Bab 17: 17 Fateful Encounter
A man in a black trench coat endured the cold night wind, carefully crouching on a steel container, holding his breath and concentrating, afraid to make a sound. However, the shocking scene before him rendered him speechless, his eyes wide with astonishment, unable to regain his composure for a long time.
This is the Servant…
The reappearance of those ancient heroes.
Although he had already read the records of past Holy Grail Wars from the Einzbern family, Emiya Kiritsugu had mentally prepared himself for the existence of Servants, which transcended current common knowledge. Yet, when he truly witnessed the battles between these heroes across time, he realized he had underestimated them.
Wielding holy swords and commanding raging winds, manipulating water with magical spears, and displaying extraordinary martial skills... this kind of battle, only recorded in the mythological texts, was now unfolding right before him.
His trump card, Origin Bullet, Time Alter; facing these transcendent beings, all he could do was laugh it off…
He was gradually understanding the meaning behind the head of the Einzbern family's advice, "Only a Servant can defeat a Servant. Do not act impulsively."
Initially, he thought that with these two powerful weapons, even if he couldn't defeat these heroes, he could at least hold them off for a few rounds. But now, realizing the reality, he found his previous thoughts utterly laughable.
Putting aside the Arthur he had summoned, looking at the strength displayed by the golden-haired man across from him, he felt he would definitely not last two moves against him before being pierced by that magical spear. He might as well abandon the ridiculous notion of defeating a Servant.
With that in mind, Emiya Kiritsugu set up his sniper rifle and thermal scope to search for the presence of other magus nearby.
Though he couldn't defeat a Servant, it didn't mean he couldn't take down other magus.
He was called the Magus Killer for a reason. The special bullets equipped in his gun were the nemesis of all magus... Origin Bullets.
These bullets had the ability to cause chaos and riot in the magic circuits of a magus when they activated their magecraft. If a magus were to use magecraft after being hit by an Origin Bullet, they would be beyond saving.
This was also his ultimate weapon, prepared to crush all those arrogant traditional magus.
Thinking this, Emiya Kiritsugu no longer paid attention to the two battling Servants below and began to focus on locating Lancer's Master.
Although the golden-haired Lancer's Master had yet to reveal himself, he was certain that the Master would be hiding nearby, observing the battle, ready to command and use magecraft for support.
Both the Servants and their Masters would engage in contact over a short period; there couldn't be an absolutely harmonious bond between any Master and Servant.
As long as the Master had doubts about the Servant, they would undoubtedly hide nearby, just as he thought. Over a long lifetime, he knew that those naturally proud and suspicious magus would never easily entrust the initiative to their Servants, so… he must be here!
Although this reasoning was indeed valid, the current situation was somewhat different from what Emiya Kiritsugu had anticipated.
Having been forewarned of possible misfortune by Lord Zelrecht, Kayneth would not allow his pride to continue influencing him. He was extremely cautious.
Not only had he left his fiancée, who was supposed to follow him, in the Clock Tower, but he had also borrowed a superior relic from the British Museum, summoning a legendary hero that rivaled Alexander and perhaps even surpassed him, Fionn mac Cumhaill.
To ensure everything was foolproof, he had also researched the participants in this Holy Grail War in advance and made the appropriate preparations. One could say that he was now completely composed.
Moreover, he wouldn't naively think that he understood combat better than the battle-hardened heroes; he was just a magus, not a warrior. Therefore, he needed Fionn to fight to his fullest potential.
Kayneth also planned to use the rigid thinking of other Masters for a surprise attack, launching a deadly strike against those Masters!
Let the ambushers truly feel the terror possessed by a well-prepared ruler.
Don't underestimate Kayneth…
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind; who is the hunter, and who is the prey? This would soon be revealed.
From his hidden position, Kayneth was secretly observing the situation on-site through a special familiar.
Seeing Fionn recognize King Arthur's true name at first glance and gain the upper hand in battle, he nodded in satisfaction, praising him internally.
As expected, he was a descendant of the Celtic god of war, Nuada, the leader of the Fianna Knights of Glory. Being able to identify King Arthur's true name in such a short time and suppress her was a testament to his strength and insight, making him a Servant worthy of Kayneth.
With this in mind, he continued to issue commands to Fionn.
"Show some real skill and test Saber's abilities. Ideally, you should seriously injure her or force her to retreat. Waver and Rider are still waiting for support outside, so don't worry about the other Servants attacking."
"Understood."
Fionn responded, continuing to increase his magical energy.
Meanwhile, the oblivious Emiya Kiritsugu climbed slightly along the container, calmly analyzing the situation around him.
He then activated his communicator to Maiya, instructing her to be on the lookout for the presence of other Masters or Servants.
Next, he surveyed the surrounding terrain. Everywhere were steel containers, which indeed provided excellent hiding spots. However… the times have changed for magus.
With this thought, Emiya Kiritsugu directed his gaze several dozen meters away, pulling a night vision device from his coat, and began searching for other Masters along the traces of the steel containers.
"Very good, just as I thought…"
As expected, the night vision device detected the heat signature of a humanoid figure in a high spot formed by stacked containers.
Even with their concealment magecraft, those old-fashioned magus had never considered that someone could use high-tech devices like night vision goggles during the Holy Grail War. Even if they used magecraft to hide their tracks, they hadn't dealt with the heat signature.
