Within seconds, the red lights made impact where we had been standing.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thankfully, I had enough remaining focus to remember to grab my backpack. While there wasn't anything in it that I couldn't easily replace, I had used that backpack for well over a decade now; held sentimental value.
Chunks of dirt were sent flying into the air as the projectiles made impact with the ground. I would have loved to see just what kind of firepower Archer had, but unfortunately, Archer didn't seem to be willing to give us any time to examine the craters left behind.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
It wasn't just us Archer had fired at either. All four of the servants found themselves under attack from the barrage as well. One made impact with the ground next to Saber and sent him flying. Another made impact with Lancer's shield, sending him skidding backwards across the tarmac some feet, before knocking him backwards, head over heels. Berserker simply took the shots sent his way head on. While they certainly got him to stop his rampage for a moment and stagger him, I honestly couldn't tell if they had actually done much in terms of damage to him. Something that both impressed me, and worried me.
"Rrrrrraaaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh!"
"Damn it! Berserker, ignore that shit and kill the others already" I heard Zachary shout at his servant, but it didn't seem to have any effect on Berserker.
Rider was the only servant having any luck thus far. Having managed to avoid the first shot fired at him, Archer must have taken it as a challenge, for now his only focus seemed to be Rider. Shot after shot rained down on him, but even after having been in combat for so long, he was simply too quick on horseback. Honestly, it made he wonder if his horse was even affected by the concept of stamina...
"Think this is our cue to leave" I shouted over to Johnathan and Sortiara.
"No shit, Sherlock" Sortiara shouted back.
Saber and Lancer were both back on their feet now, and made their way over to their respective master's side. Both were looking really bad now; this prolonged exchange must have been pushing them to their limits.
Fortunately for us, Archer and Berserker alike seemed far more occupied with Rider. As we ran past Archer's master, I noticed the faint trace of a smile dance across her face. Yet, she didn't move to try and stop us or anything.
"It would seem Archer has made his decision" she mused. "How fortunate for you all. Don't think this game of our is over though."
I was trying to think of some kind of witty retort, but before I could really come up with anything, I couldn't help but notice the yellowing of the sky. Looking up over the roof of the school, I could see another projectile sailing through the sky. Rather than being red, though, it was indeed yellow.
Rider obviously noticed it too, and moved to dodge the shot. Before it made impact with the ground though, it… curved. Not, like, massively or anything. To be honest, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, or that it had been some kind of illusion from Archer's master. But no, what should have been just another miss ended up becoming a direct hit on Rider, right at the last moment. The shot clearly took Rider by surprise as well, for he was knocked back off his horse. Despite Rider being the one who was hit, the moment he was knocked off, his horse dissipated out of existence.
The hell was that…
That would be all I would get to see though before I rounded the corner of the main school building. The sound of combat was fading into the background, though the sounds of Archer's shots making impact with the ground could still be faintly heard. Until I stepped off the school grounds, that is. As if by magic, the moment my foot hit the road, all sounds of combat died completely. Looking up, I could still see red lights streaking through the sky, but the moment they appeared to begin their descent, they disappeared from sight.
"Hey, guys, check this out…"
Sortiara's ragged voice snapped my attention back to the group. Lancer and Saber had disappeared; presumably back into their spirit forms. However, it was what Sortiara was pointing to that sent a tingle down my spine. Just… milling about, up and down the street, were cops. Lots and lots of cops, some fully decked out in riot gear as well. Ordinary people were standing on their front yards, blankly staring out into space.
"You think that Clock Tower bitch did all this?"
"…I mean, that would explain the lack of action by to police" Johnathan nodded. "Would also explain why she didn't make a move on any of us herself; keeping all of them trapped in her illusions must be quite taxing."
"Yeah, don't think I'm gonna stick around" I laughed slightly, taking up a walking pace down the street. "Who knows when she's gonna drop the visions and shit, nor do I feel like I want to experience any of her trippy mind shit personally."
"Better get back to running then; doubt Berserker and Rider plan on sticking around as a distraction much longer."
"Where's Saber and Lancer?"
"Spirit form" Sortiara confirmed my earlier assumption. "Less taxing for them, and honestly, they need the break; Lancer was just about at his limit. Even a minute longer, and I would have needed to use a command spell, for sure."
"Same" Johnathan huffed as the three of us broke back out into a run down the street. "Honestly, we're actually sort of lucky Archer's master showed up when she did. I don't know how I could have lived with myself if…"
"If what" I asked.
"If I had to kill all these people" Johnathan nodded towards all the police as we ran past.
