Further west in the deep mountains of Fuyuki City, the long national highway stretches westwards, away from the lights of the city. Ahead of the road, waiting for visitors, is an undeveloped forest. Following this road across the county border, the national highway quietly winds ahead.
Although it is a two-way road, there are almost no signs of oncoming cars on the sparsely lit national highway. The national highway at midnight seemed to be forgotten in the silence.
In such a quiet night, a silver beast came galloping.
Mercedes-Benz 300SL, with its elegant and streamlined body, seems as steady as a lady, while the roar of its side-by-side six-cylinder engine is as majestic as a wild beast.
What is surprising is that the person who drove this classic car at a speed of over 100 kilometers per hour was Alice, a young lady who looked like a noble daughter.
To be fair, driving 100 miles per hour on a national highway is not very fast, but the road where the Mercedes-Benz is speeding is a winding mountain road with a cliff on one side. To take a turn at such a speed, you must be either an experienced driver with outstanding driving skills or a crazy biker.
Unfortunately, Irisviel belongs to the latter.
Through the front windshield of the sports car, one can see that Alice's delicate face is filled with excitement and madness, which is very different from her usual elegant lady. Her right foot moves back and forth between the brake and the accelerator, her left foot slams on the clutch from time to time, and her hands quickly switch between the steering wheel and the gear lever. She looks very skilled, but in fact, as soon as she turns, the whole car starts to drift, and there is a danger of flying off the cliff at any time.
Saber, sitting in the co-pilot seat, was sweating profusely. She felt even more stressed than when she was facing the fierce attacks from Lancer and Berserker at the same time.
Scathach, who was monitoring from above, was speechless for a while and once again realized the meaning of the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover".
Scathach became famous in BC, and she is at least 2000 years old. She has seen countless people over the years and rarely made mistakes. The fact that Irisviel was able to give her a little surprise shows how powerful she is.
After disappearing from Saber and the others' sight, Scathach and Shinji did not go far at all. Instead, they hid in the warehouse where Kariya had been hiding before, secretly following and monitoring them.
After Saber and Irisviel left the warehouse district, they boarded the Mercedes sports car that Emiya Kiritsugu had arranged in advance and sped along the national highway. Emiya Kiritsugu and Hisau Maiya's group quietly boarded a Toyota and headed to the city center.
Shinji and Scathach split up into two groups, Shinji followed Emiya Kiritsugu, and Scathach followed Saber, who was also a Servant, and by the way, they found out the base of the Einzberns - this was Yustisa's request.
Relying on the agility attributes of the Original Rune and Gundam A+, Scathach silently shuttled through the mountains and forests, hanging steadily behind the sports car, neither entering Saber's perception range nor losing the target.
Suddenly, Scathach's body shook, she took a few missteps, and hid behind a big tree. Her red eyes changed their focus, staring at the place where the sports car was going to pass, right in the middle of the national highway.
There stood a tall man, wearing a luxurious gown of ancient style. The black texture was dotted with blood-red patterns. His unusually large pupils made it easy to associate him with a nocturnal animal.
Scathach was no stranger to this man. The first battle of this Holy Grail War was initiated by her and this man. He was the seventh Servant, Caster.
"I see. Is that why you said this journey won't be peaceful?"
At the same time as the soft whisper came through the veil, Irisviel and Saber in the sports car also saw this person. The harsh friction sound broke the silence between the mountains and forests, and the tires of the Mercedes slid on the asphalt road, emitting a puff of white smoke.
The door of the Mercedes opened upwards like a wing. Saber got out first and stared at Caster in front of her with caution.
Caster smiled at Saber, for some unknown reason. It was not the smile of a warrior ready to die bravely, but an expression as if two long-lost brothers had reunited. A flawless smile shone on his joyful face.
Just when Saber was confused, Caster did something even more puzzling.
Caster bowed his head respectfully, knelt on the asphalt road like a subject meeting the king and said:
"I have been waiting for you for a long time, Your Highness."
Saber was confused.
As King Arthur, she would naturally receive others' kneeling worship. However, all those who knelt down to worship her would always call her "King Arthur" instead of "Saint".
Irisviel got off the Mercedes and hid behind Saber, who was standing on guard nervously, and looked at Caster quietly.
"Saber, do you know him?"
"No, I have no recollection of that."
As if he heard Saber and Irisviel's whispers, Caster raised his head and said: "... Oh, how is this possible? Have you forgotten me?"
In response to his even more irrelevant words, Saber's expression turned cold: "There is nothing to forget. This is the first time we meet. You may have recognized the wrong person."
"Ohh, woooo..."
Caster whimpered as if he was very sad, grabbing his hair with both hands. His expression, which had been very happy just now, suddenly changed dramatically to an extremely embarrassed and depressed look, and the change was so fast that it could be called moody.
"It's me! I am your most loyal servant, Gilles de Rais! I have been praying for your resurrection, and I sincerely hope that such a miracle will happen. I have been waiting for the day when I can meet you again. I came here for this purpose, Joan of Arc!"
"Gilles de Rais...?"
This is the third Servant who has revealed his real name in front of Saber and Irisviel. Although I don’t know what his intention is, Caster doesn’t look like he is lying.
But at this moment, Saber just wanted to clear up this misunderstanding.
"I don't know your name, and I've never heard of the name Joan of Arc."
After hearing Saber's answer, Caster became even more confused and asked, "How... Could it be that you have forgotten everything? Have you forgotten everything about your life?"
Saber began to feel a little annoyed with this unclear situation, so she looked at Caster seriously and said:
"Since you have given me your name, I will tell you my real name out of chivalry. My name is Altria. Son of Uther Pendragon, King of Britain, and I am manifesting this time as Saber."
Caster was still staring blankly at the girl in front of him who was puffing out her chest and proudly saying her name. After a moment of silence, he cried out.
"Ohhh! Oh wow!!"
Caster screamed desperately and pounded the ground in an unbelievable manner.
"How sad and lamentable this is! Not only has she lost her memory, but she has also lost her mind... How abominable... How abominable! God, why are you so cruel to my beautiful girl?"
"Have you had enough of this? This is too ugly." Saber scolded loudly. She felt a disgusting feeling that was completely different from fear, as if she was being stared at by something disgusting. Her hair stood on end.
Just as Caster was about to continue his speech, a deep female voice came from above.
"Saber, stand back."
Saber's passive skill, Intuition, was activated instantly, and she pulled Irisviel onto the hood of the sports car.
Before the two men could stand firmly, they heard a series of sounds of sharp objects tearing through the air, destroying the ground in front of the vehicle beyond recognition, as if it had been bombarded by a howitzer.
Amid the rising smoke and sand, the queen in a black tights stood up straight, holding a red spear.
PS: The cover has been changed, hahahaha.