My Fates Codex in the Nasuverse Chapter 37

God, what should I do?

The priest prayed devoutly day after day, and finally—he found what he believed to be the answer in one person.

Finding Kiritsugu Emiya and discovering the meaning of his own existence through him. For Kirei Kotomine, this matter took precedence over all else, even himself.

Even Kiritsugu Emiya would not know that the moment he stepped into Fuyuki City, he was already ensnared in a vast net woven from countless Heroic Spirits.

It was for this reason that Kirei Kotomine appeared here.

Through Diarmuid's legend, the curse effect of the yellow spear had been revealed. With the other six Servants still alive, Saber had her hand sealed in the first battle, and was likely to be eliminated first, her situation hanging by a thread.

Kiritsugu Emiya was sure to see this crisis, and eliminating the source of the curse, Lancer, as soon as possible was the top priority for the Einzbern faction.

So Kotomine laid his net near Kayneth's stronghold, waiting for an attacker to find him. He had expected Kiritsugu Emiya to be the one, but it turned out to be someone else. However, Kotomine was certain of the connection between her and Kiritsugu. The woman he was now pursuing was the key to finding Kiritsugu.

However, the perfect situation of capturing her alive was ruined by a sudden smoke bomb.

The smoke from the portable military smoke canister quickly spread, covering the surroundings. In the gap created by Kotomine's halt due to obscured vision, the sound of swift, rabbit-like footsteps echoed on the concrete floor.

Kotomine had wanted to fire Black Keys along the sound of the footsteps, but at the last moment, he abandoned the idea.

This was thrown by someone else in front of Kotomine, to cover the woman's escape... Of course, there was no third person on this floor. In other words, it could only be judged that this smoke canister was thrown in from outside the building.

If he carelessly fired Black Keys, whether the woman lived or died, his position would already be exposed.

If a third party outside the building were to snipe him then, even Kirei Kotomine would find it difficult to survive while shrouded in smoke.

But if it was thrown up at this floor from the ground...

Kirei Kotomine walked to the edge of the floor, ignoring the strong wind that whipped his robe, and gazed into the distance.

The Hyatt Hotel had disappeared, and another building had inexplicably collapsed. Now, there were no buildings of similar height in the vicinity.

If it was thrown up at this floor from the ground, the height difference would be over 150 meters. Even with a grenade launcher, it would be very difficult to shoot with such precision. If it was a hand-thrown smoke canister, this joke would be truly unfunny.

But Kotomine was an Executioner who hunted heretics, and he was long accustomed to dealing with unreasonable enemies. Such a degree of strangeness was not worth being surprised about.

The streetlights flickered now, and a large area of darkness lay between the lights. The Magus obstructing him was somewhere beneath this darkness.

As long as he confirmed this, tonight would not have been in vain.

Suddenly, the instincts of an experienced Executioner sounded an alarm.

Kirei Kotomine rolled to dodge, and arcs of red and blue light grazed past him, turning the spot where he had stood into dust.

Before he could regain his footing, Kirei Kotomine flung six Black Keys towards the attacker's direction, divided into three throws, totaling one second, a more superb technique than the 0.3-second single throw.

The six Black Keys were divided into three groups, either tracking, pinning, or intercepting. This was just the beginning. The man in the robe pushed off with his left foot the moment he finished his defensive posture. Instead of retreating, he advanced, intending to quickly close the distance with the attacker and prepare his true killing blow.

But when he saw the attacker's face, he stopped abruptly. With a creak of his body resisting the force, Kirei Kotomine unhesitatingly raised his right hand, and three blood-like patterns lit up.

"By my Command Spell!"

[015: Artoria Pendragon (Saber)]

[Character Information]: In life, she was the king of ancient Britain, also known as King Arthur. She was called the knight among knights, the Knight King. She drew the Sword of Selection from the stone, disguised her gender, and lived as the ideal king, Arthur. However, due to internal strife, her land fell into ruin, and she firmly believed she was unfit to be king. For the sake of her country, she wished to have the king re-selected through the Holy Grail... So how could someone like that fall in love so easily?

[Hidden Information]: Insufficient conditions

[Recording Conditions 3/5]:

1. Gain King Arthur's approval (Completed) 2. Defeat/Kill Artoria Pendragon 3. Help Artoria resolve her inner conflict A faint blue light screen flashed before his eyes, indicating the fulfillment of a certain condition. Sakutsuki's expression remained unchanged. He tossed aside the twin blades in his hand without hesitation, then retreated, drew his bow, and released the string!

At the same time, a golden figure broke through the spinning blades. His azure eyes fixed on the incoming arrow, and the Sword of Promised Victory in his hand descended with a stunning arc, cutting the supersonic projectile in half!

Then, mana surged. The Knight King's small body contained savage power. She crushed the ground and, in an instant, approached the side of the young man in the white robe and red clothing, gathering wind on her blade.

"Strike Air!"

"Nine Lives!"

The wild storm cleared the space within dozens of meters. However, the youth was no longer visible behind the huge, heavy black axe-blade.

He had disappeared at some point.

Happy Children's Day, everyone~

It was a black axe-sword that spread out like wings, its height exceeding that of most humans. One could probably only wield it freely if they were a giant nearly three meters tall.

It was precisely because of this that the impact was unprecedentedly strong when Sakutsuki swung this ferocious weapon.

What Saber unleashed was a variant of the Noble Phantasm "Wind Barrier," a wind blade released and condensed in an instant, swung with the posture of sweeping away enemies: "Strike Air."

However, the fierce storm was torn apart by the axe-sword's rapid nine consecutive strikes. The lethal wind blades were annihilated into harmless chaotic airflow. Even Saber did not expect that the youth's arms, so slender compared to the axe-sword, could wield such a monstrously large object.

Style: Nine Lives.

The most trusted Noble Phantasm of Heroic Spirit Heracles, it was used to destroy the Hydra, the immortal nine-headed serpent.

Through various martial arts performed with the weapon in hand or even with bare hands, it is, in a sense, the technologized Noble Phantasm of [Style: Nine Lives]. It is similar to [A Knight Cannot Die by Bare Hands], but it can bring out the maximum power of the weapon, displaying various forms from anti-personnel to anti-army, and even enough to attack a city, depending on the situation.

If a sword were used, it would manifest as nine instantaneous slashes; if a bow were used, it would be nine dragon-shaped tracking lasers.

朔月's Projection Magecraft was inherited from Shirou Emiya. It's a cheating magecraft that allows the user to read the original owner's abilities when copying them. Thus, even someone like 朔月 could use the secret techniques of the great hero Heracles, and even had enough energy to disengage from the battlefield, disappearing from Saber's range of vigilance.

After confirming 朔月's aura had vanished, Saber's ahoge, which was on top of her head, flickered slightly. She put away the shining golden Excalibur and returned to Irisviel's side.

"Are you alright, Irisviel?"

"I'm fine, thank you, Saber."

However, there wasn't much joy on Irisviel's face. She gazed into the distance at the axe-sword that was slowly dissipating into magic, her ruby-like eyes filled with worry.

"Are you worried about the new moon?" Saber asked. "Then why not say it?"

The worry on her face turned into guilt. The innocent princess of winter lowered her head, remaining silent.

What was Irisviel looking at?

Saber curiously imitated Irisviel's posture, but could only see a flat concrete floor.

After a long while, a voice as faint as a mosquito's hum finally sounded.

"I don't have the right to look at that child." The silver-haired woman, who was an artificial human yet possessed more delicate emotions than anyone else, whispered, "He helped us so much... yet we have to be his enemy."

This was Irisviel's dilemma, and the reason she had remained silent from beginning to end.

Since his sudden appearance a year ago, Crescent Moon had never shown hostility towards Irisviel. Even now, a year later, as participants in the Holy Grail War, the young man had been silently protecting her and Saber... at least, that was the case tonight. If Crescent Moon hadn't intervened, they would have been facing Lancer's spear and Berserker's onslaught.

But there could only be one Holy Grail. Irisviel knew there was a reason they had to fight and was prepared for it. However, she hadn't expected Kiritsugu's actions to be so decisive, bombing the entire hotel during Shiyue's battle with Lancer's master, and then launching an assassination attempt once Shiyue appeared. Judging by Shiyue's performance, he was likely just one step away from success.

On one hand, there was 朔月, who had never harmed her. On the other hand, there was the Einzbern family's long-held wish and her husband. Caught between them, the kind-hearted Irisviel naturally felt pain.

Saber silently watched the woman she had sworn to protect, sighing inwardly.

Wasn't she the same back then? She didn't mind the affection between Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot, but the members of the Knights of the Round Table didn't forgive their actions... In the end, she had to, as king, send Guinevere to the stake, leading to all the tragedies that followed.

Until the new moon and Kiritsugu Emiya decided the outcome, even she couldn't free Irisviel from this pain.

The golden-haired young knight looked up, her blue pupils reflecting the cold moonlight.

