"The cold-blooded Magus Killer making jokes? Now that's a pleasant surprise."
Kirei Kotomine smiled faintly before asking with genuine curiosity,
"So, what brings you here tonight? At the moment, Saber (Leon) is the overwhelming favorite to win the Holy Grail War. This is the last time you should be seeking me out."
"Command Seals."
"I need two more."
Kiritsugu Emiya answered as calmly as ever.
"Kiritsugu Emiya... are you in your right mind?"
Kirei chuckled in amusement.
"You do realize that I'm not merely the neutral overseer acting as a priest."
"I'm also one of the participating Masters."
"Which makes me both your enemy... and Saber's greatest rival."
As he spoke, Kirei casually rolled up the sleeve of his right arm.
Countless Command Seals, densely covering his entire forearm, came into view.
"I know."
Kiritsugu's expression never changed.
"You know?"
"And you're still asking me for them?"
The smile on Kirei's face faded slightly as he walked up to Kiritsugu.
Stopping directly before him, he asked in a low voice,
"What makes you think I'd simply hand them over?"
"Everything has its price."
Kiritsugu answered without hesitation.
"Kirei Kotomine... you're a far easier man to understand than you believe."
"I see..."
"So you're saying you've seen through me?"
Kirei narrowed his eyes.
"If anyone else had said that, I'd dismiss it as empty boasting."
"But you..."
"The man the Association of Magi calls the Magus Killer..."
"You're different."
With his hands clasped behind his back, Kirei slowly walked past Kiritsugu and stopped only after reaching the entrance of the church.
Then he asked without turning around,
"And if I refuse?"
"It seems Saber isn't accompanying you tonight."
"Before you can expend your final Command Seal to summon him..."
"Archer can kill you first."
He turned his head slightly, a faint smile forming.
"Kiritsugu Emiya..."
"For someone who has always been meticulous... someone who hides like a rat in every dark corner..."
"You've made a terrible move tonight."
"Have I?"
Kiritsugu remained perfectly composed.
"Archer—the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh."
"Even Tokiomi Tohsaka couldn't command someone as proud as him."
"You can't simply order him to kill me."
"That much... I'm certain of."
"And besides..."
"You don't possess the ability to kill me yourself."
"If I decide to leave..."
"You won't be able to stop me."
"Oh?"
Kirei slowly turned around.
Two Black Keys slid effortlessly into his hands.
"Care to find out?"
"You should know..."
"I've been looking for you for a very long time."
"Given your methods, there's probably a sniper aiming at my head right now."
"You can tell her to fire if you'd like."
As he spoke, Kirei looked toward one of the church windows.
Outside, hidden atop a nearby tree, Maiya Hisau's gaze met his through the scope of her sniper rifle fitted with an infrared night-vision sight.
"...!"
Maiya's pupils contracted sharply.
"Enough."
"You know today isn't the day we'll settle this."
"The initiative for the final battle of this Holy Grail War has always been in our hands."
Kiritsugu casually sat down on one of the church benches, resting his elbows on his knees as he intertwined his fingers.
"The Grail Vessel?"
Kirei's killing intent diminished somewhat.
"The Einzbern Family certainly possesses a natural advantage in that regard."
"But what makes you think obtaining the Holy Grail is what I truly desire?"
"Whether the Holy Grail is your ultimate objective or not..."
"You still have to obtain it."
"Otherwise..."
"That empty heart of yours will never find the answer it's searching for."
Kiritsugu's hollow eyes met Kirei's.
"Hmph."
Kirei snorted.
"Though we share neither blood nor parents..."
"The two of us are like brothers."
"In this world..."
"You're the person most qualified..."
"And least qualified..."
"To judge me."
"But..."
His tone suddenly changed.
"Your insight is frighteningly accurate."
"There is something I want from you."
"What is it?"
Kiritsugu asked without surprise.
"Your wish."
Kirei answered quietly.
"As you said..."
"I seek the answer to my heart's deepest desire through the Holy Grail."
"But I won't know that answer until I obtain it."
"Someone as similar to me as you..."
"The wish you would make upon the Holy Grail should provide me with a valuable point of reference."
His eyes burned with intense anticipation.
"So tell me..."
"What wish..."
"Would the man named Kiritsugu Emiya entrust to the omnipotent wish-granting device known as the Holy Grail?"
The two men were, in many ways, reflections of one another.
Emptiness had defined both of their lives.
As an Executor of the Holy Church, Kirei had executed countless magi who violated its taboos.
