Fate/Zero:Act 16 Part 6
-03:54:28
The battle tactic analysis concerning Kotomine Kirei – was conducted based on information from Hisau Maiya, who had fought him twice.
He threw Black Keys for ranged battle. A single throw, together with preparatory movements, can be completed in 0.3 seconds. As for continuous throwing, it had been confirmed that he can complete four throws in 0.7 seconds. He can also attack without obstacles toward unconfirmed targets. The power of the blades, half-spiritual entities, can penetrate iron. Chances of a hit – 100% when he is using illusions.
He used Baji Quan for melee fighting. Although the details were unclear, he was indeed at the level of an expert. He had seriously injured Maiya, who had a dagger, with just one blow. The destructive power of this kind of attack can snap a tree with two blows, and was extraordinarily dangerous.
The frock covering his entire body had been reinforced with bullet-proof materials and processed to protect against spells. It can defend against the impact and the penetration power of 9mm Parabellum bullets.
As for the result of pre-battle intelligence gathered from other fields – according to the magecraft teaching result report obtained from Tōsaka Tokiomi, Kotomine Kirei’s level of magecraft learning had not progressed beyond the degree of a beginner. His most outstanding skill was simply spiritual healing. If he were to use any effective measures during battle, then the only predictable one would be physical enhancement; his most adept skill, used to exert even greater physical strength.
Lastly, predicting his battle tactics.
Since Emiya Kiritsugu had thoroughly hid himself, the most information Kotomine Kirei could get to analyze Kiritsugu’s tactics would consist of rumors. The only battle in this Heaven’s Feel that forced Kiritsugu to use his ‘secret weapon’ was the fight against Lord El-Melloi. The bounded field of the Einzbern Castle at that time was still dense enough to prevent the Assassins from penetrating. Moreover, Kirei himself was tied down in the battle with Maiya and Irisivel during that time. In conclusion, it was impossible for Kirei to know about Innate Time Control and the ‘Origin Bullet’. It can be concluded that he would not have countermeasures for these.
– The above was all the information that Emiya Kiritsugu had gathered concerning the final decisive battle.
Firstly, their initial wave of attacks consists of Black Keys versus bullets. Of course, Kirei would be in an overwhelmingly disadvantageous position. However, if he wanted to rely on magecraft to compensate for his lack in weaponry, then it would be very possible for Kirei to rush up fearlessly and shorten the distance between them.
At last, the Executor waved the wing-like six Black Keys and rushed toward Kiritsugu from the front. It seemed that he had made the defensive preparations for Kiritsugu’s bullets.
That was exactly what Kiritsugu had wanted. Kiritsugu could ensure the success of his killing blow precisely because Kirei had made defensive measure. It was because he was firing the magecraft bullet from his Mystic Code.
With the belief that the early bird gets the worm, Kiritsugu fired toward his opponent. Kirei should have been able to completely predict the trajectory of the bullet from Kiritsugu’s killing aura and preparatory actions. As a humanoid Shura, an Executor of the Holy Church, the quickness of Kirei’s mind far surpassed that of a bullet.
Kirei initiated a large scale magecraft.
The Black Keys that he grasped with both hands instantly swelled up into more than twice their original size. The half-spiritual blades, which were woven with magecraft to begin with, had extra prana instilled into them and were completely ‘strengthened’. Although the forceful execution of this spell evidently surpassed the limit of the weapons themselves, it was enough to handle one bullet. Kirei crossed the six enormous swords before his chest and held them in fan-like formation. The mighty destructive power of the .30-06 Springfield assault rifle bullet was completely sealed off in an instant.
The bullet was deflected away together with flying sparks. At the same time the Black Keys, which had been filled with too much prana, could no longer handle the heavy load and shattered completely.
This extraordinary skill, which allowed swords to surpass bullets, now became a wrong move. It was truly shocking that Kirei, who shouldn’t even have a Magic Crest, could exert such a surprising skill. But more importantly, this would allow the fatal destruction of Kirei’s Magic Circuits, which were currently serving as a sack full of energy. Due to Emiya Kiritsugu’s repulsion towards the ‘Origin’, Kirei’s flesh would instantly be annihilated due to the magecraft running rampant in his body – that was what was supposed to happen.
A rapidly approaching figure clad in black frock suddenly appeared within the fragments of the six Black Keys, which were scattering away. Kiritsugu couldn’t help but gasp in surprise.
“Time alter——double accel!”
