Fate-Rongodamiant

by Legends Storyteller

Twelve years after the fifth Holy Grail War, a new one begins. However, the rules aren't quite the same. Twenty-one Servants. Twenty-one Masters. Three Factions striving to gather the Grail Shards scattered around the world: the Masters of Red from the Mage's Association; the Master of Black from New Edge; the mysterious Masters of White.

35. Chapter XXVI: On the Fiend's Trail

* Lucid9 - Wram Feeling

* Umineko - Dead angle

* Umineko - Kina no kaori

* Umineko - Surrounding

* Rose Guns Days - Time remained

---

* Lucid9 – Warm Feeling

"Matt? Maaaaaaatt?"

He was not here either.

The stairs made for a good hidding place usually, so he had had high hopes. There was a small hole at the corner of the fake wall, so if you pulled a little you could sneak in and hide underneath the steps. But it was a bit creepy to stay here for long – the wooden stairway was prone to creaking, so every time someone climbed it up or down there was a fear the steps could fall on your head. He knew it was impossible, but this fear had remained with him over the years.

Thankfully, it was forbidden to run in the stairs, the sisters didn't allow it.

Still, he had hoped to find Matthew underneath. It would be fine if they were playing hide and seek, but this time Matt might not come out by himself. Lunch time was closing in, so if he didn't find him before then Matthew might not be allowed to eat as a punishment. Yet he was the only one looking for the little boy – it wasn't that the others had stopped searching, they hadn't even tried to begin with.

Well, it should be fine. There were only so many hide-outs in this huge house. He knew them by heart from playing everyday, so it was only a matter of checking them out one by one. Hopefully, Matthew didn't go outside... But he could only leave through the front door. He was still inside somewhere.

Not here...

Not here either...

He had left in tears, so he had probably run to the first place that came to his mind. It changed all the time though. He hadn't managed to find a new hidding place, had he...?

Not under the beds...

No inside the dirty laundry...

Not under the–

"Ah. Found you, Matthew."

"...Adrian?"

"Yup."

Who else?

In the end, it turned out Matthew was hiding inside the classroom, under one of the desk. That was where they had classes from monday to friday, and on saturday morning. Today was sunday though, so it was completely empty and no one would come. From the position of the desk, it would be hard to find him without stepping further inside. Once you were in the middle of the room he was in plain sight though, so no one would want to hide here.

In other words, it was a place where no one expected him to hide.

"You got better at hide-and-seek."

"...Hmm."

The little boy curled up underneath the wooden desk only grumbled faintly. He had lifted his small eyes when Adrian found him, but now he was looking at the paved floor. He was so small, even for a seven-years old. The way he was bundled, he was like a small animal, the ones Adrian wished he could cuddle. But this one animal here had some fighting spirit, all the more when he was in this state. Still, Adrian couldn't help being softened, a kind of protective instinct for this crying little boy.

"Why did you do this? Everyone is worried sick, we couldn't find you!"

"...Liar. No one cares where I am. They prefer it when I'm not here."

Well, it was true Adrian lied.

He had been searching on his own all this time. It wasn't that the others didn't care, but they probably had enough of it. It wasn't the first time, so now they just let Adrian look for him since he always found him anyway. Maybe it was better that way, since anyone other than the eleven-years-old boy would be hard-pressed to negociate with Matthew. If it was one the kids, they could get in a fight again. And if it was one of the sisters or the mother superior, then he was good for a lecture and a punishment, the likes of which would make you shudder.

Neither of those things had given Matthew a change of heart, so Adrian actually prefered being on his own. But this way, there wasn't much he could say in answer to the curled up boy.

"I care... Come one, let's eat. If you miss on lunch, the sisters will be even angrier."

"I'm not hungry." He said categorically. It was hard to tell if he was being stubborn, or if he was too upset to eat. "I don't care if they're not happy with me. They'll just say the same as always; that's the only thing they know. They're meanies, so it serves them right!"

Adrian sighed.

He was always trusted to deal with him, but it wasn't like he had a secret method that could instantly win him over. Once, he had decided to leave him on his own and he turned up later, completely fine. Thus, even if he decided give up, Matthew would eventually calm down and dry his tears. But if he did it this way, there was no way Adrian could be at ease. Waiting for things to calm down, that was nothing close to dealing with the problem.

It was convenient for sure, but in the end it would happen again.

Yet that was the position everyone else had taken.

Well, those were thoughts he had had in hindsight. Truthfully, at the time Adrian was motivated by his affection for this problematic boy. The orphans here had a wide range of age, but he did not have many around his own age. Some were older, but they usually kept to themselves, or helped around the orphanage once they were old enough. In the end, he spent more time with those younger than himself, and Matthew most of all.

It was that simple – as a eleven-years-old who didn't understand life all that much, there was hardly a right and wrong way to do things. He cared for Matthew as much as he would his little brother, so he wanted to help him. It wasn't like the adults who tried to 'make things right' because they had to be right.

Only a child acting on his feelings.

"What happened this time?"

"...Nothing..."

"Nothing happened?"

"Nh."

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying."

Not a very convincing argument from a sniffling little boy, especially when he was holding back a sob. But Adrian had expected that much resistance from him. Insisting that Matthew was indeed crying would only make things worse, so he gave up on that.

Back then Adrian couldn't fully grasp the concept of pride – or rather, why someone would rather to be prideful than concede anything. Perhaps that would have been the key to helping the little boy at the time.

"Then, why did you hit Paul?"

"..."

"I know you did. He was crying too, you know?"

"I'm not crying!"

"They say you suddenly jumped at him and you started fighting. When sister Agnes came to separate you, you ran away in tears. Isn't that right?"

"...They're liars."

"You mean you didn't hit him?"

It would be even more blatant a lie. Paul not only had bruises, but also scratches – one of them was digging into his neck and had bled. Very shallow as far as wounds went, but by Adrian's standards it was impressive and frightening. In comparison, Matthew only had a small bruise on his cheek, and his hair were completely disheveled.

"He deserved it! He was a p...piece of shit!"

"You're not supposed to use that word!"

Matthew stuck out his tongue.

"He made fun of me, so he had it coming!"

There it was; the heart of the matter.

It did not sound completely unreasonable, to a child – if someone ridiculed you, you didn't want to let it down, you wanted them to feel as bad as you did. It was a much a thirst for fairness than a kid's impulsive emotion. But even as a child Adrian knew he couldn't leave it at that. As much as he cared for him, he didn't want Matthew to feel justified – if that happened, then he could justify anything with his wounded pride.

But rather than such complexe feelings, Adrian simply wished he wouldn't fight anymore. Not all the children here were violent nor especially competitive. Only a handful of them, with Matthew as the most notorious lately. Adrian wondered if he too was the same around their age; as someone who loathed pain and fighting, it didn't sound likely, but a strange form of empathy told him he must have felt the same once. They were not simply kids bickering among themselves – for them in particular, this defiance hid pain.

As such, as gently as he could, Adrian encouraged him to go on.

"Why did he make fun of you?"

"..."

"What did he laugh about?"

"..."

"Matthew, please..."

"...Will you make fun of me too?"

"What?"

"If I tell you, will you be mean too?"

His pleading eyes conveyed complicated emotions: he was on the defensive for sure, but something in them was sad and looking to Adrian for comfort.

"Of course not! Why would I make fun of you?" If it was something worth laughing about, Adrian would feel more relived than amused. If it was something heavier on the other hand... "Please tell me; if I laugh, you can fault me for it!"

"You mean it?"

Adrian nodded vigorously. Matthew's mouth opened and closed without a word, several time. Maybe he wasn't sure how to put it into words, or maybe he was that reluctant to explain. But soon enough he spoke up, and what he said cleared things up on its own.

"Theo is gonna leave."

"..."

Theo, or Theodore, was another child here at the orphanage. He was slightly older than Matthew, but they were pretty close nonetheless – because they had arrived in this place at the same time. So someone had decided to adopt Theo, huh? Adrian hadn't heard about that at all. That was great news...

That was great news for Theodore.

Not that Adrian knew how the latter felt, so maybe he was being unfair. But at any rate, it was a happy occasion for Theo, and him only. Now that he had learned more about the situation, Adrian had a feeling he knew where this conversation was going.

He gulped unconsciously.

Meanwhile, Matthew went on with his explanation.

"I-I didn't want him...I don't want him to leave...I said that and...and..." It was punctuated by sobs to the point he could barely make a full sentence. Perhaps he was reliving the events in his mind; tears were flowing again. "...and Paul said I was dumb...that I was dumb for crying...! He said it doesn't matter if Theo is moving away, and that we don't need him anyway...!"

"So that's why you hit him, right?"

"He deserved it!" The seven-years-old claimed, as if to refute anyone claming otherwise.

