Fate: Hero of Justice Takeover-Chapter 161: [] At the Brink of Death, Sakatsuki Arrives

Today has been a chaotic day—this is likely what everyone involved in the Holy Grail War is thinking.

Since the church announced Sakatsuki's "death" this morning, troublesome events have followed one after another.

A mysterious Class Card Servant attacked.

Waver used his last two Command Spells to save Rider.

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Kirei Kotomine of the Holy Church was arrested on charges of "blowing up the Hyatt Hotel."

"Kiritsugu Emiya" killed the overseer, Risei Kotomine, and stole over a dozen Command Spells (allegedly), becoming the target of everyone's ire.

Sakatsuki schemed in the shadows.

Kiritsugu Emiya prepared to act.

Kirei Kotomine awakened and allied with the King of Heroes...

One event after another, enough to make any Master wary, retreating to their workshops to wait for the storm to pass. Yet for Kariya, no matter what happened, nothing could stop his actions tonight.

—He planned to attempt to assassinate Tokiomi Tohsaka once more tonight.

The reason was simple. Although he was just a beginner in magecraft, he still knew that the longer a magician had to prepare, the harder they were to kill. Moreover, now that he had cut ties with Sakatsuki, it was only a matter of time before Satsuki came to demand the Assassin Class Card.

Time was not on his side.

Furthermore, the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh, was a being even Sakatsuki had to deal with carefully. As much as Kariya believed in his Berserker, he was deeply aware of the gap between himself and Tokiomi.

To obtain the Holy Grail, he had to defeat Tokiomi and Archer. To defeat this powerful pair, the only way was to bypass Archer and target the Master directly.

In other words, assassinate the Master.

Thus, after hastily recovering his magical energy, Kariya, under the cover of darkness, transformed into Cursed Arm Hassan and infiltrated the Tohsaka residence once more.

Even though Tokiomi had reinforced the Tohsaka mansion's magical barriers, a Servant, especially one as skilled as Cursed Arm Hassan, was beyond his expectations. Faced with the immensely mysterious demonic arm, even the gem-linked barriers were breached by Kariya in half an hour.

Suppressing his murderous intent, Kariya successfully reached the Tohsaka family's living room, just in time to see Tokiomi and Kirei sitting across from each other, engaged in deep conversation.

Should he assassinate them now? Even if Sakatsuki said Kirei was strong, with the power of a Servant, I could kill them both... But Kirei is no longer a Master.

Should I kill an innocent person?

As Kariya pondered, Tokiomi handed a wooden box on the table to Kirei and stood up, seemingly preparing to leave.

Then, something that nearly made Kariya cry out happened—Kirei drew his sword in a flash, piercing his mentor's heart from behind!

The experience of Cursed Arm Hassan told him that this strike was delivered without reservation. The dagger had undoubtedly destroyed Tokiomi's heart. Even if Tokiomi survived now, he would never see the light of another day.

Tokiomi was doomed.

Upon realizing this, Kariya curled his lips into a smile, as he had imagined countless times, but was surprised to find that there was not much joy in this smile.

No, how could that be?

The man I've always disliked, even hated, has fallen to such a state. I should be laughing.

Yes, that's right. Laugh heartily, laugh wildly, laugh until I can't stop, laugh until tears flow.

After all—the man who made Sakura suffer and made Aoi cry is about to die! Yet... the emotions in his heart were completely beyond Kariya's control.

Emptiness.

Frustration.

Anger.

Kirei's excited smile filled Kariya with intense disgust, as if Kariya's prized ten-thousand-yen figurine had been smashed to pieces, as if the thing Kariya had strived so hard for had been tossed in front of him like garbage.

If Tokiomi were to die like this—

A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, but in the end, like an escape, only one remained.

Would Aoi cry?

No, I must not let Aoi cry. At the very least, I can't let her cry over such an ending.

Having convinced himself, Kariya, without hesitation, transformed into a shadow and darted out, grabbing the dying Tokiomi. Like carrying a sack of rags, he carried his mortal enemy through the broken wall and disappeared into the cover of night.

Behind him, the priest, still stained with a bit of blood, watched until the trees obscured their view of each other.

***

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Under the dim light, Tokiomi woke up, coughing.

He sat up and saw a man sitting listlessly beside him, looking no better than he did.

"...Kariya."

"Hmph, how does it feel to be saved by your enemy?"

Faced with such mockery, Tokiomi did not respond. His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, feeling his heart and pulse growing weaker.

With a Magic Crest, a magus's heart would not stop so easily, but death was inevitable. Whether to choose a sliding or flip-top urn was the question Tokiomi should be pondering.

Kariya also said little. Just looking at Tokiomi irritated him, so he averted his gaze, reflecting on why he had saved him.

"...Tell me, Kariya."

Tokiomi suddenly spoke, interrupting Kariya's chaotic thoughts.

"What?"

"Has my life been a failure... Never mind."

After a pause, Tokiomi started a new topic.

"Tell me, Kariya, what was the Matou family like back then?"

"I thought you'd keep pretending to understand."

After a habitual sarcastic remark, Kariya sighed and finally began to recount the truth of those days.

Without turning on the lights—in a magician's workshop, any modern technology would be affected—only a vintage oil lamp swayed, casting a mournful and mysterious atmosphere.

"...That's how it was. Do you understand now? If it weren't for Sakatsuki's help, Sakura would have been thrown into the worm pit, her future plunged into darkness..."

Kariya spoke as if stifling his emotions, even surprising himself with how calm he felt.

He thought he would curse Tokiomi's stupidity, mock his ignorance... But when he realized the man lying before him was slowly approaching death, he suddenly lost the energy to be agitated.

He even felt... pity.

To end up like this was truly in line with Tokiomi's character. Firmly believing in his way of life, stepping forward without hesitation—until the very end, unaware of the abyss at his feet.

As if to discard this emotion, Kariya shook his head vigorously and said coldly.

"Although we are enemies, I can still help you call Aoi and Rin over."

"I'm sorry about Sakura, Kariya."

Kariya turned his head in shock, looking at the man on the bed who resembled a corpse, as if he had heard some impossible dream.

Then, Tokiomi confirmed that this was not Kariya's hallucination.

"Also, please call Aoi, Rin... and Sakura over. I'm sorry to trouble you, Kariya."

Faced with the request of a dying man, even an enemy, Kariya could only sigh softly and relent.

"Then consider it a moment of foolishness—Sakatsuki, you brat, stop watching from the sidelines and come out!"

As soon as Kariya finished speaking, a blue diamond-shaped magical door appeared beside him. A young man stepped out, his golden eyes illuminating the dim workshop.

"Yes, this is NFF Service. Although I don't know how you knew I was supervising, of course, everything will be as you request. But the commission fee won't be low, okay?"

With the young man's declaration, spatial portals opened one after another, from which emerged three startled figures.

Aoi Zenjou, Rin Tohsaka, and Sakura Matou.

Tokiomi Tohsaka's family, the three women for whom Kariya Matou had fought, gathered here. When they saw Tokiomi lying on the sickbed, barely breathing, whether they wanted to believe it or not, they had to accept the pain and panic of the truth hitting them in the face.

"Tokiomi—!"

"Father!"

"Dad..."

As the three women surrounded Tokiomi, Kariya merely sighed, taking one last longing look at Aoi before pulling Sakatsuki out of the workshop.

***

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