His body reacted sooner than his brain while he remained in shock. Kiritsugu chanted a spell.
Kiritsugu jumped backward at the last moment. Kirei’s right feet ferociously swept past the tip of Kiritsugu’s nose, and the left feet that followed up the attack didn’t land on Kiritsugu’s neck either. Kirei’s smooth roundhouse kicking attack completely missed its target under the confusion caused by Kiritsugu’s double-speed movement.
That was not within the scope of his predictions. The ‘Origin Bullet’ fired from his magecraft Contender gun was nullified – Kiritsugu couldn’t figure out the reason no matter what. Meanwhile, Kirei didn’t know the reason for Kiritsugu’s surprise. Even Kirei wouldn’t have imagined that the uniqueness of his magecraft had surprisingly nullified Kiritsugu’s killing blow.
Kirei had never been an orthodox magus. Kirei, whose Magic Circuits were yet to be developed properly, only obtained a source of prana through utilizing the spare Command Seals he received from Risei so he could instantly learn how to use magecraft. Although the characteristics of the Command Seals meant they were disposables which would disappear upon use, it had managed to save Kirei at the end. The moment that the magecraft was activated and the ‘Origin Bullet’ made contact to exert the effect, the Command Seal that served as the source of prana had simply disappeared from Kirei’s arm.
Having his one-turn-kill plan completely disrupted, Kiritsugu could only progress onto his next step. He did not expect the opponent to attack back. Although in terms of the result, Kirei’s attack would only be a waste of efforts, the overwhelming destructive power of his martial arts was evident. This man is a high-level martial artist, and Kiritsugu won’t have any chances of victory if he was pulled into melee fighting with him.
Kiritsugu ignored the damage Innate Time Control gave him as a side effect and maintained its activation and escaped Kirei’s range at once. Firstly, he had to increase the distance between them, otherwise he would have no chance. Kiritsugu would be able to deal with Kirei if the other simply threw Black Keys, but the current competition had become an authentic contest of ‘distance’. Kiritsugu was retreating, while Kirei was advancing. Since the ideal distance for them to initiate an attack differed between the two men, now they could only compete their speed on foot.
The power of mobility that Innate Time Control gave to him was Kiritsugu’s most reliable defence. Firstly, a certain distance was needed to fill the Contender bullets. As long As Kiritsugu was at a relatively close distance where his enemy’s fists won’t hit him, but at the same time won’t be able to predict the bullet’s path and thus escape, then he would be able to surely finish the enemy this time. Even if the bullet contained no magecraft, the bulletproof vests that the enemy wore which had been mentioned in Maiya’s report would not be able to stop the innate penetration power of these hunting bullets that can kill even large beasts in one shot. Though he understood that the continuous activation of Innate Time Control was nothing less than suicide, he had no other choices at this moment.
However – Even then, Kiritsugu still underestimated the man Kotomine Kirei.
It wasn’t due to Kiritsugu’s overly-fast speed or a miscalculation that caused Kirei’s roundhouse kick to go off the mark. Kiritsugu’s movement wasn’t so nimble that Kirei was completely unable to grasp it. Once he understood that Kiritsugu was only moving at twice the speed of normal human – Kirei also made appropriate calculations.
Therefore, Kiritsugu immediately experienced surprised for the second time.
The space between them was more than five steps. The tall Executor took a slight step forward, and shortened this seemingly safe distance. This step, which sneaked toward the enemy along the ground without announcing its speed, was called ‘the moving stance’. It was also one of the dangerous secret skills of Baji Quan.
The tall, frock-clad figure slid in front of Kiritsugu like a Reaper, while Kiritsugu was shivering all over. Baji Quan can exert its greatest power at this distance. Kirei’s fist smashed down heavily toward the enemy with the power to reach infinity in all eight directions…
Kirei stepped forward. The concrete floor boomed under the impact, and the heavily planted forward fist smashed against Kiritsugu’s chest like a rock. Using the ‘Eight Postures of the Buddha Guards’ style, Kirei’s single blow had the same power as a grenade exploding in front of someone’s chest. Kiritsusu’s body, which took the full force of the blow, flew out into the air like a strand of hay and slammed into the support pillars that crowded the room. He never had the chance to defend himself. His thoracic cavity tore apart under the heavy hit of Kirei’s iron fist, and his lung and heart were pounded into nothing more than a mesh of meat.
