Chapter 8: Alliance part 2
18/10/2020
And once their temporary alliance was forged, our protagonists went to celebrate it (as Rider suggested) and there was no other place to celebrate the association than to have lunch at that restaurant where they had been before. They were currently seated at an outdoor table. Ichigo was sitting with his friends on either side while Waver and Rider in front of them.
Regardless, Waver still had serious doubts that this partnership would work. While he knew that one of the rules of this war allowed each Master to make an alliance in a pinch, but only temporarily, and thus he couldn't help but worry about how long it would last.
"Oi, are you okay?"
Waver looked up at his orange haired Master counterpart, and still couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable. He certainly hadn't seen someone whose hair color was as striking as the bright orange he had, and next to his scowling expression, he gave him the impression of being a grumpy bully.
"Huh, yeah, I'm fine." Waver answered nervously, getting some interaction with his allies. It was then that a thought struck him suddenly as he remembered something important about the supposed fellow Master.
"Uh, sorry." He said getting Ichigo's attention. "You said earlier that you weren't a magus, right? Your parents didn't teach you?"
Ichigo just scratched the back of his head considering the younger Master's question before answering.
"Look, my parents aren't magi, okay? I've never attended that Mage's Association like you, and even if I could, I don't think I'd be interested in learning those magic tricks." It was the direct response from the other Master that left both Waver and Rider totally perplexed.
Was this Master here really not a magus and completely unaware of the ways of magecraft? If that was so, how could he suddenly become a Master like that and have an excessively strong Servant?
"Saber, is what the boy says true?" Rider asked looking at Mordred. "How did he manage to invoke you?"
A snort was the first thing he heard from her before he started to speak. "That I would have liked to know. Since I received the call from the Grail, I thought that my Master was the one who invoked me when he knew about me, but when I arrived the only thing I found about him was that he did not know anything about me and he affirmed that it was not he who invoked me despite possessing his Command Seals."
Both Waver and Rider listened carefully to Saber's words and still found it hard to believe that a Servant had been summoned in such an unusual way.
Ichigo could only frown a little at how Mordred was recounting how their encounter was that was not so pleasant due to the confusion of what was going on.
"To my bad luck, my Master turned out to be grossly incompetent and clumsy not being a magus like he said, plus he didn't even know anything about the Grail War and everything else."
Ichigo only growled more annoyed at what she said but refrained from replying. It was not his fault that he did not know something important that was happening in a parallel world different from his own.
Waver could only watch in confusion as he absorbed the next thing Ichigo's Servant said. Didn't he even know about the Grail and the ritual? That sounded pretty far-fetched to him considering he was here anyway with his Command Seals and a Servant of his own, which proved he was a Master.
"Well, sorry if I was wrongly chosen to be your Master, but you're not the only one suffering from this shit, as I remind you that I didn't want to be here in the first place." Ichigo grumbled towards his Servant. "If you want to blame someone, give it to that fucking Grail for bringing us in here."
"Hmm? You mean you didn't want to participate in this war?" Rider asked curiously.
"Of course not. Why would I waste my life for a simple wish-granting cup?" Ichigo replied towards the giant. "I was brought here without warning and without my consent and that is why I have no choice but to fight to be able to return home to my friends."
"Go back home?" Waver asked without understanding the term of wanting to return, and he was also surprised by the fact that they were 'drawn' here by something. "What do you mean?"
Before the orange haired Master could answer him with the truth, however exaggerated it may seem, the Quincy decided to intervene first.
"What he meant is that we are not actually from Fuyuki, and we come from western Tokyo." Uryū replied suddenly choosing to make up a version of the story about how they actually got here. Honestly, telling you what you are from another dimension sounds pretty crazy and hard to believe.
The Quincy proceeded to tell the young British Master the events that happened to them the day before arriving here beginning with the sudden appearance of Mordred and the confusion he gave them with the things of magi, Servants, and the Holy Grail. They were then called by Kisuke Urahara, a magus (they couldn't tell them what a Shinigami is about either) to tell them about the Holy Grail War and that Ichigo had been chosen to participate in it for some apparent reason.
