Angra: I am inevitable.
Hayashi: I am the protagonist.
Songs
Confronting Angra: The Duelist Reiji (Yugioh Arc-V OST)
Vs. Angra: For Our Friends (Yugioh Arc-V OST)
Angra Overwhelms Hayashi's Servants: DDD (Yugioh Arc-V OST)
Hayashi Takes His Mind Back: A Fierce One on One Battle (Yugioh Arc-V OST)
Hayashi Vs. Angra: Dueling With Your Life on the Line (Yugioh Arc-V OST)
Hayashi's Journal Entries Flashback: Captain America (Captain America: The Winter Soldier OST)
Hayashi Severs Contracts: YouSeeBIGGIRL/T:T [1st Half] (Attack on Titan OST)
Verg Avesta Burst: YouSeeBIGGIRL/T:T [2nd Half] (Attack on Titan OST)
Walking through Tehran, the group noticed that when the citizens saw them, they were more unsettled than they were in the other cities they had been to.
"Um, excuse me…" Jeanne reached her arm out and called to one of them, a young man.
"Yes…?" He slowly walked over to them, clearly intimidated.
"Would you mind telling us about the new Supreme Leader? And how things have changed since he took power?" She asked sweetly, trying to put him at ease.
"He...actually hasn't done anything bad yet...but he took power so suddenly, that it put everyone on edge. Apparently, he's one of those Servants, but he's using someone's body."
"Yes...we're here to stop him. We're also Servants."
"I see...to be honest, the Middle East in general has gone through a lot of leaders, especially in recent history. Some of them are tyrants, some of them good men, but it often ends in a war or a revolution and then someone new will take power. Is it that smart to take this Angra Mainyu away from us so soon?"
Jeanne sighed and looked down before looking him in the eyes and giving her answer.
"Yes, it is. We have to do it now before he accrues too much support from other countries. To Iran, he might appear to have your best interests in mind, but his real motivation is actually the entire world, and he'll do anything in his power to make that happen."
The man looked down before nodding at her.
"Then, please help us."
"You have my word." They continued on towards the Supreme Leader's Office. Curiously, there seemed to be no guards around it, and the surrounding plaza was empty as well. Heading through the entrance, they found that the assembly room was also empty, and sensing immense magic power emulating from the upper floor.
As soon as they reached the actual office, they saw Hayashi leaning over the balcony, through the back doors.
"Angra!" Scathach called out angrily. He glanced back at them nonchalantly before leaping over the railing and beginning to dash through the city. The others followed him, Angra being able to outpace them thanks to his new speed, sprinting through the city towards a large open plaza.
Stopping when they saw him standing in front of a pool of water, they stared him down.
"Welcome to the Grand Mosalla mosque of Tehran. Weekly prayer as well as various cultural activities are held here." He spread his arms out to make them look at the whole square.
The pool of water was at the center of the plaza, and to both the left and right sides were matching buildings that looked to be temples. Past the pool was a smaller building with a dome and two large columns on both sides of it. This building looked to be a more sacred one, and was perhaps the main building for exhibitions, despite being smaller than the other two.
"Give him back…!" Jeanne growled.
Angra chuckled at her, shaking his head.
"You poor thing. You fell in love and now he's left you behind."
Jeanne gritted her teeth.
"He did nothing wrong...it's you who took him from me!"
He laughed, smirking at her.
"'Took him from you?' You make it sound like he's your property."
"Are you any different?" Jeanne asked. "He broke off from you three years ago, nearly four now, and yet you forcefully took over his body again!"
"It's necessary. The way my powers work, I need not only a compatible mage, but my powers lie within Hayashi from when we broke off as well."
"You've done all of this for your own selfish needs, Avenger. No matter how you justify your own actions, the fact is that Hayashi summoned you of his own accord and you betrayed him to satisfy your 'evolution' idea." Scathach argued back.
"My own selfish needs might just be what saves this world from itself."
"...Solomon had a different approach to this argument." Jeanne calmed down, stepping forward.
"Oh? What was it?"
"That either one of us could be right. That magic in the world could be beneficial, but it might be disastrous, and our own plan of stopping you might be in the right."
