Editing Fate/Zero:Heart Of Freaks

===Heart of Freaks===

  
Whilst limping, having climbed onto the rooftop, the twin-headed horse turned one of its head aside and started galloping on the roof. 
 
''“……Do you have two hearts?”''
 
Kiritsugu wanted to abuse himself who had looked past the obvious fact.
 
Wait! At Natalia’s anger-infused shout – but with a high-pitched shrill, the horse had leapt and galloped towards where the villagers were gathering.
 
A leap like that of a life-sized frog. Natalia could probably chase after it, but at that moment it was obvious that she would bump into those villagers.
 
 
“What are you going to do? Are you going to attack?”  
At Kiritsugu’s words, Natalia showed a moment’s hesitation. It was something rare for a woman who made decisions spontaneously. But, thinking about it, there were only two choices in this situation –to escape or to attack.
 
At least, those were the only ideas which came to Kiritsugu’s mind. To haphazardly discover the headquarters of magi was the height of their folly.
 
However – 
 
“No – we won’t attack.”
 
“So, we escape?”
 
“No – we won’t run away.”
 
Natalia presented a third option.
 
Looking at Kiritsugu, she grinned broadly and said.
 
''“I will die. And then, you bring the horse to Zepter’s.” ''
 
Which made Kiritsugu dumbfounded.
 
 
 
 
 
After receiving the reports of the twin-headed horse, in great numbers the villagers brought the animal to a stable. They numbered to about half of the entire population. And then, they discovered a woman who was walking unsteadily.
 
 
 
Someone inserted an arrow into a bow, and released.
 
Somone pulled the trigger of an old rifle.
 
 
 
And it all ended. Being shot at the elbow by the bullet, and the abdomen by the arrow, the woman collapsed slowly.
 
The villagers surrounded the woman’s corpse, looking at her.
 
“She’s dead.”
 
Yeah.”
 
“We should bring her to the doctor’s.”
 
“The doctor’s not around.”
 
“Umm. Sawyer is here.”
 
“There’s no proper facility here. Let’s leave her with Sawyer and the others.”
 
“Let’s do it.”
 
“There might be another one out there.”
 
“Find him too.”
 
Drowning her consciousness, without taking any breath, with her heart perfectly still, Natalia was literally “dead”; only her hearing was still functioning.
 
 
Consequently, the depths of her consciousness responded to the word “doctor”, and came to a conclusion after pondering –
 
Doctor, i.e. “the one who heals them”, had to be Heinrich Zepter.
 
 
''Okay, bring me there, to Heinrich Zepter’s place.''
 
 
Kiritsugu had sneaked into a deserted house, and heaved a sigh of relief after feeling Natalia’s prana left. Looks like the wall could be broken down. It was fortunate that the villagers did not take any reckless action like dissecting the corpse on the spot.
 
But, now’s the critical moment for Kiritsugu. First of all, he must locate where Natalia’s prana was headed to by dowsing. 
 
That was relatively easy, but the problem was how to get there. To get there by slipping through the two thousand villagers without being noticed.
 
 
 
“Oh well, that boy should be able to work something out.”
 
Natalia said that while sniggering, at the same time heading to the place of death.
 
“Naturally, he’ll be able to do something.”
 
Whilst mumbling that, Kiritsugu focused his nerves more. Hanging from a string, a shining stone started moving without being touched. Before long, the stone pointed towards a point right ahead.
 
 
“……East huh?”
 
After making sure there was no one nearby, he slipped out quickly from the exit of the house.
 
 
 
Being carried by the villagers, Natalia was transported to the doctor’s house.
 
She predicted – that Zepter would not believe the villagers’ careless declaration of her death.
 
She predicted – that at the instant Zepter saw her, he would try to kill her.
 
She predicted – that because of that, instead of giving his recognition towards her, he had to move first, and take control of the situation immediately.
 
She predicted – that the villagers would say “The doctor’s not here. Is he away?” Anyway that would be convenient. Since there were a thousand of them over there, they would not be too difficult.
 
A question – Who was “Sawyer”? The doctor’s representative? Then he must be his apprentice or assistant. In any case, if he’s someone who continues practicing his craft, then he must be taken care of too.
 
