Disclaimer: Type-Moon owns the Fate Series.
Chapter 6
Fuyuki City... Miyama district. Homurahara Academy.
It was a day after Shirou, Rin, and Saber spent a lengthy discussion about the Servant Rider.
Her identity was Medusa, the youngest of the three gorgon sisters, one among many important characters of the Greek mythology. And knowing her identity, her Noble Phantasms could easily be predicted.
One of them was the Mystic Eyes of Petrifaction, the Eyes that could turn anyone, even a being that could rival gods, into stone. This was the Noble Phantasm that Shirou had experienced first hand in addition to her other Noble Phantasm.
Which was the nameless Bounded Field that could also be linked to the legend of Medusa, who lived with her sisters in an impenetrable island of a sort.
However, the other very possible Noble Phantasm is what worried Rin the most, as it could be considered her trump card.
The Magical Beast called Pegasus.
In the legend, when Medusa was beheaded by the hero Perseus, a Pegasus sprung forth from the blood of her headless neck, and it was later tamed by the hero Bellerophon, who tamed and mounted the winged horse for the purpose to find and slay the legendary creature called Chimera. The legend of Bellerophon taming the Pegasus would later be integrated with the more known Perseus who beheaded the gorgon, but that is a story for another time.
They had more than one reason to believe that this Noble Phantasm was the reason why she's classified as a Rider. A Magical Beast was not something that one could mount at will... For the beast had so much power that it would not accept any person to just ride it as if it were a mere horse.
Rin reasoned that Rider must be stopped before she summoned the Pegasus.
And so, it led them to this.
"She took off the Bounded Field." Shirou stated when he entered the school and noticing that he no longer felt the stomach-lurching feel that was caused by Rider's Bounded Field.
"Tch... This isn't good." Rin remarked as she stood beside him.
Shirou was about to say why before the answer hit him, "Right... Shinji must've ordered her to take it off because of my interference, now they're looking to find someplace else for her to consume a lot of souls at once."
"Exactly." Rin confirmed, "Now that worthless worm knows how dangerous you really are, he wouldn't dare to set foot in this place, much less letting Rider's Bounded Field to be active when this is the place where you would most likely visit every day." she said, "...As much as I hate to admit it, I guess he's more scared of you than me."
"Is that a bad thing, Tohsaka?" Shirou asked with genuine curiosity.
"...In this situation, I can accept that it's not." Rin conceded, "You're clearly stronger than me... It would be stupid of me to think otherwise."
Shirou merely shrugged and said; "Still doesn't make you a less competent magus."
At that, she smiled faintly and scoffed, "Hmph, of course. It is only expected of me to excel at every field in Magecraft after all."
Shirou merely smiled back as he shook his head at Rin's prideful declaration, "Well then, oh great Rin Tohsaka, what do you suggest we do next? Skip school during lunch time to hunt for Shinji? Or do you want to wait until school's over to maintain your idol persona?"
Both of the suggestions that Shirou made were accompanied by different yet equally troublesome conundrum...
To choose the former would mean that her absence would be noted, and that could cause some kind of rumor to spread around the school, especially if Shirou were to leave the school with her.
Ah, she could just imagine what kind of conversation the other students would be having once they caught wind of something like that.
"Hey, you hear about Tohsaka and Emiya? They're skipping school at the same time!"
"What do you think they're doing?"
"I-is she... you know? Emiya's girlfriend or something?"
"...It could be. I mean, the evidence is as clear as day!"
So no, she will not let that kind of rumor spreading around the school, thank you very much.
But to choose the latter would mean that more time would be given to Shinji Matou to complete his plot, and he's in an advantage, considering that his current location was not known to them.
So in the end, she chose the third option.
"Well, Emiya-kun, if you're so feared by Shinji, then maybe you should be the one responsible in looking for him." She said with a sweet smile, "After all, you are the great Emiya Shirou, someone who could defeat a Servant in one-on-one combat with his powers. And not to mention that you're the one who forced him to go into hiding."
Without hesitation, he nodded and said; "Hm. Sounds reasonable. Very well, I'll be out of school by lunch time then."
What? Why didn't he even react to her teasing? That just ruined the fun...
"O-oh, I see." Rin said, miffed by his lack of reaction to her veiled coercion.
"Sorry for taking your job though." Shirou casually added.
"...What do you mean?"
Shirou shrugged again and said, "Well, seeing that you're the Second Owner of the city, I thought that it's your duty to put Shinji down for good, you know, seeing that you're the one who's supposed to uphold the tradition of keeping the War dignified, secret and all that."
Damn it, he got her there.
"But well, seeing that you have another duty to uphold, I guess I'll take it for the moment." Shirou said.
...If he were Archer, Rin could identify a snide, sarcastic remark with his arrogant, know-it-all smirk.
But with Shirou, his expression held nothing but honesty, even though what he said could be interpreted as something derisive, his face betrayed nothing of the sort.
And so, Rin could only glare at him with the expression that could be interpreted as 'Warning! Do not attempt to approach the wild, untamed beast in its agitated state!'.
However, seeing this only made Shirou confused, "...Have I done something wrong, Tohsaka?"
"...Oh, nothing Emiya-kun... really, nothing..." she answered with a dangerous tone of voice while still keeping the sweet-looking smile on her face.
"Oh, well alright." Shirou said after a few seconds of examining her expression.
"E-Emiya?"
Hearing the sound of a certain student council president, Shirou and Rin turned towards one Issei Ryuudou, who looked rather shocked by something that he was seeing.
Oh, right.
It might be rather late to mention this, but Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka was seen by the other students together. As in walking together to school together, side-by-side together.
She did not mean it to be this way if one were wondering, he and her did not plan to meet together at his house nor hers to walk to school together, it just happened through chance that mid-way, they encountered one another and unconsciously decided to walk side-by-side. Though not too close, considering that they didn't have an intimate relationship.
Considering the fact that the chance of the two meeting each other on their usual route to Homurahara Academy was usually pretty low considering the location of their houses, it was no wonder that Issei would was shocked by what he's seeing.
"Ah, good morning to you, Ryuudou-kun." said Rin with a pleasant smile on her face.
