"In that case, the Einzbern Family will just have to make an early exit."
Hearing Irisviel's statement, Kirei Kotomine knew his negotiation with her was futile.
Although he himself didn't expect his proposal to be accepted, her refusal still left Kirei Kotomine feeling somewhat disappointed.
Facing the incoming Silver Thread Eagle, Kirei Kotomine assumed a striking stance, like drawing a bow.
Without any fear of the Silver Thread Eagle's sharp beak, he struck its head with immense force.
In an instant, the rapidly descending Silver Thread Eagle had no time to change its posture, and Kirei Kotomine's fist directly hit its head.
"Hmm?!"
The moment he struck the Silver Thread Eagle's head, Kirei Kotomine felt something was off, letting out a surprised sound.
His thrown fist felt like it had hit silk; the struck area immediately reverted to amorphous silver threads, which wrapped around his right fist like a climbing vine.
Sensing trouble, Kirei Kotomine immediately tried to pull off the silver threads from his right hand with his left, but the silver threads also entangled his left hand.
The threads, which had been in the form of a giant eagle, now bound Kirei Kotomine's hands like handcuffs.
Although his hands were bound by the threads, Kirei Kotomine was still an Executor who had walked away from countless life-and-death battlefields; he remained calm and charged fiercely towards Irisviel.
As long as he could get close to her, even with his hands bound, he could easily deal with the Einzbern Family's female Magus, who was not skilled in combat.
Just a single side-kick upon approaching would incapacitate her.
"Too naive!"
Irisviel sharply rebuked him; she knew she was no match for him in close quarters and immediately injected more magical power into the silver threads binding Kirei Kotomine.
Dozens of silver threads stretched out like snakes in all directions, darting through the air, quickly wrapping around nearby tree trunks.
The silver threads tightly coiled around the tree trunks, and as Irisviel continued to command them, they suddenly tightened.
Kirei Kotomine's charging body uncontrollably tilted and fell towards a tree trunk.
The silver threads dragged Kirei Kotomine's body, ultimately binding his hands firmly to a tree trunk that was a full thirty centimeters thick.
Seeing Kirei Kotomine's hands suspended from the tree trunk and his body controlled, Irisviel breathed a sigh of relief.
She had finally restrained his movements; even if Kirei Kotomine possessed superhuman strength, in his current posture, it would be impossible for him to break free.
Unless he broke the tree trunk or uprooted the entire tree, he couldn't escape the binding.
Originally, Irisviel had intended to use the silver threads to crush Kirei Kotomine's hands, but she hadn't expected his steel-like muscles to be incredibly tough.
If she hadn't continuously supplied magical power to strengthen the silver threads, they might have been broken by him instead.
Now, Irisviel had to maintain the flow of magical power and couldn't free her hands to deliver a fatal blow to Kirei Kotomine.
The key to victory now lay with Maiya, who was on the ground.
Even with Kirei Kotomine's hands bound to the tree trunk, he still possessed the ability to side-kick.
Therefore, to deliver a fatal blow, it would be best to stand outside his side-kick's attack range and shoot him in his exposed head.
In Kirei Kotomine's current posture, he couldn't protect his head with his bulletproof sleeves as he had before.
"Maiya, please!"
Irisviel called out to Maiya.
Hearing Irisviel's voice, Maiya, who had gained a moment to catch her breath, finally felt sensation return to her hands and feet.
She laboriously crawled on the ground, slowly approaching the Calico submachine gun lying there.
The pain from her broken ribs pressing against the ground made Maiya wish she could just pass out then and there.
"Boom—!"
The tree trunk vibrated violently.
A deafening sound echoed through the forest.
This wasn't the sound of Maiya picking up the Calico submachine gun and pulling the trigger, but the sound of Kirei Kotomine stomping his feet on the ground with force.
Irisviel had no knowledge of Chinese martial arts and was completely unaware of the terrifying power of Baji Quan.
Martial arts weren't just about swinging fists.
Baji Quan could multiply the power from the feet stomping the earth, the rotational force of the waist, and the twisting force of the shoulders, channeling the strength of the entire body to focus a sudden burst of power into the fist.
By placing the fist close to the target and generating power solely from parts other than the arm, one could still unleash powerful strikes; this technique was called "inch force."
Kirei Kotomine was striking the tree trunk with full force, his knuckles pressed tightly against the bark.
One, two, three strikes.
Each sound was louder than the last, and the tree trunk swayed more violently each time.
The current struggle was a test of endurance measured in seconds.
Maiya finally crawled next to the Calico submachine gun, gritting her teeth as she picked up the weapon; her hands, weak from pain, trembled as she raised it, aiming to shoot Kirei Kotomine in the head.
The instant Maiya finally raised her arm with one hand and aimed at Kirei Kotomine's head, the tree trunk binding him let out its final groan, and the entire tree was snapped by Kirei Kotomine's inch force.
After the tree collapsed, the silver threads binding Kirei Kotomine broke.
The backlash from the broken magic caused Irisviel to collapse powerlessly to her knees.
"Da da da!"
Bullets once again flew towards Kirei Kotomine.
Freed from his restraints, he immediately used his sleeve to block the bullet attack.
Then he swiftly moved in front of Maiya, delivering a side whip-kick to her abdomen, completely incapacitating her.
Kirei Kotomine glanced at the unconscious, motionless Maiya on the ground, then fixed his dim, cold gaze on Irisviel, who was slumped on the ground.
Kirei Kotomine gripped Irisviel's neck with one hand, lifting her, and watched her beautiful face contort in pain and agony.
"Woman, you are not Saber's Master."
"You two seem to have challenged me to protect Kiritsugu Emiya, so—"
"Whose will is this?"
Kirei Kotomine had already realized that Irisviel was not Saber's Master; there were no traces of Command Spells on her hand.
But even if she wasn't Saber's Master, she was a crucial existence in the Holy Grail War.
After all, she looked exactly like the "Winter Saint"; if not a Master, then she was a doll serving as the "holy grail vessel."
To send such an important piece to the front lines and expose her to danger was undoubtedly a foolish act.
Kirei Kotomine wanted to know for sure if she was acting according to Kiritsugu Emiya's will.
If she was attacking under Kiritsugu Emiya's command, merely to buy time, and thus putting this person with an important role in danger, it would undoubtedly be a strategic failure.
It would lower his evaluation of Kiritsugu Emiya.
"I will absolutely not let you pass through here!"
Even as her breathing was suppressed and she twisted her body in pain, Irisviel glared at Kirei Kotomine with hatred, unwilling to answer his question.
"Even if it costs me my life, I will stop you!"
Seeing Irisviel's determined gaze, Kirei Kotomine knew he wouldn't get any information from this woman.
He drew a new Black Keys from his cassock, preparing to stab Irisviel in the abdomen to eliminate her, when—
"Master, danger!"
Assassin's warning echoed in Kirei Kotomine's mind.
The moment Assassin warned him, Kirei Kotomine sensed a whistling wind behind him and immediately realized a new attacker had arrived.
Sensing danger, Kirei Kotomine instantly threw Irisviel behind him and immediately turned to check the situation.
He saw a creature, seemingly a silver metal robot, wielding a green glowing energy sword, rapidly hacking at him in a "great chop" stance.
Irisviel, like a large thrown sandbag, happened to block the space directly between the two of them.