You call this a projection?

Illyasviel von Einzbern.

The Master selected by the Einzbern family for this generation. She was also the biological daughter of Emiya Kiritsugu and the adoptive older sister of Emiya Shirou.

To an uninformed observer, it might seem that Kotomine Kirei—upon learning that Emiya Shirou had also been chosen by the Holy Grail and become a Master—was informing Illya so that she, as the older sister, could protect her younger brother Shirou in the dangerous Holy Grail War. After all, Kirei had given Illya the excuse that he was sharing information about the other participants simply to save his own life, given his many past grievances with Kiritsugu.

But the problem was... Kotomine Kirei was never an uninformed observer.

Having constantly watched Emiya Kiritsugu, he had always known the complex relationships between these individuals. Illya, who mistakenly believed that Kiritsugu had abandoned her, was filled with resentment toward Emiya Shirou—the boy who had lived with Kiritsugu in Fuyuki City all this time.

What would such an Illya do upon meeting Shirou? It certainly wouldn’t be a sweet, loving game of ”playing house.”

”A father who failed in his attempt to retrieve his daughter, and a daughter who believes she was abandoned by her father.

And the foster son who knows nothing, yet was able to live with the father all along, and is now even suspected of inheriting the father’s legacy and relics...

Emiya Kiritsugu, even in death, you still bring me so much entertainment.”

Hanging up the call with Illya, Kotomine Kirei—having successfully transmitted the intelligence regarding Emiya Shirou—looked with great interest at the Spirit Board within the church. It had suddenly displayed the information that Saber had been summoned.

Although that was the extent of what the Spirit Board could do—it couldn’t determine the location, identify the summoner, or specify which hero had been called—it didn’t matter. All Kirei needed to do was lure Illya there.

If the Master who summoned Saber was indeed Emiya Shirou, and if that Saber was the same one Kiritsugu had summoned before, there would certainly be no issue. Seeing Shirou having inherited so many things from Kiritsugu would surely throw Illya’s heart into turmoil.

And even if the seventh Master wasn’t Shirou, or if Shirou hadn’t summoned Kiritsugu’s Saber, there was still no loss for Kirei. Ten years of accumulated jealousy wouldn’t lead Illya to let Shirou off the hook just because he hadn’t actually done anything.

Where there is battle, there is inevitable damage.

And given the strength of the Berserker summoned by Illya... Tohsaka Rin’s Archer and the Lancer who would likely ally with Shirou stood no chance against him. Kirei only needed to wait until the number of Servants was reduced to a certain point before letting Gilgamesh clear the field.

Thinking of this, Kirei glanced again at the dense cluster of Command Spells covering his arm.

”While using Command Spells to force that King to act will inevitably incur his displeasure, and might even make me his enemy...

It is enough.

As long as these Command Spells last until the descent of that existence—as long as it can give me the answer I seek—it will be sufficient for me.”

Indeed, Kotomine Kirei’s wish was that simple. He just wanted a certain thing inside the Black Grail to come out. Once that thing emerged, his wish would be fulfilled.

In other words, Kirei was a man whose lifelong upbringing and his true nature (which Gilgamesh had lured out) were in constant conflict. His faith allowed him to understand that he was an irreredeemable piece of trash, yet the pleasure of seeing others fall into despair never failed to captivate him.

Should a man like him even exist? Was he a mistake left behind by ”God” during the creation of all things?

With his faith and nature in constant collision, Kotomine Kirei wanted to know the answer. Just as he had originally wanted to find that answer from Emiya Kiritsugu, who seemed similar to him. And now, ever since he had seen the thing inside the Black Grail, Kirei—unable to get the answer from Kiritsugu—had a new goal.

That existence seemed like the ultimate conclusion for people like him; what choices would it make after descending? Kotomine Kirei wanted to know!

As for what those choices would bring him? Or whether Gilgamesh would kill him after he used up the Command Spells? None of that mattered anymore.

”However, by then, that worm of the Matou family will likely be unable to wait to take action as well.

Not just Servants; there are other things that need to be cleared away in advance.”

With that, Kotomine Kirei, having finished his new preparations, continued his next round of prayers within the church.

-

-

-

How fast is a Servant’s movement?

There is no accurate answer to this question. It varies between different Masters, different Servants, and even the same heroic individual can have their speed affected by the Class in which they are summoned.

But one thing was certain: Heracles, appearing in the Berserker class with the Lesser Grail Illya as his Master, was undoubtedly fast. Very fast!

He crossed the distance between Einzbern Castle and the Ghost Mansion almost instantaneously. Just as Shirou and the others were preparing to leave the mansion to settle scores with Kirei at the church, a killing intent and magical energy colder than the Fuyuki winter descended.

It enveloped Shirou and the others in a high-speed fall!

BOOM————!!

Only then did the sound of his landing—accompanied by the roar of the sonic boom being broken—slowly reach their ears.

”Ber... Berserker!?”

Read ahead (100 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting