"Ahem, you'......re there at the docks!?"

Greedily inhaling the hard-won oxygen, Alice Phil, who was sitting on the ground weakly, coughed a few times, and looked at the red-haired boy in front of him who was facing Yan Feng Qili.

"Surprisingly fast, no, is that normal for a magician who can fight the Servant head-on?"

"It's a misfortune that the magician who seems to be very powerful in your eyes is actually just a half-ass. 」

"I see. 」

Qili squinted at the branch on Shirou's right hand and said.

"Enhanced magic? It's not more advanced magic, it's this basic magic, and it doesn't seem to be lying. So, let me ask you why you, who are just a half-magician, are able to go head-to-head with the Servant. 」

"There's no particular reason, it's just that I just want to save one more person. 」

"Save more...... Alone?"

Chewing on Shirou's words, Qili couldn't help but think of the girl who suddenly appeared in the dock through the Assassin.

"Hmph, you do have the same beliefs as your actions. It seems that your magic skills are more than just 'strengthening', so let me show you what you're capable of, half-baked magician!"

Needless to say, when he first met this man, Shirou knew that he was definitely not simple, and later learned that he was the Master of Lancer, and according to the current situation, he should be the Master of this Assassin. Although Shirou came here to save Sakura, Shirou Emiya, who aims to be a partner of justice, will definitely not be able to let go of this crazy ritual called 'Holy Grail War', so what he has to do is clear, as he did at the beginning, defeat all the Masters and Servants, and avoid the tragedy of 'that'.

"Drink, ahhh

Shirou roared and rushed forward, the branches of the tree that had been strengthened to be as hard as a rock slashed at Kiri like a sharp sword, and unleashed a fierce attack on him. In the face of Shirou's onslaught, as the representative of the church, Yan Feng Qili, who has a lot of combat experience with magicians, dodged unhurriedly.

Taking a few steps back, Qili, who saw the opportunity, blasted out a punch with all his strength, and the fist that gathered wrist strength and waist strength at one point cut Shirou's 'sharp sword' head-on, not only that, but with the muscle armor and terrifying power that he exercised as a substitute, Qili's fist did not have a trace of blood, and also smashed the branch in Shirou's hand into pieces, and the strong reaction force shook Shirou to the ground.

Qili did not get complacent about this, nor did he let his guard down, but took advantage of the victory to chase and blast towards Shirou who fell to the ground with a punch. He aimed at Shirou's head, and with his strength, if he was hit, it would definitely shatter like an apple crushed by a car.

However, instead of dodging, Shirou, who fell to the ground, quickly stood up and walked away with blue lightning in his arms towards the punch.

"Trace On!"

The magic power flowed along the magic circuit in Shirou's body, bringing blue lightning and light, converging into a black and white blade. An ominous premonition arose, and Qili's body moved faster than her own brain, quickly retracting her right fist, which was able to dodge the horizontal slash of the white blade, and quickly dodged the slash of the black sword sideways, and opened up the distance between it.

"Projection magic? It's rare to see a projection magic that can project a treasure. 」

Looking at Shirou, who projected out of the cadre Mo Ye in front of him, Qili said. At this moment, Qili suddenly felt the familiar aura of the spirit quietly coming to her side. The sound of the Assassin's words came directly to Qili's head.

"Caster, Lancer and his Master are all defeated and leave the forest. Saber will be here soon, as will the two maidens. My lord, it's dangerous here. 」

Qili listened coldly to the Assassin's report and nodded in disappointment. It is futile to continue to do anything here. There is no chance of victory against ServantSaber from the front. It should be said that it is dangerous to retreat from here now and escape safely.

"Are you going to escape?" 」

"Ah, let me tell you one last thing, boy, your projection is not the same as the real magicians' mouth. 」

"What?!"

Actually, Shirou has long found out that his projection may be different from what Rin said at the beginning, his own projection is projected through his own imagination, and like himself, the projection of the Valhalla Palace is directly pulled out of his own inherent enchantment, and he can project a sword that is close to the real thing, I'm afraid it is thanks to his own attribute is a sword.

At this point, Qili didn't even look at the enemy behind her, and began to gallop between the trees along the path she had come.

After a situation is over, there is no room for superfluous consideration. There is no value worth remembering the two women who have just fought to the death.

Despite this, the eyes of the two kept echoing in the running Qili's mind.

That was a real abomination, and their murderous intent was never born out of a sense of obligation or professionalism.

The women were not there to protect Einzbelen's victory, but to protect the man of Emiya Kiritsugu. If it's the former, the two of them should be in the castle to cooperate with Kiritsugu to meet the outside enemy. Instead of adopting this steady tactic, they tried to leave Kiritsugu on the defensive.

Away from Emiya Kiritsugu's intentions, he still wants to protect Kiritsugu's will. The obsession with the battle of the impossible to win, the desire to win.

What do those women expect from and entrust to Kiritsugu? In the field where the difference in combat power and the victory rate cannot be explained, what is guarded and implemented.

To make people adopt such a foolish concept so unreasonably, Qili only knows one.

belief

If those two men had faith in the figure of Kiritsugu Emiya and assisted him, then their stupidity would all make sense. However, in the end, it raises a major question.

Women tend to be selfish creatures. Only when these two women fully affirm and understand him, can the two of them sacrifice themselves for him be established.

Does that mean that the character of Emiya Kiritsugu is affirmed and understood by others?

"Impossible. 」

A moan-like muttering came out of her throat.

That is a contradiction that can never arise.

A complete subversion of the expectations and premonitions of Emiya Kiritsugu.

