Fate: Unbalanced Scales

by SomeWritingGuy

Become a Hero of Justice or protect his family? A question one man answered confidently each time it was asked. When the war he had been preparing his entire life for finally arrives, the question changes into a choice: Be the monster everyone believes him to be or watch his family die one by one. [Pre F/Z to post F/SN] (1000 Follows! I'm not dead just writers block/burnt out!)

35. The Last to Fall

Howdy! It's you're favourite: "Used-to-post-20k-weekly-now-posting-15k-bi-monthly" author; SomeWritingGuy!

Yes, I can understand all of your pain with such a long wait but I assure you that it is 100% worth it in every sense. I've been having extended amounts of trouble with writing cohesively which makes good storytelling.

Thankfully with DnD, which is what I've been spending my writing time on, I don't need to write cohesively because they're just reminders for me to use later!

But we're back again! As I said, I'm never going to leave this fic (at least not without giving you all express notice) so don't be afraid of a sudden drop. Be afraid of a slow wait as my slowly degrading brain crawls to a snails-pace.

Can I say that hopefully, the next chapters will be faster? Mmhhhhh-yyeaaaaaaa-nooooo-maaayybee? I hope so, because leaving you all waiting stresses me out as well. Anyhow, enjoy!

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Shirou could see the blood dripping around a bullet that hovered in the open air. His bewilderment was immediately explained as the servant's body became visible around the lodged round. The armour-clad form of Lancer stood ahead of Illya, locked in a half-bent pose as he stared down at the hole that had been made.

Shirou was more than confused about what had happened and how it was even possible to have transpired in such a short time.

He had been forced to witness it all at the same speed as Assassin. Stealing the gun poised at the servant from his father, Assassin fired the pre-loaded weapon at Illya with speeds that sympathetically made Shirou's arm hurt.

Bullet in travel, Illya had used a command seal to teleport Lancer directly in front of her, though whether that had been spontaneous reaction or cognitive thought was up in the air.

His thoughts on how, why and what were all abruptly taken over by a wave of pure dread once a second realization struck.

An Origin Round.

A blood-curdling cry of agonizing pain howled through the otherwise silent night. Illya doubled over onto herself and then the ground.

It was the most horrific thing he could possibly watch but at the same time, he found it impossible to tear his eyes away. Was it the absurdity of the events? Was it the unexpectedness? Was it his preconceived notion of impossibility?

Her body had already gone through tearing itself apart from the inside out. Her magic circuits went into overdrive, burning straight through her clothes and sizzling the humidity in the air along with the blood that spewed from wounds along the edges of her circuits and her orifices.

It felt as if Time Alter was still active, drawing out the excruciating scene and each detail.

She was still writhing while Lancer's body started fading away at the shoulder, but he seemed just as confused as to what happened, how it could have happened. He sent a glance backward, then to Shirou and finally behind him at the cave. "I'm sorry, masters. I failed once again," he murmured while taking one last look at his fading hands. "At least I'm being punished this time."

The servant faded away into the air, leaving behind nothing. There were no lamenting cries or shouts of vengeance. Only a ringing in his ears accompanied the deafening silence.

Shirou felt as if he were plunged into lukewarm water. The sensations of his own body grew distant and faded away completely. He feared to breathe, lest he suffocate on nonexistent fluid. His senses rapidly seemed to abate starting with the pain in his back and ending with the ground beneath his fingertips.

Even the high pitch whine in his ear faded away into emptiness. The only sense he had left was sight which forced him to watch his sister's still twitching form. His eyes, even performing a simple visual trace, couldn't detect a heartbeat.

It was over.

Everyone he had been trying to protect, the people he had put his life on the line to keep safe, were all dying and he was still lying on the ground.

Why?

Why was the world so hell-bent on destroying him time and time again? Archer of this war, Caster of the last and now him.

No matter where or when they were, the world had it out for Shirou Emiya. The odds constantly seemed against him, despite how hard he struggled to change them. "This is simply how it is," a cold sardonic voice, Archer's voice, spoke to him. "All Emiya are destined to walk the path of loss, the path of failure. To believe you are the exception is nothing more than idealistic denial."

Shirou closed his eyes and the man stood before him, arms crossed with a flat look on his face. He seemed to be floating in the empty space of his mind, with his magic circuits illuminating his back. "But why? Why can't one of us just live a happy life?"

Archer furrowed his brow. "You of all people should be the last person to ask such a pathetic question. All your life you trained and were prepared for what lay ahead. All of your life you walked hand in hand with death as a magus. All your life you repeatedly jammed your nose where it didn't belong, stirring trouble under the belief that you were helping when in reality you only made things worse."

Archer's eyes were chilling and unflinching. Shirou wanted to look away but no matter where he did, Archer was there. "I- I just wanted to help," he muttered, recalling all of the events where he had done far more bad than good.

"If you had truly wanted to help you would have done nothing. Failing once isn't bad so long as you learn from your mistakes. However, time and time again you showed your unwillingness to learn and ignorance of your mistakes." Archer's lips twitched into an angered snarl. "Sakura and Shinji, the serial killer, the Clock Tower, Reines Archisortie, Luvia Edelfelt and who knows what other domino you've knocked over already." The snarl faded, his eyes closed and the man adorned a mildly softer look of pity. "I'm just glad it's not my life to live."

Shirou clenched his teeth until his jaw hurt, trying not to scream from the futility of the entire situation. "Then what do I do now? What is left for me?"

Archer was silent for far too long. When he made a noise, it was a scoff. "You said it yourself earlier, just with a different person in mind." Archer seemed to shift backwards, distorting within his vision. "Even knowing that iterations of yourself have failed along the same path you press on. Sometimes I hate our stubbornness." The colour of his body diluted more and more as the image stretched until it was a single white dot far off in the distance.

All at once, the dot expanded and the scene he had left appeared before him again. A whirlwind of emotions overcame his entire body and it felt like he might explode. Rage, despair, panic and pain all came at him like crashing waves battling for supremacy. All of the emotion and thoughts were focused on a single being, the servant with his father's face.

Looking away from Illya toward the servant in mind, Shirou found the entire edge of the forest decimated by an incredible number of blades. Some of the trees had been turned to pulp or splinters from all the abuse. Amidst the destruction, he couldn't find Assassin but he did find a shape the swords seemed to purposefully avoid, his father.

The anger in Shirou's swirling emotions turned to confusion which only worsened his turmoil. When had he unleashed such a barrage? He couldn't remember doing it but a look as his depleted mana reservoir confirmed that he had expended a lot of energy. Had he been attacking with projections without even being aware?

His inner thoughts must have wiped away the adrenaline in his body because an intense pain in his back returned rapidly.

Tensing in response sent shooting pain through his spine and forced his face into a grimace. He didn't want to look over his shoulder, but he had to so he could know how bad things were.

Forcing his neck to turn, he made a strained look at the source of his pain. Impaled in the center of his back was a large jagged slab of chert. It wasn't bleeding much, but it had nearly run him through into the ground.

Trying to lift his upper body up enough so he could move brought unbearable pain, flashing stars and tunnel vision. His legs still weren't working, so odds were his spine had been severed.

Family murdered and he couldn't even pursue the murderer. Even with Avalon, restoring a severed spinal column would take time, time that just put further distance between him and Assassin.

Trying and failing to move once more, the boy collapsed on the ground wheezing out raspy breaths.

He couldn't think, his body and mind were screaming for two different reasons and trying to compose thoughts was like searching for a needle in heavy fog. He had to chase after Assassin and if he couldn't manage that, he could at least help Kiritsugu — if he was even still alive.

Befuddled, he couldn't escape the relapsing thought of Illya and Kiritsugu, his family, being stripped from him in a moment's notice before his very eyes. He had been helpless to stop it, even with all his power.

His reactions were too slow, he should have predicted Assassin following him, he could have planned for a different exit or entry or let a servant stand guard. A thousand should-haves and could-haves along with the bitter sting of regret was a caustic cocktail to his already wracked mind.

What point was there in living if he had failed so greatly? He had no reason to go on, so what harm would it do in ending it all?

In the midst of his mental turmoil, something in the distance caught his attention. It was a stream of smoke from the side of a tree. Enhancing his eyes and looking closer, Shirou could see a lit cigarette hanging limply from his father's mouth.

He was alive.

If a cigarette was burning, his father was alive which meant his family — at least a part of it — still existed, that it was still worth fighting for.

Gritting his teeth, the boy called forth two swords and felt a strange twitch as if his circuits hit a snag. It was something he could worry about later. Refocusing on the blades in his hands, he used the two weapons to offer leverage in the ground and drag himself forward. It didn't matter how much it hurt or how it might further destroy his body so long as he could get to his father.

The journey was arduous but within a few minutes, he reached Kiritsugu. Speaking, Shirou noticed he couldn't hear his own voice and shortly after he noticed how little his father was moving.

Reaching out, the boy laid a hand on his father's leg and rested his head on the ground for a moment to regain his strength and breath. When his breath stopped coming in ragged, throat-searing gasps he looked up and tried speaking again.

His own voice was muffled now but his eyes told him all he needed to know. Kiritsugu's eyes were closed and between blued, bloodless lips was a mostly burnt cigarette. In his hand, limp against the ground and the tree was a crumpled packet of clumsily torn open cigarettes.

His mind blanked. The swirling emotions in his mind flickered too fast to decipher and he felt absolutely overwhelmed with everything.

Pressing his head against the ground in frustration, heat welled in his eyes and his throat grew tight.

He screamed.

He didn't know for how long, or how loud he was but eventually hands gripped and tugged at his back and he was moving away, carried off without any sense of direction, without any care beyond one:

He would finish what was started and put an end to the War. He would complete at least one of his father's wishes.

… … …

… … …

… … …

The dining room was just as silent as it had been all day prior. The night following the event at Mount Enzou had been quiet though it had been far from peaceful.

