Chapter 258: The Final Battle (Part 3)
"Where is that child?"
His voice filled with suppressed rage, Kotomine Kirei grabbed Irisviel's neck and demanded.
"Didn't you notice when you passed by just now?"
Irisviel's gaze toward Kotomine Kirei was full of mockery.
"Just now?"
Hearing Irisviel's words, Kotomine Kirei froze. Recalling carefully, he did indeed feel a strange prana fluctuation when he passed a certain room.
However, because he was in a hurry to catch Sakura and Hikigaya Hachiman was chasing him from behind, he didn't stop to investigate, but rushed past...
"Why?"
Kotomine Kirei couldn't understand why Irisviel would help that child, even going so far as to use herself as bait to attract his attention.
Although Hikigaya Hachiman was largely responsible for Kiritsugu's death, wasn't he (Kirei) the main culprit? The Master of Assassin!
Staring at the emotionless man, who resembled a killing machine, Irisviel's eyes instantly filled with hatred.
A magus who would participate in the Holy Grail War when the other six Masters had already revealed their identities, and who had previously attempted such a vile tactic as kidnapping a child...
Who else could Kotomine Kirei truly be but the Master of Assassin?!
"Ah, this..."
Understanding that Irisviel chose to help Hikigaya Hachiman to avenge the deceased Kiritsugu Emiya, Kotomine Kirei nodded knowingly.
Immediately, the Black Key in his hand stabbed directly into Irisviel's abdomen.
"Ugh!"
Her body suddenly pierced by a sharp weapon, Irisviel's body slightly trembled from the sudden, intense pain.
Kotomine Kirei completely ignored the scream Irisviel let out. He immediately pulled out the Black Key that had been plunged into her body and then stabbed it again into the area of her kidney.
Confirming that Irisviel would die shortly due to excessive blood loss, Kotomine Kirei nodded in satisfaction. He then swung his Black Key and quickly headed towards the only exit—the temple gate.
"Irisviel?"
Shortly after Kotomine Kirei left, Hikigaya Hachiman and Sakura, who had been delayed because they met midway, also arrived in the courtyard.
Looking at the white-haired noblewoman lying in a pool of blood, tears welled up in Sakura's eyes, as it was because of her protection that she was saved from harm.
"Brother, can you save her?"
Sakura tugged at Hikigaya Hachiman's sleeve, pleading with him.
Although general healing magecraft would be useless given the severity of Irisviel's injuries, if it was Hikigaya Hachiman, there might still be a chance!
"This... I'll try."
Without much confidence in healing, Hikigaya Hachiman glanced at the empty temple gate, then knelt down in front of Irisviel. Placing his hand over the penetrating wounds on Irisviel's lower abdomen, he circulated his Inari Divinity, attempting to heal them.
"Please don't worry about me."
Perhaps due to the Inari Divinity, Irisviel, who had been lying on the ground seemingly on her last breath, opened her eyes again after Hikigaya Hachiman began treating her.
Seeing Sakura beside Hikigaya Hachiman looking at her with concern, a smile of relief appeared on her face. She then turned her head and shook it at Hikigaya Hachiman, who was treating her. "Injuries of this level, I can heal them myself."
Having said that, as if afraid they wouldn't believe her, Irisviel deliberately lifted her damaged outer garment, exposing her flat abdomen.
Indeed, just as she had said, the massive holes caused by the Black Keys piercing her abdomen rapidly healed at a speed visible to the naked eye under the three people's gaze, without leaving even a trace of a scar!
"What is this?"
Such astonishing recovery ability was something even Hikigaya Hachiman, who had integrated a part of the Killing Stone, couldn't match.
Hikigaya Hachiman found it hard to believe that the self-healing ability of homunculi was this strong.
"I wonder if Hikigaya has ever heard of the place called Avalon?"
"Avalon?"
Hearing Irisviel's words, Hikigaya Hachiman and Sakura exchanged glances, shook their heads at the blankness in each other's eyes.
Although his performance in humanities was decent, he wasn't very knowledgeable about foreign things that sounded like this.
