Chapter 43: The Emiya Residence? Mine Now

After parting ways with Jeanne, Kuroda Takashi finally had some free time to himself. He first returned to the Matou residence to check in with little Sakura Matou and little Ryōgi, then took some money from the Matou family to purchase a house outside. After that, he dragged the Empress with him to Mount Enzō to begin setting up his magecraft.

"This place is connected to the leylines—an excellent location for a ritual," Semiramis remarked after surveying the area. She nodded in approval, then took the magical barrier Kuroda had handed her the previous day and began setting it up. Kuroda, of course, also dumped out a mountain of magical materials from his system inventory—materials Semiramis needed—forming a small hill of resources.

Semiramis then summoned numerous familiars, which she controlled to assist in the construction. As she worked, she said to Kuroda, "Once this is complete, I will spend three days performing the ritual. With luck, I may be able to complete the Hanging Gardens of Babylon before the Holy Grail War even begins."

"Once it's finished, can the magical barrier conceal the Gardens' presence?" Kuroda asked.

"Hm? Why would we need to hide it?" Semiramis seemed puzzled. Once her Noble Phantasm was complete, victory would be all but assured—why bother hiding it?

"Think about it. Right now, all the Servants are acting independently. If you reveal something this massive right from the start, you’ll scare them off. What if they just hide and refuse to engage? How are we supposed to find them in a city full of people?" Kuroda shook his head with a faint smile. "My country has an old saying: ‘The one who does not cry out remains unheard; the one who does not soar remains unseen.’ If the Hanging Gardens are this powerful, then they deserve the grandest stage possible. I’ll gather all the participating Servants in one place—that’s when you’ll unveil your Noble Phantasm in its full glory."

"The one who does not cry out remains unheard; the one who does not soar remains unseen…" Semiramis mused. "How impressive, Master. Very well, I shall endure the wait and look forward to the stage you’ve prepared for me." A meaningful smile played on her lips.

...

"Semiramis’s favorability just increased by another 5 points. She’s now at 75. At this rate, Master, you’ll have conquered the Assyrian Empress in no time," the System said cheerfully.

"Yeah, but I need to find someone to harvest some kidneys. Otherwise, I’m not sure my body can keep up," Kuroda muttered, frowning.

"Don’t worry, Master. As long as you draw a skill related to physical enhancement, your stamina will improve dramatically. Speaking of which, since you’re about to buy a house, why not try a 10-roll for good luck?" the System suggested with a grin.

"Fine, let’s use yesterday’s 10-roll and see what we get," Kuroda relented.

Ding— 10-roll in progress… Ding! Congratulations, Master! You’ve obtained the following items: Rare Magical Materials ×4, Love Potion ×2, Black Keys ×3, Passive Skill: Bravery (Rank C).

"#$%&@! More Black Keys?! More Love Potions?! My inventory’s overflowing with this crap!" Kuroda cursed.

"Ah, but Master, didn’t you just get exactly what you wanted? Bravery! What man doesn’t want to be brave—both on the battlefield and in bed? And sure, it’s only Rank C now, but you can upgrade it with EXP. Once you boost it to Rank A+, your physical prowess will rival even the legendary Heracles! Doesn’t that excite you?"

"So how much EXP does it take to upgrade Bravery and Natural Body?" Kuroda asked.

"Currently, 200 EXP each. Would you like to proceed?"

"Upgrade!"

"Congratulations! You’ve obtained Natural Body (Rank B) and Bravery (Rank B). Current Villain Points: 2,600. The next upgrade will cost 500 EXP. Continue?"

"Nah, I’m running low. Better save some for emergencies. Speaking of which, Matou Kariya and Kotomine Kirei haven’t been giving me as many points lately. Looks like I’ll have to step in myself," Kuroda mused.

"That’s just how it is, Master. Repeated villainous acts lose their impact over time—people get desensitized, so the points drop. At this point, tormenting Zouken or messing with Kirei's cooking just isn’t as effective. Especially since Risei’s mentor and father have started avoiding his meals, so he can’t even farm points that way."

"I’ll have to teach him again soon. Not just for the points, but to keep him from being completely corrupted by a certain ‘bully’ and fully embracing his twisted nature. Though now that I think about it, the points from Mrs. Tōsaka haven’t decreased at all. It’s always the same amount."

"Because milfs never get old~"

"Are you fucking kidding me?! Is this a ‘Cao Cao Simulator’ or a villain system?!"

"Hey, you tell me—do you like it or not?"

"…I do. I lust after married women, and I’m proud of it," Kuroda declared shamelessly.

...

"So this is the residence where the Fifth War will take place~ Time for a pilgrimage!" Kuroda flung open the doors and had the System snap photos nonstop. He had arrived at the future Emiya residence—though, since Kiritsugu hadn’t arrived yet, the traditional Japanese-style house still belonged to Fujimura Raiga. Using his knowledge of the story, Kuroda quickly tracked down the old man and purchased the property.

Oh, and he also caught a glimpse of a young Fujimura Taiga—currently in her rebellious phase, full of energy. Beyond that, Kuroda’s only other impression of her was—those tiger fangs could do some damage.

After his little photoshoot, Kuroda headed to the familiar shed and began drawing a Servant summoning circle. Hands on his hips, he said, "System, out of the three remaining classes I need, one of them is Saber. If I summon here, do you think I’ll trigger some kind of buff and get a certain ‘Lion King’?"

"Master, the standard summoning pool is already exhausted. If you want another Servant, you’ll need to use a special method—like how you summoned the Gorgon Sisters. You’ll have to forcibly extract mana from the Greater Grail and use your Ruination as a catalyst. Of course, given the nature of your power, the Servants you summon will tend to have ‘dark’ attributes. A lawful Servant like the Lion King would be… unlikely."

"Eh, no big deal. I’ll just summon a ‘Black Saber’ instead—same difference. I still need to fill the last three slots anyway." With that, Kuroda began the summoning.

"Now that I’m focusing, I can feel this house is also connected to the leylines. No wonder Shirou had such an easy time summoning later." He channeled the Ruination energy lurking in the leylines. Ever since he took control of the Greater Grail, the entire Fuyuki leylines had been tainted by his power, providing him with an endless supply of Black Mist.

"Now, I just need a catalyst to lock onto ‘Black Saber.’ What should I use…? Ah, got it! This’ll do." He pulled out a fragment of the Round Table—the same one Matou Kariya had used to summon Lancelot. Now, it would serve his purposes.

"With Ruination energy and a piece of the Round Table, I should be able to summon ‘Black Saber.’ Heh, then I can recreate that famous scene." Kuroda’s imagination ran wild as he instructed the System to prepare for a screenshot.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" The System activated camera mode, ready to capture whatever came next.

The summoning circle glowed red—though the infusion of Ruination energy tinted it a sickly green. Despite this, the light flared brilliantly, and in defiance of the Holy Grail War’s seven-Servant limit, another Heroic Spirit was successfully summoned.

Kuroda raised a hand to shield his eyes from the glare. When the light faded, he lowered it, eager to see the "Black Saber" he had summoned. But the moment he saw the figure standing before him, all his excitement evaporated.

This was not the black-armored Artoria Pendragon [Alter]. Instead, the figure wore red-and-white full-body armor, with a horned, fully enclosed helmet—a design that immediately told Kuroda he had summoned yet another problematic Servant.