A Villain's Journey Begins in the Type-Moon World

In short, Kenneth was ultimately manipulated and outmaneuvered step by step by Kiritsugu Emiya. First, he used an armor-piercing bullet to penetrate the Moon Spirit Fluid, causing it to generate its own autonomous Moon Spirit Fluid defense. Not content with that, he began to apply full defensive magic. Then, taking advantage of Kenneth's arrogance, he finally used the Origin Bullet to completely destroy Kenneth's magic circuits.

Even though Kenneth's exceptional magical abilities allowed him to sense a crisis and retract some of his magic circuits, over 90% of them were ultimately affected by the Origin Bullet. As a result, Kenneth was rendered completely useless. Even if he survived, he was no longer capable of competing in the Holy Grail War, and his magical career was over. For a genius magician like Kenneth, this was a thousand times more painful than death.

Kiritsugu Emiya coldly stared at Kenneth lying on the ground. He didn't believe that crippling Kenneth meant he had won. In this Holy Grail War, only death brought him peace of mind, especially when he had personally killed his opponent.

“That way, Saber’s curse will also disappear.” Kiritsugu Emiya switched bullets, slowly approached, and then aimed his submachine gun at Kenneth, who was lying on the ground. He prepared to finish Kenneth off with one shot.

"Om-"

Suddenly, a light shone from in front of Kenneth. Upon seeing this, Kiritsugu Emiya immediately realized that Kenneth had used a Command Spell before collapsing to forcibly teleport his Servant, Diarmuid, to his side.

"Da da da da da!"

Without hesitation, Kiritsugu Emiya fired his bullets. However, a crisp collision sound rang out, and a golden gun barrel spun continuously, intercepting all the bullets.

"Emiya Kiritsugu... It really is you!!" An angry voice rang out, and the phantom behind the golden spear began to solidify. It was Diarmuid, who had just been forcibly teleported here by Kenneth using a Command Spell.

Just moments before, as he was about to die by Mordred's sword, he suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis. His existence began to fade, and his magical energy began to wane. Like the previous palpitations, this was a sign that his Master was in danger, but this time it was much stronger, a sign of a life-or-death crisis. If he didn't go to the rescue soon, he feared that he would disappear along with his Master.

Fortunately, in the next instant, Diarmuid sensed the power of the Command Seal, so he left the battlefield without hesitation and came to Kenneth's side, just in time to witness his "instigator" preparing to kill him.

"You despicable bastard! You are utterly unworthy to be the Master of the King of Knights!" Diarmuid roared, charging directly at Kiritsugu Emiya. Because of someone's interference, Diarmuid was now completely convinced that this man before him was the mastermind behind this conflict between the Heretic Servant and Master. Diarmuid's anger could no longer be appeased by favors or promises made to Artoria. Even though it was deeply unfair to the King of Knights, he had to end this man who had insulted the Holy Grail War!

"Suffer to death!"

Chapter 113 The Angry Diarmuid

"Die!" Diarmuid charged straight at Kiritsugu Emiya with his spear.

"Inherent time control!"

Faced with this situation, Kiritsugu Emiya could only endure the physical strain and continue using his Magic Crest to accelerate his body and create distance between himself and Diarmuid. He could see that Diarmuid was now covered in wounds, and his strength was probably less than one-tenth of what it used to be. If he was lucky, he might be able to escape Diarmuid's pursuit without even using Command Seals.

From Diarmuid's perspective, he also noticed that Kiritsugu Emiya's speed suddenly increased, as if he wanted to create distance between them. If he continued to stall for time, even if he eventually caught up with him, his Master Kenneth would likely have already bled to death. If he wanted to kill him and avenge his master, he had to act quickly.

"You think you can escape!"

