A dimensional journey starting from the Dragon Clan

Chapter 1129 Fatal Romance

All the buildings in Fuyuki City that served as the magician's base were recorded on Emiya Kiritsugu's destruction list. The Hyatt Regency Fuyuki is one of them. Kiritsugu obtained the building's blueprints in advance and found the explosion point where the bomb would be set. As long as you are fully prepared, the actual operation will not even take an hour.

Although the evacuees were as far away from the possible impact of the building collapse as possible, they were still blown away by the dust generated by the collapse and fell into panic. While looking at the commotion of the crowd, Kiritsugu spotted a gap with less wind pressure and lit the cigarette in his hand.

"Maiya, how are you doing there?"

"There was no movement until the last thirty-two floors. The target did not escape from the building."

In that case - Kiritsugu looked at the ruins of the Fuyuki Hyatt that had been reduced to ashes with a slight sense of satisfaction and thought - Lord Kayneth, known as "Rod Elumeroy", must have died by now. Surrounded by rubble.

The thirty-second floor where Kayneth was located lost its support due to the chain reaction caused by the directional blasting. In the end, it was equivalent to a free fall from an altitude of 150 meters to the ground. No matter how strong the magic barrier is, it cannot protect the people indoors from such a powerful destructive force.

Suddenly, the cry of a child was heard, drawing Kiritsugu's attention from the ruins.

The mother of the child walked past Kiritsugu while holding the child who was crying out of fear. Both of them were only wearing pajamas, and their bodies were covered with white dust. They looked miserable.

Kiritsugu kept looking at the backs of mother and son... until his fingers were burned by a burning cigarette butt and he came back to his senses. Kiritsugu threw the half-burned cigarette to the ground and put it out with his paw.

Emiya Kiritsugu felt a little confused. Sentimentalism was absolutely not allowed for him. This kind of weak emotion will directly threaten your life and safety. However, he could not take a calm attitude towards his own failure.

Yes. Even if he didn't want to admit it, it was the fact that Kiritsugu suddenly saw the silhouettes of Ilia and Alice in the fleeing mother and son.

Emiya Kiritsugu once thought that there was no difference in sacrifice. All lives are equal, so just choose the path with less sacrifice. Under this judgment, the lives of women and children receive no special treatment.

Use the Holy Grail to save the world. And Kayneth is the one he has to exclude in order to win the Holy Grail. There are about a thousand people in the Fuyuki Hyatt Hotel, and the number of people the Holy Grail can save is at least five billion. If necessary, Kiritsugu could kill these tenants along with Kayneth.

So why did he deliberately set fire to cause such a commotion?

In the beginning, I took this strategy for granted. Kayneth deliberately set up many traps to prevent attacks. As a tactic to deal with his persistence, this trick indeed achieved practical results. The genius magician was proud of his iron wall, but he did not expect that the entire castle would be destroyed together while still remaining inside.

But, are these really the only things you have in mind?

Could it be that the sentimentality of hoping that the innocent tenants could escape in time was revealed unconsciously?

This is a fatal romance. If it were on the battlefield, someone so sentimental would definitely be killed by his opponent.

In order to stabilize the wavering emotions in his heart, Kiritsugu lit a cigarette again.

Degenerated. Although it is not known how much he has weakened, Emiya Kiritsugu is definitely worse now than he was nine years ago. If this continues, I'm afraid we won't be able to successfully win the Holy Grail War. In any case, it will not work without regaining the coldness and judgment of the past, and the sooner the better.

The Midnight Town, which was alarmed by the changes that had just occurred, finally began to commotion. Looking at the spectators who were gradually gathering on the roadside, Kiritsugu took a deep drag on his cigarette and picked up his mobile phone to give Maiya instructions to evacuate.

But what reached his ears was not the sound of his subordinates, but only the roar of metal colliding with metal.

