My Fates Codex in Type-Moon

"So this was Winter's Castle..." The unfamiliar sigh caught Illya's attention, and her little seven-year-old brain finally made the connection.

"Could it be that Shirou isn't a member of the Einzbern Family?"

The snowstorm in the forest seemed to grow heavier. After a moment, the young man's pleased laughter rang out.

"You figured it out so quickly. Illya really is clever."

"Of course! Illya is very clever!" The little girl sitting on Sakutsuki's shoulders proudly put her hands on her hips, then quickly asked in curiosity, "I heard Kiritsugu say that magi outside the castle can use magecraft. What about you, Shirou? Can you throw fireballs? Or can you do what Kiritsugu said, put a whole bunch of things into a cauldron and brew potions that turn people into rabbits?"

Apparently not expecting her to get that far, Sakutsuki froze for a moment before laughing in relief.

"Hehe... Hahaha... Illyasviel von Einzbern, honestly, perhaps the entire Einzbern Family should be grateful that you were the first person to meet me."

"???" The little girl tilted her head, her tiny mind filled with enormous confusion.

Yet Sakutsuki was not looking at her. Instead, he raised his eyes toward the snow-filled sky and murmured as if speaking to himself.

"Illya, don't you think today's weather is rather terrible?"

"Shirou really doesn't live here, does he? It always snows here. But Kiritsugu said the weather should get better tomorrow, right?"

"There's no need to wait until tomorrow."

"...Eh?"

Illya froze. In the next instant, an icy, bone-piercing presence surged up beneath her.

It was a presence she knew all too well, what Kiritsugu called "magical energy." Yet even she had never witnessed such an immense surge of magical energy.

"Watch carefully, Illya." The gentle young man who had been so kind to her narrowed his golden eyes. Vast magical energy poured forth, becoming a dazzling magic circle that enveloped the entire forest.

"This is one of the magecrafts I possess."

The wind stopped.

The snow ceased falling.

The sky turned milky white.

Sunlight streamed down from the brightened heavens.

"Wow..." Illya stared at the completely transformed, clear sky and let out a disbelieving cry.

In her innocent little mind, only one thought echoed.

Then she could look for walnut buds in the forest with Kiritsugu every single day!

According to a later report by the German Meteorological Service, within a radius of ten li around a certain point in the Alps, a snowstorm that should have lasted until the next day abruptly cleared up. Meanwhile, in the town of Lauterbrunnen several kilometers away, heavy snow suddenly began to fall.

It was as though a god had extended an invisible hand and swapped the weather between the two places.

Later, this report was taken in by the Sealing Designation Enforcers of the Mage's Association Clock Tower. With the Holy Church's assistance, this weather anomaly did not cause widespread unrest in the modern world.

Of course, that was a story for later.

The man treated every life equally when saving people. Likewise, he made no distinction between good and evil when killing.

But by the time he realized it, it was already too late.

Valuing every life equally also meant loving no one.

If he had engraved that ironclad rule into his heart sooner, perhaps there might still have been a way to attain salvation.

If he had frozen his young heart earlier, let it rot away, and turned himself into a bloodless, tearless measuring machine, perhaps he could have spent his life coldly sorting the living from the dead without suffering over it.

But that man was not that kind of person.

The weather anomaly over Einzbern was like a forceful invitation, welcoming Sakutsuki, this "unwelcome guest," into the thousand-year-old Winter's Castle.

Surrounded by countless similarly shaped homunculi holding weapons, Sakutsuki was led toward the chapel of Einzbern Castle—the most magnificent and also the darkest place within this ancient city frozen by wind and snow.

Naturally, it was not a place to praise God's grace or soothe the soul. In a magus's castle, a so-called place of prayer was where magical rituals were conducted.

Thus, the stained-glass windows Sakutsuki saw along the way did not depict saints, but the Einzbern Family's long history of pursuing the Holy Grail.

Even among the three founding families, Einzbern had devoted the longest time to the Holy Grail.

Yet by now, some of the magi who had once gathered to pursue the Third Magic had left the castle, while others had taken their own lives. In the end, only the homunculi created by those magi remained in this frozen land.

Because of their mechanical purity, these homunculi inherited the ideals of the magi who had created them—"reproduce the Third Magic"—and kept the Einzbern workshop running. From then on, every homunculus created by Einzbern was modeled after Justeaze: silver hair and crimson eyes.

