My mother's love song

Kirei hypothesized a new possibility.

It couldn't be that this woman was doing this of her own accord to protect the boy who had shattered the Einzbern's tragic wish and perhaps even killed her husband.

...It's ridiculous.

That's the monster that cut off Gilgamesh's arm. It doesn't need a weak woman like you to protect it.

But other than that, he couldn't think of any other reason.

Women tend to be selfish creatures.

Kotomine Kirei could only think of one answer as to why she could do such a foolish thing.

love.

The combination of love, maternal love and the Stockholm effect gave rise to her strong desire to protect the young boy.

Women are selfish, but also irrational creatures.

"……boring."

Kotomine Kirei, who had discovered the truth, was very disappointed with this answer.

Although the mission given to him by Tōsaka Tokiomi was to bring back the Holy Grail vessel, the master did not require the integrity of the vessel.

Well... getting injured in battle is probably inevitable.

While slowly pulling out the sharp black keys from his arms, Kotomine Kirei spoke into the void.

"Berserker... I have captured the Holy Grail Vessel. Prepare to retreat."

He called out to the Servants who had invaded with him.

The reason why Kotomine Kirei was able to successfully pass through the forest that was covered with layers of barriers by Irisviel and was not discovered until he entered the castle was all because of Berserker.

[Misty Night Walker B], this skill of his can obtain the effect equivalent to breath blocking of the same level, only available at night.

It was transformed from the [Murder in the Fog Night] that came with the manifestation of [Jack the Ripper of another class], and was also taken into account in the Berserker's spiritual base.

Kotomine Kirei once again sincerely marveled at the strength and omnipotence of his Servant. Having said that... the barrier set up in this castle was a little too weak.

In the cold corridor of Winter City, it was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Jack the Ripper was a little slow to respond.

Kotomine Kirei was confused by this and stopped trying to pierce Irisviel's abdomen.

“…Oh no! We’ve fallen into a trap!”

Just when the agent realized that he was trapped, a sound came from the front.

“…Berserker is here.”

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...something rolled towards him from the darkness.

"...!"

What hit the agent's ankle was a bloody human head.

The horrified expression on that bloodstained face seemed to indicate that he had seen an extremely horrific scene before being beheaded.

"Here... I'm returning the berserker to you, Father Kotomine."

Along with the childish voice, a beautiful black-haired boy appeared from the front.

Rhodes walked slowly in the corridor late at night with a chilling expression.

"Did you expect me to come here?"

After Kirei asked this, Rhode nodded nonchalantly.

“Well, that’s what happened… I didn’t expect Irisviel to fight you. That was my mistake. But you must have prepared yourself for the consequences of attacking my woman.”

……

……

...Is he here?

Irisviel, who was breathing weakly, opened her beautiful scarlet eyes and turned to look at Rhodes who was not far away.

In the android's blurry vision, only the boy's figure was clearly visible.

It's really him...

Irisviel felt relieved just by seeing the boy's face.

No, it's more than that.

It was the first time that Irisviel saw Rhodes look so horrible.

There was a fake smile on his pale and handsome face, and his dark pupils were as absolute zero as a black hole.

Rod is angry.

He was furious because he had been hurt.

Einzbern, who was suffering from extreme lack of oxygen, felt joy from the bottom of his heart after learning this fact, and even forgot the pain for a moment.

"……Well!"

Suddenly, Irisviel's body felt a huge centrifugal force.

She was thrown out heavily by Kotomine Kirei like an object, towards Rhodes' direction.

"Oh."

The boy was shocked and quickly opened his arms to catch her in a princess hug.

Along with the androids approached, there was also murderous intent.

At the same time as he threw Irisviel at Rod, Kotomine Kirei swung his arm and threw out the black key in his hand that he had originally intended to use to stab the android.

The black key flew straight towards Irisviel who was held in Rhode's arms.

At the moment when the hidden weapon was about to pierce her abdomen, Rhodes calmly reached out and blocked it.

嘶

The black key pierced through Rhodes' left hand, causing him to frown.