Kirei remained clutching his fist and experienced the feel of death on his hand, and at the same time sighed slowly. Even a fight to the death, in which every second mattered, took only one moment to decide the victor. He experienced an emptiness that he had never felt before the moment he attained victory. This had originally been an end that he had pursued with a crazed fervor.
This lethargy made Kirei’s focus dull. He didn’t know that the opponent would actually sneak in an attack at this momentary gap. Nor did he realize that he would be the next to experience surprise.
There was a piercing pain between his brows, and the splashing red covered his field of sight.
The sound of gunfire beside his ears made Kirei instinctively raise his arms to shield his head before he understood what was going on. A rain of 9mm bullets was mercilessly showered upon him. The sleeves, which were made of Kevlar and covered in protective sigils, barely managed against the force of the bullets. Kirei was stunned.
Even Kiritsugu did not expect himself to be revived. He had already been prepared to die when Kirei neared him. In truth, Kiritsugu’s heart and lungs had indeed been completely destroyed, and the best he could manage should have been a final struggle.
However, seconds before his blood-deprived brain was about to die due to lack of oxygen, the heavy and uncontrollable injury on his body had healed completely by itself. Of course, Kiritsugu didn’t use any healing magecraft. Nonetheless, Kiritsugu had no doubts concerning this shocking miracle. He immediately understood what was going on.
The Noble Phantasm, Avalon – the holy relic that had summoned Saber and had been kept by Old Man Acht, the sheath of the holy sword that had protected Irisviel’s body for so long. Kiritsugu obtained this sheath when he separated from his wife, this sword sheath that can prevent aging and possesses a mighty healing power. Since it had been sealed inside Kiritsugu’s body, who was Saber’s authentic Master, the sheath could obtain prana from Saber and exert its effect in full according to the contract.
Although Kiritsugu understood its ability, he had never confirmed it with his own eyes. Therefore, he did not expect the sheath to be able to heal fatal injuries. The current situation was completely unpredicted for him. Kiritsugu was indeed admirable; he began to consider battle tactics as soon as he realized that he had been revived. He didn’t open his eyes, and he suppressed the urge to cough as his body began to breathe again, and pretended to be dead while waiting for the chance to launch a surprise attack.
Unfortunately, the Contender in his right hand still needed a bullet to fill it. If he were really to attack the other at unawares, then he could only use his left hand to take out the short automatic machine gun from the holster on his chest and fire. However, since Kirei’s strategies against bullets were perfect, Kiritsugu must aim at his head if he were to have a chance at victory.
It was awkward angle, and he could only fire instinctively. Moreover, the target was very small. Kiritsugu, who was a master shooter, managed a hit even though these three obstacles presented themselves before him. However, though the bullet hit its target, Kirei’s head was not shot through. Only the skin on his brow was scraped. Bullets can easily be deflected off their effective angles since the skull is made of curves, and therefore it is a rule in real battles to avoid aiming at the head.
Kiritsugu adjusted the machine gun into full automatic mode after he understood his surprise attack had failed, and sealed Kirei’s movements using a tight wall of suppressive fire. At the same time, he used his right hand to take out the empty shell in the Contender’s barrel. Although it was hard to use only his left hand to control the machine gun’s kickback inertia, which was as ferocious and wild as an untamed horse, Kiritsugu’s right hand still managed to fluently carry out a series of movements. It was as if he had trained himself into a war machine.
What was more worthy of praise was his strength of mind. Even though his two hands were engaged in two completely different tasks, he actually managed to chant out a spell with a superhuman concentration.
“Time alter——double accel!”
The time within his body changed. Kiritsugu threw everything to the wind in order to maximally use the tiny gap that he had managed to steal from this strong enemy.
He drove his accelerated limbs and leapt up from the ground, jumping backwards to further the distance. The machine gun ran out of bullets. Kirei adjusted his pose. Kiritsugu threw away the machine gun and grabbed a .30-06 bullet with his now empty left hand. Kirei loomed near. With a near-flight speed – Kiritsugu filled the Contender’s open barrel with the bullet. He closed the barrel half-way, took aim –
A space of three steps separated him from Kirei’s iron fists.
The Contender once again let out a furious roar. Kirei had no time to dodge, nor did he have time to pull out Black Keys.
Actually, Kirei never intended to dodge.
Kirei once again activated his Command Seals the moment he stepped toward Kiritsugu. He strengthened his physical abilities – he accelerated his reaction time and multiplied the maximum power output of his right flexor, radius muscle, and pronator teres muscle. There was no time to strengthen the sleeve of the bulletproof frock. The rest depended on his skill.
