Reborn with Steve Stand

"Can you please be serious for a moment?"

Rin Tohsaka sighed, feeling utterly powerless against Fang Mo's antics. "We're talking about the person who murdered my father."

"And didn't I already tell you?" Fang Mo replied with a shrug. "According to my intel, it was that fake priest Kirei Kotomine who did it."

"But what reason would he have for doing that?"

Rin trusted Fang Mo and felt that he was telling the truth, but she still couldn't understand why Kirei would have committed such an act. "He was my father's apprentice... Could it really have just been to steal the Grail?"

"Who knows? Maybe the radiation from your Japanese little boys affected him."

Fang Mo shrugged indifferently. "Stabbing people for too long might have messed with his brain, turning him into a... sadist."

"A... sadist?" Rin asked, confused. "What's that?"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

Fang Mo briefly explained, "Kirei Kotomine's mind doesn't work like a normal person's. He can't feel joy in normal ways. He only gets pleasure from seeing others in pain, suffering, and in their most pitiful states. Does that explanation help?"

"This... Is that really how it is?"

Rin was momentarily stunned by this revelation. She had always found Kirei to be strange, but she had never understood why. Now that Fang Mo explained it, everything suddenly made sense.

"Wait!"

The next moment, a terrifying thought struck Rin. "Based on what you're saying, does that mean... the reason he killed my father was—"

"He probably found your father boring," Fang Mo confirmed her worst fear. "Instead of winning the Holy Grail together, he might have been more excited by the idea of seeing your father's face filled with disbelief and agony as he died."

"!"

Rin's pupils shrank in shock.

"Oh, by the way," Fang Mo added, "according to my intel from Aki, the weapon Kirei used to stab your father... it's probably in your hands right now. It's called the Azoth Sword."

"What?!"

Rin was momentarily dazed, her face cycling through confusion, disbelief, shock, and then pure anger. She trembled with fury, her eyes filled with rare, murderous intent. "That bastard! How dare he do such a thing!?"

"Uh… Rin?"

Nearby, Shirou Emiya was completely lost but managed to grasp part of the conversation.

The reason for Rin's anger was clear. The Azoth Sword held a very special significance.

To be precise, this kind of weapon was actually a magical artifact. In the Mage's Association, the Azoth Sword was a popular gift, typically given by a parent or teacher to mark an important milestone like a coming-of-age ceremony.

More than a weapon, it was a tool for amplifying magical power.

In the previous Holy Grail War, Rin's father, Tokiomi Tohsaka, had gifted this very sword to Kirei Kotomine, his student.

But not long after, Kirei had used that same sword to stab Tokiomi in the back, piercing his heart and killing him with disbelief and bitterness on his face. And in a cruel twist of fate, Kirei had then handed that same sword back to Rin during her father's funeral, knowing full well it had been used to kill him.

Rin, completely unaware, had cherished the sword, never knowing it was the very weapon that had murdered her father.

This revelation made Rin feel sick to her stomach. She could almost picture Kirei's twisted smile of satisfaction at her ignorance, relishing in his own perverse joy.

"Damn it! I have to confront him!" Rin, burning with rage, immediately stood up. "Archer, let's go!"

"Uh…"

Shirou Emiya, still confused, caught onto part of the conversation.

So, Kirei Kotomine, the priest, was apparently a murderer, and he had killed Rin's father. There was no way Shirou, as a protector of justice, could stand by and do nothing. He quickly offered, "Tohsaka, let me go with you!"

"This is my personal matter."

But Rin had no intention of involving anyone else. "I don't want you to get dragged into this. Besides, that man is no weakling. As a normal person, you'd be safer staying behind."

"But…"

Shirou hesitated and gestured to their surroundings. "It's not exactly safe here either."

"…"

Hearing this, Rin's face darkened. Fang Mo and Gilgamesh's recent battle had completely demolished the Tohsaka residence.

"Well, maybe we should return to Senpai's house for now," Sakura Matou cautiously suggested, trying to be helpful.

While Tokiomi Tohsaka was also her biological father, Sakura had been given away to the Matou family at a young age. Her feelings towards him were more of resentment than anger, unlike Rin.

"I'd like to, but..."

Shirou rubbed his temples. "How do we explain this to Fujimura-sensei?"

"That's..."

Sakura realized she had forgotten their original reason for coming to the Tohsaka residence—to avoid Fujimura Taiga.

As this thought sank in, everyone seemed to have the same exasperated look on their faces.

Matou's residence had already been burned down the previous night, and now the Tohsaka residence had been reduced to rubble. Besides Emiya's house, there was nowhere else to go. But as they mentioned, how would they explain this to Fujimura? Just thinking about it made their heads hurt.

"What's so difficult about that?"

At this moment, Fang Mo suddenly smiled confidently. "I've already figured out a solution."

"What is it?"

Everyone turned to look at him.

"It's simple."

Fang Mo raised one finger. "We'll head to the church and confront Kirei Kotomine. If he confesses his crimes, we'll kill him and move into the church."

"…What?"

Everyone froze in disbelief.

"What's with those looks? Why are you all staring at me like that?" Fang Mo threw up his hands. "Don't look at me like I'm some lunatic. Despite hating the Jews, I have studied religion. After we take out Kirei, I can easily pretend to be a priest. After all, a cross is still a cross… even if it's an iron one."

"Are you serious?"

Rin couldn't help but retort. "Didn't you say you wanted to personally take out the King of the Jews?"

"Well, I did say that," Fang Mo replied, waving his hand dismissively. "But there are a lot of different branches in religion, you know? You guys in Japan might not get it, but there's a big difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. You know why that is?"

