EDIT: My sword collection is right next to my bed. Just a warning to stave off anyone from trying to murder me as retribution for the terrible ideas I've given SWG.

Chapter… 4? I forget. Anyway, onwards and upwards. Disclaimer: I use Japanese words to describe some things (mainly houses). If they're wrong, I guess I'm just bad at researching, hopefully, it makes enough sense anyhow. (As a side note, this has gotten so long that my laptop is having trouble loading up the google doc.)


Weapons, no, noble phantasms peeked out of golden ripples in the sky. Swords, axes, spears and hammers peaked their heads out of these ripples ominously. They lined up above his shoulders like an impassable wall. The obvious threat behind it was enough to make the air feel thick.

Saber hadn't moved, electing to go with the deer in headlights route. "So you are the third servant Rider had detected. Have you been eavesdropping and now plan to take us both out after learning our identities?" Saber surmised, gritting her teeth unconsciously.

The gilded servant chuckled in response, crossing both arms across his chest. "If I had intended to do such, I would have. The order I've come to deliver is something much more important than petty espionage. What need have I for petty tricks of the Assassin?" He closed his eyes, scowling like someone had passed gas in his direction. "If you have yet to discern the legacy which stands before you then you are truly in need of my order."

Rider spoke, and Saber wanted to tape his mouth shut. "So, you missed the show of Saber and Lancer." He pointed out, scratching his face. "While I would enjoy regaling the events with you, I must admit I'm rather interested in what this order of yours might be, legacies or not." Rider ended with a smile and both fists on his hips.

Golden Boy, who was stood on a stack of sea cans, looked down between the two other servants and smiled. It was a truly evil, malicious grin. One which sent shivers through all watching members of the Einzbern team. "While I dislike how you rush me, I must admire your eagerness."

Saber grew upset, finally shouting with a little more anger than she may have intended. "Eagerness for what? I grow tired of this banter and the disruptions to my duels."

The golden hero hmph'ed before pausing almost for dramatic effect. "Eager to submit and yield victory with your death of course." The way he spoke was as if such a thought were common knowledge, as if giving their lives was expected of them and that disobeying was something naturally wrong.

"Hm… So does this mean you won't become a member my endless army?" Rider asked softly.

… … ...

Through his mind, Saber had sent him plans. Since this new servant's arrival, they had mentally discussed their next actions. Both of them held a common goal - which was surprising. Irisviel had to get out of there or else she would surely get hurt. So the pair would combine their tactical intelligence to pull off something incredibly stupid, but equally as effective.

Through this meeting, Saber had held her pose with one hand resting upon her blade's invisible pommel. Suddenly, Invisible Air came loose and vicious winds tore around her form. She wrapped her hand around the blade's handle and with a snap, she held it in a reverse grip. The tip of the sword pointed towards the German woman and released a concentrated - albeit softened - blast of wind. When the motion concluded, Saber's form was obscured as weapons slung by the golden servant struck her position. Dust clouded the entire area from the impacts. Only the occasional spray of sparks, shards of broken weaponry and sounds of grating metal revealed a battle taking place within.

Irisviel flew backward more than thirty feet due to the gust. She made a soft noise at first but otherwise was quiet. Nothing could stop her body from natural flailing its arms in panic, unfortunately. The white fur hat she had been wearing didn't accompany her journey skywards. Instead, it fell to the ground and was sliced apart by a golden blade flung out from the cloud of dust. Kiritsugu had been instructed by the King of Knights to move exactly fourteen running steps to his left. Following orders, he put the pieces together and opened his arms. Kiritsugu deftly caught the homunculus projectile and returned to his place of hiding. When they were around the corner out of immediate sight he set his wife down on the ground.

Kiritsugu placed his back to the wall and motioned for Irisviel to move further away from the battle. This new servant was decimating the area below him with a rain of weaponry. One stray weapon could kill either of them easily. Kiritsugu still felt the steady drain of Saber on his mana so she was alive at least. Secretly he was hoping, almost praying that something would distract this lavish fool from his own servant. Saber was formidable but a torrential wave of noble phantasms could stop any hero.

Answering Kiritsugu's silent wishes, a ghastly howl pierced through the sounds of battle. With that noise alone, everyone halted to view its origin. A shadowy figure was just standing statue-still in front of the warehouse, head down towards the pavement. When the golden servant turned to gaze over at this new interloper, the dark figure snapped its head up to lock eyes. Or rather, lock eyes to helmet. This creature was hard to properly interpret. Its outward appearance was that of a knight. The purple-black plate mail he was clad in detailed beyond description. Overlapping sections, wicked curved edges and smooth rounded slopes. It was not bulky, but far from being paper thin. Engravings were lovingly inscribed into the metal surface but a smoky haze around the servant made them indiscernible. Strange tendrils were hanging from his back and shoulders, and a wispy blue strand flickered from the top of his helmet. Surrounding the knight was a shadowy haze which almost stained the very ground he tread upon.

Looking beyond the knight's appearance, trying to get a reading on their potential, actually caused pain. Every time Kiritsugu tried, a fierce pounding began behind his eyes and his vision blurred. He reasoned that the shadows acted as a sort of deceptive noble phantasm. "I'd put money on that being Berserker." Kiritsugu mumbled.

A grumble and a slight clank of metal broke the awkward silence. "Yet another mongrel enters. I wonder if this one shall prove wiser than the previous by surrendering." The Golden servant commented, sneering openly. The new mongrel in question screamed in response. A hollow but violently angry noise which sounded painful to produce. "Not an ordinary mongrel but a rabid dog. I'll take pleasure in putting you down for disgracing my form with those foul eyes of yours." The Golden God growled. Without a sound, the ripples in mid-air turned as if on a pivot. All of them pointed toward the black knight before doubling in number. The black knight howled like a feral beast before a volley of weapons streamed towards him. Since the attention of Goldy was displaced, the dust around Saber and Rider settled and Kiritsugu could check on the pair.

Rider had dematerialized his chariot at some point and his master was nowhere to be seen. The two servants, potential enemies before the barrage, were back-to-back and sweating with exertion. Nicks and scrapes lined their forms but all things considered, they were perfectly fine. It was almost humorous to see the large, muscle-bound form of Rider almost fully eclipsing the petite frame of Saber. Rider had long since withdrawn his blade, a spatha, to defend himself. The entire landscape around them was littered with weaponry, broken shards of metal and dust. The asphalt below had been battered so much that it became powdered and was now listing to the ground. Checking for more details, Kiritsugu noticed that Rider was wounded:

He was missing the wonderful cape he had on before.

… … …

This night had gone from good, to better but now was looking outright unwinnable. The pompous pretty boy was focusing on Berserker - which was a good thing. That black knight was a true menace in all forms of combat. With uncanny dexterity and strength, it snatched weaponry from mid-flight and used the taken tools to destroy more incoming blades. Kiritsugu could hardly tell, but it seemed that objects he touched changed in structure. They became blackened with pulsing red lines along their points of weakness. The held item actually became the servant's noble phantasm. B-Rank weapons became A-rank in the servant's hands. Regardless of the type, the black knight managed to wield the weapon held like a master. Saber might be able to handle him one-on-one but she wouldn't be able to do much beyond survive should there be the handicap of uneven numbers.

The pair of unlikely allies took one breath to regain their stamina before splitting apart. Saber with her speed and dexterity elected to leap along a destroyed pile of metal which had once been a sea can. She climbed up to the golden servant's level while he was distracted with Berserker. Rider, on the other hand, moved to the ground below the golden servant and simply waited with sword in hand.

When Saber reached the metal plateau, she charged straight towards the pompous servant. His face was set in a deep scowl, growing deeper with each passing second as he focused entirely on the surviving Berserker. "You dare defy a direct order from the King of Heroes? Dare to wield my treasures like your own playthings? For your insolence, I will wipe every trace of your body from my world!" He shouted wildly. The ripples in the air around this supposed King of Heroes expanded. At least three dozen weapons primed and shot towards the mad knight with stunning velocity. Each of these new weapons were stronger than those fired previously. All of them were A-rank and similarly, they were all enchanted or cursed. Every weapon fired left a golden trail behind in the night. The trails actually produced light and slightly illuminated the area before exploding violently against Berserker's various taken-over weaponry. In his overzealous ranting, the golden servant hadn't even noticed Saber.

Saber lowered her blade to her left, barely skimming the top of the sea can as she growled out a cry of exertion. In a diagonal slash, she attempted to bisect the sword slinger at the hip. Even though the golden servant chose to throw his weapons magically while standing overtop his targets, let it be known that he was far from weak or slow. Saber's cry moved his attention and on reactions alone, the blond servant leapt off the edge of the sea can - into the chest of a brutish redhead.