"Really? You would have killed all of them?"
"Not just us, but Zachary and the Executor would have does so as well" Sortiara confirmed. "Those who aren't magi or masters cannot be allowed to witness anything to do with the Holy Grail War. Even if we refused, the other two would have gone ahead and done it without us anyways, and it would only put an even bigger target on our backs, as we would have been putting the secrecy of magecraft at risk."
"…Man, all you magic people are certified nuts" I managed a slight laugh.
"Master… A request… if you don't… mind…"
Lancer was sitting up along the gate of the driveway, breathing heavily. His shield was all dented and his armor had some dents, ships and scratches as well. Otherwise, though, he didn't seem to be in too bad a shape.
"Yeah… what…" Sortiara huffed back.
We were all fairly exhausted from… well, everything, I suppose. I had no idea how long the two servants had been waiting for us. They both seemed completely out of it; considering spirit form was supposed to be easier for them, I was surprised that Lancer was bothering to show himself at all. Saber was staying hidden though… that, or he passed away from exhaustion. Considering Johnathan wasn't freaking out or breaking down, I bet on the former.
"Never… make me do… something… like that… ever again…" he sighed. "At least not without… a command spell…"
"…That's… fair… Sorry, Lancer. You did… great though."
"Heh… Glad to be… of service."
On that note, Lancer hauled himself to his feet, swapping out of his armor and into his regular clothes.
"Though I don't think either Saber or myself will be up to any more fighting for a little while. Especially Saber; got it way worse than I did."
"Yeah…" Johnathan sighed, looking a tad embarrassed.
…No, not embarrassed. It was shame…
"I need to apologize to him. I really should have used a command spell. You know where he is, Lancer?"
"Asleep, most likely. Felt bad for him, so I told him I'd take first watch."
"Right… better do it tomorrow and let him sleep then. Speaking of-"
"Sleep sounds really nice" Sortiara mumbled, as if in a trance.
"You, uh… you ok" I cast her a quizzical look. "You sound completely out of it."
"Took some medication after the gut punch" she nodded. "Now that we're safe… well, relatively speaking, and the adrenalin is gone, the drowsiness of the medicine is starting to… take effect."
Sortiara let out a yawn, as if to prove her point.
"You risked taking something like that in the middle of a fight?"
"It was either that, or kneel over and die, basically. But really, the side effect isn't as bad as you think."
"Take it it's magical, or something like that" I noted as the three of us walked past Lancer, towards the front door.
With a slight nod as we passed, Lancer also disappeared into spirit form. So, they can't interact with the world physically, but can still act as security, even while in spirit form… Fascinating…
"Naturally."
"You make it yourself?"
"No. Magi tend to specialize, and as you probably noticed during the fight, my family specializes in-"
"Wind magecraft."
"Exactly."
"So then, where you get it?"
"An old friend of my father made the stuff. Father tended to buy a lot in bulk, for a discounted price. Good thing too, considering he never told me how to get in contact with that friend of his; what we have currently is all we have for the war."
"…Is that a problem?"
"Oh, no. Thankfully, father always bought way more than we ever used, and would restock before we even ran out. Still got enough to last me years, if not decades. Certainly, enough to last a group of three for the entirety of the war…"
By now, the three of us were back in the living room area where I had been interrogated. Rather than sitting beside Sortiara though, Johnathan joined me on the other side of the table. Sortiara sprawled out on the other sofa, taking the entire thing for herself.
"Go figure; camera's dead…" I sighed, pulling it out of my jacket pocket. "Wonder when it cut out, exactly…"
"You really shouldn't be recording any of this" Sortiara mumbled sleepily.
"It's my nuke, nothing more" I smiled, reaching down to the backpack I placed at my feet and opening it.
"Sounds too dangerous for an idiot like you to have."
"Nukes aren't meant to be used; not nowadays, at least. Ever heard of a concept called-"
"Mutually assured destruction; yeah, yeah, I get it, gramps. Still don't like it, nor the fact it took so long for us to realize..."
"Ah, cheer up, it's not all bad" I pulled out a bottle of Dr. Pepper and ignored the gramps remark.
Chill girl; I ain't that much older than you!
"Also, drink this."
"I just want to sleep! And I don't even like soda!"
"No can do; there are things to discuss, before they're forgotten. Also, if you don't want this, then get a glass of water or something; the drink itself isn't what's going to keep you awake; unless its caffeine loaded, and I got enough health problems already, without caffeine. It's the motion of drinking, of giving your body an action to repeat, that will keep you awake. At least until this conversation is done."
