at the dim light of the afternoon sun, Irisviel von Einsbern felt her heart relaxing.
"So this is the country in which Kiritsugu was born..."
It is a good place. Although she had been able to get to know this place through photos and similar things, Irisviel felt refreshed by the air that passed through her body.
Not only did her heart relax. Coming to Japan posing as a passenger, she could not bring dresses from the castle, but brought as common clothes as possible to at least get to know the city. With her short-heeled boots and a skirt below her knees, her movements felt as light as if she had been born again.
However, for an Einsbern who had lived a life far removed from the common sense of the outside world all along, the attire she thought would be suitable for impersonating the common man was already beginning to fail. Her silk blouse, her knee-length boots, her casual coat of silver fox fur, all came directly from an upper-class inn; it was completely visible that she was a rare gem from a particular birthplace with a very particular tailor. These were clothes clearly suitable for a model, but to Irisviel, who had grown up with polished jewelry, they seemed intimate enough; although, Irisviel had indeed considered these clothes suitable for camouflage in the city areas, but it was simply impossible for a beauty like her to disappear from the sight of the general public.
"So, what do you think about the travel plan?"
One step forward, Irisviel asked the short Servant, who was leaving the road.
"Nothing in particular. It was more tiring than I would have expected."
There was no lie within her words. Her blue eyes were perfectly serene.
The journey was smooth for Irisviel and Artoria, but things were soon to get complicated.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone