Satsuki Miyu

Unexpectedly, the small figure advanced instead of retreating, preparing to charge straight through the Origin Bullet.

Kiritsugu frowned slightly. Sensing that something was wrong, he used both blade and gun, combining them with his trump card, the Origin Bullet. Reinforcement Magic covered his feet and calves as he sidestepped the sweeping arm, then swung a kick directly at the opponent's head.

Boom—!!

The explosion in the air made Kiritsugu's heart skip a beat. His opponent was stronger than he had expected, and his sneak attack kick achieved nothing.

"Yah!"

A sharp cry rang out from beneath the cloak. The figure, clearly a little girl, leaped high into the air and stomped down with utterly unreasonable force, crushing the ground into a massive crater.

Kiritsugu failed to evade in time and was thrown away by the flying rubble and shockwave...

Kiritsugu had been driven back by an unknown, powerful girl. Judging by her height, the figure hidden beneath that cloak could not have been more than six years old. Her strength made Ritsuka click her tongue in amazement.

Was this world really full of hidden masters?

Taking a deep breath, Ritsuka followed her body's instincts and loosely clenched both hands. Azure lightning burst from her palms.

A black-and-white pair of twin swords materialized, then she hurled them fiercely toward the unknown person standing behind Divine Child. As the spinning blades flew through the air, Ritsuka clenched her empty hands again, recreating the paired swords while Magic Circuits lit up across her cheeks.

Crane Wing, Ketsuraku Fu

Mind Skill, Taizan Shi

Enduring the faint pain coursing through her body, Ritsuka rushed to the edge of the old house. The Gan Jiang Mo Ye that had been dodged had already returned, transforming into two arcs of light as they attacked the mysterious person from behind.

Ritsuka immediately threw the weapons in her hands in coordination with them, then leaped forward. Origin Bullets mixed into the surprise assault, leaving the mysterious person—who seemed rather inexperienced in battle—flustered.

Kiritsugu could still provide support even when facing a powerful enemy. He really was formidable.

She did not hesitate any longer. Even if this opponent looked like a girl about her own age, the killing aura around her was real. The two sides had likely held absolute killing intent toward each other from the very beginning.

To seize Divine Child!

With a turn of her blade edge, Ritsuka widened her eyes—

Mind Skill, Yellow River Crossing

Name Only, Bettenna

The Origin Bullets failed to hit their target. Glass-like layers suddenly appeared before the person hiding in the shadows, diverting every bullet away. But by then, all four Gan Jiang Mo Ye had drawn close, striking at the mysterious person's head from four directions.

Wrapping one arm around the girl isolated by the attack, Ritsuka gently pushed her backward. At the same time, another pair of Gan Jiang Mo Ye formed in her hands.

Stepping forward, Ritsuka's eyes were now stained with strange colors. At the same time, she raised her strength and speed to the safe limit of her current body. Her twin blades swung down, aimed at the mysterious person's utterly exposed form.

Two Heroes, Shared Fate Separation

An enormous sense of danger engulfed the person who had kept herself hidden. The sharp blade light tore apart her disguise, revealing a maiden with blonde twin tails in Ritsuka's sight. Then Gan Jiang Mo Ye pierced straight through her.

As they passed each other, the blonde girl stared at Ritsuka. Her entire body became encased in glass-like layers, and then she vanished.

From an ordinary visual perspective, she had truly seemed to be cut apart by the twin swords just now...

But Ritsuka was certain that she had not hurt her opponent. Rather, the girl had used some sort of spatial-transference ability to avoid an attack that ordinary opponents could not have escaped. Who knew where she had fled to.

!!

Ritsuka's heart jolted. Her newly awakened Mind's Eye warned her, and she quickly lowered her body as a sharp blade slashed over her head.

Holding Sakutsuki Miyu in one hand, the blonde twin-tailed girl with an expression full of indifference thrust the blade in her hand at Ritsuka without hesitation. Her movements were awkward, making it obvious that she was not used to using a sword as a weapon.

Ritsuka raised Mo Ye in her right hand to block the thrust. A lock of her hair was cut off, and droplets of blood sprayed into the air.

Warm blood fell onto Sakutsuki Miyu's face. Ripples finally appeared in her eyes, which had always been as still as an ancient well. Her lifeless gaze gradually brightened. Like a frightened little beast, she finally felt a trace of curiosity and fear toward the outside world.

Ritsuka pressed her lips together slightly—

"Mm."