"I see...that does sound like something he would say…but we are different by nature. I've existed in the Throne for over two thousand years now! I've seen civilizations come and go, and religions and the sciences advance throughout the ages. And today, people believe much more in science than magic at all. Understand that I am not trying to replace technology with magic, I am trying to advance it further by combining the two."
"It doesn't matter." Scathach answered back. "When the Roman Empire fell, and the Dark Ages began, even though people believed in magic, they had never seen it happen before their eyes, and so the fear of magic overwhelming and interfering with their lives was largely the center of their beliefs. If today, in a time that no longer truly believes in the arcane, people find out that magic and all of these folktales and legends were true, they wouldn't know what to do anymore."
"That's why we are guiding and reassuring them."
"They're scared, Angra. Yes, you know more than they do, but you're also now in control of their government, and are probably afraid of what you could do with your power to influence the world." Nero told him.
"And you are attempting to remove me before they get a chance to see that I mean them no harm." He lost his smile and glared at them.
"Because if you remain in power and summon more servants to take control of their countries in the future, there'll never be another leader again. It becomes an autocracy. No one will be able to overthrow them, and they'll live forever. The people will no longer have a choice, or any say in the matter of how their country is run. They'll be powerless." Jeanne said back.
"All of those servants will work for me. In other words, world peace. Do you not see that?"
"...I don't know if world peace will ever be truly achievable." Scathach said, surprising all of them.
"The way you're going about it will not work. It's forced upon everyone, and they may not be willing to accept that kind of decision. It's an idea made by someone who they didn't even know existed until now."
"Is that so? History's greatest figures were nobodies until they became somebodies. An idea made by someone who they didn't even know existed until then." He used her last line against her.
"...I think that as Servants, we have no right to interfere with the affairs of today's world. Many servants are famous for being leaders of their homelands, or of bringing revolutionary change or inspiration of some kind. We are not exceptions to that, either. But our times have passed. We all lived long, long ago, and if we are summoned as Servants, we should not actively try to interfere with today's world. It's not fair to this new generation."
"Then how would you go about world peace?"
"To be honest, I don't know if it's possible. Whether there is actual war or not, there will always be domestic problems within country borders, and there's plenty of people who won't be happy with something or someone. To have perfect peace throughout the world...it might not ever come to fruition. All we can do is live our lives to the fullest while we're here."
"...Perhaps Solomon was right. It seems we'll never come to an agreement, but I will defend this plan until my dying breath."
"And we shall do the same." Jeanne answered, all of them pointing their weapons at him.
"Then let's begin." He dashed at them and kicked Nightingale across the plaza into a building before turning around and reaching for Scathach, everyone surprised. He was stopped by Altera's sword coming towards his face, making him have to back off and backflip away.
Florence emerged from the rubble, dusting herself off but wounded.
Angra prepared to go after Scathach once again, but this time they were ready for his assault. Scathach twirled her spear, thrusting at him a few times though he dodged them by sidestepping. He threw a few punches too, but she avoided them as well.
"Verg Avesta!" He pulled back, knocking her off balance as he slashed his legs, inflicting the same pain on Scathach making her stumble forward. His wounds healed immediately and he grabbed her throat, crushing her into a wall, kneeing her in the stomach a few times, making her fall over. The others jumped into action, attacking him, but he jumped away, dodging everything with little effort.
"You'll never beat me like that." He shook his head disappointedly before dashing at them again, summoning Tawrich and Zaritch in his hands.
Musashi attempted to intercept him, the two katanas she was wielding clashing with his weapons. He quickly began to push back and overpower her, but the others appeared behind him and prepared to thrust all of their weapons through his heart.
"Try harder!" His weapons disappeared and he ducked, making Musashi trip over him as she lunged forward, and all of their weapons missing. Angra sped across from them, before casting reinforcement on one of his legs, smashing it into the ground, making it shake, casting a powerful earth spell as the ground broke up and began to chase after them in a wave of rubble. He then created a ball of blue flames between his hands, stretching them apart from each other to make the flames longer, then blasting them out at the rubble wave, burning the earth and turning it into lava.
Scathach quickly manifested a rune in the air, a dark blue glowing symbol made of pure ether. Holding her hand out to activate it, a huge wave of water gushing out and overtaking Angra's attack, cancelling it out.
