MMMS 86

Just moments ago, she had believed she could hold her own. But now, watching Kotomine smash through a wall with brute force while still bound, that confidence cracked.

Before she could react, he was already in front of her and knocked the silver blade from her grip. A single kick swept her off her feet.

Irisviel hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the air from her lungs.

Kirei looked down at her with cold indifference, then slowly reached inside his coat.

A Black Key.

He drew the weapon slowly, raising it as if performing a ritual. Just as he was about to thrust it into her chest—

He stopped.

His brow furrowed slightly, a flicker of confusion breaking through his usually unreadable expression.

Only then did he notice.

The Servant who had accompanied him into the castle… was gone.

“…?”

His entire body froze, instincts kicking in.

Something was wrong.

A chill crept up his spine.

From the far end of the corridor, a voice echoed out of the darkness.

“Hey, old man. Is this what you were looking for?”

Thunk… thunk… thunk…

Something rolled across the floor.

It came to a stop against his ankle.

He looked down.

“…!!!”

A severed head. Blood-drenched. Still faintly twitching.

And then, from the shadows, a boy stepped forward.

Black hair. Calm eyes. A quiet smile that made the temperature in the hall drop even further.

He pointed casually at the grisly object.

“Here. I’m returning your toy, Father Kotomine.”

…

A few minutes ago…

“Woman, let me ask you something.” Kirei stood over her, looking down with the same unreadable expression. “Why didn’t you run?”

“……”

Irisviel didn’t answer. She bit her lower lip hard, her crimson eyes glaring up at him, full of anger.

“I’ll ask again.” His voice didn’t change. “Where does your will to fight come from?”

He wasn’t taunting her. He genuinely wanted to know.

Why would a soulless doll stand against him?

There was no Command Seal on her hand. With Lancer still alive, that could only mean she’d lost her contract. Most likely, it was that black-haired boy who had taken them from her.

By all logic, the Einzbern family had already lost. Completely.

To him, she was a doll. A manufactured being with no soul. She had no reason to act beyond what she’d been ordered to do. She should’ve given up the moment she lost her Servant.

His mind ran through every possible reason. Pride? Orders? Programming? Hatred?

He rejected each one.

None of them explained her.

None of them made sense.

And that bothered him more than he expected.

Kirei’s thoughts circled back again.

There had to be some reason for this woman’s behavior.

Surely she wasn’t risking her life to protect that black-haired boy—the one who had crushed the Einzbern family’s wish, and quite possibly killed her husband?

…Absurd.

That monster had severed Gilgamesh’s arm. Someone capable of that wasn’t the kind of person a fragile, powerless woman should be trying to protect.

And yet, Kirei couldn’t think of any other reason.

He scoffed inwardly. Women are selfish by nature. If she was throwing her life away for him, there was only one explanation that made sense to him.

Love.

Whether it was romantic attachment, maternal instinct, or the twisted bond formed through Stockholm syndrome… a cocktail like that could easily twist a woman’s heart. Turn her irrational. Make her desperate to shield the boy at all costs.

Selfish. Irrational. Pathetic.

Kirei felt a flicker of disappointment settle over him. He had hoped there was something deeper.

Tokiomi’s order was simple—retrieve the vessel of the Grail. But he hadn’t said anything about bringing it back intact.

Injuries sustained in battle are unavoidable, Kirei reasoned, almost too casually, as he reached inside his robes.

His fingers closed around the Black Key.

Slowly, he drew it out and spoke softly into the air.

“Berserker. I’ve secured the Grail vessel. Prepare to retreat.”

His words weren’t meant for Irisviel. He was contacting the Servant who had accompanied him—one of the few reasons he’d been able to enter this castle at all.

[Wanderer of the Misty Night]. That was the skill Berserker had. It granted concealment on par with high-level Presence Concealment, but only during nighttime. A distorted variant of [Murder on the Misty Night]—the signature skill of the Assassin version of Jack the Ripper—repurposed and built into this Berserker’s Saint Graph.

Without that skill, Kirei would never have made it past the layered Bounded Fields woven throughout the forest.

He couldn’t help but admire it again—just how versatile and powerful his Servant truly was.

