From Fake Dreams

26

In retrospect, Shirou would admit that it was fairly ironic that he only noticed how bad of a state his body was in when he felt nothing.

Oh he was still very much enraged at the current situation. He was still worried about Sakura's health, the fire, and the war in general, but save for the constant burning dryness in his throat Shirou's body had become unreceptive to most outside sensations.
Touch. Temperature. Pain. All had been absent for at least a few minutes and replaced with a numb floating sensation that pervaded his mind and body. He had been in similar states whenever his spars against Bazett got a bit rough, but nothing compared to what he was experiencing now.
It meant anything but good news.
The fact that he was still able to walk and move was surprising in hindsight, but at the moment the teen's stubborn focus had pushed away such excessive information to the side. Dwelling on it would accomplish nothing, so there was no point in thinking about it. All he had to do was mimic the general movements of walking and breathing and he would get to where he needed to be. Muscle memory was convenient like that.
What was important about his state though, was that it indicated that he was at his body's most extreme limits, and unless he made his next moves very carefully, they would more than likely be his last. That would be unacceptable though. He still had to save Illya, Sakura, Rin, Saber, everyone in the city from the raw number of potential cataclysms that could and would manifest within the next few weeks.
His arsenal consisted of enough prana stored in his body for one projection before he was rendered empty, and his three command seals, but he didn't want to risk using the latter so early in the war. His combat ability was all but gone considering his weakened state, and he had been in such a rush to get to the Matou household that he didn't bother to get the normal non magical equipment that he normally has on his person for emergency escapes. Flash and smoke grenades were far more useful in his line of work than most assumed. A stupid move given his situation, but considering the fact that he couldn't even move properly at the moment his uses for the explosives were somewhat limited anyway.
Arriving at the inferno that had once been the Matou residence, Shirou could already tell that he was not the first Magi that had arrived onto the scene. Among the red and gold flames, a pathway leading to the center of the inferno that seemed to be unnaturally void of the process of combustion was visible. Seeing as the Matou magic utilized individuals with water elements, it was rather easy to determine that none of the residents were responsible for the phenomena.
Whether or not the one who went inside was a friendly force or not however was yet to be seen, and given the fact that the Holy Grail War was a free for all, the odds of it being the former were not good.
So, wounded, under armed, under manned, and on the verge of having his body collapse from the inside out, Shirou made his way without a second thought through the burning wreckage to what he knew was the entrance of the Matou Basement.
The intense fire did nothing to deter the teen. His body was numb to the heat. Even if he wasn't numb, he had the shroud of Martin wrapped around his neck and head, giving him protection from the natural environment. Even if he didn't have the shroud, he would still have gone. The fire from the previous war had been hotter and more malicious than this paltry flame. He would still ignore the pain. Someone important to him was in danger, and that fact alone made his mind in an instant.
The smoke and heat did nothing to help his horrifically dry throat though.
Thirsty…
At least the police and fire department had yet to arrive and the path to the catacombs was easy to follow. The teen doubted he would have been able to come up with a way inside without using up his already sparse resources if either were not the case.
Making it to the entrance of the catacombs was easy enough. Despite the brightness of the fire, the path was fairly direct and the hole in the ground could not be more obvious if he had tried, though that might just be because the fire inadvertently destroyed the secret entrance in the first place.
Step by step Shirou slowly limped downward, taking note that it was quite difficult to go down stairs with a numb and half blinded body since it made judging distances quite a difficult task. In fact he had misjudged the process at least three times, nearly falling down the long decline in its entirety, before his eyes finally got used to the darkness and he no longer had an issue.
His nose picked up, other than the familiar sickening sweet stench of decay, death, and decomposition that normally pervaded the catacombs, the smell of smoke, dust, and prana. Someone had indeed come before him and had no doubt fought Sakura. Who the victor was he had no idea, but the invader was at least a user of fire based thaumaturgy… and curse magic too if he was interpreting the odd scent of slightly decomposing spices correctly.
He was confident however that Sakura could give them a good run for their money if she was pushed into a corner. Even he would admit that the girl was downright terrifying when she wanted to be.
The further down he went though the weaker he felt, even in his numb state. It became a chore to move his legs each time to progress further to his destination… but he attributed this to his Od depleted state catching up to him.
On the up side, he felt that the horrific pressure of Saber and Rider draining him dry lifting off his being a few minutes earlier, meaning that they were done with fighting and would hopefully no longer act as a problem. Of course he was so close to empty when it came to energy that he might as well be running on fumes, but that was beside the point.
So Thirsty…
Had he not been so exhausted, he would have noticed that he had not only been judging the correct distance of each step, but also that he had been learning the exact dimensions of the tunnel he was in, of the rocks he was standing on, of the number of bricks, the age of…
Gone. The information was indeed there in his mind for a moment, but as it was deemed unusable in his hazy mind the excess simply passed through. He didn't care about such useless data filling his already fuzzy head, so he threw it away on reflex and disregarded it as quickly as it came, much like the details of classes at school he didn't find interesting or useful in the slightest. Instead he focused only on what he needed so that he didn't break his neck.
Step by step he slowly went down into the hell that had robbed Sakura of so much once again until the roars of the flames above him finally reduced to the point that he could hear of what was happening below…
And was met with the sight of Marjatta Edelfelt ranting loud enough for all the world to hear while kicking around a still living but defeated Sakura… with Caster watching in mild amusement nearby. None of them had noticed his arrival.
Several thoughts, facts, and emotions ran through his mind. Sakura had lost, but was still alive. He didn't want to kill anyone so early. This version of Caster had a dagger on her person, meaning she was obviously the one that had Rule Breaker. Marjatta seemed exhausted but was still in far better condition than he was. There were multiple small holes made into the stone floor and there was a large scorch mark as well. Caster was very low on power and seemed to be still recovering from her battle with Saber. There was only one enemy master and servant in the room.
Direct confrontation was suicidal and useless. Even weakened, Caster could easily destroy him with a single word, and he couldn't focus on both master and servant at once. He could always summon Saber with a command seal, but that could complicate things as they had Sakura within arm's reach. Killing Marjatta while still unnoticed with his lone projection would solve the situation, but Caster would disappear in instants and he still needed to see Rule Breaker for later…
… So all he was left with was…
As he watched the blonde teen command her servant to go for Sakura for whatever reason they had planned earlier, Shirou decided now was as good a time as any to risk his gamble.
He shifted through the library of weapons in his soul until he stopped at what he was looking for. A blood red spear over two meters long, capable of dispelling any magical enchantments and projections that encounter its tip absolutely useless.
Gae Dearg, the Crimson Rose of Exorcism and one of the two lances used by the servant Lancer, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne of the Love Spot, in the previous Grail War.
It was also the second object crafted by the Fae that had been cataloged into his Reality Marble. In hind sight it made him truly relieved he had spent so much time studying their craft over the past few years. Had he not, the teen was doubtful that he would have been able to recreate this valuable weapon with what little prana he had left.
Gae Dearg, and its shorter golden sibling Gae Buidhe, were both cataloged into Shirou's arsenal of weapons when Waver shared with him his memories of the battle against the Fourth Grail War's Caster. The two spears, alongside the previous Rider's Sword of the Cypriots were the only weapons he could get from the transferred experience. The four missiles that Gilgamesh shot at the monstrosity that had consumed Caster were too far away for the younger Waver Velvet to see adequately, as was Saber when she used Excalibur on the river.
Shirou had never dealt with or encountered anything on that scale before, and had he not been warned of what he was up against in his war, he doubted he would ever would. Even from where Waver had been standing, the redhead could do nothing but gape and shiver at the sheer size of the demonic… THING that had nearly destroyed his hometown.
Shirou humorlessly noted the bitter irony that the weapon used to save it from that fiasco had less than a week later been used to accidentally set off the chaos that DID destroy his home and previous life when he went over the facts of the memory the day after he got it.
However all this information and reasoning behind why he had this weapon was useless. All that mattered now was…
"TRACE. ON."
… Right in front of him.
Despite his exhausted condition, weary mind, and the fact that he wasn't using a bow, Shirou's aim once more proved to be beyond human ability as his projected spear bolted through the air, tore through the servant's protective bounded fields, clothes, and pierced through her lower body from behind, dealing a serious, but more importantly non-lethal blow.
He was well aware that all Servants could recover completely from the most grievous of injuries within a short amount of time so long as they had an adequate prana source and their magical core (i.e. their head and heart) was not damaged.
Fortunately for him, Caster was all but in solid condition to begin with and her source of prana wasn't running on high either.
Main threat neutralized.
Why am I so Thirsty…?
"What?" Gasped the Edelfelt as she witnessed her Servant's blood spray from her stomach from the unidentified projectile. Moving with practice, the teen spun around and put up her guard to see who her new assailant was while defending herself at the same time. Shirou noted that she was pretty quick on the uptake compared to most magi, meaning that she had a fair bit of combat training, but it would have been useless if he had been fighting with all his power.
Unfortunately for him, he was in the complete opposite condition at the moment so he had to improvise. Thus was the reason why he was currently holding his left hand up, revealing his glowing three command seals to the enemy Master and Servant. With a silent command he dispelled his projected weapon before the servant could attempt to gain any additional information out of it. The fact that he had used a Noble Phantasm on her would obviously not be missed.
"If either one of you two tries anything…" He growled, barely holding back a wince as the air in his lungs brushed against his painfully dry throat. How on earth had it deteriorated into such a condition? He had been able to talk fine to Saber when she left on his Hayabusa. "… I will summon Saber here, and I will kill you."
"Emiya…" Marjatta growled venomously as she realized she had just been cornered while her Servant struggled to turn around with the wound in her stomach. The fact that her attacker's eyes were of demonic origin and clearly performing some sort of mystery was not lost on her. "Who would have guessed that YOU of all people would bother to team up with another Master so early in the war? Or is it simply out of fear from nearly getting killed by Berserker that forced you to partner up with this sad excuse for a magus?"
"What I do with others is no business of yours Edelfelt." Shirou coldly replied from his position on the stairs before focusing on the heavily injured witch in the room. "Caster… no. Medea of Colchis. If you attempt to utter a single word, or if you go into spiritual form, I will summon Saber. I doubt you or your master would survive if that happens." His eyes flashed dangerously. "And trust me when I say I will know if you try to utter anything under your breath."
The Witch winced as she held her bleeding stomach. The wound was closing slower due to her rather low reserves, but the pain was far more distracting. Cuts and burns she had encountered many times from her past life practicing her craft, but she could confidently say that this was the first time that she had suffered a hole in her stomach.