… … ..

Iskandar had been waiting patiently. He had anticipated that Saber would be unable to land a mortal wound on Goldie, so the man waited until she neared. When he heard her cry, he leapt into the air. With splendid timing, he jumped directly in line with the dodging servant. His spatha made an overhand swing to deliver a crushing blow to the skull, few could survive such a direct blow. His attack did land, however not where he had intended. Seemingly average steel chains had impeded his blade in its swing and sent it askew. These chains were the very same which wrapped around Iskandar soon after his strike drew blood. His arms, wrists, legs, chest and neck were all coiled with chain that tightened each passing second. Iskandar's keen eyes found the source as he was being trapped - rippling puddles in the air. Another trick of Golden Boy it would seem.

Rider's blade missed Goldie's head but found purchase in a trap of his armour. The inside of his pauldron gave way to a thinner piece of plating which is where Rider's sword struck, pierced skin but became lodged quickly after. That golden armour was incredibly durable if not ludicrously expensive. The gold servant fell straight down to the ground with Saber chasing quickly after. The sound of screeching and deflections resumed, along with more explosions from behind him. Rider struggled against his binds but found they would not give. It was getting rather difficult to breathe and just as he thought this to be the end, the chains suddenly loosened. Rider took the opening to free himself from the bindings. He managed to free one arm and his neck before they re-tightened. While still held in the air, at least now Rider could see what had happened.

… … …

Saber missed, but Rider took up her slack. Not wishing to squander the moment, her blade rose high to prepare an overhead attack on the red-eyed prince. If Rider had to take a slight wound to end this servant - that would be acceptable. Her sword descended but bounced off as the gold servant batted away her blade with his hand. She was shocked but didn't allow that to take over the fight. Blood trickled from the servant's shoulder as he fell to the ground. Rider sat suspended in the air by chains of all things. Saber used a taut chain to launch herself downwards like a spear onto the golden man.

Upon landing, the golden god leapt backwards and stared at Saber - who struck the ground just after he moved - with radiant fury. "How dare you! You strike the true king? All of you shall pay dearly for even scratching my armour!" He continued ranting, having another lapse of concentration as Berserker screamed and threw an entire stop sign at his face. The demi-god stumbled clumsily underneath it, stood and then opened up the entire sky with ripples. Unfortunately, in his position on the ground, the sea-cans around him acted as walls which restricted the amount of 'ripples' he could open. Even though he seemed mad enough to go all out - the amount of weaponry was only slightly more than what Berserker had been handling alone.

Saber's goal was to get close enough to force this golden jerk into melee combat. By his motions and reactions, he was no swordsman. He might have been Caster, however, Saber never once detected magical energy within his weapons. They were real, each and every one of them was a physical item. The only magic from this servant was that of his armour and the opening of each ripple in the sky. His magical capacity and strength were actually lower than her own. If she were to make an educated guess - she would place this Golden God in the Archer class.

Berserker flew past Saber like a black bullet, finding his path blocked suddenly as eight blades flew directly towards his chest. The mad knight was howled and managed to avoid this volley but had to take a step back as the next hit him off guard. A thin rapier-like blade would have pierced his chest were it not for Saber striking it away while she herself charged forwards. The two knights now worked on covering one another in their advance. Saber felt that this cooperation was rather one-sided. Berserker seemed to be allowing weapons through which were aimed at her. Although it was probably just the Madness Enhancement clouding the servant's judgement. It actually resulted in a wound to Saber. She had thought the mad knight would take down a blade on the left but he hadn't and it caught under her arm. It sliced straight through her and left a considerable gash.

"Enough!" Archer shouted again, extending his hand towards a ripple which formed beside him. Even though he was speaking and focusing on the item soon to be in his hand, the barrage never once slowed. "I will end this all right n-" He twitched, suddenly looking towards the sky. "Even you? You will stand alongside these mongrels in the disgrace of my character?" He paused, absently continuing the torrent of weapons on the two other servants. The ripple close to his outstretched hand faded. "Hmph. You will pay dearly for this, Tokiomi." The servant growled, with unhidden ferocity. All at once, the weapon rain stopped. Ripples appeared in front of him pointing downwards but seemingly nothing exited. Archer crossed his arms over his chest and sneered at Berserker and Saber. "Prepare yourself Saber, as next time I will not hesitate in removing your existence from this world." He commented, chuckling darkly as Berserker slammed into an invisible wall. Saber quickly realized that the ripples that had seemingly deposited nothing actually dropped invisible shields. As if it were a parting gift, a ripple appeared behind Berserker. The mad knight hadn't expected to run into anything and without warning he found a sword jutting from his chest. That single attack didn't kill him but obviously wounded the knight and brought him to his knees. As the wounded Berserker howled, Archer only laughed while turning into a golden shower of sparks.

Knowing his chance for fighting was over, the mad dog howled out and faded into purple mist. The blade that had impaled him clattered to the ground noisily before dematerializing. Saber unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. Her wounds had mostly healed and she had plenty of energy to fight with but for tonight she just wanted to rest. The information overload and display of raw power mentally exhausted her. Or perhaps it was a curse from one of Archer's damned blades. In her first day most of the other Servants had made themselves known. Each were formidable foes which would require all of her effort to defeat. A large crashing noise from behind her reminded the petite king that Rider had been suspended in mid-air by Archer.

"Evidently the King of Heroes is lacking in manners." Rider commented, standing from a pile of twisted metal and concrete while brushing himself off. Unceremoniously, the brute cracked his neck. As if on command, the mantle and cape regenerated itself to the point of its former glory. "At least you were civilized enough to decline my invitation. Goldie only responded with swords - not even using his own arms either. A truly sad display of decency." He shook his head, but suddenly brightened and spoke through a laugh. "But what a display of power! I had nearly thought we-"

"Rider." Saber snapped, getting the large man to shut up through surprise. "You and I are no more allies than the gods and man. We worked together to survive an onslaught from a common foe. Unless our masters decide otherwise you are still my enemy in this Grail War." The King of Knights hefted up her blade then made a pained noise. Even though the cuts had healed, the impact from hammers and blades alike had bruised her muscles and they simply refused to work any more without adrenaline. It also didn't help that the large gash under her left arm wasn't regenerating properly. Most likely a curse from one of Archer's blades.

Rider laughed and it only served to infuriate the King of Knights. "You can hardly lift a blade let alone sw-" He began, cutting himself off as the mentioned blade nearly sliced the smile off his face. Saber opted to use her blade one handed so he managed to halt the swing with a backhand of his spatha. "Perhaps my words were premature." He admitted, pushing her blade away and taking one large step back. "However I believe both sides have exhausted themselves thoroughly. Must we continue fighting?"

Through her mind, Kiritsugu snorted. Had he been watching and listening this whole time? She knew as well as he did that they both had ample amounts of fight left in them. His snort was a confirmation of this. Rider might have height and weight but he wasn't nearly as skilled in combat as Lancer. He had lead armies his whole life, allowing his soldiers to fight most of the battles in his stead. In direct swordplay, she would best him ten out of ten times. The only worry was his noble phantasm which had yet to reveal itself. Then again, so had hers

Rider looked behind Saber and reflexively she turned. Waver Velvet had made his appearance, limping from around the corner of a sea can. Through a groan, he complained, "Rider… Why'd you have to throw me so damn hard?" He was rubbing his head but upon looking up and spotting Saber he stiffened and gasped. "S-Saber!? Rider why haven't you eliminated her yet?" He cried, seemingly unable to move.

"Easy, boy. I'm merely repaying the favour provided to me in the fight with Archer. I won't be fighting her tonight unless she makes the fi- Second blow." Rider corrected himself, noting a hairline fracture in his blade that had formed while defending against Archer.

"What favour? Those cuts on your back and shoulders?" The small boy shouted, paling a few shades when Saber glared at him.

Rider was indeed in worse shape than Saber. Not only did he have more scrapes and minor wounds, but a long gash also ran diagonally down his back and his shoulders were torn apart by several deep cuts. Saber supposed it was the fact that he was a colossal target.

Saber drowned Rider's ensuing banter out as background noise. She had already decided to cease fighting for tonight. Unless Lancer appeared asking to continue their duel. If he did, her hands would be effectively bound by honour. But even the thought of duelling became secondary in her mind. She was reflecting on Kiritsugu's words and creating new arguments he would have to answer to. She wasn't helping a cold-blooded killer achieve an omnipotent wish granter that was for sure. If his wish truly was as noble as an end of all conflict, she would help him regardless of his methods. Yet she would still complain every chance she got.

"King of Knights? You there?" Rider asked, waving in front of her face to break her away from her own mind. "Where is your master? We would like to discuss a possible ceasefire with them." The redhead smiled.

… … …

… … …

Tokiomi shivered in his basement. He had used a command seal to recall Gilgamesh. He knew very well that trouble would come for him. It was only a question of when. Tokiomi had no idea what his servant was doing. But when the drain on his mana spiked and the raw anger flowing off Gilgamesh came through his mind, something had to be done. He was planning on using his ultimate noble phantasm, Ea. He was so furious, Tokiomi had thought he would need two command seals to reign the servant in. Thankfully one had done the job.

Unsurprisingly, the King of Kings had circumvented his order of: "Do not reveal Ea, return to the manor" by spearing Berserker with one last blade. Hopefully, that small triumph would lessen the King's anger.

The clanking of metal made Tokiomi's skin chill. He turned around and bowed in one motion, beginning his lengthy apology.

Gilgamesh only smiled through his words. Not a pleased or relieved smile, but a mischievous almost predatory gaze. Tokiomi, in a bout of apologies and promises, didn't notice the golden ripple appear behind him.

… … …

… … …

They were watching all along, at least one of them was. A master and a servant, atop a large skyscraper some distance away. The former paced and listened, the latter watched and relayed. Relayed the information regarding an all-out brawl between servants down at the dock.

"Archer has left the field. It would seem that Saber and Rider are electing to go their separate ways. Strange, I would have thought the two to conclude Archer as the ultimate threat. In my opinion, he's rather weak. I have no doubt in my ability to defeat him." The servant went on, squinting to try and gather more detail. The servant was a man, evident by the deep voice which cut through the cold night like a blade through flesh.

"That's good. Have you gauged Saber's ability? And what of the other servants?" The servant's master asked with an excited but coordinated tone.

"Saber is an exceptional servant. In my current form it stands to reason that I would lose should we duel with blades. If she were at a distance is another story." The servant answered, pausing for a moment. "The other servants are skilled in their own ways but I doubt a single one besides Saber could pose much of a threat."

"Oh?" The master asked, confused at his servants grading. Personally, he believed Archer was overpowered. "What advantage does Saber possess that Archer does not?" He asked. The master had also thought Lancer would pose a potential problem. A spear of anti-magic was obviously bane to any Caster was it not?

The servant paused, then turned as if watching something in the distance. "Saber's true name is Arturia Pendragon, the King of Knights. Not only are all of her stats A rank, she has incredible noble phantasms which are even more ludicrous than Archer's."

The master furrowed his brow, halting his pacing to face his servant. "You're telling me she has noble phantasms which are equivalent if not greater than unlimited noble phantasms? That's bullshit and I don't believe it for a second."

Caster sighed roughly, voice edged with the annoyance of having to explain himself. "It's not a matter of how many noble phantasms one has, but how one uses them. That's a simple fact. While Archer may have a near unlimited supply of phantasms, he does not know how and will not use all that is available to him. His stubbornness prohibits him from such. So it's more accurate to say his number of phantasms is a direct representation of his anger. Saber has two incredibly powerful phantasms which she will use without a second thought if its use were to ensure her victory. One of these could wipe Archer out of the war with one strike were it to hit. Her other phantasm could allow her to survive an endless onslaught from that gate of Archer's. She may have even be summoned with more than the two I believe her to have. Carnwennan, Pridwen or even Rhongomyniad are all potential weapons." The servant spat the last name out with blatant spite and anger. "Apart from her noble phantasms, Saber is the ultimate of her class. She has been called the King of Knights for good reason. Of the Knights of the Round, only Lancelot could best her in combat. She has incredible strength, defence and speed. Her mana capacity matches even my own with her dragon origin and her innate abilities are something fearsome. Magical Resistance - Rank A, Mana Burst - Rank A and Instinct - Rank A. Instinct is a pain in the ass to put it bluntly. At such a high rank it borders on precognition. She can dodge attacks unpredictable to most, see her death two steps before it comes and avoid it. If it weren't for D-rank luck, she would be unstoppable." The servant paused, shrugging as if they thought of something last minute. "The only way one could easily defeat her would be to betray her. Ironic that the way she came to die in life could be used to slay her a second time." He chuckled to himself.

The master made a noise before humming appreciatively. "So she should be our main priority in this war. Caster, how do you know of all this?" The question came expectedly. Servants shouldn't be able to discern the identity and precise history of another without hearing their true name. The Throne of Heroes was odd in that way. It provided information of every other servant's abilities but hid the names. When the true name of a servant was revealed, the information "unlocked" and the abilities could be recalled from memory. If a servant had information of another without hearing of their true name - it was because they had known each other before death.

The servant in question paused, then turned around completely. "Let's just say I'm very educated in Arthurian history."

… … …

… … ...

Kiritsugu's head hurt. Not from any injury, no. Saber's voice had been the cause of it. Following the battle at the docks, she had hunted him down alongside Irisviel where she ranted for a half hour about honour and chivalry. After she opened with that he hadn't really listened. He replied with his own comments about the futile nature of heroes and how their glamour drew young men to war. Saber actually managed to get him to relive stories of his time as The Magus KIller. Indescribable situations dealing with the absolute worst of humanity and their creations. He explained how his actions had stopped wars before they began and how deception had directly saved the lives of thousands, hundreds of thousands.

They went back and forth over their own ideals all night. Both of them eventually settled on the fact that they were just different. But one of the two left with a new view of the world. Ultimately, Saber would still fight for Kiritsugu's wish as she believed it to be just. Kiritsugu would still do whatever he had to in his path for the Grail. His methods and attitude were parts of Kiritsugu which bothered the King of Knights. At the very least, her faith regarding the authenticity of his wish was enforced. Following their 'talk', Irisviel drove Saber to the Einzbern Castle where the Einzbern team would be spending the night and following days.

Maiya had done as discussed long before the start of the war. If a master were retreating and she couldn't finish them off, she would simply observe from a distance to discover where they were hiding. Kayneth hadn't even bothered to conceal his trail and the injured man lead the assassin right along.

The Hyatt Hotel was a luxurious building which housed a little more than a thousand people in penthouses and individual apartments. Kayneth had apparently made an entire floor of the building into a labyrinth of magical traps. Maiya and Kiritsugu almost simultaneously elected to demolish the entire building. It was unexpected and would catch the pompous mage with his theoretical pants down. They differed on how to conduct such an operation. Maiya wanted to arm the explosives and drop the entire building just like that. Kiritsugu wanted to evacuate most of the people within before demolishing the hotel. They argued - after the argument with Saber - about which method would get the desired result with minimal risk. Kiritsugu made a key point which won the debate, however: Since Kayneth believed his makeshift workshop to be impenetrable, he wouldn't leave regardless of what went on with the building. Once Maiya agreed with that logic, they worked to establish how to go about evacuating a building. A bomb threat was ironic and fitting. Only workers would be scanning through the building to verify if there were or weren't bombs. It went without saying that they would die. Kiritsugu was looking for a zero loss scenario. So they settled on the only scenario that could evacuate a building and eliminate all possibilities of innocent involvement - a fire alarm. Maiya would set up the explosives and call him when they were ready. Unlike most mages who wouldn't continue the War during the daytime, Kiritsugu didn't care whether it was day or night. If an opportunity presented itself, he would take it.

Kiritsugu had initially intended to be at the castle with Irisviel and Saber, but after the argument, he had felt it better to remain separate for a day. It would allow Saber and himself a respite. He had given Iri and Saber the choice to do as they desired for the day. At night they would establish a more definite plan involving all members of their team for the next day.

All this was why the Magus Killer found himself idle in the early afternoon. His rest at the hotel had been dreamless, something he was unsure whether to be thankful or disappointed with. Rather than sit in the room all day - he decided to conceal his status as a master once more and ensure that his secondary base in the Miyama district was still operable. He had bought the residence a year ago when it went for sale after the previous owner died. The property lined up with his initial plans and he made Acht pay for it as a necessary expenditure for the war. Kiritsugu made sure to get the deed in his name.

While he was out, he could get another stuffed toy for Illya for when he returned. Perhaps wishful thinking, but it was good to be prepared… Why did he suddenly feel as if Saber would like one as well? He gave his head a shake and stood from the bed.

