The skies are burning with the fires of the Gods.
Ruin has come to Ultramar. Five hundred worlds have been offered up on the altar of Guilliman's ambition, their people given unto the Pantheon in order to earn their favor. In great marble cities and towering fortresses, from the depths of ocean planets to the highest spires of hive-worlds with tightly controlled populations and precariously balanced ecosystems, the children of Chaos are unleashed.
It is an apocalypse worse than any ever dreamt by the myriad faiths of Humanity. Seas boil and turn to blood, while the heavens are sundered by light that burns sanity. Swarms of the Neverborn descend from the skies and rise from the depths, feasting upon the flesh and souls of billions.
Pristine cities are turned into abattoirs, towers of law and order remade into palaces of atrocity while creatures born of lies dance amidst the cinders of enlightenment. Only those who were taught the ways of this new and terrible age are spared, protected by wards drawn in the blood of the unbelievers. They alone shall inherit the ashes of Ultramar's sacrificial pyre, and rebuild a new and horrible civilization under the fires of the Ruinstorm.
The Black Cardinal can hear the screams, and they please him. For the longest time, the only screams he could hear were his own, as the Gods punished him for his failure. Lack of a true body did nothing to diminish his torment, and only his faith and hunger for revenge had given him the strength to rise to the challenge and keep his sanity. For this, he has been rewarded with this new chance at life, this new opportunity to punish the one who killed him, the one who refused the Truth.
Around him, his followers bring forth the next round of offerings, their voices hoarse with singing the praises of the Pantheon. On each of their faces is an expression of religious ecstasy, their minds basking in the revelation of the Primordial Truth. In the distance, the great forges burn, shaping metal and bone into new shapes pleasing to the Dark Gods, that their legions may wear into battle against the fools who dare stand in the way of Chaos' inevitable triumph.
The golden boy is coming, he knows it. He can sense his soul, burning so uselessly as he flails in vain against the tides of Chaos around him. Even now, even here, in this place only halfway removed from their glorious Realms, Lorgar continues to deny the divinity of Chaos. He continues to struggle, continues to fight against the infinite legions of the Ruinstorm. He continues to believe that he can escape, that he can lead his brother and their sons out of the trap and back to the Anathema's side.
Fool. But all the better for the Black Cardinal. Kor Phaeron knows that he will enjoy this immensely.
He is wrong. Once more, triumph shall be denied to him. Once more, the Dark Gods shall howl in impotent fury.
Once more, Lorgar Aurelian shall behold the defeat of Ruin, and weep at its cost.
This is Armatura, where the industry of war churns in the name of the Thirteenth Legion, producing all that the armies of Guilliman require. This is the new Hell-Forge of Ultramar, where daemon engines and other, greater yet weapons are assembled and sanctified with the blood of those few innocent left in the Five Hundred Worlds.
This is where the trap holding the Twelfth and Seventeenth Legions will be broken, by defiance and sacrifice, and the Black Cardinal brought low yet again.
November 26th, 2004 AD – Kotomine Church
"You failed."
Kor Phaeron looked toward the voice, bristling at the accusations contained within the two words. Gilgamesh stood there, with his back against the wall of the church where he had retreated following the battle at the docks. At least the other Servant wasn't smiling : he was scowling instead, as if he were more disappointed with tonight's results as Kor Phaeron himself.
"Yes, I did" admitted Pretender, forcing the word out through gritted teeth. Thankfully, his control over his temper had grown through his trials. In the past, he might have succumbed to fury and lashed out at the Servant, which would have been deeply stupid. "The boy … I didn't realize how deeply our opposition's claws have gotten into him. My theory as to his nature was correct : he is the vessel of Corswain's power, sent by the Dark Gods to assist us. But he has been turned against us."
"How is that possible ?" asked Kirei, standing at his pulpit with a disturbed expression on his face.
"It isn't," Kor Phaeron said this with absolute certainty. "Not for long. Sooner or later, the God of Change will reclaim His servant, and punish him for his disobedience. On that day, Emiya will rue his foolishness and beg for mercy that shall be denied him until the Architect of Fate has broken and rebuilt him completely."
