You call this a projection?

Yoshikage Kira was no fool. If he were truly an idiot, he wouldn’t have been able to commit his first murder—a mass murder of an entire family, no less—and leave the police of that time without a single clue pointing his way.

Especially since committing that first crime. It was as if some shackle had been undone; Kira was never satisfied with just that one kill. To this day, he had continued to commit various murders from time to time!

To have evaded police pursuit for so long... no, it should be said that to have never been caught, or even suspected as a culprit by the police, spoke to Kira’s meticulous nature.

The moment he saw the Stand beside Shirou Emiya, and recalled Shirou’s seemingly ”reasonable” behavior earlier—which mirrored his own plan to lure them into this alley with a plausible excuse—Kira understood perfectly: Shirou and the other boy had intentionally tricked him into this alleyway.

However, one thing remained unclear to Kira. Even if Shirou and his companion knew through some unknown channel that he was ”their kind” (a Stand user), there was no reason for them to harbor such immense hostility, right?

As for the possibility that his identity as a serial killer had been exposed... Kira, who had perfectly concealed his existence for years, hadn’t even considered that a possibility. After all, so many years had passed. He had remained at large, and the police had long since given up investigating those cold cases.

But then...

”Is this the guy?”

Jotaro Kujo pulled a photograph from his student uniform pocket and compared Kira’s appearance—which bore a striking resemblance to David Bowie—to the image. He continued: ”The serial killer responsible for multiple homicides?”

Wh... what!?

Kira looked at Jotaro in horror. At this moment, Kira didn’t yet know that in this world, there are many things that simply don’t follow logic. Like Shirou Emiya possessing memories of a ”past life,” and the invincible [Hermit Purple].

”Yeah. Forty, or maybe thirty-some women. Whenever Yoshikage Kira’s fingernails begin to grow, his urge to kill surges along with them—stimulated by an urge that is somewhere between lust and bloodlust.

He randomly selects a young, beautiful woman on the street—specifically one with beautiful hands—and keeps their dead hands for companionship day and night until they rot away.”

As Shirou Emiya spoke the truth Kira had fought so hard to hide, the other hand of his [Pseudo-Silver Chariot]—the one not holding the sword—wasn’t idle. It held up a pale, severed hand.

Back when Shirou was masquerading as a delinquent, his attempt to reach into the lining of Kira’s suit wasn’t just to act the part of a thug stealing a wallet. It was to find the evidence of Kira’s crimes.

And that was the primary reason Kira had felt the urge to kill them earlier.

”Now, Yoshikage Kira, do you have anything left to say?”

Faced with Shirou’s interrogation, Kira stared blankly at the severed hand. Only one thought echoed in his mind:

’When? When exactly did Shirou Emiya get his hands on that?’

Simultaneously, a massive wave of murderous intent toward the two boys erupted within Kira. After all, Kira had never hidden his ”fetish” from himself. Unlike a normal killer, he hadn’t been careful to keep his fingerprints off that severed hand. As someone who truly loved women’s hands, he had done... everything... to that hand.

Once that hand was handed over to the police, there would be absolutely no explaining it away.

”I... I... [Killer Queen: Second Bomb]!”

Kira was not about to surrender. He chose to strike first. ”—[Sheer Heart Attack]!!”

He used [Killer Queen’s] left hand—the one not pinned by [Pseudo-Silver Chariot]—to hurl the [Sheer Heart Attack] bomb toward Shirou!

—”[Sheer Heart Attack] is the thing I trust most.”

—”Once it identifies a target, it will track them relentlessly, without end.”

—”And best of all, it requires no control from me. Even if I ignore it, it will automatically kill any enemy for me.”

Kira was brimming with confidence in this move. As long as Shirou moved to defend himself—as long as [Pseudo-Silver Chariot] pulled the rapier out of his right hand—[Killer Queen] would be liberated to continue using its abilities.

When that happened, whether he blew up the wall behind him to escape or took Jotaro Kujo hostage, he would have plenty of options! Yes, though the process had gone wrong, everything could still be salvaged!

As long as...

”Look over here!”

The miniature tank-like [Sheer Heart Attack] screeched as it charged. The sound of that cry proved that [Sheer Heart Attack] had locked onto an enemy and was about to detonate.

But the problem was...

”[Sheer Heart Attack]? [Sheer Heart Attack], what are you doing?! Wait, you can’t be... STAY AWAY FROM ME!!”

Indeed, the [Sheer Heart Attack] that Kira had placed so much hope in suddenly pulled a U-turn the moment it was thrown, charging right back at Kira’s side. It looked ready to explode right in his face!

BOOM————!!

”[Pseudo-Magician’s Red]. Its ability is the control of fire and heat. In other words, for an automatic Stand like [Sheer Heart Attack] that tracks heat sources, this Stand is its absolute natural predator.

And it’s not just controlling heat to manipulate its trajectory; the high-temperature shockwave from the explosion can also be contained by [Pseudo-Magician’s Red].

Ensuring the blast from [Sheer Heart Attack] doesn’t reach us.”

As Shirou’s voice faded, a crimson Stand with a bird’s head and a human body manifested behind him, letting out a loud, triumphant cry.

”SKREEEE————!!”

”Yoshikage Kira, this explosion is the vengeance and judgment of the countless women you’ve murdered with bombs since 1983, and the innocent bystanders you silenced!”

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