Shichen was just coming to his senses when he suddenly noticed a drop of mercury appearing right behind Ryunosuke.
"Huh? Ryunosuke, what is that?"
Ryunosuke glanced behind him and replied:
"Must be a water leak, I guess?"
Shichen's blood pressure spiked instantly once again, and he gave Ryunosuke a heavy smack on the head. "What do you mean, a water leak?! Since when does a house leak liquid mercury?!"
Tears streamed down Ryunosuke's face. "Bro, how was I supposed to know that was mercury? Besides, that hit way too hard!"
At that moment, the mercury behind Ryunosuke launched a totally unprovoked sneak attack!
"Ryunosuke, watch out!"
Shichen hastily kicked Ryunosuke out of the way, sending the innocent Ryunosuke passing out on the spot.
Oops, looks like he might have used a little too much strength.
Just as Shichen looked up, he saw the mercury vanish the instant it spotted him.
Huh? Am I really that terrifying?
On the other side, Kenneth—Lancer's Master—had just forced his way into Einzbern Castle to hunt down Emiya Kiritsugu.
Unexpectedly, halfway through the pursuit, he caught sight of something unclean.
"It's... Caster! Damn it, if he gets drawn over here... the consequences would be unthinkable."
Kenneth fell into deep thought. Should he keep moving forward or not? He was terrified that Shichen would suddenly pop up out of nowhere and vaporize him. What on earth should he do?
Meanwhile, Emiya Kiritsugu was extremely puzzled. Where the hell is Kenneth? I've already loaded my Origin Bullet and you're still not showing up? Could he have retreated?
That's impossible. Given his personality, he would never retreat. There's definitely something fishy going on here.
Kiritsugu ultimately decided to toss a bomb just to draw someone out.
At that exact moment, Shichen had just opened a door when he suddenly felt something materialize under his feet.
He looked down, and his mood instantly plummeted into the abyss.
"Which bastard is littering with explosives?!—"
"Boom!" The bomb detonated instantly. While the explosion didn't do much to harm Shichen, it blew his hair into a complete afro and turned his complexion from Asian to African.
"What?!" Hearing the sound in the distance, Emiya Kiritsugu immediately realized something was wrong. That sounded suspiciously like Caster's voice.
He cautiously stepped out from around the corner and saw a complete stranger standing there, contemplating the meaning of life.
"Mister, who are you..."
Before Kiritsugu could finish, he realized he seemed to have seen this person somewhere before. Why did everything feel so weird?
"Emiya Kiritsugu!!!" Shichen roared in grief and indignation. "Is this how you treat your allies? You better give me an explanation right now!"
Kiritsugu's mouth twitched involuntarily. Why on earth did this guy have to wake up right now? This was turning into a massive headache.
After Kiritsugu explained the sequence of events, Shichen finally understood.
So it was that bastard Kenneth pulling the strings! If I don't capture him alive today, I'll change my name to Tohsaka Tokiomi!
Meanwhile, our dear Kenneth was currently shivering inside a room.
Oh lord, why on earth did Caster have to walk out right at this moment? If he finds out I broke into his base, won't my life be forfeit?
"Huh? Mister, who are you? I don't think I've ever seen you before?"
Ryunosuke stared blankly at Kenneth. Having just regained consciousness, he clearly had no idea what was going on.
"What?!"
Kenneth was so frightened by Ryunosuke that his soul nearly left his body. Isn't this Caster's Master? Damn it, today I'm knee-deep in trouble—my time is up!
Seeing Kenneth looking so panicked, Ryunosuke was rather naive:
"Mister, you don't need to be in such a rush. I'm not a bad guy, I'm a good guy. Did you get lost?"
Kenneth froze. He never imagined there could be such a hopelessly airheaded Master among his enemies. It was a real eye-opener.
Right, I can probably use him as a hostage to force Caster to let me go. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
And so, the innocent Ryunosuke was knocked unconscious once again.
Kenneth tied Ryunosuke up tightly and dragged him to the doorway.
With a creak, Kenneth pushed the door open, only to find two people staring right at him from outside.
"Well, what a coincidence. What are you doing in my room, pal?"
Shichen looked at Kenneth and chimed in mockingly.
Kenneth was struck with panic. Just as he was about to pull out Ryunosuke to threaten Shichen, Shichen threw a direct elbow strike that sent Kenneth flying.
"Bam!" After doing a full 360-degree spin in the air, Kenneth hit the ground and was instantly down for the count, unable to get back up.
Seeing this scene, Emiya Kiritsugu silently pulled out his handgun, intending to put a bullet through Kenneth's head, but Shichen stopped him.
"What are you doing?"
Kiritsugu frowned and questioned Shichen.
Shichen pointed at Kenneth's Command Spells and replied:
"He's still useful. No need to kill him just yet."
Elsewhere, Saber and Lancer were locked in a fierce battle, their weapons clashing to produce sparks.
Saber's gaze was resolute, and every swing of the Sword of Promised Victory carried formidable power, though the wound on her left wrist severely limited her strength.
Lancer was not about to be outdone either, his spear dancing like a nimble serpent to parry her attacks while waiting for an opening to counter.
"Saber, you're reaching your limit, aren't you..." Lancer said, looking at the panting Saber with a trace of concern.
Hearing this, Saber calmly responded: "Lancer, you're the one. During those last few exchanges, you were clearly worried about something."
Lancer glanced back toward the direction of Einzbern Castle, and said to Saber with a troubled expression:
"My Lord is currently in danger... It seems he left me here and entered your base on his own."
Saber immediately grasped what had happened, guessing that Kiritsugu must have dealt a heavy blow to Lancer's Master.
"This is surely caused by my Summoner... Lancer, go save your Master."
Lancer first showed a hint of surprise, then bowed his head with deep respect.
"King of Knights, I am deeply grateful."
"Think nothing of it. We once swore to compete fairly as knights. Let us uphold that dignity together."
Just as Lancer turned around, a sudden red glare flashed.
"By the Command Spell, I command thee..."
A familiar voice rang out, filling Lancer with panic.
My Lord, what on earth are you trying to do? It couldn't possibly be...
Lancer simply could not imagine it; he could only pray that it wasn't something that violated the code of chivalry.
"By the Command Spell, I command thee, snap the 'Gae Dearg'!"
Lancer stood there in utter bewilderment. What is going on here? Why would he break his own Noble Phantasm?!
"By the Command Spell, I command thee once more... fight Saber to the death!"
Lancer was even more lost. Master, what on earth are you doing?!