A wish – She wanted the villagers to not linger at the doctor’s place after dropping her off, but to return home promptly. 
 
 
 
She heard the sound of a door opening somewhere.
She heard the creaking sound of the floorboard from someone treading heavily on it.
 
Natalia grasped that she had arrived. Because she was not breathing, she could not smell the odour, but by sensing with her skin, she could understand that she “had entered into the house”.
 
She suppressed her prana as much as she could. With the information she had been relaying, Kiritsugu should have already known the location of this place. Her strategy was based on that assumption.
 
“Sawyer……bring the ingredients here.”
 
''“They’re ady dea."'' (They’re already there.)
 
A  thickly accented voice. Looks like this is the guy called Sawyer. 
 
Together with the sound of dragging feet, she could also heard the sound of some metal scratching the floor. However, she still could not open her eyes.
 
The villagers were leaving. The sound of footsteps gradually faded, and with a long creaking sound, the last person shut the door and left.
 
After confirming that for a few seconds – firstly, she activated her vision. Without moving her head, her eyes observed her surroundings. Just like what she expected, there were no medical tools, but on the wall were all types of magecraft tools, a dissecting hammer, knives, and machetes. In the glasses on the shelf, with five arms and sharp fangs, foetuses were looking at her with blank pupils.
 
 
 
On the crowded floor were heaps of magecraft books– there were not rare books, but still very expensive – strewn all over and stacking high up. The wall, the bed, the lighting; everything was shabby, but without a doubt, this was a magus’s workshop.
 
 
 
 
Natalia firmly believed that.
 
This place was Heinrich Zepter’s residence.
 
“……What? You’re still alive?”
 
Simultaneously, she jumped from the bed – activating her magic circuit, she broke Sawyer’s neck, who was still taken aback.
 
 
“Oh?”
 
After breaking his neck, Natalia realized something. Sawyer’s face had assumed a mysterious expression, like that of a surreal painting.
 
And then, in spite of the fact that Sawyer’s neck had been broken, he was still alive. Alive, and moving.
 
“What are you doing!”
 
Broken off and hanging loosely, without putting his head properly back, Sawyer attacked with a machete rusted from blood.
 
Evading that easily, she concentrated prana in her hand, and delivered a karate chop at his neck – his body was severed into half.
 
She stepped back from the gushing blood. This time, Natalia really believed that she had finished him off. The man in front of her – be it a magus, or a corpse-eating ghost, or any other creature, at the point when his heart was split away, he would lose all his bodily functions.
 
 
 
– That was supposed to be the case.
 
 
“Wh…….?”
 
 
She was stunned. Split cleanly into half, with blood and intestines still oozing out from it, the corpse ''wriggled''.
 
 
 
The remains of the body on the left and right helped and supported each other, as the body tried to stand.
 
“Move……gi…vide…videeeooo……”
 
“ – Whatever research he’s doing, I’d have never thought of such a disgusting monster.”
 
Sighing in shock, she kicked Sawyer – who tried to attack her – away.
 
“No……way…”
 
“Where is the “doctor” who created you? If you don’t tell me, I will cut you up until you can’t say a word.”
 
Picking up the machete, Natalia held it at Sawyer’s throat.
 
“Doctor…..THERE……”
 
With a shaking finger, Sawyer pointed at the bookshelf. Natalia thought there was an exit at the  back of the bookshelf, but looks like that was not the case.
 
“Ttt, televv….television……”
 
Sawyer’s excited finger alternated between the television and the bookshelf. On the bookshelf were some nonsensical magecraft books, something like the clinical records of the villagers, and – 
 
“Videotape……?”
 
''Television and videotape?''
 
For a moment, Natalia’s attention was diverted away from Sawyer who was squirming behind her – or rather, she did not sense anything aiming at her. Because of that, the instant she turned around, along with the sound of the wooden floor tearing, she could not stop Sawyer from being swallowed by a tremendous speed.
 
“……!?”
 
Panicking, she rushed towards a hole that had appeared out of t he floor – pitch darkness, as if leading towards the depth of hell. Nothing could be seen. She lighted a fire on a tobacco and threw it inside.
 
The small red light dropped into the depths of the hole before slowly disappearing.
 
