Fate: I Will Eventually Become the Hero of Justice

Chapter 58

'What was happening? Was Kirei involved in this situation too? I should have considered that possibility and seen it coming. If Tokiomi and Kiritsugu were both here, it was likely that Kirei was involved as well. Was this lack of foresight due to my mortal limitations or a flaw of mine to become so focused on my goals that I failed to see the bigger picture?'

Shirou didn't know, but even with the ability to fuse with a Saint Graph, the odds of defeating an attack from over 30 Assassins were slim. Without fusing, his chances of escape were even less.

So without hesitation, he merged with the Saint Graph and soared towards an old man while brandishing his two swords.

Assassin, Hassan of the Hundred Faces, possessed the Noble Phantasm "Delusional Illusion." This skill allowed him to split his personality, creating independent individuals for different tasks. Each personality manifested in various forms, with differences in gender, age, height, and other physical attributes, while remaining the same race.

Since this skillrelies on "splitting" oneself, the overall power of the skill remains constant, no matter how many splits are created. Consequently, the more splits that are made, the weaker the individual abilities become.

However, there is an exception to this rule, which pertains to Assassin's Class Skill, "Presence Concealment." This skill is not affected by the number of splits made. As a result, each individual Hundred-Faced Hassan persona is relatively weak, with the Hundred-Faced Hassan in the form of an old man being the weakest among them all.

Picking the softest persimmon to squeeze is something even a child understands, so there is no reason Shirou wouldn't understand this.

Shirou saw the other Assassins closing in, with the old man Assassin brandishing two knives in an attempt to slow him down. Without hesitation, Shirou hurled a long sword and activated "Broken Phantasm," temporarily blinding the old man.

He readied himself to employ a flash battle strategy to escape, but despite their individual weakness, the Assassin was a legendary killer with vast combat experience.

Suddenly, in a swift movement, the old man closed his eyes and lunged toward Shirou with astonishing accuracy. Caught off guard, Shirou had no choice but to quickly flip his wrist and use the blade of the sword in his other hand to defend himself.

The sound of metal clashing echoed as their swords met. The force of the impact sent vibrations through his arm, and he knew that this would be no easy battle.

...

"Boom!!!"

Kiritsugu scrambled to take cover behind a pile of rubble, his forehead gushing blood. He lay there, panting heavily.

"This aura... it's a Servant, but..."

Upon sensing the aura, Kiritsugu immediately recognized it as belonging to a Servant. Furthermore, he deduced that the Servant in question was of the Caster class. Taking a deep breath, Kiritsugu understood that the young man named Ryunosuke was not the true Master of Caster, but rather a mere tool used to conceal the Servant's true identity.

With this confirmation, Kiritsugu knew it was time to retreat. As a hitman, he knew that the first assassination attempt had failed, and it was time to fall back and reassess his strategy.

But--

"Clink Clink Clink--"

As a red gem rolled towards Kiritsugu's hiding spot from behind, his eyes narrowed in alarm and he quickly rolled again to avoid it.

The gem emitted a dazzling red light, then--

"Boom! !! "

The explosion set off a raging inferno as the combustible materials around it burst into flames.