Without hesitation, Diarmuid hurled the yellow rose directly at Kiritsugu Emiya. Its speed surpassed that of a bullet, almost a streak of light as it pierced his chest. Even from Kiritsugu's accelerated perspective, the yellow rose's speed was comparable to a fastball thrown by a pitcher. Kiritsugu could only desperately try to maneuver, attempting to block the rose's attack with his steel-forged submachine gun.

"thorn"

But to his utter surprise, Diarmuid's Yellow Rose easily pierced through Kiritsugu Emiya's submachine gun, as effortlessly as piercing a thin sheet. Kiritsugu Emiya's heart sank; he had ultimately underestimated this Servant. Even if the opponent's strength was reduced to a fraction of its former glory, her exquisite skills and power were not something he could easily contend with.

"boom!"

In the end, Kiritsugu Emiya chose to lie heavily on the floor, and the yellow rose, without any serious injury, shaved off some of Kiritsugu Emiya's front hair and continued to travel backward.

"I need to get up quickly and get further away from this house...cough cough cough!" Kiritsugu Emiya was about to quickly roll off the ground and stand up to continue escaping. But he never expected that his body had already reached its limit.

Ever since meeting Kirei Kotomine, Kiritsugu Emiya has been using Time Control at a high intensity. Time Control isn't some easy-to-use modifier like Wind Spirit Shadow; using the power of this Magic Crest already places a tremendous burden on Kiritsugu's body. The fact that he's been able to persist until now is entirely due to Kiritsugu's exceptional physical abilities and willpower.

Even so, the human body has its limits. While Kiritsugu Emiya could develop a strong physique, he couldn't forge his internal organs to the same level of strength. Now, like Kenneth, he was uncontrollably gushing blood from his mouth, and his accelerated state had ended. The only difference between him and Kenneth was that he had only suffered physical damage, and with timely rest, there was still a chance of recovery.

However, the truly unfortunate thing was that, because Kiritsugu Emiya had exited the accelerated state, his body suffered a backlash and he was unable to move. In the end, he could only watch helplessly as Diarmuid rushed towards him.

"By command of the spell... Ooh!"

Kiritsugu Emiya immediately used his Command Spell to summon Artoria, but Diarmuid wouldn't give him the chance. Diarmuid kicked Kiritsugu straight for the head. Even though Kiritsugu reacted and tried to protect himself, the powerful force still slammed him against the wall. His arm bones were broken, and although his arm cushioned the impact, the force still caused Kiritsugu to lose consciousness and fall into a deep coma.

Seeing Kiritsugu Emiya lying motionless against the wall, Diarmuid gasped for breath. She had just endured the strain and backlash of her body, using her last ounce of strength to subdue him completely. Diarmuid slowly walked to the spot where the yellow rose was embedded, pulled it from the ground, and then approached Kiritsugu again, preparing to pierce his heart with the yellow rose, killing him instantly.

"jingle--"

Suddenly, the sound of chains rang out from above, and Diarmuid's fighting instincts immediately went off. He raised his hand and held the Yellow Rose to his chest in defense. But in the instant Diarmuid took the defensive stance, a crescent scythe slashed down at him.

"clang--"

Diarmuid struggled to block the attack, involuntarily staggering back several steps. It's no wonder Diarmuid was in such a vulnerable state; he was only managing to continue fighting through sheer willpower. Moreover, with Kenneth's life fading, Diarmuid's existence had become unstable, and his power had been further weakened.

"Damn it, why did it turn out like this?" Diarmuid cursed under his breath. He was almost able to kill his opponent, but unexpectedly another Servant appeared and stopped him.

Now, the balance of power has shifted. With Diarmuid's current strength, let alone defeating a Servant, even ensuring Kenneth's survival and escaping unscathed has become a problem.

“It’s you… Another Lancer.” At that moment, Diarmuid, by the light of the moon, saw clearly the Servant who had stopped her from attacking—Another Lancer Medusa.

"That's enough. I won't let you kill our Saber's Master," Medusa said coldly.

