Chapter 92: Baji Quan · Ding Xin Zhou (Center-Pointing Elbow)
Gilgamesh was dead. Dead thoroughly and completely. He died so swiftly that even Kotomine Kirei couldn't react in time. ...Of course, that last sentence is a bit of an exaggeration.
Though shaken by the shocking effect of the time-stop—having never experienced such a thing before—Kotomine Kirei, like anyone else seeing it for the first time, was momentarily horrified by the sudden change once time resumed.
However, because Emiya Shirou's primary target during the frozen time was Gilgamesh, and because of Kotomine's emotionless, cold personality, his shock lasted only a few short seconds. Yet, it was precisely those few seconds that caused Kotomine Kirei to miss his chance to save Gilgamesh.
Before Kotomine could use a Command Spell to fully restore Gilgamesh's status or teleport him away, Emiya Shirou, holding "Pseudo-Anubis," directly lopped off Gilgamesh's head.
Furthermore, he didn't give Gilgamesh any chance to survive using "Independent Action"; the moment defeat was certain, he followed up with "Pseudo-Atum" to seize Gilgamesh's soul!
Or rather, Emiya Shirou was using "Pseudo-Atum" to replace the function of the Holy Grail, forcibly snatching Gilgamesh's soul for himself!
Against this method of exit—which was essentially written into the rules of the Holy Grail War—even if a Command Spell were used, its effectiveness would be greatly diminished if the order was unclear or the demand was vague. Even if Kotomine Kirei had truly realized what Emiya Shirou was doing and issued a precise Command Spell to rescue Gilgamesh, it would have been impossible to pull Gilgamesh's soul back under the established rules of this war.
The Command Spell Kotomine hurriedly activated was, naturally, wasted to no effect. It had zero impact on the outcome of Gilgamesh's death.
"Ma... This truly is the worst-case scenario..."
Kotomine Kirei, having wasted another Command Spell, glanced at Gilgamesh's hopeless, vanishing body, then looked toward Saber, who was continuing her charge toward him.
Despite his innate personality flaws which left him with little emotional fluctuation even now, this unexpected turn of events still gave Kotomine Kirei a bout of "stomach pain."
'King of Heroes, Gilgamesh... aren't you a bit too weak?!'
From the start of the battle until now, did Gilgamesh even last a minute? Or did he only last five seconds?
'But then again, Gilgamesh is a Servant after all. It is no easy task for a Magus to defeat a Servant in such a short time.
Emiya Shirou, having used magecraft of this magnitude, must have consumed a massive amount of magical energy.
For me, this is actually an opportunity.' Kotomine Kirei thought to himself.
Compared to a Servant, a battle between Master and Master was undoubtedly much easier. Moreover, as long as the Master is killed, the Servant—deprived of their source of magical energy—will inevitably return to the Throne of Heroes regardless of their strength!
As for whether Emiya Shirou might be a Master stronger than his Servant, Saber... or whether the fight with Gilgamesh hadn't actually cost Shirou much energy... It wasn't that Kotomine Kirei hadn't considered these problems.
It was just that in the current situation, was there any better choice?
Having suffered once before from Command-Spell-enhanced Black Keys, it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to use that same method to pin Saber down.
'I have twenty-one Black Keys left, and nine Command Spells.
While this amount isn't enough to defeat Saber, it shouldn't be hard to briefly stall her, allowing me to close in on Emiya Shirou in a short window of time.'
Should he say it was thanks to Gilgamesh dying so quickly? Because of it, the energy Kotomine had spent fighting Saber wasn't actually that much.
Without Gilgamesh there, Saber no longer needed to conserve Emiya Shirou's magical energy.
Under the effect of her "Mana Burst" skill, she erupted with even greater speed than before, charging like a bolt of lightning. However, Kotomine Kirei had expected this. He threw all twenty-one of his remaining Black Keys at his maximum speed, aiming to halt Saber's momentum.
Normally, this wouldn't succeed. Black Keys are merely standard equipment used by the Holy Church to deal with lower-level spiritual entities—mass-produced goods.
To fight a high-level entity like a Servant, one would usually need Scripture-class weaponry. However, Black Keys enhanced by Command Spells could bridge that gap for a short duration.
Saber, having experienced the power of such Black Keys earlier, was unable to see which ones Kotomine was injecting with Command Spell mana through his long sleeves. Inevitably, her speed slowed down to prevent herself from being "caged" by the blades once again.
However, this was exactly what Kotomine Kirei wanted!
Because every single Black Key he threw was a decoy. He hadn't wasted a single Command Spell on those blades. Instead, he funneled all that magical energy into his own body, driving his Reinforcement magecraft to turn himself into a human missile, hurtling toward Emiya Shirou in an instant!
Coordinating every muscle in his body, he took the acceleration and inertia of the sprint and, at the moment his feet braced and his body stopped, he used the explosive burst from his
legs, waist, shoulders, and arms to further amplify and release that power into an elbow strike aimed at Emiya Shirou.
This was— —Baji Quan · Ding Xin Zhou!!
It was over.
While Saber was still wary of those useless Black Keys, Kotomine Kirei, having closed the tens of meters between himself and Emiya Shirou, could even feel the body heat of his target against his elbow. He saw Emiya Shirou's face at point-blank range, and those calm eyes... Eh? Calm eyes?!
Emiya Shirou acted as if he had known the attack path in advance.
As he dodged the high-powered Center-Pointing Elbow by a hair's breadth—where a miss is as good as a mile—and before Kotomine could change his move, Shirou spoke calmly: "[The World]!!"
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