Here I come with the second part. I appreciate the wait. I also hope you liked the little interaction between Kisuke and Risei even though it was nothing really. Like I said before, I just wanted Kisuke to meet Kirei in person and judge what kind of person he was just in case. Well, the rest I leave in this chapter or to your imagination.
On reviews:
Angelvan105: It's naturally fun putting the Karakura gang with Rider's team as the latter is the funniest faction in a series as serious as Fate/Zero, and I think it would fit in well with that.
I also think that the relationship between Orihime and Mordred has a certain parallelism with Irisviel and Artoria, except that Mordred is not as 'sociable' or 'friendly' as her father. Either way, let's see how our healer can improve the relationship between Ichigo and Mordred.
As for Kon, well, it is true that now it seems that he has a competitor besides Ichigo and Uryū for the affection of the orange haired princess.
Maxim7: It is not my intention to modify the original canon as I am still not quite an expert with everything related to the Nasuverse. Besides that I only saw the episode of when Shirou and Rin discovered Gilgamesh's identity only once quite a while ago.
Anyway, I'll stick with this.
Spirito1987: Thanks for letting me know. I already corrected that error. The truth is that I did not make sure to correct the previous chapter. Thanks.
Chapter 17: The Evil Forest
27/02/2021
Even after a long walk that consisted of getting from Miyama to Shinto via the Mion River, Kisuke Urahara was glad to have returned to the Mackenzie residence where he had left his former apprentice and his friends with their temporary allies. It was almost dusk and although he would have preferred to have settled for moving even faster at a superhuman speed or performing a shunpo to arrive early without having bothered to move physically human, the former Shinigami captain had been very wise and prudent not to do so in an unknown territory with various supernatural forces around him and he didn't want to attract enough attention. But despite this, he wasn't upset at all.
Now the reason for his satisfaction with his return was to inform the young Masters what the response was to Caster's appearance and his lack of interest in the Grail, and they might like that. At the moment he couldn't see anything suspicious about the old priest for the possible implication that Assassin was still alive, but his mind wandered to the person who was with him.
Kirei Kotomine.
Certainly, he seemed to be a character of very few words like his assistant Tessai and a man with a cold gaze like the current captain of the Sixth Division. However, what most intrigued him about he was that he had a certain air similar to the traitorous Shinigami Sōsuke Aizen, but unlike the latter, this man felt completely empty and lacked ambitions like him. Perhaps it was still too early to compare him to his old enemy, but he gave himself a mental note that he will not lose sight of him.
Putting those thoughts aside, Kisuke got closed and closer to the house where his boys had settled and could feel the reiatsu of each one, and… 2 more people?
Kisuke paused for an instant as he sensed 2 new presences inside the house. He knew very well that it was not the British boy and his Servant, so they could be the true owners of the house. He was a little concerned about the way the old couple would react upon seeing Kurosaki and the others but seeing as he did not hear any screams from inside, surely everything should be fine there. Once standing in front of the door of the house, Kisuke knocked.
"Hello? It's me, Kisuke." He called out so loud for the people inside to hear. It was only a moment later that the door opened to reveal Ishida.
"Urahara-san…"
"Yo, Ishida-san. Sorry if I took too long, but you should know that Fuyuki is quite a big city." Urahara replied with a smile.
"I know. By the way, the owners of the house have arrived not a long time ago."
"Oh, I see." Urahara said with a carefree air. "And what happened?"
"Apparently that Waver boy cast a hypnosis spell on them to make them believe that we are their grandson's friends and it worked. I think the effect is more or less similar to that device you use to knock out and brainwash."
Urahara nodded interested upon hearing that. "I see."
"Hello everyone, my name is Urahara Kisuke, owner of a candy store." Kisuke introduced himself with his typical comic atmosphere and a good smile. In front of him, the elderly couple just blinked in confusion at his presentation. Behind them were Uryū and Orihime who smiled in embarrassment at his performance, while Ichigo only resisted the urge to roll his eyes for the same reason.
"You must be the grandparents of my boys' friend, Mr. Mackenzie and Mrs. Mackenzie, right?"
"Uh, yeah, that's us, thanks." Glen replied sounding somewhat uncomfortable. "Forgive me if I'm being a bit rude, but are you a relative of some of them?"
"Mmm, yes, actually, I am Ichigo's loving uncle." Kisuke replied with a big smile on his face. Glen and Martha just looked a little stunned by the reveal.
As for Ichigo, well, one eye twitched slightly trying to hold back a surge of rage inside of him as he heard the same trick that sandal-hat did in the church.
"Oh, so you're that boy's uncle, huh?"
"Of course." Kisuke replied as he walked and stopped next to Ichigo before putting an arm on his shoulder in a fatherly manner. "As Ichigo's caring, considerate and loving uncle, I'll take care of him while his parents are quiet in Tokyo, and I won't take my eyes off him." However, this only increased the tension within the orange haired teen. Oh, how he would have liked to beat up the bastard when no one was looking.
The old couple just looked a bit puzzled at the strange affection that the blonde had towards his relatives, but they didn't think it was bad and they smiled a little.
"Well, I suppose you must be a good family uncle." Martha commented with a smile making the blond man laugh a bit embarrassed.
"I don't know what to say but thank you." Kisuke said. "I guess they won't mind if I stay here a bit for a bit, right?"
"Well, I guess we won't mind much since we rarely have visitors." Glen replied kindly. "By the way, right now we're going to make dinner today, will you sign up?"
"Of course yes." Kisuke replied with enthusiasm and glee in his voice.
As for the others, their expressions were left confused and expressionless from this scene. What will come next?
