Confrontation
Shirou got to work late.
He was asked by the old couple for a reason.
He made up an excuse that he was so caught up with fixing a broken air-conditioned at school that he forgot the time.
The couple nodded in understanding and didn't question any further.
They knew Shirou enough to know that the boy has good character and he wouldn't be late for work without a reason.
Besides, the customers were waiting. Wasting time on something that couldn't be helped was counter-productive.
Although some customers were dissatisfied that they got 'second goods' from the old couple when Shirou wasn't here yet. They didn't complain much just a bit disappointed that they missed Shirou's cooking.
…
After finishing work. Shirou got home and have a nice warm bath.
He finally have time to contemplate what had happened today.
Although, this world was quite similar to his old world. This one, however, was still in the Age of Gods.
He was busy spying and gathering information on the Devils at school all this time so he didn't know anything else about the outside world. After all, he had no idea why a bunch of Devils would come to study at a high school in the human world.
Logic demanded that there was a reason for them being here and he intended to find out about that before he opened up more to the outside world.
What if they were here for some nefarious purposes? He needed to stop them if that was the case. He might have abandoned his old ideal but if he could help and save people then he would still do it. His priority just changed a little.
At first, he thought their purpose here was to get energy or the like from human's soul like Rider did back in the Holy Grail War. If that really was the case, he was planning on disposing of all the demonic beings in the school.
He would not let another tragedy like what he witnessed in one of Archer's memory to happen again.
What he saw in that classroom during Rider's activation of Bloodfort Andromeda
People lying around and on each other, their arms, legs, faces,… their whole body was melting like ice cream. Yet they were still alive, still conscious enough to know what was happening to them
The Horror
It reminded him too much of the fire he was saved from.
He would never let such a thing happen again if he could help it.
But…
The more he watched. The stranger he felt. These Devils…
They were acting just like any other students, albeit more popular but still…
There was no abnormal activity he could find. Other than the fact that the school had a few Bounded Fields here and there, but they weren't designed to do anything other than some minor Detection, Protection, and so on.
Nothing else was out of place.
It was really, really strange how these Devils can just fit right into the human world.
They held no malicious intention toward the school staff and student body.
In fact, it was more like they were putting on an effort to make the school a proper place for education if half the rumors he heard about Sona were true.
Shirou was baffled after a month of spying on these Devils. But he did not let his guard down. What happened today only reinforces it.
Zelretch did say that Kuoh Town would be ground zero for everything that will happen in the future.
He didn't know what events would occur here nor what role would these Devils play in the future so focusing on them was his logical conclusion.
He wanted to get more information from outside of Kuoh Town but he had no source to do so. There was nothing he could do but to stick with what he had here.
Now that the other Faction has eyes on him. His cover would be blown soon.
No. He was most likely exposed already as the Occult Club and the Student Council appeared to have been secretly spying on him lately.
They were good at hiding their presence but he was also proficient in smelling them out. Rin had joked that he was like a bloodhound before and he can't even deny that. His detection skill was top-notch.
And even today after his fight with Raynare. He felt like he was being watched when he left.
He didn't know if it was the Student Council or the Occult Club. But he could expect tomorrow to be hectic.
Another thing that was bothering him was what Raynare said before.
She talked about something called the "Sacred Gear".
The way she said it suggested that she didn't know what he has until he used it.
It also meant that this "Sacred Gear" thing was different from magecraft as other than him. Not many can just make swords out of the air just like that. He knew this was the Age of Gods and all but he doubted that Reality Marble and to that extend to his Tracing was something anyone can learn and called it magic.
He theorized that his Tracing seemed to match a Sacred Gear with the same function. That was why Raynare mistook his magecraft for a Sacred Gear.
If he remembered correctly, she called it [Blade Blacksmith]
A "Sacred Gear" that can make holy light swords.
But here came what was bothering him.
He was sure that people from the Age of Gods can differentiate between Magecraft/Magic and… a "Sacred Gear". The fact that she was spying on him was because she 'knew' that he had one. But she wasn't the one who found out about it.
It was her superior by the name of Azazel.