"Gae Bolg Alternative!" She twirled her spear, reeling back and hurling it at him, crashing through the ground with its force.
"I think it's about time I stopped playing around." He smirked, shifting to the side to dodge the spear, then channeling lightning around his body, dashing after them again, practically teleporting at his new speed.
Knocking all of them away, he summoned his weapons again and whirled them around in a flurry, cutting all of them up while they were on the ground, rendering them unable to move.
Scathach flexed her hand, causing Gae Bolg to fly back towards them, but Angra caught it, surprising her. He thrust it into her body, making her cry out as blood started to flow from her mouth and her torso.
Walking over to Jeanne, he stood over her, and she looked up at him angrily.
"Hehe...there's no better feeling than seeing your face right now. You really hate me, don't you?"
"How could I not?" She seethed.
"You see Jeanne, this is what happens when you are only on earth for a limited time. Look what happened to you, falling in love with your own Master, and now I have control over him. If you were here permanently, you would learn to live without those emotions, as those same people are destined to die."
"We already lived once. We should only be brought back under contracts to our Masters." She responded.
"Do you not hear how hypocritical you sound? You already lived once, and you were summoned back by a contract. But you connected with someone who you're not going to see again."
"What do you mean?" Her voice was more shaken than before.
"None of you even realize it, do you?" he laughed. Tears began to fall out of her eyes out of sheer anger.
"You've all been so preoccupied with your bond with Hayashi and stopping me, that you forgot that when this is all over, you're going to be sent back to the Throne, and you won't even remember any of this."
The realization hit Jeanne as all of the anger quickly left her face, replaced by a look of disbelief.
"As much as I'm sure he cares about all of you, he must have realized that you were all going to forget him when this whole mission was finished. Servants forget the details of their summoning contracts every time when they return to the Throne, so as not to have them reconnect with the world below them. This is no different, no matter how much you might think it is. Even the Servants who worked for me have surely forgotten when you defeated them."
"...That doesn't change anything for us. We still have to defeat you! Whether we remember this or not!"
"Empty words. You cannot even get up right now." He placed his foot on her chest, preventing her from moving. He charged his body with electricity again, electrocuting her, making her scream out.
"Now then...let's see how much I can make you scream and cry when the last thing you see is the face of the man you love taking pleasure in killing you." He lifted her up by the throat and choke slammed her against a wall, Jeanne trying unsuccessfully to break his grip.
He summoned one of his weapons and prepared to pierce her right through the heart.
"So long."
'Haya...shi…' She closed her eyes tight, waiting for the sensation of pain, but it never came. Opening her eyes again, she saw that his face had contorted into one of anger, and his whole body was shaking.
Dropping the weapon and letting go of Jeanne, he grabbed his head in pain.
"What...are you...doing…? This is impossible…"
"What does it look like? I'm taking back my body. And my mind."
Angra found himself within Hayashi's mind again, a dark space with black and red mud covering Hayashi up to his neck in a coffin shape, unable to move.
"You can't…!"
"I am. This isn't the first time you took me over. Do you really think that I've just been sitting here this whole time? I couldn't do anything the first time, but I'm easily strong enough to break your hold on me now, even if you're in your Grand form."
"You're lying!" Angra began to sink his body down further into the mud so they were at eye level.
"You're one of the weakest Servants on the Throne. You become stronger by taking over mages like me. But what happens if that mage is strong enough to shut you out? I had your powers this time." He channeled lightning throughout his body, breaking through the mud easily, then hopping over to Angra and picking him up by the throat.
"You...bastard…!"
"I'll be the one doing the name calling here. In your Grand Form, you're just about equal to a Top Servant, like I am. But when I absorb most of your power? I wonder how big the power gap is going to be?" Hayashi glared at him, his eyes now glowing a light blue as he began to take magical energy from him, making him yell out.
Hayashi's body began to glow blue and white as Angra's voice yelled out throughout the plaza, enveloping the area. The light died down, and standing across from Hayashi was Angra, in his regular body, all of his blue marks back.
Hayashi was back in control of his body, but now channeling blue lightning.
"H-Hayashi…?!" Jeanne gasped, all of his servants looking up at him. He glanced back and nodded before turning his attention back to Avenger.
