Fate/Irregular Summons

Chapter 25: Armageddon's Conception

FATE/IRREGULAR SUMMONS

Chapter 25: Armageddon's Conception

As the late night hours enveloped all of Fuyuki in almost compete darkness, Connla and Caren landed on a residential rooftop that was relatively unscathed from the explosion. They wordlessly gazed at the wreckage that was once the Matou residence. The only sections that remained of the actual mansion were the foundations and a couple of walls. The ground around it was utterly destroyed and smoldering with small flames. Although the upper levels had been decimated, the stone-walled basement was relatively intact.

"Hm..." Caren hummed in curiosity. She realized that several families were either scrambling into their vehicles or fleeing from their homes in a state of panic. Some people didn't even bother changing out of their night wear, opting to just get the hell out of there while they could. Neighbors allowed their shell-shocked friends to climb into their cars so they could all escape this indescribable hellscape.

Connla noticed this as well and murmured, "It doesn't look like there were any casualties among the townsfolk."

"Fine by me. If we're going to deal with Zouken and Cuchulainn, then at least they won't have any meat shields to hide behind."

Once they were sure the coast was clear, they hopped off the roof and landed in front of the ruined mansion. Connla told Caren to stay behind while she ventured into the wreckage. At the epicenter of it all was a hideous protuberance writhing before her. Crest Worms that didn't die in the explosion crawled around her feet, clearly acting dumbfounded as to why their hive had been destroyed so suddenly. Connla glared at the wriggling mass of insects and flesh as they reconstituted into something vaguely human-shaped.

That's Matou Zouken...?

She couldn't believe that this was a fellow human being she was confronting. She was already aware of him extending his lifespan by infusing himself with so many Crest Worms that his original body had long since decayed. However, she had to remember something that Scathach taught her back when she trained in the Land of Shadows:

"The soul contains one's memories, mind, and magic circuits. The body simply exists to anchor the soul and temporarily preserve it, but all souls are ultimately destined to return to Akasha. Even if something like the Holy Grail creates a copy of that same body and transfers the same person's soul into it, the copy will always be inferior to the original. If this process is allowed to continue unabated, the soul will 'rot'."

"I understand a body rotting away, but that can happen to a soul too?"

"Indeed. Their original intentions, however pure or vile they may be, will warp beyond recognition. Eventually, that soul will decay to a point that they can no longer be considered 'human'. That's why I always show my students how to exorcise spirits; however much the departed seek to tether themselves to the land of the living, the fact is that it is impossible. As I am the queen of the land of death, it is only natural for me to show my pupils the art of exorcism so that they can assist me in returning such wayward souls to where they belong."

Connla then recalled what Sakura told her and Caren way back when they first recruited her:

"Ten years ago, I had an uncle who took part in the Fourth War. He promised me that if he won the Grail for Grandfather, he could save me from being fed to the 'bugs'. But that uncle... lost. I then watched him as he was eaten by the 'bugs', and I realized that it was pointless to go against Grandfather's will..."

She gripped her shawl and trembled a bit. If Sakura was 17 now, that meant she had to be exposed to these atrocious insects when she was seven – the same age that Connla would always be summoned as. Not only that, Sakura had watched a relative be consumed for his failure. Although Connla didn't know Zouken personally, she had to imagine that his soul had decayed so horribly that he derived pleasure from torturing his own family in such a brutal fashion. Heck, she figured that he saw everyone around him as either instruments of entertainment or tools to use for his ambitions before discarding them like so much garbage.