Chapter 5

"Are you sure you can handle any intruders if they get past your Bounded Field?" Shiro asked as he watched Saber lower Sakura gently to the ground.

"The Bounded Field can keep intruders out for a moment, whilst alerting all of you at the same time, so that you can return here quickly," Lord El-Melloi II replied as he went about setting the Bounded Field up. "Edelfelt and Archer has already gone in search of Matou Zouken by searching for the last person to have seen him, and you are going to help with eliminating the vampire infestation, since you and Tohsaka have had experience in dealing with them."

"What about the Greater Grail?" Rin questioned.

"I just need to determine its exact location within this cave so I can work out what to do with it," Lord El-Melloi II mumbled in reply. It was apparent now that he was trying to work something in his head, and that he was not really in the mood or convenience to be answering any questions. Shiro and Rin took it as their cue to head out and begin their work of culling the vampires.

As the couple walked out of the cave, with Saber following close behind, Shiro was already working out his plan.

"I will have to return to my usual vantage point at the Centre Building and provide cover from there. You and Saber should get yourselves where you can help the most, and do whatever you need to do."

"I thought the Center Building was reported to also be the center of the infestation?" Rin asked.

"Then, that works even better for us. We can wipe out those vampires from within their stronghold."

"Are you sure we can handle this? We had Ciel with us the last time we had to cull a horde of vampires," Rin wondered.

"We have Saber now," Shiro replied with a smile.

"Fair enough," Rin grinned in reply.

"Anyhow, please be careful out there, okay?" Shiro asked as he started his motorcycle.

"Of course I will. I'm the daughter of a great magus, after all," Rin replied with a little laugh as she got behind Shiro on the motorcycle and held on tightly to him.

"Seriously, why are we following a bunch of people who would kill us both, if given the chance?" Luvia demanded.

"I did say that I would protect you if that happened, no?" Archer shrugged simply as he replied nonchalantly.

"That's not the point of it!" Luvia growled.

"We have to find my onii-sama's Master because we need that piece of information, right?"

"But-"

"Would the two of you just shut up?" Bram barked. "It's bad enough that I am allowing you two to go with me when I should just kill you!"

"Well then, if you would please proceed," Archer taunted, casting a mischievous glance at Bram.

"Why, you little-"

"You're just playing into Archer's hands, boy," Rider chided. "Right now, there is a treaty in place, whether you like it or not."

"To hell with that treaty you speak of!" Bram grumbled.

"The reward for killing Caster should be beneficial for you, don't you think?" Rider asked. "An extra Command Seal, which will cement your ability to command me to 'perform extraordinary feats'?"

"What's the point of that, when this War is not even in a functional state right now?"

"You still wish to carry on with this War, remember that."

"In that case, the ceasefire order has no place!" Bram demanded.

"The ceasefire is in place as part of the rules of this War, boy," Rider replied coolly. "One cannot disregard one rule when it means you forfeit everything else,"

"Irregardless-"

"Why don't you just shut up!?" Luvia barked this time. "You're annoying as hell!"

Archer silently raised his hand to cover his mouth, while Bree stared in amazement at Luvia.

"What kind of bollocks are you trying to pull off here?" Bram replied angrily.

"You know, the way you behave outside of the Clock Tower, I won't be surprised that your popularity amongst the students would suffer should word of your childish behaviour emerge!"

Bram was furious at this point, but Rider simply stopped him from acting on his anger. "Just stay out of their provocations until we honor the ceasefire" was what Bram was told, but in all honesty, he was at his wits end. He was already in a desperate situation when he was told by Bartomeloi Lorelai that the Association gave up their pursuit of the Grail. For an accomplished magus such as himself, he saw this entire struggle as a failure; a futile effort at best. He still wanted to bring the Grail back to the Association regardless of the Association's own desires. That way, he reasoned, he would have gained himself enough favour with the higher ups to position himself for a more prominent role within the Association.

"… this place?"

