To become a king and a magician

A Mystic Code that suppresses the Mystic Eyes? Mystic Eye Killer?

"Is it already finished? That's really fast. And how did Professor Kenneth know I was here? Did he use some kind of search magic?"

"It's probably that contract. The signature on it was made with your blood. I've heard of some unorthodox magic that can find the original owner through blood."

"Magic is so convenient. Arthur, could you help me put on my glasses? I can't see with my eyes closed."

"Ok."

Arthur nodded, then removed the sealing cloth from Natsukawa Torami's eyes and used the Mystic Eye Killer to put it on him. As he put it on, looking at Natsukawa Torami with the glasses on, Arthur suddenly had a strange feeling—a feeling that Natsukawa Torami looked a lot like Ayaka Sajou.

I'm not talking about appearance, but about feeling.

Opening his eyes, Natsukawa Tiger squinted because he hadn't been able to see things properly for two days. The first thing that caught his eye was Arthur's face, which was almost inches away from his.

Why are you getting so close to my face? Is there something on my face?

"No, it was just a sudden feeling, Master, you don't need to worry about it." Arthur smiled and shook his head. "More importantly, how is the Mystic Eyes?"

"I think it's been suppressed."

Now, Natsukawa Tiger's field of vision is as clean as before, without any of the spirits flying around in his eyes after the awakening of his Demon Eye. In fact, even without asking, Arthur knew that Natsukawa Tiger's Demon Eye must have been restricted.

If the Demon Eye were still active, he would definitely be corrupted, but he feels fine now and doesn't experience the pain of being eaten away by ants all over his body.

"By the way, Master, do you want to go to this place?"

Arthur picked up the letter and showed the back to Natsukawa Tora, where Kenneth's address was written—an abandoned warehouse in Shindu.

33. A just two-on-one battle is coming!

Should we go and meet with Kenneth?

Looking at the address on the letter, Natsukawa Tora remained silent for a moment, then turned to Arthur and asked, "Arthur, what do you think?"

"If you ask me, I would recommend going."

"why?"

"For your safety, Master. Although I am confident that I can protect you no matter what enemy we face, even I cannot protect you every moment. If I am entangled by enemy Servants, then you will be completely defenseless, which is too dangerous. You have also mentioned that there is a guy in this Holy Grail War who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals."

Arthur was referring to Kiritsugu Emiya.

(Indeed, although he's called Caster, Morgan should be able to keep Arthur occupied if she wants. In that case, I'll only be able to face Kiritsugu Emiya alone, and given his style... he'll probably hide somewhere and shoot me.)

Thinking about it this way, Arthur's reason for suggesting going to Kenneth's place becomes quite simple. Because of the contract, Kenneth has to protect Natsukawa Torata, and given Kenneth's magical skill and the strength of the magic workshop, it's virtually impossible to break through unless they encounter a Servant.

Even if Kiritsugu Emiya pursues them, with Natsukawa Torato's intelligence, Kenneth shouldn't suffer the same losses in a direct magical battle as he did in the original story.

In other words, once Arthur meets up with Kenneth, he won't have to worry about Natsukawa Torato's safety all the time like he does now. He can focus more on fighting off the attacking Servants until Misaya Reirōkan finds Waver and Rider and they return.

"Alright, whatever you say. So when do we leave?"

"From a safety standpoint, now is the best time. The Holy Grail War has an unspoken rule that battles cannot be fought during the day, so moving during this period is the best option. If it were dark, we would be very likely to be attacked while moving, not to mention that our whereabouts may have already been exposed."

"it is good."

Natsukawa Tora nodded. When it came to matters of combat, Arthur's ideas were definitely better than his, a complete novice.

Neither Arthur nor Natsukawa Torato realized that while they were talking, a bird was perched on the window frame with a small, camera-like device hanging around its neck.

————————————————————————

On a rooftop not far away, crouching on the edge of the terrace, watching Natsukawa Tora's profile faintly visible through the window via a small surveillance camera, Emiya Kiritsugu pursed his lips: "Bad angle... Maiya, how's it going on your end?"

Same here, but slightly worse than you. You can't hit a vital spot from this angle.

Hisayuu Maiya's voice came through the headset.

Since it was an expected result, Kiritsugu Emiya wasn't disappointed. He immediately switched to another person's channel: "Caster, are you ready on your end?"

[The clearing barrier has been set up. Everyone within 500 meters is now fast asleep and won't wake up even if a massive explosion occurs. Master, you can do as you please.]

"Where is Berserker?"

[I'm with his Master, who's been cursed and is now a puppet who obeys me completely. I'll have him summon Berserker to keep Saber occupied.]

Everything was prepared perfectly.

Kiritsugu Emiya nodded: "Then let's repeat the plan. First, Maiya and I will take turns sniping to force Saber and Natsukawa Torata out of the house. Then Caster and Berserker will hold Saber back, while Maiya and I will look for opportunities to kill the lone Natsukawa Torata—is that alright?"

What are the rules of the Holy Grail War?

Morgan asked.

What we're doing violates the unspoken rules of the Holy Grail War.

"As long as we finish before things get too noisy, no one will report us to the church." Kiritsugu Emiya said, picking up the sniper rifle next to him and aiming it at the Natsukawa family not far away. "Besides, the dead don't talk—take your positions, we'll begin in one minute."

【Yes】

Okay, okay, okay

————————————————————————————

After ending his communication with Kiritsugu Emiya, Morgan stood at the entrance of the street and sighed helplessly: "What a boring man, Kiritsugu Emiya. Although his concept is interesting, his methods are really uninspiring."

"You agree, don't you, Matou Kariya?"

