Disclaimer: I do not own Fate Stay Night or Highschool DxD.

Fate: Devil Night

Chapter9: Grail War IV

Human World
Japan: Fuyuki
Kotomine Church

Emiya Shirou felt hot like someone had taken a sword, stuck it in a furnace for half an hour and then stabbed him in the shoulder with it. It was almost like having dozens of microscopic bugs eating at his cells, swarming over it as if it were covered in ants. His mind was burning from the inside out, scorched black by the ungodly heat until finally it all melted away. After an eternity it was sealed so that the ants couldn't reach him and were forced back, confined at a place where he couldn't reach.

Knowledge flowed into him, images of swords and other artefacts that he had come across over his long life and afterlife. An unknown Heroic Spirit, an antihero with no name, a faker, he was a blacksmith Magus who could copy and trace almostany weapon he'd ever seen. His mind broke under the strain, the familiarity of the one who he had only just met. It wouldn't work, he wasn't at that level yet, there was no way that he could survive this.

He awoke to a familiar ceiling with a groan and a wince, his mind slowly returning to him as he did so. He gasped as he looked frantically around at the scene before him and tried to calm himself. This was the attic of the Kotomine Church, and looking down at himself he saw that he was indeed laying in the same bed he had occupied the last time he was here. He blinked several times to clear his vision before he finally spotted a familiar face staring back at him from beside him on his right almost like she was amazed about something.

It was Illya…

"Illya?" Shirou asked confused. "What happened?"

"Onii-chan," Illya smiled as she lunged at him and wrapped herself around him. She was happy to see him awake and alive, especially after what had happened at the Einzbern castle-villa.

"What—Illya?" Shirou gasped out in surprise as his sister hugged him.

"I'm so glad you're alive," Illya cried into his chest. "Don't scare me like that again Onii-chan."

"Alive? What are you-" Shirou stopped and looked down at his left arm. The arm that Rider had ripped off as far as he remembered, and his eye widened at the sight that greeted him. "Gah!" he gritted out as a jolt of pain suddenly shot through his body like someone had just stabbed him with a knife.

"Shirou, calm down and try to suppress your left arm. Don't try and bear it," Chloe told him worriedly from the side.

Shirou winced in pain as he tried to steady his breathing and hastily tried to put up a barrier between the origin of the pain and himself. After a few seconds the pain receded and he calmed himself as he looked down once again. It was only now that he noticed that he was wearing some kind of restraints tying him down, though he had no idea why. He was confused as to why he was wearing them and looked over at his sister who had pulled away slightly.

"W-what's going on Illya? Chloe?" Shirou asked her. "Why am I tied up like this?"

"Well…that's…" Chloe trailed off unsure how to answer him.

"It's because of how much you were thrashing around during the operation," a new voice spoke up from the doorway. "You could have hurt yourself if we didn't restrain you in some way."

"Kotomine?" Shirou inquired.

"Hello again Emiya Shirou," the fake priest answered as he stepped inside the room. "I'm the one who performed the operation."

"Operation?" Shirou questioned further.

"It would be better if I just show you," Kirei responded with a shrug.

Kirei approached the older redhead and stood beside him opposite Illya. He unbuckled the restraints cover Shirou's and pulled back the sheets revealing his form. Shirou looked down at his arm now that it was uncovered and his eyes widened in surprise at the sight that greeted him. His left arm was not his arm but instead someone else's entirely, wrapped tightly in some kind of red cloth. For a moment staring at it was all Shirou could do, for the arm certainly didn't belong to him.

"Kotomine, what is this?" Shirou asked the question.

"It's Archer's left arm," Kirei answered simply. "He was fatally wounded during the battle and requested that he be brought here to me. He asked me to transplant his left arm onto you and I have done so. I call it an Artificial Phantasm."

"Archer?" Shirou asked confused. "Why?"

"I do not know," Kirei shrugged unconcerned. "He died just after I finished the operation."

"Archer…" Shirou muttered.

