Calc Fate/Zero Feat - Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald's Volumen Hydrargyrum Speed

Fate/Zero Volume 2 said:

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Volumen Hydragyrum won't lose in speed to bullets or the claymore mine's detonation

Using spells to manipulate mercury for automatic protection – although he’s heard about this before, he never thought that the real thing would have such powerful abilities. Even the shockwave of the Claymore mines wouldn’t beat its defense in speed. If that’s the case, then he can’t expect to use firearms to obtain victory.

Although Kiritsugu was very annoyed, he had to admit that this magus indeed possesses first-rate skills. Actually, when his machination at the Hyatt didn’t succeed, he should have known of this already.

In other words, this is an opponent that Kiritsugu must confront as a "magus."

Kayneth's Volumen Hydragyrum would no longer allow shots from the Thompson Contender to pass through, Kayneth would be fortifying it with even more mana to accomplish this

The blow that penetrated the protective membrane was the first and the last. Volumen Hydrargyrum’s defense would become firmer once it realizes the Contender’s power, which is completely different from that of the Calico. In future attacks, all forms of defense should be able to block the Springfield bullet as well. Kayneth would certainly utilize all his prana to strengthen the mercury’s defense.

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15 meters from Kayneth, Kiritsugu attacks him with his submachine gun fire, Volumen Hydragyrum defends

Fifteen meters. If he was to make a move, it would be now.

Towards Kayneth, who was looming nearer, Kiritsugu first used the Calico in his left hand, firing a rain of 9mm bullets in full-automatic. It was a completely identical replay of that sneak attack in the first floor corridor, a pinning attack made to trigger Volumen Hydrargyrum’s automatic defence. In order to make it unable to take the following strike by the Contender, this is a feint made to weaken the mercury’s defensive membrane.

Kayneth has Volumen Hydragyrum exhibit its most powerful form of defense, forming a wall of swords that covers the entire section of hallway facing Kiritsugu. This requires all of his mana to accomplish.

Of course, Lord El-Melloi would not fall for the same trick twice.

“Fevor, mei sanguis!”

The mercury’s defensive form activated immediately, but this time it wasn’t a membrane. Volumen Hydrargyrum leapt in front of its master and formed countless spikes from the floor to the ceiling. It was like a thick bamboo forest covered Kayneth’s entire body, and at the same time completely blocked all the bullets flying near.

There’s no need to use a membrane as defense if he wasn’t facing an attack such as flames or mist. Things such as bullets would become harmless as long as it is not allowed to move in a straight line. Thus, using only “columns” to defend would be enough.

Of course, the prana needed to expand the mercury into a mountain of swords isn’t even comparable to that used to form a membrane. Every single spike, twirled as thin as a steel wire, had to be equipped with all the strength and malleability to deflect bullets. The automatic defense this time was completed using all the prana Kayneth had in his possession. The inherited Magic Crests of the Archibald family on his shoulders circulated to its ultimate limit, creating extraordinary pain to the practitioner.

It could be said that the defense this time was the true impregnable fortress.

The bullets, hindered by the silver mountain of swords, bounced back and forth in the gaps between the numerous spikes, making raucous metallic noises. Finally, they lost all power and dropped to the ground. Not one of them reached Kayneth’s body.

Kayneth's Volumen Hydragyrum in its form of ultimate defense, proved fast enough to wrap itself entirely around Kiritstugu's Origin Bullet as it was still in transit in a manner akin to a venus flytrap the instant before the bullet touched the wall of spikes Volumen Hydragyrum was creating.

Then, the Contender in Kiritsugu’s right hand gave a roar. This is the single-shot bullet that made Kayneth bear his despicable scar the first time it penetrated Volumen Hydrargyrum’s defenses, something with far more destructive power than the 9mm bullets.

However, the degree of defence the mercury mountain of swords put up wasn’t even comparable to that of the membrane.

All the spikes closed up together like a Venus flytrap the instant before the killing move touched the mercury spikes, and surrounded the bullet. The thick cluster thin spikes became a single giant column in the blink of an eye, completely sealing off the .30-06 Springfield bullet.