The Emiya family aside, the injuries from Assassin's ambush had been minimal. Shirou leading by a large margin gave Caster enough time to react and erect a hasty barrier. He was able to support the cave and keep off most of the debris while Saber moved everyone further inside.

In the end that might have wound up being a problem. Without injury, those who remained were forced to sit idle, unsure of what to do beyond trying to dig through the rubble. That had taken time, even with Caster and Saber and by then they were forced to pick up the pieces in the aftermath.

Shirou had been locked up in his room and he had not left voluntarily since being placed there. Rin and Caren had tried tending to his injuries but he had angrily cast them away, claiming that he would be fine despite being paralyzed.

She worried for him, obviously, but there was nothing he could do. She knew better than anyone that Shirou was extremely stubborn, and worse than that he was vehemently against asking for help from others unless there was no other possible option.

The only time he had come out since that day was to attend Illya and Kiritsugu's burial in a wheelchair he'd created. Saber had been ordered to retrieve the bodies that same night and the following morning a funeral of sorts had been held. It wasn't traditional in any sense. In fact, it was quite far removed from Japanese customs but in a situation like the Grail War — locked down due to a relentless magus killer — it was better than nothing.

By the time Rin saw them, they had been wrapped in blankets, likely by Saber herself. It seemed that nobody was interested in looking beneath them, as not even Shirou dared to lift the covers, not that he really could.

She didn't blame him. She had seen some of the damage when they were fleeing and it hadn't been good. Both were undeniably dead, but Illya's body was in far worse shape. It was as if her body had destroyed itself using its own magic circuits.

What sort of attack could do such a thing, she wasn't certain. Obviously, Kiritsugu, or rather Assassin, had a particularly brutal weapon.

Caster did the heavy lifting through magecraft and after the burial, there had been a short funeral with few words. In fact, the only words spoken had been a eulogy for Illya by Rin herself. Shirou merely sat and watched with an odd, distant look and when asked if he wanted to speak, he only shook his head.

Considering that he remained out in the yard when the others left, he likely spoke in private and had his time alone.

She could see how difficult things were for him, though she could do little to comfort him when he was so against any interaction. She had tried talking but he didn't seem interested. Her only option left was to sit and wait, despite how frustrating it was to do so and how difficult it was to assure the others he would be fine.

As if that wasn't bad enough, her hesitation seemed to be driving them further and further apart. She had been there for him before, so why did she find it so difficult now? Or was it something to do with Shirou? Was he somehow the one who was holding the wedge?

What if this, the War and what happened to Illya, was enough to separate them? There was a chance that it had affected Shirou enough to completely alter his personality. Who was to say that personality would still be attracted to her?

She didn't really want to think about it. It was less concerning to distract herself by thinking about what they were about to do now.

To call their situation rocky was putting it lightly. Saber, like Shirou, had been destroyed after hearing of Lancer's death. Thankfully, she seemed to bounce back relatively quickly. She didn't know whether it was because of her battle hardened nature or if she was merely repressing her feelings to achieve the goal of destroying the Grail. Caster's faux pas and attempts at humour to lighten the situation had put her at odds with the servant and the atmosphere between them was tense to say the least.

Caren and Gray both seemed to be growing more anxious as the hours passed and if something didn't distract them they would start spreading that anxiety to the others.

Bazett was the only one who seemed nonplussed about the entire situation but Rin could see that the Enforcer was having her own doubts as well. Thankfully, she seemed to know Shirou well though, and the two reached a silent conclusion that Shirou would bounce back eventually.

It was just a matter of when.

Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, Rin sent out a mental prayer for Shirou to come back and bring back the stability they needed to stay together. He was the only reason they had been brought together and without him, it became evident just how much they relied on him to moderate their extreme differences.

The only people who seemed to be getting along were Gray and Saber, though they seldom, if ever, spoke. The former hardly spoke at all, though she was an extremely difficult read when Rin hardly knew more than her name and connection to Saber.

A rumble from her stomach reminded her that they had yet to eat anything. For the past two days, Saber had been going out to gather takeout for the rest of them to eat. Nobody beyond Rin herself was confident in the kitchen and even she was too scared of setting foot inside, knowing Shirou and his thoughts about others in his kitchen.

Based on Rin's increasingly lightening wallet, the decision may have been a mistake, as Saber bought an incredible amount of expensive food from a wild assortment of places. While satisfying, it had been overkill.

"It's been two days," Bazett began abruptly. "You think he would have gotten himself together by now."

"How can you be so cold?" Saber asked with a bite in her tone. "His father and sister were killed in front of him, the man has a right to grieve, does he not?"

Bazett soured. "When my mother died I didn't wallow in my room, I followed in her footsteps without hesitating."

Rin lifted her face from her hands that had been resting on the table. "It hasn't been that long and considering how close we are to ending this, it's not that much of a problem."

"Oh so you actually like sitting around doing nothing then? You kids are always so comfortable with being lazy." Rin opened her mouth but Bazett continued. "When I was your age I was already out working as an Enforcer, taking on sealing designates and making a name for myself."

"Times were a little different when you were young," Rin shot back just as quickly. If she was interested in throwing insults Rin was more than happy to let out some of her own pent-up anger. "For instance, Jesus Christ was still performing miracles."

Caster produced a snort and subsequently tried his best to repress his amusement while Bazett narrowed her eyes and leaned forward in her seat. "If you think you're such hot shit then why don't you and I have a little duel in the backyard."

Rin met the Irish woman's challenge head-on, despite how foolish she knew it was. "Remember what happened last time? Even after getting the jump on me it ended in a draw."

"I don't know if now is the time to jump at each other's throats," Caren added with a cold look between the two. Both women paused to look toward her, meeting deathly chilling golden eyes. It was odd, but RIn almost sensed something within that scared her. How was it that such a small young girl could be intimidating enough to silence two much older women?

"Different people grieve in different ways. Obvious in some, in others, it's subtle or hidden." It was the first time Gray spoke without being directly asked. "Shirou's grief is obvious."

"Who said I was grieving?" Stepping into the doorway, a very dishevelled-looking Shirou peered into the room. "I've been planning. Figuring out how I'm going to track down and kill that bastard and put an end to this damn War." His voice was vacant and deadened. At the same time, it was spiteful, as if he was repressing so much but some of his true emotion was slipping through the cracks.

His eyes were slightly swollen and half squinting. The dark creases underneath them and the messy, unkempt hair further confirmed the fact. He was dressed in an outfit Rin had only seen once or twice, recalling that it was the combat outfit Bazett had crafted for him.

So he was really serious about ending the War and it seemed like it would be at any cost.

"Jesus, kid. You look like all hell," Bazett eloquently commented.

Shirou barely even turned his head to give a sideways glance. "Sure, whatever." Looking around with his eyes at all the others, he stopped on Rin. "I have a plan if you're ready to hear it."

Bazett seemed visibly jarred from the clipped response. For the first time, she didn't have a witty or sarcastic retort.

Even Rin was unnerved, but she had been expecting such a change in him. She knew Illya had been the only thing keeping him together moving forward during the War so losing her meant he was falling apart. What was she supposed to do? How could she help him?

"What is your plan, Shirou?" Saber took the lead over Rin's hesitation. The servant's voice was neutral but her eyes held judgement.

"We end the War tonight," he stated ominously. "Saber and I will track down and kill Assassin while the rest of you deal with Zouken and Rider. There are eight servants in total so if we kill Assassin and Rider, having two servants alive shouldn't delay the Grail."

Caster rolled his eyes. He had obviously concluded that the maximum servant limit of two had been a factor prior to Lancer's death. He didn't comment on the matter and instead clasped both hands behind his head and raised one brow. "If there's two of us alive then which one gets to make a wish?"

Shirou's head snapped in his direction and pure rage filled his otherwise empty eyes. "Nobody gets a wish, you were told that coming into this. We shut down and destroy the Grail for good."

Rin's mind clicked on and her mouth finally reacted in time. "Shirou, we don't know how or even where the Grail will be created. We don't even know how to break it down either!"

His attention moved to her and the lingering rage followed with it. "I can see how much this thing likes toying with me, I know exactly where it will appear. Once we get there, we can figure out how to destroy it."

Rin was confused. How could he possibly know where it would appear? There were still many options left for the Grail to appear. Any leyline was an option, which meant Ryuudou Temple, Central Park, Fuyuki Church and even her own home were possibilities.

Shirou spotted her confusion and explained. "Depending on how much the Grail or the world hates me, it will either form at Central Park or in the same cave we just left."

How much the world hated him? Was he making a decision based on his own bad luck? But why would Central Park be a sore spot for him? Only after asking herself the question did she realize how stupid it was to ask in the first place. Of course Central Park would harbour bad memories. "If the Grail was forming in the cave then wouldn't we have seen signs of it?"

Shirou seemed unmoved. "Then Central Park is the only option. Either way, it doesn't matter until we finish dealing with Zouken, Rider and Assassin. Take things one step at a time and everything will get done eventually."

The room went awkwardly quiet for a moment before Caren spoke up. "Has anyone else been watching the news?" When everyone declined, Caren sighed softly. "There's been a large number of mysterious disappearances and deaths recently. On top of this, with the appearance of strange horizontal holes and forest fires nearby, Ryuudou Temple is asking questions I find difficult to answer."

Rin could tell by the tone in Shirou's voice that he was growing frustrated. "Something else we can deal with later after the War."

Caren wasn't even looking at him. Instead, she merely stared forward and responded monotonously. "How can you be so sure the issues are separate? Servants have been known to feed on innocent people to power themselves after all." Both Saber and Caster shot the girl a dirty look which faded quickly as they recognized she wasn't specifically speaking about them.

Shirou's frustration reached his face. "Just another reason to end this as soon as possible. Is that your way of saying you have a problem with my plan?"