EMIYA…

"The arm is now tied to your own Magic Circuits," Kirei continued. "Even with Archer now gone the arm will remain as long as it's attached to you and being supplied by your own prana. Of course it's not as simple as it sounds, I needed to spiritually connect the two of you and heal both your body and soul in order to survive the transplant. Even then it should have killed you but it seems that the arm is compatible with you for some reason; I'm sure the worst is over and that you'll be back to being beaten up soon."

"Are you really a priest?" Shirou asked with an incredulous look.

"Yes," Kirei waved off his words.

"Right," Shirou nodded with a sigh.

"The arm will familiarize itself with your body and given time it will heal enough for you to use it like your old one. But I'm warning you now, that arm is too powerful for you to use. That's why I wrapped it in the red cloth, it's a Holy Shroud which I used to suppress the arm and seal it. That arm is more like a weapon than anything else and no one, not even someone who is compatible with it, can possibly use it straight away," Kirei explained. "Normally a devil like you would be harmed by a holy artefact like that however your body seems to be resistant to Holy Light."

"So what now?" Shirou questioned further.

"Even with the shroud covering it, that arm will eventually destroy you from the inside out. However if you train hard enough then in about ten years or so you might be able to survive it," Kirei answered truthfully. "But right now if you take that shroud off then you'll die for sure. Using that arm now would be like activating the timer on a bomb, sooner or later it will blow up. My advice is to never take the shroud off or use the arm, at all."

"I get it," Shirou said with a smile. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me," Kirei countered as he stood up and headed for the door. "I didn't do it for you."

He left soon after…

"Shirou?" Illya asked. "Onii-chan?"

"…Let's get out of here."

Chloe von Einzbern was unsure how she should feel as she sat at the edge of the wooden corridor open to the courtyard. In her hand was a letter, one of many that lay beside her and her brother. After leaving Kotomine Church and linking up with Caster outside, Shirou had brought them all back to the Emiya Residence. However instead of hurting her and Illya like she expected them to, Shirou had gone into his workshop and returned an hour later with a few dozen letters addressed to the two of them.

They were from Kiritsugu…

Illya, Chloe, my beautiful daughters, if you are reading this then I've failed to save you and died. Please understand, I tried to get you back but that old bastard Acht has done everything in his power to keep you from me. I didn't leave you by choice, and if I could see you again that would be enough for an old fool like me. I'm not usually one to pray but for you I pray that at least Shirou has gotten to you and freed you from the Einzberns.

I suppose that I should start from the beginning, and I hope you understand why I did it. During the Third War the Einzberns summoned an Avenger-class Servant and when it died, it infected the Holy Grail itself. When the Fourth War came and I was hired by the Einzberns to fight in it, I saw the true identity of this 'Avenger.' It was Angra Mainyu, the Zoroastrian God of Evil and Persian God of Darkness. Back during the Grail War before everything went to hell, I asked your mother if she would run away with me. I planned on coming back for you both and thought it might have been better if we simply ran off somewhere far away. I was scared of losing you all, especially since Kotomine Kirei was after me at the time. Your mother talked me out of it, she said that I would never be able to forgive myself if I just left like that.

Your mother died and Angra Mainyu materialized the Holy Grail using her body. It showed me a vision of the 'world peace' that I sought, the extermination of every last man, woman and child in the world. Only you two, your mother and I would remain after that 'utopia' would be created. I refused that 'utopia' and the Holy Grail itself, denying Angra Mainyu. I ordered my Servant to destroy the Holy Grail, something that I hope was enough to purify it but I honestly have my doubts about that.

After the war ended I was a mess, something made even worse when I realised that Old Man Acht had barred me from Einzbern Castle in Germany. He didn't want me to see either of you and despite everything I tried it wasn't enough. As I am writing this I can feel the curses from Angra Mainyu in me are slowly killing me. I doubt that I have six months to live at the rate the curses are eroding my body and I do not think I will be able to try again to save you. That's why I've been training Shirou, your brother whom I adopted after saving him from the aftermath of the Fourth War. I hope he has been able to succeed where I failed and saved you. Maybe it's a fool's hope, one of desperation, but it's all I have left. All I wanted for you all was to be a family and live happily. Before the end I just wanted to say that I love you both, my sweet little girls.