Einzbern Castle
"What have you got, Maiya?" Kiritsugu asked his assistant Maiya. They were in one of the castle rooms, the mercenary sitting in front of his wife Irisviel and his Servant Saber.
The issue at hand was that after the incident that nearly which caused to eliminate Keyneth Archibald El-Melloi Archibald, and Maiya's encounter with the man who so terrified the the Magus Killer, Kirei Kotomine, they had decided to be more careful from this point on. However, shortly after they received a message from the Church judge addressed to all Masters to give them important information about Caster, his intentions, and about their Master. Of course, that surprised the 3 people to hear that the last Master-Servant couple were not following the rules on how to participate in the ritual, and instead were engaged in committing atrocities such as indiscriminate murder.
But Maiya wasn't done there yet, and she told them that in response to Caster's atrocities, the Church has ordered a pause and a halt to the fighting, with every force uniting to stop Caster. Whoever succeeds in stopping him would receive one of the additional seals as a reward. After hearing the information, Saber was more than willing to hunt down that monster and put an end to his misdeeds, but Kiritsugu had other plans in mind.
"What do we do?" Irisviel asked her husband waiting for an answer to start their movement. "I suppose we should participate in this movement, right?"
"It will not be necessary." The Magus Killer replied. "Apparently we have the advantage with regard to Caster. Out of whatever madness, he believes Saber to be Jeanne d'Arc, which is to our benefit."
"Wait, Kiritsugu. I think you've misunderstood me." Irisviel said suddenly catching the man's attention. "While it is true that when Caster appeared in front of Saber and me, he called Saber Jeanne, but he also called her an 'imposter.'" Irisviel counted as she recalled the event Caster appeared in front of them with hostile intentions.
Saber also reflected on her encounter with that insane beast who had suddenly started judging her and insulting her as 'impostor' 'faker' and other kinds of curses that ultimately made her enraged and she went on the offensive to silence him at once. However, that bastard was well prepared invoking his familiars to defend himself. Naturally, the King of Knights managed to get through and get rid of that horde of monstrous worms and reach the French psychopath, but the latter managed to avoid the invisible blade and retreat without giving a message first.
"The next time we meet, there will also be my dearest and true Jeanne and you will both fight like the last time in that port, and she will have my full support to defeat you, you dirty impostor. There can only one Jeanne."
"So he thinks there is another Jeanne, huh?" Kiritsugu mused as he put a hand on his chin.
"I think so, but I also think it may refer to the other Saber as well." Irisviel replied making Kiritsugu and Saber pay more attention for the last thing she said.
"The other Saber?" Kiritsugu asked.
"Yes, it's the Servant we saw at the port when Rider arrived. I already told you who she was." Iri replied as she remembered the red knight's face and was struck by the similarities with the King of Knights.
The Magus Killer pondered that part when Iri and his Saber told him about the rest of the battle. The identity of that Servant who was presumably a Saber was none other than the Knight of Treachery, Mordred. He was still debating the reason why there was another Servant of the same class as his and the fact that that would imply that there were now 8 Servants in this war, something that didn't make sense.
Putting those thoughts aside, he was also thinking about the fact that like his Saber, Caster had also mistaken her for the French Saint or so it seemed, since the former French marshal referred to his Saber as one imposter and the other as the original. Given these schemes, it is most likely that both the Knight of Treachery and the former marshal are going to make an alliance and that would further complicate things.
At the same time, Saber was also reflecting on what was happening. In fact, she had already been in a trance since the first battle ended and she still hadn't stopped thinking about her rebellious son. Mordred. The homunculus created from her genetic data. The warrior poisoned against her by her half-sister's words... and her own, admittedly, subpar handling of the situation.
The knight who demanded to be her heir, and yet brought her kingdom low.
Her son, who she'd last seen when she drove her Holy Lance through her chest.
The truth is that she would never have expected she meet that ghost of all people with the her same image and likeness in front of her since the last time they met at the climax of the battle on that hill where both lost their lives. From the beginning she only felt uneasiness and shock when she saw her again, but during the heat of the battle she only felt pure dislike towards said person for what she had said while speaking with Irisviel earlier.
She also remembered how she had not only raged against her but chose to start a war that slaughtered thousands of innocents, knights who had been friends of them both.
The title of Knight of Treachery had been well earned.
Her way of fighting boasted very well to the Berserker class but she fought like a true Saber, and it barely made her sweat like that time in her last battle. Despite her quarrelsome, bravery and boastfulness, Mordred was not an opponent who should be underestimated in any way as she was a great warrior of renown and her last 2 battles with her made her learn that. Therefore, the next time she finds her, she would be more careful since although she was now focused on Caster, her son could be a real threat if she is really obsessed with finding her.
Another thing she was wondering about her what happened to her Master after taking that deadly blow from Berserker to save her. She was still surprised by that strange turn of events when Berserker was about to end the life of the traitorous knight and suddenly her Master intervened receiving the blow in her place like. Shortly after the battle will ended, she was accompanied by 2 people who could be friends with the Master and also a substitute for the latter in case he had died.
Now the fact that Caster might have mistaken Mordred as the 'real' Jeanne struck her as ridiculous and far-fetched. She may never have met the French Saint in life, but her information obtained from the link with the Throne of Heroes explained that she was a person devoted to her God and was a warrior and heroine famous in France for her feat in the liberation of Orleans for which she earned the title of the 'Maid of Orleans'. Instead, Mordred wasn't exactly the type of person to be a saint or something. Mordred was just a brave, yet wild and impulsive warrior who would not hesitate to take down her enemies and give mercy. Although from the beginning he followed in the footsteps of the cavalry when under their service, neither did she believe that Mordred was a believer or a saint in any way. Caster's folly for mistaking the Knight of Betrayal for the French Saint was incredible.
