Buntokapi's Castle
Buntokapi's castle occupied an entire hill. On skillfully arranged stone foundations, its high white walls crowned by blue tile roofs formed a complex labyrinth, reinforced by towers with gently curved roofs. The doors between the various enclosures were always very far apart from each other. If an attacker managed to cross the first wall, he was forced to walk along the second wall to the door, exposing himself to the defenders' fire along this true path of Calvary.
Besieging Buntokapi's castle would have required an army at least four times larger than the garrison. It would then have been necessary to dig undermining's tunnels, to approach sieges towers to the ramparts, to bombard the walls until they collapse, or to launch a frontal assault with warriors carrying ladders... Regardless of the method chosen, the losses would have been very significant. As for besieging the stronghold... The many pagoda-roofed towers that rose within the walls of Buntokapi's Castle were not all defensive towers; some of them were attics. Bundles of rice piled up to the ceiling would feed the garrison for at least two years.
Given the current fragility of the New Empire, Kihei Tennō could not afford to sacrifice an army in a deadly assault, nor let it besiege a castle for years.
Fortunately, he was offered another option.
Kihei Tennō did not really participate in the meeting, but the blue sphere that floated among the officers of General Hashitaka Kurumein faithfully recounted the words of the Emperor of the New Empire.
As the officers lowered their heads, humbled by shame, a young man with red hair simply nodded. His clothing placed him apart from the samurai in lacquered armor that surrounded him. He was dressed in modern blue jeans and a blue and white long sleeve baseball jersey T-shirt. The only part of his clothing that was medieval was the tenugi knotted on his forehead, the headband of the hero Shinmen.
He scratched his head and glanced at the woman standing behind him as if to ask her opinion. Small, with hair as if sprinkled with pure gold, she wore an incredible dress-armor. The features of her finely chiseled alabaster face reflected a mixture of nobility and naivety. With her hands crossed over the knob of her sword, she was standing behind her Master.
She simply nodded in response.
Emiya Shirou coughed in his fist. He seemed uncomfortable... and it was understandable. He was only seventeen years old and had never had to speak before an emperor until that day. And for the Japanese, the Tennō was much more than a monarch, he was the descendant of the gods, a religious figure more than a sovereign.
"Uh... Your Imperial Majesty... may I speak?"
There was a moment of silence. Despite the role played by Shirou and Saber during the Battle of Biwa, the duo's presence in this important meeting was not accepted by all. Especially the presence of Saber a Gaijin... and a woman!
Nevertheless, the voice that rose from the energy sphere, the sacred voice of the Tennō, could not be contradicted:
"Your name is Emiya Shirou, isn't it?"
"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty."
"Let me first thank you for saving my army from defeat... the power of the Heroic Spirit exceeds the speculations of the Magi of my court. Few supernatural creatures could match a Servant, Shirou Emiya. Saber could fight an Ancient Dragon or a Kirin, or even a demon lord. You are giving orders to a creature whose power equals that of an army, Magus. Are you aware of that?"
Shirou swallowed and nodded his head.
"I am aware, Your Imperial Majesty. But I have no intention of misusing the friendship with which Saber honors me."
Hearing the answer of her Master makes Artoria smile. During the Grail War, he had never used her as a mere weapon... now that he no longer had a Command Mark, he showed even more consideration.
"Very well," continued the Tennō, "what do you want to ask me, Emiya-san?"
"Well... " Shirou rubbed his neck vigorously. "You really want to attack this castle?"
The question seemed very naive and some of the officers present exchanged mocking looks.
However, the Tennō took a few seconds to think seriously before answering:
"It's not that I want to attack this castle. It's that I have no choice."
"Because you want to eliminate the threat represented by Lord Buntokapi, Your Imperial Majesty?"
"Exactly."
Shirou turned again towards Artoria. She immediately understood the meaning of his implicit question and smiled amused... decisively, he would never change. She nodded. When the Faker turned to the blue flame, his expression was determined.