Goodbye my wonderful daughters.

Tears flowed freely down her cheeks and fell onto the letter in her hands. It was just one of many that her father had left them, each one roughly the same. Her father hadn't abandoned them and instead had tried to free them from the Einzberns. Even when he was dying he still tried to save them and loved them unconditionally. Looking over at her brother she saw him looking at her with a sad smile, he knew what was in those letters after all.

She threw her arms around him and cried into his chest for the live she had lost as Illya picked it up to read it too. Their parents had died and they had been manipulated into becoming disposable tools for their grandfather. None of them said anything as she cried herself to sleep and was soon joined by Illya; there was nothing more that needed to be said between them. Their father had only wanted them to be together as a family and live peacefully but they all knew that was impossible.

Tohsaka Rin stood making breakfast in the kitchen, an apron covering her front as she did so. Behind her the others all sat at the dining room table talking amongst themselves, and trying to get along as best they can. Despite their initial wariness of each other, everyone realised that they were all in this together now since none of them had anywhere else to go. After all out of everyone here, the only Servant was Caster, and even she was wary of facing Saber.

Rin was angry at that black Saber for beating her Archer, but more importantly she was angry at herself for being unable to do anything. Her jewels were useless against that woman's armour much less the Noble Phantasm she had used. Now her Archer was gone and she was here with that idiot Emiya Shirou. She'd seem him at school sometimes, usually around the president of the student council Ryoudou Issei, but she had never really looked at him closely. If she had then she might have realised that he was a Magus sooner, and may have even allied with him before this.

Things might have been different then…

"The food's ready," Rin spoke up as she walked out and placed the food down on the table.

"How do I eat this, again?" Chloe sighed as she looked down at her own food.

She wasn't used to Japanese food yet…

"Here," Shirou said as he brought his right hand to hers and had her pick up her chopsticks. "I know that it's difficult at first but you'll get used to it," he told her as he guided her hand over to her plate.

"Ah yes," Chloe nodded fighting down the rising heat that was threatening to consume her face. "Thank you."

His hand was warm…

"Itadakimasu."

Breakfast was much like usual despite there being a lot more people than any time that Shirou could recall and he couldn't help but wonder where Taiga was today. She was usually over at his place for breakfast but she was absent, which was unusual in itself. He could understand being a teacher at his school and the granddaughter of a Yakuza boss so he wasn't worried. He was more concerned about Sakura, the girl that he had last seen standing next to her grandfather and Shinji as they fought in the forest.

"What are you thinking about?" Caster inquired seeing his worried expression.

"Matou Zouken," Shirou said quietly. "And Sakura."

Matou Zouken was the head of the Matou family and someone that Kiritsugu had extensive notes on. As the head of one of the three Magi families inhabiting Fuyuki city, Kiritsugu had made sure to keep his distance and had initially warned Shirou about the man's granddaughter Sakura. Shirou had understood the man's wariness of the Matou and Tohsaka families but Sakura was still his friend. He'd known her for years, but thing were different now, she was an enemy.

"You're going after them?" Illya questioned.

"We don't even know where they are," Shirou replied truthfully. "They could have gone back to their Manor but I doubt it."

"…I think we should talk to Kirei again," Rin spoke up catching their attention.

"You mean the supervisor for the war? I think we should see him too," Illya nodded. "The Servants were supposed to be absorbed by me when they're killed but so far I only have Archer, and that was only because I was there when he died. I think that one of the Matous is a Lesser Grail and is absorbing the souls of the Servants being killed."

"You don't think…" Shirou trailed off looking around.

"Sakura?" Rin asked in surprise. Sakura was her sister even if no one in the room knew that fact, and if she was a Lesser Grail then that meant she was going to be used to manifest the true Holy Grail once enough Servants were dead.

"That is likely the case," Caster mused as she traced her finger across the table. "That girl isn't normal."

