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Chapter 69. Fuyuki City still looks like it's doomed today.

As one of the three founding families who created the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City, Tokiomi Tohsaka naturally knew all the cruel truths and dark secrets behind the Holy Grail War in great detail.

Therefore, in Tokiomi Tohsaka's eyes, the only real opponents who can compete with him for the opportunity to reach the Root in this Holy Grail War are the other two members of the three founding families.

At this moment, the Matou family's players had already been defeated and eliminated, and the Einzbern family seemed to be on the verge of collapse as well. It seemed that he was certain to win this battle!

Uh, no, no, the outcome is not yet decided, we must not be so careless, we must not falter at this crucial moment!

Tokiomi Tohsaka reminded himself of this as he channeled his magic, igniting even more blazing flames dancing in the vast forest outside the castle.

However, what Tokiomi Tohsaka was completely unaware of at that moment was that the forest fire he had just started not only completely engulfed the entire Einzbern Castle, but also continued to spread with the help of strong winds, frantically devouring patch after patch of dry and flammable autumn forest.

It eventually escalated into a raging fire, hurtling headlong towards Fuyuki City, thirty kilometers east of the castle! Its speed reached a staggering sixty kilometers per hour!

Moreover, Fuyuki City itself is a city surrounded by lush mountains and forests... It's too late to blame it for having such well-preserved vegetation!

So, just half an hour later, standing outside the Fuyuki Cathedral, looking at the thick smoke and flames that blotted out the sky to the west, and the fleeing citizens wailing and running around in panic on the streets, even Father Kirei Kotomine's usually expressionless face couldn't help but show a conflicted expression.

Teacher! I just gave up my Heroic Spirit status and became the supervisor of this Holy Grail War. How could you give me such a big problem?

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On the third day of the Holy Grail War, Fuyuki City still looked like it was on the verge of collapse.

On this gloomy morning, the long-suffering citizens of Fuyuki made a despairing new discovery.

Their ancestral home, Fuyuki City, was once again engulfed in flames!

Well, actually, since the outbreak of this Holy Grail War, this is the third time that the already troubled Fuyuki City has caught fire.

—Since the Holy Grail War began, the more than 100,000 citizens of Fuyuki City have found themselves living as if in a nightmare every day.

Fuyuki City, where they live their daily lives, seems to be hurtling toward destruction at a rate of at least one major disaster every day.

In fact, by now, many people living in Fuyuki City are almost driven crazy.

There's no way around it; just look at the terrifying ordeal they've endured these past few days! It's no wonder they've gone insane!

The first day of disaster was the inexplicable mass coma of all the city's residents, as well as the sporadic fires that broke out in various parts of the city as a result.

That night, the 32-story Hyatt Hotel, a landmark building in Fuyuki City, inexplicably collapsed with a fireball, bringing even more panic, confusion, and bewilderment to the already extremely fearful and uneasy residents of Fuyuki City.

The next day, the real deadly disaster finally struck. U.S. troops, Ground Self-Defense Force personnel, and Japanese police clashed violently in the "New Capital" commercial district in eastern Fuyuki City. The fighting even involved tanks and armed helicopters! The thunderous artillery fire made it feel like stepping back into a distant wartime era!

Fortunately, by evening the gunfire finally subsided, allowing everyone to spend a relatively peaceful night amidst their bewildered fear.

On the morning of the third day, the poor citizens, who had been suffering both mentally and physically, had just woken up from their dreams when they discovered that a new disaster had struck again on schedule. This time, it was not the chaos that broke out in Fuyuki City, but a forest fire that was burning from outside the city with the wind!

—As a traditional magician, Tokiomi Tohsaka devised the arson tactic, but he failed to anticipate the consequences of the fire.

Tokiomi Tohsaka, the arsonist, never imagined that although Einzbern Castle, the target of the fire attack, was a long distance of 30 kilometers from the center of Fuyuki City, there seemed to be enough buffer space.

The problem is that Japan's environmental protection efforts and vegetation conservation are so effective that the continuous forest stretches from Einzbern Castle all the way to Mount Enzo, which is right next to the city! In other words, this forest fire could have burned all the way to the banks of the Mien River, which runs through the city center!

