Day 3: Shirou — Greatest Grecian Hero

It was early morning when Shirou and Rin left the grounds of Kotomine Church. With instruction from Rin, Shirou had been able to establish a contract with Crow and was now providing him with prana. She hadn't, however, been able to sort out the problem with his contract with the female Saber. She was able to confirm that a connection between them did exist; but for some reason, prana wasn't flowing between them as it should. Ultimately, Saber herself had convinced them to stop, pointing out the lateness of the hour and suggesting that it might be helpful to get a good night's sleep and resume their efforts during the daylight hours. She assured Shirou that she was in no danger of disappearing anytime soon: while she did not have the Independent Action ability that allowed Servants of the Archer class to remain in the world for long periods of time without a Master, her own personal reserve of prana was so vast that it could sustain her for quite a while.

The group had only progressed for a short distance, however, when Red Archer abruptly stopped short.

"Hold up." he said sternly. "I see someone."

One of the streetlights lining the road had gone out, creating a foreboding pool of darkness in their path. Though Shirou could see nothing within the inky blackness, Archer-class Servants apparently possessed superior senses — only to be expected of epic spirits who specialized in ranged weaponry. Shirou considered the possibility of using reinforcement on his eyeballs to enhance his own sight and enable him to see in the dark; but, unfortunately, he had shut down his magic circuit after giving up working on his contract with Saber. Before he could work more magecraft, he'd have to go through the long and painful process of converting another nerve in his spine.

Fortunately, enhancing his vision turned out not to be necessary. The streetlight had apparently not burned out but merely momentarily shorted, as it happened to flicker back on with a dry electronic buzz. Illuminated in the center of the pool of light cast by the rekindled lamp was a young girl in a purple jacket and white skirt. Judging by her height and body shape, she was almost certainly pre-teen. The most markedly unusual thing about her was her hair, which was an unearthly silver in color. Combined with her pale skin and red eyes, it made her look almost albino.

"What's a young girl doing out so late?" Shirou asked.

His companions, however, seemed to react with aggression rather than confusion. The four Servants silently but simultaneously moved to the front of the group, while Rin's eyes widened with surprise.

"White hair... red eyes... it's a homunculus!" Rin said. "The Einzbern Master!"

"A Servant likely accompanies her." Saber asked. "Prepare for battle!"

Her invisible sword immediately appeared grasped within her gauntleted hands.

"Crow, if you are indeed also of the Saber class, you must carry a sword." Saber said. "Now is the time to unsheathe it!"

"I don't need to carry a sword." Crow said with a grin. "My whole body is made of swords! Behold, Crow Claw!"

Blood began to flow freely from the stump of his amputated arm. As it fell downwards, it crystalized into the form of a curved blade. This was Crow's Noble Phantasm: not a legendary sword he had wielded in life, but the ability to infuse his own blood with prana and solidify it into a sword. He, himself, was the flesh and bone of his own sword...

Shirou was struck by a wave of pain. It felt like the nerves in his spine which he'd previously converted into magic circuits had turned into lines of fire. When Shirou had first formed the contract to provide prana to Crow, he'd only felt a slight heaviness to his body. It had felt fine when he disconnected the circuit and reverted the nerves to their normal function; he'd assumed that the bond with a Servant, once formed, would sustain itself without his constant attention. However, there was one thing he'd failed to consider: at that time, Crow hadn't been doing anything but standing around. Now, he had activated his Noble Phantasm in preparation for combat. This required a great deal more prana than the initial bond; prana that Shirou was not properly suited to provide, having carelessly erased the magic circuit that would have allowed him to channel more. The pain Shirou was feeling, then, must be Crow drawing the prana he needed for battle from the only place he could: in the absence of the greater source, mana, he would consume the lesser source, od. Shirou's Servant was eating his soul.

Once the initial wave of panic at realizing what was happening passed over him, however, Shirou noticed something unusual. While the process of prana being drawn from him was certainly painful, he didn't seem to be getting any weaker. He'd always understood that a human drained of their life-force, their od, would quickly lapse into unconsciousness, followed by coma, and finally death. In his case, however, it felt like parts of his body that had previously been asleep were now waking, slumbering nerves that he'd never known he had tingling to life as they bore the sudden load of prana flowing to meet Crow's need. Despite the pain of these new nerves revealing themselves, it felt somehow right and proper — like this was what his magic circuits had been meant for all along.

