About thirty kilometers west of Fuyuki City’s urban area, there is a winding national highway.
Following the long national highway west, one arrives at an undeveloped forest.
This is a primeval forest perpetually shrouded in thick fog.
Perhaps due to the abundance of trees and the hilly terrain near the forest, this primeval forest is often foggy.
And in the depths of this forest, there is a legend akin to a ghost story.
The legend says that deep within the mist lies a magnificent and splendid castle.
It stands in the mist, and it is said that only a very few lucky individuals ever see it.
Of course, for the locals of Fuyuki City, this legend is nothing more than a boring ghost story.
After all, it is only about an hour's journey from Fuyuki's urban area; if there truly were a strange castle deep within this forest, many people would surely know about it.
In fact, some people were once interested in the legend, but after multiple explorations in the forest, they found no trace of any artificial structures, so even fewer believed the ghost story to be true.
But only a very few Magus know that a castle indeed exists in this primeval forest.
It is the Einzbern Family’s base, constructed with their financial resources on the spiritual ley line closest to Fuyuki City; it is a city of magecraft built by the Einzbern Family to participate in the Holy Grail War, which occurs once every sixty years.
Therefore, Magus refer to this forest as the Einzbern Forest and the castle as Einzbern Castle.
The exterior of the castle is enveloped by multiple layers of illusion and magical barriers, and except in extremely rare circumstances, it is essentially isolated from the outside world.
As night fell, the temperature in the air began to drop, and under the effect of the magical barrier, combined with the influence of the natural environment, the water vapor in the air reached its saturation point, and the excess water vapor condensed in the air, with a thick mist constantly shrouding the entire forest.
More than a dozen birds circled above this forest, monitoring this primeval forest.
The thick mist affected the birds' vision, but it did not affect the hidden, miniature cameras on the birds.
Through thermal imaging mode, while Einzbern Castle within the barrier could not be detected, the unwelcome guest who had intruded into the forest—Kenneth El-Melloi—was easily spotted.
For Kenneth, last night was humiliating.
A first-rank lecturer of the Clock Tower’s Spiritual Evocation Department, head of the Archibald family, and Lord of the Mineralogy Department, he was actually attacked with a bomb in his own prepared base, causing many of the Mystic Codes he brought from England to be damaged due to the collapse of the hotel.
If other Lords in the Clock Tower knew about this, they would surely laugh their heads off.
If it weren't for the fact that his strongest trump card, the “Mystic Code,” was always with him, and he instantly transformed his Volumen Hydrargyrum upon hearing the explosion and realizing something was wrong, protecting himself and Sola safely, he and his fiancée might have truly suffered severe injuries in the blast.
Having lost the Hyatt Hotel as a base, Kenneth could only choose an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Fuyuki City as a temporary stronghold during the day, temporarily settling his fiancée Sola there, while he, accompanied by Lancer, came for “revenge.”
Although any stratagem is permitted in war, using a bomb to destroy the Hyatt Hotel undoubtedly infuriated him to the extreme.
The mastermind who forced his beloved fiancée, Sola, to stay in an abandoned factory, hidden in a dusty, unclean place, truly deserved to die ten thousand deaths.
In Kenneth’s view, based on the current information, the Einzbern’s son-in-law—Kiritsugu Emiya—was the most suspect.
Although he is not Saber’s Master, he is a first-rate Magus who married into the Einzbern Family, and according to the data, he often uses despicable technological creations to kill Magus, stopping at nothing to achieve his goals.
Therefore, using a bomb to destroy the Hyatt Hotel perfectly fit Kiritsugu Emiya’s character.
Kenneth advanced deeper into the forest with boiling fighting spirit.
Although the exterior of Einzbern Castle was covered by numerous barriers, Kenneth’s inherent knowledge of magecraft and his genius intuition were enough for him to accurately deduce the location of the barrier’s core, pinpointing Einzbern Castle’s position in the forest.
As Kenneth continued to advance, the trees obstructing his view suddenly vanished, and a magnificent stone castle appeared before Kenneth’s eyes.
“Excellent, after I deal with Einzbern, I’ll use this castle as a new base; I’m sure Sola will be pleased. After all, how can a noble young lady of high status continue to live in such a dilapidated environment? Even staying for a single day is an insult to her.”
Forcing his fiancée, Sola, to stay in an abandoned factory had already put her in an extremely bad mood.
Moreover, his pride could not tolerate his beloved fiancée constantly hiding in such an environment.
When he reviewed the information on the Masters in this Holy Grail War during the day and learned about the Einzbern Family’s castle west of Fuyuki City, he had already decided to swiftly deal with the Einzbern Family tonight.
So, even if last night’s perpetrator wasn’t Kiritsugu Emiya, he would still visit the Einzbern Family today, all to remove his beloved fiancée from the abandoned factory environment.
Furthermore, Saber’s left hand tendon was severed by Lancer and, under the effect of the curse, could not heal, preventing her from fully utilizing her strength. It was the perfect time to press the advantage.
However, if he decided to use Einzbern Castle as a base, then he would have to minimize damage to the building as much as possible.
“Lancer, don’t disappoint me this time.”
“Yes, Master, I guarantee I will bring victory before you this time.”
At Kenneth’s command, Lancer Diarmuid dispelled his spirit form, appearing before Kenneth with his twin spears.
A one-on-one duel with Saber was his desire, and achieving victory for his Lord and serving him once was the very meaning of his participation in this Holy Grail War.
Under Kenneth’s command, Lancer, holding his twin spears, charged ahead into the castle gate, and with a forceful slash.
The heavy gate was split in two as if cutting tofu, and the gate fell inward with a heavy sound.
Kenneth watched the collapsed Einzbern Castle gate and placed the porcelain vase he was holding under his arm on the ground.
“Boil, my blood.”
As Kenneth chanted a magical incantation, the contents of the bottle oozed out stickily from the opening.
About ten liters of mercury-like metallic liquid flowed out of the bottle like an autonomous primordial organism, trembling to form a sphere.
This was Kenneth’s proud trump card Mystic Code—Volumen Hydrargyrum.
“Automatic defense, automatic targeting, automatic attack.”
As Kenneth continued to chant softly, Volumen Hydrargyrum also vibrated with a rustling sound on the ground.
After confirming that the three major functions of Volumen Hydrargyrum had been deployed, Kenneth confidently walked into Einzbern Castle.
Lancer followed closely, and Volumen Hydrargyrum activated its automatic follow function, automatically trailing Kenneth into the interior of the castle.