To turn the power of Chaos against itself was impossible, a lure designed by the Ruinous Powers to draw more into their service. Kor Phaeron knew this, because he had seen the echoes of the divine work that had made it so, and Guilliman's rebellion paled in comparison.
"But until then, we must deal with him as an enemy." Gilgamesh didn't sound all that disappointed by the notion.
"Yes, we must. It is disappointing, and it will make our goal harder to reach, but such are the trials we must undergo to prove our worthiness to the Gods." He turned toward the other priest : "And before I forget, you have my thanks, Kirei. Without your help, escaping this situation would have been … tricky."
He would still have managed it, he was confident of that. But that ungrateful child might have managed to land a hit or two on him before. Why was it that he was always plagued by children who dared reject the Gods, despite the bountiful gifts They bestowed upon them ?
"Think nothing of it," replied Kirei, absently stroking the place on his wrist where the Command Seal he had expended to get Kor Phaeron out of danger had faded. "I do, however, have questions of my own regarding your discussion with the boy. What did he mean when he called you the 'Black Cardinal' ?"
Kor Phaeron shrugged. "I did not lie to the boy, Kirei. I truly was unable to reveal my True Name to you until it had already been revealed."
"But you did lie to us," said Gilgamesh. "You are not Solomon. You deceived us, and laid claim to a mantle of kingship not your own."
"I did not lie to you," Kor Phaeron rejected firmly. "The Gods themselves bestowed upon me the mask of Solomon, that I might walk on this World until such time as I could discard it. Until Emiya stated my true identity and gave me the foothold I needed to manifest in my true form, I was Solomon for all intents and purposes, though free of the delusions that bound the King of Mages to the lies of this World."
"And the Pretender Class ?" asked Kirei, sounding genuinely curious. "I was taught the basics of the Grail's summoning system when I was selected as a Master for the Fourth War, and learned more afterwards from the notes I acquired from dear Tokiomi's estate after his oh-so-unfortunate demise. But I never heard anything about it, even in the theories about possible 'Extra' Classes."
Kor Phaeron briefly considered his options. He didn't especially want to share the details of his power, but if such was the price of retaining their trust, then it was one he would pay.
"Marisbury Animusphere sought to summon Solomon as a Caster-Class Servant," he began. Not that there had been any chance the so-called King of Mages would be summoned as anything else, of course. "He didn't know that the Spirit Origin of Solomon on the Throne of Heroes had already been neutralized at the end of the Fourth Grail War, however."
He nodded in Gilgamesh's direction. It was thanks to the King of Heroes having been bathed in the effluvia of the Grail's destruction ten years ago that Chaos had been able to access the Throne, once they had illuminated the arrogant king as to his true place in the order of the cosmos.
"In order to manifest," he continued, "I had to usurp Solomon's identity : I had to pretend that I was him well enough to deceive the summoning system itself. The True Gods only have a foothold in this World thanks to the darkness dwelling within the Grail, but it was enough for Them to construct the Pretender Class based on the others : its sole purpose was to allow me to take Solomon's place. Until Emiya revealed my True Name and gave an anchor to my existence as Kor Phaeron, I was limited by the Servant vessel of Solomon. And, powerful as it was, my true power lies in disciplines that he never realized could even exist."
"If you need Shirou Emiya for your existence to be acknowledged, then what would happen should he die ?" asked Kirei.
"Nothing. I only needed his recognizing my true identity to shed my mask, nothing more."
"It does all sound rather far-fetched, you must admit."
Kor Phaeron shrugged. He couldn't exactly deny the other priest's point. "For all my lore, all my power, I remain but a servant of the True Gods, Kirei, same as all of us. What I have told you is my interpretation of what happened, limited by my own perspective. Perhaps once we have accomplished our mission, our masters shall reward us with a more complete understanding along with the power they have promised."
"That is, of course, assuming we can believe anything you say," noted Gilgamesh in a deceptively calm voice.