"Your Saber... Could it be that he really is the Master of Mordred and the King of Knights, those two Sabers!?" Diarmuid said through gritted teeth. "What cunning, what methods, even going so far as to use his own Servant, the King of Knights. No wonder he didn't have the King of Knights by his side from the beginning, but instead kept him by that lady's side. I suppose it was to conceal his own identity, and also to avoid having the King of Knights in his way. Am I right?"

"Who knows? Of all our Masters, Saber's Master is the most cunning. Most of us follow his orders. Although there are some things I can't stand," Medusa said calmly. "With me here, you can't kill him. Today's plan was targeted at your Lancer group from the beginning. You should be eliminated."

Upon hearing this, Diarmuid clenched his fists in resentment, raised the yellow rose in his hand once more, pointed it at Medusa, and roared, "If you want to take my life and my lord's life, then show me your true abilities!"

Despite his fierce words, Diarmuid was already prepared to flee for his life. He didn't care if he died here, but as his lord's squire, he had to protect his master's life. Even if it cost him his own, he would bring his lord back to Sora, who could heal his injuries.

"Since that's the case... then leave your lives here! Warriors of the Fiona Knights!" Little Medusa raised her scythe, about to charge forward and cut down Diarmuid. But suddenly a voice made her stop in her tracks.

"Hey, little Medusa. Don't steal my prey. I'll take his life."

Upon hearing that voice, even Diarmuid, who was already in a fighting stance, couldn't help but feel a bitter expression. He had thought that if he only faced one Lancer, perhaps he could risk his life to bring his Master back. But now, with the arrival of the owner of that voice, Diarmuid knew that he would likely end his life here tonight.

"Hey! Diarmuid, you should know that just a short while ago, you should have fought me to the death. But instead, you despicably ran away! Even though your Master forcibly took you away, you still escaped!" Mordred's figure transformed from a spirit into a physical form and appeared in Diarmuid and Medusa's sight.

"Tsk tsk tsk, looks like you've taken good care of my Master. Heh heh heh, Diarmuid, is this your so-called chivalry? You lost to me, yet you turn around and bully the weak, targeting your Master. Don't you feel ashamed?" Mordred turned her head and glanced at Kiritsugu Emiya lying on the ground, then sneered.

"This despicable bastard, as the mastermind, schemed against us and insulted this struggle. He deserves to die, both morally and logically. Mordred, you should know his true nature better than I do. Aren't you worried that in the end, he'll even deceive you and let you die at the hands of the Knight King?"

Diarmuid remained unmoved by Mordred's words, showing no hesitation or regret regarding his recent assassination of Kiritsugu Emiya. He knew from information gleaned from a Master that if Kiritsugu were allowed to continue plotting the Holy Grail War, countless Servants would die unjustly at his hands.

Chapter 114 Three Parties Converge

"Haha, this guy Emiya Kiritsugu does have a lot of thoughts in his mind, and using any means necessary is his signature word. Maybe he did deceive something, and the situation you mentioned is not impossible." Mordred said with a chuckle.

"If that's the case, then why..."

"Huh? You don't actually think I'd join you and get rid of my own Master just because of that, do you? You'd be more like King Arthur saying that. Don't even mention it to me." Mordred looked at him like he was an idiot and continued, "Besides... don't you think that's what makes it interesting? Deceit, intrigue, and backstabbing—that's the real battlefield. As for you and the King of Knights, what do you two take war for? Is it just a game of knighthood?"

"What did you say?" Upon hearing such a comment, Diarmuid felt as if his beliefs had been trampled upon, and he angrily retorted.

"What? You think I'm insulting you? Am I not stating the facts? Do you really think everyone rigidly adheres to those rules and honors like you? And putting all that aside, your actions just now, and your Master's sneaky attack on the Einzbern family, didn't they still violate those so-called principles? Heh, everyone is clearly using all their strength and means to pursue ultimate victory. Despicable or ruthless, that's their skill. On the contrary, don't you think your actions are more like an insult to this life-or-death battle?" Mordred said coldly.