It's important to understand that once a forest fire reaches a certain scale, it no longer spreads gradually. Instead, clusters of flames leap from the sky, turning yellow and red, eventually merging together in all directions, making the leaves in the forest crackle and pop.

—This is the instantaneous reaction of the moisture being dried out, and then with a "whoosh," the entire forest turns into a burning bonfire.

Even more deadly, driven by the prevailing northwest winds of autumn and winter, a hot, dry air current rapidly formed from west to east over the forest ignited by Tokiomi Tohsaka. The wind force reached level eight, and the speed of propulsion was as high as sixty kilometers per hour! In other words, a wall of fire several kilometers wide was sweeping towards Fuyuki City at a speed of one kilometer per minute and seventeen meters per second!

Those who had unfortunately fled to camp in the mountains west of Fuyuki City yesterday, hoping to escape the war, saw smoke rising in the distance and the sky turning red on this tragic morning. Soon, their vision transformed into a blinding blaze of fire and acrid smoke, while the surrounding air felt as scorching as a brick kiln. At this point, if they turned to run, unless they had a car or motorcycle, it was too late—the fire was faster than their own two legs! Before they could get very far, they would be engulfed by the flames.

In just half an hour, the forest fire spread to Fukayama Town in western Fuyuki City, and then... it burned even more fiercely!

—As the old town of Fuyuki City, the buildings in Fukayama-cho are mostly traditional Japanese houses (washitsu), with the exception of a few Western-style mansions. These houses, characterized by tatami mats and paper sliding doors, are typically constructed using lightweight materials like wooden planks and paper to prevent injury in case of earthquakes. However, in the event of a fire, the paper material becomes excellent, dry, and easily flammable firewood…

Of course, under normal circumstances, the urban residents of this island nation, huddled in their tatami cardboard houses, have accumulated a wealth of fire safety knowledge due to the frequent fires that have plagued them for generations. Almost everyone knows how to extinguish fires with water, sand, and wet blankets in the first instance, or how to use a sickle to pull down burning buildings and create emergency firebreaks when the fire spreads.

The problem is that most of Fuyuki's residents fled yesterday to avoid the sudden armed conflict that erupted in downtown Fuyuki, and haven't had time to return. Right now, Fukayama Town is practically deserted; the small group of residents who didn't leave their homes are simply not enough to extinguish such a raging fire, not to mention that the entire town's water supply has been cut off due to the fighting and hasn't been restored yet…

As for the Fuyuki City fire brigade... with the fighting just extinguished, don't expect them to be able to respond in time.

As a result, faced with the raging forest fire, the entire town of Fukayama was quickly engulfed by deadly flames and thick smoke.

The fire was completely out of control before local authorities and “dynamic community groups” could organize firefighters.

In an instant, deadly smoke and flames billowed out along the narrow streets, turning the entire town of Fukayama into a raging hell.

Houses collapsed in the flames, and the howling winds added insult to injury, scattering countless embers and sparks with the scorching air currents, which landed on rooftops throughout the city, igniting more orange-red flames that continued to spread with the wind.

The poor civilians who had just escaped the stray bullets and explosions yesterday hadn't even had a chance to catch their breath before being covered in soot and grime from the smoke and fire. They had no choice but to wrap their heads in coarse cloth, cover their mouths and noses with towels, and desperately search for shelter with their wives, children, and luggage.

Every now and then, people, their heads and bodies charred and burned, would rush out of the houses screaming, then collapse to the ground, engulfed in flames, and gradually turn into piles of charred remains...

On the only escape route, the Mienkawa Bridge, a group of U.S. troops stationed in Japan clashed with fleeing civilians over control of the evacuation route.

And so, amidst the scorching flames and heatwaves, and the heart-wrenching cries of the refugees, the town of Fukayama, which had narrowly escaped destruction from the military conflict the day before, was now reduced to ashes and rubble by an even more horrific fire, while the arsonist remained dozens of kilometers away, completely unaware of what was happening.