Kor Phaeron could sense the energies gathering within the other Servant, rising alongside his wrath. He in turn began to stretch his fingers, while extending his mind to the Demon Pillars he still had left, scattered around the church and keeping watch in case their enemies somehow tracked them here.
The three servants of Chaos Undivided stood, tensely regarding one another. In the end, it was Kirei who broke the stand-off :
"This tension between us does not serve the Gods. We are their champions on this world, the ones tasked with bringing Their light back to its people. It was by Their will that we were brought together, and it is only together that we can fulfill the ambitions They have for us and this world."
Kor Phaeron nodded, not taking his eyes off Gilgamesh.
"We need more resources," he said. "It is clear from how Furfur performed that the Demon Pillars can fight Servants if they are in their transformed state, but we have lost half our forces tonight."
"Foolishness," scoffed Gilgamesh. "I alone am more than enough to deal with them."
"Really ?" asked Kor Phaeron, not even trying to mask his skepticism. Confidence had its place, but arrogance like that was a swift path to defeat, as he had learned from bitter experience. "You could deal with no less than six Servants, someone wiedling the shards of an Archduke's power, and the Magecraft of the other Masters ?"
"Do you question my strength ?" The King of Heroes' anger was obvious now.
Too late, Kor Phaeron realized that perhaps he didn't have as much of a handle on his temper as he had thought. This was, after all, an unprecedented situation for him : even when he had been returned to the Materium by the Dark Angels at the onset of the Roboutian Heresy, the followers of the Architect of Fate hadn't sought to control him, simply unleashing him to do as the Gods willed in Ultramar. This … cooperation, with an individual whose individual power rivalled his own (he still refused to concede that Gilgamesh might surpass him), wasn't something he was used to.
"No, Your Majesty," Kirei quickly intervened before things could turn to violence. "In a direct confrontation, your victory would be assured. The might of your treasury guarantee it. But our foe is not without base cunning, and in their desperation to oppose the Gods there would be no tactic too cowardly for them to use. Unequalled you might be, but that is not the same thing as invincible."
It was an impressive display of diplomacy, and Kor Phaeron's respect for the younger apostle of Chaos Undivided increased as it worked. Slowly, Gilgamesh nodded, and the tension vanished.
"How are we to proceed, then ?" Kirei asked him. "We can continue capturing individuals drawn by the call of the Grail to turn them into Demon Pillars, but that'll take time."
"Now that I'm free of my mask, other options are available to us," replied Kor Phaeron with a smile. A plan was forming in his mind, one that he believed all three of them would enjoy. "Here is what I suggest we do …"
You could have cut the silence in the Emiya living room with a knife.
They had come back from the docks almost half an hour ago, after Shirou had called his contact with the Yakuza to explain what had happened (though of course he hadn't told them the details). Once they had finished making sure the Bounded Fields around the home were still intact, Shirou had prepared a pot of coffee and they had all sat down, waiting for him to tell them just what exactly Caster – no, Pretender had done to him.
He had told them, holding nothing back, and now Rin and the others were trying to process the revelations of the one male in the room.
"So," said the Tohsaka Head eventually. "Spaceships, and a galactic empire. That explains some of the inconsistencies we noticed in your visions, at least."
"'Inconsistencies' ?" asked Illyasviel.
"Of scale," explained Rin. "For instance, Shirou described the Imperial Palace as being continent-sized, and the final battle of the civil war as engulfing the entire world, which didn't make a lot of sense since the war had been going on for years at this point. I thought it was a distorsion of the memories, or some kind of space extension Magecraft from the Age of the Gods was involved somehow."
"But instead, the war took place all across the galaxy, with Earth being the final battlefield," continued Saber, nodding in understanding. She was taking this better than the other two Artorias, who were looking rather confused (and Rin ruthlessly crushed the thought that the expression looked adorable on her and Illyasviel's Servants). That was probably because her only memories were of modern times, where the concept of spaceships, while still far-fetched, at least was ingrained in the collective consciousness. From the moment Humanity had walked on the Moon (and what a mess that must have been), the Grail's mechanism that granted summoned Servants knowledge of the era must have included that. "That also explains the use of ships to go from one place to another."