Glaring up at her attacker, she couldn't help but grimace at her situation. The boy was not only exhibiting traits of those corrupted by the moon folk, in possession of what appeared to be among the more rare of the magical seeing eyes, known in this era as pure eyes, but he had also produced and attacked her with a functional imitation of a Noble Phantasm. Which one she was not sure as she had been preoccupied with overcoming her surprise of being impaled, but she was certain that it was not the weapon used by this war's Lancer…
She had underestimated the situation. She had assumed that the boy would be a fine sample to experiment with and turn into a tool for later. She was wrong. The boy was already the product of someone else's influence, and they had known exactly what they were doing with him. He was not a complete product, only time and experience would be able to help him develop more at this point, but he was certainly the result of someone's interference.
In short, he was as big of a threat as any Servant in the war as far as she was concerned. He was easier to kill than the other Servants, yes, but he unlike other masters could and nearly did kill her.
The only reason why she wasn't gone right now was because… because… he had plans for her… How wonderful. Even now arrogant fools dare to try to use her for their own ends...
For a brief moment she contemplated using the beaten Master as a hostage before throwing the idea away. She was weakened too much to capitalize on such a target, and she did not had a secure enough escape route to leave with both her master and the girl that didn't use one of her master's remaining command seals.
"What do you want dog? Why haven't you killed me yet?" Marjatta glared at her enemy while making no suspicious movements. As prideful as she was, even she knew that she was completely at the teen's mercy right now.
Shirou frowned, not moving from his spot and got to the point. "Saber and Rider will arrive in no less than fifteen minutes. If you wish to escape in time with your lives, I suggest doing as I say. Caster, move to your master. Stalling wastes your time, not mine."
That was a lie if he ever made one. His servants would get there in that time frame, but he had little doubt that he would pass out in half that time. Thankfully his opponents didn't know this.
Much to his secret relief the Witch grudgingly followed his request, limping at a moderate pace away from Sakura and towards Marjatta and making a small trail of blood in the process. It was a hard effort on the Emiya to keep his attention on the woman and not focus on the very tempting small puddles of blood on the floor. Even getting a glimpse of the stuff caused his throat to throb painfully, begging to be quenched by the fluids…
It took less than ten seconds for Caster to relocate herself, but in the silent catacombs where every sound echoed off of the walls nearly infinitely the process seemed to take twice as long.
"Well?" The blonde girl all but hissed as her Servant stopped by her side, clearly impatient and not eager to hear Shirou's next request.
He didn't take his eyes off of the pair, though he was noticeably focusing on Caster. "You have a dagger on you." He stated knowingly to the elder of the two, who flinched not in pain for once. "Take it out." He was careful to say that instead of "show it to me", which would imply that he had greater interest or purpose in the object to the other party.
"That is going too far dog!" The Edelfelt snapped with a growl. "Just because you are holding our lives hostage doesn't entitle you to all that my servant possesses! I would rather die than lose in such a humiliating…"
Silently, Caster quirked her mouth, stretching the blood trailing down her chin as she did so. Take out her dagger? Interesting, what did the boy want with Rule Breaker? Did he know its purpose? Did he intend to use it to free her from her annoying Master? To claim her for himself like the arrogant Jason? Or was he just making sure that it was her Noble Phantasm?
"Do it, or I kill you like I killed Louvre." Shirou growled, not in the mood to play games with the girl and deciding to instill fear into her the best way he could. Considering the fact that she was a magus through and through, this made things rather simple. "By destroying your circuits while you are alive, burning your insides with your own prana, and cutting off your head."
Of course Shirou wouldn't actually use Kiritsugu. He couldn't if he wanted to at the moment anyway, but that was not what would have stayed his hand. He only used it on opponents he had no other way of beating, however once again this was something the girl did not need to know at the moment. It is a terrible thing, to destroy a soul so completely as Kiritsugu does, some things are just best left unused if at all possible.
Despite the pain she was going through and the anger she had for the boy that was the source of it all, Caster couldn't help but snort and be amused at the drastically paling face of fear that her master had visibly put on. The boy was without a doubt telling the truth, however it was his rapidly approaching servant that was the real issue at the moment, not his ability to destroy magic circuits.
Really, all it took was to threaten a magus' circuits to make them realize their position in the situation? How absurd. Even a master spell crafter such as herself knew that in the end it was one's freedom, life, and soul that required preserving the most. The means to conduct her witchcraft were indeed vital to her, but still staying alive was worth every sacrifice she could make. There were other ways to perform mysteries and progress in the world without access to something as mundane as circuits so long as one had the resources and the will to keep looking.
She took out the purple, red and blue dagger from her ebony robes slowly to prevent the boy from misinterpreting anything she did as a threat. The child was dangerous and very weak from what she could tell, but that only made her more cautious as she did not want to be reacquainted with Saber anytime soon. As much as she despised giving into anyone's demands, this was not one that she could do anything about. What he saw with his silver and crimson eyes she did not know, but too much she was certain.
Humorlessly, she also considered revealing her Noble Phantasm's identity as a gift to the boy for being able to shut her master up for once. Caster could get behind the girl's ethics and the child was rather skilled in what she did, however Marjatta was too immature, impatient, and egotistical to take seriously for long.
Not for the first time, the Witch began to heavily doubt her chances of success if her Master remained at the wheel of her actions…
Shirou's eyes twitched in recognition as he felt the cursed dagger recreate itself in his Reality Marble. He didn't risk a sigh of relief that one of the more difficult tasks he needed to accomplish in order to ensure that the world didn't get destroyed was done. Doing so would only jinx his still very unstable position.
"I see…" He rasped out in a seemingly disapproving tone, as if he wasn't pleased with what he saw. It wasn't that hard to fake considering the fact that he was extremely put off by the history of the tool.
"Well?" Marjatta snapped impatiently. It seemed as if the stress of the situation was finally getting to her as she was progressively growing more conflicted as time went on. Clearly she was not good under a clock. "Stop wasting our time! What else do you want dog?"
Given the twitch on Caster's mouth as she hid her Noble Phantasm under her cloak, Shirou was fairly certain that the girl's servant was also quite put off by the blonde's stupidity in aggravating the one that literally had their lives in his hand.
He spoke up, ignoring the blood that came up from his throat in the process. Why wasn't Avalon taking care of it? "… You will stay there and do nothing while Sakura comes up."
"Is this some sort of sick joke?!" The Edelfelt exploded in disbelief and anger. "Do you intend to mock me until your servant arrives and kills me?! Are you blind?! I defeated the Matou girl to the point that she is barely conscious! She can barely stand or see straight let alone walk to where you are!"
"… No…" A faint whisper was made behind the Witch and her master. "I… I can make it…"
Turning around slowly in disbelief, the Master and Servant looked and saw Sakura slowly making her way to her feet with some effort and breathing with pain. The first thing the two women noticed was that while she was still covered in cuts and bruises from their previous fight, the wounds were noticeably smaller than what they recalled. Given how she was holding her stomach with one hand though, it was pretty obvious that her injuries there were still quite significant.
Marjatta blinked in confusion. "She was barely conscious just five minutes ago. I felt three ribs break when I took her down. How is she able to get back up again so soon?"
Caster rolled her eyes, not that anyone could see it with her hood up. Obviously the child had some sort of healing ability. It appeared to be nothing significant to register as a threat, but it was at least potent enough to enable the girl to regain some mobility fairly quickly.
From what the Servant could tell, it probably had to do with the small bit of excess prana that she detected in the girl's body since she had arrived. She had most likely accessed some minor external source of power before Marjatta arrived in anticipation for any fighting. Nothing significant, but enough that combined with whatever passive thaumaturgy she has in her body she could gradually recover without casting anything.
Given how slowly the child was limping towards the stairs and her savior, the Witch doubted the girl's healing abilities were of any significance.
Shirou mentally winced as his heart spasmed briefly and caused his vision to white out for just as long. Unlike with all his other aches and pains that had disappeared when his body went numb, this particular shock had nothing stopping the painful jolt that went through all his nerves. Even after his heart beat normally again, his vision remained blurry around the edges.
… So Thirsty. I could go for a nice long drink now...
He was nearly out of time. Thankfully though, Sakura had made it far enough up the stairs to call the final bluff.
"How many command seals do you have left?" He asked darkly as Sakura made it halfway up the stairs, not that he knew exactly where she was as he had not taken his eyes off of Marjatta and Caster since he exposed himself.
"Do you intend to take me for a fool?" Marjatta growled darkly, her body shaking in rage. "You have already taken away my victory and know of my servant's Noble Phantasm, but now you wish to make me reveal the status of my remaining vital resource as well?!"
The back of Shirou's hand glowed menacingly. "If that is the case…"
"She has two remaining." Caster spoke up, rising her head enough that she could make direct eye contact with the boy. "Forgive me for speaking, but I believe it is faster this way. I hope that you will not punish us for this one transgression…" What were his plans? What did he intend to do? The Witch of Betrayal, who was used time and time again against her will by man and god alike was curious.
"Caster! How… How DARE you go against your master's wishes and betray me like this!?" Marjatta cursed in both disbelief and rage.
Well she IS the Witch of Betrayal… Shirou mentally scoffed at the girl's lack of oversight before nodding slightly to the servant, allowing her pardon for speaking against his previous command. Given the fact that she had just made things go much faster, he was willing to let it slide. He had more important things to do anyways.
"Use your second command seal to make Caster teleport the both of you back to your home."
Whatever derogatory term that Marjatta was about to spew from her mouth was caught dead in her throat as she gazed dumbstruck at the sole male in the room. The painful smirk of satisfaction that had been on Caster's face had dropped, and Sakura had stopped climbing the stairs to look at her savior dubiously.
The word "what?" was clearly scrawled on all of their faces.
"I will not repeat myself." He stated coldly while hoping they would hurry up.
Even though he didn't need Caster alive anymore, the fact of the matter remained that save for summoning Saber and using a command seal to kill off a weakened subpar servant, there was no way he would be able to finish her off. He knew he was risking many lives doing this, but it would take a great deal of time for both Caster and her Master to recover, and they'd still be down to their last seal. They'd be forced into a corner and would no doubt walk on eggshells for a while before they were confident to start up anything in the war again. By that time Shirou should be recovered and have gotten through a good portion of his to do list…
Then again, he wouldn't be surprised if one or both of them would get killed by someone else by that point. Zouken certainly wouldn't mind capitalizing on easy prey given the chance, wherever the hell he was.
That, and from what his father had laid out and the legends about her, Caster had a history of killing off Masters in general. Heck, she had more kills than either Assassin did in all of Kiritsugu's visions regardless of how things turned up. It wouldn't be surprising that she picked a fight with the wrong enemy soon enough now that she was backed into a corner.
