Fate/Magus Path

Kiritsugu Emiya, known as the Magus Killer, is considered a disgrace in the magus community. With a horrifying record of hunting down hundreds of magus, he is regarded as a dangerous figure in the moonlit world.

Yet, at this moment, such an outstanding individual feels an overwhelming sense of sorrow.

The pale-faced man, with blood trickling from the corners of his mouth, endures excruciating pain throughout his paralyzed body. The agony contorts his expression into a grimace, and if he could, he would want to smoke a cigarette to calm himself.

However, his equally disheveled servant, Artoria, who is dragging him with a handcart, clearly doesn't understand his intentions. The master and servant, one struggling to drag, the other lying helplessly, make their way through the small grove.

Seeing that Saber has no intention of assisting him, Kiritsugu sighs, enduring the pain as he raises his already paralyzed hand to grope for a cigarette in his pocket, then lights it using magecraft.

The man named Kiritsugu Emiya smokes a cigarette while recalling the tragic battle.

This fight can only be described as a total defeat.

First, from the master's perspective, Kiritsugu exchanged half of his life for crucial intelligence yesterday. He encountered a Lord from the Clock Tower, specifically the Lord of the Department of Mineralogy, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, one of the highest figures in the mysterious world.

Although the Einzbern patriarch had informed him beforehand that two opponents were orthodox magus from the Clock Tower, he never expected a Lord would appear, and a particularly outrageous one at that.

Typically, a noble like Kayneth, a Lord-level figure from the Clock Tower, would be exceedingly proud. As a magus, his arrogance would far exceed that of other magus, and when facing opponents far beneath his level in magecraft, he would undoubtedly look down upon them and refuse to use his full strength, making the arrogant mistake of underestimating his enemies.

Kiritsugu only needed to seize a moment of Kayneth's carelessness to take him down; the secret of the Origin Bullet was a surefire kill against these magus.

However, for some reason, this guy seemed to have been stimulated.

Attending a rural magical ceremony, he was completely armed from head to toe with mystic codes... defense, decoys, concealment... various msytic codes that could be said to cover everything that could save his life.

What's worse, this guy never truly revealed himself. Even when he located Kiritsugu, he didn't use his real body but sent out high-level magical puppets that could pass for him to test Kiritsugu.

After enduring a fierce life-and-death struggle, and paying the price of his current state, Kiritsugu finally confirmed that he had hit the Origin Bullet into Kayneth's body. He felt the relief of a victor, only for the next moment to see another Kayneth appear around the corner.

At that moment, his heart shattered.

Recalling the events of last night, he had used his severe injuries as bait, pretending to be driven into a corner and launching a crazy, unstructured counterattack, even using modern gadgets. Kiritsugu, with his pitifully low magical achievements, had naturally received Kayneth's disdain.

To seize this golden opportunity, Kiritsugu even risked his life to unleash a terrifying fivefold acceleration of his Time Alter, quickly closing the distance, then throwing a flashbang in Kayneth's face, and finally firing the Origin Bullet for a surprise shot.

The plan was excellent, and its execution went smoothly, showcasing Kiritsugu's selfless determination, clever mind, and astonishing explosive power with the fivefold acceleration.

With all these advantages combined, along with the surprise of the flashbang and Origin Bullet, Kiritsugu successfully killed Kayneth… or rather, his decoy.

When he saw Kayneth start to convulse and fall to the ground, Kiritsugu smiled. Although the price he paid was a bit high, he had succeeded in driving away this greatest threat, the Lord of the Department of Mineralogy. It was worth it!

Then Kayneth laughed too. Although he had wasted the expensive high-level magical puppet he had bought from that woman, he had also figured out Kiritsugu's magecraft and the Origin Bullet, removing a huge risk for himself. That was worth it too!

In the situation where both sides felt they had profited, it was clear that Kayneth had gained more.

So, amid Kiritsugu's relieved laughter, Kayneth applauded him, and then walked out from another corner completely unharmed, leaving Kiritsugu dumbfounded.

Taking a deep drag from his cigarette, Kiritsugu felt utterly dejected. That damned Lord of the Department of Mineralogy was clearly powerful but had been so cautious that he left no way out for his opponent.

If it hadn't been for that white-haired boy in priest clothing interrupting the battle last night, he would have been cut to pieces by Kayneth's mercury sword by now.

On the other side, Artoria wasn't in much better shape than Kiritsugu. Last night, she had also suffered a harsh defeat.

First, she was tricked by Fionn, leading her to challenge them on his home turf, almost drowning in the seawater. Then, the Gilgamesh who showed up next looked down on her completely, his gaze filled with disdain as if he were looking at some inferior counterfeit.

The subsequent appearance of the Black Knight and Iskandar didn't make things easier. After their conversation, the Black Knight suddenly attacked her furiously, forcing her into yet another humiliating battle.

However, the good news was that she had roughly grasped the situation of the other factions last night.

First was the Lancer with golden hair, whose combat skills was unfathomable and who excelled at using the power of water. Whether in battle or healing, he was outstanding. After fighting for so long, the injuries and exhaustion she suffered were healed by him using a bottle of mineral water for a remarkably effective healing spell, while she was left exhausted and dirty, he was completely unharmed.

He could both deal damage and heal... truly a cheat. Without using a Noble Phantasm, she had no confidence in defeating him.

Then there was Rider Iskandar, who introduced himself to everyone and invited her to join his ranks. Although he seemed hot-blooded and reckless, the pressure from such a top-tier Servant couldn't be ignored.