"Avalon is Saber's resting homeland... The reason I possess such strong self-healing ability is also thanks to a Noble Phantasm originating from Avalon..."
Saying this, Irisviel placed her hand on her chest and pulled out Artoria's scabbard, which had been buried within her body.
"The Everdistant Utopia, Saber's scabbard. The possessor heals from any injury, and even the process of aging ceases!"
Seeing the two curiously examine the blue-gold scabbard taken from her body, Irisviel briefly explained the origin of the scabbard in her hand.
"It can even stop aging?"
The description Irisviel gave of the blue-gold scabbard made Hikigaya Hachiman's mouth twitch.
He felt like there were an absurd number of unfair items in this world.
If anyone possessed the scabbard, wouldn't they become immortal?
And coincidentally,
If there was an item that could grant eternal life, there must also be other ways to gain immortality or greatly extend life...
"If we go by this deduction... aren't there many old guys hiding in the shadows in this world?"
The speculation that popped into Hikigaya Hachiman's mind sent a shiver down his spine.
It was definitely better to quickly resolve the matters here and go home...
"Then, I would like to ask you to deliver this to Saber."
After healing the wounds on her body using the Everdistant Utopia, Irisviel handed the scabbard to Hikigaya Hachiman.
"This scabbard originally belongs to Saber. Now I want to return it to its rightful owner. Saber will surely have an easier time dealing with Archer with this..."
"Are you sure?"
Reaching out to take the scabbard Irisviel offered, Hikigaya Hachiman confirmed with her again whether she wanted to return this item to Artoria.
"Of course, I no longer need it."
Irisviel nodded definitively.
The Holy Grail War was about to end, and her function as a medium had also been transferred to Matou Zouken by Hikigaya Hachiman's magic circle.
Aside from still needing to kill Kotomine Kirei to avenge Emiya Kiritsugu and return to Germany to retrieve Illya, she had no other regrets.
"Alright, I will hand it over to Saber."
Seeing that Irisviel was serious, Hikigaya Hachiman immediately stored the Everdistant Utopia into his system space.
He stood up, about to summon two foxes to carry Sakura and Irisviel to another safe location, when suddenly, the magic circle beside them shot up a column of dark gray light.
"The Holy Grail summoning is complete."
Watching the cup slowly rising within the column of light, Irisviel murmured to herself.
"Is that the Holy Grail?"
Hearing Irisviel's words, Hikigaya Hachiman also looked at the cup that seven teams had fought and competed for with interest.
However, to his disappointment, the Holy Grail, apart from containing a massive amount of prana, was just a simple, antique-styled cup...
"Eh, what is that?"
Suddenly, black mud-like substance began to overflow from the materialized Holy Grail.
Sensing the ominous aura emanating from the black mud, Hikigaya Hachiman, without hesitation, immediately took the hands of the two girls and ran down the mountain.
However, the black mud seemed to have a life of its own. Almost at the same time Hikigaya Hachiman took Sakura and Irisviel and left, the black mud suddenly accelerated its rate of overflow.
Within just a few seconds, the black mud reached an enormous quantity and, with lightning speed, engulfed the three of them!
Before the black mud submerged him, Hikigaya Hachiman used all his strength to cover the three of them with divinity, forming a strong protective shield.
However, the black mud directly ignored the defense Hikigaya Hachiman had constructed and easily penetrated into the interior of the protective shield...
"Honestly..."
After an unknown amount of time, Hikigaya Hachiman, whose consciousness had faded, suddenly woke up.
Standing before him was a dainty, beautiful little girl, currently looking at him with a deeply exasperated expression.
Seeing that he had woken up, the little girl immediately spoke in a complaining tone:
"Why would you put such a dirty thing into the Holy Grail!"
"Dirty thing?"
Hikigaya Hachiman looked confused.
"Here, this worm!"
Seeing that Hikigaya Hachiman still didn't understand, the little girl immediately pulled Matou Zouken 's Crest Worm out of the void in front of her.
"The Holy Grail was already contaminated in the last war. I didn't expect you would use such a filthy thing as a medium to summon the Greater Holy Grail this time. Are you an idiot?"
