"Killed by a gun?"
"Idiot! Why didn't you call me!"
"Why did you act on your own!"
Kyoko Sakura crouched on the ground, releasing the spear in her hand, utterly furious. In just the short time she went to chase Caster, how did such a thing happen? Her Master was taken out without her even knowing. Given that all seven Servants were gathered just now, the conflict could only have occurred between Masters. The Master who used firearms... there seemed to be only one in this war. That was Saber's Master...
"What on earth was that long-faced bastard doing?"
She could feel her magical energy dissipating. If this continued, there was no doubt she would exit this war. A Servant who lost their Master would disappear due to insufficient magical energy supply. Kyoko Sakura couldn't accept it... To lose her qualification just like this was too stifling.
Standing up, she fished out that orange orb from Sola's pocket. The three stars shining within were so dazzling. The Dragon Ball hadn't been snatched away. The opponent likely fled considering she would return quickly.
Her expression filled with determination, Kyoko Sakura made a decision at this moment. She couldn't just vanish like this! She must immediately find a contractor who met the conditions...
...
"Why at this time..."
His right shoulder slashed by a sword, Kayneth felt the pain while covering the bleeding wound with his left hand. He was clearly about to kill Kirei Kotomine, but in that crisis, Kirei didn't hesitate to use a Command Spell to summon Assassin. And the Assassin who appeared brought a threat beyond Kayneth's imagination.
Whoosh!!
Swish!!
The silver liquid couldn't catch up with the opponent's extreme speed at all. Let alone attacking, even defense became a problem. Fast... Too fast! That was the sensation Assassin brought.
Splurt!
"Ugh!! Ahhh!!"
His back was slashed, a bloody mark revealed on his flesh. Kayneth showed a painful expression. 'What happened... I clearly sent the signal.'
'Why hasn't Sola come over yet?!'
Gritting his teeth and persisting, Kayneth couldn't figure it out. The reason he stayed here wasn't to die in vain, but to buy time for Sola's arrival. As long as she saw the signal he sent, Sola would call Lancer here. In that case, there would be no need to worry at all. But after some time passed without any response, he became increasingly uneasy.
"Volumen..."
Just as he wanted to open his mouth to say something, a sword piercing his throat completely cut off his life. Splurt!
Drawing the sword out, blood gushed onto the ground. Kenshin experienced the feeling of slaughter after a long time. This was a familiar taste... It was the same when he slew those enemies and high officials in the past. Masters who were not Heroic Spirits were so fragile and vulnerable in front of him.
Drip!
The mercury, losing its control, fell to the ground, turning into a puddle of sludge.
"Hmph... should I say it's misfortune or fortune?"
"Assassin is the Hitokiri Battousai who specializes in slaying humans."
"Appearing without a Servant's protection is a bit too overconfident."
Carrying injuries himself, Kirei Kotomine looked at Kayneth, whose throat was pierced by a sword, and chuckled lightly. The famous Lord of the Clock Tower had no way to deal with a man-slayer like Assassin. Don't look at how Kenshin struggled against Saber and Berserker; practically, the opponent was also a strong hand. Under normal circumstances, it was just as Kirei Kotomine said. Facing Assassin directly without a Servant meant almost only a dead end. That extreme movement technique and fierce swordsmanship could easily kill a fragile human body.
"Mn?"
Just at this moment, Kenshin detected an approaching aura and turned around vigilantly. A little girl holding a long spear appeared in his field of vision. Just looking at that appearance and age, she seemed quite a bit younger than him.
"Lancer?"
Judging the comer, Kenshin didn't mean to underestimate her. Most of those who could become "Heroic Spirits" had their own special skills. Even if the other party was a little girl, Kenshin, who had experienced baptism, wouldn't be careless.
"Tch! Why did they all die without permission?"
"Both of them are of the same virtue!"
Kyoko Sakura's head was big now... Sola died as a Master, causing her to enter the "countdown" to exit. She originally wanted to find a temporary magus to stall and see if there was a way to solve the problem of having no Master, but she didn't expect Kayneth to go join her directly. This was great. Now, besides doing extreme "mana replenishment by killing," she was left with finding other surviving Masters to re-contract.
Whoosh!
"?"
Watching Kyoko Sakura disappear directly carrying the corpse, Kenshin felt strange instead. In his expectation, he thought the other party would launch an attack, but she just left so bluntly.
"Assassin, how is the situation over there?"
"That King should be fighting in person now."
"Is that so?"
"Although I really want to go observe, I can't do it at present."
The confrontation with Kiritsugu Emiya and Kayneth indeed caused Kirei Kotomine not small injuries. He was quite weak now. If he hadn't used a Command Spell to summon Assassin to protect him just now, he probably would have really been taken out. He had no time to care about the situation where the battle was still continuing over there.
"Let's retreat first, Assassin."
...
"Iri... Maiya..."
Standing above the blasted crater, Kiritsugu Emiya looked at the empty ground and felt pain. This wave of calculation by Kirei Kotomine was indeed an unavoidable "open conspiracy." Unless he was willing to abandon Iri and abandon Saber's sheath.
Even though he had always been abandoning the "minority" and choosing the "majority," he couldn't hide the grief in his heart at this moment. The feeling of losing his wife and assistant was far heavier than imagined. It was like this with his childhood playmate, and with his foster mother back then... Now it was the turn of his wife and assistant who depended on each other for life.
'If I gave up... maybe the ending would be different.'
Once, he also considered abandoning that unrealistic delusion and living in seclusion with Iri, Maiya, and his daughter. But in the end, he couldn't completely make up his mind. Until now, the loss still made him, who had a strong heart, so sad.
An orange orb fell out of his inner pocket and rolled on the ground. The single star shone on him. Picking it up, Kiritsugu Emiya even had another selfish thought. If not pursuing world peace, then perhaps everything could still be salvaged. Grand ideals and personal thoughts... conflicted at this moment. To continue persisting in craving world peace... or to pursue the well-being of his wife and assistant?
That heart-wrenching choice was placed in front of him. The cruelty of this war began to be revealed to everyone. It wasn't that there would be no casualties, just that the time hadn't arrived.
Unrelated people or participants dragged in would eventually become "victims" within.
Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri... Dead!
Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald... Dead!
Maiya Hisau... Dead!
Irisviel von Einzbern... Dead!