"Saber and I can enter the castle to capture Buntokapi."
There was a moment of stupefied silence. The proposal of the young redhead shook all the officers present. He was talking about breaking into an impregnable castle as if it were a simple task... Decidedly, the duo formed by the Servant and the Magus had nothing ordinary.
Night had fallen on the mountains. Nevertheless, on the ramparts, the sentries were carefully watching the surroundings of the castle. The besieged army made no effort to approach. In fact, the Tennō soldiers were still busy building a fortified camp. Even if the attackers chose the direct attack, it would take them a long time to complete their preparations.
Also, the sentries were not particularly worried and their vigilance had loosened.
Suddenly, a yari Ashigaru (soldier armed with a spear) raised his helmeted head. He had just heard a noise. As if a large stone had fallen on the tile roof that covered this section of the rampart. The man was half asleep because his task was repetitive. He stopped to listen and heard a second shock.
Suddenly, he was quite awake, he grabbed a rice paper lantern and leaned outward. The circle of light revealed only a few bushes and stones. There was no place to hide.
Thinking, the yari Ashigaru turned inside the rampart. This time the light shone up some trees and the vast garden that surrounded the stone houses where the servants and officers of Lord Buntokapi's court lived.
He's not seeing anything unusual.
The guard scratched his cheek and sighed. He had probably dreamed. He smiled, amused. Nobody could jump on the roof anyway, could they?
Except that, for a Servant, or even for a Magus using the Reinforcement Magecraft, jumping on a roof ten meters from the ground was nothing extraordinary.
Artoria entered the stable and slipped close to Shirou. The teenager greeted her with a rather tense smile. He didn't particularly enjoy letting her go on reconnaissance... but understood that she was a better fighter than he was and quite capable of defending herself, if necessary. As she kept, moreover, telling him.
Shirou spoke in a murmur:
"So what?"
"I have identified the building in which Lord Buntokapi lives," replied Saber. "His apartments are on the top floor of the Tenshu (main keep), just under the roofs. This is, of course, the most heavily guarded building."
"How many guards?"
"There are two Shikomes at the front door."
Shirou made a face.
He had already seen Shikomes at the battle of Lake Biwa. They were kind of ape-men dressed in armor copied from those of the samurai. They had claws on their hands and feet, and they behaved brutally and cruelly.
The presence of these monsters in the castle grounds once again proved the alliance between Buntokapi and Ikiru Ō, the king of the Onis.
Saber went on to say:
"We must eliminate them if we want to enter, and we must do so in silence... the dungeon is occupied by many samurai belonging to the personal guard of the Daimyo."
Shirou showed only moderate enthusiasm, but he eventually acquiesced.
Even though the Shikomes were monsters, he was very reluctant to attack by surprise, without giving his opponents a single chance.
In the shadow of a building, Shirou Traced Archer's large black bow and made the void in his mind as he placed an arrow - also Traced- on the rope.
He stretched the rope and...
The two arrows were fired so fast that they seemed to hit their target simultaneously. The two Shikomes fell to the ground with an arrow in their heart. The attack had struck them down. They were dead in an instant and almost quietly.
But Shirou let ten seconds pass, waiting for a cry of alarm... which fortunately was not heard.
The redhead teen turned to Saber and waved to her. Together, they crossed the courtyard plunged into the night. The entrance door to the keep was lit by two rice paper lanterns. The thick wooden doors reinforced with iron rivets were closed... However, as Shirou pushed them, they turned on their hinges effortlessly.
In a side room, several male voices were heard, and then a harsh and loud laugh. A man stood up on the over side of the rice paper panel and Shirou heard the rattling of his weapons and armor. It was the guardroom for the soldiers in charge of protecting the keep.
Without a sound, Saber and Shirou went to the staircase at the back of the hall.