All she could do was follow her oath and silently protect this pure princess of winter.

In the silence, she suddenly thought.

Where did that young man with golden eyes go after finishing his battle with her?

"By Command Spell!" Kirei Kotomine raised his right hand, chanting the incantation with the swiftness of an automaton.

"Assassin, appear beside me immediately!"

One of the Command Spells engraved on Kirei Kotomine's right hand emitted a strong light, unleashing extraordinary magic.

For the Assassin group operating throughout Fuyuki City, the moment Kirei Kotomine gave the order, their sense of space was completely stripped away, and they were thrown into a "movement" of unknown direction.

This was something only Command Spells specifically designed to "control Servants" could accomplish. In an instant, less than one-hundredth the speed of light, so fast it almost defied causality, the Command Spell had allowed Assassin to break through spatial distance, completing the movement between two points.

Between Kirei Kotomine and the attackers, a large number of figures cloaked in black surged forth—the Command Spell pointed to "Assassin," and even though they had split into hundreds of individuals using Zabaniya, they were essentially the same Servant.

Although the situation was sudden, the assassins' combat training allowed them to instantly assume combat stances, warily observing the attacker before them.

Golden pupils shone brightly in the night, as if burning with fierce flames.

Master, Crescent Moon.

Though a Master, he was a freak capable of clashing with Servant Lancer and exchanging blows with Hero King Archer!

White robes fluttered, red clothing danced, and the black and white soft armor reflected the yin and yang swords of the same colors. Sharp arcs flashed in the eyes of the Assassins.

Facing the Servants, the young man neither dodged nor retreated, launching a fierce assault as if eager.

It seemed the Assassins hadn't anticipated the young man's ferocity. In their shock, several heads flew into the sky, becoming souls claimed by the blades.

"Trace On!"

The initial dual blades were thrown, spinning and cutting through the black robes. 朔月 crossed his hands, clenched them tightly, and new blades appeared in his hands, allowing him to slaughter his way through the Assassins.

"Send eight people to cover my retreat. The rest are to delay Shuoyue's advance. Remember not to confront him directly."

Kirei Kotomine had issued instructions the moment he summoned Assassin. Although the Servant was by his side and his own combat ability was not weak, he had no intention of fighting 朔月, his sole focus being to escape.

"Trying to leave? Did I give permission?"

Easily dodging several throwing knives and a dagger, while also smashing the skull of a Hassan with the back of his blade, 朔月 looked at Kirei Kotomine's retreating form, a cold smile suddenly appearing on his lips.

"Sword Barrel Full Open!"

Using a fighting style similar to the Hero King, countless weapons whizzed towards Kirei Kotomine. This act of revealing his trump card further demonstrated his determination to kill Kirei Kotomine.

At the same time, 朔月 spoke, his low chant shaking the surrounding magic.

[I am the bone of my sword.]

The Servant class "Assassin" was inherently a class specialized in stealth, weaker in all other stats compared to other classes.

And the Hassan of the Hundred Personas summoned by Kirei Kotomine, through the Noble Phantasm "Delusion Phantasm," had divided themselves into different individuals. Although the number of individuals increased, the total amount of power did not change—based on this, the more they divided, the weaker each individual became.

What was even more critical was that if a divided individual died, that individual would not revert to the Assassin itself but would be directly eliminated. This was because it wasn't a mechanism where lower "clones" were produced by a higher "main body," but rather all Assassins were of equal standing.

Therefore, with every clone that died, Hassan of the Hundred Personas grew weaker. While it was fine for reconnaissance in normal times, Kirei Kotomine was now using Command Spells to send all the Hassans before a killing god wielding two large blades.

朔月, an anomaly among Masters, a peerless powerhouse capable of directly confronting even a peak-condition Lancer.

It's hard to find a better adjective than "hack and slash" for this guy mixing in with the Assassins, besides that.

The Hassans are suffering, but they're not complaining.

After all, for the "Order of Assassins," the employer's command is absolute. Since Kirei Kotomine hired (summoned) them, Hassan of the Hundred Personas, as the Old Man of the Mountain, must faithfully carry out his orders.

Even if it's a suicide mission.

[Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.]

Kirei Kotomine was rapidly retreating, but the overwhelming rain of swords tore at the black robes around him. With every step he took, a part of his surroundings would be cleared, forcing him to use more Assassin bodies to fill the gaps.

[Unaware of beginning,]

[Nor aware of the end.]

[— Yet,]

[my flame never ends.]