After a couple of moments, however, Shirou realized that he had allowed himself to get so carried away by the realization of his mistake and the discovery of this strange new sensation that he'd completely forgotten that there was a young girl in danger. Rin had called her the Einzbern Master; but to his eyes, she just looked like an ordinary little girl. If he allowed his Servants to kill her, he'd be no better than a murderer.

"Crow, Saber, stop!" Shirou called out. "Don't attack her!"

Crow and Saber faltered slightly. Though Shirou hadn't added the force of the Command Spells he bore on his hand to the order, both Servants had addressed him as their Master and sworn to follow his commands. If they were indeed the spirits of great heroes, they would not take such an oath lightly. Shirou was hoping they would listen to his reasoning; surely noble heroes would not cut down an unarmed child without cause. But Shirou tensed his hand just in case; if they wouldn't listen to reason, then he would command them in order to prevent the death on an innocent.

"Can't you see she's just a child?" Shirou said, then called out: "Miss, it's dangerous here! You need to run!"

The young girl, however, seemed entirely unconcerned by his Servants' aggressive reactions. In response to his warning, she only smiled cheerfully.

"You're Shirou Emiya, right?" "Please, allow me to introduce myself properly."

The girl took a couple of steps backwards and gave an elegant curtsy.

"My name is Ilyasviel von Einzbern." she continued. "And this is my Servant, Berserker."

The streetlight flickered, plunging Ilyasviel into darkness. A moment later, it flickered back on; but Ilyasviel was not alone within its light. A great giant of a man stood behind her, the top of its head nearly brushing the streetlight. In one massively muscled hand, it carried an enormous stone axe-sword. Its teeth ground in fury, and its eyes burned with madness. The other Servants Shirou had met so far — Crow, Saber, Red Archer, and Black Archer — he might've mistaken for human if he'd met them under different circumstances. Even the blue-clad Lancer who'd tried to kill him had seemed basically human in appearance and was possessed of a certain joviality. Nothing he'd heard about the Holy Grail War had prepared him to face this... this monster.

The young girl — the Servant's Master — laughed and clapped delightedly.

"It looks like you've got some clue of who your opponent is." she said. "But if you haven't figured it out yet, I'll go right ahead and state it: my Servant is demigod Heracles; son of Zeus, and greatest hero in all of ancient Greece!"

The giant behind her roared in a voice that contained nothing but animal fury.

"I'm a bit interested in you, Shirou Emiya, so I think I'll spare you for the moment." Ilyasviel said. "But as for the other girl and the Servants... you can all just die, okay? Get them, Berserker!"

Berserker abruptly lunged forwards, swinging his axe-sword. Despite his immense size, he moved with incredible speed. The four Servants standing before him had only moments to react. They jumped backwards as the enormous stone weapon struck the ground where they'd been standing, ripping an enormous trench into the street. Chunks of asphalt were sent flying through the air, and the sheer force of the wind created by the speed of Berserker's sword swing pushed Shirou and Rin backwards. The Servants were also blown away by the shockwave, but were quick to regain their footing. Seeing that a single swing of that mighty sword could tear through all four of them without slowing if they remained bunched up, they quickly split up and headed in separate directions, giving Berserker four different targets to keep track of.

Berserker didn't hesitate for a moment. Though his mind was clouded with unfathomable fury, he retained the honed combat instinct that he had acquired through his many legendary exploits as the hero Heracles. As the Servants moved apart, his eyes unfailing tracked Saber, seeming to identify the knightly woman as the most worthy adversary. Raising his stone sword once more, he began charging in pursuit of her. And though Saber was far more nimble, the sheer strength of Berserker's muscles and the length of his strides allowed him to close the distance between them.

With Berserker's attention clearly focused solely on Saber, the two Archer-class Servants took the opportunity to ready their weapons. Shirou was surprised to see that Red Archer, rather than wielding the bow one would expect of a hero of his class, produced a pair of short swords: one black, one white. However, with his intuitive structural grasp magecraft, Shirou instinctive understood that these twin swords were not mortal weapons but were indeed true Noble Phantasms. Holding the swords before him, Red Archer began to speak what sounded like an incantation:

"Divine skill, flawless and firm..."

Black Archer, on the other hand, grasped a slender black bow. As she drew back the string, prana gathered in the shape of the arrow. It was a projectile composed of pure magic energy, which upon release carved a corkscrewing trail of light through the night as it homed unerringly towards the back of Berserker's head. But when the brilliant arrow of magic struck, it splashed off of Berserker's skin like a wave breaking against a stone. The giant's hair didn't even appear to have been disturbed by the impact, and he showed no signs of even noticing the attack.

