Just as Chihiro and his panions were about to return to Fuyuki City, a sudden burst of gunfire rang out from behind them.

  [Name: Emiya Kiritsugu; Css: Assassin; Gender: Male; Alig: Chaotic Evil.]

  [Strength: D; Endurance: C; Agility: A+; Magic: C; Luck: E(EX); Noble Phantasm: B++.]

  [Css Skills: Presence cealment A+, Indepe A A+.]

  [Personal Skills: Magecraft B, Holy Grail's Blessing A+, Scapegoat C.]

  [Noble Phantasms: os Rose (B+ rank anti-personnel, range 1-10 meters, affeg up to oarget); Phantasm Punishment (C+ rank anti-personnel, range 0-2 meters, affeg up to oarget).]

  [ons: ized Thompson tender, Cali95in Bullets.]

  It was Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu. The man had caught up to them and initiated his attack, clearly i on seizing this moment to eliminate Chihiro.

  Sigurd reacted immediately, stepping forward and defleg the bullets with swift, precise swings of his sword. Zhang Jiao quickly summoned numerous talismans, sending them toward Kiritsugu to disrupt his movements.

  "Think you keep up with me?" Kiritsugu sneered.

  "os Rose!"

  Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu activated his Noble Phantasm, maniputing time around himself. To him, the world slowed down to an almost imperceptible crawl, every sed stretg as he moved.

  In the blink of an eye, Kiritsugu had bypassed Sigurd and Zhang Jiao, and in an instant, his bde was aimed straight at Chihiro's heart.

  But just as the bde ected, Chihiro's body suddenly shimmered with a golden glow. Kiritsugu's sword struck against an unyielding barrier, as though he'd hit solid steel.

  Unbeknownst to Kiritsugu, Zhang Jiao had given Chihiro a protective talisman before they set out that night, the same talisman he'd used earlier to transform Red Hare into his Golden form. This one was desigo activate automatically if Chihiro's life was in daemporarily granting him the resilience of a Yellow Turban Warrior.

  Kiritsugu was taken aback, his mind rag. His Phastasm Punishment should have been able to disable any magecraft or reinfort spell. Why wasn't it w on Chihiro?

  What he didn't know was that Zhang Jiao had applied two talismans to Chihiro, one on his chest and another on his back. Although Kiritsugu's attack had destroyed the talisman on Chihiro's chest, the one on his back remained intact.

  With no time to ponder, Kiritsugu adjusted his grip, direg his bde toward Chihiro's eyes in a ruthless attempt to bypass his defenses.

  At the same moment, the effect of Kiritsugu's Noble Phantasm wore off, and time snapped back to normal.

  "Oh crap!" Chihiro gasped as he realized Kiritsugu was right in front of him.

  Reag instinctively, Chihiro took a quick step back, twisting his head to avoid the bde, while raising his right elbow to intercept Kiritsugu's strike. With his left hand, he tered with a swift upward jab, f Kiritsugu bad tearing the bandage partially c the man's face.

  Kiritsugu hadn't expected Chihiro to respond so quickly. Without missing a beat, he drew his modified Thompson tender, aiming directly at Chihiro.

  Seeing the on, Chihiro acted on instinct, lunging forward to push the gun aside before delivering a powerful punch to Kiritsugu's chest, sending him staggering back.

  By this time, Sigurd and Zhang Jiao had closed in, positioning themselves to surround Kiritsugu.

  Chihiro took a breath, his pulse rag. If he'd hesitated for even a sed, he might have ended up like Kayh in the inal timeline.

  Yes, Kiritsugu's modified gun was loaded with in Bullets.

  Sihe Assassin-css Heroic Spirit was essentially an ination of Kiritsugu, it made sehat he would retain access to the in Bullets. And Chihiro couldn't be sure if his Yellow Turban Warrior defense would hold up against the destructive power of an in Bullet.

  Deg not to take any ces, Chihiro quickly activated his Css Card, summoning the God Force, which transformed intuards.

  "…."

  Seeing his attempts foiled, Kiritsugu khe assassination had failed. He quickly fired a volley from his Cali950, f Sigurd and Zhang Jiao back, then threw down a smoke bomb.

  When the smoke cleared, Kiritsugu was o be seen.

  It was troublesome to deal with someoh A+ level Presence cealment. Ohey decided to hide, finding them was nearly impossible.

  However, Kiritsugu didn't know that Chihiro had tracked his position.

  Once a Heroic Spirit's true name is known, no matter how well they ceal their presence, as long as they're within sight, they still be detected.