Then, two hundred years ago, the homunculi finally gave up exploring alone and began cooperating with outside families such as the Tohsaka and Matou families.

But in the Holy Grail Wars that followed, the Einzbern Family had never achieved victory because their Masters were always slightly inferior in combat ability. As a result, nine years ago, they were forced to decide to recruit a battle-hardened magus from outside.

Speaking of which, Kiritsugu Papa was precisely the trump card the Einzbern Family, which had always prided itself on the purity of its bloodline, had prepared after changing its beliefs for the second time.

As Sakutsuki walked through the corridor, his gaze accidentally lingered on a relatively new stained-glass window.

It depicted the Einzbern Family's "Winter Saint," Lisleize Leistach von Einzbern, and the two magi attending her as they reached toward a cup in the sky. If one carefully examined the composition and balance of the image, it became obvious just how much the Einzbern Family had looked down on the Tohsaka and Matou families two hundred years ago, and how ashamed they now were to have no choice but to rely on those two families' assistance.

The white-haired, golden-eyed young man walked through the passageway, utterly out of place amid the solemn atmosphere, as though one side was fated to declare its destruction because of the other.

The old magus who ruled this city of winter was already waiting before the altar.

The old man was named Jubstacheit von Einzbern. Since inheriting the position of the eighth family head, he had used the name Acht. He had extended his lifespan several times and lived for nearly two centuries, continuing to rule the Einzbern Family even after the Holy Grail "exploration" had become the Holy Grail "War."

Yet when facing the master of this castle, Sakutsuki merely gave him a careless glance before his eyes settled on the man and woman beside him, never leaving them again.

The man wore a long coat. His neat black hair and tall, thin frame were exactly as Sakutsuki remembered from Emiya's memories. His eyes were lifeless, but a closer look revealed flames of obsession burning within them.

The woman wore a platinum-colored coat. Her silver hair fell softly around her shoulders, and her ruby-like eyes were gentle. Like a snow princess who had stepped out of a fairy tale, she was as beautiful as Sakutsuki had seen through the screen.

Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel, the Master representing the Einzbern Family in this Holy Grail War and his partner.

At the same time, they were also...

"Then, magus who invaded Einzbern territory and cast grand magecraft within our Winter's Castle, since you did not harm Illyasviel von Einzbern, I permit you to state your purpose."

The old magus's arrogant words caused Sakutsuki to turn his gaze back to him.

Old Acht stroked his long white beard, reminiscent of a frozen waterfall. From deep-set eye sockets, his powerful, utterly unaged gaze shot straight at Sakutsuki. An almost obsessive, invisible pressure radiated from him, one that inspired disgust.

And Sakutsuki's disgust was conveyed clearly into Acht's mind.

"Iris." Almost at that instant, Kiritsugu Emiya's expression shifted slightly. Without drawing attention to it, he pulled his wife over and shielded her behind him.

Only those who had walked through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, or been weathered by the years, could sense the change in the invisible atmosphere. The white-haired, golden-eyed young man merely stood there, yet Kiritsugu and old Acht felt as if they were about to be crushed. The old magus's entire body had even begun to tremble uncontrollably.

It was not because Sakutsuki had displayed any crude brutality. Rather, once one was exposed to those cold golden eyes, one could not help but realize how fragile and powerless one truly was.

Before Sakutsuki, who was not a Heroic Spirit yet resembled one so closely, any human would surely feel that their life was as helpless as a moth's.

"Then allow me to make my demands, Einzbern." Standing at the doorway, the young man gathered a stream of blue light in his palm. "I came here for your Einzbern puppet-making techniques, the data on the Lesser Grail, the Holy Grail War relic for this war, one kawaii little girl..."

After a pause, beneath old Acht's incredulous stare, Sakutsuki spoke his final demand.

"And the Third Magic."

"Kill him!" As if his reverse scale had been touched, the white-haired old man gave the order without hesitation. He slammed his cane heavily against the ground, and endless magic circles rose from the floor, surrounding the entire chapel.

As the doors opened, countless homunculi armed with halberds and axes poured in, charging toward the lone Sakutsuki.

