"Kayneth, if you've got the guts... come in!"
Kiritsugu Emiya stood before the Matou residence's gate, turning to face the snarling Kayneth with a mocking smirk.
With a swift leap, he vaulted over the wall.
Fury blinding him, Kayneth didn't care where he was.
"Scalp! (Slash!)"
At his command, part of the mercury sphere stretched into a thin, whip-like band. As it neared the gate, it compressed into a blade mere microns thick, sharp as a razor. The iron gate split like tofu, crashing inward with a heavy thud.
Mercury, a dense liquid at room temperature, gained tremendous momentum under high pressure. It could morph into whips, spears, or blades, its sharpness surpassing even lasers.
Before the Volumen Hydrargyrum, no material—titanium or diamond—could stand, unless imbued with special mysteries.
Clearing the obstacle, Kayneth advanced with a feral grin.
"Keep running, rat!"
Scanning the courtyard, he clutched his gunshot shoulder wound, striding forward.
Meanwhile, Kiritsugu, already inside, encountered trouble.
"..."
His face darkened. Planning to outwit his foe, he'd trapped himself.
Upon entering, he'd dashed for a side wall, intending to escape.
But...
Beyond the wall was the same courtyard.
He was still inside...
"A bounded field? But what kind?"
Kiritsugu surveyed his surroundings, grimly realizing his ease of entry was a trap.
Buzz!
A thin mercury thread appeared—Kayneth's Volumen Hydrargyrum had caught up!
Bang!
Sensing Kiritsugu's body heat, the mercury shifted to attack mode, morphing into a spike aimed at his heart.
"Time Alter—Triple Accel!"
Kiritsugu's speed surged, leaving an afterimage. The mercury spear pierced the phantom's heart, but Kiritsugu fled without looking back.
Yet escape was impossible. Mercury spears pierced walls, launching a chaotic assault. Kiritsugu sustained Time Alter, dodging relentlessly.
Amid his evasion, he confirmed this was indeed a trap.
The mansion was riddled with holes from Kayneth's attacks, yet no Matou appeared.
"Illusion? No..."
High-level illusions could deceive, but fakes were fakes. As the "Magus Killer," Kiritsugu countered illusions with Time Alter, exposing flaws through speed discrepancies.
Unless this illusion was beyond even his perception.
So...
Dodging another wave of Kayneth's attacks, Kiritsugu shouted, "Kayneth, truce! We're caught in an enemy's illusion!"
"Vile mage, save your lies for lesser fools! To think you'd try that on me?"
The Matou mansion bore a gaping hole from Kayneth's assault. He sneered, closing in.
To him, Kiritsugu's words were born of fear.
"Not an illusion? Then what?"
Kiritsugu trusted Kayneth's judgment as a magecraft expert, but the man was too enraged to listen or cooperate.
His shout had two purposes:
First, to confirm through Kayneth whether this was an illusion.
Second, to lure Kayneth out.
Kiritsugu raised his large-caliber pistol, a single-shot magical armament—the source of his "Magus Killer" title.
Bang!
The bullet, wreathed in flame, streaked in a straight line, spinning toward Kayneth's heart.
"Trying that again? The same trick won't work on a superior mage!"
Kayneth thought, sneering aloud, "You think that move still works? You wounded me not through strategy or cunning, but dumb luck! I'll show you the difference. You won't die easily—I'll heal your heart and lungs while flaying you, letting you perish in regret, pain, and despair!"
The Volumen Hydrargyrum surged, Kayneth's magical circuits humming like factory machinery, faintly audible.
It reacted to the bullet, forming mercury ropes into a hollow cylinder, spinning rapidly to trap and neutralize the projectile.
But...
The moment the mercury touched the bullet, it collapsed. The bullet pierced Kayneth's body, pain exploding through him.
His magical circuits were severed, then chaotically reconnected. His body twisted like a braid, balance shattered.
The bullet's forced disruption of his mana flow triggered a backlash, ravaging his neural circuits. Unable to control his body, Kayneth collapsed.
Having defeated his pursuer, Kiritsugu's expression didn't lighten. He was now in greater danger.
But he had no regrets. Given another chance, he'd still lure Kayneth here, perhaps with better preparation.
"Vile mage! Die!"
A mercury spear pierced Kiritsugu's body. Shock filled his eyes as he glanced back, seeing an unscathed Kayneth standing there.
***
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