············

The as-yet-unnamed steel lookout. At dawn when it is about to be completed, let's temporarily call it the 38th floor of the Fuyuki Center Building.

The construction work is already halfway through, and only the outer layer remains unpacked. This high-rise composite commercial building, which will become a landmark building on the ground floor of the new city of Fuyuki City, is now just an empty frame of reinforced concrete structure, being blown violently by the strong wind in the night sky.

The street lights on the ground and the stars in the sky all seemed so distant and dim. In this void, Kuu Maiya knelt down on one knee and remained motionless. The AUG sniper rifle with a night vision device that had been placed on her shoulder was resting on her upright left knee.

If the magician Kayneth notices Kiritsugu's plan and escapes from the window, Maiya Kuu who is ambushing here will snipe him. But it turned out that this preparation was completely unfounded.

"Maiya, how is the situation over there?"

Kiritsugu's questioning voice on the ground came from Kuu Maiya's earphones. Maiya, who was holding a rifle in both hands, switched her mobile phone to headphone mode, freeing her hands.

"There was no movement until the last thirty-second floor. The target did not escape from the hotel."

Maiya briefly reported the information she observed to Kiritsugu into the microphone beside her mouth. Although she had just witnessed a devastating destruction, there was no trace of excitement in her voice.

The surveillance mission here is over. Maiya took the bullets out of the gun that had finished its mission before it had a chance to appear, put it into the box, put the sniper rifle back on its back, stood up, and walked downstairs.

But at this time, she discovered something unusual.

It's not a general strangeness, but a more unclear change in the atmosphere. For soldiers who have experienced war for a long time, this murderous intention can be clearly felt.

"——My senses are very keen, Miss."

A low and cold male voice came from behind Maiya who stopped. The sound echoed in the empty reinforced concrete building, making it impossible to determine its origin.

Maiya didn't answer or ask any questions. She just calmly used her keen intuition to find the opponent's location and took out the 9mm pistol from her waist.

As for the third person who exists in this place and discovers Maiya's existence - no matter who he is, he can be the target of Maiya's shooting just for this reason.

"——Hmph, it's good to have such an awareness."

The man hiding in the darkness said as if he was mocking.

Just then, something was thrown from the darkness of a certain pillar to Maiya's feet.

Maiya, who instantly pointed the muzzle at the object, quickly pointed the muzzle at the location of the thrown object after realizing that the object was not dangerous. But even so, Maiya still used the corner of her eye to observe the things being thrown at her.

It's the carcass of a small animal.

bat. And judging from the fact that there is a CCD camera on the belly of this bat, it must be the bat that Maiya released as a familiar. This is the one that was placed next to Fuyuki Church and has lost information.

And the person who deliberately threw the bat's body over here knew who it was without asking. And the other party seemed to have no intention of hiding himself anymore. He slowly walked out from behind the pillar where he was hiding, exposing himself to Maiya's sight and gun.

The man in front of him, who was filled with a sense of majesty and oppression, was wearing a dark monastic uniform. Maiya knew him.

"Kotomine...Kirei..."

"Oh? This must be the first time I meet you. So how do you know who I am? Could it be that it was your premonition."

Maiya realized her gaffe and regretted it deeply.

Even when facing Maiya's gun, Kirei did not show a trace of uneasiness and continued to speak calmly.

"In that case, you must know a lot of other things, right? This is a perfect location to observe the 32nd floor of the Fuyuki Hyatt. Maybe there are some important people living there?"

This time it was Maiya's turn to be silent. But her heart was full of doubts. As one of the Masters of the Holy Grail War...and should keep himself well hidden, why would Kotomine Kirei appear in such a place? What is his real purpose? Woolen cloth?

On the other hand, Kirei slightly turned his gaze outside - landing on the Fuyuki Hyatt Regency Hotel, which had become a ruin. He stared blankly for a moment, then let out a long sigh.

"Even so - does he have to destroy the building together? Can he still be considered a magician by using this method? Or should he not be considered a magician in the first place?"

