"Hmm~"
Using a pair of tweezers, Natalia carefully sifted through the ashes inside the silver briefcase. After confirming that every last man-eating bee had been completely incinerated, she finally relaxed, humming contentedly to herself.
Then—
Clang!
A sharp metallic crash suddenly echoed from the darkness beside the cargo hold.
Several neatly stacked crates toppled to the floor.
"!!!"
Natalia reacted instantly, drawing her pistol and aiming toward the source of the noise.
There—
"Urgh…"
A blonde flight attendant staggered out of the darkness.
Her eyes glowed with an eerie crimson light.
Her face hung limply in a grotesque expression devoid of reason, thick strands of saliva dripping from the corners of her mouth as she limped toward Natalia like a zombie.
No—
She was a zombie.
A low-ranking Ghoul, transformed by a Dead Apostle.
At the same time—
Several of the giant man-eating bees that Natalia had supposedly exterminated only moments earlier buzzed into view, their translucent wings vibrating furiously.
"W-What...? You've got to be kidding me..."
Natalia's disbelieving voice came through the headset Kiritsugu was wearing.
"Natalia, what's happened?"
Kiritsugu asked, his brow furrowing.
Instead of answering immediately, several gunshots rang through the communicator.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Only then did Natalia reply in a grim voice.
"Ghouls!"
"What?"
Kiritsugu's usually expressionless face instantly tightened.
For the first time in a long while, genuine alarm surfaced in his eyes.
Because he knew exactly what it meant.
If those uncontrolled man-eating bees spread across the ground...
It wouldn't merely destroy a single city.
The entire world...
"This just became a disaster."
Natalia forced out a bitter laugh.
Kiritsugu immediately grasped the cause of the accident.
"That bastard... Because he was a Dead Apostle, he carried the bees inside his own body!"
At that very moment—
Everyone aboard Natalia's passenger aircraft had already been transformed into feral Ghouls by the swarm erupting from Wozak's corpse.
The man-eating bees seemed endless.
They poured ceaselessly from every opening in Wozak's body as he lay with his mouth stretched grotesquely wide toward the ceiling.
Surrounded by the murderous swarm filling the cabin, the newly created Ghouls tore savagely at one another.
After realizing they belonged to the same kind, they turned their blood-soaked claws and fangs toward new prey.
Some staggered aimlessly down the aisle.
Some remained trapped in their seats, restrained by their safety belts.
Others had already had their limbs torn off during the transformation and could only slam their foreheads against the floor, dragging themselves forward like revolting maggots.
"Natalia... get out of there."
Kiritsugu's calm voice carried the faintest trace of trembling.
"Hahaha..."
"You do realize I'm thousands of feet in the air, right? Jumping into the ocean from this height isn't any different from jumping onto concrete."
Natalia laughed as though she didn't fully appreciate the danger she was in.
"Unfortunately, I didn't exactly prepare for a stunt parachute jump..."
Before she could finish—
The aircraft lurched violently.
The entire fuselage tilted sharply.
"This is bad..."
"The cockpit's been overrun too."
"What?"
Kiritsugu's expression darkened.
He jerked the steering wheel hard, spun the ambulance around, and stopped beside a stretch of coastline.
The sound of tearing nylon fabric came through the headset.
Stepping out of the vehicle, he looked toward the sea.
"Natalia... you're not planning to—"
"Don't misunderstand."
She cut him off before he could finish.
"I'll make it back."
"I'll come back alive."
"And I'll be bringing Wozak's body with me."
"But first... I have to deal with this airplane."
As she spoke, Natalia tore several rigid plastic-and-nylon armor panels from her luggage and tucked them beneath her clothing over her chest, back, and other vital areas.
If one of those bees managed to sting her even once...
It would all be over.
"..."
"Hm? Is there something you want to say?"
She could hear Kiritsugu breathing through the headset.
She could even hear him opening his mouth.
But no words came.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"...Natalia."
"I know you can do it."
A smile spread across Natalia's face.
"That's all I needed to hear."
There wasn't the slightest hint of fear in her voice.
She believed Kiritsugu would find a way to solve everything.
So there was nothing left to fear.
Nothing at all.
"Now hurry up and prepare a nice soft bed."
"And take a shower before I get back."
