Chapter 510: True Ancestor

"Tsk, the Ally of Justice has actually become so filthy~"

Tao Baibai's playful voice rang out, the mockery dripping from his words.

Emiya Shirou, who had subconsciously projected a sword but couldn't even fix the blade into a concrete shape, hadn't taken two steps toward Tao Baibai before he was pulled back by Tohsaka Rin.

The young girl looked nervous, shaking her head to signal the boy to calm down.

"Look closely, that guy's state... it's not right."

Tohsaka Rin used "that guy" to refer to the man currently wearing Emiya Kiritsugu's face; she didn't actually know what his situation was, but to stop Emiya Shirou from throwing his life away, she could only come up with such an excuse.

But as it happened, the man's current state truly did not resemble that of a normal human.

Emiya Shirou tried to move forward again, but Artoria had already blocked his path with one arm.

As the Master and Servant pair from the Fourth Holy Grail War, Artoria knew very well how bizarre Emiya Kiritsugu's current state was.

That abnormal regenerative ability was less like a human and more like some kind of monster.

Emiya Kiritsugu's eyes were vacant, indifferent to Bai Cangshu's mockery.

No one knew how much of a taunt the words "Ally of Justice" were to him, nor did anyone know how much he had sacrificed to become an Ally of Justice.

Between the justice of the few and the justice of the many, he made choices time and again, yet every time it felt like he had chosen wrong, paying a painful price.

On the island where his father conducted Dead Apostle experiments, he had hidden the tracks of the girl he admired to save her, ultimately leading to everyone on the island becoming zombie-like monsters that were completely purged.

Then, watching his father persist in conducting Dead Apostle experiments, he killed his own father with his own hands to save more people and prevent the disaster of that island from recurring.

Choice after choice, loss after loss; so-called justice was merely something he had piled up with his own blood and tears.

That kind of Ally of Justice was, in the end, nothing but the delirious ramblings of a youth.

"I... won't choose anymore..."

Emiya Kiritsugu's mouth opened and closed, emitting a hoarse, strange sound.

The firearm in his hand remained raised, aiming at Bai Cangshu.

"Time Alter—Triple Stagnate!"

Bang, bang, bang~

Almost at the same time, several gunshots rang out simultaneously, the bullets forming a triangular pattern to seal off Bai Cangshu's left and right.

The mocking arc of Bai Cangshu's lips looked so glaring within Emiya Kiritsugu's Time Alter.

Pfft!

Like a bullet fired into thick, old cowhide, after a slight muffled sound, nothing happened.

Bai Cangshu opened his hand; that special bullet was still spinning continuously in the palm of his left hand.

【You have obtained the item: Origin Bullet *1】

Bai Cangshu watched as he specifically altered the shape of his hand, continuously neutralizing the bullet's impact to prevent it from shattering directly into his 【King's Left Arm】.

It was indeed a decent item to obtain.

A special bullet unique to Emiya Kiritsugu, specifically designed to kill various Magicians and magic users.

It was a bullet made using his own ribs, which possessed his unique "Severing" and "Binding" thaumaturgical attributes.

As long as it hit a magic user, it would directly detonate the target's Magic Power, causing massive damage, and the more powerful the target's Magic Power, the more prominent the effect.

This was the true trump card of Emiya Kiritsugu, the Magician Killer.

Thaumaturgy like Time Alter, which the Emiya family researched regarding time, was merely to grant him the qualifications to fight most Magicians.

"Do you know why you couldn't become an Ally of Justice?"

Bai Cangshu put away the bullet; before he could check if it could be brought out of this world, he kept walking toward Emiya Kiritsugu without stopping.

His mouth kept spouting "trash talk."

It wasn't that Bai Cangshu had a penchant for mocking Plot Characters who sacrificed themselves for "justice," but rather that he was pressuring his opponent.

