A dimensional journey starting from the Dragon Clan

Chapter 1196 Knight’s Persistence

In a crisis situation, find an opportunity to take a nap and respond to emergencies with a complete attitude. This is the experience of combat experts. Since the barrier has been set up in advance, anyone who comes near will wake up immediately. While you are still on standby, you can switch your consciousness to a light sleep state within a few minutes to relieve the accumulated fatigue in your body.

However, the current Kiritsugu does not have such conventional thoughts. Although the method of removing emotions and maintaining the best condition is "mechanical", the method of exceeding the limit even if it burns oneself is also "mechanical". What makes me automatically switch to this starting state is the premonition of the imminent "decisive victory".

The current location where Kiritsugu is located is on the mountainside of Mount Enzo in the west of Miyama Town in Fuyuki City and on the lakeshore behind Ryudōji Temple.

Last night, Kiritsugu confirmed Tokiomi's murder and Kotomine Kirei's comeback at the Tohsaka Residence. Although he immediately launched a raid on the church in Shinto, the place that was originally the agent's base camp was empty. Less than an hour ago, there were traces of people there, so from this point of view, the time difference was not much different. Since it took a lot of effort to invade Matou Residence, it resulted in a fatal loss of time.

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 must not become a husband who cares about his wife, but must become a Master pursuing the Holy Grail.

Due to the loss of the "Holy Grail Instrument" that could be called the trump card of the Einzbern camp, Kiritsugu had to participate in the Holy Grail War as a Master other than the three Gou clans. Instead of implementing a strategy of taking advantage of your advantage and using a thorough defensive posture to prevent the enemy from making mistakes, you must first find your opponent and launch a surprise attack. Under this consideration, an effective strategy to act before your opponent is to start from the expected final battle location and lay a trap in advance.

On the surface, the Holy Grail War looked like a survival war. As the war progressed, it gradually took on the appearance of a siege war. As long as the execution of the Holy Grail Descent Ceremony is the ultimate goal, ensuring a suitable place for the altar is an inevitable problem for the victor.

In Fuyuki, there are four places with spiritual qualities suitable for summoning the Holy Grail.

The first place is Mount Enzo, which has a large natural cave called "Ryudong". There, the Great Holy Grail based on Stessa was installed as a secret altar that only the three Gossori families knew about. From one hundred and eighty years ago, that was the most likely place.

The Tosaka family, the provider of the land, has the priority to occupy the best spiritual lineage as a base. However, the magic that permeates Mount Enzo is too strong, and it is too dangerous as a place to train the next generation of magicians. Therefore, they placed the residence in the second place of the spiritual lineage, which is the current Tohsaka Residence. Although it is slightly lacking for the Great Holy Grail, the spiritual power is enough to support the coming of the Holy Grail.

Although the third spiritual vein was given to the immigrated Matou family, the spiritual power there did not match the attributes of the Matou family. Therefore, the Matou residence was built elsewhere, and the original spiritual vein was inserted later. Occupied by the Holy Church. That was the hill where Fuyuki Church is now located. Although it is far away from Yuanzang Mountain and located on the outskirts of Xindu on the other side of the river, its spiritual power is no less than that of the first and second places.

The fourth spiritual vein did not exist in this land before. It was the source of modulated magic power that flowed out of the three major spiritual veins after being processed by magic. It was accumulated and gathered at one point over more than a hundred years, which is what was later known as The spirit of hair. During subsequent investigations, it was confirmed that there was enough spiritual power to perform rituals there, and it was marked as a candidate site from the beginning of the Third Holy Grail War. Now, it is the center of a new residential area. The crux of the matter is that the Hing Hing Civic Center is built there.

Even if he obtains the "Holy Grail Instrument", Kotomine Kirei must complete the ritual at one of four locations. If you can lay a trap and set up an ambush in advance, you will have enough opportunities to make a comeback. Since Fuyuki Church is unmanned, Kiritsugu can prioritize securing the second and third spiritual lines of Fuyuki Church and Tohsaka Di. In order to maximize the advantage of this great misfortune, Kiritsugu brought a large amount of explosives before morning and set traps in these two buildings. During the day, he used Ryudouji Temple as a new base to continue to observe the situation.

Kiritsugu believes that Kirei likely chose Mount Enzo as the place to perform the ritual. The enemy disappeared from Fuyuki Church. Although he had a hidden intention, since he gave up the spiritual veins he had secured with Xian, it can be speculated that his intention from the beginning was to perform rituals in a higher-level spiritual place. Thinking of this, after annihilating Tokiomi Tosaka, even if he got Tosaka Residence, Kirei simply left. Then, the only thing left is the Great Holy Grail of Mount Enzo.

