The Stubborn People

"You're still alive?" Kaguya looked at the Conqueror King on his chariot in surprise.

"Haha, of course!" Rider laughed heartily. "Though that shiny golden fellow was indeed powerful—nearly took me down. That was close!"

Kaguya's eyebrow twitched. Did he not care that he was just giving the enemy undue praise?

"By the way, you do know that 'Goldie' is already done for, right?" Kaguya remarked.

"Oh, really?" Rider scratched his head, looking somewhat surprised. "I didn't think someone that strong could actually be defeated… Incredible."

"So," Kaguya continued, "are you still planning to stop me? You might die here, all for a Grail that might not even grant the wishes you're fighting for. Is it really worth it?"

"My purpose in coming here is for the Grail. If I back down now, then why did I come here at all?" Rider replied earnestly.

"Even so," Saber said, gripping her sword tightly and fixing her gaze on Kaguya, "I still wish to try."

They really are a stubborn lot, Kaguya thought, feeling speechless. Apparently, words alone wouldn't convince them; it would take a hard beating to make them see reason.

"Since you all seem so intent on this…" Kaguya's lips curled, a violet glint flashing in her eyes, "then let's get on with it. Prepare to die!"

With that, Saber launched the first attack, lunging forward with a powerful step and slashing her sword fiercely toward Kaguya.

Kaguya gave a slight smile, ducked low, and appeared in front of Saber in an instant, seeing the surprised expression on Saber's face before throwing a punch straight into her stomach.

With a dull thud, Saber was violently knocked back, tumbling across the ground before finally stopping.

Against Kaguya's time-manipulation powers, all hand-to-hand techniques were ultimately futile.

Rat-a-tat-tat!

A stream of bullets erupted from Kiritsugu's submachine gun as he unleashed a hail of fire, pelting toward Kaguya like a furious storm, threatening to tear her apart.

"You think a mere Uzi can stop me?" A pleasant voice sounded from directly behind Kiritsugu, and his eyes widened as he instinctively activated his magecraft.

"Time Alter—Double Accel!"

The moment his words fell, Kiritsugu's time-flow doubled. He whirled around quickly, only to see a beautiful face smiling back at him—a smile that sent a chill through his very bones.

Could her speed really be this overwhelming?

Before he could fully process it, Kaguya's fist slammed into his chest, sending him hurtling backward with a tremendous impact. He crashed into the wall of Ryuudou Temple amid shattered stones, blood splattering in the air.

Kiritsugu coughed up a mouthful of blood, slumping down from the wall before collapsing weakly onto the ground.

Within mere moments, both were down.

"Hyaah!"

Chariot of Divine Might!

In a flash, Rider's bull-drawn chariot surged forward, surrounded by crackling electricity, thundering straight toward Kaguya.

A deafening crash followed, leaving a deep groove in the ground, electricity sparking in all directions, threading through the earth like a spider's web.

Kaguya barely dodged, narrowly avoiding being run over by the chariot.

Raising her pale arm, she glanced at it; part of her sleeve was torn, scorched at the edges, and carried the faint odor of burning.

"The time ran out?" Kaguya frowned.

While time manipulation was indeed a powerful ability, the duration was short. But it didn't matter; she had simply misjudged the chariot's range and got grazed by its lightning.

"Dodging my chariot—impressive!" Rider grinned, gripping the reins tightly.

"Trying to run me down with a chariot, huh?" Kaguya scoffed. "Guess I'll just have to dismantle it first. Bulls are better suited to the butcher's block anyway." She raised her arm, and the Sword of the King instantly appeared in her hand, swinging forward with great force.

A blinding beam of light shot forth like a rainbow, slicing through the air directly toward Rider's chariot.

Realizing the danger, Rider yanked the reins, and the bulls, sensing the threat, desperately veered sideways. But the beam's speed was simply too much. Before they could fully swerve, the beam struck the chariot dead on.

With a thunderous explosion, the sky lit up with dazzling flames, and fragments of the chariot rained down, plinking onto the ground below, along with half a smoldering wheel.

"Pathetic," Kaguya sneered. "If that's all you've got, you're better off farming."

Suddenly, a low voice echoed nearby, catching Kaguya off guard.

"Time Alter—Quadruple Accel."

In a flash, Kiritsugu appeared behind her, gun raised, his finger squeezing the trigger.

With a sharp bang, a spiraling bullet shot straight toward Kaguya's head.

By now, Kiritsugu had pieced together some details of her abilities, suspecting that Kaguya possessed the power to manipulate time. That was likely why she could appear so abruptly before him, even with his time-altering magecraft.

However, he calculated that such a power couldn't last long, nor be used consecutively. Otherwise, if she could employ it at will, she wouldn't need to stay here and fight them—she could simply annihilate them all effortlessly.

The ruined sleeve from Rider's chariot had been the confirmation he needed: her power had a time limit.

And so, right as her ability's cooldown was active, the opportunity was his.

At such close range, Kaguya, whose time manipulation was still cooling down, had nowhere to hide, no way to avoid the impending headshot.

Clang!

