Chapter 94 - Archer vs Ă̴̹͉͕̜͂͒̾͒r̸̢̟̣̝̎̀͒͝c̵̬̯̲̄͒̔h̵̖̫̠̘͕̱̣͒̋̈́̎̌̽̂̿e̸̗̠̲̬̪͓͒̒͒̎r̷̟͎͒͆̈͆̄


"Mas...ter...?" Shiro could only repeat the armored woman's words dumbly, her brain all but ready to give up on figuring out whatever the hell was up with today even as she blinked in confusion.

The moment of silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity.

And then the figure finally answered her: "Yes. I, Servant Rider, have come forth in response to your summons. Please give me an order, Master."

The instant Shiro heard the words "Servant" and "Master", she suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot through her left hand, like a hot iron had been pressed against it.

Instinctively, she flinched, and cradled it.

Rider observed the involuntary action, and nodded in response, before declaring: "Then, from this moment forth, my lance shall be with you, and your fate shall be with me. The contract is complete."

Upon hearing Rider's declaration, Shiro's confusion finally surpassed her limits, and she simply gave up on thinking.

She wanted, nay, needed to survive, right?

Here was another one of those superpowered beings, right in front of her, claiming to have made a contract.

She could worry about payment later.

At the same time, though...

"Are you two done yet?" Illya asked in an almost bored tone.

Berserker roared as well.

"Then, Rider... do you think you can take him?"

As strong as Rider felt, the giant was still on a wholly-separate level altogether.

In response, Rider merely tightened her grip around her lance, before leaping forward.

Berserker's eyes began glowing red, and suddenly there was a massive stone axe-sword in his hand, as he blocked the strike from Rider, taking a step back from the sheer force behind it as he did so.

And the air around Rider's lance began swirling.

Suddenly, a hurricane erupted from the lance, forcing Berserker back another step before he could begin his counter-attack.

Rider didn't waste the chance.

She twisted to the side, tilting her lance as she did so.

Berserker's weapon, suddenly unopposed, buried itself in the ground next to her, even as she kicked off of the earth, lance aimed for his neck.

Faster than Shiro would have thought possible, however, Berserker's hands were suddenly empty, and he bent his massive body back, allowing the blow to fly past him.

Rider quickly drew her weapon back, just as his hands gripped the floor behind him and he lowered his knees.

Then he flipped the rest of his body backwards as well, like an absurdly-oversized monkey, launching two kicks at her even as she danced out of the way.

Finishing the motion, his body then stood upright, and he glared at the armored woman, who simply reassumed her stance.

The entire exchange had concluded within three seconds.

If Shiro hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she'd have never believed it.

The armored swordswoman and the blue spearman that she had seen earlier, that had frozen her in place earlier...

Now, they just seemed like two children playing with toys.

This time, it was Berserker who leapt forward first, snarling as he grabbed his odd weapon off-handedly.

Rider leapt forward as well, and Shiro was almost knocked away by the wind generated as their two weapons met.

And then they met again.

And again.

And again.

Rider's weapon was little more than a silver blur, clashing against a gray blur, as the giant swung wildly and ferociously, and she kept blocking and parrying and deflecting the weapon.

Even as the ground beneath them cracked, Rider found herself almost smiling beneath her helmet, as she studied her opponent.

Berserker's blows were pure strength and speed, with no technique behind them.

Against almost any other foe, that would have been more than enough.

After all, the gray giant she was facing probably didn't need anything else.

Against almost any other foe, merely wildly swinging his sword as fast and hard as he could, would have probably been more than enough to slice through their own weapons, or numb their arms just from blocking a strike, if he didn't simply cut them down before they could react.

But against her, however...

"You rely more on your own inhuman strength and speed to overwhelm them with simple blows."

She still remembered the lessons she'd learned, back from those days.

This wasn't the first time she'd had to defend and break through a seemingly-unbreakable offense.

Though he hadn't been as strong, fast, and wild with his blows...

Her grip subconsciously tightened as her heart ached with the memory.

However, she didn't fight down the pain, didn't try to suppress it.

Even if doing so wasn't a futile gesture...

"You're still human."

"Do you think you can make your subjects happy, if you don't even know what happiness is, or what makes you happy, Arthur?"

"You... are an idiot. A massive idiot. A selfless imbecile."

He'd told her not to throw away her humanity and her emotions.

No matter how much it had hurt, no matter how much she'd been tempted to simply discard it...

She'd made sure to never dishonor his final lesson.

Instead, as grief welled up within her, she focused it, harnessed it, channeled it, all towards one single goal.

She wanted him to have never made that Morgan-damned deal, and to have taken her place.

Right now, her best bet at achieving that, was to win this Grail War.

And to do that...

She simply needed to stop Berserker and protect her current Master.

She knew her defense wasn't perfect.

She knew she couldn't let him completely overwhelm her.

She knew she needed to seize the initiative back.

And waiting for Berserker to make a mistake, or to expose and opening, was probably suicidal.

So...

Rider gasped, as a horizontal swing smashed into her lance, before allowing the force behind the blow to knock her lance to the side.

Berserker didn't miss it, and immediately shot forward like an arrow, axe sword held overhead.

Then, Rider planted her foot, and used it as a pivot, turning with the force of the blow rather than fighting against it even as she thrust her lance forward.

Berserker attempted to bring himself to a stop with his ridiculous strength.

A burst of mana was expelled from the tip of the lance, which pierced his chest, and tore a hole in it.

The mangled body of Berserker slumped to his knees, dropping his weapon.

Shiro finally let loose the breath she'd been holding, as she saw the giant finally fall.

"... you don't think it's over with just that, did you?" Illya's voice was deceptively innocent and casual.

Shiro immediately turned to the body, just in time to see Rider leap away from it warily, lance still firmly in hand, as the corpse suddenly jerked its blade at her.

Then, it began twitching, as the hole in the chest suddenly began filling up, as steam began pouring from its body.

"Berserker won't disappear just from that." Illya cheerfully explained, as the now-holeless giant got up, glaring and snarling at Rider. "After all, he has a body that won't die unless he's killed twelve times."

"... what the hell does that mean?!" Shiro yelled. "People are supposed to die when they are killed!"

"... and he abandoned me, for you?" Illya muttered in disbelief, as she stared contemptuously at the other white-haired girl. Then she sighed and shook her head, before ordering the giant: "I'm getting bored. Stop playing around, Berserker!"

Berserker roared in response, and lifted his sword as he dashed forward once more.

Rider tensed up, as she reflected that no, she wasn't just fighting an opponent with overwhelming strength and speed and no technique, she was fighting an opponent with overwhelming strength and speed and no technique who could regenerate.

...

Her lips curled up, and she couldn't help the slight chuckle that escaped her lips as Berserker approached her.

Before he could reach her, however, Rider's ears suddenly picked the sounds of a familiar voice.

"Your Highness!"

A petite armored form suddenly landed between her and Berserker, and a golden gladius began immediately parrying and deflecting the massive stone axe sword with as much ease as Rider had previously displayed.

"Velvet?!"

"You?!"

"Oh?"

"Gewicht, um zu Verdoppel ung!"

Obsidian jewels were suddenly thrown at the air above Berserker, which shattered into countless silver lights that rained down on the giant, momentarily forcing him down to one knee.

Rin, for her part, fought to catch her breath, as she finally reached the Emiya residence, and tried to process the chaos that she was looking at.