"Strength moves mountains..."

Saber dodged out of the way as Berserker brought down his great stone axe once again, creating an impact that sent earthquake-like shockwaves through the surrounding ground. There was no possibility of blocking the insane Servant's sword with her own: even if its nature as a Noble Phantasm prevented it from breaking, the sheer force of the impact would certainly blow Saber away. All she could hope to do was dodge the enemy's ferocious swings while waiting for an opening she could exploit.

"Blade cuts water..."

As he spoke the next line of his incantation, Red Archer threw both of his swords at Berserker's hulking form. The weapons bounced off of the giant's pectoral muscles without leaving even the slightest of scratches and went spinning off into the night sky. Just as Shirou was wondering how a heroic spirit could carelessly toss away his Noble Phantasms, the weapons which symbolized his legend, Red Archer spoke the next verse:

"Life approaches the Imperial Villa..."

A second pair of identical swords appeared within the Servant's hands. Shirou had thought that Noble Phantasms were unique, one-of-a-kind artifacts, and yet his structural grasp told him that these swords were absolutely identical to the previous two, down to the very smallest detail. In fact, he could feel the resonance between them and their counterparts: the two airborne swords reversing direction and being pulled back towards their opposite number as though drawn by magnets.

"Two great men, shared life."

Speaking the final line of his chant, Red Archer threw the second pair of swords at Berserker. They struck the front of the giant's body just as the first pair struck again from behind. At the moment of impact, all four swords exploded, enveloping the giant Servant in an enormous explosion. Even at the distance he was standing, the shockwave from the blast was strong enough to knock Shirou off his feet.

As the smoke cleared, Berserker's body became visible, standing in the center of a scorched crater created by the detonating Noble Phantasms. Incredibly, despite the immensity of the attack it had just sustained, the Servant did not have any visible wounds: no burn marks marred its skin, nor did any blood flow. However, for the first time, the great Servant's composure had an air of uncertainty about it. Its eyes flicked from Saber to Red Archer, as though re-evaluating its assessment of the red-coated Servant's abilities. Berserker was mad, but not foolish: he realized that Red Archer might be a more formidable opponent than he first seemed.

It was at that moment, when Berserker's attention was split between Saber and Red Archer, that Crow leapt through the parting smoke and landed on Berserker's back.

Before the stunned giant could react, Crow was thrusting downwards with two giant scythe-shaped blades of blood: one emerging from the forearm of his good arm, the other from the stump of his missing arm. The curved blades were angled such that their glimmering points drove directly into Berserker's eyeballs.

Berserker didn't so much as blink. As Crow completed his swing, the sharp points of the crystalline blades slammed directly into the giant's exposed eyeballs — and bounced off.

"Oh, come on!" Crow shouted. "That was dead-center!"

"I'm not sure how you managed to get two Servants each, but making contracting with both was a big mistake." Ilyasviel said. "Splitting your prana between two Servants renders each of them only half as strong. Of course, your Servants wouldn't be able to match Berserker under any circumstances, but with proper prana support they might've been able to at least slightly injure him. As it is... well, your feeble struggles are so pitiful that I'll hardly even enjoying crushing you."

"You are correct that your Servant outmatches us." Black Archer said. "Therefore, I will offer you a deal. Call off your Servant, and we'll let you live."

"Homura?" Rin whispered.

"Please be quiet." Black Archer whispered back. "This battle is unwinnable; the most we can hope for now is to escape with our lives."

Ilyasviel was giggling at Black Archer's offer.

"I don't think you're in any position to be making demands." she said.

"We outnumber your Servant four to one." Black Archer said. "If all of us simultaneously strike at you from different directions, he won't be able to protect you from all of the attacks. He might kill us all afterwards, but you'd still be dead."

"I trust Berserker, completely and unconditionally." Ilyasviel. "I have absolute faith that he will protect me from any danger."

Ilyasviel's voice was surprisingly devoid of her usually snideness or false cheer. For some reason, despite his fear at the situation, Shirou found himself strangely touched by the young girl's words. They implied that she regarded her Servant as more than a mere weapon to be aimed at her enemies; that she actually had some form of unusual but real friendship or bond with the raging giant. Perhaps, despite her apparent willingness to kill them, the girl wasn't completely evil.

