In a desolate corner of the city, shielded from prying eyes, Kirei Kotomine stood with a cold gaze fixed upon the man perched atop a large wooden crate. His dissatisfaction was palpable.
"Explain yourself, Lancer."
"...About what, Kotomine?"
"Hmph. You were more than capable of slaying Archer. Yet, you allowed him to live and even permitted Saber to depart. My directive was clear: you were to detain and neutralize every Servant."
"...Hah."
Cu Chulainn let out a sharp, mocking snort, the corner of his mouth curling upward as he met the priest's hollow eyes.
"If you wanted total obedience, you should have phrased your Command Spell more precisely. As for Archer, he was delayed, wasn't he? The result is the same."
"....."
Lancer's gaze was thick with ridicule. He had spared Archer out of pure spite for the man standing before him. Though he followed the priest's orders begrudgingly—bound by the Command Spells of the man who had usurped his previous Master—Cu Chulainn had no intention of being a willing accomplice to his atrocities.
Sparing Archer was a small, silent rebellion. Having glimpsed the depths of Kirei's plan to manifest the Holy Grail, it was the only resistance he could offer. Knowing that the advent of the Grail required the prana of at least five Servants, he knew the goal was currently out of reach with only two souls harvested.
Observing that the 'Golden King' had ventured out to scavenge more prana, Lancer felt his act of defiance had been quite successful. He decided to drive the point home.
"Make no mistake, Kotomine—I have no desire to be a partner in your sins. Go hunt for your prana elsewhere. If you're truly dissatisfied, feel free to waste one of those precious Command Spells you're so proud of."
"...Is that so? Then by the power of my Command Spell, I order you."
"...Wait! You're actually using one!?"
Cu Chulainn's expression shifted to one of sheer incredulity. Ignoring him, Kirei spoke with a chilling finality.
"—Self-terminate, Lancer."
"—What!?"
With a wet, sickening thud—
"Gah... hkk!"
Guided by the absolute authority of the Command Spell, Lancer's own hand gripped the cursed red spear and drove it through his own chest. He collapsed backward, blood spraying from his lips onto the stone floor.
"As it happens, the amount of prana remaining for the Grail's manifestation is equivalent to only a single Servant. You have served your purpose, Lancer."
Kirei looked down at the dying hero, a shadow of a smirk appearing. At this very moment, Gilgamesh would be extracting prana until the spiritual pulse of the earth beneath the church was utterly hollowed out.
The total depletion of a leyline would inevitably trigger a catastrophic natural disaster, claiming countless lives... but to Kirei, such a tragedy was inconsequential compared to the magnitude of his work.
The prana from the leyline would suffice for two Servants. That left a deficit of only one more. And Kirei now held that final piece of the puzzle.
With a final, indifferent glance at the fallen spearman, Kirei turned toward the doors, heading for the Ryuudou Temple—the designated site for the Grail's final advent.
There, he would use Matou Shinji as a vessel to incarnate 'All the World's Evil' dormant within the Grail—
Squelch!
Kirei's advance stopped abruptly. A sound of tearing flesh echoed through the silent room, and a white-hot agony bloomed in his chest. He looked down slowly.
The tip of a blood-red spear had burst through his chest, right where his heart should be. Kirei stared at the blade with wide, disbelieving eyes as a torrent of blood erupted from his mouth.
A familiar voice reached his ears—a voice that should have been silenced forever. The priest's eyes bulged in shock.
"—Ck... wha...?"
"...I haven't done nearly enough yet to deserve a 'well done' from the likes of you."
"Lan...cer... you... monster...! You should be dead..."
"It's a pity, Kotomine. If I died from a little scratch like that, I never would have earned the name of a Heroic Spirit in the first place."
Rrip!
"GAHH!"
With a violent wrench, Cu Chulainn tore the spear from the priest's back. Kirei collapsed to the ground, a puppet with its strings severed.
A dark crimson pool expanded rapidly beneath Kirei's body. After confirming the priest's breath had ceased, the Knight of the Red Branch let his strength fade, sliding down the wall until he sat slumped against the cold stone.
"...Tch. Figures it would end like this."
Having been pierced by his own cursed spear, survival was an impossibility. Only his Battle Continuation skill allowed him to cling to consciousness, and even that was reaching its limit. Soon, he would fade from this world.
He was furious at having been used as a tool, but this was the extent of the vengeance he could take. Gathering the last vestiges of his magical energy, he traced the rune ᚲ (Kenaz) upon the floor.
Immediately, flames began to hunger for the surrounding space. As the heat rose, his mind drifted back to the image of a certain girl he had encountered at the academy—the girl in the red coat.
She was brave, overflowing with confidence, and possessed a fierce, unwavering faith in her own Servant. A faint smile touched his lips.
"...Hah, haha. If a spitfire like her had been my partner, I wouldn't have had any complaints. What a waste."
His luck with women had always been wretched, it seemed. He felt a fleeting pang of regret at that realization.