The land around the house was all but wrecked, and her Servant was protecting another armored Servant from a giant Servant, after she'd gone forward to make sure the area was safe (and found the presence of two Servants).

For once, she hadn't made a mistake.

Shiro Emiya had really ended up being targeted by another Master, probably because of what she'd seen.

And where was the girl anyway?

"Tohsaka-senpai?!"

Rin's head followed the voice, and she found her schoolmate standing outside a shed, looking utterly shocked even as her right hand gripped her left-

Rin's brain shut down for a moment, before it scrambled to reboot.

A set of Command Seals were etched onto the back of Shiro's left hand.

Which meant that Shiro was a Magus too.

Rin's throat suddenly felt dry.

Before she could say anything, though, Berserker's furious roar shook the air, as it easily shrugged off the magecraft being used against it.

"Nice to meet you, Rin." A high-pitched and childlike voice rang out, and Rin spun to see a small white-haired girl with red eyes looking at her coldly. "I am Illyasviel von Einzbern, though you can call me "Illya"."

"Einzbern!" Rin couldn't help but flinch, and take a step back.

This was bad.

An Einzbern Master was sure to be trouble.

Not to mention she wasn't on a full tank after their run-in with Lancer...

Illya smiled, pleased with Rin's response, and kindly asked her: "Now that we're introduced, would you please leave? I can always hunt you down and kill you later; I'm really just here for my older sister."

"Older sister...?" Rin looked between Illya and Shiro, wondering if she'd been wrong the whole time.

"Kiritsugu never told me I had any other family..." Shiro murmured in disbelief.

"Adopted, really..." Illya clarified, as much for Shiro's sake as Rin's, even as Berserker continued trying to whittle away at the combined defenses of Saber and Rider (who were showing an amazing degree of coordination, for two supposed enemies who ostensibly didn't know each other). "Kiritsugu betrayed the family and abandoned me... for you. It's not fair! What makes you so special?"

"... I..." Shiro didn't know how to answer the girl.

"... well, it doesn't matter." Illya finally declared, shaking her head and smiling. "You'll have plenty of time to make up for it on his behalf, once I make you mine."

As if to punctuate the point, Berserker unleashed a deep growl, even as Saber continued her desperate defense, and Rider summoned a lion to help them hold him off.

"Tch!" Rin clicked her tongue, and raised her hand in Illya's direction even as a hazy black orb of magical energy gathered around her forefinger. "Stay behind me, Emiya!"

In response, Illya casually flicked her hair, and four wiry bird-like constructs flew forth, each charging up magical energy of their own.

To their credit, Rider and Saber noticed the surge of magical energy, but they assumed that Saber's master could handle herself.

And to her credit, Rin probably could have handled the familiars with one of her gems.

Unfortunately, none of them factored in Shiro Emiya.

As soon as she realized what Illya had been about to do, she immediately reacted without thinking.

Rider and Saber... they hadn't needed help against Berserker.

But when Shiro saw Rin, she didn't see a magus.

All she could see, was the kindly older girl who'd occasionally helped her out in Homurahara Academy and Fuyuki University.

All she could see, was just a regular person.

As soon as Illya's familiars fired, Shiro's body moved, and pushed Rin out of the way.

""!""

A sharp pain filled Shiro's chest as she hit the ground, and she found herself struggling to breathe.

"Guh...ha!"

Blood flew out of Shiro's mouth, as she choked and coughed.

Her head felt heavy, but still she fought to look up, fought to keep her eyes open.

Tohsaka Rin looked down at her, horrified, worried... but very much alive.

""... why?""

To her surprise, it wasn't just Rin's voice that she heard.

Illya too had been unable to help but ask that question, staring at the girl in a daze, trying to figure out what she'd just done, and more importantly, why.

Shiro had already declared her unyielding wish to survive and live on, after all, and even gone so far as to stand up to Berserker with nothing more than a broken ladle.

And yet... and yet...

Was this really the girl that she'd been envious of, for stealing her father?

The girl that she'd always thought to be selfish, for stealing her father and living the life she could only wish she had?

Berserker stood unmoving, watching her, waiting for her command.

Saber watched him warily, standing between him and the fallen girl even as Rider and Rin quickly moved to check on her.

"... that's enough." Illya finally announced, as she began walking away, hiding her confusion behind a mask of contemptuous confidence. "Let's go, Berserker."

"Where do you think you're going?!" Rin yelled furiously.

"I'm bored now." Illya replied casually, as she walked up to Berserker's side. Before Saber could stop her, she pointed out: "I'll let you treat Onee-chan, Rin. But if I see you again..."

The shaken girl left the implied threat hanging in the air as she walked away with her Servant unopposed.

Shiro simply watched her walk away, before finally relaxing.

She'd have breathed a sigh of relief if she could, but for some reason she found herself still incapable of breathing.

Her body felt cold.

Then, darkness claimed her...

-MIDDLE OF A FOREST, FOUR HOURS LATER-

"I'll... give you this... Assassin." Lancer growled between pants. "You're definitely... a slippery one."

"For the last time, who in Oum's name is Assassin?!" Jaune couldn't keep the exasperation or confusion from his voice even as he continued to dodge and weave around the majority of the skillful thrusts the spearman kept throwing at him, never once slowing down his pace. Then anger entered his voice, and he demanded: "And why were you chasing after that girl, anyway?"

"Stop playing dumb, Assassin!" Lancer snapped, fighting to catch the blonde Servant. "You and I both know the rules! We can't allow any witnesses; no matter how distasteful I find it, orders are orders."

"What rules?!" Jaune yelled. "And aren't you breaking the law by carrying a spear, anyway?!"

"Your facade of innocent ignorance is impressive, Assassin, but I won't be fooled!" Lancer roared.

"You're barking up the wrong tree, nutjob!" Jaune shouted back.

Suddenly, the atmosphere grew heavy and oppressive.

"... oh, so you've figured out my true identity, Assassin?" Lancer's voice was deadly quiet. "I'm impressed. Was it during our merry chase, or did you listen in on my battle with Saber?"

"Wha-?" Jaune tried to interrupt.

"Well, it doesn't matter, I suppose." Lancer simply talked over Jaune's attempts at asking what was going on. "I would have liked to beat you properly... but my Master is demanding I end this already."

Suddenly, Lancer's body shifted, and his spear was pointed down towards the ground, as he exhaled.

Then Jaune's Aura-enhanced instincts began screaming at him, as the red spear began glowing ominously, and energy began collecting at its tip like a whirlpool.

It felt like he was back in Hell, staring down that Baron.

In fact, his senses were telling him that he was, in fact, facing a similar kind of energy.

Immediately, he raised his shield, and wished he'd brought his sword with him as well (damn weapon laws...).

The spear was now coated in a massive wave of energy.

"... see ya, Assassin." Lancer's voice was almost mournful. "I'll be taking that heart of yours now."

Then he leapt forward, and thrust his spear towards the ground.

"GAE..."

Easily, Jaune jumped up and back, dodging it.

"... BOLG!"

Then his eyes widened, as his instincts suddenly told him the lance was rushing up towards his heart.

That was, by all accounts, impossible.

Then again, this was the same world that had produced Merlin.

And this was the same kind of energy that he'd faced in Hell.

After all of his travels, he'd learned to trust his instincts.