… … …

… … …

It was a stuffed loaf of bread. Kiritsugu thought it was cute in a funny way. He reached into a pocket of his trench coat and withdrew a keyring while standing on the sidewalk. The ring held all the keys he needed for every door on the property. There were nine keys in total. Four of them were typical keys for cylinder locks and each had a duplicate. The ninth key was a large, rusted skeleton key which weighed more than all the other keys combined. Kiritsugu knew it was for the storage shed in the backyard. Cobwebs hanging off the corners of the gate indicated the time spent in disuse. Kiritsugu slipped the key into the wooden gate door - after the third attempt at trying to find the correct key - and pushed it open with his shoulder. An almost satisfying creak of unoiled hinges followed the stiff door swing. Beyond the door, natural paving stones lead towards a sliding paper door. In fact, most of the walls - shoji - were paper. The entire building was designed in a classic traditionalist Japanese style. A true Japanese mansion. Rather than being entirely open to the air, glass panes ran along the external edge of the engawa. Occasionally these panes ended and allowed air to flow.

It was originally built like this and had been lovingly maintained by the older man who used to live within. Its age was actually the only reason it had remained standing despite being placed inside a developing zone: Fuyuki had labelled it a historic site. Kiritsugu had to admit the property had a unique charm to it. All his life he had lived in cutting edge modern dwellings. Something basic but humble like this mansion brought with it a calming air. The Magus Killer found he actually enjoyed his purchase. He stepped through the front gate and made it about halfway down the path towards the door.

The sound of feet running on concrete made him turn around. They were nearing and soon would cross the gate. His fists clenched and he moved to stand defensively. "If you two kids broke into Mister Saito's house again I swear you'll-" A woman began shouting, cutting herself off as she rounded the corner onto the pathway.

She was a younger woman, maybe eighteen with sharp features and bright tan eyes. Her hair was medium length, drawn back into a barely contained ponytail. Her mouth was slightly open out of shock. She wore a simple collared white blouse and a black skirt with tights underneath. Kiritsugu thought she looked familiar, but seeing as how she wasn't a threat he snapped into an open position and tried to imitate her surprise. It was difficult, considering her face looked like she had seen a ghost.

"I-it's you!"

Alright, now he really was surprised. Someone had recognized him? Who was this woman and why was she familiar? She had spoken in Japanese, so Kiritsugu's mind flipped to his native language as if on a switch.

"Kiritsugu! I remember you from four years ago! H-here, hold on!" She sputtered out with a slight blush. She held up one finger while turning to run back where she came from as if the motion would make him stay put. Whoever she was, she was certainly eccentric. He took this time to look around the small stretch of a yard in the front of the house. The grass was wild and he was pretty sure there was a snake problem, but a year abandoned would do that to a home. He heard the patter of footsteps and braced himself for what might come next. Where did this sense of familiarity come from? Was it because she looked like…

The woman from before tore into the doorway, panting slightly. In her hand was an incredibly squishy plush ball. It was designed as a tiger with a fluffy tail poking out from one end. Instantly who she was came to him.

"Taiga Fujimura." He smiled slightly, although it was kind of forced. "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. You've changed so much in four years." He apologized genuinely. The woman blushed in response and stammered out an incoherent jumble of words. Kiritsugu could only laugh. "Are you going to be alright?"

"H-hey! It's not my fault you're so go-uh… good with words!" She covered, blushing harder and trying to appear upset. She closed her eyes and huffed.

Kiritsugu's smile grew to be authentic. "So there have been a lot of break-ins? Anything I should watch out for?" He inquired, watching the woman regain some composure as she moved from the talking subject.

"Nothing you should have to watch out for, just two jerks that I've beaten a couple times when they tried to mess with the uh… The owner. Did Mister Saito pass? I hadn't heard from him for a while and thought he just wanted to be left alone." She replied, expressing a quiet 'oh' when Kiritsugu explained how he came into the property.

"You beat up the thieves?" Kiritsugu asked absently to change the subject. He unlocked and slid open the front door. It gave way to a small genkan. The American equivalent would be a mudroom. The door led to a long hallway with simple furnishings along the right wall. Three doors to other rooms were on the left and the end of the hall cut off towards the right.

"Yup! You're looking at the renowned, undefeated star of the kendo club. I beat those thieves up so badly with my shinai they were crying for their mothers!" She boasted with pride, holding a fist to her chest and gazing star-struck to the sky. Snapping out of her daze, she watched Kiritsugu enter and politely asked if she could explore alongside him.

He couldn't actually think of a reason why she couldn't. So he was more or less forced into allowing her. "I won't be staying long, at least not right at this moment. I wanted to make sure this place wasn't full of squatters or… Rats." He mumbled, peaking into some of the rooms and verifying their integrity.

Taiga seemed upset that he wasn't staying, visage darkening slightly. "Oh, well…" She led on, unsure of what to say next. "I hope that you do eventually decide to stay here-! That is if you want to stay here! Just because I live nearby and if you lived here you would live nearby t-Urk!" She stumbled, catching her ramblings before looking at her wrist - which held no watch - with a fierce blush. "Oh no look at the time! Gotta run, Kiritsugu bye!" She shouted hastily, sprinting out of the house as if her life depended on it. Kiritsugu only watched and blinked slowly before chuckling and continuing his objective.

… … …

… … …

As Kiritsugu was locking the front gate, his cell phone rang. Answering the device, he heard Maiya's voice confirming her readiness for their plans. It was a quarter after three, broad daylight. He snagged a taxi to the Hyatt Hotel. With trained stealth, the man entered the elevator shaft and slid down the ladder to the basement. This part of the basement was sectioned off from the underground parking lot. It was dark, unused and humid. The entire area smelt of mould and seemed to be covered in a light layer of dust. For a maintenance area - it was rather distraught. Kiritsugu found Maiya shortly after entering. She was waiting for him with a detonator in hand. She passed the device off to him - another pager - and made her own exit.

Kiritsugu watched her leave, not a single word spoken between the two. She was leaving him to make a choice and he knew it. Either destroy the entire hotel with zero risk of Kayneth leaving or set off the fire alarm and hope he doesn't. The Magus Killer looked around the room, finding the control panel for hotel-wide systems. He could trigger an alarm in an empty room and make the threat appear real by removing a wire. His finger glanced over the dusted cable while his mind raced to consider his option.

Kiritsugu made a grumble. "Getting too soft." He yanked out three separate wires and instantly a distant siren rang through the building.

… … …

A man, an employee of Hyatt Hotel no doubt, read off names and checked the responding people off a list. Kiritsugu was listening while subtly following him.

"Kayneth, El-Melloi?" He shouted, looking up and panning the crowd. Nobody raised a hand which Kiritsugu was thankful for. Approaching the man as he shouted the name a second time, he spoke.

"Kayneth El-Melloi and party have safely left the building." The employee was no magus, which meant a simple hypnotism spell could easily sway his opinion. The employee looked stunned at Kiritsugu before his eyes softened and he scratched his head.

"Uh… Yeah, sure." He mumbled, checking off the names on his list before returning to his job.

Not bothering to waste any time, Kiritsugu reached into his pocket and discreetly triggered the pager. Immediately he felt the air suction towards the building. In a second, a light shockwave shook the earth below and the rumble of a collapsing structure echoed through the distance. Kiritsugu didn't even turn to watch, continuing his walk down the street. At the end of the street was a car Maiya was waiting in, they would both go to Einzbern castle and prepare their next attack from there.

… … …

Stepping through the large front doors, Kiritsugu had to admire the more pleasing appearance of this castle compared to the one in Germany. Perhaps an actual human had lived here rather some animated pile of filth. Kiritsugu's hatred for Acht was only slightly less than that of his hatred for evil.

His footfalls echoed loudly through the entrance chamber, almost masking the lighter steps from someone on the second floor. The entrance was quite simple in its design. A large open central hallway which led to a staircase in the center of the room. Along the sides of the staircase, were hallways leading further back to other rooms. The stairs lead up to an archway which opened up to the second floor. On either side of the archway, were open doorways that connected entresols to the second floor. The entresols were disconnected from each other and spanned from the far side of the room to the wall of the entrance. The colour scheme was a regal gray, gold and red. Statues, urns and artwork lines the sides of the walls between the doors and halls with a large metal statue sitting just beyond the archway of the stairs.

Iri finally rounded the corner of the archway, huffing from the run. Upon seeing her husband she smiled and brushed the hair from her face. "Kiritsugu! Saber told me you were getting close. She didn't tell me you were here!" She laughed, moving down the stairs. Kiritsugu had reached the base of the stairs at the same time as Iri. When she was close enough, she childishly leapt into him and he had to suddenly react to catch her in an embrace. He turned to distribute the impact and set his wife down on the ground rather unceremoniously. She was still smiling but it seemed pained. He opened his mouth to speak but felt a presence from above. Kiritsugu looked up to see Saber leaning over the railing watching from the entresol. Rather than the armour he had observed in the battle at the docks, she was wearing the tailored black suit he had gotten made for her. He turned back to forcibly smile at Iri.