He told them that Ichigo himself flatly refused to participate, but suddenly the Grail did not accept his denial and it dragged the four here with a kind of dimensional portal. As expected, Waver was quite confused hearing when they were sucked into a 'dimensional portal'.
Uryū corrected him that the Grail seemed to have 'conscience' and 'will' of its own and that it hadn't taken 'no' for an answer when Ichigo rejected his participation in the war, and therefore forcibly dragged them to Fuyuki with the portal.
Waver didn't seem too convinced of this, but he let them continue. Uryū continued with the rest of the story from their arrival in Fuyuki until Ichigo's decision to join the war as Master.
After the explanation, Waver's mind was still trying to process what he had heard.
"Let's see if I understood correctly. You say you come from Tokyo, you are not a magus, but still the Holy Grail chose you to participate in this, and teleported you and your friends here, right?"
"Actually, Inoue-san and I had nothing to do with this." Uryū replied. "You see, just like I said before when that portal opened and I tried to drag Kurosaki inside, Inoue-san and I tried to prevent it, but in doing so, we too were dragged away."
"That's right!" Kon shouted suddenly allowing his body to emerge from Orihime's bag. As he did so, Waver screamed, startled in shock and surprise. "Don't see the trouble this moron gave us by crawling into that hole and getting into this mess."
"Kon! What the hell are you doing?" Ichigo asked surprised and a bit annoyed by his pet-friend's sudden action.
"What? I was tired of being stuck there all the time that I decided to leave." Kon answered smoothly looking at Ichigo, before turning to a surprised Waver. "Also, if we are going to make an alliance with them, we should get to know each other so as not to create any kind of suspicion."
With that said, the Mod soul jumped out of the duffel bag and landed on the table to walk and stand in front of a surprised Waver.
"Yo, my name is Kon, although you can call me Kai if you want." He greeted amiably.
The atmosphere continued just as intense as Waver continued to look at the talking stuffed lion still in shock without understanding what was happening. Kon waved his hand in front of the boy's eyes, but the latter still didn't react. After a few more seconds, Kon gave up.
"Hmph, it looks like this guy one isn't going to speak anymore." Kon said in disappointment. "I should have waited longer when you got to know each other better."
"Of course you should have waited." Ichigo whispered under his breath in slightly annoyed response.
"Mmm how interesting." Rider suddenly spoke as he caught the head of the little stuffed lion and raised it to a height of 2 meters in front of his face. The Servant was scrutinizing it curiously.
"I've never seen anything like this before."
"HEY, let me go, let me go, damn you!" Kon shouted hysterically as he violently shook each limb of his body and pounded into vacuum in a futile attempt to free himself from the giant's grip.
None of this served only to make this situation more humiliating that it was, while the poor Mod Soul kept screaming and cursing his abductor. His friends just watched the scene with a mixture of awkwardness, amusement, etc.
"What is this supposed to be?" Rider asked now looking at the others. "Is it some kind of familiar or something?"
"No, let's say it's a magical pet that Kurosaki was given a long time ago." Uryū replied to a bit uncomfortable at the comic scene. "Would you mind turning lower him?"
The giant obeyed when lowered the stuffed lion onto the table and this latter it began to shake its head before starting to look to the Servant with an angry expression.
"Hey, catch me like that again, and I swear I'll tear you apart your face!"
It didn't seem like anyone would take it seriously.
"You should have stayed in the bag." Ichigo said quietly.
Once his shock at seeing a talking stuffed lion was over, Waver remembered something important that he was told during his explanation, but he did not have time to learn the details of it.
"By the way. You said earlier that the church said that in this war there are eight Masters, is that true?"
If the young British man was sure of something since, he thought he had learned everything about the War of the Holy Grail, it is that there can only be 7 Masters with their respective Servants and no more than that number, for which this was an unpleasant and difficult surprise to believe.
