NABC Chapter 122 Pleasure
Chapter 122 Pleasure
"At around 19:35 p.m. yesterday, a serious natural gas pipeline leak occurred at the Mienkawa Bridge, located at the border of Shinmiya and Fukayama Town in Fuyuki City, which triggered a violent explosion."
The explosion caused a severe collapse of the middle section of the bridge. The extent of casualties is still under investigation. Police have cordoned off the area, and the public is advised to take alternative routes…
The morning sunlight streamed into the living room of the Chancheng home through its spacious floor-to-ceiling windows.
On the television, a female news anchor was reporting last night's "accident" in a serious voice.
On the screen, aerial footage showed the dilapidated bridge, which looked as if it had been hit by a meteorite, with its steel bars twisted and exposed.
Rin Tohsaka, who was standing in front of the entrance hall, carefully tying her red hair ribbon in front of the full-length mirror, paused slightly.
Her jewel-like eyes were fixed on the television screen, her small brows furrowed tightly.
"A natural gas explosion... The destructive power of that scale was so great that even the main load-bearing steel cables of the bridge were severed. Could it have been caused by a battle between Servants?"
Father, he…
Rin bit her lip. As the heir to the Tohsaka family, she keenly sensed the dangerous aura permeating the air, an aura capable of destroying everything.
Sakura was sitting quietly on the sofa in the living room.
Instead of watching TV, she clasped her small hands tightly together in front of her chest, her purple eyes slightly closed, and prayed silently in an extremely devout manner.
She prayed to the gods again and again in her heart.
She prayed that her kind brother Arthur and her father Tokiomi would return to them safely after this terrible "magical ritual".
Meanwhile, in Fuyuki City, Fukayama-cho, a little-known, dark, abandoned warehouse corner.
"Well……"
Matou Kariya suddenly opened his eyes, startled awake from a pile of tattered cardboard boxes, and gasped for breath.
His memory was still stuck on the Mienchuan Bridge, in the excruciating pain of being pinned to the bridge surface by Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm.
He instinctively reached for his calves and arms.
"The wound...has it healed?"
Yan Ye was stunned.
Not only did the penetrating wound receive extremely precise treatment.
He even discovered that his previously completely depleted magic circuits were now filled with a vast, viscous, yet inexhaustible magical power!
This is definitely not the work of King Arthur. The magic flowing through his body now is cold, dark, and carries a chilling malice.
"Who did this? They moved me from the bridge to here and forcibly infused me with magic..."
Yan Ye leaned against the cold wall, her mind racing.
In this brutal Holy Grail War, there is absolutely no charity without a reason. What kind of conspiracy does the other side have?
He couldn't figure it out, and there were no clues left around.
However, Kariya clenched his fists, feeling the magical power within him that was enough to support the Servant's manifestation, and his eyes gradually became firm.
Never mind, no matter who the other party is, no matter what kind of trap this is, at least... this solves his biggest problem right now.
Matou Ryogen is dead. All he wants to do now is repay Arthur for saving his life.
He cannot do anything in this war without summoning the Berserker.
"I was given a second chance at life. If I can help Berserker fulfill King Arthur's wishes..."
Kariya leaned against the wall and slowly stood up, concealing the Command Seals on the back of his hand in his sleeve, and stepped into the morning in Fuyuki City.
In the deep basement of the Holy Church, a pair of empty yet gleaming eyes watched Kariya's departing figure through Assassin.
Kirei Kotomine stood in the shadows, a twisted smile playing on his lips.
Last night, after Arthur left the bridge, it was Kirei who ordered his Assassin clone, hidden in the shadows, to take away and hide the unconscious Matou Kariya.
Moreover, the magical power that filled Kariya's body was also created by him.
The "Masterless Command Seals" left over from the Holy Grail Wars of all time are essentially crystallized high-purity magical energy.
It was densely imprinted on the arm of his father, Risei Kotomine, who was a church overseer.
Last night, Kirei took advantage of his father's trust in him.
Using the pretext that "the Tohsaka camp has lost the Golden King and needs to use the Matou family as a pawn to restrain the Einzbern family,"
He tricked Kotomine Risei into giving him a few unclaimed Command Seals.