He did a quick search on the internet. The name was pretty weird as if it belonged to some higher being. And lo and behold, he found out that Azazel was the name of one of the very first Angels that God had created.
If this was the same Azazel as Raynare had mentioned then there was no way he would have made such a mistake.
Zelretch had said in his letter that a friend of his gave him some kind of power and he has to awaken it.
This meant that he really did have a "Sacred Gear" hidden somewhere within him.
…
Haizzz
It seemed that his peaceful day has finally come to an end.
"What a messed" Rias commented on the park as she surveyed the aftermath of Shirou and a Fallen Angel's battle.
There were gouges everywhere in the 100m radius from where she was standing
"Akeno, you and I will take care of these gouges. Yuuto and Koneko will watch over our surrounding"
All of Rias's peerage nodded to the order and they all began to do their respective duties.
Flashback
Rias was working in her Club room as usual. Recently, she received news that a group of Fallen Angels had intruded upon her territory, however, there was nothing she could do about them, as they stayed in the abandoned church of Kuoh Town.
Even if she wanted to get rid of them. She couldn't.
The stronger the Devils entering a church the weaker they'd become due to The System made by God's blessing on all churches. Turning them into the holy ground that weakenss any demonic beings. Even if it was abandoned, the blessing was still lingle.
Moreover, killing these Fallens might start a war between the Biblical Faction. Even though all 3 sides were in a non-aggression pact. It'd only take one slip up for the whole war to start all over again.
This shouldn't have been a problem if it was any other Devil killing them. But because she was the heir to the prominent Gremory house. She needed to be careful with her actions as they could be taken as a declaration of war.
As she was wondering how to deal with these intruders in a way that wouldn't ignite another Great War. Her bat familiar shared its vision with her.
She had instructed the familiar to do so if they noticed any abnormality around Shirou Emiya.
When her vision was connected to the bat.
She saw from the bird's(bat's) eye view the situation that was taking place as Shirou Emiya was talking to a woman in the park who later transformed into a fallen angel.
This must be one of the fallen angels that had invaded her ground.
'Does that mean that Shirou was a spy from the Fallen Angel Faction'
She thought to herself but find the chance of that to be small. Even from a distance away, she could still tell that Shirou's posture indicate that he was ready to fight.
She dared not approach to hear what they were saying if they were to find out she was watching them.
Just looking was good for now.
And then the fallen angel just threw a light spear at the red-head.
Rias gasped as she was ready to teleport to the area when suddenly something appeared in Shirou's hand and in a white flash, the twisted light spear was deflected away.
Rias saw a beautiful white falchon with red hexagons covering the surface of the blade. Even from afar, she could tell the weapon was of high quality.
For some reason, they stopped fighting and started to talk again.
Shirou looked to be questioning the Fallen Angel and after a while, a wicked smile appeared on the Fallen Angel and she charged the redhead with a new light spear in hand. And the battle commenced.
To her surprise, Shirou absolutely wreaked that Fallen Angel, she might be just a two-wing Fallen Angel but she was still not something a normal human could handle.
At first, when she saw the Fallen Angel started to throw more and more spears at him at high speed, forcing Shirou to dodge and deflect the on-coming barrage.
A while later, Shirou's speed dropped. She thought that he was exhausted. She was again prepared to appear and save the redhead. Subsequently, earning his trust and recruiting him into her peerage.
She was overjoyed, such an opportunity didn't come by that often. She could subdue the Fallen Angel with the pretense of protecting one of her own without worrying about the consequences of a war breaking out.
Hitting two birds with one stone.
Now all she had to do was wait for the right opportunity to intervene and make the most out of the situation. Even if he died she can still bring him back using the Evil Pieces. Making him owe her a life debt.
One would think that she was heartless, opportunist, and manipulative for doing this but she had her own circumstances.
Besides, She's a Devil.
But against all her expectations, Shirou suddenly burst into speed and knocked the Fallen Angel out with one smooth hit in the back of her head.
It was then that she caught another Fallen flying toward the battlefield and threw two light spears toward Emiya.
The red hair picked up on this and dodge to the side, avoiding the sneak attack.