Marjatta leveled her gaze at the teen, but it was obvious that she was thinking about the situation very hard as her eyes seemed to fade in and out of focus occasionally. "Are you an idiot? What is there to prevent me from simply forcing you to summon your servant and then do exactly that, forcing you to waste one of your seals? You have just revealed a weakness in the situation to me."
Of course, if she could have done this earlier, she could have escaped with Sakura and not have shown Shirou Rule Breaker, but no one bothered to bring that up.
"The difference is one way will give you a chance to return home alive, while the other will ensure that I will either hunt you down, or find your body when the war is over and destroy your circuits and crest before sending it back to your family and pictures to the Clocktower." The Emiya rasped in a final tone.
More blood was coming up his throat now. His heart was beating more erratically. His vision was half blacked out and the rest was shaded red. Judging from the moisture he felt around his mouth, he wouldn't be surprised if he was bleeding from the nose and made a silent thanks that his shroud was the perfect color to hide its presence. The deep musk of the catacombs prevented anyone from smelling the blood too. Regrettably the small blessings didn't help him from feeling as if his entire body was slowly imploding however as the pain slowly crawled back into his being like a sadistic disease.
… But he held on. He was too close to finishing things up to pass out now. "I swear as a representative of the Queen and the Barthomelloi on this."
That last bit was honestly useless as far as he was concerned, but Shirou knew that any Noble worth their salt would take such a declaration seriously considering he was a pseudo representative of the Vice Director. It just went to show how utterly ridiculous higher society could be sometimes. Being a royal murdering dog in some places made you more important than being a noble, a productive member of society, or even a doctor.
When it came to dealing with nobles, the line he just said tended to end the conversation in his favor. In their minds, swearing on the lineage of the Barthomelloi was akin to a member of the Church swearing on the Lord, more so if you're a high ranking member of the organization.
Then again, there were very few people who were dumb enough to dishonor the name of the Barthomelloi and managed to die at an old age free and or intact… let alone live.
The room was silent for once as Marjatta hesitated on what she should do. The conflict of deciding of what to do was clearly written on her face. Caster on the other hand had schooled her face into one of disinterest and discomfort as she continued to slowly heal her stomach with what little prana she had left in her being.
As far as the Servant was concerned, the smart move was to call the boy's bluff and make him waste a command seal. The weaker Saber's position was in the war, the better. After they escaped, they would simply gather their things and make way to Caster's Workshop without telling anyone and bide their time. The boy couldn't do anything to her circuits if he was dead after all.
He was weak for whatever reason, so they had time to prepare adequate defenses, summon Assassin, and gain more allies needed to fight back. No doubt once word that Saber and Rider of all classes had joined forces, and that Emiya could use Noble Phantasms, reached the other masters will join together as well to counteract them. Then when everyone is fighting and distracted, they can order Assassin to kill all the masters.
Simple. Easy. To the point. The few details that would need to be addressed in this plan could be solved later without much hassle. Heck, she might not even have to sacrifice her other self if things went according to plan. Saber's incredible potential to channel prana would more than suit her needs quite well if her assumption about the grail was correct…
"… By the power of my command seal I command you Servant Caster…" The witch's master spoke up in a commanding, albeit scornful and distasteful tone, causing her Servant to look at her with surprise and a hint of disgust. So much so that the thought of actually saying anything and provoking the enemy into summoning Saber had been completely forgotten. Surely the girl wasn't going to give into the boy's pointless threat?
"Teleport us back to Edelfelt Manor."
Yes, yes she was...
o. o. o.
In the woods to the southeast:
"▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
"▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
"▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
Illya shivered in disbelief as she looked at the absolute destruction around her. Crushed, fractured, split, splintered, and otherwise just completely annihilated described pretty much everything, and she did mean EVERYTHING, that had encompassed the square kilometer below. The girl would not be surprised if the maps covering the area would have to be remade once it was discovered.
Nearly a quarter of a year ago she had summoned Berserker, without the grail, without aid, without mercy. In exchange for her torture and pain, she received a force of unstoppable nature in the form of a black giant that stood over two and a half meters tall. Every time he moved she hurt, but in turn her enemies died almost comically. Nothing thrown at the giant could hurt him. The hottest fire, the hardest stone, the strongest winds. The monster was untouchable.
She loved and hated him. She hated the pain he made her experience just by existing, but at the same time he was the first thing to truly care and protect her outside of the Einzbern since… him. More importantly, the servant was hers.True she still belonged to her family in the mountains, but Berserker and all his power was in turn her property, not was no alternative motive for the mindless beast. No secret plans, or conflicting interest. Only the desire to destroy on her behalf, and he did so without any trouble…
That was until she tried to kill the fool that dared to call himself her brother.
Even now she had trouble understanding how on earth the Emiya had managed to accomplish such a feat. She had anticipated that perhaps one or two of the other servants in the war might be an issue to deal with, but a single magus? The very idea of such a thing was absurd! Berserker had at one point slaughtered a dozen magi at the same time when she was still testing his abilities in Germany, yet this one boy proved to be too much to get?
As bizarre as the scenario had been, Illya had to relent to the fact that there may have been more than just hot air to her stepbrother's rather extensive reputation. She still didn't believe he killed an Apostle Ancestor though.
After that night, the girl resolved herself to not underestimate any potential opponents in the war. If a single Master was strong enough to hold off Berserker even for a short amount of time, then who knows what the other Servants could accomplish? Still, they would all eventually fall. Her Heracles was without a doubt the strongest servant. No one could match his raw power…
Or at least that was what she had thought until now.
Two hundred meters long and at least forty high it was on all four legs, each digit ending in claws that were longer than half the leg it was attached to. Its mouth was massive enough to be nearly a fourth of its length, making it appear to be a portal into another world that would suck in everything imaginable when completely opened. More than a fourth went to its tremendous tail that ended in three whip-like appendages. In between the two was a black furry upper body littered with metallic armor like growths that appeared like the brine that grows off of a ship.
All in all, the tremendous creature appeared more like a twisted mobile land bound whale than a dog.
The King of Earth. The Black Dog of Destruction. The Bell of Ending. The Beast of God. The Whale Dog. All of these names and more were given to the creature that served as Merem Solomon's right leg, and for good reason as the albino girl had witnessed firsthand.
"▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
"I must say I'm quite impressed." The "dog's" owner smiled in wonder at the destruction below as the two monsters roared once more for what seemed like the millionth time that hour. It was an unusual chorus as the larger beast seemed to utter multiple deep layers of sound that echoed off one another and literally shake her to the bones, while the latter of the two was barely at a higher pitch but had an animalistic ferocity to it that could not be mistaken for anything else. "I was afraid that I had accidentally taken you out of the war when my right leg crushed your Servant, but then he surprised me with that revival skill of his. Even more so in that he became immune to being killed that way afterwards."
Illya wanted to snap back that he had no right to be the surprised one when her Berserker had been the one that was killed five times now by SHEER BRUTE FORCE. She didn't see how on earth such a thing was even possible!
What made things worse was that this large creature was obviously built for fighting swarms of smaller opponents. Its wide sweeping motions and attacks couldn't be designed for anything else unless it was fighting against one of its own kin. Armies. Monsters. Salvos of high level Thaumaturgy. These were things this creature could be efficiently be used against. Not a lone, albeit rather large Servant.
True she could give the creature the benefit of the doubt when it crushed and tore Berserker apart with its building sized claws, but even so her Servant should have been able to destroy the beast by now!
She almost thought the fight was as good as done after her Servant was eaten (death number four), and had subsequently torn his way out of the "dog's" stomach as violently as anyone could imagine, but that only seemed to enrage the larger beast even more and cracked its whip like tail at Berserker and virtually split him in half, providing death five and sending the giant man through at least fifty trees in the process.
Of course the battle had not been one sided as the massive beast sported its own list of injuries with broken teeth and claws, torn up skin, a hole from its stomach to the outside, one of its tails ripped off, and its right front leg partially cut in half.
All in all, Berserker was getting very good results for a man fighting something roughly a thousand times his size.
"▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
"H-how?" The girl shivered as her sole anchor of power continued to battle mindlessly against its foe, roaring just as loud if not louder than the beast. "How on earth is it able to kill Berserker so easily? He has divine protection! Only A ranked mysteries and higher can harm him! He's the strongest! Being simply crushed by that Phantasmal Beast shouldn't be enough to kill him!"
Merem shrugged. "If your Servant was up against such a creature like a Phantasmal Beast, maybe that would be the case. However, my familiars are not Phantasmal Beasts, but Divine Beasts." He patted the creature he was sitting on with his right hand. "The more of them that are out, the less the rules of Gaia are followed."
Illya's already pale complexion turned ghost white as she looked down once more, but not at the battle between the black beasts. Instead she gazed upon the rainbow colored manta ray like creature that she had been sitting on since the battle had begun. In the initial throws of the chaos, the Einzbern had not paid attention to the vampire as his left leg turned into the creature, which should be noted is just as big as its whale dog counterpart.
Illya had confidence in Berserker's power and ability, but even she knew it was suicidal to stay even remotely close to this battle and ran away as fast as her prepubescent legs could take her. As she did so, Merem's airborne familiar creature "swam" in the air with its master on top of it, circled around the battle, and then picked up the endangered homunculus with its tail while she was trying to get away from the battle.
After she had stopped panicking and realized that she was stuck alone with an Apostle Ancestor that wasn't going to make a meal out of her, she decided she might as well watch the show as there was nothing else she could do without getting killed.
It was an interesting experience in more than one way. She had of course met the occasional magus who had lost a limb or finger to their experiments and was still very capable in their craft. This however was the first time she was in the presence of an individual, let alone in the shape of a boy, with no legs and a single arm that made her genuinely fear for her life.
She would have laughed about the absurdity of it all if she wasn't a barrel roll away from falling to her death.
Regardless of how absurd the matchup was, llya had expected Berserker to win without too much trouble. Yes there was a ridiculous size difference between the two opponents, but with her Servant's Noble Phantasm protecting him, she had been confident that he would not have trouble at all ending the fight.
But that was when she had assumed that the target was just a powerful Phantasmal Beast. A Divine Beast though… a creature that was beyond age, power, and accurate definition by modern standards… Berserker might as well have been fighting another Servant. Every move, every breath, every thought of a Divine Beast might as well be considered a mystery bordering on True Magic as far as modern Magi were concerned regardless of how mundane they appeared to be. It would certainly explain why the Mad Servant was dying from such simple attacks at least.
To be in the presence of not one, but two of them was unheard of in this day and age since they were all supposedly extinct or in another plane of existence. Even the lesser but still immensely powerful Phantasmal races were all but gone from this world, leaving only a sparse few Monstrous Beasts around the world in places most humans can't or won't access.
"▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ ▅▅▅ ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
A tremendous deafening inhuman roar of pain echoed through the sky as Berserker once more proved why he was deemed humanity's strongest. Having used his superior speed and agility, the madman had somehow found himself on top of the giant dog. Instead of attacking the beast with his sword like he normally did, the giant had instead in a moment of slightly greater creativity, ripped off one of the brine like growths on the beast with his bare hands and jammed it down through the Divine Beasts massive skull, bathing him in its red blood in the process.
"Your servant really is quite a handful." Merem commented, clearly impressed and not at all worried about his limb's state of pain. "No wonder a good part of the world recognizes him as the strongest legend. I'm impressed you can manage him as well as you can, even if you are a homunculus."
"Of course. Berserker won't lose to anyone." Illya eyed the vampire next to her warily. Despite his seemingly innocent demeanor, she had no doubt that he could kill her at any time. She often played the same role herself when she was in control of a situation, even though this was obviously not one of those cases. "… What do you want Apostle? You can kill me, and in turn Berserker, whenever you wish, but instead you are simply playing. You can hold me hostage and force my servant to fight for you, but instead you are doing nothing. Why are you interfering with the war? Doesn't the grail's power to grant any wish tempt you in the slightest?"
Merem briefly glanced at the albino before donning a knowing smile. "I am not interested in the grail or this ritual, though it did take me a while to remember why it seemed so familiar to me. If I was inclined to participate in the slightest, I would have already done something about it years ago."
The Einzbern blinked in confusion. Years ago? Familiar?
"What I am attracted to however is something far more entertaining and intriguing, and I have no intention to allow it to stop before any fruit has had a chance to be born." The Ancestor continued. "Your arrival at the residence would have put an end to things before they had even begun."
"And what are you waiting for exactly?" The girl frowned.
"The wonderfully exciting beginning of something new." Merem smiled eagerly as if he was the child-like age he appeared to be.
"▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
Down below, Berserker had finally been thrown off the massive demon after the creature had rolled over a few times, and had returned to attacking with his massive stone axe sword, roaring as violently as its tremendous target and shattering the fifth claw since the battle started.
"The beginning of something new?" Illya blinked in confusion. What could the boy mean by that? Better yet, why did she care? She was going to die by the end of the war anyways, so such a thing shouldn't even concern her in the first place.
Before she could even make a comment on the subject however, a small bird flew by her face and landed on the Apostle's shoulder and began to make noises.
"Hm?" Merem blinked and turned to the avian curiously. "Is that right? And what about the one I told you about?" He waited as the bird chirped a few times in his ear. "I see. So it is as I assumed unfortunately." He sighed. "It's a good thing I planned ahead then. Very well. Please go on and signal the others to go home. Thank you for your help."
"Do you often talk to animals?" Illya raised an eyebrow skeptically as the bird flew away.
"Oh yes." The vampire nodded. "You'd be surprised at what they know and they enjoy gossiping quite a bit when they trust you enough. However we will have to talk about that another time. There is no longer any need to hold you back my lady, and I doubt that you will wish for your servant to die any more than he already has."
The albino didn't argue against Merem's suggestion. Berserker had lost nearly half his lives against that single beast, and even if he had come on top and she continued the battle, she still had this flying creature to deal with… and whatever the boy's right arm could more than likely turn into.
Illya grit her teeth in frustration as she admitted to herself that the impossible was true… that Merem Solomon was a person that she and Berserker would not be able to win against.
With a silent command, she urged Berserker to distance himself from the creature and hold his ground despite being in the middle of hacking off a slice of meat the size of a truck off of the beast and waited to see what would happen.
Despite her skepticism of the vampire's sincerity, the giant whale like creature didn't pursue her servant despite the savage wounds it had suffered and stayed in place while making rather loud and deep noises. If the girl wasn't so unsure of the creature's genealogy, she could have sworn that it was acting like a normal wounded dog would act.
She couldn't help but squeal in surprise as the manta creature she had been riding on wrapped its tail around her waist and gently lowered her to the ground near her servant. Moments later, the flying creature had seemingly twisted on itself, shrinking rapidly until it had once more resumed its form as the boy's left leg.
Regardless of how absurd the difference in their two states was, Illya couldn't help but shudder with the realization that both seemed impossibly… natural for the Divine Beast. It was as if her very existence accepted such an unnatural phenomena as something that is normal.
She barely noticed Merem landing unharmed on his "dog", and the second creature followed the first's suit and turned into his other limb just as easily and naturally as the first, though his right leg was notably cut up and bleeding in several places.
"Well then." The seemingly young boy smiled sheepishly. "I admit that this was not exactly an ideal first meeting, but it has been a pleasure to speak with you."
"The same cannot unfortunately be said in return Apostle." Illya frowned and pouted slightly, but never taking her eyes off of the still very real threat. "You were not exactly accommodating."
The vampire laughed. "I deny nothing I'm afraid, though you were not exactly willing to talk things out in the first place."
The red eyed girl frowned as she remembered why she lost her composure in the first place. "I am an Einzbern. I refuse to accept being addressed by that man's name." She narrowed her gaze. "How do you even know who my sperm donor is in the first place?"
Merem blinked in surprise before sighing in disappointment. "Let's just say I have sources and leave it at that. From what I have learned about your father, he was quite an intriguing human. There's far more depth to him than most would ever assume or bother to contemplate. I'm somewhat depressed that you are among them."
Illya grit her teeth and clenched her fists. Her reaction was enough to nearly set Berserker on the vampire again. "How DARE you lecture me about that man! He sacrificed mama and threw me away just to spite my family and never came for me once! Then just to throw it into my face, he adopted that idiot to be his legacy and legend in the tower!"
Despite the girl's outrage, Merem looked at her with only pity. "… Believe what you want child. I never had the honor of meeting your father, however at this point I believe I unfortunately understand him better than you ever did."
Had anyone else said that, Illya would have killed them on the spot. The only reason why she didn't this time was simply because she was not able to and was lucid enough to remember the fact, if only just.
He turned to the darkness and walked away calmly with his back seemingly exposed. "Out of respect to his wishes though, I will give you some information to dwell on: Your brother was not trained by Kiritsugu Emiya to be the next Magus Killer. He was not raised to be a magus. Nor was he to seek a future in the Clocktower either. Shirou Emiya was merely designed to fight in this very war." The Apostle disappeared into the shadows of the forest.
"And his goal does not involve winning the Grail."
o. o. o.
By the River's Edge:
"Oi…" Lancer growled in irritation as he stood on guard a good twenty meters away from Archer. The concrete sidewalk, road, hill and various other pieces of construction that made up the area had all suffered some sort of damage in the process of the battle and sported either deep gouges or were cut in half. "What's the deal? You're holding back."
"My master told me to keep some of my tricks to myself, unless you've forgotten." Archer snorted with his swords at his side in its usual taunting position. "And don't pretend that you are not holding back either. There are only a handful of Lancers with your kind of speed and ferocity. Not to mention your demonic spear and the fact that your armor has hints of Irish design. You're better than this Hound of Ireland."
The man in blue's eyes flashed dangerously before he let out a dry chuckle. "Heh. Looks like being too famous is a bit of a bad thing from time to time. I would ask that you give me your name too, but you're not the type to humor your opponents."
"Your insight is astounding." The knight in red and black replied dryly. "You did not answer my question. You are not the type of fighter to do so. To be blunt, it concerns me more than the safety of my master at the moment."
Lancer blinked in disbelief for a moment before spitting to the side. "Tch. I feel bad for the girl then. If you gotta know though, I've heard that there's something off with the grail."
Archer's eyes twitched briefly, but still maintained their unwavering hawk like gaze. "And you believe such a ridiculous thing?"
"Not completely, but from what I've seen and heard something's definitely different from what we were informed when summoned. My master doesn't know as much as I do, but even she can tell something's up." The Hound grunted reluctantly. "If what I was told is right, then killing off the other servants will only make things go to hell faster until we find out more about what is going on. So I'm holding back for now unfortunately."
"How pragmatic of you. It must be torture doing this I'm sure." The mystery servant drawled sarcastically, getting a look of irritation form his opponent.
"Oi. I don't mind killing a strong opponent for the sake of it, but I draw the line if doing so screws me and a huge number of innocent people over in the end. I am a heroic spirit after all." Lancer snorted as his stance lowered just a bit. "Though because I'm doing that, I get to fight more strong guys more often, which is why I wanted to do in the first place!"
The twenty meters were covered in an instant by the servant in blue and sparks flew once more between the red lance and the black and white short swords…
A short distance away, the two masters were having their own battle, but one that was less evenly matched.
Rin yelled in frustration as she set off another one of her weaker jewels at the ground between her and her opponent in order to gain more distance from the pugilist. The valuable gem exploded with a great deal of power and utilizing the earth based spell it had been set with before being used, converted the concrete into small but deadly pieces of hardened and pressured shrapnel that were sprayed in the Enforcer's general direction with no gaps to slip in between.
She didn't stop there however, and the Tohsaka then jumped back as quickly as possible while her hands each moved on their own, one grabbing another jewel from her pockets while the other pointed forward and fired off as many Fin curses as she could pull off for additional suppressing fire. Her bombardment was constant and her eyes never strayed from her target lest she be killed.
She couldn't hold back against an opponent like this. There was no room for pointless things such as talking when up against a foe that outmatched her by this extreme.
Her panic was well founded as her elder foe continued to charge forward with her arms crossed in front of her, granted at a slower speed than Rin was retreating. Despite the bombardment she was undertaking, the unstoppable force that was Bazett Fraga McRemitz did not falter in the slightest as she continued forward like a juggernaut while shielding her vitals.
Every shard of stone, every black curse that collided with her body shattered or was knocked aside against the greater force with little to no damage done being done against the latter. She was just far too protected against the natural and the unnatural to be hit with anything less than higher level spells… or a speeding car. Either would be welcome at this point by Rin.
The only part of the woman's head that was visible was a small part of her side that peeking out from behind her arms and allowing the woman to stare down her unnerved opponent with a cold and sharp glare that said everything that needed to be said.
You cannot stop me. You cannot escape me. I will get you.
Bazett had been the only one to take damage so far in the fight, but that was not saying much. A few cuts on her body and suit mattered little so long as she still had the power to charge forward and the runes on her person remained intact. Some minor cuts littered her arms, lower torso, and legs, but they were all easily ignored. The small gash on the top of her head that she received in a moment of carelessness was slightly more annoying, but only because the blood coming from it was slightly dripping over her left eye and impairing her eyesight to a small degree.
