The fear and drowsiness of the customers who had been suddenly pulled out of their sleep by the fire alarm and gathered outside the parking lot, combined with the cold outside, made them wear complicated expressions. Amid these people, hotel employees were boisterously scurrying about.
"...Mr. Archibald! Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald! Is he here?"
Of all the names registered on the client list, there was only one person whose presence had not been confirmed; the bellhop was calling him with a frantic voice. Everyone recognized this generous customer who had reserved the entire top floor of the towering hotel. In a way, this was the person they least wanted to be in danger.
"Mr. Archibald! Are you here?"
"- I'm here. Don't worry."
A resonant voice came from behind the bellhop, but when he turned around, he was confused. The person talking to him was a Japanese man wearing a coat of an old style.
This joke is too much. The furious bellhop was about to yell at him - but was captivated by the man's eyes.
This man possessed an indescribable and mysterious force of attraction; the bellhop was unable to avoid his eyes and could not speak.
"I am Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. My wife Sola is with me."
Declared this unknown Japanese man in a clear voice. And the bellhop accepted this without giving any suspicion as if hypnotized.
"... Is that true? Ah, yes. That's right."
After the bellhop checked a tick in the 'escaped' section of the list, finally confirming that all the customers were safe, he exhaled a long sigh. All his suspicions as he spoke to Archibald earlier and his feelings that something was wrong disappeared without a trace.
Watching the employees continue to attend to the other customers, Emiya Kiritsugu left the chaotic crowd. His hypnotic suggestion to an ordinary person with no magical resistance whatsoever should not be broken in a short time.
After walking to a murky dark area some distance away from the hotel, Kiritsugu pulled out the cell phone in his pocket while probing the surroundings to make sure no one was watching. Cell phones were very common among people and have been of great help to Kiritsugu. It is a wireless device for simple but useful communication, and holding one will not arouse anyone's suspicion.
First, he had to contact Maiya, who was stationed for surveillance.
"All set on your end?"
"No irregularities. Ready."
Maiya's position is a tall building under construction looking diagonally from Fuyuki's Hyatt Hotel. From there, it is possible to clearly see Kayneth's room; that was the position Kiritsugu designated for her.
Kiritsugu sighed lightly and reached for his cigarette box with one hand, punching numbers into the cell phone with the other.
"Stop this."
Bang!
Kiritsugu's instincts acted unconsciously. He grabbed the pistol he kept and fired in the direction of the voice.
His pupils dilated as he saw that he had missed by thousandths of an inch, even though that shouldn't be possible. No one in this world could move faster than Kiritsugu's bullets at such close range, except....
A Servant.
"It's useless. Your shots are too slow."
Zoe wasn't too keen on wasting time. Drako had informed her about Kiritsugu's plans to collapse the building, and she had decided to stop him. Even though Drako had only given her the order to kill Kayneth.
There was always the possibility that one person would be left inside the building. That was why Zoe had decided to stop Kiritsugu.
Among Drako's Servants, including him, it could be said that she was the only one who had aspects of a hero. That is to say, Zoe's sense of justice was far greater than that of her companions and her Master.
"Who are you, what do you want, who sent you?"
Kiritsugu sensed that this girl did not want to kill him, so he immediately tried to get as much information as possible.
Zoe dropped her head at Kiritsugu's questions. Answering was too annoying, so she simply ignored it.
"Kayneth El-Melloi is already dead. You don't have to destroy the building. No, that sounds too soft. Let's see, if you try to set off the explosives, I'll kill you."
(Remember that Zoe is talking in Japanese, so she is not talking with "thee" and so.)
Kiritsugu tensed the most and began to think carefully.
She might be lying. Even if she wasn't telling the truth and Kayneth was alive, the explosion might not kill him. Besides, he might actually lose his life if he tried to set off the explosives.
If Kiritsugu dialed an empty number with the specially prepared cell phone, he would activate the detonator of a C4 bomb.
The bomb would cause a very small explosion, to the point that the blast's sound could not even be heard from outside the hotel. What would echo in the night would be the terrifying sound of the reinforced concrete shattering and collapsing.
Now, Kiritsugu had a difficult decision. Did he believe the girl or not?
No, even if he didn't believe her, was it worth the risk of not believing her?
Kiritsugu finally made up his mind. He threw the cell phone on the ground and destroyed it with a stomp.
"Okay, I'm out."
Zoe nodded and turned to leave.
"Can you at least tell me the name of your Master?"
Kiritsugu asked one last question.
"Drako."
After saying her Master's name, Zoe left the place so quickly that Kiritsugu could not discover her presence.
