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Rotten planks and broken stones crack under his ceramite boots as he walks. Even now, months after whatever battle laid waste to this settlement, the woods of Caliban refuse to reclaim it, repulsed by the lingering stench of the evil that took place here. Even the vermin flees from the trail of devastation that snakes across Caliban's wounded surface like a vicious dagger, before lunging for its stone heart – where it broke.

"Onii-chan."

Later, he will pull the knowledge of what took place from the screaming lips of the first Fallen to ever be captured, before offering him to Lion El'Jonson on Cysgorog. He will learn that this village, which endured for centuries in the shadow of the Order's greatest stronghold, was razed by the mutated and daemonic hordes of the Ouroboros during its war against Luther and the loyalist Dark Angels, a conflict that shaped galactic history yet went unremembered by the Imperium. Its people were subjected to fates that even the terrible lord he'll have become by that time will refuse to imagine.

"Onii-chan."

But that will come later. Now, he is here as Seneschal of the First Legion, leading the Dark Angels to war against the fortress of the Order, where for hundreds of years young men were made into knights and sent out to kill monsters. Where he was remade into a warrior, and then sent out on a path that'll lead him to becoming one of the greatest monsters of all.

Hundreds of Astartes surround him, with thousands more marching under his command. They came here hoping to find reinforcements, but were instead met with treachery. The void war rages still, as the fleet of the First Legion battles the patchwork armada and orbital defenses mustered by Luther. The skies burn and tremble as Lion El'Jonson fights to get past the arcane wards erected by his foster father, which are somehow strong enough to delay the inevitable confrontation between them long enough for the Seneschal to make planetfall.

This is the moment before the last battle of Aldurukh. This is the hour before the Fall of Caliban.

This is -

"Onii-chan !"

November 27th, 2004 AD – Fuyuki City Sewers

Shirou blinked. The vision of Caliban, lost homeworld of the Dark Angels, faded from his sight – not that what replaced it was any better. If anything, the horror in front of him was fresher, and more deliberate in its cruelty.

They were in a vast reservoir, built to contain water in case of intense rain to prevent flooding. At least that had been its purpose once : now it was full of the leftovers of the Black Cardinal's foul work. The pillars supporting the ceiling were covered in Chaotic sigils, and a vast sorcerous circle drawn in blood spread across most of the open space on the ground. The air was thick with the stench of the filthy water flowing in nearby tunnels, but that paled in comparison to the smell of blood, fear, and raw, undiluted evil that permeated this place. He could smell the terror of those who had been brought here, could still hear the long-faded echoes of their screams – the result of inhuman senses being filtered to his human perception.

They'd found this place just where El-Melloi had indicated, passing through an entrance next to the river. There had been a few traps left in their way, but Shirou had gone a long way since he'd forced his way through Zouken's own defenses, and with Illya to assist him, they had barely slowed down.

But they had been too late. Kor Phaeron was long gone. In fact, Shirou suspected he'd left as soon as his plan at the docks had failed. Kirei was working with Pretender, after all, and Kirei had known El-Melloi had been a participant in the Fourth War and had visited the Emiya residence in the past, so the servants of the Grail must have known this place was compromised.

They still had needed to check it out, of course, just in case the particular madness that consumed all slaves of Chaos had made their opposition stupid, but no such luck.

"Onii-chan," Shirou's sister repeated, pulling on his arm, a relieved expression on her face as he finally reacted to her call. "Are you okay ?"

"I … yes. Thank you, Illya. I was just lost in thought."

His sister's doubtful face showed what she didn't buy that excuse for a second. His fatigue must be showing on his face. The couple of hours of rest Rin had insisted on for all of them once they'd finished their phone calls to Lord El-Melloi II and the Conglomerate were far from enough for him to fully recharge, and it seemed he'd underestimated the strain transforming into what Rin had tentatively named the 'Archduke Form' put on his body and mind, if he was slipping like this.

There was no choice, though. He had to save the people Kor Phaeron had taken. The fate awaiting them in Pretender's hands was too horrible for him to accept anything else.

"Alright," he sighed. His first instinct had been to avoid worrying her, but given all that had already happened that had probably been pointless. "I was lost in another vision, but your voice brought me back. Thank you. Also, don't look at the sigils," he added, speaking loud enough for their Servants to hear. "I don't think they can only mess with my mind."

Saber sighed as she walked closer to him, clad in her full armor and carrying her blackened blade. "I guess in a way we're lucky Kor Phaeron isn't here, with you in this state. Didn't you listen to what Waver told you ? You can't save anyone if you're too exhausted to fight properly."

