“Oh no! Saber, Kiritsugu is still outside!”
Seeing the Assassins gradually surrounding the entire courtyard, Irisviel’s face changed dramatically.
With so many Assassins, even if one were to go after Kiritsugu Emiya, it would be more than Kiritsugu could handle.
“Irisviel, don’t panic, he’s fine!”
Saber shook her head firmly.
Only when Irisviel saw Saber’s firm and serious gaze did she relax.
The one who truly formed a contract with Saber was Kiritsugu Emiya, and through the contract, Saber could sense Kiritsugu Emiya’s location and physical condition.
If Kiritsugu were truly in danger, she could quickly rush over using a Command Spell.
But Kiritsugu wasn’t doing so now, which meant he was still safe.
In fact, at the beginning of the banquet, Kiritsugu Emiya had driven away from the Matou Residence and, at a location not too far nor too close to the Matou Residence, had been using a drone to monitor the situation here from the sky.
At this moment, no Assassin had gone after him.
Kirei Kotomine had not informed Tokiomi Tohsaka that Saber’s true Master was Kiritsugu Emiya, so in Tokiomi Tohsaka’s eyes, Kiritsugu Emiya was merely a mercenary hired by the Einzbern Family, not a threat.
“What is going on?! The number of these Assassins is cheating, isn’t it?!… Could the Holy Grail really be broken? Didn’t the rules say only one Servant could be summoned per class?”
Weaver saw the figures of Assassins seemingly everywhere in the entire courtyard, and the ‘countless’ black, grotesque human figures made him deeply uncomfortable, causing him to let out a scream that was almost a wail.
He couldn't understand; this number completely exceeded the Holy Grail’s rule limit for classes.
Seeing their prey’s dishevelled appearance, the Assassins, for some unknown reason, cackled maliciously as they explained: “Hehehehehe, we are separated individuals, both a collective and an individual Servant. Both an individual and a collective… shadow!”
“Is it a Heroic Spirit with multiple personalities, and each personality has materialized?”
“Irisviel, be careful, they look like they’re getting serious!”
Such intense killing intent made Saber grit her teeth in anger.
No matter how many individuals an Assassin split into, their total magical energy would not change, so the more clones there were, the less magical energy each Assassin possessed, and the weaker their physical capabilities.
However, this weakness was relative to Heroic Spirits; for Weaver and Irisviel, even the weakest Assassin could easily kill them.
A group of disorganized assassins, if they attacked head-on in a battlefield, Saber would not be concerned at all.
But now Saber had to protect Irisviel.
If even one Assassin slipped through during the battle, that single Assassin would be enough to cause significant harm to Irisviel.
Saber wanted to seek help from her ally Caster, but upon seeing Chen Yu in a drunken stupor, she dispelled the thought.
Chen Yu was already somewhat incoherent from drunkenness; could he still lend a hand?
Just as Saber was hesitating, Chen Yu actually still had the interest to ask the Assassins: “Hey, you Assassins over there, are you here to join our banquet? Could you please rein in your aura a bit? You’re scaring the ‘little ones’!”
Here, the ‘little ones’ Chen Yu referred to specifically meant Weaver.
When the Assassins appeared, Weaver had already shamefully run behind Rider, trembling, and only by leaning on Rider’s massive body did he avoid the even greater embarrassment of collapsing on the ground.
Saber heard Chen Yu still wanting to invite them to the banquet and thought she had misheard, frowning as she said: “Do you still want to invite them to the table? You really must be drunk, aren’t you?”
“Why so flustered, Saber? It’s just new guests at the banquet; we should still drink. Or is the Knight King actually quite timid?”
Even though Chen Yu had just mentioned Saber’s difficulties while discussing the Way of Kings, Rider was still not entirely convinced, and his words were somewhat sarcastic.
Saber, still wary of the Assassins, retorted: “But they don’t look like guests attending a banquet at all!”
“Hehehehehe, a banquet? You’re mistaken. We haven’t come to join your banquet, but to attend your funeral feast!”
The Assassins cackled, instantly splitting into two groups and charging rapidly towards Weaver by Rider’s side and towards Chen Yu.
The Assassins had two objectives for coming: one was to ascertain Caster’s true nature, and the other was to kill Caster’s Master.
Relying on Assassins who possessed clones and the ability to sever their presence, Tokiomi Tohsaka believed that he could virtually control everyone’s information without even leaving his home.
In his view, the outcome of the Holy Grail War was already clear.
Saber’s left hand was injured, Lancer’s Master was already incapacitated, and Berserker’s Master was also on the verge of collapse, unable to sustain Berserker’s immense magical energy.
These three were not to be feared.
Only Rider and Caster remained in perfect condition.
However, Rider’s Master was a low-ranked Magus, and the Conqueror King Iskandar’s noble phantasm had already been exposed.
Although he was one of the world's foremost kings, Tokiomi Tohsaka believed that Rider might have other trump cards besides the already revealed Gordius Wheel, but he was certainly no match for Archer.
But Caster was different; Caster being called an Evil God by Archer naturally meant she should not be underestimated.
Moreover, the ability to sever presence seemed ineffective against her.
Any Assassin assigned to monitor Caster would often suddenly lose connection and then be killed, preventing the Assassins from acquiring more information.
After losing seven or eight Assassins in succession, Tokiomi Tohsaka realized that Caster could easily detect the Assassins’ presence, so he no longer sent Assassins to their deaths by approaching her.
He only had them observe from a distance, which meant they could only gather minimal information.
But even so, even if the opponent was an unknown Evil God named Nyarlathotep, Tokiomi Tohsaka did not believe he would lose.
His confidence stemmed from his understanding of Archer’s noble phantasm.
No matter what kind of enemy, the King of Heroes could defeat them if he took it seriously, and an Evil God was no exception.
Archer’s Gate of Babylon contained noble phantasms specifically for dealing with gods.
The higher the divinity of a Heroic Spirit, the harder that noble phantasm would be, and the more difficult to escape, making it a very rare anti-divine armament.
With such a noble phantasm, plus Archer’s other trump card.
Tokiomi Tohsaka did not believe that Archer would lose to Caster in a one-on-one situation.
But now, almost everyone was in an open state, while only Caster was in the fog of war, her information unknown, which made Tokiomi Tohsaka somewhat uneasy.
He only knew that Caster could use spatial displacement magic; her noble phantasm and other abilities were unknown.
In Tokiomi Tohsaka’s view, Rider’s decision to hold the banquet at the Matou Residence was an excellent opportunity to gather intelligence.
For this, Tokiomi Tohsaka had even made his disciple Kirei Kotomine use all his Command Spells, issuing a command to Assassin to “achieve victory at all costs” to target Caster and her Master.
All the Command Spells greatly enhanced Assassin’s sustained combat capability.
Ideally, killing Caster’s Master would be best; if not, acquiring more information about Caster was another option.
If that still didn’t work, killing other Masters who came to the banquet was also acceptable.
Anyway, it was a desperate gamble using Assassin, and Kirei Kotomine, without a Servant, had no use for his Command Spells.
It was better to go all-in with all the Command Spells; perhaps it could bring an unexpected surprise.