The newly arrived Fallen spoke a few words and then teleported away with a pre-prepare magic circle along with the previous one.
The battle was over.
End flashback
Rias was conflicted. On one hand, Shirou being a capable fighter would certainly be a great boon to her peerage, he'd be perfect as her second Knight. On the other hand, him being so competent ended the fight so quickly that caused her to lose the chance to come and 'save' him.
If she knew this would have happened. She would have just got there earlier, even if it was just to show her goodwill.
'Maa. Whatever. I'll try and find another opportunity
It was when she was working to bring the park back to its normal condition and thinking to herself that a magic circle appeared near where she stood. She didn't panic as she recognized the family Sigil of the teleporting circle.
In a flash, the magic circle was stood over by 4 figures.
Sona Sitri, Rias's fellow king and childhood friend
Tsubaki Shinra, Sona's Queen
Tsubasa Yura, Sona's Rook
Genshirou Saji, Sona's newly recruit's Pawn
"I see that you're here too, Rias" Sona said in a monotone, masking her surprise to see her fellow King on the scene so early.
"Of course, is it really a surprise that I would respond faster than you once in a while" Rias teased, knowing that Sona was taken aback by her presence. They had been friends for many years. Rias would know when Sona was trying to make herself look composed.
Sona frowned at that but immediately flashed a teasing smile.
"No. I'm just glad that my friend finally grow responsible and manage her territory properly. I felt like it was only yesterday, I remembered a certain red-head too busy reading romance Manga she forgot to do her job and neglect her final exam."
"It Was That One Time!" Rias yelled in protest "You'll never gonna let me live that one down, won't you?"
Sona, her peerage, and Rias's own peerage chuckled at that
"Fufu. Anyway, do you know what happened here?" Sona asked
"I don't know~You're smart, aren't you~ Why don't you figure it out yourself~" Rias reply sarcastically, obviously sour with the mention of her past behavior.
*Sigh*
Sona exhaled at her friend sulking and started to chant under her breath. A small magic circle appeared between her index finger began to spin slowly. In no time, the magic circle shined green.
"It involved Shirou Emiya, isn't it?"
"How did you know?!" Rias was taken aback.
There were many supernatural creatures around Kuoh Town, mainly Stray Demon. This incident could just be them causing trouble to each other. This happened all the time. One of the reasons they were here was to deal with them after all.
Yet Sona guessed that it wasn't the usual immediately.
"Eh. Shirou Emiya? The fake janitor?" Saji commented on the side
"Hmm. I've also heard of him. He had helped us and school staff with the equipment malfunction and broken machine" Shinra stated matter of factly
"Oh. Yeah. Isn't he the transfer student that was talked so much about for quite a time? He also helps clubs with that stuff too. Sometimes he gets dirty when he fixed those machines..hehe.. He looks so hot at the time" Yura mumbled the last sentences
Everyone pretended not to hear it for her own dignity.
"Ahem… Yes. Him. The magical signature matched with the one I found Shirou left behind when he fixed the air-conditioned in the Student Council Room earlier today." Sona explained briefly "And I take it you found out about him through Koneko, aren't you?"
Rias nodded in confirmation. But Sona internally complained at that.
Honestly, Sona was really envious of Rias's Peerage. Not that she wasn't proud of her own Peerage by any means. It was just that Rias's peerage was filled with individuals with useful and practical abilities. And she got them mostly out of sheer luck without putting in the work to seek and observe them.
She on the other hand, actively sought and observed them for a long period of time before finally bringing them into her Peerage. She worked hard to get her own Peerage while Rias just stumbled upon them and brought them back like lost puppies.
It really was unfair but there was nothing I could do about it
Meanwhile, Saji on the side was fuming because Shirou got to spend some alone time with Sona in the Student Council Room.
"Now, will you tell me what happened?" Sona's already deduced that the reason Rias came before her was that she witnessed what had happened.
Rias just sighed and briefed Sona about what went down. After hearing everything, Sona fell into deep thought.