"You really should call him El-Melloi," said Shirou, dodging her actual point. "If we interact with him more in the future, using that name in public could cause some tensions."

Of course, the former Master wouldn't be able to come to Japan without their permission thanks to the geas binding him, but with things escalating further and further, there was no telling what they'd need to do before the end of this unfolding disaster.

"I haven't seen him in ten years," Saber shrugged. "You can tell me he has grown up all you like, but I still think of him as that child Rider dragged along, not as a Lord of the Clocktower." Left unsaid was that she probably wouldn't call him a 'Lord' in any case. "Anyway, what do we do about this place ?"

"Well, we can't just leave it as is, that's for sure," said Illya. "We could put a Bounded Field to keep maintenance workers from wandering in until a dedicated clean-up crew can be deployed ? I don't think anyone ever comes here, but better safe than sorry."

Shirou shook his head. What Illya had said was standard procedure, but there was nothing standard about their situation.

"Too dangerous," he explained. "Even if the taint of this place remains contained in the meantime, which is far from certain, there isn't anyone on this planet who knows how to handle that stuff safely – or as safely as it can be anyway. Even the Imperium didn't have a reliable means to deal with that sort of things safely. Worst case scenario, the cleaners might get corrupted, and then we'd have the same problem on our hands."

"And that would just be boring," complained Stheno, sneering at their surroundings with a disgusted expression.

She and her sister had remained in Astral Form during their initial approach, only manifesting now that the absence of immediate danger had been established and there wouldn't be any need for them to repeat their stealth attack from the temple's battle. They had complained at length on the way about how entering sewers was beneath their dignity as goddesses, but in the end they had come along once Saber had made it clear that she was going to follow their Master.

Even so, Shirou had a feeling he was going to have to make it up to them, or else they would find a way to make him regret it. Illya had told him how they had coerced Lancer into modelling for them while he was at school, and though he'd to admit the elder Artoria looked great in Irisviel's old clothes, he didn't want that kind of teasing to be turned on him.

"Yes, Assassin," Lancer sighed. Her suit looked utterly out of place in those surroundings, but then Shirou didn't want to think of what kind of clothing would fit here. "Truly, boredom would be our primary concern in that scenario."

"I'm glad you agree. So, what's the plan, Master ?" asked Euryale.

Shirou considered his options, then made his decision.

"I think I've an idea. Back to the entrance, everyone."

Once they were all out of the way (Saber only moving after one last check that there wasn't anything immediately dangerous left), he walked into the center of the eightfold star that served as the focus point of the Chaotic ritual circles. This close, it felt … familiar. He'd seen that kind of ritual before – he had performed that kind of ritual before –

No. Not me. Never me.

A mental command brought Radiant Moon out of his mental world and into his hands. He rose the greatsword high above his head, eyes closed. Deep within him, the power he'd inherited from Corswain's ruined spirit surged, answering his call as it filtered through the prism of his soul. He gritted his teeth as it coursed through his body, still raw from the battle against Gilgamesh. His eyes burned golden and Reinforcement lines spread across his body, but he didn't deploy his wings, let alone the full transformation.

"Shirou ?" called Saber from the other side of the room. "What are you doing ?"

"Sundering the unholy," he replied as he brought the sword down, plunging its blade deep into the ground and igniting it.

Fire spread from the sword, setting the bloody circle ablaze. The other sigils across the room, which were connected to the symbol of Chaos on a thaumaturgical level, also burst into flames. Shirou could feel the malevolent energy of the Workshop try to resist him, and thought he sensed a shadow of Kor Phaeron himself in it.

But the Black Cardinal wasn't there, and within a few seconds, the entire Workshop and its unholy contents were burning. By the time Shirou pulled Radiant Moon free and let it return to his Reality Marble, only the charred concrete of the sewers was left, and the stench of blood and evil was gone.

He stood up to join his friends, but his legs suddenly went out of under him, and black spots swarmed his vision as he fell.

Right. Exhaustion. It seemed he'd underestimated just how drained he was. Smashing his face on the floor was going to hurt –

"Shirou !"

Before he could hit the ground, Saber was next to him, catching him in her armored arms as gently as she could. She carried him away from the fading flames and toward the others, glaring at him all the while.

"Thank you, Saber," he rasped.

"You … you absolute idiot," she fumed. "You are lucky now isn't the time to break your legs and tie you to your bed until you recover."

He blinked. That … she seemed to be a bit angrier at him than he'd expected.

"Don't worry, Saber," said Illya with a smile that reminded Shirou a little too much of the one she'd worn when they had first met. "Once the Grail War is over, I'll help you teach that moron to take care of himself. I'm sure Lancer can assist us if he gets too rowdy."

"Oooh," said Archer and Assassin as one. "Kinky."

Wisely, Shirou stayed silent as they made their way back out of the sewers, Shirou insisting on walking on his own, though Saber stayed right at his side, watching him like a hawk for any sign of further episodes of weakness. Once they were outside and had reception again, Shirou pulled out his mobile phone. When setting out this time, they had decided to use phones instead of taking time to re-establish the telepathic link : it was slower, but less likely to have been hacked into by Pretender.

Sakura picked up on the third ring.

"Senpai ?"

"Hi, Sakura. Everyone's fine on our end. We found traces of Kor Phaeron's work where El-Melloi told us Caster had made his Workshop, but he wasn't there. What about the church ?"

"We didn't find anyone here either. We went into the basement, but it looks like it was emptied, though we did find what Kirei had been spending Nee-san's money on. There are a lot of very expensive wine bottles here."

"Really ?" Shirou blinked. He'd have thought the heretic priest would've had better things to spend his ill-gotten resources on … "Wait, he did have Gilgamesh living with him for the last ten years. Even with the Grail having twisted his mind, I suppose he'd need something to occupy his time."

Thankfully, Servants couldn't get drunk on modern alcohol. The thought of a corrupted King of Heroes getting drunk at some point during the last decade was a sobering one – and he must really be more tired than he thought if he was making puns like that, even if only in his own head.

"Also, Senpai." Sakura's voice was sweet as honey, but there was an edge of steel underneath her words that sent a shiver down Shirou's spine. "Nee-san and I felt something through our bond a few minutes ago, and your voice sounds different than usual. What did you do ?"

"Well, you see -" he began.

"Senpai. What. Did. You. Do ?"

Sakura was far less prone to anger than her sister, which was precisely the reason why Shirou felt a lot more worried than he'd have if his second lover had been on the phone. Knowing honesty was the best policy, he quickly folded :

"I used my powers to purge the influence of Kor Phaeron on the Workshop. And it, well, it drained me more than I thought it would. But I'm fine, I promise."

"… Please put Saber-san or Illya-chan on the phone, Senpai."

Before he could protest, Saber took the phone from his hands.

"Sakura, it's me. Yes. Yes, I know. No, we weren't in any danger. Well, the runes we found did seem to affect him …"

Shirou could have Reinforced his hearing to be able to listen in on the other side of the conversation, but somehow, he felt that wouldn't be a good idea. Instead, he followed Illya and Lancer to where they had parked their bikes. Usually, leaving such machines out in the open wouldn't have been a good idea even in a relatively peaceful town like Fuyuki, but there was hardly anyone in the streets with the clouds still blocking out the sun, and even less on the river banks.

With the sky still obscured, the only sources of illumination were the street lights and the flash lights the two Masters had carried with them into the sewers. It certainly didn't look like late morning, and Shirou could only imagine how afraid the unnatural weather must make the people who had no idea what was going. Of course, if they knew the real reason, they'd be even more afraid, and for very good reasons.

"Oh." Illya's quiet exclamation pulled his focus back to the present. His sister was staring wide-eyed at nothing (he made sure to check, and Lancer already had).

"Illya ?' he asked. "What's wrong ?"

"I think," she began, "that I know where Kor Phaeron went. It's just … it should be impossible, that's why I didn't think of it earlier."

That, Shirou thought worriedly, sounded a lot like a case of 'good news, bad news'.

"Where ?!" He asked. "If we hurry, we can -"

Saber's sudden grip on his arm made him shut up. Apparently, her phone conversation with Sakura had ended while he wasn't looking.

"We are going back home," his first Servant said calmly, still holding his phone in her other hand. "Then we'll regroup with the others. Then and only then will Illyasviel tell us what she just figured out, and we'll plan together on how we'll act based on that."

Shirou Emiya, heir to the Magus Killer and wielder of the First Archduke of Cysgorog's power, took one look at Saber's face, then another at those of the other women around him, and nodded sheepishly.

Kairi Sisigou was a veteran of the Moonlit World's weirdest battlefields. He'd fought Dead Apostles and their undead thralls, rogue Magi, armed thugs and, in the last week, what seemed like every supernatural critter in Japan converging on Fuyuki. He was one of the greatest practitioners of Necromancy on the planet, wielding the very energies of Death itself in order to take down his enemies.

