Yet Irisviel merely smiled gently, as though she had seen straight through her husband's soul.
"Can we escape?"
"We can. If we leave now, there's still time." Kiritsugu answered at once. But those words did not come from any conviction he already possessed. He only spoke them aloud to force himself to believe in an impossibly faint hope.
"—You're lying." Irisviel rebuked him, gently yet cruelly denying him.
"That's a lie. Kiritsugu Emiya, you will never escape. You cannot forgive yourself for abandoning the Holy Grail, nor can you forgive yourself for being unable to save the world. You will become the first and final judge, and strangle the existence known as 'Kiritsugu Emiya.'"
The man in her arms fell silent.
Was he crying? Or had he let out a soundless sob?
Because he knew it too. He knew there had long since been no other choice.
The iron curtain had already fallen. From the moment they entered Fuyuki City, there had been nowhere left to run.
Once he realized that, something seemed to shatter.
And in its place, a new conviction gathered in Kiritsugu Emiya's heart.
"Yeah. You're right. We can't escape anymore."
Gently but irresistibly pushing himself out of her embrace, the man before Irisviel became once more the cold, meticulous "Magus Killer."
"Then at least until fate arrives, allow me to struggle a little longer."
Speaking in an incomparably mocking tone, Kiritsugu had Saber take Irisviel away. He then pulled out a pager. This old device neither vibrated nor rang; its receiving signal was routed through a modified circuit into the detonator connected to the C4 explosives.
He pressed the final button without hesitation.
Accompanied by a low rumble like rolling thunder, a dazzling cloud of fire suddenly engulfed the hotel.
The explosion itself was not large, and its sound did not even travel beyond the abandoned hotel.
Yet what rang through the night sky in place of an explosion was the eerie wail of steel and concrete crushing against one another.
The hotel collapsed!
The high-rise hotel, over one hundred and fifty meters tall, crumpled while remaining upright, as though the ground had swallowed it whole. Since all the outer walls collapsed inward, not a single fragment flew outside. Only the dust kicked up by the collapse drowned the surrounding streets.
Through Kiritsugu Emiya's masterful demolition work, the Hyatt Hotel had been crushed inward by its own weight after its load-bearing walls and key support columns were destroyed, achieving complete demolition.
There had been no unnecessary setup, and the impact on the surroundings had been reduced to a minimum. There was barely even any sound—only the sight of a one-hundred-and-fifty-meter building collapsing could prove just how skilled and terrifying Kiritsugu Emiya's demolition expertise was.
Yet the man responsible did not spare the blast a single glance. His coat billowed in the gale created by the falling building as he strolled through the crowd. Nearby came the sobbing of frightened children, while mothers hurriedly comforted them.
But such a sight could no longer shake Kiritsugu Emiya's steps.
He walked forward impassively, watching the crowd flee in all directions. Once the pressure wave finally subsided, he lit the cigarette between his lips and made a call.
"Maiya, how are things on your end?"
"There was no movement from the thirty-second floor onward. The target did not escape the building."
"Good."
Kiritsugu Emiya walked beneath another building. In a concealed corner near the entrance, he took out a case resembling one for a cello.
"Prepare for sniping, Maiya."
Opening the case revealed well-maintained firearm components resting silently inside. The Magus Killer swiftly assembled them into a dangerous weapon.
With a cigarette between his lips, Kiritsugu raised the sniper rifle and coldly declared:
"Even if Kayneth is dead, Sakutsuki, Caster's Master, cannot possibly be finished that easily."
"When the time comes, we'll personally put a round through his head."
Several minutes before the explosion.
"Dilectus incursio!"
"The night is silent. My shadow shall cover the world—Satz-Mein Blut widersteht invasionen!"
Negative emotions surged as the shadow of a giant returned from the void and descended here. After devouring all the spirits and goblins, it crossed paths with venomous mercury blades and charged toward their respective targets.
But slashes comparable to laser beams were blocked by chaotic space. The imaginary giant lost track of its target, and every attack missed.
After a brief respite, the two magi employed their methods once more:
"Anfang!"
"Trace On!"
The gemstone bombardment of wind and fire perished together with the reckless sword strikes. The twin Yin-Yang swords that shot from the explosion embedded themselves in the pillar-like mercury defense, unable to move.
