Or, why don’t you find another savior?

"Is that Kiritsugu? Kiritsugu, are you outside?"

Irisviel’s voice came through the wall.

"Ellie you are safe in there, don't worry."

Knowing that the other party had prepared enough backup plans, Kiritsugu also gave up the hostage plan.

At this moment, he saw a line of words appear on the wall and then gradually disappear.

"The innocent shall pass."

"..."

I didn't expect that such a barrier would be set up. Kiritsugu felt a surge of anger at being ridiculed.

He didn't know that this was not an ordinary barrier at all, but the "Courtyard" among the four major types of magic that Morgan was good at - "Mirror", "Coffin", "Courtyard", and "Tower".

It is called "Garden of the Innocence" and is the same type of magic as the one that imprisoned the Flower Magician Merlin.

However, Emiya Kiritsugu did not have time to explore the inside story. Irisviel's voice could be clearly heard through the wall, so her sudden rapid low cry could also be heard by Kiritsugu.

"What's wrong, Ellie!"

“There are new invaders coming towards the castle from other routes.” Irisviel hurriedly told Kiritsugu.

Kiritsugu couldn't help but let out a wry smile, "There are really a lot of guests here tonight."

“…Kiritsugu, the person who came… is Kotomine Kirei.” Irisviel confirmed it in a short time and told Kiritsugu.

This answer gave Kiritsugu a headache.

Saber was fighting Caster, Morgan stayed in the castle to fight Kenneth and was responsible for protecting Shiomi Tenki's two adopted daughters.

Given Morgan's situation, as long as the new enemy did not involve those two children, there was no way she could help resist.

“Maiya and I will go there.”

Kiritsugu raised the automatic rifle in his hand.

Even though he had regarded Kotomine Kirei as the most dangerous enemy in this Holy Grail War from the beginning and had been on guard against him at all times, Kiritsugu did not want to confront him so early.

It was obvious that, just as Kiritsugu had noticed Kirei early on, Kirei had also been keeping an eye on Kiritsugu for a long time, and had seized this window of opportunity to break into the Einzbern Forest alone.

This was a change that didn't fit into Kiritsugu's plan, but it was just right because he had no worries at the moment.

Even he was blocked from entering the barrier, so Kotomine Kirei had no chance of breaking in.

Airi is safe and sound, but Saber is bleeding.

After making up his mind, Kiritsugu immediately left the castle with his assistant Maiya, preparing to set a trap in the forest to stop Kotomine Kirei.

Kiritsugu Emiya breathed in the cold, damp air of the forest, which was completely different from the Einzbern Forest in Germany.

He couldn't quite remember.

How long has it been since I stepped onto a battlefield where the odds of victory were unpredictable?

--------

Thirty-two, or thirty-three?

In less than a minute, Artoria killed one sea monster after another in a blood-thirsty manner. She couldn't count how many sea monsters had multiplied.

She just had a vague feeling that this would be a longer minute than she had ever expected.

Looking back at Xi Jian, his body had been stained by the blue-black liquid of the sea monster, but he was indifferent and was still concentrating on preparing the magic.

Caster was well aware of the danger posed by Shiomi Tianxi. Even though he ignored his presence emotionally, he did not relax rationally at all.

Gil de Ray used the treasure "Rayan Castle Textbook" in his hand to the maximum extent, ignoring the terrain disadvantage and speeding up the summoning of sea monsters. Even he himself was overwhelmed by the sea monsters, making it impossible to start.

Forty six!

Altria silently set a number in her heart with the heaviest tone.

The forty-sixth one.

Even with enough magic power to support her, she tried her best to create a circle around Shiomi. However, just as she tried to continue swinging the invisible sword, a sea demon took the opportunity to entangle her left wrist.

Artoria roared and cut off the tentacle.

But this also brought a glimmer of opportunity, as a sea monster pounced on Shiomi from behind, and was about to devour him and the unconscious boy.

“Shiomi——!”

When Altria shouted a warning, Shiomi clenched his fists, turned back calmly, and glanced at the larger sea monster.

