Shinto's Civic Hall stood northeast of Fuyuki Bridge, only a few hundred meters away on foot.
Shiki headed toward his destination at an unhurried pace. By the time he finally arrived, more than an hour had quietly passed.
Those two must have grown impatient waiting for him.
It was already past eleven at night. The area around the hall was deathly silent, without a single person in sight.
That should not have been normal for Shinto. The place had always been lively; even at three or four in the morning, there were usually a few idle punks wandering the streets.
"Civilian Repulsion Spell!"
Shiki immediately realized that magecraft was at work.
Though he could not name the specific spell, such spells generally worked the same way. They used mana to interfere with ordinary people, making anyone approaching subconsciously feel that the place was boring, or suddenly remember some other trivial matter, prompting them to avoid it on their own.
"That works too. At least no innocent people will get hurt."
Thinking that, Shiki strode openly through the Civic Hall's front entrance.
At that moment, Kiritsugu and Kirei, waiting in the lower level of the hall, instantly sensed the magecraft being triggered. They knew the person they had been waiting for had arrived.
"Heh heh, Kiritsugu Emiya, if we survive this, how about we go for a drink afterward?"
Sitting nearby, Kirei made the suggestion.
Kiritsugu spat out the cigarette dangling from his mouth. He had not smoked for several days; the pressure lately had been so intense that he had even forgotten about smoking.
Hearing Kirei's words, Kiritsugu replied without looking up, "Don't get ahead of yourself. We can talk after we actually survive."
As he spoke, he opened the case by his feet. Inside was a modified and reinforced large-caliber single-shot handgun, the Competitor. Originally a hunting weapon, it had now become his tool for hunting Magi.
Thirty-six Magi had already died to this gun, thanks to it and, more importantly, the Origin Bullets.
"Origin Bullets, Kiritsugu Emiya. You'd better aim carefully. Otherwise, you might end up helping that kid."
Kirei reminded him.
"I know," Kiritsugu answered tersely.
To deal with Shiki, the two had no choice but to share intelligence and thoroughly discuss their battle plan, methods of coordination, and every possible precaution. Even so, they felt they had only the slightest chance of winning.
Shiki's agility and reaction speed left them uncertain. Neither dared guarantee that their planned tactics would work.
Footsteps drew nearer. Kiritsugu and Kirei rose to their feet, staring fixedly at the entrance to the lower level. The enemy was about to appear.
"BOOM!!!!"
With a deafening blast, the door to the lower level was blown away, and smoke and dust filled the air.
From within the smoke came Shiki's voice. "Wow, that's quite the welcome ceremony. You two are so enthusiastic that I'm almost flattered."
Shiki emerged from the explosion without a scratch, stepped over the crater blasted into the floor, and stood smiling before Kiritsugu and Kirei. "I came as promised, Kiritsugu Emiya. And Kirei Kotomine."
A barrage of gunfire answered him.
Six or seven submachine guns opened fire from the sides at once, instantly pouring more than three hundred rounds at Shiki. The area where he had been standing was riddled with holes, ricochets flying everywhere.
Yet not one of those bullets even touched the corner of Shiki's clothes.
The instant the guns fired, Shiki had already darted away, nimbly leaving the carefully prepared trap empty.
Kiritsugu and Kirei were not surprised. They merely exchanged a glance, and both saw the same realization in the other's eyes: Shiki was troublesome.
The boy's reaction speed was even faster than they had expected.
Kirei Kotomine took off his coat, revealing the Holy Church vestments beneath. Under those vestments were over twenty Black Keys. As an Einsatz, he had come fully armed.
"Kiritsugu Emiya, begin."
As Kirei spoke, he hurled six Black Keys like lightning. However, those were only meant as a distraction. The real killing move came afterward.
The Black Keys spun toward Shiki as Kirei Kotomine charged after them.
Would Shiki block the Black Keys, or face Kirei's attack head-on? That was the dilemma before him.
Shiki smiled and chose to handle both.
