Type-Moon, I, Sakura Matou, Rewrite Destiny

The earth split and the mountains crumbled.

After a tremendous roar, flames and red lightning raged in its wake...

Artoria, who was riding her motorcycle and speeding out towards Fuyuki City, couldn't help but glance back at the collapsing hills.

She couldn't help but think to herself... "Leonidas, I look forward to a proper duel with you next time... Take care, my friend!"

After such a world-shattering clash.

Mordred's figure no longer appeared behind Artoria.

Artoria, meanwhile, smoothly rode into the city of Fuyuki. She gradually slowed down, channeling mana back into Shirou Chiko's body as she drove towards the only 'safe' zone in the Holy Grail War – the Fuyuki Church.

But Artoria didn't know.

The safe zone in Fuyuki City's traditional Holy Grail War, the Fuyuki Church... was currently the scene of a bloody 'father-son' drama.

His aged face twitched uncontrollably, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Clutching his freshly severed arm, Risei Kirei stared in disbelief at his smiling son, his eyes filled with overwhelming incredulity.

"Kir... What's going on? Why did you attack me? And where is Tokiomi, my brother... What happened to you two since you lost contact yesterday?"

He dropped the Black Keys, stained with blood, from his hand.

Then, bending down to pick up Kirei Kotomine, whose severed arm was covered in Command Spells, a flicker of excitement flashed in his eyes. Without a word, he threw several more Black Keys at Risei Kirei.

Although he was caught off guard by Kirei Kotomine's surprise attack and lost an arm due to his trust in his son.

Risei Kirei was no weakling.

Viewing his fist techniques as a form of self-cultivation and the pursuit of enlightenment, Risei Kirei.

While he couldn't use magecraft-enhanced punches like Kirei Kotomine due to his inability to learn magecraft, decades of martial arts training had made Risei Kirei a genuine master of boxing in his time.

Coupled with his consistently rigorous physical training, Risei Kirei, this seemingly white-haired old man, possessed a physique far stronger than that of an ordinary person.

Clutching his severed arm, he rolled with the momentum.

Dodging the incoming Black Keys, Risei Kirei also closed the distance between himself and Kirei Kotomine.

Then, with a movement that defied imagination, as if drawing and releasing a bow, Risei Kirei transformed himself into a great bow. As he rolled in front of Kirei Kotomine, he swung his remaining arm and unleashed a powerful uppercut towards Kirei Kotomine's jaw.

There was no doubt that if Kirei Kotomine were hit by this punch from his father, he would be knocked unconscious.

But halfway through his swing, Risei Kirei found he could no longer continue.

Because at some unknown moment, Gilgamesh had appeared behind him, a gorgeously designed short sword held in his hand, piercing through Risei Kirei's chest.

"...Kir... and... Gilgamesh... Cough, cough, cough... Kir, my child, what exactly do you want..."

Wielding the Black Keys, he mercilessly severed his father's head.

Tears streamed from his eyes, a twisted smile of both happiness and pleasure contorting his face...

Catching his father's lifeless head, in the silent, twisted darkness... Kirei Kotomine felt himself filled.

As if admiring his own masterpiece, Gilgamesh nodded with satisfaction at Kirei Kotomine. He then walked up to Kirei Kotomine, patted his shoulder, and cast a disgusted glance at the statue of the divine child in the church before silently walking out of what he considered a defiled church.

Holding his father's head, Kirei Kotomine remained silent for a long time.

In the forbidden pleasure, his entire being broken, Kirei Kotomine couldn't help but recall his late wife with a hint of regret... He remembered his daughter, far away in Europe...

"Karen... what would your death taste like..."

Silently, he transferred the Command Spells from his severed arm to his own, one by one. Then, discarding Risei Kirei's body like trash in the church's backyard, Kirei Kotomine carefully wrapped Risei Kirei's head with the Holy Shroud from the church, as if treating it like a sacred relic.

After cleaning up the church, Kirei Kotomine resumed his expressionless demeanor. Carrying his father's head, he slowly stepped out of the church.

"I want to see Kiritsugu Emiya now..."

"Oh~ Do you have some new idea, Kir?"

"No... I just want to ask him how it felt when he killed his own father back then... was it the same as me... this..."

As Kirei Kotomine spoke, he couldn't rack his brain to describe the feeling of beheading Risei Kirei at that moment. Gilgamesh, with a mocking smile, crossed his arms and slowly spoke.

"This King has no interest in such trivial matters. However... Kir, there's a piece of news you must know... Kiritsugu Emiya is dead."

His eyes widened, his lips trembling.

First, with disbelief, then like a madman, Kirei Kotomine covered his face with one hand and suddenly burst into laughter.

"Dead... Hahahaha... That man is dead... Hahahaha, how could he die~!"

Angrily, he flung away the 'gift' he had prepared for Kiritsugu Emiya – his father Risei Kirei's head.

With a face full of rage, Kirei Kotomine then glared at Gilgamesh with murderous intent.

"Who, who killed that man?"

Watching Kirei Kotomine's pathetic display, Gilgamesh said with a sneer.

"Hassan... your former Servant, killed Kiritsugu Emiya."

Kirei Kotomine froze, then burst into laughter again.

Kirei Kotomine's laughter held no meaning this time.

It was a simple release of emotion.

As Kirei Kotomine continued to laugh like a madman, Gilgamesh's gaze suddenly became one of keen interest.

Not far away, a heavy black motorcycle, carrying a pale-faced Shirou Chiko and Artoria, slowly approached the Holy Church...