"I think that we should all go," Illya spoke up suddenly.

"She's right," Rin nodded in agreement. "The more of us there are, the better our chances will be if something happens."

"There's also the fact that Caster is the only Servant we have," Chloe pointed out gesturing towards purple-haired witch. "None of us can hope to take on a Servant alone, and if we do encounter Saber, then she might be our only hope of winning this war."

That was certainly true, Caster was without a doubt the strongest person in the room, a Heroic Spirit summoned to this era by a Magecraft that was considered Sorcery. They needed her if they were not only going to survive but also win this war. Zouken, Sakura, Shinji and Saber were still out there somewhere doing god only knew what. They needed to be ready for when they faced them again, because that battle wasn't going to be easy.

"Alright then," Shirou nodded. "Let's go."

Matou Sakura was only originally born as Tohsaka Sakura, the youngest daughter of Tohsaka Tokiomi and Tohsaka Aoi. Because a Magi family's Magic Crest and knowledge could only be passed onto one child, her sister was chosen to have it instead of her. Her father then gave her to Matou Zouken who had been looking for an 'heir' to his family since they had been slowly losing their Magic Circuits over time. She had then been thrown into the worm pit that was the Matou family workshop and her body violated by the worms within.

Her 'uncle' Matou Kariya had tried to save her when he realised what she had been subjugated to but ultimately failed to do so. He died in front of her and from then on she realised that she would never escape the hell that was her life. Years passed with her 'brother' Shinji abusing her both physically and mentally until she met Emiya Shirou. She grew to love him and wanted to be with him. When the Grail War started she followed Zouken's lead as was expected of her however once she had collected enough legendary souls from the Servants that had fallen, she'd betrayed Zouken and killed him before his soul could jump from the Crest Worm in her chest.

The old Matou Sakura was dead now…

Only she remained…

And she wanted more…

"Out for a moonlit stroll, ladies?" a voice spoke up from in front of them.

He was standing in front of the church, almost causally with a smirk on his face. Dressed in a blue suit of thin armour and holding a red spear in his right hand, he looked rather dangerous. Sakura came to a stop as did Saber who had been walking beside her silently, her invisible sword held tightly in her hand. Saber took a step forward and raised her invisible blade up in front of her with both hand a moment later, ready for anything.

"Lancer I presume?" Saber inquired upon seeing the spear.

"And you would be Saber," Lancer grinned back. "Try to make it interesting for me, would you?"

He was fast, one moment he was a few feet away and the next he was beside her. Saber's reflexes were top notch though and she was able to parry the thrust aimed at her heart. She backpedalled as Lancer pursued her, his spear lashing out and forcing her further back. After a few seconds of this however Lancer realised it was no use, Saber's defence was simply too great for him to break through like this, a fact that was proving true when she sidestepped a thrust at her midsection and slashed across, catching him in the shoulder.

He retreated, jumping back away from her only for Saber to rush after him, her sword coming up to strike him. She rained down blows upon him as he brought his spear up to deflect them and gritted his teeth. This wasn't working, a direct assault was useless against this kind of opponent. He needed to use it if he wanted to win, especially since he couldn't kill her. He was still under orders not to kill any of the other Servants during his first encounter with them, an order that was backed by a Command Sigil from his current 'Master,' bastard though he might be.

He was about to jump back and throw his Noble Phantasm down at her, hopefully at least slowing her down if not outright killing her when he stepped into a dark shadow on the ground. It sprang up, latching onto his lower body and halting his retreat. He looked up just in time to see Saber swing her invisible sword down upon him forcing him to bring his spear up to block the strike. The force behind it pushed him down further into the shadow, his body sinking into it.

"D-damn y-ou S-Saber!" Lancer snarled as he disappeared into the shadow.

Silence fell on the area as the shadow vanished a moment later…

"That's another one," Sakura whispered softly as she started walking towards the church. "Let's go Saber."

