Disclaimer: Still own neither Blazblue nor Type-Moon.

As the sun approached its zenith, Tohsaka Tokiomi calmly listened to the report that came from the magical device positioned next to him. Even here, in this secondary home that sadly lacked the comfort that he was used to, he remained impeccably dressed.

« …And in the end, any report from witnesses that might have been missed will be dismissed as mere rumors.»

Tokiomi accepted the information with a smile. Not only as a magus but also in his role as the Second Owner of Fuyuki, it was his duty to ensure that the population remained unaware of the true nature of yesterday's events.
Though he entrusted the task to another for the course of the war, he has no reason to expect any deception from his interlocutor. That is because the elderly man addressing him is none other than Kotomine Risei, an old and trusted friend who even entrusted his son to Tokiomi for the sake of his victory in the Holy Grail War.

…Well, in theory, Risei should not be entertaining a close relationship with any of the participants as he fulfils the role of the impartial administrator who oversees the battle and minimizes its exposure to the public. As should be obvious from this conversation and Kotomine Kirei's involvement, this claim of neutrality has become little more than a farce.

"However." Unusually, his old friend continues past his usual report about the state of the city, his voice turning grave. "There is another situation that I feel you must be informed of."

"Indeed?"

This was a surprising development considering that Assassin should have kept track of events involving any Master or Servant until late last night.

"I have received a message from Kayneth El-Melloi. He claims that he has secured the Holy Grail Vessel in his hotel and ask that I inform the other Masters of that fact."

Tokiomi paused for only a moment.

"Has it been confirmed?"

"I have confirmed that there was a disturbance inside the forest this morning." There was a slight hesitation in the old priest's voice. "It is most likely the truth."

Without replying, the magus fell in thoughts.

It was generally understood that the Holy Grail vessel would be prepared by the Einzberns and remain under their possession until the end of the war. This wasn't a written or even slightly enforced – except by the Einzberns themselves – rule, but it was still a convention that was generally left unbroken simply to allow the war to process smoothly.
Beside, none of the participants would gain anything if the Lesser Grail was accidentally destroyed.

That risk was probably why Lord El-Melloi had asked Risei to inform the other Masters. With the Grail in the line of fire they would hesitate to unleash their Servant's full power, giving an advantage to the weakened El-Melloi camp.

This was worrying. The obvious solution would be to have Risei inform the others and request that they temporarily agree to a ceasefire until the Grail was returned to neutral ground.
However, there was at least one anomaly who was likely to ignore the ceasefire. Additionally, it was possible that one of the other Master would take the opportunity to seize the Lesser Grail for themselves, gaining the same advantage that El-Melloi currently claimed.

For Saber whose primary Noble Phantasm unleashed large-scale devastation, that was a disastrous limiter if used properly. And if it fell in the possession of Rider, defeat became a very real possibility.

No, he definitely couldn't trust the other Masters with this.

Beside, Saber's magic resistance was far above any power that El-Melloi could conjure. Taking this into account, challenging him on his home ground wasn't such a great a disadvantage.

Of course, Tokiomi himself wouldn't step into such danger as long as he could avoid it. He had been weakened by their previous encounter and wasn't so prideful as to deny that the probably of El-Melloi managing to defeat him now that he no longer possessed the element of surprise was quite high.

But now that he thought about it, it was just as well that such a bold challenge had been sent. Ever since their previous encounter, Saber desired to face Lancer once more. With Kayneth's magecraft unable to touch her and his strongest mystic code destroyed, it was likely that that wish would be realized.

And if the situation turned dire, there was always his other card. Kirei had originally been an Executor who hunted magi and with Saber taking care of the majority of the defenses simply by her presence, he would find Kayneth easy prey.

Satisfied, Tokiomi refilled his glass.

"There will be no need to inform the other Masters of this. I will retrieve the vessel myself."

Lowering his binoculars, Kiritsugu sighed.

As expected, hotel that served as Kayneth El-Melloi's base was practically a fortress. Even from such a distance, he could tell that the defenses were formidable.

Not so formidable as to be unsurmountable for the Kiritsugu of eight years ago, perhaps, but his current self would be in for quite a struggle. And of course there was Lancer, the obstacle that he wouldn't be able to overcome by himself.

Ideally he would have been able to ignore the fortress altogether and strike at the magus himself, but since his previous attempt had failed and his heavier weaponry had been stolen, that was no longer an option.
Well, the explosives would have been rendered useless as of this morning either way.

He had only received the news a few minutes ago, on the cell phone that was only meant to be used in case of grave emergency.

Irisveil…no, the vessel of the Holy Grail had fallen into enemy hands. The people dispatched by the old man had understandably proven no match for Lancer, though at least one had managed to survive to bring news to him.

He didn't know what Kayneth had hoped to accomplish by doing this and though he could have theorized, it didn't really matter.

First and foremost, he had to ensure the vessel's safety. All of his efforts and sacrifices would go to waste if the descent of the Greater Grail was stopped.

Secondly, Kayneth El-Melloi had to die. If his future actions couldn't be predicted, then Kiritsugu couldn't afford to delay any longer.

For the purpose of ensuring the first objective, he had sent Archer to contact Rider's Master again. He hadn't intended to have any further contact with the wild conqueror, but he could at least be certain that they both desired the Holy Grail and would cooperate on that point.

His plan wasn't flawless, but it should be efficient enough. Archer would attract Lancer's attention and distract the more immediate defenses by entering from the front. Meanwhile, he would bypass most of them by entering the top floors directly.
If they agreed to it, then Rider would be left outside to cut off any escape route and prevent a possible interruption by Tohsaka's Saber.

That established, the only questions were if Archer could defeat Lancer and if he could defeat Kayneth El-Melloi in his seat of power.

Until yesterday he might have held some doubt as to the outcome, but Tohsaka had disabled the bothersome mystic code that protected the magus. While he undoubtedly had alternate mode of defenses, they should be mostly oriented toward protection against magecraft. Of course, he had no intention of striking from that angle.
Adding the difference in combat experience between himself and the proud lecturer, there was little doubt that he would emerge victorious.

As for Archer, it ultimately didn't matter if she won or not. Lancer would fall once his Master was dead, so she only had to last long enough, something that she had already proven was possible.

Returning to his observation of the building, Kiritsugu began looking for the best points of entry, allowing himself only a small moment for having allowed himself to have been caught off-guard by El-Melloi's actions.