"From what Kotomine-san told us, is true, and Kurosaki is considered the eighth." Uryū replied after a moment.
"Are we really going to see seven Servants in this war?" Rider asked curiously. "This will be interesting."
Just as Waver was about to retorted to his Servant, the latter suddenly spoke again. "But if that is true, what kind of Servant will appear? As far as I know, there are only seven categories, and there is no other."
"From what they told us it was also that there is no other different category, so we thought it could be in the same category as the others. In other words, it could be another Saber."
"Another Saber?" Waver asked puzzled. If it was true that there were now 4 Servants that make up the Knight class, now he sensed that this would be much more difficult than he thought.
Mordred was also pondering that fact, and the truth is that she was also surprised that there was a 'second' Servant of the same class as her as a Saber in this war, and it made her feel intrigued. However, she was also somewhat excited by the idea of being able to take on someone of her own class, something that would not happen to other Servants.
Just the thought of clashing her blade with another exceptional swordsman made her quite ecstatic and she couldn't wait for night to fall to meet that 'other' Saber and fight a duel. If she manages to beat him, she will prove herself and be recognized as the strongest Saber of all, and who knows. She might even be at the same height as father.
Speaking of father.
She still didn't know who that supposed second Saber might be, but for a first-rate swordsman like her she could only imagine that it could be any of her former comrades from the Knights of the Round Table, or perhaps father himself.
This idea was beginning to penetrate her and gave her much to think about in the face of the possibility that it was one of those she knew in life.
Meanwhile, Uryū thought about what Kon said earlier that they should get to know each other well with their allies so as not to create all kinds of intrigues that could threaten to break the alliance, especially each other's abilities and skills, and since he and Inoue were going to entering this contest, that meant they would have to reveal their powers as well.
"Waver, there is something else I have to tell you." Uryū called, catching the British's attention. "How did you hear, Kurosaki is not a magus like you and the other Masters, and he could be defenseless against attack from any enemy, and that is why Inoue-san and I are also going to participate in the fighting."
The Quincy's friends just looked confused without understanding including Waver who not understanding what he was saying.
"What do you mean?" Waver asked before realizing something. "Wait, are you two magi?"
"Yes..." Uryū replied to a bit uncomfortable.
"What are you saying?" Ichigo whispered in Ishida's ear not understanding what he was doing.
"Follow me the game." Ishida whispered in response before turning to the other Master. "As I said before, I and Inoue-san know some magecraft, although we don't know if it will help against the Masters since we don't know what they are capable of."
Waver mentally nodded. Unbeknownst to them, young Velvet was also more or less in the same situation as his counterpart since he was only a student, a beginner who still barely knew the path of magecraft, and that did not apply to others Masters since they are top-notch exceptional magi like his despicable professor. He didn't know without any of them they would take pity on him even if he was a minor.
"Can I ask you something?" Uryū asked the younger boy. The latter raises his head to pay attention to him.
"According to what Rider told us, you are more or less in the same situation as Kurosaki." He said as he remembered what the giant Servant had said earlier. "So, does that mean you were also chosen by the Grail?"
"Not quite." Rider answered suddenly. "What happens is that just like your friend, the boy was not destined to be one of the competitors in this war, but he decided to do it by stealing the catalyst from what was supposed to be my original Master to invoked me."
The former Substitute's former group were shocked to hear that. Had that boy stolen the catalyst to summon Rider? If that was the case, then he should not be a legitimate Master.
"Rider, why do you have to tell them that!?" Waver snapped angrily at his Servant for having revealed that part to them.
"Just in case you meant to hide it." Rider answered casually.
Waver gritted his teeth in anger but decided to ignore it and focus on his audience who were staring intently at him wanting to know about his circumstances.
Knowing there was no way out, the young British let out a resigned sigh before recounting his story.
