My Fates Codex of Type-Moon

Unfortunately, he had deliberately increased the yield on the hotel's first floor.

An explosion at point-blank range—even that Sakutsuki wouldn't be able to escape unscathed.

He wasn't some lightning-wielding girl from Bilibili (a huge stretch).

Despite such a perfect opportunity presenting itself, Kiritsugu Emiya remained silent, choosing to quietly watch the hotel's travelers evacuate before proceeding with the demolition.

Why wait?

Hadn't he already decided to act as the scales, making this Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City humanity's last bloodshed? For that, those travelers were necessary sacrifices.

But...

—This was a perfectly reasonable strategy, yes, that's how he convinced himself.

This charade was meant to make Kayneth and Sakutsuki lower their guard and focus on fighting each other, preventing them from discovering another trap.

In fact, this strategy had indeed proven effective. Those two magi were absolutely confident in their abilities. Especially Caster's Master, who knew he would make a move tonight but still confidently ascended to the thirty-second floor, unaware that the entire floor would collapse, swallowing them whole.

But was this his true intention?

Could it be that a pang of sentimentality had caused him to subconsciously allow the unrelated travelers to seek refuge?

If that were the case, such a fatally naive emotion would surely cost him his life on the battlefield.

To quell the slight wavering in his heart, Kiritsugu lit another cigarette.

And just then, the faint, ethereal call of the front desk staff drifted from afar, yet it pierced his eardrums like an arrow, stabbing into his heart.

"Miss Illya? Is Miss Illya here?"

"Miss Illya? Miss Illya is he—"

The front desk staff's call was interrupted by a deep, hurried voice.

"Please give me the guest list."

"Ah, yes, yes."

He hadn't used magic, but the man's expression was so terrifying and hollow that the front desk staff's will was easily crushed, and they numbly handed over the list they held.

Kiritsugu Emiya snatched it and quickly flipped through it, finally stopping at a name he knew all too well.

[Illyasviel von Einzbern]

[Room 1986]

1986… Kiritsugu's fingertips began to tremble.

He remembered, he clearly remembered, that Illyasviel, his daughter, was born on a bitterly cold night in 1986.

But how could she possibly be here? All the way from the distant Winter's Castle?

Returning the guest list to the front desk staff, Kiritsugu gazed toward the Hyatt Hotel, closed his eyes, as if making a decision.

Then, he started walking.

If his daughter was also in this deadly building, then as a father, he should rush to save her without hesitation.

This was an obvious truth.

But this man was different. In front of his love as a father, he had something more important to bear—

On the path to becoming a "father," the thorns of "ideals" made his progress arduous.

His legs trembled, and with vacant eyes, the man took another step towards the hotel, his heart wavering more and more. The cracks on his usually placid face grew deeper.

It felt as if each step was a betrayal of his wishes, his ideals.

"Norikata Emiya, is Norikata Emiya here?" the front desk staff continued to call, the voice seeming to come from an unreal horizon, making Kiritsugu feel light and airy, as if walking on clouds.

Heh, Father.

His father, who delved into the study of time magecraft and was consequently branded with a Seal of the Magical Order.

His father, who developed a vampirism drug for his magecraft research and used ordinary people as test subjects.

He still remembered the sensation of the dagger piercing the magus's body; it was also the first time he had picked up a gun and ended that magus's life completely.

The old wounds were ripped open, and the soul-piercing pain paradoxically supported Kiritsugu as he pushed forward.

"Shirley, is Miss Shirley here?"

Shirley...

Blood flowed from the wound.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" The Southeast Asian girl with brown skin smiled brightly, holding Kiritsugu's first love.

But she was already dead, having taken the vampirism drug created by Norikata Emiya and subsequently being cleaned up by the Church and the Mage's Association.

The vampirized girl handed Kiritsugu a silver dagger, begging him to kill her.

But Kiritsugu fled in shame.

Because he couldn't kill the girl he loved, the entire village fell—this disaster almost cemented the values of the magus killer known as Kiritsugu Emiya for life.

"Ms. Natalia? Is Ms. Natalia here?"

"Ah…"

This time, the man finally stopped.

The rift in his heart no longer bled. The wind blew through, creating a hollow echo.

After the village of dead apostles was annihilated, he was adopted by the bounty hunter, Natalia.

She accompanied Kiritsugu Emiya through his youth, watching him transform from a mere child into a gloomy, cold hunter with dried-out eyes.

During their final mission, to eliminate a swarm of dead apostles on a plane, Kiritsugu Emiya used a portable surface-to-air missile carried by a blowpipe, shooting down the flight of death before it could land.

Even though his most beloved teacher, the woman who had been by his side for over a decade, was on that plane.

Only in countless midnight dreams afterward did Kiritsugu Emiya belatedly realize what he had lost.

—He had already come to regard Natalia as a mother.

"Strange, Norikata Emiya, Shirley, Natalia… have none of them appeared?"

Yes, I killed them all with my own hands.

The ghosts of the past reached out to him, attempting to drag him into an unfathomable abyss.

The gaunt man stood amidst the crowd, appearing so lonely and on the verge of collapse.

Fake, all of it is fake. They are all dead. How could they possibly be alive in this hotel?

Everything could only be a malicious mockery from someone, or perhaps a setup to slow him down.