"What?" Bram mumbled, as he snapped out of his thoughts.

"I said, how did you know that Caster was holed up in this place?" Luvia growled.

"I spent most of the time scouring the city for any signs of Caster," Rider replied simply. "Never found her."

"So, why here?" Archer queried.

"The boy found that there was a Bounded Field inside this forest, which was reinforced by another Bounded Field."

"This old forest used to be Einzbern property, so I assume one of the Bounded Fields belongs to the Einzberns, but Caster definitely would have reinforced it."

"Einzbern?" Bram blurted. "They are not even participants in this War."

"Don't ask me anything, I don't know of their whereabouts," Luvia shrugged. "Irregardless, I won't be considered too paranoid if I assumed that the Einzberns are in there for some reason or another, and gave refuge to Caster."

"Impossible," Bram replied. "The Association received word that the Einzbern Castle was abandoned shortly after the Fifth War."

"That's just my thinking," Luvia replied, flicking her hair with her hand. "You don't have to share my opinion anyway."

"Quit your yammering and let's charge inside now," Rider remarked sharply.

"Wait, why is there a small army stationed around the castle?" Archer asked, pointing at the men surrounding the castle.

"That must be the men Caster seduced," Luvia sighed. "We have to fight our way through all of them."

"Those small fry are nothing to my Noble Phantasm," Rider scoffed. "Let's charge in."

"These men are innocent," Luvia urged. "We don't have to kill them!"

"I'm not risking a counterattack if you leave them be," Rider replied sharply. Getting up, he whistled for his horse, but Bree had already sprung into action.

Summoning forth her stone golems, she gave the order for them to charge forward and engage the men that was standing guard outside.

"I'll keep them occupied. Rider, you can just ignore those men!"

"Don't kill those men!" Luvia demanded.

"For once, I share your opinion," Bree replied. Turning to Rider, she nodded at him, signalling to Rider that he would be able to enter without having to engage the men outside.

Rider got up and strode quickly towards the entrance, and stopped short at the entrance. Staring straight at the door, he brandished his sword.

"I know you have someone waiting just behind the door, woman! Bring him out now!"

Without much of a delay, the door was suddenly smashed off its hinges, breaking into splinters that flew towards Rider. Instinctively, Rider swung his sword at the splinters that were directed at him and managed to beat them away. The figure behind the door walked out much to the surprise of everyone.

"What!?" Rider grunted in disbelief.

"This is impossible!" Bram exclaimed.

"No… how did my onii-sama join with Caster?" Archer questioned. "What did she do to him!?"

"Hey Shiro, are we really going to be able to do this?" Rin asked as she beheld the sight upon their arrival at the Center Tower.

"We don't really have much of a choice," Shiro replied. "Ciel and the members of the Church are working to ensure that Zouken's… things do not spread beyond the area that has been affected. Bartomeloi Lorelai is here with her Brigade, and I'm sure she could use our assistance."

"We should quickly get on it then," Saber urged, tightening her grip on her sword.

"Let's go, then," Shiro replied, as he traced Kansho and Bakuya.

Saber wasted no time and charged into the building, cutting every one of Zouken's vampires that stood in her way. Shiro and Rin took the opportunity of the path cut open by Saber to rush in as well. Before long, they were inside the building, surrounded in all directions by Zouken's vampires.

For Shiro and Rin, thanks to their years of traveling together prior to the birth of their children, were able to work seamlessly together. Shiro, who was very much the heavy hitter of the pair, engaged the vampires regardless of whether they were close by or further away from the pair. Shiro's swords were continuously traced and launched at the vampires, which kept them at bay, while Shiro's use of Kansho and Bakuya made short work of the vampires that managed to close in on them. Rin, who was not any less skilled in battle as Shiro, took on the role of supporting Shiro by using her Gandr shots as well as sporadic the use of her jewel magic to control the movement of the vampires and make Shiro's job of killing the vampires easier.

