[Bonus chapter 4]
"Stand attack? What do you mean?"
Medea tilted her head in confusion, but Roland didn't answer right away. Instead, he silently called forth his Stand, Killer Queen.
Stands were deeply connected to a user's psyche and mental strength. Any shift in the user's spiritual state whether growth or deterioration would directly affect the Stand's form and function.
And Roland, whose soul had undergone a fundamental transformation, was no exception.
The Killer Queen that now manifested before him had changed dramatically.
What stood out most were the dense cracks spread across its body like the fragile webbing of porcelain about to shatter. Within those fissures, faint flames pulsed, and its face had taken on an eerie skeletal cast. Crimson vertical pupils radiated danger, with vein-like blood-red threads spiraling out from them like vines clinging to the edges of sanity.
But even with its fractured appearance, this broken Killer Queen exuded an overwhelming pressure.
Flexing its limbs experimentally, Roland immediately sensed the difference.
With his current speed and power, defeating his previous self would be effortless.
If he had to assign stats to it, then this evolved Killer Queen likely had Strength, Speed, and Precision all at A-rank. As for Growth and Durability, Roland couldn't say for sure. The Stand wasn't finished evolving.
Those cracked markings were more than mere damage, they were signs of rebirth. Something new was awakening beneath the surface.
"It's going to take time… but the power granted by the Holy Lord shendu's soul is far beyond what I expected. What kind of evolution will Killer Queen undergo once it's fully reborn?"
Would it ascend like Kars, simply multiplying the potential of its original abilities? Or would it transcend entirely, akin to a Requiem Stand? And on this ascent toward a "Heaven-like state," what would such a Stand offer?
Caught in the anticipation, Roland unconsciously moved his fingers, noticing that his fingernails hadn't grown in the slightest, a subtle but eerie detail.
Even incomplete, Killer Queen's power had skyrocketed.
The most drastic improvement was in its explosive capacity. While Roland's bombs had always surpassed Kira Yoshikage's in sheer output, now the difference was like night and day. If Emiya Kiritsugu needed a roomful of pre-planted explosives to collapse a building, Roland could now casually stroll through a hallway, tap the walls a few times and achieve an even more devastating effect.
And perhaps due to the influence of the Holy Lord's demon soul, Killer Queen's explosive reach had evolved.
It was no longer limited to tangible objects.
Now, even barriers composed entirely of magical energy could be turned into bombs. By simply touching a part of the construct, Killer Queen could overwrite its core and annihilate the entire formation, without triggering any defensive alerts.
If a magus had delegated barrier management to an automated system, they wouldn't even notice the intrusion, they'd just drop dead, wondering what went wrong.
Although Roland's current abilities were already far beyond what was needed to assassinate a common magus, this added layer of lethality made him a nightmare.
After briefly explaining the phenomenon to Medea, she returned to reinforcing the workshop.
For a Caster-class Servant whose innate skill was territory creation, having a base or not was a night-and-day difference in power.
Back in the Fourth Holy Grail War, Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald had entered the conflict with unmatched confidence because of this very fact. With his portable magical furnaces and capacity to conjure workshops more advanced than entire noble families, he had seemed untouchable.
If Kenneth hadn't approached combat with a theoretical, Clock Tower-style mindset, he might've dominated that war.
Now, though Roland's current hideout was nothing more than a sacred relic site, Medea could convert it into a temple, a structure surpassing traditional workshops in both scope and enchantment. Once fortified, even a Saber-class Servant with high magic resistance could be stalled or defeated inside.
"Still… this spiritual node is too remote. If we had a proper leyline nexus, something like the Tohsaka residence, or even the Ryudou Temple, we'd have a true stronghold."
"That's out of the question," Roland replied flatly. "I get the feeling that place is going to be blown up."
Too many factions had descended upon this Holy Grail War due to the Holy Lord's influence. The Matou, Einzbern, and even Darnic's faction were bound to be targeted by multiple sides. Any territory with high value would become a battlefield, or worse, a graveyard.
Medea, now finished with the foundational setup, walked back to him.
"Then, Master what do we do next?"
"You don't care about the Grail, but I do need it. I know you can craft all kinds of convenient miracles... but you won't have the time to gather enough magical energy now, will you?"
Medea gave a small sigh, though her tone remained composed.
Indeed, rubbing the Grail for a wish wasn't just a metaphor in her case.
As a genuine sorceress from the Age of Gods, she could see the truth of the Grail's structure at a glance. The mana stored in Fuyuki's leyline, gathered for sixty years, was more than enough to forge Servant vessels or perform grand-scale rituals.
Simple desires, like obtaining a physical body or material wealth, could easily be granted.
But the idea of the Holy Grail as a universal wishing machine?
That was a lie.
The Grail system had only ever been designed to reach the Root, to perform the Third Magic. All other "wishes" were just bluff, collateral possibilities.
That was why the Three Founding Families had kept the truth secret. If the Mage's Association learned what the Holy Grail really was, Fuyuki city would have been swarmed by covetous magi.
Still, Medea expressed admiration for one aspect of the system:
"The Command Spell mechanism is brilliant. As a feat of magical engineering, it's beautiful. Even I would struggle to replicate something like it. Its creator has the qualifications to be remembered as a hero."
Roland gave no immediate reply. Unlike other Grail Wars, he had no "original timeline" to draw from. No fixed plot to follow. The most expected and normal participant this time was probably Kenneth himself.
"Anyway, I need to confirm something first."
He straightened his back and looked ahead.
"The Einzbern family, as the developers of the Grail system, are responsible for sending the Lesser Grail into the war. Since I killed their intended Master early, their only option now is to send a homunculus."
Medea's eyes glimmered with understanding.
"If they use one of those artificial humans as a temporary Master, only a handful might survive long enough to be viable. Even then, someone will have to take over as the true contractor."
"Exactly."
Roland snapped his fingers.
"The Black Shadow Corps (Assasin) is already tracking all known Masters. So far, only Darnic hasn't shown up, and Einzbern hasn't arrived. If anyone moves, I'll know immediately."
"So you're going to confirm the Einzbern backup?"
"Yes, but more importantly, I want to see their Servant for myself."
Medea nodded, immediately understanding his implication.
Even though Roland had already taken Avalon from Emiya Kiritsugu, something about the situation didn't sit right. Normally, Avalon would guarantee the summoning of Artoria Pendragon, but the job class system could distort even a familiar legend.
Saber and Lancer Artoria were completely different beings, after all.
"If there's a twist there," Roland said darkly, "then the Einzbern, whom everyone always underestimates, might be hiding the biggest wildcard in this entire war."