The dungeon was a maze. All the hallways looked the same. The inner side was a shoji line opening onto dark and silent rooms. The outer side was a stone wall with gunports. TW harquebus and spear were kept in the corridors. A double row of pegs was used as gun racks, and hooks near the ceiling were used to hang fire heaters.
Fortunately, the place was empty at this late hour. They only met a few servants who watched them pass by in a daze. They quickened their pace again, expecting alarm sounds. But luck seemed to be definitely on their side because no servant shouted.
They reached the top floor without anyone trying to stop them.
There was only one room. The corridor was all around it and the entrance shoji was guarded by two samurais. The top of their heads was shaven and the hair was styled in a bun knotted on the neck. In the belt of their silk kimonos, they kept two sabers, a short one and a long one.
Buntokapi's bodyguards were trained fighters and fiercely loyal. They drew, one blade in each hand, and immediately charged
While Artoria faced the first bodyguard, Shirou faced the second. He Traced Kanshou and Bakuya, blocking the samurai's double attack. Made a little more cautious, the man took a step back before attacking with a sharp cry.
Shirou blocked, deflecting the katana blade to the side by a movement of the bust before counterattacking.
The living katana met Kanshou in a shower of sparks. Nevertheless, Shirou was faster than his opponent. The redhead used his two blades to completely immobilize the katana. The samurai wanted to strike with his wakisashi but already Shirou's foot hit him in the belly. The warrior collapsed on his knees and Shirou knocked him out with a punch.
He turned to see that Saber had already eliminated her opponent with a sword stroke.
However, cries were heard on the floor below.
They could hear feet pounding down the steps. Saber jumped to the top of the stair, blocking several katanas with her invisible sword:
"Shirou, concentrate on Buntokapi, I'll hold them."
After a slight hesitation, Shirou rushed into the Daimyo's room.
Buntokapi was a muscular colossus dressed in a beautiful purple kimono. He was armed with an impressive no-dashi (two-handed katana). When Shirou arrived, he was busy opening a trap door in the ground. He turned around and drew when Shirou arrived.
The latter still held the Married Blades and immediately warned.
"Lay down your weapon!"
But Buntokapi inspected Shirou from head to toe with a scornful pout and then smiled, he put himself on guard in a perfect Kamae posture, the saber ready to strike or to fend, the attitude strictly neutral, not letting his intention be perceived.
"And how do you intend to force me? A decadent western bastard, like you, will never have the guts to kill his opponent. And you hear..."
Buntokapi stopped for a moment to listen to the sound of the fight in the stair and smiled cruelly.
"My guards will be here in a moment. Perhaps it is you who should surrender. Who knows, maybe even I will be merciful."
Shirou's expression hardened. He knew that Saber was very strong, but also that samurai living katanas could hurt even a Servant. He had to settle this quickly.
"All right, then, I have no choice."
Emiya rushed forward.
Despite the events of the Fourth Grail War, Shirou was still an impulsive teenager.
In front of him, Buntokapi raised his sword in Seigan no gamae position, the blade perfectly straight between the two eyes then...
"Sei!"
He struck a Shōmen, a top-down attack, aimed at the head (men, in Japanese). It was a perfect movement... the blade seemed to disappear before Shirou's eyes. By reflex, Emiya jumped back.
Feeling a sudden burning and feeling some moisture, the young man touched the top of his torso and brought back his hand full of blood.
He shuddered. Buntokapi was not as fast as Lancer or any other Servant, yet the Lord of Tsuruga was incredibly gifted with no-dashi. In fact, he was a true master of Kenjutsu (the art of Japanese fencing) who allegedly ridiculed all practitioners of this art in the original world of Shirou. Moreover, his long sword gave him the advantage over the Married Blades, because they are short dao's sabers.
Without giving the redhead time to recover from his surprise, Buntokapi hit ahead with a Tsuki (stomp).
"To!"
A blade as long as no-dashi was rarely handled this way... but Buntokapi perfectly controlled its blade
Once again, only his reflexes - augmented by Reinforcement Magecraft - saved Shirou. He jumped to the side and the long katana only scratched his arm.
