A Dimensional Journey Begins with the Dragon Clan

Kayneth forgot the warning on the card and almost shouted out uncontrollably. This is, like a ghost emerging from the darkness, a person steps into the faint light and appears.

An old coat, unkempt hair and a listless beard. Unlike the gloomy appearance, only those eyes shone brightly like sharp blades - I will never forget the man who cruelly tore apart all the magic circuits in Kayneth's body, the hated Ain Zbelen lackey.

He probably took advantage of the gap between Saber and Lancer to concentrate on fighting, and quietly transported the unconscious Sora in through the back door. The muzzle of the micro machine gun in the man's hand was aimed at Sora's head without moving.

"But...that guy..."

Kayneth had personally experienced the snake-like coldness and flawless caution. Compared with anger and hatred-far more than other emotions, the deep despair made him hang his head feebly.

This is really the worst development I can imagine. The woman he loved was captured by the most difficult enemy he could not imagine.

But just as he was about to fall into panic, the voice of reason stopped Kayneth.

The man showed up on purpose and asked himself to confirm that Sora was safe and sound. There must be some intention behind it.

"..."

Kayneth turned his head and glanced at Lancer, who was fighting with all his strength in the ruins. Judging from the position of the two Servants fighting, Sora's position was a blind spot that could not be seen. Both of them were concentrating on dealing with the powerful enemy in front of them, and no new intruders were discovered at all.

Kayneth couldn't guess what the man meant, so he just nodded silently, showing his intention to obey the other person's wishes.

The man took out a roll of parchment from his coat, opened it casually and threw it into the air. Although the weight of the parchment paper is not comparable to that of previous letter paper, simple airflow operation can make it flutter in the wind. The parchment slowly floated through the void like a jellyfish and landed on Kayneth's lap.

Although in the eyes of others, these are just unmistakable patterns and excellent arrangements, to Kayneth, the description is a perfect technical document written in a format he is familiar with.

——It’s just that the content is rarely seen.

Binding Technique: Target—Emiya Kiritsugu

Emiya's engraving order: The following conditions must be met: the oath will become a commandment and the object will be bound without exception.

pledge:

For Kiritsugu, the fifth-generation successor of the Emiya family and the son of Maturiken, the killing of Kayneth Elumeroy Archibald and Sora Nazere Sophiari is forever prohibited. Intent and conduct to harm.

condition:

............................................................

"...!"

Self-enforcement certificate - one of the most selfless contract spells used in the cunning society of magicians to make an agreement that must not be broken.

A forced curse that can be imposed on oneself by using one's own magic marking machine. In principle, it has an effect that cannot be eliminated by any means. Even if the user loses his life, the magic mark will bind the soul of the deceased and will not be inherited from generation to generation. It is a very dangerous magic. For the magician, the negotiation of handing over this certificate actually means the maximum concession.

Although it is not something very common for Kayneth, its written rules are indeed formal and there are no omissions. The signature recorded with the declarer's own blood clearly has the pulse of magic power, proving that the spell has been established and is functioning.

In other words - when the conditions described in the second half of the certificate are met, that man - Emiya Kiritsugu will give up part of his free will, and the contract will become a curse that cannot be broken.

Kayneth held the parchment with trembling hands and read the conditions for the establishment of the contract over and over again. As if he hoped that the content would change the next time he read it, he continued to study the description stubbornly. He wondered desperately whether there was any room for ambiguity in its content.

But unlike Kayneth's wavering thoughts, the clearest part of his heart had already admitted his surrender. The possibility that he and the woman he deeply loves can return to his hometown alive again - to this day, isn't this his greatest expectation?

If he hesitated for a while longer, Emiya Kiritsugu would probably pull the trigger. After the first bullet took Sora's life, the muzzle of the gun would definitely be pointed at Kayneth himself. There is no choice at all. Either lose everything, or surrender the certificate as the last chance of survival... That's the only difference.

