Fate: Question And Answer System of Traversing Heroic Spirits

Watching Iskandar's figure vanish down the road, Waver let out a sigh.

"That guy just does whatever he pleases…"

Beside him, Kayneth's brow furrowed. Regardless, their group pressed forward toward the Emiya residence. He realized Artoria had deliberately drawn Iskandar away, but it didn't matter. With Rider out of the picture and Saber occupied, that only left Emiya Kiritsugu himself to face them.

And with three Servants on their side, the odds were heavily stacked in their favor.

As they reached the address provided by Chihiro, Kayneth scanned the property with narrowed eyes. "There are faint traces of magical energy here. This must be the place."

Still cautious after his previous losses to Kiritsugu's tricks, Kayneth avoided charging in himself. Instead, he instructed Diarmuid to go in and survey the area first.

"Yes, my lord," Diarmuid responded dutifully. Scaling the wall, he quickly moved through the property. Less than a minute later, he returned.

"My lord, there's no one inside."

"What?" Kayneth's eyes widened, his expression twisting with frustration. "Damn that Emiya Kiritsugu… He's always one step ahead."

It was clear to everyone what had happened, Kiritsugu had been warned and managed to escape before they arrived.

"We might still be able to catch up," El-Melloi II commented, checking the tracks. "The trail is fresh. They couldn't have left too long ago."

"Brynhildr, could you?" Sola-ui asked.

Nodding, Brynhildr summoned her Pegasus and soared into the night sky, searching for any sign of Kiritsugu's escape route. Within moments, she located a car speeding away in the distance. Signaling to Sola-ui and the others, she took off in pursuit.

In the car, Maiya noticed Brynhildr approaching from above and immediately pressed down on the accelerator.

"Iri, we have company," she muttered, keeping her focus on the road.

In the passenger seat, Irisviel channeled her magic, summoning silver threads that coiled into a silver eagle, which shot into the air to intercept Brynhildr.

"Magic Burst: Flame!" Brynhildr responded, flames engulfing her as she tore through the silver construct, reducing it to molten silver. However, the brief distraction allowed Maiya to swerve into a narrow alley, temporarily losing Brynhildr's line of sight.

Meanwhile, Kayneth's group continued the pursuit on foot, their pace slowed by caution. After everything that had been revealed in the recent videos, Kayneth was wary of falling into another one of Kiritsugu's traps.

Diarmuid stood on the roof of their vehicle, eyes scanning their surroundings for any ambush.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out.

A bullet struck one of their tires, blowing it out and causing the vehicle to swerve dangerously. Diarmuid reacted instantly, using his spear to anchor the car and prevent it from tipping over, saving them from what could have been a deadly crash.

Kayeneth, Sola-ui, and the others quickly exited the vehicle, deciding it was too dangerous to continue enclosed in such a vulnerable position.

No sooner had they stepped out than a figure in red shot out of the shadows, aiming a blade at Kayneth's neck.

It was Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu.

Diarmuid moved with lightning speed, interposing himself between Kayneth and the assassin. The blade clashed against his spear, forcing Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu back.

Realizing the danger, Kayneth and Sola-ui took cover, slipping into a corner where they activated the Marrow of the Moon Spirit, rendering them safer from direct sniper attacks.

Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu fired off another volley from his pistol, attempting to create an opening to escape. But just as he thought he had a way out, a streak of green flames descended from above, blocking his path—Brunhilde had returned, cutting off his escape route.

"Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May: Chronos Rose!"

Seeing no other option, Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu activated his Noble Phantasm. He dashed forward, not aiming to escape but to attack Kayneth directly.

But Kayneth's Marrow of the Moon Spirit wasn't something to be underestimated. Even with Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu's enhanced speed, the fluid formed a protective barrier around Kayneth and Sola-ui, preventing him from closing in.

However, Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu had prepared for this. Drawing a single-shot pistol from his coat, he loaded it with a special bullet, an Origin Bullet, identical to those that Emiya Kiritsugu himself used to disrupt magical circuits.

He aimed carefully and fired.

The Origin Bullet tore through the Marrow of the Moon Spirit as though it were paper, heading straight for Kayneth's heart. But just as it seemed he was about to land a critical blow, Kayneth's body wavered and transformed into a paper effigy, fluttering to the ground.

Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu's eyes widened. "A decoy…?"

"It's over, assassin," came a voice from behind him.

El-Melloi II stepped forward, activating his Noble Phantasm. "Unreturning Formation!"

In an instant, the area around Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu shifted, and he found himself enclosed within a massive red pavilion, surrounded by eight towering pillars. Outside the formation, there was nothing but endless darkness, making escape seem impossible.

Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu tried to break through by moving left and right, but each time, he simply reappeared on the opposite side of the pavilion, trapped within the confines of the formation.

"This is the ultimate technique of a true strategist," El-Melloi II said, watching with a smirk. "Let's see if you can escape it."

The Unreturning Formation was a masterpiece, inspired by Zhuge Liang's renowned Eight Trigrams Maze. Not only was it an inescapable labyrinth, but it continuously drained the life force of anyone trapped within.

In El-Melloi II's mind, there was no way Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu could break out. Confident, he lit a cigarette and watched as his enemy was ensnared in the trap.

As for Kayneth and the others, they hadn't actually been there from the beginning.

Knowing how ruthless Emiya Kiritsugu could be, El-Melloi II decided it was better for the Masters not to expose themselves directly to potential danger.

Instead, he used an advanced substitution technique, creating dummies of Kayneth and Sola-ui and transferring their consciousness into these replicas.

With the dummies, anyone observing them without scrutiny would mistake them for the real people. However, this technique came with a significant drawback. The moment the original body encountered any form of disturbance, the consciousness would immediately return to it. This safety measure ensured that the real bodies would remain protected.

El-Melloi II's plan was a calculated gamble. He deliberately avoided leaving any Servants behind as guards, precisely to avoid tipping Kiritsugu off to the trap. He assumed that without any suspicious defenses, Kiritsugu would lower his guard.

Before leaving, however, he had carefully layered protective magic around Kayneth's real location to safeguard him.

But just as he relaxed, a tremendous blast echoed from within the pavilion.

"Boom!"

The Formation trembled, and to El-Melloi II's shock, one of the pillars shattered, freeing Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu from the formation.

"Phew… that was close," Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu muttered, catching his breath as he looked back at the now-damaged formation.

"What… What did you just do?" El-Melloi II asked, his calm demeanor faltering.

Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu smirked. "You underestimated me. I may look like a mere copy, but I inherited Emiya Kiritsugu's skills and titles—Magus Killer, after all."

One of his inherent skills, Magecraft, allowed him to make quick and efficient judgments when facing Casters, granting him a significant advantage in battle.

Moreover, his Noble Phantasm, Phantasm Punishment, was a dagger imbued with his dual origin of "severing" and "binding." This weapon could deliver critical damage to anything magically constructed, allowing him to destroy mystical barriers and spells with terrifying efficiency.

Combined with the "Affection of the Holy Grail" he received as a Heroic Spirit, Kiritsugu was able to swiftly locate the core of the Unreturning Formation and slice through it in one precise strike.

In this confrontation, El-Melloi II had made the error of not fully understanding his opponent's abilities.

***

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