Shirou threw the Married Blades.
Although surprised by this totally absurd movement, Buntokapi reacts with lightning-fast reflexes. He jumped aside for avoiding Kanshou and deviated Bakuya with a blow on the back of his sword. The two blades go through the rice paper partitions and disappeared.
The Lord of Tsuruga smiled coldly.
"Well, the clash was even shorter than I thought."
He approached Shirou with the blade raised, eager to kill, but stopped when he saw a golden light radiating from the redhead's wounds. At that moment...
"Trace On!"
Shirou leaped, the Magic Circuits on his arms drew lines of green light. He had extended his hands forward. His fingers closed on fuzzy shapes that soon stabilized under the appearance of Kanshou and Bakuya.
As Butokapi receded, destabilized, forced to fend for and dodge an avalanche of blows from the pair of Chinese's sabers, Shirou continued to advance. He suddenly leaned over and gave a spin kick that hit the feudal lord at the hip. Buntokapi staggered. Taking advantage of his loss of balance, Shirou gave him a violent nudge.
Buntokapi overturned a delicate lacquered wooden cabinet and collapsed against a beautifully painted screen of a hunting scene.
By reflex, he rolled and got up immediately.
On Gedan no gamae guard, his blade pointing down, ready to strike from the bottom up, Buntokapi looked at his opponent and shuddered... his wounds had closed!
"I see... I need to apologize to you, young man. You're not just a cockroach. What's your name?"
"Emiya Shirou."
"I am Buntokapi Keiri, Lord of Tsuruga. You are a worthy adversary of me. As an excuse for my earlier behavior, I'm going to give you a demonstration of my sword skills."
Without an additional word, the arrogant Daimyo rushed forward. Again, his blade disappeared before Shirou's eyes. But this was not the first time Shirou had fought an opponent stronger than he. His hands were guided by the Twin Blades. There was a violent sound of metal meeting the metal. Sparks and particles of luminescent prana appeared where the blades of both opponents met.
Shirou had learned to believe in his blades. As Rin had explained to him, he created the Married Blade from their blueprint in his Marble Phantasm, they were an extension of the faith he had in himself. If he believed that his blades were invincible, the copy he created was equal to the original. If he doubted them, they became fragile, broke, and disappeared. The Married Blades existed only because Shirou believed in them.
His version of Gradation Air, his technique of Projection which he called Tracing, did not only recreate the external appearance of an object. Tracing recreated the entire story of an object... including the martial technique of the swordsman who used a blade.
Kanshou and Bakuya were Archer's blades.
Buntokapi was too strong an opponent for Shirou... certainly.
But the lord of Tsuruga was no match for Archer.
As the two swordsmen moved around the room, making an incredible demonstration of skill in the handling of their swords, Shirou's gestures became more and more fluid and fast. Like a stream descending from the mountains, Archer's fighting technique flowed from the Twin Blades to invest Shirou's body and soul, guiding the movements of his wrists, the intricate choreography of his feet in this death dance.
This was true for every weapon Traced by Shirou... but it was never as true as with Kanshou and Bakuya because Archer's martial experience was superimposed perfectly with that of Shirou... the Servant and the young redhead being (after all) one and the same person.
Shirou blocked the no-dashi and pivoted in a rapid bust movement. Before his opponent could return in guard Bakuya scratched his arm. Shirou had approached the feudal lord as close as possible. Archer's long experience taught him that an opponent with a long blade was particularly vulnerable to hand-to-hand combat. In addition, the inertia of a long blade was significant. This made it more difficult to counter short-range attacks.
Buntokapi's face tensed for a moment, but he responded by kicking Emiya's ankle violently. The teenager lost his balance and fell back.
"Sei!"
This time, Buntokapi had attacked in Kesa giri, aiming at the base of the neck to slice Shirou's torso. The young man could only block desperately, shaking in shock. Kanshou broke. Emiya's concentration shattered, his weapon diluted into light and disappeared.
