Chapter 1196 1189 The Knight's Persistence
Chapter 1196 The Knight's Persistence
In a crisis situation, it is the experience of combat experts to take a nap and respond to emergencies with a full attitude. Since the barrier has been set up in advance, anyone who approaches can wake up immediately. Now that he is on standby, he can switch his consciousness to a light sleep state within a few minutes to relieve the accumulated fatigue.
However, Kiritsugu does not have such conventional ideas now. Although it is "machine" to remove emotions and maintain the best state, it is also "machine" to burn oneself to exceed the limit. What makes him automatically switch to this start-up state is the premonition of the imminent "decisive victory".
Kiritsugu is now located on the hillside of Enzo Mountain, west of Fuyuki City's Miyama Town, and the lakeshore behind Ryudo Temple.
Last night, Kiritsugu confirmed Tokiomi's death and Kotomine Kirei's return at the Tōsaka Mansion. Although he immediately launched a strong attack on the church in the new capital, the place that was supposed to be the agent's base was empty. Less than an hour ago, there were traces of people there, so the time difference is not much. It took some effort to break into the Matou residence, which caused fatal time loss.
At this time, Kiritsugu completely gave up the idea of searching for Irisviel, because if he continued to be obsessed with her, he would fall deeper into the enemy's plan. In order to seize the opportunity to win, Kiritsugu could not be a husband who cared about his wife, but a Master who pursued the Holy Grail.
Since he lost the "Holy Grail Vessel" that could be called the trump card of the Einzbern camp, Kiritsugu had to participate in the Holy Grail War as a Master outside the three major families. Instead of implementing the strategy of taking advantage of the enemy's mistakes with a thorough defensive posture, he must first find the opponent and launch a surprise attack. With this in mind, the effective strategy to act before the opponent is to start from the current expected final battle location and set a trap in advance.
On the surface, the Holy Grail War has formed a situation of survival war, and as the war progresses, it gradually presents the appearance of siege war. As long as the execution of the Holy Grail Advent Ceremony is the ultimate goal, securing a place suitable for the altar is an inevitable problem for the winner.
In Fuyuki, there are four places with the right spiritual qualities to summon the Holy Grail.
The first one is Mount Enzo, which has a natural cave called "Dragon Cave". There, the Great Holy Grail with Yustesa as its base is set up as a secret altar known only to the three great families, and it has been the most likely place since 180 years ago.
The Tosaka family, the land provider, has the priority to occupy the best spiritual vein as a base, but the magic power overflowing in Mount Enzo is too strong, and it is too dangerous to train the next generation of magicians, so they set their residence in the second spiritual vein, which is now the Tosaka residence. Although it is slightly lacking for the Great Holy Grail, the spiritual power there is enough to support the Holy Grail's descent.
Although the third spiritual vein was given to the Matou family who moved in, the spiritual power there does not match the attributes of the Matou family, so the Matou residence was built somewhere else, and the original spiritual vein was occupied by the later intervention of the Holy Church. That is the hill where the current Fuyuki Church is located. Although it is far away from Mount Enzo, it is located on the other side of the river in the outskirts of Shinto, but its spiritual level is no less than the first and second.
The fourth spiritual vein did not exist in this land before, but was the source of mana that was distorted after the three spiritual veins were processed by magic, and accumulated and gathered at one point over a hundred years, which is the later spiritual land. In the subsequent investigation, it was confirmed that there was a spiritual level sufficient for the ritual, and it was marked as a candidate site since the beginning of the Third Holy Grail War. Now, it is in the center of the new residential area. The crux of the problem is that the Shinshin Citizen Hall is built there.
Even if he gets the "Vessel of the Holy Grail", Kotomine Kirei must complete the ritual at one of the four locations. If he can lay traps and set ambushes in advance, he will have enough chances to turn the tables. Since the Fuyuki Church is in a state of no one, Kiritsugu can instead prioritize the Fuyuki Church and the Tōsaka Residence, the second and third spiritual veins. In order to maximize the advantage of this blessing in disguise, Kiritsugu brought a large amount of explosives before the morning came, set traps in these two buildings, and in the daytime, he used Ryudo Temple as a new base to continue observing the situation.