Kirei moved his right arm again before the Contender shot out a bullet. His arm, having transformed into a lethal megacraft Mystic Code, carved a spiral in the air and a tornado roared into being.
This movement became a spiralling force. It had originally been a defensive skill to nullify the opponent’s fists, but it had been performed at an extraordinary speed after the prana of two Command Seals had been infused into it.
The bullet, which left the barrel at a speed of 2500 inches per second, was wrapped into the spiral that moved at a divine speed. Even so, the .30-06 bullet still kept a straight path. It tore apart the Kevlar sleeves and clashed viciously with Kirei’s hardened arm, emitting alien sounds like the clash of two mill stones.
The scattering sparks distorted the usual laws of physics. It was a supernatural phenomena where the approximately 3000 pound per inch kinetic energy bent its knees to the power of prana. Kiritsugu felt a chill creeping up his skin as he watched the second Contender bullet had its trajectory forcibly changed and flew off toward the distance.
Monster – he didn’t know how to describe this man apart from that word. At this moment, Kotomine Kirei’s battle prowess could probably be considered that of a desperate man. Just what kind of a willpower was required for a living man to drill his own body into such a terrifying lethal weapon?
A piercing pain suddenly invaded his entire body. With a moan, Kiritsugu stumbled. His body had reached its limit due to the continuous activation of Innate Time Control. The blood vessels all around his body had ruptured, and the bones in his limbs also began to fracture due to having borne an unimaginable burden.
However, Kirei did not follow up his attack during this pause. He remained where he stood and did not move, as if he was observing the opponent’s next move. Large amounts of blood gushed out of his right arm where the frock sleeve was torn. It was probably because he had used too much prana with his unskilled method. His right arm, which had been overly strengthened by magecraft, was severely wounded as the price for having blocked the Contender’s blow.
The two men kept their disdainful eyes on each other, and analyzed the situation as they each thought of their next move.
According to Kirei’s analysis, Kiritsugu’s strategy – consisted of a magecraft that can accelerate his movement and a healing power that could even revive the caster even if the heart was destroyed. In other words, Kirei had to admit that he could not win no matter how heavy a wound he may deal to the enemy, unless he could destroy Kiritsugu’s brain with one blow. As for himself… his right arm had been damaged from the muscle to the bone, and he could only manage one more blow even if he was prepared to shatter his entire right fist. On the other hand, although the wound on his forehead wasn’t deep, the blood that seeped out had affected the sight of his left eye. The bulletproof ability of the frock had also been severely reduced since he had been shot at multiple times, and only the protective sigils close to his body remained intact. He had twelve Black Keys and eight Command Seals left.
According to Kiritsugu’s analysis, Kirei’s strategy – consisted of an unknown prana source that can nullify his ‘Origin Bullet’, and his ultimate Baji Quan skills. Melee fighting would be extremely disadvantageous for him. As for himself… he had lost his machine gun and the Contender needed to be filed again. His remaining weapons consist of one dagger and two grenades. The heavy wound that his chest had obtained at first had all but healed and won’t affect his movements, but he didn’t know about the damage caused by Innate Time Control –
Kiritsugu finally felt that there was something different when he attempted to tighten the muscles on his arms and legs.
He could move them; there were no difficulties. The bones which had definitely snapped a while ago were now in perfect condition, as if they had never been damaged – no, he could still feel the echo of that pain in his body, but there were no injuries.
“… I see.”
Kiritsugu finally understood the true worth of this trump card within his body. It seemed Avalon not only could heal injuries dealt by his enemies, but also the damages dealt by himself. This discovery gave Kiritsugu, whom had fallen into a desperate situation by fighting with an unimaginably strong enemy, the greatest confidence in the world.
Which means –
“Time alter——triple accel!”
Kiritsugu boldly leapt toward Kirei at the same time that he muttered that forbidden spell. His completely unpredictable acceleration caught Kirei off-guard. One blow from the hardened walnut wood smashed Kirei’s right radius and ulna. This time, his right arm was completely ruined.
As the same time that he struck out viciously with his right arm, Kiritsugu drew out the dagger by his waist using his left hand. He concluded that it didn’t matter how great a threat Kirei’s martial art skills may prove to be; victory would belong to Kiritsugu as long as he kept moving at three times the speed of a normal human. Using Innate Time Control in this way would ordinarily be suicide, but he could now use it to its full potential as a strategic weapon thanks to the protection of Saber’s sheath.