"But that doesn't make sense," said Rin, barely holding back from tearing her hair out in frustration. "The Second Magic cannot do that sort of stuff. My family knows a bit more about it than most, thanks to our Founder having been taught by a Reflection of Zelretch, and its scope is limited by the World's simulated timelines. There is no way Gaia has the resources to spare simulating an entire galaxy, especially one as hostile to human life as Shirou's visions show it to be."
"I hesitate to even mention the possibility, but could it be the elements of the Second Magic used in the Greater Grail themselves were corrupted by Angra Mainyu ?" asked Sakura. Rin's sister was sitting next to Shirou, and hadn't let go of his arm since they had sat down. She was still shaken from seeing him fall under Pretender's spell, even if he had recovered quickly.
"It's possible," admitted Rin. "But what would that mean ? Even the worst nightmare of Gaia wouldn't expand much further than our star system, and the Grail certainly doesn't have the kind of processing power it would take to simulate an entire galaxy."
"Therefore," said Illyasviel, "either our understanding of the Second Magic is wrong …"
"… or Corswain and Kor Phaeron came from something completely different," finished Rin.
"Does it matter ?" asked Stheno, speaking up for the first time since the start of the discussion.
They all turned to look at the Servant. She merely shrugged.
"I say, does it matter ?" she repeated, her gaze sharpening on Shirou. "Does the origin of our enemy change anything about your course of action, Master ?"
"No," replied Shirou. "Kor Phaeron must be stopped, and the corruption of the Grail must be destroyed. Its origin only matter inasmuch as it affects how we'll go about it."
"Then that's what we'll do. Regardless of how that Pretender came to be, he is here now, and he's shown that he's afraid of being cut in two by your ridiculously large sword, Master."
"You are right," agreed Shirou.
"Of course I am. I am a Goddess; I am always right."
Rin held back from saying what she thought of that out loud. Stheno had a point, after all.
"Regardless of his origins, you were still caught in his spell, Master," continued Assassin. "You told us Corswain's history, but do you really remember everything ? Somehow, I doubt that."
"And you are right," answered the red-haired boy. "There are gaps in the memories, big ones. The Fire consumed a great deal of Corswain's essence before it took refuge inside my body. And even what remains is fragmented."
"Something we are very grateful for, Senpai," said Sakura, hugging his left arm and resting her head against his shoulder. "I don't think I would like Corswain very much."
"No, I don't think you would," said Shirou softly.
"Tell us more about Kor Phaeron, if you can," asked Rider. "We need to know our enemy."
"Alright. As I said, he was the leader of the Covenant, a religious organization that held complete control over the world of Colchis and worshipped the Dark Gods in a somewhat more benevolent guise, not too different from some of our older, bloodier religions, except it was only a mask for their evil. That changed when the Primarch Lorgar arrived onto that world, and led a great rebellion against the Covenant."
"So this Lorgar landed as a child on a planet controlled by a cult worshipping demons, and managed to remain a steadfast defender of Humanity," noted Lancer. "Given how many of his brothers ended up turning evil later, that speaks well of his strength of character. I think I would have liked to meet him."
"So would I," Shirou smiled wistfully. "After the Heresy, he was … lost is probably the best word for it. He got trapped in the Warp by the machinations of the Chaos Gods. I think they were afraid that, with the Emperor trapped on the Golden Throne, Lorgar would be the one to replace Him as their greatest threat. Back to Kor Phaeron, Lorgar killed him at the end of his war to liberate Colchis from the Covenant, after fighting his way through the hordes of monsters the Black Cardinal had summoned by using the population of his capital as sacrifices."