"This time." He threw his coat off and unzipped his jacket, dropping it to the ground, now just wearing a wife beater.
Hayashi appeared in front of Angra, grabbing his head and slamming it onto the ground before lifting him up again and tossing him against one of the nearby buildings.
"Damn you! I'm not letting my plan go to ruins!" He dashed after him, but Hayashi kneed him in the stomach and kicked him back against the building again.
"Your plan is already in ruins. This time, you're going to lose!" Angra got up and summoned his weapons, slashing at Hayashi, who avoided every attack and disarmed him by knocking both of them out of his hands. He then grabbed him and electrocuted him, tossing him back across the plaza, hitting the edge of the pool.
"Face it, you can't enact your plan alone. Without Solomon and Ramesses, you can't take over this world." Hayashi walked up to him and kicked him in the face so his head went underwater for a second.
"I would pay damages for this place, but I don't expect to survive until tomorrow." He looked around.
"What are you talking about…?" Angra coughed up water and blood, glaring at Hayashi.
He looked over at all of his Servants, who were now standing up, watching them.
"Scathach. Did you read my journal?" He called out.
"...Yes." She answered back. "Are you sure about this, Master?"
X
Scathach,
I know you are the one reading this because you are the only one the seal will allow to open this book. You've seen me write in this before, but I never told you about the contents. After every mission we went on, and each city we went to, I wrote down my thoughts, eventually progressing into theories of how to become a Heroic Spirit once all of this is over. So these words are recollections of our journey, almost a years' worth. I made the seal recognize you among the others because I know that you're the only one who won't stop me. I hope you won't decide to stop me when you get to the end, either. I hope to see you again on the Throne, even if you don't remember me.
She turned the pages, seeing the whole little book filled up with words. Turning back to the the first entry, she began to read:
December 3, 2007
It's hard to believe it's been three years now since I did what I did. I returned to London a few days ago from my latest little vacation. I asked about work at a few different branches again while I was gone, but once again no luck. Although this time, it was because they knew about my arrangement with Lorelei, not because of my crimes. I'll be placing a seal on this book because she can't know that I've been asking other branches about transferring. Only I'll be able to open it. When I got back, she gave me a new assignment that will likely take a long time. As it turns out, Angra has resummoned himself and a slew of other Servants to help him with whatever it is he wants. Lorelei had me summon Servants of my own, and I summoned three of them, all of them females. The first is Nero, the Roman Emperor, the second is Attila, the Hun King, and the third is Jeanne d'Arc, the French Heroine. We work well together so far, and we were able to defeat some English Servants in the city last night. The leader of them was Sherlock Holmes, a Ruler. He was able to injure me pretty bad, but one of theirs, Florence Nightingale, a Berserker, healed me and force formed a contract with me, so now she is helping me as well. I imagine that there are many more Servants that we're going to have to face, but I'm not going to let Angra win this time. I can't afford to.
December 17, 2007
Our second assignment is now finished, two weeks since the first one. This time, there were Servants in Rome, led by an Archer, Nikola Tesla. He wasn't the main problem, though...one of the Servants was a Berserker, Caligula. His Noble Phantasm made my powers come to light again, and I was overtaken by madness once again; I hurt all of my Servants...Nero and I visited the site of her old statue in an attempt to make it up to her, but it certainly didn't make either of us feel any better. I'm starting to think that I'm stuck in this situation. What will happen if I do defeat Angra? I'll feel unfulfilled, because I can't undo what I did, and my powers will stay with me until I die of old age. And who's to say that I won't live longer because of them? I need to stop him nonetheless, but I wonder if there's a way to change that?
