Zouken then eyed his grandson suspiciously. "What do you mean...disappeared?" he said in a low and menacing tone.

Shinji then sighed in agitation. "It's just like said, aside from us Magi, Servents, Hollows and the Shinigami the whole population of Fuyuki city has disappeared!"

The elder Matou then gripped his staff tightly. "But that is impossible!' He snapped. "There is no magecraft or technology of this era that can make an entire city's population vanish!"

Sakura then looked over the cityscape and narrowed her eyes when she heard her grandfather's declaration. "Maybe not in this world...but perhaps the Shinigami of the Soul Society can," she suggested, which made Zouken growl in bitter acknowledgment.

"Well..." Shinji spoke out while placing both of his arms at the back of his head. "Now that your plan to distract everyone with a Hollow horde has gone up in smoke...what do you plan to do now grandfather?" He questioned with a hint of sarcasm and the ancient Magus let out of disgruntled sigh.

"I rather hope to do this without a direct conflict against the Gotei 13..." His face then tightened before narrowing his eyes. "However it seems that we now have no choice..."

Shinji then raised an eyebrow. "So you are really going through with this?" He asked again a bit more serious. "You do realize that not only will this put all of us on Soul Society's most wanted list, but serve whatever ties we have with the Magi Association right?"

Zouken frown. "I am fully aware of that Shinji" He spat harshly. "But from what I have heard from that priest, his Servant has failed to kill either Saber or that Shinigami boy when they both learn of the true nature of the lesser grail's vessel...and now it is all but guaranteed they will ally with each other to end the Holy Grail War in the Shinigami's favor"

Sakura hummed in thought. "Which in turn will lead to them knowing the true nature of the grail as a whole...and seek to destroy it"

Shinji then whistled. "Yep...this means we can only hope the so-called King of Heroes and that shady priest will fight alongside us during the final battle"

Zouken then snorted dismissively. "So long as those two fight against our current enemies, their inevitable betrayal matters little" He then eyed Sakura and Shinji. "What is important now is that the grail must be protected until it is completed" He then smiled wickedly. "And once that comes to pass we will then have the greatest of all weapons at our disposal"

Later downtown when the Hollow horde was finally slayed and fought off by the Shinigami. Shirou, Rin, Arch, Illyasveil, and Berserker, all began to notice how empty the streets were.

"This so strange..." Rin spoke up in uneasiness. "Even in the dead of night, there would still be traffic on the roads and people walking about in this part of the city...but everyone just seems to have vanished"

Illyasveil then looked up over the sky. "The Shinigami must have something to this, as the entire city is surrounded by a barrier and properly did it to save the citizens from getting devoured by those Hollows"

Archer then closed his eyes in thought. "And whatever it was must have been a precaution, given how fast they pulled it off" He then opened his eyes. "Still...I can't help but feel something else is off here..."

Shirou shared the same feeling as he continued to walk around the empty streets and then looked over and decided to touch a lamp post and then used a trace spell on it to analyze the structure...and his then eyes immediately shot wide open and looked over at the lamp in disbelief.

Rin then eyed him in concern. "Shirou what is wrong!?'

"This lamp post..." he then touched his hands on the ground and cast the same spell and his eyes winded further. "Even the concrete... it's all fake!"

Rin, Illyasveil, and Archer winded their own eyes in shock and the latter immediately used use own trace spell by placing his hand on the wall of a nearby building and gasped in bafflement.

"Unbelievable..." Archer spoke hesitantly as his eyes bulged. "Not only have the Shinigami, teleported the entire population away...but also the very city itself and replaced it with near perfect replica!"

Rin and Illyasveil both further widen their expressions and gasp.

"Are you serious!?" Rin shouted in disbelief. "Why would they do something like that?"

But then she and the rest of her friends felt a familiar presence behind them.

"Several reasons actually," Kisuke Urahara's voice told them, and immediately, they all went on guard.

"First being, it would prevent the humans from losing their homes in case Captain and Vice-captain level shinigami cut loose, saves time on asking the R and D from setting up spatial freezes, and is crucial in making sure that the buildings themselves are teleported properly" He finished causally while the magi and Servants still have their weapons drawn.

"You..." Rin spate with anger while readying her jewel sword. "Come to finish us off, now that you have taken care of that Hollow army?"