Several hundred meters away, the night vision device displayed a warm silhouette outlined in red and orange. Emiya Kiritsugu couldn't help but smile, beginning to mock the magus's stupidity in his heart.
Believing themselves noble and overly reliant on concealment magecraft, they had no understanding of the changes in the times. If he wasn't mistaken, that magus must have been using illusion magecraft or presence suppression to dare to appear so brazenly here. However, magecraft could not eliminate one's heat signature from devices like night vision goggles.
Naturally, the so-called Magus Killer, Emiya Kiritsugu, would not let this excellent opportunity slip by. Swiftly, he attached a suppressor to his sniper rifle and adjusted his aim. There had to be thousands of magus who had perished at his hands for underestimating modern technology and failing to understand the changes in the times, and this one would be next.
"Bullet… bloom for you."
*Bang!*
The bullet tore through the air with a thunderous sound, bursting forth with a blazing spark as the Origin Bullet shot out mercilessly.
After completing all this, Emiya Kiritsugu seemed to have predicted the Master's fate. The Origin Bullet was the deadly nemesis of magus. As long as they were hit by this bullet, even if the magus didn't die immediately, they would instinctively use healing magecraft. However, the outcome of using healing magecraft after being hit by an Origin Bullet would be…
Veins bursting!
With that, the Lancer group would be resolved…
"Hmph, did you really fall for such a simple trap? You despicable magus!"
However, after the bullet was fired, Emiya Kiritsugu heard not the scream he had anticipated. A cold, proud male voice suddenly reached his ears from behind, sending a chill down his spine because the voice didn't come from in front of him, but rather… from behind!
In the reflection on the night vision device, the figure struck by the bullet exploded, coalescing like liquid before transforming into a sword that flew toward Emiya Kiritsugu.
Clearly, that mercury had traced the bullet's trajectory to locate his position.
"Time Alter: Double Accel!"
In the face of life and death, Emiya Kiritsugu showed no hesitation. As the mercury arrows shot toward him, he activated his Time Alter and leaped down from several meters high on the container without a second thought.
"Ugh…"
Falling from the container, Emiya Kiritsugu found himself in a bit of a predicament, clutching his injured arm as he limped along, looking up.
Before him stood a container riddled with dozens of large holes, the mercury arrows having arrived in mere seconds and turned the container beneath him into Swiss cheese. If he had hesitated for even a moment, he would have been finished.
He had been deceived!
The figure he saw was merely a decoy.
Feeling a chill in his heart from this heavy blow, Emiya Kiritsugu was about to make a quick escape when a figure blocked his path, causing his heart to sink.
"Let's see what I've caught."
"Firearms, Time Alter magecraft... Let me think, who are you? Oh, you must be Emiya Kiritsugu, the so-called Magus Killer."
The man before him had blonde hair slicked back, hands clasped behind his back, and wore a serious expression filled with disdain as he regarded Emiya Kiritsugu.
The Magus Killer, was it?
His name was Emiya Kiritsugu, if he recalled correctly.
That precise targeting and the sudden sniper attack, though unorthodox, was indeed impressive. If he hadn't been prepared in advance, he would have easily fallen for the trap. Even though magus had protective magecraft, avoiding death from such a rapid bullet to the head would be nearly impossible.
However… something about that bullet seemed off?
"Hmm? What is this?!"
Kayneth exhaled sharply, and the mercury mixed with the Origin Bullet shot by Emiya Kiritsugu returned to his hand. He narrowed his eyes and began to use detection magecraft to analyze the bullet, gradually completing a preliminary analysis.
"I see, so this is the secret of the Magus Killer?"
The mercury gathered in his palm, constantly swirling. With a flick of his hand, he thoroughly analyzed the exaggerated bullet from the inside out. As this process unfolded, Kayneth's expression grew increasingly grim.
"I suddenly understand why you can kill so many magus. I admit it's not just luck, but you're done for now."
The more he learned about the bullet's true nature, the more he felt a sense of narrow escape, and his anger toward Emiya Kiritsugu grew.
This despicable magus had actually created such a malicious weapon, and the existence of this weapon held no significance whatsoever. It couldn't be considered a form of research or a branch of knowledge; it was simply a tool born for the purpose of slaughtering magus.
No wonder Emiya Kiritsugu's assassination success rate was so high, and the intelligence around his assassinations was so mysterious. If the magical community discovered he had created a weapon like the Origin Bullet, he would undoubtedly be attacked by the entire community of mystics.
No magus, not even himself, could tolerate the existence of such a weapon!!
Seeing such a weapon, Kayneth couldn't help but feel a surge of anger, recalling that if he hadn't been on guard and well-prepared, the consequences of being struck by such a thing would send a chill down his spine.
In this Holy Grail War, Emiya Kiritsugu was undoubtedly a tremendous threat! If he was even slightly careless, he could very well fall into this guy's hands.
He even suspected that in some alternate timeline, he might have been killed by this man.
However, he could not let this man live since he had discovered this now.
A fierce glint flashed in his eyes.
"Not only are your methods despicable, but you've also created something so contrary to the principles of magecraft. Emiya Kiritsugu, you're quite bold."
"Are you ready to face the wrath of all magus? You Magus Killer!"
As Kayneth approached slowly, Emiya Kiritsugu widened his eyes.
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