December 22, 2007
Our third assignment is now finished as of three nights ago, and it was far more taxing than the first two. Late at night the day we were in Rome, Jeanne snuck in and I caught her. I made her come clean, and as it turns out, she made a secret deal with Ozymandias, Angra's right hand. He was giving her information about their forces in exchange for information about us. I guess I stopped it early enough because they had only met twice, once in a dream and once in Rome. However, she did give me a useful piece of information. There are 9 groups of Servants working for him, because there's a Master Servant from each class leading them. Sherlock was the Master Ruler, and Tesla was the Master Archer. The third one was Master Saber, Charlemagne, who we just defeated in Aachen three days ago after a night in Monte Carlo, where we blacked out and were moved by them. The good news is that I gained a little bit of control over my abilities when I used them this time, since I didn't go berserk, and my body was tangible so I could be hurt normally. The bad news is that Jeanne transformed into a darker version of herself, an...Alter form. She wears black armor, her hair is a sort of beige, her skin is pale, and her eyes are a piercing yellow. She's definitely more violent and crude than her regular counterpart, but she at least still listens to me somewhat, as she showed considerable distress when I threatened to kill myself unless she reverted back. After the fight, we were all unconscious save for Jeanne, so she called for help, and flew us back to our hotel in Monte Carlo. She said she wiped the memories of the paramedics, but I can't risk something like that happening again. On the plus side, the day after, I had sex with Nero, which was fantastic. I ended up telling her about my past in full detail though. She was definitely sympathetic, but it didn't feel any better telling her honestly. Afterwards, I got a call from Lorelei saying that a few of Angra's Servants attacked the Association's headquarters in London and that a few mages, El-Melloi and herself included, were injured in combat with them. They were after the handful of restricted documents about me, so I guess Angra didn't tell all of them about our connection. What has my attention though is that Lorelei said their leader was Kiritsugu Emiya. He was supposed to have died 6 years ago now, but he was there as an Assassin, using Time Alter magic and everything. Lorelei's in distress over it, but it actually gives me an idea…
January 15, 2008
We fought against Master Avenger, Edmond Dantes, a few days ago, and he kicked the shit out of us. I've spent the last few days in recovery with Florence, and we slept together too. We spent about two weeks resting from everything that happened in Aachen, and went to Bran in Romania, where we fought a plethora of servants that had dark pasts and powers, the most noticeable of which was Vlad the Impaler. A plus that came out of this trip was that I think I finally have full control over my powers, since I was able to use a Noble Phantasm this time, and I didn't have any kind of change to my personality either. However, none of it mattered, since all of us together couldn't do anything to Edmond. He told me that he didn't consider me a true Avenger and that I'll never be what he is, and part of me agrees.
January 22, 2008
It's been two days since we defeated Master Assassin, the Legendary Chinese Martial Artist Yan Qing, in Xi'an. He beat us up pretty badly, but Kato was able to pull out a win somehow. With him was not only Kiritsugu but also Irisviel, as a Caster Servant, and he had her heal us so that I could fight them. I managed to defeat them, and they were both sent off back to the Throne. Seeing them as Servants made me think about something though. I've been trying to figure out some way to prevent Angra from simply resummoning himself to do this again, and it came to me: it's me that he's really after. He wants his powers back that stayed with me this whole time, and use of my body so that he can be as strong as possible. So if I remove myself from the equation, then he should have no reason to come back here. Hypothetically, he could possess someone else, but he said it himself, that he and I have a special compatibility, which is why his abilities stayed with me. On top of that, it will take another 3 years at least to gather enough energy to resummon himself through the Grail again, and if I'm not here, the odds are that he wouldn't even try at all. Because of my powers, any physical damage I take is instantly healed, unless it's overwhelmingly so, and my stamina has to recover. I have yet to try an actual shot to the head, but if I were to do that now, and it worked, then my contracts would be immediately severed, and Angra's Servants would be free to roam the world. I could ask the others to do it, or force them to with command seals, but again, I need to wait until the end, when Angra's the only one left, so that there won't be any further threat when I'm gone. I'll have to start thinking of ways to accomplish this…
January 29, 2008