It did nothing to change the fact that if Bazett got within arm's reach of Rin, the fight would be over.
This game of cat and mouse had pretty much made the entirety of the battle. Rin had originally been confident that she could at least force Bazett into a corner with her charged jewels, advanced thaumaturgy, and crest, but as things dragged on she realized that despite all of these advantages, she could not trump the Irishwoman's raw speed, strength, defense and experience. Granted she did not DARE risk using the gems she had been charging for the past ten years due to the constant presence of Fragarach, but still the difference in combat ability was far too much.
Had Rin known about and prepared for the woman, she would have probably been able to fight to greater efficiency and planned something. A few bounded fields. Some conceptual weapons. A spell that preys on runecraft in some way. Maybe even an extra familiar or two.
However, that was not the case as she had spent an ungodly amount of time before the war trying to figure out a way to counteract Shirou's primary weapons...
… Which she shamelessly did.
The best she could do right now was try to survive and hope she could come up with something fast, or else she might be forced to do something drastic such as use one of her command seals to quickly summon Archer and kill the woman before she could do the same… something she highly doubted Shirou would appreciate.
However as with everything else, this fight too must eventually come to an end.
Despite being trained and skilled in martial arts and combat by both Kirei and Shirou to some extent, Rin was nowhere near what one would consider experienced. Combined with the fact that she had constantly been back pedaling for nearly fifteen minutes, there should be little wonder that the girl finally messed up and tripped over the curb between the sidewalk and the street next to it.
The poor girl didn't even manage to fall to the ground completely before Bazett came on top of her like a demonic freight train and hammered her stomach into the concrete with her fist, cracking the ground underneath.
Pain unlike anything Rin had ever experienced echoed throughout her very being as her stomach was practically turned inside out with her lungs matching suit. Had she not been preoccupied with being in shock and emptying bodily fluids from her mouth, the girl would have thanked Shriou immensely for training her in refining her abilities in self reinforcement, as she was certain the blow would be more than enough to turn a normal human's organs into paste.
Still, she was not going to be able to get back up from being hit like that for a while. She wasn't unconscious, but being able to form words and sentences, or breathe properly was beyond her.
Standing straight back up slowly, the enforcer looked down upon her downed target coldly. The girl was still alive. Temporarily crippled and no longer able to fight, but certainly alive. She had delivered a normally lethal blow to a normal human, but it appeared that the girl was good enough in personal reinforcement to not only survive, but remain conscious.
Good. It meant that she wouldn't be a hindrance for later if they needed to team up.
"You're not bad." Bazett stated calmly as she stood straight up once again. "I didn't think I'd have so much trouble catching you like this with my new equipment, but it seems Shirou was right. You are quite talented."
Rin could only gasp and glare sparingly at the woman in response. Understandable since she couldn't really control her lungs at the moment.
"I didn't come to kill you. Not this time at least." The woman continued before she was distracted briefly by a small flock of birds that flew overhead. "I have no need to stall you anymore either."
She just barely jumped out of the way of a ghost white disc that nearly cut her head off.
"Rin!" Archer shouted as he appeared next to his master almost instantly, grabbed her, and then jumped away just as Lancer landed next to his own master. Moments later his lance blurred in the night and hammered the spinning blade that had flown back towards his master with prejudice into the earth.
"Sorry about that." The man in blue said, but with no feeling behind it. "Bastard caught me off guard with those annoying swords of his when you downed the kid. He kept on chucking copies of them around me that wouldn't go away even when I hit them to buy time to get here. Makes me think he's a Chinese, Indian, or Middle Eastern legend from the way he kept on using them. Plus he's got that tan."
Bazett frowned at the servant in red and black, who returned the look with focus, yet indifference.
"Whoever that guy is, he's good." Lancer continued. "He could tell who I was just from how I fought and determined that my lance was demonic." The red spear spun so quickly in his hands that it looked like a crimson disk before it suddenly stopped again. "Hey, I know that we were only supposed to test the girl out, but I'm really interested to see what else this guy can do. I've been itching for a real fight since we held off Berserker."
"We were almost killed by Berserker." The enforcer glared at her partner.
"The best ones always have a good level of mortal risk to them." The demigod smirked. "Archer here seems to know of that pretty well."
"If you are insinuating that I am some sort of thrill seeker, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed." The enemy servant replied evenly. He was at a distinct disadvantage. With Rin immobile she couldn't protect herself, and Lancer's Master was without a doubt someone he could not ignore. Regrettably, with Lancer here he might be forced to do just that. If things got chaotic, Rin would all but be assured to be killed in the process regardless of what he did.
Unless of course he used…
"We're done for the day Lancer. This girl isn't a threat to us. At the very least she might be able to take out some of the other servants by the time we meet again, though I doubt it." Bazett stated dismissively and began to walk away, surprising the enemy servant in the process. "Keep an eye on them until I'm out of range, and then follow me back."
"You're the boss." The man in blue shrugged as he relaxed his stance and casually looked down at the stunned Archer and Rin. "You two better be grateful. I'm practically getting blue balls holding back for so god damn long." He paused and gave them a deadly look. "And if you make a comment relating to that statement and my outfit, I will kill you now regardless of what my master ordered."
It was probably a good thing the Tohsaka had yet to regain control over lungs, else there would have been some choice colorful language spoke by her at this point in time.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Archer rolled his eyes and pretended to ignore the murderous glare his master was giving the enemy servant.
Lancer frowned. "You're a bit of a smart ass you know that? Not much of a talker either. I doubt you'd be a decent drinking buddy."
"So I've been told. I never was that interested in alcohol to begin with." The counter guardian shrugged before looking over Lancer's shoulder. "Though now that your master has left, we could just resume where we left off without interruptions. I doubt you would object to that."
"Don't tempt me." Sighed the Hound of Ireland. "I'm still on a minor high and if we fight anymore I won't be able to hold back, and then my master will get all pissed at me." He nodded at Rin. "Your master's already got a firsthand experience of what happens when you piss that woman off."
Archer looked down at his master analytically, ignoring the attempted vulgar terms coming out of her mouth and the vengeful look on her face. "… Personally I still think you got the better deal personality wise." He looked up at his enemy and ignored the glare his master was giving him. "I'll keep in mind what you said earlier, but don't think that makes us allies."
Lancer snorted. "Of course not. You piss me off. I've already decided that I'm going to kill you at some point, just not right now. There's more important things to deal with at the moment."
Before Archer could speak up again, Rin froze in his arms and grabbed his armor. "… kura… Sakura…" She croaked as well as she could with her wounded diaphragm.
"Eh?" Lancer blinked in confusion. "What's got the little shrew worked up?"
EMIYA's eyes widened momentarily as he realized what Rin was getting at before eyeing the enemy. "It wasn't my master's home that was attacked. It was the Matou household." He stood up slowly. "You are working with them weren't you?"
The Irishman raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "And if I was, would it make a difference? This is the Grail War. We're all enemies unless the conditions say otherwise."
Archer pretended to ignore the sudden stillness in his arms. Rin was probably realizing that Lancer was correct in this, but he didn't bother to address it. "You're right, but that still didn't answer my question."
He closed his eyes and groaned tiredly. "Look I don't know who started the bash over there, but I can tell you that Master and I had nothing to do with it alright? We just ran interference to get info and stall you for some reason." He shrugged. "Why? Beats me, but it at least does something to pass the time. It's boring just waiting for days on end for something to happen."
Yawning, the servant began to walk away. "Regardless, you have two options at the moment. Either pick up where we left off, endangering the girl here in the process, or run back to what I've been told is your neighborhood and check up on the Matou Master."
Lancer didn't even make it halfway to the nearby buildings before Archer and Rin were out of sight.
o. o. o.
Edelfelt Manor:
Luvia grit her teeth in frustration as she sat in her living room and dwelled heavily on the events in the past few hours. The tea in front of her that Sebastian had made was left untouched. She was not worried about being found by any other masters or servants as Caster had erected several bounded fields that would render the building invisible, undetectable, and unable to be thought up in passing to other magi and servants so long as they weren't focusing too hard or looking at it directly.
Even if it was found, the Princess of Colchis still had her Ace, which unfortunately could only be used in certain circumstances…
The night had been going so well for them at first. Their assault on the Matou residence had started off smoothly with Rider on the defensive the entire time and distracted while Marjatta had begun to sneak around the area to get to the enemy master directly. Luvia would act as distant backup, hiding in the woods nearby in case her sister got into any trouble or if another Master arrived to join the fun. It was a strategy that would take both enemies out cleanly without much issue…
Then things progressively got worse.
It first started when Rider hijacked one of her Caster's bulls and immolated the entirety of the woods she was hiding in. It was only due to dumb luck that she managed to avoid getting trampled or burnt to a crisp from the initial blaze.
Had the servant not been so focused on the two spellcasters, Luvia would have been certain that she would have been found out and attacked. Despite that though, she still had a difficult time getting out of the magical blaze itself, especially since Rider's loop around the forest had spread the inferno far more than she had anticipated.
She had found herself in at least three dead ends before she finally discovered a section of burning forest that was thin enough for her to make a path out of without exhausting herself.
She then had to waste some more prana to get rid of all the smoke and ash off of her body.
During this time Saber had run interference on a Motorcycle of all bloody things, teamed up with Rider, and ran off after the two Casters like wolves after very plump sheep. Luvia had gained as much as she utilized the spell that allows magi to look and hear from the perspective of their familiars. She shivered at the realization that Saber had A ranked magic resistance. No doubt the servant of the sword was just a great a threat to them as Berserker…
Come to think of it, it was somewhat unfair that so many servants in this war had such high level magic or general protection abilities. Rider, Lancer, and Saber all had at least B ranked magic resistance, and Berserker had… well whatever he had it certainly extended past thaumaturgy. If Archer had anything above C ranked magic resistance too she might as well wait out the entire war... not that it wasn't a viable strategy with her servant, but still.
After checking on her servant, Luvia then utilized her crest to observe how her sister was doing. One of the many interesting traits of the split crest from the Edelfelt family was that those that shared crests could utilize unique magic with one another. Normally these spells were used to share information with one another, or raise the ability and efficiency of joint spell casting should the pair be working on a large project, and was a great boon to furthering and accelerating the family's studies.
It was also great for mercenary work as the elder sister was soon watching her sister fight the Matou girl from Marjatta's point of view. She had missed much, but she had still managed to bear witness to Sakura's façade break down.
She had originally felt bad for going after Sakura, but now? Now she just wanted the girl gone so she didn't have to deal with the girl herself!
