Assassin blurred across the earthy terrain, dodging Kunais.
Behind him, using Shunpo, Mayuri chased the Heroic Spirit, grinning ear to ear.
With every use of Flash Step, the Captain was closing the gap between them, brandishing his poisoned sword.
Suddenly, a click rang out under Assassin's feet. Oh, shit…
An explosion rocked through the surroundings, becoming a ball of smoke.
From the blackness, Assassin's figure came shooting out, his eyes already shifting to find the enemy.
The attack came from his blind spot.
Wielding his dagger in one hand and a gun in the other, Assassin spun fast to confront the sword. However, the Captain of the 12th Division had his palm facing toward the Servant, not his sword.
Assassin's pupils dilated.
Hado No. 33 —
From Mayuri's palm, a storm of blue fire came crashing down and annihilated everything in Assassin's direction, scorching the ground.
— Sokatsui!
By the time the flickers of blue fire died, nothing was left of Assassin.
Mayuri had just grinned at the outcome when a click resounded behind his hand.
But even Flash Steps had its limit, and the Book's Character was nowhere as fast as Assassin in this timeline.
A BANG resounded as the bullet left the gun in Assassin's hand.
Mayuri's hand flicked, and the sword went for the bullet.
However, the bullet phased right through the sword.
With a squelch, the bullet entered Mayuri's head and came out from behind, spraying swaths of blood.
In the next moment, Mayuri's figure blurred, and he disappeared.
Assassin panted, his Mana reserves running short.
His hood had come off, revealing his white hair. The bandages on his face had loosened, revealing the burned skin, too. His eyes held tiredness and confusion, not joy of victory.
Because somehow Assassin knew that those Kunais that had been coming at him, and that explosive trap, hadn't been this swordsman doing at all.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The sound echoed out from somewhere.
In the next moment, a mass of white smoke covered the scorched ground in front of Assassin.
Hissssssssssss!
It was a massive, purple-skinned snake, towering like a mountain over Assassin.
In one great slither, the snake crossed the distance between it and the Heroic Spirit and lunged forward, baring its fangs.
Assassin let out a tired grunt and blurred, barely dodging the attack. Simultaneously, he fired the gun again.
The larger the enemy, the easier the target.
However, the unthinkable finally happened, making Assassin's eyes go wide.
He could clearly tell that the snake was shot — right on its head — but it didn't disappear at all. Forget disappearing; it ignored the attack altogether and attacked him, instead.
The snake's massive tail came swishing across the space and struck Assassin, sending him flying with a BOOM.
As the Servant rolled on the ground, bouncing and coughing blood, he finally realized it.
This was no mere Bounded Field to trap enemies.
This was a Bounded Field to trap him — to test his abilities!
Unknowingly, but willingly, Assassin had walked right into Caster's hands, becoming an experiment.
Squelch!
Assassin looked down and found a Kunai embedded in his waist, blood seeping out from the wound. Brokenly, he looked over his shoulder and found the enemy he had been wary of all this time.
It was a white-skinned man, grinning at him with a long, snake-like tongue slithering out of his mouth.
"Assassinating an Assassin…" Orochimaru laughed in blatant mockery. "Now that's amusing…"
Assassin's hand flashed.
The dagger, crackling with red-black lightning, traced a rumbling trail.
Orochimaru let go of the Kunai as he folded his back backward, dodging the attack.
But Assassin's foot landed right on his stomach and sent him flying hundreds of meters, Orochimaru skidding and bouncing just like the Heroic Spirit a few moments before.
Assassin faced the giant snake, then, changing his grip on the dagger.
Out of nowhere, a sizzling and crackling noise entered his ears. He looked down and found a paper burning like a firecracker, attached to the end of the Kunai.
And, for the second time, Assassin cursed. Oh, shit…
Boooooooooom!
…
Hundreds of thousands of insects buzzed and clicked as they swarmed in the sky over the Einzbern Castle.
In the next moment, they gathered at one place, taking the shape of Evil Betty Shaw, who wasn't smiling anymore.
Wrath and Confusion danced on his face as he stood in the sky, donning his black suit and pants, the Video Camera still propped on his right shoulder.
He'd thought he wouldn't need to go against a fellow Chaos Contestant.
Even though Evil Betty Shaw hadn't become a Contestant, by the end of the Holy Grail War, he was bound to become one as per his plans.
That's why he had gone to Kirei Kotomine, hoping to get an edge by exchanging information on Berserker.
In this world, only a Contestant like him knew Berserker's real identity — Venom!
But this little info wouldn't bring Berserker down, he knew.
Also, it wasn't like Kirei would tell Berserker's Master that he had revealed Venom's weakness to him.
So, Evil Betty Shaw found the act of Berserker attacking him equivalent to mocking him.
"… Watch this Castle, dear audience," he said, a mad grin shaping itself on his face. "Under the invisible layers of Bounded Fields, a man is hiding. The same man who had brought me in existence. But now… I think, like all foolish scientists, he is afraid of his own creation… Kekeke…
"He attacked me… Instead of helping me against my stupid self… He attacked me! Shouldn't he face the consequences of such a daring act? Shouldn't I show him the same courtesy as he showed me?!
"Right? Right?!! Oh, thank you, dear audience. Thank you for agreeing with me! Now, let me entertain you… As of this moment, let me announce my entry in this Great Holy Grail War… Kekeke…"
The sky burned blue, black, and white over the Einzbern Castle.
The screech of insects and metal overwhelmed the surroundings.
With a blinding display of unstoppable power, a magnificent drill descended and tore through everything in its path —
— obliterating the Bounded Fields and half the Einzbern Castle!
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
*****************
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