Chapter 47: Haha! It's so Fun to be a Beast!
Then, these desires—containing madness, mockery, and cruelty—transformed into words of gratitude at Kirei's lips.
"My esteemed sensei... I have no means to repay your kindness and high expectations."
Strangely enough, although Kirei's heart constantly desired to immediately see his sensei's expression filled with despair and indignation, the feeling of gratitude he felt at this moment was equally genuine, without any falsehood.
But even so, he still wanted to do something that would disappoint the person who trusted him the most, only wanting to see his stunned expression.
This complex state of mind was difficult for Kirei himself to understand.
Tokiomi, with a clear smile, looked at Kirei and said with deep satisfaction.
"You are the best repayment to me, Kirei. With this, I can participate in the remaining battles without any further worries."
Tokiomi was a resolute man. Although he had been saddened by a moment of weakness when seeing his daughter's admiring gaze before embarking on the Holy Grail War, once he was on this path, he had suppressed these sentimental emotions.
In the past few days, Tokiomi would occasionally have a dream.
It was a very brief dream, like a fragment from deep sleep that was easily forgotten.
In that dream, he resolutely participated in the Holy Grail War, fighting other Magi, even encountering Kariya Matou, but ultimately, all of them died by Tokiomi's hand.
However, towards the end, the dream became bizarre.
Tokiomi saw himself being personally killed by his own disciple, Kirei, and could only stare blankly, feeling the warm flow from his chest.
Of course, although this nightmare was the most peculiar one Tokiomi had had in years, he regarded it as merely a nightmare with no connection to reality.
Having spent so many years with Kirei, Tokiomi believed he understood his disciple.
Although Kirei was not eloquent, he was very meticulous inside, quick-witted, and very methodical in his work. Though not as elegant as Tokiomi, he was extremely composed, an honest and balanced individual.
Thinking this, Tokiomi stood up from the sofa.
"I apologize for taking up so much of your time. Please hurry to Archer. Don't keep the King of Heroes waiting for too long, lest he gets angry."
The words cut short abruptly. A sudden sharp pain made it difficult for Tokiomi's vision to focus.
"No, you don't need to worry, Sensei, he is also heading this way..."
His pupils widened. Stunned, he looked down at the blade, dripping with black-red, that had pierced his chest.
His face was full of disbelief. His constantly opening and closing mouth seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he could only produce a hoarse sound. Life faded away at an extremely rapid pace, and Tohsaka Tokiomi was unable to utter a single word before the end.
"Sensei, even in the end, like my father, you failed to understand my true nature..."
Disbelief and pain were intertwined on his face. Once Tokiomi's body was completely cold, Kirei stepped forward and turned his corpse over.
Seeing the stunned look in Tokiomi's eyes, Kirei couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Pfft—!"
Kirei looked at a mirror nearby and saw an expression on his face utterly different from his usual demeanor for the first time.
It was the happiest smile Kirei had ever shown since birth, a feeling of being unbelievably joyful.
This was likely the most delighted and unrestrained laugh Kirei had ever experienced since he was born.
He laughed so hard that he bent over, half-crouching on the floor.
"It's such a dirty deed to kill my own esteemed sensei, yet why does my heart... feel so much pleasure... Am I an out-and-out beast, hahahaha!?"
Although he was insulting himself, Kirei's expression was filled with joyful laughter.
The smile on his face constantly conveyed Kirei's current mood, which was...
"It's so fun to be a beast!"
Next, he picked up the letter Tokiomi had entrusted to him.
"Tohsaka Tokiomi's daughter, huh... Raised personally by me, her father's killer... Hahaha..."
The thought of what expression Tohsaka Rin would display when she grew up and discovered that the one who raised her was the one who killed her father made a distorted smile uncontrollably surface on Kotomine Kirei's face.
He was so excited!
"Tohsaka Tokiomi, you truly were a clown~"
Despite having just killed his own esteemed sensei, Kotomine Kirei's face showed no trace of melancholy. Instead, he felt utterly relieved, as if he had undergone one hundred rounds of the greatest spiritual guidance!
Subsequently, Kotomine Kirei put the letter in his pocket and walked towards the main door of the Tohsaka residence, intending to go straight to Aoi Tohsaka with the letter.
As if he could already see what would happen in the future, the corners of Kotomine Kirei's mouth slowly curled into a smile.
Just as he reached the front door and was about to lift his hand to open it, a powerful impact came from outside.
Boom—!
The fragile door instantly shattered. Amidst the flying wood splinters, the strong impact sent Kotomine Kirei's body flying uncontrollably backwards.
Wood splinters scattered like snowflakes inside the room, and dust began to fill the air.
In the instant he stopped upon hitting the wall, Kotomine Kirei saw the figure of a young boy suddenly appearing in the doorway where the door had been smashed.
"It's him again!"
Kotomine Kirei's pupils contracted. His robust body, trained to the limit, could not afford him even a slice of security at this moment.
Since encountering this boy that day and having his inner self pierced by a single sentence, Kotomine Kirei's life had drastically changed.
If it hadn't been for that sentence, he wouldn't have become so preoccupied with finding the answer, leading Gilgamesh to see through his essence so early on.
As Kotomine Kirei cautiously assessed the boy at the entrance and began to think about how to escape, Shirou, standing in the doorway, examined the interior. Upon seeing Tohsaka Tokiomi's corpse on the floor, a light flickered briefly in his eyes.
"He's already dead, huh..."
While Shirou was observing Tohsaka Tokiomi's corpse, Kotomine Kirei had already clambered up from a pile of jumbled furniture.
"Ugh..."
Driven almost by instinct, Kotomine Kirei had already slotted his Black Keys between his fingers as he rose.
Then, Kirei cautiously looked at Shirou.
The overwhelming disparity in strength between them meant Kotomine Kirei dared not make a move.
The encounter with Shirou outside the Hyatt Hotel that day had given Kotomine Kirei a profound understanding of this "unfamiliar boy's" power.
Therefore, after only a brief moment of thought, Kotomine Kirei completely abandoned the idea of fighting Shirou. He turned, smashed through the window, and chose to flee without hesitation.
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