"Do you think he was somehow involved with the Fallen Angel Faction?" Rias asked
"I don't think so. As a matter of fact, I think the reason why the Fallen Angel has intruded on our territory was because of Emiya-kun" Sona explained after she finished her thought
"Why do you think so?"
"First off, If Emiya-kun was affiliated with the Fallen then they wouldn't have met somewhere as obvious as the park. The chance of getting found out was too high if he were a spy."
"Second off, as Shirou was a Sacred Gear user from what you've told me. There was no way she would have attacked him if they were on the same side and even if Emiya-kun was some kind of traitor, they'd know how strong he is and send a more competent fighter to get rid of him. It was clear that the Fallen that fought Emiya-kun didn't know much about him as she was so easily taken down. Obviously because of her own arrogance. She was most likely here just to observe but got impatient for some reason and attacked him
"Arrogance? How can you tell?" Rias was confused, she didn't hear anything they were saying so it was hard to tell.
"From your description of that female Fallen I was able to identify her as Raynare" She said as she brought out a stack of folders containing Raynare information and the others Fallen with her. "It said here that she looked down upon humans and consider herself to be superior to all of them. Even though she wasn't that strong."
"Wait. When did you get all of this? The sighting of a Fallen was only like a few days ago" Rias chose to focus on the 'important' piece of information
"What can I say? I work hard, unlike a certain someone" Sona smirked and adjusted her glasses
Rias pouted at that, she might not be the most hard-working person, devil in this case, but she definitely didn't slack off.
She had her reason, ok? The next volume of "My prince from another world" just came out recently, what was she supposed to do?
"Anyway, back on the current matter, I theorized that somehow she knew Shirou was a Sacred Gear user and plan to invite him to work for her organization. Emiya-kun seemed to have rejected her and she tried to kill him so he wouldn't be a nuisance in the future. As you've seen, it failed spectacularly"
Rias nodded. Convinced.
Leave it to Sona to do the 'thinking' part as Rias always said. She knew that Sona enjoyed looking like a smartass and showing off her intellect so Rias'd just go with it.
It's a win-win condition for both of them
"Then does that mean Shirou is a Stray?"
"I still don't know for sure. Just because he rejected Raynare's offer, doesn't mean he does not already belong to some other…
But it's really weird. I've exhausted all my sources to find out about Emiya-kun's background but nothing came up. The only information we had on him was the background he sent to school. After so much digging only to find naught. I'm pretty sure everything written in there is rubbish " Sona frowned in frustration "It's like he just popped into existence one day with no one knowing the better"
"Maybe he came from another dimension and was here to save the world" Rias threw out a joke to ease her friend. It wasn't often that Sona looked so worked up about something. If Sona couldn't even track Shirou's background then she definitely couldn't.
"Is that the storyline of one of the manga you've been reading?" Sona's facial expression looked blank
"…N..No, of course not" Rias denied
Sona kept staring at the crimson-head
Rias avoided eye contact as she began to fidget in place.
"Oh. I think I know that story from somewhere, I think it was called 'My Prince fro…" Saji chimed in but was interrupted by Rias "ANYWAY, I'll just ask him for everything tomorrow when I call him over to the Occult Club so you don't have to think too much about it"
"Now, hold on. why would you get to question him? Shouldn't I be the one to ask him about this, after all…" She smirked "I found him first."
"No, you didn't. I figured him out a week ago. You just found out about him today"
"Nope. I suspect him from the day he applied to our school. I've just confirmed he is a magician and a Sacred Gear holder today"
"But I was the one who knew he has a Sacred Gear. And suspect doesn't count"
"You think I'd give up because of technicality"
"You're always strict on technicality"
The two friends went back and forth for a while. Going as far as calling out each other misdeeds from the past. These two could be childish sometimes
"Ara ara, How about both of our group greet him at the same time? It will be a fair competition for both of you, right?" Akeno came back as she finished her and Rias's work, trying to defuse the situation
Rias and Sona stared at each other for a while then finally agreed
But then another problem came up
"Then, Where will we question him? The Student Council or The Occult Club?"
Yura asked innocently, unknowingly causing another verbal battle between the two Kings.