This was different from Paul's version of the events. But Adrian doubted Matthew would be lying now of all time. And for that matter, there didn't have to be a true version and a wrong one. Maybe neither of them lied – the discrepancies between their explanations simply reflected how they perceived things. Matthew was completely outraged by Paul's detachement, whereas Paul didn't see why he deserved to be hit.

At any rate, the situation was pretty much what Adrian had expected. But now, he wasn't sure which words would reach Matthew. There was something he had to tell him, something he probably didn't understand. Could he convince him though? At the same age, Adrian might have refused to understand.

"...You know, Paul too is Theo's friend."

"That's not true! He's a p...piece of shit!"

"You're not supposed to use that word!"

"Bleh!"

As expected, it was a difficult task.

"That's the truth, Matthew. You know Theo doesn't only play with you." Adrian didn't say it out loud, but Theo might have been more of a friend to Paul than to Matthew. "I'm sure Paul is sad as well."

"That's not true! That's not what he said!"

"It's more complicated than that, Matt. It's just...you know..."

Paul had been around longer than Matthew.

Maybe not by that much, but long enough that it wasn't his first time saying goodbye. Adrian undertsood how that felt, since he had been here even longer than the two of them combined. It was just easier that way, right? It was easier to pretend. They should be happy for Theodore, but it was still farewell nonetheless. Kids who were adopted never came back, even those who said they would. It wasn't their fault probably – life went on, just, farther away from them. Sometimes, once they were older, there was a chance they would come back around to check on them, to dig up old memories and, if they were lucky, to see familiar faces.

But they would still be gone.

And it wasn't that rare an occurrence either.

There wasn't only adoption, but foster care as well. In the end, not that many children would be left for the orphanage to take care of. But for them, these were a great many farewells. It got to the point where you would wonder why they were still here. After so much time spent in this place, Adrian had decided against being adopted. So it wasn't that much of a deal to him; if he hurt, he would pretend it was nothing – it was normal after all.

But those were some depresing thoughts. Should he really explain them to Matthew?

"Say, won't you come back and eat with us, Matthew?"

He decided against it, in the end.

"I'm not hungry..."

"I know you are. I'm hungry too, so let's eat together." He took Matthew's small hand within his. "You can play with Theo afterward, you know. Even if he's being adopted, he won't leave immediatly."

"Really?"

"Yup, it can take more than a year, you know?" Though that was not always the case. "I'm sure you can make up with Paul too."

"I don't wanna!"

"What good will it do to just be angry? It's better to get along."

"Who cares? He will be gone too eventually anyway!"

"...!"

Ah.

So that was where Adrian was wrong. He didn't have to teach Matthew anything – it looked like he understood it very well, in his own way. That made sense, since many of them here had already been abandoned once.

"...Let's go."

Matthew didn't protest nor fight back. When Adrian decided it was time to leave and beckoned him to stand up, the little boy did so naturally. Small sniffles could still be heard from time to time, but hit cheeks had began to dry. That made Adrian wonder...if he was really satisfied this time. They made way for the classroom's entrance and walked down the hallway while holding each other's hand. Matthew was so much smaller than Adrian he had to raise his arm to be at the same height. That was cute in its own right, but at the same time it emphasized how fragile he was in Adrian's eyes.

Then, even though they had remained silent so far, Matthew suddenly spoke up.

"...Adrian. Are you going to leave too?"

"...No way I would."

"Really?"

"Yeah..."

"Really, really?"

"Really, really. I've already decided to stay, so I guess I will help around the orphanage or find a job when I'm old enough. But I'm staying."

"...Then I'm staying too."

"...!...Adrian..." That decision was not a given. He could regret it later, though if he did he could change it. But still, it warmed Adrian's heart. "Yes, we can live this way fine, right? I promise I won't leave you. I'm sure we'll be happy together."

Like real brothers.

He wanted to watch Matthew grow up, so that he wouldn't feel like pretending like the others did.

They would stay together.

They would be happy.

Unfortunately...of those two promises he was only able to keep one.

---

Chapter XXVI: On the Fiend's Trail

---

* Umineko – Dead angle

"This...has to be what Hell looks like."

That was all Assassin of Red said, and it perfectly summed up the scene before them.

At the moment, REVOC and his Servant were inspecting a scene of carnage, the last place they were absolutely sure Assassin of White had been. It was a dead-end back alley with nothing worth noting – at least, until the night before. They had yet to truly inspect it for clues though: truth be told, their shock upon setting eyes on this butchery didn't let them think or do anything, until Assassin spoke up.

The two of them had not waited until night had fallen to take action – it was better to get a lead while there was no risk involved. From the moment Victor Vasilia had assigned him to this task, although he had felt reluctant about it REVOC had done his best to gather information. Assassin of White had made some noise as a serial killer, so they had some matter to work with at least.

They had no idea as to when he had been summoned, but in any case the first time he had attracted attention was in Japan.

As many as fifteen young men were found dead, slaughtered in an uncanny manner. At least, the initial number was fifteen. Some of the corpses were so messed up they hadn't been sure they belonged to only one persons. Seeing it with his own eyes for the first time, REVOC understood why; but that was beside the point. The only explanation the police found was that the killer – human or not – had eaten them alive. Either that, or he had savagely butchered their corpses and taken the leftover flesh elsewhere. There was only one survivor, a young girl who escaped this ghastly fate. However, as of today, she was still under the psychological shock and unable to testify coherently.

That was not much, but that was enough to understand this had to be Assassin of White. They had no concrete proof, but the beginning of this string of murders matched suspiciously well with the beginning of the Holy Grail War. Combined with the absolute mystery surrounding them and Ruler's wrath, it became obvious enough.

Although this case was the first to surface, it was not the first chronologically speaking. A few similar cases were discovered soon after, and were found to be older. At any rate, none of them had taken place before the Command Seals were distributed. Then, suddenly the next case had happened outside Japan entirely, in India. From then on, the killer had rarely stayed in the same country for more than four days straight, judging by the number of cases. Then he had moved on to Iran, and supposedly had walked into Europe and kept going until his final stop: London. All of this was all too fresh, and since most informations were in the hand of the police of each respective country, REVOC and Assassin didn't have much to go by.

They were still hoping to find clues as to his identity, his modus operandi – anything that would let them guess his next target.

With no result to brag about.

They couldn't afford to waste any more time; Assassin of White was not bound by Ruler's regulation, so he could decide to leave at any moment. Their last option was to see his murders for themselves, and that was why they had come here. It might not be the only case within London, but it was the only one they knew of. When the time dictated by Ruler had grown close enough, the Bounded Field surrounding London had kicked up. A police officer who had been blocking the way had jolted, then walked away like a soulless doll.

And now here they were.

Thankfully, the Police had yet to move the bodies. REVOC had brought out a torch light and illuminated the scene – to their regret and dismay.

As Assassin of Red finally spelled out...this was a sight worthy of Hell itself.

"I have comitted atrocities myself but...this is on a whole different level." The gentleman said gravely. "What kind of human being..."

"Not a human being...I hope not." That was all REVOC could say, weakly.

This slaughter was chilling for many reasons. These were fellow human beings – that in itself was enough to fill their heart with dread. They could only imagine how terrifying it would have been to be one of them. REVOC in particular knew what it was like to have your body fiddled with, but this was even worse. There was neither aesthetic nor kindness here – nothing that pointed toward a human beings as the killer. Of course, they knew how cruel humans could be, but here it could only be summed up as a violent desecration – there was neither the creativity that came with cruelty, nor the simpleness of plain murders.

As such, REVOC repudiated the thought that a human could be responsible.

"...We can't waste time. Let's see what we can find immediatly." If others wanted to track the ellusive Servant, they would probably come here too. "A clue, anything."

REVOC, without even thinking of what he was going to do, stepped toward the remains of Assassin of White's victims. Ever since he had laid eyes on them, a peculiar feeling had welled up; he didn't want to waste so many deaths. There was nothing he could do to help them anymore, so at least he wanted to find something to use against their murderer.

His Servant could probably tell his turmoil: he put his hand on REVOC's shoulder as to hold him back.

"You should stay back Master; I'll take care of it. You don't have to look at any of it, so it's fine to look away." He offered in a soft voice.

REVOC didn't know what to say, but since Assassin's concern was genuine he accepted to step back and let his Servant take a look at the scene. He even looked away as was advised to him, but the presence of the corpses and their haunting appearance were engraved in his memory.

'If you fail, more people will die.'

Whether that was what Victor Vasilia had meant was up for interpretation. But REVOC was reminded of those words nonetheless, and their weight had increased threefold. It was funny to see how much it affected him, as this wasn't his first time pledging to save a live no matter what.