"T-Tohsaka! H-hey, Emiya? Why is she with you? What's going on? Could it be that...? No... have you been seduced by this vixen, Emiya?!" Issei asked frantically, as if he had just seen something so unbelievable to be said as the reality. Something that just destroyed his whole belief in humanity.
Rin smiled, not a smile of purity that she had showed before, but a smile of mischief.
She then went closer to Issei and said; "Hm... your reaction of me being with Emiya-kun is rather... strange, Ryuudou-kun." she remarked rather impishly, "Why, it was a reaction that I would expect from his significant other."
Issei's face began to gain heat as he blushed, he took a step back, "Y-you're exaggerating! I'm just worried about him! Your influence would corrupt him!"
"Hmm~. Still seeing the 'scorned lover' instead of the 'worried friend' here, Ryuudou-kun." Then she giggled and said; "Well don't worry. It's not as if I'm judging. Go ahead and spend your time with your boyfriend here."
After saying that, she went off on her own, giggling all the while. While inwardly, she hoped that the spectacle that she had just made would get some unsavory rumors about Shirou to circulate.
"T-that...!" Issei then turned to Shirou, whose expression was quite unreadable, and he also noticed that some of the students were looking at him while whispering to one another, no doubt already believing what that minx just said, "E-Emiya! I was just worried about you and-"
Shirou then patted Issei's shoulder and said; "Relax. She's just pulling your leg." he said in a calm manner.
Issei then sighed in relief, his worries washed away by his friend's knowledge of Rin Tohsaka's mischievous self.
But then...
"But if what Tohsaka said were true, then I have to apologize, I don't swing that way." Shirou stated with a voice that sounded rather sarcastic and deadpan.
...
...
Much to Rin's chagrin and amusement, there were no rumors about Shirou and Issei being lovers of some sort. Instead of that, there was a rumor about a tragically unrequited crush of the student council president with Shirou Emiya, the Humble Prince.
It was even more hilarious than she had hoped. And combined with the fact that the rumor made them forget about them arriving at the school together, it was more than enough to please her.
Diverting her thoughts away from the previous event that happened that morning, Tohsaka turned her head away from the ranting teacher towards the exterior of the school.
As she looked upon the distant yet visible skyscrapers in the district of Shinto, she couldn't help but to be worried about Shinji and his Servant who's still at large. Shinji did not come to school today, and so did his sister... Both of them had different reasons for doing so.
With Shinji, she already knew the reason why. But with Sakura...?
Normally, this kind of thought would never plague her mind. But that was before Shirou shook her belief in her father's decision to send Sakura to another family of magus where she would be trained in their arts instead of Tohsaka's.
Zouken Matou was not a normal person. Shirou Emiya's ability to detect his 'smell' allowed him to make that deduction, and frankly, she couldn't help but inwardly agree with him.
She had seen the old man from afar, perhaps once or twice... And every time she saw him, she couldn't help but feel repulsed. Whether it was because of his pale, bone-like skin, his pitch-black eyes, or his sheer repugnant presence, she didn't even have the will to lie to herself that Zouken Matou was a likeable person.
No. As far as she knew, most magi are not likeable. It's kind of written in the job description that they have to be ruthless and arrogant.
But even though she got the arrogant part down, it was not in her nature to be ruthless.
As much as she had been trying to emulate her father in terms of how magi must behave or act, deep down, she's more like her mother than she had thought.
She cared for her sister, that much she knew and realized. And as much as she wanted to pulverize the familial feeling regarding her estranged sibling, she found that she could not do so, despite her numerous attempts.
In fact, because of what the redhead found about one Zouken Matou, she had been intrigued enough to search her father's notes that he had left behind... And she found that her father had a slight idea of how the old patriarch managed to live for so long...
It was vague, it was not specific, but her father had known that Zouken's method to stay alive was not very... healthy, to say the very least...
But yet he decided to give Sakura away anyway. For the sake of convenience.
Her father's notes had shed some light to the man that he had been admiring and looked up to for the past few years...
And what she found was not something that amplified her admiration. Worse, it made her realize that she knew very little about her own father...
Was he a family man? Perhaps, he was quite civil and father-like to both her and her sister whenever he interacted with them. Though he was rather distant, to the point that her memory of him doing some father-daughter bonding with her were scarce and easily forgotten.
Was he a good husband? A bit distant and perhaps awkward most of the time, but nevertheless, he tried his best at keeping her mother as happy as she could be in a society that thought of marriage between two family of magi as a breeding contract.
...Was he a good magus?
If one were talking about the standards of what a 'good' magus should be, then yes. He was a very good magus.
So good that he was absolutely cold and ruthless in dealing with situations that required him to act as a magus should be. So good that when the time came to choose between his family and a good magus' way of life, he chose the latter.
She didn't know if she could make the same choice as he did if she were in his position... And she's not sure if she wanted to be in a similar position and be forced to make a troubling choice between two things that she cared equally.
Ignorance had been a bliss for her. Her father was a good man and a good magus, and it was only right for her to follow his footsteps being the eldest of the Tohsaka family. Those had been her thoughts once.
Now? She's not so sure.
She inwardly sighed, her mind burdened by the revelation of her father's past deeds and who he truly was. And not to mention by the possibility that her sister had been living a horrifying life under the watchful gaze of Zouken Matou, a life that Rin dare not imagine, let alone experience. 'Damn you Emiya-kun...' she cursed the young man who had brought these kinds of thoughts to her in the first place.
"Miss Tohsaka, please pay attention!"
"Y-yes!" she stuttered out, somewhat caught by surprise by the teacher's sudden yell.
After a bit of reprimanding from the teacher, she then opted to pay attention to the class once more.
But even so, her mind could not be pulled away from thought of her sister, nor from the thought of Shirou, who had opted to kill the old Matou who had been troubling her conscience recently.
Not that she minded the notion... But considering that the one that he wanted to kill was Zouken Matou, she knew that he must have some plan to fulfill it.
And she's looking forward to hear it.
...
...
Fuyuki City... Shinto district. Afternoon.
A certain redhead could be seen walking in the crowded district of Shinto, wearing not his school uniform, but his usual long-sleeved white t-shirt beneath his blue jacket, combined with dark-blue jeans and a pair of black shoes.
He had left the school early, -and unannounced as well, so he expected Taiga to come and lecture him in the near future- and went home to prepare himself to look for one Shinji Matou and his Servant.