Volumen Hydrargyrum, made to interchange forms freely, showed what marvels it can do. The immaculate skill that controlled the magecraft of fluidics to such perfection should indeed be the epitome of this unparalleled craft, fully worthy of the prestigious name of the Archibald house.

The moment he beautifully completed this magecraft he devoted all his skills in – Lord El-Melloi’s destiny also came to its end.

How to defend against Kiritsugu's Origin Bullet and why this isn't practical in-universe

In order to avoid the damage of Kiritsugu’s magecraft bullets, one has to discard all magecraft and purely defend the bullet by physical means. On that point, Kiritsugu’s choice of using .30-06 Springfield bullets is a malicious one. There isn’t something that can completely block this specialized hunting rifle round to begin with. This is a type of bullet that excelled in penetration. As long as one isn’t in an armored vehicle, one can’t avoid getting hurt.

Only one shot. That would be enough. Kiritsugu dared to choose a gun that doesn’t suit real combat, the Thompson Contender, as his Mystic Code, due to the fact that it is the handgun that can deal the maximum physical damage possible.

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Fate/Zero Volume 2 said:

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Kiritsugu uses Time Alter Double Accel, Kayneth attacks the Volumen Hydragyrum, Kiritsugu outspeeds the Mystic Code and dashes down the hole in the floor it cut out

But it’s preciously those few short seconds that gave Kiritsugu more than enough time to chant his spell.

"Time alter – double accel!"

Following the pronounced spell, the prana inside Kiritsugu began to gallop at light speed.

"Scalp!"

Kayneth gave the proclamation of death the moment Kiritsugu’s firing ceased.

The two mercury whips that leapt up following his voice flew towards the prey in front of them with a pincer formation, attacking from the left and right.

"Hm!?"

It was Kayneth who gave an exclamation of surprise.

The moment the two silver whips were just about to hit the target, Kiritsugu dodged the silver whips’ attack with an almost unbelievable speed and quickly leapt below the Volumen Hydrargyrum, on which Kayneth was standing – into the hole on the ground that the mercury blade just cleaved out.

Kiritsugu’s speed was so fast that human eyes couldn’t see his movements clearly.

Kiritsugu is able to dodge Volumen Hydragyrum without Time Alter Double Accel from 10 meters away

"Scalp!"

Following a roar full of the intent to kill, the mercury unleashed a killing move.

Kiritsugu faced the silver whips roaring towards him with ease. He didn’t even need to activate Innate Time Control this time. There were more than ten meters between him and Kayneth now. Such a far distance was more than enough.

Kiritsugu pulled back just a bit; you can't hit what you can't reach, and the mercury blade only managed to cut the hem of his flowing coat.

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Fate/Zero material p092 said:

Volumen Hydrargyrum [Magecraft]
One of the mystic codes employed by Lord El-Melloi. Essentially, it is a mass of magically-infused mercury that has been filled with a large variety of movement patterns and programmed to respond appropriately depending on the situation. I guess you could call it a kind of battle golem? Out of all of Kayneth's armaments, it has the greatest capacity for physical destruction. He had prepared many other mystic codes designed for battles with curses and conjurations, but the vast majority of them were lost when his hotel was blown up by Kiritsugu.
Though it wouldn't be wrong to call it an almighty weapon due to its versatility, in the end it is still just an automaton, and once you see through its movement patterns it's fairly easy to handle. Also, since the magical energy required to operate it is directly proportional to the complexity of its shape, it is necessary to keep it in its basic form as much as possible – switching to a more complex form drastically reduces its reaction speed and power. The final "sea urchin" transformation used in the battle against Kiritsugu was a form that combined both raw defensive ability and cunning, but accordingly the drain on Kayneth's magical energy was immense.
By the way, after the war ended Lord El-Melloi II may or may not have reprogrammed this mystic code and employed it as a multi-purpose maid golem. Though it has enough intellectual capacity to perform simple household chores, it seems there's a troublesome bug that pops up every now and then that causes it to rampage around insisting that it's a killer robot from the future. Maybe it was shown a detrimental movie just when it was on the verge of completing its education in good taste…?

