[105] Changes

"This... this is—" Pushing through the crowd, looking at the scorched earth in front of him, Ryosuke Matsushita became excited. "The Holy Grail War! It must be the Holy Grail War!"

Rito Ishizaki was a bit further away, acting as if he didn't know Ryosuke Matsushita.

The Holy Grail War?

How could such a manga-like scenario be happening in reality? But... what in the world happened here? It looks terrible, as if it was bombed or attacked by something.

"Hey, hey, don't gather here! It's dangerous!"

"Not good, the police are coming," Rito Ishizaki said, grabbing Ryosuke Matsushita and preparing to run.

"Wait a moment—" Ryosuke Matsushita broke free from Rito Ishizaki's grip and picked up a fragment of something golden from the ground. "Got it! Let's see if this can be considered a Holy Relic when we get back!"

"... You, be a bit more realistic..Right..." Rito Ishizaki said, opening his mouth wide, and just now, in both of their eyes, they clearly saw that the golden fragment he was holding had gradually turned into specks of light and disappeared!

"..."

"..."

...

In a church—

After a day's work, Kotomine Risei sat tiredly in his chair. "Honestly, I should have hired a couple more people. After this Holy Grail War is over, I should get some help."

As the largest church in the world, not every church employee knew about the mysteries of the supernatural world. Typically, in remote places like this, he was the only one who knew, and others were just casual workers.

Previously, because not many people visited this church, he was lazy about hiring additional staff. But ever since that [Fate] manga was released...

Even though the church was closed, people still lingered outside!

While the earnings increased, it was entirely useless to him. He would wait a bit longer, and after this Holy Grail War was over, he could hire more people or move away from here to enjoy some peace.

Afterward, this church would surely gain the headquarters' attention.

After all, the money contributed here was now comparable to some major cathedrals in Europe. People donated generously, especially now that many Japanese had extra money.

Perhaps they might send over some bishops or archbishops to assist.

Creak—

As the church's large door swung open, a person walked in.

"Hmm? Getting old, aren't I? I even forgot to close the door," Kotomine Risei thought to himself, slowly getting up with a smile, typical of a clergyman. However, he remained cautious in his heart.

This was the period of the Holy Grail War, and because of this, someone might come here to confront him... or maybe even lay hands on the Command Spells he possessed. It wouldn't be strange!

However, there were two other possibilities.

One, he had genuinely forgotten to close the door.

Two, just like those troublemakers from before, someone had broken in. It wasn't the first time that such a thing had happened. Those children had no respect or belief in the church; they simply wanted to see if anything unusual happened here at night. So, a group of them broke in...

In general, for the second possibility, Kotomine Risei's choice was persuasion, persuasion. If that didn't work? Call the police.

After all, this was a church, unlike the Tohsaka residence, where he had set up barriers to keep people away.

"Kirei?" Watching the person who walked in, Kotomine Risei slightly furrowed his brow. "You should know the consequences of coming here at this time."

"Ah, of course, I'm well aware."

...

"Go, Assassin," Kotomine Kirei said to his Servant.

"I understand."

The next moment, thick fog covered the entire Tohsaka residence.

A small figure darted through the dense fog and quickly reached the Tohsaka family's home!

This scene was naturally seen by the Master who had placed his Familiar here...

Seen naturally. The image of Assassin repelling Lancer, who should have been heavily injured but had already healed, flashed before their eyes.

However, when Assassin disappeared, and the fog dissipated, almost all the Masters had forgotten the information about Assassin that they had received from their Familiars. They forgot her appearance, form, and even her gender. All that remained was the report that "Assassin attacked the Tohsaka residence!"

But there was one exception—Emiya Kiritsugu.

He had recorded the battle between Assassin and Lancer through the Familiar's camera. Although the camera was not very advanced and didn't capture everything, it still recorded enough.

"Fog, female, child, dagger... A Servant with a combination of these characteristics... No, perhaps I should exclude the 'female' part," Emiya Kiritsugu thought. He didn't understand why ancient heroes liked to cross-dress as women... Most of the legends that had been passed down were about females. For example, the previous Saber, King Arthur, and the current Saber... He didn't know how to investigate that person's true identity, but he completely ignored the gender part.

He had paid a price for underestimating that, even though it wasn't the real him at the time.

...

"Hmm?" Kotomine Kirei, who had recalled Assassin, furrowed his brow slightly. He had just received news that his father had been attacked.

After thinking for a couple of seconds, he used a Command Spell and said, "By the Command Spell, Assassin, immediately go to the church and kill the intruder."

With a red flash, you could vaguely see numerous Command Spells on his cuffs, as well as...

Two dimmed Command Spells.

The first Command Spell he used was to make Assassin, who would attack him as soon as she appeared, stop her actions. He issued the command "do not harm him."

Then the second Command Spell was to make Assassin perform spatial transfer directly to the church.

And now, he still had nine Command Spells...

...

"What is this?"

Looking at the Command Spells on his hand, Kazuya furrowed his brow. "Only two?"

After he had disguised himself as Kotomine Kirei and approached, he immediately put Kotomine Risei under hypnosis.

Even someone who had become a vampire after wearing the Stone Mask could use hypnosis. He had naturally mastered it. However, it seemed like he had implanted a complex ritual in his brain. There was no other way; he had to knock him unconscious first and then torment him in his dreams before using a second hypnosis.

Afterward...

He had only obtained two!

"What is this?"

Kazuya furrowed his brow, revealing Kotomine Risei's arm. The Command Spells were still there, but only the top and bottom ones had darkened, while the rest remained unchanged, with no traces of magical power.

"I see... He left only two Command Spells; the rest are all fake. Using the spells placed between these two Command Spells to make it look real... I guess it's because of that manga that things have changed. So, the remaining Command Spells should be in either Kotomine Kirei's or Tohsaka Tokiomi's hands. Now... it looks like Kotomine Kirei is more likely to have them."

Kazuya tossed Kotomine Risei aside.

He looked at Assassin, who had materialized before him, and smiled faintly. "You sought Kotomine Kirei's help when I wasn't aware."

Swish—

The next moment, a bone blade sprouted from Kazuya's arm, emitting a gleam. "Very well, let me see Assassin's power!"

"I'll kill you," Assassin, Jack the Ripper, said, transforming into a purple beam of light and charging towards Kazuya.

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