He had a suspicion that Shinji would move his base of operation towards the Shinto district, after all, the district is known for its high concentration of people, even during the night. The only thing that he needed to do was to find the area that he will most likely use for harvesting souls.
And so...
"Do you feel her presence nearby?" he asked the one standing besides him.
"No, Shirou. I'm afraid I do not. We will have to keep searching." the blonde woman replied.
He had brought Saber along with him. The Once and Future King of Britain was wearing her usual clothing as she stood beside Shirou like how a bodyguard would stand beside his protectee.
Her stern expression helped matters. Along with her body language.
Although her small body could give someone another idea of why she's standing so close to him.
But Shirou thought of it as something natural of her to do. After all, she's bound by her knightly disposition and so she considered it her duty as his Servant to always guard him.
And Shirou considered that he might as well accept the notion with good graces despite being able to take care of himself.
But regarding Saber's answer to his question, he knew that she was wrong.
Someone was watching them. He or she was not close, but not far enough to let them observe him and Saber.
But he was not worried. This presence held no hostility towards them.
Curious, to be more exact. And the gaze of this person felt rather... familiar somehow..
It's someone that he knew. Or at the very least, someone whom he had met before, and if he were to narrow it down to several people...
Shirou flashed a knowing smile before he shook his head, something that didn't escape Saber's sight, as she then asked, "...Shirou? What's the matter?"
The redhead smiled at his Servant and said; "Someone's watching us, Saber. But don't be tense, this one's not an enemy. Not yet at least..."
...
...
A plump, sensual-looking lips formed a smile as the owner's gaze fell upon the redhead who was conversing with the little girl king.
"As expected of you boy... you could sense me, even from afar." she spoke to herself. "Truly, you are a man worthy for a king's entertainment."
The blonde-haired woman known as Gilgamesh watched Shirou with keen interest, she also noticed that the childish king was also with him, guarding him as she positioned herself as close as possible to him. As expected of her. Gilgamesh knew of her innocence, her blind idealism and the reason why she sought the Holy Grail so much.
She smiled rather impishly, and uttered; "Ah~ sweet Saber... the flame still burns bright within you... How beautiful... yet also slightly pitiful to look at."
The King of Heroes knew and met the King of Knights during the Fourth Heaven's Feel. At first, she thought that she was a pretender like the other so-called 'heroes' that was summoned alongside her in the fourth War, the Original Hero.
But after the so-called banquet held by the admittedly fascinating King of Conquerors, her disposition towards the King of Knights changed from annoyance to amusement.
She had a hilarious view of how a king should be, Gilgamesh rarely found something truly deserved to be regarded as funny, but her ideal was astoundingly hilarious for her to laugh.
How hilarious that a king viewed herself as someone who should serve her subjects. Serve! The gall of the girl to call herself a king, a leader of a country, its army and its people with that kind of mindset!
But nevertheless, she had caught her interest with her childish ideals. All alone, bearing her false, poisonous ideals and not knowing of her sins of being a king who cared not for her own self.
A king is supposed to lead. A king is supposed to stand far above his subjects. A king should be selfish. And a king must never... ever, serve.
While Saber was not a true king, she amused her due to her being an aberration of a monarch. And as such, she considered her as a treasure that was not and could not be a part her vast treasury.
There were few things that she regarded as such... And another one of those things was him. The boy whom she was currently walking with.
Knowing the boy's ideals, she knew that he's here to look for the pathetic Servant controlled by her equally pathetic Master.
Oh she knew of them alright. After all, those who do as they like within her garden would not, or shall not be ignored.
However, someone of her station shall never deign herself to take care of this pesky problem. After all, the little wretch of a Master and his Servant were pitifully weak. It pains her to even look at them so, let alone to lower herself to kill them.
So she opted to give this task to the boy who reminded herself of her one friend so much... One could call it a test. A test to see how far will he follow his ideal.
Gilgamesh allowed herself to smile expectantly as she watched him from one of the skyscrapers dotting the landscapes of Shinto district, "Well then, reincarnation of Enkidu... show me what you're made of."
...
...
A couple of hours later... In the late afternoon.
Everything was going swell.
However, considering the 'mission' that he and Saber had been doing so far, how well everything had been going thus far made him slightly more worried.
In a couple of hours, night will befall Fuyuki City again, and at that time, there was no doubt in his mind that the Servant Rider will already have her base set, and afterwards, she can hunt people again for their Od in the Shinto district.
Considering that he could minimize casualty by finding and killing Shinji, he was very much pressed by his own ideal to quickly find him and let this matter be over with.
However, doing so in this crowded part of the city could be somewhat... troublesome.
'Then again, hoping that this is a matter that could be handled with subtlety would be rather redundant.' Shirou thought, remembering what his mentor always said...
"Sometimes, things may not go your way. Knowing this however, you must not despair and you must not try to make it go according to how you want it to be. You just have to do the best you can in that kind of situation."
So with that in mind, he had resolved to solve this situation as silently as he possibly can. And if subtlety does not work...
Well, then just screw subtlety. He'll have to handle Shinji. Subtle or not, he's going down.
He then turned to Saber and said; "Searching for them this way won't work. No, not at all. Saber, follow me."
The blonde knight nodded as she followed her Master towards a rather secluded alley that was located in-between two large buildings.
Saber was rather confused by the location that he had chosen, and so she asked; "Shirou, what are we doing here?"
Shirou responded by saying; "I'm going to find the Servant's scent. However, my extra sense normally would not work in such a dense crowd so..."
There was a moment of silence, which was ended when Saber said; "...Yes?"
Shirou sighed before shaking his head, "This cannot be seen by other people. You'll understand when I do it."
After a moment, Saber nodded, understanding that he's about to use some kind of thaumaturgy to locate the Servant Rider, "Very well, Shirou. Do whatever you need to."
He nodded before he closed his eyes. And Saber heard him say...
"...An awakened Sword. A realized Artifact.
...Forged from suffering. Created from death.
...Intertwined as one...
Origin Seal... Release."
Then, before Saber's eyes, Shirou began to transform as a new sigil was formed on the back of his left hand. A sigil of a sword enveloped within a sun.