"No need for defense, automatic attacks. That's quite the advantageous fighting style. As expected of El-Melloi's supreme Mystic Code, Volumen Hydrargyrum."
"Likewise. An Imaginary Numbers magician who can summon giants from another dimension has likely reached the level of Brand, perhaps even Grand."
"Ha, I'm only good at combat."
As they exchanged lukewarm remarks, Sakutsuki and Kayneth looked at one another and smiled, their eyes brimming with the confidence and will to kill the other.
In the long lives of magi, aside from their obsessive pursuit of the Root, there was at least the exchange of secret arts among peers, adding a little color to lives whose endings could be seen at a glance.
Unfortunately, one could not expect these people who had never received nine years of compulsory education to think like normal humans—the so-called exchange of secret arts was not some salon attended by socialites, with warm music and fine food to enjoy.
Want to exchange secret arts? Fine!
Then wager your lives and experience the power of magecraft with your own bodies. Those who survived such exchanges of secret arts would surely come one step closer to their cherished wish!
Call it pathological or say it was like raising poisonous insects in a jar, it was all merely a means of approaching the Root. Whether the mysteries of magecraft or their own lives, orthodox magi considered both bargaining chips that could be traded at any time.
That was what magi were.
In truth, Sakutsuki could not be called a magus. He had no interest whatsoever in the Root and merely regarded magecraft as a useful tool—much like a certain Kiritsugu. Such people were nothing more than magecraft users, or so the self-proclaimed noble magi often called them.
But regardless, even though magecraft user Sakutsuki and magus Kayneth held different ideals, at this moment, they truly reveled in the charm and joy of magecraft clashing against magecraft.
Then the sudden explosion destroyed everything.
It was as though Gaia herself had abandoned them. The instability brought by the violently shaking floor rose from beneath their feet, spread throughout their bodies, and finally shattered like fragile glass.
"Rumble, rumble, rumble..."
The magically reinforced floor shattered in an instant. The mysterious radiance faded before power that was almost apocalyptic, and the caught-off-guard Sakutsuki and Kayneth faced a collapsing world.
Faced with fatal destruction, the two reacted differently.
Kayneth sighed in relief amid his surprise, but quickly realized something and panicked. He hastily deployed Volumen Hydrargyrum, clinging to the shattered building materials as he hurried toward a room like a giant spider.
Sakutsuki, meanwhile, let out an undisguised sigh, his expression full of helplessness as if PaPa was being disobedient again. He then stepped forward, his entire body vanishing into a diamond-shaped displacement space.
When he appeared again, he was already beneath the Hyatt Hotel. The two Servants before him had been waiting anxiously. Upon seeing Sakutsuki, one of them broke into a delighted smile.
"Big brother, welcome back!"
"Yo, Miyu. I'm back." Sakutsuki smiled and rubbed her little head, then turned to Lancer, whose face was full of anxiety. "Kayneth should be fine. With Volumen Hydrargyrum, he'll definitely survive."
"Thank you, Sakutsuki." Only after receiving that assurance did Diarmuid relax. After bidding Sakutsuki farewell, he hurried away, clearly intending to support his lord.
The young man and his younger sister looked at each other and smiled. Yet before Sakutsuki could say anything, an inexplicable chill suddenly crawled up his back.
The inherent skill Mind's Eye (True), Clairvoyance activated.
Eliminating interference.
Object locked, trajectory traced, target analyzed, complete.
It was a 7.62mm sniper rifle round!
The shooter was confirmed as Kiritsugu Emiya.
Same caliber, suspected... Origin Bullet!
And the target of the shot was—
"Miyu!" He only had time to push the girl beside him away before intense pain shot through Sakutsuki's palm.
There was no sound of a bullet entering flesh, nor any spray of blood. Miyu's pupils constricted as she stared at the sudden hole in his palm, forgetting how to breathe for a moment.
But Sakutsuki had no time to care about Miyu's reaction. With his still-intact left hand, he pulled his sister behind him, then stomped heavily. A broad sword as wide as a shield descended from the sky, blocking the space between Kiritsugu Emiya and Sakutsuki.
Even he had not expected Kiritsugu Emiya to go straight for the kill. He had clearly placed powerful suggestion magecraft on the guest list and had the desk staff call out names that were incomparably painful to Kiritsugu—without outside interference, Kiritsugu should not have recovered so quickly!
