---o---
Kirei Kotomine turned over a new leaf?
This was undoubtedly explosive news.
After all, the Mapo Tofu priest's near-merciless methods from the past few nights, as well as the infamous tree scene, were still seared into the minds of the audience.
To say nothing of the fact that his Black Keys had pierced Irisviel's body. If not for the scabbard Avalon, she would be a corpse right now.
Under these circumstances, it would be a miracle if Emiya Kiritsugu believed a word Kirei said. The fact that he hadn't immediately opened fire was a testament to his self-control.
Sure enough, inside the light curtain—in response to Kirei Kotomine's statement, Emiya Kiritsugu silently placed a question mark over the man's head.
Had Kirei eaten too much spicy mapo tofu and fried his brain? Why else would he make such a bizarre decision, and why would he think Kiritsugu would ever agree?
"Master of Assassin, Kirei Kotomine! Are you making a fool of me?"
Emiya Kiritsugu's motion to chamber a round was perfectly smooth. The Origin Bullet was loaded in an instant. If Kirei showed even a hint of hostile intent, the bullet would be fired into him without mercy.
Letting Kiritsugu point the gun at him, Kirei did not back down in the slightest. Instead, he spoke in his most sincere tone, "Master of Assassin? That is a thing of the past."
Then, perhaps to explain himself, he placed his hands in front of him and began to circle Kiritsugu as he spoke. "The Kirei Kotomine of today is no longer the Kirei Kotomine of the past."
"A few days ago, I met Elysia. Her words were a sudden awakening for me. It is true, my life had no meaning. Decades of life had left not a shred of value."
"And it is precisely because it has no value that value must be created. Emiya Kiritsugu, do not misunderstand. I am not helping you. In fact, even now, I do not know if my true nature is good or evil."
"I am merely creating value. If Elysia can truly save the world, then would I not become a great hero of salvation? The value brought by such an achievement is immeasurable, Emiya Kiritsugu!"
"Perhaps after you and I have passed on, our souls may even be inscribed upon the Throne of Heroes for such a deed!"
As he spoke, Kirei Kotomine clasped his hands together, his face showing an expression he had never shown before. It was the emotion known as 'joy'.
The pursuit of something... did it bring him pleasure? It wasn't the pleasure of potentially being recorded on the Throne of Heroes, but the pleasure found in the process of the pursuit itself.
In a sense, Kirei Kotomine... had become completely twisted. While this twistedness was more positive than the one he developed under the influence of the King of Heroes in the original timeline, it still gave rise to a feeling of dread.
When a person's heart is empty, they are easily influenced by external factors, leading them to extremes. Kirei Kotomine was a prime example. The King of Heroes' words turned him into a pleasure-seeker of suffering, while Elysia's well-intentioned guidance had still led him to an extreme.
Although it was unclear whether this extreme was good or bad, for Kirei himself, it was a necessity for him to obtain his joy.
However... such a speech was clearly not going to move the Emiya Kiritsugu before him. He only felt that the man had probably been influenced by the Outer God and gone insane.
But... Elysia?
If it was Elysia, she should have been able to see through this man's nature the moment they met, right? But looking at him now... it seemed he had become this unhinged precisely because of Elysia.
Kiritsugu couldn't be sure. He only knew that unless he had a screw loose, he would never entrust Irisviel's protection to the Mapo Tofu priest.
Seeing this, Waver, standing to the side, became extremely anxious. If these two continued their standoff, the world would truly be doomed.
He steeled himself, stepped directly between Kirei and Kiritsugu, and said, "Alright, alright! Since you two don't trust each other, then leave Irisviel's protection to me! You two go deliver the scabbard and the Grail to Saber."
"..."
As Waver's voice fell, the air suddenly fell silent. As the 'weakest' Master in this Holy Grail War, Waver had now grown to the point where he dared to make such a declaration in front of two hardened men like Kiritsugu and Kirei.
Kiritsugu was silent for a moment, then lowered his gun. Waver's personality was easy to understand. In this war, he was the easiest one to deal with. If not for Rider's extraordinary power, he would have been eliminated by Kiritsugu long ago.
During the Banquet of Kings, Irisviel and Waver had a brief interaction. This person could be trusted. After all, he was the type to tremble in fear and be unable to even kill a chicken.
However... Kiritsugu sighed. "Waver Velvet! As far as I know, although you studied under Lord Kayneth, your level of magecraft has not yet reached the point where you can fight those monsters."
"Pardon my bluntness, but Iri's magical energy reserves far exceed yours. When danger truly arrives, will you be protecting Iri, or will Iri be protecting you?"
Given Waver's performance, Kiritsugu could only shake his head. His power was too weak. A single monster could easily take out the current Waver.
This was normal, though. He wasn't from a prestigious magus family with hundreds of years of history. Unlike his teacher Kayneth, who was born with a silver spoon, Waver's talent was outstanding among ordinary people, but in the eyes of the great magus families, he was just a commoner from the countryside. There was no comparison.
"Hmph—I knew you'd say that, Emiya Kiritsugu. It's true... my skills are weak. It even takes a great deal of effort to maintain Rider's existence. But... what if I have this?"
A confident expression appeared on Waver's face. Then, a familiar Mystic Code appeared before Emiya Kiritsugu. That silver gleam... it was the "Volumen Hydrargyrum" that had given him such a tough fight before!
"Kayneth's Mystic Code, why do you have...?" Kiritsugu's pupils constricted. He was about to ask, but after a moment's thought, he understood.
No wonder Waver had disappeared after Solomon appeared on the Fuyuki Grand Bridge. He had thought the boy was dead, but it seems he went to retrieve the Volumen Hydrargyrum.
