Kayneth, You Are Already Dead—Dead in Fuyuki, Do You Understand?

"Sign it, and you might live," Kiritsugu said coldly, his words carrying an underlying threat.

If you don't sign, you will certainly die.

Kayneth had no chance of escaping Saber's pursuit. He glanced down at the "contract of servitude" before him.

"El-Melloi withdraws from the Holy Grail War…"

"Must not disclose any information about the Einzbern faction…"

And then…

"Death?"

"Sola..." Kayneth held his fiancée tightly. "I'm sorry."

"I'm truly... sorry."

Then, in silence, he signed the contract.

"That's the way," Kiritsugu muttered, trying to maintain a cold and detached demeanor, though the hand holding his cigarette was trembling slightly.

The demon within him screamed, Kill them.

But... I can't save everyone.

The harsh reality shattered his dreams.

He could only... save as many as he could.

Kiritsugu took a deep drag from his cigarette, letting the smoke sear his lungs before exhaling sharply.

As the smoke swirled in the air, Saber frowned. This man... his smoking habit had worsened.

Without warning, Kiritsugu kicked Kayneth to the ground. The Volumen Hydrargyrum flared up violently, but it was immediately suppressed by an overwhelming force of wind.

"Kiritsugu!" Kayneth shouted in fury, but Saber's torrent of magical energy pinned him down.

Kiritsugu's polished shoe pressed hard against Kayneth's wrist as he pulled out his Contender pistol and loaded it with a special bullet.

This was the Origin Bullet.

Crafted using Kiritsugu's own ribs as the core and infused with soul engineering, each bullet contained the essence of Kiritsugu's being.

The concept of severing and binding.

A total of sixty-six bullets had been created. The first thirty-seven had already claimed the lives of many magicians.

Today might be an exception.

He aimed at the back of Kayneth's hand, where the Command Seals had once been branded, and pulled the trigger.

Bang—

There was no visible wound, no blood—just the sensation of an old injury flaring up again.

However, the moment the bullet struck, excruciating pain coursed through Kayneth's entire body.

His magic circuits were forcibly severed and reconnected, but the crude reconnection process caused them to short-circuit.

The high-density magical energy raged uncontrollably, and the very talents Kayneth had once been so proud of now became his downfall, tearing apart his body.

His nervous system was shredded, his internal organs twisted into knots.

His muscles spasmed wildly under the misfiring signals from his brain. The once-proud nobleman writhed on the ground like a shrimp whose tendons had been cut.

Blood gushed from his mouth and nose as Kayneth gazed blankly at the sky.

In his ears, Kiritsugu's final words echoed.

"As a magician, Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi and his wife are dead."

"Dead in Fuyuki—do you understand?"

Kayneth's head turned towards Sola.

Sola was unharmed.

She was safe.

Was it luck?

The lethality of Kiritsugu's Origin Bullets depended on how many magic circuits were activated at the moment of impact.

Kayneth's injuries weren't fatal, but they were agonizing.

Curled up in the liquefied remains of the Volumen Hydrargyrum, his chest heaved with shallow breaths.

Kiritsugu calmly stepped out of the pool of mercury, pressing his index finger to the trigger. He flicked his wrist, ejecting the spent casing with a metallic clink as it hit the ground.

The Lancer team—

—has been eliminated.

"We're leaving." Kiritsugu lit another cigarette as he walked toward the Municipal Hall, where Irisviel was waiting.

Saber followed silently behind him.

Why did things turn out this way?

In the previous Holy Grail War, when the Executor's black keys had sliced this proud noble in half, Kiritsugu had only sneered at the naïveté of academic magicians.

But now... he had become one of those naïve fools.

Blowing a smoke ring, Kiritsugu fell into a brief daze.

Maiya Hisau packed up her equipment, driving her jeep toward another location. She passed Kiritsugu without a glance, the wind from her vehicle stirring the air as she went.

"Master, are you sure about this?"

"Yeah."

That night, Kurumi's question echoed in his mind.

"Yod—Tenth Bullet."

He had asked Kurumi to retrieve his original ideals, his earliest memories.

Kiritsugu didn't hesitate. He felt no regret.

His steps grew more determined, his goal clearer.

—To destroy the Holy Grail.

In a dark alley, Kariya Matou and Berserker stood blocking Waver and Rider's path.

"Sorry, but no one's getting through here," Kariya said with a twisted smile.

Kiritsugu was a man of terrifying caution. Berserker, a wild card, would be best used in one decisive strike.

Kariya had made the same choice that Tokiomi Tohsaka once did when testing Avenger—to have Berserker face off against Rider, to gauge Rider's final trump card.

"Go, Berserker. For our final hope."

"As you wish."

The tall, slender knight with purple hair smiled, undaunted despite having only a third of his strength and magical energy remaining. In his hand, he wielded the black, shimmering sword with a radiant glow.

This was the sword bestowed upon mankind by the Lady of the Lake, a counterpart to the Sword of Promised Victory.

Arondight—The Unfading Light of the Lake.

"Is this guy... insane?" Waver swallowed nervously.

When Arondight was drawn, all other Noble Phantasms were naturally sealed.

And so, the concealed abilities of Berserker were revealed before Waver's eyes:

Strength: A

Endurance: A

Agility: A+

Magic: C

But as soon as he gripped the magic sword, all of these attributes increased by another rank.

"Rider!" Waver shouted, signaling Rider.

"I know, I know, kid."

Rider had already materialized his sword, the Sword of Alexander, tapping its scabbard on his shoulder. Clearly, he too had realized that Berserker would be no easy opponent.

Waver's chest burned with the strain as Rider drew on his magical energy, the pressure on his magic circuits almost unbearable. In moments like this, Waver had no choice but to admit that the bloodline theory among magus families had some merit.

Lightning crackled as Rider whipped his chariot into motion, surging with unprecedented power.

"ALALALALALALA—"

He roared, unleashing the true name of Gordius Wheel.

"Light is at the other end of the world — Conquer!"

"Via Expugnatio!"

-57:21:56

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