At dusk, the summit of Mount Enzou was dyed orange-red by the setting sun.
Shiki stood atop a huge boulder at the mountaintop, facing the afterglow of the sunset. Suddenly, he spread his arms and shouted at the sky, "I love you, Sun!!"
His voice echoed through the mountains, startling several birds returning to their nests.
The Black Knight Lancelot stood below the boulder, staring blankly at Shiki's sudden behavior. He could not help wondering, Did overusing those Mystic Eyes earlier damage Master's brain?
"Mr. Lancelot, what bad things are you thinking about?"
As though he had sensed the Black Knight's thoughts, Shiki suddenly turned around and asked.
The Black Knight jumped in fright. He had not expected Master to see through his thoughts.
He hurriedly covered up, saying, "Master, I wasn't thinking anything. I was merely wondering when we should set out. If we're too late, the other Heroic Spirits may make the first move. Then we'll be the ones at a disadvantage."
At the mention of the other Heroic Spirits, the Black Knight's expression turned grave.
He knew full well that whether it was Saber, the King of Knights, or Rider, things would become troublesome the moment either of them attacked Archer or them.
Once Rider deployed his Noble Phantasm, the Reality Marble, the sheer size of that army would be enough to place him at an absolute disadvantage.
Even with his Noble Phantasm fully unleashed, it was only an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm. Its capture range was limited, and it had a limit on the number of uses. Fighting Rider did not look promising.
As for Saber, the King of Knights, now was not the time to confront her. If they acted rashly, they could only retreat.
Shiki seemed to have considered all of this long ago. He leaped down from the highest point of Mount Enzou, drifting down as lightly as a falling leaf until he landed beside the Black Knight.
Brimming with confidence, he said, "Relax. No one else will be faster than us." As he spoke, he pointed toward Shinto and continued, "In everyone's minds, unless there's a special reason, battles at night generally begin after nine o'clock. That incident with Caster before was just an accident."
The Black Knight could not help objecting, "But Master, when the King of Knights fought Lancer, it was only a little past seven in the evening. That was about the same time as the battle against Caster."
"Um... that was an accident too. Come on, Mr. Lancelot, listen to me. There definitely won't be any accidents today."
Shiki was a little embarrassed. Why does this Black Knight love tearing me down so much? I've only been dragged into the Holy Grail War for about two and a half days. How could I know so much about what happened before?
"Enough, stop dwelling on it. Let's eat first, then immediately hunt Archer. Is that good enough?"
Shiki muttered as he took the lead down the mountain.
The Black Knight helplessly shook his head, his figure fading away as he followed close behind Master.
At that moment, across the Mion River, the neon lights along Shinto's streets gradually lit up, decorating the city in dazzling colors.
Shiki was searching everywhere for a suitable restaurant when a familiar figure suddenly entered his sight.
"Kiritsugu Emiya."
This stubbly, world-weary man was the one he had exchanged gunfire with before.
What puzzled Shiki was why the man was here without his Servant. Was he really that confident? Was he not afraid someone would attack him?
The Black Knight, in spirit form, naturally noticed Kiritsugu as well. He asked Shiki, "Master, what should we do?"
The Black Knight knew little about this man. He only knew that he was Saber, the King of Knights' true Master, a ruthless "Magus Killer," according to the intelligence gathered by the Matou Family.
"Kiritsugu Emiya... Heh, how nice. Come on, let's play with him first. Give him a little scare."
He could eat anytime, but he might only get one chance to scare Kiritsugu.
Shiki used ninja tracking techniques. Even without chakra, he had not forgotten those skills. He carefully followed behind Kiritsugu, passing through two streets until Kiritsugu turned into a dim alley.
"Master, it seems the other side has noticed us," the Black Knight warned.
Shiki smiled. "Not 'it seems.' He definitely noticed us. Interesting, Kiritsugu. As expected of the Magus Killer. His senses are sharp, and he's cautious enough."
Since he had been discovered, there was nothing left to enjoy.
A coin appeared in Shiki's hand. The power of the Asura Path instantly covered it, reinforcing its very nature.
With his mana now abundant, using such a method placed no burden on him at all.
He flicked his finger, and the coin shot out like a bullet leaving a barrel. It pierced through the crowd at incredible speed, flew past a billboard, and embedded itself deep within the alley.
Shiki chuckled and turned away. Time to eat.
Along the way, he could still hear the Black Knight complaining in his mind about him once again using the power of his Mystic Eyes without permission.
No one around them could have noticed that move. Even if someone in the crowd felt a gust of air brush past, they would only assume it was the sea breeze. In a coastal city, such things were common enough.
Deep within the alley, however, Kiritsugu Emiya was breaking out in cold sweat.
He slowly turned his head and looked at the dented wall beside his head. At the center of the depression was a gleaming coin embedded in the stone.
Just a little closer, and his head would have burst like a watermelon.
"That young Master didn't intend to kill me..."
Kiritsugu could sense that the other party had no killing intent. That reinforced coin had merely been a joke. Yet through that joke, he had witnessed the boy's ability and power.
"Strong!"
He finally understood why the bullets from the ordinary handgun used by the other party before had been so powerful. It turned out that he had used Reinforcement Magecraft to reinforce the bullets.
Kiritsugu removed the gleaming coin and silently counted the time. Only after two minutes did the coin return to its original color.
"Two and a half minutes..."
Kiritsugu frowned deeply. Both his opponent's reinforcement duration and mana reserves made him difficult to deal with. Combined with the boy's nimble reactions and movements, Kiritsugu's chances of winning alone against him were practically zero.
"I can only ambush him by surprise."
But that was easier said than done. From too far away, his accuracy would decline. From too close, he had even less confidence in close combat. Alone, he had no chance of victory at all.
Kiritsugu helplessly left the alley and continued searching Shinto for Rider's Master.
With the Holy Grail War nearing its end, that newcomer from the Clock Tower was the easiest target to deal with.
As for Saber and Rider forming an alliance, so what? As long as that newcomer died, Rider could not remain manifested for long and would soon return to the Holy Grail.
A few minutes later, a stray cat slowly strolled over to the dented wall in the alley. It curiously stared at the indentation, seemingly wondering why that thing had not been there before.
But this spot seemed just right.
The stray cat leaped nimbly, used the indentation as a foothold, easily climbed onto the wall, meowed twice, and jumped into the neighboring courtyard.
Meanwhile, in a restaurant two streets away, Shiki was frowning at the menu.
Looking at the dozens of dishes listed on it, he was crippled by indecision. He wanted to try every one of them, but after feeling his pockets and finding himself short on cash, he could only pick two.
"Master..."
The Black Knight stood beside him, speechless as he watched Shiki hesitate. Why had he never noticed that this young Master had such trouble making choices?
It seemed that after leaving the Matou Old House, more and more of Master's little flaws had begun to show.
Urged on by the Black Knight, Shiki finally used a counting game to choose two Japanese sweet specialties for dinner.
However, after tasting them, Shiki frowned. He smacked his lips, wore a helpless expression, and ultimately set down his chopsticks.
"What's wrong, Master? Is the food bad?" the Black Knight asked with concern.
"No, it's my own problem. My sense of smell and taste have lost their sensitivity to certain flavors."
A strange illness he had suffered from since childhood had forced him to take countless medicines, both good and bad. In the end, even his sense of smell and taste had been affected.
Only now did he realize that he had lost most of his ability to taste overly sweet flavors. Even the finest filled rice cakes tasted like wax.
For a moment, the Black Knight was at a loss for words, unsure how to comfort Master.
"Alright, Mr. Lancelot, don't worry about me. I know what I'm doing. It's not some terminal illness. I'll slowly find a way to treat it later."
Shiki comforted the Black Knight instead.
Although the food's flavor was incredibly faint, as though separated by a layer of something, he still quickly finished eating. Then, without wasting any time, he took the Black Knight and headed straight for the Holy Church.
It was nearly seven in the evening.
Looking at the Holy Church, whose lights were still on, Shiki's lips curled into a confident smile. "I knew it. The Joyful Monster and Archer are here!"
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