“You—!” Diarmuid was speechless for a moment, unable to find any words to refute him once again.

"Hmph! Even if you have something else to say, I'm too lazy to argue with you anymore. Now we should continue that life-or-death battle. Do you have any objections, Lancer?" Mordred said, pointing at Diarmuid with an arrogant smile, as if he were a victor.

"Kill me or torture me, bring it on!" Dilmud said, holding a yellow rose across his face.

"Alright, since that's the case, then prepare to accept..."

"Dirmed! Hold on!" Just then, a clear female voice rang out from the window. A hurricane swept in, shattering the already broken glass window completely. Mordred, holding off the gust of wind with one hand, clicked his tongue and said, "Here we go again."

At that moment, Artoria, wielding the golden Excalibur, leaped from the window into the castle corridor. It seemed that Artoria, who had been following Mordred, had also arrived at the castle in time. Then, Artoria, sword in hand, confronted Mordred, moving closer to Diarmuid, and said, "What's going on now, Lancer?"

“Alas…” Diarmuid sighed, somewhat reluctant to tell the same noble knight king the truth.

"Wait...that's...Kiritsugu!" At this moment, Artoria finally noticed Kiritsugu Emiya lying on the wall behind Medusa, his life hanging in the balance.

"You bastards! What did you do to Kiritsugu!" At the same time, Artoria also noticed Kenneth, Diarmuid's Master, lying in a pool of blood. Based on these two pieces of information, Artoria immediately pieced together what had happened.

"You despicable scoundrels, relying on your numbers, one of you held us back while the others attacked and killed our Master, is that it?" Artoria roared.

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire room fell into an eerie silence; no one uttered a sound. This sudden turn of events surprised even Artoria, who had just finished speaking. Could it be that she had guessed wrong?

Diarmuid shook his head slightly; he didn't know how to explain everything to Artoria in just a few words. Mordred and Medusa exchanged a glance, conveying their shared thoughts, before Mordred said:

"Heh... You've come at the worst possible time. That's right, we're the ones who assassinated your Master. So what? King Arthur, neither of you were a match for me before. Now that Diarmuid is powerless, do you think you can stop both of us by yourself? Besides, your Master is now in our hands."

"Damn it..." It seems I was right after all; the situation is even worse than before. With my Master captured, I might very well meet my end here today as well.

"It seems you, King Arthur, are aware of the current situation. What a pity, you could have escaped with your lives. But who would have thought we'd accidentally caught such a big fish?" Mordred raised his sword and continued, "Well then, it's time to end it, Diarmuid and King Arthur. Your lives end here today. No one can save you."

"Really? What if I join you?"

Just as Mordred was preparing to charge again, a man's voice rang out from the corridor.

"Who's there! Show yourself, you charlatan!" Mordred shouted immediately. Being interrupted twice before his charge had completely ruined Mordred's mood. Even the elation he had just felt at the prospect of victory was now extinguished by these two interruptions.

As soon as the words were spoken, a cloud of black mist swept in from the end of the corridor, accompanied by the howls of numerous ghosts that echoed throughout the area.

The black mist finally stopped beside Artoria. Several footsteps sounded in succession, and a man carrying Irisviel on his back and holding the unconscious Maiya in his arms walked out of the black mist.

“Caster the Ruined King! Impossible, you should be fighting that Avenger right now, how could this be… Oh, so that woman finally made her move?” Mordred’s expression turned somewhat grim upon seeing the newcomer.

“Ms. Irisviel, help me support her.”

"Ah."

Wang Chong first helped Irisviel off his back, then handed Maiya, whom he was holding, to her. He then stepped in front of Diarmuid and Artoria and said, "With me here, you won't be able to kill any Masters tonight."