It's been almost a week since we defeated Master Caster, Merlin, and the other Knights of the Round Table in Bath. The fights weren't too bad this time, but Merlin revealed some new information: that Angra and his top four generals were working on some secret project together that only benefits them. Merlin claimed that Angra doesn't tell everyone that works for him his true intentions, so the ones that we're really after are those five. That night, they visited me in a dream, and it seemed to consist of Angra, Ozymandias, Edmond, and two others that I didn't recognize. Merlin mentioned a Servant named Solomon was working on it as well, so he must have been one of the two, likely the one that looked calmer as opposed to the one that looked more like a warrior. Because of our loss to Yan Qing, I summoned another Servant from Japan, this time Miyamoto Musashi, the most famous swordsman in the country's history. Except she's a girl. And she came along with a little extra baggage; I summoned Mozart on the first attempt, and used a catalyst on the second. After the battle, I told my Servants that it would be best for me if I became a Heroic Spirit, but once again, I have to think about how to do it. If the gunshot is a no, then I have to injure myself to the point that my body can't heal itself. And that's going to be hard considering that my powers over internal damage too…
February 5, 2008
A few days ago, we completed another assignment, defeating the Celtic Servants, at the ruins of Castle Dun Scaith at the edge of Scotland. A few things came out of this battle. The first, and most important, is that I was able to form a new contract with Scathach, the Master Lancer. Thankfully, she was already against Angra's plan, proving that she's already wiser than most of them so far, but now we have an inside source of information, at least on as much as she knows. The second thing was that now I'm able to use Angra's Murderous Intent skill. It's not always going to be the best idea to use it, considering that it completely drains my stamina and leaves me vulnerable after the powerup, but it will certainly be useful in a pinch. We've already taken down Master Ruler, Archer, Saber, Assassin, Caster, and Lancer is with us. With six down, that means that only Angra's inner circle is left. Edmond is the Master Avenger, Ozymandias is the Master Rider, there's a Master Berserker, Solomon is an extra Caster, and Angra himself. We're nearing the end, and I still haven't figured out a way to take myself out...If I can't manage to do it, then I'm stuck here waiting for him to try again, without my Servants. What do I do?
March 13, 2008
It's been a while since I was able to write, and a lot's happened in the past month. I'll start by saying that Scathach told us what Angra's plan is: he wants to turn the five of them into Grand Servants, the ancient class of Servant summoned by the Counter Force to protect the planet from outside threats. It's normally a position reserved only for the strongest Servant in each class, and can only be achieved by being summoned by the planet itself, but Solomon has found a way to make themselves Grand Class artificially, by saving the mana of all of the Servants we have defeated so far in a massive reserve, then having them absorb it all to the point that they ascend. It's of the utmost priority that we stop them from doing so, but they've unfortunately sent more Servants out in opposite directions to preoccupy us, and make up for the mana they lost when Scathach joined me. Shortly after Bath, we had to go to Rio, and fought some Servants of the Americas in the Amazon Jungle, the leader of which was Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec God- well, Goddess. After a difficult battle, I slept with Jeanne, finally. However, things took a turn for the worse when we got back to London. Lorelei told me that she has been having spies watch us since our first fights, because she doesn't trust me not to betray her. Well, I did. We fought, and I left her needing medical attention. We've been on the run since, having to leave my house in London behind. We went to Munich first, staying a few nights, until Mozart said that he sensed a new group of Servants in Vienna, along with Marie Antoinette and Antonio Salieri, his old friends. We fought against them and defeated them, at the cost of Mozart himself, who said to let him go back to the Throne. The leaders of the group were Grand Duchess Anastasia, the Russian Princess, and Ivan the Terrible, the first Tsar. Following these fights, we made our way to Shanghai, which took us about a week, and then flew from there to Kyoto, and drove again a few hours south, to where Illya's old castle was in the forest. We've been staying here for a few days now, but strangely, the castle is in brand new condition. Someone did renovations on it since the damage it took a few years ago, but as far as anyone knows, the place has been abandoned since Illya lived here. It's definitely a lot more lavish and spacious than my old house, but everyone's been adjusting pretty well. But enough about that, these last two opponents, Quetzalcoatl and Ivan, might have given me an idea on how to take myself down with Angra. Both of their Noble Phantasms involved massive blasts of energy, enough to change even the weather, and even though I avoided them, I imagine that if I had gotten hit by one point blank, then it most certainly would have done enough damage that my powers wouldn't be able to heal me, at least not very quickly. And therein lies the answer: mana. But not just any mana; my own mana. I've come up with an idea that should work, and hopefully I'll be able to put it into use in the final battle…
March 16, 2008
