The Endless Shuttle

"Hahaha, you are so interesting."

I don't know which nerve of Gilgamesh was poked, Iwamine Kirei frowned and looked at the laughing Golden King.

"Archer, what's so funny about that?"

"You lack the awareness of your own pleasure." Gilgamesh said, shaking his glass. "Since positive things can't make you feel happy, what about negative things? For example...the 'despair' and 'pain' of others."

"King of Heroes, only a demonic person like you would be happy to savor the pain of others. However, doing so is the soul of a sinner and a crime that should be punished."

Kotomine Kirei said solemnly, his appearance was as noble as an ascetic for a moment.

"Haven't you tried it yet? Huh..."

Gilgamesh sneered. "What is the contradiction between pain and despair and 'pleasure'? The so-called pleasure has no specific form. It is precisely because you don't understand this that you will be confused about your own desires."

"Archer, are you instigating me to commit a crime?"

"It depends on how you understand it." Gilgamesh said leisurely. "If you think pleasure itself is a sin—yes."

"...As the overseer of the church, I, the son of Kotomine Risei, how could I join forces with you." Kotomine Kirei retorted, but in the depths of his heart, there was an uncontrollable tremor.

——Pain, can it really bring a different feeling to the empty self?

"Hehe, I see. Is that why you, who are bound by inertia, seek the Holy Grail to explain your own meaning? What a pathetic person."

"As I said, my wish has been fulfilled, that is... eh!!"

Just when Kirei was about to refute a few more words, suddenly a sharp pain spread all over his body, causing him to bend down involuntarily.

"—!?"

On the part of his left forearm close to the elbow, there was a burning pain. Although he didn't know the reason, Kirei had indeed experienced this feeling before. Kirei had already experienced the same painful and weird feeling as now three years ago. At that time, it was on his left arm. That's also when it all started.

The pain was gradually replaced by bursts of burning heat. Kirei stopped thinking because of surprise, but unconsciously rolled up the sleeves of his clothes and checked his wrists.

On his left arm, the stigmata of fate suddenly appeared. The remaining Command Seals, which had been used against Assassin once and part of their patterns disappeared, reappeared with their original size.

"Sure enough, it's exactly what I thought, but it came too fast."

Gilgamesh seemed to have expected this outcome long ago, showing a happy smile.

"Kirei, no matter how much you deceive yourself to the point where you even believe it, only the Holy Grail cannot be fooled by you. The reappearance of the Command Seal proves that it has seen through the depths of your heart, which means that ...the thing called the 'Holy Grail' is an item that can truly fulfill your wishes."

"How can it be--"

Kotomine Kirei looked at the back of his hand in disbelief.

"You said the Holy Grail, and you saw through me?" His voice was filled with eagerness. The human being named 'Kotomine Kirei' is looking for the meaning of his own existence.

"certainly."

Gilgamesh stood up, walked to the side of Kotomine Kirei, and whispered like an ancient snake that tempted Adam to eat the forbidden fruit.

"It just so happens that this king also wants to change to a Master. Shichen is really outrageous and meaningless at all... So, Kirei, are you interested in creating your first happiness with your own hands? The one called 'Betrayal' Ultimate pleasure...”

Kotomine Kirei just kept silent and didn't answer.

But he already had the answer in his heart.

PS: The voice of the captain is really pretentious after the revision, and the experience of Shi Chen and his voice are amazingly accompanied, such as "turn around and get a dagger"...

Chapter 70: King to King, General to General

At night, outside Tohsaka’s house, on the hillside where Assassin once fought——

"... Mr. Rope, can you take your hand away? That would make me feel bad."

Irisviel said with some uneasiness.

I really don't blame Iris Viel, since just now, Luo Pei, who captured her and is her current collaborator, has been holding her shoulder with his right hand. That kind of appearance looks like a close lover to outsiders, but Irisviel himself is a bit unacceptable.

"Miss Irisviel. I did this to protect the lovely you, and it would be too bad if you escaped."

Lo Pei casually made up a high-sounding reason, which made Saber frown uncontrollably.

"Rope, this is on the battlefield, please pay attention. Since Irisviel agreed to ally with you, then you should also give her some trust in the alliance."

"..." Irisviel was speechless.

As for Diarmuid... He thought for so long that he already knew the character of his lord, and it was useless to say it, so he might as well just shut up and obey the next order.

"makes sense……"

Lopez scratched his chin, and let go of Irisviel.

Standing at the very edge of the hillside, with the magnificent Tohsaka house below, Luo Pei squatted down to observe carefully.

From the sharper sight of Mad Hell, the magic barrier outside the courtyard has been destroyed by Assassin's self-directed and self-acted, but the inside of the house is impenetrable. Although those barriers cannot be compared with the 'temple' forged by Matou Zouken, they win in terms of numbers.

Tosaka Tokiomi, a standard magician, fully demonstrated the magic handed down by his family. As far as Luo Pei saw, there were three gemstones with the effect of 'strong curse' buried on the steps at the door.

——However, none of the above works against Heroic Spirits.

"Saber, do you have any good suggestions?" He turned around and asked. "In any case, we are the offensive side, so it's not rational to rush into the defensive side's position like this?"

"Unleash your magic power and send a battle invitation to Archer!"

"I agree." Diarmuid seconded.

"You guys are really full of energy, Gilgamesh suffered a loss once, will he be fooled again?"

Luo Pei was a little incredulous, he thought that the hero king should not be so mentally handicapped.

"As long as his personality remains unchanged, he will definitely come." Saber said firmly.

"...Forget it, anyway, your king's thinking is really hard to understand."

Sighing, Rope turned his head and continued to observe.

After the "King in Yellow" last time, the great secrets that I can use now are quite poor, not to mention "Cthulhu's Abyss of Dreams", and even the "Prisoner of Despair for the Humble" can only barely of use. This is not a question of magic power. A human being who continues to use the power of the old ruler will eventually experience irreversible erosion. The current limitation is only his body's self-protection.

To sum up, he no longer possesses the strength to confront the Heroic Spirit head-on for the time being, so he will try his best to turn his opponent into Tosaka Tokiomi...or Kotomine Kirei.

I hope that Father Mapo has killed his master, so that it can be a little easier...

"It's really a strong enough 'castle'. I'm not very proficient in gem magic. It's very difficult to crack one by one..."

But if it is not cracked, even if a substitute steps on it, something will happen.