Risei Kotomine Dies

Risei Kotomine, who had been pondering how to fight the Holy Grail War half a year from now inside the church, heard a faint noise and looked up toward the entrance. The newcomer looked utterly dejected, no older than a high school student at most.

Seeing that Risei was alone, Kazuma Shinkawa smiled in relief. "Father, could you spare a little time to hear my question?"

"Of course, child. Tell me of your troubles." Risei Kotomine held his Bible as he walked toward him.

Kazuma casually sat down on a pew and said to the approaching Risei Kotomine, "How should I explain this... Father, I was suddenly brought from my original home to some inexplicable place. This place is full of dangers for me, and I need to find a way to survive here."

"Oh? Is that your difficulty?" Risei Kotomine smiled at him. "Child, what is your name? Perhaps seeking help from the relevant authorities would be more appropriate. I believe official assistance could help you return home."

Kazuma shook his head. "Father, my name is Kazuma Shinkawa. The authorities cannot help me return, and besides, in this place, I have seen the possibility of standing at the pinnacle of the world."

Risei Kotomine paused, then smiled in admiration. "The possibility of standing at the pinnacle of the world? Kazuma-san, your fighting spirit is truly admirable. It seems the undertaking you wish to pursue must be something great."

"That's right." Kazuma Shinkawa looked at Risei Kotomine, who was standing very close to him, and suddenly smiled with utter sincerity. "It's just that my undertaking has temporarily fallen into difficulty, and my life is still in an uncertain state."

Realization dawned on Risei Kotomine. "Oh, I see. Your undertaking has encountered an obstacle!"

Kazuma Shinkawa sighed deeply. "Yes, which is why I need help breaking through that obstacle and moving toward the future! It's just that I still can't be sure whether it will succeed... Father, may I look at the Bible? Perhaps I can gain some revelation from it..."

Risei Kotomine raised an eyebrow and handed the Bible to Kazuma Shinkawa. "Child, it is good that you have ideas of your own. I hope this Bible can offer you some help."

"Mm..." Kazuma Shinkawa accepted the Bible, opened it, and began carefully reading the words within as though engrossed by them.

Risei Kotomine turned to walk toward the altar, failing to notice Kazuma Shinkawa behind him reaching into his clothes and drawing a silenced pistol.

Thump, thump~

The muted shots rang out. Risei Kotomine, struck twice in the back of the heart, collapsed to the floor in disbelief. With difficulty, he turned to look at Kazuma Shinkawa. "You..."

Kazuma Shinkawa approached with the gun in hand, aiming its muzzle at Risei Kotomine's head.

Thump~

Without even the chance to leave any last words, Risei Kotomine completely lost all signs of life.

"Ha... hahaha! Thank you for your help, Father Kotomine!" Kazuma Shinkawa wore a sickly smile as he continued firing into Risei Kotomine's head and heart until his bullets were spent.

"With that much finishing off, there's no way you can come back to life or turn out to have a puppet body like in those knockoffs..." Kazuma Shinkawa muttered, crouching down and grabbing Risei Kotomine's arm, which bore more than a dozen Command Spells.

"Conversion, activate!" Kazuma Shinkawa seriously activated his own ability. It was an ability he had gained from the Conversion System, capable of converting anything he wanted into something most suitable for him.

It could even convert types of power. The prerequisite for converting power was that he had possessed it before and that his body could withstand it. Furthermore, the things he converted had no potential for growth.

For now, he was merely converting the Command Spells, Magic Circuits, and Magic Crests onto himself. He did not expect anything in terms of growth potential anyway; he only needed to rely on his ability to plunder more magical talent from others.

Risei Kotomine's magical talent was gradually plundered by Kazuma Shinkawa. The Command Spells were converted onto Kazuma Shinkawa's hand, and even his magical energy was completely taken away.

Feeling the surging magical energy within his body, Kazuma Shinkawa marveled, "As expected of Kirei Kotomine's father. If I hadn't ambushed you, even a Barrett probably couldn't have pierced the magical barrier you raised. Even though the things I convert have no growth potential, as long as I have this foundation, the rest will be easy!"

"Kayneth, and his wife, even Tokiomi Tohsaka... If the Magic Circuits, Magic Crests, and magical energy of multiple people are stacked together, becoming a Grand Caster won't be a problem for me at all!"

"Grandpa? What happened? It was a little noisy just now..."

Kazuma Shinkawa abruptly looked up toward an opened door leading deeper into the Holy Church. A small, sleepy-eyed child pushed it open and walked out.

"Caren? At this age... right, in 1994, she would have been at most six, maybe even only four. The age matches, and she hasn't even gone through any of the later developments yet. She's still an innocent little girl. This is bad—you were originally one of my designated heroines. Letting you see this scene really was my mistake..."

Kazuma Shinkawa's expression turned fierce.

At the same time, Caren saw what had happened. Risei Kotomine's forehead, riddled like a honeycomb, and the brains spilling out terrified her. Kazuma Shinkawa stood beside the corpse with a pistol in hand, his clothes stained with blood from his finishing shots.