He was not too scared to press a ring-bell.

With a deep, steadying breath, the mercenary gave in to the inevitable. As the sound of the bell echoed in the distance, he reflected that the Emiya residence wasn't what he'd expected when Kodai had given him the address and told him that he'd to get there in person. He'd thought the Magus Killer's son would live in some kind of fortress, a high-rise appartment or a disguised safehouse in the city's less populated districts.

Instead, the house was … ordinary. From the outside, he could see it was built in traditional Japanese style, and even the Bounded Field surrounding it didn't strike him as anything particularly impressive – although he knew better than to test that theory by doing anything that could be taken as hostile. He'd even left his gun with his team, though he was far from defenceless even without it. Kodai had assured him that the people he was to meet would understand – they knew the situation even better than he did, so they wouldn't expect him to walk around unprotected.

The door opened, revealing a pale young woman in a black dress. She was beautiful, even if too young and thin for his tastes. Also, there was the fact that his every instinct was screaming 'Danger' at him. Yellow eyes weren't unheard of in the Moonlit World, but there was something distinctly predatory about them. Kodai had given him the descriptions of all the known Magecraft users in Fuyuki, and there wasn't anyone like her among them, so she had to be one of the Servants summoned for the War.

"Hello, miss," he bowed slightly, struggling to be as polite as he could to the weapon of mass destruction in human form in front of him. "I'm Kairi Sisigou, currently in the employ of the Mihashira Conglomerate. I was told to come here to meet with Shirou Emiya ?"

The black-clad beauty nodded slightly, still staring at him unblinkingly. "You've come to the right place. I am Saber, Servant of Shirou Emiya. Come in. Oh, and please take your shoes off."

So Emiya had summoned a Servant from what was widely considered to be the strongest Class. Somehow, Kairi wasn't surprised.

Inside, a surprisingly domestic scene awaited the Necromancer. A red-haired teenager he immediately identified as Shirou Emiya sat at the head of a table, surrounded by a group of young women of varying ages and appearances. Some were Masters, other Servants, and he recognized two others as homunculi from the Einzbern family, probably belonging to the small girl with white hair and red eyes who was sat on Emiya's right. There were plates on the table : clearly he'd interrupted the group preparations for lunch.

The son of the Magus Killer looked at him as he entered. His expression was calm, his gaze was respectful, and yet Kairi felt a shudder run down his spine as he met it, as if someone had walked on his grave.

"Ah, Sisigou-san," he greeted him. "Kodai-san told us you'd come, but I didn't expect you so soon. Would you like to join us for lunch ?"

Given the dubious looks some of the others sent in his direction, Kairi was about to politely refuse when the scent of cooking reached his nostrils. His body, which had run on nutrient bars and caffeine since he had arrived to the area, betrayed him at once. He briefly weighed in what promised to be quite an awkward moment against his hunger, and made what he'd soon realize had been the correct decision.

Besides, he had been ordered to be as diplomatic as possible. Refusing the invitation would be rude. At least, that was what he would say if he was asked about it later.

"If it's not too much trouble," he answered, scratching his head meekly.

"It isn't, I assure you," assured the young man. "We already have so many people, adding one more won't be a problem. Unless there's something urgent, we'll talk business after the meal, is that alright with you ?"

"I don't have a problem with it," replied the mercenary. Judging by the looks on the faces of the rest of the gathering, he'd a feeling trying to delay the meal would be a grave mistake.

"Excellent," Emiya smiled, before introducing everyone else in the room, using the Class names of the Servants.

A new seat was swiftly added around the table, between the blindfolded beauty and the one who looked like Saber's older sister – Berserker and Rider, though the former seemed a lot calmer than he'd have expected. To Kairi's surprise, the food was good. Really good, in fact. He'd eaten in restaurants that served much worse, and apart from his daughter and the tools of his craft, fine dining was one of the few things he spent his money on (it wasn't like the lifetime of a mercenary gave him many opportunities). He could see why the Servants would want to eat it, even if they didn't need to.

It was almost enough to make him forget that he was sitting in a room full of people who could kill him in an instant, and against whom the skills he'd honed for decades would count for very little.

He really wanted a smoke, but that would've been impolite, and there were kids present. Well, Archer and Assassin probably weren't really children, but they looked like it. Wait, hadn't Kiritsugu Emiya been a smoker as well ? There were many rumors about the Magus Killer as a result of how little actual information was known …

Focus, Kairi. He coughed softly, drawing attention to himself. The table had already been cleared, Emiya forced to remain seated by the other Masters – Tohsaka, Matou, and Einzbern, according to his briefing.

