The mountains crumbled and the earth split apart.
After a tremendous roar, flames and crimson lightning ran rampant...
Artoria, who was riding her motorcycle away toward Fuyuki City, could not help but glance back at the collapsing hill.
She silently thought... Leonidas, I look forward to truly crossing blades with you next time... Take care, my friend!
After such a world-shaking clash.
Mordred did not reappear behind Artoria.
Artoria also successfully entered Fuyuki City, gradually slowing down as she poured mana back into Shirou Chiko's body while heading toward the Holy Grail War's only "safe" zone—the Fuyuki Church.
But Artoria did not know.
The safe zone of Fuyuki City's traditional Holy Grail War, the Fuyuki Church... was currently the site of a bloody case of "filial piety."
The old man's face twitched continuously, cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
Clutching the arm that had just been severed, Risei Kirei stared in disbelief at his smiling son, his eyes filled with incomprehension.
"Kirei... what is going on? Why did you attack me? And what about Tokiomi... Ever since I lost contact with you yesterday, what happened to you two?"
He tossed aside the Black Keys stained with blood.
Then Kirei Kotomine bent down and picked up the severed arm covered in Command Seals. A trace of excitement flashed through his eyes before, without a word, he flung several more Black Keys at Risei Kirei.
Though he had been ambushed by Kirei Kotomine and lost an arm due to his trust in his son.
Risei Kirei was no weakling.
Risei Kirei regarded martial arts as both self-discipline and a means to seek the Way.
Though he could not use magecraft to reinforce his fists like Kirei Kotomine because he lacked the talent for magecraft, decades of training had made Risei Kirei a genuine master of martial arts in this age.
Coupled with his strict physical training, this white-haired old man possessed muscles far stronger than those of an ordinary person.
Clutching his severed arm, he rolled with the momentum.
As he evaded the incoming Black Keys, Risei Kirei also closed the distance between himself and Kirei Kotomine.
Then, with a motion like drawing and releasing a bowstring, Risei Kirei transformed his body into a great bow through an action impossible for an ordinary person to imagine. As he rolled before Kirei Kotomine, he swung his remaining arm and launched a powerful rising punch at Kirei Kotomine's chin.
There was no doubt that if Kirei Kotomine took that punch from his father, he would fall unconscious without question.
But Risei Kirei's fist stopped halfway through its swing and could not move another inch.
Because Gilgamesh had appeared behind him at some point, a lavishly designed dagger in his hand piercing through Risei Kirei's chest.
"...Kirei... and... Gilgamesh... Cough, cough... Kirei, my child, what do you want..."
Wielding a Black Key, Kirei Kotomine mercilessly cut off his father's head.
Tears streamed from his eyes, while a twisted smile of happiness and delight spread across his face...
Catching his father's head, whose eyes remained open in death, Kirei Kotomine felt himself being filled within that silent, distorted darkness...
As though admiring a masterpiece he had created with his own hands, Gilgamesh nodded at Kirei Kotomine in satisfaction. He then walked over and patted Kirei Kotomine on the shoulder, cast a disgusted glance at the statue of the Son of God in the church, and silently left the church, which Gilgamesh considered filthy.
Holding his father's head, Kirei Kotomine remained silent for a long while.
Broken completely by a pleasure that could only be called taboo, Kirei Kotomine could not help remembering his wife from long ago... and his daughter far away in Europe...
"Karen... what flavor will your death have..."
He silently transferred the Command Seals from the severed arm to his own hand, stroke by stroke. Then, after tossing Risei Kirei's body into the churchyard like garbage, Kirei Kotomine carefully wrapped Risei Kirei's head tightly in the church's Holy Shroud as though it were some sacred relic.
After finishing all this and tidying up the church, Kirei Kotomine returned to his expressionless state. Carrying his father's head, he slowly stepped out of the church.
"I want to see Kiritsugu Emiya now..."
"Oh? Have you come up with some new idea, Kirei?"
"No... I only want to ask him how he felt when he killed his own father... whether it was like mine... like this..."
Just as Kirei Kotomine reached that point, he racked his brain but could not find the words to describe how he had felt at the moment he cut off Risei Kirei's head.
Gilgamesh, a faint mocking smile on his lips, folded his arms and slowly spoke.
"I have no interest in such tedious matters. However... there is something you must be told, Kirei. Kiritsugu Emiya is already dead."
His eyes widened, his lips trembling.
At first, Kirei Kotomine looked utterly disbelieving. Then, like a madman, he covered his face with one hand and suddenly threw back his head in laughter.
"Dead... Hahahahaha... That man is dead... Hahahahaha, how could he die?!"
Furiously, he hurled away the "gift" he had planned to bring Kiritsugu Emiya—his father Risei Kirei's head.
His face filled with rage, Kirei Kotomine then looked at Gilgamesh with murderous intent.
"Who? Who killed that man?"
Watching Kirei Kotomine's ugly display, Gilgamesh spoke with undisguised ridicule.
"Hassan... your former Servant killed Kiritsugu Emiya."
Kirei Kotomine froze, then burst into laughter again.
But this time, there was no meaning at all behind his laughter.
It was merely an outlet for his emotions.
As Kirei Kotomine laughed endlessly like a madman, Gilgamesh's face suddenly took on an interested expression.
Not far away, a black heavy motorcycle was slowly approaching the Holy Church, carrying a pale Shirou Chiko and Artoria...
"Hold on, Shirou. We're almost there..."
Gilgamesh's "Interest"
A faint scent of blood lingered in the air.
