"Ryougi, you finally came before me."
Araya Souren's voice rose as though he were stifling laughter, yet his expression did not change in the slightest. As always, he wore the anguished face of a philosopher.
"Yes. How else could I kill you with my own hands?"
Shiki Ryougi poured strength into both hands gripping her sword, making Araya Souren narrow his eyes in surprise.
She clearly had not been affected by those pawns, yet behind her still gathered an overwhelming manifestation of sin and darkness formed from the slaughtered dead.
The change in Shiki Ryougi itself might also have been part of what Kirei Kotomine called the ritual.
There was only one chance.
"Nothingness is your chaotic impulse-your Origin. Look upon that darkness, then remember your name."
An incantation with a demonic cadence rang out. The technique of calling forth an Origin was itself poisonous.
Even mere contact would infect an ordinary person with the awakened impulse.
Before instincts spanning thousands upon thousands of years, even the most resilient consciousness would blur for an instant.
Yet Shiki Ryougi's movements seemed entirely unaffected. She was as swift as an arrow released from a bowstring drawn to its limit, accompanied by the speed and killing intent of a wild animal.
Her white kimono flowed through the darkness. In a single instant, she reached a point less than three meters before Araya Souren. The strength and trajectory of this slash from Shiki Ryougi, who had practiced martial arts since childhood, were flawless even to Araya Souren, who had honed himself on battlefields.
But before the blade could cut down through his neck, an anguished voice burst from Araya Souren's throat.
"Fearless-!"
The air changed, and Shiki Ryougi's body suddenly stopped.
"Vajra."
Araya Souren raised a hand again, and golden lines began appearing on