He opened his eyes, and Saber could see that the shade of his hair color and his eye color began to get lighter, his expression turned rather stern and austere, not unlike her usual one, and his eyes turned into a state of emptiness, the state where one's concentration was so focused that 'nothingness' was the only thing decipherable from the proverbial windows of the soul.
"What is this sorcery?" Saber Alter wondered in awe.
"Shirou, what did you just do?"
The unorthodox magus didn't seem to hear her question, as his now golden-colored eyes looked rather unfocused. Then, he began to sniff the air, for a second he looked like a dog searching for something that he needed to find.
Then, his head turned upward. And before Saber could react, he jumped and scaled the seven-story building by jumping multiple times across its vertically-aligned wall.
Though Saber was struck into a shocked state for a second, she managed to get herself out of her confusion and followed Shirou towards the rooftop that he had just jumped to.
When she arrived at the topmost part of the building, Shirou's hair and eyes were already back to normal. It was as if he had done nothing that changed his physical form.
"Hm. Truly, he is something else." her alternate self remarked.
The redhead then turned to Saber while his hand pointed towards a certain skyscraper in the distance, "There." he said, prompting Saber to look towards the building that he was pointing. "That building. That's where they're located."
...
...
"Goddamn it, can't you do this faster?!"
The Servant Rider, or once known in her lifetime as Medusa, didn't even react to her Master's constant complaints. She owe it to the fact that she's already used to his pestering so much that she didn't even bother to ask for his patience or something similar to that notion.
It was merely a day ago when he said that they would have to look for a new place to set her Bounded Field. And after looking around the city for awhile, he had led her to a building in Shinto district where she could consume a lot of souls at once using Blood Fort Andromeda.
Of course, to compensate for the prana that she must use to enact her Noble Phantasm, Shinji had ordered her to consume the souls of the ones still inside.
There weren't many people within the building when they came, but luckily, the previous sessions of feeding before they moved into the building was more than enough for her to enact Blood Fort Andromeda and leave more for her to be used in combat situation.
A couple of seconds later, she finished placing the Bounded Field, and as her perception was amplified in concordance to her Blood Fort Andromeda's proximity...
She found two intruders in her midst. Two very familiar intruders.
She smiled rather playfully, she then turned to her Master to inform him of the situation, "Master, there's-"
She never got the time to warn her master however...
As a massive explosion caught Rider and her Master off guard and destroyed the Bounded Field through the destruction of the markings that she had just drawn a couple of seconds ago.
...
...
A couple of minutes before...
With the clicking sound that came from a door's locking mechanism being broken, Shirou and Saber forcefully entered the building that Shirou had pointed just a couple of hours ago.
Though the main door was locked, Shirou went to the back door and used his Tracing to summon a strange-looking dagger that he had used to break into the building.
When they entered, he looked at Saber and said; "One of the floors here must be occupied by them, we'll just have to find which one. Come on."
She nodded and afterwards, along with Shirou, they began to sprint towards where the stairs are located within the building.
But when they reached the 'hub' area of the building, the sickening feeling of the Rider's Bounded Field materialized, and as such, they knew that they arrived just when the Rider managed to set her malignant Bounded Field again.
However, being in the presence of a newly-made Bounded Field, it gave Shirou and Saber another problem to deal with.
There was no doubt that Rider now knew where they are, and before she and Shinji could form a plan, Shirou knew that they must perform a preemptive strike against them.
So he turned to Saber and said; "Saber, do you have any special technique, preferably a powerful destructive technique that could be directed vertically?"
She nodded, knowing that there was indeed a technique such as what he described. "Yes. I can do something like that, Shirou."
With that answer, Shirou looked around the surrounding area before he pointed his finger towards the center of the room. "There. Go there and use it after you count to three and then you jump through the hole until you reach the floor where they're at."
Then, he began to run towards the stairs. Seeing this, Saber called him, "Shirou! Where are you going?!"
"The top floor! We're going to attack them from both ends so that the escape window will be narrowed! Hurry, use your technique before they could get away!"
There was a moment of hesitation before she nodded in affirmation. Then, in the time needed for a human to blink their eyes, Saber's attire changed into that of her usual battle dress. And then she went towards the center of the room.
When Shirou reached the stairs, he enacted his Reinforcement to its maximum capability to quickly traverse the winding stairs.
'...1...'
The second and third floor was passed by Shirou in a successively quick manner. And already the prana from his Circuits was being sucked rather voraciously by Saber to perform her technique.
And so, he pictured a mental image of electricity running through his body and provide Saber with the prana she needed.
'...2...'
As he went pass the fourth and fifth floor, Shirou already felt the raise of the amount of prana that Saber was absorbing from him, indicating that whatever it was that Saber's going to do, it's going to happen very soon.
'...3.'
And just when he was about to reach the seventh floor... It happened.
"Strike Air... Hammer of the Wind King."
And so Saber spoke.
It was a cyclone that came out of the invisible sword... A hurricane. A gale made out of highly-pressurized air, powerful enough to destroy concrete as if it were paper. Directed towards the heaven as if it were something to challenge the gods themselves.
The technique shook the building. And along with it, the pair of Master and Servant who had been terrorizing the city for the past few days...
...
...
Rider was slightly shaken by the sudden gust of wind that was caused by none other than the swordswoman that was the redheaded boy's Servant.
But the sound of someone arriving within her proximity and the sound of a sword being put at the ready managed to bring her out of her reverie. And it was enough for Shinji to whimper as he realized that his position -and his safety- had just been compromised.
"Servant Rider. Or should I call you Medusa?"
Well. She'd already expected that she would know her true name by now, after all, the redhead must've told her.
And as such, she didn't bother with taunting and outright summoned her chained blade, ready for the inevitable battle.
Meanwhile, she could hear her Master scrambling for safety, "R-Rider! Protect me! Kill that woman!" he yelled as he ran away to find someplace for him to cower in fear.
When he was gone, Saber turned to Rider and said; "For all the lives you have taken, Rider... Do you have any regrets? Do you seek to repent for all the things that you did?"
"...Hmph. I only did what my Master told me to. And as for regrets, it was my survival at stake. I didn't really have a choice." Rider replied.
"I see." Saber said succinctly. The blonde knight then positioned herself into a stance and said; "Then prepare yourself."
