The Exorcism Tale of Hachiman

Seeing Artoria striding towards him, Hachiman Hikigaya led Sakura back a short distance and handed Artoria over to Karna.

"I understand, this time there will definitely be a winner!"

Having already fought Artoria twice and being very familiar with her combat techniques, Karna nodded upon hearing this and then walked towards Artoria.

"Servant Saber, the Knight King of Britain, whose true name is Artoria Pendragon!"

Perhaps knowing this was her last battle, Artoria gripped her sword with both hands, held it upright in front of her, and solemnly announced her true name.

"Lancer, son of the sun god Surya, whose true name is Karna, please take care of me."

Karna, holding his spear in one hand, nodded slightly to Artoria in respect.

After exchanging greetings, the two sides clashed their weapons together, forming a cross shape, and fell into silence.

"when!"

As if by prior arrangement, the two who had been standing still suddenly brandished their weapons and attacked each other.

In just a few breaths, the two exchanged more than ten blows, their swords flashing and sparks flying, the sounds of metal clashing echoing in the deep pit.

Hachiman Hikigaya and Kiritsugu Emiya watched with solemn expressions as the two figures in the center became completely entangled.

Because of the speed of their attacks, they could only barely distinguish who it was by the red and blue colors of their figures.

However, in the midst of this final duel, a sudden gunshot shattered the tranquility of the deep pit.

"boom!"

The instant he heard the gunshot, Hachiman Hikigaya instantly used his spiritual power to create a magical barrier around his body, while simultaneously pulling Sakura behind cover.

However, on the other hand, Kiritsugu Emiya, who was the target of this sniping operation, was not so lucky.

Having already exhausted a great deal of energy and stamina during the previous assassination attempt, even though he could sense the bullets coming towards him, his body, utterly exhausted, could no longer move.

With a crisp "poof," a gaping hole appeared in his chest, completely irreparable.

"Sniper rifle..."

The images of the sniper's weapon and bullet signals flashed through his mind, and then Kiritsugu Emiya was surprised to discover that the gun was the one he had specially customized!

"Killed by your own gun?"

With this thought flashing through his mind, Kiritsugu Emiya gave a bitter smile before collapsing onto the ruins.

Chapter 245 has a fairly good script.

"To personally kill the person you admire?"

"Well, for a beginner, this script is not bad."

Gilgamesh appeared at the edge of the pit at some point. He looked at Kiritsugu Emiya, who was lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of the pit, then at Maiya Hisayu, who was lying at his feet holding a sniper rifle and had fired several shots at Kiritsugu's vitals. Finally, he focused his gaze on Kirei Kotomine, who was standing behind him with his head down, seemingly lost in thought.

"It's a very strange feeling..."

Kirei Kotomine glanced at Artoria, who had rushed to Kiritsugu Emiya's side at the bottom of the pit, clutched his heart, and muttered to himself.

"It feels very pleasant, doesn't it?"

Gilgamesh smiled as he looked at Kirei Kotomine, whose true self he had uncovered.

"Indeed, this is a feeling I've never experienced before..."

Kirei Kotomine nodded truthfully.

His heart was pounding, and every cell in his body seemed to be rejoicing at the scene he had just witnessed.

"We should go, Saber will be catching up soon."

Gilgamesh glanced at Artoria, who had set down Kiritsugu Emiya's body and stood up, then turned and walked away.

“assassin.......”

Upon hearing Gilgamesh's words, Kirei Kotomine silently summoned all the remaining Assassin clones.

"Go and stop Saber."

Looking at the four remaining Assassins before him, Kirei Kotomine gave them the order to die without hesitation.

And Assassin is quite straightforward.

Upon hearing Kirei Kotomine's order, they all jumped into the deep pit, drew their weapons, and launched a suicidal charge.

"So, what kind of expression will Saber have when she sees that you killed her Master?"

With a look of interest at Hisayuu Maiya lying on the ground with a blank stare, Kirei Kotomine's face flashed with anticipation before he too turned and left.

"Damn assassin!"

Artoria had no idea that someone would take advantage of her final duel with Lancer to ambush and kill Kiritsugu Emiya.

Self-blame, guilt, and a series of other complex emotions instantly filled her chest.

Upon seeing the Assassin appear before her, Artoria's initial emotion transformed into anger.

