Deep beneath the main hall of the hanging gardens of babylon, Caster arrived alone. Accompanied by a pleasant song, a Magic Circle appeared in the empty room.
As Caster took her place and began the ritual for the Sealing Magecraft, a massive Magic Circle also manifested on the exterior of the hanging gardens of babylon.
The black mud on the ground erupted in an unprecedented riot as Caster's sealing ritual began. One after another, pitch-black Irisviels crawled out from the black mud, struggling as they looked up with hollow eyes at the hanging gardens of babylon in the sky.
As the first mud doll with the appearance of a pitch-black Irisviel let out a piercing scream, countless identical screams soon echoed throughout Fuyuki City. Many ordinary people who hadn't had time to evacuate clutched their ears in pain.
Then, the army of mud dolls began to converge, stacking into a giant hand made of countless dolls that reached toward the hanging gardens of babylon.
Watching the giant hand reaching up, Rin made a split-second decision. She notified Semiramis through their contract to deploy all the Hanging Gardens' defenses, while Gilgamesh also received Rin's call for help.
"Whoa, these numbers are just too much!"
Rin remarked with a sigh, then threw six fiery red gems toward the giant hand. As the gems made contact, the Innocentius appeared once more!
With Caster's help, Rin's vision was finally realized. Six Innocentiuss manifested, each centered around a ruby, roaring as they clung to the giant hand. Their terrifying 3,000-degree heat continuously scorched the mud dolls around them.
However, a mere six Innocentiuss were not enough against the endless army of mud dolls. As more and more dolls swarmed over them, the Innocentiuss were soon completely enveloped within the giant hand. Only an occasional roar from the surface of the hand revealed that they were still dutifully eliminating the mud dolls before their mana ran out.
The hanging gardens of babylon's interception system, Tiamtum Umu, was activated at this moment. Eleven massive black stone slabs appeared around the perimeter of the Hanging Gardens. As the slabs were activated, extraordinary light bullets were fired from them in succession. Each shot was equivalent to a falling meteorite, with a destructive power on an anti-army scale.
With the hanging gardens of babylon firing at full power, Rin could no longer focus on intercepting the mud dolls. She sat weakly on the ground, gripping gems tightly and constantly converting mana from them to support her Servant and the hanging gardens of babylon.
Gilgamesh, piloting the Sun Chariot, landed on the hanging gardens of babylon at that moment. Seeing Rin sitting on the ground, he shook his head.
"Girl, take a break. If you keep this up, your Magic Circuits will break."
Indeed, as Rin had been overloading her Magic Circuits throughout the day, they were now on the verge of collapse.
Rin sighed in frustration and looked at Gilgamesh.
"Fine, Gilgamesh, I'll leave this to you. I'm going to the garden to organize a second line of defense."
"Hmph, go then, girl. Don't forget your command spells if you run into danger."
Rin nodded, then cut off the mana supply to the hanging gardens of babylon before turning to walk into the garden in front of the palace.
Seeing Rin leave, Gilgamesh stood at the very edge of the platform. Behind him, hundreds of Golden Ripples appeared, and countless Noble Phantasms rained down on the giant hand like a torrential downpour.
Under this golden rain, the giant hand was peeled away layer by layer, growing smaller and smaller until the Innocentiuss inside were revealed. Looking at the Innocentiuss summoned by Rin's spell, Gilgamesh curled his lip in disdain. Then, with a thought, the rubies acting as the cores of the Innocentiuss detonated, turning into terrifying flames. The wind pressure from the explosion instantly blew the giant hand apart.
Gilgamesh nodded in satisfaction at his results and muttered to himself.
"Hmph, girl, this is how magecraft should be used."
Although the results were remarkable, if Rin were there, she would definitely complain that not everyone could afford to use magecraft in such a lavishly expensive way.
Arriving in the garden, Rin held a gem in one hand to convert it into mana, providing as much as possible to her Servant. On the other hand, she continuously dropped gems throughout the garden, hoping that when Angra Mainyu boarded the hanging gardens of babylon and she activated them, the sudden appearance of an army of Innocentiuss would give Angra Mainyu a big surprise.
Having separated from Kiritsugu Emiya, Kirei Kotomine was walking alone through the apocalyptic city when he suddenly heard a young boy's cry. Kirei Kotomine followed the sound and saw a red-haired boy sitting amidst the ruins beside the corpses of a couple, crying loudly.
Kirei Kotomine walked silently behind the boy and, looking at the broken family before him, spoke calmly.
"Are you willing to be saved by me?"
The boy was startled by the sudden voice. He wiped his tears, turned around with hollow eyes, and asked mechanically.
"Can you save my parents, please?"
"I'm sorry, I cannot do that."
The boy looked at Kirei Kotomine, said nothing, and simply turned back to pick up a piece of broken rebar, continuing to dig through the ruins.
Kirei Kotomine didn't step forward to help; he just silently watched the boy, whose eyes were remarkably similar to his own past self.
As the hanging gardens of babylon's interception system, 'Tiamtum Umu', fired in the distance, the massive wind pressure from the explosion swept over. The boy was blown off his feet by the gust and slammed hard against the ruins. The already unstable debris began to wobble and was on the verge of collapsing.
Looking at the falling stones from the ruins, Kirei Kotomine reached out to help another person for the first time in his life. He stepped forward, scooped the boy into his arms, and raised his right arm to block the falling debris.
Once things settled down, Kirei Kotomine set the boy down and stepped back silently.'So this is what it feels like to save someone; it's truly pleasurable!' Unconsciously, a natural smile appeared on Kirei Kotomine's lips for the first time.
The boy was now struggling to drag his parents' bodies, placing them into the hole he had just dug. Then, with his bloody, worn-down hands, he continuously filled the hole with soil. When it was all done, the boy turned and looked at Kirei Kotomine with hollow eyes.
"Father, why did you save me?"
"Because through that man, I have realized the meaning of my life: to reach out and save more people."
The little boy listened to Kirei Kotomine's words, his eyes once again displaying the liveliness appropriate for his age.
"Father, please let me follow you to save others."
Kirei Kotomine silently turned around and walked away towards the distance. Just when Shirou thought the Father was unwilling to adopt him, a voice drifted through the wind.
"Keep up. From now on, you are a member of the Kotomine family."
The little boy happily rushed to catch up with Kirei Kotomine and said, walking by his side.
"Then, Father, my name was Shirou before. So, after taking your surname, should I be called Shirou Kotomine now...?"
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