The next day
While Shirou was waiting for the lesson to start. He was suddenly called to the Student Council Room through the school speaker.
He expected this to be honest. But he didn't think that they would call for him so soon. Not only that Tsubaki Shinra, Sona's right-hand woman was here to escort him to the Student Council Room.
He was planning on faking stomachache or the like to escape this called but they really cover their basis well.
But this also allowed him to presume that the one that was watching him yesterday was Sona's personnel. He couldn't be sure though as it was still too early to make an assumption as Rias hadn't moved yet…
Or had she?
Anyway, he really wanted to decline the 'invitation'. What happened yesterday give him enough reason not to follow 'strangers' to "weird" places. But Alas, by the look that Tsubaki was giving him. She wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. He didn't really have any excuse to refuse.
Besides, the fact that they wanted to meet him in the open like this could be interpreted as they didn't want to be confrontation about this matter. If they wanted to attack him as Raynare did then they should have waited until school was over.
He relented and followed her to the Student Council Room under the unbelievable eyes of the student body.
'wow. Wow. What is this? Why does Emiya-san get an escort to the Student Council?'
'Did he get in trouble?'
'How? He's the Fake Janitor, he helps everyone all the time. How can someone like him get in trouble'
'Could it be a secret love meeting between Kaichou and Emiya-kun'
"Impossible! If it was a secret meeting would Kaichou broadcast it for the whole school to hear"
"Maybe that's what Kaichou wants us to think. A Reverse Psychology!"
"Goddammit! That lucky bastard!"
….
The redhead decided to ignore the 'whispering' between the female students and the screaming of a few male students for his own sanity.
Shinra seemed to be doing the same but her eye-brown slightly twitched so often as dump rumor about her Kaichou started to spread around.
The walk with Tsubaki Shinra was uneventful as she looked as cold as ice. She didn't say a thing until he asked why he was summoned. She just gave him one look and said that he'd find out when he got there.
'well, that was informative of her~'
His inner Archer couldn't help but lament about the situation. Although the situation looked bleak. He'd already prepared for the worst.
As he stepped through the last Bounded Field that surrounds the building of the Student Council Room. He was internally startled. If he remembered correctly then the Student Council only has 5 Devils, yet he was picking up more than that. A closer inspection showed that all the Devils at school were behind this door(including Shinra next to him).
They were all here, waiting for him.
Shirou was a bit nervous. Now he can be sure that the two supernatural forces in this school were working together and not divided at all.
"*Knock* *Knock*
"Shirou Emiya is here" Tsubaki knocked on the door and informed the people inside
"Come in" A calm voice invited them in. It was Sona
Tsubaki Shinra came in first, followed by the redhead.
He surveyed the surroundings and as he expected, all of them were here.
Both Sona and Rias's Faction
As Tsubaki Shinra stood next to Sona. One thing that stood out to him though was that there was an extra desk in the room putting side by side with Sona's own desk, which was being sat on by Rias.
Shirou might not know this but after a fierce debate between the two kings. Rias finally relented to use the Student Council Room as the questioning room as Sona had stated in her argument: 'Emiya-kun will be more willing to come if we broadcast it for the whole school to know in the morning, openly inviting him this way will make him understand that we have no plan to subjugate him, rather just talk. And the Occult Club Room can't do this since he'll just say 'no' to your invitation as he will be more on guard after the park incident. But he can't say no to the Student Council Room as he is still a student here, the students and teachers around will also force him to go. '
'Finally, in case he tries to escape, I'll just send my Queen to escort him'
Rias couldn't argue with that level of rationale that Sona was spouting out, but she wouldn't be a Devil if she just gave up here so agree with a condition that her desk in the Occult Club Room would be put there.
She didn't want to stand as that would make her less authoritative than Sona.