He stared at the last Command Seal on his right hand with eyes as dim and empty as a shell, and then activated the Master's last mandatory command as Lancer.

There was no sign, no clue—bright red spread all over the earth.

Everyone looked equally shocked. Be it Saber, Irisviel, or even Lancer himself, his eyes widened in astonishment at this too abrupt ending - the person involved, Lancer, must have been the most surprised. Because he had no expectation or awareness of the severe pain and despair.

Lancer stared blankly at the red lotus flower dripping from the red gun rod to the ground. No matter how hard it is to believe, it is his own blood.

His love spear pierced his heart. The person who pierced the spear tip hard into himself was none other than his own hands.

That certainly wouldn't be his will, nor his hope. What his red spear was supposed to pierce was Saber's heart. And it should be Saber's sword that pierced his heart.

Being able to completely ignore his fighting spirit and belief and strip everything from him at will... This kind of powerful power must be the Command Seal.

Lancer was so focused on the duel with Saber that he failed to notice the secret agreement made in the dark abandoned factory next to him in the end.

"Use all the command spells and let the Servant kill himself" - this is the activation condition for the self-enforcement certificate proposed by Emiya Kiritsugu. He asked Kayneth to use all the Command Seals and completely eliminate the Servants - to retreat from the Holy Grail War in a complete and complete manner.

"what……"

Red tears flowed from Lancer's widened eyes.

For him, this was the second time he had been murdered by his master. It was because Diarmuid Odina was obsessed with overturning that unfortunate ending that he had a strong desire to return to this world from the Throne of Heroes. But what he got was a tragedy repeated—only to fully experience the despair and sadness again.

The heroic spirit looked behind him with eyes stained with blood and tears. At this moment, two Masters came out of the abandoned factory to witness his end. Kayneth was sitting in a wheelchair with a vacant and dull expression, and another man was standing holding Sora's unconscious body. That was the unknown, true Master of Saber whom he had met in Einzbern City.

"You...then..."

Lancer knelt down in a pool of his own blood and tried to speak in a hoarse and low voice.

"Do you want to win so much!? Do you want to get the Holy Grail so much!? Even my...only sincere wish will be trampled...Don't you feel ashamed!?" His beauty was distorted by blood and tears, and turned into Their faces looked completely different from each other. Lancer, who had forgotten himself due to hatred, no longer distinguished between friend and foe, thinking about Kiritsugu, Saber, and everything in the world, roaring with heart-breaking resentment.

"Unforgivable...I can never forgive you! The dead who were captured by fame and fortune and belittled the glory of knights...use my blood to defile that dream! I curse the Holy Grail! Curse your wishes to become disasters! Wait until you fall into When you are in the cauldron of hell, do not forget the wrath of Diarmuid!"

As he gradually lost his entity and collapsed into a hazy shadow, he screamed curse words until the last moment when he disappeared. There was no longer a glorious figure of the heroic spirit, only the voice of the evil spirit roaring with resentment. Servant, Lancer was finally completely wiped out.

"..."

Kayneth stared blankly at the space after Lancer disappeared. Kiritsugu casually placed the still sleeping Sora on his lap. Kayneth asked Kiritsugu in a feeble voice while gently stroking his lover's haggard sleeping face.

"...Is this your compulsion?"

"Ah, it's established. I can no longer kill you..."

As Kiritsugu slowly stepped back, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it - maybe that was a signal.

"for me."

While Kiritsugu was muttering in a low voice, Kuu Maiya, who had witnessed everything from the shadow in the distance, quietly pulled the trigger of the Steyr (AUG) assault rifle.

Kayneth and Sora were caught in the crosshairs of a night vision sight, mercilessly exposed to a hail of bullets from fully automatic fire. For the two of them, who had neither the protection of the Moon Spirit Marrow Liquid nor the Servant to step forward, the rain of 5.56mm high-speed bullets was like an inescapable wind of death. The magician and his fiancée were torn apart and fell to the concrete floor under the force of the bullets they had despised in the past.