It began as he enrolled in the Clock Tower with the goal of gaining renowned for his family of third-class magi, and he wanted to change that course by studying at the best magical institution out there. However, despite all his efforts and dedication, the 3 years he was there found only failure and humiliation on the part of his professor, the nobleman Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, who always looked down on him for his pathetic lineage and would never acknowledge him and his family as first-class magi.
He experienced nothing but hardship and failure in his work. Outraged and humiliated, Waver found out by chance that his shitty professor will participate in the Holy Grail War in Japan. He stole the catalyst that El-Melloi intended to use to summon his Servant and fled to Japan with the intention to win the Holy Grail in order to force the Mage's Association to recognize his genius.
Ichigo and the others listened intently to the rest of Waver's account, and soon came to the idea that their situation was quite troublesome like it.
"I see..." Uryū started. "So, you weren't going to participate in this, and instead, your teacher was going to be Rider's Master, but you stole the catalyst to participate in his place, didn't you?"
"Yes, that conceited bastard he had it very believed to be above the others just for coming from a most prestigious lineage while those that are not, as me, he saw them as garbage." Waver replied bitterly as he recalled the moments of humiliation, he felt each time his teacher belittled his and threw prejudices in reference to his lineage and talent.
"That's why I decided to teach him a lesson by taking away the opportunity to participate in the ritual so that I could participate and show him and others like him that I am not a failure and force them to recognize me as such."
No one commented or had an opinion about the intentions of the young British to want to participate in this. Well, except for a few.
"Are you sure you're doing the right thing?" Uryū asked. "I mean, we were drawn into this war all of a sudden and none of our relatives know about it. Do your parents know you're here?"
"My parents died some time ago." Waver replied in a slightly muffled voice. "My uncles are the only ones I have left, but instead of living with them, I had decided to enroll in the Clock Tower."
The older teens heard that well, but there was still something else.
"And what about your professor?" Orihime asked next, causing Waver to raise his head a little to get a better look her. "Won't he be mad at you when he finds out that you had stolen that catalyst?"
"It's true, what are you going to do when you get back to that Clock Tower?" Ichigo asked as well.
For an instant, Waver had frozen upon hearing that statement. Truth be told, for so long happily thinking that he had finally found a chance to gain renown and make those who mocked him swallow his words and prejudices by participating in the Holy Grail War, he had not yet considered the possibility what would have happened once this is over, and he have returned to England.
He was fully aware that his despicable professor was a very proud man of his status, whether as a nobleman or a high-level magus and whatever makes him upset or endanger his reputation, the consequences would not be pleasant at all.
He knew he had been reckless in stealing from a Lord of the Clock Tower, but his own ego and the opportunity to prove them wrong had prevented him from seeing beyond the consequences.
Suddenly, he was no longer sitting at the table in an open-air restaurant anymore. He was back in the Evocation Department's Lecture Hall, being laughed at by all his peers. His paper was being mocked by his professor. His humble origins of a new bloodline of mages belittled. Waver Velvet felt incredibly small and absolutely powerless.
It was from that great humiliation and his desire to make them swallow his words that the young Velvet made a decision that there was no turning around and took everything he needed to participate in the magical ritual that was being carried out in a foreign country.
And while he savored the moment of summoning a powerful Servant and being busy planning strategies to participate in the following battles, he never had time to reflect on the consequences of his actions once he returned to England. He may have managed to officially enroll in the ritual, and perhaps when he returned to the Clock Tower, he would welcome them with open arms and it would be his first step to glory, but and his professor?
Considering how arrogant and proud Kayneth is, he doubted he would be pleased, and he would surely take retaliation for what he did.
Just as his mind was going to continue its line of pessimism, he felt a huge hand settle on his head, and he looked at the owner being Rider who was smiling at him in a consoling way.
"Come on, boy, don't be so pessimistic. You more than ever should have known what would happen, right? Don't tell me you're going to quit now."
That seemed to hit the morale of the younger Master a bit since he was now undecided what he was going to do. He knew there was no going back, and he had to continue forward no matter how. However, the very idea of meeting his despicable professor with a terrifying face full of anger made him shudder intensely and that was the last thing he did not want to see.