"If that is so, he will probably go to where the Master of that other Saber is ." Kiritsugu deduced upon reaching that conclusion. "But most likely he is also trying to draw us to them just as he told you, isn't he?"
Irisviel nodded, remembering the last thing Caster said before leaving. Saber agreed to the advice and another encounter with her rebellious son was anticipated. She honestly didn't mind much of crossing swords with her again, but she was concerned that Caster was likely to join her in the fight, which would make the fight quite difficult. However, realistically, Mordred might not possess common sense, but she did not believe that she would join a vile creature like Caster as he would also have disgusted her.
However, that was not her main concern.
"Even if so, do you think Saber will have the ability to win?" Irisviel asked concerned. "Remember that our problem is the curse on Saber's left arm." She then remembered the incident that occurred at that hotel. "Eighteen hours have passed since you finished off Kayneth, but Saber's arm won't heal."
Saber knew she was right. During her confrontation with the first knight of Fianna, she had received a full blow to her left arm from a cursed spear known as Gae Buidhe, which despite having received a slight wound was enough to cut her laces which reduced her maximum health limit, limiting his healing and regeneration abilities. Proof of this was when Irisviel was unable to back her up with her healing magic. That was a good problem as it might be inconvenient for her to run her Noble Phantasm properly when she needed it, but she still managed to deal with Lancer for quite a while including Mordred as well. However, she knew that she couldn't go on like this for long if she would have to face stronger opponents like Berserker or Archer.
The only way to break this curse that hindered her was to find Lancer and defeat him at once. Apparently, Kiritsugu tried to do that by bombing the hotel where Lancer's Master was staying. Honestly, Saber didn't like the method her Master used but it turned out to be in vain when she still felt the influence of the cursed spear.
"Lancer must still be alive. Shouldn't we defeat Lancer first, so we can face Caster at full strength?"
"That's unnecessary. Just use your knowledge of the area to confuse the enemy and keep Saber away from him." Kiritsugu argued without problems.
Saber wrinkled her fist further where Gae Buidhe's curse had inflicted her, but it wasn't the curse that persuaded her to do so. A feeling of anger and outrage grew in the former King of Britain at what her Master was saying. Was he trying to keep her out of the battle just like that as if he expected nothing of her? That was an insult!
"You won't have her fight Caster?" Irisviel questioned also surprised by her husband's response of leaving his Servant aside.
"Someone else will deal with him anyway." Kiritsugu replied simply with a smug little grin. "In fact, the ones going after Caster frenziedly would make much better targets. I'll attack from the side and finish them."
That was enough already!
"Master, you…" Saber muttered angrily.
She had had enough of her Master's machinations or methods to gain advantage. It's one thing to keep her out of battle at least temporarily to make the surprise move instead of facing the enemy head-on. Another is to use her to distract the enemy Servant while her Master would take care of eliminating the other enemy Masters by surprise like a coward would from behind.
And last but not least, is to take advantage of the attention of the rest of the other Masters and Servants directed at Caster to attack them when they least expect it. Really dishonorable!
"Just how despicable can you get!?" She snapped releasing her anger and outrage. "You mock us Heroic Spirits. Why won't you let me fight!?"
Despite his demands, the Magus Killer's expression remained stolid with stoic silence.
"Are you saying that you can't trust me, your own Servant!?"
The room had become deathly silent among its residents with no one bothering to respond to the demands of the outraged King of Knights. Irisviel saw this with discomfort and decided to speak.
"The new rule says we can't fight anyone but Caster, right?" She said looking for a way to fix things and make her husband think about what he was doing. However, he didn't show any concern about it.
"It doesn't matter. That judge is not to be trusted." He answered confidently. "He feigns ignorance while sheltering Assassin's Master. He probably also be working with Tohsaka. We'd do well to be wary of him."
Both Irisviel and Saber showed expressions of mild surprise upon hearing about that fact and it also seemed that he was reluctant to trust others.
"We should be careful what he does. That's it, you can walk away."
Even after they had ended the conversation, Saber was still firmly against the methods her Master was using in this regard and was also very angry at how he seemed not to want to even trust her. While it was true that Saber made a contract with the infamous Magus Killer by summoning her from the Throne of Heroes so that she could participate in the Grail War and claim the omnipotent Grail at all costs in order to make their wishs, and she never expected to get along at the end.
She never expected to win her Master's friendship or get along as long as he stands firm with a common goal, but now she was seeing the true colors of this man known as Kiritsugu Emiya and now she had discovered what it was about a person who would throw away his pride and honor to get what he wanted at all costs and would even throw her own if necessary. She really disliked the impertinence of this man and could only hope he didn't sink so low.
Mackenzie Residence
"Have you managed to talk to the church?" Ishida asked Urahara. Currently our protagonists are gathered in Waver's room away from the eyes and attention of the elderly to share information.
"Luckily yes. I discussed this with Kotomine-san, and he seemed to coincide with the same." Urahara replied as he recalled his conversation with the church judge. Ichigo and the others paid attention to what the shopkeeper was saying, and the latter began to talk to them about the conversation they had, stating about the temporary Ceasefire and the collaboration of the other Masters to hunt down Caster and what would be the reward for his capture.
When he finished speaking, everyone was very interested in what the church judge was proposing.
"So, they're going to hold a temporary ceasefire until Caster's threat has been eliminated, huh?" Waver commented reflecting on what he had just heard.
"Yes. This would be a great opportunity for us as we won't have to get involved with the other Masters who will be tempted to go after Caster and his Master." Urahara corrected as he adjusted his hat.