"And besides, this is a war, not a negotiation." Ilysasviel continued, her voice regaining its typical vicious tone. "Smash them, Berserker!"

As Berserker roared his agreement, Crow liquified and reshaped his blood so that the wing-like blades stretched across Berserker's face like a blindfold. With the opaque red Crow Claws covering his face, Berserker was effectively blinded. The enormous Servant immediately responded by trying to crush the figure clinging to him, but his bulk now worked against him: his massive, muscle-bound limbs lacked the flexibility to allow him to easily grab behind him. Even when trying to utilize his stone axe-sword to scrape Crow off, his poor dexterity meant that the smaller Servant was able to easily avoid the clumsily-wielded weapon. Though Crow was forced to twist his body around through a variety of positions to avoid Berserker's attacks, he was able to effortlessly liquify and continually reshape his blades, keeping Berserker's vision obstructed.

Saber took full advantage of her foe's temporary blindness, dashing forwards and delivering a brutal slash against Berserker's gut. But like all of the other weapons employed against the giant, her wind-sheathed sword appeared to harmlessly bounce off of the Servant's abdominal muscles.

"That thing's Magic Resistance is insane!" Rin said. "No... not even magic resistance should be capable of neutralizing Noble Phantasms to such a degree... It must be using some kind of defensive Noble Phantasm to counter them!"

"My, aren't you clever." Ilyasviel said. "But it won't do you any good. Berserker, stop playing around with that Servant and just crush it already."

Berserker abruptly stiffened his body and toppled over backwards, slamming into the ground with brutal force. Crow was crushed against the street by the full weight of the massive Servant. No force on earth could ignore such a blow, and Crow's concentration was broken; his Crow Claws reverted to liquid blood and flowed off of Berserker's face, once more exposing the giant's eyes. His vision restored, Berserker drew himself once more to his feet — just as Black Archer tossed a brick of what looked like high explosive on the ground on front of him.

The resulting blast did not pose much danger to even the prone Crow, let alone the nigh-invulnerable giant: Shirou could tell that it was a conventional human weapon, likely stolen from a construction site somewhere, rather than one of the prana-infused mystical weapons usually used by Servants, and mundane weapons were poorly suited for slaying spiritual beings. What they could do, however, was damage the road beneath the giant's feet: Already weakened by the previous explosion of Red Archer's swords and Berserker slamming his body against the ground, the street gave away entirely. Berserker fell waist-deep into a pit, likely created by the collapse of a sewer tunnel beneath the street. Roaring in rage, the huge Servant tossed aside his axe-sword and set about using both hands to pull himself up.

With the enemy immobilized, Red Archer at last drew his bow. To Shirou's surprise, it actually didn't look all that spectacular; though he couldn't instantly and instinctively analyze objects other than swords with his structural grasp magecraft, the bow just didn't have the same aura power of the other Noble Phantasms he'd seen. Then, however, Red Archer produced the arrow, and Shirou was instantly galvanized. He could feel its structure resonate within his mind: it was not truly an arrow at all, but rather a long, thin, spiral-shaped sword designed to be fired as an arrow.

Red Archer released the string, and the spiral sword tore through space to strike the forehead of the encumbered Berserker. Like his other swords, it exploded on contract, its Divine Mystery unraveling to release in a single cataclysmic moment all of its potential energy as Noble Phantasm. Berserker was engulfed in a raging inferno of magical energy.

"Hey!" Crow yelled. "Warn me next time you plan on shooting something like that!"

He had managed to pull himself from the broken ground and leap to safety at the last moment, but only barely. His jacket and pants were on fire in places, though he quickly extinguished the smoldering spots with his ability to manipulate his blood. From the glare he was giving Red Archer, Shirou got the impression that his escape had been quite narrow indeed, and that a direct hit would have proven fatal. Red Archer, for his part, did not spare even so much as a glance for the ally he had nearly incinerated. His eyes remained fixed on the slowly clearing fire.

As the flames cleared, Shirou was disheartened but not particularly surprised to see that Berserker had once again endured everything they could throw his way. He had raised his large forearms to shield his face from the blast, but that was all. Now that the broken sword's energy was spent, he had resumed digging himself out of the collapsed road. Red Archer shook his head and lowered his bow, apparently likewise seeing the futility of their fight.

"You actually forced Berserker to block." Ilyasviel said. "I'm honestly impressed. That Archer must have been a really incredible hero in life... Odysseus maybe? Or perhaps Arjuna?"

