Chapter 63

For now, let's set aside the story of Xinxin, and focus on the intense battle taking place at the Einzbern Castle.

"I didn't join the Holy Grail War to fight a despicable cur like you." Kenneth, his right hand covering the wound on his left shoulder, watched as blood gushed out like a spring. The landmines, steel wires, and bombs set by Kiritsugu Emiya were completely ineffective against the Moonlight Phlegm's defenses, but the continuous fire attacks made Kenneth increasingly anxious, and his wound continued to worsen.

The moment Kenneth entered the castle.

As Kenneth began searching for Kiritsugu, Kiritsugu, on the third floor, was packing his weapons in a room, preparing to find a suitable location to ambush Kenneth. Just as he was about to leave, a thin strand of mercury extended from the lock of the doorknob. The moment Kiritsugu saw it, the mercury strand retreated and disappeared from his sight. The instant the mercury strand vanished, a circular silver light flashed in the center of the room, and a round hole was cut directly into the floor. The mercury tentacles, like living creatures, adhered to the floor, and Kenneth appeared before Kiritsugu, standing on a platform made of mercury.

"Finally found you, little mouse." It seemed Kenneth was unaware that talking too much during a life-or-death battle could be a huge disadvantage. Without a word, Kiritsugu raised his submachine gun and pulled the trigger before Kenneth could launch an attack. The 9mm bullets covered all of Kenneth's possible escape routes, but for the Moonlight Phlegm, this level of attack was completely ineffective. The fifty bullets in the magazine only left ripples on the protective membrane formed by the Moonlight Phlegm.

"Scalp! (Slash)"

Mocking Kiritsugu's weak attack, Kenneth retaliated. Several mercury whips slashed at Kiritsugu from both sides, gradually thinning as they moved, the mercury inside moving at high speed like a chainsaw. With the fluid properties of mercury, even if Kiritsugu's body were made of diamond, such an attack could still cut through it. Faced with this, Kiritsugu also brought out his own trump card as a mage.

"Time Control, double speed." Accelerating his body's time to twice the normal rate, although he would suffer significant physical strain and correction from the world afterward, this small, inherent boundary field was indeed very powerful in combat. Kiritsugu moved at a speed that Kenneth's eyes could barely catch, slipping through the gaps between the falling mercury whips, crouching and dashing out of the room from the encirclement of the mercury tentacles.

Kenneth once again activated the Moonlight Phlegm's automatic search, with countless mercury strands extending along the walls, door gaps, and windows throughout the castle. Kiritsugu hid behind a pillar in a corridor, reloading the magazine of his submachine gun. As his ace, the Contender, he switched to regular bullets. Before the opponent used a large amount of magical energy, even if the Origin Bullet hit, the magical effect would not be significant, and Kenneth might still have more than half of his magical circuits intact. At that point, Kenneth would definitely summon Lancer with a Command Spell, putting Kiritsugu in extreme danger. Therefore, the best course of action for the Mage Killer was to temporarily provoke the opponent. The mercury strands gradually probed downward from the top of the pillar, but despite its seemingly perfect, all-around attack and defense capabilities, the Moonlight Phlegm was not without its weaknesses. In fact, whether in attack, defense, or detection, the Moonlight Phlegm had significant flaws. The consequence of trying to cover all bases was that none of them could be flawless.

"Time Control, triple deceleration." Slowing his own time to one-third of the normal rate, Kiritsugu's heartbeat, breathing, and body temperature dropped to nearly the same as the room temperature. The Moonlight Phlegm, lacking most sensory organs, detected its targets through highly sensitive tactile perception of air currents and temperature changes. When Kiritsugu reduced his activity's impact on the environment to almost the same as natural changes, the Moonlight Phlegm's detection function became completely useless. Unaware that his detection method had been cracked, Kenneth slowly approached Kiritsugu's position.

The submachine gun's muzzle spat fire from less than two meters away from Kenneth, and the Moonlight Phlegm, with its excellent defensive capabilities, once again formed a mercury shield to block the bullets before they could reach Kenneth.