The infamous gorgon then threw the chained blade towards the knight.
But she easily deflected it with her invisible sword, and with but a second to spare, she charged towards Rider with her sword at the ready to deliver an attack.
Despite her tall stature, Rider's agility proved to be more than enough to dodge Saber's attack, she leaped overhead, twirled above Saber and the chains of her blade rattled as it followed the movement of its master.
Landing on all fours behind Saber's back, Rider pulled back her chained nail-blade and leaped upwards, through the hole that Saber had created that breached the top of the building.
Saber followed suit, her status as a Servant allowed her to perform such an impossible feat despite her seemingly-normal appearance.
Now that she's on an open field, Rider knew that she's on her element, the place where her combat style is more likely to achieve success or at least provide a slight advantage. After all, she knew that Saber is the superior fighter in terms of experience, combat capability, and power output.
So guerrilla tactic it shall be.
When Saber reached the rooftop, Rider immediately went into action, she charged with her full speed, her chained nail-blade at the ready and directed it right to Saber's jugular.
She managed to deflect it with minimal effort of course, but Rider already expected that that would be the most logical outcome.
So she didn't stop, she ran with her full speed towards the edges of the rooftop, then she turned towards Saber, her blade at the ready, and with a powerful dash, she struck at her again.
Saber held her ground and anticipate the oncoming attack with her invisible blade posed at the ready, and blocked Rider's oncoming attack.
Her speed proved to be a match to Saber's strength, it was as if a castle being pitted up against powerful armies that laid down constant siege to its walls from every direction imaginable, and yet still standing after it had endured so many attacks.
Saber was a knight. In her lifetime, she fought and won many battles and duels. She had been taught in swordsmanship by Sir Ector, a wise old knight who was trusted by Merlin to teach and care for her. And true to what the knight had assumed, she was very talented, even more so than his own son.
Talented since birth, trained in her childhood, experienced in her techniques, and seasoned in battles. Saber knew, as much as Rider knew, that this battle of attrition is horribly one-sided.
Each and every time, Rider's blade failed to land on Saber's person other than her invisible sword. But due to her speed, the blonde knight also failed to land an attack on the gorgon of legend either.
She was fast, agile, and most importantly, adopting a style of combat that would give her less risks and high potential outcome.
Strike, disengage, recuperate, strike again, then rinse and repeat. The pattern of the combat style was not difficult to perform and it was certainly rather handy for dealing with enemies above her own class. Her superior speed compared to Saber and the open area provided her a slight advantage that she took to deal with the supposedly strongest of all class.
The sounds of steel meeting solidified air echoed across the rooftop, and from afar, one could see a black blur with purple accents attacking a knight clad in blue and silver who defended herself mightily against the barrage of attacks that the Rider was performing.
Both of them were not slouches either, despite her messed up stats, Rider was still a Servant, and as a Servant, her stamina could not be compared to normal humans. And Saber, despite the flawed contract, was given more than enough prana to not only sustain her existence but to fight at her near-peak condition.
So no matter how much she tried to hit Saber's weak spot such as her neck and her head, Saber was more than capable of rebuffing her attempts and as such, her combat tactic yield no success.
'As expected of a Saber...' Rider mulled in the middle of her attacks, 'She gives no room for openings. No doubt she knows about my Noble Phantasms now that she knows my identity... How could I summon it when it's obvious that she would prevent it from happening...?'
After a moment of contemplation, Rider smiled before she stopped her attacks altogether and crouched on all fours right at the edge of the rooftop, her blindfold hid the steely gaze of her eyes that she directed towards Saber.
Noticing that Rider was going to change her tactics, she posited a warning to the gorgon, saying; "I know of your eyes Medusa, they will not petrify me, they won't work, not completely at least."
It was true, her Mystic Eyes of Petrifaction's full potential could only be unleashed if and only if the enemy does not know of her identity and they do not have A-Rank Anti-Magic skill that belonged to the knight classes and her own. To Saber, it would only serve as a quick paralyzing spell that she could shrug off in seconds.
But...
"It's enough."
As soon as Rider said that, she released Gorgon Breaker and unleashed Cybele, the dreaded eyes that became the basis of her myth. Of the snake-haired woman who could turn people to stone with her gaze alone.
However, her enemy this time was not a normal human.
She was a Servant, a Heroic Spirit of the Sword, whose legend was a couple of times more famous than her own, and equipped with a skill of Anti-Magic granted by the class that she's summoned as.
She would only need a moment to break its hold upon her.
But it was enough.
In that moment, she quickly planted the nail-blade into her neck, and then she savagely slashed her own neck from one side to the other, creating a gash that leaked out a massive amount of blood that sprayed to her surroundings...
That somehow stopped in the air, and converged to create an intricate-looking magic circle in front of Rider.
The action and the following aftermath was enough to surprise Saber, but she became shocked as the magic circle began to glow and produced a large amount of prana that defeated the Bounded Field in terms of consumption.
Then, an eye began to form in the magic circle, a monstrous looking eye that stared right at Saber with a gaze that would've scared a lesser person.
After a moment, the monstrous eye began to rumble, and then, a blast of light came out from the eye's pupil.
It shot towards Saber like lightning, but the knight managed to avoid it, as she knew that it was not something her invisible sword could easily deflect.
After recollecting herself, she saw that the blast of light that had gone past her and was now on the side of the purple-haired woman was nothing more than Rider's Noble Phantasm...
"A Pegasus..." Saber muttered in awe.
Despite having the blood of the dragon inside of her, she had rarely seen a Magical Beast up close, so this was a new experience for her, more so when one realized that this Pegasus came from the Age of the Gods, and it was the same Pegasus that Bellerophon once tamed.
In the case of legends, Servants, and Noble Phantasms... The older the legends' age are, the more powerful they would become when summoned or used. And considering the age of the Pegasus, the sheer power that it held was indescribable.
This was not a mere Magical Beast. This was a Phantasmal Beast, a creature of magic far above the class of other pegasi and equaled the rank that the dragons held due to its age.
A mobile, flying fortress of a creature... Such a formidable Noble Phantasm to be owned.
"Bellerophon: Bridle of Chivalry."
With a command, a golden harness, bridle and saddle was formed on the pegasus for a few seconds before it disappeared, integrated into the Phantasmal Beast's very being.