He then transformed the Command Seals he had tricked into into pure magic and forcibly implanted them into Kariya's parched body.
Kirei had already figured out Kariya's background through Assassin.
He knew that Matou Ryouken was dead, and he also knew that Kariya's body was simply unable to support the Berserker's manifestation.
If left unchecked, this man will be completely sidelined.
"That's too boring and a waste."
Kirei wanted to keep Matou Kariya on the Go board.
According to his observation, Kariya's black berserker had a deep and intense obsession with King Arthur.
A tragic man desperately trying to repay a debt of gratitude, a fallen knight driven mad and only knowing how to swing his sword at "Arthur".
If this mad dog, which only knows how to kill, is released, it will bite the noble knight king to the death...
If King Arthur were injured by the rabid dog, he would show an expression of pain and helplessness.
If Matou Kariya, upon discovering that his desperate attempt to repay his benefactor had resulted in his servant ultimately turning his sword against his benefactor, revealed that utterly devastating despair...
"what……"
Just by imagining that exquisitely beautiful picture of hell in his mind, Kirei Kotomine felt his soul tremble with extreme excitement!
"Struggle as much as you want, Kariya Matou. The more chaotic things get, the better. The deeper the tragedy, the better."
I will be here, eagerly awaiting your doomed end…
The sun was rising higher, but the atmosphere inside Eindzbern Castle was as cold as winter.
"Ugh...!"
In the dimly lit corridor, Irisviel held a cup of hot tea, preparing to head to Kiritsugu Emiya's room.
Suddenly, a searing pain, as if tearing her soul apart, erupted from her abdomen!
Clang!
The exquisite porcelain cup shattered on the ground, spilling hot tea everywhere.
As if all her strength had been drained, Irisviel's legs went weak, and she fell forward uncontrollably.
Her vision began to blur, and she was rapidly losing her sense of touch.
As the vessel for the "Minor Grail," Irisviel's bodily mechanisms were activated in an extremely brutal manner at this moment.
Because the Holy Grail has already begun to "feed".
Caster's death was merely the beginning of the Holy Grail's workings.
But last night, the Golden King, hailed as the oldest king and possessing an extremely large and heavy soul, also departed from the stage.
He transformed into an extremely terrifying torrent of magic, forcefully shoving it into Irisviel's fragile android body.
The weight of the souls of two regular Heroic Spirits was a devastating burden on this body that had not yet completely shed its human functions.
The magical circuits that make up her body are burning wildly, and her body temperature is frighteningly high, as if a mass of lava is wrapped inside her.
"It's so hot...it's so heavy..."
Irisviel gasped for breath, her vision spinning.
Saber was on a tight patrol around the castle and was not with her at the moment.
Just when Irisviel thought she was about to fall heavily onto those broken pieces of porcelain.
A pair of rough but extremely strong arms caught her falling body steadily and pulled her tightly into an embrace that smelled faintly of tobacco.
"Alice..."
Kiritsugu Emiya's voice came from above.
This man, known to the outside world as the Magician Killer, remains unfazed no matter how cruel the situation...
At this moment, there was an undisguised tremor in his voice.
Kiritsugu held his wife, whose body temperature was alarmingly high and who seemed weightless, in his arms. A deep pain and sorrow flashed in his cold eyes.
He knew better than anyone what this meant.
For every Servant the Holy Grail absorbs, Irisviel loses a portion of her bodily functions.
As the war nears its end, Irisviel, who serves as the vessel, will completely lose her human form and die.
"Kiritsugu..." Irisviel opened her eyes with difficulty and saw her husband's pained expression.
She endured the tearing pain within her body, and reached out her somewhat numb hand to gently stroke Kiritsugu's cheek.
She revealed a faint yet beautiful smile, like that of a white lily:
"It's alright, Kiritsugu, this is my destiny..."
"As long as it helps you achieve your ideals, as long as it helps you create a peaceful world without bloodshed... I am not afraid."
Kiritsugu gritted his teeth and hugged his wife even tighter.
"I will end all of this." Kiritsugu closed his eyes, his voice low and deep, like that of a wild beast.
"Tonight... I will remove the biggest obstacle. I will not let your sacrifice be in vain, Alice."