[FGO]: 186

In an unknown Western-style mansion somewhere in Fuyuki City, the mistress of the house was a voluptuous, beautiful woman with a soft voice, gentle demeanor, and the grace of a widowed noblewoman. However, this dream woman, adored by the local men, was currently lying on the carpet like a pet dog.

Her eyes were rolled back, her small tongue stuck out, and her cheeks flushed with an unusual redness. On her smooth back rested a pair of slender, perfectly proportioned, and graceful legs.

The owner of those legs was playing with a crystal ball the size of a human head, which displayed the scene of Ryou using Command Spells to force the King of Heroes to attack Jeanne Alter's faction.

"As expected of my dear father, still as cunning as ever~," Ayame said. Despite the negative terms, her face was full of admiration, longing, and love, as if she were genuinely praising him.

"Don't you agree, princess~?"

Ayame didn't turn her head when she said this.

As expected, a figure emerged from the shadows—a woman in a black cloak, with hair flowing like the Milky Way and a face as cold as ice. When Anastasia, stepped into the room, it seemed as if the light itself dimmed slightly.

"Did you call me here just to show off your twisted hobbies?"

Anastasia's tone was icy, though there was a clear note of sarcasm.

Ayame didn't answer directly. Instead, her cheeks flushed as she pulled out a strangely shaped arrow, gazing at it with infatuation.

"I can't wait to shoot my heart into Father's chest."

The arrow was painted entirely pink, and the heart-shaped arrowhead exuded a girlish charm. But Anastasia shuddered involuntarily, her eyes filled with deep fear as she glanced at the peculiar weapon.

If Ryou were to inspect this arrow with his system, the stats would reveal its terrifying nature. Its raw attack power was lower than a regular arrow's, but the long list of additional effects made it incredibly lethal against a specific target:

[Causality Reversal – Guaranteed hit]

[Causal Strike – Ignores defense]

[Space-Time Traversal]

[Anti-Male Special Attack]

[Anti-Ruler Special Attack]

[Ultimate Sharpness]

[Instant Death Curse]

[Energy Severing]

The final effect was a super-special attack aimed at a specific individual:

One-hit kill on Nguen Ryou!

This arrow had transcended the EX-rank of Noble Phantasms, reaching the level of a divine artifact. It had been crafted by Ayame using rare materials from various dimensional worlds, combined with one-third of her soul, and forged by a powerful entity from the Abyss.

The fact that Ayame could enlist the help of such an entity showed that Sakura was no ordinary mortal. She was the reincarnated daughter of a supreme being from the Abyss, though she had nearly perished at Ryou's hands.

As for why the daughter of a supreme being would reincarnate as a human, well, as the saying goes, Chaos has always been filled with oddities. Perhaps she thought it would be fun, but it backfired.

Ayame's abnormal behavior was also a result of her prolonged fusion with Sakura. After losing part of her soul to create the arrow, Sakura had to possess her body to replenish it. Over time, their souls began to merge, putting them in a two-soul, one-body state, bound by shared life and death.

Anastasia frowned slightly as she watched Ayame fawn over the arrow.

"If you have nothing else to say, I'll be leaving," Anastasia said.

Ayame immediately pouted and spoke in a coquettish voice.

"Don't be so cold, my dear Ana-chan..."

An icicle flew past her cheek, leaving a shallow cut.

"Don't call me by that name!"

Anastasia glared at her murderously.

Ayame quickly raised her hands in surrender.

"Alright, darling. Since you're so eager, I'll give you some good news."

"Father dearest has started clearing the field. Judging by his actions, he'll target us last. So why don't we align ourselves with his pace and eliminate all these irrelevant people first? That way, we can have a proper, intense battle with him! Just the thought of shooting my heart arrow into his body makes me so exci—!"

Ayame couldn't help but clench her thighs together, her face flushing with an abnormal redness as her movements intensified. The human mat beneath her— the curvaceous woman—began to wobble unsteadily.

Smack!

A crisp sound rang out as Ayame slapped the older woman's butt, causing an enticing ripple.

"Be good, darling~," Ayame cooed softly to her human mat.

Anastasia looked at her with disgust. No sane person would want to deal with a lunatic. If it weren't for her ultimate goal.

...

But let's not dwell on the schemes of these two women.

By now, night had fallen over Fuyuki City. Despite the economic downturn, the bustling new city was still brightly lit, like a city that never slept.

Among its landmarks was the newly built Fuyuki Grand Hotel, the crown jewel of the area. The luxurious 32-story hotel, nearly 100 meters tall, housed many foreign tourists. As evening fell, the tourists who had spent the day sightseeing gradually returned to the hotel, and the lobby was lively with activity.

Amid the crowd was a man dressed in a black trench coat, unshaven, with an air of weariness about him. He was carrying a tightly sealed briefcase and wandered through the lobby, seemingly uninterested, though his gaze lingered on the hotel's support pillars.

The security staff noticed his suspicious behavior and approached him for questioning. After a brief conversation, they found nothing amiss and let him go.

Two hours later, the man left the hotel. He pulled out an old-fashioned green-screen phone and pressed the number '1' on the dial.

A few minutes later, chaos erupted in the hotel as panic spread. Tourists poured out of the building in a frenzy.

Meanwhile, in the presidential suite on the top floor, Lord Kayneth received a call from the front desk. The lobby manager informed him that a fire had broken out in the hotel and requested that he evacuate immediately.

As Kayneth hung up the phone, anger immediately appeared on his face.

"How dare they set their sights on me!"