Saber paused for a second, simply staring at where Lancer had been standing a mere moment ago before she turned and followed after her Master. Sakura led them both to the front doors to the church and then stopped before them. She thrust her now pale hand forward and shadows sprang out of her dress, throwing the doors wide open. She walked in with Saber trailing a step behind her and examined the room beyond. There were rows of wooden seats leading towards an altar at the back where a single figure stood with his back to them, looking down at the book on the table in front of him.

"Who dares cause a stir in the house of god at such an hour?" Kotomine Kirei asked as he slowly turned around.

"It's been a long time, Father. We haven't seen each other since you took care of me that one time," Sakura smiled back darkly.

"Matou Sakura, you are very different than I last remember," Kirei commented as he looked her over. "Have you already conceived Avenger?"

"I have taken four Servants inside myself," Sakura declared simply. "I know that there is a Servant here and I want him. I think I'll take back the life energy you've been borrowing to keep yourself alive until today while I'm at it."

"I see you have been completely contaminated," Kirei mused. "Not only the body, but the mind must also align with the 'curse' in order to complete the process. So you've accepted it? You've resolved yourself to becoming a man-eating monster."

"Yes," Sakura answered with a sadistic smirk. "I'm very different now, I'm not the Matou Sakura that you know. That weak child is nor more…I was…I was put through so much by everyone. I'm going to pay them back by making them suffer, I'll never be that person who just puts up with things ever again."

"What are you saying?" Kirei asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. "You are still Matou Sakura even if you are drunk with the violence after bathing in the mud. You do not have to pretend that you are a different person in order to protect Matou Sakura as a person."

"What are you…" Sakura started.

"You are doing a wonderful job of bringing Avenger back to me," Kirei smiled back at her. "You are doing something that I was not able to do, and with such ease I might add."

"Shut up!" Sakura shouted angrily. She couldn't believe the gall of this man, the man who had stood idly by knowing full well what kind of monster Zouken was and doing nothing about it. "Running has always been your speciality," she said with no small amount of distain as she recalled what she'd heard about him over the years. "Your ability to disappear in the blink of an eye is infuriating, but I can still kill you."

"You're naive little girl," a new voice spoke up as the figure sitting on the front row of seats slowly stood and turned to face her. "If you believe it will be that easy."

"Archer," Saber responded showing mild surprise upon seeing him. "You're the other Servant?"

"Hello Saber," Gilgamesh nodded in greeting. "I see that you've fallen far, my Queen. But that doesn't matter, you will be mine all the same, and I will restore you to what you once were so that you may rule at my side."

"I will never be yours, Archer," Saber as she readied her sword.

"Matou Sakura," Kirei spoke up once more. "What you carry inside of you will answer my long-asked questions, I will not let you die until it is born."

Sakura couldn't take it anymore, it was just too much, the idea that Kirei was using her for his own ends. Zouken had used her and she couldn't stand it, now Kirei was doing the same. She let out a scream of rage as shadows sprang up all around them and consumed the whole room. Gilgamesh saw this and the air beside him rippled like water. Swords, spears and axes emerged from the tears in the space beside him and launched themselves at the corrupted girl. Saber was already in front of her and deflected the weapons away from her Master with her invisible sword. Sakura continued to scream as her shadows latched onto Gilgamesh before they could attack her again.

"Unhand me," Gilgamesh demanded. "Now!"

Now with five Servants already within her, Sakura was able to pull him down into the shadows and consume him far easier than she could otherwise. She stopped screaming after he had disappeared beneath the shadows and collapsed to her knees a moment later. Gilgamesh was much harder to 'digest' than the Servants she had consumed previously, no doubt because of his ego and how much more powerful his soul was compared to a 'normal' Heroic Spirit.

"Master?" Saber asked over her shoulder.

"I-I'm fine Saber," Sakura cried out as she shakily stood up once more.

"You're orders Master?" Saber inquired.

Sakura looked around the room and saw that Kirei was no longer there. He must have slipped out the back while she was busy dealing with Gilgamesh and escaped. It didn't matter, she had done what she came here to do, and that was consume the two Servants here. She was surprised at just how difficult it was to 'digest' Gilgamesh but that was fine, she had the necessary number of souls needed to power the ritual and become the true Holy Grail.