He wanted to force the opponent to reveal the secret of his survival at Ryudou Temple under immense pressure. It was a pity that the ability of 【Heart Net】 was restricted; otherwise, in this world, Bai Cangshu's way of operating could have been even more direct.

Even with Emiya Kiritsugu activating Triple Stagnate, to Bai Cangshu, who had activated Gaojie Chana, he still seemed as if he were standing still.

There was a chasm-like gap between the two men's physical attributes.

"Qiu Luo, you take them to the location of the Greater Grail first."

Hearing Tao Baibai's arrangement, Qiu Luo's eyes flickered; he nodded, then urged the others to prepare to enter the cave where the Greater Grail was located.

Because Kuzuki Soichiro was here, Medea had no choice but to submit; this place had actually gathered Caster Medea from the Fifth Holy Grail War;

Saber Artoria;

Archer Emiya;

And Assassin Tao Baibai.

With more than half of the Heroic Spirits gathered, plus a Pseudo-Servant summoned irregularly by Medea, Qiu Luo wondered if Tao Baibai intended to end the Fifth Holy Grail War right here and now.

But clearly, neither Ilya, the Lesser Grail, nor Matou Sakura, the pseudo-Lesser Grail, had appeared.

Qiu Luo's heart wavered; he possessed other information that Tao Baibai did not know.

No matter how powerful Tao Baibai was, the fact that he was acting apart from his Master at this moment was his greatest flaw.

Since Tao Baibai was identified as a Servant, then as long as Ilya was killed...

Qiu Luo kept his head down, not daring to meet Tao Baibai's gaze, but he had already made up his mind: if the people in his team could kill Ilya under the instructions of the White-Faced one and kick Tao Baibai out of the game,

Then he would stand on the side of the White-Faced one and delay the situation.

Conversely, if his people failed to assassinate Ilya, he would pretend he knew nothing and push all responsibility onto Tao Baibai.

Thinking this, Qiu Luo finally breathed a sigh of relief, his tightly wound nerves relaxing somewhat as he followed Medea toward the back of Ryudou Temple.

"The so-called justice of the few and the many, the so-called trolley problem—aren't they all just because you are too weak, Mr. Emiya?"

Bai Cangshu walked with his hands behind his back, his pace slow; Emiya Kiritsugu kept firing, but the bullets drifted right through the opponent's body.

And this guy is clearly a Servant, yet he has almost no Magic Power?!

Otherwise, why would the Origin Bullet have absolutely no effect?

But if there is no Magic Power, how else could the opponent accomplish such a thing?

He watched Tao Baibai effortlessly dodge bullet after bullet; that manner was already more terrifying than a considerable portion of Servants.

Bai Cangshu walked step by step to stand before Emiya Kiritsugu, grabbed the other's neck with one hand, and finally asked the question he truly wanted to ask.

"Mr. Emiya, tell me, is it the Black Mud inside the Greater Grail that turned you into this state, or is it..."

"A True Ancestor?"

Emiya Kiritsugu raised his head, his lusterless eyes seemingly recalling something.

Bai Cangshu was in no rush to kill him, precisely to get to the bottom of this.

Because he already knew that since Ryougi Shiki had appeared in this world, he could no longer calculate this world as a simple Fate world.

Things like True Ancestors and Dead Apostles appearing in Emiya Kiritsugu's timeline was perfectly plausible.

Before Emiya Kiritsugu's eyes, a figure seemed to appear, and Bai Cangshu's black long hair slowly rose.

Pfft!

Bai Cangshu thrust a finger into the center of Emiya Kiritsugu's brow, and a faint electric current began to surge in from his fingertip.

Bai Cangshu closed his eyes, and he also saw a figure; it was a woman wearing a loose white sweater, with a graceful figure and long golden hair draped down to her waist.

"An ally of Justice shouldn't die like this; I will grant you a second life, amuse me, Kiritsugu~"

The woman leaned down and bit into Emiya Kiritsugu's pale neck.

(End of chapter)