Fate/Magus Path

"Maiya, how's the situation on your end?"

In the crowd beneath the Hyatt Hotel, Kiritsugu Emiya was observing the flow of people while communicating with his assistant via a communicator.

The church's summons would undoubtedly leave other magus' workshops vulnerable, presenting him with a prime opportunity to strike.

For him, the greatest threat came from magus who owned their workshops.

The content of the recent meeting had already been fully transmitted to him through the communicator on Saber, confirming that Lancer, Rider, and Caster had allied, leaving no possibility for them to become allies, so… it was time for him to act.

That night, when Amakusa Shirou sought him out for a nocturnal discussion, it was about this very plan.

The purpose of summoning the Masters, while indeed having the intention of rallying allies, also had the ulterior motive of drawing the tiger from its mountain lair.

In fact, he had already recruited the allies he needed at the very beginning; the remaining individuals were merely filler. It would be ideal to bring them in without conflict, but if they refused, eliminating them was a necessity.

This was the plan agreed upon by Amakusa Shirou and Kiritsugu Emiya.

One was responsible for rallying and attracting attention, while the other was tasked with theft.

"The target is ready, and there is no threat detected."

"If successful, we could eliminate three Masters' strongholds in one go…"

The temptation was enormous for him.

"Then let's move."

"Understood."

Kiritsugu Emiya extinguished the cigarette in his hand and hung up the phone.

The previous night.

Amakusa Shirou had specifically sought him out, inviting him to join his camp, promising that he could fulfill his wish... a genuine method to eradicate the war from its roots and achieve salvation for humanity.

This successfully piqued Kiritsugu Emiya's interest.

Though he did not trust Amakusa Shirou, the temptation he offered was hard to refuse; he would not let any opportunity for humanity's redemption slip away.

While he remained wary of Amakusa Shirou, he decided to ally with him.

Because, whether true or not, at least Amakusa Shirou's plan was beneficial for him. If he proceeded with this plan, he might realize his wish while simultaneously weakening the other competitors; he had no reason to refuse.

After all, there were too many strong contenders in this Holy Grail War, and he and Saber had already understood their positioning during the battle on the first night.

Regarding the Servant he summoned, the legendary King Arthur, Kiritsugu Emiya was utterly disappointed. First, he was suppressed by Fionn, then by Gilgamesh. Whether he could even defeat the renowned King of Conquerors Iskandar was uncertain, and the Black Knight who appeared last was clearly no pushover.

It could be said that among the Servants currently in play, except for the unseen Caster and hidden Assassin, he had no confidence in defeating any of the other four he had summoned.

Falling to such a state made it difficult for him to place his hopes on her. If he were to rely entirely on Saber, defeat was a certainty.

Fortunately, victory in the Holy Grail War didn't necessarily require eliminating all other Servants; as long as he could take down their Masters, the other Servants would fall without a fight.

Though this method was rather dishonorable, even Saber disdained it, he didn't care. As long as he could achieve victory and realize his ideals, he would easily abandon his life; what was a mere disgrace compared to that?

Thus, in disappointment, Kiritsugu Emiya once again transferred his hopes to himself. He even didn't inform Saber about his plan to ambush the magus's workshop with Maiya.

In his view, a Servant should fulfill their duties as a familiar, obediently following orders. There was no need to report on the Master's affairs to her.

So, after monitoring the situation on Amakusa Shirou's side, Kiritsugu Emiya and his assistant had already installed numerous explosives on the central third floor of the entire hotel, preparing for detonation.

Now, all he had to do was gently press the switch in his hand, and the entire central section of the hotel would explode, destroying most of the Hyatt Hotel in one go, without any risk.

Given Kayneth's unabashed magical workshop aura, even if Kiritsugu Emiya was not a legitimate magus, he could still sense how terrifying it was for the hotel's top floor to have transformed into Kayneth's workshop stronghold.

As long as he dared to barge in, Kayneth would definitely sense it immediately and remotely control the magecraft within the workshop, tearing him apart. Even Saber would not come out unscathed if she rushed in.

But that was merely a magical defensive mode, which held little significance for him. Although he couldn't challenge them head-on at the level of magecraft, he could break through from another angle... through sheer physical force.

According to the building's structure, as long as he blew up all the floors below the central section, even the finest workshop crafted above would have to yield to Newton's laws and come crashing down.

Now, all he needed to do was wait for Kayneth and the others to enter the building before detonating the explosives. At that moment, Kayneth, Roy, and Waver, with no defensive measures in place, would be engulfed in flames in an instant.

"Maiya, how's the evacuation going?"

"It's done; there's no one left in the entire building."

"Good."

For this operation, to avoid involving too many innocent civilians, Kiritsugu Emiya had previously used suggestion magecraft to notify the front desk that the Hyatt Hotel would be attacked by terrorists that night, facilitating an evacuation in advance. Now, the hotel was empty, transformed into a trap waiting for its prey.

Standing on the rooftop, Kiritsugu Emiya continued to wait, rubbing the detonator in his palm.

In the distance, a green figure flickered in the night sky, watching intently before leaving.

...

*BOOM!*

In the cold night, the peaceful evening was suddenly shattered by a loud explosion that broke the tranquility.

