Unlimited Ambition

Diarmuid, having been struck repeatedly, had blood at the corner of his mouth and his nose was broken off—even more horrifying was the terrible wound that had previously extended from his left eye, destroying his entire left eye, along with the mole beneath it. The once handsome Diarmuid now appeared completely disfigured.

Moreover, and more importantly—these injuries have been imbued with magic—not some half-baked so-called magic of this world, but real, pure hellish magic—so these injuries are irreversible.

And that's how it is; the legendary pretty boy is now ruined. But I think he should thank me.

At this very moment, inside the Einzbern family's castle, the battle has reached its climax.

Previously, although she was injured by Kiritsugu Emiya's own Mystic Code and the bullet made from powder ground from his own ribs, the Moon Spirit Elixir had no effect whatsoever—and her shoulder was pierced through.

However, Kenes stubbornly believed that he had only been careless for a moment, which was why he had fallen into his opponent's trap. The success his opponent had achieved, coupled with the waves of pain emanating from his shoulder wound, only fueled Kenes's rage. Without even considering treating his injury, he continued searching for Kiritsugu Emiya within the power-damaged castle.

Kill him, torture him by a thousand cuts, and make him die in agony—pay back tenfold, a hundredfold, for the pain he inflicted upon you. Make him regret it utterly!

At this point, Kenes was completely driven by his anger, and all he wanted was revenge.

Completely losing the composure a magician should have, this is not good—Kenneth, who encountered Kiritsugu Emiya again at the next corner, seems to be close to death.

At that moment, Kirei Kotomine flicked his black key, piercing Hisayu Maiya's calf and causing the female assassin opposite him to lose her balance and fall to the ground.

Next up was Irisviel, the homunculus from the Einzbern family.

"Kiritsugu taught me more than just how to use a car!"

While uttering these nonsensical words, she launched an attack—in her hand, a raptor woven from glowing magical threads—swooping down towards Kirei Kotomine.

However, Kirei Kotomine, a veteran of countless battles and a former proxy, completely disregarded this petty trick. His punch, delivered at an extreme distance, struck with both palms, the two energies intertwining, even capable of completely disrupting the magic circuits. Yet, at that moment, the raptor woven from threads returned to its original form, binding Kirei's hand.

The silk threads, as if alive, swiftly pulled at the priest's arm, wrapping it around the tree.

"Hmph." However, the priest showed absolutely no panic—he clasped his hands together and struck the tree with tremendous force. In a very short time, he snapped the centuries-old tree, which was as thick as two people could hug.

"How...how is this possible?!"

Seeing this thing that was completely beyond human capability, Irisviel's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground...

"Hmph." Immediately afterward, Kirei Kotomine grabbed Irisviel by the neck and lifted her up. He then asked, "Where is Kiritsugu Emiya?"

"Absolutely, I will never let you see him," Irisviel said reluctantly.

"act recklessly……"

At this moment, having thoroughly vented my anger by giving the spearmen a sound beating, I looked at Astraea with a smile on my face again.

"That's enough for today. Goodbye—"

After saying that, he left.

Chapter Eighteen: The Riflemen Group Decommissioned

After my battle with Diarmuid, the outcome of other battles was also decided.

Overconfident Kenes was decisively defeated by the magician assassin, Kiritsugu Emiya. A gaping hole was ripped into his chest—however, this wasn't the worst of the damage. The bullet, made from ground bone powder, somehow managed to completely destroy the magic circuits within Kenes's body. The intense pain contorted Kenes's face. Then he collapsed.

"...Master, there is danger."

At this moment, Astraea looked at Diarmuid, who had barely managed to get up, his face swollen like a pig's head from being punched, and thought to herself: I have absolutely no idea what expression to wear at a time like this...

Diarmuid looked incredibly embarrassed. He'd intended to be a hero and improve her favorability, but instead, he'd gotten a severe beating. In front of the beautiful girl, the kid wished he could disappear into the ground.

Fortunately, this guy suddenly had a reason. His master was in trouble. Naturally, he would rush to the rescue at all costs. It wasn't because Saber would find it embarrassing to see him.

So Diarmuid ran away.

"Master of the Lancers... Danger? So everything is under your control after all, Emiya Kiritsugu?"

He harbored extreme resentment towards his master. Seriously? To resort to such underhanded tactics, attacking other Masters while he was fighting the enemy. Absolutely no knightly conduct; he deserved to die.

So Astraea completely disregarded the fate of her master and ran off in another direction—the direction of Irisviel.

If Kiritsugu Emiya dies successfully, then I can rightfully form a contract with Irisviel. With a Master like this, who's like a princess, the Holy Grail War will surely be even more interesting.

Astrea thought so.

"Lord Kirei Kotomine, the enemy's Servants are about to attack. Please retreat quickly."

At the same time, Kirei Kotomine snorted coldly. As a human, he was indeed incredibly powerful. However, he was still slightly lacking when it came to fighting against the legendary Heroic Spirits.

"Then, let's go."

Before that, Kirei Kotomine suddenly extended the black key in his hand and thrust it directly into Irisviel's abdomen. Then he scurried away.

"With injuries like that, he would definitely die if left untreated," Kirei Kotomine thought.

After a while, the Knight King finally arrived. After briefly examining Hisayu Maiya's injuries and judging that the child could basically survive, he was shocked when he saw Irisviel.

Such terrible injuries. He would definitely die if left untreated.

"Hang in there, Kiritsugu Emiya will be here soon!"