"Decades later, after the Dark Angels had fallen, they summoned Kor Phaeron's specter in Ultramar, the domain of Guilliman, who had also been turned to Chaos and was making preparations for his rebellion against the Emperor. When Guilliman revealed his hand, Lorgar and his brother Angron were sent to Ultramar in order to deny him its resources, but Guilliman trapped them by unleashing a …" He paused. "I'm not sure how to properly describe it. He unleashed an infernal apocalypse across his entire territory, all five hundred worlds on it, trapping the two Primarchs and their Legions for most of the war. Kor Phaeron reborn was supposed to act as the champion of the Dark Gods, to break or kill them, but he failed and Lorgar defeated him again, which eventually paved the way for their escape and return to Terra just in time to force Guilliman into the desperate gambit that led to his ultimate defeat."
"This does all sound mythological," said Berzerker. "I can see why you all thought it was a story from the Age of the Gods."
"Shirou," asked Rin, suddenly struck by a thought through the fog of exhaustion that was beginning to press in, coffee or not. "Did Kor Phaeron have rings ?"
He blinked in confusion, then scowled as he caught her meaning. "I don't think so : there is no story about any particular artefact he used. But I don't think he can use Solomon's rings either, or at least not to their full potential."
"How do you figure that ?" asked Illyasviel.
"We're still alive," he answered bluntly. "And Kor Phaeron ran, which he wouldn't have done if he had unlimited power literally at his fingertips."
"The Rings of Solomon aren't that strong," said Rin, praying that she was right, "but you have a point. Given that they were supposedly given to the King of Mages by God, do you think he can't use them ?"
"I doubt we are so lucky. They wouldn't have stayed on his hands when his disguise was broken if they were nothing more than decorations. More likely, there are restrictions in place, limits to how he can usurp their power."
"No matter what toys he clings to, he can still be defeated," said Saber, with a confidence Rin wished she could share. "After all, Shirou sent him and his pet monsters reeling with a one-line aria."
"He did," mused Rin, thinking back on that moment. Shirou's words had hurt the Demon Pillars, throwing them off-balance long enough that they had been able to dispatch them while Shirou focused on Pretender.
But it hadn't been something he had inherited from Corswain, she was sure of it. It had felt completely different from when her lover had drawn upon his power in the past. Before, even while knowing there was no way Shirou would do anything to hurt her, she had still been perturbed by the darkness that answered him – which made sense, since it was the vestige of a traitor, heretic and mass-murderer in thrall to infernal powers.
It had felt … safe. For a brief moment, Shirou's will had made itself manifest on the World as he proclaimed his nature as 'the blade that sunders the might of Gods'. And the Demon Pillars, which Shirou had explained he suspected were actually more similar to the daemonhosts the First Legion and its cohorts had used in the Heresy, had been affected by –
Oh.
Of course.
"Reality Marble," she whispered to herself, not realizing she had spoken aloud until everyone turned to look at her.
Only Illyasviel seemed to know what she was talking about, which she guessed made sense. The white-haired girl had been trained for the Grail War, and it was possible for Heroic Spirits to develop Reality Marbles reflecting their legend, like the Rider of the Fourth War had. The others, however, were completely lost.
"Reality Marbles are one of the greatest feats of Magecraft, close to True Magics," she explained. "They consist of overriding the laws of the World and replacing them with those of the caster's inner reality. Back in the Age of the Gods, they were a lot more common, especially among phantasmal creatures, but now they are incredibly rare. Only a handful of Magi have ever achieved them since the foundation of the Association, and research into that subject is so dangerous that it is one of the few the Clocktower has actually banned."
"Why do you think Shirou would have something like this, if they are so rare ?"
"Because it would explain some of the stuff he did. Stuff like his sword destroying Zouken without hurting Sakura, or him being able to destroy the shikome he encountered under Kumamoto, or when he cut through Fragarach instead of being killed by it. Details about Reality Marbles is scarce, but all of these things don't make sense by the logic of the World."
"Which you think means another logic was at work," finished Shirou.
"It's just a theory," Rin insisted. "But, since Reality Marbles are a reflection of the caster's inner reality, it would explain how Shirou keeps doing the impossible when he is being a hero. Even without a full-scale manifestation, Reality Marbles are supposed to grant some pretty weird side abilities."