Emiya is supposed to be a man of nothingness. It should be someone who still hasn't found a reason to fight at the end of nothingness. That's why Qili will look forward to it. I think that in the heart of Emiya Kiritsugu, in that way of life, there should be an answer that I am looking for.

To do that, Kiritsugu had to be alone. He must not be understood and affirmed by anyone, and only then can he become a master of a soul isolated from the world, just like Yan Feng Qili.

Qili threw away the swollen doubts in her heart, as if she wanted to escape from that thought, and ran alone through the forest gritting her teeth.

—————— Dividing Line——————

"Get out of Alice Phil's side, Shirou!"

「Saber！？」

Shirou, who had just breathed a sigh of relief because of Qili's departure, suddenly heard the familiar girl's voice, and turned his head to see that she was holding an invisible sword and alerting herself, her familiar face and golden hair shining more beautifully because of the backlight.

"Wait, Saber. 」

At this time, Alice Fair's voice stopped Saber, who wanted to start a war with Shirou. Seeing this, Saber hurriedly ran over.

"Alice Phil!"

"Don't worry, Saber, actually, we were saved by Shirou. 」

"If I had come earlier, this wouldn't have happened. 」

As he spoke, Saber turned his head to look at Maiya not far away.

"She was seriously injured, but she was not in danger of dying. With that, Saber got up and walked over to Shirou and said.

"It's rude, Shirou, but, as a Servant, I have some obligations to protect Alice Phil......?Shirou?"

In the middle of speaking, Saber suddenly noticed that Shirou was a little stunned, so he spoke out in confusion.

"Shirou, do you think I'm doing anything strange?"

"Uh? Oh no, I'm trying to say that you're Saber. 」

「？」

For Shirou's inexplicable words, Saber had a big question mark on his head, and Saber suddenly asked.

"By the way, why did Shirou know I was Saber? Sure enough, you were here to fight in the Holy Grail War?"

"No, I have a purpose, but I can't let go of this crazy ritual called the Holy Grail War. 」

「？」

"However, if Saber gets the Holy Grail, I don't have a problem. 」

"Really?"

At this time, Saber suddenly saw Alice Fell stand up, and said with some worry.

"Alice Phil, are you okay standing up?"

"It's okay anymore, don't worry, compared to using healing magic on others. Treating my own injuries is very simple, and in the first place, I have a different body structure from a human being. 」

"Ahh 」

Alice Phil smiled at Saber, who stared wide-eyed in surprise, and silently apologized in her heart for lying to the knight who had so much trust in her.

Thanks to you, Saber.

Although Alice Phil's body is magically man-made, there is no magic that automatically heals her unconscious. What healed her injuries was a miracle completely different from Einzbelen's magic.

The ideal land of the treasure far from the world heals the owner's injuries, and even stagnates and ages. The scabbard of the sword Excaliber. In the past in the city of Ainzbelen, the Noble Phantasm was used to summon the Heroic Spirit Artoria. Now armed as a concept, it seals Alice Phil's body.

Normally, this should be the trump card that Master Kiritsugu should equip. However, he used it as insurance for Alice Phil to play the pseudo-Master to go to the front, and handed over this absolutely defensive treasure to his wife. Anyway, if the real owner, Saber, doesn't have the magic power by his side, the scabbard won't be effective. It's just useless stuff for Kiritsugu, who was scheduled to act separately from Saber from the beginning.

Kiritsugu, who distrusts his Servant, prudently instructs Alice Phil not to tell Saber about the existence of the scabbard for the sake of safety. However, Alice Fell felt very sorry for this kind of forcible borrowing of the treasure that belonged to the Knight King.

The magic circuit, which was supposed to become abnormal due to Qili's brute force, is no problem now. This should allow you to use the magic as smoothly as you normally would.

In this case, the next step should be to prioritize the treatment of Maiya. In her comatose state, she was not near-dead, but she was seriously injured.

Alice Phil looked at Maiya's scars and once again realized the horror of the man who was Yan Feng Qili.

That surrogate is undoubtedly a monster. Whether facing guns or magic, he shattered Alice Phil and Maiya's collaborative battle with just his physical skills.

Alice Phil, who must not be allowed to get close to Kiritsugu's enemy, clenched her lip at the weight of that presence.

This time it can be said that it is magical, because of persistence to win. However, it was obviously just a fluke, and if Saber had been a little more obsessed with fighting Caster or Lancer, Qili would have reached the castle deep in the forest.

This is not the end. Next time, Kiri will definitely challenge Emiya Kiritsugu again.

"But I'm not the only one who protects Kiritsugu, right, Maiya-san. 」

Maiya lost her sense of pain due to anesthesia in the early stage of healing, so her distorted expression became smooth because of the pain. She hadn't regained consciousness yet, and her sleeping face had no sinister expression on her usual stubbornly rejecting others, like a naïve girl.

Should have hated her. Alice Phil is no longer a puppet. Because she has the soul of a woman and a wife who loves a man.

But now, Alice Phil has a debt to thank Maiya Kuyu. Because, it can be said that Maiya told Alice Phil what she should do in this war.

Be sure to win next time. Let's protect him together.

After making a new vow, Alice Phil begins to concentrate on healing Maiman's devastated body.

"Brother!"

「？」

Looking at Alice Phil, who was treating Maiya, Shirou turned his head to look at the source of the voice, only to see Miyu flying over with an excited wave of his hand and Miyu with a slight flush on his face. Seeing this, Shirou breathed a sigh of relief in the sense of mix.

"Looks like they're okay too. 」

……