However, the arsonist's disciple, Kirei Kotomine, who had just taken over the Fuyuki Church, had no choice but to grit his teeth and deal with this crisis.

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At this moment, standing outside the Fuyuki Cathedral east of the Mien River, Kirei Kotomine squinted at the town of Fukayama on the west bank of the river and found that all he could see in his field of vision, besides the dazzling fire that lit up the sky, was the thick smoke that blotted out the sun.

Most of the houses, streets, and forests in Fuyuki City were already obscured by plumes of smoke drifting in from the western forest, while wave after wave of pungent odors mixed with the smell of burning and smoke continued to roll in, swept by the scorching heat, making people feel the terrifying power of this raging fire.

Even across the gently flowing Weiyuan River, scorching hot ashes were blown by the strong winds above the church, falling like snowflakes.

However, thanks to the Mien River, a wide river that runs through the entire city of Fuyuki, the town of Fukayama, located on the west bank of the river, survived even if the forest fires spread and burned it to the ground. The town of Shinto on the east bank was able to watch the fire from a distance. But the problem is that even so, the extent of the damage to the entire city of Fuyuki was no less than that of the Tokyo air raids.

Even the Holy Grail system itself could be damaged by this damned fire—whether it's Mount Enzo, where the Holy Grail system was set up, Ryudou Temple on the mountain, or the Matou family mansion in the forest at the foot of the mountain, they have all been burned down by this fire!

Moreover, although the Weiyuan River serves as a natural firebreak, the new capital cannot accommodate too many refugees, because the commercial street in this area was the main battlefield of yesterday's armed conflict, and countless deadly unexploded bombs are still scattered around.

On the other side of the port, there are flammable oil depots and dangerous chemical warehouses, which have fallen into a state of chaos and neglect.

Therefore, at this moment, no one dares to guarantee whether the [New Capital], located on the east bank of the Weiyuan River, can escape this Red Lotus disaster.

Alas, for those ordinary people who are unaware of the truth behind the scenes, this must truly be a disaster that has fallen from the sky.

May God forgive our sins...

As Kirei Kotomine silently thought this, he turned to look at the noisy square in front of the church.

Since the government of Fuyuki City was already paralyzed, the panicked citizens instinctively went to churches, temples and various charitable organizations for help.

So, by this moment, a thousand local citizens seeking refuge had gathered outside the church where Kirei Kotomine was. Almost all of them looked disheveled, ragged, and terrified, with burn marks on most of their clothes. Some had their hair singed and their skin covered in blisters, yet they received no proper treatment and could only collapse on the ground, groaning in pain.

Kirei Kotomine felt very troubled by this situation—although the church does have an obligation to care for believers and do good deeds according to the Christian principles of mercy and good deeds, it is powerless in the face of disasters like forest fires.

Moreover, as a subordinate organization of the Catholic Church responsible for suppressing the mystical side, their primary duty is not to do good deeds, but to eradicate evil.

However, regardless of the circumstances, since the fire was caused by his master, Kirei Kotomine felt he should try his best to help clean up the mess.

"...Now, I order all the agents in Fuyuki City, as well as the other church members, to temporarily cease their monitoring of the Holy Grail War. Then, in the name of the church, I will dispatch all available personnel to mobilize all citizens to evacuate to the outskirts!"

He turned around and instructed the clergy who were waiting beside him, “...As for where to evacuate...the fire is coming from the west, the sea is to the north and there are no boats available, and the city of Zen to the south is also threatened by the fire. Let’s set up an evacuation shelter in the suburbs to the east of the city!”

—So, about half an hour later, the magic array that Instructor Kenneth had rebuilt in the abandoned factory on the eastern outskirts of Fuyuki City was forcibly requisitioned by the Church of the Holy See as a temporary shelter for the refugees evacuating Fuyuki City.

Chapter 70, Cold War and Hot War (Part 1) Happy Dragon Boat Festival

The air was filled with a foul, burnt smell that made it hard to breathe.

Dark gray smoke blotted out the sun, filling the entire sky above Fuyuki City.

Even on this clear, crisp autumn day, the sky above this land still appears a somber, gray hue.

