[FMMISM] Chapter 57: Escape

At this moment, anxiety and restlessness unknowingly churned in Kiritsugu's chest.

He could feel that something was off.

However, he couldn't pinpoint what exactly was wrong.

Was it because Maiya had not fought alongside him tonight?

Earlier, Maiya had requested to join the battle against the invading enemies in the forest, but he immediately refused her.

She should have noticed by now that he no longer trusted her.

Kiritsugu gritted his teeth, feeling some regret.

If only he had brought Maiya with him tonight and not doubted her, he wouldn't be as anxious as now.

"!"

As Kiritsugu was still immersed in his regret, his eyes suddenly widened as he recalled something.

He instantly remembered what Caster had said to the boy before the battle began.

—Assassin, don't make a move.

Kiritsugu had always thought that this was merely a cunning trick by the witch to mislead him about her true identity, thus overlooking the obvious logical flaw.

However, he remembered that Assassin was never meant to confront enemies head-on; no one would send Assassin-class Servants into a direct confrontation.

Caster's first half of the sentence, 'Assassin', was undoubtedly a lie, but what if the latter half, 'don't make a move', was true?

What if that witch was genuinely worried that her prey, 'Arthur', might be taken away by her Master?

Whoosh—

Suddenly, a wind began to blow through the forest.

It was an ominous wind, sharply different from the Strike Air of Artoria, chillingly stinging Kiritsugu's cheeks.

In the next moment, a shadow darker than the night silently appeared on the ground where Kiritsugu stood.

'...What happened?'

Kiritsugu felt as though the forest around him had become a blur.

At this moment, the land, covered in darkness, seemed to transform into a sea of chaos, with reality and illusion mixing, overlapping, and collapsing.

When Kiritsugu tried to observe the shape of the shadow, his breath suddenly stopped.

A massive figure, like a mountain, with sharp, gigantic wings, bringing calamity.

A terrifying dragon head, full of majesty and a luxurious crown, inscribed with blasphemy.

It resembled a dragon but was something far more horrifying than any dragon.

"!!!"

Before Kiritsugu could even begin to understand what was happening, his body acted first.

"Time Alter - Triple Accel!"

Without hesitation, Kiritsugu chanted a magecraft that accelerated his time to three times its normal speed.

In an instant, as the world outside Kiritsugu slowed down, the information reaching his retina was three times more than usual, and even his heartbeat and metabolism increased to three times their normal rates.

Kiritsugu dropped his anti-material sniper rifle at an almost unbelievable speed and quickly leaped out of the danger zone, starting to sprint through the forest.

One thing was certain—someone was planning to hunt him down.

Since Kiritsugu's combat style was to act decisively, he didn't hesitate to activate 'Time Alter - Triple Accel', which would cause severe aftereffects on his body. His speed was now beyond the range of human perception, even the previous attack of Artoria seemed slow in comparison.

After all, this wasn't achieved physically but by manipulating time.

In the Nasuverse, even though 'Time Manipulation' did not fall under the category of miracles like 'True Magic', cutting off the flow of time within a specific space from the external 'time flow' could, in a certain sense, be considered a form of Greater Magecraft.

However, Kiritsugu's personal application of it was known as 'Innate Time Control', where he utilized it on a small scale that applied only to himself.

If Kiritsugu used his 'Innate Time Control' while in pursuit, even an Assassin-class Servant with exceptional speed couldn't catch up to him.

Despite this, Kiritsugu clearly heard footsteps coming from behind, growing closer and closer.

However, this was not what frightened him.

If it were heroes like the Greek immortal or the Celtic hound known for their divine speed, even Kiritsugu couldn't outrun them with all his tricks. What truly made him frightened was that the pursuer closing in from behind had the same speed as him.

'How is this possible?! Could they have triple speed as well?!' Kiritsugu thought nervously.

Indeed, he guessed was somewhat right.

'Innate Time Control' was undoubtedly a terrifying and versatile magecraft, but there were exceptions. After all, there were certain 'existences' in this world that were unaffected by time, such as Root connectors or Beasts.

Anyone who possessed the skill known as 'Independent Manifestation' also had a fixed existence. As long as the conditions were met, they could appear freely in any era of human history.

Even more importantly, they transcended life, death, and time, making them highly resistant to instant death and time manipulation. When encountering a time manipulation expert, they could synchronize their time with this expert.

Of course, these rare existences were usually encountered once in a millennium—or that was how it should be.

While running with all his might, Kiritsugu was stunned to feel a hand gripping his shoulder tightly. Moreover, the hand reaching from behind had an irresistible force that held him in place.

Eventually, the hand adjusted Kiritsugu's shoulder, forcing him to turn around.

"!!!"

Although Kiritsugu had anticipated this outcome, he still sucked in a deep breath upon seeing who his pursuer was.

Surprisingly, the one who had caught up with him, who had activated 'Time Alter - Triple Accel', was none other than Caster's Master he had just killed half a minute ago.

At this moment, the boy—or rather, Ragna, smiled with a hint of irritation.

"Hey, old man, that hit earlier really hurt, you know?"

Standing in the moonlit forest with the moon as his backdrop, Ragna appeared truly elegant and charming. However, in Kiritsugu's distorted view, this black-haired, black-eyed boy seemed more like a monster—or even a devil.

"..."

Gritting his teeth, Kiritsugu muttered a chant again.

"Time Alter - Square Accel!"

Fourfold acceleration was the limit of his Innate Time Control.

As soon as he activated 'Time Alter - Square Accel', searing pain exploded in Kiritsugu's mind. He quickly leaped backward, escaping from Ragna's grasp, and pulled out his favorite single-shot pistol, 'Thompson Contender'.

BANG!

As the pistol roared, the flames it spewed instantly engulfed the boy in front of him.

Even so, the close-range chance of success did not make Kiritsugu complacent. He did not dare to be careless and maintained 'Time Alter - Square Accel' as he jumped backward, instantly creating a distance of several meters.

At this point, three questions arose in Kiritsugu's mind.

Firstly, why was the boy still alive and kicking?

Secondly, how did the boy manage to instantly move to his hidden position, and what was the shadow that appeared alongside the boy?

Thirdly, why did his Origin Bullet not affect the boy, and how did he manage to catch up?

Faced with so many unanswered questions, Kiritsugu's mind came to one conclusion—he had been set up.