"I'll reward you properly, little man~"
"..."
Kiritsugu fell into yet another familiar silence as Natalia laughed teasingly.
She ended the conversation and cautiously made her way toward the cockpit, attempting to regain control of the aircraft.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Silence.
More silence.
Then—
After holding it in for so long—
Kiritsugu finally exploded.
BAM!
His fist slammed into the ambulance door.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Each punch left another deep dent in the metal.
Soon, blood stained his knuckles.
"Damn it!"
After venting his frustration in a frenzy of punches and kicks, he gradually forced himself to calm down.
He climbed back into the ambulance and drove toward New York's underground arms market.
Several hours later—
Shortly before the airplane was due to arrive—
Using every contact he and Natalia had cultivated over the years, Kiritsugu searched nearly every illegal weapons dealer in New York.
At enormous expense, he finally obtained what he had been looking for.
...
Leaving an abandoned apartment where the transaction had taken place, Kiritsugu carried a massive suitcase nearly one and a half meters long.
He climbed back into the ambulance, its tires still giving off the burnt smell of scorched rubber.
His expression was empty.
Like a puppet whose soul had already left its body.
He drove straight toward a stretch of coastline directly beneath the aircraft's projected flight path.
Beep... Beep...
"Can you hear me, kid?"
"Don't tell me you've fallen asleep."
Natalia's cheerful voice came through the headset, sounding as though nothing unusual had happened.
Rolling down the window, Kiritsugu let the salty sea breeze wash over the hand resting outside.
"The signal's clear, Natalia."
"I just wanted to hear your voice... a little more clearly."
His tone remained calm.
"..."
This time—
Natalia was the one left speechless.
"You've been listening to my voice for years. Still not tired of it?"
"Oh... unless you're talking about that kind of voice."
"I can make those sounds for you right now~"
"Da~ddy~ Ki~ri~tsu~gu~"
She deliberately dragged out every syllable, taking playful revenge for his unexpected sincerity.
"I think I'll pass."
"We've both been awake for two straight days."
"I'm pretty sleepy this morning."
Kiritsugu answered with complete composure.
"If you'd actually slept through the night instead of keeping me company yesterday..."
"When I get back, I'll bite you to death."
"Grrr!"
She even imitated the growl of an adorable little wolf.
"I hope you'll go easy on me."
Kiritsugu surrendered without resistance.
"That depends on how well you behave~"
After teasing him for a while, Natalia finally became serious.
"So..."
"I've got good news."
"And bad news."
"Which one do you want first?"
"Isn't it usually the good news?"
Kiritsugu replied with a question.
"Okay."
"The good news is..."
"I'm still alive."
"The airplane's still in one piece."
"Getting to the cockpit wasn't too difficult."
"Repairing the communications system took a while, but I should be able to handle flying the plane now."
"I just wish it were as easy to operate as a Cessna."
She sighed in complaint.
Cessna aircraft were famous for their simple handling, making them one of the most recognizable manufacturers of light aircraft.
Because of Kiritsugu, Natalia occasionally took him back to Japan for extended stays.
Over time, her experience as a bounty hunter had given her a practical understanding of small aircraft.
She had even bought a Cessna once and taught the ten-year-old Kiritsugu how to fly it—completely illegally.
While Natalia continued talking—
Kiritsugu reached the designated shoreline.
A dense fog covered the pier.
Moored there was a jet ski.
It was the very same one Norikata Emiya had once prepared—the same jet ski Natalia had used to take Kiritsugu away from the island.
Kiritsugu had deliberately preserved it over the years.
Aside from the steering assembly, nearly every component had been replaced with brand-new parts.
Originally...
He had intended to take Natalia out to sea with it after this mission was over.
Instead—
He was using it to bring her home.
As though fate itself had completed a circle.
Kiritsugu climbed out of the ambulance, placed the enormous suitcase onto the jet ski, and expertly started the engine.
He sped toward the direction from which the airplane would arrive.
To ensure the disaster never reached the mainland...
He would meet Natalia at sea.
ROAR—!
The jet ski's engine thundered across the waves.
Amid the crashing surf, Natalia suddenly paused.
"Oh?"
"So you've come to pick me up, kid?"
"Mmm."
"I've come to take you home, Natalia."
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