"Sei!"
The talent of the lord of Tsuruga enabled him to immediately reverse the movement of his no-dashi, despite the inertia of such a long blade. Striking in Gyaku kesa giri (inverted Kesa giri), he touched Shirou at the hip and if he had not accompanied the shock before jumping sideways, the young man would have been cut in half.
A hand on his wound from which flowed a flow of blood, Shirou backed up and threw Bakuya in the face of Buntokapi.
The latter smiles:
"Useless."
He leaned his head to the side, avoiding the spinning blade with perfect nonchalance.
"This attack didn't work with two blades and catching me off-guard... why would it work with only one blade when I'm expecting this kind of attack?"
But, as his opponent spoke, Shirou Traced Kanshou in his free hand.
The two blades were not nicknamed the Married Blades for no reason. A magnetic force united them, the two swords were attracted to each other. Like a boomerang, Bakuya returned to Shirou... and as Buntokapi was on its way, the dao hit the feudal lord in the back.
Buntokapi's fighting instinct saved his life. He felt the attack a fraction of a second before the impact and jumped to the side. Nevertheless, the blade opened a long, bloody slash on his back.
Leaning on his no-dashi, the feudal lord clenched his teeth to control the pain. As he stood up, he felt the deep cut in the muscles of his back, he also had a rib broken... no, probably two broken ribs.
He looked at his enemy.
Again the golden light healed his wounds. Buntokapi hardly retained a curse.
With his back injured, he could not move as fast as before... and this Emiya Shirou, he healed completely in a few seconds! The feudal lord understood that he had to give everything in his next attack, to end it all at once, otherwise his defeat was inevitable.
Shirou was breathing better now that his ribs had healed.
He looked at Buntokapi Keiri. His opponent was again on Seigan no gamae guard having obviously trouble to raise his sword higher.
The double attack that almost killed him was not at the level of Tsubame Gaeshi - Kojirou Sasaki's Noble Phantasm- ... two successive attacks instead of three simultaneous ones, but it was still very impressive. Besides, it gave him an idea to counter Buntokapi.
Shirou Strengthened his eyes to the maximum to be able to see the movements of his enemy and then launched Kanshou and Bakuya. Unsurprisingly, Buntokapi managed to block the two blades with ease. He pushed them down to the ground and they found themselves planted in the parquet.
But Shirou was already reaching forward:
"I am the bone of my sword.
Steel is my body and fire is my blood.
I have created over a thousand blades."
In a flash of light, a form manifested itself in the hands of the Faker, before stabilizing in the shape of a very long katana, even longer than Buntokapi's no-dashi. This sword was called, Monohoshi Zao, it was the blade of Kojirou Sasaki.
As Buntokapi ran towards him, his no-dashi pointed forward in an attend to pierce his heart, Shirou used the technique of the Fifth Grail War Assassin.
"To!"
"Hiken-Tsubame Gaeshi"
Saber evaded, lifting up her invisible sword and counterattacking with a stroke thrusting. The samurai collapsed, his chest pierced. She kicked her blade out, throwing the corpse at a group of yari Ashigaru who was climbing the stairs. The whole group was thrown to the ground in an entanglement of arms and legs.
Only one soldier reached the top of the steps. He attacked screaming but Saber seized his spear with one hand, before beheading him with a rapid movement of her sword. The blood sprayed her, but not a muscle in her face moved.
A chain wrapped around her wrist. A vain attempt to immobilize King Arthur... the ninja who had just attacked her was torn from the window frame and swirled in the air before violently hitting the opposite wall.
She broke the chain with her sword and turned to face the opponents who wanted to take advantage of the diversion caused by the ninja.
She had just repelled the third wave of assault. The first had been samurai pulled from the bed and without armor.
Then the keep handguards arrived.
Now it was the garrison's turn to attack.
A bullet sounded in Saber's ears. With a rapid movement of her invisible sword, she repelled several other shots.