"I already think it would be a good opportunity." Rider suddenly exclaimed with enthusiasm. "I don't care about Caster or the reward, but now that there will be no more fighting between the other Heroic Spirits, we could finally have our time to have a conversation over drinks to get to know each other better."
However, his Master did not share his point of view at all.
"But is it that you only think about talking to our enemies about useless things like asking them to join you?" Waver protested unhappy with his Servant.
"Of course not, boy." The King of Conquerors replied. "Both the King of Knights and Lancer had already made it clear to me that they are not interested in joining me. but that does not mean that my admiration for them has not moved me and therefore I would like the opportunity to strike up a conversation to get to know each other better."
Waver only lets out a exasperated sigh upon hearing that while Mordred only frowned at the thought that father moved this jerk into trying to talk to him.
"Well, either way, I think we should be cautious at all times." Kisuke spoke to eliminate this uncomfortable tension. "They know that Caster is coming towards us since they remember that he believes that our Saber is Jeanne d'Arc."
"You mean they're likely going after us too?" Ishida asked worried about the fact that the Masters are also going after them because they are related to Caster.
"I'm not sure about it." Urahara replied seriously, shaking her head a little. "I already informed Kotomine-san about our situation so as not to cause a misunderstanding that affects us. But still, I think we should be careful."
The teenagers looked at the blond Shinigami seriously absorbing what would be the current situation. Well, not everyone shared his point of view.
"Bah, I don't care." Mordred replied suddenly drawing the attention of the others. "They can come over for me if they want, I don't mind dealing with them, but I want to take care of Caster first."
Ichigo frowned at his Servant's recklessness. She really don't have common sense?
"Anyway, we are going to wait for the familiars I send back to see if they have seen anything." Waver said trying to dispel this uncomfortable environment. This earned a curious look from Ichigo upon hearing the term.
"Familiars? What are you talking about?" He asked looking at Waver without understanding the concept.
Waver just looked at Ichigo almost puzzled as if he had grown a second head. The orange hair boy couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable.
"What?"
"Are you kidding!? You really don't know he's a familiar?" He asked while still looking at Ichigo. Just when the latter was about to give an awkward answer, the young Master continued. "He isn't that your familiar?" He asked pointing at Kon.
"Huh, what?" Kon asked pointing to himself. "Of course we're family. I've been living with him for 3 years, and I always help him in what he needs."
'Oh yeah? And where were you for do my homework or an exam?' Ichigo thought sarcastically rolling his eyes.
"I don't think that's what he means." Uryū replied shortly after catching the attention of his friends. He turned to Waver. "Sorry for his lack of knowledge about this, but as we told you before, Kurosaki had spent much of his life not knowing that magic really existed, but at least they gave Kon, who just as you said, is a familiar."
Waver just stared at the Quincy without understanding or trusting his words as he still had a hard time believing that a magus would have spent half his life not knowing thaumaturgy until he was suddenly chosen to participate in the war for the Grail. And that, having a chatty familiar stranger 3 years earlier would be like a dimmable proof of the existence of magic.
As for Ichigo and the others, well, they didn't need to think that they should play along with Ishida so as not to create any more unwanted confusion. Not long after, Urahara spoke again to add something.
"It's true. I assume your father didn't tell you about this, did he?" Just as he expected, the orange haired teenager turned his gaze on him without understanding what he said.
"You see, the familiars are tools used by magi to run all kinds of errands such as patrolling remote areas, recon or exploring missions, or passing information as if they were carrier pigeons." Urahara explained capturing the attention of the teenagers. "These relics are quite old since magi have been using them for 1000 or 2000 years. Normally, the familiars have the shape and appearance of many existing animals such as dogs, cats, mice, birds, fish, even insects."
The shopkeeper paused before turning to Waver. "Do you have any familiar out there that you haven't sent yet?"
Waver considered the request for a moment before getting up from his bed and peeking under it to get something out. Everyone saw that it a medium-sized owl figurine was about. He held it up for all to see. Ichigo and Uryū looked at the apparent 'inanimate' figure of the bird with curiosity while Orihime only looked at it in fascination believing that it would surely be a realistically shaped figurine.
Kon also leaned closer to get a better look at him and couldn't help but be fascinated by his more realistic form in contrast to the inanimate and fluffy stuffed body that he so loathed.
"Oh, how cute. It looks real." Orihime exclaimed delighted when she saw the statue.
"Indeed, it is. It is a dissected animal." Urahara corrected. Hearing that, Orihime's joy diminished as soon as she appeared upon hearing what it was really about.
"In case I haven't explained yet, most of the familiars are actually dead and dissected animals. In fact, they have some things in common with Kon-san." He said pointing to the stuffed lion. "There are several methods to create a familiar, and the most traditional is by placing the leftover thoughts of an already departed soul, of a dead human, into the body of a dead animal. Following that, the magus needs to repair the animal corpse so that it can move again and by transferring a part of said magus, that has a great concentration of Magic Circuits, be it eyes, hair or blood, to the body of the dead animal to give it a new life."
They all listened to this carefully and immediately made a note of how much they resembled the Gikons and the Mod souls like Chappy (Rukia's Gikon soul) and Kon respectively. Kon also saw this totally similar in him so it could only mean one thing ...
"So, you mean it is like my brother?" He asked pointing at the dissected owl.
"More or less so." Urahara replied. "The most impressive thing about these artifacts is that because they work through a fragment of the magus's Magic Circuits, they are seen as an extension of the magus as there is both a mental and physical connection between the two. Thanks to this the magi is able to share the senses of their familiars, that is, to receive a video of everything the familiar sees and hears. "
Ichigo and the others absorbed this information with some amazement about the great utility of these magical artifacts. As for Kon, well, he just stammered silently envious of it.