After speaking, Wang Chong glanced at Kenneth, who lay in a pool of blood. Then, with a wave of his hand, a wisp of black mist shot towards Kenneth. Diarmuid, initially wary, wanted to step forward to block it, but Artoria stopped her, saying, "Don't worry, Lancer. The Black Mist of the Ruined King possesses wondrous power; it should be able to heal your Master's injuries."

Seeing that Artoria said this, Diarmuid did not stop her, and could only hope that things would turn out as Artoria said.

"The black mist can temporarily save your Master's life, so don't worry too much, Diarmuid. Right now, the most important thing is to resolve the current situation."

As Wang Chong spoke, he clenched his fist, and the Broken King's Blade appeared in his hand.

Artoria, holding her holy sword, pointed it at Mordred and Medusa, and said, "Ruined King, although explaining the situation now might seem like deception, there are some things I have to tell you now. The man behind those two—Emiya Kiritsugu—is actually my true Master. We must now rescue Kiritsugu from behind them."

"What did you say? He's your Master? And who is Irisviel?" Wang Chong looked surprised and then looked at Irisviel, who had a worried expression.

“I’m sorry, Caster, what Saber said is true. Kiritsugu is Saber’s true Master. And I am Kiritsugu’s wife.” Irisviel sighed and said, “I’m sorry, this was all Kiritsugu’s scheme. I know this request is a bit too much and difficult for you. But I still sincerely hope that you can help us and bring Kiritsugu back.”

"Tsk...that's true. You're right, this request is indeed excessive and a bit difficult." Wang Chong looked at Kiritsugu, clicked his tongue lightly, and said.

"Heh, perhaps your strength is indeed formidable, Ruin King. But we currently hold hostages in our hands. Based on that alone, you can forget about turning the tide. Even if a few more people come, we are confident we can take the Saber group away!"

Upon hearing this, Artoria gripped Excalibur tightly in her hand, but for now she could only wait and see, looking for an opportunity to forcefully break through and bring Kiritsugu back.

Suddenly, Wang Chong sneered and said, "Haha, is that so? You can't easily turn the tide? Mordred, you may be able to fool Saber and the others, but you can't fool me! You... will never let him die... or rather, you are more worried about this man being killed than we are."

"What?" Hearing this, apart from Diarmuid, Artoria and the others were all surprised and puzzled. They didn't understand why Wang Chong would say such a thing.

Chapter 115 A Black Pot Falls From the Sky

“Caster, what’s going on? Why do you say that?” Artoria didn’t understand why Wang Chong would say that Mordred and the others were more worried about Kiritsugu Emiya’s death than they were.

Wang Chong ignored Artoria's question and unleashed a sword beam, pouring immense magical power directly at Kiritsugu Emiya.

"Kiritsugu!"

"What are you doing, Ruined King?!"

Wang Chong's sudden attack completely exceeded Artoria and Irisviel's expectations. They never imagined that Wang Chong, who should have been an ally, would suddenly turn on Kiritsugu Emiya.

But what happened next was once again beyond their expectations. Mordred actually stood in front of Kiritsugu Emiya, unleashing her magical power to collide with Wang Chong's sword light and obliterate it.

To everyone's surprise, Mordred, who had just threatened to kill Kiritsugu Emiya, was now saving him.

"What... what exactly is going on?" Looking at this scene, Artoria was completely baffled; the situation before her was far beyond her comprehension.

“Saber, to be honest, the reason I was surprised by the information I just received from you is not because your Master is someone else. It's because your true Master is actually this man in front of you.” Wang Chong pointed his sword at Mordred and Medusa and said slowly, “I know this guy. To be precise, my Master knows this guy.”

"Eh? Miss Leticia knows Kiritsugu? What's going on?" Irisviel's eyes were full of confusion, but suddenly a thought flashed through her mind. Kirei Kotomine's words from before surfaced in her mind, and an ominous guess flashed through her mind. She immediately suppressed this thought and denied it, "Impossible... If that were the case, why would Kiritsugu ask me to cooperate with Caster and the others? Why didn't he tell me about this?"

