The backlash from forcibly interrupting his Noble Phantasm, compounded by the damage from the sandstorm's erosion, made his Spirit Origin extremely unstable. Even his figure began to blur and flicker.
Cu Chulainn also staggered back two steps, planting his red spear against the ground.
He violently coughed up a mouthful of blood. His gaze toward Kirishima no longer held anger and wariness... it was now mingled with profound dread and... a trace of the fear one felt before an unknown god or demon!
What was that power just now?! A single glance?! Freezing everything?!
The gem in Rin Tohsaka's hand fell to the ground with a clack. Her face was pale, her ruby-like eyes fixed on Kirishima, filled with incomprehending horror.
The magecraft she took such pride in was child's play before him!
Sakura Matou's legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground. Tears filled her purple eyes, and her body trembled with fear.
Shirou Emiya's mind went completely blank. That instant of being frozen had made him feel that he was only a hair's breadth from death...
In the shadows at the edge of the athletic field, a man wearing black priest's robes, with gray-white hair and hollow eyes-Kirei Kotomine-had appeared at some point.
He had witnessed everything that had just happened. For the first time, his face, which always wore false compassion, revealed a genuine smile, grotesquely twisted yet utterly delighted, as though he had witnessed the dramatic climax that excited him most.
Licking his lips, he murmured, "What a... wonderfully, purely aberrant Holy Grail... It seems this time, you've attracted some extraordinary 'guests'..."
Deathly silence...
There was only the moan of the night wind blowing over the charred craters and ground turned to sand.
Kirishima Bupai slowly rose from the cheap white plastic chair.
His movements