Aozaki Aoko Case File [146]

Credits: Korntaratana Jutimitta

To be honest, the Holy Grail War has reached a point where it's practically over.

 Aoko shows some respect to Waver and Kayneth by not killing Karna on the spot at Fuyuki Bridge last night, letting him live for one more day.

When Semiramis summoned the Hanging Gardens, Aoko had already learned of it that very day, but she wasn't particularly alarmed.

 Because no matter how you looked at it, this thing was nothing more than a sitting duck to her. She was certain she could take care of it.

 The only difference was deciding on what style to use to deal with it.

Today, Waver Velvet used Chaldea's internal communication line to send a message to Ritsuka Fujimaru, informing her that Kiritsugu Emiya had ambushed Tokiomi Tohsaka. Fujimaru, in turn, passed this information to Aoko.

"Does this guy have a screw loose?" Touko was quite surprised upon hearing this. "I mean, even if he wanted to gain the upper hand, he didn't need to act so hastily, right?"

Aoko's opinion on Kiritsugu's actions wasn't much different from Touko's. She couldn't quite understand why Kiritsugu would make himself a prime target at this stage. Was it because the opponents were too strong, and the pressure had driven him insane?

Regardless of what's wrong with Kiritsugu's head, Aoko decided to set out tonight with Artoria and head to the Einzbern castle on the outskirts of Fuyuki to smash that so-called Hanging Gardens to pieces.

What a joke. She, a proper magician, didn't even have a mage's tower, yet Kiritsugu, the clown, had managed to get an airborne castle first. That was unacceptable. Unacceptable!

Aoko estimated that she wouldn't be the only one looking to give Kiritsugu trouble tonight. At the very least, Kayneth was sure to go. After taking out Kiritsugu and Semiramis, she would then offer Kayneth and Karna a fair duel, making sure they'd lose with no complaints.

Meanwhile, Solomon's Grand Temple had been fully constructed. It had to be said that this thing looked strikingly similar to Goetia's Temple of Time. The difference was that Solomon's version was more orderly, unlike Goetia's ruin-like version.

 Solomon's Grand Temple seemed to be the original version, identical to the Great Temple of Jerusalem.

To avoid detection, Aoko had Solomon use his Ten Rings' spatial transfer magic to relocate the Greater Grail to the throne of the Grand Temple.

 She suspected that Solomon's Grand Temple might also have the capability to take flight like Semiramis's Hanging Gardens, so she directly asked him about it.

"It can fly," Solomon answered straightforwardly, "but there's no need for it unless you insist."

Aoko wasn't too pleased with this response. Why did all these people get floating fortresses?

Considering that Solomon's Grand Temple didn't require hauling stones from Iraq like Semiramis's Hanging Gardens, it seemed to be on a higher level. At least in her opinion, there wouldn't be a second Hanging Gardens in this timeline, as the materials were already depleted.

Thinking about how Kiritsugu and Semiramis would suffer humiliating defeat before her, Aoko couldn't help but feel delighted. Was she somehow related to Kirei Kotomine?

...

Nightfall

Kiritsugu Emiya stared expressionlessly at Irisviel, who lay on the bed.

 She had completely lost the strength to speak, her physical condition drastically deteriorated, and she had fallen into a deep, prolonged coma.

According to Kiritsugu's calculations, if everything went smoothly, his wife Irisviel would likely never awaken again.

 Even Kiritsugu wasn't sure if, after saving all of humanity, he would be able to reunite with Irisviel and Maiya, who had died as sacrifices.

Moreover, as a pure homunculus, Irisviel's soul was fundamentally different from that of an ordinary human. When all was said and done, she was merely a partial replica of Justeaze, with only a fraction of her functionality replicated.

Yet, this woman who unconditionally believed in him was abandoned by Kiritsugu without hesitation—all for a wish he couldn't even articulate clearly himself.

But at this point, there was no room for hesitation in Kiritsugu's heart. No matter what, he would defeat all his opponents and ultimately win this Holy Grail War.

His first target was the Clock Tower lord he had previously failed to kill. Based on Kiritsugu's deductions, the reason Kayneth survived the explosion was likely because he hadn't been inside the workshop at the time—a failure in Kiritsugu's intelligence gathering, not worth mentioning further.

However, after witnessing the battle between Lancer and Archer firsthand, Kiritsugu knew that Lancer had used some sort of self-damaging skill to enhance his attack power and defeat Archer. This made it all the more imperative to eliminate the weakened Lancer as soon as possible. Tonight was an excellent opportunity.

The rules of magus secrecy no longer needed to be followed.

 It was time to move the Hanging Gardens out of the forest. At this point, there was no need to stay hidden. Drawing the remaining masters into a battle on his and Semiramis's home turf was the most advantageous strategy.

He had previously confirmed with Semiramis that within the Hanging Gardens, her powers would be greatly amplified. This would give them a better chance of defeating the remaining Servants.

Since the first night's battle with Archer, Caster Solomon had yet to make an appearance. Kiritsugu speculated that his strength was roughly on par with Archer's, so Semiramis might have a chance against him within the Gardens.

If the remaining three Masters and Servants were thinking rationally, they would likely attack the Gardens together upon its appearance. However, Kayneth, Marisbury, and Aoko Aozaki were not on the same side. Conflict between the factions was highly probable—especially since Aoko had just defeated Kayneth's student.

Kiritsugu calculated that, with the Noble Phantasm Semiramis had gifted him, it would be a piece of cake to conceal his presence and movements within the Hanging Gardens. By repeating his previous methods, he would have the chance to assassinate either Marisbury or Kayneth.

As for the magician Aoko Aozaki, she would undoubtedly be Kiritsugu's biggest opponent in this Holy Grail War. Based on his investigation, Aoko's magic was inherited from her grandfather, and she was currently a university student at the University of Tokyo.

No matter how much of a genius she was, a girl under twenty couldn't possibly have more battlefield experience than him.

 Just like before, arrogant magus would eventually lose to him—or rather, to their arrogance.

"Semiramis, it's time to set out," Kiritsugu said as he stood up from his wife's bedside, issuing a command to the empty room. "Move the Hanging Gardens to the designated location."

"Is it finally starting?" Semiramis's voice echoed through the room. "I'm looking forward to your end."