"Oh, I must also say something." Urahara exclaimed suddenly. "I guess I should have said it earlier, but I think we should be more careful."
"What do you mean?" Ishida asked.
"As I said before, magi always use these relics either inside or outside the Mage's Association including the Holy Church to monitor the area around them. Therefore the Masters here in the city have their own active familiars around fully alert to every event that happens here at this moment. I don't know what kind of animals you have seen here since we got here, but perhaps it is a familiar spying."
The guests took note of what the former captain told them and couldn't help but shudder at the thought that they had been being watched since they arrived here by those familiars belonging to the enemy Masters. Using some memory, the animals they saw moving outdoors were dogs, cats, squirrels, pigeons, crows, etc. They couldn't believe that they were likely spying on them all this time.
Just when someone was going to say something about this, suddenly everyone in the room heard a small sound that was not loud but uneasy.
"What's that noise?" Orihime asked looking around to see where the source of the sound is. Waver immediately recognized the sound.
"It's my remote-viewing crystal ball." He said before getting up and headed towards a closet.
"Remote-viewing crystal ball?" Ichigo asked not understanding what that is about.
"It is a relic that I took with me." Waver explained as he opened the cabinet and took out a medium-sized crystal sphere similar to Kukaku's cannonball. They all saw how the sphere flickered at the same time they heard that sound. "It will be useful to us since it is also connected with my familiars, so for those who are not, like you, they will also be able to see it without problems."
"Seriously?" Ichigo asked in surprise as he and his friends came over to inspect the sphere.
"Whats wrong?" Ishida asked intrigued.
"I think someone is trying to contact us from far away." Waver replied as he tried to activate the sphere.
"Is it the Church?" Kisuke asked thinking it would be another message from Kotomine.
"I do not know." The young British answered before managing to activate the sphere. In doing so, the beep disappeared and a visual image was displayed on it. "What is this?" He exclaimed a moment later in surprise as he looked at the sphere. This immediately caught the attention of Ichigo and the others.
"Something wrong?" Ishida asked as they paid more attention to the sphere.
"Look at that." Was what the young Master replied while pointing to the sphere. The others did as he said and saw through the glass of the sphere a strange panoramic grass-like environment, and in it they saw a group of people walking.
One of them was a grown man with wrinkled, grayish skin and the rest was a group of small children who followed him. Orihime was just looking closely at the adult who was leading the children like and had the impression of having seen him before. It didn't take long to find out when the man stopped short and turned his head back slightly raised smiling across the sphere.
Seeing his grayish skin a little wrinkled, and his bulging eyes, the girl immediately recognizes him.
"Is him!" She exclaimed in surprise, drawing the attention of the others. "It's Caster!"
This surprised the others. "He is Caster?" Ishida asked as he returned his attention to the sphere.
The image of the former French marshal reflected in the sphere was still smiling and waving a friendly arm. This gesture only served to piss off Mordred even more, who was only looking at that bastard with daggers.
"Mmm, with the gesture he's making, I gather he knows we're watching him." Urahara commented while also looking at the sphere.
"And what does he do with those kids?" Kon asked sounding somewhat concerned as he watched the group of kids next to him. Many also wondered the same thing and had a bad feeling about all this.
It didn't take long to find out when Caster began to speak. "Just as I promised you the other night, I, Gilles de Rais, have come for you." Caster said before slightly bowing his body in a gesture of reverence.
Mordred couldn't help frowning in anger at that.
"You may take your time if you wish. I have come prepared for a lengthy wait." Then with a snap of the finger, the accompanying children woke up from their trance. They each gasped confusedly as they looked from side to side vigorously wondering where they were.
He ignored their confusion. "Now, children, it's time to play hide-and-seek." He spoke with false brotherhood. "The rules are simple: you just need to run away from me. But if I find you..."
The instant he said that, Caster grabbed the head of one of the children without warning lifting him off the ground.
Across the sphere, Ichigo and the others were horrified watching the scene and only had a slight idea of what he was going to do next.
"Won't he go to...?"
Effectively. What they saw next was a typical scene from the gore movies when Caster, heartless or remorseful, pressed forcefully into the hand that was holding the boy's head and in an instant, a nasty pop was heard as the head exploded in a horrible pool of blood. They all looked totally shocked and horrified as the crazy psychopath had crushed the poor boy's head as if he was squeezing a fruit roughly.
"Now, children! When I count to one hundred, the chase begins."
Taking the warning well, the children began to run in panic in any direction to escape away from this monster. Meanwhile, Caster turned his attention to where they were staring straight ahead.
"Well, Jeanne. I suggest you come here to join in the fun. Just know that that other girl, that dirty impostor, will come along too and screw it all up, but I know you will stand up to her. So come on."
The room had gone into an eerie silence as much of the onlookers tried to recover from the shock and horror when they witnessed that gruesome scene. Meanwhile, Ichigo was the first to recover and now he was looking with an intense emerging anger towards the disgusting beast that had just killed a poor child in such a ruthless way and on top of it was behaving in such a natural and normal way for what he did.
Truth be told, Ichigo had never felt so much anger and hatred at the same time and none of his enemies who had fought in the past had put him that way except the Grand Fisher upon discovering that he was the hollow who had taken his mother from him since years ago and had destroyed the lives of the rest of his family. There was no doubt that this psychopathic monster was just like that damn hollow.
"My gosh, what a monster." Kon mumbled upon seeing Caster's atrocity.
"Its horrible." Orihime said horrified as well.
Ichigo ignored his friends as his attention only focused on Caster who had already started his game of catching the rest of the scattered children. I'd had enough of this shit and it was time to do something!