He hated doing this to her. Purposefully, Kiritsugu was distancing himself to alleviate the blow her death would cause him. Her face softened at his forced smile. They simply stared at one another for a moment. The look shared between their eyes traded more words than their voices could have at that moment.

"Master, the news informed me of a building in the city which collapsed shortly after a fire alarm. Am I to assume that was your doing?" Saber interrupted with a stern look. "Irisviel provided me with recent news and discovered an explosion at Fuyuki Church as well. Did you have a hand in this?" She asked, cold voice echoing throughout the foyer.

The Magus Killer sighed through the nose and turned to climb the stairway. "Maiya and I demolished both locations, yes." He admitted shamelessly. "Fuyuki Church needed to be destroyed to eliminate Kirei Kotomine with absolute certainty. Hyatt Hotel was the former location of the wounded Kayneth El-Melloi. To ensure that both perished, excessive force was required." Kiritsugu commented. "Kayneth took over an entire floor as his workshop, destroying the building was the only way to easily eliminate him."

Saber was silent for a moment. Her jaw clenched and she straightened from the railing she had been leaning over. "You evacuated the building before demolishing it and had zero casualties. I suppose that is the best I can expect from you." Saber acknowledged with disappointment. Calmly, she walked off down the hallway.

Irisviel hustled up the stairs to walk beside her husband, hugging onto his arm and leaning against him. "Years ago, you proved to me that your dreams were visions of the future. When we discovered Kirei Kotomine to be a member of this war, I decided to put absolute faith in your decisions from then on. You're doing the right thing, Kiritsugu." She consoled, breaking off his arm so she could attempt to further convince Saber that her husband was simply following the path he believed to be easiest and most effective.

Kiritsugu continued without Iri to a large dining room he had set up as a temporary operations room. Various forms of paper, writing utensils and books sat scattered across the large table. It could seat more than a dozen people comfortably but all the chairs were stacked neatly in a corner to free up space. Maiya only had time to prep the room and bring in the documents needed it would seem. The Magus Killer picked up a rolled piece of laminated paper. Unrolling it he discovered their planning map. He affixed it to the nearest wall with some tape and stepped back to analyze. Circles, squares, X's, arrows and lines in red, blue and black spread across the map's entire surface. The Fuyuki Church and Hyatt Hotel specifically were filled in with green. The Matou and Tohsaka households were circled in black and the sewer entrances held question marks. He wanted to light a smoke but reminded himself of Illya and elected to gnaw the end of a marker instead.

Staring at the map, he quickly made a handful of plans: Strike the Tohsaka manor and hope they could kill the servant before the Matou servant moved to take advantage of their weakened state, do the same thing but with the Matou first, search the sewers for a servant, try to eliminate Waver Velvet or just plain wait out the war defensively in the castle. The first two hasty plans were tossed out instantly. Rider was confirmed Waver Velvet's servant. It was unknown which servant Kariya Matou or Tokiomi Tohsaka managed to summon. One of them may have summoned Caster. It was well known that a Caster in their own territory was almost unbeatable. Caster could simply delay Saber and call for reinforcements via other servants. Few masters would pass up the chance to eliminate a Saber from the War.

Maiya entered and silently closed the door behind her. She walked silently beside Kiritsugu and looked at the map with him briefly before listening intently for orders.

"Finding Caster should take priority. We have no information on the servant or the master and until we do we can't be sure they won't strike us when our guard is down. Caster, like Assassin, has a much greater chance of victory should they hide in the shadows and wait. If we can draw them out, Saber should have no problem defeating them." Kiritsugu commented, leaning back against the table with his hips.

"Do you have any ideas where they could be hiding?" Maiya asked, focusing on the question marks on the sewer.

"A few. The sewers would make a great location for a workshop. Discreet and solid enough to trap the magical energy. However, because the location is the best, it is unlikely to be where Caster resides." Kiritsugu explained wisely, getting a confused look from Maiya.

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain. If something is the best, it will obviously be the first choice. For example, a large open tower with excellent visibility is a prime position for a sniper. Because of this fact, it will often be checked for snipers which decreases the value of the position." He paused, scratching an itchy spot on the side of his head. "It's a quality that is hardly thought of but arguably the most important. Consider this castle. Easy to defend, remote and surrounded by a bounded field. With all of these good qualities, it is still the Einzbern castle which makes it the first suspected place for us to retreat to. We can expect an attack tonight if any of the other masters become ambitious. We'll set up five-hour shifts, I'll take first rotation and you can get some rest." He ordered, walking to the door of the dining room.

"Will do sir." She nodded as the door closed behind him. Maiya quickly tidied up the supplies she had brought in. Carefully taking down the man-sized map, she set it over the rest of the supplies like a tarp. Underneath was a small bag of flash powder and a pressure-based detonator. Should anyone besides her or Kiritsugu try to gather their intel, it would explode and burn. Closing the door quietly behind her, Maiya travelled to a smaller guest room near the entrance for some rest.

… … …

… … …

… … …

Oddly enough, no master came to the Einzbern castle that night. The most exciting thing Maiya or Kiritsugu had experienced was a bat which startled the pair when they were rotating shifts. Early in the morning around four, Kiritsugu meandered to the spacious kitchen where he attempted to make a simple western breakfast of eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. Even though this castle was sparsely used, it had been stocked the day Kiritsugu arrived in Fuyuki just in case it was needed. After the end of the war, someone would be hired to clear everything perishable from the castle.

The eggs he tried to make had been welded to the frying pan, his bacon were strips of charcoal and the hashbrowns were the consistency of mashed potatoes. He carefully disposed of all the evidence before anyone else stumbled in on him. Just as he finished throwing an entire frying pan into the trash, Irisviel sleepily stumbled in wearing silk pyjamas. "Good morning, Kiritsugu." She yawned, sitting at the kitchen counter while rubbing her half closed eyes.

"Irisviel." He responded warmly, discreetly kicking the garbage bin he had disposed of his crimes in out of sight.

"Smells like something is burning." His wife commented. As he was about to make an excuse, Saber stepped in and glanced between the two.

"Lady Irisviel, master." She acknowledged with nods to each. Saber sat beside the homunculus, she hadn't changed out of her suit but that was hardly strange. As a servant, she had no need for sleep or food. "Has a plan been decided for today?" She questioned, jumping straight to the point.

Kiritsugu poured two cups of coffee - at least that he could get right - and offered one to Irisviel. She was usually one for tea, but perhaps she would enjoy some caffeine. Cautiously she sipped the beverage and grimaced at the taste. Casually the Magus Killer pushed cream and sugar towards her. "A tentative plan has been set. Did you have ideas?" He asked, leaning against a counter with a mug in hand. While they differed in ideals and execution, tactics from a wise king who lead an entire country were valuable at all times.

"Perhaps. I believe we should search for Caster. Their absence in this war worries me. If your tactic yesterday has succeeded then that means we have only four other servants to worry about. Archer, Berserker, Rider and Caster." She commented, watching Irisviel pour a healthy amount of cream and sugar into her coffee. The servant gave a confused look as the homunculus shook her head.

"I have not felt the death of another servant. Only an Archer could survive this long without a master." She explained, stirring the contents of her mug - the majority of which was cream and sugar - with a spoon. She took a sip and found the flavour much more appealing.

"So either Kayneth survived, or Lancer has made a contract with another master." Kiritsugu surmised, sipping from his mug. "Saber, how are you feeling after that battle with Archer?" Kiritsugu asked. It was a question based less of concern and more of battle efficiency. If she was wounded, she would underperform which he would need to account for.

"After Irisviel's healing last night, my wounds have recovered completely." She responded, rotating her shoulder as an example.

Kiritsugu hummed while drinking his coffee. "That would explain why Iri appears so tired. That curse must have been difficult to remove." He commented, smirking as his wife nodded weakly with closed eyes. The Magus Killer gently pushed off the counter, poured another cup of coffee and sighed. "I'll check on Maiya, then we can decide on a definite plan. Like you, I also wanted to search for Caster, so prepare to move in an hour." He nodded to Saber. With two cups of coffee in his hand, he moved to the attic where Maiya was stationed. The rising sun beamed through the window, bathing the woman in an orange light as she scanned the forest with a rifle. It must have been around six in the morning. He sat beside his accomplice and offered her the cup.

… … ...

The plan was that Saber would take Irisviel across the city searching for Caster. They would start at the sewers and move on from there to potential strongholds. Casters would only establish a base with access to ley lines so they could draw on natural mana as well as mask their signature. Unless the Caster simply didn't care for discretion. As Fuyuki held two converging ley lines, there was a good handful of potential workshop locations. Some were already owned by mage families and others were simply unsuitable for a base. Nobody in their right mind would try to defend a park or set up shop right beside two known masters of the War.

