"Father Kotomine! Please save…"
A middle-aged man burst into the church. Halfway through his sentence, he saw Kotomine Risei being choked by Takatsuki.
"Emiya Kiritsugu? What brings you here?"
Looking at the man who suddenly burst in, Takatsuki showed no panic at being discovered. Instead, he took the initiative and asked.
However, his question didn't require an answer from Emiya Kiritsugu, because he had already seen the white-haired woman on Emiya Kiritsugu's back—Irisviel—and the strong smell of blood on her.
"You know me?"
Emiya Kiritsugu hadn't yet recovered from the shocking scene before him when he heard Takatsuki's words.
"What happened to Irisviel? And where is Saber?"
Only Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel were here; even his partner hadn't followed. Moreover…
In the original anime, Emiya Kiritsugu never came here.
What on earth happened last night that he didn't know about?
Takatsuki frowned. This inability to grasp the plot was very unsettling, even worse than the complete ignorance he felt while on the Astral Express.
Because he relied too heavily on the information he thought he knew, he had let his guard down significantly.
"Please… save Irisviel. I am willing to give everything. Saber has already been taken, and I have lost my Master qualifications."
Emiya Kiritsugu came to his senses and quickly put down Irisviel from his back.
Only then did Takatsuki and Durandal realize that all the blood on Irisviel came from her chest, where there was a huge gaping hole, and her heart, which should have been there, was completely gone.
But even so, Irisviel was not dead. Takatsuki could be sure that there was still a trace of vitality stubbornly sustaining her life within her.
Avalon, is it…
A Conceptual Noble Phantasm, Artoria's third Noble Phantasm, was embedded within Irisviel's body. This Noble Phantasm possessed the power to protect its holder from death.
However, this Noble Phantasm could only function if its true owner infused it with magical energy. For anyone else, it was merely an ornate decoration.
Irisviel had always acted alongside Artoria, naturally having frequent contact, which led to some of its original owner's magical energy accumulating within Avalon. It was this magical energy that sustained Irisviel's immortality, but this energy was running out and could not heal her injuries.
"Are you truly willing to give everything?"
Takatsuki looked at Emiya Kiritsugu. In a place he couldn't see, Heaven's Stairway had already appeared, maintaining Irisviel's life by drawing on the power of abundance it had previously stored.
However, he could only prolong her life; to truly heal her would require the level of application that Seele possessed.
"Yes, I am willing, even if… you take my life."
His ideals could no longer be realized. In his lifelong pursuit of justice, Emiya Kiritsugu had already caused the deaths of many of his own family members. He did not want to lose another loved one.
If the Holy Grail could still grant wishes, it would be one thing, but the current Holy Grail was merely a disaster.
"Your life is of no use to me. I will help you heal her, but in return, I want Avalon."
Emiya Kiritsugu was initially surprised that Takatsuki knew about Avalon, but he still nodded heavily: "Alright!"
Emiya Kiritsugu was decisive, and Takatsuki wasn't one to fuss. He immediately said to Durandal, "Durandal, use a Command Spell to summon Medea."
"Mhm."
Durandal had wanted to help just now, but she didn't have the ability to. However, she saw that the illusory figure within Takatsuki's body had reappeared, kneeling beside Irisviel, and she guessed the reason why Takatsuki dared to "waste time" bargaining.
She pulled off her glove, and to the surprised gazes of Emiya Kiritsugu and Kotomine Risei, revealed the spear-like Command Spell on her hand.
Takatsuki didn't look at Durandal, but instead at Kotomine Risei, who was still being choked by him.
This old man was utterly defenseless in his hands. Although he was a Master of Bajiquan, he was still only on a mortal level. Not to mention the power of the Ox Talisman, just the power of LV7 was something he couldn't contend with.
Kotomine Risei tried to break free multiple times but failed, and eventually gave up.
"It seems things are more serious than I thought. To prevent you from becoming senile, I'll just take those things on your arm."
Takatsuki gripped Kotomine Risei, and in the other's terrified eyes, he grabbed his arm.
By this time, Medea had been summoned. Upon seeing Irisviel, she understood why Durandal had used a Command Spell to summon her, and immediately activated her Noble Phantasm to begin healing Irisviel.
Takatsuki also withdrew Heaven's Stairway, using its ability to forcibly peel off the Command Spells from Kotomine Risei's arm.
Command Spells are high-concentration magical crystals, a form of energy. As long as it's energy, it falls within the scope of Love Train.
And on Kotomine Risei's arm were the unused Command Spells from previous Holy Grail Wars. In the original story, these Command Spells later fell into Kotomine Kirei's hands and were used by him as consumables.
Takatsuki was too lazy to empower his enemy, so he simply snatched them all away.
"You! You can't do that!"
Kotomine Risei couldn't understand. Transferring Command Spells should require complex procedures, and also the consent of the holder, but Takatsuki completely ignored these requirements and forcibly took them.
Ignoring Kotomine Risei's shouts, after snatching the Command Spells, he directly threw the old man out, knocking over the benches on the ground.
"Cough, cough… You, this is a violation!"
Even now, he was still trying to restrain Takatsuki with rules.
But Takatsuki completely ignored him, rolled up his own sleeve, and looked at the flame-like patterns spreading on his arm. He counted them, and there were a total of nineteen Command Spells.
In other words, he had snatched sixteen from Kotomine Risei.
There are a total of twenty-one Command Spells in one Holy Grail War.
The first Holy Grail War had no Command Spells; they were developed in the second Holy Grail War, meaning a total of forty-two. To have sixteen remaining was already a lot.
After all, not every Master would leave one Command Spell to maintain the contract and as a backup command.
He ignored Kotomine Risei. Although he was a rule-breaker, Takatsuki was not a bloodthirsty person; at most, he would restrain the old man when he left later.
As for now…
He looked at Emiya Kiritsugu and Irisviel, whose heart had been repaired: "We have fulfilled your request. Now, tell us what happened."