Kirei Kotomine.
At the climax of the Fourth Holy Grail War, that man was killed from behind by the very Greater Grail he had summoned.
Afterward, Shiomi tried investigating Ryuudou Temple through both the Holy Church and the Mage's Association, but found nothing—no corpse, not even a trace of remains.
So now, over twenty years later, seeing him again here in Chaldea, at the edge of Antarctica, Shiomi couldn't help but feel... it was always bound to come to this.
"It's been twenty-three years since we last met face-to-face," Kirei Kotomine said, hands folded behind his back, wearing a shameless smile. "I've only grown older, but you, Shiomi-kun—you look exactly the same. How nostalgic."
Compared to 1994, Kirei's appearance had grown far more weathered.
"So you're the mastermind behind this attack?" Shiomi gripped his spear tightly.
A mechanical hum came from behind the door. In just a few minutes, the container would burst through. He couldn't allow anyone to get close or interfere with the escape.
"No. I'm merely one of the agents dispatched for this mission," Kirei replied, still speaking like they were catching up after years apart. "Originally, I was assigned here as a representative of the Holy Church for the review process. But since you're here... I had no choice but to remain in the shadows."
"And the Holy Church now allows rogue Executors to sneak back in?" Shiomi scoffed.
"That's thanks to Miss Koyanskaya," Kirei explained, calm as ever. "She helped me acquire a new identity through the Russian branch of the Church. That's how I made it here. Honestly, I couldn't care less what happens to the rest of Chaldea—but you, you must be left behind."
"Then come and try."
Shiomi furrowed his brow, the murderous intent pouring off him unrestrained.
"You seem stronger than before. I'd like to see for myself just how much."
His failure to kill Kirei last time had been a mistake.
This time—for Caren, and for others—he would finish the job.
Kirei's robes had clearly been reinforced. Even when Shiomi struck him with the shaft of his spear, the impact rang with the sound of metal.
There was a strange aura radiating from him, something reminiscent of a living Servant. Yet unlike most of them, he didn't feel weak. In fact, he felt close to how divine-era heroes might have been in life—though not quite as troublesome as Kingu had been.
After dozens of probing exchanges, Shiomi had more or less figured out Kirei's condition. He tightened his grip on Gungnir, ready to unleash its True Name.
Then—his feet suddenly felt heavy.
Ice?
Before he could react, an intense chill surged around him, instantly sealing his entire body in ice.
Through the solid crystal, he could just make out the one who cast the spell—the silver-haired girl leading the slaughter of Chaldea.
She was a Servant.
"I didn't expect Her Highness herself would need to intervene. Forgive the disgrace," Kirei said, stepping forward.
"This man is extremely dangerous, Rasputin," the silver-haired girl—referred to as princess—also stepped forward, addressing Kirei by another name. "You can't beat him on your own—"
She didn't get to finish.
Before her eyes, the supposedly unbreakable ice spell began to twist and fracture.
"Hm?" Kirei's expression changed subtly.
In the next instant, the ice exploded from within. The shockwave tore down the corridor, shattering even the reinforced glass.
Lowering his arms from shielding himself, Kirei glanced toward the princess, who had raised an ice wall to block the blast.
O ChatGPT disse:
"Yare yare... what a troublesome man. Not even Her Highness's Magecraft could do anything to him," Kirei said flatly.
"He escaped. What now?" The silver-haired girl stepped up to the window, the cold wind rushing in around her as she looked out toward Shiomi, standing alone atop the snow-covered mountain rocks.
Kirei shook his head. "Leave it to me and the other Alien Apostles. For now, Your Highness must focus on sealing the pseudo-Celestial Sphere—and confirming whether they took your 'body' with them."
"Fair enough." The princess turned and walked back toward the control room.
Far below, Shiomi stood on a craggy ridge, watching the figure vanish from Chaldea's corridor and noting that Kirei still hadn't given chase.
On the opposite side, the hangar doors burst open. The container launched out like a cannon shell, sliding over the rocky slope without resistance.
With gravity pulling it, the speed quickly shot past 200 kilometers per hour.
Shiomi immediately leapt down onto the slope behind it, landing on a thick patch of ice and riding it downhill, using runic magic to accelerate and keep pace.
Worst-case scenario, he'd regroup at the bottom.
That is, unless a hailstorm of blades suddenly rained from above, cutting off his path.
His instincts kicked in. Shiomi swung his spear behind him and met a pair of black-and-white twin blades head-on.
"What is it with today—old faces keep showing up one after another," he said as he forced back the red-coated man. "Nameless Guardian. Even you're doing this kind of dirty work now?"
The same Nameless Guardian who once served as Rin's Servant during the Fifth Holy Grail War was now standing as his enemy.
"We Servants never had much free will," Nameless replied, facing Shiomi from across the snowy hill. "Whether it's the Counter Force or something else, once an order comes down, we follow it—even if that means fighting someone we know."
Kirei Kotomine had already begun his pursuit—and now, yet another had joined in.
In addition to Nameless, the Caster known as Limbo—who had appeared and vanished during the Subcategory Singularity—also made his entrance.
"Quite the lineup," Shiomi muttered, spear tilted in front of him. "Three Servants just to deal with me?"
Retreat was possible, but only if there was one pursuer.
With three... now four, Shiomi couldn't guarantee he'd lose them all.
Boom—!
A sniper shot rang out, but before it could hit, a thick layer of ice rose to shield him, conjured by Magecraft.
Koyanskaya, crouched atop the Chaldea structure, had attempted a snipe—only to be foiled.
"...Didn't I tell you to go on ahead?" Shiomi faltered when he saw who had appeared.
"Scáthach, Artoria, and Da Vinci are all with the homunculi. They'll be fine." Morgan landed beside him, voice firm. "As your wife, I stand with you."
"They've even got backup? What a pain," Limbo muttered with a chuckle as talismans flew from his hands.
Shiomi quickly inscribed runes. The spell clashed with Limbo's Shikigami, setting off another explosion.
Amid the chaos, Shiomi wrapped an arm around Morgan's waist and leapt again, landing atop another massive sliding chunk of ice and riding it down, following the trail left by the container.
He glanced back.
Behind him were not three—but four pursuers.
Koyanskaya had joined the hunt.
"No way we're taking them all out... Let's lose them all at once!"