As a clergy member of the Church, and someone who had studied Magecraft for many years, Kirei Kotomine certainly knew what an Unlimited Lostbelt meant. It was the erosion of the caster's ideal world onto reality, the closest approximation to true Magic achievable through Magecraft—a man-made miracle.

This was precisely why he couldn't comprehend it. It was because it was so miraculous that it defied understanding.

A seven-year-old girl using a Jewel to cast *level Magecraft was astonishing enough; the world was never short of geniuses, never lacking in them. So even if Rin achieved something of that magnitude, Kirei Kotomine would have merely considered her an exceptionally talented Magus.

But what was this?

A mere seven-year-old girl had stepped onto a threshold that came closest to Magic—a threshold even Tokiomi Tohsaka could not reach, a realm countless genius Magus had failed to attain. Why...?

"You... exactly who are you...?" At this moment, Kirei Kotomine was forced to wonder if the girl before him was a reincarnation of some celestial being. Yet, when his gaze fixed upon her, he froze. He realized the mistress of this created world seemed even more astonished than he was. The expression in her eyes, how to describe it? It was like a big bad wolf spotting a little white rabbit—covetous.

"Th-this is my Unlimited Lostbelt?" Rin looked up, gazing at the countless gems embedded around them, seemingly forgetting the injuries she sustained. Her eyes were nearly slits of pure awe. "Th-this... this is too beautiful, too spectacular, too magnificent, too captivating... too rich!"

Hey, hey, you said the wrong thing... Even someone like Kirei Kotomine couldn't help but mentally groan at the girl's proclamation. The preceding descriptors were understandable, but what did the last one even mean?

However, he had grasped the essential truth: Tohsaka Rin was, after all, still Tohsaka Rin, not the original Lord, or anyone else...

"Ah..." Feeling herself drift off again, Rin coughed lightly and faced Kirei Kotomine with serious composure. "Well, Kirei, do you think you still have a chance now?"

"The Unlimited Lostbelt has severed my connection with the Root of All Evil," Kirei Kotomine stated coolly, seemingly unconcerned by the immediate crisis. "But Rin, even with an Unlimited Lostbelt, killing me isn't that easy. I haven't been using my full power up until now, and besides... how many seconds can you maintain this Lostbelt?"

"Let's see, under thirty seconds, I think," Rin replied earnestly. She knew this much; the Lostbelt was Magecraft that eroded the world, a forbidden art among forbidden arts, inevitably inviting correction from the world itself. Generally, only non-humans like Heroic Spirits could wield such things. For a normal human, deploying a large-scale Lostbelt like this would instantly drain all their magical energy.

However, thanks to the World Heart, the world's corrective force had been reduced to a minimal degree. Of course, even that minimal degree was something she, an ordinary Magus, could not withstand. Thirty seconds was the absolute limit.

But within those thirty seconds, she possessed absolute confidence that she could eliminate Kirei Kotomine.

"Then, here we go, Kirei," Rin raised her hand, a mischievous, impish smile playing on her lips, and snapped her fingers lightly... Crack.

As if a switch had been flipped, the entire world suddenly began to spin—no, the world wasn't spinning, but every single gem within this world seemed to come alive. They rose from the ground and drifted down from the zenith of the sky. Some stood alone, some gathered in small clusters, and others formed massive swarms. All the gems vibrated, and their target was Kirei Kotomine.

Seeing this, Kirei Kotomine dared not be careless. With a wave of his hand, countless streams of Black Mud erupted from his body; he intended to strike first and destroy these gems.

But it was too late.

Or rather, in this world, his speed simply could not match Tohsaka Rin's.

"Enjoy the luxury of the rich..." With a declaration utterly unfitting for combat, Tohsaka Rin pointed forward and shrieked with fierce energy, "Imperial Bombardment Gem Volley!"

Upon her command, the bombardment began.

It was a bombardment in the truest sense... Boom, boom, boom, boom...

The deafening sound was incessant. Countless gems shot toward Kirei Kotomine with the speed of machine-gun fire. When they collided with the Black Mud, violent explosions erupted... machine-gun speed, missile power.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom...

In this magnificent and shocking scene, Kirei Kotomine, surrounded by an onslaught of gems, felt immense pressure. The inexhaustible power isolated by the Unlimited Lostbelt meant the gem volley only held for less than five seconds before the Black Mud defenses completely collapsed. Then came his own body: first blown into fragments, the fragments into shards, the shards into dust, and the dust finally into smoke... beyond recovery.

"Truly an... impressive empire."

Even at the moment of death, no trace of fear crossed Kirei Kotomine’s face. As his last shred of consciousness faded, he seemed to smile, uttering those words to Rin.

"Hmph, you don't need to tell me; I said I rule the world," she scoffed lightly, devoid of disdain or sarcasm, only a faint thread of loneliness. At this point, Rin seemed to vaguely grasp the nature of Kirei Kotomine—perhaps he wasn't an evil man, merely an empty one...