"Why?"

Shirou asked out of reflex.

"People say the Old Testament God was cruel and harsh because he was surrounded by Jews all the time. When you're constantly dealing with Jews, your mood isn't going to be great, so naturally, you come down hard on them."

Fang Mo explained, full of confidence. "Imagine rescuing the Jews only for them to turn around and ask, 'Was it really worth it?' Honestly, if I were God, I would've built 18 gas chambers right in Eden..."

"What kind of logic is that?" Rin sighed, massaging her temples. "Did you personally hear the Jews question God?"

"The New Testament, though, is different." Fang Mo continued, ignoring Rin. "By then, God wasn't dealing with the Jews anymore. He had the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons working under him, and they were obedient. So naturally, God's mood improved, and he became kinder and more loving."

"That's enough. Please stop," Rin took a deep breath. "Let's just head to the church. Once we confront Kirei Kotomine, everything will become clear."

"Fine, let's go."

Fang Mo didn't object. However, since the church was some distance away, he summoned his motorcycle from earlier. "You drive."

"I can't."

Rin replied.

"Ugh, what use are you?" Fang Mo shot her a disdainful look, then turned to Sakura. "Sakura, you drive."

"Huh?"

Sakura didn't know how to drive, but she nodded hesitantly. "O-okay, Archer-sama..."

"Hey!"

This was too much for Rin. Never mind whether or not Sakura could drive—she was currently in the form of a child. How could she possibly be the one to drive?

Luckily, Black Saber stepped in.

"I can drive. Let me do it."

"Oh, sure..."

With the driver decided, the group squeezed onto the motorcycle and headed toward the church.

But to everyone's surprise, the moment they arrived near the church, they saw a towering inferno ahead.

"Huh?"

Rin was the first to notice the flames, a bad feeling rising in her gut. "Wait! Could that fire be…?"

As they drew closer, her worst fears were confirmed.

The church, which once stood tall, was now engulfed in flames. It seemed it had been burning for quite some time.

The entire building was reduced to little more than a charred skeleton, with only some collapsed stone structures remaining. Firefighters had arrived, desperately trying to extinguish the blaze, and a blackened body was being carried out.

"What the…?"

Shirou instinctively glanced at the body and noticed a crucifix around its neck.

The body was burned beyond recognition. Its lower half, abdomen, and chest were all gone, and what remained had split and cracked open from the heat. It was a horrifying sight, but the metal crucifix around the body's neck remained mostly intact, allowing some identification.

There was no mistaking it—it was Kirei Kotomine's crucifix.

"He's dead?"

Rin was momentarily stunned. "Why? Why now of all times…?"

"Shirou, I can sense the presence of another Servant's magical energy here."

Black Saber quietly informed them. "It's possible another Servant attacked this place, though I'm not sure why."

"Another Servant?"

Shirou was confused. "Was it Caster or Assassin?"

"Another Servant?"

Rin frowned deeply. It didn't make sense. Kirei was only the supervisor of the Holy Grail War, not a participant. Why would a Servant attack him?

"Could it be that another Servant broke the rules?"

Sakura speculated.

After all, Zouken Matou had planned to break the rules himself. She had overheard him once call Kirei a nuisance. Could it be that a Servant broke the rules and decided to kill the supervisor to avoid discovery?

It was a plausible theory.

The Mage's Association had limited power in Japan, and if Kirei, the supervisor, were eliminated, a replacement would likely take too long to arrive, by which time the war might already be over.

"Something's off…"

Even after hearing their theories, Rin still frowned. "The timing is just too coincidental. Archer, what do you think?"

"Probably a fake death."

Fang Mo recalled the plot of Fate/Stay Night. Kirei Kotomine had always been a survivor, never actually dying so easily. There was no way he would simply burn to death here.

"Fake death?"

Rin looked at Fang Mo.

"Yeah."

Fang Mo nodded. "The first time we visited the church, I learned a lot about Kirei. I'm guessing he panicked then and was already planning to cover his tracks. He probably didn't expect Gilgamesh to lose to us, so he had to fake his death."

"You're saying…"

This explanation stunned everyone. Rin, wide-eyed, asked, "Gilgamesh was Kirei's Servant? He broke the rules and entered the war? But I thought Gilgamesh was the previous Archer?"

"They had an arrangement."

Fang Mo shrugged. "Remember the Lancer we saw at school? That was Kirei's actual Servant, but he's already out of the picture."

"Lancer was his Servant?"

Now everything clicked for Rin.

Just as Fang Mo said, Kirei must have started plotting the moment they first visited the church. Later, they had stumbled upon Lancer and Shinji's alliance by accident. Kirei had been trying to team up with the Matou family to eliminate them.

But thanks to Fang Mo's strength, Lancer had been defeated.

Kirei, having lost his Servant, had no choice but to rely on Gilgamesh. But even Gilgamesh had fallen, forcing Kirei to fake his own death.

It all made sense now.

"So…"

After piecing it all together, Rin asked, "What do we do now?"

"Don't worry."

Fang Mo smiled confidently. "I've already got a plan. For now, we just need to find somewhere to stay. I also need to prepare my speech."

"A speech?"

Rin suddenly felt uneasy. "What are you planning?"

"I truly regret what happened to your father," Fang Mo said, his expression serious as he spread his arms wide. "But as an art student, the only way I know how to respond to my enemies is through the art of war."

He smiled darkly. "They like to hide, huh? Fine. Let's give them a little shock and awe."

He turned to Rin with a sinister grin. "Come on, Rin. Let's work together to reduce Fuyuki City to…"

"Ashes."