As the clock approached 8 p.m., Yunteng TV was experiencing its weekly ratings surge once again.
At 7:00 p.m., the ratings were at 3.21%, and by 7:59 p.m., they had already skyrocketed to 10.1%. Across Great Zhou, all other TV stations, including the Big Six, had pathetically low viewer counts.
Yue Zheng had long prepared his stash of snacks and midnight treats. When the opening song of 'Fate/Zero' started playing, he could barely contain his excitement.
Some people watched it for the effects. Some thought the story was weak.
But he genuinely loved the series—its world-building, its characters, its plot. Everything, to him, was flawless.
Especially those who slammed the protagonist, Kiritsugu Emiya, for being selfish—Yue Zheng scoffed at them.
Seven people laying down their lives in the Holy Grail War, and you're complaining about scheming and backstabbing?
If those critics were in the 'Fate/Zero' world, they'd be on their knees begging for mercy. And you're going to lecture about "knightly honor"?
To win, you need to use every tool you have.
Kiritsugu Emiya was, without a doubt, the most agreeable lead he'd ever seen in a TV series.
And as soon as Episode 10 began, Yue Zheng was instantly energized.
The episode opened with a young boy.
From the way people addressed him—
"Kerry?"
Wait a minute—he looks exactly like Kiritsugu Emiya!
A nickname?
Yue Zheng didn't believe Jing Yu would cast someone so identical just to mess with people.
So this meant—
"Is this episode going to be about Kiritsugu's past?"
The cheerful boy Kerry and the energetic island girl Shirley were childhood friends.
A classic, simple setup.
So… how did this bright young boy grow up into a cold-blooded killer?
The episode opened with long scenes of Kerry and Shirley's carefree youth.
And we learn that Kerry's father is a magus—
Researching time-freezing magic.
His magic had advanced to the point that he could keep flowers in full bloom, though he hadn't yet tested it on humans.
As a magus, he behaved eccentrically, and the islanders shunned him. Kerry's father was a social outcast.
Yet Shirley believed in him. She trusted both Kerry and his father completely.
Everything looked harmless enough. Was the plot going to be about the villagers persecuting Kerry's family, Shirley standing up for them, getting ostracized, and Kerry stepping in to help her?
That's what a mediocre screenwriter might do. But this was Jing Yu—we had to expect a twist.
Shirley, convinced that Kerry's father's magic had the power to let humanity escape aging and death, ignored everyone's warnings. Even as the island turned against them, she stood firm in her belief that Kerry's father was a noble magus.
And then—
Yue Zheng was hit by the blade of Gen Urobuchi's parallel world storytelling style.
No warning. No buildup.
Shirley stole one of the magical tools Kerry's father created and used it on herself, attempting to prove his research was sound.
The result?
She turned into a bloodthirsty monster.
"Kill me…"
She begged Kerry.
But he couldn't do it.
And then, the entire village was infected. Everyone turned into monsters.
He was saved by a kind, badass older sister who told him that Shirley must have been corrupted by some dangerous magical artifact.
And that anyone capable of creating such cursed tools could easily bring even greater disaster upon the world.
So here—
This was the defining moment for Kiritsugu Emiya. Or rather, Kerry.
He made up his mind in an instant.
He would be a champion of justice.
He would eliminate anyone who posed a danger to the world.
Even if that person was his own father.
Even though his father never intended for this tragedy to happen, even though Shirley turned herself into a monster by stealing the artifact...
The sheer scale of the disaster proved how dangerous his father's research was.
Just one of his magical items had wiped out an entire village.
And so—
Kerry stabbed his father. Then, still just a teen, he emptied a full magazine into him with a handgun.
"If he escapes, he'll go somewhere else and keep researching this dangerous magic…" Kerry said, tears in his eyes.
"That's a pathetic reason for killing your own father," the mysterious woman—who specialized in eliminating rogue magi—replied coldly.
Watching this, Yue Zheng was floored.
He finally understood how terrifying Kiritsugu really was.
The story continued—
Kerry left the island with the woman, Natalia, and became her apprentice, learning to fight, going on dangerous missions, and working to make the world a better place.
That was Kiritsugu Emiya. His dream?
To be a hero of justice.
And to achieve that dream, he would stain his hands with blood.
He and Natalia spent years together, trusting each other completely, developing deep mutual affection.
"I didn't plan to save everyone… but I want to save at least one more person."
Kiritsugu said this after nearly dying during a mission to rescue a stranger.
