I Will Eventually Become the Hero of Justice - CH 31

Having fused with the Saint Graph, Shirou knew that he couldn’t avoid it anymore.

Gilgamesh was opening the Gate of Babylon and had set his sights on him. If he didn’t come out, another round of attacks was likely to begin.

But –

What was the point?

As a mere mortal, Shirou had forced himself to participate in this war of life and death, specifically requesting Scathach to teach him how to fight to the death. Yet, at this critical moment, without hesitation, Gilgamesh exposed him and even temporarily gave up the clash with Iskandar and Artoria.

What did he hope to achieve?

Did he have a logical reason behind his actions?

Shirou pondered for a long time, but couldn’t come up with any logical explanation for Gilgamesh’s behavior at that moment. If he had to explain it, the only explanation is that this guy’s way of thinking is fundamentally different from that of normal people – this was a damning explanation.

And now, Shirou had to show himself.

Wearing the leather suit of Ultraman, and wrapped in the heavy black cloak, even in the midst of deep autumn, he would feel hot and sweaty. But at this moment, Shirou felt as if the weather was freezing cold.

Cold enough that his bones were shaking.

“Come out.” Iskander hugged his chest and looked at the smoke revealing Shirou’s silhouette with interest.

Getting closer,

Getting closer.

Suddenly –

Ignoring Waver’s shouts, Iskandar’s expression froze and his eyebrows raised as he directly grabbed Waver and pulled him behind him, even Diarmuid instinctively tightened his grip on his two spears.

Artoria stepped forward, flashing to Irisviel’s front, facing Shirou. She had a firm grip on the invisible holy sword in her hand. Even Gilgamesh unconsciously wrinkled his brows, but then his eyebrows relaxed, and a pleased smile appeared on his lips.

“What’s wrong, Saber?” Irisviel asked.

“That guy is strange and dangerous,” Artoria replied with a serious expression. “Irisviel, stay behind me and don’t come out. I’ll protect you.”

Shirou walked out of the fog, looking at the Servants who aimed their weapons at him. A bitter smile appeared on his face under the leather suit.

What –

What should he do?

…

Kirei Kotomine, dressed in his black robe was shrouded in the silence of the night. He sat in the darkness of the Fuyuki Church basement. His eyes were closed, but he was not resting. Instead, he was intently listening to something,

At a glance, one might assume Kirei was deep in meditation, yet in reality, he was listening to the low murmurs of the sea breeze. In front of him was a scene, a battle raged on, with sparks flying.

Kirei’s closed eyes were not focused on the present, but rather on a distant battle taking place near a warehouse dock in Fuyuki City. He was privy to this information due to his Servant Assassin, who was currently hiding nearby, relaying the same details to him.

Kirei was using a magecraft which he had learned from Tokiomi. This allowed him to share his senses with his Servant, making it an invaluable tool for remote surveillance during the Holy Grail War. With his Servant, Assassin, excelling in reconnaissance, this magecraft was a great asset to him.

The only drawback to this magecraft was that it can only be used if the Servant agrees to it. Kirei himself had learned this thing from Tokiomi, however, even Tokiomi’s Servant, Gilgamesh, had rejected it.

It was not something that the arrogant king Gilgamesh would willingly allow, even if his Master requested it. This magecraft can only be used between Kirei and Assassin as a mutual agreement.

“…Teacher, the Servant you encountered near the Matou residence has appeared,” Kirei said.

There was no one in front of Kirei, only an ancient phonograph on the table. The brass speaker was tilted towards Kirei. However, this seemingly antique phonograph responded to him in human language.

“It appears that the child has the awareness to participate in the Holy Grail War,” the phonograph said. “He is currently hiding nearby, or perhaps this is the action of the servant himself. Regardless, the outcome is the same. Now that he has entered the battle of magi, he can only choose to hide or fight for the sake of victory.”

The voice coming from the phonograph, although distorted, had an unhurried and elegant tone that was unmistakably that of Tohsaka Tokiomi.

Upon closer examination, the phonograph did not have a disc or needle for playing records instead it had a metal wire connected to a large gemstone under the speaker.