I'm expecting this to be the final entry I write in this journal. The same night of the previous entry, Sakura Matou came to us and said that Hijikata Toshizo, the Master Berserker, had killed off the heads of the Yakuza and taken the Imperial Family hostage. We rushed over there and defeated all of them save for Hijikata himself, who took us out without much trouble, to the point that he killed me, and Solomon had to appear and revive me. He's truly a Berserker class. The good news is that Solomon forced him to retreat since we had taken out his other 18 Servants, so the Imperial Family is safe, and I met with them, recommending that they remain in the old Imperial Palace in Kyoto until this whole situation is finished. After that, Nightingale and I were able to rid Sakura of her Crestworms thanks to some surgery. She said that Zouken had tried to defeat Hijikata's team himself in an attempt to have the Imperial Family owe him a favor, but he was quickly cut down, which is a good thing at the end of the day, I suppose. When we returned the next day, Ozymandias visited me that evening, alone. He said to travel to Cairo, where his own team was, which is where we are now. I'm writing this in the hotel room as the others are asleep. I'll make this as simple as I can: it's too late to try and stop their ritual. Angra's plan was flawless, and we couldn't afford to ignore Servants to go after him, and each one we defeated, we were only helping further their plans along. This fight will be no different, and I imagine that they're going to ascend before long, and they'll be after me. We'll be helpless. But, this won't end like last time. Every one of these Servants may have been summoned by the Grail, but in reality, they are contracted to Angra. This time around, with his powers in me, it'll be pretty easy to break his hold on me. But I'm going to let him control me, all the while I'll be storing power to break free and kill both of us. And without him here, the others should go back to the Throne, and they won't get there fast enough because they already separated, going back to their own countries. Unfortunately, that means that I won't get a chance to say goodbye to my Servants, because I'm sure as hell not going to tell them about this. Should they find a way to defeat the others as well, then all the better. But I'm only worried about myself right now. Scathach, I know you're the one reading this. I've modified the seal on this journal to allow you and only you to open it. You, because you've also wished for death for so long, and so I know you're the only one who won't stop me. As much as I love the others, there is no other way out for me. You can call it selfish if you want, maybe it is, but it's also to stop Angra from coming after me again in another three years, so that I have to do this all over again. I'll be placing this book inside the desk drawer, because once we leave this room, the Association Enforcers will search through here. With any luck, they'll give it to Lorelei or Zelretch, who will give it to you. I'm sorry. I love you.
"...No, Master. I won't stop you. But I wish there was another way."
X
"Now let's get this over with." Hayashi picked Angra up and began to cast a spell with his other hand, his magic power surging.
"What are you doing…?!" Angra growled.
"You haven't figured it out yet?" A blue bubble of mana appeared in his hand, lightning sparking all around it, beginning to enlarge before it engulfed both of them, still getting bigger.
"Master?!" Jeanne cried out. They could still see through the bubble.
"I'm sorry. But I've been planning this for quite a while now. I didn't tell you because I knew you would try and stop me. But I'm killing myself along with him."
"WHAT?! HAYASHI, NO!" Jeanne screamed, all of the others becoming bewildered as well.
"Yes. You have to think about this, Jeanne. I told you back in Bath that I was looking for a way to become a Heroic Spirit. Now whether that will happen after this or not is unknown, and I can only hope. But over time, it became more to that. The longer I stay on this earth, the more I'm putting it in danger. What happened in Kyoto with the Imperial Family...it's technically my fault. Hijikata was summoned by Angra, who's after me. And if I remain here after he's gone, then he's just going to summon himself again in another few years, and we'll have to go through this all over again."
"But…" Nero called out, looking over to Scathach. "You knew about this? All along?"
"Not until our week of training. But I agreed with it. He's doing the right thing." She looked down.
"I needed a way to cause enough damage to myself that my powers wouldn't be able to heal me. And it came to me after Rio and Vienna: mana. If I detonate a big enough burst of mana that relies on my powers already, then it should be able to negate my healing effect and cause enough damage to be fatal. So you and I are going to go out together." He smirked at Angra, who gritted his teeth, still being unable to get out of it.
"And I'm sure you realize it too, but without me, you have no power and no goal anymore. You said it yourself: I summoned you without a catalyst because of our similar beliefs and personalities. But even if you did summon yourself back, you won't be able to find anyone compatible quick enough. So you're stuck on the Throne, waiting for someone to summon you again. But you're too weak to warrant them actively looking for a catalyst, and the chances of someone else summoning you without one are?"