He heard the back and forths of Assassin's footsteps as he inspected each body. He was not only a gentleman but also a doctor, so REVOC knew fully well his observations would be more useful than his. He was not a forensic, but they didn't need someone that qualified. Instead, someone who understood full well what a Servant was and how they operated had better chances finding a trail.

After a moment of silent examination, Assassin made this conclusion out loud:

"It's exactly as the newspapers and police reports say: they were eaten. Alive, from their expression. I thought maybe he had used weapons to rip off the flesh but...that seems unlikely. From the look of their wounds...and the way the muscles were pulled out..."

"So he really...ate them?"

"...That seems like the most likely answer."

"..."

There were traces of magical energy floating in the air, and around the bodies. Assassin of White was stealthy and slippery, but he didn't seem to care that much about leaving a trail. Or at least that was what REVOC had hoped, but the trails didn't leave a certain perimeter. In other words, these traces were not due to their single presence, but to something they had done.

For exemple, activating a Noble Phantasm.

"So in the end, our target is a cannibal? Can a person like that truly become a Heroic Spirit?" REVOC looked at his Servant, but the latter could only give him a bitter smile.

"If I can qualify as a Servant myself, I see no reason why another murderer couldn't. But I must say, I am not so convinced about them being a cannibal. Maybe that is truly the case, but there has to be something more to it." The gentleman was moving his gaze around the sorry sight. "For starter, the wounds. These were done by fangs and claws, I can assure you of that. Maybe they had the help of some nightmarish tools, but as far as I can tell these weren't done with human means. It's entirely possible Assassin isn't the one who ate them."

"...A familiar?"

Assassin nodded slowly.

"They are hard to notice, but some footprints can be found. They look nothing like human feet or shoes."

Assassin actually went and showed him some of those footprints. And indeed, even a drunkard wouldn't mistake them for a human's. Instead, they looked like they belonged to some large creature with paw-like feet...or something close, at least. So it was possible Assassin had simply summoned a familiar to devour his victims – that was a reassuring thought somehow. But something felt wrong to REVOC...

"That's not all, there are a couple more details bothering me." Assassin of Red added while his Master was lost in thoughts. "They were eaten alive; or in other words, raw. I'm not so knowledgeable about cannibals, but if Assassin has human habits then wouldn't he have opted to cook the meat, at least?"

"No, that's wrong..."

"So I thought. In that case-"

"No, I mean these footprints! Look at them well." REVOC insisted, and Assassin bent forward to take a closer look. "Not the footprints themselves – the way they follow each other."

Would a wild beast have this same pace? Assassin had been right to point out these marks didn't look human, but this way of walking felt familiar. REVOC took a few steps, making sure to put his feet over the dry blackened blood...and his pace felt natural.

"He may not be human, but he sure walks like one of us."

"...A bipedal. You're right Master, this changes things quite a lot. I believe my point still stands, but if the creature in question walks on two legs, then there is a new category to take into account."

Beastmen.

Or in other words, a werewolf. At the very least, that was the first image that came to mind when one spoke of beastmen.

"Now that I think about it, there is something else. Can you see these cracks on the ground and the walls? They're thin and don't spread very far – it doesn't seem like they were made on purpose. Since we're dealing with a Servant, I took this much damage for granted; but thinking more about it, would a mere cannibal have this much power?"

Servants represented such overwhelming power, even with their most basic specs, that it became easy to forget some of them could be weak. That wasn't the case for Assassin of Red, who was easily the weakest Servant within the Red Faction. If it was him, even this much damage had to be be done with a purpose in mind. Now, just how many cannibals would be eligible as Heroic Spirits? When speaking of man-eaters, the most notorious exemples were very recent.

Ordinary people who became murderers.

If a Servant was only notorious for being a cannibal, then they couldn't even be considered as a threat as per Servants' power scale. They might not even be that much stronger than humans in fact. Would a cannibal cause this much damage? Certainly, they would be dreadfully efficient at killing humans, but Assassin of White clearly had more in reserve.

As such, both REVOC and Assassin of Red agreed implicitely that this theory was the most sound.

"But then again, that doesn't make things easier. Beast-like humans are not all that common beside Phantasmal Species. There are certainely traces of a strong spell being used here, so it can't be just anybody."

"Werewolves...beastmen..." REVOC was searching through his memories, but he wasn't all that knowledgeable about myths. Nonetheless, something came to mind. "How about King Lycaon?"

"Lycaon of Arcadia, a ancient king turned into a wolf for insulting Zeus." Assassin held his chin pensively. As a scholar, the name probably meant a lot more to him. "This is a sound hypothesis – in any case, it is an enemy of the same stripe. We can expect to face someone with similar abilities – you understand what it means, don't you?"

All of sudden, REVOC was asked such a question by Assassin, whose expression couldn't be more serious.

"...You mean our chances of victory, right?"

"Indeed. We've gotten closer to uncovering Assassin of White's identity, but that doesn't mean we can defeat him, Master. If he turns out to be the monster we expect him to be, I might just lose, and there will be no one to protect you. What I mean to say is: we are weak."

These words linged in the air; REVOC couldn't ignore them.

"With that said, are you sure you wish to continue, Master? I know this is your mission, but you have no obligation to risk your life against hazardous odds."

"..."

It was strange for him to give warnings after they had come this far.

But that was because Assassin understood that past this point, they might not be allowed to backtrack. With the Holy Grail War going on for more than two weeks, it had become natural to think about fighting to the death. But in that case, there would be a winner and a loser – being the former was not a given. REVOC didn't have an embodiment of destruction like Berserker of Red, nor a strong undefeated knight like Saber of Red. He knew what kind of opponents they would face eventually; he had heard all about it from those who had fought them. On the other hand, someone like him who had stayed back during the first round...

Assassin's worries were justified, in many ways.

All the more since this was about REVOC of all people. He didn't need to be told – he knew very well himself that he was too kind for his own good. The kind of person ready to take a lot of risk with very little in return. Or maybe a different way of putting: he was easy to use and would get involved more than he needed – as had happened before. It was a dangerous way of thinking too; the more you sacrificed for the sake of others, the less you would have to lose, on and on until there was nothing left. Being kind-hearted was laudable, but Assassin couldn't possibly agree with this train of thought and the inevitable conclusion.

That was why, REVOC didn't simply brush of his Servant's concern and thought about it. Kind-hearted or not, he wanted to live as well. Just as he thought that, the image of a certain woman appeared in his mind.

* Stop music

"Of course I'm going. After seeing them in that state, how am I supposed to look away?"

These people, what remained of them, their unanswered plea for help – he would remember them for a while. Not simply because how haunting it was, however.

"Somewhere out there, that man...that monster is roaming around, ready to pile up more corpses, isn't he? When someone like this – someone who think they can do as they please with the lives of others because they have power...! When such a monster is waiting around the corner, and I can stand up against him, how am I supposed to turn my back to save my life?! I'm not quitting no matter what, Assassin."

Was it a display of bravery, or was he indulging in his own inability to refuse? That did not matter, at all: he was doing it, one way or another. Why should it matter whether his will was guided by strength or weakness? There was something he wanted to do, so he would do it. A woman even weaker than him, even more prone to hurting herself had had the courage to take that decision, without any help whatsoever. How could he betray that philosophy and his admiration for it? Leanne wouldn't blame him for his cowardice, but it wasn't about other people's opinion to begin with.

"...If you say that, then I guess there is no helping it."

Assassin shook his head with a sigh, but he could not repress a smile. If the answer wasn't so predictable, he would not have asked him in the first place. But REVOC knew he would not stop him even so. That was because he was the Servant he had summoned – they were birds of a feather, men too kind for their own good.

"It's not the same as before." REVOC felt the need to point out. "I'm not acting as shield for others; we'll find Assassin of White and we'll put an end to his murder spree, without dying. It's as simple as that."

"...I understand." He replied gently. "I can't let this determination go to waste now, can I? Very well Master, let's go find him."

"Uh? You mean we have a clue as to where he is?"

"None whatsoever. I've taken a look at the victims, and as far as I can tell that man kills people indiscriminately. All we know is that he will strike again; when and where is uncertain. But, we don't have to wait for an opportunity: let's create it ourselves."

* Umineko – Kina no kaori

Having said that, Assassin rummaged through his coat's pockets and retrieved a single green-tinted flask. The blackish liquid contained within it could almost be mistaken for wine, if REVOC didn't know better. He was filled with apprehension at the sight of this flask, but he understood what Assassin wanted to do.

"So you're really going to use it?" Funnily enough, it was now he who gave warnings.

"There is no helping it, unfortunately. This is all I am worth as a Heroic Spirit, so please allow me to do that much." He removed the cork without a shred of hesitation. "I feel very much the same as you; danger is a master that only rewards us if we face it. I only hope he won't cause you too much trouble..."

