To be honest, if this were a normal Holy Grail War, this would absolutely be a fatal strike from Assassin.
For this moment, the Assassin named Hassan-i-Sabbah had been lurking since the very first day of the Holy Grail War.
Under the orders of his Master, Kotomine Kirei, he had been secretly gathering intelligence all along, so the identities of the various Servants and even Masters were all crystal clear to this Assassin.
Although there were magical barriers that Manaka Sajyou had set up in advance outside Ryuudou Temple, for Assassin, slipping through these magical barriers without a sound was no difficult feat.
After a series of movements akin to gymnastic 'dancing,' he effortlessly passed through layer upon layer of barriers and stepped into the back courtyard of Ryuudou Temple.
And at this moment, he had even silently circled behind Manaka Sajyou, on the verge of completing this fatal strike!
Just thinking of this, Assassin's heart became more and more excited, and the dagger in his hand seemed to light up with an extremely enchanting light in the dark night.
Ten centimeters.
Five centimeters.
One centimeter...
The dagger's sharpness, accompanied by magical power, drew ever closer to Manaka Sajyou's back.
When the dagger fully touched her back, a pleased smile had already formed on the face beneath Assassin's mask.
Even the most powerful Master would have no chance of victory when touched at such close range by a Servant... Manaka Sajyou would be no exception.
As the dagger pierced the girl's back, this Servant was already filled with anticipation... anticipating what reaction the Saber currently clashing with Rider outside would have upon sensing his Master's death.
...However, in the very next moment, Assassin's smile suddenly froze.
His pupils abruptly widened, staring at the girl before him in utter disbelief.
Clearly, the dagger had pierced her back, even through her heart... yet her life force showed no sign of fading at all?!
Why is this happening?!
After all, the sensation just didn't feel right... How could a human body not bleed after being injured?
Wait, there must be something wrong somewhere...calm down... Damn it, could it be some kind of illusion?
No, impossible... If it were an illusion, he couldn't possibly detect no abnormalities at all.
He's come this far; even if it takes everything he's got, he has to kill her!
After a brief daze, Assassin finally realized something as Magical power gathered in his hand, preparing to release his Noble Phantasm.
Whoosh!
But at that moment, the black mud on the ground suddenly surged rapidly.
Then, it came crashing toward Assassin like a tidal wave from all directions.
Assassin's pupils contracted slightly.
With a flash, he dodged while a thread wrapped around Manaka Sajyou's arm, yanking her fiercely!
In the instant the girl flew backward, the dagger slashed forward.
Without any surprise, the dagger pierced through the girl's chest.
"Success...?"
Seeing Manaka Sajyou slump powerlessly into the black mud, Assassin let out a slight sigh of relief.
"What success are you talking about?"
But at that moment, a crisp and pleasant voice suddenly came from behind him.
Assassin's heart jolted in shock, and he whipped his head around to look.
At some point, amid the surging black mud behind him, a blonde girl was quietly emerging into view.
A pure and bright smile adorned her face, but to Assassin, it appeared exceptionally horrifying.
After all, even when he had approached Manaka Sajyou earlier, he had gone to great lengths to avoid touching the black mud...
Yet this girl in front of him had essentially taken a bath in it, showing no effects whatsoever, and no signs of corruption?
"Why are you still..."
He said in a tone full of incredulity.
"Are you wondering why I'm still alive?"
Manaka Sajyou lightly twirled a strand of hair around her fingertip, saying faintly. "Isn't that obvious? The black mud beneath your feet can reshape flesh. As long as I condense a body from the black mud and infuse it with magical power... even a Servant with the keenest senses wouldn't detect it's not the real thing."
"Even so, if you didn't know a Servant had infiltrated, you couldn't have prepared in advance."
Assassin stared intently at Manaka Sajyou, saying in a deep voice.
"You sensed my presence long ago?"
"No matter what, you're Assassin.
With your presence concealment, even I couldn't detect you."
However, the girl just smiled sweetly: "I just had a premonition of danger in advance, so I made some preparations, that's all."
A premonition of danger in advance?
Assassin was clearly stunned for a moment.
What she said sounded more like foreseeing the future.
But how could that be possible...?
He instinctively wanted to deny the conjecture, his gaze fixed on Manaka Sajyou with shock and suspicion.
Did beings capable of foreseeing the future exist in this world?
Assassin never doubted the possibility... but he could never connect a girl in the flower of her youth with godlike powers of 'omniscience and omnipotence.'
But if that were truly the case... then who in this Holy Grail War could possibly win?
Regardless, he had to inform his Master of this as soon as possible...
With that thought, Assassin, already intent on retreating, instinctively took half a step back.
"Isn't it a bit too late to think of escaping now?"
Manaka Sajyou said with a giggling smile. "The Greater Grail still needs a few more Servant souls to fully descend... Consider this a sacrifice for the Grail, Assassin."
Her voice was incredibly crisp and sweet, yet the words that came out held not a trace of warmth.
Assassin spun around fiercely, trying to flee the place as the girl watched his with cold, calm eyes, not pursuing.
The black mud at her feet suddenly erupted, like countless tentacles shooting out, swiftly seizing Assassin and dragging him into the mud.
In the final moments before being completely swallowed by the black mud, Assassin struggled to open his mouth, but his voice was filled with terror and despair.
"You... you monster..."
The voice gradually faded, and the commotion from moments ago was completely covered by the black mud, as if it had never happened at all.
Manaka Sajyou, as if nothing had occurred, calmly withdrew her gaze and murmured to herself.
"With this, the black mud has been almost entirely extracted from the Greater Grail."
Next, she just needed to find a way to condense and compress the black mud together, then send it out of Fuyuki.
Even Saber would never imagine she'd resolved it this quickly, right?
What kind of surprised reaction would he have...?
At that thought, Manaka Sajyou's heart filled with anticipation, and she turned toward the direction of the front courtyard.
However, just as she reached the front courtyard gate, her steps slowed slightly.
In the front courtyard at this moment, several Servants had already gathered, though there was no fighting as she had imagined... They all seemed to be waiting for something.
An inherent bounded field... Manaka Sajyou quickly sensed it and instinctively glanced toward a certain spot in this space.
She could clearly feel the bounded field shattering.
Was Saber clashing with some Servant...?
As the girl pondered this, she suddenly noticed a rather conspicuous gaze amid the crowd.
That person had spotted her presence almost the instant she stepped into the front courtyard.
Manaka Sajyou looked up accordingly and was met with the sight of Morgan le Fay, clad in an ornate dress, exuding a cold and arrogant demeanor.
She quietly appraised the girl for a few moments, then imperceptibly furrowed her brows.
She could sense an utterly 'repulsive' aura emanating from Manaka Sajyou... the black mud.
The one who noticed this wasn't just Morgan; Artoria beside her had sensed it too.
"Miss Sajyou... You shouldn't have any interest in the Greater Grail, right? What exactly are you trying to do, causing such a huge commotion tonight?"
Soon, Artoria spoke up.
Morgan beside her remained silent, merely scrutinizing Manaka Sajyou with cold indifference.
Looking at the two, Manaka'e earlier joyful mood gradually subsided as she glanced at the golden-haired Knight King, smiling faintly.
"I truly have no interest in the Greater Grail... but that doesn't mean I'm uninterested in everything."
Upon hearing this, Morgan merely said coldly. "I'm not concerned with what interests you. More than that, there's another matter I'm more curious about."
"Miss Sajyou... How long do you intend to keep clinging to him?"
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