The girl shook her head. "Ending the War as soon as possible is beneficial for everyone. I merely wish to keep you informed so you can make the best decisions." Finally, she turned her head to look at him. "For instance, the leyline within the cave lies directly beneath Ryuudou Temple, a large residence full of people. A blast of sufficient magnitude," she paused a beat to look toward Saber, "might cause a cave-in."

Shirou didn't seem all that perturbed. "Can't you hypnotize the people inside and evacuate them?"

"Of course," she nonchalantly agreed. "Were there not an Assassin-class servant hunting every person associated with you."

The two exchanged a silent glower before Shirou looked away. "It's an outcome that's hopefully avoidable then. If it's in Central Park we won't have to worry."

Saber drew the conversation in another direction. "Are we moving right now or tonight?"

It seemed to be a relief that the erroneous questions had ended. "We'll leave at sundown."

Saber stood upright and straightened out her suit. "Very well. Before we leave, can I have a moment to speak with you?"

Shirou agreed and the two left the room before anything else could be asked. Those who remained collectively seemed at odds. On one hand, they were relieved to see Shirou moving. On the other, none of them had seen him act so strange.

So similar to his father.

… … …

He felt like shit.

That was putting it lightly. Each step sent stabbing pain through his entire body that started from his half-healed spine. He still didn't have any sensation of touch below the waist but so long as he could walk he had healed enough.

His mind felt empty. When he did feel an emotion, it always turned into anger, regret or just bitter hatred. He had tried to get some sleep but that had been a struggle in itself. When he did slip off, Kiera taunted him endlessly in his dreams meaning he couldn't win anywhere.

Not that it was all that easy to fall asleep anyway. Without Illya, he started to notice how empty the queen-sized futon really was. Why he thought buying such a huge bed for only himself was a good idea many years ago, he would never know.

Running a hand down his face and opening his eyes wide, the boy stepped down off the engawa and settled onto the edge. Saber followed suit and the two sat in the descending afternoon sun for a few minutes.

Even with the gentle sounds of nature, his mind couldn't move away from that night and the imagery of his sister and father being murdered. In a sense, it was worse than the Great Fire. He had been young then and while it had been burned into his memory for all eternity, he had been unable to do anything about his situation. This time, he had known the risks and had blatantly agreed with putting her in danger all while believing he was strong enough to keep her safe.

"You can't blame yourself."

Shirou jumped. Saber's words might as well have been a gunshot with how unexpected they were. Calming himself, he looked toward the ground and leaned forward. Don't blame himself? Who was he supposed to blame then? Did he blame Illya for standing there? Did he blame Kiritsugu for not being able to kill the servant or for thinking he could handle it alone? "Who am I supposed to blame then?"

"You blame the person who committed the act, obviously. If you blame yourself or continue blaming yourself, you'll fall deeper into the same rut your father did."

Shirou's head twitched in Saber's direction. "Is that really such a bad thing? Renounce my old life and devote the rest of it to raising a family that can defend themselves? A family that can do some good?"

Saber was stern. "Shirou, Kiritsugu would have killed you and Illya if it had been a step in achieving his goals."

It was like snapping tinder. A rush of anger swam through his entire body and he couldn't stop himself. "Disgracing a dead man not even two days after he dies, what sort of respect is that?" Saber opened her mouth but he continued before she could utter more than a syllable. "If that's what you thought then it's no wonder you never got along with him. You were judging him on the basis of some miserable fabrication in your own mind."

Saber's face tightened and her lips curled into a soft scowl. "Shirou-"

Shirou interrupted, bottled anger over years of listening to disrespect of his father finally releasing. "Kiritsugu gave everything he had for Illya and I. Even if he had to give up his own life to keep us safe, he'd do it without a second thought." Standing upright and turning to face her he continued. "The moment he committed to raising a family, to raising his son and daughter he renounced the man that was the Magus Killer. Once he had a family, he realized we wouldn't be safe because of the Grail War and understood we weren't strong enough to stop it then. So he trained Missy and I to help him, all so he could keep us safe in the end."

Saber, still holding a mixed look of disbelief and insult, gently placed both hands on her knees. "So you forgive the acts taken by the very same man in his earlier life? Just because a man changes does not mean his past transgressions can be absolutely forgiven."

He tried to stop before he spoke but his mouth was already moving. "Are those the same words of wisdom that kept you from killing Lancer?"

He could visibly watch the words make their mark in her mind. It was an awful insult but to say he regretted it entirely wasn't true. Saber stood with the first hints of real anger staining her face. "The situation surrounding Guinevere is different and you have no right to comment on what you don't know."

"What I don't know? You're willing to talk about my father without ever trying to understand the man but you accuse me of not knowing your life?" The tension steadily rising in his body forced his fists to close. "Did you forget that masters see the lives of their servants in dreams or did you not know at all?"

The question opened Saber's eyes wide. Between the recurring nightmares, meetings with Archer and scoldings by Kiera he had witnessed all of Saber's life. Her decision to pull the Sword of Selection, her training with the incubus Merlin, her meeting with the Lady of The Lake, the formation of the Round Table and its eventual collapse by the hands of Mordred and Morgana.

The experiences of four different lives resided within his brain and it was a miracle he could differentiate considering one of them was, in fact, a version of himself.

Saber seemed to reel herself back. "I did forget. Or, rather, I had believed you would not recall your dreams so well."

To drive home the point he knew just as well as she did, he recalled all of his memories. "Guinevere married you to hold up the image of a King and Queen. It was a loveless marriage brought about simply to keep your kingdom together. Lancelot fell in love with her and she sought out that love herself. Then, after learning about the affair you allowed him to escape and sent out a pitiful search party just to keep up the appearance that you were angered when in reality you believed you understood Lancelot's reasoning and pitied them both." Every word seemed to be a knife in Saber's back and with the freshness of Lancelot's death, it was all that more palpable.

The two stared at one another in idle tension. Each of them knew the other to be obnoxiously stubborn. At the same time, neither would deny facts laid out before them. Breathing deeply through her nose, she stared at him directly and nodded. "I understand that my actions caused more harm than good. I also realize that it was hypocritical to say what I did to you about your father and your actions." The suited woman closed her eyes and bowed her head partly. "I apologize."

Shirou's anger vanished rapidly. The relief of finally getting things off his chest and hearing an apology cooled the fire that had been growing within. Releasing a breath he didn't know he had been holding, the boy ran a hand through his hair and directed it to one side in the same motion. "I'm sorry for saying all that but-"

"There's no need for you to be sorry," Saber interrupted, stood straight and shook her head. "There is no point in trying to change your mind when you appear so resolved. We merely have to deal with the fact that both of us have seen different sides of the same person."

It was a non-conclusive end to their discussion that made him frustrated. Impulsively, the boy reached up to scratch the back of his neck. What did he say after his outburst when she seemed so calm? Did he even try to go back to the start of the conversation? Saber wasn't talking, so he didn't know what to say. Eventually, he went with the only question his mind could really conjure. "Was that all you wanted to talk about?"

"Not exactly. I wished to address the growing problem between us, the matter of your plans."

"So you did have a problem with them?" If she had, why didn't she question him with everyone present in the dining room?

"Not exactly," she countered. "I'm concerned that you and your plans have both deviated from what they were at the beginning of the War."

Shirou furrowed his brow. "Of course they have, it's changed multiple times."

"That's not what I meant. I was referring more to the intention of these plans."

So she had noticed he had a different idea in mind? Was he that easy to read or was she simply that good at analyzing people? Either way, she didn't seem to know what his thoughts were exactly. "They may have changed but only because the circumstances have changed as well. I still plan on ending the Grail War for good with the lowest number of casualties."

She stared at him for a long while, eyes flickering across details in her face as she tried to find the lie — she wouldn't — in his words. "I suppose I have to accept that."

Quiet for what felt like five minutes, Shirou calmly asked, "is that all?"

"One last thing. I wanted to test your mental state and ensure you weren't about to make a decision you would regret." The servant gracefully lifted herself back onto the engawa and walked a few steps in before turning her head and saying one last, rather cold line. "I also wanted to make sure you were still human after all that's happened."

Saber left while Shirou was deciphering what she even meant. If he was still human? What sort of test could determine that and what sort of answer did their conversation give? Had it been his reaction? The way he spoke? Maybe it had just been his memory?

He had gotten angry and he hadn't tried hiding it, maybe that was human enough for her?

The boy gave his head a small shake. He needed to refocus on what was important, not something trivial.

He needed to kill Assassin.

… … …

… … …

Tugging the ends of the scarf tight and tucking the ends beneath his outfit, Shirou made one more look in the hallway mirror and ensured that most of his face was covered. The fabric, reinforced through normal means and with runes, might have been able to block smaller calibre bullets but there was no telling if it was effective at all against servant-fired bullets. Against Origin Rounds, it was almost worse than nothing though if he were hit with one of those then his choice of attire didn't matter.

Still, the scarf was comforting in a way; perhaps from the warmth it brought. Stepping away from the mirror, Shirou met Saber at the door to the house and exited with her behind. Rin and the others had left for the Matou manor some thirty minutes ago to get an early start. Considering that their side of the plan would take longer, it made sense to give them a head start.

Reach the manor, find Zouken or draw him out of hiding by destroying his home, trap his body and exorcise it.

On paper it was simple, though quite a few parts could go wrong. Initially, he didn't have a plan to trap Zouken in place but with Caren, Caster, Bazett and Rin all together there were more than a few ways to trap someone or something inside an area.

That was if Zouken revealed himself at all. They didn't have Sakura as a trump card but destroying his workshop was enough of a threat to force him out, theoretically. Rin had agreed that she would fight impossible odds if it meant she could protect her workshop but that was anecdotal if anything.

