[FZ] Bewitched

Kariya Matou hated Kotomine Kirei.

This is different from his dislike of Tokiomi, which is like a natural enemy effect and mixed with complicated personal emotions.For Kotomine Kirei, he just simply loathed him.

All combatants have reasons to win and the awareness to kill and be killed.Therefore, even if Kotomine Kirei deceived and used him, it is not incomprehensible.Even if I have enough power right now, I have already locked in my heart a few enemies that I plan to kill with my own hands.

But would the guy who got more fun out of "framing someone else" than "winning the grail" really have a decent reason to fight?Even, all the actions of the other party make it difficult to figure out the true intention.

Seeing Kotomine Kirei's expressionless and calm face through the eyes of the magician, Kariya couldn't help but think of the time he talked with him on the roof in his previous life.

That was the only official meeting between the two, and the first time I saw Kotomine Kirei, I couldn't trust each other at all.If it wasn't for being desperate and the other party offered Tokiomi as an exchange, he probably wouldn't agree to cooperate.

Speaking of which, how boring it is to seriously consider how an enemy who is clearly disorganized is going to act.

Thinking like this, Kariya Matou planned to go back to his room.Suddenly, the image from the familiar made Kariya stop in his tracks.

The prelude to the war was opened.

Even though he was conflicted, Kariya had to admit that the insect technique used for reconnaissance was indeed quite useful.He has enough power in this life, and after summoning the servants, he released a surprising number of familiars to lock other groups of opponents.Right now, except for Kenneth, who has transformed the entire building into a magic workshop, the familiar cannot get close, and the other masters are under his supervision.

Saber, who was wearing a black suit, and the young white-haired woman from the Einzbern family were walking through the bustling streets of Fuyuki City; at this moment, the two were guided by the strong wind caused by the fluctuation of magic power, and rushed towards the source of the magic power. past.

"Is it the warehouse street on the other side of the estuary? It's really the same."

Matou Kariya stood up, intending to go to the battlefield in his memory.

In this life, he has no plans to join the melee.At the beginning, he only wanted to drive his old enemy out of the battle first, so he acted rashly, but in fact, Tokiomi and Archer were almost invincible to himself and Berserker.If he joins the battle situation and fights head-on, he can only waste his magic power needlessly.

However, if those heroic spirits fight to the point of life and death, I don't mind taking advantage of it.

When Matou Kariya arrived near the battlefield and hid himself among the crowded factory buildings, the battle between the two heroic spirits was almost heated.The giant sword that appeared was dancing wildly in the hands of the seemingly petite and weak girl, and the spearman who was quick in offense and defense also showed his treasure.

Immediately afterwards, Saber fell into Lancer's trap and suffered a cursed wound that could not heal.

Matou Kariya frowned.

The same development as in the previous life, but it doesn't make much sense to me.

Even if Saber is temporarily unable to use the most powerful vertical slash, it is impossible for him to let Berserker fight the opponent at this time.No one can predict what will happen to Lancelot, who has complicated feelings for his old master and has been maddened by the spell, when he sees the Queen of Knights.And I have already exchanged my promise for the knight's loyalty, it is impossible to use the command spell to force the other party to take advantage of the danger and kill Saber.

After that, as in memory, rider descended from the sky in a gorgeous chariot, and angered the two proud heroic spirits with rather generous but naive words; and the hero king who responded to rider's call—or provocation— It also descended here, showing the glory of the Noble Phantasm and the fighting spirit of anger in front of other heroic spirits.

"That idiot Tokiomi, what is the purpose of summoning an uncontrollable servant..." After complaining about his old enemy, Matou Kariya no longer monitored the battlefield, but turned his attention to other spectators in the dark.

A man and a woman who belonged to the Saber camp and were fully armed were still dormant quietly.

Kenneth, who was hiding his figure with a magic dress, was standing on the roof.It seems to be undefended, but it is actually impeccable in terms of magic.

Assassin is like a nimble cat, parked on the top of the tall tower, also monitoring the battle situation.And the master of the assassin, Kotomine Kirei, still communicates with Tokiomi through magic in the church; Maybe he discovered the existence of the bug but didn't take it to heart.

Or maybe it's just a coincidence.Kariya guessed.