However, just as everyone feared, Wang Chong continued, "My Master was shot and killed the night before, which I think everyone knows. My Master was shot by an Another Master who was present at the time. After realizing the attack had failed, that Another Master immediately fled. But I'm afraid that Another Master never expected that my Master, who had no other strengths, was exceptionally perceptive and had superhuman eyesight. She not only quickly determined the location of the attacker but also clearly saw the person's face."

After speaking, Wang Chong took out a small crystal, activated it, and a ray of light appeared in front of everyone.

“It’s a simple trick, and I think everyone is familiar with this kind of image-recording magic. However, it also involves memory manipulation. I’ve copied the memories my Master saw and am showing them to you all,” Wang Chong said.

The scene playing on screen showed Wang Chong's defeat to the King of Heroes in the first night. Next, Wang Chong was shot and killed by an unknown gun. Immediately afterward, a second gunshot rang out, and the screen looked directly at the source of the gunshot. On a certain floor, a somewhat gloomy man dressed in black was holding a sniper scope and aiming it at the center of the screen. He quickly removed the scope, which was covering half of his face, and the man who was finally revealed to everyone was none other than Kiritsugu Emiya.

However, even though only half of her face was revealed, from the moment Irisviel, who knew Kiritsugu best, saw it, her eyes were already filled with shock, and she covered her mouth and nose with her hands, unable to let out a cry of surprise.

When Artoria saw this, she also couldn't believe it. Her Master... was actually related to Another Master and Servant, and had even participated in the operation to assassinate Caster Group last night.

“Sigh…” Diarmuid looked at Artoria and shook his head. He was afraid that the King of Knights had no idea that this was just the tip of the iceberg of that “despicable” man.

"There must be some mistake! Is it possible that both shots were fired by that Another Servant?" Irisviel asked hurriedly.

“I understand your feelings, Mrs. Irisviel. But unfortunately, it was indeed your husband, Kiritsugu Emiya, who fired at my Master. Not only because I trust my Master’s judgment, but more importantly, I have physical evidence here.” Wang Chong reached into his robes and pulled out some items, unfolding them. Irisviel and Artoria looked at them and saw that they were bullets.

"Do you know what rifling is? Since the weapons used in the attacks were all modern, I did some research on it. Simply put, any bullet fired from a gun will leave marks on it; those marks are the rifling inside the barrel. Because of the forging process, the rifling on each gun is different, and therefore the marks left on the bullets by different guns are completely different. It's like a person's fingerprint," Wang Chong said, showing the marks on a bullet.

“In other words, we can determine whether they came from the same gun based on the marks on the bullets. Unfortunately, Mrs. Irisviel, the bullet that shot me and the bullet that shot my Master don’t have the same marks.” Wang Chong continued, “It is said that there are even departments in this era that are specifically responsible for examining bullet marks. Not only can they determine whether the marks on bullets are the same, they can even deduce which gun the bullet came from based on the marks. So, I advise Mrs. Irisviel not to take any chances. The facts are already clearly before your eyes.”

"How...how could this be?" Irisviel hugged Maiya so tightly that her legs went weak and she knelt on the floor. She simply couldn't accept this truth.

“Irisviel… no! Caster. If Kiritsugu is an Another Master, then what am I? Am I an Another Servant too? It’s an indisputable fact that Mordred is the Saber-class Another Servant. Since I’m a Servant who participated in this Holy Grail War normally, then Kiritsugu can’t possibly be an Another Master!” Artoria looked at the dejected Irisviel, unsure of what to do to comfort her, but quickly noticed something was amiss and immediately spoke up.

"But how do you explain his tacit agreement with the Otherworldly Servant to launch an attack on me and my Master? And how do you explain their attempt to protect Kiritsugu Emiya just now?" Wang Chong asked in a deep voice.