"Fine, fine. Just give me a minute…"
Sortiara hauled herself off the sofa and stumbled out of the room.
"Not as bad as I thought, eh" I grinned slightly as Johnathan.
"She always has to be right" he sighed, but was also slightly smiling.
"I know the type well."
"Will that actually work though? The act of drinking something to stay awake, I mean?"
"I don't know; have no experience with the side effects of magical medicine. All I know was that it was the trick both my sister and I used to get through high school and university. Well, what bits of university I did do, at least."
"And the type of drink really doesn't matter?"
"Nope. My sister did it with water just fine. I do it with soda because water just has no taste, and I can't bring myself to drink it just for the sake of staying awake, no matter how important the lecture."
"Huh… interesting trick. Have to try it out myself some time…"
"…Alright, let's get this done and over with, so I can go to bed" Sortiara sighed when she returned a few moments later, holding a glass of water.
"…You do know it's not even eleven, right" I told here, pulling out my phone and checking on the time.
"Don't care."
"…Fair enough" I covertly set my phone to start recording. "At any rate, lets start. Go ahead: start asking."
Both Johnathan and Sortiara gave me a puzzled look as I leaned back.
"…Ask you what" Johnathan asked.
"Anything you wish" I sighed. "Though really, there should be one question screaming in your mind at this very moment."
"Ugh… can't you just tell us" Sortiara grumbled, taking a sip of water.
"I could, but the point is to a) keep you two engaged so you don't fall asleep on me, and b) get you two thinking, because boy, does it ever seem like you two lack on that front."
"Well excuse-"
"Berserker's identity."
Sortiara and I both turned to face Johnathan.
"You know Berserker's identity, don't you? That's how you knew it was going to spit poison, isn't it?"
"Well, that was more of a guess than me factually knowing. At that point, I had a list of five possible names, and the guy who I knew spit poison was at the top of it, so I figured it was a safe guess to make. The fact he did though essentially confirmed it, tis true."
"Then?"
"…Then what?"
"What is Berserker's true name" Sortiara interjected, glaring at me.
Hey, be mad at Johnathan, not me; not my fault me made a statement, and didn't ask a question, about Berserker's identity.
"So, it's called a true name. I see… Right, well, time for the big reveal" I grinned, rubbing my hands together. "Dun-dun-dun-da! The true name of your Berserker servant for the Holy Grail Was is none other than… Shaka Zulu!"
I was expecting thunderous applause, yet all I received was silence.
"…Neither of you know who that is, do you?"
"Not in the slightest" Johnathan shook his head in confirmation.
"Oh my god, how do you people enter this thing intentionally without studying up on history" I practically shouted at the two of them. "I'm talking about the Shaka Zulu here: founder of the Zulu Kingdom, which stood up against the British Empire for far longer than it had any real right to, mind you. The man's a legend of his era; basically revolutionized the entire notion of warfare for that area. Before he came in, war in South Africa was mostly ritualistic in nature. It was Shaka who built up the first sense of a proper armed force and crushed foes underfoot! …When needed; he was actually quite a skilled diplomat as well, and usually went with diplomacy as the first option. …Do either of you at least know about the Marian reforms?"
"…That thing the romans did to fix their armies" Sortiara threw out.
"Ugh… for simplicity's sake, sure, I'll leave it at that. Instituted by the roman statesman Gaius Marius. Basically, that's Shaka Zulu, but for the non-Mediterranean part of Africa."
"...So, where does the spitting poison come in" Johnathan asked.
"Ah, well, that comes more from stories. At least, I don't think there has been any definitive proof of the poison spitting, but don't quote me on that; my knowledge of the Zulu's, and Shaka, isn't top quality by any means. Basically though, there are stories of Shaka chewing on poisonous plants that, should the poison come into contact with the eyes, induce blindness. Since he was chewing the damn things, his spit basically carried the poison, and if he spat into your eyes-"
"You went blind" Sortiara finished for me.
"Pretty much" I nodded. "Now, I don't know much on the specifics on the blindness; if it was permanent or not. Nor do I know if, by virtue of him now being a Heroic Spirit, the spit can do more than inflict blindness. Regardless, he can spit poison of some kind, so best avoid it altogether, I say."
"Well, that's at least one positive to come out of tonight" Johnathan gave a slight grin. "We now know who Berserk is."
"Anything else you can tell us about him" Sortiara asked.