Caster showed a strange smile that no one could see, looking forward to getting a large amount of magic power replenishment after the sea monster devoured Shiomi.

Two sharp rays of red and yellow cut the sea monster in half.

Instead of sitting on the mountain and watching the fight, waiting for the result to be revealed and then looking for an opportunity to kill Caster, Diarmuid followed his heart and rescued Shiomi and Altria.

"Lancer..." Altria was very surprised.

Shiomi gave a faint smile, "Be prepared to resist the impact of magic, Saber, Lancer!"

He opened his hands again, and a rune flashed by.

"Wild Thunder."

As the words were spoken, blinding lightning flashed from the void, sweeping across the battlefield, and neither the sea demon nor Caster was spared.

Altria and Diarmuid subconsciously moved closer to Shiomi, using their anti-magic powers to block the aftermath of the great magecraft.

The sea monsters could not withstand the lightning under such huge magical power. After a brief irregular spasm, they burst and exploded like balloons filled with water.

Electric currents flowed through the moist soil soaked with blood, and the grass and trees gradually became charred and dry, as if they had been devastated by a disaster.

"This is..." Diarmuid was amazed.

"...The real great magic." Altria murmured in a low voice.

It lasted for less than ten seconds before quickly dissipating, leaving only a devastated battlefield and electric currents that were still flowing from time to time.

As for Caster, the moment the magic was activated, he realized that the battle situation was beyond his expectations and evacuated urgently.

——This is probably also included in what he called "full preparation".

"Since you stood up for me just now, I will let your Master go tonight, Lancer." Xi Jian said lightly, as if the scene in front of him had nothing to do with him. He carried the boy towards the castle, "Next time, I will come in person."

"Grateful……"

The moment he saw Xijian Tianxi, Lancer already knew what kind of enemy Kenneth had encountered.

And the other party generously chose to let him go.

"I'm sorry, it's not time to rest yet, my husband."

Then, after telling him about the battle situation at Shiomi Castle, Morgan added in a lighthearted tone.

Chapter 30 Kiritsugu vs. Kirei

Another reason why Emiya Kiritsugu didn't want to face Kotomine Kirei so early was that his tactical analysis of this agent was almost zero.

Kirei first sought refuge in the Cathedral Church on the pretext of losing his Servant, and basically did not participate in the operation. He had been secretly driving Assassin, who pretended to leave, to collect intelligence.

But based on prior investigations, Kiritsugu was convinced that Kirei was not just an intelligence officer, and had a rich combat experience during his time as an agent.

After becoming the disciple of Tōsaka Tokiomi, Kirei also studied magic for two years. After obtaining the Command Seals, he pretended to break up with Tokiomi and left the Tōsaka family.

Such a person's fighting ability as a Master should never be underestimated.

If possible, Kiritsugu would actually prefer to let Shiomi Tenkei and Kotomine Kirei fight first. No matter which side wins, it will be a good result for him.

Furthermore, judging from Shiomi's unfathomable strength, Kirei would basically be killed if he faced him.

But that was only the initial expectation. Now that Kotomine Kirei had come to him, Kiritsugu had no way of knowing the battle situation between Saber and Caster, and could not simply order Saber to retreat to stop Kirei.

But Kiritsugu thought that if he looked at the bright side, the other party would be the same.

Kiritsugu had never revealed his weapons, magic, or anything else. He seized the opportunity and used this encounter to kill Kotomine Kirei and help Assassin exit the game, which was also a good result.

Fighting at home, Kiritsugu was able to first set up a relatively simple but capable mechanism to contain the opponent.

As soon as Kotomine Kirei stepped onto the battlefield, he was met with a barrage of bullets from rifles deployed in the woods, which were automatically fired with the help of magic.

After all, he was an agent with rich combat experience and a considerable degree of prior research. Kirei knew that Kiritsugu would definitely use modern weapons that magi would despise, and he was prepared for this.