…
"Please sit down, Emiya-kun" Sona offered
"I preferred to stand if you don't mind" the red-head refused with a wryly smile
"I see. That's fine then"
This gesture could be taken as he was on guard against the Devils. If the Devils noticed this, they didn't show it
"I'm sure that you'd already familiar yourself with everyone in this room so I'll spare you the reintroduction. But I want you to understand that right now you are not talking to Sona Shitori, the President of the Student Council but Sona Sitri, heir to the proud Sitri Clan of the Underworld" Sona said with an authoritative
"And I'm Rias Gremory, heir to the prominent Gremory Clan of the Underworld. As you've already known, we are Devils. This is our land. And you are trespassing. We'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind" Rias followed, trying to sound grander than Sona
Shirou nodded "As long as you answer some of my questions as well"
"Very well then. Let us begin" Rias smiled seductively
A new kind of battle for Shirou Emiya was about to commence.
In the Dimensional Gap
"Hey yo, Red. I'm back" Zelretch appeared inside the Dimensional Gap and greeted the existence sleeping inside.
Great Red
The gigantic red dragon opened its eyes in irritation
"Goddammit You're back already, Bloodsucker" Great Red complained to the Dead Apotlse Ancestor
"Come on~, Red. I told you. You can just call me Zelretch" The old magician whined as if he was greatly offended by a friend
"And I told you to stop bothering me, yet here you are!" Great Red glared at him with killing intent.
"Now. Now. Relax will you, I'm just here to check on the boy progress and visit an old friend"
"Friend my foot! You just forced your way in here"
Great Red really wanted to kill this bloodsucker. But he couldn't. Not that he didn't have the power to do so, but the damn bloodsucker was just too good at running away. Even if he created the highest rank "Space Prison" and "Dimension Manipulation" to bound the Bloodsucker from running away. The Basterd could still escape from them with ease.
The first time the bloodsucker came here to make friends with him. He had dismissed him as just an insect and ignored the vampire. And then the insect started to complain and annoy him so much that he just launched an attack to wipe the insect away. But the little shit just disappeared and reappeared again and began to complain about how it was rude to attack people.
This happened multiple times. Despite Great Red best effort to contain the bloodsucker in the Dimensional Gap. Zelretch's ability to manipulate space was above him much to Great Red's dismay.
Zelretch was like that one mosquito that you tried to smack yet keep escaping your grasp and coming back later to buzz in your ear, making Great Red irritation peak to a point never seen before.
After many years of struggle with the bloodsucker, Great Red finally relented (this hurt his pride to no end) and became 'friend' with the literal insect if just for the bloodsucker to leave him be.
Zelretch was pleased to finally win and bid his new friend goodbye.
After a while, Zelretch came back asking for his help. At first, he was going to deny but then remember how annoying this bloodsucker could be and decided to help but with a condition that Zelretch must not come here ever again.
Zelretch denied this request but came up with a compromise. He would only come here for the next 2 years(real-time). After that 2 years, he'd leave Great Red alone.
Great Red accepted as 2 years was nothing to a dragon, it would feel like 2 seconds for him. But what Great Red failed to take account for was that Zelretch's 2 years time was for the outside world. Not in the Dimensional Gap. Time flowed differently in the Dimensional Gap, years inside can be just a few seconds in the real world. Great Red was too eager to get rid of Zelretch that he didn't account for this fact.
Great Red was tricked and he was furious but there was nothing he could do. He can only curse this damn bloodsucker
"HEHE. Well, I still have to thank you for helping me put the Boosted Gear inside the Emiya boy, without your help, that was basically impossible. I may be the Master of the Second True Magic. But I'm nothing compared to you when it involved the Third True Magic.
"Humph. Flattery won't get you anywhere with me"
However, this was the truth. Great Red was the Dragon God as well as the God of Dream. As he governed the realm of dreams that came from one's brain. He can effectively manipulate the consciousness of all being that dream(with a few exceptions, mainly the annoying bloodsucker) if he so wanted to. And since the brain was the anchor for the soul to stay within one's body. Great Red could be considered a master of the Third True Magic (False) – Heaven's Feel(granted only a portion of it but still powerful).
But even then, he couldn't just put Sacred Gear made by The Christianity God into anyone he wished for as Sacred Gear Materialized alongside one's soul when they were born. And once that person died, the Sacred Gear will again drift in the Void until they appeared again alongside someone else.
