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*****
"You… you jerk! Even if you say that, I'll never forgive you! You're the one who stole my father from me!"
Hearing that Shirou Emiya actually wanted to save her, the very person who was trying to kill him, Illya's feelings became incredibly complicated.
She had assumed Shirou Emiya would be the exact same kind of person as his father, but after observing him carefully, she discovered that this guy was the type of hopeless idiot who always prioritized thinking about others in every situation.
Of course, outwardly, she would never admit that her opinion of Shirou Emiya had already begun to change.
"Ten years ago, there was a huge fire. All of my relatives died in it. It was Kiritsugu who pulled me out of the ruins and raised me.
He was a kind and righteous person. I truly believe he would never abandon you for no reason. If he didn't go to see you, he must have had his own painful reasons.
I often saw him at night, just sitting on the roof, staring toward the northwest and crying all by himself…"
Shirou Emiya scratched his head, voicing his honest thoughts.
After Illya heard this, her expression completely froze. Two lines of tears began to stream uncontrollably from her eyes.
This was because the direction northwest of Japan was precisely Germany. The Einzbern family's castle, her home, was located in Germany, the very place where she had lived her entire life.
"Father… why did you really break your promise? Why did you abandon me?"
"Why don't you come with us for now? We're currently preparing to meet a Master who survived the last Holy Grail War. Perhaps we can learn something about your father from him."
George waved his hand, bringing everyone back to the real world.
He was still in the process of researching the magic required to control seven Command Spells simultaneously, so he wasn't in a particular hurry to transfer them just yet.
This was a perfect opportunity to find Kirei Kotomine and get him under control first. Once his research was complete, he could then transfer Lancer's Command Spells to himself as well.
For him, controlling all seven Command Spells at once wasn't an insurmountable difficulty. If things went quickly, he estimated he could figure it out by tomorrow.
Therefore, he brought Illya along, which would save him the trouble of having to look for her again tomorrow.
If she were to be killed by another Master in the interim, it would just be an added complication.
At present, out of the seven Masters, he already knew the identities of five.
Saber's Master was himself. Archer's was Rin Tohsaka. Lancer's was Kirei Kotomine. Berserker's was Illya. Rider's was Sakura Matou, though her spells had now been transferred to Shinji Matou.
After dealing with Kirei Kotomine, his next stop would be the Matou household.
The only ones left were the Masters of Caster and Assassin, whose identities he didn't know. However, he believed that Kirei Kotomine, as the war's supervisor, would likely have that information.
And so, the group heading to the church in the suburbs gained two new members.
However, Servants possessed the ability to convert from their physical bodies into a spiritual state, allowing them to remain hidden.
Consequently, to any normal person looking on, the group consisted of only four people: George, Shirou Emiya, Rin Tohsaka, and Illya.
"This is the place. Earlier today, he asked me to meet him here tonight. He shouldn't have left yet."
In the suburbs of Fuyuki City, Rin Tohsaka pointed toward the magnificent-looking church just ahead of them.
George's spiritual sense swept across the area, and the corners of his mouth tilted up in a slight smile. He had already confirmed that Kirei Kotomine was, indeed, inside the church.
KABANG!
The large doors of the church were kicked open by Rin Tohsaka.
"Rin, I've warned you time and time again, yet you refuse to listen…"
Kirei Kotomine placed the Holy Bible he was holding onto a table in the chapel and turned around.
When his gaze fell upon George, Shirou Emiya, and Illya, his eyebrows arched slightly.
"It appears you've brought some… unusual guests with you."
"You fake priest! I only have one question for you: Was it you who killed my father?"
The magic crest on Rin Tohsaka's right hand flared to life, indicating she was ready to launch an attack at any moment.
Kirei Kotomine, however, clearly had not anticipated this. He never expected that Rin Tohsaka, whom he had been carefully cultivating as a pawn, would discover the truth at this specific juncture.
During the Fourth Holy Grail War, thanks to Gilgamesh, he finally understood what he had been searching for his entire life. And so, he had killed his own master, Tokiomi Tohsaka.
Love, kinship, friendship, justice, evil—none of these were the path he sought to follow.
What he desired was the pursuit of his own self-satisfaction and pleasure.
His purpose for participating in the Holy Grail War wasn't to make a wish upon the Grail. He simply wanted to unleash the black mud and its curses contained within, to pollute the entire world and inflict suffering upon all of humanity.
This was because such an act would bring him the most extreme, exquisite pleasure.
In the previous Holy Grail War, his plans had failed due to the interference of Kiritsugu Emiya.
This time, after ten years of meticulous planning and arrangement, he was absolutely determined to succeed.
"How troublesome. To think you've discovered the truth already. I was planning to tell you at the very end; that way, you could have lived just a few more days."
Sighing, the Command Spells on Kirei Kotomine's right hand began to glow.
"But it matters little. You have already become a Master, so the plan is merely advancing by a few days.
Just perfect, the vessel for the Holy Grail is also present. Resolving everything at once will save me a great deal of effort."
Rin Tohsaka had been taught by his own hand; he knew her abilities better than anyone. She posed no significant threat to him whatsoever.
As for the Archer that Rin had summoned, he had already dispatched Lancer to test his capabilities. His skill level was merely average among Servants; Lancer was more than sufficient to handle him.
In fact, he had ordered Lancer to probe Rin's Servant this very evening.
Up to this point, by leveraging his position as the supervisor, he had successfully gathered intelligence on the Masters of every Servant class except for Archer and Saber.
He had continuously summoned Rin to the church for "rituals," but his true purpose was to confirm the class and strength of the Servant she had summoned.
Unfortunately, Rin had been unwilling to cooperate, insisting on performing the summoning herself.
Therefore, as soon as he learned that Rin's summoning had been successful, he immediately sent Lancer to investigate.
When Lancer returned, he reported the details of their encounter. Just to be safe, Kirei had also ordered Lancer to eliminate the boy that Rin had reportedly saved.
However, Lancer had not yet returned from that task.
This wasn't a problem. A Master could expend a single Command Spell to forcibly summon their Servant to their side, regardless of their location.
Lancer would deal with Archer, while he himself would take care of Rin Tohsaka and the two ordinary people with her.
That's right. In his eyes, both George and Shirou Emiya were nothing more than ordinary people.
Shirou Emiya possessed a small amount of magical energy, but such a pitifully low level didn't even qualify him to be called a magus in the world of magic. He was, for all intents and purposes, still in the category of a normal person.
As for George, it was even less of a concern. He couldn't sense a single trace of magical energy from him. He was, completely and utterly, an ordinary person.
The only thing Kirei didn't understand was why Rin would bring two ordinary people here. Did she genuinely believe two non-magi could possibly help her in a fight?
That was far too naive.
In truth, the only slightly troublesome elements were the Holy Grail's vessel, Illya, and her Servant, Heracles.
He had gathered extensive intelligence on Illya. This daughter of Kiritsugu Emiya had been subjected to all manner of modifications by the Einzbern family since she was a child.
Beyond just being the vessel for the Grail, she also possessed an immense reserve of magical energy, making her formidable in her own right.
And the Servant she had summoned, Heracles, was renowned as the strongest and most difficult-to-defeat existence among all Heroic Spirits. He was already absurdly powerful, and his Noble Phantasm granted him twelve lives.
Fortunately, Gilgamesh had mentioned that he possessed a Noble Phantasm specifically designed to counter Heracles, one that could easily take care of this particular nuisance.
(End of Chapter)