Whoosh—
Mercury transformed into razor-sharp blades, slicing through the castle gates. Their collapse kicked up a great cloud of dust, and wrapped in dust and mercury, Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald entered the castle.
"Hmph."
Kenneth snorted as he took in the castle's lavish decor.
Having to stay in a hotel had already been humiliating enough for someone like him, yet Emiya Kiritsugu had gone and blown up the entire building, costing him a tremendous amount of effort and property and forcing him to relocate his base to a hidden warehouse.
And Emiya Kiritsugu himself, meanwhile...
"Stop hiding!"
With his hands behind his back, Kenneth called out loudly, his bearing and voice filled with the elegance befitting an outstanding magus.
"We are both inside this castle. Your hiding is meaningless. Come out and duel me like a magus!"
Whoosh—
The mercury blades were immensely destructive, shredding the decorations in the castle hall into a complete mess.
Bang!
Hm?
A gunshot suddenly rang out.
Kenneth's pupils constricted slightly.
Smack!
Mercury swiftly condensed in the bullet's path, blocking the shot for him.
"Tch, troublesome."
Hidden behind a corner on the second floor, Emiya Kiritsugu gritted his teeth and tossed the bolt-action sniper rifle in his hands to the ground.
The Holy Grail War really was troublesome.
Almost everyone had some means of guarding against that sort of attack.
After discarding the sniper rifle, he took the two submachine guns he had placed against the wall in advance.
He did not stick his body out again. He knew Kenneth had definitely already discovered him.
Not only did he refrain from exposing himself, he even shifted farther inward.
Kenneth's expression darkened as he guided Volumen Hydrargyrum toward that corner.
Clang—
"You have nowhere to run, you despicable wretch!"
The corner was severed by the mercury, but