"Or it could be the result of Onii-chan's unique condition -" Illyasviel suddenly yawned, blushing once she was done. No one mocked her : every Master in the room had followed suit,
"Well, in any case, I don't think we are going to solve that mystery tonight," said Shirou drily, sounding remarkably calm about the whole thing. "We will talk more once we have all gotten some sleep."
Yes, thought Rin. Sleep sounded very good right now.
Kairi breathed heavily as he lowered his shotgun. His heart was beating painfully in his chest, and he felt as if all of his muscles were on fire from the effort he had put them through.
"I am getting too old for this," he muttered to no one in particular, before shaking himself, straightening, and calling out to the others : "thanks for the help. I don't think I could have taken it down alone."
"You are too modest, Mr Sisigou," replied the leader of the three Magi. At least he thought that was the leader : they hadn't told him their names, though he hadn't taken it as a slight, being passingly familiar with how the spooks of the Clocktower operated in the field. "You certainly contributed more to the fight than any of us."
He grunted, neither confirming or denying that statement, and looked down at the creature the four of them had managed to kill. It wasn't a Dead Apostle, that much was obvious, nor was it any kind of relation to that particular blight on the World.
It was humanoid, but over three meters high, and impossibly bulky. Its skin was scarlet under a layer of filfth. It had carried a club that screamed to Kairi's esoteric senses with all the death it had caused. Its face ... well. There was only a pulped, charred mess left of its face, but the Necromancer expected to see it in his nightmares for some time. An abomination like that had no place in any sane universe.
His gun and his spells had still worked on it, though. Death was death, after all : no matter their origins, all beings were ultimately bound by it. It just took more effort in some cases.
"Do you know what this was ?" he asked, trying to distract himself from his pained and exhausted muscles. "I have never encountered anything like it before."
"I believe," answered the Magus cautiously, "that we just killed one of the creatures responsible for Japan's Oni legends. It must have gone into hiding to avoid the purges, but was drawn by the call of the Grail."
"It was smart enough to veil itself from detection until it hit our perimeter; smart enough to survive for centuries without being discovered. All of that, just to die like this, compelled by something it probably didn't even understand …" Kairi shook his head. "I would pity it if it wasn't for all the deaths it caused."
"Indeed. The potency of the Grail's call and corruption continues to amaze me."
The mercenary had linked up with the agents of the Clocktower when they had arrived, along with the other agents of the Conglomerate deployed to enforce Fuyuki's supernatural quarantine. They had all been issued the same communication talismans : small, unconspicuous pieces of basic Magecraft made by the Mihashira Conglomerate that were voice-activated and allowed them to communicate with each other without the hassle of having to operate their phones in the middle of a fight.
Kairi was thankful for the rune-marked piece of paper he had slipped into his jacket's interior pocket, since it had allowed him to call for backup when the Oni had suddenly appeared in his patrol area. Even with their help, taking it down had taken almost an hour of baiting it and drawing it into prepared traps and killing grounds, every moment of it spent in fear that it would grow bored and go straight for the city before they could defeat it. Kairi shivered at the thought of that monster roaming the streets, in full view of everyone looking out of their windows to see what was causing that noise.
They had avoided that, thankfully. But, unfortunately, that didn't mean they weren't facing another crisis, and much as he didn't want to, Kairi felt he needed to bring it up now that his heartbeat was back to a rate that could be considered healthy.
"You sensed that, didn't you ?" he asked.
"The pulse of energy in the city while we were fighting ? Yes, I did. I couldn't tell you what it was, though."
"Yeah, me neither. It's bad news, though, that much I am pretty sure of."
"As am I. Yet the city is still standing, and there doesn't appear to be anything particularly worrying happening -"
The Magus was interrupted by Kairi's phone ringing. With an apologetic glance, the Necromancer pulled it out and checked the caller's number. Surprise, surprise : it was the Conglomerate's representative.
"Sisigou speaking," he said.
"Good evening, Sisigou-san," answered the voice of Kodai, cool and collected as ever. The Necromancer wondered if the man ever slept. He didn't sound tired, so perhaps he was simply nocturnal. "What is your situation ? You sound winded."
