Shinji Matou at Your Service

As a dedicated fan of the Typemoon series, a lore enthusiast, a transmigrator into the Matou family, and Justeaze's closest partner, Shinji possessed the most comprehensive and detailed information about the Holy Grail. Even Amakusa Shirou, also a transmigrator, couldn't surpass him in this regard.

Given this premise and assuming Amakusa Shirou's goals remained unchanged, whatever Amakusa could think of, Shinji should be able to anticipate as well.

Amakusa Shirou's current situation: possessing the Greater Holy Grail, lacking the Lesser Holy Grail, and facing enemies who were banded together for mutual protection, making his combat power relatively insufficient. If the enemies decided to hold their ground and defend, it would be extremely difficult for him to reclaim the Lesser Holy Grail and hunt enough Servants.

At this point, anyone with a bit of intellect would consider some alternative methods.

What if there was no Lesser Holy Grail? Make another one.

Is it possible? Yes.

One of the main reasons Shinji was in such a hurry to kill Zouken was because Zouken planned to perform human modifications on Sakura, transforming her into another Lesser Holy Grail, the Black Holy Grail.

This was in Shinji's original World Line, where the secrets of the Holy Grail were only known to the three founding families.

In this World Line, the method of creating a Lesser Holy Grail was a semi-public secret. With Amakusa Shirou's abilities and the influence of the Church, making or stealing one wouldn't be difficult.

In Shinji's world, due to the uniqueness of the Holy Grail system, Zouken needed Dark Sakura to actively hunt down and capture Servants' souls. In this world, where pseudo-Holy Grail Wars were rampant, collecting Servants' souls was easy. They could gather enough Servants' souls first and then connect them to the Greater Holy Grail—considering Amakusa Shirou's Noble Phantasm, this wasn't difficult.

This also explained why there were five Servants (the capacity limit of the Lesser Holy Grail), why there was no Saber (a limitation of the pseudo-Holy Grail War), and why they appeared as deceased immediately upon logging into the Servant list.

"Damn Darnic, it's one thing to steal the Greater Holy Grail, but why spread the ritual's information to everyone?"

The more Shinji explained, the angrier he got, eventually leading to outright cursing.

Fiore gave him a strange look, "Why are you getting angry? Any of us can be angry, but you shouldn't be. Not only shouldn't you be angry, you should be happy."

"Why?"

"Whether Amakusa Shirou has prepared another Lesser Holy Grail or not makes no difference to you. If he didn't do this, would you not go after him?"

"Ah—"

Fiore's words were a wake-up call for Shinji.

No matter what, Shinji would confront Amakusa Shirou to reclaim Justeaze.

The other Masters and Servants, however, were different. An inactive Greater Holy Grail had no value for contention, but if it could be activated and was just a step away from becoming an omnipotent wish-granting machine, it was a different story. As long as someone had a wish to fulfill, they wouldn't give up on the Greater Holy Grail. Moreover, this wish-granting machine was currently in the hands of someone who wanted to destroy the world—none of the Masters or Servants present wanted the world to end.

Amakusa Shirou's actions effectively bound everyone present to Shinji's cause. No wonder Gordes muttered, "I'm now seriously wondering if you and the Ruler are colluding to deceive us."

To this, Shinji vehemently denied, "How could that be possible? If I were colluding, I wouldn't have said those things to Mordred and Atalanta. Pursuing the Holy Grail would boost their combat power."

Jeanne also solemnly stated, "I can swear to God that everything I have said is true. Moreover, the Servants summoned by the Holy Grail should soon be able to sense the changes."

Artoria followed up, "I can also vouch for Jeanne. Having participated in a previous Holy Grail War, I can vaguely sense that something is changing, and we don't have much time left."

Quickly, those with skills like "Instinct" and "Mind's Eye," such as Mordred and Chiron, also noticed subtle anomalies. From that point on, no one doubted the veracity of what Shinji and Jeanne had said.

"Then there's nothing to hesitate about."

Achilles clenched his fists together, a wild grin spreading across his face.

"We'll storm the Hanging Gardens and take down those bastards. I've disliked that woman Semiramis for a long time; this time, I'll teach her a lesson. And that priest Shirou, hmph, destroy the world? He'll have to get past me first."

"Exactly. For the sake of those lovely children, I won't let the world be destroyed—this has nothing to do with whether I want the Holy Grail or not."

Atalanta bit her lip, her expression firm, and she didn't forget to glare at Shinji one last time.

Mordred also joined in, "Yeah, yeah, the world is so wonderful, and I haven't had enough fun yet. No way am I letting that bastard destroy it."

Faced with the two women's targeting, what could Shinji say? He could only surrender meekly, "I'm sorry, it's my fault, I misjudged your noble intentions. Please be generous and don't hold it against me."

"Then it's decided. We'll first reclaim the Greater Holy Grail together, and then decide its final ownership."

Fiore made the final decision. Strangely, although they were about to head into a dangerous battlefield, her face showed no trace of solemnity but rather a bright and cheerful expression.

"No time to waste; let's discuss our battle plan right away."

Most of the Servants present had battlefield experience, and more than half had served as commanders, making the discussion of the battle plan highly efficient.

"The enemy's Noble Phantasm, the Hanging Gardens, has been under our surveillance. Catching up to it isn't difficult. The problem is the height at which the Gardens are floating. How do we get up there?"

"I think my noble eagle can reach it."

"My chariot can also manage."

"And there's Pegasus. Additionally, I can fly using my Feathered Shoes, so I don't need to ride Pegasus, and I can carry one more person if necessary."

Three Servants with mounts spoke up, but after carefully recalling the Noble Phantasm's appearance, Chiron shook his head.

"The eagle and Pegasus can carry two people each, and the chariot can take a few more, but it's still a bit tight."

Avicebron suggested, "I can create a large flying golem, but it won't have the speed or protection of a Phantasmal Beast, making it hard to withstand the Gardens' defenses."

"Ah, I have a solution for that. I don't worry about magical attacks at all because I have a book that can counter any magic!"

Astolfo pulled out a book from somewhere, but—

"Ugh, if only I could remember the book's true name. Because I've forgotten it, I can't use its full power."

"What? You can even forget the name of your Noble Phantasm?"

Achilles found it unbelievable.

"Eh-heh, because my Rationality Evaporation kicks in," Astolfo stuck out his tongue playfully.

"How embarrassing, and you're supposed to be a Rider?"