Kirei dodged the upward stab as the dagger was removed from its sheath, and used his left arm to block the downward slash and backhand horizontal swing Kiritsugu followed up with. However, Kiritsugu edged toward Kirei’s left side using these three attacks, and prepared to use Kirei’s blind spot – due to his left eye’s ruined eyesight – as his advantage. As long as he stayed to the enemy’s left side, Kiritsugu would have all the chances in the world to successfully succumb Kirei from his blind spot.
Kiritsugu’s sharp blade crept nearer, but Kirei didn’t turn and used his left side of the body to block everything. Turning around would have been pointless; his broken right arm could not possibly block Kiritsugu’s dagger. Therefore, though it was very disadvantageous for Kirei to use his left side of the body to defend himself, he had no other choices.
The dagger attacked continuously as it flashed with a chilling light. Ordinary humans would never have been able to see Kiritsugu’s movement, and could only have captured the lighting-like residual images of the dagger. However, Kirei blocked every single attack using just his left hand. Kirei, who easily defended himself even when faced with attacks made at three times the speed of normal humans, terrified Kiritsugu. There were a few attacks that Kirei would never have seen coming with his eyes, but the Executor’s left arm made effective defences as if it had grown eyes.
“Could this be the idea of – ‘hearing’ a move!?”
Kiritsugu only had a vague impression of this phrase. It had been said that when a martial artist had reached a certain advanced state in his skills, he wouldn’t need eyesight to detect the enemy’s movement. He could predict the opponent’s next move purely on the brief moment when his arm touched that of his opponent.
Then the attacks from his blind spot had also been rendered pointless. Since the direction the attacks were coming from weren’t changing, Kirei could block them even if he couldn’t see them. This man’s skills made him someone who wouldn’t be at a disadvantage even when put under the duress of speed.
Kiritsugu’s arms, legs, and heart let out sad screams of excruciating pain with every swing of the dagger. The adverse effect of Innate Time Control was also mercilessly tearing apart Kiritsugu’s flesh. At the same time, Avalon was also fixing the damage. Regardless of how Saber herself had used it, the sheath was only ‘healing’ Kiritsugu while in his body; in other words, it was only nullifying the ‘damages received’. That meant the excruciating pain of torn tendons and snapped bones were tormenting Kiritsugu’s nerves every single moment.
Even so, Kiritsugu did not hesitate. There was no need to hesitate. As long as his body could maintain its functions, he didn’t need to pay any attention to what he was feeling. Kiritsugu bet everything on the effect of the sheath of the holy sword, and continued to accelerate against the normal time flow as if his life depended on it.
“Whoaaaaaaaaa!!”
Kiritsugu’s body was reborn at the same time as it was dying. Kiritsugu shrieked out of agony while he swung his dagger, aiming for the enemy before him. His blood vessels, which endlessly repeated a cycle of rupture and repair, shed out sanguineous mists with his every move.
Kirei suddenly changed his feet stance, and rolled forward towards his left. Kiritsugu had thought that the enemy’s ability to ‘hear’ a move had been pushed to its limit, but Kirei unexpectedly used his feet to hook one of Kiritsugu’s legs from the inside. This legwork was named ‘the locking stance’. Kiritsugu immediately stumbled backwards. After he finally managed to balance himself, he realized that a heavy blow from Kirei was fast approaching. However, since his weight had shifted backwards, he would definitely be hit.
If so – Kiritsugu squeezed out a spell from his throat that was frothing with blood.
“Time alter ——square accel!”
The explosive pain boiled into every part of his senses. Kiritsugu leapt up and backwards, and turned in mid-air to escape out of Kirei’s range of attack. At the same time, he threw out the dagger in his left hand with all the strength in his body. Faced with this shocking repeated acceleration, Kirei couldn’t dodge no matter how good his ‘move-hearing’ skills were. The dagger tore through air and flew toward Kirei’s thigh. The Kevlar fibres were pierced through and the sharp blade stabbed deep into flesh.
Kiritsugu maintained his four-time acceleration and continued to leap backwards as if there was a throttle equipped on him. He had moved about ten meters away from Kirei in the blink of an eye. Kirei took the opportunity to take out a Black Key and throw at him, but Kiritsugu dodged it with ease and began to refill the Contender at the same time.
He pulled it and opened the barrel.