The last problem lay with their second task, defeating Rider. Like with all things in his life, it was entirely possible that she was toying with them and keeping aces close to her chest. Caster had been unable to defeat her alone after mounting a head-on assault the last time, but with Gray and Rin there was hope that the odds would be balanced.

Either way, Bazett had a cellphone with his name on speed dial so reinforcements would arrive quickly. Moving down the steps to the front gate, he opened the door and allowed Saber to walk through first. Wordlessly, the woman straddled the Vmax and shifted the bike upright.

If the other group was in danger, Saber would immediately travel to them to provide support. If Shirou needed her back desperately, he could use a command seal and bring her to him. Even so, the latter likely wouldn't be necessary, she was only with him as backup.

Sending Caren off without knowing where Sakura was was dangerous. There was nothing he could do to help her anymore and less he could do without even knowing where she was. It was cold, sentencing her to an unavoidable death, but he felt oddly empty. Whether it was because it hadn't actually happened and there was still a chance or because of something else was unknown. If she was the Grail like Rin had said, was there any saving her at all?

Mounting the bike as a pillion, he took a deep breath while the engine barked to life beneath him with a spin of the starter. Shutting his eyes, the boy activated his circuits and called out the magecraft stored within his crest. Time around him slowed down but as soon as he felt the effects he cut his circuits, leaving behind a mental image of exactly where his mana was going.

Like following threads, he could see the trail left behind as his mana left his body to help power something off in the distance. Layering that imagery with a trace he had made of Fuyuki City long ago, he could see exactly where Assassin was.

Opening his eyes and leaning forward, he gave directions to Saber and gripped the handles beneath the seat to stay on.

He just hoped the other group would have things easy.

… … …

Rin sneezed, shook her head and blinked.

Caren autonomously responded with "bless you."

Being blessed by a priestess felt interesting, but Rin was still trying to figure out exactly how things would work. Reaching into her pocket, the girl withdrew small pebbles with intricate engravings on their surface. The rocks felt warm to the touch and the simple touch of her skin was enough to illuminate parts of them.

According to Caster, they were some type of impact-activating magecraft. Allegedly each stone would create a pillar that would link to other pillars and create a cage that worked as an anti-magecraft barrier.

Rin didn't quite understand how it worked, but her experience with runecraft was extremely limited, especially when compared to Caster.

The very same servant twirled a crimson lance in one hand before landing it across his shoulders with a ringing dong behind her. He'd taken quite a fancy to the crimson stick ever since Shirou first projected it. "Get in, break some things, kill the old man that comes out. Should be an in and out job so why are there so many of us here?"

"This old man is a bit more durable than he looks," Bazett answered. "At least that's my guess."

Reminded, Rin shuddered at the thought. "He isn't human anymore. I can't say I know how it works, but somehow he's gained limited immortality from splitting his body across many crest worms."

Caster twisted his entire upper body to look at her, swinging the ends of his spear as he did. "So you're saying he's turned into some sort of bug?"

Rin summarized it dryly. "A pile of bugs that just looks human."

Bazett slammed her fist into her palm. "Well then let's squish this bug and get going. We still have to take out a servant and find the Grail and the kid wants this finished by tonight."

The group moved onward from their scouting position near the Matou manor. While they moved, the Tohsaka thought over Bazett's words. The girl wasn't certain on the feasibility of ending the War tonight. She didn't even know how to functionally end it, and trying to figure that out could take hours if not days itself.

Approaching the Matou manor, Bazett eloquently lifted her leg and slammed her boot straight into the metal gate. With a rough clatter, the latch broke and the gate swung open with a grating screech. "Front door's open," she claimed while surveying the front yard.

Stepping past the gate's threshold, Rin felt her skin crawl. The bounded field being used felt rotten and actually made her feel sick. Beyond the nausea, she felt watched by a thousand prying eyes though she couldn't sense anything nearby.

Caster made a low whistle. "Place sure could use an exterminator. Actually, it might need a couple."

"There are bugs here?" Caren asked with a mild sense of urgency.

Caster lifted his spear to point toward some groomed foliage. "Thousands. Crawling in those bushes and in the grass. Dozens of different species that shouldn't be living together like they are."

"Burn them," Rin ordered. "Every insect is just a scout for him because he watches through their eyes. It's how he stays ahead of everyone." Staring at the bush Caster pointed at, the girl lifted an arm and fired a few shots of Gandr. It was useless really, but served a message.

A wave of heat passed by the side of her face and with a small explosion the bush erupted in violent flames. Decidedly more effective than her attempt for certain. "You got it, little lady, though my exterminator service doesn't come cheap."

Twirling his spear, the man pointed the weapon at several bushes. As he did, small balls of flame formed and fired from the tip, conflagrating the groomed vegetation.

"Should we be quiet so he doesn't learn our plan?" Gray asked, holding a birdcage outstretched at arm's length.

"He already knows exactly why we're here," Rin answered. Speaking a little louder to whatever insects were listening in, Rin fired off another round of Gandr at one of the windows. "There's no point trying to hide, Zolgen Makiri. You might as well come out and face us with a little honour."

The insects that survived the flames around her collectively seemed to hiss and chitter. Quickly the noise grew louder than the crackling flames and a grizzled voice spoke from every direction. "You must take me as a fool. Here I thought the Tohsaka family would finally have some brains with Tokiomi out of the picture, but I see you're just as foolish as your old man."

Rin stiffened at the insult to her father. Inhaling sharply, she prepared to fire her own words back but something tugged at her skirt and immediately sent her attention to the disturbance.

Caren stood beside her looking up with bright yellow eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. "He's trying to get under your skin, just ignore him."

It was obvious, but her statement let the girl realize that was exactly what he was doing. Gathering and steeling herself against any possible insult, Rin refocused forward. "Unfortunately Shirou couldn't join us, but I'm certain he would have loved to watch you shrivel up and die." Maybe if she could upset him enough, he would reveal himself and Caster could trap him.

The servant in mind made an annoyed huff. "Worst case is we can surround the whole house. The trap will be easier to break, but should hold up long enough."

"Christ, are you all scared of a few bugs?" Bazett scoffed and strode onward, cracking her knuckles through her gloves as she approached the mansion. "Let's just get this over with."

Rin told the Irish woman to be careful but her words seemed disregarded as she kicked in the front door just as she did the front gate. Stepping inside, the chatter of insects swirled within the breeze outside. Behind her, just a few steps back was Caren who seemed just as interested in a quick ending as Bazett.

While the Enforcer and priestess disappeared, Rin turned to Gray. "Will you be able to stay here and watch the entrance? You can cover his escape if he gets away from us."

The girl nodded and pulled the birdcage in her hand closer to her chest. "I can handle bugs outside." With escape blocked off by a miniature servant, all of their bases were seemingly covered. Wasting no more time, the Tohsaka ran to the door to regroup.

Even though she had never been inside the Matou manor before, she had a decent guess on where she was heading. Shirou had given her an informal map of the interior which she had memorized. Using what he knew from Kiritsugu, he had pointed out the exact place she needed to go to to reach Zouken's workshop.

Theoretically, the worm would try to stop them, but it was still a gamble with poor odds. Zouken was a man who prioritized his own life above everything, even the work he dedicated it to.

Would he even be here?

From outside Caster grumbled beneath his breath. "Should just set fire to the whole place and sift through the rubble for the old man."

"We can't start burning the house until we destroy his workshop," Rin reminded. "If we do, there's a chance Zouken might escape. We take a right down the entrance hall, then there should be a room that leads into the basement somewhere past the third door on the left."

Turning to look down the hall, Rin heard them before she saw them. Zooming around a corner further in was a swarming mass of insects. From what little Rin could see before they surrounded and broke a light in the ceiling, they were covered with sharp claws and fangs. Bazett made an annoyed grunt. "Don't think it's going to be as easy as it sounds."

"I can see why you all hate bugs," Caster mused as he stepped through the front door and through the others to the front of the group. Twirling his spear, the servant etched a half-dozen runic symbols into the air into a circle. When he was finished scrawling, he thrust the spear through the center and each rune flashed a bright blue.

A crackle precluded a bright flash as lightning arced to the tip of his spear then onward into the cloud of vermin. With sizzling pops, the insects collectively fell to the floor where they continued to smoke and twitch.

If Rin hadn't immediately compared the display and the servant to a glorified bug zapper, she might have been impressed.

The girl weighed wading through insect remains or routing through another path but the decision was stripped from her as Caster pushed forward and motioned ahead. "Now's not the time to dawdle, little ladies." Bazett moved faster than Rin, stepping behind him before being held back by an outstretched hand. "Master, would you mind keeping an eye on the flank?" The woman grumbled something but Rin couldn't hear. "You can do that later, right now keep focused."

Grasping Caren's shoulder, Rin told the girl to keep close. She wasn't familiar with the priestesses' abilities but was doubtful any of them were combat-oriented. After all, what sort of priest would train to kill others?

The quartet hastily moved through the house with Rin giving Caster directions per Shirou's guidance. The servant had been a great asset in the entire operation and there wouldn't have been a better pick. His versatile magecraft meant he could handle any minor threat handily. The interior of the manor was cramped and twisting, with several of the doors opening into large rooms laden with books or bedrooms. Several were filled with clocks and more held writhing masses of bugs that attacked as they moved past.

None of them were much of a match for Caster, who easily dispatched all that was thrown at them.

After electrocuting so many bugs, Rin grew worried. If Zouken was willing to futilely throw this many insects at them then what laid at the end of this manor? Would they all fall into a pit full of worms and be eaten alive? Maybe so much as entering his workshop would set off magecraft that would kill them.

Like Kiritsugu, he was a master of playing against preconceptions. Shirou wouldn't have sent them all if he hadn't known Zouken would be a difficult target to remove.

Opening the door, Rin uncovered a barren room. Inside lay nothing more than a chair that seated a disgusting fossil of a man. Resting his hands on a cane, he glared at her with a pair of blackened eyes and a malicious grin.