"I know very well what I'm doing..." Waver said quietly after a minute of silence. "I already knew the consequences of having stolen that cloak and I don't care." His expression wavered a bit before continuing.
"I will win this war and show everyone that I am better too!"
The entire seat fell silent after hearing the young Master's words of conviction despite not being very sure of himself. Instead, Rider, let out a small laugh.
"That's how it is spoken, boy. That's the spirit!" Rider praised the young British by rubbing him head.
Then he turned to the other Master's group.
"Very well, now that we have finally gotten to know each other well, our alliance is officially forged." He said with a big smile.
Uryū and Orihime smirked upon hearing that while Ichigo and Waver still harbored some doubts but decided not to show them. As for Mordred, well, she did not bother to hide her displeasure at this association.
"Sorry for the delay." Now everyone turned their attention to the waiter who was approaching them with 2 circular trays containing plates full of food. "Here you have."
"Well, it was about time." Mordred said excitedly, regaining her humor suddenly.
The appetizers that were offered were a plate of roast chicken, sirloin with potatoes, some beans of stewed broth, and a couple of glasses filled with soda and one with water. The 6 immediately began to gobble up their respective food and did not stop until they were satisfied after half an hour gorging themselves. Unfortunately, Kon couldn't taste it because he was still inside this cotton-filled body and all he could do was look cursing to himself.
"Aaah, what a delight." Orihime squealed ecstatically as she rubbed her stomach. "I cannot anymore."
"I guess we ate too much for a bit." Ishida commented seeing that he had eaten more than normal looking like a glutton. He was not really a glutton. What happened is that yesterday he could not eat anything decent because of the trip they made to get here.
"Well, weird that you haven't gotten fat, Ishida." Ichigo commented before putting a homemade muffin in his mouth.
"The same could be said for you, Kurosaki." Ishida counteracted. "You've already had all that chicken and three loaves, and you're still eating another."
"Shut up, I didn't eat anything in the last night." Ichigo replied with bread still in his mouth.
"The same could be said of me."
Mordred was also eating her buns even after finishing the beans.
Waver was also satisfied with his food, although he could not tell if he was having a good time or not meeting these strange people. He was still somewhat undecided about this alliance although he tries to hide it so as not to provoke more 'arguments' with Rider.
Putting that aside, he looked at the watch on his wrist and his eyes widened at what he saw.
"Oh crap, it must be 3:00 by now. We should go, Rider." Waver said a bit hastily as he got up from his seat.
"Wait, boy. Aren't you going to tell him about our strategy?" Rider asked suddenly. That caught the attention of others quite a bit.
"Strategy?" Ichigo asked puzzled.
"Yes. Boy, can you get that map of the city?"
Waver was not entirely sure, but he did not hesitate any longer when he did what he asked. Opening his backpack, the British took out a map of the city more or less similar to the one Uryū had and put it on the table for all to see.
"Well, do any of you know the city well?" Rider asked towards the Substitute's group.
"No, as we have told you before, we got here not long ago, and we still don't know much about this."
"I imagined it. The boy and I are also more or less in the same situation as you, and that is why we were walking to get to know the area well and to know what would be the possible battlefields that would be fought at night."
Everyone nodded upon hearing that.
"Looking at this map, I have realized that there is a large bridge in the middle of a large river that divides the city, right?"
"Yes, it is the Fuyuki Bridge, what is it?" Uryū asked.
"I thought this would be a vantage point where we could observe the entire city and try to sense from there the presence of any Servant who is fighting another."
"Hmph, is that all?" Mordred snorted sarcastically upon hearing Rider's plan. "What a strategy. I would have preferred to go looking for them instead of standing on a damn bridge."
"Yes, but what happens is that this city is very big and it's going to be a headache to have to wander everywhere looking for one." Rider reasoned. "The best thing would be to wait for the fighting to start and then wait for the perfect opportunity to intervene."