"...Zero…." He growled, trying to get out of his grip, but Hayashi just clenched down harder.
"And...I'm sorry to do this...but to make sure that it succeeds, I'm going to have to sever our contracts to get back all the mana I've been using to keep them." He looked back at all of them, no longer smiling. All of them started to sob, their eyes widening.
"The sad thing is, I know that you won't remember any of this when you go back to the Throne. And to be honest, it's better if you don't, so that you don't have any lingering feelings tying you down to me when you're summoned next."
"Miyamoto Musashi. By order of my Command Seal, our contract is hereby null and void! I sever our pact!"
"Master...I'll be waiting for you…" Musashi gave him a thin smile as her body turned into spirit particles and disappeared. As the mana exerted on that contract returned to him, the mana bubble grew again, this time spanning half of the plaza.
"Altera. By order of my Command Seal, our contract is hereby null and void! I sever our pact!"
"...I shall pray that you find us again, Hayashi." She choked out, tears falling down her face as her body dispersed into particles, and she too was sent back up to the Throne. Once again, a large portion of Hayashi's mana returned to him, and the mana bubble grew even larger.
"Florence Nightingale. By order of my Command Seal, our contract is hereby null and void! I sever our pact!"
"Hayashi...I'll miss you…" She too turned into spirit form and returned to the Throne, Hayashi's power increasing again as the bubble now encased almost the entire plaza.
Hayashi gritted his teeth as he began to take damage from the amount of electricity that he was producing.
"...Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. By order of my Command Seal, our contract is hereby null and void! I sever our pact!"
"HAYASHI!" Nero screamed out as she began to turn into spirit form and was forced back to the Throne. Once again, Hayashi's power returned to him, and both he and Angra yelled out from the amount of energy that they were channeling.
"...Jeanne. I'm sorry…"
"Master, please...I should be the one apologizing...as much as I hate this...you're right. You'll save the world, I know you'll be made a Heroic Spirit." She smiled as much as she could at him, though tears were already streaming down her face uncontrollably.
"I wish we could have had more time alone together...I would have truly fallen for you…"
"It's funny...I was about to say the same thing...Jeanne D'Arc. By order of my Command Seal, our contract is hereby null and void! I...sever our pact!"
"Come find me! Hayashi!" Jeanne called out, as she was sent back to the Throne.
"Scathach." He looked at her.
"Because of my circumstances, Master, I'll remain here for a brief time after my contract is severed."
"Then you and Gilgamesh get out of here now so you're not caught up in the blast."
"Understood. Master, you mean the world to me. I sincerely hope that you're able to join us in the Throne."
"I hope so too."
"Let's go, Archer!" Scathach called over to Gilgamesh, who nodded and started to run away, her following his lead.
Once they were out of sight, Hayashi sighed, looking back at Angra.
"Scathach. By order of my command seal, our contract is hereby null and void! I sever our pact!"
His final contract returned the rest of his mana to him, the bubble reaching its largest size, encompassing the entire plaza, the surging lightning and his own mana output cracking the ground.
"This is my own Noble Phantasm now. I call it Verg Avesta- Burst. It's technically an Anti-Unit type, but the detonation and the shockwave is going to be the same level as an Anti-Fortress class. You think we can survive that point blank?"
"You...bastard...I'm going to find you in the Throne and destroy you!"
"That's right...you're going to be the only one who remembers anything, since you share the Grail's powers...but the others won't. And without them, I'm going to beat you senseless every time you try."
All Angra gave in response was a furious growl.
"Unfortunately, Tehran's going to take a fair bit of damage. I hope Lorelei's not too upset with the bill. Hehe…let's finish this."
"I can't believe...all of this preparation...and you still defeated me…" he cursed.
"I always thought that I brought this upon myself...that because I summoned you three years ago, all of this is my fault. But maybe I should be thanking you too...for letting me imprint my story into the world."
"Heh...you're welcome."
"Shut up."
Hayashi opened and closed his fist, detonating the mana bubble, expanding outward in a massive shockwave. Anything that came into contact with it was instantly obliterated, the plaza, the surrounding buildings, and before long, a few square miles before diffusing.
End.
