As for the situation at the castle, Kiritsugu Emiya's circumstances were indeed not looking good.
Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, this Clock Tower head of Spiritual Evocation, although not exactly a combat-oriented type, no amount of pampered living could change his heaven-sent talent and profound magecraft skills.
In a pure magecraft battle, even including those modern firearms—they might surprise Kayneth at first glance, but once he understood them, these things, just as this arrogant Lord of magi despised, were merely 'toys' not fit for the grand stage.
As for the Origin Bullet…
"Idiot, do you think I wouldn't be prepared for that kind of thing?" Kiritsugu, at the cost of mutual injury, used Time Alter to create an opportunity and finally fired the Origin Bullet. But the result was that even after hitting, Kayneth was unscathed.
Mr. Lemonhead sneered mockingly at Kiritsugu.
If, from the very beginning, things hadn't changed so much, he had to admit he probably would have fallen for this scoundrel's trick. Just by analyzing Kiritsugu's battle record and imagining fighting him without prior knowledge, Kayneth couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine.
But on the first night, the battle between Tokiomi Tohsaka and those two from the Matou family was witnessed by many familiars.
And naturally, the result of Tokiomi being sneak-attacked couldn't possibly fail to alert any magus.
A single blow had defeated Tokiomi Tohsaka, whose magical skills were quite profound. That miserable sight was simply chilling.
If one knew the enemy had such a method and didn't investigate or even guard against it, then it wouldn't be so-called arrogance, but pure stupidity.
The Origin Bullet, he had to admit, this Mystic Code was indeed quite fatal to magi.
But for any magus who understood it, they could quickly find a way to counter it.
That kind of damage to Magic Circuits could only occur when a magical loop was formed. When it was blocked, or obstructed by another magical loop, then the so-called Origin Bullet was just an ordinary bullet.
"Die, stray dog who doesn't know how to cherish magecraft."
Facing Mr. Lemonhead's Volumen Hydrargyrum, with his trump card rendered useless, Kiritsugu Emiya was somewhat helpless.
Of course, he had tried to ease this conflict initially with the intention of an 'alliance.'
Such a situation was extremely normal in the Holy Grail War. Weaker Servants needed to rely on alliances to fight stronger Servants.
But clearly, the result was a failure.
Not to mention Mr. Lemonhead completely didn't consider himself weak. Even if his Servant's strength was somewhat low, he believed that among the opponents who had already appeared in this Holy Grail War, apart from that Magic User from the Aozaki family who popped up yesterday, no one could rival him in the field of magecraft—even that Aozaki Magic User wasn't that fearsome in Kayneth's eyes.
After all, besides inheriting the Fifth True Magic, Aoko's reputation outside wasn't that prominent. Her few appearances even made traditional magi somewhat contemptuous... This young lady only inherited that miracle, the Fifth True Magic, because of her ancestors' blessings. In herself, she was also the type who could be classified as a disgrace to magi.
What familiars lacked, magecraft could make up for. The so-called Servant summoning was just a type of spiritual evocation.
And for Kayneth, the head of Spiritual Evocation, this kind of thing was crystal clear.
Therefore, the strong didn't need to associate with the weak—even if they did, he, as a dignified Lord of magi, couldn't possibly associate with this kind of stray dog, right? That would tarnish the reputation of the El-Melloi school.
"No, you can't."
"You can't let Kiritsugu die at your hands." A childish, helpless voice sounded in this spacious castle. Kiritsugu, who was subconsciously about to use a Command Spell to call Saber, looked at the source of the voice, the silver-haired girl in a purple dress and purple hat, in disbelief.
"Illya? Why are you back?!"
"Well, it's so lively here. If I just let it be, Kiritsugu would die, right?" [Illya] sighed and shrugged.
—Although doing so might actually be a good thing.
For everyone, even for Kiritsugu himself.
But unfortunately, that was uniquely not the case for [her-self].