Sola looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong, Kayneth?"

"There's a fire in the hotel, and the front desk is notifying us to evacuate!"

"Why now of all times?"

Sola looked surprised.

Kayneth scoffed.

"There's no such thing as a coincidence. This must be a trick by one of the participants, trying to lure us out of the workshop to attack us!"

Panic immediately showed on Sola's face.

"What should we do? Her Majesty just went out for a tour. No, I should quickly notify Her Majesty..."

Sola instinctively raised her hand, which bore the command seals, but Kayneth suddenly grabbed her wrist.

Normally, calling her Servant back would have been the best course of action, but Kayneth's pride was wounded. The idea of relying on another felt like an affront to his ego, and in that moment, he let it guide his reaction.

"Sola..."

Sola stared at Kayneth, shocked at the indignation written across his face.

"There's no need to notify that woman!"

"The bounded field covers twenty-four floors, even the sewers. The corridors have been transformed into another realm, along with three specialized magical furnaces I've fine-tuned, dozens of evil spirits and demons summoned to replace hunting dogs, and countless magical traps. Even the Saber class, with its famed magic resistance, would struggle here. This is the safest magical fortress I've constructed! I don't need her to repel an attack!"

Speaking of his masterpiece, Kayneth was filled with enthusiasm and confidence.

"But..."

Sola still hesitated.

"No buts!"

Realizing he may have been too harsh with his fiancée, Kayneth quickly softened his expression. He placed both hands on Sola's shoulders, speaking tenderly and affectionately.

"Sola, I will protect you. Anyone who wants to harm you must step over my dead body first."

Hearing Kayneth's ardent yet ineffective declaration, Sola blushed and averted her gaze slightly.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Kayneth."

Her softened tone filled Kayneth with satisfaction.

Holy Emperor?

Sola would ultimately choose him—Kayneth, and no one else.

Yet, in his elation, Kayneth failed to notice the faint flash of the command seals beneath Sola's sleeve.

...

Outside the hotel, after using a suggestion spell to dismiss the lobby manager checking guest numbers, Kiritsugu Emiya lit a cigarette and took a deep puff. He pulled out his old mobile phone and pressed the '2' key.

Boom!

A muffled explosion echoed from inside the hotel, followed by the nearly hundred-meter-tall building collapsing like a tower of blocks.

Countless shards of glass shattered, falling like flower petals, glowing in the lamplight, twinkling like stars in the night sky.

But this beautiful sight symbolized destruction and death.

The remaining guests immediately panicked, rushing to flee the hotel, nearly causing a stampede.

Reflected in Kiritsugu's eyes were scenes of chaos: panicked crowds, mothers comforting their crying children, and the belated arrival of police cars and fire trucks.

Kiritsugu showed no emotion as he took another drag from his cigarette, exhaling a large cloud of white smoke.

After investigating Kayneth and Lancer, Kiritsugu had keenly noticed signs of discord between the two.

As a renowned magus killer, Kiritsugu's expertise lay in finding a magus's weaknesses and delivering a fatal blow.

He quickly discovered that Lancer had little interest in protecting her Master, instead spending most of her time casually wandering around Fuyuki City.

With Kayneth left unprotected, he became the easiest target among all the Masters.

Seizing the opportunity while Lancer was away, Kiritsugu acted decisively, destroying Kayneth's meticulously crafted magical workshop.

After fate had taken several twists, everything seemed to have returned to square one.

The magical fortress Kayneth had spent a fortune creating was rendered useless before it could even serve its purpose.

Now, both he and Sola were in grave danger.

Even for a magus, surviving a fall from nearly one hundred meters was unlikely, let alone in a collapsing building. And even if they somehow landed safely, they could still be buried alive.

But Kaneth, worthy of being called a prodigy, pulled out a sealed test tube from his pocket at that critical moment. The tube contained a semi-solid silver liquid.

"Fervor, mei sanguis!" (Boil, my blood!)

Kayneth poured the liquid onto the floor. The silver substance sprang to life, forming a massive spherical barrier around the two of them.

In the next instant, the ceiling and floor collapsed, and the sphere plunged along with the debris.

...

Kiritsugu, his back to the ruins, walked away from the crowd, his weathered silhouette exuding an air of cool composure.

But then, his steps faltered.

A young man wearing a cape blocked his path.

The crowd, strangely enough, didn't seem to notice the man's unusual attire and simply walked around him.

From above, the two appeared like immovable rocks amidst a tide of people.

"As expected of the Magus Killer, your decisiveness is remarkable," the young man said. Though his voice was youthful, it carried a weight of maturity beyond his years.

"Waver Velvet..."

Kiritsugu spoke the name, his expression darkening. His hand instinctively moved toward the inner pocket of his coat.

Waver waved dismissively.

"Don't be so tense, Mr. Emiya. I'm here only to persuade my professor to forfeit and return to his country with his fiancée."

Kiritsugu's posture didn't change. He wasn't naïve enough to trust someone on their word alone.

"What's your real purpose?"

Waver sighed.

"My professor...he's misunderstood something. To him, the Holy Grail War is more like an exhibition for magi, a competition of skills and talents, like medieval knight duels.

If this continues, he'll fall victim to a sneak attack sooner or later. Am I right, Mr. Magus Killer?"

Waver's gaze sharpened, locking onto Kiritsugu with hawk-like intensity.

Kiritsugu remained silent, his hand slowly slipping into his pocket.

Suddenly, Waver said, "By the way, your Origin Bullets won't work on me. Since they're limited, you'd better save them."