Rin was confused and it must have been evident on her face. "Were you expecting something? A hole into the earth perhaps? Unfortunately, the late Magus Killer damaged my previous workshop far too much for it to be salvageable." The man's face soured further and it seemed as if his skin crawled. "My entire life's work of absolute dedication destroyed in a single night and I gained nothing for all the effort." The man stood slowly, continuing to stare directly into Rin's eyes. "You can relate to such a thing, can't you, Tohsaka?"

Rin twitched but reigned herself back. She knew all too well who and what he was referencing. Just like Caren had said though, he was purposefully trying to get under her skin and provoke her to do something stupid. Her father had made the choice, understanding the risks and mitigating them as best he could.

She had obviously taken too long to compose herself. From behind, Bazett scoffed and tried to move forward only to be stopped when Rin outstretched her hand.

It didn't seem right. It was far too easy for this to be how it ended, where it ended. Did he have something pulled up his sleeve? She couldn't sense anything, but that meant little. At any moment it felt like he would break out into a laugh and the floor would drop out from underneath them or worms would crawl out from the ceiling or the vents. "You must not have lost everything otherwise you might have tried harder in this War."

The man produced a snickering laugh. "And how would you know something like that? I've been trying, though to be truthful it hasn't been to win the War. I've lost everything and will need time to gather what was lost. Before I can begin, I need to rid myself of the nuisances which peck at me time and time again." Judging by the hateful glare he was throwing her direction, it was obvious who the nuisances were. "I've already managed to kill one and debilitate another. Now you've come before me but unfortunately I'm ill-prepared to deal with you."

Rin opened her mouth to speak but the worm cut her off. "Sure I could gather what little forces I have and hold onto some mana to kill a few of you in an attack but with that servant beside you I'd still be unable to do anything substantial." He paused, mouth splitting into a rotten grin. "No, no it's much more effective to spread myself across the city and bide my time. Maybe go after your parents and loved ones. Kill and infest them so I can watch the crippling grief wash over you. Then, why then you'd be easy pickings."

She didn't want to hear anymore. With a flick of the wrist, Rin threw a half dozen pebbles along the floor, sliding to land behind Zouken. As they passed his body, there was a loud crack and blue light erupted from each one, forming hovering pillars that connected to others with shimmering transparent walls.

Zouken seemed to recognize their plan immediately. "A bounded field to force me to stay put? How futile when my body resides in more than one place." The worm's face split into a disgusting smile. Things began to make sense slowly. Zouken realized holding his workshop in his home was foolish, especially considering his natural ability to be almost everywhere. Thus, he had established a workshop somewhere else, leaving no ties to his manor. "Pity I won't see your face when I consume your sister's body from the inside out."

The words hurt from imagery and unexpectedness. So he had placed a part of himself in Sakura then? She couldn't reveal her emotions when the others had all told her to keep strong, that it would work out. She held silent, expecting Zouken to do something at any moment with how confident he seemed.

Did he suddenly spring a trap on them now? It seemed unlikely, considering that was exactly what they prepared for. More than likely, he had a plan to escape right from under their noses so he could live on and toy with them later.

When the man's smile twitched and his eyes soured, she knew something was wrong. "This can't be possible," he murmured as the rest of his features turned to an angry snarl. "How could she have broken free of my grasp?" His beady blackened eyes locked onto hers. "What did you do, how did you remove my worms without my noticing?"

Rin shook her head and let out a breath that had hitched in her throat. So Shirou had somehow figured out how to keep Sakura safe? If nothing else, she was thankful that the worm's threats hadn't held any weight. "I haven't done anything, but that doesn't change what's going to happen."

Caren stepped past Rin then, and cracked her knuckles audibly, imitating Bazett. She spoke with a voice far more ominous than her usual monotony. "I've been watching you for some time, Zouken," she began. "I decided that even though you weren't a demon, you were just as bad as one." Reaching beneath her vestment, she withdrew a cross. "Unfortunate for you because I hate demons."

Rin didn't know what an exorcism constituted, or how it could work against non-demonic entities. She found out rather quickly and also discovered that it was an excruciatingly painful process for anyone who wasn't a typical human with a pure soul. Despite the screams that would haunt her for years after, she didn't pity Zouken, not in the slightest.

… … …

He had given the experience a few tries now. Overall, he had given it a better chance than most things he disliked but with this last time, there was no denying his feelings.

Shirou hated motorcycles.

At least, he hated riding on one as a passenger with Saber driving. Whether the woman was an adrenaline junkie or had some sort of death wish, she was a genuine menace on the roads.

It had been wrong of him to tell her that they were invisible to normal human eyes because she had decided that the oncoming lane was an appropriate place for driving. The speed she hit on straight-aways and on corners almost pushed Shirou to bail out of fear.

Reaching their destination, the bike suddenly took a sharp turn and the squeal of pavement made Shirou's blood pressure spike higher than it already had. He lurched to one side as the bike stopped but was surprised to find it standing upright.

Letting out the tensest breath he had ever held, the boy relaxed and realized just how stiff his entire body had been in a desperate attempt to hold on. Trying to gather his bearings, Shirou found himself near the exact spot that multiple pings of Time Alter had directed him to.

Closing his eyes and triggering it again, he found the spot some distance down the same street he was on. Looking, nobody stood where the marker told him someone would be. "Are we going further?"

Shirou couldn't get off fast enough. Practically lunging from the bike, Shirou claimed that "Assassin should be right here." After the first two pings with Time Alter, it seemed like Assassin caught on to what they were doing as he started moving. He managed to make it to Shinto before Saber's speed caught up to him.

"Are you certain he is here?" Saber asked while settling the bike on its stand. "I can neither detect the presence of a servant or see any outright."

"He has to be here," Shirou mumbled. If Assassin had caught on to their plan, he would likely have tried to put himself in a position that played to his abilities. A place with a single path of travel, possibly with minimal width. Somewhere with few exits or at least difficult to reach ones.

If he assumed the marker on his mental map was absolutely correct, then the only option left was: "The sewer," he stated simply.

Saber clued in and scanned the street. She nodded her head and began to move in the direction of a manhole cover. "There's an entrance over there, but are you certain it won't be trapped?"

Shirou half jogged to move ahead of the servant and reach the cover first. "I can trace the area and find any bounded fields or devices. I wasn't expecting it at the cave, but I am now."

As he spoke, the boy activated his magecraft and traced the surrounding area beneath his feet.

Whether Assassin had known or not, he had picked the perfect spot to counter his tracing method. Tracing an area above the ground was simple because Shirou only traced the outer surface of the ground and not the gasses above, the information was relatively small and easy to handle. However tracing the underground meant he had to do the inverse, tracing all of the dirt and rock which surrounded pockets of gas.

It wasn't a definite counter — in fact, it was little more than a minor inconvenience, but it definitely made him take extra care.

Adding a third dimension to his mental map, the position of the last Time Alter pulse was revealed to be underground in the sewer, right where he expected. Beyond Assassin himself, Shirou detected a dozen separate explosive charges which made a ring around the sewer walls hidden from traditional detection by his father's own brand of bounded field.

Shirou frowned. "He has a trap set up like last time, but I don't think he plans on doing the same thing."

"Why is that?"

It was a struggle to think in the shoes of his father. He was an expert at misleading people and his servant version was likely better. At the same time, the servant version knew nothing about Shirou himself — a lack of knowledge that was invaluable. "Kiritsugu was an opportunist that took advantage of assumptions or underestimations. To put it simply, he might do the same attack twice but the outcome or intention of each one would be different."

Saber seemed interested. "So if this plan of his is to be different, perhaps he plans on using the explosives as a distraction?"

Shirou made a frustrated hum. "It could be, but it's a bit more complicated. There's a chance Assassin expected us to figure out his plan and will shift back to the attack when we expect a defence."

"Playing a game of psychology then," Saber surmised. "In the event we take a chance, I will follow your decision."

Shirou thought for a moment, trying to figure out which route his father would have taken in this situation. Backed into a corner, against a force he couldn't beat. The load of the explosives wasn't enough to kill outright, but it would collapse the tunnel and prevent them from giving chase.

A makeshift plan formed in his mind. It would only work for one possible outcome but it was better to have something instead of nothing. "Saber, do you know what it means to brace your sword?" The woman nodded. "When I give the word, I need you to do it, alright?"

The woman seemed confused for a moment but nodded regardless. Reinforcing both arms, Shirou projected some hooks with handles to slip in the slots and pried the manhole cover from its groove. Sliding along the pavement, a dark hole into the street was uncovered.

Judging by the size and lack of offending smell, it was the storm drain. Built large to handle both the heavy rains and potential seawater flooding, they were nearly nine feet tall which set the bottom about a dozen feet below the street. Reinforcement could have handled the drop, but his legs were still numb from his previous injury so the ladder seemed like the best option.

Climbing down, the boy reached the bottom, reinforced his eyes and spotted Assassin standing almost exactly where his mental map had said. Just over a hundred feet away, the man stood with both hands beneath his cloak.

With a wet splash, Saber landed beside him and located the servant as well. "He can't possibly plan on attacking head-on, that would be suicide." She came to a similar conclusion he had done himself.

Shirou further reinforced his eyes to capture as much light as possible, as little as that did. At the least, he could get a rough look at Assassin who was shuffling with something beneath his cloak.

"I can easily clear the distance in a few seconds, let me attack first." Saber's voice in his head was blatantly anxious. The problem was, he didn't know if a few seconds would be fast enough to beat whatever Assassin had planned. Undoubtedly the servant had taken the threat of other servants in mind and would have accounted for their abilities.

Still, his plan might work if he could get a few steps closer. If he was forced to do it now, there was a chance he could break something.

Shirou took a breath and a single step forward.