"In terms of sneaky or special shit, like the poison" I clarified. "Not that I know of. He's going to be a tough bugger to take down though; man drilled his army hard, and the Kingdom was a militaristic one; it all spawned from him. Do keep in mind, the Zulus were a group of people who primarily took pointy sticks and clubs to the best armed army for what was then the modern day, and managed to win."
"And he's a Berserker on top of that, so his stats are going to be even more insane due to his class" Johnathan sighed.
…Stats? What stats? Servants have stats? I'll have to ask them about that later though; no way they're going to sit through me questioning them without it being to their benefit in this state. But keep that in mind: servants have stats, seemingly hidden.
"Well, that's one of the two things I wanted to cover for sure tonight" I nodded.
"What's the other thing?"
"…I've been thinking…" I cracked my fingers. "And I think… I think I might be able to figure out Rider's identity right here and now."
"What? Really" Sortiara asked, suddenly far more focused.
"Really" I confirmed. "But I'm going to you guy's help for it."
"Anything, if it gets us the true name of the Church's servant" Johnathan quickly responded.
"Right then" I smiled. "You remember the pages I gave you? The ones by the Einzberns?"
"Yeah, what about them?"
"Catalyst. Tell me everything about them. What are they, exactly? How do they work, exactly? If either of you two used a catalyst and can show me it as an example, even better. Oh, the general summoning system too. How does the grail select a servant if there is no catalyst used? If there are multiple criteria to summoning a specific servant, tell me exactly what they are. If they have a priority system, explain that to me in full. You two do that for me, and I'm confident I can finish the puzzle that is Rider's identity…"
"…Best to start at the beginning then."
Sortiara took a deep breath before continuing.
"You're recording this, aren't you?"
"I mean, camera's dead..."
"Your phone…"
"…Heh, so you are staying alert" I gave her a slight grin. "Naturally."
"…Fine. But I expect Rider's true name from this. The summoning system for the Holy Grail War is… complex. The best way I can explain this for you to understand… think of the grail as a mediator between a master candidate, and a potential servant."
"Ok. What happens then?"
"On the attempt to summon a Heroic Spirit, the grail will connect to a place called the Throne of Heroes."
"…I believe I heard you mention that before…" I hesitated, unsure of myself. "Throne of Heroes, or something like that. Is that basically heaven for heroes?"
"Not really. It's more a database maintained by the world than an actual location, or throne. It serves as a gathering point for all the records for anyone who the world has deemed heroic enough to qualify as a Heroic Spirit."
"So then… servants are copies?"
"Copies so accurate they might as well just be that person, but yes" Sortiara confirmed.
"Keep in mind that servants only get certain aspects of themselves, based on their class" Johnathan added. "So, using Lancer as an example, he would have all his memories from his entire life, as well as all his training and skills and such, but as he's a Lancer, he only gets access to his spear."
"And although he appears to be in his early thirties at the latest, he still knows everything that did… or rather is, from his perspective, going to happen to him" I asked.
"Exactly."
"Ok, that clarifies some things" I nodded. "But then how does the grail choose which Heroic Spirit to match with the master. Or does it even choose at all?"
"To an extent, it does" Sortiara continued. "Really, what the grail is looking for is servant-master compatibility, mostly in terms of personality. Exceptions being made for Berserkers, but they're…"
"A unique case" I offered.
"Yeah, that. For the other classes though, compatibility is the key requirement for the grail. Important thing to note, though: Heroic Spirits can refuse to answer the call of a master candidate."
"Wait, so the grail basically acts like the headhunting agencies?"
"…Headhunting agencies" Johnathan asked, sounding confused.
Sortiara looked even more confused than he sounded.
"Temporary employment agencies" I clarified. "Sorry, my old man always called them head-hunters; term sorta stuck as I grew up."
"That's a good way of looking at it, as an outsider" Johnathan nodded. "Yeah, you could say they send out a resumé of you to the Heroic Spirit who it thinks would be best suited to you."
"And they can just… refuse?"
"They're old heroes who have already lived and died; they don't owe any of us shit" Sortiara laughed.
"Never thought of it like that, but that's fair" I laughed a little too at the thought. "Has that ever happened though; getting rejected by a Heroic Spirit, I mean?"
"Can't say I know" Sortiara shrugged. "I'd imagine the grail would just move on to the next best Heroic Spirit if the first one did, so I doubt a master candidate would ever know."
"Ok… and that's with or without a catalyst?"
"Both with, and without" Johnathan corrected. "That is always the base process; adding in a catalyst only tells the grail to limit its initial search."