Accompanied by a surge of heat rising into the sky, the serene night was instantly transformed into a sea of flames, igniting the sparks dancing within the calm darkness.

The towering structure, built from layer upon layer of reinforced concrete, was instantly crushed and collapsed under the impact. The fragile glass shattered like petals scattering in the wind, and countless concrete blocks and debris quickly buried the area.

"It really exploded!"

"Everyone, get out of here quickly!"

Screams and cries echoed throughout the night sky.

The crowd erupted into chaos, panic and footsteps blending together to create a disordered symphony of suffering.

Kiritsugu Emiya walked against the tide of people on the street, like someone from another world.

His dull, colorless eyes silently glanced at the ruins that had once been a building. He gently exhaled a puff of smoke, then discarded the cigarette butt, extinguishing it with his foot, before dialing the communicator, "Maiya, how's the situation?"

"The target hasn't escaped the building; they're confirmed to be buried."

"Is that so? The impact from a building falling from a hundred meters would strike head-on. Even if a Servant could escape using spirit form, they wouldn't be able to protect their Master. Adding in the lethal force of the explosion… they must be dead."

Believing he had successfully eliminated three groups of enemies, Kiritsugu Emiya cast a cold glance at the ruins before turning to leave.

"Continue monitoring; don't miss a single detail."

Suddenly, Maiya shouted from the other end of the communicator, "Something's wrong, Kiritsugu, the target has reappeared..."

"What?"

Maiya's words startled Kiritsugu Emiya.

Was it really possible to escape in this situation?

"Who is it?! How many targets are there?"

"It's Rider. It seems that his mount is carrying two people, but there's no sign of Lancer."

"Understood. You continue monitoring here and look for Lancer's trail. Contact me at any time."

After giving his instructions, Kiritsugu Emiya let out a deep sigh, looking up at the thunderous tracks left by Rider's chariot in the sky. "To escape in such a situation, it seems it's not that simple…"

And indeed, Rider, being the most mobile of the classes, moved at such speed and height that there was no way to pursue them; he could only watch helplessly as they left.

...

Gordius Wheels.

With one hand carrying Waver and the other guiding the chariot, Iskandar anxiously looked at the two injured Masters in front of him.

"How are you holding up? You two still managing?"

If they hadn't retreated in time and had relied on the defensive mystic code Kayneth had prepared, that last explosion would have certainly claimed the lives of these two Masters.

"What on earth happened? Did someone actually tamper with the hotel?!" Iskandar was furious.

At that moment, Roy, who was using magecraft to heal himself and struggling to stop the burns on his body, slowly opened his eyes in a daze.

They had just returned to the hotel to discuss their next course of action when the unexpected happened, catching them off guard.

When they entered the lobby, Roy immediately noticed that the front desk was empty, and the entire building was eerily quiet. All the residents who had been bustling about had vanished, raising a bad feeling in his mind.

He quickly called for Kayneth and Waver, urging them to evacuate. However, even though he had sensed danger immediately, it was still too late. The moment they thought about retreating, the flames had already pierced through their line of sight.

Even though Iskandar acted quickly, directly summoning the Gordius Wheel to take Roy and Waver away, they were still inevitably thrown away by the explosion.

The shockwave from that explosive force was so strong that if it weren't for the protective garments, they would have been sent flying.

Struggling against the pain, Roy felt a burning agony throughout his body, his eyes injured from the explosion and difficult to open. If it weren't for the cold wind high in the air waking him up, he would likely be in the same state as Waver, who had collapsed nearby.

"What's going on? Why was our base attacked? Where's the Count… it shouldn't be like this with him around…"

Unless… a bad thought crossed Roy's mind.

"Wait, Rider, where are Kayneth and the others? Did he escape?"

"This king isn't sure. The situation was too urgent earlier, and I could only bring you two out. However, your teacher is not ordinary, and Lancer is protecting him over there, so there should be no problems. Kid, don't talk yet; I'll take you to the hospital for treatment."

Iskandar shook his head and steered the Gordius Wheel towards the hospital.

"No, we can't go to the hospital… Kiritsugu Emiya is definitely lying in wait over there…" Roy quickly objected.

"Kiritsugu Emiya? Do you know who the culprit is?"

"Sort of. After all, in this Holy Grail War, the only one capable of doing something this crazy is that magus scoundrel."

"He took advantage of our visit to the church to distract us, and that guy, Amakusa Shirou, probably guessed we wouldn't join his camp, so he collaborated with Kiritsugu Emiya in advance to ambush us, aiming to take us all down at once and eliminate the biggest threat… tsk."

Feeling the burning pain on his body, Roy furrowed his brow.

Although he urgently needed treatment, he was already separated from Kayneth, and with two injured comrades, there was no way to fight against any other enemies. If Kiritsugu Emiya knew he was still alive, he would definitely take this opportunity to set up an ambush and take them all down.

While it was possible to relocate for treatment, going to the hospital would play right into Kiritsugu Emiya's hands.

But what about the count? He had already prepared for the possibility of Kiritsugu Emiya raiding their base. How could this happen? Why did Kiritsugu Emiya manage to blow up the hotel?

"Then this king will take you to a safe place."

"Wait a minute."

Roy called out to Iskandar, enduring the intense pain as he extended his charred left hand.

"Rider, come over and check if the Command Seal on the back of my hand is still there."

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