Thankfully, when Zelretch came to him. The boy's soul hadn't been put inside the Puppet yet. With this, he could work around the fact that 'technically' the boy was being born(reborn) when Great Red assimilated his Soul into the puppet.
Another factor that played into his favor was that the soul has a faint trace of a Dragon. The Welsh Dragon to be precise is the very same Dragon within the Boosted Gear. From the memory, he got from the boy. It seemed that when he was butchered by that Berserker, some of his Servant energy flow into him through Avalon to heal him. The spared magical energy still stayed within him. Although small, it was enough to make luring Boosted Gear into Shirou Emiya's body much easier without the Sacred Gear rejecting its new host.
Also, he found something weird, a second consciousness inside the boy's soul, it had the same wave-length as the boy's soul to the utmost perfection, which was impossible as each soul had a different distinction, kind of like a fingerprint. If not for his 'infinite prowess and wisdom', he would have missed it. When he asked the bloodsucker about it, he'd just said:
'Oh. It was probably nothing. Just make a soul-cocktail out of it'
Great Red blasted the bloodsucker in a rage but again the little shit escaped.
'What am I? YOUR FUCKING BARTENDER?!'
Never would he have thought that there would be a day that he would meet his match like this. He was The Dragon God. Standing at the top of all existence. Even The Christianity God didn't dare to cross him. Only Ophis was his equal. Yet…
…
"Well how's the boy doing anyway," Zelretch asked
"Why should I care about one insignificant human life, shouldn't you have already known" Great Red snapped back
"Oh please. I know you're interested. The replacement for the previous Red Dragon Emperor should be more fascinating. I should know. I've been watching his alternate versions for a very long time."
"Humph" Great Red just snorted. Not even bother denying anymore. Although sleeping was something he loved to do the most. It could be boring sometimes. But he had nothing to do to pass the time other than that, the other insignificant being didn't interest him, even the Gods of different Pantheon. He could slaughter them all with a single blow. There was nothing interesting about that.
Until the bloodsucker came with a 'dead' little mage. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why Zelretch was so fascinated with this one mage.
So, he decided to look into the mage's past.
…
Well, he must say the boy's life is certainly interesting, he'd admit that much. Especially when he stood in front of that Berserker abomination that was Hercules - Greek's Greatest Hero. Granted the man wasn't even 1/10 as powerful as he was supposed to be due to the corruption of the Black Grail. But the sheer ballsiness to stand one's ground against such a monster.
Great Red might sleep most of the time but that didn't mean he did not know about humans. All creatures in the world, if they'd ever dreamed, he would be able to understand their characters.
From ancient times till modern-day, humans had changed a lot. From survival of the fittest to stability and comfort, however, some of the most basic instinct was still there. The human mechanic of "fight or flight" when they were in danger stands out the most, followed by the "freeze" mechanic when they were afraid.
The sheer terror that Berserker transpired was not something anyone could stand against, even the most heroic of them all. Most would just freeze in place and accept the fate that was about to be brought down to them by Berserker, others would try to run out of pure reflexes and meet the very same ending.
Yet. This boy not only held himself against the monstrosity with no fear in his eyes but sheer determination to strike down this powerful foe. Seeing such fearlessness from a third-party point of view would make anyone expect a miracle to happen.
'And goddamn did he deliver that'!
Ahem.
Anyway, he'd been secretly watching the boy as Zelretch had accused him of. He was curious about what this boy that he'd helped reborn with power was greater than anyone could have ever imagined doing with that kind of power.
Nothing special had happened, yet. But he was patient. A few months past would be like seconds to him. Great Red had to admit that he had some great expectation for the boy to entertain him.
"The Crow's showed up, recently. Other than that, nothing unusual has arisen." Great Red grumbled out
"I see. So it has finally begun" Zelretch had a shit-eating grin placated on his face
"How about business on your end, did you find out who did it?" Great Red said, his tone more solemn this time
The smile disappeared from Zelretch's face and was replaced with a frown
"No. I didn't. Whoever killed the previous Red Dragon Emperor covered their tracks well. But I had an idea who was the one that revealed the Fate of Issei Hyoudou to the perpetrator"
"Who?" Great Red asked
"The Three Sisters of Fate"
"Those old bats?… Well, that makes sense. Those 3 are well known to just reveal everything to anyone that threatens them just a little bit. Damn useless shit."