There was only one thing left to do…

"We're going to Mount Enzou," Sakura answered as she started walking away.

"…And what of the ones approaching?" Saber questioned further.

"…I'm leaving something special for them."

Caster was the first to notice the oppressive aura coming from the building in front of them and narrowed her eyes at the sight. She stopped a few feet away from it alongside the others and brought her hand up slightly. She'd felt this before, back in the forest, from the purple-haired girl that had fought her Master's little sisters. This sense of unnaturalness felt wrong on so many levels that she could barely comprehend it never mind do anything about it.

Thankfully it was diminishing…

"Master…" Caster trailed off.

"What is it?" Shirou asked her.

"The Matou girl was here," Caster answered simply. "She seems to have left however."

"Kirei?" Rin inquired with narrowed eyes. She knew that if anyone came after the fake priest, he would likely escape and reappear somewhere later. Rin wouldn't believe that he'd died until she saw the body, because knowing him he would likely fake his death just to piss her off later.

"I don't know," Caster shook her head.

She waved her hand once and muttered an incantation under her breath, faster than any modern Magi could. A few dozen Dragon Tooth Warriors emerged from the ground and moved in to investigate the church's interior. After a few minutes of waiting, Caster led them inside and found the church completely devoid of life. They looked around for a bit more, even searching the basement, but they found nothing of any significance to them.

"If it was Matou that attacked the church," Illya started. "Then she will be heading for the Greater Grail to finish the ritual and manifest the true Holy Grail."

"If she's going there," Rin gritted out with a worried look. "Then she's trying to force a final confrontation between the remaining Servants."

The only Servants left that they knew of were Saber, Lancer and Caster, one of which was present among them now. Lancer had never been seen nor heard from and they had no idea where to find him or her. Saber on the other hand was with Sakura, and would likely be waiting for them. They'd seen just how powerful Saber was, and that wasn't taking into account the Matou family themselves. After a moment of silence the group turned to leave the church and head home.

A split second later the wall beside them suddenly exploded, raining debris down upon them, forcing them to hurl themselves away from it. They blinked away the sudden disorientation and looked up at the thing that had busted down the wall. Their eyes widened as they recognized the thing, the monster which they had last seen protecting one of their own. He stood tall in the hole he had made for himself, his skin black and rotting, giving him an underlying crimson colour. His eyes were gone having rotten away and his sheer presence was even worse than it had been the last time they'd seen him.

"Berserker…" Illya whispered in shock.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!"

It was the mad warrior, returned from the grave, blackened and tainted to the point where he couldn't even see his foe let alone recognize anyone. He charged at them, intent on ripping them apart with his bare hands. The Dragon Tooth Warriors hurled themselves at the rampaging giant but it was no use, they were crushed in a matter of seconds before they could even land a blow. Caster didn't have any time to pull away before the blackened monster was upon her, grabbed her by the head and slamming her into the far wall.

"Gah!" Caster screamed as she felt the rotten hand holding her head squeeze.

"Caster!" Shirou shouted as he rushed to aid her.

But it was already too late…

Caster's head imploded as Berserker's hand squeezed shut and her body faded away, disappearing from the world. Everyone could only stare in shock at the sight of the purple-haired Servant's death at the hands of the blackened warrior. It had been so quick that they couldn't believe it, not that it stopped the mad giant from turning towards his next target. Rin's eyes widened in horror as he charged towards her, only for a barrage of spells to slam into the oncoming monster from her side.

It was Caster, her hood down and an angered snarl on her face. She had used an illusion to trick Berserker into believing that he had killed her and bought herself a few precious seconds to ready a barrage of A-rank spells capable of actually hurting him. The barrage of lights slowed him down but it wasn't enough, nowhere near enough, to put him down for good. She was just about to resort to her more intensive spells when Shirou stepped between Rin and Berserker.

