I look downwards. The city of Fuyuki expands throughout my field of sight. The shining lights at night illuminate the city, comparable to a sea of stars. The faint sound of cars driving by whistled in the wind as I let my gaze wander.
I'm not afraid of heights, but standing on top of the tallest building in Fuyuki makes me doubt that. But as long as I don't get too close to the edge and fall off, I have nothing to fear.
I glance over my shoulder. Jeanne is on the other side of the roof with her back turned to me. We're going to look for the cloud of fog that appears every time before another murder. Jack the Ripper always seems to strike close to midnight. So, it's only a matter of time before he shows up. And when he does, we'll be ready to take him out for good.
I avert my gaze to the city and sigh.
We haven't talked much since yesterday. In hindsight, I think I've acted too rash and insulted her. Her faith is a part of who she is. Offending that is the same as offending her.
Good grief. How are we supposed to win this war if we get caught up in stuff like this? I do feel a little guilty about what I said, but I stand by my words.
I glance over my shoulder one more time. In the material I read about Servants, they are described as nothing more than powerful familiars with the appearance of heroes from old. It is said that they are merely minions to be commanded.
I don't know about the other Masters, but when I look at my Servant, I see a person, not a tool. There is no need to get attached though. Servants are like a fleeting dream. Once the war is over, she will be gone.
"Master," Jeanne says, tapping me on the shoulder.
I turn around. "What is it?"
"You looked like you were spacing out, is everything alright?" she asks.
"It's nothing," I reply.
"I see," she says. "Then we should head out."
She points to the right. I look in that direction and see a massive cloud of fog shrouding a complete district.
"Let's go!" I say.
We're going through the fog at a steady pace. Not too slow, but not too fast either. After all, we don't want to drop our guard in case we're his next target.
"Can you spot anything?" I ask.
"Nothing," Jeanne replies.
Just then, a scream echoes around us. My head instantly snaps to the direction of the high-pitched sound that quickly subsided.
"It came from that direction!" Jeanne says, pointing to the left.
"Let's go," I say, picking up the pace.
We close in on the source of the scream, but just as we round the corner, the fog retreats. I look at what appears to be a dark alley. A couple of garbage cans line the wall to the right and the street lamps only illuminate a bit of this place.
But most importantly: Assassin got away again. Damn it.
Just when I'm about to call it a day, Jeanne gets in front of me. It's then that I notice someone kneeling in front of the Ripper's latest victim about five meters in front of us.
The person in question raises his head and gets up as he turns around to face us.
A tanned man with short white hair, donning black body armor and a red cloak stands before us. I can tell by the aura he is emanating that he is a Servant. There's magical energy residue around this guy.
STR: B
AGL: B
LUK: B
END: B
MP: B
NP: ?
B-ranked across the board? What the hell is this? That question mark on his Noble Phantasm is what worries me the most though. I've never seen or heard of anything like that. Honestly, what's with the Servants in this Holy Grail War? EX-Rank this, EX-Rank that, and now a Servant with a question mark as parameter.
"And who are you supposed to be?" I ask. "Lancer or Caster?"
"I have to disappoint you there, Master of Saber," the man replies calmly. "I am Archer."
"Yeah, right. The arrogant golden king is already occupying that slot," I reply.
"What a shame," he says, waving his hand dismissively and walking away. "Either way, I have no intention of fighting you now. So, I'll just be on my way."
"Saber, take him down," I say. "He's an enemy we must overcome eventually. We might as well get it over with now."
"Oh?" the red Archer says, his back still turned to us.
Jeanne draws her sword and holds it in front of herself with both hands.
"Here I go!" she says.
She charges towards the red Archer. Just as she is about to reach him with her blade, he turns around and parries it with two curved daggers in his hands. One is pitch black with a red hexagonal pattern on it while the other blade is snow-white. So much for his claim of being an Archer.
"Hmph, I don't have time for this nonsense," he says, breaking the blade lock and gaining a bit of distance.
He turns around and jumps onto a nearby roof.
"Saber, go after him!" I shout.
"What about you?" she asks.
"Don't worry about me," I reply. "I'll be fine on my own. Now, go!"
She jumps onto the roof and gives chase to the red Archer. She disappears from my view not long after.
Everything quiets down. I walk towards the dead body ahead and kneel beside it. It looks to be the woman we heard screaming earlier. She is also drained of her prana. Assassin's work no doubt, judging by his signature slash on the victim's throat and abdomen.
However, it looks like he was interrupted in the process of arranging her organs next to her body. While the cut is there just like on the other victims, the organs are untouched. I wonder if the red Archer drove Assassin off or if he just got startled and left.
I move my gloved hand over her eyes to close them. She was just a bystander that didn't have anything to do with this. At the very least she can rest in peace now.
