Shirou's clones number 30 million

This time, Lancelot did not respond.

"How could two people from different eras look exactly alike? Could King Arthur be the reincarnation of Emperor Nero?"

Matou Kariya muttered something to himself, then shook his head repeatedly, denying it himself:

"No, they are both heroic spirits, not reincarnations."

"So, the two of them might be related by blood?"

Lancelot pondered this. Indeed, perhaps the King shared the same blood as His Majesty Nero.

At that moment, the projection in the sky suddenly began to change, and the citizens' competition officially began.

After a fierce preliminary selection, eight contestants made it to the final.

The first match was between Rin and a certain high school girl.

Although she couldn't hear any voices other than His Majesty Nero, Rin's serious expression showed that she wasn't joking.

Matou Kariya stopped in his tracks, suppressing his urge to find Emiya Kiritsugu, and began to watch the match from the roadside, secretly cheering for Rin.

Seeing the high school girl disappear without a trace in the blink of an eye, as if she had a cheat code, Xiaolin did not give up at all and kept working hard.

Kariya Matou's resolve hardened; he needed to end the Holy Grail War as soon as possible and protect Aoi, Rin, Sakura, and Shirou.

For the next hour or so, the man and his follower walked and stopped frequently, occasionally pausing to look up at the game.

For this reason, the journey that should have taken twenty minutes took them more than an hour, and they still hadn't reached it.

At the end of the citizens' contest, the woman who appeared to be Kiritsugu Emiya's wife won the contest and hoped to exchange the gold in the prize for the singing of His Majesty Nero.

This sudden turn of events caused Matou Kariya to unconsciously smile, and he stopped in his tracks once again.

"Speaking of which, I just won the Master Contest, but I didn't ask Nero to sing. Now I'll make up for it."

As they were talking, Kariya Matou noticed that Lancelot was staring intently at the sky and couldn't help but ask:

Do you like listening to music too?

“Well… His Majesty Nero looks just like my king, so I… am somewhat interested in this kind of scene.”

"Then... have you ever heard King Arthur sing?"

"Never heard of it."

“In that case, let’s listen carefully. His Majesty Nero is an artist comparable to Apollo, his singing must be very beautiful.”

In the projection, His Majesty Nero cleared his throat, closed his eyes, and a song began to play.

At this moment, Matou Kariya remained silent, even feeling an urge to touch his master's ears with his hands.

An artist comparable to Apollo, the god of art, is this all?

Although Her Majesty Nero looked very beautiful when she sang earnestly, her singing voice was really not good at all.

The citizens of the entire Roman Empire actually held such a figure as Emperor Nero, the "flower of Rome," in such a way—you are all so "compassionate"!

Your Majesty Nero, don't you have any awareness that you sing badly?

He goes around claiming to be an artist comparable to God, but in reality he's tone-deaf and is just talking to himself.

Matou Kariya opened her mouth, feeling inexplicably both amused and exasperated.

"Lancelot, may I take back what I just said?"

“Master, I understand your feelings very well. His Majesty Nero is indeed not our king.”

"Haven't you never heard King Arthur sing before?"

"Even so, I can assert that Your Majesty's singing is definitely not limited to this level."

"I've never heard of them before, but they might be on par with His Majesty Nero."

"Absolutely not! My king's singing voice must be a hundred times, a thousand times better than His Majesty Nero's!"

As the music ended and the contestants left one by one, Matou Kariya and his companion were about to leave when they suddenly noticed a tall Servant riding an oxcart and flying into the arena.

What followed was the Conqueror King's taunts.

"So, shall we go over there, Lancelot?"

"No, we have more important things to do than the gatherings we've been to. Master wants to end the Holy Grail War as soon as possible, doesn't he? Then there's no need to waste time there."

"But if you don't go, won't you become the coward the King of Conquerors is talking about?"

"It doesn't matter. Being looked down upon by an insignificant stranger is nothing out of the ordinary."

"You have a good attitude."

Under the watchful eyes of the two, Gilgamesh appeared, uttered a few foul words, and before he could even demonstrate his abilities, he drew his sword and slit his own throat.

This scene left the two of them looking at each other in bewilderment.

A few seconds later, Matou Kariya suddenly realized that this must be the work of Emiya Kiritsugu.