"Ha, what the hell do you say?" The blonde asked in disagreement. "I would have preferred to pounce on them right away."
Seeing that this could turn into an argument that could threaten the alliance, Uryū decided to intervene by changing the subject.
"Ahem, by the way." This had the necessary effect when everyone turned their gaze to the Quincy. He was just looking at Waver. "If I may ask, do you know anything about the other Masters here besides Tokiomi?"
Waver shook his head a bit before answering. "I'm sorry, but I'm just like you too."
Uryū nodded disappointed upon hearing that.
"But if you're interested, something happened at the Tohsaka Mansion." Waver said suddenly catching the attention of the rest.
"In the last night I had sent a familiar to spy on the Tohsaka Residence." Waver began to relate while remembering the events that had occurred. "I remembered while surveying the campus, I saw a Servant infiltrating."
Everyone paid attention to that.
"From the way he was moving, I think it was Assassin."
"Assassin?"
"Yes, it seemed that one of the enemy Masters had started taking tokens at once and had sent his Servant to attack the Tohsaka Residence. However, the moment he had broken into the mansion, he was suddenly hit by a projectile, surely from another Servant and we didn't hear from him anymore."
Everyone compiled the information given by the young boy, and they agreed with interest.
"You mean Assassin was eliminated?" Uryū asked curiously.
"Yes, it seems so. If it is true that in this war are going to see eight Servants, then now only there are seven." Waver replied. "In fact, I think this would give us all an advantage now that one of our opponents has been eliminated."
"Hmph, what nonsense." Mordred said sarcastically. "Who cares that a Servant as weak as Assassin was eliminated?"
"Yes, it's true." Rider agreed. "His only ability is to sneak into the shadows. I highly doubt that he could pose a threat to us."
"Yes, but-
"Listen kid, what interests me is who it was that killed Assassin." Mordred suddenly interrupted, looking seriously at the young British. "Did you see who it was the Servant who defeated him?"
Waver shook his head before answering. "No, I couldn't get a good look at it." He answers a little disappointed. "It was very dark, but I suspect it could have been Tohsaka's Servant. The only thing I noticed was the projectile that impaled Assassin. I suspect it could have been Lancer or Archer."
Everyone nodded upon hearing that.
"Well, it doesn't matter." Mordred declared with a wild smile on her face. "Whoever it is, they are sure to be strong opponents, and I will crush them all." She collided her right fist with her open left palm wrinkling the latter, and then she cracked her knuckles.
Neither wanted to comment on the blond knight's wild attitude and her overconfidence if they did not want to be the target of her anger.
"Yes, I agree." Rider said enthusiastically. "It will certainly be a very fun night. The truth is that it does me an honor to fight alongside someone who belongs to one of the three great classes of knights."
"Hmph, listen carefully, Rider." Mordred said looking with daggers at what Rider was supposed to be standing in his Spiritual Form. "It seems like my Master has already spoken, and I guess I have no choice but to work with you, but that doesn't mean I have to fight with you as a team, so you better not get in my way, because if you do, you be my enemy, understood?"
"Oi, Mordred." Ichigo said concerned about his Servant's attitude. "you-
"Hahahaha, very well, Saber. I won't intervene if you wish." Rider replied with a laugh. "But remember that if you ever find yourself in great trouble, don't expect me to save you."
"Heh, that won't happen." Mordred said with a challenging smile. "I am the strongest knight class of all, even stronger than Father."
Saying who was right or wrong, this had not become a matter of question for the Masters at the moment seeing that there was no longer any sign of hostility or complaint, so everything had been decided.
"Excuse me, but if you have finished, I think it is time for us to go home. My grandparents will scold me if they see that I have not arrived yet." Waver said impatiently to Rider.
"Hmm? But didn't your olds say we could be here as long as we want?" Rider questioned.
"Yes, but they didn't tell us to stay that long until sunset." His Master chided by not having to say simple things to his Servant.