Rider mounted the beast, and it accepted its rider gracefully and took off into the sky, no doubt preparing herself for an attack.
Saber knew the threat that Rider's Noble Phantasm held... And so she released Invisible Air and showed the true form of her sword...
Now no longer bound by Gorgon Breaker, Rider saw the form of the sword that Saber held... She knew immediately that it was a sword made not through the hands of mortal men but by entities of the world. The language written in the sword was an indication of that, a mark that would show that it was more than just a mere sword.
It was the crystallization of the prayer called salvation, and hope. The sword that roused a country born from the ashes of its great predecessor, and wielded by its one true king...
Excalibur. The Sword of Promised Victory.
Rider stifled her curses, the sword's might was already apparent from its craftsmanship alone. It was an A-rank Noble Phantasm that could match if not outright defeat her Bellerophon-equipped Pegasus.
Without anymore prana to be used for another tactic, she realized that this battle might just be her last one in this Holy Grail War. Powerful as it was, the Phantasmal Beast Pegasus was not without weakness. As agile and as formidable as it is, an A-rank offensive prana technique with wide area attack could decimate it with some effort.
And she suspected that the Servant of the Sword's Noble Phantasm was equal to hers in terms of power output. No eyes could see the sword and thought or spoke otherwise.
Truly, there was nothing else in her arsenal that she could use to match the knight but Bellerophon, and that alone might not be enough to defeat the Servant of the Sword.
She was about to let go of her hesitation and charge at the Servant of the Sword while staking her life on the line when...
"...!"
She felt a powerful echo from within her mind before it was gone as quickly as it appeared. It was as if someone had broken something within her, something of intrinsic value to her for what she was and then replaced it with something else that seemed similar but essentially different...
After a moment of realization, she smiled. And she almost laughed at knowing what had just happened while she was fighting Saber.
So focused she was in fighting Saber, she had forgotten that there were two presence that she had felt when Blood Fort Andromeda was set and then quickly destroyed by the Servant of the Sword's technique.
The other presence was the knight's Master... And judging by the sudden prana input, he had done something to hers...
She shook her head and without saying anything to her enemy, she directed the Pegasus away from the building and into the place where she would be needed the most.
Saber could only watch as the Pegasus-riding Servant flew away without a second glance to her. Knowing that the battle was over abruptly and without any clear victor, she sheathed Excalibur with Invisible Air once more.
"That was quite strange..." she mused.
"Is it possible that our Master has killed or incapacitated hers?" her alternate self asked rhetorically. "But if so... why didn't she vanish?"
The blonde knight pondered about what her alternate self had said, and her initial thought went along the line of 'Rider had more than enough prana to sustain herself before her imminent disappearance from the physical plane.'. But if that were true, then why did she had to consume people to sustain her existence? Seeing that it contradicted her initial deduction, she then tried to find another explanation, a more reasonable one.
Then, as if she were hit by an epiphany, Saber remembered what the Tohsaka girl had said the day before, a fact about the family that Rider's Master belonged to.
"The lineage of the Matou family are dying out. By our generation, he's not supposed to have any kind of magic circuits in his body."
"He was not her true Master." Saber immediately said, her tone apprehensive, "He used some kind of magecraft that would allow him to act as Rider's Master while in reality, he was just-"
"A decoy."
Shirou's voice completing what she was about to say made Saber turn, and then she saw Shirou, looking slightly battered as he was grasping a silver double-edged sword on his hand and his expression was grim, it was not an expression that she had been used to see from him.
"Shinji wasn't a magus. He wasn't the one who summoned Rider. And he wasn't her true Master..." he stated, "It was Sakura."
...
...
Moments before...
His mind was hazy, filled with anxiety, fear, and not to mention, concentrating on withholding his bowel movements so that its contents would not escape without his own volition.
One Shinji Matou could not help but think that the whole world was conspiring against him. At first it was easy, but then Shirou Emiya had to come and ruin his parade. He could defeat Rider, his Servant was Saber, he had allied himself with Tohsaka, how could this be?!
He was supposed to win this thing! By getting the Holy Grail, he would finally be able to get everyone to respect him, to fear him, to obey him.
But why did the universe hate him so? And how the hell did Emiya get so powerful?!
As all of this were filling his mind as he pushed himself to escape the building through the emergency stairs while hoping that his Servant killed Emiya's and if not, well then she's every bit as useless as he had thought.
However, he was stopped in his tracks when he saw the figure of Shirou Emiya, standing in his way, and staring at Shinji with his amber eyes that seemed to be enflamed with his wrath.
"E-Emiya!" Shinji squeaked out in surprise.
"Shinji." Shirou replied, then wordlessly, he extended his hand and using his Tracing, he summoned a sword, a sword made out of special substance that was similar in appearance to silver.
Seeing this, Shinji immediately bolted, he ran back to the floor above him to find someplace where he could hide.
And along the way, Shirou followed him like a hellhound on his trail.
"G-get away! Get awaay!" he screamed as he used his book to somehow control the shadows that surrounded them to attack Shirou.
In response, Shirou merely said...
"Trace on."
And then a set of swords were summoned, all of them brilliant to be gazed upon and each of them held a unique trait.
Which was the ability to dispel magecraft to a certain degree.
"Projection complete. Fire."
Like bullets, the sword blasted through the shadows and nearly got Shinji. Some even landed some small gashes across his body.
"Agh!" Shinji groaned, but despite the pain, he kept on running, fearing for his life as the agent of death that would spell his doom was literally right behind him.
"Trace on."
Once again, Shirou Traced several weapons, but this time, instead of swords, it was daggers, small daggers that numbered in four, each were curved and jagged, giving them a rather grisly feel for they did not look like something that would give a clean-cut wound.
"Projection complete." Shirou used his silver sword as a pointer that was directed to Shinji, "Fire."
Then the daggers were planted into Shinji's limbs that were needed for his mobility, which was the back of his knees and on his heels.
This time, Shinji did scream as numbing pain that he had never felt before in his entire life shot through his nerves like lightning.
He fell down ungracefully, and despite the fact that he could no longer run or walk, he tried to crawl away from Shirou who walked closer and closer to his position. Until finally, he could no longer take it...