Then, Assassin brought the flask to his lips and chugged its suspicious content in one go. Nothing of note happened at first: he calmly took the time to put the cork back on the flask's neck, and for a moment one could believe the mysterious drink was completely harmless. After that though, Assassin did nothing. He just remained there, motionless, his blurry eyes lost in the distance. As a matter of fact, his entire expression seemed to indicate drowsiness.

But he smiled.

Indeed, a smile budded on his face, and grew wider with each passing second, until it completely distorted his face. Wait, that was more than distorting, right? For a second, it looked like that disgusting smile stretched beyond his cheekbone and left Assassin's face altogether, and it was as though this winter night was smiling with him. But that was only the span of a blink, and the next moment it looked like something completely different all together. Assassin's face twisted in a spiral before

m e l t i n g

"...!"

REVOC was completely dumbounded.

In his surprise he almost stumbled backward; he shut his eyes tight and shook his head. When he opened them again, all of that was gone. Assassin's face was the same as before – no spiral, no melting skin and no otherworldy smile. For a second REVOC had the feeling he had a fever, but that too dissipated quickly. Assassin was still smiling though: a smile so unusual, so unbefitting of the gentleman he was it took some efforts for REVOC to recognize him as the same person who had morally supported him before.

Even though their face was the exact same, this was not the same person at all.

At last, Assassin of Red (?) brought his standstill to an end: he breathed in, so deeply and in such exaggerate demeanor, it was as though he was breathing for the first time ever. Yes, he breathed in with the avidity of a man who had escaped drowning by a hair's breadth, and in doing so his body bent backward. Both his intense gaze and his carnivorous smile were turned toward the starless firmament.

Then, suddenly, there was a quick noise of breaking glass.

Even though he had taken the care to plug it back before, his tightening grip crushed the flask like it was made of chalk. He was clasping the glass shards with such intensity they were further crushed into glass dust. A thin sliver of blood dripped down from his hand to the pavement. But that was before a violent swing of his arm sent them flying haphazardly; REVOC had to step aside hurriedly to avoid them.

When he couldn't breath in any more air, Assassin did the exact opposite: a long sigh, a death rattle which could only belong to a living being – it was filled to the brim with a feeling of satisfaction and raw pleasure, the likes of which REVOC never thought he would hear from a human being.

But while a stupor had taken hold of his heart in the heat of the moment, somewhere in his mind he understood perfectly what was going on, and what kind of creature he was facing. After all, Assassin was not so irresponsible as to not warn him beforehand. Still, seeing it for himself was a different matter altogether. For the first time, he was facing a creature he felt shouldn't exist.

The creature in question finally reached the end of his breath, and after breathing in again normally he let his mouth run free.

"Hoo boooy! It's been so goddamn long, you bastards! I thought you'd never let me out – I was going crazy! More than already I am, anyway. I mean, I'm the useful one here, so just drop that bastard Jekyll and let good ol' Hyde do the job! HahahahahahahaAAAA! You hear that, Jekyll?! Suck it, you're the one who can't speak or move anymore! Ooooh boy, that feels soooo right..."

How was REVOC supposed to feel right now?

Assassin's speech was now overflowing with energy and liveliness, in contrast to how soft-spoken he used to be. This entire tirade was executed in two breaths, no more, and REVOC had the feeling he couldn't have asked for a better introduction of his new Servant. It was almost like he was going an extra mile to be the antithesis of his other self, a form of hatred and disgust expressed through his way of being.

Just as he had announced out loud, this was Mr. Hyde. As in, the Edward Hyde from 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'. Even though that was supposed to be pure fiction, it was brought to life as a Servant nonetheless. Or maybe what little truth there was in the novel had latched on what was made up to become a fullfleshed existance. In any case, the Assassin REVOC had summoned was the good doctor Jekyll; going from that, there was no way he wouldn't know about the existance of Mr. Hyde.

This was Dr. Jekyll's one and only Noble Phantasm, the greatest achievement of his life, and incidentally what had led to his downfall: Hubris of a Man: The Dichotomy of Good and Evil. As expected, and as lamented by Jekyll, this was the only trump card Assassin had going for himself. After all, the good Dr. Jekyll himself did not have the qualifications to be Servant, much less an Assassin. Through the potion he had himself invented in life, the separation of good and evil was executed, and one side would take the other's place. That being said, the separation had already happened from the moment Assassin had been summoned, so its only use was to switch from Jekyll to Hyde and vice versa.

One swift swing with his head and Mr. Hyde was now staring at REVOC, whom he was looking at for the first time. His unnerving glee upon finding him gave that man an uncanny ressemblance with a hyena. Getting his attention was pretty much the same as being caught in a trap; that was what REVOC, who was being gratified with his undivided attention, could guarantee.

Nonetheless, he was determined not to give him the upper hand, and chose to be the first to speak up.

"Hrm...you, you are Mr. Hyde, aren't?" As if that wasn't obvious enough. Then again, he would have been happy to be told it was just Jekyll playing a prank on him. "I have to make things quick – I'm REVOC, your Mas–"

"Shuuut uuuup..."

"...!"

REVOC wasn't even able to make a proper sentence when the blade of a knife was pressed against his throat. Assassin's movements had been swift, to the point it took some seconds for REVOC to understand he was now next to him. Mr. Hyde was not smiling one bit now, instead he had traded his cheerfulness for a great deal of condescendence – the young man's body froze up unwittingly. This knife was cold and sharp: it was a tool for murder, nothing less, nothing more. At least, that was his feeling; it was a murderer's weapon first and foremost.

"Who are you taking me for, shithead? I don't wanna hear any of your babbling – I already know aaaaaallll there is to know, alright?! I know who you are, I know what dumb things you're trying to do, and I know what you called me for. If you keep telling me useless crap, I'll cut off your tongue and use it like a brush on the wall! A pretty and bloody 'sorry for wasting your time', don't you think that's great, wouldn't you like it?! Ah crap, now that I've said it I don't wanna do it anymore, tch..."

For someone who insisted who saving time, he sure was wasting a lot of it in petty threats. Nonetheless, REVOC couldn't deny his antics had had an effect, and he was taken by surprise by the revelation.

"You can see everything through Jekyll...?" He gulped slowly, which made his throat rub itself against the knife. "Just how much do you know?"

"Do I have to repeat myself, lamebrain? E v e r y t h i n g, that means if that bastard Jekyll knows about it, there's no reason I shouldn't. After all, there's nothing I can do while that half-hearted jerk enjoys being alive again! We're not the same, no sir! But we're still the same person, sharing the same body! Hehe, now that i think about it, that goes for our feelings as well. I'm the Jekyll Jekyll didn't want to keep around, so I'm the Jekyll that was once Jekyll until Jekyll got rid of him. If I'm in a bad mood, that's his fault too isn't it? Yeah, it is, so if you wanna blame someone blame him. Blame him aaaaallll you want, hyahyahya!"

This Assassin couldn't focus on a single subject for more than a few seconds it seemed. Or maybe it was all connected in his head. Though if REVOC had to give a biased opinion, he was messing around to unnerve him, that bastard.

The knife wasn't pressed against his throat anymore – Mr. Hyde was whirling it around and playing like a kid with a new toy. His smile had reappeared, pretty much as fast as it had disappeared. Regardless of what he had on his face though, that man never got rid of his smugness and his sense of superiority.

"Ah, by the way, 'everything' includes your boring soapy love drama with that woman. Aaaah, that was boring, boringer and the boringest! Not only are you leaving me inside that bastard's mind, but I'm forced to bear with your boring life. Well, it was pretty entertaining at first...until she grew a spine and stopped crying under her bed sheets! See? Even what little pleasure I have is taken away from me! That's a conspiracy I tell you, a conspiracy. If at least you went ahead and took her while she was at her lowest, I would have had a pastime. But noooo, you had to just look at her from the sidelines like a puppy! Don't you think you're mistreating your poor Servant? I want a change of Master! Let me have that woman, at least she's easy to torment!"

"You'll do no such thing." REVOC was reluctant to speak up during this madman's tantrum, but when the latter started blabbering about Leanne, he could not accept it. It wasn't simply about his personal feelings – if he let him have the impression he could get away with everything, he might just do that. "If you try to do anything to her, I'll kill you with one of those."

Adamantly, he showed the Comman Seals on the back of his hand. He felt bad for Jekyll who had to hear this as well, but he was not lying. Unfortunately, Assassin's reaction was on the same level as spitting at his face.