"They certainly are." Although he said that the prophecy the Three Sisters revealed often did so on purpose because revealing them was also part of the prophecy. But this time he was pretty sure even the Three Sisters of Fate didn't see Issei's death coming.
Or did they?
"But what I can't understand is that why would the perpetrator kill Issei Hyoudou for" This was what bothered him the most.
"What do you mean?"Great Red was confused
"Right. For all your wisdom, you don't exactly dabber in this kind of thing. Simply put prophecy can be categorized as 'changeable' and 'unchangeable. The category themselves is pretty self-explanatory. The first one we often call just normal prophecy or vision. As the category stated, they can be changed. For example, if you and I were to play rock-paper-scissor. Let's say you go rock and I go scissors, which means I would've lost. However, if someone were to have a vision of this and tell me beforehand about it then I would change my strategy and go paper instead. Which made me the winner. These visions are small occurrences that won't affect the flow of the world too much.
The second one, however, was the problematic one. It's mostly known as Fate."
"And Fate wasn't something that could be easily changed by just telling the person the outcome.
Same example as before, if someone were to foresee that I would lose in our rock-paper-scissor game and tell me about it.
I would again naturally change my hand to paper, but somehow, you'll find out through someone telling you about it because they overheard our conversation or just you yourself feeling like you would go scissor instead of the pre-established rock. Either way, I would've lost to you.
If Fate has wielded it, then no matter what you do, the outcome would still be the same, there is no escape from Fate. The prophecy that the 3 sisters of Fate revealed often fall into this category. The one who killed Issei Hyoudou must be someone that Issei would cause great trouble for in the future, however, killing him wouldn't have been so easy as Fate will prevent it from happening one way or another. The fact that they actually managed to do so was actually quite an achievement.
But karma's a bitch. If you defied Fate in such a cheap manner then it would come back and bite you back with a vengeance."
"The little mage you brought" Great Red nodded, understood where Zelretch was going
"Yes and No. At first, it was me whom Fate wanted to take care of those guys and since I was friend with you, you'd naturally, one way or another join me to eliminate them"
'Like hell, I would 'Great Red snorted internally at this.
"You can say that Fate had brought me and even you into the mix to eliminate this existence in the shadow. But I felt that it was a bit overkill so Shirou Emiya was my way of compromise."
Great Red felt much better after hearing that. This means that his forgetting the time difference in the Dimensional Gap and the real world was most likely due to Fate interfering. He would've never made such a blunder.
"Humph. So that's why you wonder why they would be foolish enough to kill the previous Boosted Gear holder" Great Red concluded
Zelretch nodded
Great Red contemplated a little bit, who would be crazy enough to go against Fate in this kind of fashion
"Does that mean the one behind this was those arrogance Olympians?" Great Red guessed. The Three Sisters of Fate belonged to that Pantheon after all.
"No. Those guys may be arrogant but they don't have the ball to defy Fate. Their whole Mythology revolves around that thing. They live by it and die by it. They know better than to interfere in that sort of manner.
If anything, they would try to make friends with him in any way possible so that the damage would be negligible. That's what most would have done if they are smart.
But there is one thing I can say for sure about our 'friend' in the shadow is that they are powerful and resourceful, to evade my ever so watchful eyes is no easy feat. Then again, this is the Age of Gods, anything is possible."
…
Silence fell between the two multiversal threats' existence as if to comprehend the gravity of the situation until…
"Well, Whoever it is. That's Emiya's problem now. I'll just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show." Zelrech brought out a box of popcorn and wore a pair of 3D glasses.
A soft chair appeared in the Dimensional Gap along with a 90 inch flat TV screen.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Great Red roared shook the whole of the Dimensional Gap.
A/n: So anyway the whole Fate and Prophecy was just me making shit up to sound cool. Don't compare it to any canon Fate or DXD work, please.
Anyway the next chapter we will finally talk about Boosted Gear, Wait for it