"Hold on, Shirou, we're almost there…"

52. Gilgamesh's 'Interest'

A faint scent of blood hung in the air.

The spacious church was empty.

If an ordinary person, not Artoria, had entered the church, Fuyuki Church could have served as a set for a horror film.

Warily, she glanced down at Shirou Chiko, whose face was ashen white, held in her arms.

Even though she sensed something was wrong with the church, Artoria decided to try for the sake of the boy in her embrace.

Her steel-clad boots kicked open the heavy church doors without hesitation.

Sniffing the even stronger scent of blood in the air.

Sensing a presence that made her hair stand on end from the priest before her, Artoria almost attacked Kirei Kotomine directly...

However, Artoria managed to suppress her impulse.

After all, Artoria... had obtained information about Kirei Kotomine, a Master, from Kiritsugu Emiya.

"Why are you here!"

Kirei Kotomine smiled at Artoria with a forced grin.

Standing no more than ten steps away from Artoria, Kirei Kotomine, who would likely be beheaded in the next second if Artoria launched a surprise attack, showed no sign of worry that Artoria would do so.

"King Arthur?… And the Master of Berserker is in your arms…"

An invisible Holy Sword instantly tore through the air.

A bloodstain appeared on Kirei Kotomine's neck in an instant.

Kirei Kotomine, who hadn't finished speaking, saw Artoria appear before him as if teleporting, her sword at his throat, and a flicker of disdain flashed in his eyes.

Then, completely unfazed by the invisible sword at his neck.

He provocatively raised his hand towards Shirou Chiko, who was held in Artoria's single arm.

"With this amount of bleeding, he'll be dead in five minutes."

"You'll die before he does."

"Oh, really…?"

The disdain in his eyes was no longer concealed.

Just as Artoria pushed the Holy Sword in her hand further into the flesh of Kirei Kotomine's neck, staining his collar with blood.

Kirei Kotomine once again burst into manic laughter.

"Hahahahaha… Hahahahaha, a Servant who can't even protect their own Master… Kill her!"

In an instant, golden ripples filled the entire interior of the church.

Then, countless Noble Phantasms, like raindrops, attacked Artoria, Kirei Kotomine, and Shirou Chiko at the center, without regard for Kirei Kotomine.

Boom… A series of explosions rang out.

Emerging from the largely collapsed church.

Artoria, her face ashen, holding Shirou Chiko in one hand and her Holy Sword tightly in the other, with a large smear of blood on her face that had appeared from who knows when, bit her lip tightly as she looked at Shirou Chiko, who was coughing up blood again.

Suddenly, a golden bottle flew out from the dust and smoke of the collapsed church, then rolled with a clinking sound to Artoria's feet.

Following that, Gilgamesh, looking proud and unstained, and Kirei Kotomine, covered in blood and looking quite disheveled, appeared in Artoria's line of sight.

A mocking smile spread across his lips, and Gilgamesh pointed at the small golden bottle on the ground, his eyes full of malicious amusement as he chuckled wickedly.

"Though you're a disreputable mongrel who calls himself a king… your expression pleases me greatly. I shall bestow this Divine Medicine, capable of healing all wounds in the world, upon you, mongrel."

Unmoving.

Even after hearing Gilgamesh say that the small bottle at her feet contained Divine Medicine that could heal all wounds in the world, Artoria, despite believing that a proud individual like Gilgamesh wouldn't lie.

Artoria did not bend down to pick up the bottle on the ground.

The reason Artoria refused to pick up the bottle was not out of fear of humiliation.

As a holy king who wholeheartedly served her people, willing to sacrifice everything, even her own life.

Pride was something that only surfaced for Artoria when her people needed it.

The reason Artoria was unwilling to bend down and pick up the bottle was because her intuition had already told her that the moment her gaze left Gilgamesh, this malicious fellow would absolutely launch a surprise attack on Shirou Chiko.

Watching Artoria remain still, her eyes fixed on him with vigilance even as Shirou Chiko's breathing grew faint.

Gilgamesh and Risei Kotomine, a Master and Servant pair, showed no signs of impatience, anticipating the more interesting expression that would appear on Artoria's face after Shirou Chiko's death.

After all, if they continued to confront each other like this, Shirou Chiko would still die.

While it was less interesting than despairing after picking up hope, it was at least a pastime for after dinner...

A trickle of cold sweat ran down his temple, and the killing intent in his eyes gradually became tinged with sadness.

Feeling Shirou Chiko's life force slowly draining away in her arms, Artoria made her choice.

With a thump, Shirou Chiko fell to the dusty ground, landing beside the life-saving Divine Medicine.

Immediately after, a storm blew through.

Artoria, gripping her Holy Sword with both hands, charged towards Risei Kotomine.

Indeed, Shirou Chiko gave Artoria a very good impression. She seemed to have felt a strong liking for the young man from the moment she first saw him, and considered him one of the people she wanted to save.

But... compared to those citizens who were annihilated in history because she wasn't 'perfect' or didn't try hard enough... Shirou Chiko's weight was far from enough.

One could even say that if Artoria were presented with a choice between the Holy Grail and Shirou Chiko, destroying one to obtain the other, she would choose the Holy Grail without hesitation.

After all, this Artoria was not the Artoria from that other writer's story.

Sword clashed against sword.

The scattering sparks nearly blinded Risei Kotomine's eyes.

If Gilgamesh hadn't summoned a sword from the Gate of Babylon in time to block the unexpected Artoria.

At that moment, Risei Kotomine would likely have been decapitated.

His fingers moved slightly.

From over a dozen golden ripples, Noble Phantasms poured out like bullets, shooting towards Artoria.