Behind Morgan, Matou Kariya, wearing a hood, raised his pale, skeletal face upon hearing the sound, staring at her without saying a word, his dead eyes containing an undisguised killing intent.

"Ah, I forgot, you're currently under my curse and hypnosis, so you probably can't hear what I'm saying."

Berserker needs Matou Kariya's magic power to manifest, but because of the previous battle with Gilgamesh, Matou Kariya's magic circuits were almost completely drained and destroyed by Berserker. So in order to make him able to use Berserker again, Morgan used a forbidden spell on him to force his exhausted magic circuits to start working again.

Once the spell's effects wear off, Matou Kariya will die on the spot, but that doesn't matter. Morgan and Emiya Kiritsugu only need Lancelot to face Arthur in this plan. It would be best if he could defeat Arthur, but if not, it would be enough to restrain him. After all, no matter how strong Arthur is, if his Master is killed, he can only return to the Throne of Heroes.

In addition, in order to allow Lancelot to exert his power to the maximum extent, Morgan also used hypnotic magic of mental suggestion on Matou Kariya. Specifically, now anyone who appears in his eyes will be regarded as Tokiomi Tohsaka.

As for what Matou Kariya would do upon encountering Tohsaka Tokiomi, that goes without saying.

It's an absolute fight to the death!

"There are still two Command Seals left. I'm really looking forward to seeing how my brother from another world can handle Lancelot, who has been strengthened by those two Command Seals."

"Of course, what intrigues me even more is..."

As the image of Natsukawa Torami covered by the sealing cloth flashed through his mind, Morgan couldn't help but feel a surge of anticipation.

"That child is undoubtedly Pandora's box; he doesn't even have a clear understanding of himself yet. I really want to see what he'll become once it's opened..."

34. Surprise attack

Time passed slowly by a minute unbeknownst to Natsukawa Tiger and Arthur. The two inside the house did not realize that they had become prey targeted by the hunter.

And at the very moment the one minute was up—

"boom!"

"boom!"

Without any warning, two bullets suddenly shattered the windows of the Xia Chuan family's house!

Instinctively, Arthur grabbed Natsukawa Tora and pinned him to the ground. He glanced out the window and asked, "Enemy attack? Is it Archer?"

"Even a fool would know it's not that. If it were Archer, the noise wouldn't be so quiet!"

Given Gilgamesh's fighting style, by now, this house couldn't possibly have only had its windows shattered; it would have been completely destroyed in the explosion. Moreover, Natsukawa Torato didn't believe Gilgamesh would launch an attack using such a sneak-up tactic.

In this Holy Grail War, there is only one person who would use such a sneak attack tactic—

"Emiya Kiritsugu!"

Upon realizing who the attacker was, Natsukawa Tora's mood plummeted. He hadn't expected to encounter his most formidable enemy, and at the same time, a few doubts arose in his mind—how did he know he was here?

(And how did Morgan know that Arthur and I would appear at the back entrance of that building earlier that noon?)

While magicians can easily find others through certain mediums, those mediums must be something on Natsukawa Torato or Arthur; Emiya Kiritsugu and Morgan shouldn't have that.

Then why—no, now is not the time to think about that!

"Arthur, leave here. Go and meet up with Professor Kenneth and Lancer as planned."

"As ordered!"

Magic armor immediately materialized on Arthur's body, and then he picked up Natsukawa Tiger in his arms, kicked open the door, and rushed out of the house!

.......

Watching Natsukawa Torato and Arthur's actions through the scope, Emiya Kiritsugu switched to Morgan's communications: "They've gone out, starting the operation, Caster."

【Understood】

————————————————————————

On the streets of a residential area.

Holding Arthur in his arms and looking at the deserted streets, Natsukawa Tora frowned. "The streets are so quiet. Although there aren't many people around at this time, the noise you made when you kicked the door was so loud, it should have attracted quite a few people... Was it a barrier?"

"Such a large-scale barrier, and for such a short time... Is it really Caster?"

Xia Chuanhu was certain that there was no barrier around here at least an hour ago, because there were still people active outside at that time. In other words, the current situation is that someone has set up a barrier that encompasses the entire residential area in just one hour.

Only Morgan could do that.

(They've clearly made us their primary target, are they trying to make us the first to leave?)

Natsukawa Torara was inwardly furious. He clearly intended to be a pacifist, neither launching attacks nor prioritizing retreat when attacked. Why did Emiya Kiritsugu and Morgan have to harass him every now and then? Did they really think he was a pushover to be bullied? If that was the case, they should go find Waver! Wasn't that guy even easier to bully? He was even softer than him, Natsukawa Torara!

"Clang—!"

Just as Xia Chuanhu was complaining, a loud metallic clang snapped him back to his senses. In that instant, his vision was suddenly enveloped in dense darkness, and the magic circuits throughout his body twitched violently!

This anomaly was not due to a problem with Natsukawa Tora's body, but rather because the magical energy filling the surrounding air was in an unusual state of chaos, causing the magic circuits that were synchronized with it to also malfunction. As for the reason—it was the darkness that filled Natsukawa Tora's eyes.

"Berserker—!?"

Unable to help but gasp in surprise, Natsukawa Tora stared incredulously at Lancelot before him.

"How did he end up here?!"

According to Arthur, last night, Kariya Matou and Lancelot forcibly attacked the Tohsaka family and were ultimately defeated by Gilgamesh. Given Gilgamesh's personality, he should have already killed Lancelot when faced with a mad dog that invaded his territory. Why is he still here?

No, to be honest, Matou Kariya should have said before that he would absolutely not attack Natsukawa Torato and Arthur in this Holy Grail War.