She charged toward the direction the assassin had come from, sword in hand. Enraged, Artoria didn't even glance at the assassin blocking her way, easily dispatching him as if he were a vegetable before leaping onto the outer edge of the pit.

"So it was you? The despicable bastard who ambushed and killed my master!"

As soon as she jumped onto the edge, Artoria saw a figure dressed in black not far away.

Without much hesitation, she charged straight forward, sword in hand.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

When Hisayu Maiya, who was lying on the ground, saw Artoria, she immediately followed Kirei Kotomine's instructions, picked up the submachine gun next to her, aimed, and fired!

Instead of dodging the ordinary brass bullets, Artoria activated the Wind King Barrier and braved the barrage of submachine gun fire to reach Hisayu Maiya.

However, just as she raised her weapon to avenge Kiritsugu Emiya, she finally saw Maiya Hisau's face clearly.

"Miss Jiu Yu?!"

Seeing the incredibly familiar face before her, Artoria's eyes widened instantly, and she staggered back a few steps due to the immense shock of learning the truth.

"Why? Why did you kill Emiya?"

Isn't Hisau Maiya an ally of Emiya Kiritsugu?!

In an instant, Artoria's mind was filled with a myriad of thoughts, until she inadvertently caught a glimpse of Hisayu Maiya's empty eyes.

"Has it been controlled?"

After realizing that Hisa Maiya was controlled by someone to attack Kiritsugu Emiya, Artoria did not feel relieved. Instead, a sense of despair arose in her heart.

Because if that were the case, she wouldn't even be able to kill Hisamu Maiya to avenge Kiritsugu Emiya!

"Assassin's Master....."

With her fists clenched tightly together, Artoria was certain that all of this was orchestrated by Assassin's Master.

However, even now, she still doesn't know who the Assassin's Master is...

"Even revenge is impossible?"

Realizing that her body was gradually weakening due to the lack of magical energy, Artoria gave a bitter smile.

"Saber?"

Just then, Hisayu Maiya suddenly called her name with a puzzled tone.

"Miss Jiuyu?"

Artoria immediately raised her head.

Suddenly, Hisayu Maiya, whose eyes had been vacant, reverted to her usual icy beauty.

However, this image lasted for less than three seconds before collapsing due to the memories that Hisayu Maiya had just recalled.

"I killed Kiritsugu?"

Her legs gave way and she collapsed to her knees. Looking down at her trembling hands, Kuyu Mami couldn't believe that she had killed the man who had saved her from the battlefield.

"You were only acting this way because you were being controlled..."

Artoria was afraid that Hisayu Maiya might do something rash, so she quickly defended her.

However......

"But the truth is, it was I who shot and killed Kiritsugu, wasn't it?"

Looking up at Artoria, who was trying to comfort her, Hisayu Maiya gave a bitter smile.

She had considered many possible endings for herself: being used up by Kiritsugu Emiya, dying on a mission, or being killed by Kiritsugu Emiya himself.

But she never imagined she would actually kill Kiritsugu Emiya, even if she was being controlled to do so...

"I'm all alone now..."

With a heart filled with despair, Hisayu Maiya picked up the submachine gun that had fallen to the ground and pressed it against her chin.

"boom!"

Unlike the Assassin's body, which was constructed with magic, the bright red blood sprayed onto Artoria's face made her slightly startled.

Several more seconds passed before Artoria, finally snapping out of it, tremblingly reached out and touched the blood on her face. Looking at Hisayuu Maiya, who had already committed suicide, at her feet, Artoria remained silent for a long time.

When she looked up again, the golden light in her eyes had completely faded, replaced by endless rage and profound darkness...

"Assassin's Master, I will make you pay for this in blood!"

Chapter 246 Choice

"Then let's go too."

Hachiman Hikigaya, Sakura, and Karna witnessed everything that happened on the surface of the pit.

Seeing that Artoria was clearly beginning to turn evil, Hachiman Hikigaya turned around and prepared to leave.

Having lost her Master, Artoria clearly cannot sustain herself in the mortal realm for much longer. It's likely that before they even return to the inn, Artoria will have already made her unfortunate exit due to insufficient magical energy.

Therefore, he had no intention of having Karna send Artoria off ahead of time, given her current highly unstable mental state.

"Please wait!"