He attempted to maneuver to block it from its new direction.

And then his instincts told him the strike was now coming at him from behind, aimed at his heart.

He couldn't avoid the blow.

And so he didn't.

He spun himself and let the blow hit him prematurely in the shoulder, before twisting his body and leaping away as quickly as he could.

Just like in Hell, the attack simply ignored his Aura as it tore through his flesh.

Jaune grit his teeth and ignored the pain, as blood spurted from the wound, before channeling his Aura.

The wound from the spear immediately healed up, as the blue spearman glared at him, grinding his teeth audibly as he pulled his lance back.

"... you evaded it, Assassin." Lancer finally spoke, even as Jaune simply resumed his previous stance warily. "My fatal Gae Bolg."

Jaune simply glared back, resisting the urge to ask how that looked like he'd evaded the attack as he tried to keep track of his Aura (and once again bemoaned the lack of Scrolls in this world).

Then, all of a sudden, like a switch being flicked, the hostility the blue spearman had been radiating suddenly disappeared.

Lancer casually rested his spear against his neck even as he turned his back on Jaune, and began walking away,

Jaune refused to relax.

After being chased all across the city for Oum-knows-how-long, was the blue spearman seriously just going to give up after one attack that had drawn blood?

He didn't buy it.

It had to be a trap.

As if reading his mind, Lancer explained: "Unfortunately, my Master is a coward. He's telling me to go back since you have evaded my lance."

"..."

Then the blue spearman disappeared into the forest.

Jaune kept his guard up for a few more moments.

Nope.

Still nothing.

Even his Aura told him he was in no danger anymore.

"... did he just run away?" Jaune couldn't help but murmur in disbelief, as he stared at the spot he'd last seen the man.

...

Nope, still nothing.

Finally, Jaune allowed himself to relax fractionally, as he studied his former injury.

He'd thought that this world was one without magic (like Remnant or the Wasteland)... though, in hindsight, that was before he'd learned he was back in Camelot (or, at least, a different part of the world 1500 years after Camelot).

But even so, there hadn't been anything in Camelot he'd seen that had harnessed demonic energy.

And from what the blue spearman had said, there were probably others out there, with similar strengths and abilities.

Jaune couldn't help but click his tongue.

He was going to have to remember to bring his sword with him on patrols, wasn't he?

... yeah, what could possibly go wrong with that?

His sword wasn't exactly the most inconspicuous thing in this dimension.

At the same time, though, if people were running around with demonic abilities...

Jaune remembered the UAC Facility on Mars, and suppressed a shudder.

Well, at least the media might stop calling him "Shielder" if they saw him with a sword?

Jaune flicked his shield back into a scabbard, and hung it by his waist, before his hand brushed against something.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the Wasteland Survival Guide, and winced.

He'd completely forgotten all about it in the chaos.

Then he checked his watch, and almost swore.

There was no way he'd be able to get back to Fuyuki, read through it, and return the book before anybody noticed it was missing in the morning!

... well, it didn't count stealing if it was from himself, right?

...

Jaune really hoped it didn't.

... just to be safe, he'd return it when he was done.

-? ? ?, ? ? ?-

When the girl came to, she was on a grassy hill.

The skies were darkening, and the wind blew ominously.

Weirdest of all, though, for the way her dreams usually began, was that she wasn't alone.

The hill was surrounded by armored figures, all but two of whom were on horseback.

She didn't recognize most of them, but she could recognize the two who weren't on horseback.

One was the armored swordswoman she'd seen twice that day; the woman was scowling furiously, and her golden gladius was raised defensively even as she warily stared at the men around her, her feet tense.

The other was the armored woman, Rider, who'd suddenly appeared out of nowhere and fought the grey giant.

Rider was on a horse-sized lion, and even through her full-face helmet she could feel the frostiness of her gaze.

Honestly, given the intensity of the glare she was shooting the swordswoman, she was surprised the swordswoman hadn't simply turned into a block of ice.

Then, in a cold tone, Rider asked: "Sir Velvet of Caerbannog... why did you do it?"

"..." The armored swordswoman simply glared back defiantly.

"Why?" Rider repeated herself once more, her voice remaining toneless as she demanded: "Why did you sabotage our efforts at getting him back?"

"..."

"I trusted you, Sir Velvet." Rider hissed furiously. "Even after what Morgan did, I trusted you and your brothers. He took you in, trained you, trusted you! How could you betray him like that?!"

"... I betrayed him?!" Finally, the swordswoman spoke up, and where Rider's voice had been frosty, Velvet's voice was fiery. "Coming from you, that's as meaningful as a Pict's oath."

"...!"

"I didn't betray him, Artoria." Velvet spat, ignoring the noises of outrage rising all around her. "I'm not the one who summoned him from the afterlife! I'm not the one who bound a dead man's soul as a familiar!"

"You know not what you speak of, Sir Velvet." Artoria warned, the barest hint of emotion breaking through her tone.

"Don't I?" Velvet scoffed. "You'd be surprised at what he told me. He told me about his past lives, about being constantly being thrown into battle after battle, never being allowed to rest, you know... as well as the fact that he never actually agreed to the contract with you."

Artoria's grip tightened around her lance and the reins of her mount, and where she had once seemed cold and emotionless Shiro could feel the rage radiating off of her.

But before the other knights could move to stop Velvet, Artoria simply held up a hand, halting them.

"And you want him back... for what?!" Velvet continued her rant, as eight years of pent-up anger and fury were finally unleashed. "So that you can force him to rule in your place? To succeed where you, the "Perfect King", struggled? So that you can have your tool back?"

"I have never once considered him a tool, Velvet." Artoria snarled. "Clearly, while he told you some things, he never told you everything."

"Like he did you?" Velvet retorted. "Did you know he himself was wondering why he was still here, before he disappeared?"

"..."

"Did you ever once even consider his feelings, when you plotted to have him replace you?"

"Of course I did!" Artoria snapped. "He enjoyed what he did!"

"He deserves to be allowed to rest!" Velvet shouted back. "He deserves to be allowed to settle down, start a family with someone who actually cares about him, who loves him! Did you ever consider how he'd feel, being forced into a political marriage with you?!"

"...!"

"Face it, Artoria." Velvet finally delivered the finishing blow. "Morgan probably did him a favor, banishing him from this island."

There was no warning.

One moment, Artoria was glaring at the errant Knight from her lion.

The next, Velvet was dangling in the air, fighting to breathe, as Artoria lifted her by the throat with one hand, the other pressing Rhongomyniad against the bottom of her chin.

The sounds of growling and the grinding of teeth were faint but audible, even as Velvet began struggling against her iron grip.

And then a horn blew.

The long and sonorous single note was carried across the hill where the party stood, and they immediately turned in its direction.

Smoke was rising in the distance, along with a faint orange glow that could've easily been seen as the sunset.

Armies of warriors were visible on the horizon, unfurling their banners now that they were in position.

Germanic banners, Frankish banners, and Geat flags all revealed themselves, along with a few Saxon and Jute banners.

Sir Agravain rode forward, along with Horsa, and shouted: "Release my sister, my former King!"

BZZZT! BZZZT! BZZZT!

An alarm tore through the air, causing the girl to shoot upwards in a panic.

Frantically taking a look around, she confirmed her surroundings, before finally relaxing and sighing in relief as she once again confirmed her surroundings.

