"A pleasure to meet you, Master of Avenger."
Kayneth showed absolutely no leniency just because his opponent was a little girl. Or rather, he no longer cared who his opponent was.
Right now, his eyes held nothing but anger.
"Your Servant destroyed my workshop, severely injured my fiancée, and even slashed me..."
Kayneth touched the scar on his chest that still throbbed with pain despite the healing magecraft, his smile twisting into something grotesque.
"I will exact the toll for this debt from you first!"
"Volumen Hydrargyrum! Kill them!"
Without any further nonsense, Kayneth launched his attack directly.
He did not want to leave any room for unexpected variables. He intended to end this battle in the most cruel and swift manner possible.
*Swish, swish, swish!*
The mercury sphere floating in the air instantly burst, transforming into dozens of sharp silver whips that lashed madly toward the Kamado mother and daughter.
"Look out!" Haruri shouted, her right eye instantly bloodshot.
The red Amplification Worm writhed frantically at her heart, stimulating her magical energy.
"Bounded Field, deploy!"
*Hum!*
A translucent silver barrier materialized out of thin air in front of the mother and daughter.
*Bang, bang, bang, bang!*
The mercury whips lashed viciously against the barrier, letting out a series of explosive cracks and roars.
The barrier trembled violently, instantly covered in cracks as if it would shatter at any moment.
"Ugh!"
Haruri let out a muffled groan, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth as her body swayed unsteadily.
After just a single exchange, she was already on the verge of collapse.
Kayneth was a Color-ranked Magus. Even in his injured state, the top-tier Mystic Code he commanded, Volumen Hydrargyrum, was absolutely not something her half-baked Mystic Eyes could easily withstand.
"Oh? You actually blocked it?"
A flash of surprise crossed Kayneth's eyes, but it quickly morphed into deeper contempt. "Is this your trump card? A low-grade Mystic Eye?"
"What a laughable struggle."
He waved a finger. "Slashing Form! Tear it to shreds!"
The originally flexible mercury whips instantly hardened, transforming into sharp blades that slashed down once more with an even more terrifying momentum.
*Crack!*
This time, Haruri's Bounded Field failed to hold, shattering completely like fragile glass.
"Mom!"
Sumire let out a terrified shriek, watching helplessly as the silver blades descended toward her mother.
Her pupils violently contracted.
In that instant, the world seemed to slow down.
She saw it.
The flow of the wind, the flow of the water, and even the direction of the flowing magical energy.
The world became transparent and clear before her eyes, and the birthmark on her forehead began to burn like fire.
"Total Concentration・Water Breathing!"
The twelve Magic Circuits within her body began to burn fiercely, and overlapping red marks crawled across her forehead.
She executed a movement that Kayneth completely failed to anticipate.
Like a bolt of lightning, her figure suddenly vanished, and she grabbed her mother just before the blades struck.
"Flowing Dance!"
Her petite figure blurred into several afterimages. It was the movement technique Mr. Asuka had taught her, combining magical energy with a Soul Reaper's Shunpo and Breathing Styles.
*Slash!*
That sure-kill strike merely shattered her afterimage, cleaving ruthlessly into the empty ground!
Meanwhile, Sumire Kamado had already reappeared with her mother five meters away.
"What?!" Kayneth's eyes widened.
She dodged it? From that distance?
That little girl who looked completely devoid of combat ability actually dodged the tracking attack of Volumen Hydrargyrum?
'That speed... is it some kind of body-reinforcement magecraft? Damn it!'
"Hah... hah..."
Sumire set her mother down, panting heavily. The red marks on her forehead looked as fierce as a demon.
She tightly gripped her baseball bat. At this moment, the ordinary alloy bat was actually wrapped in a layer of pale blue magical energy that resembled flowing water.
It was her attempt at infusing magical energy into a weapon. Though crude, it at least gave this piece of mundane iron a chance to contend against magecraft.
"I won't let you hurt my mom!" She glared at Kayneth, her eyes brimming with the resolve to protect her family.
Seeing her like this, Kayneth froze for a moment before laughing out of sheer anger. "Heh... Hahaha! Good!"
"If you were truly a powerless little brat, I might have actually felt a twinge of guilt!"
"Since you want a more painful death, I'll play along! Let's see just how many attacks a little rat like you can dodge!"
"Volumen Hydrargyrum! Turn this area into a dead zone!"
Following Kayneth's furious roar, Volumen Hydrargyrum seemed to be injected with his emotions, bursting outward in a rage.
*Swish, swish, swish!*
It was no longer confined to the form of whips or blades. Spreading out as if it had a life of its own, it transformed into countless tiny silver needles, tentacles, and traps, rapidly covering the area in front of Kayneth and turning it into a silver labyrinth of death.
Facing this overwhelming barrage, Sumire Kamado took a deep breath, her gaze becoming ethereal.
'I see it. I see it all.'
'Whether it's the flow of magical energy inside Kayneth, or the angles and timing of the mercury weapon's attacks, I can see it all!'
'I don't care if you're a Magus or a Mystic Code.'
'As long as I don't get hit, it's no big deal!'
'As long as I can stall him, we win!'
Sumire told her mother to step back while she began to sprint through the silver jungle.
Her figure was as agile as flowing water, weaving through the mercury onslaught. Every dodge was a hair's breadth away from disaster, yet executed with perfect precision.
'Mr. Asuka, you have to win!' she told herself in her heart.
Meanwhile, in the shadows of the bridge's pillars.
Kariya Matou leaned against the cold concrete column, gasping for air.
His physical condition was rapidly deteriorating. The intense battle on Berserker's end was frantically draining his magical energy, and the rioting of the Crest Worms subjected him to agonizing pain.
But he could not fall. He had a reason he absolutely had to win.
"You really have changed a lot, Kariya Matou."
"What an ugly sight."
An elegant yet cold voice rang out.
Kariya snapped his head up.
He saw Tokiomi Tohsaka, cane in hand, slowly stepping out from the shadows.
He was completely spotless, his red suit reflecting a high-class texture under the moonlight.
The look in his eyes as he stared at Kariya was like looking at a dead dog on the side of the road.
"Tokiomi...!!"
Seeing this man instantly ignited the flames of fury in Kariya's eyes, erupting into an astonishing hatred.
Tokiomi stopped ten meters away from Kariya, shaking his head, his tone filled with pity and disdain.
"To think that you, who abandoned the path of magecraft, would reduce yourself to this half-human, half-ghost state out of a lingering attachment to the Holy Grail..."
"Your current unsightly display alone is enough to make the Matou family's downfall a topic of eager gossip."
Kariya did not care in the slightest about what happened to the Matou family.
He simply propped himself up, glaring viciously at Tokiomi. "Tokiomi Tohsaka, I only have one question for you."
"Why did you entrust Sakura to that bastard Zouken?!"
"Hm? Is that something you should be concerning yourself with?"
"Answer me! Tokiomi!"
Tokiomi let out a helpless sigh. "First of all, this is my family's business. Furthermore, did Zouken not explain it clearly to you?"
"I did this solely in the hopes that my beloved daughter would have a happy future."