What I have seen so far is nothing more than the other party's physical skills and healing magic; and the guy who has been following Tokiomi, it is impossible for him to have a better sensitivity to the fluctuation of magic power than his master.

***

Looking around the room unintentionally, Kotomine Kirei felt that something was wrong.

The little flying insect seemed to be watching him.

Although due to the sudden drop in temperature, many small insects flew into the church building, and the ones I caught just now were just ordinary insects without magic power, but Kotomine Kirei somehow thought of the same The worm envoy of the participants.

Probably just an illusion.

After confirming that the mentor had used the command spell to appease the King of Heroes' anger, Kotomine Kirei got the news from Assassin that Emiya Kiritsugu had started to act.

Putting aside his previous doubts about the flying insect, Kotomine Kirei decided to go to the place where the heroic spirits fought, so as to have a conversation with the "Magician Killer" whom he cared about...or have a bloody battle.

Kotomine Kirei, who had believed from the very beginning that Emiya Kiritsugu was his own kind, suffered the impact of this emotion called "confusion" on the night of this scuffle.

It is clear that he is the same person as himself, who has no desire, no self, and no one to recognize and understand, but he will do anything to win.Even, Emiya Kiritsugu completely abandoned the "dignity" that a magician should have: combining magic with modern technology to make a familiar that monitors the church; The weapon blew up the entire building.

Maybe this man who resonates with me has a more complex personality that I can't understand.However, even though he was not able to confront the opponent face to face, he probably understood the person "Emiya Kiritsugu" better.

Huh?

Kotomine Kirei, immersed in his own thoughts, felt the fluctuation of magic power.

It was a very weak magic power, and after spreading out like a tide from the initial point, it became almost insignificant.Kotomine Kirei knew that this was probably a very vigilant magician who was using some kind of ability to investigate the entire area affected by the explosion.

Kotomine Kirei only knows one person who can use this kind of ability and is very likely to appear here.

The current head of the Matou family, one of the participants in the war, Matou Kariya.

Kotomine Kirei subconsciously held the black key tightly between his fingers, and then began to seriously consider whether he should return to the church.

In fact, he didn't go out this time to follow Tokiomi or his father's orders, but acted on his own simply out of interest in Emiya Kiritsugu.It can be said that his dispatch can be regarded as a temporary plan with a feverish mind.

and many more.

In this way, there was something wrong with Matou Kariya who was reported by the assassin and left the Matou house after nightfall.The opponent left tonight when Saber encountered Lancer, as if they knew in advance that there would be a scuffle.

Kotomine Kirei took a step forward, intending to look around the huge ruins wrapped in flames in front of him to find his target.Something in his chest rushed out with the increasingly intense heartbeat, just like the flames that spread rapidly when the building exploded just now, wanting to completely boil the inside of his body.

The unexplainable scorching heat turned into raging fighting spirit when he turned the corner and saw the back figure in the kimono.Charged towards the opponent with swift and terrifying momentum, Kotomine Kirei fixed his eyes on the opponent's heart, and threw the black key——

The imaginary picture of the opponent's thin body being torn apart by a sharp weapon did not appear.When he made a fatal blow, the black cloud that fell from the sky instantly swept over and wrapped his weapon.And after intercepting the black key, the black cloud that appeared like a mystery spread rapidly, forming a black barrier between himself and the opponent.

Since the distance was already very close, Kotomine Kirei saw clearly the truth of that black cloud: it was piled up by flying insects with black hard shells and sharp teeth.At this moment, the flying insect with a strange appearance is showing its sharp teeth towards itself, and it seems that it is ready to devour itself that offended its master.

Kotomine Kirei's body instinctively made an attacking posture again.With a wave of his hand, three black keys were ready to go.

However, the seemingly vulnerable insect messenger did not give him a chance to attack again.

The black cloud formed by the swarm disintegrated in front of them.A considerable number of bugs attacked him head-on, like sharp knives.And after he dispersed most of it with a sharp weapon, what he saw was a figure rushing towards him——

The black key thrown just now was held in the opponent's hand in the posture of holding a dagger;

The eyes of the other party reflecting his figure did not have the chill from the first meeting, but were full of focused murderous desire;

The thin young man wrapped in a black kimono, at this moment, revealed a fierce posture that was hidden deep under the appearance——

Kotomine Kirei, who temporarily lost his balance due to the attack of the swarm, was thrown to the ground by the person he was trying to kill just now.