"Idiot. These are just boring tricks!" Although Kiritsugu's attack was unexpected, ordinary bullets still couldn't penetrate the Moonlight Phlegm's defense. Realizing this, Kenneth mocked Kiritsugu from behind the shield. However, Kenneth didn't know that the automatic defense capability of the Moonlight Phlegm had also been seen through. As Kenneth's favorite magical equipment, the Moonlight Phlegm could automatically adopt different defense modes based on the opponent's attack. For example, when defending against Kiritsugu's submachine gun bullets, the Moonlight Phlegm formed a shield that consumed the least magical energy while perfectly blocking the bullets. However, if a weapon with far greater power than the submachine gun was used after the submachine gun attack, the Moonlight Phlegm's reaction would be much slower. With the flame from the Contender's muzzle, a bullet seven times more powerful than the submachine gun's pierced through the Moonlight Phlegm's defense, hitting Kenneth's left shoulder blade. Kiritsugu's luck was poor; if the bullet had hit slightly lower, the powerful sniper bullet could have damaged Kenneth's coronary artery, causing massive bleeding and killing him instantly. However, opportunities don't wait, and after being injured, Kenneth quickly activated the Moonlight Phlegm's slash attack. But Kiritsugu, who had already moved away, wouldn't be hit by such a simple attack. The Moonlight Phlegm's attack flaw, due to the liquid nature of mercury, was that even after being processed by magic to be freely extendable, the mercury couldn't change direction when launching a slash attack from a distance, making it easy to predict.

After a period of pursuit, Kenneth finally discovered Kiritsugu's position and approached him, his right hand on the wall.

"I won't kill you easily. I'll regenerate your lungs and heart, then cut off your flesh piece by piece from your limbs. You'll die in regret, pain, and despair. And when you die, curse. Curse the cowardly Einzbern who hired you to insult the Holy Grail War."

Ignoring Kenneth's words, Kiritsugu's submachine gun fired. This time, Kenneth had learned his lesson, and the Moonlight Phlegm transformed into hundreds of sturdy cones in front of him, the bullets hitting the Moonlight Phlegm with a crisp clinking sound. Then, Kiritsugu aimed the Contender, loaded with an Origin Bullet, at the wall formed by the Moonlight Phlegm and pulled the trigger. As the bullet approached, the Moonlight Phlegm moved the cones at high speed, completely enveloping the Origin Bullet. To achieve this astonishing level of fluid manipulation, Kenneth had to use all his magical energy, a secret technique he was proud of, which also brought the greatest damage to a mage. The moment the Origin Bullet hit the Moonlight Phlegm, all of Kenneth's activated magical circuits shattered and recombined in a chaotic manner, causing his magical energy to run rampant in his body. Kenneth's body, unable to withstand the strain, spewed blood from his seven orifices, and his veins bulged greenish-blue. With the massive blood loss, Kenneth lost his ability to stand, falling onto the Moonlight Phlegm, which had lost its magical support and returned to ordinary mercury.

On the other side, Kirei Kotomine entered the Einzbern's boundary without informing his father, Risei Kotomine, or his teacher, Tokiomi Tohsaka. As for why he came here, Kirei himself wasn't quite sure, perhaps to have a mutual exchange with Kiritsugu, who might be similar to him and misunderstood by the world. However, such a bold intrusion into the boundary was very unwise, and Illyasviel von Einzbern and Kiritsugu's assistant and mistress, Sella, had already set up an ambush to counter Kirei, whom Kiritsugu considered the greatest threat.

As Kirei approached the castle, a wave of killing intent made him instantly tense. Sure enough, dozens of bullets shot out from the mist in the forest, aimed at Kirei's position. Quickly dodging behind the nearest tree, Kirei carefully searched for his opponent's location. Unfortunately, under the interference of the high-level mage, Illyasviel, the entire area was affected by illusions, and Kirei couldn't detect his opponent's position unless they approached him. Despite this, Kirei still retaliated, extending the silver blades of the Black Keys in his hand and firing two of them at the direction the bullets came from. As expected, the Black Keys only hit the tree trunk. Another round of gunfire followed, and Kirei, sensing the killing intent in advance, easily dodged and threw four Black Keys as a counterattack. However, the third round of gunfire, a hidden kill move, came from behind Kirei, and he fell to the ground with the sound of gunfire.

Thinking Kirei was dead, Sella approached with her Calico, a white light grazing her calf and disrupting her stance. The precision and power with which she could throw the Black Keys with just her wrist strength demonstrated the capabilities of a Church elite agent. Jumping up, Kirei charged at Sella. As a warrior who had fought on the front lines for over a decade, Sella naturally didn't lose her fighting ability due to a minor injury. Raising her submachine gun, she wouldn't miss at this distance. Kirei's method of dealing with the bullets was to cross his arms in front of his head and continue charging.