She was in a simple bed, in her simple room, and there wasn't a massive battle going on-

Shiro's eyes shot wide open again, she all but jumped out of bed, as she recalled the events of the previous night.

The fight at the school!

Being chased by the grey giant!

The fight at her house!

Illya!

Rin!

Immediately, she reached down to her torso, expecting to find a massive hole blown in it.

To her surprise, however, she found nothing.

No signs of any injuries or wounds.

Shiro breathed a sigh of relief.

She was still alive.

Had it all been a dream?

Quietly, she walked to the door, and opened it, before poking her head out and sniffing the air.

The smell of something mouth-watering tickled her nose.

... no, wait, she was wrong.

The smell of something eye-watering assaulted her nose.

Immediately, she ran to the kitchen, wondering if something had happened, and Arc had collapsed while cooking.

Instead of finding a blonde foreigner cooking in her kitchen, she found a panicking Tohsaka putting out a fire in her kitchen, even as two other people watched casually, awkwardly avoiding acknowledging one another.

As her gaze turned to the other two people, she recognized them as the swordswoman from yesterday (and Velvet, from her dream), while the other had the same build and figure as Rider (or Artoria, from her dream), even though both weren't wearing armor.

Noticing her presence, Artoria turned to her, and politely greeted her: "You're up, Master."

Well, there went all her hopes of it just being a dream.

"Emiya?!" Rin spun around in surprise. "You're up already?!"

"Why wouldn't I be up, Tohsaka-senpai?" Shiro couldn't help but ask, cocking her head curiously. "Also, why are you in my house?"

"... don't you remember what happened last night?" Rin asked, concern visible on her face.

"I... remember a battle, and some white-haired girl who called me "Onee-chan"..." Shiro admitted, as she tried to rack her brains. "And then..."

"The enemy Master shot you in the heart with a spell, Master." Artoria explained, before apologizing: "Forgive me; I should have protected you instead of focusing on Berserker."

"Wait, she did?!" Shiro exclaimed incredulously, quickly pressing a hand against her breast, expecting to find a gaping hole or something.

Nope, her heart was still there and beating.

"My Master healed your heart with one of her most powerful gems." Velvet supplied helpfully, seeing her confusion. "It's no Aura, but it seems to have done the job."

"...Aura?" Shiro blinked.

"Some form of healing magecraft from Saber's time." Rin waved it off dismissively, before fixing her with a furious glare. "So... why'd you do it?"

"Do what, Tohsaka-senpai?" Shiro blinked again.

"Push me out of the way, you idiot!" Rin snapped. "I could have easily defended myself from Illya's attack! What were you thinking, putting yourself in harm's way like that?"

"I..." Shiro hesitated for a moment, before finally deciding to explain herself. "... look, I... I just reacted. I can't help it; if I see a person who needs help, I will help them."

"..." Rin continued glaring at her, before finally sighing. "You were just like that in Homurahara Academy..."

"It is a noble spirit, Master." Artoria encouraged her, while Velvet nodded supportively.

"Not when the person you're helping is an enemy Master." Rin pointed out sourly.

"... but you're not my enemy, Tohsaka-senpai." Shiro retorted, as confused as ever. "You're my schoolmate. And that reminds me... what is up with this whole Master-Servant thing, anyway?"

"Don't you know anything about the Holy Grail War?" Rin raised an eyebrow.

Shiro just shook her head.

Rin just sighed.

"I'll take you to Kotomine Church in the neighboring town later." Rin declared. "That's where the false priest, the one who oversees this battle, lives."

"Thank you, Tohsaka-senpai." Shiro bowed her head sincerely (as the pair missed Artoria's wince after she processed Rin's words). "Both for saving me, and helping me out."

"... don't mention it, Emiya." Rin sniffed haughtily.

"Are you sure?" Shiro asked. "Do you want me to make you... breakfast... shit..."

"What's wrong?" Rin asked worriedly, as Shiro's voice trailed off, and the other two Servants tensed.

"Breakfast..." Shiro groaned. "Fuji-nee and Ar- Fuji-nee is going to come over for breakfast! How am I supposed to explain you guys?! How am I supposed to explain what happened to the yard?!"

"Emiya, relax." Rin reassured her. "The damages have already been fixed, and I told your guardian that you didn't seem well when I ran into you after school last night."

"You fixed the damages?" Shiro asked incredulously, remembering how badly the ground had been torn up.

"Uh, of course?" Rin answered, raising an eyebrow. "Rider and Saber easily filled any holes, and I just fixed the windows with simple magecraft."

"That's amazing, Tohsaka-senpai." Shiro praised her earnestly, as she took a quick look out of the window and confirmed Rin's words. "I don't know how to fix a window with magic."

"... there's no way that's possible." Rin retorted, fixing her with an odd look. "Restoring glass that just broke is so simple you're expected to learn it before you even attend elementary school."

"Is that how it is?" Shiro scratched her chin sheepishly. "I was only taught by my father, so I don't even know the basics or the elementary stuff."

"... is that so?" Rin's gaze only intensified. "By the way... speaking of your father... do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Uh, sure. What do you want to know?"

"... that Einzbern said you were adopted, right? Can you tell me about it?"

"There's not much to tell, honestly. I was adopted by a man named Kiritsugu Emiya, after he saved me from the Fuyuki Fire. Then he died, seven years ago, and I've been under Fuji-nee's care ever since..."

"You were saved from the Fuyuki Fire?"

"Yeah... Kiritsugu found me under some rubble..."

"I see... and does the name "Sakura Matou" mean anything to you?" Rin continued feigning disinterest.

"... not really... the Matous were a family who died in the Fuyuki Fire, right?" Shiro racked her brains and found nothing.

"..."

Seeing Rin's disappointment, Shiro admitted: "... I'm sorry, I don't really have any memories of before the fire, so..."

"...!"

"Tohsaka-senpai? Are you okay?" Concern entered Shiro's voice, as she noticed Rin's silence intensify.

Then she noticed a tear run down Rin's cheek.

The next thing she knew, Rin was tightly embracing her.

"I'm sorry..." Rin's voice was warm and soft, and wracked with sobs. "I'm so sorry..."

"Tohsaka-senpai?!" Shiro was completely lost and taken aback, seeing the usually confident and strong-willed girl suddenly break down. "What are you-"

"I'm sorry, my little sister... so sorry..."

"Eh?!"

""..."" Saber and Rider, for their part, seized the chance to (finally) quietly sneak out of the kitchen, and give the two girls some privacy, now that it was clear neither of their Masters were going to kill each other.

-FOREST AROUND MOUNT ENZOU, MUCH LATER THAT NIGHT-

Medea of Colchis, the Caster of the Fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War, finally came to a stop, before doubling over and panting as she fought to catch her breath.

As she did so, she turned back to the Ryuudou Temple, and clenched her fists tightly, ignoring the raindrops that rolled down her cheeks.

It had all been going so well!

She'd been so close!

After killing that useless Master, she'd finally stumbled across a man who'd actually shown her genuine kindness, dedication and loyalty.

And now...

And now...

Her nails dug deeply into the flesh of her hands, leaving marks.

She'd thought she was safe!

She'd spent weeks, months, fortifying her position at the Ryuudou Temple, and even summoned an Assassin-class Servant to protect her, Kuzuki, and her new home, her new happiness!

And now...

In a single night, it was all gone.

In a single night, she'd lost everything she'd painstakingly built.