"I'm fine. Just took down another beastie trying to reach Fuyuki with the help of the Clocktower's boys. Are you calling about what we felt happening in the city ?"
"Yes. You might share what I am about to tell you with our allies : they are cleared for that type of information. Simply put, we were all very fortunate tonight, Sisigou-san, and by we, I mean the entire World. We came very close to disaster. However, the greater situation is far from resolved. Our auguries have gained new data on the nature of the Grail's corruption and the entity summoned by the Animusphere's ritual. We now believe both to be of non-Gaian origin."
It took a moment for Kairi to process that. When he did, he cursed violently, despite knowing his words were heard not just by his employer, but also by his Clocktower colleagues. The Magi took a step back in surprise, with the closest one raising an eyebrow at some of Kairi's choicest profanities.
"Fucking astromancers," he spat at the end of his tirade, finally running out of breath.
"Quite," said Kodai drily. "We are hoping to get more detailed information later today, once we make contact with the Masters in the city. For now, I would advise you remain on high alert, and do not split up from our English friends."
"Yeah, I think that's for the best. Goddamit, what a mess … Speaking of, any news on more reinforcements ? Between your people and the Clocktower's, I think we've got the quarantine handled for now, but I wouldn't say no to more boots on the ground, just in case."
"Unfortunately, in light of these latest revelations as well as information from our allies in the Clocktower, it has been decided that only the most powerful of the Conglomerate's operatives can be deployed in Fuyuki's immediate surroundings. We are moving more Special Division assets to the Kyushuu island in order to form a wider perimeter : demon hunters supported by more mundane personel. They will seek those drawn by the Grail in the region, hopefully far enough to not be affected themselves."
"That's better than nothing, I guess," sighed Kairi. He had fought alongside (and against, though he hadn't put that particular clusterfuck on his resume) Japan's reclusive demon-hunting clans in the past, and they knew their business, even if their approach to Magecraft was incredibly limited and some of their traditions outright baffling to a foreigner like him. "You're right : if things really go to Hell, most of SD's people won't be of any use. No offense, he added as an afterthought."
"None taken," Kodai assured him with every trace of sincerity. "We are aware of the limitations of our employees, and wouldn't place them in that kind of danger. We're already uncomfortable enough keeping you and the others where you are, Sisigou-san. On a related note, I should inform you that the situation most definitely qualifies under section 19 of your contract : the additional payment for excessive risk has been wired to your account."
Kairi blinked. With everything going on, he had completely forgotten about this. He, a mercenary, had forgotten about the money.
If this wasn't a sign of the End Times, he didn't know what was.
Omake : King and Urizen
"Would you like more tea ?" asked Lorgar Aurelian, Primarch of the Seventeenth Legion.
"Please," politely answered Artoria Pendragon, Lancer-Class Servant.
Lorgar picked the teapot with his right hand, which was a masterfully wrought construct of metal replacing the one he had lost in battle, and refilled their cups.
"So," the Primarch invited her to continue once they had taken a sip. "We were talking about your son – daughter – your child."
Artoria sighed. As much as it was a subject she needed to talk about, she still didn't enjoy revisiting her abject failure where the child her sister Morgan had created by taking advantage of Merlin's juvenile prank was concerned.
"I failed Mordred," she admitted. "When I learned that they were my child, I refused to name them my heir, because I didn't want them to become King. To be a sovereign requires to abandon emotion for logic in order to make hard choices, and Mordred was just so emotional all the time, I felt such a fate would be worse than death for them."
"See, that was your first mistake, though it's one more related to your method of rule than your parenting," said Lorgar. "I do not believe that a leader, whether it's a king, a president, or anything else, should be some perfect machine always making the best choice for the state as a whole."
Artoria winced. Yes, she saw that now. At the time, she'd truly believed this was the best way for a King to rule, but the fact her kingdom had collapsed during her lifetime, not even at her death like the King of Conquerors' had according to her Saber self, had made it painfully obvious there was something wrong with her approach.