 
 
 
“Well then……”
 
After being lost for a while, Natalia lit up the second tobacco, picked up the videotape and medical records, and sat in front of the television.
 
There were at least freaks in this village who could drag a dead body away in an instant. If that’s the case, obviously she would need to obtain information on how to go against it. The person in the playback of the video was the one she had expected. 
 
“Transcending the video, or rather, I’m glad we finally meet, Heinrich Zepter.”
 
Murmuring that, Natalia smiled coldly.
 
 
 
 
Emiya Kiritsugu had confirmed that the building to which Natalia had been brought. Ahead of him was not just the building, but a building from which the deep stench of blood could be smelled; a place like no other.
 
The evil magus’s workshop was used for all sorts of biological experiments, and had taken in all sufferings, and despair. That was a sinister scene, indescribable by a single word.
 
At the sense of odiousness which surpassed his father’s workshop last time – a place where Emiya Kiritsugu had despaired of the world – whilst bearing the ice-cold cruelty, he slowly entered.
 
“You’ve come.”
 
He nodded at Natalia’s words. Inasmuch as being under such circumstances, she was settled on the sofa, watching the television. He almost blurted out words of incredulity, but after noticing her pointing at the television, he turned towards the screen.
 
“Zepter……?”
 
“Yes. Boy, looks like this is a ''love-letter from hell.''” 
 
A long-haired man was on the screen. His beard covered half of his face. From his sunken eyes shone neither madness nor nothingness, but rationality.
 
“- Hunters from the Association. My name is Heinrich Zepter. The man you are after.”
 
There was no hint of triumph from his voice – he was just informing them of the fact out of plain indifference.
 
“Years after all of you look at this video, I am no longer in this world in 1978.”
 
“……Not in this world? Are these his last words?”
 
Kiritsugu frowned.
 
“A magus? Last words……?”
 
Natalia whispered.
 
“It is true that the Zepter family, had been lost from the right path. We were able to resurrect people – to revive the body, to revive the knowledge stuck in the brain, and| to restore even the destroyed magic circuits|. Since we have come this far, what remains is just to research into ways to call back the soul of the dead. But still, we specialize not in the spirit, but in the revival of the flesh.”
 
He shook his head as if he was bored.
 
“A finger, a strand of hair, claw, eyeballs –  this is the technique to resurrect the body flawlessly from all of these. Alternatively, replacing a lost arm with another person’s, and to make the body recognize it as its original. And finally, to be able to induce the recognition of new parts of the body, and to make it move.”
 
He was silent for a moment, and muttered.
 
“……Having done all of these…so what? It’s boring, and no matter what words I use to describe it, this is ''no more than a mere toy''.” 
 
“Yeah, that’s right.”
 
Natalia murmured – and Kiritsugu agreed as well.
 
This technique was indeed something to be praised. If that was not something magical, but something developed from purely scientific techniques, that would no doubt have a huge impact on the world.
 
 
 
However, from the magecraft’s point of view, that was just a simply useless technique. Who would want a technique which mass produces the living dead?
 
 
 
At this point, Kiritsugu realized something.
 
Until a moment ago, his image in the television – there was definitely a glint of intelligence in his eyes. There was also a note of rationality in his voice.
 
But, as he progressed in his explanations, they gradually disappeared.
 
“ – Yeah, nothing more than a toy. But, though we – no – I seek the origin like other magi……''I am helplessly attached to those toys.''” 
 
“……”
 
Madness was seeping from the entire body of the man in the screen. With a stiff smile, it was as if darkness was overflowing from the opened mouth.
 
“That’s right. I am helplessly attached to them. I had fallen in love with them. ''The creatures that I invented give me joy from the bottom of my heart!''”
 
Looking at his boyish smile, Kiritsugu thought to himself – he had fought with magi who had strayed from the right path, many times. With an attitude which appeared to be a kind of ascetic monks, they carried out their actions of extreme brutality – but compared to them, Zepter was a ''truly interesting person.''
 
Kiritsugu even felt like he was being caught at his heel, and being slowly dragged away by this person. His vision dimmed, and started swaying…
 
“Boy, don’t be overwhelmed by it.”
 
