After the Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event, which had been full of twists and turns, was declared over, Eichi began making intensive preparations.
After all, according to the original plot, the Yasohachi Bridge incident and the Shibuya Incident would follow after the Exchange Event in September.
However, to Eichi's surprise, not only did the Yasohachi Bridge incident not happen this year because of his and Toji's intervention, but even the Shibuya Incident, which was supposed to occur on October 31st, was postponed.
Not to mention the Culling Game, which was supposed to begin in November.
Normally, Eichi should have been happy that these events, which had originally caused heavy casualties, no longer occurred.
But if possible, Eichi still hoped they would appear according to the original timeline.
Because that would mean everything was known and controllable.
So far, within the events he knew from the original plot, Eichi had not suffered any losses. Instead, it was the existences that had never appeared in the original plot that had caused him quite a few setbacks.
Therefore, after October 31st passed peacefully and the morning sun rose on November 1st, Eichi took new action.
Eighty shadowy figures left Tokyo Jujutsu High under cover of night, heading to various parts of the country.
Hassan of the Hundred Faces, the Assassin who appeared in Fate/Zero.
In the Type-Moon world, he was the nineteenth leader of the Order of Assassins to inherit the name Hassan-i Sabbah. He possessed extensive knowledge, numerous skills, and unpredictable assassination methods, earning him the name Hassan of the Hundred Faces.
He was actually a person suffering from multiple personality disorder.
Hassan of the Hundred Faces' Noble Phantasm, Zabaniya: Delusional Illusion, was also a Noble Phantasm created from his multiple personalities. This Noble Phantasm separated his many personalities, or souls, and turned them into independent existences, up to eighty in total.
In a sense, these were eighty "Jujutsu Sorcerers" who were highly skilled in assassination and intelligence work.
The reason he had been summoned so late actually had to do with Eichi's mindset.
When Eichi was still attending Tokyo Jujutsu High, he had once possessed the arrogance of youth, just like Satoru. He firmly believed that he and his companions could suppress all opposition with power.
At the time, he did not value "lesser arts" like assassination, which was why he had chosen Sasaki instead of Hassan of the Hundred Faces when summoning an Assassin-class Heroic Spirit.
Now, having experienced more, and with his mindset no longer the same as in his youth, Eichi had also begun to properly acknowledge different kinds of power and the roles they could play.
Hassan of the Hundred Faces was indeed a professional assassin.
Soon, the first piece of intelligence reached Eichi's hands.
"Curse Users are gathering?"
Eichi looked at the intelligence in his hand and fell into thought.
The Hassan of the Hundred Faces units scattered across the country had clear divisions of labor. They would regularly regroup to share information, or report their findings to Tokyo Jujutsu High through roadside phone booths.
Because of that, they quickly discovered the first unusual situation.
The Curse Users, who had originally scattered like rats because of Satoru and Eichi, were now continuously gathering.
The Hassans had already identified more than a dozen Curse User gathering points.
After a moment of thought, Eichi issued an order.
A team led by Emiya and Choso, consisting of many elite Jujutsu Sorcerers such as Toji, Nanami, Haibara, Mei Mei, and Kusakabe, set out.
Considering that this was a human-against-human operation, Eichi did not send any students.
Even though many of these students were strong enough to join the team, or even lead a small squad.
But if possible, Eichi hoped they would never be exposed to that side of things.
After all, Eichi still vividly remembered Yuji's lonely expression when he killed the ordinary people transformed by Mahito in the original work, as well as the expression he showed when he became an "accomplice" with Nobara after the Yasohachi Bridge incident.
He felt that Yuji was not suited to making such expressions.
He also disliked the later Yuji, who constantly referred to himself as a cog.
In his opinion, little angel Yuji deserved a better future.
The capture and elimination of the Curse Users went smoothly.
After all, Eichi's side had dispatched three Special Grade powerhouses.
Choso, once known as the weakest Special Grade and the bottom rung of Special Grade, had comprehended Domain Expansion during his desperate fight with Kenjaku.
Now, he was also a qualified Special Grade.
During this period, reports of Abe no Seimei's Shikigami sightings were also passed to Eichi by the Hassans.
They knew their strength was no match for those Shikigami. If they set up traps, they might be able to ambush and kill one.
But in a direct fight, they had almost no chance of winning.
However, for the Hassans, being forced into a direct fight was already a failure for an assassin.
So in Fate/Zero, when Hassan of the Hundred Faces was ordered to appear directly before the Three Kings, they had already lost, regardless of the outcome.
Only now did Eichi truly understand what a regrettable decision it had been for Tohsaka Rin to abandon Hassan of the Hundred Faces back then.
"Is this the place?"
Medusa, dressed in a sleek racing outfit, locked her motorcycle and walked toward a corner that, to everyone else, appeared to be nothing more than a shadow.
"That's right. The target is inside."
Although nothing was visible to the naked eye, a pleasant female voice emerged.
A female Hassan with a purple high ponytail and a white skull mask appeared before Medusa.
"I understand. Leave it to me."
With that, Medusa strode into the alley.
The female Hassan waved her hand, and several nearly imperceptible sounds emerged from the shadows.
At that moment, a door at the end of the alley opened, and two figures, one tall and one short, walked out.
"This time, that guy only had this little stock. Truly useless," complained the short figure with a toad-shaped head.
"No life energy. Next one," said Oni Hitokuchi, the tall figure whose head accounted for nearly half his height.
The two were Shikigami, Kaku and Oni Hitokuchi, recently recreated by Abe no Seimei to collect materials and cursed tools.
Although the two had previously been blasted to pieces by Artoria.
But from the words Abe no Seimei spoke during his battle with the many Shikigami, Eichi had realized something.
These Shikigami were like Heroic Spirits. As long as Abe no Seimei, the equivalent of the Throne of Heroes, existed, they could be summoned again and again.
Therefore, after the attack on Tokyo Jujutsu High ended, Eichi registered every Shikigami that had appeared at the scene.
This was also why Hassan of the Hundred Faces could recognize Abe no Seimei's Shikigami.
"Hmm? Target found?"
Kaku suddenly sensed a strange inner voice and looked in that direction.
Medusa, dressed in black and with long purple hair, came into view.
"It's you!"
Kaku immediately recognized Medusa, the one who had defeated Hakuzosu, but it was already too late.
The moment he saw Medusa, the Mystic Eyes of Petrification activated, and Kaku found his body growing stiffer and stiffer. Soon, he could no longer move.
The same happened to Oni Hitokuchi nearby.
"Now, it's up to you all."
Medusa put on her Mystic Eye Killer glasses and left without looking back.
In the darkness, several Hassans appeared and carefully packaged the two Shikigami, taking them back to Tokyo Jujutsu High.
(To be continued.)