From far down the road, Luvia switched her focus back and forth between her sister and her servant's fights worriedly as one was slowly being destroyed by her opponents and the other was fighting an unexpectedly unstable yet powerful foe. She couldn't move closer to the Mansion as there were no suitable hiding spots that didn't risk getting her burned to death by the raging flames in the area, so she stayed in place.
If she summoned back her servant now, then her sister's would without a doubt be killed instantly, but if she told her sister to summon hers now, then she might open her sibling up to an attack by the Matou girl.
It should be noted that because she was distracted while focusing between two fights and trying to keep an eye on the road and the massive prana rich fires that were still near her, Luvia didn't notice the earth shaking slightly on occasion, nor the two loud but distant primal roars in the distance, nor the massive sources of prana coming from the same direction.
It was only through sheer luck that her sister summoned her Caster first, not because she realized or bothered to find out that the heroic spirit was in danger, but because she needed help dealing with all those… worms. Luvia had no doubt that Marjatta would be rather crass about the turn of events, it was a price worth paying in order to keep her sister alive, and it ended up saving her Servant in the end anyways. Moments later she remembered about her own servant and barely managed to call the woman to her side before Saber cut her into two.
Luvia briefly made a mental note that Servants could indeed suffer from whiplash before breathing a breath of relief that her servant was okay and that Marjatta was safe…
Before her heart went up her throat as she watched the unmistakable figure of Shirou Emiya dressed for battle stagger into the blaze that was the Matou Mansion and no doubt to where her sister was still residing with her servant and Sakura.
It was a stupid mistake. She had been too far and too distracted from the entrance of the house to detect the Magus Killer earlier, and now it was too late. There was no way that she could catch up to Shirou before he got to her sister now. If he had his servant with him, which he most likely did, then a straight upfront confrontation was out of the question. Caster was too weak to do anything, be it summoning or any other spells.
It still did not stop the girl from following him from a distance while trying to frantically contact her sister through her crest and warn her that she might die within the next thirty seconds. Not for the first time, Luvia cursed her sister's exceedingly short temper and inability to focus on anything but her ranting when stressed while she watched her sibling kick around the Matou in unbecoming anger.
At the very least she could have killed the girl and get her out of the way before things went to hell! Whatever her Caster had planned for the girl was irrelevant compared to the fact that the most dangerous Master in the war was right on top of them!
Luvia had managed to make it halfway down the catacombs before she watched Caster's stomach get impaled by a Noble Phantasm. At first she thought that it was Lancer's, but her ability to record information about other Servants as a Master quickly disproved that theory. Watching the weapon disintegrate much like every other projection that Emiya made only furthered her suspicion that it was not Lancer's doing…
She had seen and heard it all. She heard Shirou's threats of summoning Saber. She paled at the revelation that Saber and Rider were coming back as they spoke. She shivered as his eyes shone blood red and silver, indicating he had inhuman blood in him. She swore as Caster revealed her Noble Phantasm to him. She cursed at Sakura recovering and retreating back to her savior. She broke out in a cold sweat as she learned how Shirou managed to kill Louvre…
And yet she did nothing.
She had been in the perfect position to take out Shirou. He didn't seem to notice her presence for some reason, and if she moved just a bit further down she probably could have chosen from a wide range of spells that would have finished him off…
But she didn't. Her side was too weakened, she rationalized. Neither Caster were in any condition to even prepare for another confrontation, and Saber was one of the worst enemies to go up against, even if the siblings teamed up again. All it took was for Shirou to think that something was wrong before, during, or after the ambush, and Saber would appear and tear them to shreds. The Servant of the Sword's mana level was so massive that even if Luvia did kill Shirou, his servant would still last more than long enough to kill them all should he manage to bring her there with his dying breath.
Instead, she advised her sister from a distance. Now that the girl's temper had been calmed somewhat, she had managed to talk to her and give her advice so that she wouldn't get herself killed. Actually she had advised against Caster revealing her Noble Phantasm since she had determined that he could replicate them, but obviously the servant had decided for them.
However the biggest hurdle she had was convincing her sister to use her second command seal to escape and not provoke the Emiya. As it stood, the last thing they wanted was to further provoke the team of Rider and Saber. Shirou knew where they lived, and he was the bloody Magus Killer. The longer they stayed out of his line of sight, the better a chance they had to survive the next time they fought him. Provoking him to go after them as soon as he recovered was the worst thing they could do…
So as soon as she determined that her sister finally followed her advice, Luvia followed suit and ran outside of the Matou property as fast as possible without looking back to make sure that she wasn't around when Saber and Rider returned guns blazing. They had already wasted three command seals that night and got nothing but information on their enemies. There was no point in further risking their situation anymore than they already had.
Emiya and Matou were allied. Emiya could replicate Noble Phantasms, and thus was a credible threat to all servants. Saber was horrifically strong to the point that she wasn't even wearing her battle attire for her fight and was still kicking both Casters around easily. Rider was the Legendary Gorgon Queen Medusa. Shirou possessed inhuman blood of some kind. Matou was mentally unstable and had knowledge of very efficient absorption thaumaturgy. Shirou knew of Casters' identities and could most likely replicate Rule Breaker. Matou would need to relocate herself, most likely to the Emiya household, meaning that two masters and servants would be in one location.
These were the basic facts that Luvia could determine from their confrontation.
All of them however were secondary to the main issue that was haunting her and her Servant for the past hour.
Neither Marjatta nor her Servant had been seen in the Edelfelt Mansion at all that night. Their possessions were gone, their materials disappeared… and neither could be contacted or located through any means.
o. o. o.
Emiya Residence:
"Hurry!" Sakura coughed as she was carried by Rider and led Saber through the back yard with the blonde female carrying her unconscious Master on her back.
Less than ten seconds after Caster and her Master had disappeared, Shirou had collapsed back against the wall of the catacombs and passed out before he even hit the stairs. Thankfully he had been high up enough that Zouken's surviving worms wouldn't reach him, but it was still not a good place for a person to fall unconscious. Sakura, despite being exhausted and injured as she was, had managed to drag him a good way up the long stairs before Rider had materialized right next to her to help…
… And was nearly bitten by the unconscious Shirou for her trouble. Neither of them missed the blank look he had in his slit blood red eyes, nor his elongated canines.
Those were the first signs they got that Shirou was not simply suffering from a case of severe Prana exhaustion. That there was, in fact, something else going on with the Master of Saber...
It was only after Sakura shoved some of the Emiya's holy shroud in his mouth that Rider could manage to move the both of them up the stairs without worrying about her master attempting to bite her again. Strangely enough, though Shirou kept trying to bite Rider, Sakura didn't seem to even register to him despite being so close.
After dragging him up to Saber, who was waiting outside on her motorcycle, they all bolted for the Emiya residence with Rider carrying Shirou and Sakura sitting shotgun to Saber. Rider somehow managed to keep up with the Motorcycle for the most part. Although that might just be because she didn't have to dodge the late night traffic through the residential area. As such, all four of them managed to arrive at Shirou's home at the same time.
Not bothering to park the bike in Shirou's workshop, they rushed the boy inside. Saber hovered over her progressively thrashing Master as Rider put him down and helped take him inside.
All three of them were deeply worried, for different reasons about this development. Each of the females ranged widely from the others with their individual thoughts, concerns, and fears.
Sakura was frantic about the health about her lover and the only person she believed could truly save her from the hell that was her existence. Without Shirou, there was no real purpose in her life. He was the one who gave her purpose. Who gave her hope. Who gave her back the relationship she had with her sister. Who made her forget about Zouken and the hell that her life. Without Shirou, Sakura was certain that she would not be able to muster up the ability to continue on living, Matou legacy be damned.
Rider was concerned about the stability of her current situation. Shirou was if nothing else, a dedicated individual and a reliable support for Sakura. The fact that the boy was suddenly displaying the symptoms of being contaminated by inhuman blood was not a positive sign for her. Had Sakura not been so reliant on him, she would have very much considered killing him right then and there in order to ensure that he would not pose a threat later. Granted she would do so with some regret as the boy seemed to actually treat her… like a person and an equal… but still Sakura's safety always took priority.
Saber was heavily conflicted as she tried to figure out what the hell was going on and how to fix it. This was far from the first time she had been summoned for the grail before, but she had already grown more attached to her current master than any prior. Not only that, but she had been entrusted with Shirou's safety completely by Shirou and Kiritsugu. She would be an absolute failure as a knight if possibly the most important charge she had ever taken was killed within a day of guarding him.
Shirou had hinted to Saber that several key things had already gone differently from his father's visions, and while the servant had gone over many of the notes her previous master had left behind, she had no idea what could have caused the teen to be in this state…
"Who's there?" Rider suddenly went on guard as the group entered the house through the hallway were making their way to Shirou's room.
"Another enemy?" Sakura paled. "Here? Now?"
"I don't sense another servant… but there is something present that shouldn't be…" Saber frowned as she held Shirou and prepared to move. While Sakura didn't seem to get a reaction from Shriou and Rider seemed to make him aggressive, Saber seemed to be in between them as her Master seemed to shift in her grip as if unsure of what to do or go for instinctively.
"I command you to show yourself!" The King of Knights roared as her free hand pointed her invisible blade at the anomaly. To this, challenge an unexpected response came forth from the darkness.
A leisurely elderly chuckle, like an indulgent grandfather to a child, made itself known from the living room area, clearly not at all threatened by the servants demanding his presence. "Oh my. Please don't be alarmed. I mean you no harm." Walking out from the doorway, an old man in an elaborate priest's garb appeared with his hands raised in surrender. "Please rest assured I am a friend of Lord Emiya."
"You are a rat." Rider frowned without hesitation. "No… a creature that assumes the form of one, yet is also something far greater…" Even as she took the 'old man' in from her four remaining senses, she could feel the nature of the one in front of her. Not truly a creature of Gaia, but not one managed by Alaya either. An existence influenced by both worlds in a sense…
"Much like yourself lady Medusa." The elderly man bowed, not at all denying the woman's claims. "One could say that our origins are close enough to make us cousins, though we have never had the fortune to meet in person till now. The stories truly do your beauty no justice."
Rider faltered. "How do…"
"Enough of this!" Saber snarled. "My master is injured and you are wasting our time! Unless you are here to help I will eject you from this dwelling in any way I see fit!"
The priest chuckled and shook his head before looking analytically at Shirou. "I would not be so quick to make threats my Liege. You see, as of right now, I am only one of two people on the planet that are aware of the full scope of Lord Emiya's condition, and the other is rather preoccupied at the moment." He stepped forward without concern for his well being and looked closer at the boy. "Yes. It would be a very foolish move to harm or send me away right now."
"And why is that?" Rider asked calmly with her nails in hand.