Without a moment's thought, the orange haired Master began to run out of the room, alerting the others.
"Ho-hold on, Kurosaki, where are you going?" Ishida asked seeing how Ichigo ran towards the exit. The latter stopped in his tracks before looking at the Quincy impatiently.
"What do you think? I can't let this happen in front of my eyes! I have to save them!"
Ishida and the others were surprised by his answer.
"But you can not-
"Get out of the way!" Before Uryū had finished the sentence, he was suddenly pushed aside by Mordred, who the latter joined Ichigo.
"I also have a pending account with that filthy bastard and I'm not going to sit idly by while that happens."
Ichigo had no problem accepting her and welcomed her.
"Okay, let's go." Ichigo exclaimed as he and his Servant resumed their march to leave. However, before they could go very far, they were stopped by Urahara's voice.
"Wait a minute, Kurosaki-san!" His loud voice made the former Substitute and the blonde pause again and glance at the shopkeeper.
"I have no intention of stopping you but keep in mind that even if you can track him down, I think Caster must be a long way off. I doubt you'll make it in time. "
The precision and seriousness of the former Shinigami captain's voice was enough for the young man to realize the situation since according to Waver, this was taking place in a park a bit far from here, but it was still too far away for him to could travel and arrive in time to intervene.
Ichigo grunted in frustration. If only he still had his Shinigami powers, he could have cut that distance into less than nothing. His friends looked at him with regret, feeling just as helpless for doing nothing.
It was in that moment of despair that a miracle appeared.
"We could go in my chariot." All heads were fixed on the giant Servant who had just uttered those words. "In my chariot we could get to that place in less than an instant, what do you think?"
Suddenly, Ichigo and the others regained hope remembering Rider's flying chariot and how fast it was when they reached the harbor from the bridge, and as for Waver, the latter was surprised to hear what his Servant had intended to do.
"We will go?"
"Of course, boy. Didn't you say around noon that I wanted me to defeat a Servant? This is the perfect occasion."
The young British man tried to say something, but he swallowed it thinking that it was not worth it and only let out a resigned sigh when he realized that there was no more choice.
Without wasting any more time, outside, Rider invoked his Carriage of Gordius pulled by divine bulls, and Ichigo and company, except Kisuke, get on board and immediately depart flying over the city to the place where the massacre of children was taking place.
Several kilometers
Moving at a speed almost impossible for a human being, Artoria (in her combat suit) was going through the bushes and trees of the Einzberns residence to reach the urban area of Fuyuki as quickly as possible. She and Irisviel saw through a seer ball Caster with a group of children that he had presumably taken hostage, and then he gave them a message to come to where they were to meet his 'real Jeanne' and finish this immediately.
And exemplifying his threat, he cold-bloodedly murdered one of the children without hesitation, which horrified both Artoria and Irisviel upon witnessing it. It was thus, that without thinking in an instant that the ancient king came out to meet him to put an end to the atrocities of that monster once and for all.
However, once she got out of the wooded terrain and into the city, her mind was still focused solely on Caster, but she still remembered the latter's message that Mordred would also be there and the reason why that evil creature wanted to reunite them both was to fight again. The thought of fighting her again made her slightly uneasy but she didn't care much since she would gladly do so, but again, she was only mainly focused on Caster and no one else and the only thing she was worried about was that Mordred would will probably hinder her in her goal.
She did not believe that the Knight of the Treachery had allied himself with that monster in any way since, although the former did not seem to have common sense, she doubted that he would collude with someone more twisted. However, that did not leave the fact that the red knight was obsessed with her to the point of forgetting about Caster and not being interested that her Master will earn an additional seal as a reward. But the worst would be that if Caster's insanity were so great to believe that her incestuous son was the 'real' Jeanne, it was likely that the latter would join the fight first, and he would be at a disadvantage. Well, that depends on the choice of her Master in each case.
Clearing those thoughts aside, the King of Knights continued her march through the empty roads with only one thing in mind, and whatever happened as soon as she got there, she would be prepared for whatever comes her way in front.
Meeting point
The first to arrive at the scene was Rider's chariot mounted by the latter along with Ichigo, Mordred (with her armor and helmet) and company.
"We have already arrived." Rider announced as the chariot landed in front of the entrance to the small forest where Caster was chasing the poor children.
When our protagonists raised their heads to contemplate the grove in front of them, they found a little surreal image. Taking into account that it was the middle of the night and that inside there is a psychopathic killer chasing some children, the image that the trees had was like that of a dark enchanted forest as in fairy tales, one that would make shudder those who witnessed it and would think twice before entering.
However, some did not agree.
"Okay, let's go in." Ichigo was the first to get out of the chariot ready to enter the dark grove. He had already seen places as dark and depressing as Hueco Mundo and the Forest of the Menos, and he was not going to let something like this intimidate him.
"What do you think you're doing? Stay here." Mordred snapped suddenly as he got out of the chariot as well. "You shouldn't get involved in this. I'll take care of that filthy beast."
"Wait a minute, Saber. I'm going too." Ichigo replied insisting on going as well to the surprise of his friends and his Servant's frustration.
"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime yelled worried.
"What are you saying?" Ishida protested in confusion. "I think you should let Saber fight Caster-
"Is not that!" Ichigo suddenly interrupted. "I know very well what I have to do." Then he look at Mordred. "My intention is that while Saber is busy fighting Caster, I will take the opportunity to get the children out of there, do you understand?"
Ishida and the others could only look at the eighth Master somewhat doubtful that his plan worked. He ignored them as he turned his attention back to his Saber.
"Do you think you can distract him for a while?"