"Alright, we'll go, but first I must tell you what will be the point where we will meet tonight. Let us see, in what part of the city you live?"
"We live here in Miyama." Uryū replied.
"The boy and I live in Shinto, the western part. Well, it does not matter, as I said before, our meeting point will be the bridge that connects the two cities. There we can organize our attack strategy and wait for let the fighting begin."
"Where on the bridge do you want us to meet?" Uryū asked.
"I heard that just below each side of the bridge there is a park, I think that is where we will meet, do you understand?"
They all nodded in response.
"Good, everything is planned. We will see you at 23:00 in the afternoon." Rider declared.
"23:00 in the afternoon?" Waver repeated incredulously.
"Of course, boy. The battles won't start until that time." Rider replied in a tone of fact. "Will you be there too?"
"Yes, we will be there." Uryū replied.
"Excellent." Rider said smiling. "Well then, we'll meet under the bridge at 8:00 p.m. Come on, boy, it's time to go."
And with that, Waver was quick to pick up his map and put it in his backpack. Then he gets up before saying goodbye to his temporary 'allies' and then walks away from them, accompanied by his Servant who also says goodbye before following the rhythm of the boy.
Once out a sight, our protagonists, who were still seated, allowed themselves to reflect a bit on the alliance and what they had to do when night fell.
They just hoped everything goes according to plan.
Being on a high enough floor and having good views of the urban space of the city, Kiritsugu Emiya allowed himself a moment of peace and quiet before going to a new war. However, even if the deep, cold eyes of the infamous magus Killer were gazing at the numerous buildings that stretched as far as the eye could see, he was actually looking into a future.
A future where in the end his actions will have paid off to give hope to humanity and eliminate all evil from the planet once and for all. It would have been an impossible dream to achieve, even for the legendary heroes of the past whose names were immortalized tried to conquer the destination failing in the attempt, and he would be one of them. For a long time since he could remember, he had seen many horrible and twisted things throughout his life, and his cold eyes were testimony to this, proving that he even witnessed hell itself.
Anyone who has experienced the horrors of the world in front their eyes would have been traumatized or psychologically broken, but Kiritsugu had not given up in despair and had continued to fight ever since as a 'hero of justice', no matter how difficult it was fight under that name because it was impossible to save one person without losing another. However, he continued to fight for this dream, to make sure that all that he had given up was not in vain, even if it would lead him into an uncertain future.
It was then that after many sacrifices and crossing roads dark, he was finally presented with the opportunity to change the world's fate, and he took it without hesitation. He being hired by the Einzbern Family, one of the 3 founding families of the Heaven's Feel ritual, to be their representative in the next conflict. 9 years before it started, Kiritsugu left his job as 'hero of justice', believing that the Holy Grail could grant his dream of world peace that he so longed for.
He did so and later met the love of his life being one of the homunculus of the family; Irisviel Von Einzbern, who she was designed as a container for the summons of the Holy Grail, and therefore, she should be sacrificed for that happen. Despite Kiritsugu's initial hesitation, they eventually fell in love. However, Kiritsugu knew that the love between the two would be fruitless, as he knew that they would sacrifice her for the Holy Grail. For Kiritsugu's sake, Irisviel wanted to conceive a child so that her husband would have hope after the Fourth Grail War. He was proposed to marry her, and thus their first-born Illyasviel Von Einzbern was born.
On the eve of the Fourth Holy Grail War, it was time to summon the strongest Heroic Spirit that would bring victory for his faction, and there is no greater hero known in history as the legendary King of Knights Arthur Pendragon, whose legend and exploits were well known around the world as one of the greatest heroes in history.
With the legendary knight king by their side, victory would be assured. It was thanks to the Einzberns that they managed to find in excavation in Cornwall, southwest England, the legendary sheath that the king used to use completely intact even after 1500 years, and they used it as a catalyst for his invocation of the Throne of Heroes. When the time came, Kiritsugu and Irisviel began the summoning ritual inside a church, and after reciting the chant and holding their breath, the Magus Killer managed to attract the legendary King of Knights to the world of the living after 1500 years, being summoned as a Saber-class Servant, a very appropriate category for an exceptional swordsman for a warrior like him, and Kiritsugu became his Master.