But facts were facts. After the shock came the need to make up for his mistake with everything he had. Enduring the intense pain in his right hand, the young man's golden eyes sharpened as he rapidly considered the Magus Killer's next move.
Because of his unusual constitution, Sakutsuki could not determine whether this bullet was truly Kiritsugu's deadly Mystic Code. Precisely for that reason, he had to consider both possibilities.
If this really is an Origin Bullet, then Kiritsugu's goal is to cripple Miyu and weaken my fighting strength. Even I would have difficulty surviving this Holy Grail War without a Servant... Then he must already be retreating. Kiritsugu knows exactly how terrifying I am when I'm angry.
But if this isn't an Origin Bullet... I know Origin Bullets pose a threat to magi. Even Caster, as a Servant, cannot be immune to Origin. Miyu's Mystic Code, Sapphire, is important and cannot be destroyed, so I definitely wouldn't dare gamble on that possibility... And Kiritsugu's target could never be a Servant. It could only be... me!
This man knew from the beginning that I would take the shot for Miyu!
Since he predicted that, Kiritsugu's attack cannot be so simple. He must be using this to achieve some objective... The question is, what is that objective?
He recalled every action he had taken: blocking the attack with a hand wrapped in Reinforcement Magecraft, protecting Miyu, erecting a defensive line to obstruct the sniper's sight... Those fluid actions should not have had any flaws.
A cool night breeze blew past, bypassing the barrier Sakutsuki had erected and coming at him from the other three directions.
Sakutsuki's defense was not airtight.
And Kiritsugu Emiya was not acting alone. Apart from him, there was another woman who would definitely come here—
"No, Maiya Hisau!" Sakutsuki spun around in a panic, but it was already too late.
As though sensing Sakutsuki's panic, Kiritsugu Emiya revealed a faint, cold smile.
Still too green, kid.
For an assassin, even an exposed trump card could itself become a new killing move.
He issued an order through his earpiece.
"Maiya, move."
In an instant, dense gunfire erupted from the other end of the communication.
Kiritsugu Emiya's plan had actually been very simple.
As the only Master who understood the power of Origin Bullets, Sakutsuki could never allow him to attack the Servant in the Caster class. With physical abilities comparable to a Heroic Spirit's, taking the shot for that little girl was inevitable.
And all Kiritsugu needed to do was use that certain future to inflict a sufficiently heavy blow upon Sakutsuki's group.
Using sniper rounds of the same caliber as Origin Bullets as bait, he would force Sakutsuki to erect a defense. Judging from Sakutsuki's attitude toward Caster, he could not possibly use magecraft to flee alone. And according to Kiritsugu's observations, Sakutsuki's defensive methods were usually one-sided; no matter how outstanding their defensive power, they could not block attacks from other directions.
Servants could turn into spirit form, but Masters could not.
The true opportunity for assassination would be entrusted to his other half—Maiya Hisau.
With her marksmanship, while Sakutsuki was still thinking through the reason, a bullet would pierce his completely unguarded head.
Just as he had expected, the moment he gave the order, gunfire came from Maiya's end.
But Kiritsugu Emiya's expression changed instantly.
This was an assassination, not a chaotic firefight!
Such dense gunfire meant there was only one possibility: something had happened on Maiya's side, and she was fighting someone!
Flinging aside his coat, Kiritsugu Emiya was about to go rescue her when the wall beside him exploded, and the blast wave threw him away.
Quickly rising to his feet, he found the white-haired young man already standing before him, holding twin blades and looking distinctly unfriendly.
"You really are something, Kiritsugu. I nearly lost my life there."
Though he had realized it only afterward, once Sakutsuki understood Kiritsugu Emiya's plan, he had already prepared himself to be seriously wounded. But Maiya Hisau's attack had never come. While sighing in relief, he understood that, just like in the original story, Kirei Kotomine had appeared and delayed Maiya Hisau.
Had a third party not interfered, the one who fell would have been him.
With no more worries behind him, Sakutsuki immediately had Miyu assume spirit form, then came charging over with a huge blade, intending to carve Kiritsugu Emiya into a human stump.
Let it be said again: he, Sakutsuki, had merely inherited Heroic Emiya's memories!
Before you continue