The rat in human form shrugged before walking back into the living room. "Because Lord Emiya is currently dying." He declared as though it was the most obvious thing in the universe.
"What?!" Sakura yelled with her face paling to a ghostly white while Saber grit her teeth and Rider's posture stiffened.
The creature in human skin turned around, clearly not as disturbed as the three females there and gestured for them to follow him. "Well? What are you waiting for? Bring him in here and lay him down so I can get a better idea of what his condition is. The longer you wait the worse he'll get."
"And how can we trust you with him?" Saber growled dangerously. "Just because you claim to know what is happening to him does not necessarily mean you mean to or will help him."
The priest paused before looking at Sakura knowingly. "Unlimited Blade Works."
The Matou's eyes widened in surprise and disbelief. "H-how do you… no one knows about that but…"
Saber also had trouble believing that this unidentified individual was aware of her master's greatest power. Something was amiss.
"The Second Magus Killer has more allies than you are aware of child." The rat smiled gently as he continued to walk into the room. "Now come. We have a mutual friend that needs our aid."
"What's wrong with him?" Sakura was surprisingly the first of the females to move forward, silently urging the others to follow suit into the living room and placing the apparently dying teen on the cleared floor in front of the rat turned human. She asked warily as the elderly man attempted to touch the boy's face to see his eyes, only to pull back as the Emiya thrashed the moment skin contact was made. Granted his now red eyes conveniently opened as he moved but the thrashing didn't help much. "Why were his eyes silver and red? Why are his teeth like this? It's almost as if…"
"He has the blood of the moon folk in him." Rider stated gravely. "He does not smell of the demonic or the divine."
"Quite correct." The priest nodded as he noted that Sakura had reached forward and managed to calm down his patient without agitating him in the slightest. "How peculiar… conflicting subconscious impulses… to be strong enough to naturally restrain his Apostle instincts…"
"Is something the matter?" Saber questioned sternly while keeping her hands on her invisible blade.
"No. No. Just an observation. That's all." The "man" weakly smiled at the blonde and got back to work. Using this window of opportunity Sakura gave him, he quickly inspected Shirou's temperature, eyes, and cut him slightly to check his blood before placing a hand on his forehead and focused on the boy's soul.
"You seem to be familiar with Master and the history of his condition." Rider commented aloofly. "It would be wise to tell us how this happened."
"I believe you were there when he received it Lady Matou." The priest replied with his eyes closed, focusing on the task at hand. "During your encounter with the children of the deceased Tenth. The Daughter attempted to drink his blood, and in turn both his neck and her mouth were shredded apart. Blood was exchanged that night, but in very minute amounts and in the opposite intended direction."
Sakura paled as she recalled the horrific experience and sunk back into a sitting position, her hands went over her face. "It was me… it was my fault. Because I was kidnapped… I turned Shirou-kun into a Dead Apostle… I killed him…"
"Not quite." The man corrected her, grabbing their attention, forcing her to remove her hands from her face. "Lord Emiya's situation is rather unique as far as Apostles go. Like I said before, he is currently dying, which means he is not dead yet. One can't call him a Dead Apostle if it is only half true after all." He removed his hand from the teen's head and nodded to himself understandingly. "Though that does not mean that he is immune from their rules either…"
"Did you find a way to help him?" Saber asked sternly while gripping her sword tightly, having not banished her weapon since the rat in human clothing first appeared.
The priest nodded. "Yes. It's actually quite simple really. I'll explain later but for now…" He looked between Saber and Rider for a moment before finalizing on Saber. "Yes you would be the better choice. If you would, my Liege, please pour some of your blood into his mouth. The rich blood of a dragon will be most efficient in remedying the situation."
Saber's face hardened. He knew who she was. There was no doubt about it. Then again, he knew of Rider's identity as well and made no effort to hide the fact. How he knew these things she did not know, but she would find out by the end of the night.
Regardless though, Shirou's current situation took priority. As such she slowly made her way to her master's head and prepared herself to cut her hand on her sword. Perhaps it was because she was so willing to follow the rat's directions without question that Rider too remained silent and watched from a distance, though she did have her nails out just in case things awry.
He turned to Sakura. "Lady Matou, if you would be so kind as to hold Lord Emiya still while this happens, and remove the shroud around his mouth. I'm afraid you are the only one who is able to do this without getting harmed in the process." He paused as if he said something unusual before shaking his head in dismissal. "No. I'll look into that later. It's not important now…" He muttered to himself quietly.
With Sakura's help in calming Shirou down, feeding him Saber's blood was actually quite easy. The small stream of red fluid that fell down from the servant's hand to the teen's mouth went down his throat with no issue at all, almost as if he was drinking water instead. Despite the tenseness in the situation, the priest seemed to be content just sitting there and watching everything unfold… of course, it was equally possible he probably wasn't moving because Rider was right behind him with her nails still in her hand.
It took roughly half a minute for results to be seen, but sure enough Shirou's body slowly began to relax. His teeth began to return to normal, his eyes returned to their normal human shape, his breathing calmed, and he didn't seem to react poorly to the inhuman priest being near his mouth anymore.
"He's ok…" Sakura teared up from behind her lover and held onto him tighter in relief. "He's ok."
"What happened?" Saber commanded darkly, not paying attention as the wound in her hand disappeared thanks to her Avalon. She had to cut it open two additional times while treating Shirou due to her accelerated healing closing the wound so quickly. "Master has a powerful healing factor due to his link with me. He should not have been in a life or death situation as you said because of it."
The rat shook his head. "I am well aware of your recovery abilities, but there are limits that even it cannot address. Tell me. If you cut off your arm and then eat it, will your abilities help you put back the material to where it originally belongs?"
The King of Knights blinked in disbelief. "My… you mean to tell us that…"
"His body was consuming itself." Rider summarized the issue. "Healing would recover damage, but it would not be able to take into account natural body processes. Healing will at best delay the demise of someone starving to death."
"An adequate analogy." The priest nodded. "Lord Emiya's body had, after the incident with Louvre, reached a sort of equilibrium with its living human side and its cursed undead Apostle side, the latter of which was significantly smaller than the former. It is why the Queen of the Clocktower has yet to detect his… contamination, in her words. Thankfully."
He shifted in his seat to get more comfortable. "Under most circumstances he has this new change of his body well managed. Save for some lethargy during the day and an increased taste in rare meats, one would pressed to determine that anything of this nature has happened to him. However that does not mean that there have not been any deeper changes."
"I take it that what just happened is one of these deeper issues." Saber stated coldly.
"Indeed." The rat confirmed before thinking of the right thing to say. "The human body on average uses at most only ten percent of its full strength for daily activities. It is only in extreme life or death situations that require additional power that the remaining ninety is used. What has occurred could be considered of a similar nature to this process."
"Normally, Lord Emiya's body is fully capable of maintaining and producing its own prana via human functions. He is alive, so his body is not decomposing and thus does not require additional prana, via blood in this case, to maintain itself." He continued. "However the natural function and process of consuming the blood and flesh of others to maintain the body is still very much within him as he is an Apostle. Under normal circumstances, due to his training and self control, he only has to put some minor effort into resisting the small impulses to feed, which come up rarely if at all. However…"
"He was already low on prana when the Casters attacked, and we both fought them." Rider nodded in understanding. "Because we were consuming what little power he had left when he was already low, his body instinctively began to resort to another natural option that was available in order to sustain itself."
"And when it couldn't feed on an outside source, it began to turn towards an internal one, Shirou's mostly human body." Saber concluded with distaste before she paused and realized something. "If that was the case, then why didn't he attack Sakura before we got to her? No… it wasn't even that. It was almost as if he didn't even see her as food…"
The priest nodded, understanding her concern. "That, I am not so sure about, but I am convinced it has to do with the fact that Lord Emiya was already a rather… distorted individual before he was changed. Even unconscious, his original irregular subconscious state would probably override anything his Apostle instincts would command if they were to clash."
"Original irregular subconscious?" Rider echoed in confusion.
"How do you know so much about him?" Sakura asked warily. "He's never told me about this, and I know enough about him to get him killed a hundred times over."
"My dear child." The priest chuckled. "Who do you think taught him to control his apostle blood in the first place? His silver eyes, which you most likely saw earlier, are a product of his new blood and all the information he has gained through them during his life. The Pure Eyes of Structural Grasping would have rendered him, or anyone else, a vegetable by information overload without the proper aid and instruction."
"I remember he had trouble with structural grasping objects quickly at one point, but he said…" Sakura frowned as she recalled the time when Shirou had just awakened his pure eyes.
"That it was the result of his latest encounter with an Apostle." The priest nodded. "Yes. Not a lie, but not all of the truth either."
"You're one of them?" Saber asked warily.
"No." The rat denied. "My master is however. Despite Lord Emiya's current occupation, My master is quite attached to him. He considers our companion to be one of his greatest friends. In fact he is the reason why I am here, as he was concerned that with what had occurred tonight that our friend would experience some difficulties."
"You knew that this was going to happen." Rider accused. "And Master didn't."
"I cannot confirm nor deny your claim." He relented without any shame. "I told you before didn't I? His condition is unique. To be frank Master and I did not know what would happen when events continued to deteriorate tonight. I was merely sent here in case things did turn out as they did. In addition to that I am also to save this information for future reference. He could have simply passed out from the strain of supporting two servants, or his Apostle blood could have been more aggressive."
"And by simply feeding him blood he returns to normal?" Saber skeptically concluded.
"Not quite." The priest sighed. "You see, his blood was awakened by the combined and prolonged absence and need for prana. Had the conflicts tonight happened tomorrow or later, this issue would not have arisen as Lord Emiya would have had more power in his body and more rest. However this was not the case."
He looked down at Shirou. "Once his blood was awakened, only satisfying the instincts awakened or placing his body into a deeper state of inactivity would calm them down and allow his dominant human instincts to regain full control again. An exorcism or other divine rituals would only harm his body since the blood has long since become a part of him. As the latter option is rather risky, not to mention unavailable, the only practical route available was blood for blood. The more rich in prana it is, the better the results. Still, it would be best to avoid putting him such a situation again altogether in the future."
"I can see why you'd use Saber's blood." Sakura muttered tiredly. "Her mana ranking is high enough to make her a Caster Class."
"It was still a difficult decision. Lady Medusa here has some divinity left in her existence." The rat nodded to Rider approvingly. "Even if it is diminished, the blood of the Gorgon Queen would still be deemed as top quality. Master would be jealous of Lord Emiya. Having such easy access to both Dragon's blood and Divine Gorgon's blood…"
"I did not get summoned to serve as a living meal." Rider all but growled. "I was summoned to fight in a war."