That said… the castle’s defenses were surprisingly weak. The Bounded Fields layered over the forest had been impressive, but within these frozen halls, the silence was unsettling. He could hear every faint echo, every shift in the air. It was too quiet.

Still, there was no response from Berserker.

Kirei frowned.

Why wasn’t he answering?

He slowly lowered the Black Key that had been aimed at Irisviel’s stomach.

“…Don’t tell me...”

The realization hit just a second too late.

Gurgle… gurgle…

Something wet rolled across the floor, dragging a trail behind it.

“…!”

It struck his ankle with a dull, sickening thump.

A severed human head. Blood still dripping. Eyes frozen wide in terror, as if the man had witnessed something truly unspeakable right before the end.

From the shadows, a voice called out—calm, almost casual.

“Here. I’m returning your toy, Father Kotomine.”

A black-haired boy stepped into the dim corridor. His pace was unhurried, expression unreadable under the cold lighting.

“You anticipated I’d come here?” Kirei asked, narrowing his eyes.

The boy gave a small shrug, then nodded. “More or less. Didn’t think Irisviel would try to fight you, though—that one’s on me.”

He paused, expression sharpening just a bit.

“But laying a hand on my woman… you already knew that’s not something you walk away from.”

…It was him.

Even through the haze of pain, Irisviel recognized the voice. She forced her crimson eyes open, and despite her blurred vision, the silhouette standing there came into focus. It really was him.

Just seeing his face filled her with relief. No—this wasn’t just relief. It was the first time she’d ever seen him look like this.

His pale, handsome face twisted into a smile, but his eyes—those pitch-black pupils—looked like they could swallow everything. He was furious.

Because she’d been hurt.

Even as her body trembled from the lack of air, something bloomed deep in her chest. Joy. Warm, overwhelming joy that pushed the pain aside for just a moment.

“Ugh!”

A sudden force yanked her off the ground. Kirei had thrown her like a ragdoll—straight at Ryuuto.

“Whoa.” He caught her easily, arms wrapping around her in a princess carry.

The killing intent came next. The moment Kirei let her go, he hurled the Black Key he'd been holding—aimed straight at her stomach.

Just before it could hit, Ryuuto casually raised his hand and caught it midair.

Shnk.

The blade drove straight through his left palm.

“Ah… AAH!” Irisviel’s voice broke. Her eyes went wide as she stared at the blood dripping from his hand.

With a sharp click of his tongue, Ryuuto pulled the blade free with his other hand. Irisviel instinctively turned away, covering her face with both arms. It felt too real—too raw—to watch someone rip open their own wound without hesitation. Blood gushed from his hand, and she could hear it splattering on the ground.

Kirei remained still.

He didn’t react. He hadn’t shown a flicker of emotion from the start. But that wasn’t surprising. He already knew what he was up against. Fighting someone who had taken down the King of Heroes wasn’t just reckless—it was suicide.

The mission had failed.

And that was the end of it.

Now that Kiritsugu had fallen too, there was nothing left here that interested him. Like a spring-loaded machine, Kirei suddenly bolted, disappearing into the darkness without a second thought.

“You think you can just break into my house and leave without asking?” Ryuuto’s voice was cold.

He hurled the Black Key after him.

BOOM.

The air behind Kirei exploded. It wasn’t a spell. It was a sonic boom.

The Black Key had broken the sound barrier.

Tokiomi had once guessed that this strange black-haired boy was Caster in disguise. Maybe he had used some bizarre magecraft to overwhelm Gilgamesh’s Ea. But this…

What Kirei saw now wasn’t magecraft. It was pure physical force.

He had thrown that Black Key faster than sound—with his bare arm.

What kind of monster was this!?

“…??” Irisviel blinked in disbelief, still held tightly in Ryuuto’s arms. She had no idea what she’d just witnessed.

Just before the Black Key could hit Kirei, something unexpected happened.

Five tall men suddenly appeared behind him, right in the weapon’s path. They didn’t move. They didn’t speak. Each of them had the same eerily identical face, like mass-produced dolls dressed in flesh.

The Black Key tore through them one by one, punching straight through their chests without slowing. No screams. No reaction. Not even a twitch. They stood there like living sacrifices, unmoving even as they were impaled.

Only after the fifth body slowed the weapon down did it finally drop to the ground.

But by then, Kirei was gone.