Kisuke then gave her a knowing smile. "Not quite...Saber, are you going to tell your friends we mean no harm?" Urahara asked, much to Rin and everyone else's confusion.

"Put your weapons down Tousaka he speaks the truth" Artoria's voice spoke from behind Kisuke, alongside Ichigo, Yoruichi, Retsu, and the rest of Ichigo's comrades.

Shirou then looked on confused. "Saber...what is going on?" He asked and the king of knights let out a reserved breath.

"Shirou…there is much to discuss..." She said, and Shirou, Rin, and Illyasveil, while uncertain about their current enemies surrounding them, complied.

Later that night everyone met at the suite where Saber and Ichigo told everyone about Illyasveil's role being the lesser Grail's vessel.

Shirou winded his eyes at the Einzburn upon hearing the truth. "So you went into this war knowing that you were going to be sacrificed to become the grail!?' declared in horror.

Illyasveil then nodded slowly. "That is my role Shirou..." she answered simply. "While I was naturally conceived I am still a homunculus of the Einzburn family and raised to be the vessel of the lesser grail" She then let out a long sigh. "Even if I were to defeat all the other masters and Servants I could never claim the grail itself and as such my purpose wasn't so much to win the war...' She then furrowed her brow and grimace. "But to merely see its completion..."

Artoria then gazed over to Illyasveil in sympathy. "I see..." she spoke in a somber tone upon remembering Illyasveil's mother. "You were duty-bound by your family to sacrifice your own life to finally complete the grail after several generations of failure" She then let out a deep breath. "However duty or not, have I known that such a sacrifice was needed to create the grail I would have never participated in this war"

Shirou nodded "Me too and if anything it just gives me even more reason to bring these holy wars to an end"

Illyasveil then frowned at Shirou and Saber and shook her head. "Even if you're willing to spare me, it wouldn't change much..." she countered. "Due to the modifications made to my body, I have less than a year to live now, so I wouldn't have much of a life to live anyway"

"Cut the crap!" Ichigo snapped and the young Einzburn looked at Ichigo in surprise. "Whether you live a long life or not doesn't matter as it is your life and you should cherish it for as long as you have it" he then let out a huff. "Not waste it on some stupid family's honor..."

Illyasveil then at first looked offended at Ichigo but then thought for a moment about his words and then looked down at her hands and then gazed towards Tousaka. "Rin...what do you make out of this?"

Rin then stared over at the child-like Einzburn and her allies, the Shinigami and their associates for a few moments before letting out a huge breath. "Well to be honest I don't know what to do now, as personal I just simply wanted to win the Holy Grail for my own family's pride and don't even have a wish for the grail...however for it to come at the expense of another human's life even a short one..." Tousaka then slowly shook her head. "All the pride in the world isn't worth it if that is the cost" She then let out another quicker breath, folded her arms, and looked over to the Shinigami. "And thus I have no choice but to offer my surrender"

Archer then stared at his master smiled respectfully and then looked sternly toward Toshiro. "So what do you shinigami plan to do if you win this war?" he then furrowed his brow. "Do plan on making Illyasveil into the vessel to grant your wishes?"

Toshiro then narrowed his eyes at the comment and then stepped forward. "I assure you Archer that the Gotei 13 takes precedence in protecting human souls regardless if they are artificially created or not and especially if they are intended to be made into an object"

Archer then closed his eyes as he processed his thoughts. "Well given that you teleported a whole city and its inhabitants into another realm during a Hollow invasion, I don't doubt your stance on the former" He then opened and narrowed his eyes on the captain. "However... let's say on the off chance that grail didn't require a vessel to be completed what exactly would you do with it?"

Toshirou then closed his own eyes in thought. "Well...given that it is a wish-grating device of tremendous power, we would have destroyed it to prevent it from ever being used" He then opened up his eyes and stared directly at Archer. "Or if that proved impossible then the grail would be imprisoned indefinitely and records of it and its location would be classified"

Archer then furrowed his brow Hitsugaya and stared long and hard at the captain who returned his gaze, as he tried to detect anything that resembled deception and then after a few seconds stood back laid his back on the couch, and sighed. "Well, you seem to be telling the truth...which is pretty much what Kurosaki said," The heroic spirit remarked while glancing back at Ichigo who smirked in response. "So I trust your world on it..." He then glanced back at Toshiro. "And pray I don't regret it"

Shirou then stood up. "Well, you can count my surrender too" He added "As I only participated in this war to prevent it from causing another disaster like the great Fukuki fire, and protecting Illyasveil from being sacrificed only further justifies my cause"

Artoria gave a slight nod. "So do I"

Kisuke then smiled. "Well I guess we are all in agreement" He then eyed Illyasveil. "Though that leaves with your stance in all of this"

Illyasveil then looked at Rin and Shirou and then at the Shinigami and their allies, waiting for an answer and the Einzburn burn smiled.