Kiritsugu believed that Kirei would most likely choose Enzo Mountain as the place to perform the ritual. Although the enemy disappeared from Fuyuki Church with hidden intentions, since he gave up the spiritual veins that he had secured first, it can be inferred that his intention from the beginning was to perform the ritual in a higher-level spiritual place. Thinking in this way, after destroying Tohsaka Tokiomi, even if he obtained the Tohsaka Residence, Kirei would have left without hesitation. Then, the only thing left was the Great Holy Grail of Enzo Mountain.
Of course, all this might just be a trick to make the opponent get wrong information, and the possibility of Kirei returning to Fuyuki Church and Tohsaka Residence again was not zero. Therefore, Kiritsugu set traps in these two buildings that would make it impossible to survive once stepped into. As long as he could get the "Vessel of the Holy Grail" in the rubble after the explosion, victory would be effortless - of course, he no longer considered Irisviel's life or death.
In addition, if the opponent intends to do so, the Fuyuki Municipal Hall, which is the fourth spiritual vein, cannot be ignored. However, Kiritsugu thinks that sending only one monitoring familiar there will be enough. The place whose spirituality was confirmed after the Third Holy Grail War does not belong to any force now, and there is no magic defense. It is an "undeveloped land". Compared with the "easy to defend and difficult to attack" terrain of the other three spiritual places, from the perspective of magic warfare, the Municipal Hall does not form any dangerous places at all.
Even if Kotomine Kirei appears in the Municipal Hall, it will be enough to attack head-on. Although it is the worst case scenario, the risk is the smallest. In terms of priority, the first priority is Enzo Mountain.
If Maiya is fine, she can definitely secure the Municipal Hall, and I will be fully prepared to fight Kirei. However, even if I regret it, it is impossible. Now I can only rely on myself.
Kiritsugu suddenly remembered what happened not long after Natalia died. The number of solo actions without a team was unexpectedly small. The reason for the surprise is that Kiritsugu was the only one who survived in the end.
Looking back, Kiritsugu had lived a life without loneliness, which was a life more cruel than loneliness. There was always someone by Kiritsugu's side, and the reason why this "someone" was killed, or died, was not someone else, but Kiritsugu himself.
Maiya and Irisviel were both people who were destined to separate from the day they met. As a result, Kiritsugu was left alone to face the final battle. It started in this way and ended in this way. This must be Kiritsugu Emiya's destiny. How can I forgive someone like me who always has to endure someone's loss of life?
——The barrier set up in front of the mountain gate of Ryudo Temple can sense the approach of any existence. Kiritsugu stopped unnecessary sighing and observed the situation in the temple with the Calico short submachine gun. However, there was no need to be alert. The approaching magic fluctuations were something Kiritsugu had already been familiar with.
Speaking of which——this strongest helper was not counted as a companion, and Kiritsugu himself couldn't help but laugh out loud——she was still alive. No one can tell whether it is good or bad to count this noble knight who acts outside of Kiritsugu's strategy as a "companion".
Even if he hides, the Servant will not mistake the Master's hiding place. Saber came to the place where Kiritsugu was hiding and stopped at a delicate place within the range of conversation and outside the range of shooting. This distance, which is too far for intimate conversation, is the distance between the hearts of the Servant and the Master.
Her slender clothes and dignified figure are the same as always, but her face reveals an unconcealable haggard look. Her dignified eyes that served Irisviel obviously lost the momentum at that time.
Kiritsugu greeted her with a silent look, and Saber only greeted her formally, then quietly lowered her eyes and spoke.
"- Since last night, I have been looking for Irisviel's whereabouts. However, there is still no clue... I'm sorry."
Kiritsugu was not interested in knowing how much time this Servant, who was abandoned by him without hesitation, spent looking for Irisviel last night, nor did he think about how to answer.
At this point, Saber's goal was still to "save Irisviel."
From midnight yesterday to this morning, while Kiritsugu carefully prepared a death trap for Kotomine Kirei, this Servant might have been running around the city like a headless fly, searching for Irisviel's whereabouts.
...Is this the knight's persistence, or is it blind loyalty to the master she once served... Her actions were completely unplanned and foolish, and at the same time, they were a bitter criticism of Kiritsugu, who had already stopped considering his wife's life and death and was working on another plan.