Certain areas existed on ley lines and were defendable though. The most notable to Kiritsugu had been Ryuudou Temple. While Saber investigated the sewer system, Kiritsugu would verify that Ryuudou Temple was clear. If neither locations held Caster, they would need to start combing the city or test the investigative ability of Waver Velvet. The Magus Killer wasn't against cooperation per-say. He was simply against betrayal and any sort of alliance made in the Grail War would always end in a betrayal. If neither route gave results, it would be safe to assume Tokiomi or Kariya had summoned Caster. Unknown to Kiritsugu, neither family could summon Caster. Long ago they had agreed to leave that class to other families due to the proximity of their manors. Since Casters were so skilled at magecraft, one could easily dismantle the bounded fields surrounding the individual homes of the magus families.

The plans for the day had gone directly out the nearest window when his command seals suddenly felt as if they were on fire. It was a signal from the Overseer for all Grail War participants. But with the Church destroyed, where did the Overseer intend to hold the meeting? Stepping outside, Kiritsugu spotted a thin trail of mana laden smoke spiralling from the direction of the Church. Even though it was destroyed, it was still neutral ground evidently.

Preparing a familiar, Kiritsugu sent the crow on its way and notified the other members of his team about the delay. He only hoped that this message would be kept short.

… … …

Risei Kotomine stood on the pathway just before the former entrance of the church. He looked alright, all things considered. Shrapnel and the blast from the explosion had lacerated and burnt his back but none of his limbs were seriously damaged and his face still held a serene smile. Bandages wrapped around his chest were visible beneath the priest robes. He seemed stiff, as a man suffering injuries rightly should be. He was forced to heal his injuries naturally to avoid attracting attention to himself.

He nodded to each of the familiars - of which there were six - and began to speak calmly. "For those of you who are unaware, yesterday afternoon the Church was attacked. Not with master or servant, but with explosives. At the time, a former participant - master of Assassin - was residing within. His name was Kirei Kotomine and he perished in the explosion. Understandably, you are all likely curious as to why I have summoned you. It is because I am offering a reward for knowledge regarding who may have committed such an atrocity. Any master who can inform me of the perpetrator with proof will receive two command seals." He paused, closed his eyes - something which was hard to tell he had done - and smiled wider. "The perpetrator has broken the rules regarding neutral zones and should be punished." He paused, looking back at the Church pile. His former home and place of work. "As it stands, there is no neutral zone and I cannot be contacted. Both shall be arranged shortly. I thank you all for your time, this summons has concluded." He bowed, twitching as the act caused him pain.

… … …

"What a waste of time," Kiritsugu growled, letting the crow familiar land on his shoulder before dematerializing. He had guessed that the meeting would be a waste of time when the Overseer started it with the Church bombing. He had Maiya drop him off near the outskirts of the city before she went on to drop Saber and Irisviel closer to the river. Kiritsugu had to walk quite some distance - not that he minded. Walking gave him a chance to think over his next moves and get some much needed time to himself.

As he walked, his mind returned to last night at the docks. Specifically when he had thought about using an Origin Round on a servant. What would happen? His Origin Rounds were individual Mystic Codes or they could be called Conceptual Weapons. The latter was more correct. They conceptualized Kiritsugu's origin of "severing and binding" and actualized on impact with foreign magecraft or magic circuits. A mage's body is trained from birth to resist infiltration. In a way, the body has a magical immune system. If a foreign disturbance was detected, the mage's body naturally reacts and extricates the foreign body. It was a simple principle that Kiritsugu had abused Origin Rounds.

In electrical circuits, power flows through specific lines separated from one another to achieve a goal. Magic circuits operate in the same fashion. Mana or more specifically Od, flows through magic circuits in order to cast magecraft. What Kiritsugu's Origin Rounds accomplish, is effectively the same as pouring water onto live electrical circuits. In an instant, every pathway is torn apart and connected together. The resulting short destroys a mage's body from the inside out. Even if a mage were to survive such an attack, most if not all of their body would be paralyzed. Natalia had helped him make sixty-six rounds in total. During his time as The Magus Killer, thirty-seven were used. Kiritsugu normally held onto twelve. The remaining seventeen were split three ways. Five were in Germany in the office of the Einzbern castle. Another five, in a safe house in England - placed strangely close to the Clocktower. The remaining seven were in an underground weapon stockpile in Fuyuki itself. It was where Maiya had actually gathered all their supplies from. Only the two of them had a code to the entrance and that code was bound to die with them.

He was going off track in his own mind. Kiritsugu refocused on his original question. Servants after the Age of Gods had magic circuits, that was for sure. Servants were also humans (or close enough) at one point, so it only made sense that a servant from the Age of Man would operate the same way modern mages did. Origin Rounds delivered more damage the more Od a target was using. On a servant like Saber, who used little in the way of magecraft, Origin Rounds would most likely be useless. Not only would they deal no major damage, but she could also simply bat the round away with her sword. Her weapon wasn't connected to her magic circuits and would make the round a waste. On a thinly defended servant like Caster they might be able to do some damage.

Should Caster be using a great spell of some sort, an Origin Round could definitely destroy the servant. A benefit of the round was that it didn't need to pierce the flesh of a target. It merely needed to strike something magically connected to them. So magical defences or even offensive spells would still achieve the desired result. So then why, in his first dream, had the Kiritsugu then not used the Origin Rounds? Kirei must have had some sort of ability to counteract the effect. Unheard of, but entirely possible.

And what of the master of the servant? Since a master continually supplied their servant with mana, would they be an indirect target of his Origin Rounds since they were connected magically to the servant?

With a shake of his head, Kiritsugu let the thoughts escape his mind. He began unconsciously climbing the steps to Ryuudou Temple. Experimenting would be the only way to see precisely what the result would be.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Kiritsugu huffed. Strangely, the Temple was empty. Typically, people inhabited the building and maintained the entire shrine. Or simply enjoyed being outside by sitting on the grass. The emptiness alone was enough to set Kiritsugu on edge. A feature of this area was that a natural bounded field surrounded it much like the concrete walls. It disrupted magical energy and restricted its flow. Servants, spells or spirits couldn't pass over the walls. They could only exit through the main gate, a warding shrine.

As a precaution, the Magus Killer reached into his coat to slip on black leather gloves. Flexing his fingers to wiggle the gloves into place, he walked down the path towards the main building. The temple was set up was rather standard. A wide, main building which led to a walled off section with shrines in the back. In the back section were living quarters and various other buildings to house people comfortably. All of these structures were squared off by high concrete walls with trees on either side. As far as Kiritsugu knew, developments over the next ten years were being spoken about to try and increase the capacity as well as the standard of living.

The temple grounds were deathly calm. The gentle breeze from before had stopped and the lack of trees rustling gave Kiritsugu chills. This was an unnatural stillness for sure. Even the birds had stopped singing. Kiritsugu thought he could hear is heart beating. Coupling this silence was the scent of… Gunsmoke and steel? Upon smelling it, Kiritsugu's head pounded violently. So much pain in one sharp burst made him actually hiss and lift a hand to his head. Another whiff and the pain knifed through his mind once more. His vision blurred at the edges before they compressed to tunnels. Kiritsugu quickly elected to breathe through his mouth, finding his vision returning as the pain faded. Tentatively, he tried sniffing lightly to test his reaction. He found that the piercing pain had stopped, but the smell from before had gone away as well.

"Well, well, well. Imagine meeting you here!" Came a voice from behind. Kiritsugu whipped around and withdrew his Calico in one fluid motion. Levelling the barrel, he found a strange man standing with hands behind his back. "The Magus Killer, correct? Kiritsugu Emiya? Master of Saber, killer of Kirei Kotomine - ooo what an alliteration!" He paused to laugh at his own words. It was an almost contagious chuckle. Full bodied and pronounced. "Husband of Irisviel Von Einzbern and father to Illyasviel von Einzbern... Did I miss anything?" He asked, voice full of joy. Kiritsugu's hand tightened around the Calico's grip at the mention of Illya. The tone of his words could be compared to the saying; "having too much fun".

He was around six feet tall, average built and wearing a hooded cloak which was long enough to scrape the ground with each movement. It was mostly black with crimson accents around the stitching and fringes. It was intended to be buttoned up, but the two sides were parted to reveal a black vest along with a tie and simple black dress pants from the Western side of the world. The most defining piece of his outfit was the man's face. An eerie mask of crimson similar to a plague doctor's mask without such an elongated beak. Kiritsugu recognized it as a bauta mask, only this one was made of ceramic and incredibly detailed. The eyebrows were set in anger and black surrounded the eyes to give the mask an imposing visage. The beak section was engraved with black floral designs. These designs trailed up from the beak tip about halfway before tapering off. A simple glance was all Kiritsugu needed to determine that the cloak and mask were both magically enhanced. The interior vest and pants, however, were not. This made them weak points he could exploit.