"...An Einzbern homunculus?"
"Hmph, a mere homunculus." Kayneth was somewhat disdainful.
Although the Einzbern family's alchemy was indeed quite famous, for a Lord like him, it wasn't worth mentioning.
"Hey, although I don't really want to care... this child is the type who 'gets very angry if underestimated,' you know."
"In that case, I'll have to take action too."
The girl, like a snow elf, said with slight distress, then pulled out a strand of hair.
The silver-like hair quickly wove into a familiar.
Thaumaturgical Formula—[Angel's Poem].
"Autonomous magecraft, Volumen Hydrargyrum, huh? It's indeed a very interesting magecraft. So let's compare our capabilities. That's what traditional magi like to do, isn't it? Mr. Lemonhead."
"Hmph... Such an absurd title. Has the Einzbern family's upbringing become so worrying?"
Kayneth was somewhat embarrassed and displeased.
"After all, this makes it seem very cordial, doesn't it? Or is Mr. Lemonhead scared?"
"A mere homunculus is not worthy of competing with me."
"Then, let's do it in the name of 'Einzbern.' Although I don't particularly like this name, the current [me] can use this name."
"Oh... Interesting."
"Unlike that stray dog gasping for breath over there, very good. Since you challenge me, Kayneth, in the name of Einzbern, then in the name of the El-Melloi school, I absolutely cannot refuse."
"Prepare yourself. I am, after all, a teacher. Little Einzbern brat, let me teach you what 'the cruelty among magi' means."
"Boil, my blood (Volumen Hydrargyrum)!"
The butterfly floating in the air flew towards Kayneth. [Illya], watching this scene, didn't continue to pay attention, but walked towards Kiritsugu Emiya, who was in a pool of blood in the corner. Because of Avalon, even if he was severely injured, he could recover as long as Saber had mana. But even so, due to excessive mana consumption, Kiritsugu Emiya's injury recovery speed was quite slow.
"Honestly, getting yourself into this state, are you not planning to fulfill your 'promise' to 'me'? Kiritsugu."
"Adults who don't keep their promises have to swallow a thousand needles, you know."
Gently patting the latter's face, thanks to this body size, she didn't even need to bend down much.
"Illya..."
"Yes, if you have anything to say, save it for later. Mom and the others are waiting for you over there." A faint light flashed between her fingers and disappeared.
—The most basic teleportation magecraft, completed.
As for Mr. Kayneth.
Although he really wanted to reprimand someone's disrespectful behavior, unfortunately, he didn't have the leisure for that right now.
That familiar, it wasn't right.
Extremely not right.
Although its magical energy seemed very ordinary, merely very condensed, the construction of that magical energy framework was completely incomprehensible—its movements seemed incredibly slow, but in reality, it was the 'target-locking' type.
Even with the defensive power of Volumen Hydrargyrum, it couldn't block this thing. What shocked Mr. Lemonhead was that once it touched this thing, magical energy would drain rapidly, and then strengthen it...
"By this Command Spell, I order thee, Lancer! Return!" Mr. Lemonhead, sensing danger, made a decision purely out of instinct.
The next moment, a Command Spell dimmed, and then... Mr. Lancer looked at the scene, somewhat... bewildered.
He had thought his Master called him because he was in some danger, but opposite him was only a small child, and... the enemy was a, butterfly?
"Lancer, use Gae Dearg!"
"...Yes!"
Although he didn't know why, Diarmuid still obeyed the order, thrusting Gae Dearg at the approaching butterfly familiar.
Almost at the moment of contact.
"Boom—"
A terrifying torrent of magical energy exploded.
"The Crimson Rose of Exorcism, huh... Yes, yes, against a weapon with anti-magic properties, there will be such problems."
"However, Mr. Lemonhead, just to face a single familiar, you made such a big fuss, even wasting a Command Spell. Doesn't that make you look rather incompetent?"