Of course, Saber did not come to criticize him, but just came here because she felt the Master's presence when she passed by Ryudo Temple on the way to search for Irisviel. The two who had not seen each other for only two days saw the difference in actions and policies again, and also confirmed the growing gap between them again.
Enduring Kiritsugu's cold gaze from under the faint shadow of the tree, Saber had a strong premonition in her heart - perhaps, until the end of the war, she would not be able to communicate with the Master in words.
“…Then, I will continue to search for Irisviel. If anything happens, please summon me with the Command Seal as before.”
After saying this, Saber turned and left. Of course, Kiritsugu did not call her back, nor did he express any gratitude for her hard work.
From the standpoint of fighting for the Holy Grail, Kiritsugu’s actions were the best strategy, and Saber understood this. Because of this, she firmly believed that it would be fine to leave this place to him. She did not feel uneasy about abandoning Kiritsugu alone. Once the Servant was needed, the force of the Command Seal could transcend space and summon her back. This was actually confirmed yesterday.
Walking down the stone steps connecting the lower world and the mountain gate, Saber narrowed her eyes unhappily under the sunlight.
There were no enemies that had to be defeated, and no one had been found who had to be protected... What she had was just an intuition without a moment’s hesitation.
The destination was uncertain, and only the tingling anxiety throughout her body drove her to leave the temple.
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The unseasonal summer heat had nothing to do with Kotomine Kirei.
The cold water vapor settled in the darkness, completely isolated from the hustle and bustle of the surface. As a place to wait for nightfall and action, it ticks all the boxes.
What Kotomine Kirei, who left the Fuyuki Church, used as a temporary hiding place was Ryunosuke Uyu and his former stronghold, the blood-stained underground cave—it was also a reservoir deep in the underground sewer network of Fuyuki City. . Moreover, this is the place that caused the Assassion he summoned before to lose all face, because this memory reminds Kotomine Kirei of this hidden place, which is really ironic.
In the past, under Risei's instructions, Caster, who was targeted by all Masters, still survived after the melee in the Einzbern Forest. This is the best proof of the secrecy of this place. Rider and his Master, the only ones to find and set foot here, now no longer pay attention to Caster's workshop.
On the basis of ensuring safety, Kirei reviewed the current battle situation.
After eliminating Tokiomi Tosaka, winning over Kariya Matou, and securing the Holy Grail, Saber and Rider were in a stalemate, and no one knew where he was—
All of this was achieved within one day after he made up his mind to return to the Holy Grail War.
Although there was an element of luck, nothing could ever go smoothly. Kirei himself was also very surprised when the chaotic situation of the battle was changed as soon as he took action.
The advantage Tohsaka Tokiomi had at the beginning of the war has now been usurped and taken over by Kirei. Archer, who emerged as the strongest Servant in the Holy Grail War, was taken into his hands, and Berserker, who became his strong enemy due to the mutual conflict, was also taken over. Having become a puppet along with his Master, nothing can threaten Kotomine Kirei now.
No matter who wins the duel between Saber and Rider, as long as the victor is annihilated by Archer's Super Noble Phantasm, the Servant battle will be decided. If both the King of Knights and the King of Conquerors survive, or in other words, the two sides reconcile and attack together, then there is still an important figure like Berserker who can stop them. Although Matou Kariya is almost disabled due to Aoi's incident, Berserker will attack Saber spontaneously, so no orders from the Master are needed.
Although it would be fine to make three or four strategies in the unpredictable battle with Rider, Archer did not agree with that. This battle is not Kirei's personal matter, but the Hero King's war. Kirei believes that since the upcoming face-to-face competition is the fighter's hope, his wishes must be respected. This can be said to be the biggest difference between Kotomine Kirei and other mages who use Servants as tools.
Originally, he didn't even intend to use a command spell in his relationship with Archer. For a man with such a strong self-awareness, if you use force to force him to act according to his will, it will only have the opposite effect. The best way is to use this Servant not as a flag but as environmental factors such as weather and wind direction. The sailor cannot control the direction of the wind, but he can freely control the boat through the sails. Both are the same.