Kirei rushed up. He paid no attention to the dagger, which was still sticking out of his left leg. Even the fact that the sharp blade was tearing the wound open wider as he ran did not cause him to hesitate any.
The expelled cartridge danced in the air; the light of the golden bronze sparkled.
Kirei pulled out four Black Keys with his left hand. That was the limit to the number he can wield in one hand.
Kiritsugu put the new bullet into the barrel. The bullet slide in easily, but this split second had seemed so long in the quadruple-accelerated time.
Kirei threw his Black Keys, not to the front, but upwards. The four sharp blades danced in the air beneath the tall ceiling of the large prop warehouse like boomerangs. Kirei didn’t plan to use the Black Keys for a normal attack; Kiritsugu didn’t know his intentions. Moreover, there was no time to ponder Kirei’s intention at this moment.
With one flick upwards, the gun barrel was closed. The Contender once again transformed into that heinous murder weapon.
Kirei was getting close. He again used his martial art stances to shorten the distance between him and Kiritsugu, but he won’t be getting any nearer. Right now, Kiritsugu would definitely be able to dodge him and fire at the same time.
The Black Keys landed from above him. Kiritsugu finally perceived Kirei’s tactics when the four sharp blades surrounded him in all directions like a bird cage.
Sealing his movements – if Kiritsugu wanted to dodge Kirei’s sudden advance, there the sharp blades of the Black Keys would be waiting for him no matter where he moved toward. Kirei’s intention had always been to seal Kiritsugu’s movements when he threw the Black Keys.
The only way to stay alive was to fire before he was attacked.
Kiritsugu aimed with Contender. There was no need to be anxious, no need to be fearful. All he needed to do was focus on firing at the enemy in front of him.
Kirei stepped on the ground viciously with his right foot and leapt forward. This leap equaled to about five normal steps. His left foot would likely be broken the moment he land, but it didn’t matter; the following blow would decide the victor. There was no need to hold back; his entire body had been fully prepared. His goal was to perform one of the Eight Grand Openings – The Standing Upward Cannon. The smashing upper hook would definitely shatter the opponent’s skull into pieces.
I will win – both men believed firmly in that.
I will die – both men understood that fact.
The fist and the gun that contained the will for a sure kill finally completed their last exchange.
Emiya Kiritsugu and Kotomine Kirei, who were deeply engrossed in battle, did not notice the abnormality above them.
Directly above the big prop warehouse where the two men were, Irisviel’s already-cold corpse was placed upon the raised stage of the music hall.
As the ‘Guardian’, she had almost lost all signs of life. The organs within her body had already reverted to the form of the Vessel of the Grail, and was waiting to recollect the souls of the remaining Servants.
After Archer’s victory, this vessel had finally absorbed the soul of the fourth Servant.
The sealing enchantment had already disappeared. Having gathered enormous amounts of prana, its residual waves brought scorching heat to its surroundings.
The corpse of the beautiful homunculus was completely consumed by the heat in the blink of an eye, and was reduced to ashes. That was not all. The golden cup that had contacted the outside air charred the floor and the curtains, and roaring flames enveloped the completely empty stage.
On the stage where the fire was raging ever wilder, the golden cup floated in the air as if it was upheld by a pair of invisible hands. The ceremony of the descent of the Holy Grail, which the Three Noble Families of the Beginning had desired so much, had begun silently even without the presence of a priest.
Then – a gap no wider than the width of a hair, so minute and almost invisible, appeared on the ‘Gate’ that remained tightly closed. Through this tiny gap, something beyond the Gate silently seeped into the Holy Grail.
That thing seemed very similar to ‘mud’. It was black, simply and only black, a ‘thing’ that seemed like mud.
The thing that seeped into the Holy Grail suddenly overflew by one drop, then another drop. It soon became a thin black line. Like a crack that had appeared on a dam, the black torrents soon completely overflew out of the vessel and drained toward the stage floor.
The strength of the stage floor could not bear that inky black substance at all. The dirty mud seeped into the brand new building materials, eroding them, and flew even deeper like how the water from melted snow seeps into land.
The moment that the trigger of the magecraft gun was pressed –
The moment the floor moaned from the heavy step –
In that moment, Kiritsugu only saw Kirei, and Kirei only saw Kiritsugu.
The two of them did not detect that thing, which dribbled down through the ceiling, even till the end.
At that brief moment between life and death, the two men were drenched with the black dirty mud that descended from above.
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