Assassin's cloak parted and Shirou knew it was anything but good. Reacting, the boy ordered Saber to brace her weapon and activated his circuits in one motion.

Assassin's hand fully left his cloak and a small device sat wrapped in his hand. He couldn't wait for Saber to be ready, he just had to hope she would be prepared by the time he needed her.

"Time Alter-" Shirou twisted, took one step back and prepared to jump straight toward his servant. It was a gymnastic maneuver to twist himself so that his front was parallel to the floor as he travelled forward. His feet contacted something unyielding and gave Shirou enough of a base to bend his knees and flood his leg muscles with mana.

He had pushed his body to its limits before, but he had never done so in such a short amount of time. His training had always been gradual or well prepared, not split-second zero to full power.

"Square Accel!" The world slowed and Shirou forced his legs to extend as fast as possible. With all the power coursing through his muscles, he wasn't surprised when he audibly heard something tear despite Time Alter only being activated long enough for him to kick off of her blade. By the time Shirou shut the magecraft off, Assassin had already clenched his hand around whatever device he had drawn.

The world and Shirou's body roughly jarred back into the same time just as a bright flash appeared at the edges of the pipe ahead of him. The explosives were detonated, but he was already passing through the cloud they created.

He collided with a rock in mid-air and the sheer speed formed an instant bruise on his shoulder. Flying past the smoke of the explosion, he saw Assassin and the look of surprise on his face.

It had been Shirou's initial assumption. Assassin had led them into the sewers to both make an escape and a last-ditch effort to kill a master.

Neither were going to work. As Assassin and Shirou locked eyes, the former donned a look of surprise. Whether that was because he had used a version of Time Alter that was outright fatal to normal humans or because he had somehow been fast enough to get through was unknown.

"I am the bone of my sword." The chant began and the clang of a hot forge echoed within the pipe over the sound of the explosion.

Assassin raised a gun, a blackened Contender. A visual trace detected no organic matter beyond the wood furniture. It wasn't loaded with an origin round, which meant he was free to use as much mana as he wanted.

A half dozen objects, equally split between shields and swords, formed within his mind. The shields were set forward, blocking most of his body and the gun barrel while the swords slid along the ground, aiming to strike at the ankle.

Shirou couldn't see how effective any of it was beyond hearing the noise of a bullet meeting steel as he rocketed past and slammed into a bend in the pipe. The impact wasn't as bad as he expected, especially because the curve meant he slid around and onto the damp ground.

As expected, the short burst of Square Accel had destroyed his legs but Avalon had fixed them just as quickly, at least to a working level. Gritting through the pain as his muscles reknit themselves mid-movement, the boy forced his body upright and faced Assassin, who withdrew another gun from within his cloak. "Steel is my body and fire is my heart."

The swords had missed and the shields clattered to the ground as the ear-splitting crack of gunfire filled the pipe. Shirou reinforced his right arm and projected a buckler to sit strapped around it. His eyes could barely see the glimmer of steel but it was enough for him to get trajectory and redirect his arm to deflect the incoming bullets.

Assassin's voice, his father's voice, barked a question from above the gunfire. "You aren't a servant, so what the hell are you?"

"To protect the ones I love, I'll throw myself away and disregard the cost." The formerly cold pipe felt hot as if he were standing in the hot desert sun of his reality marble already.

Shirou was advancing forward, walking through the hail of bullets. One of the bullets went too low for him to block and a sudden warmth spread across his leg. He couldn't look down, it would slow him down.

He would kill Assassin. No, that wasn't correct. Shirou would make him suffer, just as he himself had been forced to. It didn't matter that he looked like his father, the two were nothing alike — he knew that now. "With hands stained red and mind stained black, I'll tie our fates together and save them all."

The ground below his feet didn't crunch as if stepping upon wet conglomerate but rather shifted as if in ash. The air felt hot to breathe and the rush of wind brushed his face even underground. Swords projected over his shoulder and fired, striking several low bullets and knocking them astray before changing their trajectory to force Assassin to dodge or be impaled.

"Time Alter-" It wasn't Shirou speaking, but his body responded regardless, magic circuits going into overdrive as they began funnelling mana to both his reality marble and magic crest. It felt as if his body was going to melt away any second but he had to finish the incantation.

"Unlimited Blade Works."

The world erupted in flames and burnt away to a searing white. To keep himself from going blind, Shirou shut his eyes for a moment and reopened to the desolate hellscape of his own reality marble.

But something was off.

He couldn't notice it in his movements, but he could feel the world churn as if it were in a viscous fluid. The wind on his skin was slow and came at a delay. The particulate spray of ash with each movement was visible to the naked eye.

Stranger still, the drain on his mana was half that of what it normally took for his reality marble.

His only conclusion was that the simultaneous activation of both Time Alter and Unlimited Blade Works had somehow created a world within Gaia that was moving at half speed which went unnoticed or unaffected.

It was a thought for a different time. In the moment, Assassin stood ahead, squinting as he tried to gather his bearings. It seemed to settle in that he wasn't against a normal human or a normal magus quickly.

Not bothering to hesitate, the servant prepared themselves by tossing his gun aside and retrieving his Contender, pointing it directly at Shirou. "Nice party trick, must take an awful lot of mana to support this though."

Shirou blinked slowly, trying to decide what he was even going to do. "I'm not all that scared. Not only am I familiar with Origin Rounds," he paused to accent the point by projecting one in an outstretched hand. "I can tell that your gun isn't loaded at all, let alone with one of these."

The servant paused then produced a soft "tsk" before lowering his gun. "Let me guess, I couldn't even load one if I tried."

Swords of every shape and size slammed into the ash around Assassin, creating a circle of steel around him in a fraction of a second. "Good guess," Shirou surmised.

The holy scabbard Avalon formed in his mind, gradually filling with mana and being given form through projection. "Then you must have a plan for me, otherwise you would have killed me by now."

This version of Avalon didn't need to be perfect. In fact, even a hastily thrown-together copy would last for days in his reality marble. It was ready for what was next. Taking a step forward through the ash, a pulsing pain struck at the base of his skull.

Kiera's voice echoed in the breeze full of horror and disgust. "You're a monster. I can see everything you're thinking about doing and that's the only word that can describe it."

"I don't care anymore," he mumbled. "If I had stopped trying to hold back, if I had stopped trying to end things peacefully, Illya and Kiritsugu would have never gotten hurt."

"So now you've gone crazy because I killed your father," Assassin scoffed while reaching into his cloak. "Let me save us both the trouble." The servant's hand snaked out from beneath his cloak with a new gun. Instead of pointing it at Shirou, he turned it on himself.

The rattle of chains.

The crack of a bullet.

The servant struggled, but it was in vain. Both legs and arms had been coiled and yanked by chains that appeared from the ashen ground.

"Look at what you're about to do and ask yourself if any of it is human. You're worse than a monster, you're some sort of twisted abomination. This won't help you feel any better about yourself."

The insults from the dead did little to disrupt his thoughts. Maybe it wouldn't make him feel better, but punishing his family's murderer had to bring some sort of relief if only in the form of closure, right?

Extending both arms, the gleaming form of Avalon appeared within his hands. Assassin spoke but Shirou was concentrating too much to hear his words. Staring into Assassin's cold eyes, Shirou pressed the projection of Avalon into their chest.

The man took a sharp breath, then opened his mouth to speak. "What did you just do to me?"

"The holy scabbard of Excalibur, Avalon," Shirou stated. "Beyond being a powerful noble phantasm when used by its owner, it grants limited immortality to the holder when powered by its true owner's mana."

Assassin was fully realizing the situation. "You can't be serious."

The hatred he had been harbouring against the servant rose in him all at once. "You killed my sister, you made her suffer." An Origin Round appeared in his left hand and his father's gun formed in the right.

Loading the weapon, Assassin only appeared calm and collected. However, the tension in the chains betrayed his fear. "Origin Rounds, immortality, revenge." The man produced a nervous laugh. "You must hate your father or be one demented psychopath. I guess I should have been aiming for you and not that little girl."

Shirou loaded the gun and felt the edge of his mouth twitch. "I don't hate my father, I just hate you. You represent the part of him that he gave up, everything he tried to bury and leave behind: The Magus Killer." Shirou levelled the gun, pressed it against the servant's shoulder and cocked back the hammer. "I'll finish what he started and put an end to the Magus Killer forever." The anger returned in a new wave that seemed to crush his other emotions.

Shirou prepared his own body for what he was about to do. "Time Alter: Hex Accel!"

It was indescribable. Instantly it felt as if his entire body had been skinned and even the smallest twitch sent cascading ripples of pain through his entire body. The simple motion of pulling the trigger of the Contender felt like he was breaking his finger, stitching it back together and rebreaking it the other direction. The recoil of the gun sent a wave of blinding pain through his entire body before he could disable Time Alter and suck in a pained breath.

It didn't come as a surprise that Assassin was screaming in pain. Even for a servant, Time Alter pushed to that extreme would cause damage in any muscle moved. Though that wasn't the reason he had activated it to such a degree and it wasn't the reason he was screaming. Origin Rounds delivered greater damage to a magus that was using more of their magic circuits. Time Alter was just the method in forcing Assassin to use everything he had.

It was bound to hurt, but it still would have been nothing to what Illya had felt. Her entire body was basically a magic circuit and it had been active when the bullet hit.

Shirou shouted above Assassin's writing noises of pain. "There's no way I could replicate what she felt in that moment, but I can drag this out long enough to make it comparable. Avalon won't let you die, but it doesn't do anything for the pain."

Kiera's voice haunted his ear. "You've finally become the monster I saw within you. You're worse than your father, at least he didn't revel in the pain of those he killed. At least he never tortured them simply to satisfy some sort of personal grudge."

"I don't care," the boy mumbled. "I don't want to regret my decisions, I shouldn't have hesitated." The boy projected another Origin Round and ejected the spent casing from the gun.

