gaze of war

When Kotomine Kirei walked out of the prayer room again, all the mess on the church floor had been cleaned up.

Chancheng Kui's eyes had been closed, his body was supported on the bench, and he sat with his head down.Even from the back, it looks the same as before, but the stiff body is enough for people to perceive the truth.

In front of her bench, Matou Kariya stood there with his head bowed.

Kotomine Kirei couldn't see his expression clearly, but that didn't matter.

He walked towards Matou Kariya, put his hands on his shoulders, clasped his fingers slightly, smiled, and said firmly, "Kariya-kun, it's time to recover. The next step of the information has been obtained."

He looked at the face of Kariya Matou who turned towards him, raised his eyebrows at Kariya Matou's gloomy and cold expression, smiled, and let go of the hand that was on Kariya Matou's shoulder.

Then he raised his other hand up high as if nothing had happened, signaling Matou Kariya to pay attention to the stack of papers in his hand.

Kotomine Kirei no longer used the automatic writing magic provided by Tosaka Tokiomi, so he no longer needed that kind of specially treated paper.What he held in his hand was a very simple white paper, and the few numbers revealed when the paper was waved made Matou Kariya slightly taken aback.

The names of "Tohsaka" and "Einzbern" were clearly written on the paper.

"According to information, Tohsaka Tokiomi went to the edge of Fuyuki, the forest controlled by the Einzbern family in the early hours of this night, and made contact with Emiya Kiritsugu and others." Kotomine Kirei calmly relayed the content on the paper.

"You... used an 'external force'?"

Before reacting to Tohsaka and Einzbern's contact, Matou Kariya first noticed the source of the information in Kotomine Kirei's hands.Looking at the completely different handwriting on those papers, it is obvious that it was written by different people, that is to say, Kotomine Kirei used people other than "Sacred Instruments" to assist him.

As for assistants, the Holy Grail War did not set relevant restrictions on participants, but for magicians, using power other than "self" to assist themselves in victory is a degrading behavior that is contemptible.Even seeking help must take the form of seeking allies among the participants.

This is not a strict rule, but for proud magicians, this is their dignity.

However, in this battle for the Holy Grail, two different species appeared—one was the unscrupulous "magician killer" Emiya Kiritsugu, and the other was Kotomine Kirei, a priest of the Holy Church who was the sworn enemy of the Magic Association. .

Such a convention has no practical binding effect on them.

The so-called pride and dignity of a magician mean nothing to them.

From the very beginning, those ancient magicians who adhered to "nobility" have been disadvantaged because of this.When the rigid and stubborn magicians were still immersed in the so-called etiquette and dignity, those contenders who ignored the rules had already gained the upper hand.

Even, through the negligence of the magi, they have quietly won the victory—and their lives.

So when Kariya Matou said that, he saw Kotomine Kirei's smile.

Kotomine Kirei just glanced at him with a smile like that, his eyes were full of indifferent sternness, and didn't answer him a word.

So Matou Kariya lowered his head, completely suppressed the matter, and didn't ask another word.

Is it necessary to ask?

After all, the two people here are not real magicians.

"...If I come into contact with Einzbern at this time, I have reason to think that Tohsaka and Einzbern have already formed an alliance. One is a magician killer with a heroic spirit of the class of Saber, and the other is The head of the Tohsaka family who controls Fuyuki, an ancient noble with such servants in his hands, will be very unfavorable to us in the future."

Kotomine Kirei continued his analysis.Even though the situation was so severe, he still had a flat expression, as if he didn't really take it seriously.

"……so what?"

Matou Kariya said with some annoyance.

"...So, you can go and see what treasures Einzbern has hidden at home."

The sudden hoarse female voice made both of them tense up, and turned their faces away abruptly.

"Morrigan... Your Highness...?"

Kotomine Kirei's eyes lit up.

There was a look of surprise on his face, which made the astonished Matou Kariya couldn't help but look sideways.

However, Kotomine Kirei ignored his suspicious gaze, but fixedly stared at the direction from which the voice came, as if expecting something.

There are voices in the air.

A crisp sound like tearing cloth.

Air...no, space.

The space was completely torn apart—it was easily torn in half like poor-quality cloth.

First the arms, then the bare feet, and then the slightly swaying skirt—the black-haired girl in black came out from the void beside them.Her eyes fell on Kirei's faintly uncontrollable excited face, and she turned her eyes to Matou Kariya who was full of vigilance, and the one who used to be named Tohsaka Aoi, who was now sitting silently on the bench. corpse.