"Hmph, I don't think it's necessary. I'll kill that worm before you know it." Mordred replied with sarcasm and confidence. Still Ichigo was not satisfied with that.
"You can try to get those kids out if you want, but don't get in the way like you did last time, was that clear to you?"
Ichigo gave a nod before heading off into the forest.
"Wait, Kurosaki!" Ishida's scream stopped Ichigo abruptly, and the latter turned to face his comrade pulling something out of his pocket.
"Here, I think you will need it." He said before throwing a kind of thin silver cylinder that looked more like the hilt of a sword, but without a blade. Ichigo managed to catch it and then looked at it without understanding.
"What is this?"
"Its name is Seele Schneider and she is one of the weapons that the Quincys use to fight. Usually the Quincys use arrows, but it can also be used as a sword. All you have to do is activate the device and a glowing blade will appear."
Trying to figure out how the strange device worked, somehow or rather by accident, Ichigo managed to activate it causing a long thin blade of bluish light to appear like reishi arrows. Ironically, its appearance looked more like a Star Wars lightsaber.
"Whoa, amazing!" Ichigo exclaimed surprised to see the blade of light emerge.
"Now listen to me well, when you have to use it, don't force it too much like you would with your zanpakutō. Actually, the blade works like a mechanical chainsaw and I want you to use it that way, is that clear?"
"And to think that yours were only arrows." Ichigo commented still confused and surprised by the new equipment the Quincy was wearing. "Thank you anyway!"
And with that, both Ichigo and Mordred resumed their march and entered the grove until they disappeared inside. The rest stared worriedly as Ichigo and Mordred's forms disappeared into the darkness.
"Oi, I have no idea what kind weapon your friend gave you is, but I hope it will be useful when you meet the Master of that worm." Mordred said looking at Ichigo as they both ran further inside.
"I hope so too." Ichigo replied as he looked at Seele Schneider's fine luminous sword. The truth is that it reminded him a lot of the lightsabers from Star Wars. "But there is no point in reflecting. Let's move on."
"Do not give me orders!" Mordred snapped as they kept running.
After a short walk, they both stopped in a clearing clear of trees, although it was surrounded by trees so this should be the center. They both looked around, ignoring the sinister and surreal atmosphere, searching for any sign of Caster or the children.
It was then that they heard a sound in one of the nearby bushes causing both the Master and the Servant to be on alert for any danger that might arise. To their surprise, they saw one of the kidnapped children emerge crying in fear.
"Mom!"
However, before he could even get far, a hand emerged from behind in the dark and grabbed the back of his head, and then Caster emerged looking at the newcomers.
"Oh, you have finally arrived, my Jeanne." Said the former French quarterback with a vicious smile while still holding the boy captive.
"Temē. Let go of that kid!" Ichigo yelled looking with anger and disgust at the monster.
Unfortunately, Caster ignored the orange-haired boy and only focused on the red knight who, to his surprise, was hiding her body by a vast armor with helmet included and that last detail was shaped like a demon.
"My, my, you look more terrifying hiding your face behind that helmet in the shape of a demon or dragon. It certainly suits you very well with your magnificence." He spoked with admiration and a lewd touch. "There is no doubt that your presence here will shake the angels of God."
However, those compliments only served to further disgust Mordred and prepare.
"I've had enough of listening to your shit any longer. If you're not going to shut up, I'll cut out your tongue." She threatened with a deadly tone, but far from intimidated, Caster continued to watch now fascinated by her language.
"Go dead!"
"Wait!" Ichigo yelled suddenly, stopping his Servant and only focused on Caster. "Bastard, let go of that kid now!"
Caster just stared at the young orange haired man, unfazed by his anger. "I'm afraid you are in no condition to order me something."
Then it moves a hand with an open palm towards the child's throat to rip it with its claws. Ichigo and Mordred winced at his gesture. Caster just laughed viciously at their reactions.
"Good, it sounds like you're someone he's afraid of losing, right?" He asked mockingly.
Ichigo gritted his teeth as he glared at the sadistic killer threatening the poor boy with daggers.
"Tell me why are you doing this? We are supposed to be participating in a war where innocent people like those children shouldn't get involved. Why are you doing it?"
"Silence! For your information, garçon, for me the Grail War has already ended, and my wish has already been fulfilled." Caster replied before removing his hand from the boy's throat and reaching out to point at Mordred with a leering smile. "My greatest wish was to see the resurrection of my beloved Jeanne in front of me, and just when we were finally going to be together to do whatever we wanted, unfortunately she went crazy and now she acts like a person I don't know!"
"Do you still think I'm that Jeanne?" Mordred asked sounding offended that she was still being mistaken for a saint.
"And all because of God and his damn puppet pretending to be her." He said in a dramatically pained tone.
"Puppet?" Mordred asked intrigued.
"Yeah, you know. That other girl you fought in the harbor the other night dressed in blue."
The memory of her fight against father lit up in the red knight's mind.
"I cannot forgive such an insult that someone impersonate you and continue to play God's puppet. That is why I have planned to lure you both here to fight one more time, and to incite that imposter to come, kidnap those children to she risks coming here."
Ichigo and Mordred took in the newly heard information and now it all seemed to make sense. The reason Caster had kidnapped those children was not only to lure them here, but also the other Saber to have another duel.
To Mordred, the very idea of father showing up here at any moment had seemed exciting since she could settle accounts now. However, she had to be cautious. She didn't know what kind of trap Caster had in store for them now.
"Do you understand now, Jeanne?" Caster asked looking with pleading eyes. "I'm on your side. I'm trying to help you eliminate that damn imposter at once so they don't get in our way and using these children will help us."
