Shinji Matou At Your Service

"Woman, I have a question for you," Kirei spoke in a deep voice as he slowly approached the helpless woman.

The black-haired woman who served as Irisviel's guard had already been knocked down mercilessly, rendering her no threat whatsoever. "It seems you attacked me to protect Emiya Kiritsugu. Whose idea was that?"

Irisviel remained silent, her delicate body trembling, displaying her fear of Kirei. However, her gaze showed no wavering, as if conveying the message, "I won't let you pass, even if it costs me my life."

Kirei reached out his hand towards Irisviel's neck, seemingly intending to lift her by choking her.

"Woman, I'll ask again—"

Just before his hand touched Irisviel, a glimmer of silver, resembling a venomous snake, slithered to Kirei's feet and suddenly sprang up.

The timing was perfect. Kirei was focused on extracting answers from Irisviel, with no defenses whatsoever. The silver light smoothly entwined around his left hand, and with tremendous force, it dragged his body away from the two defenseless women.

Though taken by surprise, Kirei remained calm. While his body couldn't react in time, his eyes had already identified the true identity of the silver attack that struck him.

It was a silver thread—a severed silver thread—strands of metallic wire magically fused.

The force transmitted through the silver thread was even greater than when he was bound to a tree. However, this time, Kirei wasn't in a mobile state and didn't allow his body to be dragged away. He exerted force with his feet, firmly planting them in the ground.

In Chinese martial arts, the first lesson is not about how to attack but how to maintain a stable stance. Without a stable foothold, no matter how exquisite the techniques, they would be nothing but empty gestures, ineffective. Therefore, the lower body of every practitioner of Chinese martial arts is extremely stable.

Once the foothold is secure, it becomes difficult to be shaken, like a towering pine tree that won't fall or a steadfast boulder, completely integrated with the ground beneath.

The slender silver threads tightened to their critical point, and the magically repaired fractures emitted an overloaded "bip-bo" sound, on the verge of breaking.

"Hah!"

Kirei gathered his breath in his lower abdomen and let out a forceful shout as he swiftly swung his right hand down.

This was his "Severing Threads" technique that he had summarized from the previous battle—well, there was nothing wrong with it. The metallic threads were manipulated by magic, and changes in magecraft would cause changes in their form. So, all he had to do was move faster than the changes in magic.

The metallic threads responded with a snap, breaking into dozens of segments.

However, Kirei's strike didn't have the desired effect.

During Kirei's attempt to sever the metallic threads, the flow of magical energy was interrupted, causing the threads to revert to their original state before being severed.

At the same time, a woman in a white dress appeared behind Irisviel.

To Kirei's surprise, this woman looked exactly like Irisviel.

Could it be that Einzbern had secretly sent out a second artificial human?

Could it be that Irisviel was merely a decoy, and this newly appeared woman was Einzbern's trump card?

The possibility was high, and it would explain why there were no command seals on Irisviel's wrist. The new woman could be the true Master of Saber, which would align with Emiya Kiritsugu's usual methods.

Regardless of the truth, capturing this new woman would reveal everything.

With that thought in mind, Kirei drew four black keys, holding two in each hand.

The woman, whom Kirei considered to be Einzbern's true trump card, slowly spread her arms. The pure white gloves on her hands quickly disintegrated, transforming into strands of pure white threads, resembling the woman's silver hair.

The threads intertwined and formed a rope as thick as a pinky finger, swirling and coiling around the woman's wrists like agile serpents. The magical radiance intermittently flickered, evoking the image of a cold gleam when a blade was unsheathed.

In the next second, the black keys and the rope collided in mid-air.

Kirei threw the four black keys with superhuman strength, their speed and piercing power comparable to a crossbow. Even large beasts like lions and tigers would struggle to withstand such an attack.

However, the rope manipulated by the woman blocked them. Not only did it block them, but the tips of the rope entwined around the blades of the keys, neutralizing the magical energy within them.

In just one second, she completed such an operation—her visual acuity, reaction speed, and delicate control over magecraft were extraordinary. This woman was a formidable enemy!

...

Meanwhile, Shinji, still hiding and recovering in the underground sewer, suddenly felt a sharp pain.

It wasn't a nerve feedback from bodily injury but rather a warning signal emitted by his body due to a large amount of magical energy being extracted.

"What's happening?"

Shinji awakened from his state of rest, reaching out to grab a rune stone to replenish his magical energy while sensing the flow of magic.

"It's not from Sensei... Is it Lady Justeaze? Why is she—no, this is not the time to think about that."

As Shinji crushed the rune stone, he immediately initiated a communication spell with Scáthach.

"Shinji, I've detected Caster's magical energy. This time, we won't let him escape."

"Forget about that for now. Go find Lady Justeaze. It seems like she's in a battle with someone."

Scáthach's speed reassured Shinji. He made a decisive decision, changing his original target. Compared to the lives of unrelated people, Caster's life was simply insignificant.

"What? Justeaze?" The faint sound of gears stopped amidst the response, and Scáthach seemed to pause.

"I understand. I'll head there right away."

Sensing Shinji's urgency, Scáthach didn't ask for further details. She glanced regretfully at the nearby battlefield, which was within reach, and disappeared into the depths of the forest.

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