Saying that, Natalia pressed the tobacco she was smoking, against Kiritsugu’s hand.
 
“……tsch!”
 
At that instant, his consciousness returned along with the pain he felt.
 
“You can get drunk on wine, but a hunter caught up in madness should be disqualified, don’t you think?”
 
At her severe admonishment, Kiritsugu could not help but to grimace.
 
“Just now……”
 
“It was not magecraft. It was just a hint. That’s probably why you didn’t understand huh……That was ''pure madness.'' His aim, his course of life, his interest and hobby are united. From a magus’ point of view, this is the worst handicap to us.”
 
Motive – to play with corpses
Course of life – to play with corpses
Interest – to play with corpses
Hobby – to play with corpses
 
“There are six hands, and they are moved simultaneously. Four legs, breaking into run simultaneously. Two heads, thinking at the same time, being embedded in the body and giving sight to the outside world…..Yeah, ''it’s really fun! It’s the best!”''
 
Kiritsugu was the first to realize this.
 
“Natalia……the floor in the screen, is it not moving?”
 
“Eh?”
 
Murmuring, Natalia shifted her attention towards the floor in the screen. Indeed, it was moving. Wriggling convulsively, as if it was a living thing.
 
“I invent monsters, invent invent and invent. It’s a shame, but at the same time, I know that I have strayed from the right path of humans and magi in the pursuit of my interest. That’s why I came to America; in this forsaken land, so that I can use the land and its people and carry out my research to my heart’s content. “
 
“……that research, as much as he wants?”
 
Seeming satisfied with himself, he took a deep breath.
 
“Yes, I am helplessly satisfied. Fusing babies and old people, creating three-headed man…… Even Hekatonkheires – I can recreate a miniature size of him. That’s why I am satisfied. Now, there’s only one thing left from my imagination.”
 
Right now, it was not just the floor trembling, but the entire place itself. Gulping, Natalia and Kiritsugu watched on.
 
“''And that’s to turn myself into a monster!'' – Isn’t that a cool ending??”
 
Together with his words, Zepter was wrapped in something huge, and together with a shout of sheer delight, he was swallowed completely.
 
The video stopped, and noise appeared on the screen. The two of them stood up, and started moving.
 
“That guy ''turned himself into a monster''?” 
 
Kiritsugu asked, and Natalia nodded.
 
“……Well, it didn’t mean anything. For a magus who had strayed from the right path, it’s not surprising however mad he ended up in. Usually, it is logical to associate such people with absurdities; thus such things are recognized as the norm.”
 
Natalia turned over abruptly, and said to Kiritsugu. 
 
“This applies to you, and me too. |If we strayed a little from our paths, we will fall.| Like the Zepter family, while they cut themselves from the outside world and carried on with the experiments, without realizing it, they walked on a wrong path before long. That madness will visit you in the blink of an eye, and take away your sanity.”
 
Kiritsugu was silent.
 
Natalia’s technical and magical lessons – all of them were important, but he thought that her words right now were more important than all of those.
 
“Insanity will disguise you. Those who have been controlled by it can even seem to be civilized gentlemen.”
 
“- So how do you see through the mask?”
 
“Don’t judge a book by its cover. It’s okay to trust your instincts, but don’t rely on your desire alone. And also, don’t get lost.”
 
Both of them gazed at the gaping hole on the floor – 
 
It seemed like the path to hell.
 
“All right……time for the hunt.”
 
Kiritsugu nodded, and holding Natalia tightly, both of them jumped.
 
 
 
 
5 meters.
 
10 meters.
 
15 meters.
 
 
 
When they dropped to 20 meters underground, Natalia finally caught sight of the ground. She pushed her free hand against the wall. Scratching the wall with her nails, she slowed their descent.
 
 
 
Whilst feeling the tremor from her back, Kiritsugu wondered if they could ever ascend from this place again, and started exploring escape options.
 
 
 
Natalia’s ascent stopped, and Kiritsugu got off from her back.
 
“……It’s really vast.”
 
Natalia nodded and smiled at Kiritsugu’s words which were similar to her feelings of America.
 
 
They had arrived at a huge natural cavern. It was hard to tell how wide this place was.
 
But this cavern was unmistakably as vast as the entire village. And then, despite the pitch darkness which seemingly negated all existence, both of them confirmed something else.
 