Later, in another operation to eliminate a dangerous magus, Natalia boarded a passenger plane while Kiritsugu waited at the destination to pick her up.
But something went wrong.
The magus's enchanted bees were released on the plane.
Every passenger was infected and turned into zombie-like, contagious, mindless monsters.
When Kiritsugu heard the news—
His cold expression shattered.
He raged. He cried. But he was powerless.
Natalia would likely die on that plane.
But the worst part?
If the plane landed as scheduled and the infected escaped, an entire city could be wiped out.
So—
On a foggy morning, Kiritsugu took a small boat to the open sea.
He set up his weapons.
Inside the plane, Natalia—the only one still human—piloted the aircraft. Behind her were 300 infected, waiting to unleash hell.
She kept chatting with Kiritsugu over the radio.
To each other, they were family.
Then—
In the glow of sunrise over the sea—
A plane sliced through the sky.
On a boat below, Kiritsugu aimed a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher.
He fired.
A trail of fire soared into the sky, chasing after the plane.
Seagulls scattered.
The image was hauntingly beautiful.
"You were my true family," Kiritsugu choked out his last words to Natalia.
And then—
A firework bloomed in the sky.
Yue Zheng was stunned.
Staring at the screen—
"You saw that, didn't you, Shirley?" Kiritsugu suddenly said.
"This time, I didn't run. I didn't make the same mistake I made in front of you when I couldn't kill my father. I saved a lot of people."
Tears at the corner of Kiritsugu's eyes made Yue Zheng finally understand why he had become so extreme.
If he'd killed Shirley back then, no one else would've died.
His father's research had already claimed hundreds of lives. And what was his father's reaction? A calm, "What a pity," before trying to flee and continue his experiments elsewhere.
If he had let him escape, the tragedy would have repeated.
So, Natalia's plane had to be destroyed.
The 300 are infected. The enchanted bees. They had to turn to ash in the sky.
Even if it meant killing the woman he considered his mother.
"To save others… I had to sacrifice her. So, Shirley, I…"
"Damn it. Damn it all!" Kiritsugu howled in agony over the sea.
"Kerry, what kind of person do you want to be?"
Shirley's words echoed from the past.
"I… I want to be—"
His reply was cut off.
But every viewer knew the answer.
"He wants to be a hero of justice!" Yue Zheng whispered, eyes wet.
The ending theme of Episode 10 played, soaring in the background.
In the fan chat groups:
"I cried. This is Kiritsugu Emiya."
"I get why he's so cold now."
"A hero of justice… Kiritsugu is brutal. He killed his own father, then the woman he saw as his mother—but he did it to save others."
"This character writing is god-tier. I thought this was just an action show with cool effects—then Episode 10 hit me like a truck."
"I still can't fully accept what he did, but I get it. He's not heartless. He loved his father. He loved Natalia. But he sacrificed them both for the greater good."
"That's why he killed Kenneth and Diarmuid in Episode 8, too, right? He couldn't risk them lashing out and hurting civilians. Diarmuid, maybe not—but Kenneth? You never know. Even if it meant losing Artoria's trust."
"He's such a powerful character… but I hope I never meet anyone like him in real life."
"He blames himself for not killing Shirley, and for the village's destruction. He's been carrying all that pain ever since."
"And now, the Holy Grail War is the same. If he wins, he can wish for world peace. He's carrying all of the world's suffering on his back. If he fails, he'll blame every future tragedy on himself. That's terrifying… but I suddenly feel so sorry for him."
"Two weeks ago, I cursed him out. After Episode 10… I feel like I was an idiot."
"I couldn't do what he did—but I know he's right. That contradiction is eating me alive."
"Teacher Jing Yu's work… until the very last moment, you can't make a final judgment. Anyone who thought this was just a dumb flashy show won't be saying that after tonight. This one episode made me reflect more than every other drama I've seen in the past year combined."
Originally, Episode 10's ratings were just shy of 11%.
But the final 20 minutes were so powerful—
They pushed the episode past that mark.
Average viewership: 11%
And that was just the beginning.
After Episode 10, 'Fate/Zero' discussions doubled across every major drama forum.
Debates about Kiritsugu Emiya dominated the boards.
On Yindou Net, the show's user rating spiked overnight—from 9.0 to 9.5.
The entire drama industry in Great Zhou had thought Episode 8's 10% rating was the peak.
They were wrong.
It was only the beginning.