But none of it mattered now. Death is like the snuffing of a lamp; everything had concluded.

"Ugh..." Suddenly, Rin frowned deeply, her face contorted in pain. Only now did she feel the unimaginable trauma inflicted upon her body. Several blood vessels had burst, some nerve endings were burned out, and most of her Magic Circuits were in chaos... this was the price of exceeding her limits.

The moment the time expired, the Unlimited Lostbelt vanished instantly. Rin, already weakened beyond all strength, fell backward helplessly.

She didn't feel the hard impact of hitting the ground; instead, she felt herself enveloped in a warm embrace. Opening her hazy eyes, in a daze, she saw a familiar figure. "Li... Lily..."

The next moment, a look of profound relief settled on her face, and she drifted into deep sleep... Tohsaka Rin knew that today was the richest day she had ever known, and she could have a beautiful dream.

...

Mikoto felt fortunate that her abilities seemed to be the nemesis of the Black Mud. Every electrical discharge inflicted severe damage upon it. Although the entity could regenerate limitlessly and felt no pain, this significantly dampened its offensive capability.

Mugino Shizuri hovered in mid-air, observing the battle below. She had prepared to intervene when the Black Mud attacked, but given the current situation—the Mud’s focus wasn't on them, and Mikoto’s attacks were suppressing it—there was no need for her full attention. She focused entirely on maintaining vigilance over the surroundings.

Leah's spiritual shade clung to Lin Luo’s shoulder. She continued to chant the sacred hymn. Being merged with Lin Luo, she understood exactly how dire his condition was as his consciousness plunged deep into the Black Mud. Without the support of the hymn, he would soon be utterly consumed by the Root of All Evil.

However, the self-aware Root of All Evil was not easily located. No matter how vast Lin Luo’s perceptual domain grew, the Black Mud was its 'world,' making a quick discovery impossible; he could only keep delving deeper.

Of course, Lin Luo was confident that if they ever found its core, given the Root of All Evil’s current strength, a concentrated full-power strike from everyone present would surely annihilate it. After all, his current perception was touching upon the very essence of this world, just short of reaching the Root or the Counter Force itself.

Misaki Shokuhou’s gaze swept constantly over the group. Level 5 psychic control was useless in this kind of fight because the enemy was not a biological entity but a mysterious presence.

Though she desperately wanted to help, she found herself with no suitable application for her powers, which gave her a profound sense of helplessness. Just then, her eyes suddenly brightened, and she scanned the surroundings... one, two, three... eight, nine, ten...

Right, exactly one is missing.

At this moment, a flat map formed in Shokuhou's mind, displaying the brainwaves of everyone present. She 'saw' one more brainwave signature than the number of people physically in the area, meaning someone else was concealed nearby, yet to reveal themselves.

Who could it be?

It took her less than three seconds of thought to arrive at the answer. At a time like this, only someone connected to the Holy Grail War would be present, and the brainwave signature was one she had never recorded... the answer was obvious.

Glancing toward the Knight Maiden nearby, who was being driven back repeatedly by the Black Knight with absolutely no room to counterattack, Shokuhou decided this was the only action she could take.

In any case, the Root of All Evil is the greatest enemy right now. Since she already knows the true nature of the Grail, she likely won't try to forcibly seize it... Alright, I've decided. If it's that person, my abilities should be able to deal with them easily.

Thinking this, Shokuhou withdrew from the protective barrier and ran toward the location corresponding to the single unregistered brainwave signature.

On the other side, although the Black Mud figure was being suppressed by Mikoto, Emiya Kiritsugu still felt immense pressure. Firstly, the Mud figure seemed obsessively focused on him, and secondly, Irisviel was also dangerously weak. Since his own attacks caused no damage to the Mud, he could only retreat repeatedly.

If Mai were here... The thought crossed his mind before Kiritsugu sighed. Given the current state of affairs, even adding her wouldn't help, and Mai Hisaya’s severely injured body made long-distance travel impossible.

Damn it, why has this kind of thing appeared? The Holy Grail shouldn't be like this.

Emiya Kiritsugu was filled with vexation and regret. At this moment, he failed to notice a pair of eyes intensely fixed upon him. Just as he took another step backward, a flash of white light suddenly shot toward him with incomprehensible speed. Before he could even react, it pierced through his body in an instant.

Kiritsugu stiffened. The wound that passed through him caused no physical damage, but... something inside him had vanished.

As the question formed, Emiya Kiritsugu realized exactly what he had lost.

Because, a figure no larger than a palm was flying through the air, clutching an object several times its own size, shouting with absolute exhilaration:

"I snatched the Scabbard! I snatched the Scabbard, yay, yay, yay, yay..." A!