However, even though the ritual came out with resounding success and the latter's participation in the war was guaranteed, there was something the Magus Killer did not expect to see regarding the identity of King Arthur. Such was his surprise and disbelief that he had thought that this person he had summoned from the Throne of Heroes was not exactly the hero he wanted to summon, even though the latter had confirmed it 100%, but still he could not believe it.
Either way, on second thought, maybe it didn't matter too much his another 'face', if what they said about his exploits were true, and his abilities were of great help, so he might and up accepting what 'he' is.
It was thus that they made the final preparations and planned a ploy before taking different paths to travel Fuyuki without being detected by their enemies.
And he was waiting for one in particular...
"Everything is ready." Kiritsugu turned back upon hearing a familiar female voice and saw that it was his personal assistant Maiya Hisau who had just entered the room.
"It seems that Miss Einzbern and Saber have gone out for a walk in the city. Should I tell them to go back to the castle?"
"No, leave them alone for a moment to do whatever they want." Kiritsugu replied smoothly before turning to the window. "I'm sure this will attract the attention of the other Masters and we can act."
Maiya nodded upon hearing that.
"By the way, did you send the familiar to inspect the church?" Kiritsugu asked a moment later.
"Hai. I did it a little while ago, and there's still no evidence of Kirei." Maiya replied immediately.
The Magus Killer nodded at the information. Kiritsugu was a man very capable of everything dues to his hardened experiences in previous conflicts and there were very few things that made him restless in this world.
Except for one...
As he investigated more about possible candidates to participate in the war, he found one in particular that caught his eyes. His name was Kirei Kotomine, son of the war supervisor, Risei Kotomine. Kirei have been actively involved with the Church since his youth, and he often accompanied his father to the holy grounds. He worked diligently as an Executor-in-training from an early age, and he was once chosen as an Executor around the age of ten.
With all the report he had on him, this character was undoubtedly a prodigy. He had become a master of alchemy, necromancy, evocation, divination, healing etc, and most of all an Executor, and yet despite his exceptional talent and the categories of magic he had studied, he had wasted all those gifts and moved to another category and started again from 0.
From the beginning this deeply puzzled Kiritsugu about the fact that a man so talented that every time he reached the goal of his goals, he missed his chance and started over. It is as if this man never aspired to ambitions, he did not possess a sense of purpose like any other human being would have, as if he had never experienced pleasure in life.
Aside from being an exceptional assassin like himself and a potential threat, the rest of his background had both puzzled and unsettled the mercenary. A man who has no ambitions of his own or pleasure in life really intimidated him and made him more curious about why he would want to risk participating in this war, and what his wish was. What kind of desire did a man without ambitions want to obtain?
He could truly tell that it disturbed and terrified him about what his wish would be, and thus he had spent 2 years researching this strange man further without succeeding. Currently he had just found out that he was the Master of Assassin and that the latter was the first of the 7 them to be eliminated just like that suddenly, which was strange and suspicious at the same time.
That was why he had asked Maiya to send a familiar to watch over the church where Kirei had taken refuge and monitor his movements in case he did something suspicious.
For the moment, he wound forget about the Executor and focus on other priorities.
"What state are Iri and Saber in?" Kiritsugu asked after a moment's pondering.
"At the moment they are both in Shinto." Maiya replied immediately.
"I see. Then we should be there too." He declared as he turned around to look directly at the woman. "Make your preparations right now. We'll leave right away."
"Hai." She answered automatically.
In this rematized version I didn't make many changes except that Rider was not in spirit form. The fact that he always remained invisible was stupid even if he was to go unnoticed among people since at that time Rider was not yet wearing period clothes.
I hope you liked it.
Ja ne!