Looking at the culprit who had secondary contaminated the Holy Grail, Alaya felt quite helpless.
According to the original world line, the contamination of the Holy Grail should have been dealt with by Saber's Master in the Fifth Holy Grail War.
But things like world lines have too many branches.
The future of this branch had completely changed the moment Hikigaya Hachiman from another world received Sakura's message.
To ensure the human species could sustain itself in the future, Alaya could only guide Hikigaya Hachiman to save Sakura and have him participate in the Fourth Holy Grail War to resolve the contamination prematurely.
However, she hadn't anticipated that Hikigaya Hachiman would use Matou Zouken as a substitute to spare Irisviel the fate of becoming the Holy Grail.
Her feelings were quite complex when she learned this news...
Now, due to Matou Zouken 's inclusion, the Holy Grail's contamination had become even more severe. Unable to sit idly by, Alaya had no choice but to appear and urge Hikigaya Hachiman to quickly deal with the contamination.
"I'm sorry..."
Hikigaya Hachiman, who had not expected his decision to cause such trouble, apologized instinctively when he heard Alaya's explanation.
"If apologizing worked, why would I come to find you?! Get to work!"
Looking at Hikigaya Hachiman's remorseful expression, Alaya became distraught, just like a real human.
He was a half-god from another world carrying prana, yet his first reaction upon encountering a problem was to apologize. The dignity of a half-god had been completely lost because of him!
"However, I am also at fault for not communicating with you in time..."
After an unusual burst of emotional fluctuation, Alaya regained her composure.
After all, if she hadn't been calculating against Hikigaya Hachiman, hoping he would work for her for free without realizing it, but had informed Hikigaya Hachiman of the mission from the start, perhaps the current situation could have been avoided.
"If you can deal with the contamination, I will pay you a corresponding reward. How about that? This is a promise from the World's Counter Force."
"Counter Force?"
Hearing the strange and unfamiliar term, Hikigaya Hachiman instantly became curious.
"Since I don't want to explain, just regard me as the administrator maintaining the operation of this world. Compared to my identity, what do you think about my proposal?"
"One question: what if I refuse?"
"There is no penalty, except that the three of you will wake up in that black mud full of various curses. As for what side effects you might experience after touching the black mud, I wouldn't know..."
"Isn't that absolutely a threat?!"
Alaya's answer instantly made Hikigaya Hachiman unhappy.
"This is not a threat, merely a fact."
Perhaps sensing Hikigaya Hachiman's annoyance, Alaya's previously lively expression instantly disappeared, replaced by a cold demeanor.
"I connected with you through the black mud. This means that in reality, the black mud has already engulfed you, Sakura, and Irisviel.
However, if you agree to help me deal with the contamination in the Holy Grail, I will naturally intervene to help you avoid the side effects of the black mud...
I have absolutely no choice."
Hearing Alaya's words, the expression on Hikigaya Hachiman's face softened. After pondering for a moment, he raised his head with a wry smile.
If he didn't agree to help, the curse of the black mud would fall upon the three of them; if he agreed to help, they would be fine.
Although it seemed like a choice between two options, in reality, the path of refusal had already been blocked...
"Then the contract is established!"
Seeing Hikigaya Hachiman nod and agree to help, Alaya's eyes glowed with silver light.
Immediately, a silver-white chain extended from the void behind her. One end was bound to Alaya, and the other pierced straight into Hikigaya Hachiman's heart.
"!"
The moment his heart was pierced by the chain, Hikigaya Hachiman sharply opened his eyes.
He saw that, less than half a centimeter from his face, an extremely fragile silver barrier was struggling to hold back the black mud...
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New Fanfiction!
Hachiman please tone down your Inner Thoughts
While waiting for Yukinoshita in the clubroom, he unexpectedly travels to the world of Classroom of the Elite and becomes the representative of Class B.
Initially, he only intended to keep a low profile while helping Class B escape its tragic fate from the original story, and incidentally saving Ichinose Honami.
However, why these girls seems to know what am I Thinking?
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting