My Fates Codex in Type-Moon

However, this time, it was Berserker, who seemed to have the upper hand, who made the first move. Though, it was less of a move...

The roar of gunfire, no less than a berserker's howl, ceased. Berserker hurled both weapons at Saber and Lancer, then phased out of their sight.

"...Gone?" Saber muttered in confusion, effortlessly slicing through the guns.

Meanwhile, Lancer's expression suddenly turned grim.

Should I create a fan group? That is the question...

"Lancer, what's wrong?"

Saber noticed the change in Lancer's demeanor and asked naturally.

"My Master is currently in danger... It seems he left me here and attacked your base camp himself," Lancer said slowly, his tone strained.

Seeing the dual-wielding Servant display such an expression, his Master's situation was likely far more perilous than he described.

"In the end... is everything still under Kiritsugu's control?"

Saber felt a sense of helplessness. While she didn't deny the necessity of strategy and tactics, Kiritsugu's traps were fundamentally at odds with the Knight King's ideals.

But this was the Holy Grail War.

Moreover, Lancer's Master had initiated the conflict, so it was only natural that he would be at the mercy of his victor.

Saber's blue eyes flickered as she stared at Lancer, whose expression had now calmed.

To win the Holy Grail War, the most logical strategy would be to hold Lancer here, buying time for his Master to perish.

Therefore, her choice was already made...

"It must have been my Master. Lancer, hurry and go aid your Master."

Upon hearing Saber's unhesitating urging, Lancer first showed surprise, then bowed his head deeply with immense gratitude. To Saber, her judgment was clearly equivalent to betraying her own Master.

"Knight King, thank you very much."

The handsome lancer nodded and disappeared into a spirit form. He vanished like a gust of wind, speeding towards the castle deep within the forest.

The golden-haired girl was left alone in the forest, her blue eyes unwavering. Relying on her senses, she ran towards a certain spot in the woods.

Yes, this was the Holy Grail War, and she had sworn to obtain the Holy Grail at all costs.

As a Servant, she was meant to eliminate other opponents alongside her Master and win the Holy Grail together.

As a King, she had descended here to save her country and should not be soft-hearted.

But...

Under the moonlight, the beautiful girl pressed onward, her noble posture unchanged for thousands of years.

Before anything else, she was a knight.

As if struck by a thought, the Knight King stopped, a faint, self-mocking smile gracing her lips.

Even so, how many hidden, dark thoughts lay beneath her decision to let Lancer leave without heading to the Einzbern castle?

Just how much did she have to hate Emiya Kiritsugu to stop?

No, rather than hating Emiya Kiritsugu himself, she was resisting certain shadows she saw in him...

Shaking her head, Saber stepped forward, continuing to walk further and further away from her Master.

What exactly had happened?

Before he could even realize it, destructive pain had overwhelmed Kayneth's thought processes.

His throat hadn't even had time to let out a scream before he spat out a mouthful of blood. His nerves went haywire, causing his entire body to spasm, making his slender frame, clad in a stylish suit, perform an ugly and comical dance.

The high-density magical energy circulating within his Magic Circuits, driven by intense pressure, suddenly went berserk, disregarding its pathways and destroying the caster's own body. When the Moon Cell Liquid defended against the Contender's attack, Kayneth suffered more severe damage than if he had been directly hit by the bullet.

"Crackle." The spent casing flowed through the mercury solution, now unrestrained, reflecting the bright, cold moonlight.

With a pained howl that sounded unnatural in his throat, the once arrogant lord of the Clock Tower collapsed into the mercury sea, his body instinctively twitching, proving he still had a sliver of life.

One shot, just one bullet, had ended the brilliance of a genius's life and the honor of a family spanning nearly a thousand years.

Emiya Kiritsugu, the perpetrator of this nightmare, pressed the trigger with his finger, flicking the long barrel downward as if to shake off blood.

The empty casing naturally popped out of the folding chamber into the void. It fell onto the marble floor, carrying faint traces of gunpowder.

The fortieth Origin Bullet had successfully destroyed the target.

He felt no elation at victory; it was merely the result of successful guidance and calculated conclusions, just like before.

The lethality of the Origin Bullet depended on the extent to which the target's Magic Circuits were operating at the moment of impact, as it was their own magic that destroyed their body—this was particularly deadly for a genius like Kayneth. Kiritsugu had repeatedly provoked Kayneth, intending to lure the red-eyed bull to the edge of a cliff and then push him over.

Leaving Kayneth here would mean his death in due time, but Emiya Kiritsugu always understood the importance of finishing the job. He switched his Calico submachine gun, which still had bullets, to single-shot mode and walked towards the dazed Kayneth.

A single shot to his head at close range would eliminate one of the seven factions competing for the Holy Grail.

However, at this moment, Emiya Kiritsugu felt a massive surge of magic approaching. He made a decisive move, raising his submachine gun to aim and firing several shots at Kayneth's head.

In a trajectory of intertwined red and yellow, the bullets sparked in mid-air. The handsome lancer appeared before Emiya Kiritsugu, catching the fallen Kayneth.

Kiritsugu could only click his tongue in frustration; even he hadn't anticipated an enemy Servant interfering at this precise moment.

Kiritsugu had assumed that Kayneth's solo infiltration of the castle was due to Saber holding Lancer back. So how had the lancer managed to break through the Knight King's obstruction?

If Saber had been defeated, Kiritsugu should have felt the connection to his Magic Circuit's target severed. However, Saber, wherever she was, was still drawing mana from Kiritsugu, meaning his Servant was indeed still alive.

This left only one possible conclusion—Saber must have intentionally let Lancer pass.

Lancer watched Kiritsugu, who was stunned, with cold eyes. He gripped his twin spears in his right hand and used his free left hand to scoop up Kayneth's body. These actions seemed unguarded at first glance, but Kiritsugu found himself completely unable to intervene.

The bullets infused with necromancy were against the inside of his coat. Now, if he so much as moved, the sharp spear tips would immediately pierce his heart.

"—You must know how easy it would be to run you through right now, Saber's Master."

If Saber hadn't told him herself, even Lancer would have found it hard to believe that the man before him, who didn't look like a magus at all, was her Master. But he understood how capable his own Master was; she had the ability to defeat Kayneth's magic, leaving no doubt about her identity.

However, or perhaps precisely because he was Saber's Master, Lancer couldn't point his spear at him.

"I will not let you kill my Master, but I will also not harm Saber's Master. Neither she nor I wish for the battle to be decided in this manner."

"Don't forget, the only reason you're still alive is due to the Knight King's noble sentiment."

After saying this with a cold tone, Lancer, still holding Kayneth, crashed through the nearby window and flew out of the castle.

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Moonlight streamed in through the shattered window. The man, who had endured a fierce battle, hid in the shadows and took a cigarette from his pack.

Lancer was gone.

He had lost the best opportunity to kill a Master.

Realizing this, Kiritsugu once again felt the terrible nature of the relationship between himself and his contracted Servant.

Lancer was right; he had indeed been spared. With Saber not here, he was helpless.

No, even if Saber were by his side right now, could Kiritsugu really leave things to her?

That Lancer, the Heroic Spirit Diarmuid, was quite a naive and kind young man, but Saber's chivalric code was no less foolish, completely beyond Kiritsugu's understanding.

She probably genuinely believed Lancer wouldn't kill Kiritsugu. Such an idea was preposterous. The Knight King had allowed her Master to face the enemy Servant alone. If Lancer had betrayed them, their Holy Grail War would have ended that very instant. Even if Lancer hadn't intended to kill Kiritsugu, if Kayneth had been conscious, he would have used a Command Spell to force Lancer's hand. Did Saber not even consider such a possibility?

Kiritsugu shook his head in utter helplessness, lighting the cigarette in his mouth. It was truly ironic. One Servant developed a foolishly trusting relationship with the enemy, while simultaneously drifting further away from their own Master.

Even if she was hailed as the strongest Servant, where could he find such a disobedient subordinate?

If he had known this would happen, he should have been more cautious when choosing a Servant—Kiritsugu chewed on this regret, which came too late, and exhaled a puff of purple smoke with a sigh.

After all, Saber had yet to arrive.

"Kiritsugu might look calm on the outside, but he must be furious on the inside, right?"

The young man with golden eyes leaned against a tree trunk, watching the portable monitor display, a smug grin on his face.

"You know, it's not just Masters who choose Servants; Servants also choose their Masters."

Even Pokémon wouldn't obey commands if the trainer's level was too low, let alone heroes with such strong personalities.

Now, the chaotic battle between the three Servants was over, and the duel between the two Masters had reached its conclusion—but the Holy Grail War was not yet over for the night.

"Miyu, rapid fire."

"Understood!" The magical girl with sapphire eyes stepped onto an invisible magical barrier and leaped up, unleashing dozens of magic bullets of various sizes. They collided with the incoming Noble Phantasms, exploding simultaneously.

The reason Sakutsuki could relax so much and lean against the tree to spy on Emiya Kiritsugu was that he had summoned his own Servant, allowing her to fight in his stead.

Of course, this also included a certain King of Heroes holding back.

"What is your assessment of Saber?" Gilgamesh asked, maintaining the output of the Gates of Babylon as he sat on a luxurious chair and poured himself a drink.

"What else can it be?" Sakutsuki said faintly, projecting magic to help Miyu fend off the excess Noble Phantasms. "Just a little girl who should be protected."

"Hoh? An interesting assessment. She is the Knight King of Britain, you know?"

"So what? Since I'm here, and I'm standing here, she just needs to look pretty."

"Do you intend to keep her as a bird in a cage?"

"Imprisonment play does sound good… but I'm afraid of being blasted by a beam."

"Hahahahaha… I didn't expect you to have such a comedic talent, clown." With a hearty laugh, the golden Heroic Spirit slapped his thigh without any regard for his image, spilling his wine without even noticing. "It's merely a mortal's fantasy, yet you present it so convincingly. It truly makes one laugh their head off!"

"And what about you, King of Heroes?" The young man with golden eyes was not angered. He gestured for Miyu to return and rolled his eyes. "You are merely a phantom, yet you still cling to that moon reflected in the water?"

"What nonsense are you spouting, mongrel!" The King of Heroes drank his fine wine, a wicked smile playing on his lips. "I hold the key to the world's treasures. There is no treasure in this world that does not originate from my treasury. Is such a delicate body, such a holy appearance, not worthy of my pampering?"

"Then we are rivals?" The young man with golden eyes licked his lips, as if asking a question, but also as if provoking.

Archer responded with a murderous and delighted laugh. "Who do you think you are? A cook, a Master, or a traveler who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth?"

"From the very beginning, we were destined to be the only ones to survive!"

Miyu, standing nearby, held her breath. The suddenly menacing atmosphere made her unconsciously tighten her grip on her magic staff.

However, the next moment, Archer's body suddenly materialized, and his handsome face contorted with rage.

"That damn… Tokiomi Tohsaka!!!"

In the blink of an eye, the golden king vanished before the young man's eyes, against his will.

However, Sakutsuki, his opponent, showed no surprise. He gazed in the direction of Miyama Town, a faint and inscrutable smile on his lips.

"I told you… the Holy Grail War is not over tonight."

His right hand felt a faint, intermittent pain, like a pulled muscle if he had to describe it.

But it seemed to have evolved from a heart-wrenching agony, making it difficult for Kariya Matou to distinguish whether it was because the owner of this arm was accustomed to such sensations, or because he had simply grown numb.

As he raised his right hand, now a club-like, deformed appendage, a strange black mist billowed out. The Tohsaka family's exquisite magical barrier began to dim as if corroded, and even the central gem turned to dust, scattering piece by piece.

Throughout this precise operation, Kariya Matou didn't utter a single sound.

It must be that Assassin class skill, Presence Concealment, right?

Although Kariya had memorized all the knowledge about Masters and Servants before the Holy Grail War began, at this very moment, the flames of vengeance were scorching his mind, leaving him no room to think about anything else.

That being said, his heart rate remained stable, as if he were a pre-programmed machine, not leaking a single superfluous breath.

"Dreamlike Summon (Install)."

"By indirectly contacting the Servant Records through a Class Card, one's own body is overlaid with the power of a Servant fitting that class, thereby stealing the Heroic Spirit's might."

"Is there anything more suited for infiltration and assassination than Assassin?"

The golden-eyed youth's meaningful expression, and the strange card he had given him, flashed through Kariya Matou's mind.