Within a world where time flowed at only a quarter of its normal speed, Kiritsugu Emiya was the only one able to move freely.
Slowly, he raised the Thompson Contender clenched in his hand.
The moment the muzzle came level—
Kirei Kotomine had charged perfectly into its kill zone, almost as if he had thrown himself directly into the gun's path.
Bang!
The second Origin Bullet left the barrel.
Its target—
The center of Kirei's forehead.
"!!"
Kirei's pupils contracted violently.
He reacted almost instantly.
But the distance was simply too short.
His mind could keep up.
His body could not.
At that critical instant, Kirei decisively consumed another Command Seal, pushing his physical abilities to an entirely new peak.
Dodging was no longer an option.
Instead, he swung his right hand up in a knife-hand strike to intercept the incoming bullet.
Bang!
It was like a blazing meteor piercing frozen earth.
To Kirei's disbelief, the silver bullet engraved with golden patterns effortlessly penetrated the magically reinforced flesh strengthened by both his own magecraft and the Command Seal.
"Wha—?!"
Agonizing pain erupted through his arm.
Acting on pure instinct, Kirei twisted his palm at the last possible moment.
Instead of burrowing through the bones of his hand, the bullet tore away a chunk of flesh near the edge of his palm before its trajectory shifted slightly.
It grazed past his forehead...
Then embedded itself deep into the trunk of the tree behind him.
"Haa... haa... haa..."
Blood streamed down Kirei's forehead, staining his right eye crimson.
The immense physical and mental strain of that split-second exchange left him breathing heavily.
He instinctively tried to raise his right hand to wipe the blood from his eye.
But—
His wounded right arm had already gone completely numb.
Blood continued to drip steadily from his fingertips.
Supporting the useless arm with his left hand, Kirei kept one eye fixed warily on Kiritsugu.
Meanwhile, firing the second Origin Bullet had hardly left Kiritsugu in better condition.
"—Cough!"
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
His body, already devastated by Kirei's previous punch, had yet to be fully restored by Avalon – The Everdistant Utopia.
Yet he had immediately forced himself to activate Time Alter — Quadruple Accel, placing an enormous burden upon himself.
At this point, even remaining on his feet required sheer determination.
Still—
Kiritsugu refused to reveal any weakness before his opponent.
Thus the two men remained locked in place.
Both swaying.
Neither falling.
Their heavy breathing filled the silence between them.
The atmosphere resembled the suffocating stillness just before a violent storm.
His close-combat abilities far exceed my estimates.
And those absurd Command Seals are acting like cheat codes.
Fighting him head-on is extremely disadvantageous.
He probably understands the true purpose of the Origin Bullet now.
Failing to finish him with the first shot was a serious intelligence loss.
He won't give me another easy opportunity to reload.
However...
Avalon—the Everdistant Utopia, the sheath of the Holy Sword...
As long as my consciousness remains intact, it can restore me even from fatal injuries.
Its healing works even on damage caused by my own Time Alter.
The submachine gun is empty.
I still have a combat knife...
And two grenades.
Kiritsugu's thoughts raced like lightning.
The Thompson Contender trembled slightly in his grip.
That regenerative ability...
Even after his heart was destroyed...
Kirei slowly opened the eye stained red with blood.
Half his vision had become tinted crimson.
His gaze settled squarely upon Kiritsugu's head.
If destroying the heart isn't enough...
Then I'll destroy his brain.
Whatever method he's using...
It still requires consciousness.
But...
He glanced briefly toward his still-bleeding right arm.
This arm is finished.
Part of the Magic Circuits connected to it have already been destroyed.
Twelve Black Keys remain.
Eight spare Command Seals.
...Troublesome.
Even as Kirei continued searching for a winning strategy while waiting for his condition to recover—
Kiritsugu recovered first.
Following his unwavering philosophy—
Strike while the enemy is down.
He immediately activated:
"Time Alter — Triple Accel!"
Only at triple acceleration did he have the confidence to engage Kirei head-on.
Whoosh!
His empty Thompson submachine gun flew through the air.
He hurled it with all his strength as nothing more than a crude projectile.
It was merely a feint.
Smack!
The instant Kirei batted it aside—
Kiritsugu had already loaded the third Origin Bullet into the Thompson Contender.
The black pistol whipped through the air, leaving afterimages as its muzzle snapped toward Kirei's head.
Kirei had just knocked away the submachine gun.
His healthy left arm had no time to recover.
He could only swing his numb right arm into the gun's path.
But—
To his surprise...
Kiritsugu had never intended to fire.
Gripping the Thompson Contender in reverse, he wielded it like a club.
The magically reinforced wooden grip crashed violently into Kirei's injured right arm.
Crack!
Bone shattered instantly.
The entire arm twisted at an unnatural angle.
"You...!"
Veins bulged across Kirei's face.
His expression twisted with fury.
Although the arm itself had lost all sensation, the previous Origin Bullet had not completely severed the damaged Magic Circuits.
They still remained tenuously connected to the rest of his body.
Now, with the arm suffering another devastating physical blow...
It was like rubbing salt directly into those shattered Magic Circuits.
Even Kirei's iron will could not suppress the agony.
It felt as though the pain pierced not only his bones...
But his very soul.
There was, in truth, a simple solution.
Cut the useless arm off.
Yet Kirei could not.
Because engraved upon that arm were the Command Seals that bound him to Gilgamesh.
Whether to preserve that contract...
Or simply to retain the Command Seals themselves...
He could not afford to lose his right arm.
Kiritsugu had anticipated exactly that.
Relentlessly targeting Kirei's dangling right arm—
He activated once more:
"Time Alter — Quadruple Accel!"
Boom!
His speed surged again.
The Thompson Contender blurred through the air as he smashed repeatedly toward Kirei's crippled arm.
Seeing this—
A savage crimson gleam flashed within Kirei's eyes.
Another Command Seal vanished from his arm.
His uninjured left arm exploded with newfound speed.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The battle devolved into the purest clash of bodies.
Attack.
Defense.
Counterattack.
The blinding exchange of arms moved so quickly that no ordinary eye could hope to follow.
Compared to the two of them...
Even rifle bullets now seemed to crawl through the air.
It was a duel between two entirely different forms of acceleration.
Kiritsugu's Time Alter, which accelerated his personal flow of time...
Against Kirei's Command Seal-enhanced physical speed.
Kirei's expression remained frighteningly calm despite fighting on the defensive.
Meanwhile, veins bulged across Kiritsugu's face as he pushed his body far beyond its limits.
In reality—
Both men stood on the very brink of collapse.
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