Kiritsugu contacted Maia again.
"Stand down. We cancel the mission."
"But..."
Maia's incredulous voice could be heard coming out of the cell phone.
"We cancel the mission."
Kiritsugu cut the call, saying more words was unnecessary. He left the place without looking back, not regretting not having carried out his plans.
Suddenly he saw the sound of a child crying, and Kiritsugu's attention was stolen.
The child's mother walked past Kiritsugu holding a child who could not stop crying from fear. Both of them were wearing pajamas, looking quite miserable in the dark night.
Kiritsugu kept looking at the backs of the mother and child... until his hand was burned by the flame of his cigarette, and then he caught their attention again. Kiritsugu threw the already largely burnt cigarette on the ground and covered it with his foot.
Emiya Kiritsugu felt a little confused; sentimentality is definitely unacceptable to him. This kind of weak feelings would directly threaten his life. But he can't face that failure with composure no matter what.
Yes. Even if he didn't want to admit it, the reality was this- Kiritsugu saw the figures of Irisviel and Illyasviel in the figures of the retreating mother and son.
Emiya Kiritsugu once believed that one could not differentiate between sacrifices. All life was equal, so choosing the path that led to the fewest sacrifices was fine. In his view, the lives of women and children received no special treatment.
The Holy Grail could be used to save the world. And Kayneth is a target that must be eliminated to obtain the Holy Grail. There are about a thousand people in Fuyuki's Hyatt hotel, and the Holy Grail should be able to save at least five billion people. Kiritsugu could have completely eradicated these tenants together with Kayneth if it was necessary to do so.
Then why did he need to set a fire before causing this disturbance?
In the beginning, he thought this would have been the most obvious tactic. Kayneth had set many traps specifically to protect against an ambush, so as a tactic against his strategic defense, it definitely brought good results. The prodigy magus proudly contained his iron wall. Still, he never thought that the entire castle would be destroyed, so he stayed inside.
But was his true intention limited only to this?
Was his sentimental hope that the innocent tenants would escape in time now only showing itself unconsciously?
This truly is fatal romanticism. If he were on the battlefield, this kind of sentiment would definitely lead to his death.
To sustain the wavering feelings in his heart, Kiritsugu once again lit a cigarette.
He has deteriorated. Although he doesn't know exactly how much weaker he is now, today's Emiya Kiritsugu has definitely deteriorated compared to nine years ago. If this continued, then he might not be able to obtain victory in the Holy Grail War. No matter what, not restoring the cold judgment of before is unacceptable - the faster, the better.
After a night of consecutive fights to the death, a white light beam gradually appeared in the eastern sky. At this moment, Kirei was using the magic communicator to establish communication with the Tohsaka mansion in the Miyama district. He and his father, Kotomine Risei, were preparing to call an emergency strategy meeting.
"Huh? Is Caster really dead?"
Tokiomi's surprise and disbelief were revealed in his tone. Kirei and Assassin's efforts had paid off for him, though these were unexpected.
"Our opponent was about the Heroic Spirit of a mage. Despite being an Assassin, it did not fail to be difficult for him to enter his workshop unnoticed. However, while guarding the Servant, he came into contact with the same person who killed Lancer. The fight between the two sides almost revealed Assassin's presence, just as it almost ended his life."
Kirei gave his report to Tohsaka about what happened in Caster's workshop.
"The same person who killed Lancer..."
Tokiomi thought of that boy in the armor who had killed Lancer. He wasn't a Servant, but he had skills comparable to these. His sword seemed to be a Mystic Code of the highest level, being able to split Lancer's body in half.
Like Kiritsugu, Tokiomi had encountered a variable that was too unexpected.
This person who was not interested in the Grail, but was killing Servants all the same... was a danger.
"Drako, or so he introduced himself in front of everyone, did not use his sword to kill Caster. Instead, he used a bow and a strange ability. Both weapons are unmistakable, and everyone with knowledge of the Throne of Heroes can recognize these two weapons."
Kirei's words were followed by Tokiomi's silence.
"Assassin recognized them. Both the bow and the skill are Noble Phantasm of high grade."
Able to clearly sense Tokiomi's rising fury, Kirei hurriedly continued before he managed to reply.
"The bow is known how Agni Gandiva, Arjuna's bow. On the other hand, the skill he used was Phoebus Catastrophe, Atalanta's Noble Phantasm. Both are powerful Noble Phantasm, and although I don't know how he owns these, you have to be careful. Especially with that sword."
"What's wrong with that sword? Even if it's powerful, it's still inferior to Gilgamesh's secret weapon. That sword shouldn't even be on the level of Saber's Excalibur."
