Chapter 1193 1186 Inevitable

Chapter 1193 Inevitable

Ah, why don't I want to sleep today? If it were normal, I would have fallen asleep by now. Or I didn't drink enough. I'm not drunk enough. I want to forget what happened outside the house and jump over the time until dawn. Someone picked up the wine glass on the table and poured the ice water in the glass on Tsuruno's head.

He fainted for a moment due to the biting cold, but the alcohol disappeared immediately and he regained consciousness. This time, the ruthless impact hit his cheek, and Tsuruno crawled into the blanket on the bed.

Tsuruno fell into a state of mental confusion, and even screams were stuck in his throat. A ghost-like creepy man was standing there looking down at Tsuruno.

A dirty and wrinkled old coat. His beard was messy and he hadn't shaved for a long time. If you just look at the appearance, compared with Tsuruno who was wearing ordinary clothes in the house, the man looked more like a drunk in a tavern. But his eyes denied all this. The temperature in that man's eyes has exceeded the range of coldness or ruthlessness, and is full of cold delusions and murderous intentions like a wounded beast. After looking into that gaze, Tsuruno decided to give up exploring the other party's origins and the whole thing, and became a prisoner of despair.

No matter who this man is, no matter how he broke through the very powerful protective barriers outside the house, these are no longer important at this point. What appeared in front of Tsuruno now was undoubtedly the fear itself that he had been relying on alcohol to temporarily forget in the past week.

"...Where is Irisviel now?"

Tsuruno firmly believed that he had to answer before he understood the content of the question. Otherwise, he would be killed.

- After a while. He realized that he did not understand the meaning of this question, and Tsuruno was crushed by deep despair.

"I, I, I..."

Tsuruno groaned incoherently, and the man stared at him with cold eyes, slowly took out the murder weapon from his arms, fiercely pressed Tsuruno's right hand against the floor with the muzzle of the gun, and pulled the trigger.

With a roar that made the listeners lose their reason, Tsuruno's right hand scattered in the air.

A part of his body disappeared inexplicably, and Tsuruno was so surprised that he couldn't speak. After a while, a sharp pain made him scream.

"No, no, no, no, I don't know, I don't know anything! Ah ah ah! My hand! Ah ah ah ah!"

"..."

For Emiya Kiritsugu, the experience of getting disobedient people to provide information is already rich to the point where it can't be richer. The intuition cultivated over the years made him understand that even if he asked more, he would not get any answers now.

Matou Tsuruno's soul has been completely decadent. Although it is unknown what the reason is, Tsuruno had already pushed himself to the end of the road before Kiritsugu's visit.

In the end, Kiritsugu became the final blow that made him completely collapse. The man in front of him now would definitely not hesitate to betray Zouken in order to escape the pain in front of him. At this point, what humans say is absolutely true.

It seems that Tsuruno really knows nothing about what happened in the past few hours.

In other words, the destination of kidnapping Irisviel is definitely not the Matou residence.

In this tense situation where every second counts, it took several hours to break through the protective barrier, but it turned out to be a waste of effort. Kiritsugu could not help but grit his teeth and express regret.

According to the process of elimination, the only people who kidnapped Irisviel were from the Matou camp. Rider's Master did not have the intelligence ability to see through the secret base prepared by Kiritsugu. For Tōsaka, there was no need for him to go back on his word in this way after just forming an alliance last night.

In addition to the existing seven groups of Massters and Servants, the possibility of other new hostile forces appearing is low, but not zero. However, at this stage, even such blind speculation will not lead to any results. At present, the only way to find this potential enemy is among the three Masters who still have the protection of Servants and need Irisviel in the final stage.

It has been more than four hours since the attack on the cellar. Every passing minute and second means that Kiritsugu is gradually moving away from victory. There is no time to stop and think seriously.

Kiritsugu didn't even bother to look at Tsuruno, who was sobbing in pain and fear, and left the Matou mansion.

In order to enter the next target, the Tosaka mansion, Kiritsugu spent less than three hours to break through the magic defense array.

In terms of technique, it was already ingenious to the point of being close to a miracle. The barrier set up by Tosaka Tokiomi was originally designed to deal with magicians. It can be said to be a first-class defense system specifically for magicians. If you attack it hard, you can't break it even if you spend a year. It is precisely because Kiritsugu is the kind of person who does not require achievements in magic, can see through the traps of magic and specializes in dealing with magicians. That's why he was able to break through the barrier in a short time.

But no matter how short the time was, it was enough to make Kiritsugu anxious. He had never spent so much time on the battlefield. Finally breaking through the defense from the inner gate to the courtyard, the moment he reached the main hall, Kiritsugu was still tortured by inexplicable anxiety. Although he risked his life to pass through the defensive barrier, just like in the Matou Mansion, it did not mean that he could guarantee to find Irisviel.

Saber, who started chasing Irisviel before Kiritsugu, must have failed. Now it can still be felt that the circuit of magic power supply has not been interrupted, which means that Saber has not suffered any attack.

However, if she was protected safely, Irisviel would definitely activate the transmission device and tell Kiritsugu the detailed information of her current location. But now she has not received it, which means that Saber's tracking is in vain.

After carefully removing the seal on the window and using a glass cutting tool to remove the bolt inside, Kiritsugu finally arrived inside the Tōsaka Mansion. There was no light inside, and it was silent. Jian Shang looked like an empty yard with no one living in it. But it was a large house, so it was hard to make a conclusion. As an outstanding Master, Tokiomi was much more cautious than the eldest son of the Matou family. If he ran into him by accident, he had to be prepared to fight him. Of course, he would definitely use Archer, and he had to summon Saber. He had to use the Command Seal and forcefully summon her again.