"Get out of here! This man is dangerous!" As the "Magus Killer" whom Einzbern had gone so far as to lower themselves to welcome into their castle, Kiritsugu Emiya chose to retreat first when faced with his specialty. He grabbed his wife's hand and backed toward the door.

"But, Kiritsugu, I can fight too..." Irisviel did not want her husband to face danger alone, and she hesitated briefly.

That hesitation cost her her final chance.

Trace On!

Blades, spears, swords, halberds, axes, hooks, and forks.

When the blades flew toward them, Irisviel only had time to shove her husband away with all her strength before she was swallowed by the merciless weapons.

"Iris!" Kiritsugu Emiya's pupils contracted.

There was no blood, no scream. Countless blades gleaming with cold iron light stabbed into the ground like a small grave.

A piece of white fabric was lifted by the blast, vanishing into the dark chapel like a melting snowflake.

His heart convulsed, and the familiar taste of rust filled his mouth. Kiritsugu Emiya's eyes went vacant as he pulled two submachine pistols from inside his coat.

Time Alter, Triple Accel!

The outer shell named "good husband" was torn away.

After seven years, that former Magus Killer had once again found a target he would pursue to the death.

Other people's joyful smiles filled his heart with satisfaction; other people's anguished cries shook his soul.

Other people's desperate resentment filled him with rage, while other people's lonely tears always made him reach out to wipe them away. Even as he pursued an ideal beyond human standards—he was too much like an ordinary person.

That contradiction tormented the man countless times.

Sometimes it was friendship. Sometimes it was love.

Even when a life he deeply loved was placed on the scales against countless unfamiliar lives, he had never once shown favoritism.

Even if he fell in love with someone, he would still regard that person's life and the lives of others equally, cherish them equally, and abandon them equally.

He kept encountering those he cherished, only to lose them again and again.

Trace On!

Twin black-and-white blades appeared in Sakutsuki's hands. His golden eyes flashed as he traced a yin-yang taiji in the air, sweeping aside attacks coming from every direction.

With a shift of his footing, a great halberd was projected at his side, sending several homunculi on his left flying before it was immediately shattered by even more weapons.

"Displacement Magic... Ngh!" The diamond-shaped magic circle had only just formed before it was destroyed by the impact of overwhelming magical energy. Old Acht stood high above the chapel, his expression terribly grim.

At the same time, a fragmentation grenade rolled to a stop at Sakutsuki's feet.

"Damn..." He only had time to sweep away the surrounding homunculi before the blaze of the explosion swallowed him.

"Move!" With a sharp shout, the man wrapped in a black coat dived down like a hawk toward the center of the explosion. The Calico M950 pistols in his hands spat blazing muzzle flashes.

9×19mm bullets shrieked through the air, carrying incomparable destructive power as they swore to tear through their target's flesh and heart!

Pink flowers bloomed amid the smoke. The bullets struck seven petals, sending ripples across them.

Though his attack had been blocked, Kiritsugu Emiya did not lose heart. Instead, he raised his right hand and made a gesture.

A fierce red light suddenly erupted from somewhere on the second floor.

Sakutsuki instinctively looked up, his voice nearly cracking in shock.

"Holy shit, an RPG!"

The armor-piercing rocket broke the sound barrier and was blocked by the hastily raised petal shield. The explosion once again cleared out a zone of utter devastation.

The Magic Boundary Field controlled by old Acht unleashed a blast of magical energy. Passing through the sea of fire created by the RPG, carrying dazzling light and heat, it finally depleted the last of Rho Aias's magical energy.

Pink petals drifted down one by one. Amid the falling blossoms, the black-clad killer calmly drew the weapon hidden in his coat. The warm feel of its walnut grip made his aim even steadier.

At last, he pulled the trigger. The hunting pistol named Contender fired a bullet—a 7.62mm Springfield rifle round that was nearly impossible to defend against unless one was sitting inside an armored vehicle.

To defend against an attack like that, there was only one option: magecraft.

But this time, what Kiritsugu Emiya heard was the tearing sound of the bullet piercing flesh.

Fine. The result is the same. He thought indifferently, putting away his beloved gun.

Clang—!

Condensed magical energy became a thin blade, instantly shredding the weapons in Kiritsugu Emiya's hands and even slicing off half of one of his fingernails.