Inside the grounds of Ryūdō Temple, the two sisters Tohsaka Rin and Matou Sakura had been fighting Kirei Kotomine for some time.
In terms of pure technique, Sakura, who was a disciple of Scáthach, was undoubtedly far superior to Kirei Kotomine, but in terms of power, Sakura, whose body was only 16 years old, had nowhere near reached her peak.
This was a situation where "raw power overcomes ten techniques," but fortunately, it was not Sakura's battlefield alone.
Rin was also providing constant support from a distance with gems. For this battle, she not only invested all the gems brought by Jean Stardust into the fight, but she even took out all of her own family's savings.
With the two of them working together, even this strongest Executor candidate of the Burial Agency was being suppressed.
"I really didn't expect that the little girl from back then would grow to this extent." Kirei Kotomine still had that expression full of pleasure, as if he weren't the one being beaten back.
"Needless to say, fake priest, pay back what you owe right here!" Rin threw several more gems, each with the power rivaling an RPG.
After the explosion occurred, Sakura quickly followed up, launching a fierce assault with the red spear in her hand, giving him no time to breathe.
But the problem remained: there was a huge gap in power. Kirei Kotomine, who had used command spells to strengthen his body, had terrifyingly great strength.
Merely clashing the spear against the Black Keys made the webbing between Sakura's thumb and index finger ache, and her arms went numb.
After several overly strenuous exchanges, Sakura turned into a shadow and retreated rapidly. At this moment, Rin also followed up with gem attacks and a large number of spell projectiles.
The two sisters, cooperating for the first time, performed seamlessly, just like comrades who had been together for many years.
Even so, the situation remained intense; with a large number of command spells for replenishment, Kirei Kotomine was bound to have more and more of an advantage.
Just as the two were thinking of a way to break the deadlock, a giant sword, taller than a mountain, pierced the other end of the city in the distance.
Before long, as if afraid that the whole city wouldn't see it, another loud noise erupted from that direction.
Kirei Kotomine's expression immediately turned ugly. Years of habit made him start thinking about how to cover up this situation.
A gas explosion? The explosion at the coast just now was already prepared to be passed off as a gas explosion.
Mass hallucination? In this day and age, who doesn't have some kind of recording equipment? Can a hallucination leave behind images?
With the advancement of the era, the Church's work was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. Now, Kirei could somewhat understand the feelings of those in the Church who regarded Magicians as the root of all evil.
Just in the few seconds he was distracted, Sakura decisively launched an attack again. After more than a decade of peaceful days, although she hadn't neglected her training, she had been away from real combat for a long time. Fortunately, she was now getting those feelings back bit by bit.
Rin was the same. Fighting for the first time, she was also constantly adapting to the rhythm of battle, playing a greater role.
But as the battle dragged on, the magic power in Rin's body gradually bottomed out, and her physical strength was also insufficient. However, she was still desperately persisting. Even if she couldn't defeat the man in front of her, as long as she could delay him for a little while, it would buy an opportunity for Jean Stardust.
Perhaps her will was answered; suddenly, the entire mountain began to shake, and then a golden light gushed out from within the mountain, followed by a huge structure emerging within the grounds of Ryūdō Temple.
"The greater grail? How is that possible? Did the King of Heroes fail?"
Sensing the defeat of her Servant, although somewhat surprised, Kirei Kotomine laughed. Imagining the death of that arrogant King gave him great pleasure.
However, the appearance of the greater grail clearly affected his state. His body began to turn red, and his whole person was infused with excessive magic power, turning into a bomb about to explode.
This was also a side effect of using black mud as a heart. Being in close contact with the greater grail, the magic power absorbed through the black mud was not something a human body could withstand.
Kirei Kotomine also understood this point. Knowing that his time was limited, he no longer held back and prepared to attack the two girls in front of him with all his might.
Suddenly, a large number of white threads rapidly wound over, binding his body tightly.
He had encountered this situation before, so he subconsciously blurted out the attacker's name: "Irisviel!"
From behind the building on the side, Irisviel walked out and said to the sisters Rin and Sakura: "Hurry, take this chance."
Rin decisively crushed a gem that looked very expensive, inside of which was inscribed the kind of technique Medea had prepared to carve onto Jean Stardust—a body-strengthening spell.
In an instant, a massive amount of magic power stimulated her body, strengthening Rin's entire body several times over.
Now her body could not be controlled well according to her consciousness, but she could still do what needed to be done. She rushed forward with a punch, used Kirei Kotomine's body as resistance to stop, and then began to unleash Bajiquan by instinct.
Having taken the first hit, Kirei Kotomine would naturally not sit still and wait for death. He began to struggle more violently, but suddenly found his center of gravity sinking. Looking down, he saw black shadows devouring his feet. Although they could only barely swallow his steps, for the current Kirei Kotomine, it was the worst possible news.
At this moment, Rin had no time to care about these details. With the body memory formed by training without stopping every day, she fully returned the Bajiquan that the other party had taught her.
By the time Rin finally stopped her body, the man in front of her had already breathed his last, though that pleasant smile still lingered on the corners of his mouth.
The battle ended, and intense pain began to sweep through Rin's whole body. Fortunately, in the pendant Jean Stardust had gifted her, the life force of the blood began to turn into a red mist, seeping into her body and quickly repairing the damage throughout her entire body.
Feeling this warm current, Rin held the pendant in her hand and murmured: "Jean, I did it."
— — Mini-theater in the city — —
(On top of a high-rise building, a young girl is holding special binoculars to observe the situation in the distance, while reporting in real-time to the person on the other side of the communicator.)
Kallen: Ah.
???: Did something go wrong? Kallen?
Kallen (young girl): Sorry, Mentor, I just discovered that Father has died.
???: Ah, sorry, please accept my condolences.
Kallen: It is nothing. If anything, watching this scene made the corners of my mouth lift involuntarily.
???: Ah? Your twisted personality is really similar to that man's.
Kallen: Then what about next? The Magician's grail has appeared. Should we intervene in this incident, Mentor?
???: If there is no clear order from above, we should not intervene. The nature of the grail has been confirmed; what follows is just waiting for the result.
Kallen: After all, Magicians are not within the scope of our Burial Agency's processing. However, is it really okay to be this lazy, Ciel-san?
Ciel: Call me Mentor, you brat. Remember to protect your own safety; there is no one available to support you right now.
Kallen: Don't worry. I'll treat you to curry in Fuyuki later.
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