  Yet Chihiro held back from a pursuit. Kiritsugu had already fled far enough, and with A+ Agility, catg up would be a challenge. Besides, everyone was exhausted after their ret battle with Gilgamesh.

  Kiritsugu's sudden assault was a stark remio Chihiro that he couldn't afford to drop his guard, even after a victory. Overfidence could have cost him dearly.

  To recover, Chihiro pulled out some emergency ratioremely-spicy mapo tofu and Goredolf's special dish and shared them with Sigurd and the others, allowing them to replenish some strength and mana.

  "Not bad," he ented, swallowing a bite.

  Just then, a voice spoke up behind them, startling the group.

  They turned, only to rex upon seeing who it was.

  The newer was her than the First Emperor.

  [Name: Ying Zheng; Css: Ruler; Gender: Male; Alig: ral Good.]

  [Strength: B; Endurance: C; Agility: A; Magic: B; Luck: A+; Noble Phantasm: EX.]

  [Css Skills: Territory Creation A, True Name Disment A, Divine Judgement A+.]

  [Personal Skills: Golden Rule A+, All Books Must Be Burned B, Imperial Privilege EX.]

  [Noble Phantasms: Tai'a Sword (A+ rank anti-army, range 1-100 meters, max targets 100); Afang Pace (EX ray Marble, range 0-10,000 meters, max targets 1 million); Great Wall Never Falls (EX rank anti-army, range 1-1000 meters).]

  Gng at the First Emperor's data, Chihiro was briefly stunned.

  Two EX-rank Noble Phantasms, and EX-rank Imperial Privilege. Truly, he was worthy of being called the First Emperor.

  "As the Master of a desdant of my empire, you've performed well," the Emperor remarked, his tone calm and approving. "Defeating that i king with strategy, it's endable."

  "But you grew pt after victory," he added, a slight reproa his voice. "You failed to at for other enemies."

  Chihiro chuckled awkwardly, scratg his head. "Uh… Why are you here?"

  The First Emperor's tone reminded him a bit too much of a strict teacher.

  "Curiosity, mostly. To observe your capabilities."

  With that, the Emperor tossed a card to Chihiro. "A small token. sider it a gift of advent."

  Magic Gift—"Yummy?"

  The card bore an image of Nezha dressed in a maid outfit.

  Its effect? Enhang the taste of any food.

  Chihiro stared at the card, baffled.

  "Just a tri I drew from a bronze chest," the First Emperor expined matter-of-factly. "I have no use for it, but you seemed to enjoy food."

  "Ah… Thank you." Chihiro replied, ughing weakly.

  Did he really e across as a glutton? Sure, he liked good food, but who didn't?

  The Emperave a short nod and then faded into spirit form, vanishing without another word.

  Chihiro and his panions exged amused looks before they hurried bae, determio avoid any further ambushes.

  "What? You were ambushed?"

  Ishtar was surprised when they filled her in.

  After their previous battle, she'd flown baaanna, and this was the first she'd heard of it.

  "You're alright, though?" Rin asked, relieved. Beside her, Sakura g to Chihiro's arm, visibly ed.

  Why were they here? ed that someone might attack Tohsaka Aoi and Sakura, Rin had decided to have them stay the night at Chihiro's pce, just to be safe.

  After all, by now, she knew just how ruthless their oppos could be in pursuit of victory.

  Especially when it came to someone like Emiya Kiritsugu.

  Chihiro nodded reassuringly. "Now that Gilgamesh has bee with, what's your pn moving forward?"

  Ishtar gave a fident smile, crossing her arms. "Don't worry. I promised to help you get the Holy Grail, and I'm not oo break a promise."

  "Thank you. Really," Chihiro replied sincerely, feeling a rare sense of relief.

  Meanwhile, over at the Tohsaka residence…

  Kotomine Kirei and Hassan of the Hundred Faces were quietly Tohsaka Tokiomi, who stood by the window, gazing up at the moon.

  Their team had suffered a heavy blow that night.

  Gilgamesh had been eliminated, and almost all of Hassan's es had been wiped out, with fewer than ten remaining.

  Yet, despite these losses, Kirei's expression showed no particur . Instead, he seemed… ptive.

  The reason y in the unfinished "guidance" he'd been receiving from Gilgamesh. Up until now, the Heroic Spirit had been subtly leading Kirei doath of self-discovery, urging him to front the darker sides of his nature.

  But that journey had been abruptly cut short with Gilgamesh's defeat. Now, Kirei found himself at an impasse, left with a strainess.

  In his heart, questioered—unanswered and unresolved.