Another took its place and another use of Hex Accel began to boil his blood. Even in the Reality marble dampening time of the real world, his skin was scorching itself and blackening before his eyes in a matching pattern of his circuits.

The agony-filled screams continued while Assassin contorted his body futilely against the binding chains. Blood dripped onto the ground from the opening and sealing wounds, coating the ashes below and compacting into a crimson mat.

The only thing Avalon would struggle to replicate was blood, which meant he would have to take a more personal approach to the rest of his torture.

Balling both hands into fists, Shirou began punching. Kiritsugu had taught him weak points in the human body and it was about time the boy finally found a use.

Striking the liver, the kidney, the nose and even using the chains to dislocate his arms, keeping them in a constant state of semi-dislocation as Avalon continually tried to set them.

On a normal person, the damage would have been mortal a dozen times over. Assuming it didn't outright kill them, it would cause lifelong permanent injury.

Shirou lost track of how long he spent abusing the servant and waiting for them to recuperate. The noises of pain and impact had faded away, leaving behind a distant ringing that only heightened his focus on his self-absorbed task. He had many plans beyond simple beatings and Origin Rounds. The nights had been filled with thoughts on what he would do in this exact situation but many of his ideas had been limited by how much mana he had. With so much at his fingertips due to the halved cost, he could do them all.

Spears and blades appeared in his mind, filling with mana before a voice finally reached him. "This isn't going to bring them back." It was Kiera yet again. Her words seemed vacant, as of the only thing she could muster was disappointment.

His body twitched to a sudden halt. Anger rose within him again, but he lowered his fist to speak with the disembodied ghost. "It doesn't matter if it will or won't, he can bear the consequences of his actions and feel my own suffering."

"And what good will that do? What good has it done you?" Her response was still deadened. She had seen what went on in his life and she wasn't even capable of holding a modicum of sympathy for him?

Maybe it wasn't himself who was inhuman but those around him.

"I'll have gotten my revenge."

"And that's all you want? Great, you've gotten it. This servant has already died once and now he has to suffer you torturing him. He even tried killing himself once he knew he was defeated so I'm pretty sure you've made your point."

"Just knowing defeat isn't the same as suffering because of loss."

"You can't make someone who has lost everything suffer because of loss, it doesn't work that way. What you're doing isn't the same as what was done to you, you're just beating a dead horse."

Staring at Assassin's dead, black eyes, Shirou cleared the blueprints from his mind. She was right, whatever he did to Assassin would do nothing to bring Illya or Kiritsugu back to life.

What purpose did torturing a servant who didn't know any better even serve? After it all, they wouldn't even remember it anyway. Or would they? Archer had remembered his innumerable times as a servant, but he was a Counter Guardian and an exception to the rule.

It didn't matter, what he was doing was pointless.

It angered him, that even avenging his family would do nothing to right what had been wronged, but he was angered further by the simple fact that he had been too foolish to see it and had let his anger get the better of him.

Projecting a sword poised before Assassin's head, Shirou hovered one hand before the hilt and chanted while staring into Assassin's eyes. "Time Alter: Double Stagnate."

Closing his eyes, he could feel his Reality Marble ebb away as time jarringly returned to normal. Opening them, not even the corpse of Assassin remained on the drain floor.

The servant had likely run out of mana to support himself and disappeared near instantly after that last attack.

All that remained was a molten piece of slag embedded deeply in the ground beyond the tube it had punched through.

Even using Double Stagnate that attack was powerful. It had been able to kill a servant, shatter his reality marble and continue into the real world where it bored through metal and stone alike. The only downside was that it took almost all of his mana. He barely had enough left to project a single weapon, but it seemed to be regenerating faster than normal.

"You returned," Saber commented on his mind. "I assume Assassin has been dealt with?"

He answered her question without answering it at all. "All we need to do is wait for the other team to finish with Rider." Turning, Shirou used his previous trace of the storm drain to find the next exit, discovering that there weren't any others beyond the cistern. Telling Saber to meet him there with the bike, the boy began jogging.

It took a few minutes but eventually, he came upon Saber straddling the bike waiting for him. Throwing one leg over the two-wheeled death machine, his phone produced a chime. Checking the reason, he found a single missed call and text from the phone he had given to Bazett.

Opening the message, he found a simple brief: "Manor destroyed, looks like Magus Killer work. No bodies or blood." Basic as it might have been, it told Shirou all he needed to know. Luvia and Rider were still at large, which put them and the entire plan at risk.

Saber's curiosity was obvious. "Have they handled Rider?"

Finishing up a reply informing the other party to keep searching, Shirou stuffed the phone back into his pocket and settled on the pillion. "No, but we will. Get us to Central Park."

Saber hesitated, shifted the bike into gear but then stopped and turned her head partly. "Shouldn't we wait for Caster or Rin to arrive so we can dismantle the Grail?"

He knew it was a lie before he even replied. "We'll figure it out on our own or wait until they get there." She wasn't quite looking at him, but she seemed skeptical regardless. "No problem in being early and protecting our ultimate objective, is there?"

It didn't seem as if Saber could form a good argument, so she righted the bike and began driving.

The ephemeral words of Archer came around in his mind. "You said it yourself earlier, just with a different person in mind."

Was he somehow agreeing with his thoughts? Or would it be confirmation that it was possible?

Either way, he wouldn't know until he tried.

The ride on the streets to Central Park was much slower and safer than the first. Still, it didn't help the headache that was pulsing through his entire skull.

Voices of subconsciouses that weren't his own continually swirled and mingled with his thoughts until they all became an incoherent mess. Activating his reality marble must have had something to do with it, but despite deactivating his magic circuits the voices persisted.

He felt like a schizophreniac and none of the voices told him anything reassuring. Kiera continually berated him and called him a monster, condemning his actions and going so far as to call him a failure at protecting the family he had supposedly devoted all his efforts to.

Archer wasn't as aggressive but his words held a sense of regret and disappointment, like a father watching his child repeatedly fail despite receiving proper guidance. The problem was, the cynic spoke in confusing riddles and allegories that he couldn't be bothered to sift through or even remember.

Maybe if he partially activated his reality marble he could turn the part of his brain that thought into steel and he wouldn't need to listen to it all.

But he needed to think, just for the time being.

He had to work out a solid plan for what he wanted, he needed to plot the course with the best chance of success. What he had in mind was very likely to go bad, but if it got him the result he desired then it was all worth it. He would deal with the repercussions even if it took his life.

After mulling over thoughts for a few minutes, the motorcycle rolled to a stop outside the park. Dismounting, Shirou wasted no time in walking toward the entrance.

Before he could, a hand caught his wrist and held him back. Turning, he found Saber glaring up at him coldly. Her words were just as chilled as her expression. "You cannot lie to me any longer, Shirou."

Narrowing his eyes challengingly, he replied, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm confident that you have a clear mind, however I can also see you're planning something unexpected. I can't in good conscience support you if I don't know your true intentions at such a pivotal point in the War."

Looking down, he ripped his hand from her grip and clenched his jaw. Why couldn't anybody be on his side? If they weren't standing beside him, did he even need their help? Was anyone strong enough or understanding enough to help him? "Then stay here and wait for Rin."

She began to object. "Shirou-"

He wasn't interested in listening. He had done enough convincing, planning and negotiating, it was time for him to act and nothing more. "If you can't decide whether you want to help or hold me back then that's fine. I'll finish this War on my own."

Saber grew irate. "I only wish to know what it is my master plans on doing, how can such a thing be considered holding you back?"

The boy pressed his palm to his forehead as a searing pain from the front of his skull returned. It seemed to be related to stress, or at least that was the conclusion he came to after experiencing it so often. He had to keep her off his case just long enough so his plan would work. "I can't tell you," was what he settled on. Removing his hand from his head, he looked her dead in the eyes. "If I do, it might change the outcome badly."

She held the stare for a long time before inhaling deeply. "When you summoned me and we first began, you told me we would operate as a team. One of the greatest components of a successful team is communication and ours has overall been poor and growing worse with each day."

He didn't know what to say. He had been made blatantly aware of how poor their relationship had grown as of late, but would she refuse to be his servant if he continued? There was a chance he could handle the rest of the War on his own, but did he risk it with so much on the line? He might have said it to try convincing her to follow, but was he prepared for the reality?

Trying to rid himself of the pent-up anger, he lowered his shoulders and took another breath. "What do I need to do to fix things?"

"Telling me the truth and keeping me informed are the first steps in a long list. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like we'll have much time for the rest so we can start and end with that."

If he let her think she knew everything, would it be enough to sate her? She knew as well as he did that their time was short so maybe he could get by for just a little longer by telling her what she wanted to know — within reason. "What did you want to know?"

"Is the Grail truly a corrupt device only capable of causing harm?"

The boy tilted his head. "Yes and no," he admitted with a sigh. "When I answered that question at the start of the War it had been truthful, but with Archer's knowledge, it's not that simple. Most wishes asked of the Grail will rebound with a monkey's paw effect but it is possible to ask for minor wishes with definite conditions that can avoid the backlash."

"Similar to legends of genies then?" He nodded. Her face remained pensive, or was it interrogative? "Then what wish do you plan on asking of it?"

The second question was almost harder than the first. To answer truthfully would admit that he had changed his motives without notifying her in the slightest. "I don't have any plans of asking for a wish."

"Shirou-"

"Why does everyone suspect me of something?" he cut her off. "I said I wasn't interested in it at all, that my only goal was destroying it and ending things with the lowest number of casualties." The anger rose as the memories came back but he, albeit barely, kept his emotions in check. "Even if I did want to use it, the situation's changed. It's not like it was then and the plan should change to accommodate."

Saber seemed adamant in her defiance. "I would agree that keeping a plan dynamic is essential to success but you have left me and those around you in the dark. We cannot adjust without being informed."

