The air in the old castle was filled with the smell of gunpowder and smoke.
Facing the copper walls and iron barriers constructed from Volumen Hydrargyrum, Kiritsugu Emiya unhesitatingly pulled the trigger of his right hand.
The sharp gunshot once again broke the silence of the old castle.
The bullet, fired from Kiritsugu Emiya's right hand, was like a flash of lightning, instantly striking the thorny forest made of Volumen Hydrargyrum.
The moment the bullet touched the “mercury thorns,” the thorny forest closed in like a Venus flytrap, enveloping the bullet, attempting to change its trajectory and neutralize its power.
Just as Kenneth proudly believed he had perfectly used his fluid manipulation Magecraft to control Volumen Hydrargyrum and block the bullet aimed at him, he triumphantly thought he had completed the Magecraft beautifully.
Intense pain suddenly erupted from his chest, followed by the pain spreading throughout his entire body.
Kenneth's high-density Magic Circuits within his body suddenly began to run wild, ignoring their pathways.
Beyond seven steps, the gun was fast; within seven steps, the gun was both accurate and fast.
Kenneth had no idea what was happening to his body.
Blood gushed from his throat before he could even scream.
Erratic movements caused by shattered nerves made all his muscles twitch violently, making him look like he was performing a grotesque dance.
However, the culprit behind all this was merely a single bullet—an origin bullet.
What is an Origin?
It is the cause of beginning, the “substance” born from the vortex of all origins.
It delves deeper than the previous life's previous life, it is the direction of things that occur from the cause of beginning, it refers to the impulse generated in the chaos of the Root, it is the absolute command that allows all tangible things to exist.
If an attribute is the fundamental element that defines Magecraft, then what defines the fundamental nature of existence, even deeper than that, is “Origin.”
Kiritsugu Emiya's attributes are a dual combination of “Fire” and “Earth,” more specifically, a composite of “Severing” and “Binding.”
“Severing” and “Binding” are the innate forms of his soul, and the true nature of his “Origin.”
Unlike “destruction” and “regeneration,” Kiritsugu Emiya's “Origin” does not imply “restoration.”
Instead, after a “line” is severed and then crudely bound back together, the point of severing and binding undergoes an irreversible “deterioration.”
If it were a simple, ordinary object, even if it were severed and then re-bound, it would be harmless.
However, the more precise the machine, the more fatally damaged it becomes after being “severed” and “bound.”
Magic Circuits are precisely such incredibly precise things.
They are not simple objects that can be used just by connecting them; rather, they are “precision machines” that require meticulous maintenance.
When Kiritsugu Emiya created his Magic Crest, he surgically removed his first and second ribs from both sides of his flank.
He ground the extracted ribs into powder, condensed them using soul engineering, and sealed them as bullet cores into sixty-six bullets.
These sixty-six bullets were known as “origin bullets.”
Targets struck by an origin bullet immediately experience the “severing” and “binding” phenomenon, and the affected area enters a necrotic state.
That is, on the surface, it looks like a healed old wound, but in reality, the nerves and capillaries have not regenerated, causing the organism to lose its original function.
And once it hits a Magus, an even more terrifying phenomenon occurs.
In cases where Magecraft is involved, the “Origin” within the bullet severely backfires onto the practitioner's Magic Circuits.
It's like a drop of water falling onto a circuit board that is under high-voltage current, causing the current to run wild and the entire circuit board to suffer a severe malfunction.
In previous missions, thirty-seven of the sixty-six “origin bullets” had already been used, with each bullet representing the destruction of a Magus's Magic Circuits.
This thirty-eighth “origin bullet” had once again severed a Magus's “lifeline.”
The lethality of an “origin bullet” also depends on the number of Magic Circuits the target has activated, which is why Kiritsugu Emiya continuously provoked Kenneth, making him enraged and activating all the Magic Circuits in his body.
When Kenneth's Magic Circuits were activated to their maximum, it would be the time of his defeat.
Facing Kenneth, who was lying on the ground twitching and convulsing, Kiritsugu Emiya felt no emotion.
Just as in previous missions, all of this was the result of guidance and calculation.
Nothing more.
Kiritsugu Emiya aimed the gun in his left hand at Kenneth's forehead.
When a Magus loses the ability to control Magecraft, even Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald, who possessed the title of genius in the magical world, could be ended with just a single ordinary bullet.
With this one shot, one team in the Holy Grail War would be declared defeated.
The moment Kiritsugu Emiya aimed at Kenneth's head, a massive surge of magical energy rapidly approached.
Kiritsugu Emiya fired without hesitation.
But he was ultimately a step too late.
A green figure, bursting from the floor, wielded indiscernible red and yellow twin spears, blocking all the bullets.
Facing Lancer, who had burst from the ground, Kiritsugu Emiya could only click his tongue.
It seemed that Saber, with her injured wrist, could not hold off Lancer.
Lancer stared at Kiritsugu with cold eyes, twin spears in hand, standing between Kiritsugu Emiya and his Master, preventing Kiritsugu Emiya from harming his Master.
“Lan...cer...kill...kill...kill him.”
Kenneth, lying on the floor like a living corpse, his face as pale as paper, issued his final, weak, and hoarse command.
After giving the order, he completely fainted.
His voice was so faint, yet it caused Kiritsugu Emiya's expression to change.
His bullets were ineffective against Lancer, and he was no match for Lancer himself.
The tables had turned; Kiritsugu Emiya focused intently on Lancer, preparing to activate “Innermost Time Control” again to buy himself some breathing room.
Just as Kiritsugu Emiya felt troubled, a familiar magical energy emanated from beneath his feet.
A blue figure broke through the floor and leaped up from the lower level, Saber, clad in armor, stood in front of Kiritsugu Emiya.
Saber's face showed some fatigue, but her eyes were exceptionally firm and profound.
Seeing Kenneth lying incapacitated, she knew that this Master-level duel had been won by her Master.
“Sorry, I'm late.”
“No, you're just in time.”
Seeing Saber standing before him, Kiritsugu Emiya breathed a sigh of relief; only a Servant could stop a Servant.
A Master fighting a Servant was undoubtedly a suicidal act.
Lancer, seeing Saber blocking his path, knew that he could not kill the opposing Master in a short amount of time.
Unless he completely disregarded his Master's life and abandoned the best time to save him.
Lancer sensed that his Master's life was like a candle in the wind, with no room for even a moment's delay.
He immediately picked up the two spears with his right hand, lifted Kenneth's body with his left hand, then, carrying Kenneth, smashed through the nearby window and leaped out of the castle.
Seeing Lancer carrying Kenneth and escaping, Kiritsugu Emiya did not tell Saber to pursue.
Grievously wounding Kenneth was already a stroke of luck, and besides, there was a more important task at hand—finding Irisviel.
Kiritsugu Emiya, along with Saber, followed the traces of Irisviel and Maiya's retreat, but could not find Irisviel anywhere.
Only in one part of the forest did they find a chaotic battlefield.
Broken trees, residual blood, and traces of magical energy and bullet casings undoubtedly indicated that Irisviel and Maiya had encountered a terrible enemy there.
But at this moment, neither of them was present.
Nor did he find any secret messages Maiya had left for him.
“Irisviel, Maiya, where are you?”
At this moment, the man named Kiritsugu Emiya finally panicked completely.