"You're injured again?"
Kotomine Kirei regarded his returning Servant with a slight frown.
He had only sent the man to scout the Matou estate. How had he come back wounded again?
Fortunately, with the healing scabbard now in their possession, follow-up operations wouldn't be significantly impacted.
"That was the Berserker."
"I hadn't even gotten close to the mansion before he detected me."
"He's powerful. Based on my own assessment... he may exceed even Saber."
Kenshin offered no excuses for his repeated injuries, instead reporting honestly.
He had come to understand his own limitations. Against opponents who still fell within the "human" spectrum, he could manage. But against an enemy wielding abilities of a superhuman caliber, his current self stood no chance.
In every regard, equipment and martial skill alike, that enemy surpassed him.
Saber was one thing. Berserker was nearly beyond his ability to handle.
"Don't sell yourself short."
"With an Assassin's stat container, matching Saber blow for blow already makes you exceptional."
"This war may have a few transcendent beings, but as long as Masters exist, there will always be weaknesses."
Kirei could see the unease buried beneath Kenshin's stoic facade, and spoke plainly.
The Berserker Assassin encountered was clearly something special. Enough to shake his confidence.
'The Matou family drew a good card.'
'But who is their Master?'
'If even Assassin can't get close, familiars are even more useless for reconning.'
They had at least identified the Class of the Matou Servant. But the Master's identity remained unknown.
'That leaves only Rider, the one who still hasn't shown.'
Without dwelling on it further, Kirei prepared to report to his teacher. As for how much detail he would actually share... that was a different matter entirely.
"Participating in the war yet maintaining close ties with the Church?"
"So the so-called Supervisor can't be fully trusted."
Kiritsugu huddled inside a safe house, exchanging intelligence with Maiya and Saber.
He knew precisely who Assassin's Master was.
Kotomine Kirei!
The man whose mere presence across a room filled him with an instinctive, bone-deep dread.
A dangerous individual.
Upon learning Kirei's identity and connections, the difficulty of the situation became painfully clear. Not just a Master, but someone entangled with the Church itself. If there wasn't some "backdoor" arrangement in play, Kiritsugu would eat his gun.
A referee and player colluding. The headache wrote itself.
"We move today. Waiting until nightfall is no longer an option."
"Mm..."
Irisviel had already awoken. Dressed in a nun's habit, she sat in a chair, watching the wounded Assassin tending to his injuries across the room. Her expression mixed shock and disbelief.
A large gash across his chest had clearly been inflicted by some massive cutting edge.
To land such a blow on an Assassin who even Saber struggled to gain advantage over... Irisviel couldn't imagine who was capable of that.
"This scabbard..."
She could feel her own injuries mending. The artifact Kirei had extracted from her body was performing miracles. If she could take this scabbard back, then perhaps Tomoe could be saved as well.
The thought carried his mind back to the instant before his summoning.
Kenshin's original wish had been almost "mundane": peace across the land. For that ideal, he had defied his master's objections, descended the mountain alone, and joined the Imperialists, spending years as their shadow blade.
It was only the appearance of Tomoe that restored what could be called his "humanity."
And now, because of certain circumstances, she bore wounds that would prove fatal. Kenshin had been on the verge of accepting that reality, until the existence of the "Dragon Balls" swayed him.
Peace for the world and healing for Tomoe. Both could be obtained simply by swinging his sword in a single war and emerging victorious.
Like a drowning man's lifeline, the young Kenshin couldn't let it go.
But having actually entered the fray, Kenshin discovered he had vastly overestimated himself and drastically underestimated his enemies.
He wasn't the only hero out there. Some were far beyond him. Having yet to even master the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu's succession technique, his ceiling was painfully low.
The performance-optimized Saber could perfectly track his speed. The enigmatic Berserker tanked his blows without flinching. And then there was the mana cannon from the coastline battle and the self-proclaimed "King" known as Archer.
These were all enemies the likes of which Kenshin had never faced.
As for the remaining Lancer, Rider, and Caster... he didn't even know who they were.
Slam!
Having partially healed his wounds, Assassin stood and left without a word.
Irisviel could clearly read the shift in his demeanor, but she was in no position to ask questions. He would never answer her anyway.
The room was sealed with specialized magecraft. She couldn't leave.
And so, her thoughts inevitably turned to Kiritsugu.
Upon waking, Irisviel hadn't imagined she'd be alive in this state. The scabbard had done its work admirably, but it had since been confiscated by Kirei for Assassin's use.
Since her awakening, Kirei had made no demands. He simply imprisoned her here and left.
A terrible premonition settled in her stomach.
"Well, well... I never expected this."
"Even you can look this anxious?"
"Emiya Kiritsugu."
Kotomine Kirei found himself under attack at his own residence.
Bangbangbangbang!!!
Across the room, Kiritsugu had already leveled his weapon and was firing in bursts.
Kirei's vestments were reinforced with bulletproof properties. Standard rounds posed no concern; he only needed to shield the exposed parts of his body.
Clink clink clink!!
Bullets ricocheted off the fabric, producing an almost musical chime.
"I know. Saber is standing guard nearby to intercept Assassin."
"Then you've sent your assistant to extract the woman."
"You want to kill me, but you can't find the opening..."
The corners of his mouth curled upward involuntarily. Maintaining constant vigilance, Kirei savored the sensation.
This novel feeling of having an enemy cornered, unable to act yet forced to listen to him speak. It was... exhilarating.
Pleasurable, even.
But what came next was something the priest failed to anticipate.
Innate Time Control: Double Accel!
Emiya Kiritsugu deployed his personal magecraft, the power to manipulate "time" within his own body.
Bang! BANG!!
"!?"
'An Origin Bullet and a regular round...'
To guard against the unexpected, Kiritsugu paired his magecraft with his firearms.
His movements were faster than anything Kirei had predicted. By the time the priest reacted, both bullets were already upon him.
'Too late.'
No time to raise a hand to deflect. If either round connected, it meant instant incapacitation or death.
CLANG!
But in that instant, both projectiles were swept aside by a broken blade, averting Kirei's crisis.
"Tch! Assassin?"
Reflexes that sharp could only belong to a Servant.
And what galled Kiritsugu further was that Saber had apparently failed to contain him.
One moment sooner, and Kotomine Kirei would have been permanently removed from this war.
What a waste!
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]