But...
Kiritsugu had said it anyway.
Like choosing the wrong path at a crossroads of fate, that single decision changed everything that followed.
Without even realizing it, Kiritsugu Emiya had pushed Irisviel von Einzbern completely to the opposite side.
He never imagined that, through Leon's and Artoria's encouragement, Irisviel had finally rekindled her desire to live.
And just as that fragile hope had begun to burn...
Kiritsugu extinguished it with a few simple words.
Yes.
Irisviel could not refuse to surrender Avalon.
Because she was a tool created by the Einzbern Family.
Even if not for Kiritsugu's sake...
Then for the family that had given her life.
She had no choice but to relinquish Avalon.
It was the only way she could repay the Einzberns—the family that, to her, was no different from her own parents.
"...Iri..."
Kiritsugu stared blankly at Avalon, which at some point had been placed into his hands.
Instinctively, he reached out to support Irisviel as her weakened body swayed.
But she coldly brushed his hand aside.
Staggering, she caught herself against a nearby stack of storage boxes.
"Mr. Kiritsugu..."
A bitter smile appeared on her pale face.
"So..."
"Are you satisfied now?"
She looked sorrowfully at the pitiable man before her.
The man who shared the very same dream she did.
A dream she had embraced because of him.
Mr. Kiritsugu.
The familiar yet strangely distant form of address froze his outstretched hand in midair.
So it had come to this again.
As long as he continued walking the path of justice...
He would continue losing everything.
Again and again.
Until nothing remained.
Until the entire world abandoned him.
His childhood memories.
The days of his youth.
The stunned expression on Norikata Emiya's face before his death.
Shirley's dream on the eve of becoming a Dead Apostle.
Natalia...
Who never begged for her life, and quietly accepted her death.
Every one of those memories...
Was proof of the malice this twisted world held toward Kiritsugu Emiya.
He had to change it.
Completely.
No matter how much sorrow he endured.
No matter how much pain he suffered.
No matter how many times fate mocked and betrayed him.
The man called Kiritsugu Emiya would bring true peace to the world.
A world where no one would ever suffer again.
A world where everyone could live happily...
As if those precious people had never been taken from him.
These sacrifices...
Were necessary.
Until justice and peace were finally achieved...
There could be no turning back.
Otherwise...
Every farewell.
Every tear.
Every moment of agony.
Every sacrifice he had ever endured...
Would become meaningless.
He could never allow that.
"...I'm sorry, Iri."
Kiritsugu lowered his head.
In the nine years since meeting Irisviel...
This was the first time he had ever allowed so much emotion to show.
"I always believed..."
"...that you understood me."
"But it doesn't matter."
"I'll see this through."
"Even if I'm the only one left..."
"I'll still make our dream come true."
"...Mr. Kiritsugu..."
Irisviel's heart wavered.
More sadness welled up from within.
She understood his vision of justice better than anyone.
But...
She was a person.
A living, breathing human being.
She could feel sorrow.
She could feel pain.
She was afraid of death.
And more importantly...
The ending of this justice had already been decided.
The world had never favored any one person.
It was neither wholly evil...
Nor wholly good.
It simply drifted endlessly in chaos.
Before Irisviel's eyes...
Kiritsugu embedded Avalon back into his own body.
It wasn't because he feared death.
He intended to use Avalon's regenerative power to ease the burden caused by the difference in the flow of time inside and outside his body, allowing him to use Time Alter more freely.
It was essential for the battles yet to come.
Especially...
For the final confrontation with Leon.
He would fight until the very end.
Alone.
Kiritsugu pushed open the door and walked out.
The soundproof bounded field Maiya had deployed dissipated immediately afterward.
He merely cast a single glance at Maiya Hisau with those empty black eyes.
That was enough.
Maiya understood.
He had successfully reclaimed Avalon.
The outcome of this Holy Grail War had already been decided.
Although she found it strange that Kiritsugu had emerged alone instead of alongside Irisviel...
Maiya's eyes saw only Kiritsugu.
After respectfully bowing toward Irisviel...
She never looked back at the frail woman struggling even to remain standing inside the storeroom.
Just then...
Leon and Artoria stepped out through the main entrance of the house.
Leon casually loosened his collar with one hand while keeping the other in his pocket.
Beside him, Artoria silently straightened the slightly rumpled hem of her dress behind her back.
A faint blush still lingered across her cheeks.
But the instant they stepped outside—
Artoria's expression changed dramatically.
She vanished like a flash of light.
A violent gust erupted in her wake, blowing Kiritsugu's unruly hair and Maiya's bob haircut straight backward as if they'd been plastered with hair gel.
"Kiritsugu!"
"What did you do to Irisviel?!"
Supporting the suddenly weakened Irisviel, Artoria glared at him with unmistakable anger.
She and Leon had worked incredibly hard to restore Irisviel's condition to something close to that of a normal person.
And now...
"...Nothing."
Kiritsugu's face remained expressionless.
"Nothing has changed."
Leaving only those words behind...
He departed with Maiya.
Leon instinctively took a step forward to pursue them.
But Irisviel stopped him.
"...It's all right, Leon."
"Kiritsugu..."
"...didn't do anything wrong."
"...Nothing has changed..."
Her voice was painfully weak.
The violent rise and fall of her chest made it obvious just how badly her condition had deteriorated.
"...Very well."
"If that's what you want, Iri."
Leon gently took Irisviel from Artoria's arms.
Lifting her in a princess carry, he carried her back toward her room.
Truthfully...
He wanted nothing more than to catch Kiritsugu, tear Avalon back out of his body, clean it thoroughly...
And return it to Irisviel where it belonged.
But...
Just as Kiritsugu had said—
Nothing would change.
Ever since awakening Coordinate Manipulation Lv.2 during the battle against Caster...
Leon had realized something.
He didn't necessarily have to be the winner of this Holy Grail War.
Perhaps...
None of it truly mattered.
Avalon reclaimed.
Farewell spoken.
Kiritsugu stepped through the estate's gate.
He looked up at the gloomy sky.
His disheveled bangs hid his eyes beneath deep shadows.
His lips were pressed into a thin line.
He stood there in silence for a very long time.
Maiya quietly watched him from behind.
Her eyes filled with sorrow and sympathy.
People rarely share the same joy.
But grief...
Always finds someone who understands.
Kiritsugu's deafening silence stirred memories Maiya wished she could forget.
Memories of her own past.
The only things she remembered were these:
The country where she had been born was desperately poor.
War never ended.
Despite lacking even the money to maintain an army...
People continued killing one another every single day.
Then someone came up with a brilliant idea.
Instead of spending money recruiting and training soldiers...
Why not simply kidnap children...
Put guns in their hands...
And send them to the battlefield?
It was cheaper.
More convenient.
Aim at the enemy.
Pull the trigger.
In the end...
The weapon known as Maiya Hisau retained only that single function.
Everything else had been discarded.
The person she had once been died long ago.
Only the outer shell continued operating.
Performing the task for which it had been created.
That...
Was the only value her remaining life possessed.
And yet...
Kiritsugu Emiya had picked her up from that battlefield of endless artillery fire.
From that day onward...
Maiya swore she would devote herself completely to him.
That...
Was the reason she continued to exist.
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