There was little conversation between Leon and Kiritsugu.
After exchanging nothing more than a brief glance, Leon carefully laid Irisviel's body in the center of the ritual circle, aligning her with the outline of the maiden-shaped crest engraved within it.
The moment she was placed there...
Her posture became perfectly synchronized with the figure depicted in the magic circle.
A breeze stirred.
Then—
A tiny flame ignited soundlessly.
It spread across Irisviel's body at an impossible speed.
In an instant, the vessel that had once been her body was reduced to ashes.
All that remained was the magnificent form of a golden Holy Grail, suspended quietly in midair.
"Until we meet again at the end of destiny, Irisviel."
Artoria watched the entire process without looking away.
Her eyes brimmed with sorrow and reluctance.
At that very moment, she found herself asking:
What is the true meaning of obtaining the Holy Grail?
Can the past... really be changed?
...
A castle blanketed in snow.
It was the place where the vessel known as Irisviel had been born.
Before her lay countless broken bodies identical to her own, piled together into a mountain of discarded Homunculi.
Her crimson eyes filled with grief.
Unable to bear the sight, tears streamed down her face.
Nearby...
A silent young girl stood quietly in the corner.
She possessed long, wavy hair that faded from icy blue to brilliant crimson, heterochromatic eyes of blue and red, and skin as flawless as fresh snow.
Her emotionless face resembled that of Rei Ayanami with long hair.
Her dress appeared woven from crystal ice and blazing flames, dreamlike and ethereal.
"Are you crying... Mother?"
When Irisviel opened her eyes again...
The first thing she saw was the treasure of her life.
Its continuation.
Its future.
"Illya!"
Wearing a white off-the-shoulder nightgown, Irisviel rushed forward from the bedside and tightly embraced the little girl who had just awakened.
The silent girl continued watching from the corner.
Illyasviel wrapped her arms around her mother as well.
"Mom... I had a nightmare."
"In it..."
"I became a cup."
"And then seven enormous things were forced inside me."
"It's alright."
"It's alright."
"I'll never let that happen."
"You'll never suffer that fate, Illya."
Tears welled in Irisviel's eyes as she held her daughter even tighter.
She understood.
What Illya had seen...
Was her own predetermined future as the next Human Grail Vessel.
"Illya..."
"You'll be freed from the chains of fate."
Lost in tears, Irisviel never noticed the room around her gradually being swallowed by an unnatural darkness.
Within her mind...
The discarded Homunculus sisters who had haunted her dreams for countless nights—
Those incomplete dolls that had been cast aside as worthless—
Suddenly smiled.
Their mouths stretched all the way to their ears.
"Ahhh!"
Irisviel jolted back to reality.
Illya had disappeared.
She herself remained trapped inside the castle chamber as the darkness continued consuming everything around her.
Above the open courtyard...
Black snow began to fall.
When one snowflake landed on her arm, it burned like fire.
It wasn't physical pain.
It was the corrosion of her soul.
The destruction of her spirit.
All the World's Evil (Angra Mainyu)...
Stored within the Holy Grail...
Had descended upon her.
"W-Where am I...?"
Terrified, Irisviel staggered backward.
The darkness swallowed her whole.
Her vision faded into absolute blackness.
And yet...
The silent girl with mismatched eyes remained there, quietly watching.
...
When Irisviel's vision slowly returned and her thoughts became clear once more, realization dawned upon her.
"The inside... of the Holy Grail?"
"How is that possible...?"
She understood.
She had died.
Just like the fallen Servants, her soul had become trapped within the Holy Grail she herself had become.
But...
Could this filthy landscape truly be the Holy Grail?
An endless swamp of black mud stretched beneath her feet, disappearing beyond the horizon.
Confusion filled her heart.
She never noticed...
That another identical silent girl now stood behind her, silently sharing the same space.
Suddenly—
The stillness shattered.
Malice surged upward from the deepest reaches of the Holy Grail.
Countless pale arms burst out from the pitch-black mire, reaching desperately toward Irisviel.
They sought to drag her down into the same abyss they themselves had fallen into—
Or perhaps one even deeper.
At a glance...
Irisviel recognized them.
They belonged to her abandoned sisters.
Now they had returned.
Consumed by vengeance.
Why...
Why were you the only one allowed to have everything?
The same accusation echoed endlessly beside her ears.
"No!"
"Let me go!"
She struggled desperately.
Although her body was no longer weak within this place...
She could never overpower the countless hands dragging her downward.
"Someone..."
"Please..."
"Help me..."
Very quickly, she was pulled beneath the black mire.
Only one hand remained above the surface, reaching helplessly toward the sky...
Praying that someone would save her.
The silent girl remained motionless.
Until—
"Leon..."
Irisviel instinctively called the name of the one she trusted most.
For the first time...
The silent girl moved.
But by then...
Irisviel had already been completely swallowed by the endless sea of black mud.
Darkness claimed her vision once more.
Yet before long...
Icy blue...
And brilliant crimson...
Painted color across the endless black.
The mire beneath her feet froze beneath a layer of sapphire ice.
Scarlet flames filled the sky in every direction—the same crimson as her own eyes.
The blazing fire drove the darkness away.
"Leon...?"
"Is that you?"
Irisviel stared blankly at her own hands.
All the sensations she had lost had returned.
Unable to believe it, she reached up and gently touched her own face.
"Iris."
For the first time, the silent girl spoke.
Her voice was clear and ethereal.
It carried both the warmth of sincere kindness...
And the distant chill of eternal frost.
"You..."
Irisviel turned around.
The moment she saw the girl, delight overflowed across her face.
"Elle?"
"You're Elle, aren't you?"
Because Aegis Sigma sounded like a masculine name, yet Leon had told her its spirit was a girl, Irisviel had affectionately given her the nickname Elle.
It paired nicely with Artoria's nickname, Art.
"Yes."
"It's me."
The girl nodded obediently.
"This is the inside of the Holy Grail."
"Leon asked me to protect you."
"To make sure that black thing never corrupts you."
"That black thing..."
"Do you mean the black mud?"
Irisviel asked.
Elle expressionlessly nodded.
"'All the World's Evil.'"
"That's what Leon calls it."
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