I'm Shenji, what are you doing?

Kirei, who was finishing the post-perfection work, felt the smell of death as soon as he stepped into the chapel.

There is a little smell of blood and a little residual smell of gun smoke. Someone must have committed an unforgivable evil act in the temple of God.

Although he did not feel that there was an ambush, Kirei still moved cautiously and walked through the seats of believers - just when he came to the altar, he spotted the figure lying next to him.

"Father--"

The shout that came out of his mouth was weak and feeble. When Kirei saw Father Risei, the agent's honed eyesight had already seen the bullet hole that penetrated the priest's back and the blood on the ground.

Kirei felt as if his mind was completely numb, so he carefully examined his father's body with this feeling.

Rolling up the right sleeve of the monk's robe, he checked the number of trusteeship spells engraved on his wrist.

"No, how is this possible?"

Kirei exclaimed again.

He knew that his father's trusteeship command spell was protected by powerful holy words, and it was almost impossible to be stripped away by magic without his permission. But now, all these Command Seals have disappeared, how can Kirei not be surprised.

After being surprised, Kirei forced himself to calm down and continued the inspection.

The right hand was intact, with no traces of magic or other abnormalities, proving that the command spell was removed in a normal way - so Risei took the initiative to give it to him?

The only person to whom his father was willing to actively give the Command Seal was his teacher, Tokiomi Tohsaka, but if it was the teacher, it would be impossible for him to kill his father. That person's pride would not allow him to do so. Moreover, even if he really wanted to kill his father, he would not use a gun, but magic. After three years of study, Kirei knew Tokiomi very well and would not make any mistakes.

That is how the matter? Does anyone but the Father Himself know that “Holy Word”?

With such doubts, Kirei continued to examine his father's body.

Kirei raised his father's right hand and found that there were blood stains different from bleeding on the fingertips of his right hand. These were traces of friction. Before Father Li Zheng died, he put his own blood on his finger and smeared it somewhere.

Now that I'm aware of this, I can easily find the blood-stained writing with a little searching.

On the floor were the red last words "jn424" written in mottled strokes - if you had nothing to do with religious belief, you might think it was a secret code with unknown meaning. But Kirei inherited Risheng's devout faith, and to him, the meaning of these last words couldn't be clearer.

"The Gospel of John" Chapter 4 Verse 24, this is probably the "holy word", and it is also the inheritance and trust that the father wants to entrust to his son before his death, hoping that his son can inherit his identity and responsibility as a supervisor.

But——this code was cracked by others.

Kirei thoughtfully picked up the Bible from his father's hand. With this, even people who had nothing to do with the church could decipher this code. After all, the Gospel of John was not low in popularity.

Is my father careless? The "Bible" he had always carried with him became a tool for the murderer to decipher the "Holy Word".

No, not necessarily the murderer.

If the murderer had not left, his father might not have left a code, and even if he had, he might not have left such an obvious code.

Perhaps after the murderer left, someone came to the church to visit his father, only to find that his father was dead. They cracked the "Holy Word" through the code and transferred the command spell.

Yes, this makes sense. Caster is dead, and the masters of Saber, Lancer, Rider, and Assassin may all come to visit their father and obtain the promised additional Command Seals.

The murderer of his father may be one of them, or he may be the master of Berserker who did not participate in the war.

The brain that came to the conclusion relaxed, and tears fell from Kirei's eyes unconsciously, making him feel extremely shocked.

Seeing his father's body and feeling his father's legacy made him cry... This is a natural reaction for a person. But at this moment, Kirei seemed to have missed a step on the edge of an abyss, falling into a chaotic emotion that was almost fearful.

Never look directly in the eyes - the inner voice warned myself seriously.

Kotomine Kirei, you absolutely cannot understand or agree with the feelings that are welling up in your heart right now. that is because--

Tears, when was the last time he shed tears.

Yes, it was that unforgettable three years ago when my deceased wife held up the tears that fell with her hands and said, "You love me."

Just when Kirei was trying to resist the memories that kept flooding into his heart, an inexplicable impulse that was completely different from the emotions in the memories came to his heart.

hunger!

Thirst!

impulse!

The eye-catching red color quietly invaded Kirei's reason.

Like someone who has been hungry for many days without eating.

Like a person who has been thirsty for many days without drinking water.

It seems like someone who has been abstinent for many days.

The red blood was exuding a strange, irresistible temptation, beating against the defenses of Kirei's mind and common sense like a wave.

It's this again, the same as when we were in Caster's workshop!

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why does blood attract me?

Why do I crave blood?

How can humans treat the blood of the same kind?

Could it be that this is what Gilgamesh said about my abnormality?

So why haven’t we had this urge before?

The thoughts in his mind did not affect the movements of his hands, which were trembling—the hands that had taken many lives without trembling were now trembling—reaching for the blood that had not yet dried on the ground.

cannot!

cannot!

cannot!

Reason keeps reminding me.

However, there was another voice roaring crazily in my heart.

want to!

want to!

want to!

Kirei felt that his body was divided into two parts, the physical desire and the rational soul.

The two were constantly fighting, moving their hands up and down next to the blood, like a patient suffering from madness.

Perhaps this is what a certain saint meant when he said about fighting the demons in your heart.

Maybe, after I defeat this demon, I will become a normal person?

Or maybe, I will be completely assimilated by the devil and degenerate into a devil?

Struggling.

Fighting.

Kirei didn't give up.

He is resisting and working hard. Believers of God cannot lose to the temptation of the devil.

I don't know how long it took, but the desire and impulse for blood gradually faded away, replaced by an unspeakable emptiness.

Kirei stared at his father's cold body in silence, his heart filled with deathly silence, like a wasteland burned by wildfire.

“…Our heavenly Father, may your name be glorified, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”

Kirei suddenly sang the Lord's Prayer, which he was accustomed to praying every day, as if he was praying for his father, and also seemed to be repenting.

“Forgive us our sins, as we forgive others, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…Amen.”

As the Holy Sign of the Cross falls on the forehead, chest, left shoulder, and right shoulder, the deep meaning behind the tears and the inexplicable impulses are sealed.

In the far west, in an ancient city that has been silent for hundreds of years.

A pair of bright red eyes suddenly opened, and incomparable golden light shone from the pupils. Then they fell silent the next second, and then the pair of bright red eyes closed.

The ancient city was once again shrouded in darkness, as if nothing had happened.