Either way, there is nothing else I can do about the dead body in front of me. I need to leave before anyone sees me here in this incriminating position.
"Hold it!" I hear a male voice behind me as I get up. "Turn around. No sudden moves."
Well shit.
I slowly turn around. I expect to see a policeman standing there with his gun pointed at me. Instead, I see a somewhat familiar face with a gun pointed at me.
"Well, well," he says. "I couldn't believe it when I heard that you of all people were participating in the Holy Grail War. And here you are with a Servant and everything, fighting for the omnipotent wish-granting device."
A freelancer from the Clock Tower. He's wearing mostly black combat gear and aiming at me with a pistol.
"I've no interest in small talk with you," I reply. "What do you want?"
"Your Command Seals," he replies. "Not for myself, of course. I was hired by one of the other Masters to eliminate his competition."
"And you are telling me this why exactly?" I ask.
"I figured that you and I could settle this like civilized people, since you and I are both freelancers of the Clock Tower," he replies. "It's just good business."
"Go to hell," I say.
"Look, kid," he says. "You can just hand over your Command Seals and leave the city. Walk away."
Like hell am I going to do that. And besides, giving up my Command Seals would be equivalent to betraying Jeanne. Even if we don't see eye to eye.
"Walk away?" I repeat. "I can't just walk away after everything that's happened. Could you do that?"
He doesn't respond.
"That's what I thought," I add.
"I hoped it wouldn't come to this," he says. "Sorry, kid."
I see a small flash of light on a rooftop.
I manage to move to the side just in time for the sniper to miss my head and hit my left shoulder instead. Drawing my revolver, several shots ring out in quick succession at him. He ducks and returns fire.
I sprint towards the nearest car and dive behind it for cover as his shots fly past me. I sit on the cold asphalt, trying to take stock of my current situation.
"Shit," I curse, taking a look at the injury on my shoulder.
Blood is gushing out of the wound and painting that part of my coat with a crimson hue.
I should've known he wouldn't be alone, damn it. Reloading my gun, I glance over the cover for a moment. He's trying to circle around and flank me while the sniper keeps me in place.
Even though my shoulder is hit, I can still move my arm through the pain.
I throw down a smoke bomb to the side to obscure his vision. The cloud emerges after a puffing noise. That should buy me a bit of time.
I glance down at my Command Seals. No, this is my fight. Besides, she's fighting another Servant.
Alright. First my shoulder, then the bastard on the ground, then the sniper.
I put my right hand over my wounded shoulder and take a deep breath.
Time Alter: Rev-
Tick. Tick. Tick.
My gaze snaps to the right. I look at a grenade that just collided with the sidewalk right next to me.
Survival instinct kicks in. I plunge away from the car, opposite to the direction where the smoke bomb exploded. My shoulder hurts like hell as I tumble on the ground to gain as much distance as possible.
Boom.
The shockwave from the explosion pushes me a little further. I can feel the heat momentarily on my skin, but it subsides as quickly as it began.
As I get up, a sudden pain surges through my body. It feels as though a stinger just went through me, over and over. The air is pushed out of my lungs and I gasp for air.
Looking forward, I see the source of my agony. Holding a submachine gun, another freelancer looks at me with a dead expression. I got played.
Blood splatters in front of me as I cough. I look down on my body riddled with holes and collapse on the ground face-up.
It feels like time slows down as I find myself in this all too familiar situation.
From the corner of my vision, I can still see the car which is engulfed in fire. The stench of gasoline also lingers in the air.
I look up at the starry sky as my life ebbs away. I've lost count how many times I've been in this position now. The pain doesn't become any easier to bear though.
My eyesight is getting blurry.
"I don't think this is what Ryoken had in mind when he trained you," I hear one of the freelancers say.
That name…
It lights a fire within me.
This is not where it ends. Death has no claim on me yet. And I am going to end him for speaking that name.
I see one of the freelancers walk up to me from the corner of my sight.
Time Alter: Reverse Flow
I still have my revolver tightly in my right hand and these guys let their guard down now. I suppress the urge to scream as I relive the pain of getting pierced by dozens of bullets. My wounds are all closing and the dizziness fades.
This feeling isn't new to me. I've been shot, cut, and even partially burned once. I walked away unscathed every time.
I see the guy pulling out a knife, no doubt to cut off my right hand where the Command Seals are on.
He reaches me and crouches down.
"What the-" he utters in surprise, but doesn't get to finish that sentence.
I quickly aim up and shoot him right between the eyes. I use this moment to quickly get back on my feet and grab the dead man by the collar with my left hand to use as a meat shield.
I let two shots loose. My aim is true. The first shot hits the sharpshooter on the roof that is busy disassembling his sniper rifle. The second shot hits the last guy in the hand that he tried to pull out his gun with. Three bullets left.
