"I will always stand in opposition to God. If God is real, humanity must be free from his influence. But a God that can create a man like you… That is a God I can at least respect."
That was his conclusion.
Truthful. Genuine.
While I could not say I agreed with it, I could understand it.
It was… a start. However minor the step may have been, it was a start.
For that reason, when he had spoken those words before departing… I could smile.
My master, however, was unlikely to ever smile again in my presence.
Strained the relationship may have been before, the actions of tonight served to sever what had been there. This I knew there was no coming back from. Yet, I could not honestly say I cared.
"There is no beauty in humans, Rider. But… there is beauty in humanity."
"I propose an exchange: the lives of the children, for my own."
It was not my master who, while misguided, loved humanity.
The streets were fairly quiet this time of night, once one got away from the park and its immediate surrounding. No doubt there were still some eyes monitoring the rest of the city, but for the moment, most of the attention was on the lake now mysteriously devoid of most of its water. How the child planned to get passed the barriers and blockades I couldn't say, though when one considered how he managed to avoid detection from the assassins throughout the war, perhaps it would not prove to be an issue at all.
Still, despite the desolate streets, and the knowledge that Saber and Lancer were likely dealing with Archer, I did not like my master's apparent insistence of being an entire street ahead. This was going to prove quite troublesome in the near future, when dealing with the final servants.
Especially when we don't know who Assassin is…
…A small part of me felt a moment of… deflation. Assassin's identity was still a mystery to even Archer after all this time. The child, however, was quite intelligent when it came to these kinds of matters. Perhaps it was a mistake to eliminate him entirely, rather than enlist his services…?
"Foolish notion" I chided myself. "The child had to be eliminated from the war. Acquiring his services was never a realistic outcome."
Neither good for us, nor him, ultimately, to remain in the war. No… figuring out the identity of Assassin would have to be done on our own. Though with how silent Assassin has been throughout the entirety of the war…
"Time was not on our side…"
It wasn't until we were back in the residential area the church was located in that I finally spotted someone besides my master walking down the street. Silently, he brushed right past my master, seemingly without saying a word. I could not blame him; master's fury was likely still on full display.
As he approached, I was able to get a better look at him. Businessman of some sort, by the looks of things. Short-cut hair. Suit and tie. One of those hand bags- no… briefcase, I believe they were called. Perhaps one of those lawyers then, coming home after a late night of work? Late nights seemed quite commonplace in this country, if not also the world at large, in these modern times. A shame, for the man looked to be no older than forty, yet as though he'd lived a lifetime since he'd last slept.
He also looked a bit… unnerved, perhaps? Couldn't quite place it, but if such was the case, I could not blame him. I could not blame anyone for being unnerved by my master.
As the distance between us shrunk to only that of a few paces, I went to offer the man a pleasant night. Before I could begin to speak though, magical energy I had not sensed before seemingly burst into existence in front of me.
Assassin!
On instinct I went for my weapon, but before I could even get a hand on it-
"Sic semper tyrannis!"
A/N
Whew! Sorry for taking so long. Right after I did the last post marking an entire year, I was off to a wedding and getting ready for that for a couple of days. Then I got sick (not COVID thankfully, just the common cold, because it's never not cold in friggin Canada...). So yeah, despite this being fairly short, it did take me this long to get back to my computer and typing again.
That said, despite being short, Assassin is finally here, so there's something to celebrate! I'm hoping it's obvious now who Assassin is, but maybe some of you out there saw this coming, especially if you're from America.
As always, my thanks to those who made it this far.
Hopefully I don't botch this final stretch ;)