"..."

This man - Maiya was suddenly a little surprised - he knew everything. He knew about Emiya Kiritsugu. It was as if Emiya Kiritsugu knew about Kotomine Kirei.

"I'm the only one chattering, miss. Could you please say something - where is the man who was supposed to take your place here now?"

When asked about this, Maiya made a new judgment about Kotomine Kirei. The man in front of me must be killed.

Maiya's rapid-fire gunfire sounded. The power of the 9mm caliber, which is called a military bullet.\\nAlthough the lethality is good, it is not threatening enough. Therefore, in order to effectively kill the opponent, three consecutive shots to the abdomen are the key. Compared with the tiny fatal point that can kill instantly, attacking an easy-to-hit position to seriously injure people is more effective. This is the iron rule of shooting as a killing technique.

But despite this, Maiya's bullet hit not the internal organs under the monk's robe, but the hard concrete ground.

Kotomine Kirei's evasive movements, even with incredible speed, are not faster than the supersonic speed of bullets. Instead, he prejudged Maiya's thinking before she pulled the trigger and took action in advance. What should be amazed is Kotomine Kirei's judgment on tactics.

Pre-reading the timing of Maiya's shot, she avoided the bullet. Even in the field of magic, this is beyond the capabilities of ordinary people.

Not only that--

The person who turned over to hide at that moment was not Kirei but Maiya. Her right hand was covered in blood, and the pistol that should have been in her hand fell to the ground with a metallic sound. And her eyes full of surprise were fixed on the pillar she had been leaning against just now. The sharp blade stuck on the pillar shone with a cold light.

The thin blade with a length of more than one meter is reminiscent of a fencing weapon, and the hilt is very short for a sword. This is a throwing weapon exclusively used by the representatives of the Holy Church, and is called the "Black Key". Just now, this was the one who scratched the back of Maiya's right hand and knocked down her pistol. Kirei threw this weapon while dodging pistol bullets.

Although it is a weapon thrown by hand, it has the power to penetrate reinforced concrete pillars. But even so, he only shot down Maiya's pistol and did not intend to take his life. The purpose of deliberately using such a large amount of force is probably to seize the opponent's weapon and also destroy the opponent's fighting spirit. It's best to capture the opponent alive - after all, Maiya hasn't answered the question Kirei just asked.

"Not bad at all. He's quite agile."

Kirei, who had completely taken the initiative after the offensive and defensive reversal, walked over slowly and leisurely and said. And there was another black key in his hands. The long blade of the Black Key is entirely made of magic and is semi-solid. When carrying it, you only need to hold the small hilt. I'm afraid no one knows how many black keys Kirei carries under his loose monk uniform.

As one of the basic equipment of the Templar Church's agents, the Black Key is very powerful but very difficult to use. Those who can skillfully use its power must be experts with very high skills. And such a rare master seems to have been met by Maiya now.

Maiya is not a warrior, just a soldier. So for her, there is no record worth bragging about, only analysis of the battle situation. Kotomine Kirei's fighting ability was clearly superior to his own. In the current situation where there is neither equipment nor favorable terrain and strategies, it is wise to admit defeat.

"What's wrong Maiya? What happened?"

Kiritsugu's voice came from the headphones. The mobile phone in his pocket seemed to be still in contact with Kiritsugu on the ground. But——Maiya couldn’t answer now. He could hear Maiya's voice. The real purpose of that terrifying agent is not Maiya but Kiritsugu. Kirei's conclusion that Maiya is Kiritsugu's subordinate and that everything is done according to Kiritsugu's instructions is fully verified here.

"What's wrong? Aren't you asking for help? Emiya Kiritsugu is nearby, isn't he?"

Kirei didn't hesitate at all when he said the name, because he was already convinced that his judgment was correct. If Kiritsugu wants to get the Holy Grail, then he will definitely take action tonight.