"What?" Rin Tohsaka was visibly stunned by Sakura's suggestion. "You an… you want to give Archer to you?"
"Sister, it's not just about Archer," Sakura shook her head and then, with an unwavering gaze, declared, "He is my savior."
"I…" Rin hesitated, seemingly wanting to say sothing, but upon seeing her sister, now looking like a young child, she could only sigh. "No, I can't give Archer to you."
"Why not?" Sakura tilted her head, puzzled. "Don't you want to save Saber?"
"Saber is my ally, of course I want to save her." Rin paused for a mont, carefully considering her words. "But the problem is that Archer consus a ridiculous amount of mana, and his thods are very reckless. Even I struggle to provide enough mana for him."
"Really?" Sakura asked, a bit doubtful.
"Yes, that's right," Rin answered, her eyes sowhat evasive, but she nodded. "Besides, you've been turned into a child. Providing mana to a Servant might be too much for your body to handle…"
"Eh?" Sakura suddenly seed to realize sothing. She looked down at her small hands—short and tiny. That's right, the gentleman had used a near-miraculous thod to restore her body to its state from ten years ago, but that also ant her magic circuits had reverted to what they were a decade ago.
After all, Sakura was only in high school now. If her body had regressed ten years, she might be no more than an elentary school student. Since magic circuits are part of a mage's body, much like one's chest or thighs, Sakura realized that her circuits hadn't fully developed yet.
Gripping her fists tightly, Sakura felt discouraged. She had wanted to help that gentleman, but now she feared she would only be a burden in her current state. The re thought of this filled her with frustration, though she couldn't think of any imdiate solution—using Crest Worms again wasn't an option. While the gentleman had saved her, Emiya Shirou had also been by her side for so long. She didn't want to lose either of them.
While Sakura struggled with her thoughts, Rin felt a sense of relief, inwardly sighing, "Phew…" She hadn't lied about Sakura's young circuits being unable to support a Servant, but she had withheld one thing: her Archer—Fang Mo—didn't actually consu much mana.
Not that he consud none at all. For example, when he blasted the school or trapped Berserker in the gas chamber, and even during the fight with Zouken, Rin had noticed the flow of mana.
However, unlike how Servants typically function, her Archer didn't forcibly drain mana from her, nor did he exhaust her reserves as so Servants might. Rin had co to think Archer was rather considerate in that regard, though it was also possible that he had other ans of replenishing mana, a mystery she hadn't figured out yet.
Unbeknownst to Rin, Fang Mo wasn't really a Servant.
The supposed "mana flow" she sensed was nothing more than an illusion created by his spatial storage tool, conjuring up a field of sensory illusions similar to a soulbound weapon called "Cotton Moon" from *X-n*.
As for why sotis he consud mana and other tis he didn't? That was because Fang Mo tended to forget his own illusions and was too focused on playing around. As for Rin's true Archer, he was still sprinting aimlessly through the Dinsional Prison, having been cursed to run with no destination in sight, likely covering miles upon miles by now.
Unfortunately, none of the others were aware of this, least of all Emiya Shirou, who was increasingly anxious. Saber's condition was becoming critical; if her mana ran out, she would disappear.
"Tohsaka-san…" Shirou, clearly worried, turned to Rin with desperation in his voice. "You said there's a way, sothing about the Master and the Servant… I'll do anything to save Saber. Please, tell what to do!"
"Uh…" Rin was at a loss again. She could see how serious Shirou was about saving Saber, but the thod she had in mind was far too intimate. It wasn't sothing she could simply explain, not with Sakura right there. The thought made her blush furiously.
"Tohsaka-san?" Shirou, still clueless, bowed deeply. "Please, I beg you!"
"I…" Rin opened her mouth, but before she could respond, there was a clicking sound from beside her. She turned to see Fang Mo casually loading his Walther pistol.
"Maybe I should just shoot this love-crazed fool," Fang Mo suggested, matter-of-factly.
"Stop it!" Rin groaned, feeling an even greater headache. There were indeed a few ways to save Saber, but all of them required a level of intimacy she wasn't ready for. To make things worse, Fang Mo was making things more chaotic.
"Actually," Fang Mo said thoughtfully, stroking his chin, "I have another thod."
"Huh?" Rin blinked, imdiately realizing sothing. This guy never seed to run out of mana, so maybe he did have a way to generate it.
"What is it?" Shirou asked eagerly, clasping his hands in a pleading gesture. "Please, sir, tell what to do!"
"It's simple." Fang Mo pulled out a golden apple from his coat.
"Uh…" Rin had a feeling this wasn't good, but Shirou was completely confused. Having little experience with mystical artifacts, he was left staring at the apple in bewildernt. "Archer, what is that?"
"It's a holy relic from Greek myth—no, wait," Fang Mo glanced slyly at Rin before continuing, "Ahem, it's a crisp apple, or you could call it… a 'Naughty Apple.'"
"What???" Shirou was utterly lost. "Will that… save Saber?"
Rin, overhearing this, rolled her eyes in disbelief. She recognized the slip-up. This was clearly so kind of relic, not just an apple, and Fang Mo was trying to cover it up with nonsense.
In her recent studies, she had co across nurous myths and legends from World War II—like a certain soone's obsession with the occult, dispatching expeditions to find the ruins of Atlantis, obtaining fragnts of the Spear of Longinus, and storing it in Nuremberg. There were also rumors of him searching for the Aryan Holy Grail.