"That was delicious," he shamelessly admitted. "However, I think we should get to the point of my visit."

"Yes," Emiya nodded. "I contacted the Conglomerate early this morning to inform them of certain developments in the situation, and was told you'd come visit later. Apparently, something happened on the quarantine front ?"

"Exactly. The reason I'm here in person instead of Kodai making another phone call is that the last attempted incursion by a monster into Fuyuki happened," Kairi checked his watch, "just a little over three hours ago, when a Dead Apostle in the shape of an eight-years old boy tried to slip in by taking advantage of the clouds blocking the sunlight."

And wasn't that terrifying in itself. If some clouds were enough for Dead Apostles to walk about during the day, Mankind's position as the dominant species on Gaia would be a lot more precarious. Merely physical obstacles to the sun's rays weren't enough to block the leeches' greatest weakness (besides their insanity) : there had to be an occult component to it, and a strong one. One of the Londonian Magi had mentioned records that some Dead Apostles had been active during the day after Pompeii had been destroyed, for instance.

Compared to that, the fact he'd had to dust a blood-sucking abomination that had once been a kid before another Dead Apostle had drained him of his blood and turned his corpse into another scourge of Mankind was almost mundane.

"After that, however, nothing. Not a single alert across the entire perimeter, not even a remote sighting. I don't know about you, but that sounds ominous as hell to me."

"You think the rest are waiting, massing their strength for an assault capable of overwhelming your line ?" said Emiya.

"Well, it's either that or we've killed the last one," said Kairi, before sighing. "But somehow I don't think we're that lucky."

"No, probably not," Emiya agreed. "Were you told what we found out about our enemy ?"

"The stuff about the Grail being corrupted, a 'Pretender-Class' Servant killing the Animusphere and making familiars of their corpses ? Or that he's some kind of demonist from another timeline that the Kaleidoscope somehow let the Grail summon in our world ? Yes, Kodai told me about it. You think he's controlling the monsters called by the corruption somehow ?"

"I believe so. Earlier today, Kor Phaeron – that's the Pretender's True Name – attacked the local temple and kidnapped all the monks who lived there before laying a trap for us in the ruins. We survived, but the monks were already gone."

"That's … not good." Civilians being taken by Magecraft user almost never was.

"No, it isn't." Emiya looked at the white-haired girl. "We believe he has taken his captives straight to the Greater Grail itself."

Kairi frowned. "Isn't that supposed to be impossible to access ? Especially for Servants ?"

"Normally, it should be," said the Einzbern Master, with a serious expression that clashed with her childish appearance something fierce. "The founders of the Heaven's Feel didn't want a Caster-Class Servant to subvert their work, so they put a lot of protections in place to keep that from happening, tied to the Grail's own summoning system. Any Servant approaching the Greater Grail would immediately dissipate back into prana and be absorbed."

"But now the rules are all fu- all messed up," Kairi followed up, swapping words at the last second. Sure, the white-haired girl had probably seen a lot worse than rude words, but the habits you picked up as a father died hard. "So you think he managed to get in anyway, and access the corruption itself."

"If anyone could do it, he could," confirmed Emiya. "Kor Phaeron's abilities aren't Magecraft as we understand it in this timeline. So long as the Grail's corruption had turned off the instant-dissipation radius, he'd be able to force his way inside sooner or later. And he had help : the War's own Overseer, and a corrupted version of the King of Heroes."

"I'm sorry," Kairi blurted out in shock. "Did you just say 'King of Heroes' ? As in, Gilgamesh the King of Heroes ? From The Epic of Gilgamesh ? That 'King of Heroes' ?"

"Yes, but don't worry about him," Emiya waved off as if they were discussing the weather instead of a bloody legend from the Age of the Gods returned to the World only to be corrupted by an incarnation of evil. "We took care of him this morning. He was summoned during the last War and got corrupted by the Grail in the end, and spent the last ten years in hiding waiting for it to start again."

"I put an arrow right through his skull," tittered one of the two purple-haired small girls with the kind of smile Kairi hoped he'd never see on his daughter's face.

"I … I am just going to file that away for later and move on," Kairi decided, because having a mental breakdown at the thought of how close to disaster all of Japan had been for the last decade wouldn't help anyone. "Assuming you're right and Pretender has access to the Greater Grail, what's your plan ?"

