Just as Kiritsugu Emiya had expected, red and orange silhouettes appeared starkly on the black-and-blue display rendered in cool tones. To confirm it, Kiritsugu switched to a light-amplifying scope and continued observing. Before his eyes lay a deep-sea-like field of pale green, scattered with multicolored phosphorescence. It was practically a living target.
Without a doubt, Kiritsugu Emiya fitted a suppressor onto his sniper rifle and pulled the trigger at Lancer's Master. Just as expected. Lancer's Master had probably used some sort of illusion or concealment magecraft, but that was useless against machines. Like every magus who had died at Kiritsugu's hands, he was about to follow in their footsteps.
The bullet tore through the air with a shrill scream, and Kiritsugu Emiya had already seen the outcome.
A magus who had not prepared properly could never withstand a sniper rifle shot. Not even a Lord of the Clock Tower.
"My dear disciple, you came too?" Though phrased as a question, the tone was certain—confident and coldly arrogant, like a circus ringmaster looking over a clown. "I knew you would continue to decline once you left the Clock Tower, but I never imagined you would fall so far that you could not even see through such a petty trick."
Cold sweat prickled across his skin. The instant Lancer's Master used magical energy to transmit his words, Kiritsugu Emiya sensed a deadly threat. He sharply turned toward his previous target, and what he saw next made his blood run cold.
The "person" struck by the bullet shattered in an instant, splashing in every direction like a fluid. No—it was fluid. Silver-white liquid metal shot off the crane at astonishing speed, like a pack of frenzied dragons ready to tear their target apart.
"Time Alter—Triple Accel!" Without the slightest hesitation, Kiritsugu Emiya activated Time Alter, immediately accelerating himself to three times normal speed. Although using Time Alter at triple speed inflicted immense damage on his body, there was no time to think about that. To that surging mercury, three hundred meters was only a few seconds away.
Yet Lancer's Master's voice rang out once more, and the wildly ungrammatical Japanese made Kiritsugu Emiya's heart lurch.
"Time Alter? It seems you have forgotten who helped you obtain that Magic Crest from the Association." Lancer's Master sneered. "Different magecraft has corresponding strengths and weaknesses. As long as one prepares in advance, countering a particular kind of magecraft is very easy."
Time Alter—the Emiya Family had explored magecraft related to time manipulation for generations. Logically speaking, the fruits of that research should all have been accumulated within the Magic Crest carried on the back of Kiritsugu Emiya, the fifth-generation heir of the Emiya Family.
But that was not actually the case. Kiritsugu Emiya's father, Norikatsu Emiya, had suffered an accident while conducting experiments to turn himself into a Dead Apostle. As a result, he drew the pursuit of Executors from the Holy Church and enforcers from the Mage's Association. Since his father had caused the disaster, and unwilling to let the same thing happen elsewhere, the young Kiritsugu had shot and killed the father he dearly loved. The Emiya Family's Magic Crest had then been reclaimed by people from the Clock Tower. Later, Natalia Kaminsky, who became Kiritsugu Emiya's adoptive mother and mentor, negotiated with the Mage's Association and allowed Kiritsugu to inherit twenty percent of Norikatsu Emiya's Magic Crest.
In other words, eighty percent of Norikatsu Emiya's Magic Crest was at the Clock Tower, and that eighty percent had already been inherited by someone else. Now, that impostor who had inherited the Emiya Family's Crest had come to this battlefield and become Kiritsugu Emiya's enemy.
This was simply fatal. It was like a level-twenty player encountering a level-eighty player of the same class. He knew every skill you knew, while you did not know the skills he knew! Though battles between magi could not be measured purely through numbers, one could still imagine just how miserable Kiritsugu Emiya's experience would be if the two truly fought.
But that was not what worried Kiritsugu Emiya most. He was more concerned about Lancer's Master. Someone capable of acquiring the Magic Crest of a Sealing Designation target, and willing to give such an incomparably precious inheritance to a disciple—there were only a few people in the Clock Tower who could do that. Looking at it this way, every piece of information about the enemy pointed toward the twelve people standing at the pinnacle of the Clock Tower—the Lords.
Being ambushed by a Lord who had prepared long in advance was the sort of thing one could brag about in the magecraft world for a hundred years. If the target of the ambush survived, that was. Without hesitation, Kiritsugu Emiya chose to run.
He had only just found a sliver of possibility to save the world. How could he fall in something as meaningless as a magecraft duel!!!
However, Lancer's Master had no intention of letting his "disciple" go. His master callously threw out three precious gems. They traced different but equally exaggerated arcs through the air before landing on the ground. Each gem stored a tremendous amount of magical energy.
"My dear disciple, I remember you being quite fond of combat." Lancer's Master's voice came again. "In that case, let me assess your practical combat results since leaving the Clock Tower."
A topaz, a ruby, and a green crystal. The instant they struck the ground, the three gems shone with magecraft. The ruby released terrifying heat, the green gem released poisonous gas, and the topaz whipped up a dry, violent wind. The three forces blended together into a deadly tide.
He had to use Reinforcement magecraft to strengthen his body's defenses, hold his breath, and charge straight through. Only by breaking out before this combined magecraft fully formed would he have even a sliver of hope. Turning back or hesitating led straight to death.
His entire body burned with pain. He could not open his eyes at all; the moment he did, the poisonous gas and heat waves would blind him. He could not breathe either. If he inhaled toxic air of this intensity, even his internal organs would be burned to ash.
As the three gems shattered, a violent explosion erupted within the tide. Kiritsugu Emiya barely burst out of it, only to be hurled away by the blast wave and slammed brutally into the ground. Then he struggled to his feet, activated magecraft once more, and ran for cover.
Damn it, anyone who became your disciple must have had rotten luck for eight generations straight!!! Injured, Kiritsugu Emiya ran, leaped, and darted between shipping containers at speeds far beyond those of an ordinary human, roaring inwardly.
The situation was already very clear. A master and disciple from the Clock Tower had fallen into conflict, and they had tacitly chosen Fuyuki City as the place for their final battle.
And so something utterly screwed-up happened to Kiritsugu Emiya. That disciple was skilled with firearms just like him, and even used Time Alter! He had been mistaken for that first-rate magus with terrible eyesight—the disciple.
But Kiritsugu Emiya could not explain. This Lord had absolutely no intention of showing mercy to his disciple. By the time he turned back to explain, he would have been riddled with gems and mercury a hundred times over.
"Fervor, mei sanguis." A line of Latin rang out. The next moment, several shipping containers burst apart, and over a thousand kilograms of mercury erupted from within. It transformed into blades, spears, swords, and halberds, splitting into groups as they launched attacks at the fleeing Kiritsugu Emiya.
Kiritsugu Emiya swore that he would never share the same sky with the bastard who had made him take the blame.
"Scalp!" A booming voice rang out. Kiritsugu Emiya's face went pale as he activated Time Alter and pushed the magecraft to its highest level.