"I really... thank you very much."
"Think nothing of it. This King has already promised to save my grudge against you for the very end, but you must not interfere in the subsequent events."
At Kirei Kotomine's "command," the King of Heroes was supposed to go to Ryudou Temple and eliminate Medea. However, he had already made an agreement with Guinevere, and he was not the type to take orders.
He went straight to Guinevere, using a candid statement to make it impossible for her to take action.
Once again, the two raised their glasses together, watching the subsequent developments from a high building.
They saw Sakura, Shirou, and Saber arrive at Fuyuki Church. Kirei Kotomine was waiting for them outside.
"So you've finally come to register, Saber and your Master. Now, reveal your True Name, Saber."
The priest stood as straight as a pine tree in his black cassock. Even Shirou knew this man would be a difficult opponent just by observing his posture and the muscular build that remained evident beneath his loose clothing.
At this moment, Shirou and Saber knew Kirei's situation, and Kirei knew that they knew.
Therefore, Kirei chose to feign ignorance, betting that Shirou and Saber wouldn't know that he knew.
In his mind, Shirou Emiya, as Kiritsugu Emiya's adopted son, would take the bait by guiding Saber closer, only to launch a sudden attack once they were within range.
At that moment, even if Shirou and Saber didn't kill him outright, they would at least subdue him first.
But Kirei Kotomine had miscalculated. Shirou Emiya operated completely differently from Kiritsugu Emiya. Shirou believed that if a person was killed, they would die. Before any real fight began, even if he was already convinced of someone's enmity, he would still personally verify if the target could only be treated as a foe.
Naïve? A justice-obsessed fool? So what!
"Priest, are you Kirei Kotomine?"
Shirou stopped in his tracks, posing a question that caught Kirei off guard. Ironically, this only made him more confused by Shirou's actions.
"That's right. I am Kirei Kotomine."
"Then, let me ask my next question. In the previous Holy Grail War, was the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, Rin Tohsaka's father's Servant? And by the end of that war, did he already belong to you? Also, in this current war, are both the King of Heroes and this war's Lancer under your command?"
As he listened, Kirei Kotomine grew even more astonished. He began to doubt the theories he had formed after hearing the name "Emiya," and in his mind, he denied that Shirou was Kiritsugu's son.
Taking a deep breath, he glanced at the ever-stern Saber...
"Heh, so the King of Knights, who ended up like a stray dog in the last Holy Grail War, still retains the memories of the previous war after being summoned again this time?"
There was no need to deny it, nor any need to answer. Kirei Kotomine inwardly admitted one thing: Saber had finally obtained a compatible servant.
"Lancer!"
At the call, Lancer, Cu Chulainn, appeared. At the same time, Kirei Kotomine gripped three Black Keys between his hands.
The next second, Saber's sword and Lancer's spear clashed again, whipping up an even more furious storm in the open space outside the Holy Church.
This time, Lancer was allowed to fight at full strength. This time, Saber had sufficient mana thanks to the King of Heroes' wine.
Clang!
Following Lancer and Saber, this was the sound of Kirei Kotomine's Black Keys clashing with Rider's chain daggers.
In terms of strength, Kirei Kotomine was no longer inferior to third-rate servants, but how could he ever match the agility of Rider, Medusa?
Without even needing to remove her blindfold, after just a few strikes, the daggers Rider threw pierced Kirei Kotomine's body, leaving a conspicuous hole right over his heart.
To this end, Lancer forced Saber back, compelling Rider to withdraw her chains and abandon her follow-up attack.
"I say, Master, weren't you confident down to every single strand of your hair? How did you lose so quickly?"
"Lancer, who said I lost?"
Ever since Kirei Kotomine was tainted by the Black Mud in the last Holy Grail War, his heart had long since ceased to beat; having a large hole torn in his left chest merely left him feeling a bit chilled.
But through this brief exchange, he had already completed his assessment of Rider's physical combat abilities and directly commanded Lancer in front of him:
"Lancer, use your Noble Phantasm on Rider. She won't be able to dodge it with her strength alone."
As he spoke, Kirei Kotomine's choice was to turn and retreat, immediately engaging Saber, who was chasing after Lancer.
Naturally, the conversation between Kirei Kotomine and Lancer took place through their Master-Servant Contract, so it could not be overheard by outsiders, and the total time spent speaking was a mere second.
To those outside, it seemed as if Lancer immediately changed his spear stance after reuniting with his Master, Kirei Kotomine, and just as Rider sensed danger and was about to remove her blindfold, he had already completed the Noble Phantasm Release incantation.
"Gáe Bolg!"
With a shout, the crimson spear flew from his hand as if it had a life of its own, and in the next instant, it pierced a heart.
Only, the heart it pierced belonged to Shirou Emiya, who had suddenly stepped in front of Rider.
Blood splattered, and the battle halted. Even Kirei Kotomine, a veteran of countless battles, was completely stunned.
Or rather, among those watching the fight, Guinevere was only stunned for a shorter time, being the first among them to recover and facepalm.
Shirou Emiya had actually placed the Servant's safety above his own again.
"Guinevere, this is the brat you have such faith in?"
"He's stupid, isn't he? But that's exactly why these kinds of fools are so popular with those little ones."
Another toast was made. The King of Heroes still had no intention of letting Guinevere leave, yet he found himself wondering why she didn't just force her way out.
Then, he understood a little, and chuckled softly.
"The catalyst this brat used to summon Saber should still be that scabbard, right?"
If the King of Heroes only had memories of the Fourth Holy Grail War from this world, he truly wouldn't have thought of the Scabbard. But he also had memories of the Fourth War from Guinevere's world, so it was only natural that the Scabbard crossed his mind.
"Then, let us continue drinking! I suffered a minor defeat last night. Tonight, I will show you who the true King of the drinking table is!"
Even at drinking, the King of Heroes refused to admit defeat.
Meanwhile, outside the Church, Shirou Emiya had indeed died. Even if Saber's Scabbard wanted to revive him, it wouldn't happen this quickly.
Therefore, everyone present could sense the despair and murderous intent emanating from Sakura. The only good thing now was that no Servants had died in battle yet. Sakura couldn't even complete her descent into madness. She could only reach out, reveal her Command Spells, and directly use her last two remaining Command Spells to order Rider:
"Rider, go all out and tear them to pieces!"
The shock of being saved by Emiya, whom she looked down upon, was not small for Rider. Her blindfold had already fallen off, and her Mystic Eye of Petrification had already been activated.
After this Mystic Eye controlled both Kirei Kotomine and Lancer, the King of Heroes, who had just taken a sip of wine, immediately couldn't sit still.
Lancer was irrelevant, but Kirei Kotomine couldn't die.
Thus, Saber leaped back to Sakura and Emiya's side, knocking the already drunken and now even more delirious Sakura unconscious with a knife-hand strike, and then wondered why her contract with Emiya had not yet been broken. Next, as she checked his body...
The King of Heroes had crossed the one-thousand-meter distance between the sidelines and the battlefield, directly stepping into the line of sight of the Mystic Eyes of Petrification. Before Rider could unleash her Noble Phantasm, he quickly grabbed Kirei Kotomine and carried him away.
Lancer? The King of Heroes truly did not care.