"Go ahead, see if I care. Do you wanna find out if I can kill you both before stabbing myself? Well, not that you would really dare, gahahahahahahaa! After all, you neeeeeed me soooooo much!" Now he was making ridiculous pirouettes around. "You're not very smart, are you? You're waist-deep in shit, so you gotta pick what makes you the strongest. But nooo, it's always that weakling Jekyll and not the useful Hyde! As soon as it gets serious, that bastard relies on me though."

REVOC was starting to get a headache. Mr. Hyde's efforts to make him hate his guts were so efficient, he almost forgot they had a mission to carry out. If Jekyll had decided to resort to this caricaturesque man, he must have had exactly what they needed. That was why, in a fit of impatience REVOC snapped at him.

"I don't care! Jekyll or Hyde, whatever, we can't waste time! Do you have any idea where Assassin of White is?"

"How would I know?"

"Kh...then, can't you find him?!"

"I can, I can! Geez, I barely get some freedom and you're already bossing me around..." Assassin stuck out his tongue grotesquely. "Whatever, I get to butcher him in the end, right? Fine by me. I'll cut him up and we'll have some meat to spare, too. Ha! A cannibal being eaten! I wanted to try some of this 'shish kebab' food – you can probably make some out of Heroic Spirits, aye?"

All while blathering about random things, Assassin made his way back to the crime scene. Whatever he needed to do, it probably required to take a good look at the bodies. REVOC followed behing him to observe; but that turned out to be a mistake: before he knew it, Mr. Hyde had passed his arm around REVOC's shoulders, and forced him to kneel down at the same time as him.

His face was now inches away from a decaying torso.

"Haha wow~, take a look at these! Damn, you can see at least half the rib cage! I aready saw it through Jekyll, but damn. Whoever that bastard is, he didn't stop halfway. What do we have over there~?"

"Urg...you don't have to drag me with you...!"

"Of coooouuursee I have to. You think it's delicate to look away? Nope, nope, nope good sir. Look at it! Revel in it! That's the guy you're looking for, that's the evil you wanna find and destroy! You want to chase after a demon you don't know? Look at this – a human did this! Hey look, that one got his spine broken in half! That's collector~."

"Kh..."

He had to bear with it.

Mr. Hyde made a complete tour of the crime scene while dragging REVOC with him. He looked at each corpse with full attention and a commentary, but REVOC felt like he mocked them more than he inspected them. They were losing an aweful lot of time – for a moment, his thought strayed to the rest of the Red Faction. The battles must have started by now. In other words, there were already people coming after Assassin of White. They had to hurry; he wouldn't complain if somebody else killed that monster but...no, if possible, he wanted to do so himself. Moreover, for someone in his situation, the reward of two Command Seals was attracting.

"Hey, don't daydream on my watch."

"–!"

Assassin suddenly stood up, along with REVOC obviously – even now he refused to let go, and the arm coiled around the young man's neck was like a dog collar.

"Won't you let go...!"

"Why would I? We're good pals, aren't we? That's what good pals do! I may be half-Jekyll, but I'm my own person – I can like and dislike things! You? You're pathetic. I like you. And I find you much friendlier at this height." For indeed this position was forcing REVOC to bend forward as to stand at the same relative height. "Anyway, it's time to have a stroll in good ol' London after so much time!"

With an enthusiasm which wasn't matched by his Master, Mr. Hyde exited the dead-end with large strides. REVOC was forced to follow alongside him, figuratively and literally, even though he had no idea where he was heading. This Assassin apparently liked to keep him in the dark and maintain an attitude.

"Do you know where he is, at least?"

"He's in that direction. Just follow the knife." As he walked merrily, the arm that wasn't holding REVOC was outstretched before the two of them. This was the same hand holding his knife, with the tip pointing at the direction in front of them. "He's over there, more or less."

"What? Do you actually have any idea?!"

"Oh, excuse me." His mouth approached REVOC's ear, before yelling from the bottom of his lungs: "I SAID: IN THAT DIRECTION, MOOOORE OR LEEEEEESS!"

His eardrum stung; because of the less-than-appreciable position he had been forced into, REVOC couldn't even cover his ear.

"Did you catch it, this time?"

"Damn you...! How are you tracking him exactly?"

"You mean you don't trust me? You don't trust your good ol' pal Hyde, who's breaking his back from working?"

"Not in the least." He replied firmly. "All you've been doing from the beginning is forcing my hand!"

"Hahahahahaha! That's meeeaaaann, you know? I'm doing what you guys are expecting from me!"

"Then answer my question!"

"Fiiiiine then; take a wiiiiiiild guess and ask yourself how I could possibly locate that fucker."

"How could I know?!" Even if he took the time to think, he was in a situation where he was more interested in walking correctly without tripping. "We have no clue as to his location, and he can erase his presence unlike most Servants. All you did was take a look at the bodies!"

"And that's all I neeeeed! He really went all out to butcher these poor fuckers. I saw it with my eyes, what remains of his dinner. It happened for sure, there is no way of denying it is, and so it will always be no matter how many times History is rewritten! He can erase his presence all he wants, he can't erase what he has done! That's why, My. Hyde will always find him!"

"You're using some kind of magecraft?"

"Magecraft is for clueless morons – I can feel it in my b o n e s! Shut your mouth and open you ears: I'm Hyde, Mr. Hyde! I'm the Jekyll Jekyll loved too much, so he separated himself from me. I can't believe he had the gals to do it – that was probably because we were still the same person back then! Anyway, he separated Good and Evil in his heart, and in his mind. But he was the creator of the formula, and he ran out. In the end, the recipe died with him and no one could ever make the same experiment again. Well, our story's supposed to warn against it~!"

"Not that you care, right?"

"Exactly. Shut up. At any rate, since no one ever had the intelligence nor the stupidity to do as Jekyll did, we're a unique case in the whole wide world, lengthwise, heightwise, depthwise and historywise! There is only one Dr. Jekyll, the good and unfortunate doctor who couldn't make the difference between a sweet dream and a shit idea. And there is only one Mr. Hyde, the unscrupulous and detestable Mr. Hyde who only wants to hurt people because it feels so right! That's right: I'm the only fundamentally evil human being to have ever graced this planet with his existence. Normally people should lean on one side or the other, but the two of us are standing at the very tips of the balance!"

"...I see! So that's why Jekyll–"

"Yeeeeeees~! So you're only half as dumb as I thought! I stand at the very end of the spectrum of Evil; no matter what they try, humans can only be relatively evil, or almost completely evil. But I haven't retained a single drop of 'Good' – I wasn't meant to to begin with! I'm a trash can, a convenient bin where that spineless bastard cast everything he knew he shouldn't love and revele in. Anyway, my nature itself is 'Evil' – the more someone tips toward my domain, the more I can tell. If they express their existence through Evil, then it's only natural that Evil will find them, don't you think? And that cannibal Assassin guy? I can just smmeeeeeeeellll his human-flavoured feces like I shat them myself!"

Consistently and without fail, everything about that guy was desecrating etiquette and good taste. But his words were fascinating all the same. If he was speaking the truth, then finding Assassin of White was not a matter of 'if', but a matter of 'when'.

"You can tell exactly where he is at the moment?"

"Well, not exactly. I already told you: he's somewhere in that direction. If we get closer then it will be easier to tell~. He can disguise as a child or a pebble if he wants, I'll still find him~."

"So in the end we still aren't sure he won't escape us..."

"Heeeey, what did I just say? Don't worry and leave it all to your good pal Hyde. It's not like Jekyll can do the same, aye? He can't even feel the presence of good people! But me? I'll never fail! I will find him – it's true I'm not that good of a finding machine usually, but I can still definitely find tell he's over there. After all, this is London~. And we're at night; that's my hour and my domain, he won't be able to escape me even if he tries his d a r n e s t~!"

"But once we find him..." REVOC's thought went back to Dr. Jekyll's warning. Had he taken Mr. Hyde into account?

"What 'when we find him'? When we find him, I cut him into dice and I put him in a salting tub. Or if he's a tad too strong, I guess I can just find his Master and rip him a new one. Aren't we the hunters or what?! Cuckoo~, the night is holding London prisoner, and Mr. Hyde is holding the night prisoner~. Just trust me and follow the knife, and everything will be aaaaalllright."

Even though he should have been comforted by those words, REVOC could only despise his insufferable Servant, with a strange intensity. He had come to understand along the way that there was no rational foundation to this feeling.

Of course he wouldn't be hard-pressed to pin flaws on his Servant; but when he thought about the exact reason behind his enmity for him , he realized the mere fact Assassin of Red stood there beside him was the cause. Simply looking at Assassin, acknowledging the existence of Edward Hyde made an intense hatred rise from the depth of his heart, contempt he had seldom ever felt for a fellow human being.

