Interlude: East of Eden

Shirou Tokisada Amakusa was not having a good day.

His church was aflame, his forces had dwindled to all but nothing, and to top it all off, that fool of a Frenchwoman had taken one of his last two pieces from him.

What was more, Ruler had the gall to claim that he did not know the word of God! He, who had been blessed with miracles beyond mortal comprehension, resting in each hand as surely as the stigmata had rested in Christ's. She was a fool, blinded by the heresy of the base, mortal plane, and beyond his ability to save...at least for now.

"Lancer!" Amakusa called to his sole remaining Servant as he leapt over a pew and made for the back of the church. "Cover our retreat!"

Karna nodded, his eyes filling with fire of the metaphorical kind. If they'd filled with fire of the literal kind, then…

Well, the now-burning church wouldn't be on fire anymore, by virtue of it being very difficult to set ablaze something that has disintegrated.

In the next instant, he exploded forward, his spear flashing towards Achilles as it trailed a banner of flame. The Grecian hero parried the blow with a sweep of verdant energy flashing off his polearm, using what leverage he could muster to force the son of Surya back.

As the two engaged in a furious back and forth, the son of Peleus called back, "Oi, Ruler! What's the game plan for dealing with these two? They're clearly going to be the troublesome sort, especially given that Amakusa's planning on running!"

"Should they escape here, then I plan to enlist the aid of the other participants of the war. It is in the nature of magi to covet Command Seals, and if one is offered, then they'll surely come to our aid," the Maiden of Orleans replied as she stood amongst the flames licking at the church.

The blond let out a snort as he tried to force Karna out of the way, intent on cutting down the fake priest as quickly as he could. The son of Surya, however, gave no ground. It was abundantly clear that he would not falter until he could guarantee Amakusa's escape.

As the priest passed out of sight beyond the altar, Karna made his move. Far more flame than before shrouded his spear as he leapt up and backward, coating the already-burning walls of the church in a fresh coat of flame. As Jeanne tried to dart after him, she was forced back by another wave of roiling flame.

Dashing past Jeanne and cutting a swathe through the flames, Achilles attempted to launch Karna out of the way, his weapon creaking under the force of his attack. Lancer was undeterred, however, bringing the divine metal of his weapon to bear against Rider's with equal force.

In the wake of their clash, a shuddering crash sounded, one of the wooden beams holding up the roof collapsing to the ground as the church's walls burned. Smoke and ash was kicked up by the impact, and even as Achilles swept his spear through the dust, Karna exploded through the crumbling roof.

The golden armored son of Surya clutched the side of his head as though in pain, but that couldn't have been farther from the truth.

"O' Brahma, Cover the Earth," he intoned, swiping his hand across his eye as though ripping away a covering.

"Brahmastra!"

A holocaust erupted from his gaze, setting the surroundings alight in an inferno even as the church itself was incinerated. Jeanne and Achilles only escaped due to the Rider summoning up his chariot and horses, pulling the two from the cindered wastes.

The two hastened to pursue Amakusa, only for Karna to continue harrying and delaying them through fire, steel, and Astra.

-x-x-x-

As the sounds of flame and clashing steel filled the air behind him, Amakusa sprinted across the fields towards Castle Yggdmillenia. Karna, thankfully, was doing a remarkable job keeping his pursuers from catching up to him, which against a mounted Rider-class was no mean feat.

He dodged around a spear-wielding homunculus as a golem standing beside it dashed its ally's head off. As he weaved around the golem, he curled his fingers, filling his hands with Black Keys. Another homunculus, this one wielding a sword, darted towards him, dodging a strike from another golem as it did so. Unphased, the sham of a saint leapt, foot pressing down on the swordswoman's shoulder as he pushed off. As he reached the apex of his jump, his arms snapped out, Black Keys flashing out in all directions.

With a cry of "Set!", glyphs materialized at the ends of the sacramental rapiers, propelling them with great force and greater precision. Eight Keys were flung and eight shadows were pierced before his feet even touched the ground.

Quickly enough, Amakusa made it to the window that Atalante had broken the night prior. Boards had been put up, and it was high on the wall, but he easily scaled the wall upon the hilts of many Black Keys.

A flash of sacred steel parted the wood that covered the window, and he dropped into Caster's lab. He rose to his feet, brushing dust and splinters off his cassock as he glanced around the lab. His eyes paused on a large, smooth crystal orb suspended over a pit filled with water. Within, he could see the faint swirls of mana, no doubt in part from Atalante's Spirit Core.

He dragged his gaze away from the crystal as he heard footsteps behind him. He turned towards them, and golden eyes met a featureless mask.

"I apologise for the intrusion, Caster," Amakusa began, "but it seems that time has run short for me. Jeanne D'Arc and Achilles have chased me from my base of operations, and are even now battling my sole remaining Servant, Lancer of Red, as they pursue me."

His knuckles whitened as he clenched his fists at his sides. "Is your Noble Phantasm ready for completion?"

"It is, it simply needs the…finishing touches, as it were," the masked Caster replied as he kept at his work, mostly ignoring Amakusa.