"BULLSHIT!" The Knight of Rebellion suddenly bellowed. "DO YOU THINK I NEED THE HELP OF A VILE BASTARD LIKE YOU TO DEFEAT FATHER!? NEVER THAT! AND MUCH LESS THAT IF YOU USE CHILDREN AS HOSTAGE AS A FUCKING COWARD!"
"It's true, you don't have to bring anyone innocent into this!" Ichigo yelled in agreement. "Let go him now! "
After that scandal, Caster had gone eerily silent without flinching or reacting to the blatant screams and simply stared passively at the two for a while.
"Very well." He simply spoke after a few moments of silence. "If that's what you want."
And after those words, Caster released the boy from his hand and ran, crying towards Ichigo. The boy clung to Ichigo's torso hugging him tightly.
"I want to go home! I want to go to mom!" The boy cried desperately while still hugging the teenager. Ichigo couldn't bear to see the boy like this, so he decided to comfort him.
"Listen kid, you have to get out of here." Ichigo warned as he pushed the boy away so he could see his face. "When you get to the exit you will find my friends who-
His words died when he noticed something wrong with the boy. When he wanted to realize it, he saw that the boy seemed to be drooling something strange like… blood? And not only that, his nose and eye sockets were also emerging blood like in one of those gore horror movies.
What the hell is going on?
He never had to wait when suddenly the boy's back exploded in an internal explosion releasing a powerful jet of blood and organs. Ichigo and Mordred could only watch in sheer horror and shock upon witnessing such a gore scene and the boy fell completely dead before falling to the ground in a cold and lifeless corpse. A line of blood that flew out was impregnated on Ichigo's cheek causing his blood to run cold. The environment itself was completely silent as the teenager still continued to watch with shock and horror in his eyes without taking his eyes off the corpse of the recently dead child still bleeding through his mouth, orifices and eyes. The expression he gave was as if he had died of agony.
Ichigo's brain was in chaos as he tried to process what had happened in front of his eyes and he knew that this scene would always haunt him throughout his life no matter what. During the next few moments that passed from the horrible bloody scene, none of those present said or commented anything, allowing the atmosphere to fall into a sinister silence that was only interrupted by the maniacal laughter of the psychopathic killer.
Hahahaha! What do you think? I bet you weren't expecting to witness such a beautiful show, did you? How did it go, my dear Jeanne?"
Hearing him keep calling her that way, Mordred was the first to regain her composure and focused her attention on the killer with a look of pure hatred.
"You heartless bastard, I swear that-
"Wait!" Ichigo yelled suddenly interrupted at his Servant and then raised his body to his feet, but his eyes were hidden by the fringes of his hair.
"Hey, asswipe..." Ichigo started speaking in a low tone but sounding dangerously deadly. "How many innocent women and children have you killed as mercilessly as this one?"
Caster considered the boy's question for a moment.
"Well, what a question. I'm sorry, garçon, but I'm not the ones keeping score."
For a moment, Ichigo's lips wavered in a macabre smile before continuing to speak, but with a little more force. "Then answer me another question." He looked up showing narrow eyes trembling with sheer anger and hatred towards Caster. "Have you ever in your fucking life, you regretted what you did!?" He snapped 'regretted' with great emphasis to make what he was saying clear.
However, far from being intimidated by the precision of his words, Caster simply started laughing again into a laugh as if he had heard a funny joke.
"Hahahahaha! What a stupid question, garçon!" He answered out loud with a big, unhinged smile. "Not once in my life, even when I was hanged, have I ever regretted having sacrificed many virgins and infants! And much less tonight!"
Ichigo could only stare with daggers and his teeth clenched at the statement. Did this monster really not feel the slightest bit of remorse for what he did, and no shame at all? That thing ... is not a human, is not a Heroic Spirit. It's an animal. No! It is not an animal. It is a monster, a demon!
And as such, he would take it upon himself to send him to hell from where he should never have emerged.
"I see…" A second voice rang out in the environment causing Ichigo to turn to see his fellow Servant who seemed immobile as a statue. If not for the armor and helm that covered her body, he could see the kind of expression the Knight of Rebellion was now giving when witnessing this misdeed. However, the tone she used to pronounce that word helped him to understand that she did not like it.
He could feel that a strange crimson aura filled with malice was emanating through the armor that even overshadowed Ichigo's anger. If she didn't have her helmet on, Ichigo would have seen her expression totally twisted out of sheer anger and a huge, unhinged grin that would threaten to spread all over her face and predatory eyes staring at her prey. It really would have reminded him of either Grimmjow or Nnoitra.
"Don't worry, Master. I swear by my sword that I will purge this horrible beast from this world and make this night the one that he will regret coming back to life."
Ichigo almost flinched at the precision of his Servant's words and the malice he was releasing with that mana aura.
"SAY GOODBYE TO LIFE, CASTEEEER!"
And thus, the Knight of Rebellion charged towards her target like a rampant madman.
And that's all for today. Wow, I see that this chapter is a little longer than the previous one, and may be the next one a little longer. Now, the scene of the brutal death of the boy was a bit complicated to write since I am not that fond of that, but I did everything I could. As for Ichigo, well, I can't really say what his reaction would be when he saw this, but it occurred to me to imitate Kaien Shiba's dialogue when he spoke to the hollow who devoured his wife Miyako.
I don't know I, but it looks Ichigo took out a inner Shirosaki, but it's not.
Anyway, it feels refreshing to see that both our former Substitute and the Knight of Rebellion agree with each other in directing their hatred and anger towards Caster.
As for the Remote-viewing crystal ball, well, I still don't know much because I can't find any information about it except that it seems to serve as a familiar or something from which I understood.
The next chapter we will see the confrontation of 3 Servants against Caster.
Ja ne!