After finishing his work, Kirei felt the breath of death as soon as he stepped into the chapel.
There was a slight smell of blood and some lingering gunpowder smoke. Someone must have done something unforgivable in the Temple of God.
Although he could not sense that someone was ambushing him, Kirei still moved his feet carefully and cautiously, passing through the seats of believers - just when he came to the altar, he found a figure lying beside it.
"Father-"
The shout that burst out of Kirei's mouth was weak and powerless. At the same time that Kirei saw Father Risei, the Executor's well-honed eyesight had already seen the bullet hole that pierced the priest's back and the bloodstains on the ground.
Kirei felt as if his mind was completely numb, and with this feeling he carefully examined his father's body.
He rolled up the right sleeve of his monastic robe and checked the number of Command Spells engraved on his wrist.
"No, how is that possible?"
Kirei cried out in surprise once again.
He knew that his father's entrusted Command Seals were protected by powerful holy words, and it was almost impossible for them to be stripped away by magic without his own permission. But now, all these Command Seals had disappeared, how could Kirei not be surprised.
After being surprised, Kirei forced himself to calm down and continue his inspection.
The right hand was intact, with no traces of magic, and no other abnormalities, proving that the Command Seal was removed in a normal way—so was it Risei who gave it to him voluntarily
The only person his father was willing to give the Command Seal to was his teacher, Tōsaka Tokiomi. But if it was his teacher, he would not have killed his father. That person’s pride would not allow him to do so. Moreover, even if he really wanted to kill his father, he would not use a gun but magic. After three years of study, Kirei knew Tokiomi very well and would not make a mistake.
What was that all about? Was there anyone else who knew the "holy words" besides the Father himself
With such doubts, Kirei continued to examine his father's body.
Kirei lifted up his father's right hand and found blood stains on the fingertips, which were different from bleeding. These were traces of friction. Before he died, Father Risei stained his fingers with his own blood and smeared them somewhere.
Now that you've noticed this, you can easily find the blood-stained words with a little search.
On the floor was a scarlet will written in mottled strokes: "jn424" - if one had no religious beliefs, one might think it was a code with no clear meaning. But Kirei inherited Risei's devout faith, and for him, the meaning of this will was clear as day.
John Chapter 4, Verse 24, this is probably the "holy word", and it is also the legacy and trust that the father wants to entrust to his son before his death, hoping that his son can inherit his identity and responsibility as a supervisor.
But - this code was cracked by others.
Kirei thoughtfully picked up the Bible next to his father. With this, even people who had nothing to do with the church might be able to crack the code. After all, the Gospel of John was quite well-known.
Was the father careless? The Bible he always carried with him became a tool for the murderer to decipher the "holy words".
No, not necessarily the murderer.
If the murderer had not left, the father would not necessarily leave a secret signal, and even if he wanted to, he would not necessarily leave such an obvious signal.
Perhaps after the murderer left, someone else came to the church to visit his father, only to find that his father had died. He then used the code to crack the "Holy Word" and transferred the Command Seal.
Yes, that would make sense, Caster was already dead, and the Masters of Saber, Lancer, Rider, and Assassin were all likely to visit their father and obtain the promised extra Command Seals.
The murderer who killed his father could be one of them, or it could be the Master of Berserker who did not participate in the battle.
The brain that had come to a conclusion relaxed, and tears unknowingly fell from Kirei's eyes, leaving him feeling extremely stunned.
Seeing his father's body, feeling his father's last wishes and shedding tears... For a person, this is a natural reaction. But Kirei seemed to have stepped on empty air next to an abyss at this time, and fell into a chaotic emotion close to fear.
Never look directly at it - the inner voice warned myself seriously.
Kotomine Kirei, you absolutely cannot understand, nor can you agree with the feelings that are welling up in your heart right now. That's because -
Tears. When was the last time he shed tears
That's right, it was those unforgettable three years ago that my deceased wife held up her falling tears and said, "You loved me."
Just as Kirei was trying to resist the memories that kept flooding into his mind, an inexplicable impulse that was completely different from the emotions in his memories surged into his heart.
hunger!
Thirst!
impulse!
The eye-catching red color silently invaded Kirei's mind.
It was as if he was someone who had not eaten for many days.
It was as if he was a person who had been thirsty for many days without drinking water.
It was as if he was someone who had abstained from sex for many days.
The red blood was emitting a strange, irresistible temptation, beating against Kirei's mind and the defense line of common sense like a wave.
It's the same thing again, just like when we were at Caster's workshop!
Why
Why
Why
Why does blood attract me
Why do I crave blood
How can humans be jealous of the blood of their own kind
Could this be the abnormality of mine that Gilgamesh was talking about
So why haven't I had this impulse before
The thoughts in the mind did not affect the movements of the hands. The hands were trembling—the hands that had taken many lives without trembling were now trembling—and they reached out to the blood that had not yet dried on the ground.
cannot!
cannot!
cannot!
Reason keeps reminding me.
However, there was another voice in my heart roaring wildly.
want to!
want to!
want to!
Kirei felt that his body was divided into two parts, the desire of the flesh and the rational soul.
The two continued to fight, moving their hands up and down along the bloodstain like a patient having a mad attack.
Perhaps this is what a certain saint meant when he spoke of battling the demons within.
Maybe, once I defeat this demon, I will become a normal person
Or maybe, I will be completely assimilated by the devil and degenerate into a devil
Struggling.
Struggling.
Kirei did not give up.
He is resisting, he is trying, God's believers cannot lose to the temptation of the devil.
... ...
I don’t know how long it took, but the desire and impulse for blood gradually faded away, and was replaced by an unspeakable emptiness.
Kirei stared at his father's cold body in silence, his heart filled with a dead silence, like a wasteland burned by wildfire.
"...Our Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven..."
Kirei suddenly sang the Lord's Prayer, which he was used to praying every day, as if he was praying for his father, but also as if he was confessing his sins.
"Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil... Amen."
As the Sign of the Cross fell on the forehead, chest, left shoulder, and right shoulder, the deep meaning behind the tears and the inexplicable impulses were sealed.
... ...
In the far west, there is an ancient city that has been silent for hundreds of years.
A pair of bright red eyes suddenly opened, and an incomparable golden light shone from the pupils, and then returned to silence in the next second, and the pair of bright red eyes closed.
The ancient city was shrouded in darkness again, as if nothing had happened.