"You know...I was ready to sacrifice myself to uphold my family's honor and duty...because I thought that was all my life was worth for..." She then looked over to Shirou. "Aside from finding you" She closed her eyes and rubbed her face as her eyes began to become teary. "But I guess...even with a short life it can still become much more than that"

Orhime then smiled warmly at the young mage. "Of course it can Illyasveil and...even if you don't know each other that well you can always come and visit us in Karkara town to hang out and become friends.

Rukia then shared her friend's expression. "And I am sure that with the Soul Society's technology, we might find a way to extend your life... if you so wish it"

Illyasveil was then touched by the two women's words which made her eyes soften and then rubbed her face. "Well...if you are inviting I guess I can't refuse such an offer" She looked back up at the group. "And while I have no doubt my grandfather would be more than disappointed, he has resigned his position of family head to me..." She then let out a deep breath. "And so believe it time to put this old family obsession to an end" She then looked up to the shinigami. "So you can count my surrender as well"

Byakuya then stepped in. "Very well..." he then looks over to Rin. "And I can assume you are the current head of the Tousaka Family?'

Rin nodded. "I am"

Bakuya hummed in approval. "Then it seems we have the means of finally ending this war"

Ichigo then blinked in surprise. "We do?" Ichigo asked. "I thought we need to defeat all the masters and servants to end it?"

Bakuya then looked over to Ichigo. "At first...however in one of the terms of us Shinigami participating the war and the chance to avoid further bloodshed. A term was made that if at least two of the heads of founding families of the holy grail war surrender. Then the war will end in the Gotei 13's victory" He then shifted his gaze over to Rin. "The only thing to do now is to make it official"

Tohsaka nodded. "And with Kirei Kotomine being the moderator of the war he has no choice but to give his approval according to those terms" She then shifted her gaze. "And hopefully if the the other masters are smart they will honor them as well"

Byakuya then gave a stern expression to Rin. "Lest they wish to face the full wrath of the gotei 13"

Archer then let out a grim sigh.

"As much as love to see this whole war come to a peaceful resolution..." His voice then becomes low and as eyes darken. "You will all be wasting your time"

Rin and the rest of the group looked in confusion.

"What do you mean Archer?" The Toksaka magus ask in concern.

"Well, Rin..." The Servant began. "I wasn't exactly truthful about forgetting my past as a Servent and Shirou's remarkable growth under my tutelage had little to do with talent..." He then looked at the Young Magus boy, Ichigo, Illyasveil, and Rin. "However given that everyone here is on the same page and my motivations have changed..." His face then hardened and his voice deepened further.

"It is time for all of you to know who I am...and exactly what the Holy Grail has become..."

Meanwhile within Hueco Mundo and below the white desert lay the Menos Forest.

The underground sub-level of the realm was composed of white trees made of silver quartz and roamed by countless hordes of Gillains that were often herded by their stronger counterparts the Adjuchas.

However, within the forest stood a small hut in which one particular Horn Adjuchas.

Yet if one were to step inside it, one find that it is more like a magical worship than the lair of a typical beast, with the Menos being busy crafting something that looked like a magical staff with studious intent.

"Sir…" Rider spoke to him as she entered his hut. "Zouken is preparing to launch an assault on the Shinigami and is wondering if the preparations are done"

The Horn Adjuchas then paused for a moment and then went back to work. "Soon Rider…" He answered. "All I need to do now is add the finishing touches with my latest product…and for my other selves to return"

Then as soon as the Hollow said that. Dozens of clones of himself then appeared around his hut much to Rider's surprise.

Then The Menos having just finished the device of his work walked outside to greet his doppelgangers and let out a steady breath.

"It has been over ten years…" He spoke with anticipation and then reached out both of his hands to the clones. "But things are finally starting to come to an end…"

The doppelgangers then turn themselves into a mass of insects that then merge into the Menos's body.

And slowly and gradually his form began to change…