Cough—! Cough!
A burst of agonizing pain forced Sakai Yuuji to question his very existence. His left arm and leg were flooded with intense, crippling pain, already unable to move.
He vaguely felt as if his bones had shattered, his mind turning fuzzy and indistinct.
But now wasn't the time to lie still. He had to escape—had to flee from this place.
He was fortunate, at least, that he'd jumped from the third floor. Had it been the fourth, perhaps the moment he hit the ground he would've lost all strength, reduced immediately to a lamb awaiting slaughter.
He was also lucky—driven by his overpowering survival instinct, Sakai Yuuji had forced his eyes open mid-fall, despite his panic.
He managed, somehow, not to land head-first.
And thus, he still had one usable arm and one usable leg.
That was enough. Enough for him to crawl painfully up from the ground, staggering toward the school gates.
It was fortunate as well that no Rinne capable of conscious thought had been leading this assault. Otherwise, Yuuji wouldn't have had even the slightest chance of escaping the moment he jumped down.
He would've been instantly captured, dead without question.
But now, Sakai Yuuji had merely earned a brief right to survive. Since he had chosen to jump from the window to preserve his life—
Those dolls, infinitely stronger than humans, surely wouldn't hesitate to leap down and chase him.
Yuuji didn't foolishly hope these dolls would adhere to human rules, politely descending via the staircase to pursue him.
Of course, Sakai Yuuji hadn't had time to wonder, either, why he wasn't bleeding despite his severe injuries.
At the moment he regained consciousness after hitting the ground, Sakai Yuuji cried out and propped himself up with his right hand, limping urgently toward the front gates.
It seemed the two dolls had inflicted significant damage upon each other. Otherwise, Yuuji wouldn't even have been able to rise from the ground, much less run toward the gates.
But—the school building contained far more than two dolls.
Boom—!
With a deafening crash from behind him, a doll from the first floor lunged toward Sakai Yuuji at terrifying speed, fist hurtling forward—
Shiiing—!
At that precise instant, a flash of red erupted. The crimson world vanished in a heartbeat, taking the dolls along with it.
Though the glass vessel allowed them to observe Misaki City, neither the elegant man nor the doll in his arms constantly monitored it.
They merely glanced at it occasionally, to confirm how their plans were progressing, to check if any Flame Haze had arrived.
After noting that some dolls had engaged Emiya Shirou, they hadn't continued observing.
Now, they only needed to await the final outcome.
The glass vessel displayed only figurines, each representing a particular human or Torch. Unlike modern surveillance, it didn't show exact movements.
Knowing that their dolls had already confronted Emiya Shirou was enough. The details would remain unknown unless they observed firsthand. Rather than obsessively monitoring, awaiting the results after the Fūzetsu lifted was more practical.
After all, this was merely a routine trip to collect Power of Existence—no Flame Haze present, no reason to worry excessively.
But precisely because of this decision, neither the man nor Marianne had noticed the Torch who'd freely moved within their Fūzetsu.
And the Rinne, possessing only the most rudimentary intelligence, certainly wouldn't report it.
"Marianne, it appears…it's over."
He gently caressed the doll in his embrace. These dolls weren't designed to kill every human in the area, nor specifically to eliminate Emiya Shirou.
They were merely gathering Power of Existence. Once they gathered enough, the Fūzetsu would naturally end, and all dolls would return.
More dolls had been dispatched than just the few Sakai Yuuji had encountered.
Numerous others roamed the city, collecting Power of Existence and creating Torches.
Although humans in schools were densely packed, it wasn't wise to seize too much Power of Existence from there.
Because they lived clustered in one location, if too many students' Power of Existence were devoured, a Flame Haze would immediately notice something amiss.
After all, a school contained only so many students. If a Flame Haze arrived and glanced around—good heavens, why was an entire classroom filled with Torches?
Thus, he had primarily targeted people wandering the streets.
Scattered individuals blending among the city crowds wouldn't stand out as much.
Though with continued harvesting of the city's population, eventually, the number of Torches would still become alarming at a glance.
"All right, then. Let's continue the lesson—"
"AAAAAH—!"
Before the teacher could finish his sentence, screams erupted from below.
"Quiet! What's with all this ruckus?!"
The teacher turned back, slamming a hand on the lectern.
But immediately afterward, shock filled his eyes.
In the ceiling above the back row was a large hole, seemingly smashed open by something heavy.
At the same moment, shouts came from the classroom above—not due to the hole, but—
"Where did Sakai Yuuji go?!"
The girl sitting behind Sakai Yuuji rubbed her eyes, utterly unable to believe what she saw.
He'd been sitting at his desk just a second ago, so why was his seat now in chaos?
Books lay scattered on the floor, his desk and chair overturned—a complete mess.
And most importantly, Sakai Yuuji had vanished.
The classroom plunged into disorder.
The doll had hurriedly pursued Sakai Yuuji, utterly ignoring the destruction it left behind. It was only a Rinne, after all—not a Flame Haze. Repairing the damage or not hardly mattered to it.
...
"Cough—!"
Blood sprayed from Emiya Shirou's mouth as the armor covering his body shattered into dust the instant he wore it.
Agonized, Shirou fell heavily to one knee, gasping raggedly and coughing blood onto the ground.
He had no idea what had happened. Just a moment ago, he'd summoned the Incursio Armor, and in the next instant, he felt as if countless vehicles had rammed into him repeatedly.
His entire body was covered in bruises and welts.
Yet Shirou couldn't comprehend when exactly he'd been attacked, or when his armor had been destroyed.
He had no memory whatsoever.
Even if attacked covertly, he should've at least sensed it—just as he'd instinctively summoned the Incursio Armor upon feeling immediate danger earlier.
But before Shirou could finish puzzling over this, a voice suddenly called out from beside him:
"Help—!"
Lying weakly on the ground was an utterly ordinary-looking black-haired boy in a school uniform.
Feebly, the boy stretched out his right hand, pleading desperately toward Emiya Shirou.
And burning fiercely at his side was a blue-green flame.