True Ancestor

"Tch, an Ally of Justice has actually become so filthy~"

Mercenary Tao’s teasing voice rang out, his mockery plain as day.

Instinctively projecting a sword, Shirou Emiya could not even stabilize its blade into any definite shape. He had barely taken two steps toward Mercenary Tao before Rin Tohsaka grabbed him.

The girl looked tense. She shook her head, signaling for Shōnen to calm down.

"Look carefully. That guy’s condition… isn’t right."

Rin Tohsaka used "that guy" to refer to the man currently wearing Kiritsugu Emiya’s face. She did not actually know what was going on with him, but to keep Shirou Emiya from throwing his life away, she could only use that excuse first.

Yet as it happened, the man’s current state truly did not resemble that of a normal human.

Shirou Emiya still wanted to step forward, but Saber had already raised an arm to block him.

As the Master and Servant pair from the Fourth Holy Grail War, Saber knew very well how strange Kiritsugu Emiya’s current condition was.

That abnormal regenerative ability made him seem less like a human and more like some kind of monster.

Kiritsugu Emiya’s eyes were vacant, completely unmoved by Bai Cangshu’s taunt.

No one knew how great a mockery the words Ally of Justice were to him, nor did anyone know how much he had paid to become one.

Between the justice of the few and the justice of the many, he made his choice time and again. Yet every time, it seemed as though he had chosen wrong, paying a terrible price.

On the island where his father conducted Dead Apostle experiments, he hid the whereabouts of the girl he loved in order to save her. In the end, everyone on the island became corpse-like monsters and was completely exterminated.

Then, watching his stubborn father continue his Dead Apostle experiments, he killed his own father with his own hands to save more people and prevent that island’s tragedy from happening again.

Choice after choice, loss after loss—the so-called justice had merely been piled up with his own blood and tears.

That kind of Ally of Justice had ultimately been nothing more than the ramblings of a boy.

"I… won’t choose anymore…"

Kiritsugu Emiya’s mouth opened and closed, producing a hoarse, strange sound.

The firearm in his hand remained raised, aimed at Bai Cangshu.

"Time Alter—Triple Stagnate!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Almost simultaneously, several gunshots rang out at once, the bullets forming a triangular pattern that sealed off Bai Cangshu’s left and right.

The mocking curve at Bai Cangshu’s lips looked especially glaring within Kiritsugu Emiya’s Time Alter.

Pfft!

Like a bullet sinking into thick, old leather, a faint muffled sound followed—and nothing happened.

Bai Cangshu spread open his hand. That specially made bullet was still spinning nonstop in his left palm.

You obtained Item: Origin Bullet ×1

Bai Cangshu looked at the hand he had deliberately reshaped, continuously dispersing the bullet’s impact to prevent it from smashing directly against his Left Arm of the King.

He had indeed acquired a fairly good item.

Kiritsugu Emiya’s unique special bullet, specifically used to kill all kinds of magi and Mage Killers.

It was made using ribs imbued with his unique magical attribute of severing and binding.

Once it struck a Mage Killer, it would directly detonate the target’s mana, causing massive damage. The more powerful the target’s mana, the more pronounced the effect.

This was the true trump card of Kiritsugu Emiya, the Mage Killer.

Time Alter, the Emiya family’s time-manipulation magecraft, merely gave him the qualifications to fight most Mage Killers.

"Do you know why you could never become an Ally of Justice?"

Bai Cangshu put away the bullet. Before he could check whether it could be taken out of this world, he continued walking toward Kiritsugu Emiya.

His mouth kept spewing trash talk.

It was not because Bai Cangshu enjoyed mocking Plot Characters who had sacrificed themselves for "justice." He was pressuring him.

He wanted to force the other man, under immense pressure, to reveal the secret of how he had survived at Ryūdō Temple.

Unfortunately, Mantra’s ability was restricted. Otherwise, Bai Cangshu could have acted even more directly in this world.

Even with Kiritsugu Emiya’s triple Time Alter activated, he still seemed almost motionless to Bai Cangshu, who had activated Advanced Instant.

There was a chasm-like gap between their physical attributes.

"Qiu Luo, take them to where the Greater Grail is first."

Hearing Mercenary Tao’s instruction, Qiu Luo’s gaze flickered. He nodded, then urged the others to prepare to enter the cave where the Greater Grail was located.

With Souichirou Kuzuki here, Medea had no choice but to submit. At this place, Caster Medea from the Fifth Holy Grail War;

Saber Artoria;

Archer Heroic Spirit Emiya;

and Assassin Mercenary Tao had all gathered.

More than half of the Heroic Spirits had assembled, along with a Pseudo-Servant illegally summoned by Medea. Qiu Luo wondered whether Mercenary Tao intended to end the Fifth Holy Grail War here in one stroke.

Yet Illya, the Lesser Grail, and Sakura Matou, the pseudo-Lesser Grail, had not appeared.

Qiu Luo’s heart wavered. He possessed other information that Mercenary Tao did not know.

No matter how powerful Mercenary Tao was, acting apart from his Master was his greatest weakness.

Since Mercenary Tao had been recognized as a Servant, then as long as Illya was killed…

Qiu Luo lowered his head, not daring to meet Mercenary Tao’s eyes, but he had already made up his mind. If the members of his team could kill Illya under White Face’s instructions and eliminate Mercenary Tao from the game…

Then he would stand with White Face and drag things out.

Conversely, if his people failed to assassinate Illya, he would pretend to know nothing and shift all responsibility onto Mercenary Tao.

Thinking this, Qiu Luo finally let out a breath. His constantly tense nerves relaxed somewhat as he followed Medea toward the back of Ryūdō Temple.

"The so-called justice of the few and the many, the so-called trolley problem—wasn’t it all because you were too weak, Mr. Emiya?"

Bai Cangshu walked slowly with his hands behind his back. Kiritsugu Emiya kept firing, but every bullet drifted through Bai Cangshu’s body.

And this guy was clearly a Servant, yet he had almost no mana?!

Otherwise, why had the Origin Bullet been completely ineffective?

But if he had no mana, how had he accomplished something like this?

He watched Mercenary Tao effortlessly evade bullet after bullet. That appearance was already more terrifying than quite a few Servants.

Bai Cangshu walked step by step until he stood before Kiritsugu Emiya. He seized the man by the throat with one hand and finally asked the question he truly wanted answered.

"Mr. Emiya, tell me. Was it the Black Mud within the Greater Grail that turned you into this, or…"

"A True Ancestor?"

Kiritsugu Emiya raised his head. Something seemed to be stirring in his lightless eyes.

Bai Cangshu had not rushed to kill him precisely because he wanted to clarify this point.

Because he already knew Ryougi Shiki had appeared in this world, he could no longer treat this world as a simple Fate World.

It was perfectly plausible for things like True Ancestors and Dead Apostles to appear in Kiritsugu Emiya’s timeline.

A figure seemed to appear before Kiritsugu Emiya’s eyes. Bai Cangshu’s black hair slowly rose.

Pfft!

Bai Cangshu drove a finger into Kiritsugu Emiya’s brow. A faint electric current began flowing in from his fingertip.

Bai Cangshu closed his eyes, and he too saw a figure. It was a woman in a loose white sweater, with a graceful figure and long golden hair cascading down to her waist.

"An Ally of Justice should not die like this. I will give you a second life. Delight me, Kiritsugu~"

The woman bent down and bit into Kiritsugu Emiya’s pale neck.