The fourth shot connects with his left knee and the fifth with the right. He falls on his knees. I drop the other guy and run towards him. Once there, I grab his weapon on the ground and throw it away.
I point my gun at his back and he slowly raises his hands into the air.
"Nothing personal," I say. "Like you said, it's just good business. Now, tell me who hired you."
"I'm more curious about how you seemingly came back from the dead just now." He spits. "What are you, a dead apostle or something?"
"No such thing," I say impatiently. "Now, answer the damn question."
"I'm not telling you anything," he laughs, despite the pain. "I'll die before you get anything out of me. The old man didn't teach you how to torture people, did he?"
After uttering that last sentence, my trigger finger seems to act on its own. The shot echoes throughout the street and the last freelancer drops to the ground with a hole through his heart.
Instinctively, I reload my weapon and look around. No one in sight.
There's no reason to lurk around. Who knows if that Master he spoke of hired more goons. It's the church's job to clean this mess here up. As far as I'm concerned, I'm done here.
Just as I put away my gun, a light appears above me on a lamppost. I look up to see golden dust taking physical form. This is bad.
Golden armor and crimson eyes that judge the world around them.
Jeanne continues to chase the red Archer over the rooftops of Fuyuki. If it wasn't for her superior agility, Archer would have been long gone. It is apparent that he knows this city far better than she does.
Archer jumps over to the next building, does a somersault and throws his black and white short swords at her. She stops momentarily and raises her banner to intercept. The swords hit her flagpole with a clank before hitting the ground. Then, they vanish into fine blue particles as if they were never there.
"How many swords does he have?" she mutters, jumping over the gap to continue her pursuit.
Seeing that Saber doesn't let up, Archer furrows his brows. He sprints to the edge of the next building, jumps, turns midair and fires three arrows at his pursuer.
Jeanne sees the three flashes of light coming at her. She dashes to the right, then dodges to the left. Finally, she tumbles forward, narrowly escaping the last one as it passes over her.
Archer is losing his lead little by little. Jeanne is about to catch up with him at this rate.
Trace on.
A dozen longswords rain from the sky and create a circle around Jeanne. She stops momentarily to question where these came from before readying her banner.
Instead of using this temporary diversion to run away, Archer stops to turn around and face her. He re-summons the two short swords into his hands again.
"I told you that I have no intention of fighting you at the moment," he says.
"But you plan to fight us in the future?" she replies.
Jeanne swings her banner horizontally at the wall of swords. They give in under the pressure of her attack and shatter like glass. The shards jingle on the ground before disappearing moments later.
She carefully steps forward, taking glances around her in case more unexpected blades come flying at her.
"That depends on whether the Master you blindly take orders from becomes my target," he replies. "He's a pragmatist that doesn't seem to care much for anyone. Though I would normally approve of such a mindset, it's not doing him any favors now."
"Even if that is true, I will not abandon him," she replies firmly. "I believe in his humanity!"
Archer clicks his tongue. It looks as if he is in a particular bad mood after her statement.
"Your trust may be misplaced," he says. "But if you want to follow that path, be my guest. Blindly following an ideal will only lead to despair."
"And what is it that you are after, Archer?" she asks. "There is no denying that you are a Servant. So, why are you actively avoiding conflict?"
"I'm sure that you would love to know all about it," he says, turning around. "However, I have absolutely no reason to tell you anything or work with that Master of yours."
He walks over to the edge of the roof.
"Wait, we are not finished yet!" she says, picking up her pace.
"This will be my final warning to you, Holy Maiden of Orleans," Archer concludes. "If you keep following me or get in my way, I will kill you."
Jeanne comes to a halt upon realizing that he knows her true name. Archer uses this opportunity to leap away.
I am the bone of my sword…
The two swords in his hands disappear. In their stead, an ebony longbow appears along with a drill-shaped arrow.
Within the few seconds he is in the air, he takes aim at Jeanne. There is a surge of magical energy around him as he holds his breath. Then, he releases the arrow.
"Caladbolg!"
[The Fake Spiral Sword]
Dodging is out of the question due to the speed of the projectile. Jeanne spins her banner in front of her which creates a shield of light. The arrow connects with a loud boom upon impact, leaving a cloud of smoke in its wake.
Jeanne swings her banner wide to clear her view. She frantically looks around, but the red Archer is nowhere to be found.
"Well, that was meager, but I suppose it has been a fun little distraction," Gilgamesh says, crossing his arms.
What is he doing here? Why did he show up? Is he here to kill me? No, I don't think so. If he wanted me dead, I wouldn't be standing here now.
I have to play this very carefully. I can't show any sign of weakness and face him head on. Let's see what he wants.
