"How is Lancer?"
"Instead of going into spiritual form, my Lord is sitting on his throne and seems to be thinking about something. He appears to be considering some matters from his discussion with Ruler."
Gathered together in one of the castle's rooms, the head of the Yggdmillennia clan, Darnic, and Archer stood in front of each other as they started working out their plans from now on.
"To think that Saber would drop out so early on..."
Darnic wore a dark expression. It was only natural; the one extolled as the greatest of the seven Servant classes, Saber, possessed outstanding talent that should have ensured he survived until the final stages of the war. There were Servants like Caster and Assassin who excelled at targeting their opponent's weak points, and Servants like Rider who overwhelmed the enemy with an abundance of Noble Phantasms—so it wasn't like the Saber class had an absolute advantage, but unlike those other classes who suffered from the issue of compatibility with their enemies, the Saber class could deal with any type of enemy in battle with its all-purpose strength and skills.
Moreover, Saber of Black had been Siegfried, the great hero of the Netherlands. Excluding Saber of Red, he should have been able to dominate any battle no matter what Servant he faced.
"It's no use regretting what's past now. The Red camp will probably detect Saber's death sooner or later. When they do, there is a high chance that they'll attack to try and finish us off in one stroke."
The Red camp had lost Berserker to them and was also down to six Servants. If Archer were their commander, he would want to attack before the Black camp made countermeasures to deal with Saber's loss. They had the best chance of winning now while the Black camp wasn't prepared.
"Caster's Noble Phantasm will be necessary."
"...I heard we haven't yet gathered all the necessary materials yet, though."
A Servant's Noble Phantasm was brought into this world when they were summoned, and was naturally compiled out of prana. Though there were sometimes necessary conditions for activating it, it was rare for the Noble Phantasm itself to require materials to construct it.
Most of the time, this occurred in cases where the Noble Phantasm still existed in the world up to the present day. However, in this case, what was needed was the Noble Phantasm itself instead of the materials.
A Noble Phantasm was not an unknown weapon. Noble Phantasms were none other than the ultimate mysteries of Heroic Spirits that were sublimated into their legends. Therefore, Noble Phantasm were already completed existences... normally speaking.
If there was a Noble Phantasm that did not follow this logic, it would be something too huge to be possessed by a single Heroic Spirit, or—something that was incomplete but still carved into legend.
"There's just one material left. If we can obtain it, Caster can activate his Noble Phantasm."
"...A first-class magus."
Darnic spoke with a grim expression. Hearing those words, Archer finally understand the reasons for various things that had been happening.
"...I see. So that's why Caster wanted that homunculus."
"That's right. Caster's Noble Phantasm requires a [core] to function, and the quality of the core is reflected in the power of the Noble Phantasm. The only ones that possess the necessary talent among our clan are—"
"The seven who became Masters. And also the homunculus in question."
"We can gather any number of second-rate and third-rate magi as materials. However, a magus who is the successor of a thousand-year-old Magic Crest can't be obtained in such a short period of time."