Sparks flew.

"What?" Kiritsugu's pupils shrank as he gasped in disbelief.

A jet-black barrier had appeared behind Kaguya, blocking the bullet mid-flight.

The Origin Bullet lodged into the barrier, stuck like a piece of gum on metal, failing to penetrate or even crack the surface of the shield—Kaguya's Truth-Seeking Ball.

"I knew you'd try a sneak attack, Kiritsugu," Kaguya said mockingly, "but I already saw right through you. Why don't you just step aside and stop getting in my way?" The moment she finished, she moved like lightning, appearing before Kiritsugu in an instant. His eyes widened as she landed a fierce punch to his stomach.

"Urgh!"

Blood spurted from Kiritsugu's mouth as he flew backward, tossed like a ragdoll before crashing to the ground with a dull thud.

"Looks like there aren't any more nuisances in the way." Kaguya dusted off her hands and turned toward the main hall of Ryuudou Temple.

A gust of wind suddenly rushed from behind, but Kaguya seemed to anticipate it. She tilted her head and caught a sword between her fingers, then turned to see Saber staring at her, astonished.

"So, still won't give up, huh, Saber?"

It was Saber who had attacked, clearly shocked. Even with the length of her invisible Excalibur roughly known, few could accurately intercept it—especially by catching it between their fingers. Berserker, with his extraordinary agility, had only dared to grab Saber's wrist in their battle, lest he lose a finger to her sharp blade.

But Kaguya managed to catch the invisible sword without even looking, surprising Saber greatly.

Saber clenched her jaw, trying to yank her sword free, but it felt as though she were pulling against an immovable object, Kaguya's fingers locked in place as if grown into the blade.

Kaguya's lips curled in a smirk as she pulled, causing Saber to stumble forward, losing her balance and tumbling into Kaguya's arms. Kaguya wrapped her arms around Saber as she fell.

This, Kaguya thought, was the very definition of warm and soft. The sensation filled her with a playful glint, and she couldn't resist giving Saber's backside a squeeze.

Saber froze, her cheeks instantly reddening as she struggled against the hold, wriggling like a fish out of water. Raising her arm, she tried to strike Kaguya with her elbow, but her arm was intercepted before the blow could land.

Then, a flash of white light struck Saber's neck. Her body shuddered, her gaze went blank, and she slumped unconscious into Kaguya's arms.

Kaguya had simply struck Saber's neck with her hand, knocking her out cold.

Unwilling to waste any more time on Saber's pointless resistance, Kaguya laid her gently on the ground before turning to continue her path toward the main hall. If her guess was correct, the power system for the Greater Grail lay beneath it. Destroying it would fulfill her mission.

When she reached the entrance, she suddenly halted and, without looking back, called out, "Kiritsugu, I know you're still awake. No need to pretend."

Lying nearby, Kiritsugu's eyes narrowed—he knew he had been discovered. Kaguya's powerful blow had left him gravely injured, almost on the brink of death. Yet, thanks to Avalon, the magical scabbard of Excalibur within him, his wounds were healing quickly. In the short time since the attack, he had recovered considerably, merely feigning unconsciousness to wait for an opening. But it seemed his plan had been seen through from the start.

Kiritsugu leapt to his feet, swiftly drawing his gun and aiming it at Kaguya. Though he had ended the lives of countless individuals—thirty-seven magi alone, all skilled—he found himself uncharacteristically unsure now. He couldn't tell if he even had a chance of wounding the silver-haired girl before him.

Was this it? Was his long-held ideal doomed to failure?

Frustration flooded him as he neared the brink of a long-desired victory, only to face failure at the very last step of his lifelong quest.

As Kiritsugu steeled himself to take one final, desperate shot, Kaguya's next words made him hesitate.

"Do you want the Grail?" Kaguya asked, turning her head toward him.

Kiritsugu's brows furrowed as he demanded, "What do you mean?"

"Just what I said." Kaguya's mouth curled into a slight smile. "If you truly wish to possess the Grail, I could let you see it—even grant it to you, to fulfill your wish."

Kiritsugu's response, rather than relief, was a hardening of his expression. "What are you up to? How could this benefit you? Why would you go out of your way for this?"

"Nothing much." Kaguya chuckled, turning to face him. "You've always wanted a world without bloodshed, without sacrifice—a world where no one is hurt."

"Maybe you'll think it foolish," Kiritsugu replied solemnly, "but it has always been my pursuit."

"It's certainly naive," Kaguya conceded, "but it's not laughable. But have you truly considered that a perfect world might be an impossibility? That conflict and war, as parts of human nature, will persist as long as humanity exists?"

"Precisely because it's impossible, I seek the Grail to accomplish this miracle," Kiritsugu answered quietly.

"If you believe the Grail can grant your wish," Kaguya replied, a faint laugh escaping her lips as she walked toward the main hall, "then come along. I doubt you'll let go until you see for yourself. Don't worry; there's no trap. Come or don't—your choice."

Kiritsugu hesitated briefly before lowering his gun and, without a second thought, followed Kaguya into the hall.

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