That damn homunculus and Heracles...

She bit down on her lower lip hard enough to draw blood.

The Boundary Field had warned of her of an intruder just seconds before that sociopathic albino had approached the temple on the shoulder of a maddened Heracles, claiming that she simply needed to work off some stress, have some fun, and eliminate some of the competition.

Of course, if that had been all, she might have pulled through.

Heracles may have had the blessings of the Gods, the curse for completing his twelve trials, but she was the Princess of Colchis, a Magus from the Age of Gods.

And Mount Enzou was her territory.

The homunculus may have been strong, but she'd made a big mistake if she'd thought she could challenge her in her place of power.

Sure, she might not have been able to directly kill Heracles, but between his lack of rationality and his Master's arrogance, she would've been able to stall them at the mountain gate, at least, and maybe even force them back by threatening his Master directly.

And that had been what happened.

She and Assassin had stalled them at the mountain gate (while Assassin couldn't cut through Heracles's skin, he could still at least block his blows), and Kuzuki had confronted the homunculus.

Then things went wrong.

She'd sensed the sudden surge in magical energy just before it had happened.

The clear and moonless sky above them had suddenly shone brightly, as dozens of golden portals suddenly materialized into existence.

And out of a portal came either a sword, or a spear, or an axe.

And all of them had been a Noble Phantasm.

She even recognized a few, which just confused her more than anything.

Then it began.

A relentless barrage of blades rained down on them all.

Assassin managed to deflect three of them, before six more pierced his torso.

Heracles simply shrugged off the barrage, as he turned to their new attacker, a golden armored blonde figure who stood atop a tree, sneering at them all contemptuously.

Then more and more and more came forth, these ones managing to pierce through Heracles's skin or harm him when they blew up against his flesh.

That had been the only reason she'd survived the initial attack; an explosion had knocked her into a tree, and the Golden Servant had simply decided to take care of Heracles first.

And Kuzuki...

The raindrops continued to roll down her cheeks, as she'd remembered what had happened to him.

A blue spearman had run a red spear through his heart, before taking away the homunculus.

After that, as Heracles had raged and continued on, and divine chains had suddenly burst through more golden portals and held him in place even as blades continued killing him again and again and again, she'd ran.

Ran, knowing she couldn't fight.

Ran, knowing there was no point in fighting.

Ran, knowing there was nothing to return to.

Medea took a moment to consider her options.

Sure, she could continue running; she had more than enough magical energy absorbed from the leyline to sustain herself for a few weeks.

And sure, she could try to find a new Master to help her win the Grail War...

But was the point?

She didn't want to be shackled to any other man.

No other man would be Souichirou Kuzuki.

No other man would ever take his place.

And he was dead.

Her hopes, her dreams, her visions of simply prolonging the happiness she'd found, the new life she'd made for herself...

"Oh, you've finally stopped running, worm?" A cruel and mocking voice sounded above her, and she turned to see the Golden Servant looking down at her.

Immediately, she gathered magical energy around her wand.

She had nothing left... except revenge.

Wordlessly, he gestured, and glowing portals began to appear all around her.

She didn't care.

She abandoned all of her defense, and focused purely on pouring everything she had into killing the bastard.

Multiple volleys of beams of light flew forward at the enemy, even as multiple weapons rained down on her.

She didn't notice when the first two swords tore through her breast.

Didn't care when the next eight turned her legs into minced meat.

Her cloak, a Mystic Code in and of itself, kept her upright as she continued attempting to bombard that damned Servant with her spells.

When two spears lodged themselves in her head, followed by a dozen more, and her body finally began to fade away, she was almost grateful.

Gilgamesh, the Archer of the previous War, simply stared at the spot where she'd previously been, with little more than contempt on his face.

He'd hoped she'd manage to entertain him, after the performance she'd put up against Berseker.

She'd sorely disappointed him in that regard.

Oh well.

Hopefully the King of Knights would prove more entertaining when he finally met her.

Though he'd have to remember she was the Rider of the current War.

"What's going on here?!"

A loud voice snapped him out of musings, and he lazily turned to see someone staring at him with horror.

... oh, now that he examined him more closely...

Hadn't this been the Servant that the mongrel believed to be the Assassin Servant of this War?

... how odd.

He was sure he'd just killed the Berserker, Caster, and Assassin classes...

Lancer was taking the Lesser Grail back under Kirei's orders...

And the Masters of Saber and Rider had dropped by the Kotomine Church earlier that day.

That only left the Archer Servant...

So this was the Servant who shared the same Class as him?

... how on earth was this an Archer-class Servant?

Jaune, for his part, had been drawn by the sounds of explosions during his patrols, and rushed over to the forest around the mountain to see a guy in a full suit of golden armor balancing himself on a tree (somehow), staring down at a series of smoking craters and bloodstains.

And his Aura was warning him there was something seriously wrong with that guy.

Even so, though...

"I won't ask again!" Jaune yelled. "What did you do?!"

"Who do you think you are, to demand anything of me, mongrel?" Gilgamesh retorted with a glare.

"I'm the Huntsman." Jaune replied, his hand reaching for the hilt of his sword. "And who are you?"

"... you don't even recognize your King, mongrel?" Gilgamesh taunted, his voice dropping a few decibels.

"... are you delusional or something?" Jaune couldn't help but ask. "What in Oum's name makes you think you're my King?"

He'd already had a King, after all, and he'd failed Arthur pretty badly, apparently.

"I am the King of Heroes, mongrel, and the only King of this world." Gilgamesh proclaimed, before fixing him with a glare. "A Servant playing Hero, who can't even recognize the King of Heroes, let alone show him the proper respect... such a slight is worthy of punishment, don't you think?"

"Well, good thing I'm not from this world, nutjob." Jaune drew his sword, recognizing a death threat when he heard one. "And I'm no hero either."

Not after all his failures.

There was a pause, as the blonde man studied him with his red eyes, and processed his words.

Then, he pronounced his judgement: "Then, Faker... die."

The next thing Jaune knew, dozens of golden portals suddenly materialized into existence behind Nutjob.

And out of each of them, a weapon poked out.

Some were swords, some were spears, some were axes, and some were clubs.

Whatever they were, each and every one of them were melee weapons setting off his instincts.

And they were all pointed at him.

Then the weapons began raining down.

Immediately, Jaune jumped away, before his eyes widened as they exploded upon impact.

Good news - he now knew what had caused the craters (and probably the bloodstains)

Bad news - he was now fighting a guy who could apparently summon and command flying explosive weapons.

... eh, Nutjob didn't have anything on Pyrrha.

More and more portals appeared.

More and more swords flew out at him.

He didn't have a grasp on Nutjob's limits, so...

Jaune immediately knocked the first few out of the way, before charging forward, unsure if he could weather the entire barrage.

As swords rained down behind him, he used the force of the explosions to propel himself forward, before chopping down the tree Nutjob had been standing on.

Gilgamesh's eyes widened, and though he easily stuck the landing, he was infuriated.

"How dare a mongrel like you force me to touch the ground!"

Hundreds of portals then burst into existence all around Jaune, covering every angle.

"Damn you! When I'm done with you, nothing will exist!"

They fired.

Jaune immediately plunged his sword into the ground, and focused his Aura.

They impacted.

Gilgamesh stared at the smoke where the Faker had once been, feeling a mixture of annoyance and vindication.

