Although Shinji ran away, the reason for his running away was not false. Something important did happen, and there was more than one thing.
First, Yustisa, who was monitoring the movement of the Holy Grail at Mount Enzo, sent a message. After continuous analysis of the Holy Grail's magic power, the mechanism of this Holy Grail War was finally revealed.
The format of the grand battle remains unchanged, but the number of servants participating in the battle is no longer the traditional seven or seven plus one, nor the emergency mechanism's fourteen or fourteen plus one, but fourteen plus two.
That's right, sixteen riders. In addition to the seven traditional classes, two riders for each class, the "Faker" implanted by Hatteras using a false concept was also allocated two quotas, eight times two equals sixteen. More importantly, all sixteen riders participating in the battle have completed their summons and have gathered around Fuyuki.
Add to that the Seventeen Servant, Avenger Angra Mainyu, a remaining Servant from the Third Holy Grail War who lurks in the Greater Holy Grail and constantly wishes to enter the living world, and it can be said that this is the largest Holy Grail War in history.
As soon as he got the news, Shinji started to conduct a comprehensive review of the servants he already knew:
A Saber, Artoria.
There are two Archers, Gilgamesh and Karna.
There are two Lancers, Scathach and Cu Chulainn.
One Rider, Medusa.
There are two casters, Medea and Solomon.
A Berserker, Hercules.
One is Faker, Webber’s wife—ahem, not yet, but the Shadow Warrior of Iskandar.
The unknown ones are one Saber, one Rider, two Assassins, one Berserker, and one Faker.
The unknown Rider's identity can be basically determined. Yustiza said that all the sixteen riders gathered around Fuyuki, which means that the Shadow Warrior has also come. Her coming means that Gray has come. Gray has come, and Waver, the master, has most likely come too. Since they have come, they will not avoid fighting, and it is obvious which Servant they will summon - the man who changed Waver's life, the King of Conquerors, Iskandar.
The rest is completely in the dark, all unknowns, and the intelligence network must be further activated to expand the scope of investigation. The sister battle between Rin and Luvia reminded Shinji that the destructive power of a fully activated Servant is huge, and it is too easy to be discovered in the city. On the contrary, outside the city, there are many wildernesses and it is not easy to be discovered, which is an excellent choice. Waver and Gray have not been discovered by me until now, probably hiding in a place where few people go.
Although it would be more difficult to check places where the monitoring system is not deployed, for the sake of the purification of the Holy Grail, Shinji must find out the identities and movements of all masters and servants no matter how difficult it is.
To fully activate the Holy Grail and connect it to the real world, five servants' souls are required as sacrifices. It is easier to deal with fewer people, and you can kill them all the way, and the ones left are your own people. On the contrary, the more people there are, the more difficult it is to deal with. The more servants are left, the harder it is to control, and not every servant is willing to wait obediently. In order to ensure that there are no problems in the purification process, the candidates left behind must be very careful.
Among the known servants, those who are clearly on our side are Altria, Scathach, Medusa, and Medea. Those who can be won over and are willing to cooperate with the purification are Karna, Cu Chulainn, Iskandar, and Kagemusha.
It's hard to say about Gilgamesh and Solomon. The former is extremely self-centered and has a criminal record. Who knows if he will suddenly come up with an idea to cause trouble? Although the latter cares about humans, his mind is unpredictable and he may have other considerations. We need to be careful.
There is no need to say much about the remaining Hercules, he must be killed - and this is also the second reason why Sakura came to find Shinji, the base of Einzbern has been found.
Scathach found it.
Medea encountered a bottleneck in the process of analyzing the Command Spells and sought help from Scathach. After Scathach gave some suggestions, she said that it was not necessary to go through so much trouble to just find someone, and then threw out a handful of rune stones.
The runes engraved on it are the oldest "Original Runes", but their function is very simple - to search for magic power.
After last night's fight, Scathach has already memorized Hercules' magic. All she needs to do now is spread out the rune stones, and if any trace of magic is captured she can follow the clues.
This is undoubtedly the most primitive and least technical method. But it is precisely because of this that a powerful and smart witch like Medea did not think of it.
Primitive doesn't mean useless, Scathach taught Medea a lesson using the example right in front of her.
Shinji smiled bitterly when he learned about this. The Master's character was really speechless. He saw through everything, but he would never reveal it to you unless you asked.
And the facts once again proved that Scathach was right. The most primitive and least technical method was also the fastest way. When the army of women were shopping halfway, the rune stone brought back feedback.
Combining the land and property transaction data obtained in the morning and Medea's preliminary analysis results, the location of the target can be basically determined.
So, Scathach sent the girls home first, and went to the destination alone to explore.
When Shinji arrived, she had already explored Einzbern's new base as well as the surrounding terrain. She even had time to go to a highway service station a few kilometers away for afternoon tea, and even prepared Shinji's portion.
"It's half an hour later than expected. My disciple, the coffee is cold. Would you like the waiter to heat it up for you?"
At the girls' strong request, the Queen of the Demon Realm, who changed into a casual coat, pushed the afternoon tea in front of Shinji while speaking. Her considerate yet slightly malicious temperament as the big sister next door made Shinji almost dare not recognize her.
Is this my master? My master can't be this cute.
Fortunately, the tone of the painting changed back in time in the second sentence.
"You were so excited to see the battle between the top servants that you joined in, didn't you?"
Well, this is the familiar master.
"No, the car is left to Sakura and the others. I ran here and was sweating all over. This is just the right amount of cool." He took the coffee and poured it all into his mouth without any manners. "Wow, refreshing!"
"You really didn't fight with them?"
"Not really."
"Weren't you quite confident when you handed in your homework before?"
"No matter how confident I am, I am not confident enough to challenge two top servants alone. Besides, some of my special moves are specially prepared for you. I don't want to use them on others unless it is absolutely necessary."
After hearing Shinji's explanation, Scathach smiled, with a different kind of charm than usual.
"Now that you mention it, I can't wait any longer. I really want to see the tricks you have prepared for me."
"Please spare me, Master. I have work to do." Shinji has always been spineless in front of Scathach. "Even if you don't think about me, you should think about Yustisa."
"Yes, you are right - but if you miss this opportunity, you might..."
Scathach's voice became weaker and weaker, and the last few words were almost inaudible.
"Master, what did you say?"
"Nothing, don't you have business to do? Let's go now."
"Give me two more minutes."
Shinji said as he cleared the remaining snacks on the table with amazing speed. He didn't have a good lunch to begin with, and he ran and flew for more than ten kilometers in one breath, so he was already hungry.
The boy took out a napkin and casually wiped the stain, grinning.
"Let's go, Master. We must not let them escape this time!"
...
More than ten minutes later, a man and a woman jointly kicked open a door that had been reinforced by magic.
"Fight, fight, fight, fight...robbery!"
PS: The book "Itachi God Reappears in Konoha" recommended by an old friend last time is on the shelves today. Interested readers may wish to support it. The author Shi Guang Liu Zhuan is a contemporary author of Jian Shao. He has completed two novels so far. He guarantees his integrity and quality and will not disappoint you.
PS2: Speaking of which, there are really not many old ACG authors who were in the same period as Jian Shao. Some of them had jobs and then disappeared, some gave up because of poor performance, and some had no time because they had to inherit the family business. Alas, the food in any industry is not good.