"Well, I'm glad that this life and death struggle has been entertaining for you," I respond. "But what is the reason for honoring me with your presence, King of Heroes?"
"I decided to observe the group of mongrels that Lawson hired in hopes of some entertainment," he says. "It seems that they fulfilled their purpose."
Lawson? That must be his Master and the one who hired those freelancers.
"But enough about that," he continues. "I am surprised that someone as mediocre as you figured out my identity that quickly. Hmm, this era seems to be full of surprises, if nothing else."
"Am I correct in assuming that you're not interested in the Holy Grail War at all?" I ask.
"Of course not," he replies. "The entire premise of having to fight for it makes no sense to begin with. The Grail already belongs to me. All the world's treasures trace their origin back to my treasury."
"Isn't your contractor after the Grail though?" I ask.
"He summoned me to this world and maintains my form," he replies. "However, I have absolutely no reason to answer to some mage, let alone bestow my treasure upon him."
"Doesn't he have Command Seals as well though?" I question. "A Heroic Spirit cannot defy a command given with such magic."
"It would be foolish of anyone to order a king around," he answers, displeased. "Such an outrage is punishable by death."
A chill runs down my spine as he says that. Would he really cut down his own Master for using a Command Seal on him?
"So, what are you going to do next, if I may ask?" I say.
"That is indeed a good question." He smirks. "Right now, an enemy Master stands before me without any means of defending himself."
Shit. I have to somehow stall this out and hope that Jeanne comes back in time.
"However…" Gilgamesh continues. "Watching your struggle so far has been amusing. Therefore, I shall give you one chance to earn my mercy. Tell me, mongrel, what do you wish to do with the Holy Grail?"
I really don't want to tell him of all people, but I guess I don't have a choice here.
"To be honest, I wasn't planning to enter the war because I have no desire to be granted," I reply. "I simply stumbled into all of this by accident."
Gilgamesh raises an eyebrow.
"Impossible. Does the Grail not call upon those it deems worthy?" he responds.
"That's what the church claims, but like I said," I add. "I have no real desire. So, I opted for the rather mundane wish to ask the Grail for my origins. I'm not trying to reach the root like the other Masters."
"The root does not concern me in the least. It is a pointless sounding ambition," he says. "And your wish, though better than the root, is disappointingly mediocre."
This isn't going well. I can't believe that my survival right now hinges on whether I am entertaining to him or not.
"Nevertheless," he adds. "You have piqued my interest. Consider yourself fortunate, for you have been allowed conversation with the king."
I can hear rapid footsteps approaching from behind. Jeanne rushes in and gets between me and Gilgamesh. She assumes a defensive stance with her banner at the ready.
"Well, I will be taking my leave for now," he says, not bothering to give Jeanne more than a glance. "But I will ask one last thing. Mongrel, what is your name?"
It's too dangerous to risk a fight with him at this point. So, I'll just go along with his request.
"It's Zayne Kinami," I state.
"I see," he says.
Without another word, he disappears into golden dust and leaves. I sigh in relief. A conversation with him is like being held at gunpoint and I honestly don't think we can beat him in a fight yet. I'll take the fact that we survived that encounter as a win, for now.
Jeanne surveys our surroundings and notices the two dead bodies.
"What happened here?" she asks.
She then notices how my bloodied clothes look like swiss cheese and her eyes widen in shock. She walks up to me until our bodies are mere centimeters away from each other. I nearly wince at this unexpected approach.
"And what happened to you?" she adds, startled.
Examining the openings in my clothes, she soon wears a puzzled look on her face. It doesn't stop her from looking at every opening she can find though.
"I'm fine, honestly," I reply. "I don't die that easily."
I grasp her wrists to prevent her from going further through my clothes. I slowly, and with a little force, redirect her hands back to her sides.
"You definitely got injured though," she says, crossing her arms. "How did you get rid of that so easily? Are you versed in healing magic?"
I hesitate for a moment.
"Yes..." I answer. "Healing magic."
She doesn't need to know what it really was, nor the price I pay for such magic.
"Anyway, what happened to the self-proclaimed Archer in red?" I ask.
Jeanne hesitates for a moment and scratches the back of her head while avoiding my gaze.
"He... got away. I am sorry," she says apologetically. "But I can say that he has a similar ability to the King of Heroes."
"That's worrying," I reply. "And his existence also questions what we know about the Holy Grail War so far. We've either been misled about the class of another Servant or there are more than seven Servants present. Could it be a Ruler?"
"That is impossible," she says. "A Ruler would openly declare their class and abstain from any involvement unless the rules of conduct are being violated."
"Point taken," I say. "Let's head back home. I don't want to discuss this out here in the open."
I look at the dead freelancers one more time.
"I've had enough for today." I conclude.