Waver Velvet, Rider's Master and a participant in this Fuyuki Holy Grail War, was dragging a leather suitcase, with the orange cat Firi perched on his shoulder and the little fairy Rider Flor in his pocket. He was mingling among the citizens fleeing the fire, moving towards the temporary settlement in the east of Fuyuki City.

Compared to those who perished in the fire, Webber, the boy who escaped immediately thanks to the timely warning from the cat Phil, was relatively lucky.

If he had arrived any later, or hadn't had time to use the [Confuse] spell to control a Japanese truck driver and get him to let a complete stranger like himself hitch a ride, he probably wouldn't have survived the forest fire that was raging at speeds of up to 30 kilometers per hour!

As Weber crossed the Mien River Bridge, which connects the two city areas, he looked back at the west bank of the river and saw that the entire town of Fukayama, from south to north, seemed to be a vast fire scene with flames soaring into the sky, even Mount Enzo on the outskirts was ablaze. Even across the wide Mien River, Weber could still vaguely feel the scorching heat in the air and clearly smell the pungent smell of burning.

It's easy to imagine that the rural farmhouse where he had stayed earlier was probably already burned to ashes.

However, while Fukayama-cho on the west bank of the Mien River was completely burned to the ground today, Shinto on the east bank of the Mien River was also ravaged yesterday by a chaotic three-way conflict between the US military, the Japan Self-Defense Forces, and the Japanese police. Everywhere were charred vehicle wrecks, wisps of smoke rising from the ruins, and beneath many of the remaining rubble lay curled-up, charred corpses and unexploded bombs that could detonate at any moment.

To make matters worse... well, no, to add fuel to the fire, just over half an hour after Weber dragged his suitcase across the river to New Capital, he heard a deafening, terrifying roar coming from the direction of Fuyuki Port on the northern coast, followed by a bright burst of flames shooting into the sky.

—The personnel managing the port's oil depots and chemical warehouses have all fled to avoid the war, leaving the entire port deserted. It also suffered a lot of stray bullets yesterday, and there are leaks in the pipelines everywhere.

Under the influence of the high temperature and foehn wind, they suddenly erupted one after another, just like a volcanic eruption!

In an instant, at least hundreds or thousands of tons of oil were thrown tens of meters into the air by the blast wave, forming a spectacular fountain of fire that splashed all around and ignited a large area of ​​the city.

Those citizens near the port who couldn't escape in time were doused with burning fuel, instantly turning into lumps of burnt meat. The pungent smoke, carried by the sea breeze, billowed into the city, making it almost impossible to open one's eyes, with tears and snot streaming down one's face.

Even under normal circumstances, it would be extremely difficult for firefighters to extinguish such a large oil depot fire in a short period of time.

Not to mention the Fuyuki City government, which is still recovering from yesterday's armed conflict and is basically paralyzed. There are no fire brigades available to be dispatched, and even the city's water supply has been cut off by most of them. Many fire hydrants are empty... They can only watch helplessly as the fire at the port spreads.

So, those people who were burned to a crisp suddenly realized in despair that not only had the town of Fukayama on the west bank of the Mien River completely turned into a raging volcano that could no longer be saved, but the remaining half of the city on the east bank of the Mien River was also likely to catch fire!

With the massive explosion at the port's oil depot, it looks like the entire city of Fuyuki is about to be destroyed. What can be done now?

What else can we do? If we don't want to be blown to bits like tempura, then of course we have to keep running!

Although Waver was exhausted, hungry, and sleepy—the young magician had barely slept the night before and hadn't had breakfast this morning to guard against possible attacks from other Holy Grail War participants—he still persevered, mingling among the chaotic refugees and being led by several church clergymen as he stumbled through the already unsafe city, desperately running towards the suburbs.

Ugh, my legs are so sore, and I'm so hungry... I hope there'll be something to eat at the Fuyuki Church's temporary survivor shelter...

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Meanwhile, another participant in this Fuyuki City Holy Grail War, Lancer's Master, Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald, a first-level lecturer in the Clock Tower's Spellcasting Department, was sitting angrily in the abandoned factory where he was camped, grinding his teeth in frustration.