At the bottom of the steps, she saw mercenaries armed with TW matchlocks.
They weren't going to come to her. They were going to keep shooting. She only hesitated for a brief moment... she could not come to them because the ninjas would continue to attack through the windows.
As she could no longer defend the top of the stair, she ran to the bedroom of the Lord of Tsuruga.
She entered to discover a ravaged room. Kanshou and Bakuya were planted on the floor and Shirou was leaning on a long katana. In front of him was a corpse... around a vast puddle of blood that quickly widened.
Artoria's eyes grew as she recognized the sword of Assassin and the wounds inflicted by his Noble Phantasm.
"You managed to use Tsubame Gaeshi, Kojirou Sasaki's ultimate technique!"
Shirou turned towards her, he was in poor condition. Although his wounds had already closed, his clothes were torn and soaked in blood.
"Not really, I just managed to use an incomplete form of this Noble Phantasm. I only managed to create two simultaneous attacks."
Saber resisted the urge to pinch her nose. Her former master gave her headaches sometimes. He seemed so disappointed... but that 'failed' attack was still capable of killing a Servant. Under identical circumstances, Artoria had survived only because of her fighting instinct, which allowed her to see that her only chance of survival was to jump aside, in the only blind spot of the double attack. The triple attack had no blind spots. No Servant could survive...
Hearing the cries of the guards going up the stairs, Saber shook her head. They had no time to vast in trivialities.
"We have to get out of here, now!"
Shirou pointed to the secret hatch in the ground.
"When I arrived, Buntokapi was trying to escape through this passage. It must lead outside the castle."
Before leaving the room, Shirou took Buntokapi's no-dashi as evidence of his passing.
Shirou took the time to close the hatch lock.
The secret passage led to a small room with a large lacquer chest. From this room was a long staircase arranged in the thickness of the wall. Artoria opened the chest.
"Shirou look" she pointed to a beautiful samurai armor, the armor of a lord, probably Buntokapi's own armor. The metal was similar to silver. Visibly some sort of Supreme Mystic Code. Saber nodded thoughtfully, looking at Shirou's torn clothes and especially at his wounds.
"You should put on this armor, you can't keep fighting without protection. You're a normal human, a head or heart injury, and you died instantly. I doubt your healing power can bring you back to life."
And if this 'power' was what she hoped it would be, Saber was even certain of it. She knew well the limitations of her scabbard.
Shirou wanted to protest, saying that such armor was too beautiful and too heavy for him, but she glanced at him and he instinctively step back.
"I am a Servant and I wear armor. So, not one of your arguments is valid. And, also, this armor is yours, it's your legitimate booty."
Shirou closed his mouth and sighed. She knew him so well that it was impossible to argue with her.
As he used Structural Grasp on the armor he learned its history and realized that wearing armor is not passive. It was necessary to learn to use it so that it offers all its protection and does not hinder the movements. And of course, his special talent allowed him to use the armor as if it had been made for him and he had worn it for years.
With Saber's help, he was able to put on the armor and suddenly found himself transformed into a feudal lord like those who reigned over ancient Japan. He felt uneasy. He felt like a comedian committed to the wrong role.
Yet Saber smiled at him clearly very happy with Shirou's new appearance.
"It suits you very well. You seem to be born to wear this kind of armor."
Shirou scratched the back of his head, smiling awkwardly, unable to find anything to say.
As blows were sounding against the hatch, they were brought back to reality. Their pursuers had discovered the secret trap.
While Saber led the way, Shirou had Traced a minor Noble Phantasm who was permanently wrapped in a luminous aura.
At the bottom of the staircase, Saber discovered a tunnel roughly dug into the rock.
"Watch out!"
Artoria grabbed Shirou's wrist and pulled it to herself. In a big metal snap, a steel harrow fell from the ceiling, closing the passage behind them.
"Thank you, Saber."
The redhead teen shudders in retrospect, without the reflexes of his friend, he would have been pierced by the ends of the harrow.