The priest exhaled, seeming to relax slightly. "Good, good...Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Currently, nothing, as I've already extracted all that was necessary from Roche," Avicebron answered, gesturing vaguely towards the golem, which had splashes of blood on it.

Amakusa nodded slowly. A necessary sacrifice, for the sake of bringing mankind to Eden.

The roar of explosive sunfire came from outside the lab, briefly illuminating the lab in a crimson-gold glow. Amakusa's Command Seals burned as Karna continued to engage Achilles and Jeanne in the fields before Castle Yggdmillenia.

-x-x-x-

The melee continued between the three of them, Karna's flames burning away any homunculi or golems that dared approach their conflict. The very air around them turned to blazes as the son of Peleus plunged his chariot through the flames and parted them beneath it. Standing behind him, Jeanne d'Arc kept her eyes on Castle Yggdmillenia, trying to discover just where Amakusa had gone.

Homunculi had no chance to even attack the Servants, their bodies falling to ash as the simple presence of Karna incinerated them. Golems were blasted to glass statues in their wake, and shattered by the passing of the Chariot. The fields leading to the base of the Black Faction were rapidly set on fire and consumed by the battle between them.

"Were it not for my orders, Rider, then I would have looked forward to battling you to my fullest," the son of Surya remarked as he tried to push them back.

The son of Peleus snorted as he set his chariot to drive them forward, his spear clashing with Karna's. "Heh…I'll admit, maybe in another war we'd be able to fight to our fullest."

"Despite the fact that such a bond could be interesting, this is hardly the time for such a discussion! We need to stop Amakusa," Jeanne called from her spot behind Achilles, her standard held at the ready.

As though in response to her words, a great roar shook the earth as a titan of stone and sediment rose from the field. Golems fell to pieces and homunculi tumbled to the ground insensate as the earth around it split apart and was covered in vibrant, unnatural flora. Great spines pierced the sky from its shoulders, a hoop of stone going over its head, all of them glowing with a dull green light. Its face was stuck in a skeletal grimace, its trio of eyes emanating the same glow as the other pustules on its body.

On each shoulder stood a humanoid figure, one masked and unfamiliar, the other white-haired and all too familiar.

Somehow, Jeanne knew what this titan was: a facsimile of the primordial man.

Adam.

As the towering figure roared, Karna disengaged from Achilles and drifted backwards, flame-licked heels keeping him aloft as he telepathically asked his Master, 'What else would you have of me?'

The response was curt and strained, as though Amakusa were performing some great task. 'Hold them there. All will be well.'

'Understood.'

-x-x-x-

Perched as he was on the shoulder of the primordial man, Amakusa could see Eden beginning to form at its feet. The first stage of the plan was complete, but now came the true test of his faith.

He glanced down at the back of his hand, where five crimson seals yet glowed with power. He closed his eyes, and four of the five began to shine brighter.

Avicebron let out a chuckle as he kept his helmeted gaze upon the golem. "Now, my Adam shall bring Eden upon this sinful Earth, freeing humanity from their mire of sin and bringing about a new age of prosperity. Truly, this shall be what's needed to cleanse humanity of sin." He turned to look at the priest, his arms raised as he continued, "And indeed, it could not have been achieved without your participation. With this, the Lord's work shall be completed."

Amakasua nodded. "Indeed, it shall." he proclaimed raising his arm skyward as the light of his Command Seals reached its apex. "Oh Lord, I offer all that I am to you!

"By these Command Seals, I order this body of mine: infuse the miracles granted unto these unworthy hands by the Lord into the primordial man!"

As that all was ongoing, Avicebron attempted to interfere, panic colouring his movements as he cried, "Stop! No, what are you doing? This could undo all our work, tainting it with the sinful flesh of man!"

With his exultation, Amakusa began to shine, his entire body seeming to distort and become light as it flowed into Golem Keter Malkuth's core. As he faded from existence, the wind carried a rebuke to Avicebron's ears.

"Fear not, for He watches over us."

In the next instant, the primordial man began to shake and tremble as pure white light poured from its eyes and pustules. The quaking quickly intensified to such a degree that Avicebron was flung from its shoulder.

In the next breath, Golem Keter Malkuth split in half, from crown to abdomen, light pouring from its chest. Before Avicebron even had the time to cry out, from the light he stepped.

He was roughly the same height as Amakusa had been, Avicebron absently noticed as the figure touched down on the flowers of Eden. But there the similarities ended. Rather than flesh, his body was comprised of loamy earth and stone, a single, large fig leaf growing out of his nethers. Rather than hair, his head was crowned by countless blades of grass. The features of his face were paradoxically both those of every human, and absent of all semblance of humanity at all.

If Golem Keter Malkuth had been a replica, an attempt to create a second Adam, then this could only be one being:

"The true primordial man…" Avicebron whispered, all thought wiped away by awe.

Adam (for indeed, it could be no other being) raised his head. "I have been called forth," he said in a voice that sounded like an avalanche bathed in clear spring water, "and all shall be embraced in salvation."

"The Paradise That We Lost," he intoned as he raised his hand.

"GanʿḖḏen."

And all was light.