 
 
''Something is here…''
 
Something incredibly dangerous, heretic, repulsive, and frightening.
 
At the very least, something not human – the associates of non-humans.
 
 
 
And.
 
|Because of that, both of them had to face each other.|
 
 
 
Once again, both of them were magi (aliens) who had departed from the boundaries of normal human beings.
 
 
With magecraft, Natalia created a small lamp, and Kiritsugu started walking forward.
 
 
 
After walking for a while, Natalia could smell the stench of something decaying. An odour of repulsive decaying meat. The sound of meat squashing against meat could be heard from the darkness ahead.
 
 
Immediately snuffing the lamp, they walked on whilst getting used to the pitch black.
 
 
 
And then…they saw it.
 
To illustrate, it was like a gigantic queen ant.
 
From the incredibly huge oviduct, ''a human was being born''. Wrapped in gooey liquid, it fully clothed – and it was a face that they remembered.
 
The man Kiritsugu should have killed.
 
“This guy, is he the hotel-“
 
“Yeah, the hotelkeeper who received us.”
 
Wiping the viscous liquid with his hands, he stood up unsteadily, and headed deeper into the cave.
 
“Which means, the villagers who had attacked us so far……”
 
“''All of them were this man’s children.''”
 
 
 
 
It was undoubtedly a creature beyond Kiritsugu’s wildest dreams. Seeing that figure, it was hard to even maintain his sanity. His steel-like resolve, the rifle in his arms, and above all, Natalia’s extreme composure – all of these had rescued him from the abyss of insanity.
 
Quietly containing the madness, he waited for instructions; and thought about possible instructions. 
 
“Well then. The unpleasant, Beelzebub-like monster ahead of us, is our target – Heinrich Zepter. But……what do you think we should do?”  
“We must kill him.”
 
“Correct. Now boy, how are we going to do that?”
 
“Destroy him completely with fire. Luckily, we have a sufficient supply of explosives. We strike him in one shot, before he can react.”
 
Natalia nodded.
 
“Your suggestion is good. If we go easy on them, they will be joining the villagers too.”
 
“So…”
 
“There’s only one problem. Is that thing as ugly, thick-headed and stupid as it looks on the outside? Or, does it still have Heinrich Zepter’s intelligence?”
 
“If he still has intelligence, then…?”
 
“Then he would have already known for a long time that we are here, and that we are thinking of how to attack him; things like that. And then, he would have already thought of how to counterattack. We would either be mutilated and killed, or being kept as slaves. One of them.”
 
“……”
 
“But, we will survive this. If anything happens, there are ways…”
 
“Retreat?”
 
“Nono, we won’t retreat. I want to set up some preventative measures.”
 
Saying that, Natalia took out a weapon from Kiritsugu’s backpack.
 
“What are you going to do with it?”
 
“I’ll hide it first. It’s our ''trump card''.”
 
Natalia grinned fearlessly.
 
 
 
 
“Boy, are all the preparations done?”
 
Nodding, Kiritsugu set up the Weatherby Mk V rifle. Just like what Natalia said, this gun was perfect to attack the creature.
 
“Well then, I’ll be back.”
 
She stood up, and walked briskly towards the monster in front. The compound eyes stared at once at her.
 
Not bothered by it, and without a hint of fear in her, Natalia bowed formally.
 
“Hi, Heinrich Zepter. Nice to meet you.”
 
The monster was silent. Then, without opening his mouth, he spoke to Natalia in her mind with telepathy. 
 
“It’s an honour to meet you too, Natalia.”
 
“……How do you know my name?”
 
“''The entire village is me.'' There’s nothing not known to me.  Not even that lad hiding over there, aiming at me.”
 
“……”
 
Kiritsugu was silent. He had the rifle readied, and was waiting for the signal.
 
“I see, you have indeed succeeded. ''That is a limitless body, approaching even immortality.'' But still, you are a human.”
 
“- Indeed. I, Heinrich Zepter, am certainly a sane human, and am loving this body.”
 
“Well then, do you intend to manipulate these villagers which are parts of yourself, and to live a peaceful life like this forever?”
 