"If I had informed you then the outcome might have been changed-"

"You're right. Perhaps Illya and Kiritsugu might have lived."

It was like stepping on a branch. He couldn't control himself as his fist rocketed out and impacted the side of her face with all the force his reinforced body could muster.

Her head was cocked to one side and a small blemish had appeared on her cheek but she was unphased otherwise. Straightening her gaze, her face changed to rival the anger he was feeling. "Perhaps Lancer would be alive as well."

His other fist moved out of his control this time, striking something far less yielding as a painful pressure squeezed the flesh and cracked the layer of reinforcement protecting him. She had caught his blow this time, settling the question of who would win if he wanted to proceed.

Yanking his arm free, the woman levelled a glare that warned him not to try again. Despite being a full head taller, she was still significantly stronger than him.

"There is no shame in regretting your choices. It is only shameful when you do not recognize your mistakes and change for the better."

Shirou turned his back on the girl and shook his head. "Great, just what I need. Motivational words from a dead king. Where was all this wisdom of yours before?"

"You did not ask for my thoughts and I was therefore unable to say them."

Turning to face her again, Shirou lifted his palms in frustrated confusion. "Then what do you want me to do?"

"I only ask that you not be foolish. Tell your friends and comrades your plan, be honest and stop trying to work independently."

"Even if telling you ends things badly?"

The woman took a breath. "I can accept one small grace if you finally be honest with what you plan on doing."

Shirou deliberated for a long moment. He knew exactly what would come out of her mouth, he knew she would be incredibly suspicious of him immediately after until it happened. The latter brought with it the chance for her to stab him in the back if she viewed it as wrong.

Why couldn't things just go his way for once?

There was no easy way of saying it, so he went with "I plan on using the Grail."

Saber's face soured considerably. "You told me the Grail was a corrupted entity that would only bring harm to humanity if ever used, that you had no interest in using it at all."

His response was fast, likely because it was the same thing he had told himself so many times. "The wish I have in mind won't cause harm. I understand how it can be granted so there's no way for the Grail to misconstrue my words."

The two stared at one another in silence for a moment. While Shirou tried to appear convincing, Saber was trying to analyze whether it was honest or not. After some time, the woman extended a hand. "Promise me that your plan can in no way bring harm to humanity and that you will not endanger the lives of innocent people by following through."

Looking from her face to her hand, he paused to consider her words and the meaning behind just their face value. She was making him take an oath, drawing the line in the sand that defined where she would be an ally and where she would be an enemy. He didn't think his goal would interfere, but there was a chance — albeit small — that he was wrong.

Reaching out his own hand, he gripped hers tight and shook once. As he tried to release, the woman doubled down on the pressure and stared into his eyes, silently indicating that this was not something she would take lightly.

It was made further evident by her words. "I won't sit idle any longer. If you continue to leave me in the dark then our agreement as master and servant will no longer work."

"Let's get going." Pulling away and stepping back, the boy turned and focused toward the center of the park.

Their conversation had made him blatantly aware that their relationship was more strained than he originally thought.

He hated the place, despised it even. Every single step was another flickering memory of the night he walked through death. If it thought about it, it was also where everything started to go wrong in the War. That night when he had been taken away by Assassin had caused everything to crumble apart. Illya had panicked and come to help, Archer and Reines had died and he had been forced to leave Sakura behind.

Maybe if he hadn't met them here things might have come out differently and he wouldn't be scrambling to pick up the broken pieces.

Above him, the streetlight flickered and incited him to pause. Like a wave, the lights illuminating the path ahead of him flickered sequentially before returning to normal. Taking a moment to look at the buildings as the power surge passed, Shirou noticed that the streetlights hadn't wavered at all.

It was strange but nothing of extreme note.

There was a soft scuffing noise as Saber's boots stopped. "Rider," she began while pointing her invisible weapon. "Four hundred yards, eleven o'clock."

Following her directions, he could just barely see the outline of fluorescent pink standing in the middle of the park staring directly at them. "Looks like they had the same idea as us then."

Saber voiced her concern. "Why would they challenge us to a fight in such an open area when they know we hold the advantage?"

It was foolish at a glance but there had to be more to what he could just see. "They think it doesn't matter," he concluded. "They must have a plan that beats us outright." Weighing the options, the boy started walking straight toward the pink servant. "Or at least they think it doesn't matter."

Saber kept up to him in stride. "Do you think it is wise to be so aggressive?"

Shirou didn't take his eyes off the servant as the schematics for blades panned in his mind. "We already know all of the cards Rider has at her disposal. You know her true name, which means you should also know of her abilities."

"Situationally she is capable of a great deal."

Shirou put an extra bit of finality in his statement as they got within earshot. "I doubt any of those situations involve a flat park that harbours curses."

Rider, face still beaming in an exuberant smile, tilted her head in confusion. "I was expecting my adoring Cú to be with you but it looks like he's somewhere else."

It was odd to see someone hold such an inviting look while simultaneously speaking with biting, angry undertones. "He's doing something else," Shirou passed aside. Looking around momentarily, he couldn't find Luvia or Lectra. Were they watching from a safe distance or were they planning something foolish in the shadows? If it was the former, at least he could pull out all the stops without worrying about harming them.

Rider's smile grew just that little bit larger. "Isn't there supposed to be another servant here? What happened, sibling rivalry?"

Not that he cared about their wellbeing anymore.

Rider knowing of Illya meant Luvia had told her about their relation. As hard as it was, he couldn't let it crawl under his skin. Inhaling deeply, Shirou enhanced his eyes and squinted to try and peer through the shadow behind Rider. "They aren't needed to finish this."

Rider's smile finally reached her eyes as a giggle formed and died in her throat. "So much confidence and detachment. If my eternal love wasn't already here then you and I might have more to talk about."

"I'm not interested in talking," he murmured coldly as blades filled with mana in the back of his mind.

"Well you could at least listen then," she shot back quickly.

A blade appeared and fired toward the servant with little more effort than it took to conjure the thought. Producing a howl as it cut the air, Rider didn't even bother with moving. Instead, the blade simply seemed to miss its mark and it grazed her shoulder.

Rivulets of blood trailed down her arm to the end of her fingertips where she extended the same hand. "Maybe you'll listen to yourself."

The drop of blood fell and landed upon the grass. Red foam practically exploded from the spot and covered a large portion of the grass. Taking a step back, a flash of light and the clank of metal put Saber wearing full armour ahead of him.

From behind the knight, he could see the blood foam shift and coalesce to form six rising shapes, humanoid shapes. In seconds, several bodies of blood rose and took shape and flesh, with someone all too notable at the front.

It was him.

He was looking at his own face, his own body fully formed despite coming from only blood. Beside himself were others he had never seen before, some wielding weapons that Shirou recognized from Archer's armoury. There were a dozen of them at least and each seemed, at a glance, to be a significant foe.

How many noble phantasms did she have? And which one of them allowed her to copy people she saw? Was she the one behind Assassin somehow? Rider slinked into view, running her hands along an arm of his copy. "He's not as complete as I'd like him to be but you didn't give me everything I needed." Trailing her fingers along the edge of his copy's jawline, Shirou felt eerily perturbed. It was one thing to see an iteration of himself that held subtle differences and differentiating quirks, it was another to see an identical copy that held every facet of his own face.

Saber recovered her voice faster than he did. "What sort of trick is this? You have no noble phantasm capable of such a feat!"

Rider giggled and slinked behind her fabricated soldiers. "Noble phantasms aren't the only abilities that servants have, I'd think another servant would know that much."

The copied soldiers simultaneously lurched into a fighting stance, reflexively making Saber and Shirou respond in kind. Backing up further, Shirou formed his own pair of blades and tried to create a plan. Did they run or did they fight? If they did the former, they might lose their chance at taking down Rider. Against so many though, did they have a chance of winning?

They knew Rider's capabilities but the other imitated servants beside her were wildcards. In the end, even escape meant they would clash blades at least for a short time. Shifting into his mind, he found the link to Saber. "You were right, I was wrong. Rider had another card up her sleeve." It was better to get that out of the way first. "But we just need to deal with it now. If we want to fight, I can handle myself and provide ranged support so long as you hold the front. If any slip past, I shouldn't have that much of a problem, so don't worry about me."

"Shirou," Saber immediately responded. "If she is capable of copying servants she sees, why am I not present? Moreover, why are they all men?"

She was right. All of Rider's creations were men but the strangeness didn't end there. The others beyond his own copy dated back twenty-two hundred years ago, meaning they were-

"You figured it out, but that's not a very nice face to have," Rider pouted. "Unfortunately you and I didn't have the time to go that far, but you were quite the animal above the waist." Lifting one hand, Rider pressed a finger against her lips and winked in his direction.

He had kissed her? The only possible time would have been at the Einzbern castle but his memories didn't recall such a thing. It was possible, considering how scrambled his mind was then.

It had been her noble phantasm. A revelation that simultaneously relieved and mortified him. He had been under her control somehow then, but if he couldn't recall kissing anyone, what else had he done that he couldn't remember?

Questioning his own actions, he was late to react to the blades that appeared within the air above his copy, and even later to react when they flew straight toward him.

---

I've told you all before that this isn't a happy-go-fun read and it's high time I finally live up to that claim. Too many mistakes have been made without consequence and they've all culminated in this chapter.

The original plan was to have this be a mega-sized chapter that finished off the Fifth War but with how long it's been and how slow my writing has gotten I can't in good conscience delay things any further for you all. You can read this stuff while I manage to get the rest out! Ergo, we have a two-part chapter post! If any of you can guess the name of the chapter-to-come then you will get a big ol' shoutout in the next chapter showing how smart you are!

As always remember to follow, favourite and leave a review! And don't forget to thank the betas Talndir and Berix!