...Still. This was the final favor he could do for that girl. That irritating 'Golden King' was still on the loose, but he had a feeling about them.
'Those brats... they can do it.' With that final thought, Cu Chulainn closed his eyes.
'I hope my Master in the next war is one hell of a woman.'
***
"So... would you care to explain the meaning of this situation, Elius?"
"....."
I broke into a cold sweat and swallowed hard, staring back at Artoria. Her eyes were hollow, devoid of their usual warmth, casting an eerie and terrifying shadow over her face.
The reason for her glacial stare was the person currently attached to my arm like a second skin.
Despite my efforts to pry her off, the woman was using the unnatural strength of a Servant to maintain her grip. This was Assassin—Hassan of Serenity—the very same one I had fought at the church.
As for why Serenity was clinging to me..... I haven't the faintest idea! If I knew, do you think I'd be standing here like this!?
Ever since she realized her poison had no effect on me, she had abandoned all hostility.
Seeing that she had stopped attacking, and figuring that since her abilities were useless against me I could at least try to talk her out of being Gilgamesh's pawn, I had released my hold on her throat... and it resulted in this.
Now, no matter how much I tried to shove her away, she refused to budge.
Worse, I couldn't even ask the others for help. If anyone else touched even a sliver of her skin to pull her off, the lethal poison coating her body would send them straight to the underworld.
But the longer she stayed attached, the more I felt Artoria's mounting displeasure burning through the back of my head.
I was stuck between a rock and a poisoned place. Sensing my sheer desperation, Rin eventually let out a dry cough to break the tension.
"—Ahem! Assassin. We have things to discuss. Could you perhaps step away from him for a moment? This isn't exactly a sustainable arrangement."
"...I must ask the same of you," Artoria added, her voice dropping an octave.
"...."
Serenity's expression soured at their words, but realizing she couldn't simply ignore them, she finally released her hold on my arm.
"......Huh."
She had released my arm, yes. But she hadn't actually moved an inch away from me. Rin let out a faint, exasperated sound, her face twitching as she struggled to maintain a polite smile.
I stole a glance at Artoria. The last remaining light in her eyes had been extinguished.
...Is it my imagination, or is her gaze turning a slight shade of amber? Surely it's just a trick of the light.
"...Ha, haha. So! Shall we move on to more... productive topics?"
"—Indeed. I believe there is a matter of great importance you intended to share."
Rin's prompt drew Artoria's and her own attention back toward me. I nodded, my expression hardening as I spoke.
"The Holy Grail we are seeking is not what it appears to be. In truth, it is quite the opposite of the wish-granting machine we expected."
"...What are you saying, Berserker? Opposite in what way?"
"...Eli, what is the meaning of this?"
The Grail was their primary objective, and both Artoria and Rin reacted with sharp intensity. I took a deep breath and delivered the grim truth.
"It is as I said. The Holy Grail we seek is hopelessly corrupted."
I laid out the details of the Grail's current state. I explained how, during the Third Holy Grail War, the Einzbern family had cheated by summoning a specialized Servant, the Avenger, and revealed his True Name—and the subsequent contamination of the Greater Grail by his existence.
"...Then, the object resting within this city is not a holy cup, but a chalice of poison."
"Yes. It is a vessel containing the absolute incarnation of human malice. If it were to manifest... it wouldn't just be Fuyuki at risk. The entire world would be doomed."
"Then we have no time to lose. If that fake priest and the Golden King intend to awaken whatever is inside, they will be hunting for the remaining prana."
Rin's mind raced through the calculations. Their ultimate goal was the advent of the Grail.
While six Servants were traditionally required for a perfect manifestation, if they were willing to compromise, five souls would suffice for a forced advent.
Given that Rider and Caster were already eliminated, they still needed the prana equivalent to three more Servants.
"The Grail. Prana. Fuyuki City... and the density of the leylines..."
Wait—the leylines?
As Rin connected the dots, her face grew pale.
Fuyuki possessed several powerful spiritual veins capable of anchoring the Grail. The Church and Ryuudou Temple were the primary nodes.
Having such potent spiritual veins meant prana could be harvested with ease. If one were to completely exhaust even a single leyline... the resulting surge of energy would be staggering.
But the real danger lay in the aftermath. The total hollowing of a spiritual vein would trigger a catastrophic backlash.
Even in a leyline-rich city like Fuyuki, the local impact would be severe. It would be a disaster of immense proportions.
Just as that thought coalesced in her mind, the ground beneath us began to violently heave and buckle.
"—An earthquake!?"
"—No, this isn't natural! There was no seismic warning! This means—"
Rin scrambled to the window and looked out. The sky was turning an unnatural, bruised crimson. Staring at the ominous firmament, she spoke in a hushed, trembling voice.
"—The leylines have been bled dry. Artificially."
"Which means...."
"Yes, Saber. The Holy Grail's manifestation—"
It has already begun.
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