And tried to plead, "P-please, Emiya! Please, have mercy!"
Shirou merely scowled as he said; "Did you give your victim a chance to go away before you ordered Rider to consume them? And if they did, did you listen to their plea and let them walk away? No. I don't think you did. And so I will not give you what you deny them."
"I-I'm sorry, alright?! I-I don't have any Magic Circuits so I thought-"
"-That it would be easier to consume people's souls and have your Servant set a Bounded Field where she could consume several innocent souls in one go. Isn't that right?" Shirou asked rhetorically, "Your reason does not help your case, Shinji."
Having no more excuses to use, he tried to set the shadows on him again using his Book of False Attendant...
But when it came down upon Shirou, he used his sword, he swung the sword with precise, necessary movements that gave no room for unneeded motions, and then the shadows were utterly and pathetically destroyed.
And when his amber eyes landed upon his form, Shinji could only whimper, "P-please, Emiya, please..."
When he was but a few inches from him, Shirou moved his sword towards Shinji's body, placed the tip of the sword right on the place where his heart would be...
Then with a swift thrust and without even a blink of an eye that would sign his hesitation, he pierced Shinji's heart and the sword went through his back.
The sword was not a normal sword, however.
The sword could affect one's physical form as much as it could affect one's soul, so as the sword pierced through Shinji's physical form, it allowed Shirou to access Shinji's soul, and in turn, his memories.
Elucide was the name of the sword. A gift from his mentor when he managed to Trace a Noble Phantasm that was not Avalon for the first time. And it was one of his personal weapons that Shirou owned.
He closed his eyes to see what kind of person Shinji was and what kinds of things that he had committed beforehand.
And Shirou was not pleased. Oh no, not at the very least.
When he opened his eyes once more, he saw Shinji, on the brink of death, his eyes filled with fear and his mouth began to drip out blood. The boy tried to form words, but all he could create was unintelligible gargles made due to blood filling his throat.
Shirou's eyes narrowed, he was angry at the boy, and he loathed him even more than before thanks to what he had just seen, but he remained calm despite seeing the world through Shinji's eyes and what he had committed in the name of his ego.
Although that didn't stop him from twisting the blade that pierced his heart...
"...You really are the man that I expect you are, Shinji." Shirou said, "And more so."
Shirou then twisted the sword slightly, adding the pain while also making his death come a little bit faster than it should be.
As Shinji's life began to fade, Shirou could only shake his head in disapproval. After what he had seen through his memories, after what Sakura's 'brother' had done to so many people with the help of Rider who was at his beck and call... Shinji Matou was truly an arrogant and vile human being...
And when the Matou boy finally drew his final breath, he took a deep breath to calm himself and went to close the boy's eyes silently.
But after a moment of silence, Shirou then said, "May whatever higher power that exists have mercy on you... Shinji."
...
...
Back at the present.
"Are you okay, Shirou?" Saber asked, assuming that this was the first kill that Shirou had done during the course of his life.
Shirou turned to Saber, his eyes were not as bright as they were before, then he dismissed Elucide and said; "Though this is my first kill, I am strangely okay. (sigh)... My mentor had trained my mentality well, so don't worry about me."
Saber nodded, though she was not convinced that Shirou was completely okay, "Very well Shirou."
"Hm... I cannot help but feel proud of him. His first kill and he could still hold himself with surprising degree of dignity. He's not a lesser man."
Unbeknownst to Alter, there was one person who agreed with what she said besides Saber.
...
...
The King of Uruk had a wide smile on her face, her heart was beating like crazy and her eyes were set upon the redheaded boy from afar that had held himself very well in the situation that had unraveled.
Such ferocity! Such clear conviction! Such unshakable determination! This was a man whose worth exceeded ten men and more. Perhaps even more so, for he had shown courtesy to the little wretch's corpse and gave the pathetic boy some dignity in his death where a lesser man might seek to desecrate it if not outright delayed his death for a chance to torture him as much as he pleased.
"Hm~ I guess it was not a fluke after all. You truly are a man worthy of my attention." she mused. "You alone had redeemed this era in my eyes..." her chuckle reverberate through the cool night air, "And I can't wait to make you mine..."
Mine. Mine. You're mine. That was the sole thought that filled the mind of the King of Heroes.
She will not have this treasure be taken from her like what the gods did to her one friend in the past. When the time comes, she will take him, by force if need be. And she will not allow any competition for his body and heart except for one, and one person only. Her.
If there were any more, then they better not be foolish enough to challenge the King for what is hers. But if they were foolish enough, then they shall be welcomed as her consorts, she is not without mercy after all.
She extended her hand towards Shirou, as if trying to grasp him, and said; "Know this, Shirou Emiya. Though your tenacity and resolve might lead you to rebel against my will... I will show you that I can and shall make you mine."
...
...
Meanwhile, with a certain Second Owner a couple of minutes before the battle between Saber and Rider occurred...
Hearing the sound of the school's bell prompted Rin to immediately pack her bags and leave the classroom, filled with the intention to return to her house and prepare for the next day of the Holy Grail War.
'Archer, can you hear me?' she asked through her link.
"I am. What do you want, Rin?" he asked.
'Just checking, you know, in case you want to use Independent Action again and leave me in the dark about it.' she replied with rancor apparent in her tone.
"Why, it seems that you don't trust me Rin." Archer replied in his ingratiating way of speaking, "Is your Servant not someone that you expect him to be? Well, despite that fact, I am still your Servant, Rin. You should have some faith in me."
Her right eye twitched nigh-imperceptibly at that remark, 'Yes, well, faith in a Servant who failed to notice the importance of sharing information with his Master is a leap of faith that I will not take.' she retorted.
Rin sighed before she continued with; 'Never mind that... is your injury still troubling you? I sincerely hope not, what with your usage of Independent Actions.'
"It's healing quite well. Why? Do you want this wayward Servant to guard you?'"
'Yes.' Rin answered bluntly, 'As required of you. Emiya-kun is handling Rider, but that doesn't mean that there would be no enemy that would ambush us. Especially with Caster and Assassin still in the dark...'
"Understood." Archer replied rather succinctly.
Rin wasn't quite fond of unknown variables. And therefore, she was not comforted by the Caster and Assassin who were still preserving their incognito status despite of what has been going on thus far.