Caren screamed and fell to the floor. Terrified beyond measure, she cried out helplessly, "You killed Grandpa!"

"Shut up! If you scream again, I'll kill you too!" Kazuma Shinkawa revealed a cruel expression. Though he was reluctant to lose one of his designated heroines so soon, compared to the possibility of being hunted down and killed himself, losing Caren was entirely acceptable to him.

But judging by Caren's current state, perhaps he could enjoy himself ahead of time...

Thoughts he had never considered before—thoughts he had not even dared to consider—began to grow in Kazuma Shinkawa's heart. Having crossed into this world, he believed himself to be the protagonist, someone destined to become a god in the future.

But how could a child like Caren truly obey him? Seeing that villain, she immediately crawled in terror toward the inside of the church, crying, "Daddy! Daddy!"

Yet at this very moment, Kirei Kotomine was not here.

"Still trying to run?" Kazuma Shinkawa teasingly came to Caren's side and deliberately blocked the path ahead of the trembling little girl.

"Bad man! Evil man! Don't come near me!" Caren fearfully staggered to her feet, turned around, and ran toward the church entrance.

Two seconds later, Kazuma Shinkawa easily reached the doorway and blocked her escape route again.

Kazuma Shinkawa said casually, "Honestly, Caren, your appearance here has put me in quite a dilemma. I want to kill you, but I don't want to kill you yet. Still, I have to kill you to ensure my own safety. Even though it's only 1994 now, if I don't handle this properly, there's still a chance of being exposed."

Caren backed away in panic, then turned and ran with tears streaming down her face.

"Stop running!"

Kazuma Shinkawa came to Caren's side and grabbed her. "You really have good stamina. I hope you won't disappoint me later."

"Let go of me!" Caren stomped hard on Kazuma Shinkawa's foot.

Kazuma Shinkawa's expression shifted slightly, and he immediately slapped Caren across the face, leaving a bright red handprint on her cheek.

"You still dare to resist? Looks like I've been far too lenient with you. Later, I'll prepare plenty of fun things for you..."

Splat...

Caren stared blankly at the hand that had pierced out through Kazuma Shinkawa's chest. It was clutching a still-beating heart.

"I really couldn't listen to any more of that." Mo Li withdrew his hand, gripped Kazuma's shoulder with his left hand and forcibly turned him around, then pried open Kazuma's mouth and stuffed his heart into it.

"Ugh..." Having just gained all of Risei Kotomine's magecraft talents, Kazuma Shinkawa swallowed the heart in terror. He was unable to speak for a long while. When he tried to mobilize his mana and strike back, he discovered that the power he had just obtained was inexplicably vanishing. Even his Magic Circuits and Magic Crests were fading away.

Mo Li slapped Kazuma Shinkawa on the head. Kazuma immediately went still and collapsed limply to the ground, red-and-white matter flowing from his seven orifices.

Caren stared at the scene before her in stunned horror, taking several uneasy steps back. "You... you killed him..."

"Didn't he deserve to die?" Mo Li flicked his hand, and violet-gold flames erupted over his body, burning away all the blood that had splattered onto him.

"Dead..." Caren looked at Risei Kotomine's corpse, then collapsed weakly to the floor and began to weep silently.

Mo Li glanced at the system panel, walked over to Caren, and gently embraced her, patting her back as he softly comforted her.

Killed transmigrator Kazuma Shinkawa. Reward: 10,000 Fate Points. Draw attempts +2.

Devouring transmigrator Kazuma Shinkawa's personal system. Current progress: 1%.

Aside from absorbing the magecraft talents that belonged to Risei Kotomine, Mo Li had also seized and devoured that conversion ability from the transmigrator. He felt as though his own abilities had grown somewhat stronger, and he had gained a few special abilities as well, such as converting power.

Mo Li gave it a try, converting all of Risei Kotomine's mana into his own Land God power. He only gained a pitiful amount of divine power—roughly equivalent to what he naturally cultivated in a single day, not even as much as he would gain from actively meditating for a day.

"Who... who are you?" Caren wiped away her tears. Once the comfort had dispelled her fear, she looked at Mo Li with lingering wariness.

Seeing the instinctive self-protective wariness in Caren's expression after her panic, Mo Li released her, sat down on a nearby bench, and took out his phone to dial a number.

"I tracked down the man who killed Father Kotomine, but unfortunately, I arrived a little too late." After a brief explanation, Mo Li's call connected. "Hello, Tokiomi. Risei Kotomine is dead. He was just shot to death. I only managed to save his granddaughter."

"What?!" Tokiomi Tohsaka, who had been discussing matters with Kirei Kotomine in the secret chamber, was utterly shocked. "Risei is dead?"

Kirei Kotomine's pupils contracted. He did not know what he was feeling, unable to discern what state of mind he was truly in.

Tokiomi Tohsaka said anxiously, "Please wait. We'll be there immediately."

Risei Kotomine had been their greatest and most discreet ally for tipping the scales in the Holy Grail War! And with his abilities, how could he have died to a gunshot?