Like a shadow of death, the Old Man of the Mountain quietly disappeared into the night darkness.
The black bullet floating before the Old Man of the Mountain's eyes had its lifespan forcibly severed. It finally lost all kinetic energy and fell powerlessly onto the ruins with a dry tallic sound.
anwhile, the Sea of Life surrounding Tiamat — which had been raging instinctively upon sensing the threat — quietly cald within its turbulent currents.
Faldeus' plan had seed perfect at first glance.
But one must understand… the person he had tried to snipe was standing right beside the Mother Goddess of Creation.
Even if one stepped back and assud that most top-class Servants could not detect such obvious killing intent while beside their Master, neither the elder hidden in the mountain shadows nor the distant plum grove on the rooftop had the courage to bet on that "what if."
What if Tiamat's reaction to modern conceptual weapons had been even slightly slower?
What if that bullet had pierced Matou Yuu's head before the Sea of Life appeared?
This was not toying with Matou Yuu's life — it was a gamble betting on a one-in-ten-thousand survival probability.
The mont this Mother Goddess who deeply loved her child witnessed this tragedy, the rampaging evil of humanity would instantly end this Holy Grail War — and the entire world.
Therefore, from the mont Gilgash and Tiamat clashed tonight, the first Old Man of the Mountain had hidden like a shadow in the valley, silently lurking in the darkness, prepared to sever any elent that might cause disaster.
anwhile, the mont Tiamat saw the skeletal swordsman before her, her originally clear red eyes instantly beca filled with vigilance.
It was only natural that Tiamat, the origin of life, would feel aversion toward the pure aura of death emanating from the elder before her.
Matou Yuu finally ca to his senses.
Sensing the tense atmosphere, he spoke at the perfect mont. "It's all right… I don't think he had any malice."
As he spoke, he looked up at the dark figure before him and said quietly, "Otherwise, he wouldn't have stepped forward to block that bullet."
Tiamat paused briefly, glanced at Matou Yuu, then fixed her gaze on the Old Man of the Mountain for a while.
The Old Man of the Mountain had remained completely still the entire ti, leaning on his jet-black beheading sword like a silent statue, perfectly calm.
Then, in a voice that resonated deeply like an ancient bell, he slowly said, "I am not here out of personal emotion. It is simply because the final bell of the night has not yet rung above your head."
"That illusory bullet that tried to cross the boundary of heaven and interfere with life and death… I will sever it without rcy."
Matou Yuu glanced at the spent casing on the ground, then quickly shook his head and smiled. "No matter what, you saved my life. That is an undeniable fact."
The Old Man of the Mountain spoke in a tone that seed filled with a sense of justice.
However, one must understand that if this had been in the past, this ultimate assassin who symbolized absolute death would never have intervened in an assassination or protected a stranger for no reason with the excuse of just doing it.
Regardless of his motives… the Old Man of the Mountain had indeed saved him.
Tiamat glared at the Old Man of the Mountain with an extrely dangerous gaze.
After a while, within a soft blue magical light, her adult deanor — which looked down upon all living things — gradually shrank, returning to an unbelievably cute blue-haired loli form.
Then she awkwardly but politely thanked him. "Your scent was unpleasant… but thank you for helping my child earlier."
Her voice was surprisingly clear and beautiful, filled with childlike innocence.
"…"
The Old Man of the Mountain remained silent for a long ti, faint blue flas flickering slightly in his eyes, as if doubting whether sothing was wrong with his vision.
After a while, he slightly tilted his head and looked at the boy, as if staring through the boy's body at the female Heroic Spirit sleeping deep within.
Then the elder quietly turned around.
"Matou Yuu, my sword is indeed swung to sever life and death. However… in the valley, I also received the karmic connection residing in your soul."
"rely deflecting this stray bullet is insufficient to repay the heavy karmic debt. The remaining debt…"
The Old Man of the Mountain gradually transford into deep black mist, his desolate voice seeming to co from the other side.
"When fate intersects, I will definitely repay them."
Whoosh!
With that whisper, the elder's figure completely disappeared into the night darkness.