The focus of eyes finally settled on Tohsaka Aoi's twisted and stiff face.

A smile slowly bloomed on her face.

"...Really, beautiful death." She chuckled softly. "Whether it's the remaining despair, or the resentment and resentment—"

Matou Kariya's body trembled violently.

Morrigan's words stirred a fragile hole in his heart.

"Shut up!"

In order to conceal the unease and shake caused by Morrigan's words, Matou Kariya chose to turn the anger and resentment on others—he stretched out his hand to her with a face full of rage, and roared loudly like a madman Said, "Don't use that frivolous tone...!"

Morrigan didn't respond.

Even the line of sight has never deviated by half a minute.

Before Matou Kariya touched her, Kotomine Kirei had already firmly grasped his powerless hand.

He stared at Matou Kariya with a horrified expression, his lips trembled slightly with anger, and the hand holding Matou Kariya's wrist was so hard that the knuckles turned white.

"Get your hands off me."

Kotomine Kirei warned coldly.

"...let go of my hand, Kotomine Kirei."

Matou Kariya looked back at him gloomily.

Fragile alliances are quickly disintegrated by the sudden appearance of a goddess.No matter which side it was, because they were stepped on the bottom line, they aroused the instinctive aggressiveness of wild animals.

Kotomine Kirei's hand tightly gripped Matou Kariya's wrist with such strength that it almost broke Kariya's bones.

Matou Kariya sprinted under the skin of the engraving insect, and from nowhere the rustling sound of the magic insect could be heard.

Kotomine Kirei and Matou Kariya stared at each other like two enraged bulls, restrained each other, panting slightly.

Faced with this situation, Morrigan just looked at it like that, smiled, and said nothing.

And the crack behind her still hasn't closed.

Until the crisp sound of metal clashing came from inside, and when the long handle of the spear, the sturdy arms, and the legs covered with light armor gradually emerged, Kotomine Kirei's attention had completely turned to that side.

The black-haired, red-eyed Heroic Spirit stepped out from the void rift that Morrigan walked out of.

As if he had just woken up, Diarmuid walked leisurely with a relaxed and happy expression. After stepping out of the gap, he stretched his arms greatly and let out a long sigh.He looked at the furnishings of the church, then turned his gaze.

His bewitching eyes collided with Kotomine Kirei's.

Diarmuid smiled.

A wild, aggressive and sarcastic smile.

"...Look who this is. My—Master, it's been a long time." The knight said in a mocking tone full of malice.

"...Heroic Spirit Lancer. Why are you here?"

Kotomine Kirei's face was completely stiff.

He questioned Diarmuid in a cold voice, and stared at him coldly with unhappy dark brown eyes.

"...Heh." Diarmuid chuckled disdainfully. "'Master', you don't need to ask again about the fact that you have confirmed with your own eyes, because what you see is the truth."

There is no need for him to say anything more.

Lancer came here following the steps of the goddess.

The goddess acquiesces in his following.

And, look at his expression——

Kotomine Kirei lowered his gaze slightly, and didn't say another word.But his hand was still tightly clutching Matou Kariya's arm to prevent him from any attack.

"...'Master'?" Matou Kariya repeated in a murmur, looking back and forth between Kotomine Kirei and Diarmuid with strange eyes, the look of suspicion in his eyes became more intense.No matter how indifferent he is to this war, he still knows that Kotomine Kirei's servant should be an assassin, not a lancer, and this lancer gives him the same feeling as a berserker - except for the madness of losing his mind .

Morrigan ignored Kariya Matou's reaction.She just looked carefully at Kotomine Kirei's face, and then smiled.

She approached Kotomine Kirei, looked at his stiff and heavy expression with interest, and laughed out loud at his awkward look.

"Kirei."

Morrigan reassured in a soft hoarse voice.

"My... loyal servant, there is no need to be angry or unwilling. You just need to continue walking according to your own wishes. Don't forget, I promise you victory."

Diarmuid let out a snort, but Yanfeng Kirei didn't say a word.

Morrigan stared at Kotomine Kirei.

His expression has completely returned to blank and flat, and he can't hear any of his heart sounds.

It was as if he had been completely blank from heart to expression.

But it was only for a moment.

Kotomine Kirei quickly recovered.

He didn't look at Diarmuid again, but nodded slightly at Morrigan, and asked softly, "I don't know what the treasure you mentioned...is it?"

"—The Holy Grail you want is now in Einzbern's place."

The author has something to say: because I wrote it too late yesterday, I was in a hurry, and I forgot to finish it after writing half a sentence... I finished it again.