Astraea knelt down and called out to Irisviel.

"……understood."

However, the instant Astraea touched Irisviel, Irisviel's injuries were instantly healed.

"Huh?"

Astrea, whose intelligence was clearly lacking, was simply pleased, thinking that it wouldn't matter if Kiritsugu died. She didn't think about it any deeper.

Her scabbard, the legendary scabbard of the Sword of Victory and Oath, a treasure that could grant immortality and heal all wounds, was divided into two parts by Kiritsugu Emiya. One part was sealed into Irisviel's body to enhance his wife's survival abilities.

That's how it is.

At this moment, Diarmuid had already stormed into the Einzbern family's castle. Seeing his master lying on the ground, he said without a word, "You should know that killing you now would be an easy task. But because of the spirit of the Knight King, I will not harm a single hair on your head—remember, your life was spared because of the Knight King."

These were those nonsensical, bastardly words. Then they disappeared.

"Are you kidding me?!"

Kiritsugu Emiya was almost driven mad with anger.

Heroic Spirits versus Heroic Spirits, Mages versus Mages. Whichever side wins, it's a victory—but what is this, really?!

Sure enough, that King Arthur who believed in chivalry was extremely unreliable—did he want me dead?! Even that spearman was an idiot like him—but if the spearman's master still had any consciousness and forcibly used Command Spells to command me, I would definitely be dead!

Hey!

Kiritsugu Emiya felt like a hundred thousand alpacas were roaring through his mind.

"As expected, I'll have to rely on myself from now on... If only I could summon an Assassin, damn it."

And so, the battle at the Einzbern family castle came to an end.

"Going back, going back, going back—it's so boring. Tsk tsk tsk tsk."

After that damned spearman ruined my mood, I'm really down, and I don't even feel like playing hide-and-seek with Yuki anymore. Oh well, I'd better finish this battle as soon as possible. Then I'll go back to Scandinavia and play 5P with the angels.

So, the first one who should be excluded is that damned spearman.

Thinking about it that way made me happy again. I fell asleep holding Yuki's body.

The location was a guest room in the Einzbern family castle. After using a little illusion magic to erase the guest room from the real world, we didn't have to worry about being disturbed.

Go to sleep.

It's just that Sakura's presence makes it impossible to do some harmonious and loving things. And it's a little unfair that the little kid takes up such a big bed all by himself, while Yuki and I have to squeeze together.

Well, there are only two beds in the room.

To be honest, Yuki, though petite and cute, is still the size of an adult. Sakura, on the other hand, is just a child under ten years old. Sleeping in the same bed with Sakura would be the epitome of resource utilization, wouldn't it?

However, I'm a little reluctant to let Yuki and Sakura share a bed. But I'm also a little uneasy about letting Sakura share a bed with me.

So we have no choice but to continue maintaining this status quo.

Sleep, sleep, sleep.

At this very moment, inside the Einzbern family mansion, although many rooms were damaged due to Kenes's rampage, and the maids had all returned to Europe, leaving no one to repair them, the mansion was still quite luxurious enough that even after being turned into a battlefield, it could still provide enough rooms for people to rest.

Irisviel just treated Maiya with magic. However, it was only magic at that level. Therefore, the treatment greatly depleted Maiya's stamina. It will take at least a few more days for her to regain her fighting strength.

A few days.

cut.

However, more pressing than the failure of this backup plan is the swordsman group's more serious problem—the conflict between Astraea and Kiritsugu Emiya, which has been exacerbated by the recent lancer attack. Both sides feel extreme dissatisfaction with each other. Fortunately, Irisviel acts as a mediator between them, allowing this group to barely hold on.

"I'm going out."

After settling everything in, Kiritsugu Emiya decided to go out for a stroll, gather intelligence, and perhaps eliminate one or two rivals...

"Please let me make my move!"

So Astraea said this. Kiritsugu Emiya didn't even bother to acknowledge her and left without a word.

"...Master seems to have a problem with me?"

"...Well, maybe it's because Maiya is injured that she's not in a good mood."

Thus, the problem with the swordsmen group seems to be quite serious.

However, it wasn't nearly as serious as the situation with the spearmen.

After being taken in by Diarmuid, Kenes was barely clinging to life. Even after receiving treatment from his fiancée, Sora, he was only marginally saved. His magical circuits were completely destroyed, making it virtually impossible for him to use magic again. Furthermore, he lost sensation in all parts of his body below the neck; in other words, he was paralyzed from the neck down.

What a tragedy.

As I stood outside the abandoned factory, looking at Kenes's miserable state, I couldn't help but think this to myself.

"Hey, hey, Diarmuid, take a look at this."

"..."

Diarmuid, whom I addressed so affectionately by name, showed absolutely no appreciation, staring at me as if he wanted to kill me with his eyes.

However, there was absolutely nothing that could be done.

Diarmuid's body is now like Kenes's; apart from his head, which can move, the rest of his body is paralyzed from the neck down.

So all we can do is watch.

Upon receiving this news from his fiancée, Caines was instantly captivated, and two streams of tears flowed down his cheeks. But when he heard his fiancée's rare, gentle comfort—that as long as they won the Holy Grail War, and then made a wish upon the Grail, everything would be alright—Caines became deeply moved again.

"Then, to ensure victory in the Holy Grail War, give me the remaining two Command Seals, Kenes."

However, what his fiancée Sora asked next left Kenes somewhat at a loss.