Shirou narrowed his eyes in concentration as the mad giant took notice of him and lunged towards him with his arms outstretched. Five seconds, that's all it would take to reach him and deliver the killing blow. It didn't matter, Shirou wasn't going to just lay down and die, not when he needed to save everyone from this thing. His Reinforcement Magecraft was being passively enhanced by the Artificial Phantasm and with his Archer card in hand, he was certain that he could stop this thing once and for all.

Emiya Shirou! Understand, you are a maker, not a fighter. Do not think about other things, there is only one thing you can do, so master that one thing. Do not forget, what you must imagine is always that you yourself are the strongest. You do not need outside enemies, for you, the one you have to fight is none other than your own image.

He recalled the memory, a memory that wasn't his, but a memory that belonged to 'Emiya Shirou' all the same. Archer had spoken those words to another Emiya Shirou in another world, one where the Age of the Gods did not return. Still, his words rang true, for Emiya Shirou the only enemy he must face was himself. All outside enemies were secondary and could be dealt with by others, but for him it was always himself that he was fighting.

"Install," Shirou incanted as he gripped the Shroud of Martin covering his arm.

The instant he pulled the Shroud of Martin off of his left arm, the world around him crumbled away. He gasped as a wind of power and knowledge hit him like a tornado, his mind going white as it did so. No, this wasn't wind, this was steel. His eyes felt like they were being squished, his back against a wall, not even being able to lift a finger, even his blood felt like it was flowing backwards. There was no pain, because steel could not feel such a thing. He was melting away and there was nothing he could do about it. He had to keep going but he couldn't move an inch, never mind do something.

What was he even trying to do?

Maybe he should just give up…

He couldn't do anything…

He couldn't save anyone…

He couldn't make it, he couldn't move no matter how hard he tried to. Yet he couldn't stop, not even as he felt himself fading away with each passing moment. Even if his body had already given in and his mind was failing him, he still tried to push forward with everything he had. All he needed to do was move, it didn't matter how he did it or where the strength came from, as long as he could save them then to him it didn't matter what happened to himself.

And that's when he saw him...

It was Archer, the red knight whose arm had been transplanted onto his shoulder. He stood there, facing the wind with his back to him, looking back at him over his shoulder. The wind of steel had no effect on him, after all it was him. He walked onwards to the other side as Shirou looked on, his gaze following after the red knight. The mere sight of him standing there was enough to bring Shirou the strength he needed to move once again, and the redhead narrowed his eyes at the man's distant back.

Can you keep up with me?

The nerve of that bastard, Archer was scorning him and yet believed in him at the same time. He was waiting for Shirou to reach him, as if to say that he should hurry up and get over there. Shirou clenched his fists and forced himself to stand. Archer merely watched on as Shirou took a step forward all the while glaring at the red knight who stood facing the wind of steel that continued to rage around them both. One step…two steps…three steps…

"It's not can you keep up with me," Shirou gritted out as he forced himself to keep moving forward and ran ahead of the red knight. "You keep up with me!"

Archer let a smirk settle onto his lips the moment he passed by…

He was suddenly back at the Church, the red cloth that had once been wrapped around his left arm now hung free and fluttered behind him. He stepped forward, the wind of steel no longer there and glared at the mad warrior in defiance. There was about thirty meters between them both and it would only take three seconds for Berserker to kill him with his bare hands. But that didn't matter, he still had a chance to defeat the mad giant.

His mind was clear, he knew the scope of his power now, a variation of Projection Magecraft Archer called Tracing. A seven step process that replicated any weapon he had recorded within his Reality Marble, and he had a lot of weapons stored in there. The Reality Marble Unlimited Blade Works was usable—both of them were. Had Shirou chosen to save one life over everyone else's then he couldn't do so however since he wanted to save everyone then it was close enough of a match for the two Reality Marbles—his and Archer's—to combine to an extent.