Night wind blew through the ruins, bringing coolness and pulling Matou Yuu back from his long reverie to reality.
He instinctively gripped Tiamat's soft, delicate hand and looked around the amusent park ruins.
At so unknown point, the military special forces personnel who had been blockading the amusent park were now lying unconscious and disheveled on the muddy ground.
Clearly, while infiltrating the battlefield, the Old Man of the Mountain had casually given them a deep sleep to avoid unnecessary commotion.
After all, for a Grand Assassin who believed perfect stealth is achieved by eliminating all witnesses, this thod of cleaning up the scene made perfect sense.
Just then, a series of footsteps broke the night's silence.
Matou Yuu unconsciously turned around.
Before him appeared an extrely elite unit radiating a chilling aura.
They all wore the latest riot suppression suits, but the weapons they carried were mythically enhanced divine armors.
The officer leading the unit wore a black trench coat fluttering in the night wind, with a crisp long police chief's uniform over it.
His hair was neatly combed back. At first glance, he looked like a dignified superior with an iron will.
But at this mont, cold sweat continuously stread down the forehead of this chief known for his iron-fist sanctions.
He looked at the unhard black-haired boy with eyes still showing traces of fear, then glanced at the seemingly innocent and worldly-unaware Goddess of Creation beside him, and finally let out a sigh of relief.
Tiamat instinctively grabbed Matou Yuu's clothes warily.
Matou Yuu stared at the man, then hesitantly asked, "You are…?"
Orlando forced himself to calm down, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
He raised his head, first warily glancing at the blue-haired girl beside the boy, then stared at the boy before him with an extrely solemn tone.
"Orlando Reeve, Police Chief of Snowfield City."
"Matou Yuu… if it is convenient, could you spare so ti to talk?"
This ti Matou Yuu was unhard, but what about next ti? And the ti after that?
Moreover, Orlando had a strong — or more accurately, urgent — interest in the boy's true identity, background, and reason for participating in the Holy Grail War.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have ti right now."
However, in response to this sincere invitation from the iron-willed chief, Matou Yuu flatly refused.
"Chief, instead of chatting with here, you should first take care of your subordinates."
It was obvious that the Arican governnt was involved among the masterminds of tonight's series of attacks.
After all, the people lying haphazardly in the ruins outside the amusent park were clearly highly trained military special forces personnel.
Negotiating alone in enemy territory without knowing the full picture… Matou Yuu had no intention of taking such a risk.
Surprisingly, Orlando did not get angry at the boy's refusal. He simply showed a helpless, bitter smile.
"That's reasonable… After experiencing such an assassination attempt, inviting a Holy Grail War Master to a private conversation so arrogantly would indeed invite suspicion."
"However, please believe ."
Orlando raised his head again and looked directly into the boy's eyes. "My goal has always been the sa… to protect the peace of this city to the best of my ability."
"In that case, you should go explain to the mastermind behind this Holy Grail War."
Matou Yuu smiled and took Tiamat's hand, walking toward the exit of the amusent park ruins.
Watching the two figures leave, one of Orlando's subordinates, Vera, changed expression and instinctively stepped forward to stop them.
But Orlando suddenly raised his hand to stop her and quietly shook his head. "That's enough… Drop your weapons and let them go."
"Chief, what are your plans next?" another subordinate asked in a low voice.
Watching the boy's retreating figure, Orlando let out a deep sigh. "I think I need to have a serious talk with Faldeus about this Holy Grail War's true level of danger and about this boy…"
Orlando's words were suddenly cut off before he could finish.
It was because the road surface ahead was waterlogged.
…
Matou Yuu who had just rejected him suddenly stopped.
A strong dizziness and fatigue assaulted him.
Matou Yuu's body swayed twice.
"Yuu…?"
Tiamat Lily sensed sothing was wrong and looked up with a confused expression.
However, Matou Yuu, who had been supporting Tiamat with his physical body, no longer had the strength to react. In this mont of ntal relief, cold sweat broke out. Physical and ntal exhaustion overlapped, and his consciousness instantly sank into darkness.
With a dull thud, he collapsed to the ground and completely lost consciousness.
…
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