“No way. I am still a human – a magus. Thus, I have desires too.”
 
“It’s not that you want to be recognized…You want to reach the Origin? To use your immortality to reach the territory so desired by everyone?”
 
Zepter’s subsequent sneer at her words could even be sensed by Kiritsugu.
 
Origin – the goal more or less all magi were seeking; the swirl of the beginning and end of all things.
 
“I want to ask something too, magi-hunter. ''Why don’t you seek that?''” 
 
“Because there’s no need to desire it. I’m not satisfied like having the entire world to myself, but I am not so hungry for it to the extent of being willing to throw the world away.”
 
“It’s the same for me. I love this chaotic world. So what if I understand the beginning and end of this world? 
 
‘All things are there’, all these sayings are boring. What I wish was just ''how far I can transform myself – something as simple as that''.” 
 
“Oh? We get along well, don’t we?”
 
Grasping her fist, Natalia activated her magic circuit, and activated an extremely powerful magecraft – obvious to even bystanders.
 
“- Yeap. That’s why in this world one person would be enough!”
 
The instant he received the signal, Kiritsugu did not hesitate and pulled the trigger. A thunderous roar resounded in this cavern, blowing away Zepter’s compound eyes.
 
Natalia started running swiftly. Innumerable hands surged forward to contain her.
 
“ – Too naïve!” 
 
Her right light shone, and sliced the arms away.
 
The nightmare which could hoodwink men and suck their soul till its dry – Natalia, whose ancestors were succubus, possessed a special type of power.
 
Which was – a boost to released all her preserved prana in one go. Like fighter jets Increasing its propelling force by 50% by means of afterburners, Natalia’s strength in her arms, legs; her endurance, her instantaneous force – all her bodily abilities were greatly amplified.
 
It’s something similar to the enhancement of the body by means of rune magecraft, but for a much shorter period. But to compensate for that, Natalia used extreme violence.
 
Berserk – Natalia had absorbed parts of the souls of her close magi acquaintances to prepare for this battle.
 
She swung her arms and severed.
 
Her legs pierced into the body, and kicked it open into the intestines.
 
The strong gastric acid gushed out – she avoided the downpour-like liquid with minimal steps.
 
 
 
At the same time, with a machine-like accuracy, Kiritsugu had been pummelling him with the rifle. The Weatherby Magnum bullets – which boasted of a monster-like weight of 500 gram per bullet – continued blowing Zepter’s flesh away.
 
 
 
He was not tough, but quite weak. After all, his flesh was made from men and beast bodies. But, because of that, his body scattered and absorbed the bullets. It was as if shooting at a block of mud. Even if hit by the bullets, it would revert back to original immediately.
 
Subsequently, Kiritsugu felt impatience creeping upon him. However, in spite of that, the hands which were pulling the trigger, and the eyes which were targeting it – none of those would let the monster live.
 
And then – Natalia’s movements slowed abruptly. Kiritsugu’s ultimate fear had happened.
 
 
 
The price for granting the berserk-like strength to her body – the supposedly enormous amount of prana stockpile had been cut off suddenly.
 
 
 
Natalia had switched back to her normal consumption of prana.
 
It didn’t mean that her prana had been cut off completely. The prana consumption had decreased, and naturally, her body abilities weakened steeply.
 
 
 
Zepter did not miss that opportunity. She was caught by 10 remaining hands. His compound eyes stared at her in unison. Her breath quickened and she perspired, but yet Natalia laughed.
 
 
 
“… ''Welcome to my village.''”
 
 
 
At the same time those words were uttered, a huge hole cracked in the middle of Zepter’s abdomen… and Natalia was swallowed “inside”.
 
“Natalia!”
 
It was impossible for her to hear him. But, understanding this fact, Kiritsugu still shouted out to her.
 
Zepter changed his target to Kiritsugu.
 
“Well then young man. You hold the future in your hands. You’re next. ''Come and live within my body''.” 
 
The huge wall of flesh approached Kiritsugu, who was standing still. |That’s it huh|, Kiritsugu had resigned to his fate.
 
 
 
At that moment – 
 
Zepter’s oviduct swelled suddenly, and erupted in flames.
 
“Wh-a…!?”
 