The azure Magic Circuits across her body squeezed out mana. Ritsuka slashed backward, cutting open the blonde twin-tailed maiden's fingers. The pain caused the blade that had been aimed at Ritsuka to fall to the ground.

Six Gan Jiang Mo Ye were thrown out in rapid succession without hesitation. Ritsuka decisively stepped forward, snatched back the hostage, then immediately accelerated backward while narrowing her eyes and activating a move that could change the course of the battle.

"Broken... Phantasm!"

The air suddenly fell silent. Then the six projected Noble Phantasms lit up and exploded violently.

Dust rose into the air as rolling flames blasted half the residence into collapse. Ritsuka, who shielded the little girl in her arms, was also struck by the explosion and slightly lifted off the ground.

"...Ugh."

The attack missed. The blonde twin-tailed maiden was wrapped in mirror-like magical effects. As her weapon vanished into midair, Ritsuka herself rolled toward the large crater behind the old house and dove into it in a flash.

Not far away, Kiritsugu, who had just taken out a shotgun to continue fighting, froze for a moment. He immediately shook off the little girl clinging to him and chased after her.

Lying on her back in the crater, Ritsuka's face was pale, and she could not even lift her hands. She had fought too wildly and was running low on mana. The backlash from the deficit in her Magic Circuits nearly made her pass out on the spot.

PS: To keep everyone from finding this too abrupt, I should explain.

Ritsuka's sudden and drastic increase in strength, as the previous chapter's title said, was related to the miracle called Sakutsuki. It was also tied to what was special about Ritsuka herself, a product of two people's abilities combining.

Section 11, Chapter 11: Sakutsuki Miyu

—Sakutsuki Miyu.

A child barely over five years old, a young child of God.

She was the Divine Child who had inherited the Sakutsuki Clan's secret to this day. Sakutsuki Miyu was a descendant of this generation's Sakutsuki.

A barrier had been set up around the house. Even childbirth and childrearing had been carried out within it. Only after the Divine Child completely lost her power at the age of six could she escape that isolated life.

The Tsukishiro family's power, namely "indiscriminately granting people's wishes," was a miracle comparable to the Cauldron of All Wishes.

The barrier could block people's thoughts that carried wishes from the depths of their hearts. This ensured that the Sakutsuki Clan's power would not be abused. The person responsible for raising the Tsukishiro family's children until the age of six was their mother, under strict information control.

Six years were enough for Divine Child to shed that trace of divine aura and become an ordinary human child.

With such powerful strength, what did the Sakutsuki Clan's adults do?

They made the wishes that fathers and mothers should make—

The light falling across her face was somewhat blinding. Ritsuka slowly opened her eyes. Something slightly damp rested on her forehead, making her head feel heavy, though its coolness was quite comfortable.

She looked around. The place where she was lying was clearly not the ruins of the Tsukishiro family home. A familiar ceiling came into view.

She had returned to the Emiya Residence.

"What happened to me?" Somewhat thirsty, Ritsuka licked her dry lips and struggled to sit up.

Ow, ow, ow... It hurts!

Crying out in her heart, Ritsuka felt pain all over her body, even on her face. She nearly rolled around on the floor, rolling her eyes, completely incapable of remaining calm.

With a bang, a book snapped shut beside her. Kiritsugu, holding a text from the Tsukishiro family, walked over. "Don't move around."

"You used your Magic Circuits too violently and suffered serious physical damage. It's already lucky that you didn't die on the spot."

Since he knew almost nothing about healing spells, Kiritsugu could only use the most basic healing magecraft to ease Ritsuka's pain and wait at her side for her own recovery. Overdrawing Magic Circuits was no simple matter.

Fortunately, Ritsuka pulled through. As expected of the First Generation Mage, her Magic Circuits were also exceptional.

Kiritsugu sat down on the floor and reached out to poke the bandages on Ritsuka's cheek. Because she had overused the mana in her body, the backlash had left Ritsuka covered in injuries. As for the bandages, he had wrapped them all casually himself.

After all, aside from him, the only adult here, the other little one did not seem to understand enough to help.

"Don't touch me!... Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow..."

Awooo—!!

Ritsuka had been "accidentally" poked hard in the cheek. Feeling an astonishing wave of pain, she opened her mouth and bit down on Kiritsugu's obnoxious finger. Her sharp canine teeth showed Uncle Kiritsugu no mercy, embodying one thing: fast, precise, and ruthless.

Incidentally, even though her Magic Circuits hurt like hell, Ritsuka had still buffed her teeth with Reinforcement Magic...