"…So, it guarantees the grail sends the resumé to certain Heroic Spirits first, but not that those Heroic Spirits answer the call to action?"
"Exactly."
"Sounds good" I nodded. "Then these catalysts: what are they?"
"A catalyst can be anything that has a connection to a Heroic Spirit from their lifetime" Sortiara explained. "It could be the fragments of a broken sword. A bit of fabric from a cloak or cape. Could be even more abstract, depending on the Heroic Spirit in question."
"So then… could… say, a chunk of the round table act as a catalyst" I asked.
I had thought it an innocent enough question, but both Johnathan and Sortiara looked a bit rattled by it.
"…Yes, it could, in theory" Sortiara continued, sounding a bit hesitant. "It wouldn't be great if you were aiming for a specific knight, like Sir Lancelot or Sir Gawain or whoever. But if you just wanted any knight from King Arthur's court, then it would definitely work."
"And priority always goes to catalyst potential?"
"Yes."
"Even if personality compatibility isn't as great as with a Heroic Spirit not connected to the catalyst."
"To our understanding, yes."
"…Then we're in luck" I grinned, as the one name I had pegged for Rider finished meeting all my conditions. "At least I think we're in luck."
"You know Rider's true name" Johnathan asked, practically jumping out of his seat.
"I suspected for a while that this was the most likely identity for Rider, but I wasn't sure because of who his master was."
"Why was that such an issue" Sortiara asked, eyebrow raised.
"Because, when you saw Rider, what part of the world did you think he was from?"
"The Middle East. Why?"
"And the time period?"
"I don't know, middle ages" Sortiara huffed. "Maybe the Ottoman Empire."
"Exactly" I nodded. "That was the issue with his master taken into consideration."
"But how?"
Oh my god girl… please don't tell me I need to spell it out for you.
"Because-" I began to say, before being cut off.
"Because why would an Executor summon a Heroic Spirit who is most likely of the Islamic faith" Johnathan reached the correct conclusion.
"Bingo" I shot him a grin, as well as a couple of finger guns. "Going from the base system, how would that make any sense?"
"It wouldn't."
"So, then a catalyst must have been involved" I nodded.
"That's typically the case of any summoning though" Sortiara sighed.
"But why would an Executor take a catalyst for an Islamic Heroic Spirit and try to summon it" Johnathan asked.
"…Right, that is stupid" Sortiara nodded. "They would be constantly at odds; no way it was intentional."
"Correct again" now I was starting to get genuinely excited.
Took them a while, but now they're starting to think through this properly. Progress baby! Progress!
"But then, what would the Executor have used for a catalyst?"
"I'd imagine something from the Church's vaults" I ventured. "Which, now let me ask you two: is there an artifact held sacred by the Catholic Church, that would have also fallen into possession of a champion of the Islamic faith?"
Neither Sortiara or Johnathan answered after a few moments. It appeared as though they were actually trying to figure it out though, which was good. Not knowing was ok in this case; not trying would have been unacceptable.
"I mean, the Church heavily guards its artifacts" Johnathan muttered. "Be it the holy shrouds of saints, relic weapons, the legitimate Holy Grail-"
"Wait, they have that" I asked.
"I don't know" he admitted. "But I'd imagine if they did, we'd never get remotely close to it. Which is why I can't see what it is that-"
"See, because I only know of one artifact that I think would qualify as a catalyst, that the Catholic Church would most likely have in the present day, that was also heavily connected to someone who could be considered a hero, who is of the Islamic faith."
"And that would be… what" Sortiara yawned.
"The true cross of Christ."
That got their attention. Eyes bug wide, they both looked as if they could go another bout with Rider and the priest now.
"That would be a very powerful catalyst, if not just straight up a magical artifact from the remnants of the Age of Gods" Johnathan exclaimed.
"But wouldn't that summon, you know… Jesus" Sortiara spluttered.
"I suppose it could, maybe" I laughed from their reactions to my big reveal. "Lot of people see Jesus as a hero; imagine he'd be quite powerful as a Caster, or maybe he would have his own, unique class... But the True Cross, as I'll refer to it from now on, was more than just a wooden cross. For the Kingdom of Jerusalem after the second crusade, it was also carried into battle with them, as a giant war alter of sorts, for God's protection. Not that it worked forever, obviously; they lost it to the man who would soon after continue on and capture Jerusalem for the Islamic faith."
"And that man is who?"
"Full name: Al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub. More famously known as Saladin. That, my friends, is the true name of Rider. Now, as for how I reached this conclusion, let me explain…"