Being able to summon such a large swarm of insects in such a short period of time... Could it be that the opponent, who has always been cautious, deliberately exposed his flaws to himself, and then waited here and provoked him?

It was speculated that Kotomine Kirei pressed the only black key in his hand to the opponent's heart the moment he fell to the ground.Matou Kariya, who was fatally controlled by the opponent, did not make any further movements after pressing the sharp blade against Kirei's neck.

In the silent narrow passage, only the breathing of the two of them was heard.

Matou Kariya lowered his head, staring at Kotomine Kirei's calm black eyes. "I didn't expect it to be you that I'm waiting for."

The speaker was panting, with obvious dissatisfaction in his tone.

Kotomine Kirei did not reply.At this moment, he is recording all the images belonging to the other party in his heart with his eyes without the slightest emotion. "Compared to when you were in Italy, you are now very sick."

"Huh?" Matou Kariya was taken aback for a moment, apparently he did not expect Kotomine Kirei to say such words at such a tense moment.After a while, he smiled self-deprecatingly, "It's natural that he will become weak, after all, he is the master of Berserker..."

The unfinished words were interrupted by a sudden cough.It was not caused by an ordinary disease, but a heart-piercing cough.

Kotomine Kirei felt the dangerous pressure on his neck lighten; at the same time, he clearly saw that the person who turned to the side and coughed violently covered his lips with his hand, and blood was dripping from the opponent's fingers.

This is a perfect opportunity to kill the opponent.

However, the current self can't do it.There is still something I care about in this person.

Driven by an unknown impulse, Kotomine Kirei raised his hand to caress the curvaceous neck of the other party.

This ordinary-looking man unexpectedly possessed a slender and graceful neck, and was so slender that he could hold it with one hand, it was simply... making people want to destroy it.

A strong urge to strangle it suddenly arose in his heart, and Kirei's fingers trembled slightly because of the excitement.

"Father?"

Kotomine Kirei, who was awakened by the opponent, found that his sharp weapon had already pierced the clothes on the opponent's chest, and his other hand was also tightly pressed against the opponent's lifeline.

However, it wasn't that he restrained the opponent unilaterally.The attacking swarm of insects was currently floating around their bodies, and killing intent filled with the smell of blood emanated from their bodies that were as light as if they were weightless.

"Father," Matou Kariya called again tentatively.He didn't bother to talk to the other person at all, but the pain of his knee rubbing against the ground forced him to say, "If you don't intend to kill me, please let me stand up. It's cold on the ground, and as you can see, my health is in serious condition." .If you hadn't chased me with murderous intent, I wouldn't have done it here."

These words reminded Kotomine Kirei.

Yes, why did I chase after him?

Different from the confused pursuit of Emiya Kiritsugu, he seemed to have clear questions to ask the person in front of him.However, the images observed through Assassin and an astonishing number of questions filled my brain, and for a while, I couldn't tell which one I was most concerned about...

Why do you care about me.

Why learn magic at the cost of your health.

Why go back to the family and be the old man's puppet after achieving something.

Why do you seem to be indifferent to the Holy Grail itself, but face it with such firm and sharp eyes.

Why, as a "weird", you chase after the happiness of ordinary people, and you can smile for the trivial things.

Why is it that you are clearly a guy who is easy to forget and can easily disappear in the crowd, but to me, it seems to be an existence that is different from everyone else in this city.

Flooded with chaotic thoughts, Kotomine Kirei could only understand one thing: If he killed the other party now, all questions would be unanswerable.

"Kariya," Kotomine Kirei said as he moved away the hand that was gripping the opponent's throat, "Why did you participate in the Holy Grail War?"

The other party's long and narrow eyes were full of surprise; after that, distress and narrowness were mixed in the widened eyes.Those eyes cut off the early winter chill from the outside world, and gave Kotomine Kirei restless heat.

"Arbitrarily chasing me, but only for this kind of thing? Let me tell you, Father," Matou Kariya said in a nerve-wracking tone, "Did you hit your head and break it?"