Facing Archer, whose fighting power was still unknown, he tried his best to avoid a direct conflict with Saber, but the situation was very urgent and there was no room for strategy or tactics. Even so, he had to at least confirm Irisviel's current location before fighting. If an unknown enemy controlled Irisviel, Kiritsugu would definitely fall into the enemy's trap if he fought against the Matou family or the Tōsaka family. What was annoying was that he had to consider this possibility and be on guard now.

Suddenly, when he stepped into a dark room, Kiritsugu smelled something that could not be ignored.

The smell of blood. It hadn't been a long time. There was no doubt about it.

Concentrate magic power on your eyes and use night vision. The interior design can be seen clearly immediately. It looks like a living room. The tea set on the table is also a set for two people.

There is a large amount of blood in the center of the luxurious carpet.

Kiritsugu carefully examined the completely dried blood. Although it was not a splash of blood foam, the amount did not look like blood from a minor injury. From experience, it can only be considered that it was blood left after someone was stabbed.

Out of caution, Kiritsugu searched the other rooms. But the purpose was no longer to grasp the situation but to find the person living here.

As a medium and the starting point of magic, the most important element in magic is blood. In his own territory, there is no intention to cast a spell and arbitrarily release blood. Of course, if this is the unique hobby of this magician, it is another matter. But according to Kiritsugu's previous investigation, this man, Tousaka Tokiomi, is not a careless person.

When he arrived at the basement workshop without much trouble, his premonition became certainty. If he was at home, it would be a problem. Even if he was not at home, the magician would not allow others to step into his workshop at will. It seems that Tokiomi is not only not at home, but also in a state where he can't even grasp the current situation of his own house.

To confirm further, Kiritsugu took out the liquid used for testing in the eye drop bottle from his pocket. It was refined based on the body fluid that specifically deceives men's nightmares. It is particularly sensitive to men's blood and old waste, and can be identified in detail.

First, the reaction of the test liquid was confirmed in the washbasin, and then the bloodstains in the living room were identified. Obviously, the reaction results were consistent. There was only one person who could shave in this washbasin in the past few days.

That person's blood was stained on the carpet in the living room...

So far, it is certain that Tosaka Tokiomi is either dead or missing.

In response to the emergence of this unexpected plot, Kiritsugu tried his best to stay calm and began to investigate the situation.

There were no signs of fighting in the room. The two teacups placed here showed that they were for entertaining guests. Tokiomi must have been seriously injured or fatally injured after talking with the people he was entertaining as guests in this room. It seems that revenge on magicians is not Kiritsugu's only patent.

But what was Tokiomi's Servant doing at that time? How could he just sit there and watch his Master do nothing? However, there is another possibility, which is that... Tokiomi has lost his usefulness as a Master to Archer. Archer and the next contract-maker conspired to kill Tokiomi. This statement also makes sense.

Kiritsugu felt his heart ached at this heavy answer that he got after many deductions.

Tōsaka Tokiomi's friend was treated as a guest, and it was not surprising that Tokiomi revealed his flaws to him.

Archer's new Master has now regained the Command Seal - that is, a person who lost his Servant and thus the power of Master in the past, and is still alive.

No need to think, there is only one person. And if he gets a new Senvant and participates in the Holy Grail War again, kidnapping Irisviel and controlling the "Vessel of the Holy Grail" in his own hands is a natural action to take.

Just like this - Kiritsugu finally realized that the confrontation with Kotomine Kirei was inevitable.

·············

Although it was already late at night, the church on the hill was still brightly lit.

In front of the resting place designated by God on earth, a little contradiction and sadness stopped Matō Kariya's steps.

The simplicity of humans who are easily comforted and relieved by the formal comfort of the place of prayer. Although on the one hand, I sneer at this, on the other hand, I can't help but feel deeply sympathetic to this kind of human who seeks a spiritual refuge even if they know it is a lie and a falsehood.

If someone told him that all the struggles that people endure in this world are just tests from God, Kariya would definitely reach out and strangle God and his messenger to death. But if someone were to ask if ordinary humans who are not gods can be redeemed——Looking at his gradually decaying body, Kariya could only remain silent.

He slowly approached the Holy Grail step by step. But the Crest Worms in his body were eating away at his body at a speed several times faster than his approach to the Holy Grail.

If one listened carefully, one could hear the chirping of the swarm of insects devouring flesh and gnawing bones. The pain caused by the Crest Worms that slowly ate away his body had become a natural part of Kariya’s body, like breathing and the beating of his heart. His consciousness often became blurred, and when he woke up, he became indifferent to the passage of time.

The optimistic view of giving up everything that he swore he would never need, slowly eroded his heart like water seeping through a crack.

How many more battles could he fight?

How many more days could he live?

If he wanted to get the Holy Grail himself and redeem Sakura, the only thing he could rely on was to hope for a miracle.

In that case, should Kariya pray? He knelt down on his knees and prayed in front of the huge cross that stood from the roof to the ground, looking down at him in a detached manner.

"What... are you kidding...!"

Kirei couldn't help but curse at the humiliating cowardice that controlled him to motivate himself.

He didn't come to the church at this time to get a foolish salvation. It was the opposite. Kariya came tonight to get the blood of his enemy. If Kotomine Kirei believed what he said, Tōsaka Tokiomi must be waiting for Kariya's visit in the chapel now. Kariya stood in front of the altar not for confession or worship, but just to vent his resentment.

In the duel with Tokiomi, who had been defeated by him once before, Kotomine Kirei had prepared for himself a chance to avenge the humiliation that he would never have gotten otherwise. Tonight was the last chance to kill that hateful magus. He must not be careless.