Saber, who was protecting Shiro and Rin's back, was able to witness the pair's fight out of the corner of her eye. For Saber, she was very much amazed at how much the couple have progressed, especially with Shiro. Saber could still vividly remember the many hours spent teaching him how to use a sword some twenty years ago. The time she spent training with Shiro after being summoned a third time to the Grail War only gave her a clue as to how far he had come after twenty years. Tonight, seeing the fruits of her labour, gave her much satisfaction and pride. Nevertheless, she did not have time to savour the fruits of her labour, because she had to cut down large swathes of vampires that were coming at her.

"Rin, Shiro, I'm going to cut a path upwards. We need to have the advantage of standing on higher ground!"

"Right!" Shiro replied.

"There might be allies of our own on the roof or at the upper levels of the building!" Rin reminded. "We should check on where they are first!"

"We don't have time to go up there to check!" Shiro responded.

"I don't have to go up there to check," Rin smiled. "Protect me, Shiro!"

"Whatever you plan to do, make it quick!"

Instead of responding to Shiro, Rin quickly closed her eyes and swallowed a gem, reciting her incantation as she channeled her prana.

"Offener Weg nach Sybil. Grant Hellsehen!"

The moment Rin opened her eyes after her incantation, Shiro and Saber found that Rin's eyes were glowing white with a hint of purple. Rin immediately looked upwards, staring in that direction as if she is scanning for something.

"Bartomeloi Lorelai is up on the higher floors with her Brigade, but they should be safe from the blast if you aimed at this direction!" Rin finally said, pointing towards the eastern wall.

Wasting no time, Saber dispelled her Invisible Air: Barrier of the Wind King, and aimed Excalibur upwards at the direction that Rin was pointing towards.

"Don't put too much power into your blast," Shiro reminded. "We don't want to bring the entire building down!"

"Hurry up, Saber!" Rin urged. "We can reduce their numbers if you fire it now!"

Saber nodded quickly and looked upwards again.

"Ex-!"

Saber's sword began to emit a brilliant glow, its golden light bathing the entire hall that they were standing in. The vampires that were around them began to recoil and back away from the brilliant light.

"-calibur!"

A shaft of golden light erupted from the tip of Excalibur as Saber released the beam of holy energy, directing it at the ceiling. The resulting blast blew the entire ceiling upwards, taking a host of vampires with them. The vampires that was directly in the path of Excalibur were less fortunate, as they disintegrated in the beam fired by Saber. For a brief moment after Saber fired a shot with Excalibur, there was a silence in the building and the night sky could be seen from the hole blasted in the roof.

The brief silence was quickly punctuated by a very irritated voice coming from somewhere above Shiro, Rin, and Saber.

"Who is that insolent buffoon who blasted a bloody hole just before us all of a sudden!?"

"Saber, please take us up there?" Rin casually asked, cracking a slight smile.

Shiro sighed as he came closer. "She's going to tear us a new one when we get up there,"

"It's fine, it's fine," Rin replied. "I'm sure Bartomeloi Lorelai would understand."

Without wasting any time, Saber held Shiro and Rin, leaping up just before a new wave of vampires approached them.

"Well, if it isn't the two of you," Bartomeloi Lorelai exclaimed when she saw them. "Your haphazard actions down there nearly killed us!"

"Lady Lorelai, I made sure that Saber did not hit you earlier by using my clairvoyance to observe what was happening above us," Rin replied, bowing slightly.

"Hmph, your insolence would have cost you if this wasn't a battlefield," Lorelai huffed. "Pray, tell me why are you here? You of all people, along with your… husband, should know better that I do not appreciate any help you supposedly offer to my Chelon Chanticle Brigade or myself."

"With all due respect, I cannot stand for Matou Zouken's actions. That's what drove me to come here," Shiro answered. "I would like to quickly deal with this so that I can locate Matou Zouken and ensure that he be brought to justice!"