The Church's custom-made cassock was made of Kevlar, which could withstand bullets, and was adorned with the Church's protective charms. While Kiritsugu's magical equipment, the Contender, could penetrate such a cassock, the Calico, which emphasized suppression and firepower density, probably wouldn't damage the cassock even if it were pressed against it. Realizing the gunfire was ineffective, Sella immediately switched to the military dagger attached to her thigh. While Kevlar was effective against bullets, it was surprisingly weak against cutting attacks, and the Black Keys in Kirei's hand were generally not used for close combat but for long-range throwing. After a few exchanges, Sella found an opportunity to rush into Kirei's embrace, her right hand gripping the dagger, ready to strike. However, her arm was caught by Kirei, who had dropped the Black Keys. His left hand, like steel, clamped Sella's arm, lifting her, and his right foot stepped forward, his right arm bending to deliver a powerful elbow strike to her chest. The perfect combination of the Eight Extremes' coiling and thrusting, moving like a taut bow and exploding like a thunderclap, left Sella dazed and in severe pain, with several broken ribs. Seeing Sella lose her fighting ability, Kirei was about to search for Kiritsugu when Illyasviel, the Lesser Grail, stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"Woman. You might be surprised, but I didn't come here to fight you." Kirei, unwilling to engage in a pointless battle, said helplessly, but Illyasviel's next words surprised him.

"I know, Kirei Kotomine. I know your purpose. But this negotiation is impossible. We will stop you from reaching Kiritsugu. Right here."

A silver thread slid from Illyasviel's hand, gleaming in the moonlight. Although the Einzbern family's research and attributes were not suitable for combat, Illyasviel had learned from Kiritsugu how to celebrate life and survive. To survive in the cruel struggle, she had to fight.

"Shapeist Leben! (Remains, I grant you life)"

The silver thread, like a living thing, continuously transformed in Illyasviel's hand. No, it was a living thing, a simple artificial life created by the Einzbern family's alchemy. The metal thread transformed into a silver eagle with sharp claws and a wingspan of over three meters, charging at Kirei's head like a bullet. Kirei reacted quickly, and the eagle grazed his right cheek. Missing its target, the eagle turned in mid-air and pounced with its sharp claws. However, Kirei's body, honed to perfection, was not afraid of such an attack. A swift punch hit the eagle's abdomen. But this was a silver eagle, not something that could be destroyed by a mere punch. Unexpectedly, the silver eagle transformed back into silver threads, tightly binding Kirei's right hand. Kirei tried to tear the threads with his left hand, but under Illyasviel's precise control, the threads bound both of his arms. Being bound wasn't a problem for Kirei; a powerful kick from his legs would be enough to end the mage's life. Illyasviel understood this and used all her magical energy to control the threads, pulling Kirei to a large tree and binding his arms to it.

"Hurry, Miss Sella!" Although it seemed advantageous for Illyasviel, she was already struggling to maintain the magical energy needed to bind Kirei. Kirei's terrifying physical strength made the threads completely ineffective, and just preventing his arms from moving was a heavy burden. However, Illyasviel didn't know that as an expert in the Eight Extremes, Kirei could exert incredible force as long as his feet were on the ground.

"Boom!" Like a hammer striking a tree, branches fell from the treetop as Kirei, using the technique of inch force, burst with enough power to shake the tree while still pressed against it.

"Boom!!" A second loud noise, and the sound of the tree breaking came from inside. Illyasviel's face turned pale, and Sella, only a few meters from the fallen submachine gun, found it an insurmountable distance with her injuries.

"Boom!!!" A third loud noise, and the entire tree snapped, the magic broken, and the threads lost their magical energy, easily torn apart by Kirei. He then approached the two, who were sitting on the ground, but a scorching flame descended from the sky, blocking his path. In the flames, a girl with fiery red hair appeared before Kirei, her right hand extending a long sword made of red lotus flames, her red cloak adorned with unknown magical patterns, the corners fluttering in the evening breeze, beautiful and powerful like a fire spirit in the flames.

"You are...?" Kirei, sensing the danger from his opponent far exceeded that of the Einzbern duo, immediately drew six Black Keys in his hand.

"Akane, Tendou Akane! I will slay you here, Kirei Kotomine!"

PS: Please recommend, review, and collect.

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