"If you had a fiancée or something, seeing such a result, wouldn't she also think, 'Could it be that he's no good?'"
The girl, like a snow elf, said this in a very intriguing tone.
Every word seemed to hammer at his heart. At this moment, Kayneth only felt anger burning—according to this country's way of speaking, this was probably the so-called '(mesugaki (cheeky brat),' right?
It had to be said, Mr. Jiang Qiao had indeed fully utilized all of Miss [Illya]'s functions.
"How dare you! Deal with this brat properly, Lancer!"
The latter hesitated, looking troubled.
He knew this little fellow before him seemed extraordinary, but... for a knight to fight a child, that was a bit too... shameless!
"...Another troublesome fellow has arrived."
"Sorry, it seems I have to leave for now. If I get entangled, it will be very annoying."
"If you don't want to be casually dealt with as a stumbling block by that woman, it's better to leave quickly."
"Well, in summary, that's it—goodbye."
After leaving these words, [Illya] disappeared using teleportation magecraft, leaving the bewildered Kayneth and Lancer.
Lancer was somewhat relieved not to have to fight a child, but Kayneth was furious.
"That damn Einzbern brat!"
Didn't she just completely humiliate him and then run off? How dare she humiliate him, the dignified Lord of the Clock Tower, Kayneth—yes, he absolutely didn't take [Illya]'s words to heart and get angry. Mr. Lemonhead's mood at this moment was exceptionally bad.
However, they, who hadn't heeded [Illya]'s words, soon felt an ominous premonition.
"...She escaped."
A girl's voice sounded beside them, her words revealing some annoyance and helplessness.
"Honestly, I rushed over as soon as I found out, but I still didn't make it..."
"Aaargh... This frustrating feeling, what is it?"
"...The Sajyou family's daughter?!" Kayneth noticed the doll-like blonde girl and was stunned for a moment upon seeing her, blurting it out subconsciously.
"Ara, isn't this Instructor Kayneth? What a coincidence to meet you here."
"Yes, yes, you're also a participant in this Holy Grail War."
"...Although I'm not very interested, we'll have to face each other sooner or later, so it's better to prepare early. Since we've met, it would be convenient to resolve it early—so, Instructor Kayneth, could I trouble you to obediently give up resisting?"
"After all, we're old acquaintances. Although I'm not interested in you, because you're a decent person, I don't really want to use unnecessary methods."
"Such arrogance, clearly just a bad student who skips classes and takes leaves of absence."
Kayneth was no stranger to Manaka Sajyou—because she had once studied at the Clock Tower and had done things like embarrassing teachers and causing various losses to the Clock Tower. This also left Kayneth with a very deep impression of this terrible troublemaker student—no one had dared to skip his, Kayneth's, classes before!
He had already planned to kick this student out of his classroom—but before he could act, Manaka submitted her leave of absence application herself.
"Was she the trouble you were talking about? Hmph, that really makes me, Kayneth, laugh out loud."
"So, you were with him just now... Did you even talk?"
"Hmph, so what."
"I see..."
"...No, this won't do, this won't do... I haven't even met him face to face yet. This kind of thing, my mood suddenly became a little down."
"Alright, alright, I've changed my mind, Teacher Kayneth... Sorry, it's better if you don't continue to be a hindrance." Manaka Sajyou, propping up her cheek, bit her lip, looking very unhappy, and sighed:
"Berserker, I'll leave this to you."
"You should also be very interested in this person, right? After all, he pushed that King Arthur to that extent."
"Hmph."
With dematerialization, the silver-haired witch holding a magic wand snorted lightly, glancing at the prepared Lancer and Kayneth.
And Manaka had little interest, looking somewhat listless... until she suddenly noticed a strand of hair remaining on the ground.
She placed it in her palm as if it were a treasure, her mood becoming joyful.
"Yes, this is it, that's right~"
However, it's not enough. Just this, it's completely not enough...