Kiritsugu would have asked who he was, but people don't wear masks to reveal their identity when questioned. He always thought people who asked that in movies were stupid. "How do you know this?" He inquired instead, narrowing his eyes as the man teetered on his heels carelessly. Kiritsugu couldn't really see his eyes behind the cloak and the mask but he could feel raw animosity even if the man's body language said differently.

"Huh. Thought you'd ask who I am and then I'd have to explain to you what a mask was." The man admitted, deflating slightly. "Oh well. I know this because I can. I know it because I want to. I know it because you~" He trailed on melodically, pointing at Kiritsugu with a gloved finger. "~don't cover your tracks very well. Mind telling me about Natalia and Shirley? What about Norikat-" He was interrupted as the Calico in Kiritsugu's hand began firing again.

9mm Parabellum at one hundred fifty rounds per minute came flying towards the masked man. The first round was deflected by a blade and in the same motion, the masked man turned and crouched. The bullets which neared his cloak stopped in mid-air before flying off in random directions. Kiritsugu had to actually dodge one of his own rounds since it came back and nearly struck his leg.

"Do you like the cloak? It was a gift from my servant. As were these!" The masked man - hereby known as The Mask - shouted. He stood and turned to face Kiritsugu again. In each hand, were hook blades. It was the only proper name for such things. They looked like large fish hooks with handles. Over each handle, were crescent guards with sharpened tips. Behind the hilt was even sharpened. The Mask didn't seem to be very experienced with them, as he was holding the weapons rather far from his own body like he was scared of cutting himself. A gift perhaps, but not a very useable gift evidently.

"You must be Caster's master." Kiritsugu surmised, actually just guessing. He could see Kariya Matou using Berserker to account for his weak status as a master, but Tokiomi was up in the air.

"Could be, could be. Maybe I hold the leash of Berserker or Archer. Archer certainly could have given me a couple gifts - never know." He said, tapping the side of his hood-covered head with two fingers.

"Why not have your servant end this?" Kiritsugu asked, stalling for time to think. He couldn't use Origin Rounds unless this master let down his guard. His own bullets wouldn't work against him should the cloak deflect it towards him but a bullet was still a bullet.

"Servants fight servants, masters fight masters. I could have Caster come with me, but then you'd just bring Saber here with a command seal. The plan is to have you believe you can defeat me, leave Saber out of this and then die because you underestimate my ability." The Mask rambled, motioning with his blade like this was all rather tedious. "And of course, I'm telling you all of this because I know it's exactly what you were thinking. Did you notice? It's something you'd do if our positions were reversed. The whole, underestimating into failure thing." The Mask pointed out, voice full of glee. This man knew his tactics too well. In order to defeat him, Kiritsugu would have to fight unpredictably, in a way which was never before seen.

Kiritsugu narrowed his eyes. The Calico was replaced within his trenchcoat. He cracked his neck and raised both fists, one about chest level and the other against his hip.

"Hm? Not going to use your guns anymore?" The Mask asked. Kiritsugu could have sworn he heard the man's smile widening. "Oh well, suit yourself!" He cackled, running forwards and lifting his blades to strike. He was faster than a human ought to be, but far from servant levels, far from even Maeve's level.

The Mask swung down at Kiritsugu's shoulder, his other arm already thrusting the blade past him to try and plant that hook into his hip from behind. Kiritsugu had other plans. Using his gloved fists, he punched away the first blade with a backhanded strike to the side. He followed up his motions by grabbing the other sword by the blade. The Mask, having one arm blown to the side from impact and the other locked in place could only make a gasp of surprise. Who was underestimating who again?

Time Alter: Double Accel! Kiritsugu called in his own mind. Immediately, time slowed to half as fast. Force was a factor of mass and time. If a strike was delivered in half the time, the force behind it would be twice as great. It was a ratio. Using Time Alter in this way would do precisely that. The hand which had deflected the first slashing strike - the left - snapped to Kiritsugu's hip, clenching tight before firing directly into The Mask's stomach.

Upon contact, Time Alter ceased and The Mask flew backwards from the impact, dropping his blades from the force. He rolled a few times, landing on his stomach with a groan. He pushed himself up with his arms before actually standing. "A-alright, you got me… Didn't know you could actually fight with your hands." The Mask admitted through coughs and wheezes.

"Order your servant to kill themselves and I'll let you leave alive," Kiritsugu stated. He could easily kill The Mask if he desired, but Caster could just as easily find a new master.

The Mask laughed through his wheezing. It was a rather empty sound from a man who was once so joyous. "You and I both know how that goes. I use my seals, then you kill me to tie up the loose ends. Can't ya just admit that I know you better than you know yourself?" He asked, standing and giving his head a shake. "And besides, I haven't shown you the other things Caster gave me!" He cackled like a maniac, reaching underneath his cloak to withdraw two pistols. They were silver, not just painted silver but actual solid silver. Modelled after the iconic M1911 with silencers of solid silver as well. They were engraved with gold and the two resonated with magical energy. Or were they made of mana? Kiritsugu didn't have the time to tell as two rounds flew towards him.

Each one howled as they pierced the air. It must have been something with the bullet design, as it stopped upon lodging itself. The Magus Killer had to admit - these pistols were pretty damn intimidating. Thankfully Kiritsugu had pulled his Calico out while The Mask was drawing these new weapons. Firing his own torrent of rounds in return meant that The Mask couldn't fire those silver guns. He was forced to defend rather than attack - lest be he peppered with rounds. Besides the strange construction of the guns and the howling bullets, it seemed like they were perfectly average M1911's. The bullet velocity lined up, they were semi-automatic only it seemed that they never required a reload. Eighteen rounds had been fired yet The Mask didn't have the time to change magazines.

Looking around himself while trying to dodge and return bullets, Kiritsugu found absolutely nothing nearby. The path was simple, one long stretch of paving stones from the entrance to the main building. No bushes, no rocks and no sort of cover. There was only one place for Kiritsugu to go - into the Temple. While moving side to side, the Magus Killer maintained suppressive bursts all while backstepping. The Mask used that protective cloak of his to keep himself shielded and was still managing to keep Kiritsugu on guard with his howling rounds. A click, the Calico ran out of ammo and Kiritsugu whipped the weapon through the door of the Temple with a careless backwards flick of the arm.

"Rune Seal Break: Eihwaz - Algiz - Isa!" The Magus Killer chanted. White runes made themselves apparent across every inch of his outfit. Miniature and constantly moving they wrapped around his every curve and swirled across the material of his trenchcoat. Just as fast as they had appeared, they disappeared and the coat returned to normal. Kiritsugu turned tail and sprinted towards the Temple entrance. Bullets struck him in the back, but he hardly felt the impact as the rune enchantments did their job and diffused the force. He leapt into the building and skidded around the corner. When his back was against the wall, he looked towards his Calico. "Ehwaz - Mannaz" he mumbled, writing a string of runic in the air with one mana-charged finger. The discarded weapon slid along the ground and into his outstretched hand as if it were magnetic.

All of these new skills had been taught to him by Maeve. The seal break was a special technique Kiritsugu taught himself. Rather than have the runes active at all times and detectable, they would be hidden under carefully crafted seals he could break at any moment - as he had with the runes covering his coat. There were ways to go about having his clothes continuously enhanced while being undetectable, but they were expensive and time consuming to make. Not only that, but Kiritsugu's greatest asset was his ability to make mages underestimate him. Might as well go with a running theme. The only part of his attire he had taken the time and effort to reinforce and mask in this way were his gloves. The very same gloves he had grabbed the blade of a sword with earlier. A quick glance verified they were still in perfect condition.

Not wasting a moment, Kiritsugu reloaded the Calico and tossed the empty magazine out around the corner - into the open. Kiritsugu was surprised to find that The Mask hadn't shot at his decoy. Then he realized why.

"Did I forget to mention this trinket too?" Came a grim voice from beside him.

"Rune Seal Brea-" Was as far as Kiritsugu got. A reverse side kick slammed directly into his chest before he could react. The Magus Killer managed to hold onto his Calico, but the sheer force of the blow sent him through the paper wall and tumbling down the paved stone pathway back towards the main gate. After a few tumbles, he stopped and slowly rose. The Magus Killer coughed violently and clutched at his chest. Just how many tools had Caster given their master?

