After announcing his decision, Victor immediately expanded his spiritual consciousness across the entire landscape.
Within moments, all of Fuyuki City fell within the range of his enhanced awareness!
He quickly located Cú Chulainn's position.
The Irish hero was stationed at Fuyuki Church, not particularly surprising, considering that was where his despicable Master resided.
Of course, Cú Chulainn wasn't alone. Under Victor's powerful spiritual perception, the locations of all other Servants and Masters became crystal clear, with nowhere to hide.
"Hmm?"
At that moment, Victor suddenly realized something seemed amiss.
Why were there only seven Servants total?
In previous Holy Grail Wars, seven Masters and seven Servants would represent the standard configuration.
But there was someone who had survived from the last Holy Grail War, someone who should still be present in this timeline!
That was Gilgamesh, also known as the King of Heroes, or as Victor preferred to call him, the King of Street Lamps!
After counting carefully, Victor soon identified the missing participant.
The absent one was none other than King Arthur herself, Altria Pendragon.
Upon reflection, the reason wasn't difficult to deduce.
After all, in the original timeline, Altria had been summoned completely by accident through Shirou Emiya's desperate circumstances.
Her appearance had been pure coincidence.
In the original story, Shirou Emiya had arrived home late and witnessed the battle between Lancer and Archer at the school. Lancer had subsequently pursued him to eliminate this witness.
Shirou had been mortally wounded when Lancer pierced his chest with his spear.
Just as death approached, Rin Tohsaka had inadvertently used the magical energy stored in her family ruby to activate Avalon within Shirou's body, pulling him back from the brink of death.
When Lancer discovered that his supposedly dead target had somehow revived, the chase resumed with renewed intensity.
During that desperate flight, Shirou had stumbled into his family's warehouse and accidentally activated the summoning circle left by his adoptive father, Kiritsugu Emiya.
Using the sacred sheath Avalon within his body as a catalyst, he had summoned the legendary King of Knights.
Now that the plot had been altered, Lancer hadn't engaged Archer at the school, which meant Shirou Emiya wouldn't witness their battle and consequently wouldn't be hunted.
Without the pursuit, Shirou would naturally never accidentally trigger the summoning formation or call forth Altria.
This was the classic butterfly effect in action.
"What's wrong?"
Rin Tohsaka immediately noticed the subtle change in Victor's expression and looked at him with concern.
"Nothing important," Victor replied, shaking his head to dismiss his thoughts.
Whether Altria participated or not didn't truly matter, as long as the Holy Grail could still be successfully summoned.
With this conclusion, Victor didn't hesitate and began leading the three girls toward Fuyuki Church.
"Let's go."
The group moved with such incredible speed that they made no attempt to conceal their presence or aura.
By the time they arrived at Fuyuki Church, Cú Chulainn was already waiting outside the main gates with his crimson spear in hand, fully prepared for battle.
"Let me be his opponent this time."
Before Victor could make any move, Stelle stepped forward first.
"I finally broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage, so let me test my current strength."
Victor naturally had no objections to this request.
He continued forward with Rin Tohsaka and Chloe in tow.
Cú Chulainn made no move to stop them, simply watching as they passed by his position.
In truth, if it weren't for the binding constraints of the Command Seals, he wouldn't even want to engage Victor and his companions in combat.
He actually hoped Victor would eliminate his cowardly Master as quickly as possible.
"Come on, big blue dog! Let me test your strength!"
Stelle beckoned to Cú Chulainn with one finger while summoning a silver-white baseball bat covered in intricate runes.
The baseball bat she had originally picked up at Herta Space Station had now been refined into a low-grade spiritual weapon, radiating a mysterious and powerful aura.
Cú Chulainn's face darkened immediately. "It's the Hound of Culann! Not some 'big blue dog'!"
The interior of the church lay shrouded in darkness.
What should have been a place filled with divine holiness now emanated a faint but unmistakable aura of murderous intent.
"Did that bastard run away?"
Surveying the seemingly empty church, Rin Tohsaka felt a surge of anger.
Earlier, she had learned from Victor about the true history of her world, including the revelation that Kirei Kotomine, the man her father had accepted as a disciple, was a twisted pervert.
More than that, she now knew that Kirei Kotomine was her father's murderer.
She desperately wanted to tear the skin from his bones.
"No, he didn't."
Victor shook his head, then swiftly wrapped one arm around Rin Tohsaka's slender waist while pulling Chloe back with his other hand.
The next instant, three Black Keys flew through the air, stabbing precisely into the spots where the trio had been standing moments before.
Seeing this attack, both Rin Tohsaka and Chloe's expressions shifted as they looked up toward the church's second floor.
A familiar figure slowly emerged from the dark shadows.
"Kirei Kotomine! You beast!"
Rin Tohsaka glared at the man with unconcealed hatred burning in her eyes.
Victor gently tapped Rin Tohsaka's head. "Don't let hatred cloud your judgment."
After all, Rin was a cultivator at the Qi Training stage, yet she hadn't even sensed Kirei Kotomine hiding in the darkness.
It was obvious that her fury had blinded her to potential threats.
This reaction was understandable, considering he was her father's killer.
Hearing this advice, Rin Tohsaka managed to calm herself slightly.
However, the hatred blazing in her eyes only intensified.
"Kirei Kotomine! Answer me, why did you kill my father?"
"Oh? You finally figured it out."
Not only did Kirei Kotomine not attempt to deny the accusation, but he actually revealed a delighted smile.
"Answer me!" Rin Tohsaka's eyes became bloodshot with rage.
"Of course, it was for pleasure." Kirei Kotomine spread his arms wide, and the smile on his face grew even more intense.
"You bastard!"
Rin Tohsaka leaped from the first floor to the second in a single bound, throwing a devastating punch directly at Kirei Kotomine.
Kirei was momentarily startled.
How could Rin Tohsaka jump so high?
But he reacted quickly, raising both hands to protect his chest while reinforcing them with defensive magecraft.
Bang!
Despite thinking he could block Rin Tohsaka's attack, Kirei Kotomine had severely underestimated her current strength.
He was instantly launched backward, his body smashing through the church wall and creating a massive hole!
He eventually crashed into the cemetery behind the church, demolishing a large number of tombstones in the process!
Rin Tohsaka pursued him relentlessly.
As soon as Kirei Kotomine climbed out of the rubble, he found Rin Tohsaka standing before him once again.
Then came another devastating punch.
This time, the strike was aimed directly at Kirei Kotomine's head with lethal intent.
But at the critical moment, an ornate two-handed sword fell from the sky, landing between the two combatants and blocking the fatal blow intended for Kirei Kotomine.
Taking advantage of this intervention, Kirei quickly distanced himself from Rin Tohsaka.
"Who?!" Rin Tohsaka raised her head and looked around.
At some point, a blonde man wearing an elegant black suit had appeared behind Kirei Kotomine. One hand rested casually in his pocket while his expression radiated supreme arrogance and disdain.
The man didn't bother answering Rin Tohsaka's question. Instead, he looked down at the disheveled Kirei Kotomine with eyes full of contempt and disgust.
"Pathetic. A supposed executor, and yet you're being thoroughly beaten by a mere girl."
Kirei Kotomine offered no reply and maintained a completely expressionless face.
It seemed he didn't take the man's humiliation to heart in the slightest.