His figure flashed, fluorescent patterns appearing across his body. The Asura Path ability instantly covered him from head to toe, turning him into a humanoid weapon.
With a sweep of his hand, he knocked away every Black Key. Then he met the charging Kirei Kotomine head-on, and the two exchanged a punch.
"CLANG!!"
A dull impact rang out like metal colliding. Both men took a step back.
Shiki was surprised. The priest had changed equipment today—he was wearing gloves.
"BANG!!"
Just as Shiki's old force had spent itself and his new force had yet to emerge, a gunshot rang out. A bullet appeared before his eyes in an instant.
A sense of danger flashed through Shiki's mind like lightning.
"Hmm?"
He had no time to think. His black right eye changed instantly, and an invisible force field enveloped his entire body before reversing and erupting in that same moment.
"BOOM!!!!"
A powerful blast of air surged outward like an explosion. Kirei Kotomine on the ground and the Black Keys spinning through the air were both sent flying as though struck by a speeding truck.
For a moment, clanging rang without end as turbulent currents swept through the entire lower level.
Kiritsugu Emiya, firing from afar, disregarded his own safety and leapt forward, catching the priest who had been thrown back.
The two rolled several times together before finally crashing into a load-bearing pillar and stopping.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
The priest coughed violently and spat out several streaks of blood. Pressed atop Kiritsugu, he said, "Though I hate to admit it, I still have to thank you, Kiritsugu. I didn't expect the boy to have another formidable ability."
Kiritsugu and Kirei struggled to their feet and looked toward where Shiki had stood. A crater larger than the one caused by the earlier bomb had appeared there. Through it, they could see that even the floor slab leading to the underground parking garage had been blasted through.
"Execute Plan B." Kiritsugu gave the order decisively.
"Understood."
As experienced hunters, they naturally had more than one battle plan. They had already considered every possibility, including the chance that Shiki had been hiding his strength.
In their view, it would have been stranger if Shiki had no hidden abilities.
Just like the Mystic Eyes they had seen. Before this, they had known nothing about them.
"Proceed carefully. Do not look directly into the opponent's Mystic Eyes!"
The two quickly drew pistols and submachine guns, firing wildly toward the entrance while hurling grenades one after another. In an instant, the hall's lower level became a modern battlefield of gunfire and explosions.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!"
The explosions of the grenades were deafening.
Shiki could still handle firearm attacks with ease, but grenades posed a far greater threat.
Bullets flying in straight lines were relatively easy to dodge, but the fragments scattered by exploding grenades were impossible to guard against.
Though the Asura Path ability had strengthened Shiki's body, his body was not metal. Even a paper cutter could leave a wound on him.
"Sigh, I can only say that I still need time to grow."
Shiki sighed helplessly, then swept his hand. Under the force field's control, the grenades flying toward him were reflected back.
Seeing this, Kiritsugu and Kirei immediately turned into gunmen fleeing in a frenzy.
"It's only polite to return the favor. Here, take them back!"
"BOOM BOOM!!!"
Several grenades exploded near Kiritsugu and Kirei, fragments spraying everywhere. Though Kiritsugu reacted quickly, he still failed to evade them completely and was injured.
"Hmph!!"
Hearing that, Kirei hurriedly shouted, "Hey, Kiritsugu Emiya, are you all right?"
Kiritsugu tossed aside the empty drum magazine and replaced it with a fresh one. "I'm fine. Just a cut on my face."
He wiped his face. In truth, aside from the wound on his face, several fragments had struck his bulletproof vest and bruised his ribs. But he did not mention it; he did not want Kirei distracted.
Kiritsugu's voice remained calm and firm, allowing Kirei to relax slightly.
During the gap while Kiritsugu fired, Kirei quickly replaced his own magazine as well.
As members of the Holy Church's violent organization for handling enemies by any means necessary, Einsatz were more familiar with modern firearms than anyone.
As the last grenade exploded, Plan B entered its second phase.
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