"Then we'll make Ryūdō Temple on Mount Enzō our base."
Leon continued,
"From the standpoint of its Spiritual Foundation, it's the most suitable location for conducting the Holy Grail summoning ritual."
"It's also some distance away from downtown Fuyuki."
"Once the battle begins, the less damage we cause to the city, the better."
"I understand."
Kiritsugu nodded.
"Maiya and I will prepare everything there in advance."
"The residents currently living at Ryūdō Temple will be officially 'notified' to evacuate to the city before this afternoon."
"I'll complete the ritual preparations right up to the final step."
"You just need to bring Irisviel there before nightfall."
Looking up at the temple gate standing directly before him, a faint knowing smile crossed Kiritsugu's otherwise gloomy face.
So... this is one of the few things we can actually agree on.
"All right."
"I'm counting on you."
The call ended.
Kiritsugu lowered his phone and turned toward Maiya, who had followed him up the mountain.
Having only just escaped death, she was already breathing heavily from the climb alone.
"Maiya."
"You should evacuate with the temple residents."
"Your injuries make you unfit for combat."
"If you stay here, you'll only get in the way of Leon and me."
His tone was cold and almost merciless, as though the gravely wounded Maiya had simply lost her usefulness.
Yet Maiya merely smiled with quiet acceptance.
"I understand."
This was simply the choice Kiritsugu Emiya would make.
He would never allow personal feelings to cloud his judgment of the future.
Nor would he waste words expressing unnecessary concern.
Only when his wish was finally fulfilled—
Or completely shattered—
Would the man known as Kiritsugu Emiya, the self-proclaimed Champion of Justice, finally be freed from the oath he had sworn as a child...
...and from the curse that oath had become.
Although she regretted that she would not be there to witness that day...
Maiya knew that her role in Kiritsugu's life had already come to an end.
...
Meanwhile...
After hanging up the phone, Leon suddenly felt a trembling body embrace him from behind.
Artoria was still rinsing the dishes beside him.
There was no need to turn around to know who it was.
"Iris?"
"Leon..."
"Am I really going to die?"
Although Leon and Artoria had reassured her countless times...
Now that the moment determining her fate had finally arrived, Irisviel—who had at last awakened to her own desire to live—could no longer suppress her fear.
She was afraid...
Afraid that once she fell into darkness...
She would never awaken again.
That feeling was growing stronger with every passing moment.
As her connection to the Greater Grail deepened...
It was becoming reality.
A certain darkness...
A darkness perceptible only to her...
Was steadily consuming her.
"It's alright."
Leon gently covered the backs of her hands with his own.
"As long as Aegis Sigma remains within your body, no corruption or evil will ever touch your body or your soul."
"It is the absolute guardian of Asgard."
"Surtr's Eternal Flame will burn away every impurity."
"And the endless frost of the Frost Giants will preserve everything in its most perfect moment."
At this point...
There was no longer any reason for Leon to continue concealing the origins of his powers.
Anyone capable of figuring it out had already done so.
What none of them could determine...
Was which Norse god he truly represented.
Because...
The answer had never existed in the first place.
Even if an actual deity were summoned as a Servant, the limitations of a Servant's Spiritual Foundation would greatly diminish their power.
Gilgamesh already represented the upper limit of what a Servant vessel could withstand.
"Leon... you..."
Artoria stared at him in astonishment.
The information hidden within those few casual sentences left her mind momentarily blank.
"But..."
"I-I'm scared..."
Irisviel no longer had the strength to think about Leon's identity.
The darkness surrounding her heart...
The certainty of approaching death...
Were all she could feel.
Her fingers clutched tightly at the back of Leon's clothes.
The pressure was so great that her fingertips had turned pale.
For someone now too weak to even hold a pair of chopsticks steadily...
This was already the limit of her remaining strength.
"It's alright."
"It'll be alright."
Leon gently patted her delicate hands.
His voice was soft and soothing, like a lullaby meant to comfort a frightened child.
He had once joked that Irisviel was old enough to be his mother.
Yet somehow...
Their roles now seemed completely reversed.
Then Leon suddenly felt the weight against his back grow heavier.
Turning around, he saw that Irisviel had already lost consciousness.
Her artificial body had entered its final countdown.
Crack-like patterns slowly spread across her flawless white skin.
She resembled an exquisite porcelain doll that had shattered and been painstakingly pieced back together.
Or perhaps...
A priceless gemstone beginning to fracture from within.
"Irisviel!"
Artoria rushed forward to catch Irisviel before she slipped from Leon's embrace.
Leon wrapped an arm around both women.
The three of them remained there together...
Silently awaiting the moment fate would finally arrive.
...
Twilight
The dim sun slowly disappeared beneath the horizon.
Blood-red clouds stained the evening sky...
A silent omen of the slaughter soon to come.
Leon carried the unconscious Irisviel in a princess carry, ascending the stone steps of Ryūdō Temple one step at a time.
Artoria followed quietly behind him.
Her appearance was nearly identical to the outfit she wore during the Fifth Holy Grail War after borrowing Rin Tohsaka's clothes.
Her golden hair was tied up with a blue ribbon.
A white blouse accentuated her slender figure.
Below her knee-length blue pleated skirt, black stockings traced the graceful lines of her long legs.
She looked every bit like a delicate fifteen-year-old girl.
Yet the unwavering dignity with which she carried herself inspired only reverence.
At the top of the staircase...
Kiritsugu Emiya sat alone on the wooden threshold of the temple gate.
Within the temple grounds lay a massive crimson magic circle.
At its center was a ritual pattern resembling the outline of a reclining young woman.
Hidden beneath what ordinary eyes could perceive, invisible streams of magical energy extended downward, connecting the formation to an even larger crimson stone altar deep within Mount Enzō.
The blood-red patterns pulsed as though alive.
Like breathing veins, they gathered from every rock wall surrounding the underground chamber, converging upon the central altar while endlessly drawing vast quantities of magical energy from Fuyuki City's leylines.
This...
Was the primordial ritual that had sustained the Holy Grail War for five centuries.
Its true name was—
Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern.
"You're here."
Kiritsugu slowly rose from the temple threshold.
His dark eyes were empty.
His gaunt face looked as though he hadn't slept for seven straight days, drained of all vitality until he resembled little more than a walking corpse.
One glance was enough for Leon to understand.
The man standing before him...
Had already died inside.
What remained...
Was nothing more than a puppet, trapped forever in the past by the curse called justice.
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