Next came Archer, whose arrogant demeanor left a deep impression on her. He didn't conceal anything, clearly treating everyone present as trash, seemingly intending to take down everyone.

Of course, the power he demonstrated in easily suppressing the Black Knight made it clear to everyone that he was a top-tier Servant. The Black Knight was no slouch either, and she, having experienced his strength firsthand, understood this best.

If it weren't for the first night, when no one wanted to rush into battle, she figured she would have had a hard time getting out of the harbor last night.

After this night, the master and servant were both exhausted, but Kiritsugu knew he couldn't rest yet; he had many issues to deal with.

He needed to track down the whereabouts of the still-hidden Assassin and Caster. Who was the boy priest that had helped him last night? What were his motives? And how should he deal with Kayneth and the other masters?

There were just too many things to handle, and he needed to formulate a plan quickly.

He had to get back to the base for treatment; time wouldn't allow him to delay any longer. Kiritsugu exhaled the cigarette butt from his mouth and instructed Saber, "Faster, Saber."

...

Looking at the sample of the origin bullet collected in the test tube, Kayneth let out a breath, still feeling a lingering fear. After several hours of research, he had fully understood the secret of the Magus Killer.

"The clever combination of fire and earth, combined with the properties of Kiritsugu, although the craftsmanship is very crude, the power of this composite attribute is still terrifying."

"Kiritsugu Emiya... it's unexpected that someone would actually write their greatest secret in their name. No wonder the magical puppet and substitutes collapse the moment they come into contact with this bullet."

"Now it's time for questions. May I ask this El-Melloi II, what will happen if a magus is hit by this bullet?"

Glancing at the trembling Waver Velvet, Kayneth asked, a bit irritated.

"I know." Rider, who had been sitting beside them for a while, suddenly clapped his hands as if realizing something, "Nothing will happen, because it gets cut and then reconnected! This is really simple."

Kayneth twitched his mouth, "This idiot."

"Foolish Rider, if it had no effect, how could Professor be so wary of this thing?" Waver shook his head, saying irritably. "Do you think everyone is as stupid as you?"

"Isn't it wrong?" Iskandar scratched his head, mumbling, "But I'm not a magus; how could I understand this kind of thing?"

"Then don't ramble on!"

"Professor, the bullet's effect is to disrupt and reconnect, right? If hit by this bullet, the magus's magic circuits will be disrupted at the moment of operation and then violently reconnected." Waver quickly thought of the answer.

"Correct. This thing indeed has that effect, and its power is quite terrifying." Kayneth nodded.

"That's truly frightening." Waver's face turned pale. A small bullet could easily doom a magus; this kind of weapon instinctively filled him with fear.

"Huh? What's wrong with that? Isn't cutting and reconnecting a good thing? Where did I go wrong?" Iskandar scratched his head in confusion.

As expected... this guy is a fool.

"King of Conquerors, you are mistaken. Think about it, although it will be reconnected, the location will be disordered. For ordinary people, this is similar to vascular disarray; misconnected blood vessels will hinder normal blood flow. For magus, it's like replacing their magic circuits with blood vessels." Fionn who had been silent, finally spoke up.

"Yes, vascular disarray means death, so if a magus is hit by this, they will die, right?" Iskandar stroked his chin, finally coming up with the answer.

"That's right. If a magus is hit by this, all their magic circuits will be violently tangled together, which is not much different from direct death." Waver nodded, acknowledging Iskandar's answer.

"Oh, so this small thing is actually this terrifying? It can easily kill a magus? This really surprises me." Iskandar exclaimed.

"Yes, this excessive thing is simply a nemesis for magus." Waver said with trepidation.

"It is undeniable that it is indeed so, but..."

"You don't have to worry too much. With those few meager, inferior magic circuits in you, even if you're hit by this bullet, you wouldn't suffer much damage; you won't die."

Waver twitched at the corner of his mouth.

"Thank you for that reassurance."

"But Master, doesn't this thing pose a significant danger to you? After all, your magic circuits are..."

"Don't worry about me, Lancer. If I didn't know about it, then indeed, I might have fallen into his trap, capsizing in the gutter." Kayneth smiled confidently. "But now that I know his hidden secret, this thing poses no threat to me anymore."

"An origin bullet, such an important piece of information, only cost me two high-level magical puppet in exchange. This deal is worth it... it's truly worth it." Kayneth smiled, looking meaningfully at Waver beside him.

"Waver, I should also thank you. If it weren't for your conversation with Lord Zelretch reminding me, I wouldn't have prepared so thoroughly for this battle."

"Professor..."

"Hmph, don't be too happy too soon. In light of this matter, I won't hold you and Rider's reckless actions against you. After the Holy Grail War ends, go back and write a fifty-thousand-word reflection."

"Eh?!" 

"What's all the noise about? Aren't you good at writing reflections? If you think fifty thousand is too little, then write a hundred thousand."

"Yes..." Waver said with a mournful face.

"Hahaha, isn't this great? It's all settled easily." Iskandar laughed heartily.

"Watch closely, Waver." Kayneth said with a slight smile, "Witness how the true El-Melloi turns the Magus Killer's greatest secret into a joke! Lancer."

"Master, what are your orders?"

"Go to the Fuyuki City Police Station and acquire some bulletproof vests and explosive shields. Next time we meet, I want to completely crush that despicable Magus Killer."

"Understood."

Fionn transformed into light and departed.

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