Chapter Forty: The Transformation of the Assassin Queen

“Substitute attack—what does that mean?”
Roland didn’t answer Medea directly. Instead, he summoned Killer Queen to appear before him.

A Stand is something intimately tied to the mind and spirit; the growth or decline of a Stand User’s mental state directly affects the Stand itself. Now that even Roland’s soul had changed, it went without saying that the Killer Queen appearing before him had undergone a dramatic transformation.

Most striking were the dense, spiderweb-like cracks covering its body, giving it the appearance of porcelain on the brink of shattering. Within those cracks, flickers of fire seemed to flow. Its face had grown even more skeletal, the dangerous vertical pupils now filled with a deep crimson, with threads of blood spreading from the irises, like tangled vines.

Yet this fractured Stand now granted Roland a surge of power. Testing Killer Queen’s limbs, Roland immediately felt the difference. With his current speed and strength, defeating his former self would be a trivial feat.

If one were to describe it in terms of attributes, Killer Queen now possessed strength, speed, and precision all at an A-level. As for growth and endurance, Roland couldn’t judge—he could sense that Killer Queen was still evolving. The cracks themselves were proof, as if something new was about to be born beneath this shell.

“It needs more time... The power granted by the Lord’s soul is even greater than I imagined. Once Killer Queen is reborn, what changes will its abilities undergo?”

Would it, like Kars, multiply its abilities manifold—or perhaps attain something on the level of Requiem? And with such a Stand, what might await him on the path to the heavens?

With such anticipation, Roland absentmindedly flexed his fingers, noting that his nails hadn’t changed at all.

Even in this unfinished state, Killer Queen’s power had grown tremendously—especially the force of its explosions. Even compared to Kira Yoshikage, Roland’s version was far stronger, and now the difference was even greater. Where Kiritsugu Emiya once needed to lay a web of explosives to destroy a single floor, Roland could now stroll through and achieve even greater devastation with the lightest touch.

Moreover, perhaps due to the Lord’s soul, Killer Queen was no longer limited to planting bombs only on physical objects. It could even destroy magical barriers formed from pure energy. A single touch on any part of the barrier, and the whole thing would be annihilated.

Previously, barriers couldn’t even alert their owners in such situations. If a magus relied on an automatic barrier, they might never sense the intrusion before falling to Roland’s hand—though, with his current power, he hardly needed to act so covertly against ordinary magi.

After Roland explained, Medea quickly set about constructing the new barrier. As a Caster whose inherent skills included workshop creation, her combat power inside a prepared stronghold was a world apart from fighting without one.

In the original story, Kayneth joined the Holy Grail War with such confidence because he brought several magic reactors, allowing him to create workshops more luxurious and powerful than even the Three Founding Families’. Native advantages meant nothing before him. If not for his more academic, Clock Tower approach to combat, he would have shined far brighter in this war.

Though Roland’s base was merely a spiritual land, Medea could still construct a temple surpassing even workshop level. Within her territory, even the highest-ranked anti-magic Saber would struggle against her.

“It’s a pity this spiritual land is too remote. If only we had access to one on the level of the Three Families—say, that temple called Ryuudouji at the heart of the city…”

“No,” Roland immediately rejected the idea. “I have a feeling that place is going to be blown sky-high.”

Too many eyes were on the Greater Grail this time due to the Lord’s influence—Darnic, the Einzberns, Zouken Matou—all it would take was a misstep for everyone to turn on them.

“So, Master, what’s our plan?”

After finishing the basic groundwork, Medea approached Roland for instructions.

“While I have no wish of my own, you need the Grail for your wish, right? I could craft something similar, but there’s no time to gather so much magical energy now.”

For Medea, creating a Holy Grail by hand wasn’t an empty boast. As a magus from the Age of Gods, she could easily see through the Grail’s true nature. The magical energy accumulated in Fuyuki’s ley lines over sixty years was enough to construct seven Servant vessels. With such reserves, almost anything could be achieved—incarnation, wealth, simple wishes, all easily granted.

But the so-called omnipotent wish-granting machine was just a myth. In truth, the Greater Grail was built to reach the Root and realize the Third Magic; wish-granting was a side effect.

That’s why the Three Families concealed the truth—otherwise, the greedy magi of the Association would have descended en masse, treating this as anything but a backwater contest.

However, Medea was still impressed by the Command Seal system.

“Unless one possessed astounding talent and diligence in the field of command spells, it would be impossible to craft a system even I cannot easily replicate. Its creator truly had the makings of a hero.”

As for what to do next, Roland couldn’t reach a definite answer—there was no original plot to follow this time. Among all the participants, the most straightforward might actually be Kayneth.

“Well, in any case, there’s something I need to confirm first.”

Roland spoke unhurriedly, “The Einzbern family, as the Grail’s technical provider, is responsible for dispatching the Lesser Grail. Since I’ve already killed their Master in advance, they now can only send a homunculus.”

Medea understood immediately. “If a homunculus is used as the vessel for a Servant’s soul, no matter how well-adjusted, after four or five attempts, it will degenerate into something less than a puppet. Even as a temporary Master, there should be someone ready to take over.”

“Exactly.” Roland snapped his fingers. “I’ve already set the Shadow Legion to monitor every known Master. Aside from the ever-elusive Darnic and the yet-to-arrive Einzbern, nothing will escape my notice.”

“Are you going to check on Einzbern’s backup Master?”

“Yes,” Roland nodded. “And there’s something else—I need to confirm, with my own eyes, which Heroic Spirit the Einzberns have summoned. You said before that my unique status caused anomalies in the summoning process. I need to see for myself.”

Remembering the Avalon he took from Kiritsugu Emiya, Roland had doubts about the Saber Maiya Hisau mentioned. There weren’t many suitable candidates for Avalon, but what if the class assignment had gone awry? Even with the same King Arthur, the difference between Saber and Lancer was immense.

If something had gone wrong here, the often-overlooked Einzbern family might prove to be the greatest dark horse in this Holy Grail War.

(Don’t worry about the romance subplot—I never intended to write it in the first place. This isn’t meant to be a crossover romance novel; it’s just an excuse for Fei Jiu to openly write steamy scenes. Honestly, I really want to write them, but I’m afraid of getting banned. Sigh (￣▽￣“). Please keep voting! Fei Jiu will keep working hard to update!)