"Just a few… Dozen." Came a proud response. It was as if The Mask had been reading his mind, or maybe just the look in his face. Kiritsugu looked for the hook blades on the ground but couldn't find them. They must have been recovered at some point. Kiritsugu withdrew his Contender, levelling it at The Mask. "Getting serious I see. Well, come on then - give me your best shot. From what I've heard, you've got something pretty serious in that weapon of yours. Rumour has it that nobody survives a single bullet. They must all be bad at dodging." The Mask droned on.

Good, if he didn't know of his Origin Rounds then that was simply another ace in the hand. One hundred percent mortality rate sometimes had benefits it would seem. But, if his words were accurate to his feelings, The Mask would put all his effort into defending this attack. Contemplating a plan, he decided and acted. With his middle finger, he pulled the break-action release and watched the standard 30-06 round fling past his ear. Reaching into his coat he withdrew an Origin Round from its holder and suddenly had to move to avoid a howling bullet. Kiritsugu only ducked to the right, but it meant that he couldn't complete the reload. Unable to react, a second well placed round slammed into his left shoulder.

The pain opened his hand and made him fling the Origin Round in a random direction. His whole body twisted with the impact and he rolled on his shoulder forwards. The rune reinforcement on his clothes had deflected the round and prevented it from piercing but the blow would certainly leave a massive bruise. Popping upwards, the Magus Killer decided to sprint towards the oncoming bullets. Kiritsugu was naturally good at dodging gunfire. Years of experience taught him how and when to move to make the shot placements predictable. Maeve was the one who actually showed him how to react and see attacks as they were happening. Combined, he was reacting and dodging to the bullets he knew would be coming at certain locations. In seconds he was within range of the Masked Man and rather than pull a gun, Kiritsugu threw a jab.

It was aimed for his stomach but the Masked Maniac leapt out of range, discarding his guns in the process. With a cackle, he withdrew a combat knife from his coat. Something different was that this knife was glowing red hot. The two entered an intense bout of combat. With each of them using weaponry they were proficient with, both had to fight for every inch. A strike halted by the threat of amputation, a singed coat as the flat of the blade was struck askew with an arm, a kick grabbed and launched into a toss, recovery, then a near-miss thrust of a blade, an elbow to the stomach, more deflected blade strikes. Grunts and impacts were the only sounds through the courtyard. Occasionally the swish of a blade made itself known, however, that was becoming more and more sparse as time went on. One of the two was finding their offence rapidly becoming inadequate.

A loud collision echoed over the trees and silenced the pair. An amplified punch exploded off the surface of a magically reinforced cloak. The clash of energy lifted dust from the ground Panting, the two men stood in that exact pose for a moment. "You're good, Kiritsugu." He commended, slightly lowering the cross-armed guard he had erected to halt the punch. They could look into each other's eyes. Two killers staring coldly into one another, trying to get insight however they could. "...This would be the part where I use some sort of device I've been hiding and claim that it wasn't good enough." The Mask looked to the left and right. "But I don't have anything like that."

Kiritsugu wanted to laugh, he really did, but he settled on snorting instead. "Then we keep going." The hand which had thrown the punch snapped through underneath The Mask's cross guard to grab his vest. One arm yanked the larger male close and the other reared back to place itself between the eyes of the actual mask. Recoiling, the man grasped at his face, turning his back to Kiritsugu and running his fingers over the surface.

"Tsk, you son of a bitch. How the hell can your bare fists break a Mystic Code? I knew you were tough, but how'd you get so damn strong? Hell, I hope to be like you in the future. Go into retirement for over six years and come back better than when you left." The Masked Man rambled, looking upwards. "Well I guess since you broke the mask, our fun is over. Can't have you finding out who I am and all you know." He chuckled, snapping his heels together and standing tall. There was a clicking noise and The Mask turned slightly to peek at Kiritsugu. Half of the mask was littered with fractures, the other half was presumably missing as the barest bit of skin could be seen after the nose.

Kiritsugu was reloading the Contender with an Origin Round, eyes dead as he leveled the weapon. "Ah-ah-ah." The Mask started, raising a finger to cover where his mouth would be. "There's a servant listening and their name starts with C. Wouldn't want to upset them, would you? If you'd like to continue our fight you can reach me here. Just walk up the stairs and I'll get the jist. You'll have to be alone as well - otherwise, I might not fight fairly." The Mask said with a laugh.

As Kiritsugu started to squeeze the trigger a cloud of smoke slithered into existence beside The Mask. The first breath through the nose Kiritsugu took brought a sharp jab of pain. Gunsmoke and steel, this servant was the cause! Kiritsugu gave them a look over. The servant was taller than their master by about an inch, and that was pretty much where the differences ended. They both wore a black cloak and an eerie red mask, but for whatever reason, the servant elected to button their cloak up and wrap crimson bandages around the eyes of their mask. Every discernable feature was concealed.

"Are you two about finished? Watching you squander my tools was almost embarrassing, master." The servant spoke, crossing their arms beneath the cloak while staring directly at Kiritsugu.

"Yes, yes. We're done here. Unlike you, I- ah." He paused, reconsidering his words when the servant shot him a glare that could melt steel. "Right, you told me… Hm, anyway, they were valuable instruments but ultimately too mighty for my human body. How's that?" The Mask turned back to face Kiritsugu then. Unlike just moments prior, the mask was fully repaired.

"Better, marginally. I could only imagine what Archer would say were he here." Caster feigned enthusiasm, returning his gaze to Kiritsugu. "My recommendation is to deal with Archer before worrying about us. Consider us… A final challenge if you will. I would hurry up though. Tokiomi can't control the King of Kings and he might get restless. You've seen his power first hand, yes? So you know how easy it would be if he were… Unbound." Caster suggested cryptically.

"You heard the man, Kiritsugu. Go beat Golden Boy then you can come back and try to beat us." The Mask grasped his chin and opened his mouth. A loud crack followed as it set in the correct place. "Alright, let's roll Caster. You can heal me up can't you?"

"No." Caster responded, grabbing his master by the waist and leaping into the air.

"What do you mean no?!" He shouted while being hauled away. Shouting becoming quieter with distance.

Kiritsugu watched the two leave before collapsing on his knees, gasping for air. He had used way too much mana. All that rune casting and rune maintenance had actually started to degrade his body towards the end. He threw his trench coat off and let steam pour out of his form, trying to cool off his overheated skin. He was never a magus, he never considered himself one. His spells were incredibly inefficient and he could hardly perform any magecraft. He had a decent reserve of mana, but a large chunk of that was devoted to maintaining Saber. Following a minute of recovering, Kiritsugu stood on shaky legs and verified that everything was where it was supposed to be. He had lost an Origin Round in the fight but considering the circumstances, that was a decent trade. The Contender would be loaded with an Origin Round from now on just in case The Mask wanted to go back on his words. Without a reason to stay, Kiritsugu began the walk towards the arranged meeting spot. If he had brought Maiya along, would the fight have gone any other way? He had the woman watching Waver Velvet to ensure he hadn't relocated through the night. During the walk in the morning sun, Kiritsugu wasn't even considering whether his decisions in planning had been correct. All of his focus was on a single question.

… … ..

… … ..

If Archer was easier to defeat than Caster, what kind of monster was Caster?


Alright, 'nother chapter hits the bricks. More than 2100 views! Ten reviews and 50 some followers! I almost feel popular.

Thanks to everyone reading and I hope you enjoyed it all so far. Nobody can inform Tokiomi that Gilgamesh is running wild. He has to guess based off mana drain! War is going sideways real fast. Hyatt is taken down a day later because Kiritsugu was having a talk with Saber, Caster isn't "Caster" and says he can EASILY beat Gilgamesh and who's the new master? (Big shoutout to whoever can guess both of them correctly, send me a PM!) Also Taiga crushing over Kiritsugu because it's rarely seen. AND, Kiritsugu finally puts his new skills to use.

As a side note, I can hardly wait until Stay Night. So many ideas in my head and y'all won't expect any of em'.

I said in last chapter's post (I think? Hard to remember) that I would feature/answer a randomly selected review so here's that! (Possible spoilers so read at your own discretion)

… … …

… … …

… … …

Suzululu4moe asked if Kiritsugu will only dream of the Fate Stay Night route or if he will be dreaming of Unlimited Blade Works or Heaven's Feel. I can say without a doubt that Kiritsugu will not be dreaming anything canon from this point on. He's disrupted the "original" timeline greatly. Besides that, he's already had a dream that isn't canon and the very perceptive readers should be able to put two and two together with the reveal of Caster. All I can say is the end of FSN will be vastly different than the canon.