"Due to the effect of [Tohsaka Tokiomi], you take 250 LP damage, and I gain the same amount!"
Tohsaka Rin LP 4000 → LP 4250.
Kotomine Kirei LP 4000→ LP 3750.
"Trying to widen the LP gap and secure your victory, huh?"
Kotomine Kirei remained unscathed thanks to the Field Spell's effect. "Unfortunately, if you can't break through my other Servants on the field, it won't change a thing."
"No problem—I'll break through them now! [Atalanta]'s effect: once per turn, I can target 1 card on your field and destroy it. But she can't attack the turn she activates this effect! Atalanta, Complaint Arrows!"
Atalanta drew her bow and loosed a gleaming arrow into the sky. With a shrieking sound, a downpour of arrows engulfed the Fuyuki Church, shattering the illusion conjured by the Field Spell layer by layer. All of Kirei's monsters had their attack points reverted to their original values.
"Not bad."
Kirei gave his praise as if he were still teaching Rin magecraft. Back then, Rin would beam proudly at compliments—but now, it only made her blood boil.
"I don't need compliments from you!"
She revealed a card from her hand. "[Jason]'s effect—when there's a related Servant on the field, I can Special Summon him!"
"Here I comes, but Im about to leave the stage right after, huh, Rin?"
Jason was used to being a stepping stone. "Time to tribute me!"
"I tribute [Jason] to Special Summon [Heracles] from my hand!"
[Heracles] ATK 3000.
"Greece's strongest demigod, huh? That's some scary power. You plan to break through with him?"
Kirei warned, "You can only attack [Caren], you know."
"Using your own daughter as a shield to block Heracles... You really are a vile father."
Caren's personality was, unsurprisingly, twisted in a similar fashion to her father's. She calmly revealed her effect.
"I can't be destroyed by battle. Direct attacks against me won't help you."
"You really want to see your father dragged into darkness that badly?"
Kirei hadn't expected that after successfully diverting Rin's attention with his Field Spell, his own daughter would betray him before the turn was over.
"Oh come now. You're already standing in darkness. Being dragged into it is basically going home."
Caren might have been acerbic and sharp-tongued, but at her core, she had already devoted her life to God. She existed to serve the Lord above and the people loved by Him. That was the unwavering faith she carried.
"Go join mother. With her around, you might still retain a sliver of humanity."
"You damn priest! You've alienated everyone!"
Rin entered her Battle Phase, pointing directly at Kirei, seething with rage. "Ready to die?! I activate [Nine Lives]—Heracles gains 1500 ATK and can attack three times!"
[Heracles] ATK 4500.
"Die? Can you even get past [Caren]'s defense?! Caren's the perfect shield, just like she said."
Kirei laughed. He had long studied Rin's dueling tactics, and was familiar with her deck's effects. "Heracles does have the ability to perform additional destruction after a battle, but so what? You can still only attack [Caren]!"
"Who said I was going to use Heracles to break through?"
Rin's gaze turned mocking. The one who had a breakthrough opportunity was actually Kirei himself—he just didn't realize it.
"My target is [Claudia]!"
"That's your wife—the one you sent to the Graveyard at the start of the duel. Did you never even look at her effect?"
At Rin's command, Claudia embraced Caren tightly.
"Or is it that you were afraid to look?"
"[Claudia]'s effect! During the Damage Step when this card battles: send this card to the Graveyard, and banish the opponent's battling card until the End Phase!"
With a look of peace on her face, Claudia took Caren with her as the two disappeared from the field.
Claudia's death may have had an effect on Kirei—but only a faint one. The emotionally twisted Kirei still walked this world unchanged. But in a duel, even a short moment was enough.
"Now you've got no protection left! Time to die, Kotomine Kirei!"
Heracles swung his axe-sword directly at the defiant priest. Kirei, realizing his fate, flung the mapo tofu in his hand toward his past self. The dish slid several meters across the ground, stopping right in front of Kirei.
"A last meal. Enjoy it!"
He said this—and was promptly smashed flat by Heracles.
Kotomine Kirei LP 3750 → 850.
Heracles' technique, which once slayed the Hydra, was divine. The damage struck Kirei with all its force—he felt as if even his soul had been torn apart.
"It's over. Go apologize to my father in the afterlife, Kirei!"
Claudia had an effect that could negate one attack from the Graveyard, but with triple negates currently active, she could no longer help him.
"Second strike!"
Heracles raised his axe-sword again and charged at Kotomine Risei. By just the second turn, Kirei was utterly defeated. Had he survived until his next turn, Gilgamesh in the Graveyard might have saved him—but reality is unforgiving. Being targeted by the card dealer is just like that.
"Kirei, if you get a next life... be a normal person."
Kotomine Risei understood it was over. He looked at his son. If he had the choice, he would've let Kirei become a cook.
In his final moments, Kirei picked up the mapo tofu from the ground. Unlike those from restaurants, this one had been refined over time to perfectly suit his own taste.
Did he regret it? Kirei didn't know—because the final blow had already landed.
Kotomine Kirei LP 850 → LP 0.
Blood-spattered mapo tofu overflowed from Kirei's mouth. A hand reached out from the shadows and dragged him into the darkness. After a sickening, flesh-tearing noise, another hand emerged, holding five golden, star-shaped tokens in front of Rin.
"This is... a 'ticket'?"
Gilgamesh took the Duelist Proof from the vendor's hand—a golden star.
"How cheap. If this king were in charge, they'd be made of solid gold!"
Then, Gilgamesh seemed to sense something. "Kotomine Kirei?"
He shook his head indifferently. He didn't care much. What bothered him more was how poor his own treatment had been. He turned to the dark-skinned, purple-haired ticket vendor.
"You mongrel. You do see that this king is also a Servant, don't you? Where's the special treatment for seeded contestants? If it doesn't satisfy me, I won't hesitate to punish you for lèse-majesté!"