Kirei had borrowed this device from Tokiomi, it was a magical tool passed down in the Tohsaka family. Another similar tool existed in the Tohsaka workshop. It appears that Tokiomi was also sitting in front of a speaker just like Kirei. The gems on the two devices resonated with each other, allowing them to transmit the vibrations of sound through the air from one speaker to the other.

When Kotomine Risei took over the Fuyuki City Church, Tokiomi sent the gemstone communication machine to the church. Risei was his secret collaborator and Risei’s son Kirei who had already pretended to be a separate faction from Tokiomi when he was selected as the Master.

Kirei then hid in the church as a form of protection, which was theoretically a benefit only for losers. Of course, Tokiomi’s goal was to be able to secretly contact these two people.

From the outside, everything appeared normal, and no one would have suspected that Kirei had a way to communicate with the outside world. At that time, Kirei felt that even if he didn’t use this unusual device, he could use a radio. However, the advantage of Tohsaka’s gemstone communication machine over the radio was that there was no risk of conversations being intercepted. In retrospect, Tokiomi’s cautious approach actually greatly benefited Kirei.

Regardless, now Assassin and Kirei have taken over the role of Tokiomi’s eyes and ears, with Gilgamesh no longer being a part of it. Kirei uses his own perspective as a Master to keep a watchful eye on all details and report them to Tokiomi, using the Assassin’s eyes as his own.

“Saber and Lancer have already engaged in combat and revealed their identities. The one who comes riding a chariot must be Rider. So it appears that the remaining servant is Caster, the one who caused the Holy Grail War to be advanced by one year.” Tokiomi asked, “Kirei, what is the current situation at the scene?”

Kirei replied, “It’s very strange. Before Caster appeared, the other servants seemed to have the upper hand, especially Rider was very relaxed. But after Caster came out, Rider became very cautious, not only him but even Saber and Lancer also became very cautious.”

“Is there an abnormal situation? Ask Assassin, what is the feeling at the scene?” Tokiomi straightened his body and pondered for a moment, and gave his own suggestion.

“Yes, teacher,” Kirei replied, as he reached out to contact Assassin, also known as Hassan of the Hundred Faces, who was observing the scene at Tokiomi’s request.

“That guy is very strange,”

As Hassan stood on the crane, monitoring the scene, the Master questioned him. After much hesitation, Hassan reluctantly offered an uncertain conclusion: “The aura Caster exudes doesn’t feel like that of a typical Servant, yet at the same time, it does. More importantly, since Caster’s arrival, I’ve noticed a significant decrease in my own strength, feeling as though it’s been cut in half,”

“Decreased by half?” Kirei conveyed Tokiomi’s doubts.

“Yes, that’s right,” Assassin replied, “It’s not a weakening of my own attributes. It’s more like… my own glory, the praise, songs, or fear that mortals bestowed upon me, has been suddenly taken away by something. That’s the feeling. I can feel that my own attributes haven’t been affected in any way, but my strength has truly decreased by half.”

Kirei, who had only entered the world of magi less than three years ago and was still unfamiliar with many aspects of magecraft, was left confused by Assassin’s words. Nevertheless, he dutifully conveyed them to Tokiomi.

“Crack!”

A sharp, crunching sound echoed through the room as the phonograph emitted the sound of a cup being crushed.

“Kirei, Caster must be eliminated first! He is too dangerous for Gilgamesh!” Tokiomi’s voice, filled with anger and frustration, blared through the phonograph.

Kirei was taken aback. This was the first time he had seen Tokiomi lose his composure. “Teacher, what’s happened?” he asked.

“We must make him leave early! We absolutely cannot let him live through the second night, otherwise, if he cooperates with other servants, it will be detrimental to Gilgamesh as the ‘King’!” Tokiomi replied with urgency.

Tokiomi, a man who believed himself to be of noble birth, found himself lacking in composure and elegance as he spoke with anger, “That servant must have been a deceitful rogue in his previous life! He must possess a treasure or ability that is detrimental to a king, hero, or servant with great accomplishments. It must be something that can eradicate or diminish the blessings of a servant’s legend and fame!”