Lorelai said nothing for a moment, but took that time to shift her weight from one foot to another, sighing as she did so. "Emiya Shiro…" Lorelai finally said. "Feel free to do whatever you wish to do against Matou Zouken, but the vampires will be mine to deal with."

"There's quite a number of vampires to deal with, right?" Shiro questioned. "The last time I heard, there were 50,000 vampires, no?"

Lorelai's eyes flashed with annoyance. "Between my Brigade, as well as the members of the Church, and the Association, we have contained the spread of the infestation, and worked our way inwards. The vampires in this tower is all that's left of them. Surely it comes as a surprise to you, but did you not realise that you did not have to deal with any vampires on your way here?"

Shiro sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, I didn't realise that."

"Like I said, do whatever you wish about Matou Zouken… but leave me to deal with the vampires here," Lorelai huffed as she turned away to rejoin her Brigade.

"W-wait!" Shiro stammered all of a sudden.

Lorelai stopped and silently turned her head just enough to cast a sideways glance at Shiro.

"Did you happen to see Shinji?"

"... Shinji? Matou Zouken's descendant?"

"Grandson… Or whatever his relationship is with Zouken."

Lorelai hung her head momentarily before straightening up again. "I have indeed seen him among the vampires. Unfortunately, he was never alive to begin with, and I have disposed of him."

Shiro sighed. "There was really no way to just remove the worms from him?"

"Don't be daft," Lorelai retorted. "He was already dead when Matou Zouken had him infested with the Crest Worms. Rendering the host unsuitable for the Worms is the only way to stop these vampires."

"Shiro, there is really nothing that can be done for Shinji," Rin urged.

"I… I know," Shiro stammered.

"Now that you have the information you seek, do yourself a favour and begone," Lorelai said, waving her hand dismissively.

Shiro shrugged as he walked away with Rin and Saber. "I did not even find any information about Zouken. How are we supposed to find him?"

Rin did not get to answer the question as Lorelai flew past the trio and into the wall with a loud crash.

"Wha-?" Rin exclaimed, turning around to see who attacked Lorelai.

Shiro was also quick to turn around, tracing Kansho and Bakuya the instant he saw Lorelai's attacker.

Standing before them, with the Chelon Chanticle Brigade members lying injured in a groaning heap, was Matou Zouken.

"My stupid grandson… disposed of, you say?" Zouken growled.

Shiro leapt forward in a flash, swinging his blades at Zouken, who did not flinch as Shiro cut into him. Shiro was unable to harm Zouken, however, as the cuts inflicted on Zouken were quickly mended by his Crest Worms.

"Such gusto, boy!" Zouken remarked.

"Such an abomination!" Shiro raged, as Saber came to his aid. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to cut Matou Zouken down.

"Oh, the futility," Zouken sighed, as he released his Crest Worms, which quickly changed into Blade Winged Worms. These creatures immediately attacked Shiro, who had to retreat due to his inability to cut down the swarm that attacked him all at once. Saber quickly utilised her Strike Air ability to wipe out the entire swarm that attacked them.

"Shiro! We have to use fire against the Crest Worms!" Rin shouted as she dragged Lorelai to safety.

"Fire…" Shiro muttered. Of all the weapons in his arsenal, he only had one weapon that was able to burn whatever it cut, but after his first experience wielding it, he never used that weapon at all.

"Trace, on!"

A stinging sensation began surging through Shiro's body when the black bladed sword materialised. Shiro winced when he grabbed the sword's hilt, and quickly took aim at Zouken.

"Saber! You will need to do something to finish Zouken off! I cannot swing this sword more than once!" Shiro urged. The black bladed sword began to burst into flames which also singed Shiro's hands.

"Burn the unworthy, Dyrnwyn!" Shiro shouted, as he charged at Matou Zouken, who started releasing his swarms at Shiro in a panic, understandably terrified of the flames that leapt from the sword.