"Illya knows where the entrance to the Greater Grail complex is. But I still need to recover from fighting Gilgamesh before we face off against Kor Phaeron and his Demon Pillars."

Come to think of it, he did look a little out of it. "How long will that take ?"

"I should be good to go with a few hours' rest."

Judging by the looks the rest of the room sent his way, Kairi wasn't so sure. But it wasn't as if they had a choice.

"On that note," he continued, "I should tell you that there's going to be a general order issued by the government this afternoon for everyone to stay where they are and not go outside unless it's a matter of life or death. It'll be broadcast on the radio, the TV, and I think there'll even be trucks going around blasting the news from speakers."

"That's going to raise a lot of eyebrows," commented the Tohsaka girl. "How are they going to justify it ?"

"Terrorist threat." They had been using that one a lot in recent years, for obvious reasons. And it wasn't as if the present situation didn't qualify, because a demonist meddling with the leylines underneath Fuyuki was a threat to everyone living in the area pretty much equalling or surpassing a nuke. "They'll use what happened at the temple, claim that all the monks were taken hostage by some crazed cult that's threatening to kill the entire city."

"Which isn't exactly wrong. But that sounds like the kind of stuff that would warrant the army being deployed," noted Emiya with a frown.

Which would end poorly for the soldiers in question. Kairi had read the reports of the Fourth War, where a bloody military jet had gotten hijacked by the Berserker of the time. He didn't envy the poor bastard who had ended up with the job of covering that up.

"The Conglomerate and the Association pulled some strings," he explained. "Even with the Overseer going rogue and the Three Families …" He looked at the female Masters in the room, and continued : "let's say 'indisposed', they still have a lot of influence."

"Really ?"

"Well, more the Conglomerate than the Association," Kairi shrugged. "But don't go around telling people I said that. The folks sent from London to help have all been reasonable so far, but we're bound to get an idiot Noble eventually. Even the police have been told to keep their heads down, so there shouldn't be any mundane forces getting involved when things go ugly."

He would have said 'if', but, well, he knew better than to tempt fate like that.

"The streets will be as clear as they are going to get this evening," said the mercenary. "Given how many people Kor Phaeron took, he shouldn't have had time to turn them all into familiars either."

He left unsaid the fact that, unless they were very lucky, it would still be too late for some of the poor bastards. Judging by Emiya's grimace, he was fully aware of that.

"So that's when we'll move," concluded Emiya. "Can your people hold the line while we deal with Kor Phaeron ? When we launch our attack, he'll not hesitate to call every ally he can to his side to save his own hide."

Once again, Kairi very carefully didn't call out how well acquainted Emiya seemed to be with a demonist from an alternate timeline, and focused on what was important : keeping this whole mess from becoming an even worse clusterfuck.

"I am good at my job," he said without false modesty. "One of the best in the business, in fact. The folks from London are also good, and the Conglomerate's people are also a lot better than you'd think. We can't fight Servants, and I doubt we'd account for much against the Demon Pillars either. What me and the others can do, however, is make sure there's still a city standing when you come back out."

"Seeing as we all live here, that would be appreciated," replied Tohsaka drily.

"I thought you might," said Kairi with a chuckle. "We'll hold the line, I promise you."

Sisigou departed after exchanging phone numbers so that they could communicate more easily when things started to go wrong in the evening. Immediately, Rin turned toward Shirou.

"You need to rest," she said bluntly. "You were already tired from fighting Gilgamesh until Lancer saved you, and that stunt you pulled in the sewers only made it worse. We'll need you at your best tonight if we are to win. Go to your room, lie down, and rest. That's an order."

For a few seconds, the moron looked like he'd argue, but he saw reason and caved.

"Archer, Assassin, can you make sure he actually goes to bed and not, I don't know, tries to figure out another power-up that will break his body even more ?"

"Rin," Shirou said, pained. "Really ?"

"Yes," she answered without an ounce of shame. "Really."

Once he was out of the room with the two small, purple-haired Servants following him, Rin turned to the other girls, a complicated expression on her face.

"We have a problem," she said, and wasn't that the understatement of the century. "I checked on him when we came back this morning and against just now with Structural Analysis, and at this rate he won't have fully recovered by nightfall. Of course, he will still claim to be fine, but we all know this is the one thing where he can't be trusted."

Everyone nodded, including those who had only known Shirou for a few days, which really was telling. Shirou was lucky he was cute – wait, no, stop it Rin. Focus.