“…Ahhh!”

The one who screamed was Irisviel, and she looked in shock at the boy's left hand that was injured while protecting herself.

Tsk, Rhodes pulled out the black key with his right hand without changing his expression.

Irisviel whimpered and covered her eyes in pain.

This is equivalent to cutting a wound with a sharp object. The consequences can be imagined, blood will spurt out like a fountain.

On the other hand, Kotomine Kirei's expression did not change from beginning to end.

He knew very well that he had no chance of winning in a head-on battle against the enemy who had defeated the King of Heroes.

The mission to seize the Lesser Holy Grail has failed.

That's it.

Now that Emiya Kiritsugu had been defeated, there was nothing left that could interest him.

Kotomine Kirei jumped up like a machine equipped with springs, turned around and suddenly began to flee towards the darkness.

"You've offended me and you still want to run away?"

Rhodes swung the Black Key at his back.

boom

The bursting sound of expanding air behind him startled the speeding Agent.

Sonic boom, that is the proof that the initial velocity of the Black Key exceeds the speed of sound.

In Tohsaka Tokiomi's imagination, the mysterious black-haired boy should be Caster who has not yet appeared.

He must have used some strange magic to defeat the Hero King's Royal Treasure and the Sword of Disobedience.

However, the fact now before Kirei's eyes was that the boy had thrown the Black Keys at supersonic speeds with just his arm strength.

What kind of monster is that!?

"……Well?"

Irisviel, who was held in Rhode's arms, was also surprised.

Directly in front of the trajectory of the black key, that is, behind Kotomine Kirei, five tall men with very similar appearances appeared.

They stood there motionless and strangely, as the supersonic black keys pierced their chests one by one.

The men remained calm and didn't even make a sound when a big hole was punched in them by the black keys, as if they were living sacrifices.

The black key lost its speed when it pierced the fifth person's chest, and Kotomine Kirei was able to escape, his figure in monk's robes melting into the darkness.

"How is this possible? This is..."

Irisviel looked in amazement at the men who risked their lives to cover Kotomine Kirei’s retreat.

"Nothing is impossible."

I turned around and looked at the voice coming from behind me, and saw another tall man standing behind me.

He looked at the absurd scene of men being stabbed into pieces and said with a crazy smile:

"I was originally a sinner from hell, a murderous demon who fell into the mortal world.

It is an honor to be judged by the King of Hell."

"...Tsk."

While the man was speaking, Rhodes patted Irisviel's round buttocks.

"……ah"

"Come on down, Ellie."

"Ah, yes, okay... Lord Rhodes, but your hand..."

Irisviel returned to the ground and looked at Rhodes' injured palm with concern.

"I am fine."

As Rhodes spoke, he licked his bleeding left hand with his tongue.

"He's in trouble."

The boy's eyes flashed with murderous intent after Jack revealed his true identity.

You just open other people's boxes casually. Do you have any manners?

The case has been solved, the real murderer of Jack the Ripper is the divine maggot.

In short, the Berserker used some unknown means to detect Rhodes's soul core and guessed his identity.

Fortunately, Irisviel looked silly and didn't seem to understand the meaning of "King of Hell" in Jack the Ripper's words.

In fact, the Lady of Winter was not focusing on the enemy or the battle. She realized that she was getting excited at an inappropriate time.

Rod's action of licking his palm was so sensational.

"... Ugh, it seems a little... astringent?"

"What's wrong, Ellie? You've been staring at me since a while ago."

"No, nothing!"

She blushed and shook her head, then took a few steps back to give Rhodes and the man room to confront each other.

"Lord Rhodes, where are Lancer and Caster?"

"I didn't wake them up because their sleeping faces were so cute," said Rhodes.

There is also a little thought in it that he doesn't want others to steal his limelight.

I am the only one who can act cool in front of girls, (*^__^*) hehe...

“…Is that so? Haha.” Irisviel scratched her cheek with a wry smile.

"By the way, Lord Rhodes, please be careful, there's something wrong with this Berserker."