For a while, the big and little troublemakers who had hurt each other rolled around the room, blood spurting from Kiritsugu's bitten finger.

Ritsuka showed a satisfied smile, baring her teeth to display her sharp little canines.

Did he think he could bully her while she was injured? No chance!

—Damn! Smiling made her face hurt!

When would her body finally recover? Ritsuka lay quietly on the floor bedding with her eyes closed, like a salted fish.

Inside the room, Kiritsugu studied the texts found in the Tsukishiro family home under lamplight, analyzing the mysteries of the Sakutsuki Clan. Outside, the sky had already turned dark.

Scratch, scratch.

Ritsuka suddenly felt an itch in her nose. Opening her eyes, she saw Miyu—the girl she and Kiritsugu had found and rescued from the ruins of the Tsukishiro family home—using a feather to brush against the tip of her nose.

Abruptly, Miyu froze slightly, as though she had heard something. The feather fell from her hand to the floor.

"You..."

The terrifying surge of mana left Kiritsugu dumbfounded. The bursting energy enveloped the small room. Pure, sacred light sent Kiritsugu, along with everything around him, flying away, leaving only Ritsuka lying before Miyu in the shape of a salted fish.

That was Miyu's power, the power belonging to the name Sakutsuki—the power to indiscriminately grant all wishes.

"Miyu?"

Ritsuka widened her eyes. Her entire body felt warm, and she did not hurt at all anymore. It was as though all her injuries had been instantly healed by a miracle.

—When would her body finally recover?

She seemed to have made that complaint in her heart...

"A miracle. This was undoubtedly a miracle, wasn't it? The miracle called Sakutsuki, the miracle called Miyu."

Miyu's body went limp. Looking utterly exhausted, she fell toward Ritsuka. Kiritsugu, who had been lying on his back not far away, hurriedly got up and ran over as well.

Manually tearing off the haphazardly wrapped bandages around her arms, Ritsuka opened her arms and caught Miyu, who had inexplicably fallen asleep after performing the miracle. The little girl fell directly into her embrace, wrapping both arms around her neck and clinging to her like a koala.

Kiritsugu walked over and sat cross-legged beside Ritsuka. The two silently watched the already sleeping little girl, Miyu.

"Kiritsugu, I think I've figured out how to make a wish."

Ritsuka's tone was somewhat complicated. She held Miyu's body, which could slide aside at any moment, letting her lean completely against her. Her gaze remained fixed on Kiritsugu's face.

The book Kiritsugu had been reading was a text preserved by the Tsukishiro family. His purpose had been to find a way to make a wish.

Yet it had revealed itself in such an accidental way.

Kiritsugu, who had somehow put a cigarette in his mouth again, looked somewhat vacant. He seemed deeply hesitant. Having long been accustomed to placing everyone on the scales to be weighed, he had already hesitated twice in the course of this single day...

"There is still one month left. I will use this power..."

Having finally made up his mind, the old man about to retire looked somewhat aged. He stood and prepared to leave the room, his back seeming much lonelier.

Perhaps he would not be understood. After all, he and Ritsuka had once been completely different people. What he wanted was to save the world—everyone—while Ritsuka had always looked only at the people before her.

"I will save humanity here."

"We have one month left."

Kiritsugu's voice gradually faded, leaving only a faint echo. It was as though he was announcing that Miyu had, at most, only one month left to live as a human.

Ritsuka sighed and loosely clenched her left hand. A black short sword appeared in her grasp.

Gan Jiang Mo Ye, famous swords passed down through China.

A pair of male and female blades, yin and yang born from yin-yang arts. The black blade was the yang sword Gan Jiang, while the white blade was the yin sword Mo Ye. They were the close-combat weapons Emiya the Heroic Spirit, as an Archer, most liked to project.

At least, that was what her body's instincts told her.

Though she did not really understand what an Archer was...

With her Synchronization Value having reached 30%, she could already master the significantly weakened Projection Magic and project the weapon Emiya the Heroic Spirit used most often. Its downside was that it consumed quite a lot of mana.

"Well, why couldn't it be a longer weapon? I don't really like this."

It was simply too short. She felt that if a battle broke out, she might not be able to reach the enemy with it, and that would be ridiculous. It was only a little longer than the daggers she normally used.

Shrugging, Ritsuka turned the black sword Gan Jiang in her hand back into mana and waved it away.

Using both hands to lift Miyu, Ritsuka marveled at how light Miyu's body was as she headed toward her own room.