A mere Faker should have never given him so much trouble.

Then his eyes widened, as he felt something he'd never felt before.

Which should have been impossible.

The smoke cleared.

A cracked and shattered dome of ice briefly stood, before it crumbled.

And standing there, untouched by the Noble Phantasms that had poured out of the Gate of Bablyon...

The Faker stood, tall and defiant, glowing a radiant gold as he pulled forth a never before seen sword from the earth, that was simultaneously frozen, on fire, and electrified.

"Impossible!" Gilgamesh roared, as he hastily summoned forth other portals. "You... what are you?!"

"Like I said..." Jaune spat, quietly noting his Aura levels. Just maintaining that wall of ice and enduring that barrage had knocked him deep into the yellow... but there was no way he was going to let this guy realize that. "I'm not from this world, Fake King."

Gilgamesh ignored the slight, as he studied the unique sword.

The Gate of Babylon held all the treasures in the World.

The Noble Phantasms used by the Heroic Spirits that came after him were little more than pale imitations of his original treasures, spread across the Earth and gaining fame after his death released them.

And yet...

He had never seen that sword before.

That sword was not a modern creation, and it could not be.

Just to be sure, he used Sha Naqba Imuru.

His Clairvoyance did not lie.

The Noble Phantasm in the Faker's Hand had no name, and was not of this world.

And most of all...

He could not see anything about the Faker.

No True Name, nothing about his past, present, or future.

Even his Class was almost unreadable.

Ų̷̝̣͎̩̤̒̐͑͜͝N̷̙͓͖̱͌͋K̸̦̘̔̔̔̓̾̑Ń̴̨̩͉̖͍̤͚̝̻̰̪́̽̓͗Ö̵̧̰̖̞́̎W̴̢͚̭̹̝̫͉͂̍̈́͋̃͗̀̕͠Ṅ̷̡̮̰̓͑̽̏̍̊̈́̕.

Between the obscuring of information and the golden glow, he could only come to one conclusion.

"... outsider..." Gilgamesh hissed, reluctantly reaching for the one Noble Phantasm he'd restrained himself from using. "I know what you are, King in Yellow!"

"Who?" Jaune blinked.

"I know not why you have dared to step foot on this planet, Foreigner, but you have picked the wrong target!" Gilgamesh roared, even as he drew forth what Jaune could only describe as a golden sword-lance-thing, with a dull tip and three black cylinders with red markings along the length of its "blade". "This world is mine!"

Jaune's Aura immediately began screaming at him, and he immediately rushed forward as the cylinders began rotating in alternating directions, feeling as though something really bad was about to happen.

And then golden chains burst forth from all around him, and Jaune was forced to defend himself from them, deflecting and parrying the snake-like chains even as his Aura kept screaming that the weapon in the nutjob's hand was the true threat.

"ENUMA-"

The crimson markings began to shine so brightly that the three cylinders looked red to Jaune, and he desperately tried to reach the nutjob as they began rotations became so quick that a whirlwind seemed to form around the weapon, a vortex of energy that Jaune definitely didn't want to be hit by.

Just a few more steps...

Then the energy at the tip seemed to catalyze, and a star suddenly burned away the night.

The trees in the area that weren't suddenly reduced to ash were blown away by its formation, and Jaune himself was forced to plant his blade into the ground, to keep himself grounded.

The golden armored maniac pointed the tip of his weapon at Jaune, and pronounced the last word.

"ELISH!"

For a brief moment, there was no noise.

For a brief moment, the torrent of fiery red energy soundlessly travelled at its target like a solar flare.

Then, it struck.

The surroundings trembled and shook, and the small animals in the forest that hadn't managed to flee were reduced to nothingness.

In the nearby city the attack was registered as an earthquake (one that had apparently ruptured a gas main).

Emergency services were activated, and the Ryuudou family received dozens of urgent calls, as people saw the fire in the forest around the mountain, and checked on their well-being (fortunately, the Ryuudou Temple had been empty that day, save for three lodgers - Souichirou Kuzuki, his wife-to-be, and their personal assistant).

Unfortunately, as the temple was on the outskirts of the town, the fire department would not be able to reach the temple for another hour.

And at the epicenter of the blast?

Jaune tasted the might of Ea, The Sword That Cut The World Apart.

The power of the blast ground away at the laws of space where it struck, creating a rip in the world around Jaune.

And from the tear in the world came a howling vortex, that swallowed and crushed everything in its target area, devouring everything in its path...

Except for the man who had faced down the World-Eater in single combat, and was able to endure the vortex that swallowed the world around him, leaving behind an empty vacuum.

That was only the beginning, though.

At the center of the raging storm, the energy from the Sword of Rupture intensified, the vortex finally consumed even itself, and collapsed.

And then, the Star of Creation performed its duty, and revealed the truth of genesis.

In the Beginning, the Heavens, the Earth, and the Underworld were One.

And thus, in the Abyss that was left after the Vortex was gone, the Planet's primordial form took shape.

A land filled with naught but lava and gases, a hell of scorching heat and intense cold.

The land before time, a place where organic existence should have been all but impossible...

Except for the man whose soul had tasted the fires of Hell itself, and walked out intact.

And finally, it created a New Truth, as it sundered the Heavens, the Earth, and the Underworld, leaving behind a New World where the only thing left to shine was Ea, the Star of Creation.

Except it wasn't.

The power of Ea finally faded, its mission complete, and the dust settled...

Revealing a still-standing man from another world, his golden glow diminished but still existent.

Even as the new star had scorched the blasted hellscape, Jaune's battered and abused Aura shimmered and flickered, refusing to bow so easily to yet another wave of nuclear energy.

Gilgamesh couldn't help but flinch, as Jaune took a step towards him, unable to believe that anything in the current era could survive a blow from Ea, even if he hadn't fully charged it.

Then Jaune's Aura shattered, finally spent, and he collapsed.

Before Gilgamesh could celebrate his victory, however, he felt a presence he hadn't felt since his reign in Uruk.

The Foreigner's blade, which had gone out as he'd collapsed, suddenly reignited.

Instead of a mixture of three elements, however, only one thing radiated from it.

No longer suppressed by its wielder's Aura, the Argent Energy that had been imbued within the blade by bathing it in the blood of demons erupted, a torrent of Hellfire that crept up the Nameless Blade and engulfed its wielder.

Gilgamesh immediately raised Ea once more, refusing to let the unholy fusion of Hastur and Hell get back up, but the blast of energy was simply absorbed by the Argent Energy that cocooned Jaune's body.

Meanwhile, Jaune's consciousness, barely hanging on after enduring vacuum, poisonous gases, scorching winds, and nuclear radiation, felt something familiar begin to whisper to him.

You're going to die here.

Die, and be forgotten.

Die, and never fulfil your tasks.

Die, and never see your home again.

Die, and never atone for your mistakes.

Suddenly, Jaune saw himself standing strong and tall, empowered by Argent energy.

UNLESS YOU SUBMIT TO ME!

The image shifted, showing him standing triumphantly over the broken body of the blonde he'd been fighting.

EMBRACE ME, LET ME IN, AND I CAN SAVE YOU!

Then the image shifted once more, now showing him returning to Remnant via hellish portal.

I CAN GIVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU COULD EVER DESIRE!

...

...

...

No.

It was because of his friends, his family, his beliefs, that he could not accept its offer.