He only needed to look at his face – no matter how one looked at it, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde shared the same appearance, without a single solid difference. But REVOC couldn't fault anyone for arguing otherwise, for it was abject to even think this face could belong to Henry Jekyll. The good doctor was a soothing existance, and one could see plain as day on his face how sweet of a man he was. But maybe that was a biased impression; after all, they really did have the same face, didn't they? Simply wearing different expressions couldn't make that much of a difference.

Something about Mr. Hyde instinctively inspired hate, at the mere sight of him – that man was hate. When Dr. Jekyll had switched place with his other self, it had seemed to REVOC as though his face was being twisted unnaturally. This unreal recollection had not entirely faded away: when he looked at Assassin's face – and it was hard not to considering their heads were practically rubbing against each other – from time to time it was as though his features were faltering, flickering like the flame of a candle.

Somehow, he hated him more than the murderer they were tracking, the same whose atrocities he had witnessed in all their morbid glory. That...made him feel terrible; he wanted to think it was not his fault, but something was telling him those feelings were genuine, not born from nothingness.

At times...it was ridiculous but...he could swear Assassin's face was replaced with that of Victor Vasilia – but that too was ephemeral.

Fortunately, another thought was distracting his mind and preventing him to think too much about it. Though he had known it would happen eventually, for the first time tonight the reality of the Holy Grail War had caught up to him in all its intensity. The dreadful spectacle Assassin of White had left in his trail, like a warning to those who would want to follow him; his desolation when facing these people he could do nothing to help – these emotions reminded him that somewhere out there, others were fighting with their lives on the line, including people he held dear.

Obviously Leanne was coming to mind, but she was not the only one. There was someone he couldn't help thinking about, even though he had decided it best to leave him alone for good. Right now, where was he? Was he as uncertain as REVOC was, or was he somewhere he could be safe?

"D a yd r e a m i n g, a g a i n?"

"...!"

A jolt of pain brought REVOC back to reality: his nose, which had long since gone numb from the cold, now felt like it was on fire. A bloodied knife, waved mockingly before his eyes, informed him Assassin had cut off the tip of his nose. REVOC hurriedly brought his hand to the wound, and was relieved to find out it was a very small bit, barely worth calling an injury.

"What was that for?!"

"For my personal enjoyment, and for your ooooowwwn good. We're looking for some asshole, so don't get distracted by your feelings. We're here to kill, aye?"

"That's not your problem."

"Oh but it is, you see? Do you wanna know how it feels to have no control over your body while your stupid other self commits suicide? And it looks like even in death I'm not tied to one, but two idiots. By the way, what were you musing about like a maiden in love?"

"And that's not your business."

" Eh, I don't need you to tell me! Since you don't care about your pal Hyde! But please, go ahead and think about Matthew all you want! It has done you so much good so far."

"...!? How...do you know? How do you know about him?!" REVOC felt a cold sweat all over his body. He was certain he had never shared that information with Jekyll.

"Aaaaaah, that one's simple! You know how your brain is still somewhat active even when you sleep? Well, with Jekyll at the helm I could sleep all I want. When I was bored, I'd just take a peek at your boring life. Well, it was boring until a certain point." A dry laugh echoed. "Poor Matthew, wouldn't you say?"

"Kh...! Don't..."

"Don't what? You don't want me to call him by his old name anymore? Well, I figure since you gave up on who you once were too, that's only fair! Or maybe you don't want me to remind you how useless you were at that time? Oops, don't make that face, I'm juuuust joooking you know? I've gotta kill time until we find the bastard, so won't you let me indulge in something?"

Not that he had ever planned to take his opinion into consideration.

That was how REVOC was dragged through the streets of London – though he was unsure if it was against his will or in accordance to it – while a demon in man's flesh toyed with him.

---

* Umineko – Surrounding

The second round of the Holy Grail War had officially started as of now. Even though the entirety of London was their battlefield, they had no real troops to move around – the fightings were concentrated around the London Bridge and the Thames, while the rest of the great metropolis was prey to roaming shadows. Right now the chase between Lancer of Red and Assassin of Black was approaching its end, and the struggle between the two madmen near the shoreline was in full swing. But all in all, the heat of the battle had yet to hit the ground.

What of the rest of London, where only the sound of battle resounded with no enemies for the naked eye to see?

Archer, have you found anyone?

No, not as of yet. I'll let you decide if it's a good thing or not.

If it means we have a head start on the rest, then it's a good thing. This is a race against the clock: we don't know how many will follow behind, so don't lower your guard.

Hm, is that so. I'd rather I could see them, fighting preferably. We don't have that many clues as to where Assassin of White is hiding; at least if other Servants were around I'd know I'm on the right tracks.

Archer of Black grumbled, although that wasn't transmitted through their mental link.

He had stated the situation as simply as it actually was: there was no one in sight, and his senses as a Servant gave the same result. He hadn't exaggerated the problem to his Master; this was a manhunt, but he didn't know where the man was. No, in this situation it was accurate to say he didn't know where the hunting ground was. Assassin of White could be a hundreds of mile away, or he could be right under his nose. Archer liked to think it was the latter rather than the former – he had not been searching haphazardly, so it would be vexing if it was all for nothing.

He was on his own of course, and he had made sure that no one else in the Black Faction had stalked him in secret. It wasn't like the Masters of Black had nominated him to find and kill Assassin of White either; he were here according to his and his Master's will. Maybe the others knew he was on the hunt, but that was doubtful. Because of the nature of this mission, he hadn't bothered informing them of his plans. Elena Bujart was still inside the floating palace, recovering from her wound, so they could forward complains toward her if they wanted.

Since after all, it wasn't like they had received an order to stay put. Never since the founding of the Black Faction had they acknowledged Alexander Lendric as their leader. They usually listened to him, since he was to thank for their logistic – but it was always as associates, not as subordinates. Archer believed the man in question already understood that, so he was not worried.

"I can't go much farther without straying from the trail."

Whether having someone with him would have helped, he highly doubted it. There wasn't a single Servant in the Black Faction who could boast a tracking ability. Assassin of Black was the closest to that, but even he could only find information, not people. It would have been helpful if he could have found intel on Assassin of White, but he could only find information if there was an existing source of information. In other words, unless they could interview a member of the White Faction it was hopeless. If at least that damned Servant had showed his face at least once before...

Chasing a shadow was a futil effort. If you asked yourself what a shadow would do next, you would look like a fool. As it was, Assassin of White might as well have been a shadow: his motives and personality were a complete mystery. In the end, all Archer could base his search on was his love for human flesh and his lack of subtlety in that regard. Nonetheless, there were a few things he knew for a fact.

First, he had to trust Assassin of White couldn't leave the area delimited by Ruler. The Servant of the Grail was a bit of a mystery as well, but Archer prefered to assume he was competent. If he thought Assassin would remain, then he must have had a way to ensure it. In that case, Archer didn't have to fear about the fugitive leaving.

Reassuring though it might be, knowing that didn't help in the long run. Archer had a hunch as to how he could draw Assassin out, but to put it into practice he had to be nearby. Knowing whether that was the case or not was the issue. This led to the second information Archer could trust: the lastest place where Assassin had struck. The bodies were in such a deteriorated state, it was hard to tell when they had died. Fortunately, that Assassin could visibly not be bothered with discretion: when asking around the neighbourhood, Archer had been told that the tragedy had happened no latter than the night before, on Christmas Eve.

Rule X indicated Assassin couldn't leave the area. Rule Y stated where his latest carnage had happened; in the city's western area, not too far from Inner London. If you combined these two rules together, a high probability turned up: that Assassin of White might not have left this area at all. His movement pattern was cloudy at best, but there was a precedent: in Japan, all the murders attributed to him had taken place in the same area, more or less. Archer had also checked for himself – in the areas where only one case had turned up, the population was not as dense. In other words, if Assassin of White was inside a metropolis such as Tokyo or London, he might not feel the need to cross great distances.

In a way, he was like a hunter-gatherer. Or a predator.

Finally, there was a rule Z. That is, Assassin of White couldn't keep a low profile forever. Of course, as a member of the stealthiest class of the Grail War he could remain hidden forever. But it was a different matter if the man in question didn't want to keep a low profile. Rule Z could be summed up as Assassin's impunity and his craving for flesh. Whether he was aware of his situation or not, he would want to eat again for sure. It was possible he didn't need to eat two days in a row, but that was in a normal situation. Tonight was anything but normal: the streets were completely empty. Not a single service open, not a single civilian taking a stroll. Even street thugs were nestled inside their bed tonight.

Could Assassin of White make sense of this?

Now, let's surmise he suddenly found someone, a lonely figure in the night?

That was the occasion Archer was waiting for. The combination of rule X, rule Y and rule Z had led him to this conclusion. As such, his method to lure out Assassin of White was waiting. Of course, if any of those three rules happened to be flawed, then he was chasing a wild goose.

