As a Magus Killer who excelled at calculation, Kiritsugu Emiya hated variables above all else.
And the man before him, who claimed to be a Ruler, had the words "uncontrollable" written all over him.
He quickly checked the command spells on his hand.
The three bright red command spells were still there, but he could clearly feel the tight causal connection between these command spells and Saber; with just a thought, he could force a command.
But with this man in the black trench coat...
The thread of connection was faint and flickering, as fragile as spider silk in the wind.
Most eerily, the other end of the connection seemed to be a bottomless black hole.
Kiritsugu Emiya had an intuition that if he dared to use a command spell on him, he would definitely be the one to die from the backlash!
Click. The sound of the safety being disengaged; the gun in Kiritsugu's hand was already aimed at the center of Hansen's forehead.
"Because you have no other choice." Hansen said calmly.
In the next second, Artoria moved.
Even though she felt a tremendous threat from this man, as a knight, she would never allow anyone to threaten her master in front of her!
"Strike Air!"
Saber's figure vanished instantly, and when she reappeared, she was already at Hansen's side.
The invisible sword, carrying compressed wind pressure to the extreme, slammed into Hansen's torso like an air cannonball!
This strike held no killing intent, only the intention to subdue.
However.
Hansen tilted his head slightly, not even taking his hands out of his pockets.
Clang—!!! Without any warning, a visible seven-colored force field barrier suddenly appeared, and the holy sword in Artoria's hand let out a trembling wail.
The violent wind pressure was shattered and disintegrated the moment it touched the force field, vanishing into nothingness.
"This... how is that possible?!"
Saber held her sword-swinging posture, but could not advance even an inch further.
She discovered with horror that her pride-and-joy Mana Burst was as insignificant as a candle flame before this man.
Hansen turned his head slowly, those platinum eyes watching Saber calmly.
"Are you sure you want to make an enemy of me? Saber?"
His voice was not loud, but carried an unquestionable majesty.
Saber gritted her teeth, and in the end, she chose to retreat for the safety of her master.
She sheathed her sword and retreated to Irisviel's side with a complex expression, but her body remained tense.
"Pardoning your disrespect is the greatest sincerity I can show."
Hansen looked at Kiritsugu, those eyes that seemed to pierce through the soul making Kiritsugu feel a sharp pain.
"I will not interfere with your tactics, nor will I obstruct your ideals." Hansen said calmly, "But I also do not accept orders of any kind."
"In this Holy Grail War, I am an independent observer."
"As for cooperation..."
Hansen turned his gaze toward the shivering Irisviel.
Looking at this homunculus woman with silver hair and red eyes, who resembled an exquisite doll, a gentle smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He could clearly perceive that deep within the intricate magic circuits inside Irisviel's body, that pitch-black Cube Fragments emitting the fluctuations of an otherworldly deity was sleeping quietly.
Irisviel subconsciously wanted to back away, but the aura from Hansen, though cold, held no malice, making her stop in her tracks.
"The thing you carry inside you is very heavy."
Hansen said meaningfully, his gaze seemingly penetrating her body's silhouette to see the vessel constructed from complex mana.
lesser grail.
Irisviel was stunned: "You... you can see it?"
"Of course." Hansen withdrew his gaze, his tone flat, "To sacrifice the most precious person by your side for that so-called wish, is this the tragic wish of your Einzbern family?"
This sentence was like a sharp knife, piercing both Kiritsugu and Irisviel at the same time.
Kiritsugu's fingers gripping the gun turned white, and in the end, he slowly lowered the gun.
He was an extremely rational person.
The situation before him was clear: he couldn't beat him, couldn't drive him away, and couldn't kill him.
Since that was the case, the only option was to utilize him.
"Since you claim to be a Ruler, then do not appear on the front lines of the battlefield." Kiritsugu said in a deep voice, regaining that dead-like calmness, "I will act alone with Maiya."
"Iri, follow the plan and act as the bait as Saber's proxy master."
This was a gamble.
Using a Servant as bait to attract everyone's attention while he hunted masters from the shadows.
As for the intruding Ruler, since he claimed to be independent, then... so be it.
It was definitely not because there was no chance of winning.
"Kiritsugu..." Irisviel looked at her husband with some concern.
"A wise choice." Hansen did not care about the utilization in Kiritsugu's words, "As long as you don't bother me, I am happy to be left in peace."
"How rude!"
Artoria could not stand it anymore.
Although she felt uncomfortable with her master's gloominess, the attitude of this man before her was even more of a blasphemy against the contract.
"Since you are a Servant, you should observe a Servant's duty! Loyalty to one's master is a knight's..."
"Stop, stop, stop."
Hansen picked his ear, his expression changing from the coldness of his initial appearance to one of slight ridicule: "Knights, loyalty, and such—how many years has it been since the British Empire fell? You should try to keep up with the times a bit, shouldn't you?"
"You—!!" Artoria was choked by these words, the ahoge on top of her head standing up in anger.
As King Arthur, what she cared about most was the glory of Britain.
However, besides her anger, she also keenly noticed something.
Even though she hadn't revealed much information, the other party seemed to know everything about her.
Perhaps, this was... the ability of a Ruler?
"In that case, draw your sword!" With a hint of testing in her heart, Saber let out a clear shout.
"Ha!"
Spiderweb-like cracks exploded on the stone floor, and her petite body erupted with speed that surpassed the limits of human dynamic vision!
The battle began again!
She transformed into a streak of silver lightning, the invisible holy sword in her hand whistling as it tore through the air, aiming straight for Hansen's throat!
This strike combined speed, precision, and ruthlessness, displaying the top-tier melee combat ability of a Knight of the Sword.
There were no frills, only a thousand-tempered thrust!
Irisviel exclaimed: "Saber! Don't!"
The air inside the chapel was sucked dry in an instant.
Saber, having entered combat mode, held nothing back.
Since the opponent was also a king, the most basic etiquette was... to give it her all!
The Invisible Sword whipped up a storm, the sword pressure arriving a step before the blade, crushing the expensive marble tiles on the floor like biscuits!
Kiritsugu Emiya had long since retreated behind cover with Irisviel at the first opportunity; the aftermath of a battle of this level was a fatal calamity for humans!
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