The vast church was empty.
If the person entering the church had been an ordinary person rather than Artoria, the Fuyuki Church in its current state would have made a perfect horror movie set.
Keeping her guard up, Artoria lowered her head and looked at Shirou Chiko in her arms, whose face had become as pale as paper.
Though she sensed that something was wrong with the church, Artoria still intended to take the risk for the sake of the boy in her arms.
Her steel boot ruthlessly kicked open the heavy church doors.
She inhaled the even stronger scent of blood in the air.
Feeling an aura from the priest before her that made every hair on her body stand on end, Artoria nearly attacked Kirei Kotomine at once...
But Artoria forcibly suppressed that impulse.
After all, Artoria... had obtained information on Kirei Kotomine, this Master, from Kiritsugu Emiya.
"Why are you here?!"
Kirei Kotomine gave Artoria a smile that did not reach his eyes.
Standing less than ten steps away from Artoria, Kirei Kotomine showed no concern whatsoever that Artoria might launch a surprise attack and separate his head from his body the next second.
"King Arthur?... The one in your arms is Berserker's Master..."
The invisible holy sword instantly tore through the air.
A bloody line appeared on Kirei Kotomine's neck in an instant.
Before Kirei Kotomine could finish his sentence, Artoria appeared before him as though she had teleported, her sword pressed against his neck. Contempt flashed through his eyes.
Then, completely ignoring the invisible sword at his throat.
He provocatively raised a hand toward Shirou Chiko, whom Artoria held in one arm.
"With that much blood loss, he will die in less than five minutes."
"You will die before him."
"Oh, is that so..."
The contempt in his eyes was no longer concealed in the slightest.
Just as Artoria pushed her holy sword farther into the flesh of Kirei Kotomine's neck, staining his collar red with blood.
Kirei Kotomine once again began laughing like a madman.
"Hahahahaha... Hahahahaha, a Servant who cannot even protect her own Master... Kill her!"
In an instant, Golden Ripples filled the entire church.
Then countless Noble Phantasms, like a rainstorm, launched an attack on Artoria, Kirei Kotomine, and Shirou Chiko at their center without the slightest regard for Kirei Kotomine.
Boom—... A series of explosions rang out.
Artoria rushed out from the largely collapsed church.
Her face was livid. With Shirou Chiko in one arm and her holy sword clenched in the other, Artoria looked at Shirou Chiko, who had begun coughing up blood again. A large smear of blood had somehow gotten onto her face, and she bit her lip tightly.
Suddenly, a golden vial flew out from the smoke and dust of the collapsing church, clattering as it rolled all the way to Artoria's feet.
Then Gilgamesh, proud and spotless, appeared in Artoria's sight alongside Kirei Kotomine, who was covered in blood and looked quite disheveled.
A mocking smile curled at his lips. Gilgamesh raised a hand and pointed at the small golden vial on the ground, his eyes full of malicious amusement as he sneered.
"Though you are a mongrel of questionable origins who calls herself a King... your expression pleases me. This Divine Medicine, which can heal all wounds in the world, shall be bestowed upon you, mongrel."
Artoria did not move.
Upon hearing Gilgamesh say that the vial at her feet contained Divine Medicine capable of healing every injury in the world, Artoria believed that someone as arrogant as Gilgamesh would not lie.
Yet Artoria did not bend down to pick up the vial.
It was not because Artoria feared humiliation.
As the Holy King who devoted herself wholeheartedly to her people and would give up everything, even her own life, for them.
Pride only existed for Artoria when her people needed it.
The reason Artoria was unwilling to bend down and pick up the vial.
Was because her instincts had already told her that the moment her eyes left Gilgamesh, this vile man would one hundred percent launch a surprise attack on Shirou Chiko.
Artoria remained motionless, still watching Gilgamesh warily despite Shirou Chiko's weakening breath.
Gilgamesh and Kirei Kotomine, this Master and Servant pair, had no intention of hurrying. They were looking forward to seeing a more interesting expression appear on Artoria's face after Shirou Chiko died.
After all, if this standoff continued, Shirou Chiko would still die.
Though it was somewhat less entertaining than granting hope only to reap despair, it was at least a pleasant distraction after dinner...
A bead of cold sweat ran down her temple, and the killing intent in her eyes gradually dimmed.
Feeling Shirou Chiko's life force slowly slipping away in her arms, Artoria made her choice.
With a thud, Shirou Chiko fell onto the dust-covered ground, landing beside the life-saving Divine Medicine.
Then a storm swept through.
Gripping her holy sword with both hands, Artoria charged at Kirei Kotomine.
Shirou Chiko truly gave Artoria a good impression. From the very first moment she saw the boy, she seemed to have been filled with affection for him and regarded him as one of the people she wished to save.
But... compared to the people who had already vanished into history because she had not been "perfect" enough or worked hard enough... Shirou Chiko carried far too little weight.
It could even be said that if the Holy Grail and Shirou Chiko were placed before Artoria, and she had to destroy one to obtain the other, Artoria would choose the Holy Grail without hesitation.
After all, this Artoria was not the Artoria from that line written by Gen Urobuchi.
Sword met sword.
The scattering sparks nearly blinded Kirei Kotomine.
If Gilgamesh had not promptly summoned a sword from the Gate of Babylon to block Artoria's unexpected strike.
Kirei Kotomine would likely have lost his head at that very moment.
Gilgamesh's fingers twitched slightly.
From more than a dozen Golden Ripples, Noble Phantasms streamed forth like bullets toward Artoria.