"Unfortunately, we don't exactly have a choice," she continued. "As he said earlier, the longer we give Kor Phaeron to prepare, the stronger his position becomes. We'd already trouble fighting one transformed Demon Pillar, engaging dozens at the same time is going to be a nightmare. So we will be going tonight, but at the same time, we need Shirou to be at his best because, let's face it, his bullshit powers are our best shot at winning this whole mess of a War."

Of course, Shirou would've gone out regardless of his health even if there hadn't been the risk of an apocalypse, just to save his friend's family. Which was why he needed someone like her at his side to make sure he didn't overdo it.

"Therefore, we need to accelerate Avalon's healing so that the blockhead will be at full strength tonight. Fortunately," she braced herself, "we already know how that can be achieved."

Rider smiled hungrily, seeing where this conversation was headed.

"Yes, Rider," Rin sighed. "I am talking about what you are thinking."

"Good." Rider licked her lips hungrily, before exchanging a glance with Saber, who nodded.

"So," started Rin, "the two of you will …"

"Actually, Nee-san," Sakura cut in, "Berserker is still feeling agitated from using her Noble Phantasm this morning. I think an injection of prana from Senpai could help stabilize her Spirit Graph before the battle."

Rin looked at her sister, unable to tell whether she was bullshitting her or not, then at Berserker. The purple-haired Servant had the faintest of blushes on her cheeks, but was otherwise completely impassive.

Saber was also looking at the other Servant with a smile similar to the one on Sakura's face. Well, better than her being difficult out of jealousy, Rin supposed. Shirou was fortunate the women interested in him were, for lack of a better way to put it, unconventional. Being the target of the affection of several superpowered individuals was not something that went so smoothly in most stories and myths she had read.

"Is that true, Medusa ?" she eventually asked. "And more importantly, do you want to ?" She remembered their emotional discussion of two days ago, when Sakura had first raised the possibility. "If it's just to help you stabilize your prana, I can give you some of my blood instead."

"There is no need," Berserker shook her head. "I am sure Shirou will be up to the task."

Rin hesitated. Tactically speaking, there was no advantage in letting Berserker join Rider and Saber. Except, they might all die tonight, or meet a fate worse than death. And Berserker's use of her Noble Phantasm had clearly left her a little shaken, even if it was hard to tell …

She sighed again, and gave in.

"Just … try not to leave him in a worse state than before, okay ?"

The smile on Sakura's face let Rin know that her sister was thinking she was doing this to be nice to Berserker, instead of it being the logical course of action. Or maybe she thought Rin enjoyed knowing her boyfriend was pursued by women like their Servants.

One moment later, Saber, Rider and Berserker were gone. Euryale and Stheno had gone back to keeping watch for intruders, which was a polite way of saying that their Master had thrown them out of his room for the sake of his own sanity. Sakura and Illyasviel had gone to talk about things in another room with their Servants (she was almost certain Illyasviel was going to grill her sister about Shirou). Sella and Leysritt had gone to check on Issei, who was still unconscious (they didn't need any more complications, no matter what Shirou said), and force some more soup into him. As for Rin, she was resolutely walking toward the Workshop to see if she could make some last-minute preparations which would hopefully require enough focus to block her Servant's thoughts from reaching her accidentally.

It didn't, which made the next two hours excruciatingly embarrassing as images of what the Servant of the Mount was doing kept flashing in her mind's eye until she was forced to give up on any delicate works to avoid breaking something valuable. But at least the embarrassment kept her from imagining all the ways in which the night could go wrong.

Small victories. Hopefully that was an omen of things to come.

The afternoon passed quietly. Then, behind the dark clouds, the sun set once more on Fuyuki City.

There was no notable change in the ambient light level, but in a cavern deep beneath Mount Enzou, Kor Phaeron spoke the first word of a dreadful incantation.

Across the city, people who unknowingly held potential for Magecraft shivered without knowing why.

At the edge of the town, the agents of the Department of Folklore and the Mihashira Conglomerate froze for a moment, before hurrying to finish their last preparations.

Deep beneath the headquarters of the Mihashira Conglomerate, an alarm began to blare.

All over the planet, Tarot readers – some of whom possessed a genuine talent for divination, but many more of whom did not – drew the Death card, followed by the Lightning Tower and the Devil.

Far away, in the sealed vaults of the Atlas Institute, a device of brass and silver forged in another Age of the World chimed thirteen times before falling silent.

And in his room, laying down with three gorgeous women pressed against him, his body at once exhausted and refreshed, Shirou Emiya suddenly opened his eyes.