"Your other problem," continued Lorgar, "was that you didn't communicate your reasoning clearly enough, so Mordred thought you had rejected them instead of understanding that you wanted to protect them. You thought they would understand you because to you, it seemed obvious, and so didn't need explaining. That was one of my father's failings too, though He did get better at it when me and my brothers were born. According to Malcador, He used to be much, much worse at it."
"I would think so, since your father managed to keep half his sons from turning against him."
"Well, yes, but at least Mordred didn't make a deal with the literal powers of Hell when they rebelled against you," pointed out Lorgar. "On average, I think you did a better job than Him."
"Maybe. And what of you and your sons ?"
"My sons … I don't think you should take advice from me or any of my brothers on that subject, Your Majesty. We call the Astartes our sons, because they share our blood, and the father-son bond is the closest human relationship to what exists between a Primarch and his Space Marines. But make no mistake : that is not the same at all."
"Oh ?"
"Yes. I have seen how parents are heartbroken when their children die before them. And yet, I have buried thousands of my Word Bearers, and millions of them have given their life for the Imperium and Humanity." His gaze darkened at the recollection. "That is how I know I'm not human. A human would have been driven mad by grief long ago. Though we were created from a human core, me and my brothers aren't human. We all had to come to terms with that realization pretty early in our childhoods, though eight of us didn't manage it all that well," Lorgar added with a bitter smile.
"Eight ?" asked Artoria. "I thought nine Primarchs ended up turning renegade ?"
"Poor Jaghatai didn't really have choice," explained Lorgar. "He didn't 'turn' so much as was stabbed in the back and his body paraded by those of his sons who had turned traitor."
"I … see." She didn't, and felt it was better that way. "I suppose Mordred at least chose to do what they did, though their mother always intended for them to bring about Camelot's downfall."
"At least some of the blame for how it all ended is on her," said Lorgar. "Do you know why she decided she had to destroy everything you'd built ?"
"Morgan was our father's firstborn," explained Artoria. "She had been raised to believe she would inherit his crown, or be married to someone who would and rule as queen. Instead, from her perspective, she was cast aside and replaced by me."
"Ah, sibling jealousy. I'm familiar with it."
"With respect, lord, me and my sister's dispute destroyed a kingdom. Your brothers' feud ravaged the entire galaxy."
"That's just because we had spaceships," waved off the golden Primarch. "Trust me, if we had all been stuck on the same planet, we would still have found a way to fight each other."
Somehow, Artoria didn't have any difficulty believing that.
"Take care of Shirou, would you ?" asked Lorgar. "If he can really break free of Corswain's influence, it just might help me convince my brother that he too can reclaim his freedom. Of course," he smiled wrily, "the situation of the two isn't quite the same. For instance, there are methods available to you that I cannot quite replicate -"
"THANK YOU FOR THE TEA !" shouted Artoria, her face suddenly scarlet.
AN : And we are back !
To clarify, the Omake is absolutely non-canon and takes place beyond the Fourth Wall. And yes, you are correct : the Emperor being a good parent is the biggest difference between the Roboutian Heresy and canon Warhammer 40000. He isn't perfect : if He was, He would've figured out a way to help those like Dorn and Russ get over their issues, but at least He didn't punish one of His sons for building churches to Him after letting him do so for fifty years, or leave another in total command of Humanity's entire armies while insinuating He didn't trust him.
And that's not getting into what happened with canon Angron. Seriously, I know it's the result of decades of lore being written by different people while the overall tone of the setting changed from parody to semi-serious, but the canon Emperor of 40K is either an idiot, a jackass, both, or just plain incompetent.
Back to the fic, this chapter is mostly setup for the next 'arc' of the Grail War. I had planned to return to writing this story after finishing Prince of the Eye, but for reasons beyond my ken the muse decided otherwise.
As always, I look forward to your reactions to this chapter. Don't hesitate to ask questions about the lore or raise inconsistencies you noticed : I may not answer them directly, but I will try to address them in-story. (Except for inconsistencies caused by me messing up, of course. Those, I will try to quietly correct.)
And if you have ideas for Omakes, please give them to me. You never know which one will take root.
Zahariel out.