If that was the case, there wasn't much Archer could do.

"I wonder, did Ruler give us this task because he couldn't get his hands on Assassin by himself?" He pondered calmly. "Not that it changes anything, I suppose."

Archer had been in London for more than half a day. He had scouted the area, searched for informations and he had reported everything back to Elena. As such, he didn't believe Assassin of White could already be dead, not without him noticing. If a strife had happene here in this empty district, there was no way he wouldn't have picked up on it.

At the moment, Archer was not in his usual Servant form. His goal was to trick Assassin into attacking him; having the presence of a Servant might have the opposite effect. That was why, for tonight he was simply an old man taking a night stroll without concern. Truthfully, in such an unusual situation even an old man was suspicious. But Misopethamenos: Simulated Old Age was meant at its very core to conceal his identity, as well as his existence. As long as his appearance was that of an elder man, his attributes as Servant were diminished – even if they were suspicious of him, others wouldn't feel his presence as that of a Servant. That being said, what he wanted here was to serve as the bait, no to go unnoticed.

Even in this form, his abilities were not completely lost. His other Noble Phantasms were sealed, but his skill with a bow was untouched. Still, the more this night proceeded, the less confidence he had in this tactic. In all honesty, the only reason he hadn't give up yet wasn't tenacity, but the lack of other solutions.

There wtill was no one to be found...

"...Ah."

Just when he thought that to himself for the umpteenth time, his ear twitched.

It was a voice, he was sure of it.

It was so faint, a regular human would have missed it for sure. Because of that he hesitated for a second, thinking maybe it was a random noise and his impatience was playing tricks on him. But his pessimism didn't keep the upper hand: he had been scouting this area for hours on end, and it was the first time he heard such a sound. It didn't matter if they weren't close, what he had heard just now was a person's voice for sure – or, on second thought, a reverberation. Someone was speaking loudly enough that their voice was resounding through the emptiness of these streets.

Then, where?

He couldn't tell their exact location from that alone, and he couldn't find the signature of a Servant nearby – so it was somebody able to conceal their presence just like him. If he missed his first move, they could run away.

But that was fine.

After all, with how long he had been waiting, he had come up with a few other methods. The place his leisurely pace had led him to was a crossroad, with more than half a dozen streets spreading out all around him. This spot was perfect. When he was alive, even the greatest cities couldn't present something as impressive as these modern streets, with their complexe layout and their unfathomable size. The way he saw it, they were like a gigantic maze, a network of hallways.

"Let's see...it came from this direction...at this angle more or less. So, the odds of them being in one of those streets is high enough."

The boulevards spreading in all directions must have been expending quite far – his range was equal to their length.

"Well then."

Archer was now standing in the middle of the crossroad, emphasizing how deserted this scenery was. This silence; this nocturnal kingdom where not even bugs and trees could make a sound; he focused on that feeling. These conditions were ideal. He tried to forget his physical envelope, forget the consciousness that he was even alive, to direct his undivided attention at his surroundings. His senses were that much superior to even the strongest humans – not only his sight, but his hearing as well.

Truly, the only noise that existed aside the beating of his heart was a weak breeze. But he didn't want a breeze: he wanted a gust, a storm!

"Hmph...!"

Mana Burst.

A skill that let him unleash the three winds and endow his arrows with their might. Although that was his nature, he had no obligation to use it for that purpose only. In his native tongue, 'medicine' and 'poison' were the same word. After all, it wasn't the content that mattered as much as the dose taken. The exact same went for his wind: it was a tool meant for destructive power, but if handled carefully, it had plenty of other uses.

While maintaining his awareness toward the outside as keenly as he could, Archer unleashed wind in all directions around him. It wasn't a wind so strong that it could knock someone over, but not so weak as to be compared with a breeze. It's velocity as it spanned the streets and boulevards was enough to travel to the other end in an instant. Everything between Archer and the end of those streets was enveloped by the wind, if only for an instant.

That was when Archer's concentration came into play. It was a lot like echolocation: anything the wind brushed against, he could tell where it was. That way he studied the layout of the area, seperated cars from street lights and so on. If anything inside those streets didn't belong here...he would be able to tell. This result was achieved thanks not only to the wind, but to how quiet this night was – thanks to these rare conditions, Archer could even catch subtle sounds from afar.

"...! Third street to the left, around six-hundred meters, two people."

He didn't bother to think beyond that - his body was already set to act. The state of deep concentration he had achieved was broken at the same moment his body spun around – his bow had manifested in his hands. A large, black wooden bow that was almost as long as he was tall. Well, when he assumed the appearance of an old man, it was slight longer than he was tall. Regardless, he effortlessly drew the strings and let go with a dry sound. This way, eight arrows had been released and were headed for the exact spot where Archer had found his preys. He did not bother endowing them with wind though; he wanted to save prana as much as possible.

Not to mention he couldn't guarantee the efficiency of this surprise attack.

He didn't wait to check if the efficiency of his barrage: at once, Archer deactivated Misopethamenos and resumed his usually appearance. Half his body had barely recovered its youth that he had jumped into the sky powerfully. Like a hawk with a tailwind, he soared through the measly distance that separated him from his targets, another arrow already nocked into his bow. Since he had gone and done such a sudden ambush, what use was there for subtlety? He didn't even bother to keep a distance: he landed exactly where his arrows had preceded him, with his legs crashing loudly against the concrete road below.

A single glance was enough to grasp the situation before him. He easily found his arrows: the momentum behind them had made short work of the concrete – they were driven into the ground like drills, and had leveled the road around them. They were spread out as to hit as large a surface as possible, so the streets was now closer to a disaster area. Nonetheless...that was all he could find.

He was the only visible living being in this street.

"Ran away? No...I was too fast..." He muttered.

For indeed his arrows' velocity was nothing to scoff at, and he didn't want to believe they had been avoided so easily. Even then, no longer than a couple seconds has gone by between the moment the projectiles had reached their target, and when he had come crashing from above.

"In that case I suppose..." He raised the volume of his voice, for the next words were for his preys to hear. "...that they must be right under my nose."

He couldn't feel the slightest killing intent. If they were hiding, it was not to ambush him but to escape him, undoubtely. They could try, if they wanted: once again, Archer stood at attention for the slightest sound, the faintest rubbing of fabric that would give them away. He didn't use his wind trick a second time, as it forced him to lower his guard for an instant. And they were not hiding in plain sight anyway, so it would be ineffective.

Seconds went by as slowly as if they were minutes.

"...!"

Almost imperceptible, a faint sound nonetheless attracted his attention. This time, no hesitation was needed: his body automatically spun around and an arrow was fired. A car happened to be on its trajectory – the arrow effortlessly pierced through the metallic body and emerged on the other side; it only came to a stop after reaching the concrete wall behind. Had Archer used a little more strength, this wall would have crumbled as well though.

Unfortunately, force didn't matter since he had once again missed his target.

Maybe that sound had simply been litter carried by the wind. He wasn't so sure about that however: for one, there wasn't any wind worth mention.

But more importantly, why did such a sound come from this direction, where there was only a wall? There was no hiding place over there, unless this person playing hide and seek with him was of the same bleak grey color. But he had fired directly at where the sound had come from, so why had his arrow found a car on its path?

"How long do you think you can remain hidden here?"

Archer took a resolute step toward the row of cars parked along the sidewalk.

---

* Rose Guns Days – Time remained

REVOC's heart felt like it was going to break out of his chest, or explode, or maybe both...!

Don't move.

Assassin gave him instructions through their mental links. They were less like instructions and more like strict orders given in a dry tone, but his panicked mind treated them as such.

Don't swallow, don't breath, don't blink and for the love of God don't throw up. Don't do anything a living being would do, or you'll be found out.

H-he's coming over anyway! What should we...?

The two of them were crouching down on the sidewalks; well, even crouching would be more dignified: they were sitting like dolls after being thrown randomely, and they didn't dare move an inch. Everything had happened so fast, his heart was having difficulties catching up with the events unfolding – his mind was faring better fortunately, and though his entire body was trembling like dead leaves, he managed to understand what was happening.

He had known, instinctively, that this sudden gust of wind had not been natural – it had blown from the front, whereas the weak breeze he had felt before had come from behind. Still, his senses had not alarmed him, and it was only when Assassin had pulled him aside and hid behind the lined-up cars that he understood the danger they were in. Next thing he knew, the road had been wrecked by something, and someone with a strong presence had closed in on their position.

REVOC had tried to sit in a better position, one that would have allowed him to break into a sprint at a moment's notice. But that was not possible – Assassin had pulled him aside for the second time, just before a long, black arrow punctured the car hiding them. Without Assassin, REVOC's head would have been blown to smithereens, no doubt about it.

