Timeline of the Fifth Holy Grail War.
Church.
"Hmm~"
Kotomine Kirei, dressed in priestly robes, maintained a solemn expression.
Still wearing the silent demeanor expected of a clergyman...
But the next second——
"Hehehe~ Hahahahahaha~"
Kotomine Kirei covered his face and burst into uncontrollable, mad laughter...
"Patricide... As expected... Pretending to be noble... Yet living such a twisted, absurd life..."
Kotomine Kirei would never forget the name of the man in the video—
The most unexpected variable of the Fourth Holy Grail War, who ultimately became his greatest rival...
Initially, Kotomine Kirei believed that Emiya Kiritsugu was the same as him...
But it was this kind of person who earned the trust of those around him... even their willingness to die for him...
As someone born unable to feel joy and emotionally disordered, Kotomine Kirei found Emiya Kiritsugu utterly hypocritical.
Hmph!
Now...
Your true face is about to be exposed, Emiya Kiritsugu!
Extreme personality distortion forged this so-called unwavering commitment to justice...
Kotomine Kirei, watching the light screen, reveled in it...
Feeling like a bystander, witnessing Emiya Kiritsugu being dissected with precision by the "scalpel" of the light screen...
Joy!
He had never experienced anything like this before—absolutely exhilarating!
"How fascinating..."
...
Meanwhile——
Before the light screen, more magi began recalling past events...
[Cornelius Alba]: Alimango Island... Yes, I have some recollection of that incident... In the end, the bounty hunter got there first... Emiya Kiritsugu, hm... The brat who killed his father in the report... But——
[Cornelius Alba]: @Aozaki Touko, that bounty hunter whose name I can't quite remember... seems somewhat similar to you...
[...]
The light screen flickered,
As expected, an image appeared of a short-haired, capable magus hunter clad in black robes, holding twin guns.
[Natalia Kaminski, after accepting a commission from the Mage's Association, arrived at Alimango Island in Southeast Asia to hunt down Emiya Norikata and his son. Unaware of Emiya Kiritsugu's identity, she inadvertently saved him.]
[After adopting Emiya Kiritsugu, Natalia negotiated with the Mage's Association, obtaining some of Emiya Norikata's Magic Crests and transplanting them to Kiritsugu.]
[Emiya Kiritsugu began learning the necessary skills to become an assassin from Natalia.]
[Thus, Natalia Kaminski became Emiya Kiritsugu's de facto foster mother and mentor.]
[Emiya Kiritsugu carried out his missions flawlessly. Though his face was still youthful, he pulled the trigger with extraordinary precision, time and again, without hesitation.]
[Yet, in this relentless killing, Emiya Kiritsugu witnessed countless lives vanish—not only enemies he slew with his own hands, but also the employers, children, and women he was meant to protect. Their deaths weighed heavily on his heart, like relentless blows.]
[Emiya Kiritsugu grew confused——]
[During a mission amid the flames of the Middle East conflict, Emiya Kiritsugu and Natalia ventured deep into danger together.]
[They encountered a surviving father and son, but enemies pursued and surrounded them. To Emiya Kiritsugu's surprise, the father and son seized a distraction to attempt escape.]
[Faced with this suicidal act, Emiya Kiritsugu wanted to rush out and pull them back.]
[As an experienced magus hunter, Natalia gripped him tightly and coldly asked: "Do you want to be a messenger of justice?"]
[Before she finished speaking, the father and son could not escape fate's cruelty. A few steps away, gunshots rang out, freezing their figures forever in that moment.]
[Gunshots echoed, blood splattered]
[Upon completing the mission, Emiya Kiritsugu held the bloodied, lifeless boy in his arms, muttering to himself as if questioning the world:]
[—"Was what I did meaningless? I killed my father so that no more people would die."]
[Natalia: (scoffs) Hmph~ Killing just one person is useless. If you could wipe out all such enemies from the world, your wish might come true.]
[...]
The barrage flashed by:
[Aozaki Aoko: Hahahahahaha, they really do look alike! Might well as be someone else's prank!
[Heir: Well, I've heard similar rumors and checked the records—it's about the so-called Aozaki family secretly controlling the Holy Grail War...]
[Tōsaka Tokiomi: So, that Grand Puppeteer is actually Emiya Kiritsugu's father?!]
[Kotomine Kirei: No wonder he's so hard to defeat... With such backing...]
[Lord El-Melloi II: Is that so? I did see that Grand Puppeteer before, and they do resemble each other... If Aozaki Touko took off her glasses...]
[Araya Sōren: @Aozaki Touko, you've really fallen.]
[Aozaki Touko: Sorry, it's just a rumor... That sort of thing is rather dull...]
[Kuonji Alice: Really? That's a pity. I thought it was something interesting...]
[Aozaki Touko: Hehe, @Kuonji Alice @Aozaki Aoko, come, let me check if your Magic Circuits are still functioning properly...]
[Aoko Alice: No! ! ! !]
[...]
But just as the atmosphere lightened with the barrage comments about Aozaki Touko——
The video on the screen reached a new climax:
[In a mission hired by the Mage's Association to hunt down the magus Ode Bolzak, known as the "Messenger of Magic Bees," although the target was killed aboard a passenger plane...]
[The target "Dead Apostle Bees" went berserk, and those not destroyed in time attacked passengers one after another, turning the passenger cabin into an instant hellscape of Dead Apostles.]
[Natalia struggled to survive, isolating the Dead Apostles in the passenger cabin from the cockpit.]
[The phone call connected——]
The light screen split, freezing the scenes of Emiya Kiritsugu and Natalia side by side...
["After losing my job, I might really only be fit to play the role of a mother..." Natalia, piloting as instructed by Emiya Kiritsugu, anticipated a grim outcome...]
On the other side of the screen, to everyone's utter shock...
[Emiya Kiritsugu raised a rocket launcher.]
[——"You are my... real family."]
[Hundreds of white seagulls soared around.]
[Emiya Kiritsugu pulled the trigger of the rocket launcher, aiming at the low-flying passenger plane without informing Natalia.]
[The passenger plane was destroyed, along with his foster mother, Natalia Kaminski.]
[Time froze on Mother's Day.]
[...]
At that moment, all who witnessed these events fell into silence.
————————————————————————
May we live long and share the beauty of the moon.