Tokiomi calmed down a bit thinking about Ea, Gilgamesh's Ex-ranked Noble Phantasm.
"I wouldn't be so sure. Assassin suspects that Drako's sword is on Ea's level."
"Impossible!"
"You wouldn't say that if you knew the identity of that sword. Assassin suspects that it is the sword described in the Norse texts, the one that will bring destruction."
Tokiomi's eyes grew as wide as possible, and his pupils dilated to the max. Kirei could imagine Tohsaka's face of disbelief.
"Are you talking about..."
"Yes. The Sword of the Sun, Laevatein."
Tokiomi breathed furiously.
Heaven's Feel was a crucial event for the Tohsaka family, the method they had chosen to reach the Root. And now, an outside agent like Drako was defiling the ritual created with the sweat and blood of their ancestors.
Fortunately, the Church had acted quickly upon learning of Drako's attack on Caster, and they had managed to manipulate the information in the public eye. But it was obvious that this person did not care about keeping the magical world a secret.
Heaven's Feel must be kept secret. This is a solemn rule for everyone involved in this. Someone who would attract so much attention to this place would not be welcome.
And furthermore, any mage is responsible for protecting that noble creed. Whoever it was, no one would expose magic to the common people. Everyone researched their magic clandestinely; those who failed to protect this secret would be left dead without delay by the Association. As long as something was related to the secrecy of magic, the Wizards' Association was firm and consummate in handling it. That is why this matter has always made the blood of magicians run cold.
"About this Drako, did you get any detailed information, reports, or anything like that?"
"No. Though we have something about his Servant. From his peculiar armor and attitude towards Servant Saber, I think he might be one of the knights who served King Arthur."
"A knight of the round table?"
Tokiomi asked Kirei for confirmation.
"That's right."
Tokiomi fell into deep thought.
This person, Drako, was not a Master. At least he was not an official Master appointed by the Holy Grail. That being the case, what was his motive for hunting Servants like this?
Did he want to feel the adrenaline rush of fighting strong opponents?
That seemed the only almost logical option Tokiomi could find.
Maybe he wanted to destroy the Holy Grail?
No, why would anyone want to destroy it?
Tokiomi held his hands to his head. The intrusion of this variable was driving him mad.
"You can't let this matter continue to run free, can you? Tokiomi-kun."
With a displeased look Father Risei interjected.
"Drako's actions have clearly obstructed the progress of Heaven's Feel. This is against the rules."
"Of course. As one whose previous job was to protect the secret of magic, I will not let them off the hook."
For generations, the Tohsaka family has always been the keeper of the secret in the Fuyuki area. Managing the lines of this land and monitoring any abnormal occurrences here - this is the responsibility entrusted to them by the Magicians' Association. This is also the reason why the Tohsaka, as one of the 'three founding families', offered this place under their care as the stage for Heaven's Feel.
As a Master whose goal is to acquire the Holy Grail and also as the guardian of this land, Tokiomi really must stop Drako's actions.
"But the problem is, in order to fight a Servant, we must rely on a Servant. And, either way, my Assassin cannot carry out any actions."
Kirei's remarks made perfect sense. Assassin's purpose was specifically to fulfill clandestine plans, and how could he allow himself to appear again so quickly?
Father Risei contemplated this for a moment in silence. He suggested to Tokiomi:
"It is within my jurisdiction as overseer to alter the rules slightly. How about we put aside the fight for the Holy Grail first? We gather all the other Masters to go against Drako, how about it?"
"Huh? So... What do you have in mind, Father?"
"I can provide some help for future battles to whoever manages to eradicate the intruder. To have the result of having Heaven's Feel completely derailed just by the frenzy of a person outside the ritual... I doubt the other Masters would want it to happen."
"...Oh, I see. Changing the objective of this game to a hunt. Is that right?"
Even if these two people are ridiculously strong, they wouldn't be able to take on the rest of the Servants by themselves.
"But wouldn't the condition of rewarding some benefit to the one who defeats Drako... turn against us? Wouldn't it eventually prevent us from obtaining the Holy Grail?"
Smiling, Father Risei replied:
"Of course, it is not good for someone else to acquire the benefits. But the only one who could deal the final blow to Caster, cornered by the dogs, would be Archer."
"... I see. That's obvious."
As long as Kirei's Assassin is present, it will be too easy to accurately fix Archer's timing to retribute the final shot. Although the rules were altered now, the Tohsaka group's battle tactics and skills remained unchanged.
"Then prepare to gather all the Masters."
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