He knew what Hell did, what it demanded.

How could he ever face his friends or his family, if he became like Spider-Brain, unleashed Hell upon another world, and threw away his beliefs?

IF YOU DIE HERE, YOU WILL NOT RETURN.

YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FIX WHAT YOU DID TO CAMELOT.

That was the thing, wasn't it?

He couldn't ever fix what he'd done to Camelot.

He couldn't go back in time and fix his mistake.

All he could do, was learn from them, and honor their memories.

Even if this was it, even if he could never get back up...

To surrender who he was and to live with the knowledge that he'd betrayed his beliefs was worse than dying.

He would never fail his friends' expectations again.

...

THEN DIE.

...

His fist subconsciously clenched.

He may have chosen death over damnation...

But that didn't mean he'd just lie down and die.

...

Ȕ̴͇̙͚́̆ņ̸̛̥̞̤͔͕̞̜̬͙̼̗͎̳̈́̏͂͊̃͆̈ṱ̵̠̖̼̱̽́i̵̢͕̩̩̫̪̜̠̪̻͎͎͊͌̐̃ͅl̷̡̧̛͙̙̺̹̫̞͙͓̦͇̦͙̭̈́̐͂̀̓̀̆͐̓́̈́̆̚ ̵̣͚̝̩̰͚̒̽͐̽̅͋̀̌̚d̵̬̭͚̪͉̟̞̜̳͙̬̓̄̒̇̉̈́̎̈̐͝ȩ̴̨̩̱͈̜̳̣̬̩̬͚̻̼̏̎̈́̇̔͊̚͠à̷̘͇̟͔̤͊̇̍̒t̵̮̥̱̅̓̎̇̀͒͒̅͗͒̅̔͘h̶̰̱̲͔̣͉̻̯̗͖̣͉̹̪̿̈́̚ ̵̢͓̹̘͔͋̇̈́̐̈̅̉̈́͑̓̕͝͝d̶̨̬͍̠̠͎̺̯̳͚̹̘̤̹̎̓ͅo̴͙͍̪̠̝̥̜̎̕͝ ̵̼̩̬̙̰̔͛̀̒̈́̈́̇̾̈́̚u̵̢̬͍̹̜̱̣̎̀̚ŝ̴̢̛̲̯̯̬̘̮̬̒̉͐̐͒̃̐͝ ̷̧̢̨̘̥̱̪̖̩̟̩͎͔̝̈́p̵͕̾̈́̈́̽͗͋̇̄̓a̶͚̺̹͚̤̓͌̀͜r̴̤͇̞̝͇̘͐̿̉͌̽͐̅̈̚ţ̴̨̙̤͍̪͈͕̙̽͗̑̃͋,̶̠̹̮̪͈̤̮̩̥̲͚̬͖̀̊̍̊̃͒̓͒̿͌̚͝͝ ̸̧͙̲͎̥̭̼̟͕͈́̃̐̐̈̔̆͛͗͐̈́́̀̃͜͜S̸̟̬̫͛̅̒̒̈́̃̿̕̕ȋ̴̡̙̓̐̓̓͐͛̓̿̇͋̂̏̏͝r̵͚̹̘̓̾̀̽̀͒̒̀̀̾͜ ̸͚͇̱̩̍͋V̶̡̬͎͈͔̗͎̭̯͈̳͖̹͂͑͜ͅo̴̥̓̈́̒̆͌̍̈̈̂̈́̀̕͘m̴̡̜̒̓͊̄͂̂ǐ̶̗͕̭̘̦̂̿̐̀̈̊͗͗͑̕ͅṭ̸̨̧̢̛̤̪̩͇̘̳̽̊͑͋̿͗̐̂̾͑͘͘̚͜ ̶̨̛̥̬͈̳̘̼̣̝̲͑̅̉̆̍̇̐͊͆͐͑̽̈͝ͅB̸̤͙̗͓̻̣̗̞̩̮̟̤̖̎̀̿̈́̔͋̌̒ó̷̡̤͉̝̻̥̤̥͍̺͙͓̫͍̈́̂̆̀̅̑͒̂̔͌͗̇̾͝ͅy̸̧̛̹͍̠̪͔̳̤̝̫̆̃̾̄̄̚͘͝ͅ.̸̤̲́̎̉..

...

Instinctively, driven by self-preservation, his soul desperately reached to a connection he'd all but forgotten about.

-EMIYA RESIDENCE-

"Are you okay, Master?" Artoria asked as the tremors subsided, turning to her still-shell-shocked Master as she quietly reflected once again that Shiro Emiya was nothing like Kiritsugu Emiya.

Sure, she'd wanted to win the Holy Grail War, but she couldn't bring herself to condone of that man's methods, on grounds that Jaune would have probably not approved if she'd gotten him back in such a dishonorable manner.

At least Shiro Emiya didn't seem to have any aptitude for long-range guns or high explosives...

"I'm... just trying to figure stuff out, Rider." Shiro reassured her with a forced smile, misunderstanding the question. "Just had a lot of things dropped in my lap in the past 24 hours, you know?"

Like the existence of Heroic Spirits, the "Holy Grail War" (even though the artifact in question was magical, not a Holy Grail, and only consisted of seven Master-Servant pairs duking it out), and the fact that she had not one, but two sisters!

Even now, she still couldn't believe that the Tohsaka Rin was her biological sister...

And she also couldn't believe that Kiritsugu had previously had a daughter that he'd abandoned.

As in, she literally couldn't believe the last one.

That didn't seem like the man who'd adopted her.

"I see..." Artoria nodded sympathetically, understanding her Master's plight. It hadn't taken her long to figure out that the Magus who'd summoned her had done so by accident, without knowing what she was getting into. "Well, at least Miss Tohsaka seems... nice."

For a magus, at least.

"She's pretty nice, yeah." Shiro smiled, remembering the girl who'd been her schoolmate. "If she hadn't come... well, I'm just thankful we don't have to fight her..."

"Well, hopefully your relationship with her fares better than how my relationship with my older sister did." Artoria said sincerely.

"... do you want to talk about it?" Shiro offered, deciding to take the chance to get to know her "Servant" better.

"There's really not much to talk about..." Artoria declined, before murmuring: "Morgan was just petty that I got the throne, so she used her magic to get rid of the man I... cared for."

"..." Shiro's jaw dropped.

She... had not been expecting something that heavy.

Wait, "Morgan"...

Hadn't she heard that name before?

Had it been in her dream, earlier that morning?

"Uh, Rider... does your name happen to be "Artoria"?" Shiro couldn't help but ask.

"... how did you know that?" Artoria raised an eyebrow.

"I saw it in a dream I had this morning..." Shiro admitted.

"Ah..." Artoria nodded in understanding. "Masters and Servants can see each others' lives in their dreams. May I know what exactly you saw?"

"Uh..." Shiro's brows furrowed, as she tried to recall it. "You were on a hill, with Saber... I mean Velvet..."

"The prelude to the Battle of Camlann," Artoria recalled, before reluctantly explaining: "... I had just gathered the materials required to attempt to bring back... the person Morgan banished, but Sir Velvet sabotaged it at the last moment, before fleeing and openly rebelling. I... in hindsight, it could have been averted, but I was too enraged by Sir Velvet's betrayal..."

"..." Shiro decided not to comment on what she'd heard Velvet accuse Artoria of.

