Chapter 30: Kiritsugu vs. Kirei

Another reason why Emiya Kiritsugu didn't want to face Kotomine Kirei so early was that his tactical analysis of the agent was almost zero.

Kirei first sought refuge in the Cathedral Church on the pretext of losing his Servant and basically did not participate in the operation, secretly driving Assassin, who pretended to leave, to collect intelligence.

Based on prior investigations, Kiritsugu was convinced that Kirei was not just an intelligence officer and had rich combat experience as an agent.

After becoming the disciple of Tohsaka Tokiomi, Kirei studied magic for two years. Upon obtaining the Command Seals, he pretended to break up with Tokiomi and left the Tohsaka family.

Such a person's fighting ability as a Master should never be underestimated.

If possible, Kiritsugu would have preferred to let Tatsuya Suzuki and Kotomine Kirei fight first. No matter which side won, it would be a good result for him.

Furthermore, judging from Tatsuya's unfathomable strength, Kirei would likely be killed if he faced him.

But that was only the initial expectation. Now that Kotomine Kirei had come to him, Kiritsugu had no way of knowing the battle situation between Saber and Caster, and could not simply order Saber to retreat to stop Kirei.

However, Kiritsugu thought that the other party would be in a similar situation.

Kiritsugu had never revealed his weapons, magic, or anything else. He seized the opportunity to use this encounter to kill Kotomine Kirei and help Assassin exit the game, which was also a good result.

Fighting at home, Kiritsugu set up a relatively simple but effective mechanism to contain the opponent.

As soon as Kotomine Kirei stepped onto the battlefield, he was met with a barrage of bullets from rifles deployed in the woods, automatically fired with the help of magic.

As an experienced agent with a considerable degree of prior research, Kirei knew that Kiritsugu would definitely use modern weapons that magi would despise and was prepared for this.

Originally, Assassin had just reported that Keyneth's raid on the Suzuki family was fruitless. However, Kirei became anxious when he heard that Keyneth had turned his attention to the Einzbern Forest.

If Emiya Kiritsugu died here, Kirei's purpose for participating in the Holy Grail War would be defeated.

In order to meet Emiya Kiritsugu, Kirei, unaware that Tatsuya Suzuki and Berserker were also here, sneaked into the battlefield alone.

Facing bullets coming from all directions, Kirei dodged nimbly and threw out the black key in his hand.

Dang, dang, snap—

There was a sound of hitting metal and even destroying the structure.

Kirei knew that the black key only hit the weapon.

Was this a pre-set trap? Was Emiya Kiritsugu still in the castle?

Regardless, Kirei thought it necessary to enter. Even if he had to fight Kayneth, he had to stop Kayneth from killing Kiritsugu.

Even if he had to kill, he had to do it—after he got the answer he wanted.

Kirei continued to walk inside, stepping on the dead branches that fell on the ground. As soon as he took a step, another automatic rifle fired bullets at him.

Without even looking, Kirei dodged and threw out the black key, but this time it missed.

Kirei dodged several times in succession, and the bullets from the rifle could only catch up with Kirei's pace by half a step, hitting the soil and tree trunks behind him.

Hiding behind a sturdy tree, Kirei confirmed the enemy's position through his vision enhanced by magecraft.

He then found a corner of a black windbreaker.

Kirei smiled unconsciously and spoke:

"I didn't expect you to go to the front line in person. It seems that Caster has caused you a lot of trouble. It's impossible for a Servant to take care of all the situations alone."

However, Kiritsugu did not answer him, and Kirei did not expect Kiritsugu to answer such a question.

Instead, as the words fell, Kirei threw out four black keys from both sides of the tree trunk.

They spun towards the direction where Emiya Kiritsugu was. This weapon, which relied on the blade formed by magical power, could also act as a shuriken for curved attacks depending on the user's skills.

Kiritsugu sensed Kirei's attack and dodged at the critical moment.

"Time alter—double accel!" (Inherent time control, double speed)

The body predicted the danger faster than the mind, and the magic seal on Kiritsugu activated the time magic inherited from the Emiya family, generating a unique barrier in the body, thereby accelerating individual actions.

To others, it seemed as if the caster suddenly moved faster.

Kirei himself also attacked along with the spinning black key. His violent spinning kick hit a tree trunk as wide as a person, causing it to dent deeply and slowly bend.

The dust and dead leaves kicked up by the collapsed tree trunks fluttered in the air.

With an unconscious smile on his face, Kirei looked at Emiya Kiritsugu who was hiding once again.

Kiritsugu had already deeply realized how dangerous Kirei was through the previous fight, so he secretly made a gesture and told Maiya to wait for the opportunity.

If Kiritsugu rashly launched a covering fire, not only would it be ineffective, but Kirei might also notice Maiya and attack her first, leaving Kiritsugu with no way to protect both ends.

"I see." Kirei muttered to himself again.

The kick just now missed because he miscalculated Kiritsugu's speed, not because he couldn't keep up with that speed.

Since we know that the opponent can rely on magic to move at multiple times the speed, we just need to calculate the method of attack based on this speed.

Kiritsugu leaned against the tree and gasped for breath. That was the burden on his body after the activation of the magic seal on his body.

He turned his head slightly, glanced at Kirei who was still some distance away from him, took out a flash bomb from his windbreaker, and prepared to create a camouflage and then evacuate to the castle.

One-on-one, coupled with the lack of preparation, was too disadvantageous. He didn't think that his trump card could hit Kotomine Kirei in the dark.

Pull off the pull tab.

"Time alter—triple accel!" (Inherent time control, triple speed)

Kiritsugu had to move faster in order to both retreat and disrupt.

At the moment the flash bomb exploded, he evacuated towards the castle at an extremely fast speed. As long as he could involve Kotomine Kirei in the battle between Morgan and Keyneth, he would have a chance to readjust his stance.

However, Kiritsugu had miscalculated one thing: the extent of Kirei's physical training.

Although the bright light and noise of the flash bomb interfered with Kirei's vision and hearing, the sound of Kiritsugu's retreating footsteps was still mixed in with the noise and was captured by Kirei.

Then, Kirei caught up with him at a speed faster than Kiritsugu, and without being able to see or hear clearly, he smashed into Emiya Kiritsugu's chest with an uppercut as hard as a rock.

Thanks to the magic still being activated, Kiritsugu barely avoided the vital heart, but he still heard the sound of broken ribs, and his whole body flew out under inertia and hit a tree.

The serious injury made Kiritsugu unable to raise his weapon to fight back. He watched Kirei approach him step by step and vaguely saw Maiya in the darkness about to raise her gun to shoot. Kiritsugu had no way to stop Maiya from taking the risk.

However, Kirei, who gradually regained his sight and hearing, retreated violently.

Among the flock of crows that he was already familiar with, Tatsuya Suzuki appeared.

______

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