The Girl, Mercenary Tao, and So-Called Justice

Kiritsugu Emiya watched in despair as the Black Mud spread and flames began to sweep through everything.

Although Fuyuki City had already been reduced to ruins in the earlier unknown battle, not everyone had died.

At a time like this, once that stuff spread completely—

Fuyuki City would probably witness the most horrific massacre in human history today.

This event would be recorded in human history and passed down forever.

"Go!"

Kiritsugu Emiya had experienced the agony of Black Mud contamination. He grabbed his adopted son with one hand, hurried toward his biological daughter, and reached out to pick Illya up.

But the girl merely looked at him coldly. Her falling hair transformed into silver-white swords and familiars.

Illya wanted to kill Kiritsugu Emiya for more than just her family’s mission…

"Illya, you…"

Boom!

A terrifying explosion suddenly erupted behind them. The next moment, the Black Mud began flowing backward.

The man standing at the center of the explosion had already been completely covered by the Black Mud.

An immense quantity of mana and dreadful malice continuously corroded everything around him.

And that man, like a black hole, continuously drew All the World’s Evil into his body.

The sight froze Kiritsugu Emiya’s expression.

"Assassin…"

Illya’s face changed, revealing concern. She now completely understood. When Assassin said he would take away her only mission in this world, it was probably that powerful, cruel Servant’s peculiar form of "kindness."

She did not care what purpose Assassin had, or what "conspiracy" he might harbor.

There had been too many such things. Ever since she was born, everyone around her had possessed their own purposes and held countless conspiracies in their hearts.

Whether they treated her well or poorly, it was all for their own purposes.

Even if Assassin was the same, so what?

Just like Berserker—every time he drew mana from her, it hurt so badly she wished she were dead. But so what? She had become valuable to Berserker, and in return, Berserker had answered her expectations.

Only those who were needed had value.

Assassin had taken away her mission of existing as the "Lesser Grail," yet he had allowed her to live.

Berserker had willingly gone to his death precisely because he understood Assassin’s purpose.

The two cruelest Servants in this Holy Grail War had given her the greatest kindness.

Illya raised her arm high, and every Magic Circuit in her body lit up. She even tried to search for her Mystic Code, but after the earlier assassination attempt had blown up the apartment, she could not find it at all.

She could only do everything in her power to keep Assassin alive.

As the Lesser Grail, Illya could naturally draw mana from the ley lines while standing on the land of Fuyuki City.

But at this moment, the Greater Grail had manifested, and the ley lines had been extensively destroyed in the battle between Bai Cangshu and White Face.

As a result, Illya found that her mana was no longer as inexhaustible as before.

She raised her other hand, and the Command Spells within her body lit up completely.

"Assassin! Stay alive!"

A Command Spell vanished instantly, while vast amounts of mana were drawn out.

Illya seemed to see hope and used another Command Spell.

"Assassin, I command you to stay alive!"

The girl’s clear voice echoed through the empty city. The surging Black Mud and raging flames were only a few hundred meters ahead of her. Once they swept over, there would be no way for her to escape.

Kiritsugu Emiya stood several meters away from Illya, while Shirou Emiya, whom he had been holding, struggled down to the ground.

Kiritsugu Emiya looked at the gun in his hand.

He could not subdue his own daughter. Was he supposed to shoot her, then forcibly take her away…?

In Kiritsugu Emiya’s mind, all the choices he had made in his life seemed to flash past once more.

Because his father’s Dead Apostle experiments had turned the girl he loved into a monster, he had hidden her whereabouts in the hope that she could survive, causing everyone on the island to become infected. In the end, they had all been purged.

To prevent his father from escaping and continuing his Dead Apostle experiments, he had chosen to kill his father with his own hands…

Choice after choice. Every time, he had ample reason to tell himself that it was the best option, the one most in line with "justice"!

Yet in the end, all he did was lose things again and again.

He had lost the girl he loved in his youth, lost his father, lost…

Ring!

Projection Magecraft activated between Shirou Emiya’s hands once more. An excessively long odachi appeared—the Monohoshizao of Sasaki Kojirō.

"Shirou, you…"

A terrifying image surfaced in Kiritsugu Emiya’s mind. He instinctively raised his gun to aim at his adopted son, but Shirou Emiya had already turned and run to Illya’s side.

He held the blade, far too long and narrow for him, in both hands.

"You’re Illya, right? I’ll protect you!"

The red-haired boy looked at the Black Mud and flames that seemed capable of devouring everything. His voice trembled slightly, yet remained firm.

Even if the person within that Black Mud was his "enemy," the terrifying person who had attacked and killed Rin Tohsaka and Sakura Matou, then slain Saber in battle.

Since the girl was his adoptive father’s daughter, and since she simply wanted to save someone, then he wanted to save her too.

Because… this was the simple justice in his heart.

The gun Kiritsugu Emiya had instinctively aimed at his adopted son suddenly fell to the ground.

He covered his face and sat down dejectedly.

Kiritsugu Emiya seemed to recall a moonlit courtyard, where he had told Shirou that he had once dreamed of becoming an Ally of Justice.

But that had merely been a boy’s fantasy. He had grown up, so he had given it up.

Yet the red-haired boy had told him that because he was still a child, he would make that dream come true.

As though a dream had reflected reality, at this very moment, the boy burned with a radiance that made Kiritsugu Emiya ashamed of himself.

This was good. This was enough…

Kiritsugu Emiya suddenly lifted his foot and stepped forward.

"Shirou, take good care of Illya for me… no…"

"Illya, please take good care of Shirou from now on, all right? After all, he’s your younger brother…"

Kiritsugu Emiya was exceptionally skilled at manipulating people’s hearts. In the past, he had used this ability to target and assassinate magi.

But today, he used it to deliberately "force" his daughter to keep living.

He could sense that Illya had self-destructive tendencies. Therefore, to make her live on, he said that Shirou Emiya was a younger brother who needed looking after, making Illya bear that responsibility and continue living.

The girl with both hands raised, releasing mana and Command Spells, and the boy holding a sword as he trembled slightly, were both stunned. The next moment, they saw Kiritsugu Emiya run into the Black Mud and flames.

Based on the Assassin class, you have received an additional enhancement from the Command Spells.

You have suffered the corrosion of All the World's Evil. Bodily functions have declined.

These two notifications kept popping up like a system bug, but Bai Cangshu could not be bothered to look at them.

He merely spread his arms and felt that illusory malice continuously scour his nerves. In contrast, an even more vast power was continuously washing over his soul and consciousness.

His body had long been corroded beyond recognition, and amid its constant rapid regeneration, all sorts of changes were occurring.

You have endured the baptism of All the World's Evil. Immortality · Intermediate has increased. Current: Immortality · Advanced.

At last, a notification appeared. Bai Cangshu felt as though some shackle within his body had shattered.

Immediately afterward, the Limit Break Spiral, which had remained dormant for a long time, began spinning faster once more.

Along with Noble Phantasm Transformation · Vortex of the Heart, it began to spin madly.

Like towering tentacles, it reached straight toward the crimson moon in the sky—or perhaps the pitch-black hollow.