The Fortress of Millennia. The Masters there viewed the battlefield through their familiars and Menorah, and either gave directions to their Servants or had nothing more to say and simply watched the battle while holding their breaths.
Among them, Darnic suddenly spoke up.
"—I'm going out. Fiore, I leave commanding the Masters to you. Henceforth, you are all to obey her orders."
"...Grandfather?"
Darnic didn't respond to Fiore and leapt out from a window. Flight wasn't a very difficult spell for a magus. He stepped through the sky as if walking up a set of stairs.
—Like I thought, I suppose I'll have to activate it.
While looking down at his Command Spells, he carefully examined the current situation of his Servant... Lancer of Black. He considered Lancer of Red, who had fought evenly against Saber of Black, the hero Siegfried, and also Rider of Red, Achilles, who Archer of Black had concluded couldn't be killed except by Heroic Spirits with the blood of the gods.
In addition to those two, Saber of Red was also a formidable enemy. Even now, she was one-sidedly fighting against their camp's Rider. At this rate, Rider of Black would be defeated.
But Darnic still had a last resort. Lancer of Black's other Noble Phantasm.
It was a truly certain-kill Noble Phantasm that, once activated, would allow him to easily tear apart Lancer of Red and kill even a Heroic Spirit with divine blood.
Of course, the price for using it was high. Rather, it was something that he absolutely did not want to use.
"Legend of Dracula: Tradition of Blood..."
Once used, Lancer of Black would transform into a blood-sucking vampire that was only told of in folklore. Instead of a Heroic Spirit, he would be reduced to a literal monster.
The price of activating that Noble Phantasm was Darnic's 'life'. Because Lancer of Black had formed a contract as a Servant with Darnic in order to erase Vlad III's blood-tarnished legend—that is, the vampire Dracula—from history.
"—In other words. Making me use that Noble Phantasm is the same as spitting upon me. Even if I am about to die, I will absolutely not use it. And if you force me to do so with a Command Spell, I don't need to tell you what will happen to you after that, do I?"
That was the warning, no, the order Lancer of Black had given immediately after being summoned. In other words, if Darnic made him use this Noble Phantasm, he would pay for it with death.
"...But if we lose, I'll die either way."
That was the truth. If he ran away, he could probably extend at least his life, but the magus Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia would die. That alone was an option he would not choose.
If it was for the sake of grasping victory, Darnic would permit any and all sacrifices. But the problem here was that the Master of Lancer of Black was himself.
He could force Lancer to use Legend of Dracula with one Command Spell, and then make Lancer kill himself with a second one. This would remove all problems. But if he did that, Darnic would lose his Servant.
Even if Lancer annihilated all the Red Servants during that time, what followed was a battle between the Masters of the Yggdmillennia clan. Even if Darnic was the clan head, this was a war surrounding the Holy Grail which could grant all wishes.
Even the most sensible clan members like Fiore and Caules wouldn't listen to his orders then.
Then, should he take over another Servant from someone else?