"As did I." Saber frowned. "I thank you for your aid, however I cannot help but feel uncomfortable with you around. Regardless of how my Master feels about you and the benefits of your services, unless you have any other information that you feel you should share with us I am going to have to ask you to leave."
The priest looked at all three females there with tired old eyes before smiling gently and slowly got up. "Very well. I can tell when I am no longer desired. It was an honor to meet women of your caliber, and I apologize if I have offended any of you. Please rest assured though that I am not serving any other masters in this war, and that your secrets are safe with me."
He smiled. "As a token of good faith, allow me to give you some information I believe you may find value in. I have it on good authority that either tonight or tomorrow night the last of the servants, Assassin, will be summoned."
The room went cold as Saber's and Rider's stances stiffened. If this was true, then the following nights were the servant's best chance to take out Sakura or Shirou. Changing locations was pointless as they had nowhere to go, and with Shirou still weak, both servants had to hold back when fighting.
"I don't suppose you would tell us who Assassin's master will be would you? Or who they intend to summon?" Saber asked with an edge to her voice.
The rat shook his head in denial. "I'm afraid not. Master has already interfered with the war more than he originally intended. He strictly wants to stay as an outside uninvolved party in order to avoid conflicts with the Church and the Association. This is as much as I can do without pushing things. If it has to do with Lord Emiya's condition feel free to ask me anything, however I am all but mute when it comes to your war. My apologies."
Saber kept her face impassive. "Your War." He said. He had already decided that this was not something that was not his concern. Regardless of who won or lost, he would not lift a finger. She had heard similar words spoken when she searched for allies during her campaigns in England. Cowards who waited until the last moment to team with the winning side, or fools who assumed that they would remain unscathed from battle if they claimed neutrality.
Rider called him a rat. Even though she probably meant it in a different context, Saber had to agree that it fit him quite well.
The rat turned to Sakura and bowed politely. "I wish you luck in your endeavors child. You are quite strong to endure as much as you have as well as you have. Rest assured, Lord Emiya is in stable condition now and only requires rest. I only advise that you do not risk putting him in this situation again frequently, as it may cause his Apostle blood to become more dominant in his body."
"… Why?" Sakura asked as the man was halfway across the room. "Why do you call him Lord Emiya? What has he done that makes you respect him so much?"
A dry, but kind chuckle was made. "I call him Lord, child, because my master and I see great potential in him. I call him Lord because he is respectful, but not oblivious to the world around him." He made it to the doorway.
"I call him Lord, because he is one, even if he does not know it yet."
o. o. o.
Ryuudou Temple:
The Witch gritted her teeth as she looked at Assassin, clearly at conflict with the servant she had summoned.
Since she had laid eyes on all of the Servants but Assassin and Archer since the War began, and the Tohsaka girl was rather confident that her unidentified Servant was powerful, it left little doubt that the remaining class remaining was Assassin. Knowing this, Caster had conducted the summoning ritual in the graveyard of the temple in an attempt to gain a stronger link to death and thus a stronger Servant.
Instead she got this enigma.
Covered in a dirty tan cloak from head to toe that seemed to be made of materials that belonged to the modern era, she could not discern much from his appearance other than the fact that he was had white skin, was of average height, and was a male.
As she was now a Master, Caster could see his stats and… was left less than impressed. Half his stats were D ranked or less. His agility was only barely above average, which was less than the standard for Assassin class Servants, and thankfully slightly higher ranked mana and noble phantasm. All in all, in a physical fight, the Witch honestly believed that even SHE could beat him senseless.
However that was not the end of her worries as she looked at his other abilities…
Independent Action and Mental Pollution. If there was any combination of abilities that indicated that the Servant would be a pain to control it would be this, even if the former was surprising to have on anything other than Archer. Granted they weren't that high ranked, but their mere existence would make dealing with him a bigger headache than she wished.
Had this been all to her servant, she would have attempted the ritual again using him as a medium without hesitation… however…
"You're the one who summoned me." Assassin stated in a soft but dry tone as he inspected the Witch, causing her to suppress a shiver. There was no emotion to his voice. It was young and full of confidence, yet… it sounded as if he was completely broken, but there was an undoubted foundation that indicated that he would not be pushed to do anything. If there were any doubts that his Independent Action and Mental Pollution had impacted his personality in any way before, they were without a doubt gone now. "You're a Servant."
"How acute of you." Caster smirked. "Tell me your name."
"I refuse." Assassin replied point blank without hesitation.
The witch clicked her teeth irritably. She had hoped she would have at least last a bit longer before a conflict started. "And why is that? I am your Master. You are my Servant. You are duty bound to follow my commands."
"You are not a real Master." The man stated, not changing his tone in the slightest. "You provide me with prana, but I can tell you used this land as the foundation to keep me in this world as you cannot. I am obligated to do nothing save make you one of my last kills so long as you don't fight me earlier."
"Oh?" Caster donned a condescending smirk. "I wouldn't be your last kill? I'm not good enough?"
Assassin didn't say anything as he stared at her for a few seconds before he turned to the entrance of the temple, the only safe exit for Servants out of the area.
Obviously she wouldn't be his final kill if he wanted to win the war. She held his command seals. All it took were a few words and some focus and she could make him kill himself whenever she wanted. If there was no one else to distract her, then she would turn to the only remaining threat there, the one she was in control of.
Caster held back a chuckle. Her slave would be difficult to control and use, but at least he wasn't a complete fool.
"Well well, how thoughtful of you." She taunted. "You're already going to your main job. If you are going to be disrespectful to your Master, the least you could do is serve your purpose. Guard the entrance to the Temple. No other Masters or Servants are to pass save for those that I grant are to pass."
"Do it yourself." Assassin replied to her command without slowing down or turning back. "You're Caster. Make a Workshop."
Caster couldn't help but falter at how bluntly he turned the command back onto her. "Wha… how dare you! I doubt that Berserker could be any ruder than you are! I am your Master! You are to obey me and fulfill the contract! Once you leave this land, it might as well be as if you don't have a Master! You will have to return within a day every time you leave regardless or else you will disappear like the fool you are!"
The retreating Servant said nothing as he continued to exit the property without stopping. Clearly he didn't care much for the woman's words, even if he knew that they were true.
Had Caster been in better condition, less frustrated, or stronger, she would have attempted to attack her new minion and force him into submission, or attempted to scare him with the identity of some of the other servants, or noticed that he was simply walking away instead of turning into a spirit or using his presence concealment, or actually moving faster if he wanted to get away without possibly getting hit from behind…
… However as it stood she was still weak a bit on edge from the chaos that occurred that night… and as such…
"By the power of my Command Seal, I order you Servant Assassin to be obedient to my commands from this point forth." The witch growled venomously as the symbol on the back of her right hand glowed crimson before a third of it disappeared.
The moment the words left Caster's mouth, Assassin froze and grunted in irritation, as if he was fighting something with his entire body, yet slowly failing in the process. Normally such a vague command would be drastically weakened compared to its intended effects as it was spread out over time, but as the master was the Servant Caster, making her pretty much the most powerful Master ever, the results were far more powerful. It took roughly half a minute of fighting the impulse, but in the end it was too strong and Assassin was forced to kneel in front of the Witch. "What is your command… Master?" He growled out in distinct irritation, the first emotion he displayed since being summoned.
Despite her success in finally reigning in her Servant, the woman was far from happy as she had just wasted the THIRD command seal in her possession that night. "You will guard the entrance of the temple from the enemy. If they come, you will drive them off or kill them. Whichever is most efficient at the time. You will keep Saber alive though, as I need her. You will not show yourself to anyone that comes here, nor will you contact them. You are to remain unknown. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes. Master." Assassin grunted, clearly not happy with his situation.
"Good. Let's see if you are as good at killing as you are at annoying me." Caster spat on the man before disappearing in a show of black magic.
The Servant of Murder remained in place for a few moments before getting up and walking once more towards the entrance of the temple… and then down the steps and into the quiet woods where he would not be disturbed till he found a wide enough clearing to work in efficiently.
From there he began to take out objects from his cloak and lay them on the ground in front of him… and more objects… and more until it became quite apparent that these weapons were somehow a special ability or a Noble Phantasm of his.
Each and every weapon and tool was laid out in a neat and organized position, proof that he had not only used them before, but that he knew what he was going to use them for.
Once he was done unloading the contents of his person, the man reached forward to the first of his tools of destruction, picked it up with one hand, channeled some prana…
… And broke it.
Then he carefully put it back down on the ground and began to repeat the process with the next tool…
Back in the depths of the temple, Caster cursed under her breath as she walked down the hallway towards her Workshop. Well, in reality the entire temple itself was her Workshop, but the caverns below the temple contained the location of her biggest projects.
As it stood now, all of the residents of the Temple would for the most part ignore her as a normal person and avoid the places where she conducted her work. She would still have to spend some time placing hypnotic suggestions into all the residents in case a Master asked them about her. Then there was increasing the efficiency of her spells in the area and creating some more useful devices... her work was endless. It would have been so much easier if her other half had been aiding her in this project, but the Witch knew that the Princess would never agree to going to this extent to win the war. A pity.
The Witch would have to make do with giving up one ally to gain another that was loyal only to her. One stronghold that was known for another that was unknown and more appropriate for her needs. One set of resources for another that was grander and less restricted…
The room she was going to now had most of her work in it…
… As well as the most power.
"Really Master." The woman sighed as she entered the room and walked past the piles of books, items, ingredients, and other objects of unknown origin. "I can almost sympathize with you now with regards to unruly Servants. They really can be such a pain to manage if not addressed properly."
Marjatta didn't say anything.
"Oh I know I am being a bit hypocritical, but so long as this keeps up you will without a doubt be the winner of the war. Had you proven yourself more capable, I wouldn't have to be forced to take such extreme measures. Besides, I wouldn't have been able to summon Assassin so quickly unless I did what I did." Caster continued with a hint of amusement as she caressed her hand on the glass in front of her. "And it isn't like you aren't contributing."
The Edelfelt remained silent as she floated in the unidentified fluid and stared almost blankly at her Servant. Her body could not move as several objects were implanted into her body, paralyzing it with a concoction of fluids that kept her alive but unable to move, and she couldn't use her last command seal as a bracelet similar to the one she used on Sakura earlier that night had been placed on her hand.
All she could do is float in her own private hell and suffer as she was used to channel an absurd amount of Mana from the leylines below the mountain through her body into her Servant and her projects.
Unable to Move.
Unable to Rest.
Unable to Scream.
"I told you before Master. You of all people should know how useful some origins can be. The concept of "Burst" will indeed be most useful for my attempts to win this war…"