Chapter 18

Accommodation


Archer frowned deeply as he stared at the leader of the Hero Faction, Cao Cao. The smug grin plastered increasing his already low opinion of the spear wielder. Damned spearmen are always assholes.

"So I am guessing that the exorcists had pushed you guys into a corner too soon?" the Chinese man asked, his school uniform swaying a bit as he leaned on the wall with arms crossed.

Archer rubbed the back of his head with a bit of annoyance. "Yeah, while I am confident in taking on Vasco Strada and I am confident that Caster could take on exorcists on a similar scale, the fact that they could easily find our little homes were beginning to become annoying," he said. "There is also the fact that they started to target Caster specifically in order to get ahold of the sword."

"Do you do not have the ability to use the Excalibur Destruction?" another man, a magician by the name of Georg, inquired.

Archer shrugged merely saying, "It does not fit with my style."

"I suppose that is a valid excuse but why do you not use it in order to obtain victory? Is it, again, your inability to wield it?" Georg pressed, reaffirming his question that Archer tried to deflect.

To that end, Archer shrugged again in response. "I only took it in order to deprive an asset of the Church, which in turn deprives an asset of Heaven," he revealed, lying through his teeth with the usual ease.

Cao Cao immediately latched on to his words and decided to divert the questioning back to him. "Oh? Do you have a vendetta against Heaven?" he inquired curiously.

Archer inwardly smirk but using his utmost acting ability, he schooled his face into a frown and crossed his arms while putting weight on his right leg as if frustrated at something. "Humanity is being chained by the supernatural forces that guide it such as the numerous pantheons and Heaven. Sure, their knowledge and protection were certainly useful back in Antiquity and the Medieval Era. However, there is a point in which an institution that made up the foundation of society eventually needs to be done away with in order to achieve a greater goal.

"In this day and age where the moonlit world is separated from the human world, and humanity is slowly achieving feats rivaling certain aspects of the moonlit world, the greediness of the gods will impede on the Age of Mankind. Institutions like the Churches who rely on the waning power of Heaven in order to function need to be weakened and either reformed or dissolved."

Of course, Archer truly didn't believe half of what he had just said but he needed a clear motive to present to Cao Cao that was similar enough to be considered loyal to the cause as well not just a copy and paste of the spear-wielding jackass' ideals in order not to incur suspicion. It took him a whole day to come up with those believable ideas and was quite proud of the fabrication.

Cao Cao smirk widened as he leaned more on his spear, his posture relaxing at the reveal of Archer's faux motives. "Removing the chains of mankind, eh?"

Archer shrugged as he looked away, his attention briefly going to Illya who was chatting away excitedly with Le Fay and another woman. His thoughts briefly mulled over the past, a past where he had lost her.

"We once had a run-in with a demi-god in the past," he said, his frown becoming genuine at the distant memory. "He had scarred Caster quite badly in an attempt to use her as a source to power a relic," he frowned even deeper as he realized that perhaps something similar had happened to this Illya in her past.

Despite being siblings in both of their timelines, they were both different from their versions of each other that sharing their past was quite awkward for them. It was only recently that they started to share small stories with each other, slowly showing each other's pasts.

Admittedly, it was Illya who initiated the past sharing and she was the main contributor as he had lost much of his memories in his long service to Alaya.

So far her past seems very comedic, with some tones of depressions but he very well knew that some events will twist it. Perhaps he was wrong and that she just longed to be with her friends and her Shirou.

"A demi-god, huh," Cao Cao muttered, drawing Archer's attention back to the conversation at hand. "That was enough to draw hate towards the gods? I am not judging but that reasoning seems shallow."

Archer observed as Georg sent an irritated look to the spearman, obviously irritated at the insensitivity. "I don't hate the gods," he corrected. "Tell me, how many heroes had been forsaken in their petty greed?"

Cao Cao thought for a second before answering, "I suppose Hercules is the best example as well as Gilgamesh in your specific category."

"Now tell me, how many times had the moonlit world hold back humanity's progress and sometimes regressed it?"

"Hm... There are quite a few cases such a the Salem Witch Trials, the Bronze Age Collapse, and the Dark Ages, well at least at the beginning."

"I am no scientist but if humanity gains the power to surpass the established order, the gods will take action and thus regress humanity."

Once he was done spewing his nonsense, Archer closed his eyes briefly, in order to sigh in relief while disguising it as a sign of frustration.

"What if every human had the ability to use sacred gears and utilize balance breaker?" Cao Cao inquired, his grin wide.

Archer was left miffed at such a suggestion. If every human had the ability to use a weak noble phantasm? Granted, most sacred gears were more like mystical codes than noble phantasms but even then... A whole army of mystical code wielders? No, a whole world full of people having such power?

Cao Cao's grin widened even further at the speechless Archer. "Come, let me show you something," he declared as he started to walk towards something that he considered grand.

Archer regained his composure and followed suit. "What do you mean if they had the ability?" he asked as they made their way.

"Exactly what I mean, I want to put humanity on top, and what is the best way to do that? The hero faction will be the spearhead that will plunge itself straight into the evil and humanity shall be the shaft that will allow us to dig deep while not losing ourselves. Humanity will eventually triumph and kill every single one of them.

"And we shall first start here," Cao Cao finally stopped as he stepped into a vast space and motioned to all around him.

What Archer saw made him hate the spear-wielding bastard even more.

All around the space laid dozens of people withering in pain and insanity as black tendrils clung onto them. On every single one of them was a sacred gear that glowed brightly as it tried to evolve.

To make matters worst, Cao Cao seemed to be proud of what was going on behind him. "This is the first step to the evolution of mankind," the bastard declared. "So, I ask you... Will you join me?"

Archer looked at Cao Cao's hand before a faux smirk plastered itself on his face. "Sure," he declared in turn, taking Cao Cao's hand and shaking it.

He sent a look at the withering masses and clenched his unoccupied hand into a fist. I am sorry, but for the sake-

"Illya!" he heard Le Fay and another woman shout, drawing his attention behind him and away from the spearman.

He watched speechlessness as Illya tried to heal a nearby victim, drawing upon a potion from a dimensional space in order to attempt to heal them.

"I will save everyone in front of me, no matter who they are!" Distant memories of foolish optimism plagued his mind as he watched as his sister try to help the withering masses.

Again, he was reminded that this was not the Illyasviel he knew.

Chapter 18 End


I ain't gonna give you all optimism for a consistent schedule and more frequent updates but I do plan to update this story one more time in a few days... Hopefully...

I just hope that I won't run into an author's block and give up...

Anyhow, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter... I think the writing style may be different but I tried to stick to the usual style in order to be consistent. Also, I do believe I messed up on Archer's character so if I did please tell me so I can try to make him more Archer-like.

I only got back to anime recently so I may have forgotten Illya's and Archer's characteristics as well as the Hero Faction members'.

I quite like reviews so post one if you like it or have criticism. Flames are quite funny to read as well if you have one.

SaveTheWeak, out... Hopefully not forever.