"What... is this?"
A bloody light suddenly appeared on the nearby embankment. And not just on the embankment; as far as Arthur's eyes could see, one crimson line of light after another began to appear on the streets.
At the same time, these lights, as if following some specific rule, instantly connected together, enclosing the entire city like a giant magic circle!
In the sky, the stars vanished, and the moon was gone.
Thick, dark clouds obscured all light in the blink of an eye.
Aboard the sky-boat, before Aozaki Rin could react to the sudden change, Irisviel, who had been standing beside him watching Arthur's battle, suddenly seemed to feel unwell. She lost consciousness without warning and collapsed onto the deck.
"Miss Irisviel?!"
Catching her body just in time, Rin didn't understand what had happened.
But he soon discovered a more serious problem. The woman in his arms had, at some point, lost her breath and heartbeat, as if she had already entered the realm of death.
On the other side, Waver had also fainted and collapsed. Iskandar's confused and concerned voice immediately sounded in the air.
"Oi, boy, what's wrong with you?"
Realizing the situation was highly unusual, Iskandar, with a grave expression, checked Waver's pulse and found that it had indeed stopped.
At the same time, El-Melloi II, standing not far from Waver, seemed to be having trouble breathing. He unconsciously clutched his chest, gasping for air.
He gazed at the giant magic circle that had enveloped all of Fuyuki City and muttered with difficulty.
"...Is it some kind of sacrificial ritual? But why? Caster should have been eliminated..."
"Mr. El-Melloi II, what on earth is going on?"
Rin's brow furrowed tightly. He subconsciously asked El-Melloi II, the "time traveler," but before he could answer, Gilgamesh's voice rang out.
"Even if you ask that Servant-like man, you probably won't get an answer, boy. If you want to know, just look up at the sky, and you'll understand."
A rare look of seriousness on his proud face, Gilgamesh stood up, his crimson eyes looking towards the heavens.
Under the ink-black night sky, a twisted rift suddenly appeared in space.
And from within that rift, one after another, giant black tentacles, as thick as skyscrapers, slowly extended, as if trying to tear through the world's barrier and enter this realm.
Just one glance at the mental pollution emanating from the rift and the tentacles was enough to cause physiological discomfort, even driving one to madness.
At the same time, in the brightly lit city, from some unknown time and place, one after another, fist-sized balls of light of various colors began to gather from the buildings, streets, and fields, rising towards the sky.
Like a meteor shower pouring from the ground to the heavens, they densely filled the entire night sky, all flowing into the tentacles.
"What... are those?"
Rin stood there, stunned. The feedback from his paper cranes and crow-eye mask was just countless dots and a subtle energy-like reaction.
Individually, that energy was so small it could be ignored.
But now, the power gathered from the more than a million balls of light had surpassed any enemy he had ever encountered in his perception.
"...Are those souls? Damn it! How could someone be so insane as to do something like this!"
Iskandar realized the true nature of these things, and his expression turned extremely grim.
This was the population of an entire modern city. Even the most deranged black sorcerer would not be so mad as to sacrifice everyone like this.
"Souls?"
Hearing Iskandar's answer, Rin's expression changed. He subconsciously tried to contact the Sajou residence via telepathy, but received no response.
A few seconds later, a panicked girl's voice finally sounded.
—[I-Is that you, Mr. Rei? I'm so sorry, we seem to have an emergency here! After that red light appeared, Miss Sajou and Senpai suddenly lost consciousness, and th-they're not even breathing!]
"Miss Mash?"
Rin's heart sank. He pursed his lips, roughly understanding that everyone in the city, except for Servants or those with the power of Servants, had had their souls taken.
He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and replied.
"The situation is a bit complicated. For now, please take care of my sister's and Miss Ritsuka's bodies, Miss Mash. I will find a way to bring their souls back."
Just as Rin's words fell, Gilgamesh took a step forward.
"No wonder this King smelled a nauseating stench from the very beginning of this Holy Grail War. So there was a rat from the gutters audacious enough to do something like this? Hmph!"
With a cold snort, Gilgamesh said no more. The golden ripples behind him opened to nearly a hundred gates. Countless swords, spears, axes, and halberds shot out from the ripples, aiming straight for the grotesque thing in the sky!
However, the Noble Phantasms, as if facing a flower in a mirror or the moon in the water, passed through the tentacles without any resistance. As they flew into the distant sky, they seemed to collide with something and exploded all at once.
"It hasn't fully descended yet, so it cannot be touched by this world? However, this city seems to have already been turned into an alien domain, cut off from the outside world..."
An expression of displeasure on his face, Gilgamesh understood that if this continued, once that grotesque thing fully descended, not only this city but possibly the entire planet would be slowly contaminated by its chaotic, insane spiritual essence.
His brow furrowed tightly. Gilgamesh opened a ripple beside him and took out a golden key.
As if unlocking a treasury in the space before him, he inserted the key and twisted.
A sword with a bizarre shape, composed of three rotating cylindrical blades, was slowly pulled out from the space.
However, just as Gilgamesh was about to step forward to release his Noble Phantasm, Rin, who had sensed a dangerous feeling from the strange sword, laid Irisviel's body down and suddenly stood in his way.
"Mr. Gilgamesh, can you tell me what you intend to do?"
"Do? Is there a need to ask, boy? Although this era is inferior to this King's back garden, this King will not allow such a disgusting thing from another world to defile it."
"Then if you destroy that monster, what will happen to the people of this city... to those souls?"
Gilgamesh glanced at the anxious young man and said flatly.
"Naturally, they will die along with that monster. But don't be so naive, boy. The population of a city versus the future of the planet and the Human Order... you should know which is more important."
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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