An Origin Bullet whistled out, grazing past Ritsuka and striking toward the figure ambushing the Little girl, knocking the object held in its hand directly away.
Sensing the presence of another person, Ritsuka kicked off the ground, Reinforcement Magic fully boosting her body.
Looking at the oblivious Little girl, Ritsuka directly shouted, "Get down!!"
The crystal dice emerged on their own, floating beside Ritsuka. At the same time, a strange energy was injected into her body. She looked up in shock and made eye contact with the Divine Child.
It was that Little girl. What did she just do...? [Emiya Shirou (Archer)]
[synchronization value 30%]
Kiritsugu was faster than Ritsuka. After all, he was a battle-hardened Magus Killer. Faced with a character suspected of being a Magician, he became alert the moment he sensed the other's presence.
"Time Alter: Quadruple Accel!"
Under the unhesitating support of Quadruple Accel, Kiritsugu also rushed to the edge of the partial residence, but his pupils also contracted slightly.
A black shadow entered his vision. A short figure wearing a hooded cloak approached from the side, moving so fast that even Kiritsugu, who was using Quadruple Accel, couldn't help but be surprised.
Gritting his teeth, Kiritsugu decisively activated his current limit of Sextuple Accel, causing his speed to suddenly increase by a large margin.
His left hand pulled out a short sword from his waist, covered in Reinforcement Magic patterns. Kiritsugu first leapt back to dodge the unknown person's sneak attack, then slashed upward toward the opponent's arm.
The blade tore through the clothing, but upon contact with the arm, it made a metallic clanging sound that only occurs when colliding with metal. The short figure swung its arm violently, the massive force sending Kiritsugu flying directly. Kiritsugu could only use the momentum to avoid injury.
He was temporarily repelled, but Kiritsugu wasn't particularly flustered. He held his gun in his left hand and fired at the small figure, the Origin Bullets specialized for attacking Magicians shooting out.
Unexpectedly, the small figure didn't retreat but instead charged forward, directly preparing to head-on resist the Origin Bullets.
Frowning slightly, Kiritsugu felt something was wrong. Using both his knife and gun along with his trump card, the Origin Bullets, he applied Reinforcement Magic to his feet and calves. After dodging a sweeping arm with a side-step, he swung a kick directly at the opponent's head.
Boom—!!
The sound of the air exploding startled Kiritsugu. The opponent's strength exceeded his expectations; his sneak-attack-like kick had achieved nothing.
"Yaah!"
A delicate cry came from under the cloak. It was clearly a Little girl's figure who leaped high and stomped down with irrational strength, creating a large crater in the ground.
Unable to dodge in time, Kiritsugu was sent flying by the upturned rubble and shockwave... Kiritsugu was repelled by the unknown powerful girl. Judging by her height, the figure hidden under the cloak was likely no more than six years old. Her strength left Ritsuka speechless.
Was this world full of hidden masters?
Taking a deep breath and following her bodily instincts, Ritsuka held her hands out as if grasping something, and azure electric sparks erupted in her palms.
A pair of black and white twin swords were created through Projection and then thrown violently, spinning toward the unknown person behind the Divine Child girl. With her hands empty, Ritsuka gripped tightly again. While re-projecting the pair of husband-and-wife swords, the Mage Circuits on her cheeks lit up.
[Crane wings, failing not]
[Mind and technique, reaching Taishan]
Enduring the slight stinging pain in her body, Ritsuka rushed to the edge of the old residence. By now, the dodged gan jiang and mo ye had flown back, turning into two arcs of light attacking the mysterious person from behind.
Ritsuka immediately threw the weapons in her hands as a distraction and then leaped forward. Surrounded by the surprise attack of Origin Bullets, the mysterious person, who seemed to lack combat experience, appeared somewhat flustered for a moment.
Kiritsugu's ability to provide support even while facing a strong enemy was truly impressive.
No longer hesitating, even though the opponent appeared to be a girl about the same age as herself, the killing intent emanating from her was real. The two opposing sides likely held absolute killing intent for each other from the very beginning.
All to fight for the Divine Child!
Turning the blade, Ritsuka's eyes widened—
[Mind and technique, crossing the Yellow River]
[Only the name, reaching the heavens]
The Origin Bullets failed to hit the target. Glass-like layers suddenly appeared in front of the person hiding in the shadows, diverting all the bullets. However, by then, four sets of gan jiang and mo ye had closed in, aiming straight for the mysterious person's head from four directions.
Pulling the girl who had been isolated by the attack into her arms with one hand, Ritsuka gently pushed her back while simultaneously condensing another pair of gan jiang and mo ye in her hands.
Stepping forward, Ritsuka's eyes were now stained with mysterious colors. At the same time, she pushed her strength and speed to the safety limits of her current body. She swung the twin swords down, aiming at the mysterious person's wide-open figure.
[Two heroes, sharing a fate's end]
A massive sense of crisis enveloped the concealed person. The sharp blade-light tore through her disguise, and a blonde girl with twin-tails appeared in Ritsuka's sight. Subsequently, gan jiang and mo ye slashed through.
Passing each other, the blonde girl glanced at Ritsuka. Her entire body was wrapped in glass-like layers, and she then vanished.
To normal sight, it looked as if that person had just been cut down by the twin swords... but Ritsuka was certain the opponent hadn't been harmed. Instead, she had used a space-transfer-like ability to dodge an assault that an ordinary opponent couldn't have avoided, disappearing to who-knows-where.
!!
Startled, her newly awakened Minds Eye ability sent out a warning. Ritsuka quickly ducked, and a sharp blade swept over her head.
Holding New Moon with one hand, the blonde twin-tailed girl, whose face was filled with indifference, thrust her blade toward Ritsuka without hesitation, even though her movements were somewhat awkward, clearly showing she wasn't used to using a blade as a weapon.
Raising the mo ye in her right hand to block the thrust, a strand of Ritsuka's hair was cut off, and a few drops of blood splattered.
Warm blood dripped onto New Moon Miyu's face. In her eyes, which had always been as still as a deep well, a few ripples finally appeared. Her lifeless eyes gradually brightened, like a startled small animal, finally stirring a hint of curiosity and fear toward the outside world in her heart.
Ritsuka pursed her lips slightly—
"Ugh."
The azure Mage Circuits on her body squeezed out mana. Ritsuka slashed the blonde twin-tailed girl's finger with a backhand strike, and the pain caused the blade aimed at Ritsuka to fall to the ground.
Six sets of gan jiang and mo ye were thrown out one after another without hesitation. Ritsuka decisively stepped forward and reclaimed the hostage, then immediately accelerated her retreat. At the same time, her eyes narrowed as she activated a move that could change the course of the battle.
"Broken... Phantasm!"
The air suddenly fell silent. Then, the six projected Noble Phantasms lit up and a massive explosion occurred.
Dust flew everywhere as the swirling flames collapsed half of the residence. Ritsuka, who was protecting the Little girl in her arms, was also caught in the explosion, her body lifted slightly into the air.
"...Ugh."
The attack missed. The blonde twin-tailed girl was wrapped in mirror-like magic. As the girl and her weapon vanished in mid-air, Ritsuka tumbled toward the large pit behind the old residence and dove inside.
Not far away, Kiritsugu, who had just taken out a shotgun to continue the fight, was stunned. He immediately ignored the persistent Little girl beside him and gave chase.
Lying on her back in the large pit, Ritsuka was so pale she couldn't even lift her hand. She had fought too hard and her mana was depleted; the backlash from the overextended Mage Circuits made her almost faint.