They were both Emiya Shirou after all…

The main difference was that Archer had wanted to save everyone…

And Shirou only wanted to save everyone he cared about…

It was close enough…

His Magic Circuits flared to life as the Archer card disappeared into his body and lodged itself between the Artificial Phantasm and his own body. He'd thought of using the card as a medium and a buffer ever since he'd gotten home the previous night so it wouldn't kill him when he was forced to release the arm. What damage that the arm did do he hoped Ravel's Phoenix Tears would be able to repair, allowing him to use the arm to its fullest potential.

"Trace on," Shirou incanted as his arm came up over his shoulder.

Seven steps, judging the concept of creation, hypothesising the basic structure, duplicating the composite materials, imitating the skill of its making, sympathising with the experience of its growth, reproducing the accumulated years, excelling every manufacturing process. All these together allowed him to replicate any weapon that he knew using Projection Magecraft, weapons like the large chunk of stone shaped like an axe-sword that Berserker had wielded during their last encounter in the forest.

The same axe-sword that Shirou now had clutched in his gauntlet-covered hand…

Two seconds…

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!" Berserker roared something incomprehensible as he barrelled towards the red-haired Magus.

"Trigger off," Shirou hissed as he flicked his Magic Circuits off and dropped the weapon to his side. "Set."

One second…

"That's-" Illya started as her eyes widened in surprise.

"Nine Live Blade Works," Shirou spoke clearly as he moved to attack.

There were nine strikes in all, every one of them attacking from eight different directions. Upper arm, collarbone, windpipe, temple, diaphragm, ribs, groin, and thigh. Godspeed, that's what this was. He was faster than the speed of sound as each strike he landed was done in an instant. One moment Berserker was about to skewer him and the next, eighty percent of the mad giant's body was destroyed leaving him completely unrecognizable.

Yet still he didn't fall…

Shirou was crouched down slightly with his left arm extended and the projected axe-sword still clutched in the grasp of his gauntlet-covered hand. Berserker's body was mostly destroyed though he was still standing, refusing to fall down and die. It wasn't enough, he couldn't land the last blow to the heart, the blow that would end this. Berserker was just about to continue his attack when he stopped, looking passed Shirou at the girls that had walked up beside their brother's crouching form.

The red-haired devil didn't question it or even hesitate, he simply drove the slab of stone that was called an axe-sword into the mad giant's chest, directly where his heart was. It pierced Berserker's heart, killing him instantly and causing his body to started fading. Shirou stayed there for a moment before standing up fully and holding the axe-sword at his side. The weapon shattered like glass a second later and he let out a sigh of relief. He was tired but otherwise okay, though that attack had taken everything he'd had to pull off.

"Onii-chan…" Chloe trailed off as she stared at his back.

Looking at him now, with his back to them, standing before them with the Shroud of Martinwaving in the wind. He looked like what he always wanted to be, a hero that saved everyone he cared about, especially her and her sister. She stared at his back sadly, knowing what was to come, what the price of such power would be for their little brother. Nothing was free in this world, especially the power to defeat a Heroic Spirit, but she would try and keep him safe, she owed him that much at least.

"Master," Caster asked warily. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Shirou replied with a sigh.

"Let's get out of here," Rin spoke up. "Before anyone else that's supposed to be dead shows up."

Author's Notes:

Here is chapter 9 and I hope you enjoyed it. I know that this story is progressing rather quickly but to me it's coming along nicely and not being having one side overpowering the other. DxD is known for its outrageously powerful characters and artefacts, namely the Sacred Gears. On the other hand the Fate-Tsukihime series have equally outrageous stuff in them, namely characters like Zelretch and artefacts like Noble Phantasms.

DxD is one of those series where you can blend it with almost anything and not run into many problems because of how expansive the universe is. Still, there are certain aspects of the two universe where it is difficult to blend them together without one side simply overpowering the other. On one hand you have Shirou who can spam Noble Phantasms, some of which can kill gods. On the other hand you've got people like Ophis and Great Red running around who if I would rate on the ridiculous-o meter, ranks right up there with Aristotles and Sorcerers. Still, it's fun to write and I've already got the story planned out.

Please Read and Review.

See Ya Later…