Though the already known variables were not easy enemies to dispose of, such as the Einzbern girl Berserker and the Lancer, at least they had showed themselves along with some of their abilities. So at least she could figure out how to deal with them if they ever confront her again.
With Shirou handling Rider, she needed Archer to guard her. Despite knowing his wound, he had proven himself capable in combat as apparent in his fight with Lancer, and as such, he might be able to withstand fighting with a yet healed injury.
Hopefully she won't have to come to blow with another Master... But that was just hoping for too much luck.
So she walked with care. On the outside, she was still her charming, school idol self, but on the inside, she was the magus who were keeping herself on the edge as to prepare for anything that might befall her.
Fortunately, the brisk but definitely not agitated walk from her class to the gate of the school was quite uneventful, she just had to greet some students and teachers that greeted her at first and sometimes she had to talk a little bit before she could dismiss herself from conversations that she didn't want to be a part of in the first place.
After she was a few yards away from the school, she sighed in relief at finally being able to drop the mask and now could focus herself to mind her surroundings.
Passing by the familiar places that she had passed several times on her way from school to her house and vice versa, Rin kept her senses peeled for anything that might spell her mortal danger.
Paranoid as it might seem, her mindset viewed this thing as something rather normal, for a magus anyway.
There was a saying that said to walk the path of a magus is to walk the path of death. There were no other saying that held such truth, especially with what many magi dealt with in their day-to-day lives. Death always loomed over their lives, and death can always come for them whenever it wanted to.
It could come in the form of their experiments, in the form of their endeavors, in the form of their behind-the-screen politics, and even in the form of supposed allies who ended up stabbing them in their back, either figuratively or literally. Sometimes even both at the same time.
Magi must always exercise caution, up to the point of paranoia if needed be. It was one of the things that Rin Tohsaka had prepared for when she decided to follow in her father's footsteps.
And considering that she's one of the Masters in the Holy Grail War, it was just common sense to feel as if a blade is being placed against her neck most of the time.
Unlike a certain redheaded magus, Rin Tohsaka could not afford to lose her focus by any means necessary.
She only hoped that Archer was taking his duty seriously. As... well, as superstitious as it might sound, she felt a dreadful feeling chilling her spine as she was just halfway to her house.
And then, her feelings was proven true.
"Tohsaka Rin." Someone spoke her name with such a haughty tone, "We meet again. And this time, in the most dangerous of circumstances... wouldn't you say?"
Rin could only grit her teeth, the haughty tone of voice, the proud stance, the laced and elegant-looking blue dress combined with the white-colored gloves, the drill-shaped blonde hair that looked as if it were given a noble's treatment everyday... Such was the physical appearance of...
"Luviagelita Edelfelt..." Rin muttered out her rival's name in contempt as she procured an uneasy grin and narrowed her eyes towards the ojou-like figure standing in front of her, effectively blocking her way.
"Hmph, please wipe that look off your face Tohsaka." Luvia asked of her, "As you might notice, I did not introduce my presence by attacking you out of nowhere so you might as well reciprocate the gesture and keep yourself calm."
"Calm?" Rin asked rhetorically, "Calm? While facing a possible Master right in front of my eyes? I don't think so, Edelfelt."
Luvia merely sighed rather dramatically, "Ha~ how barbaric of you Tohsaka. Can't we settle this like magi? With dignity and elegance? And to be frank, I am not here to fight you."
"Then what are you here for?" Rin asked, still not letting her guard down despite what her rival just said.
"I am here to announce my status as the Master of this Fifth Holy Grail War. But then again, despite your barbarism, you are quite intelligent... So I suppose you already deduced that I had been one ever since I was absent from school."
Rin didn't confirm nor deny that, instead, she merely said; "Magi are supposed to be pragmatic, Edelfelt. Announcing your status as a Master here is an idiotic move to make."
"But it is something that an honorable magus would do." Luvia retorted, "And I would be nothing if not that... So. With that said, I shall introduce myself. I am Luviagelita Edelfelt. The heir to the old family of Edelfelt that hailed from Finland. And I am here to participate in the Holy Grail War like my predecessors had done once before. And let it be known that I shall stand and fight for my family's name until my defeat or victory."
...Rin got to hand it to her, she really knows how to boast. And as a response, Rin said; "You know me already so let's get this over with."
Luvia shook her head at that and said; "Such a thing to say after what I've just said... Very well then then Tohsaka, if you so insist on getting this over with, then I shall introduce my Servant. I hope you shall reciprocate this gesture."
Then, a Servant came into being and stood besides the young magus of the Edelfelt family...
The Servant was a woman with fair skin and long red hair, slicked back so that her unblemished fair skin on her forehead was shown. She wore a skin-tight body suit that looked strikingly similar to the one that Lancer wore, except it was colored in red. Blood red or crimson-shaded red, once Rin got a closer look at her.
Instead of a pair of pauldrons however, there was a set of cloth that looked similar to the lower part of a robe colored in black strapped to her hips and reached to her ankles. The woman wielded what looked like a massive halberd that she casually grasped and leaned on her shoulder as if its weight didn't hinder her whatsoever.
The Servant gazed at Rin with her crimson eyes, her face was both beautiful and frightening at the same time. It was as if staring into the eyes of a legendary killer. But yet, the woman smiled, rather amused for inexplicable reasons.
This time, Rin ended up reciprocating the gesture of her rival's by summoning Archer, who in turn, looked rather troubled by similarly inexplicable reasons.
The red woman then said to Archer; "Ah, a pleasure to meet you, fellow Servant."
"Have we met before?" asked Archer.
"No. You haven't met me until now." said Luvia's Servant, "But I have seen you, and what you are capable of. A peculiar Servant you are."
After the Servant said her piece, Luvia continued with; "Tohsaka Rin... Meet my Servant, Caster."
...
End of Chapter 6
So Caster has been revealed. And as you can see... she's not Medea of Colchis.
But I've given you a clue in the form of her attire. From it, you can guess which mythology that she hailed from. (Hint: Tight bodysuits was worn by a certain class in both Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night, and both of them also came from the same mythology source...)
So with this, I can safely say that Assassin won't be a certain swordsman with a borrowed name.
See you at the next chapter!