Only a Tokiomi's Command Spell could cause the King of Heroes to commit suicide.

Moreover, given the King of Heroes' abilities, one Command Seal might not be enough to make him commit suicide; two or three Command Seals would be required.

The next moment, Matou Kariya suddenly realized a problem.

Tokiomi!

The King of Heroes' suicide means that Tokiomi has fallen into the hands of Kiritsugu Emiya.

So, once his goal is achieved, will Kiritsugu Emiya spare Tokiomi's life?

Without a second thought, Matou Kariya ran towards the direction of the competition.

Originally, the two of them had been walking in that direction, but because of the projection, they were walking very slowly and would stop occasionally.

A minute later, a gunshot suddenly rang out from an alley near the arena.

A sense of foreboding rose in Matou Kariya's heart. Clinging to his last glimmer of hope, he ran over with all his might.

Soon, Tokiomi Tohsaka, lying in a pool of blood, and Kiritsugu Emiya, who was packing up his weapons, came into view at the same time.

He rushed over, bent down to examine Tokiomi Tohsaka's gradually cooling corpse, and Matou Kariya was completely stunned.

Tokiomi was gone just like that, and he died at the hands of his own accomplice, Emiya Kiritsugu.

So, wouldn't this count as indirect murder?

How am I supposed to explain this to Aoi, Rin, and Sakura?

It's not that he can't imagine what kind of expressions the three of them would have after learning of Tokiomi's death.

Chapter Twenty-One: It seems we won't be enemies for now.

Chapter 21, Section 21: It seems we won't be enemies for now.

As for killing Kiritsugu Emiya, the murderer, it was to avenge Tokiomi Tohsaka.

He had never even considered such a thought.

On one hand, Kiritsugu Emiya was an accomplice he had brought in, and he also bore half the responsibility for Tokiomi's death.

On the other hand, how could he explain to Shirou that Kiritsugu Emiya had died by his own hand?

Even though Shirou is a reincarnated person and his biological parents are still alive, Kiritsugu Emiya is still his adoptive father with whom he spent ten years in his previous life.

For Shirou, Kiritsugu Emiya was his true family.

Countless thoughts flashed through Matou Kariya's mind as he stood blankly beside Tokiomi's corpse, like a puppet that had lost its soul.

Seeing this, Kiritsugu Emiya paused in his actions and tentatively asked:

"You two...are very good friends?"

"No, quite the opposite, Tokiomi is my greatest enemy in this life."

"Then why are you making that face?"

"It's nothing, just... a little uneasy."

The thought of Aoi and the others' expressions filled Matou Kariya with intense unease, even giving him an urge to die immediately.

"His Majesty Nero seems to be fighting with Rider. Archer and Lancer have already been taken down by us. Now, only Assassin is left."

“No.” Kiritsugu Emiya refused without hesitation. “Assassin is easy to deal with, but Irisviel’s body is already at its limit. Three Servants is the limit. If too many Servants die, she won’t be able to handle it.”

“In that case, let’s go outside the city to help His Majesty Nero, deal with Rider, and immediately get her to rescue Lady Ling.”

"Alright, but will His Majesty Nero agree?"

"She shouldn't object. Her Majesty Nero isn't the type to refuse help. Once we get there, we'll ask her first. If she disagrees, we can just observe from the sidelines."

"Okay, let's do it that way."

"Where is your Servant? Come to think of it, I haven't seen your Servant yet. I think it's Saber?"

“I had her lure Archer away, and thanks to that, I was able to get rid of Tokiomi Tohsaka.”

Matou Kariya fell silent again as he thought of Aoi and her two daughters.

As they were talking, Artoria came running from another direction.

The first thing she saw was Tokiomi Tohsaka, his figure lying in a pool of blood, which made her feel even worse.

"Emiya Kiritsugu! Is this your goal? No wonder Archer committed suicide."

"This is the best way."

"You bastard..."

At that moment, Lancelot suddenly ran over quickly, knelt on one knee, and bowed:

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

That familiar voice, that armor, that tone—this time, he was certain he hadn't mistaken the person for someone else.

"Sir Lancelot."

Looking at Lancelot kneeling before her, Artoria fell silent for some reason.

It's not their fault that Guinevere is in trouble.