Probably best not to press that button.

However, she recalled her history class two days ago.

Sir Velvet...

Camlann...

"Wait, are you the King Arthur?!" Shiro yelped in realization, putting two and two together.

"... that is how history remembers me, yes." Artoria confirmed with a grimace.

"But you're a woman!" Shiro exclaimed.

"I kept my true gender a secret, in order to be King." Artoria explained.

"... how did you keep it a secret with those?!" Shiro pointed to Artoria's very noticeable chest, which currently threatened to spill out of the dress she'd worn under her armor.

"... I was a late bloomer, and I wore very bulky plate armor." Artoria fought down a wince, remembering how uncomfortable trying to bind it had been at the start. "Also, Merlin helped."

Right, Merlin.

That could probably explain everything.

As she recalled the history class, though, another fact came to mind.

"The man you and Velvet were fighting over... the man you cared for... was he the Knight of Compassion?" Shiro asked timidly, not wanting to accidentally bring up old wounds.

Artoria's smile grew sorrowful, and she looked away, before quietly replying: "Yes, he was."

Shiro fought down a wince, seeing that she'd touched a nerve, but before she could say anything Artoria remorsefully continued: "He should have been King, though. He would have been a better ruler than me."

"... would you like to talk about him?" Shiro offered gently.

"... I would like that, yes." Artoria nodded, remembering Jaune's fondness for story-telling. Taking a deep breath, she began "The Knight of Compassion was... well, besides being compassionate, he was one of the most ridiculous and unbelievable individuals you could ever imagine, even more so than Merlin, but then again I should expect nothing less of a man summoned from another dimension by-"

Suddenly, before Artoria could finish her sentence, she doubled over, feeling a sudden and unfamiliar sensation in her left hand.

That soon changed, however.

Even as Shiro immediately moved over her, checking on her, she felt a presence reach through her left hand into her dormant magical core.

(As a Servant (even a living one), her true body was still back in the past at Camlann, and her current body a mere vessel.)

And then, as the connection was established, a torrent of Argent Energy flowed into the inactive magical core.

Fortunately for her, the Argent Energy had been weakened by years of suppression, and the hellish energy was immediately and easily purified by the divine power of Rhongomyniad.

That wasn't the end, though.

The purified energy then reached the heart of her dormant magical core.

And within it, a sleeping Red Dragon awoke.

It consumed the energy, and used it as a catalyst to reignite the slumbering magical core.

Immediately, it began generating and processing magical energy, in quantities virtually unknown to modern-day magi.

And that still wasn't the end.

Instead of circulating around her body, however, all the prana her core was outputting was specifically being directed into one direction.

The direction of her left hand.

The initial source of the foreign presence.

As she felt her prana flowing out of her, a few memories came to mind, unbidden by her but influenced by the familiar presence.

The familiar you summon will likely be a Heroic Spirit, Artoria.

Maintaining their continued existence will be a drain on your magical core.

Maybe this whole "familiar" gig is until "death do us part".

After all, that's why you summoned me and all, right?

Artoria's eyes widened, as she stared at the brightly glowing symbol on the back of her left hand, and in a breathless whisper asked: "... Jaune?"


Author's Note: And here we go, as Artoria (and yes, she does qualify for the Rider class, but her appearance is Lancer Artoria) finds out Jaune is/was alive (for lack of a better word), Rin finds out her sister is alive, Jaune finds out that Enuma Elish is utterly overpowered, and I hit the accelerator and take out at least four Servants in a single chapter.

Just a reminder... Velvet's initial impression of Artoria was... poor, to put it lightly. And when Artoria announced her true identity and her plans, she didn't explain her personal feelings, her emotional investment in wanting to marry Jaune (not helped by the fact that, by her admission, she'd been keeping it a secret from him, and was planning on throwing it all right in his face and hoping for the best).

And that problem only worsened as, outwardly, Artoria grew colder and less emotional. By the time Velvet finally rebelled, eight years after Jaune's disappearance (and ten years after Artoria drew the Sword from the Stone), she was under the impression that, to Artoria, Jaune had been, and if re-summoned would be, little more than a tool, someone she would use to rule Camelot and improve the lives of her subjects, with little to no regard for his personal well-being (a situation not helped by the fact that she'd taken Jaune's self-deprecating jokes as basically the gospel truth).

As for why they're on decent terms now... as Velvet watched all the death and destruction occur around her while she dueled Artoria, she learned that the mercenary force that had come to save her had been forced to burn down a few innocent villages in order to prevent them from alerting Camelot about what had happened.

The cherry on top, was finding out that Camelot was under siege too, remembering what Jaune had said about what their duty was, and Artoria revealing that no, she didn't see him as a tool, and she did in fact love Jaune.

Velvet then tried to surrender and call the mercenary army off, after Agravain and Horsa were killed by the Britons, but by then Beowulf had assumed command, and was determined to avenge the Siegfried Reborn.

When she tried to stop him, he smashed through her defense with an explosive blow from the steel club Naegling, and then took the Crocea Mors from her paralyzed form.

Before he could finish her off, though, Artoria stepped forward and defended her niece, simply because it's what Jaune would have done.

Velvet's last vision was seeing a weeping Artoria struggling to even prop herself up with Rhongomyniad, and hearing her regrets, unaware that Velvet was still conscious.

While Artoria hasn't fully forgiven Velvet for what she did (especially after saying Morgan did Jaune a favor), Velvet has re-acknowledged Artoria as her king, and is a lot more respectful to her than she would otherwise be, though things are still pretty awkward...

On a side note... if Ruby Ironwood, Artoria, Velvet, and Blake d'Arc could be considered his students, Ruby has copied his offensive style (having learned by watching him against the Enclave), Velvet's the one who is closest to him in terms of defense (having being trained by him), Blake's the one who inherited his miracles (for obvious reasons), and Artoria?

Artoria's the only one who can actually go toe-to-toe with him and fight him on even terms, since she learned with him and sparred with him.

Also yeah... in the greatest asspull of the century, Jaune's sword has basically been imbued with Argent Energy ever since his misadventures in Hell, hence why he could briefly use Hellfire back in Hueco Mundo. However, as long as his spirit remains strong, his Aura has been more than sufficient in suppressing its influence...

You know, unless someone were to, I don't know... hypothetically hypnotize him and draw out all of the negativity from his subconscious, and then utterly crush his spirit by throwing him throughout time and space...

Of course, just because it can whisper to him, and attempt to influence him, doesn't mean it'll succeed in corrupting him. Jaune's not so pure that it can't tempt him, but he's strong-willed and strong-hearted enough to resist even a direct connection with the Spider Mastermind.

And before anyone complains... yes, Jaune is pretty outmatched by Servants. He survived the encounter with Cu Chulainn, after Lancer had been fighting Velvet and chased him around town for four hours, and even then it took him a lot of Aura to recover from getting hit by one Gae Bolg. If he went toe-to-toe with Berserker... well, maybe if he was lucky he'd take a few lives, and if he was extremely lucky he'd escape with his life.

As for Ea... Shirou Emiya survived a "low-power" blast in the Unlimited Blade Works route (according to the wiki). Jaune's Aura shatters after one blast (and a few minor barrages from Gate of Babylon), and even then it's as much due to just how much he's been through as the fact that Gilgamesh just tore through Berserker, Caster, and Assassin by himself, and what Enuma Elish actually does.