Putting all this together, Rin realized that Fang Mo must have collected nurous holy relics during his life, which were now considered his Noble Phantasms.
"This is the power of an EX-ranked Noble Phantasm?" Rin took a deep breath. She seriously doubted that she could have summoned such a terrifying Servant under normal circumstances.
"Tohsaka-san?" Shirou, hearing Rin mumbling, was still lost. He turned back to Fang Mo. "Mr. Archer, how does this work? Do I give this to Saber?"
"No, not to Saber," Fang Mo replied, slowly shaking his head.
"Huh?" Shirou blinked in confusion. "Then who…?"
"As the saying goes, the tree of lacking virtue bears fruits of lacking virtue, and under that tree stand you and . The stove of lacking virtue runs on gas, yet rit and virtue abound…" Fang Mo recited dramatically, "Only the most mischievous person can eat this fruit… Tell , Shirou, is Saber mischievous?"
"Uh…" Shirou froze, unsure how to respond. "No… I don't think so?"
"And what about you? Are you mischievous?" Fang Mo asked.
"I… I'm not, of course!" Shirou answered without hesitation. "I'm in justice; I would never be mischievous!"
"Well, then." Fang Mo spread his hands, looking around. "I'm looking for a loyal underling who thinks they're very mischievous. Who should it be?"
"This…"
"! ! Pick !" Sakura suddenly raised her hand high in the air. "Master, choose !"
"Good girl." Fang Mo smiled, patting Sakura's head before handing her the golden apple. "Here, enjoy it."
"Wait!" Rin finally snapped, stepping in to stop them. "What are you doing?"
Fang Mo turned to her. "Didn't you see I'm trying to save Saber? If she runs out of mana and disappears, can you take responsibility for that? Will you give Shirou a new Servant?"
"I…" Rin hesitated. "But what does saving Saber have to do with feeding Sakura that strange fruit?"
"You said it yourself: Sakura's magic circuits are too weak," Fang Mo explained simply. "Think of this as an enhancer. It'll expand her circuits without harming her, allowing her talent to grow exponentially."
"What?" Rin was taken aback. "This fruit can strengthen a mage's magic circuits?"
"Yep." Fang Mo nodded. "Even a little girl like Sakura will be able to support a powerful being like a Servant. Just look at Illya. All Shirou has to do is transfer his Command Seals to Sakura, and she can take over as Saber's Master."
"Rider…" Hearing Rider's na, Sakura looked down, feeling a pang of sadness. "She was always so kind to ."
"…" Rin saw Sakura's sorrow and sighed. She realized that this Holy Grail War was wrong from the start. She had to win the Grail and end this madness once and for all.
"Tohsaka-san!" Shirou's frantic voice interrupted her thoughts. "Saber…!"
Rin's heart sank as she turned to see Saber's body gradually becoming transparent. Glowing particles floated off her body, as though she were breaking apart.
"This is bad," Rin muttered, her face tightening in concern. "She's going to disappear."
"Saber!" Shirou, in a panic, grabbed her shoulders. "Hold on! Please!"
"No more ti for hesitation." Fang Mo, seeing this, turned to Sakura. "Hurry up and eat that apple."
Sakura didn't say anything but quickly began biting into the apple. The crisp sound of her chewing filled the air, and soon the entire apple was gone. She felt warmth spreading throughout her body, filling her with an unprecedented sense of power and clarity.
Before she could fully grasp the sensation, Fang Mo turned to Rin. "I've done my part. Now, transfer the Command Seals."
"It's too late," Rin hesitated. "Transferring Command Seals requires a ritual with specific preparations, like a magic circle, and there's no circle here…"
"There is one," Fang Mo pointed toward the collapsed Matou mansion, where a staircase to the underground had been exposed.
"Get Saber down there!" Rin wasted no ti and rushed over, Shirou carrying Saber close behind.
Before long, they were in the basent of the Matou residence, which served as a workshop. With Sakura's guidance, they found a suitable magic circle. Rin inspected it quickly, confirming its usability before starting the ritual.
"Listen carefully, Shirou," Rin instructed, placing his and Sakura's hands together. "Don't resist. Just focus on transferring the Command Seals to her. I'll handle the rest."
"Sister," Sakura hesitated, still unsure. "Can't I assist the Master instead?"
"Don't even think about it," Rin said firmly.
"Please, Sakura." Shirou's plea was filled with urgency. "I can't let Saber disappear. Please, beco her new Master."
"Fine." Sakura sighed, though her eyes glimred with a hint of contemplation, as if she were planning sothing in the background.
The ritual began, and soon a red glow appeared on their hands. Slowly, the Command Seals lted from Shirou's hand and transferred to Sakura's.
At the sa ti, Saber's eyes shot open, her body erupting with a powerful surge of mana.
The force of her awakening was so imnse that everyone was knocked back. Saber's armor materialized, more ornate than before, and her sword shone with radiant golden light.
"We did it." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but then sothing went wrong. The golden light surrounding Saber abruptly turned into a dark purple hue. A wave of dark energy engulfed her, as if she were being tainted by the Grail's corruption. Her expression grew cold and ominous.
"…What the hell?!" Everyone, including Fang Mo, was left speechless.
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