Yet, even knowing this, Kiritsugu Emiya could change nothing. He had turned himself into a scale to measure good and evil, but one side of the scale was constantly being loaded with heavy weights, while the other side was held down tightly by the man himself.

What was creaking and groaning, if not the scale itself?

Name after name transformed into veiled hints, as if foreshadowing some tragic conclusion.

So, the next one is…

"Miss Irisviel? Miss Irisviel von Einzbern, are you here?" The grim reaper flipped through the list, slowly enunciating the next name.

Yes, even the wife he deeply loved would be killed by his own hands…

"Yes, I'm here."

A voice as pleasant as a lark's song sounded behind Kiritsugu Emiya. Irisviel held her cheek, her red eyes filled with confusion:

"That's strange, I didn't book a room at the Hyatt Hotel? But this is my name… Hmm, is there a mistake?"

Sensing Kiritsugu's disbelieving gaze, the beautiful woman stuck out her tongue and clasped her hands together apologetically. "I'm sorry, Kiritsugu, I couldn't help but come over in the end."

Beside her, Saber, dressed in a suit, stepped forward. "This is not Irisviel's fault. I took it upon myself to come. The responsibility should be entirely mine."

But Kiritsugu Emiya paid no mind to this at the moment. Looking at the woman he loved, a flicker of light appeared in his deathly still eyes.

Under the astonished gazes of Saber and Irisviel, Kiritsugu Emiya took a step forward, opened his arms, and embraced his wife, embracing the few ties he had in this cold, desolate world.

After a long while, a muffled voice finally broke the silence.

"Thank you, Saber."

Artoria raised an eyebrow, the ahoge on her head bobbing slightly.

This was the only time her Master had ever thanked her, yet Saber couldn't feel any joy.

Her intuition told her how much bitterness and tears were contained within this expression of gratitude.

What had this man… gone through in the past?

Meanwhile, Irisviel also sensed Kiritsugu's unusual state.

They had shared brief embraces before, but each time, her husband had merely touched her lips, as if suppressing his emotions, as if afraid of becoming lost in something and unable to extricate himself.

But this was the first time he had embraced her so unrestrainedly, nestling into her arms.

Kiritsugu is very fragile right now.

With the unique sensitivity of an artificial human, Irisviel quickly reached this conclusion.

It was different from the fragility he displayed when Illya was born, when he painlessly said, "I am not worthy to hold this child." That fragility was resolute, stemming from the pain of knowing what Kiritsugu Emiya had to do in the future, what would happen, yet being powerless to change it.

But this fragility was ephemeral, shattered, like a despair that denied even one's own meaning.

And because of that, it was even more profound.

"If I decide to abandon everything and run away right now—Airi, would you come with me?"

After a brief moment of tenderness, the man looked up, his words causing Irisviel to freeze.

Why are there no comments? My comments are my source of joy, damn it!

Irisviel had never seen her husband wear such an expression.

His desperate look was like that of a wounded and terrified child, as if he were about to burst into tears. The person standing there was not a highly skilled magus killer, but a weak and timid man.

"Kiritsugu, you—"

Irisviel could feel his chest trembling. His strong, reliable arms, which she usually leaned on, now clutched her like a child clinging to its mother, utterly powerless.

"If I—" Kiritsugu held Irisviel so tightly it hurt, his hoarse, weak voice whispering in her ear. "If I decide to abandon everything and run away right now—Airi, would you come with me?"

This was perhaps the most unlikely question Irisviel could imagine Kiritsugu asking.

"Illya... what about the child in Winter's Castle?"

"I'll go back and bring her out. I'll kill anyone who gets in the way." The man's reply was urgent and concise, proving his unwavering resolve.

"For the days to come... I will pour everything I have into us. I am willing to use my entire life, just to protect you and Illya..."

"..."

At this moment, Irisviel finally understood the extent to which the man before her had been pushed. Before they arrived, it seemed someone had used mystical means to completely shatter this warrior's firm mind and body.

He wasn't the Kiritsugu from nine years ago, not the one who was as sharp as a hunting dog, as ruthlessly precise as a bullet or a blade, a killing machine honed to his absolute limit. He had changed too much, becoming fragile and worryingly so.

Irisviel knew the reason for his change—it was his wife and daughter, impurities that had never been supposed to enter Kiritsugu Emiya's life.

Before coming to Winter's Castle, Kiritsugu Emiya had nothing left to lose; he no longer even possessed a heart capable of feeling pain, which was why he could be so merciless and cold, decisively discarding and sacrificing for the unattainable dream of saving the world.

What Kiritsugu needed to do now was to return to his past self. However, reversing time caused his soul to cry out in agony. The changes over ten years were too profound; the existence of Irisviel and Illya had allowed Kiritsugu Emiya to find new ties to the mortal world.

The killer who had once devoted himself entirely to his ideals was gone, replaced by a man with a weakness, a man no longer able to maintain his coldness.

Kiritsugu Emiya's resistance to Saber revealed his vulnerability. He was already using all his strength just to maintain himself, leaving him no room to accept Saber or the energy to consider how to coordinate with the King of Knights.

Irisviel felt a tightness in her chest, her beloved man suffering such pain, yet she couldn't save him. This was because it wasn't someone else tormenting Kiritsugu, but himself.

If she agreed to Kiritsugu's request, their future would surely head in a different direction, for better or worse.