Omake Ch27 : The Operatives' Rumour Mill

"… and that's the plan for tonight," Kairi concluded, having just finished explaining what he'd learned at the Emiya residence to the Conglomerate and Clocktower teams over the radio. "Any questions ?"

"Yeah, I got one," replied one of the Conglomerate team leaders. "What's the Magus Killer's kid like ?"

"I'm curious too," piped up someone else. "I heard on the grapevine that he killed a demon underneath Kumamoto last year. Like, not trapped or banished, killed. I didn't even know that was possible !"

"That sounds unlikely," cut in one of the Londonian Magi. "Then again, I did hear it say that Lord El-Melloi made a deal to keep him from going to England and slaughter the Archibalds after they set a bunch of Enforcers after him as vengeance for what his father did to their Master in the last War."

"Well, he's got a direct line to Kodai-sama for sure," added another Japanese voice. "That's not something he hands over to just anyone."

Kairi sighed. It was an unfortunate fact of life that people in his line of job, despite being stone-cold killers capable of facing the worst horrors the Moonlit World had to offer (and there were a lot of horrors to choose from, he should know), were also irredeemable gossips.

"He wasn't anything like what I expected," Kairi admitted. "I had heard the same stories about the Magus Killer as we all did, even saw him in action once, so I thought his son would be like him. Instead, he was very polite, and invited me to join him and his friends to lunch. Then again, given that there were six Servants and four Masters at the table, he didn't have to do anything to intimidate me."

"Six Servants ? Ah, right, Emiya got those of the Ainsworth Master after he killed him. He must have impressive Circuits to be able to sustain three at the same time."

"That's not the only thing impressive about him. See, apparently he and his group faced off against Gilgamesh this morning. He was a Servant in the last Grail War who survived the last decade after being corrupted by the Grail."

Technically speaking, he was revealing confidential information by telling the others about this. But they needed to know everything they could about the seriousness of the situation, and few things would help the new arrivals how deep in crap they all were than telling them the bloody King of Heroes had gotten mind-controlled by whatever dwelled in the Greater Grail.

For several seconds, there was only silence – then the line erupted as a bunch of supposed professionals tried to talk at the same time.

"What the fuck ?! No, seriously, what the fuck ?!"

"Gilgamesh ? For ten years ?!"

"The King of Heroes corrupted by whatever it is that's drawing all those monsters ? How the fuck is Japan still standing ?!"

"Relax, I told you he's dead. One of the Servants dealt the killing blow, but apparently Emiya got injured in the fight."

"But he survived ? He clashed with a Heroic Spirit, one of the strongest ones unless the corruption made him weaker, and he survived ?"

"Yeah," confirmed the Necromancer. "As for Gilgamesh, I don't know why he was apparently content to just wait for the next War to start. I think Emiya knows, but since Gilgamesh is dead, there was no point in asking."

"Seriously, what the hell is he Did the Magus Killer find a kid that'd been in stasis since the Age of the Gods or something ?"

"... I don't know, but I'm very glad we are on the same side." "Yeah, same."

Kairi didn't say it out loud, but he too was very glad Shirou Emiya was on the side of Humanity. He would not have enjoyed having to figure out a way to take him out if that hadn't been the case, and knowing his luck, the job would probably have fallen on his shoulders.

Well, his or Lord El-Melloi. The more he learned about the man, the more he felt like the two of them were mood kindred of a sort.

AN : And we're back ! Sorry about the long delay between chapters, I was focusing on the Roboutian Heresy for the last few months, first finishing The Cadian Apocalypse and then powering through The Doom of Eisenhorn in time for Halloween.

As always, writing the discussion scenes continues to be my personal nemesis. Which made finishing this chapter interesting, let me tell you.

We are now in the final stretch of the Grail War arc of this story. I would apologize for the somewhat rushed nature of Rider and Berserker joining Shirou's harem, but then I remembered how things go in the original VN.

There have been reviews of people who don't understand the 40k elements of this story, having come to it from the FSN side of things. Unfortunately, I'm in too deep to approach this from the perspective of someone who doesn't already know the basics. Seriously, people, I have been writing stuff in the 40k universe for years, and reading it for even longer. If you ask me specifically what you don't understand, perhaps I can write some kind of summary explanation ? I thought the in-story explanations were sufficient, but it appears I was mistaken.

I am hoping to finish the arc this year, but we'll see how that goes, especially since I also want to finish Prince of the Eye, one of my other stories.

As always, I look forward to your thoughts on this chapter and on what you think will happen next.

Zahariel out.