Confused, Zepter forgot about Kiritsugu who was in front of him, and thrashed about. Kiritsugu recalled the weapon Natalia removed from his backpack earlier on - ''the TH3 incendiary hand grenade.''
 
 
– Do it now!
 
At those words, Kiritsugu readied his rifle reflexively. At that instant – Zepter’s abdomen was blasted into smithereens, and Natalia tumbled out from it.
 
 
 
And, Kiritsugu saw it. ''He was in the abdomen.''
 
 
 
He was as thin as a mummy, but from his blank eyes, he was definitely the person Kiritsugu had seen before in the pictures.
 
Their eyes met, and those eyes squinted in shock and fear.
 
The trigger was pulled – and the Weatherby Magnum V Rifle annihilated that face. The magic circuit – which had been holding the body together – lost contact with Zepter’s brain, broke off and stopped functioning.
 
 
 
As a result, the body became wobbly like a lump of meat, and crumbled down.
 
“Ahh, it stinks! Smells like vomit.”
 
Standing up abruptly, Natalia flinged the scattered muscles and arms around her, and started searching for her target.
 
“Boy, you help me too. The magic crests should be here somewhere.”
 
The secrets of magic which the Zepter family engraved onto their own bodies. If one was to sell that, he could live very comfortable for quite a while.
 
After all, Natalia was quite extravagant with her spending (she would buy houses or shelters here and there on a whim; she called them “hiding places”). So if that could last for two months, it would be great.
 
 
 
In the end, the one who found the magic crests engraved on the mummy-like corpse was Kiritsugu.
 
“……”
 
He was about to call out to Natalia, but he hesitated. This heretic magecraft was too dangerous. It wasn’t about reviving the dead, but creating a new living being from the dead. Is it okay for such magecraft to be inherited, by any random person?
 
Those were his trains of thoughts.
 
He thought quickly.
 
''You’re gonna betray your teacher?'' A small voice resounded in his mind.
 
But, that was countered by another voice…
 
 
 
 
 
–  Hey Kerry, what do you want to grow up to –
 
 
 
 
No longer hesitating, Kiritsugu inserted that hand deep into the rotting flesh.
 
“Found it?”
 
“Nope…..nothing. I couldn’t find it.”
 
He lied naturally, not revealing anything abnormal. He was even surprised at himself, who was able to lie perfectly and naturally.
 
Natalia heaved a sigh.
 
“If we continue looking, we should be able to find it. But it’s likely that we suffocate from this decaying flesh before that.”
 
“So we’re giving up on the search?”
 
At Kiritsugu’s question, Natalia nodded reluctantly.
 
“Before we go back, let’s incinerate all these.”
 
He walked on into the cavern, and turned back. The magic crests were somewhere in this pile of rotting meat, but…
 
Kiritsugu threw the incendiary hand grenades successively. The meat started burning abruptly; the flames incinerating all that’s left.
 
“This should do it.”
 
In the end, Kiritsugu whispered that.
 
After exiting that cavern, they affirmed that the two thousand villagers had turned into lumps of meat. Death, death, death – no, that wasn’t even death. What’s left here was just ''the shadows of humans – mere refuse.''
 
 
– And, at this moment, Emiya Kiritsugu was driving in the car.
 
 
 
Until a moment ago, Natalia had been grumbling “What a huge waste of effort! A huge deficit!”. But probably being exhausted by the overuse of prana, she went to sleep again.
 
Whilst looking at her sleeping face, Kiritsugu thought about it.
 
Is it correct to do something for your own sake? He had no doubts about that. A heretic magus who sucked away the lives of two thousand people – There was no need for such crazy man’s crazy magecraft to be passed onto someone else.
 
That magecraft…must be destroyed.
 
What troubled him was that he had lied to Natalia. Moreover, despite her sharp intuition, she did not realize it.
 
Stepping on the gear, Kiritsugu accelerated the car further. ''Oh well, I’ll wait for the next job. I’ll definitely save someone the next time.''
 
 
 
Nothing was left behind in the village after Natalia and Kiritsugu left that village. The buildings were completely destroyed, and the name disappeared from maps. A few days later, even “death” disappeared from it.
 
 
 
“Present Mountain” – no one remembered this village anymore.


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