After Kayneth was crippled, Elysia's intervention had prevented Kiritsugu from killing him, allowing him to live.
As a member of a prestigious magus family, in Kayneth's current state, his Mystic Codes would have surely been reclaimed by his family. But Kayneth had no intention of handing it over. Instead, believing it was better for the Mystic Code to realize its true value than to be locked away, he had given it to Waver.
He truly was different from the magi Kiritsugu had encountered in the past. A greenhorn like Waver Velvet, making such a 'treasonous' declaration at the Clock Tower—any other Lord, including the seemingly gentle Marisbury, would never have let him off. Even if they didn't act personally, they would have cut ties with him and quietly waited for the relevant authorities to make a decision. And that decision would most likely have been a Sealing Designation.
And although Kayneth had publicly ridiculed and even torn up his thesis in class, he had, on an objective level, saved the boy's life.
Knowing all this, Waver Velvet no longer knew how to describe his current feelings.
Gratitude? No... at least, Kayneth's motive for doing so was surely not just for his sake. But regardless of the motive, the fact that Kayneth had saved him remained unchanged.
Not only that, but just before Fuyuki City was sealed by Solomon's magecraft, he had left his Mystic Code behind, along with instructions on how to use it, giving it all to him—to the talentless hack, Waver Velvet.
Volumen Hydrargyrum did not have high requirements for a magus's talent. So as long as one had the right to use it, even a half-baked magus like Waver could command it.
---o---
In the Light Curtain's comments—
Eriri Sawamura: "Alright, alright, case closed. So Kayneth really is a good guy. We misunderstood him."
Conan: "A good guy... maybe just compared to the other magi with their warped moral codes. Among ordinary people, his methods were still quite improper."
Himeko Murata: "As long as he has that love for his student, that's what matters. At the very least, he did secretly save Waver's life."
Saitama: "Oh... so that's how it is. The method was flawed, but the result was good?"
For a time, the comments were filled with praise for Kayneth. After all, to grow up in a society like that of magi and maintain a relatively normal moral compass was already quite an achievement.
At that moment, in the normal timeline, Kayneth, who now knew his ultimate fate and had given up on participating in the Holy Grail War, had long since scurried back to the Clock Tower, vowing not to come out until the war was over.
Seeing the light curtain 'redeem' his character, Kayneth merely scoffed. As a genius magus, he didn't care about the previous insults from the audience. He was just surprised... that the him from that timeline would give Volumen Hydrargyrum to Waver.
"Tch, it couldn't be helped. The me in that timeline had his Magic Circuits destroyed. It was a miracle he even kept his life."
"Waver Velvet, Volumen Hydrargyrum has more functions than what I used against Emiya Kiritsugu. I hope you don't disappoint me."
The tsundere Kayneth chose not to post a comment. Instead, he silently watched his student in the projection. He had to admit... under the 'tutelage' of that King of Conquerors, Waver Velvet had grown considerably. He was even faintly showing the makings of a 'Lord'... Hah, what am I thinking? No matter how strong his spirit is, he's still just a 'failure' with only a few Magic Circuits...
---o---
[Inside the Light Curtain—
After Waver volunteered, Emiya Kiritsugu temporarily agreed to let him serve as Irisviel's bodyguard.
He and Kirei Kotomine would deliver the Holy Grail and the scabbard to Saber, who would then take the Grail to the front lines of the battle.
Their previous argument had already wasted too much time. Although events were happening concurrently, by the time Kiritsugu and Kirei set out, the Outer God had already begun its indiscriminate bombardment.
The immense waves of magical energy made even Kirei and Kiritsugu, who were a considerable distance away, feel extremely uncomfortable.
"This scene... it really has the atmosphere of an apocalypse, doesn't it, Emiya Kiritsugu?"
Kirei Kotomine was not in good shape. The intense heat from the magical energy had left both him and Kiritsugu drenched in sweat. And then there was the 'All the World's Evil' Holy Grail in their hands.
Honestly, if this Grail wasn't absolutely necessary, Kiritsugu would have thrown it away by now. The tangible malice it radiated was almost unbearable.
"Let's move faster. We're close to Saber."
It seemed Kirei's personality had indeed undergone a drastic change, but that had nothing to do with Kiritsugu. He remained on high alert. If Kirei showed even a hint of hostility, he would create distance in an instant.
At the same time, Kiritsugu was continuously using the Command Spells on his hand to locate Saber. To this day, he had not used a single one. All three Command Spells were still perfectly inscribed on his hand.
They were close. Through the connection of the Command Spells, he could tell they were less than five hundred meters from Saber.
For two magi, that distance was a matter of mere seconds.
As Kiritsugu and Kirei accelerated, the distance grew shorter and shorter.
Five hundred meters... three hundred... two hundred... they could gradually make out her figure... one hundred meters.
---o---
"Get back! Don't let the Grail touch that shadow!"
Heroic Spirit Emiya Shirou's voice rang in their ears, followed immediately by a swift black shadow lunging at them.
Its speed had reached the level of an average Servant. How could ordinary humans like Kiritsugu and Kirei possibly dodge such an attack?
On instinct, Emiya Kiritsugu raised the scabbard in his hands, using it like a shield.
The next moment, the shadow was upon them. The instant it made contact with the scabbard, a brilliant golden light erupted, illuminating it. The powerful force caused the shadow to vanish without a trace in an instant.
In the distance, Saber, who was fighting several black shadows and the Black Mud, heard the sound and looked over. That was... the Holy Grail, and... her scabbard!