"I declare."
"Thy body shall be under my command, and my fate shall be at the mercy of thy sword."
"If thou wilt submit to the call of the Holy Grail and obey this will and this reason, then answer me."
"I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world and I shall defeat all the evil in the world. Thou art the Seven Heavens clad in the three great words of power, come forth from the circle of deterrence."
"O Guardian of the Scales!"
"Obey me! My fate shall be determined by thy sword!"
As the crimson command spells appeared on the back of her hand, Akatsuki looked at the magic crystals with satisfaction. After persuading Kirei Kotomine, Akatsuki found she couldn't sign a contract with the unconscious Black Saber. So, she went back to Kirei Kotomine for three more command spells, then forcibly signed a contract with Black Saber while she was still unconscious.
Although taking advantage of her like this might cause Black Saber to feel resentful, Akatsuki didn't care. After all... she had been involved for so long, she might as well experience being a Master for once!
Although Angra Mainyu had been destroyed by Akatsuki, the Holy Grail War was still not over. The mana within the ley lines had not significantly decreased. Three Servant souls had been absorbed by the black grail, and two by Illya. According to the original rules of the Holy Grail War, only Archer and Rider remained as Servants. Once they decided the victor, the greater grail could be activated!
However, the situation seemed to have changed. After Angra Mainyu was completely purged and Black Saber was pulled out of the mountain of flesh by Akatsuki, something seemed to go wrong with the greater grail.
Illya had not accommodated enough souls, and the Holy Grail War, which was supposed to have only seven Servants, now had an extra one. These circumstances, which were outside the system of the Holy Grail War, caused the descent of the greater grail to be delayed for a long time.
When Akatsuki looked at the Black Saber in her arms again...?
"Saber...? You are... Avenger?!"
After becoming the Master of the girl in her arms, Akatsuki could see some of the girl's abilities through the power granted by the greater grail. However, to Akatsuki's surprise, she wasn't a Saber, but an Avenger!
"Has her spiritual foundation changed from being soaked in the black mud for too long?"
Akatsuki looked with some uncertainty at the Ahoge in her arms who was no longer a Saber; now she should be called Avenger or Avenger. The once noble king of knights now manifested as an Avenger... "Ugh..."
Feeling the Avenger in her arms move, Akatsuki looked down at her.
"Akatsuki?"
The moment she saw Akatsuki, Avenger seemed to remember something and immediately broke free from Akatsuki's embrace. She snatched the pitch-black Holy Sword from Akatsuki's hand, and pitch-black armor made of mana covered her body. "Caster was absorbed by the black shadow. Where is that black shadow!"
Wholly on guard against the black shadow, she didn't even notice the abnormality that had occurred to her.
"Has her memory stopped at that moment... it's normal, I suppose. But why hasn't she blackened like in Heaven's Feel, and still maintains Saber's way of thinking?"
"What are you saying?! Akatsuki, hurry and notify Rin and the others! If the black shadow is left alone, many people will die because of it! And that black shadow won't follow the rules of the Holy Grail War; it will attack ordinary people without hesitation!"
Akatsuki rubbed her aching forehead. She was already quite tired today and didn't plan to explain anything to Avenger. Once she calmed down, she would understand everything sooner or later.
Otherwise, she would leave it to Tohsaka Rin to explain everything that had happened during this time.
"Calm down. The black shadow has been completely dealt with. Can you come back to the Emiya Residence with me now? Rin will explain everything to you there..."
Before Akatsuki could finish, she felt the massive mana within Avenger showing signs of going out of control. Rubbing her aching temples, Akatsuki raised her right hand.
"By my command spells, I order you, my Servant Avenger, calm down!"
The power of the command spells forced Avenger to calm down. Only then did she notice the changes in herself—at some point, she had actually become the eighth class, Avenger!
"How... this is..."
"I'm not sure, but there's no doubt that Saber is out of the Holy Grail War. After all, it's been confirmed with the church's supervisor and the lesser grail, Illya. You are now the Avenger manifested as the eighth class. Let's leave the specifics for Rin to judge."
Akatsuki brought the silent Avenger back to the Emiya Residence. As soon as they entered, Tohsaka Rin came to meet them.
"Aka..."
Before Tohsaka Rin could finish, Akatsuki hugged her and bit her neck. Skillfully controlling the impulse of blind blood-sucking, Akatsuki gulped down Tohsaka Rin's blood. To avoid subconsciously turning Tohsaka Rin into a Dead Apostle, Akatsuki also did her best to control the transformative power within her.
"Wait!" Tohsaka Rin struggled reflexively a few times before stopping. After all, she knew Akatsuki wouldn't actually turn her into a Dead Apostle or drain her dry. Estimating the time in her head, Akatsuki released Tohsaka Rin.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. I haven't eaten much these past few days, and I used too much power today, so I lost control for a moment. Ehehe..."
"I'll talk to you about that later!" A slightly weak Tohsaka Rin looked at the silent Avenger behind Akatsuki. "Saber, is it my imagination? Why do you seem a bit different?"
"Saber!" Shirou Emiya rushed over upon seeing Saber. He looked at Saber with concern, wanting to say something, but only managed to say, "Saber, welcome back."
"Shirou..."
"Ahem." Akatsuki coughed twice. "Anyway, can we eat first? We can talk while we eat."
"By the way, Akatsuki, what did you do today?" For some reason, Tohsaka Rin's words seemed full of murderous intent. "Today's TV program seems to have captured you and that Fake Priest."
"Uh..."
"Akatsuki, you should know the ironclad rule that all mystery must be hidden and the Holy Grail War must be conducted in secret, right?"
"Uh... didn't I use an Inherent Reality to hide that meat slab later..."
"You should have used that kind of thing from the start! And what was with you not letting us go out! Going alone to deal with something so dangerous, do you have a death wish!"
Seeing the smiling Tohsaka Rin scolding her mercilessly, a thought suddenly flashed through Akatsuki's mind. "Rin, could it be that you're worried about me?"
Tohsaka Rin was stunned, and then a blush appeared on her face. "Who—who's worried about you!"
"Tsundere..."
"Who's a tsundere!"
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