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Fate/Zero material p093 said:

Calico M950 [Armament]
One of the weapons Emiya Kiritsugu prepared for the Holy Grail War. You didn't really think he'd enter something like a survival game with just a sniper rifle and the Contender, did you?
The distinguishing feature of the Calico is its special top-mounted helical magazine that can hold 50 rounds, but no matter how much I think about it the extra weight and change in the center of gravity while firing means it would be better to use a normal submachine gun, even if you have to reload more often. But oh, well, Kiritsugu is a magical mystery gunman, so I guess it's fine.
Of course, in the final battle when he used it to pin down Kirei, he was able to buy himself five seconds where a normal submachine gun only would have gotten three. That extra two second advantage is a testament to the superiority of the helical magazine! …Okay, so it's not that much of a difference.
By the way, my intention was to make Kiritsugu as much of a heretical gunman as he is a heretical magus, so I purposefully chose his equipment based on coolness factor rather than practicality. Please, please, please don't think that the weapons that show up in Fate/Zero are the standard for actual professional soldiers.

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Fate/Zero Volume 1 said:

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Kiritsugu's available arsenal

Applying that conclusion to the circumstances of the Heaven's Feel of Fuyuki, Maiya has prepared a set of equipment. Among them, the rifle lying on the sheet is what gives out the strongest smell of varnish. That was a work of art that was the crystallization of the newest electronic techniques along with a ferocious shape.

The base is a Walther WA2000 semi-automatic sniper rifle. A rifle with a total length a little above 90 centimeters, in a compact size; the bullpup structure with a gas-operated magazine gives the gun barrel a length of 65 centimeters. The .300 Winchester Magnum shell has an effective range of 1000 meters. In the modern world, this is a rifle of the highest class, with the highest performance. The high cost of $12,000 is due to how it was one of the only 154 units produced for this legendary gun.

Instead of the standard sighting device made by Smith & Bender, Kiritsugu had simultaneously installed a pair of lined-up devices as a special scope mount, above the barrel and on the left flank, both extra-large optic devices fixed in parallel.

On the main side was the latest night vision scope, the best of the US armed force, an AN/PVS04. The equipment, some sort of super sensitive video camera, is a simple light electrical amplifier with a lens, raising and displaying a perfect brightness. It is a real electronic "owl eye" that multiplies the range of vision by 3.6, 600 yards under the moonlight or 400 yards in starlight. Essentially, it is the latest equipment used by the US armed force, banned from exportation to prevent technology leaking.

Furthermore, in addition a specter IR heat detector scope is installed as a sideways support. This one is also electronically equipped for night vision, although the image display isn't an intensity amplifier, but displays the heat patterns of the subject. It can perceive temperature variations from -5 to 60°C up to 200 meters with an 1.8 magnification.

...

The other rifle that was prepared, in addition to the Walther sniping gun, is for Maiya who will be acting as a vanguard scout, a Steyr AUG assault gun. Its night vision scope has also been replaced, like Kiritsugu's, and surprisingly, the weight is under 5 kg.

Furthermore, a Calico M950 submachine gun is ready as a reserve side arm. The compact size is not different from a large handgun, and the reinforced plastic makes it look more like a toy than the Walther sniping gun; but the unique magazine with a system called helical allows for 50 Parabellum rounds, with a firing rate of 700 shots per minute for a brutal armament.

The rest includes personal hand grenades and stun grenades, smoke grenades, and C2 plastic explosive. Following the instructions Kiritsugu sent from the north, Maiya had arranged to prepare the equipment without allowing any leak. But Kiritsugu's expressionless eyes don't look satisfied yet.

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Fate/Zero Volume 2 said:

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Kiritsugu’s Contender fires .30-06 Springfield bullets with an initial velocity 2.5 times higher than the 9mm bullets of his Calico submachine gun.

Before the Calico stopped firing, Kiritsugu’s free right hand had already pulled out the Contender and fired a shot at the center of the expanded, semi-circular mercury membrane.

Volumen Hydrargyrum had already adapted to the best physical shape to protect against the Calico. However, the initial velocity of the .30-06 Springfield is 2.5 times higher than the 9mm bullets, and its destructive power seven times the latter.

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