Shiro used Dyrnwyn's flames to protect himself against Zouken's attack, closing in quickly on the old magus, who had little left to use in defence. Taking advantage of that, Shiro swung Dyrnwyn down onto Matou Zouken, cutting him down and setting him ablaze. Almost immediately, Dyrnwyn shattered as Shiro released his hands from the hilt of the sword.

"Shiro! Get out of the way!" Saber ordered, readying Excalibur for an attack. Shiro instinctively rolled out of the way as Saber charged forward, cutting Matou Zouken again.

Matou Zouken screamed in pain as the combination of the fiery sword and the holy sword's attacks rendered his remaining Crest Worms unable to disperse or to mend his injuries.

"We must finish him off!" Rin shouted as she ran towards Matou Zouken with her jewels in hand. In one quick movement, she threw the jewels at Matou Zouken, which then ignited upon contact. Thus, Matou Zouken was reduced to a burning pile of Crest Worms, unable to inhabit a new host or to escape.

"Is that the end of Matou Zouken?" Shiro wondered aloud.

"I am hoping that it is," Rin replied. "However, his existence could still be a problem given that the vampires are still around and theoretically, he will still be around as long as there is even a single Crest Worm."

"Then, it must be nigh impossible to defeat him," Saber remarked.

"Perhaps, this will force him to go dormant for a while," Rin answered. We won't be able to do anything for now and perhaps let the Association deal with him."

"What about Lorelai and her brigade?" Shiro asked.

"Lorelai is unconscious, but she is okay," Rin replied. "Some of her brigade members have been killed by Matou Zouken, but the rest of them just needs some attending to. Well, the vampires are all but gone now, since Matou Zouken must have absorbed all of them earlier for him to appear like that."

Shiro sighed. "Right, so this means that-"

"- the threat of Matou Zouken and the vampires is dealt with." Ciel interrupted, as she approached the three from behind them.

"You're late," Shiro muttered, cracking a smile.

"I was elsewhere, you know," Ciel remarked, setting her weapon down and leaning on it. "That overcoat really suits you."

"You don't say," Rin answered. "So, what of the Association and the Church? The threat has been dealt with."

Ciel shrugged. "The Church has already begun the cleanup operation and is getting the 'news' out to the rest of the world, that there was a major gas explosion in this building, which coincided with an outbreak of a very dangerous new strain of rabies."

"Won't that cause panic around the world?" Shiro muttered.

"This entire city has been deemed an exclusion zone now thanks to this 'outbreak', and the military has set up checkpoints on all exit points of this city to screen all its inhabitants for any trace of the 'disease'. Of course, all of that is just to put on a show for the rest of the world, but we are evacuating all of the remaining survivors here."

"I see, all in accordance to Lord El-Melloi II's report to the Mediator, I assume?" Rin asked.

Ciel nodded her head. "As unfortunate as it is, Matou Zouken's rampage with his vampires was a stroke of luck, since we needed some sort of excuse to evacuate this city."

"I don't see it that way, though," Saber grumbled, tightening her fist. "No matter what, such despicable acts cannot be condoned, even if it benefits us!"

"It is what it is," Ciel shrugged. "Take your complaints to the Association and to the Church, not to me."

Saber loosed her fist, relenting to Ciel's remarks while Shiro let out an audible sigh as he knew that neither he nor Saber shouldn't be taking out his gripes onto Ciel or to anyone else for this matter.

"Anyhow, I shall be on my way. I'll be in Fuyuki for quite a while, so if you're going to have a curry feast, you should do that while I'm still here," Ciel reminded Shiro, lifting her weapon up in preparation to leave.

"With everyone evacuating from the city, just where are we going to get the ingredients for that?" Shiro asked, having lightened up from Ciel's request.

"I don't care how you do it, but I really am expecting a curry feast!" Ciel answered as she left to the amusement of Shiro.

"Hey Shiro, did you hear that just now?" Rin asked, as Shiro turned around to face her.

"I probably did as I was talking to Ciel, but I was not paying attention," Shiro replied. "What is it?"

"Luvia and Archer is in trouble."