Just seeing the arrow embedded deep inside the wall sent shivers down his spine.

As I said, shut up and act like you're dead. You've seen what this guy can do, right? I absolutely don't wanna go against a long-ranged fighter! If I can't get close, I can't kill the man.

As. I. Said! He's going to find us any second now!

He's not.

How can you be so sure?!

I can erase my presence, and you're just a human so the same applies to you as long as you don't attract his attention. If I'm right, then he won't want to stay around here for too long.

What could he possibly mean? REVOC actually risked taking a look at his Servant; as expected, Assassin couldn't look less like he was in mortal peril. His expression was even more smug than when he was messing around with REVOC. Maybe that was the kind of thrill that let him get of. But since he always looked like that anyway, he couldn't get any information out of him.

Tac.

Tac.

That man – an Archer from the looks of it – did nothing to hide his footsteps. He was so close now, he had to be on the other side of this car. Any closer than that and REVOC was dead. What little composure the latter had was threatening to fall apart. In order to avoid this, he focused on finding a way out of this rat trap.

For starters, why hadn't Archer made a move yet? REVOC heard a few more steps, still as close yet still as far. Archer was reluctant; of course he would be: REVOC had all the reasons to panic, but that man didn't know what to expect. He couldn't just flip the car around due to the risk of it being a trap. But he wouldn't hesitate for very long time.

What could REVOC do?

He could...there was a chance...

Just a small chance...

He didn't like thinking about it...but a plan was forming in his mind.

It was an idea on the fly, one that could go very wrong very fast. But...REVOC was not exactly a normal human being. He had been experimented on and modified by Victor Vasilia himself. He was more of a familiar than anything else. Though that was unfortunate, he had also obtained some abilities he didn't ought to have. And it wasn't like he was on his own here; Assassin was eager to kill if he had the occasion, so with a surprise attack they might be able to finish this in one fell swoop.

He...there was chance he could survive the first attack. I-if he jumped out of his hiding place and attracted Archer's attention...Assassin was close enough that distance meant nothing. And he was fast enough to kill Archer while the latter aimed at REVOC.

(Right...at least I have to belive in that...)

So it was all done to whether REVOC was killed in one arrow or not. That Archer...the arrow which almost impaled his head earlier reminded REVOC of how precise he was. If anything, he might be able to hit his head, and that would be the end of the line.

But there was no time.

It was now or never.

REVOC put his hands against the ground. He was ready to push on them with all his strength in order to jump out from behind the car. At the same time, he communicated his plan to Assassin.

Or at least he tried to.

Listen, Assassin: I'll try to dive out there; you have to–

You stay right where you fucking are and you suck on a teat to kill time.

Mr. Hyde grabbed his arm so tightly REVOC couldn't even budge it. The look he gave him was not one of amusement.

God damn it, how can it be so hard to stay put? If you fret like a little brat then I can give you some manliness by carving a phallus on your forehead. I refuse to die because of someone else's stupidity again, you hear?! So stay put! Any moment now, we're making a run for it.

But if we just run away he'll shoot us down!

Or not~.

Clearly he was being crytic on purpose, even though their lives were at stakes here. REVOC wanted to punch him, but Assassin was still holding his arm firmly. Or at least he was, until he suddenly passed his arm around REVOC's neck once again–!

It's now!

The exact same second he said that, deafening noise rose up suddenly, like a strong rain pouring heavily. The noise came from the cars – or rather the multitude of 'something' hitting against the cars' frames, threatening to topple them over at best, or to shred them to pieces at worse. Had Archer finally gotten enough the waiting game and decided to bombard them with his bow?!

REVOC could only wonder about it, for Edward Hyde didn't give him the occasion to check. Almost in perfect synchronisation with the downpour, Assassin lept out with his Master under his arm and dashed in the direction Archer had come from. When he did that, REVOC's heart missed a beat, and he was expecting to be shot like a sitting duck.

Which never happened.

"Haha! That's what he gets for focusing on us and making a show out of it!" Assassin snickered.

"Gh– guh...!"

Assassin didn't care to be gentle, and REVOC almost choked from having his arm around his neck like a collar. He had to match the Servant's insane pace if he didn't want to be dragged around. Incidentally, he couldn't look back behind them, so whatever was happening remained a mystery for him. What he could tell however, was that the cacophony was still going on – the noise was not following them, they were leaving it behind until it was a whisper.

When at last Assassin slowed down his pace and resumed walking, REVOC could catch his breath and request an explanation.

"What's going on?! Why isn't he pursuing us?!"

"Weeeeelll, you seee, this guy wanted to find us so bad, seems like he forgot we're not alone in this city. It's very easy to tell where people are too, especially when they wreck an entire street. Joke's on him, he's the one in a pinch now!"

"–! These noises...you mean he's being attacked by another Servant?"

"Preciiiiiiisely. This is my turf, so I could tell they were somewhere around here – there was no way they wouldn't hear that guy making a mess of the place. So all we had to do was wait patiently."

"Couldn't you at least tell me?!"

"That's nooot my problem!...Wait, it is, isn't it? Whatever, that's Jekyll's problem now, hahaha!"

Now that this was behind them, Mr. Hyde pulled out his knife and resumed using it as a divining rod. REVOC couldn't say he was happy with what had happened. Assassin had simply assumed this second Servant would be so kind as to attack their assailant; little did he know, it could very well have been Archer's ally, and they would have been done for. Then again, had it been the case, REVOC's own plan would have ended in disaster...

But instead of feeling humbled, REVOC only felt his hate for Assassin increase.

"Heh, that's a nice feeling you've got there. You know, beside this moron Jekyll, everyone is capable of Evil. If you start tipping your own balance, I'll know it."

Before he could question him on those words, REVOC had to hurriedly adapt his pace to Assassin's – for indeed he had started walking faster, and then faster, before hopping around cheerfully.

"Hmmm~, we're getting closer, I can feel it~! Aren't you happy? Aren't you itching to rip that guy apart!? I'm sure that woman will be veeerrryy proud of you if you do!"

"What'd make me happy is if you settled down! If he's so close, why aren't you being a little more discreet?"

Was he planning on making Assassin of White run away? That was preposterous, but REVOC couldn't help feeling that was something he would do, just to mess with him.

"Don't be stupid! On the contrary, you'd better do the same: look as naive and carefree as a todler. You can pretend to be drunk and returning from a party too; you've got the good profile for that."

While he said that, Assassin made his knife disappear with a sleight of hand.

"Don't you need your knife to find him?"

"Nope. I just reeeeaaally wanted to have it in hand, in case I could stab someone on the way. But maybe it's a wee bit too suspicious; I wanna look as defenseless as possible. We don't need to look for him anymore, you know?"

"Wh...what?! You're using ourselves as bait?!"

"Yes, speak louder, they can't hear you in Timbuktu – of course we're bait, do you see anyone else?!" Assassin waved his arm across the deserted street. "There's only one thing that makes him come out, and it's that he's one thirsty motherfucker. These streets are as empty as your brain, and that's saying something; if he finds two morons hitting the streets at this time, with no other menu available, who do you think he is going to pound on? He's so close I can practically feel his putrid breath, so now we just wait until he jumps us–"

But Assassin came to stop; both in his explaination and in his movements. As usual, REVOC couldn't guess what he saw that made him stopin his tracks. All he was sure of with his position was that Mr. Hyde was looking right, toward a row of residences lining the street. What could possibly have caused that man to shut it?

"Oooor, he could do that." Assassin grumbled, visibly annoyed. "Aw shucks, that's gonna be a pain in the butt."

"What is?!"

"This shit over there."

Assassin spun around as to have REVOC face the building in question. The young man couldn't understand at first: it looked like a normal residential area, with nothing out of the ordinary. What could possibly...

Oh, no...please anything but that...

REVOC hadn't understood at first, but when realization struck his blood froze solid. It was an absolutely normal and unremarkable residential building with six floors. Nothing out of the ordinary...except for the huge gaping hole in the wall, that looked like it had been done with a bulldozer.

'If you fail, more people will die.'

Not only if he couldn't kill Assassin of White – but if he couldn't find him fast enough as well.

That bastard was breaking into houses to eat these people in their sleep...!

---

Thank you for reading!

Man, it's been a while hasn't it? I had exams to take care of, so I hope I didn't make you wait too long! Anyway, this time we're taking a break from legends clashing against each others - the hunt for Assassin of White has begun. This is also the occasion to introduce a new character in a serie that didn't need more of them: Mr. Hyde makes his entrance. I'm having a blast writing him, so I hope he is as entertaining to read than to write.

Once again, thank you for reading! Do not hesitate to comment, review or ask a question!

~Legends Storyteller