Yet throughout all those years, he had never once discovered a true sense of self.
He had lived like nothing more than another gear in the machinery of the Church...
Mechanically carrying out its orders...
Until all that remained inside him was an endless void.
Kiritsugu's life had been little different.
Branded the Magus Killer and shunned by the Association of Magi, he had thrown himself into one futile conflict after another.
An endless cycle of slaughter.
Of tragedy.
Of sacrifices that achieved nothing.
Eventually, he had wandered completely off the path of ordinary humanity.
Like a lost lamb, he had arrived before the Holy Grail, hoping that the miracle of the wish-granting vessel might finally redeem a life that had long since lost all meaning.
"...My wish?"
A voice suddenly echoed through Kiritsugu's memories.
"Kerry... what kind of adult do you want to become?"
It was Shirley.
The question she had asked him...
On that fateful night.
Without warning...
Kiritsugu laughed.
One hand covered his forehead as his shoulders trembled.
"Hahahaha!"
The laughter echoed through the empty church.
Kirei frowned.
"...What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing."
"I just remembered something from long ago."
"If that child back then had known what he'd become in the future..."
"He'd probably want to kill me."
Kiritsugu shook his head.
"No..."
"I've got it backwards."
"I'm the one who'd want to kill him."
"Isn't that funny?"
"Those were the happiest days of his entire life."
"...What?"
For the first time, Kirei genuinely couldn't understand what Kiritsugu was talking about.
An absurd sense of defeat welled up inside him.
It almost felt as though...
Kiritsugu was even more insane than he was.
"Very well."
Kiritsugu's unsettling smile gradually disappeared.
"Since you've asked so sincerely..."
"I suppose I should answer."
He raised his head.
His expression became utterly calm.
"My lifelong wish..."
"As Kiritsugu Emiya..."
"...is to save humanity."
"To eradicate all war..."
"To end all bloodshed..."
"And bring about everlasting world peace."
"...What?"
Kirei's hands clenched tightly behind his back.
A surge of fury erupted within him.
He had believed Kiritsugu to be someone just like himself—
A man consumed by emptiness.
Yet...
The answer was so painfully superficial.
World peace?
What a ridiculous fantasy.
"Why are you angry?"
Kiritsugu noticed Kirei's expression and smiled faintly.
"As a human being..."
"And as a priest..."
"You should be able to understand that wish."
"But then again..."
"You're Kirei Kotomine."
"The greatest difference between us..."
"...is that I possess conviction."
"The similarity you see between us exists only because your instincts are desperately searching for someone like yourself."
"So you've projected your own desire onto me."
"Kirei Kotomine..."
"You're a truly pitiful man."
"If you can still be called human."
Kiritsugu criticized him without the slightest hesitation.
He no longer seemed to care whether Kirei grew angry...
Or whether he obtained the additional Command Seals at all.
"...Hah."
Instead of becoming enraged, Kirei merely let out a long sigh.
His sharp gaze seemed almost disappointed.
"Kiritsugu Emiya..."
"You're even more boring than I imagined."
"Conflict is part of human nature."
"To eradicate conflict..."
"Is no different from eradicating humanity itself."
"That isn't an ideal."
"It's the naïve fantasy of an ignorant child."
"A delusion born from someone incapable of seeing reality."
"A delusion..."
"Perhaps."
Kiritsugu did not argue.
Because Kirei was right.
That reckless, impossible dream...
Had indeed been born from the heart of a child who knew nothing of the world.
Kiritsugu was merely the one who had inherited it.
The one who continued pursuing the impossible dream that child could never fulfill.
"And precisely because it's an impossible dream..."
"...isn't that why we must rely upon the miracle of the Holy Grail?"
Kiritsugu asked in return.
Then, as though confiding in an old friend, he continued,
"In pursuit of that impossible ideal..."
"Fate has forced me to abandon those I love..."
"Again."
"And again."
"And yet..."
"Even knowing I'll lose them..."
"I can't stop myself from loving people."
He gave a self-deprecating smile.
"Isn't that pathetic?"
"So..."
"This Holy Grail War..."
"...will be the last."
The last Holy Grail War.
And the last chapter of Kiritsugu Emiya's own life.
Whether he succeeded...
Or failed...
He had already drowned in his own dream.
What remained...
Was merely an empty shell bearing the name Kiritsugu Emiya.
Silently awaiting the judgment—
And the end—
Ordained by Fate.
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