Saber accepted the thanks with a simple movement of the chin, before looking at the stairs.
"At least we don't have to worry about our pursuers anymore."
Shirou raised the shining sword.
"In that case, let's keep moving."
"A choice as easy as it is the only choice left"
The irony in Saber's answer surprised Shirou. It sounded like an answer Rin might have given (yes, well, certainly Rin would have been much more sarcastic). But more and more often, his former Servant imitated her current Master.
He wasn't sure he liked it. Having Rin in stereo was too much for one man!
They advanced and - gradually- a ghostly light appeared before them. They eventually ended up in a large, coarsely arranged cave. The ground was covered with bones still surrounded by shreds of clothing, and rusty iron handcuffs and shackles. A smell of decomposition was floating in the cave.
Saber's face froze:
"We now know how the unfortunate slaves who were forced to dig this tunnel ended up. They took this secret to the grave. Have no regret in killing Buntokapi, Shirou, he deserved it."
Emiya had a sad smile, it was typical of Saber to worry about his morale even in such a situation. She really knew him too well. At first, he fought to force Buntokapi to surrender. But he had quickly understood that the feudal lord was too good a swordsman for him to hold back. And he ended up killing him...
He decided to change the subject.
"I wonder where this luminescence comes from."
It radiated from the center of the heap of waste and bones with teeth mark... teeth marks!?
Just as an unpleasant shiver was descending down his spine, Shirou saw the pile of filth flinching and collapsing, revealing...a horror.
The creature looked like a giant hairy caterpillar. Under the hairs, the body was pale, fluorescent. The huge insect opened a sphincter-shaped mouth dripping with slime, revealing a multitude of triangular teeth as sharp as razor blades.
The monster stood up about two-thirds of its length. His head almost reached the top of the cave. Then he threw himself on them.
Saber intercepted it.
Her invisible sword opened a deep wound in the monster's body. The creature retreated screaming... foul-smelling chyle flowing from the wound.
But Saber was furious and did not let it go... she had seen the bodies and understood that the monster was the executioner of these innocents. She struck so quickly that the wounds multiplied on the body of the gigantic caterpillar as if by magic.
As big and powerful as the monster was, it did not take fifteen seconds for it to collapse to the ground, cut into several sections still animated by spasms.
As she looked at the corpse, the light reflected on an object that the monster had swallowed.
Saber then picked up a war fan, a typically Japanese object. Made of steel, it was used by a general to give visual orders. But it could also be used to block attacks as a kind of shield, and since the edges were sharp, it was even a weapon - rather strange, of course - but a weapon.
Saber gave it to her former Master to use his special talents on the war fan.
Shirou unfolded it, looking at the motifs. He immediately felt that it was an evil object. His first reflex was to throw the fan to the ground but... his newly awakened psionic power made him feel that the object had an important connection with the current situation. Good or bad, he didn't know. But it was a piece of the puzzle he had to resolve. He just couldn't leave it there. He maybe had to destroy it or maybe to use it. As destroying it was final, no turning back possible, Shirou took the fan with repugnance.
They were back in the tent where General Hashitaka Kurumein's staff was gathered. The blue flame sphere that allowed communication with the Tennō was still there, floating in the middle of the room. The officers were silent, they listened in silence to Shirou recount their expedition. Sometimes Saber would intervene, adding details or explaining differently a scene that could be confusing.
After they recounted the death of Buntokapi and their flight, the Tennō spoke:
"With their lord dead, his samurai will have no honorable choice but to Seppuku... if they do not want to become Ronins. Tsuruga's revolt has ended."
After a brief moment of silence, the Tennō added a few words.
"If you were a resident of the New Empire, I would make you the new Tsuruga Daimyo, Emiya-dono."
There were several cries of protest among the officers.
"But you are not of my people. However, I owe you a debt. I know you were sent by the Magus Tohsaka to help me. And I know your problems. I will help you when the time comes."