Originally, Assassin had just reported that Kenneth's raid on the Shiomi family was fruitless, but Kirei became a little anxious when he heard that Kenneth had turned his guns around and came to the Einzbern Forest.

If Emiya Kiritsugu died here, Kirei's purpose of participating in the Holy Grail War would be defeated.

In order to meet Emiya Kiritsugu, Kirei, unaware that Shiomi Tenkei and Berserker were also here, sneaked into the battlefield alone.

Facing bullets coming from all directions, Kirei dodged nimbly and threw out the black key in his hand.

Dang, dang, snap—

There was a sound of hitting metal and even destroying the structure.

Kirei knew that the black key only hit the weapon.

Was this a pre-set trap? Was Emiya Kiritsugu still in the castle?

Regardless, Kirei thought it necessary to enter, even if he had to fight Kayneth, he had to stop Kayneth from killing Kiritsugu.

Even if he has to kill, he has to do it - after he gets the answer he wants.

Kirei continued to walk inside, stepping on the dead branches that fell on the ground. As soon as he took a step, another automatic rifle fired bullets at him.

Without even looking, Kirei dodged and threw out the Black Key, but this time it missed.

Kirei dodged several times in succession, and the bullets from the rifle could only catch up with Kirei's pace by half a step, hitting the soil and tree trunks behind him.

Hiding behind a rather sturdy tree, Kirei confirmed the enemy's position through his vision enhanced by magecraft.

Then he found a corner of a black windbreaker.

Kirei smiled unconsciously and spoke:

"I didn't expect you to go to the front line in person. It seems that Caster has caused you a lot of trouble. It's impossible for a servant to take care of all the situations alone."

However, Kiritsugu did not answer him, and Kirei did not expect Kiritsugu to answer such a question.

Instead, as the words fell, Kirei threw out four black keys from both sides of the tree trunk.

They spun towards the direction where Emiya Kiritsugu was. This weapon, which relied on the blade formed by magic power, could also act as a shuriken for curved attack depending on the user's skills.

Kiritsugu sensed Kirei's attack and dodged at the critical moment.

"Time alter——doubleaccel!" (Inherent time control, double speed)

The body predicted the danger faster than the mind, and the magic seal on Kiritsugu activated the time magic inherited from the Emiya family, generating a unique barrier in the body, thereby accelerating individual actions.

To others, it seemed as if the caster suddenly moved faster.

Kirei himself also attacked along with the spinning Black Key. His violent spinning kick hit a tree trunk as wide as a person, causing it to dent deeply and slowly bend.

The dust and dead leaves kicked up by the collapsed tree trunks fluttered in the air.

With an unconscious smile on his face, Kirei looked at Emiya Kiritsugu who was hiding once again.

Kiritsugu had already deeply realized how dangerous Kirei was through the previous fight, so he secretly made a gesture and told Maiya to wait for the opportunity.

If Kiritsugu rashly launched a covering fire, not only would it not be effective, but Kirei might also notice Maiya and attack her first, leaving Kiritsugu with no way to protect both ends.

“I see.” Kirei muttered to himself again.

The kick just now missed because he miscalculated Kiritsugu's speed, not because he couldn't keep up with that speed.

Since we know that the opponent can rely on magic to move at multiple times the speed, we just need to calculate the method of attack based on this speed.

Kiritsugu leaned against the tree and gasped for breath. That was the burden on his body after the activation of the magic seal on his body.

He turned his head slightly, glanced at Kirei who was still some distance away from him, took out a flash bomb from his windbreaker, prepared to create a camouflage, and then evacuated to the castle.

One-on-one, coupled with the lack of preparation, it was too disadvantageous. He didn't think that his trump card could hit Kotomine Kirei in the dark.

Pull off the pull tab.

"Time alter——tripleaccel!" (Inherent time control, triple speed)

Kiritsugu had to move faster in order to both retreat and disrupt.

At the moment the flash bomb exploded, he evacuated towards the castle at an extremely fast speed. As long as he could involve Kotomine Kirei in the battle between Morgan and Kenneth, he would have a chance to readjust his stance.