He only doubted whether the self-imposed certificate of magic was tampered with, but missed the hidden trap behind the important contract content, and ultimately took away the fate of the genius magician.

"Ugh...ah...!!"

Maybe Sora was lucky enough to be killed by a gun without any pain. Kayneth tragically still hasn't stopped breathing after being beaten into a hive and knocked out of his wheelchair. He suffered multiple fatal injuries all over his body and there was no hope of survival. But even if there are only a few seconds left to live, if you have to spend it silently enduring the pain of death, it should be a cruelly long time.

"...ah...kill...kill me..."

"Sorry, that's a contract that cannot be fulfilled."

Kiritsugu ignored the faint begging at his feet and replied in a cold voice while exhaling the lavender cigarette he had inhaled.

The sobs of pain did not continue. Saber couldn't bear to watch anymore and cut off Kayneth's head with her sword, ending his pain.

In the end, the sword of the King of Knights failed to fulfill the agreement with Lancer. Instead, it was far from credibility and glory, and was stained by the blood of Jiezhuo (that is, cutting off the head of the person who committed seppuku to alleviate the pain caused by seppuku).

"Emiya, Kiritsugu——"

The emerald green eyes burned coldly. It was not looking into the eyes of a companion, nor was it looking at a companion in a broad sense. It was exactly the same as when he faced Caster's madness and Archer's arrogance before, in order to shoot through the eyes of the person he considered his enemy.

"Now I finally understand that you are an unscrupulous person. I was so stupid to believe that even if the paths were different, the purpose would still be the same..."

Kiritsugu remained silent, no longer needing to answer. Because the behavior Saber witnessed just now was completely "evil".

"I have always believed Irisviel's words and have never doubted your character. But now, even if a man like you says that you want to use the Holy Grail to save the world, I will no longer believe it.

Answer me, Kiritsugu! Do you even cheat on your own wife? What is your real reason for pursuing the universal wish machine? ! "

"—"

Kiritsugu—although his eyes seemed to be staring at Saber with boredom, he still said nothing while holding a cigarette in his mouth. That look was like looking at a barking wild dog, which only contained a complete abandonment of understanding each other through language from the beginning, a decisive break of diplomatic relations.

Saber already had an almost resolute and calm decision in her heart like "I can only kill him."

For this master, I am afraid that in the end, the only choice is to fight. Even if it is prevented by the Command Seal and cannot be realized, this clear hostility cannot be changed. In the Holy Grail War, this will probably become the biggest flaw in their camp. But no matter what, as long as she is with Emiya Kiritsugu, she probably won't be able to wait for the Holy Grail she really hopes for.

"Even if my sword wins the Holy Grail, if I want to entrust the Holy Grail to you, I..."

Saber's mind flashed through the sunset at Cam Lan, and the long-cherished wish hidden in her heart made her words blurry at the end.

In that mournful void, other voices cut in from behind her.

"Answer me, Kiritsugu. No matter what, you have the obligation to explain this time."

Even Irisviel, who had complete trust in her husband, had to raise her voice to question this time.

Unlike Saber, she fully understands her husband's way of thinking and understands him. But there is a huge difference between the ideas expressed in words and the impactful practical actions in front of us.

When Lancer asked about Rod Elumeroy's fiancee, she had a cold premonition in her heart. But her conscience denied that possibility. No matter what, to get to that point...

As a result, even Irisviel, as a wife, underestimated Kiritsugu's viciousness.

"——So, this is the first time you have directly witnessed my 'killing methods'. Ellie."

Emiya Kiritsugu changed his silence until now and answered with a dry voice. When he looked at Saber, his eyes were dark and cold, and when he turned to Irisviel, he showed the emotion of shrinking from shame.

"Hey, Kiritsugu. Don't talk to me, go talk to Saber. She needs to talk to you."

"No, I have nothing to say to that Servant. It is useless to say anything to a murderer who is influenced by glory and honor." (End of Chapter)