She looked at Rin expectantly, then petulantly stomped her foot when Rin didn't respond.

"Hey, I told you the name of my Servant; the least you could do is show me the same courtesy!" Ilyasviel complained.

Then she once more comported herself, instantly changing from a displeased child to a cold-blooded killer.

"Well, it doesn't matter." she said. "It looks like you're all out of tricks. Too bad. You might've had what it took to win the war, if not for me and my Berserker. It was really bad luck, coming up against me so soon."

Berserker pulled himself free from the ground, standing once more at his full height. As he picked back up his axe-sword, Crow and Saber once more moved forwards to engage him. Even when facing hopeless odds, a heroic spirit would never give up. As the battle once more resumed, Black Archer moved back to where Shirou and Rin were standing.

"Tohsaka, please order me to abandon Shirou and take you to safety." Black Archer said.

"What!?" Rin asked.

"This battle is unwinnable." Black Archer said. "Our only option is escape. I can take you to safety with my Noble Phantasm, but I can only carry one person — we'll need to leave Emiya behind. I would have done so already, but it seems your previous Command Spell to "protect Shirou" is still affecting me. Please negate it so that I can save you."

"No way!" Rin said. "I can't just abandon —"

"Do it." Shirou interrupted.

"What!?" Rin said.

"You should get to safety." Shirou said. "I'll keep Berserker distracted."

It was his fault they were in this situation. The only reason Rin had come out at this time of night and run into Ilya and Berserker was because he hadn't known anything about the Holy Grail War and had needed it explained to him.

"What are you talking about, you idiot!" Rin said. "Keep Berserker distracted? That monster will flatten you in a second — if he even notices you at all!"

"Don't worry about it." Shirou said. "That girl, Ilyasviel, said something about sparing me because I interest her, so I wouldn't necessarily die."

He was willing to, though. If the loss of his life could purchase the escape and safety of Rin Tohsaka, it was a payment he would be willing to make without hesitation. His only dream, his only desire, and the only thing capable of giving him happiness... was to save others, the way that he himself had been saved ten years ago. Compared to that, his own life meant nothing.

At that moment, however, Saber was slightly too slow in dodging one of Berserker's swings. It was only the small furthest tip of the massive axe-sword that managed to hit her as she pulled away, but the immense force Berserker put behind each of his blows meant that was enough. The impact struck her in the side, breaking the armor into jagged pieces which were forced deep into her flesh. The remaining excess force was enough to hurl Saber fifteen feet backwards.

"Saber!" Shirou cried out, and began running towards the fallen Servant.

Saber was actually trying to draw herself back up and stand. Using her sword as a crutch, ignoring the streams of blood flowing down her armor from her wound, she stared into Berserker's eyes. However, there was no mercy to be bound in those burning pits of fury, and Berserker swung his axe-sword to deliver the fatal blow.

Shirou acted without thought. A girl was hurt, a girl was in danger... nothing else mattered to Shirou Emiya. He was a hero who saved others — at any cost. Summoning all the strength in his body, he tackled Saber out of the path of the descending blade, taking the blow in her place.

The ancient stone axe-sword ripped through Shirou's body without resistance, scattering bloody chunks of bones and organs across the street. It felt like his body had been torn in half.

"You... risked your own life to protect your Servant?" Ilyasviel's voice seemed to be saying from somewhere very far away. "But... why? That's... mad, that's..."

As Ilyasviel's voice trailed off, Shirou wondered if his hearing was failing. Then, however, he head the unmistakable sound of Berserker's footsteps, growing more distant. Left speechless by what she thought of as a senseless act, Ilyasviel was choosing to retreat and let Shirou die in peace.

He was certain he must be dying; no human could survive the loss of so much blood, not to mention every single lower abdominal organ. But his thoughts were not of his own impending death, but of Saber, who had been so badly wounded when he'd pushed her out of the way of Berserker's final strike. Would she be okay? So long as she lived, it would have been worth it. Shirou pictured her as he'd seen her in those final moments, standing only with the support of her sword, soaked in her own blood, and yet somehow still beautiful in her defiance of the monster bearing down on her...

While thinking of Saber, Shirou became aware of a golden warmth emanating from within his heart. But before he could begin to wonder what it meant, he felt the sensation of every exposed inch of his gaping wound being pierced by millions of burning swords. The pain was beyond his ability to bear, and he quickly, mercifully, fell unconscious.