Of course, all of this may just be a cover-up to allow the opponent to get wrong information. The possibility of Kirei returning to Fuyuki Church and Tohsaka Residence is not zero. Therefore, Kiritsugu set traps in these two buildings that would make it impossible to survive if they stepped into them. As long as he could obtain the "Holy Grail" from the rubble after the explosion, victory would be effortless - of course, he no longer considered Irisviel's life or death.

In addition, if the other party intends to do so, the Fuyuki Civic Hall as the fourth spiritual line must be considered. However, regarding this, Kiritsugu thought it would be enough to just send a surveillance familiar. The place where the soul was confirmed only after the Third Holy Grail War does not belong to any force, nor does it have any magical defense. It is an "undeveloped land". Compared with the "easy to defend and difficult to attack" terrain of the other three spiritual sites, from the perspective of magic warfare, the Citizen's Hall does not pose any dangerous situation at all.

Even if Kotomine Kirei appears at the Citizen's Hall, a frontal attack will be enough. Although it is the worst case scenario, the risk is also minimal. In terms of priority, the first priority is Yuanzang Mountain.

If Maiya is fine, he can definitely let her secure the citizens' hall while he is fully prepared to face Kirei. However, even if you regret it, this is impossible. The only one you can rely on now is yourself.

Kiritsugu suddenly remembered what happened shortly after Natalia's death. There are surprisingly few solo missions without a team. The reason why I was surprised——I think it was because Kiritsugu was the only one who survived in the end.

Looking back, Kiritsugu once lived a life that had no chance of loneliness. It was also a life more cruel than loneliness. There was always someone by Kiritsugu's side, and it was the reason why this "someone" was killed, or died. , none other than Kiritsugu himself.

Maiya and Irisviel were both destined to be separated from the day they met. As a result, Kiritsugu was left to face the final battle alone. Starting in this way and ending in this way must be Emiya Kiritsugu's destiny. People like me always have to endure the loss of someone's life. How can we forgive such an unreasonable thing.

——The barrier set up in front of the mountain gate of Ryudou Temple can sense the approach of any existence. Kiritsugu stopped feeling unnecessary emotion and observed the situation inside the temple with a Kaliko submachine gun. However, there is no need to be alarmed. The approaching magic wave was something Kiritsugu was already familiar with.

Speaking of which—this strongest supporter was not included in his companions, Kiritsugu himself couldn’t help laughing—she was still alive. No one can say whether it is good or bad to include this noble knight who acted outside of Kiritsugu's strategy as one of his "companions."

Even if he is hiding, the Servant will not mistake the Master's hiding place. Saber came to the place where Kiritsugu was hiding, and stopped in a delicate place that was within the range of conversation and outside the range of shooting. This distance that is too far for an intimate conversation is the distance between the hearts of the Servant and the Master.

She wore slender clothes and her upright figure remained the same, but her face showed a look of haggard that was difficult to conceal. Her stern gaze as she served Irisviel had obviously lost the aura it had at that time.

Kiritsugu greeted her with a speechless look, and Saber only said hello formally, then quietly lowered his gaze 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 he gave up without hesitation spent last night looking for Irisviel, nor did he think about how to answer.

At this point, Saber's purpose is still to "save Irisviel."

From midnight yesterday to this morning, when 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 the foolish loyalty to the master he once served... Her actions are a completely unplanned and foolish move, and at the same time, it is also a sign of Kiritsugu who has already ignored his wife's life and death and embarked on another plan. severe criticism.

Of course, Saber didn't come here to criticize him, she just passed by Ryudou Temple on the way to search for Irisviel and felt the Master's aura. The two people who had not seen each other for just two days once again saw the differences in actions and policies, and once again confirmed the growing gap between them.

As she endured Kiritsugu's cold gaze from under the light tree shadow, Saber had a strong premonition in her heart - maybe, until the end of the war, she would not be able to communicate properly with her Master through language.

"...Then, I will continue to search for Irisviel. If anything happens, please summon me with the Command Seal as before."

After saying that, Saber turned and left. Of course, Kiritsugu didn't stop her, nor did he express any gratitude for her hard work.

From the perspective of fighting for the Holy Grail, Kiritsugu's actions are the best policy, and Saber understands this. Because of this, she firmly believed that leaving this place to him would be fine. He didn't feel uneasy about leaving Kiritsugu alone. Once the Servant is needed, the coercive power of the Command Spell can summon her back across space. 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 is no enemy that must be defeated, and there is no one who must be protected... there is just intuition without a moment's hesitation.

She had no idea where she was going, but the anxiety that stung her whole body drove her to leave the temple.

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The unseasonable summer heat has 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 was used as a temporary hiding place by Kotomine Kirei, who had left the Fuyuki Church, 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 your 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.