—The factory, which was originally silent and empty, with only cold, rusty machinery, is now bustling with people.

Hundreds and thousands of refugees from Fuyuki City, with their elderly and children in tow, gathered here, watching anxiously as the firelight in the west illuminated the sky, whispering nervously and sighing among themselves.

No matter how much the pastors tried to comfort them, they couldn't cheer them up. Among the chaotic crowd were even a number of Japanese policemen who had become separated from their comrades and several lost American soldiers, who were now clamoring to find a phone to contact their superiors.

Outside the factory, the open space and roads were filled with all kinds of cars, buses, and trucks, and even a US military Humvee with a heavy machine gun. Meanwhile, several agents of the Holy Church set up a cooking pot on the concrete ground to cook porridge for the refugees.

—Ever since the agents of the Holy Church selected this abandoned factory, located on a secluded promontory on the eastern coast of Fuyuki City and right next to the coastal highway, as a temporary refugee settlement, this abandoned factory, which was like a ghost town last night, has suddenly become as bustling as a city.

At first glance, this abandoned factory located on the eastern outskirts of Fuyuki City seems ideal as a shelter for refugees from the city during the forest fires—it's situated in a direction the fires would be hard to reach, surrounded by water on three sides, with sparse vegetation and little flammable material, and even its electrical system has been defunct for years. At the same time, it's a large complex that can provide shelter for tens of thousands of people, along with its own wells and pumps.

But the problem is... this place... is also Kenneth's newly built magic workshop!

Kenneth had spent a whole day working hard and had already cast a spell to "repel idlers" over the entire abandoned factory. Normally, ordinary people wouldn't even notice this abandoned factory; even if they came to the factory gate, they would ignore it and walk around it.

However, the church agents who were guiding the evacuation of the refugees dismantled his protective barrier without saying a word, and then led thousands of refugees in to rush in...

This brutal approach infuriated Kenneth.

What does this mean? Just because I'm not showing my teeth doesn't mean I'm a pushover.

Well, in the face of the behemoth that is the Holy Church, Kenneth, this so-called genius, really is just a sick cat.

"...Mr. Kenneth, if you have any complaints about this, you can file a complaint with us afterward. But for now, please cooperate with our evacuation efforts. After all, the magic workshop you occupied happens to be the most suitable fire shelter near Fuyuki City."

Furthermore, in order to maintain the secrecy of magic, the Holy Grail War should not be fought during the day, so it is certainly okay to use this place to settle refugees before nightfall.

Even if a Holy Grail War participant manages to sneak in among the refugees and attack you, we will protect you..."

Faced with Kenneth's blustering threats and protests, the Church's agents, who were busy sheltering and resettling refugees, replied impatiently, "...Besides, you are not the rightful owner of this factory; you are just another burglar who broke in!"

It hit the mark perfectly, striking right where it hurts... Speechless, Kenneth could only reluctantly give up the argument and return to his fiancée Sora to explain the situation they had just discussed.

However, at that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a thin, white boy squatting by the wall, gulping down the hot porridge the church had provided for the refugees. And the boy's face almost made Kenneth jump!

—That was a familiar figure that he hated to the core during this time, that he couldn't forget, and that he would recognize even if the figure were burned to ashes!

In an instant, Kenneth was consumed by rage, and without thinking, he shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice filled with gritted teeth and hatred:

"...Is that you? Webber Velvet?!"

Caught off guard, Weber shuddered at the sound, and the half-bowl of steaming white rice porridge in his hand was spilled on the ground with a "thud".

Then, with difficulty, he creaked and turned his head, seeing Kenneth's ashen face. Instantly, his face turned deathly pale, and even his voice, when he spoke, was trembling with fear, his jaw chattering, "...A... Instructor Archibald?!"

—Following Tokiomi Tohsaka and Kirei Kotomine, another pair of teachers and students in this Holy Grail War have unexpectedly met.

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The saying "enemies meeting are bound to be extremely hostile" probably describes this situation perfectly.