Day 3: Shirou — Recovery
Shirou Emiya was in terrible pain. Though he had passed out, the pain was able to reach him even in his dream. It was a familiar dream: the dream of a black sun gazing down like a malevolent eye gorging itself on the sight of a city consumed by a sea of flames. Shirou walked through those flames, as he had ten years ago. Even though every part of his body was being seared with agony, he shut his mind against the pain and forced himself to keep taking one forward step after another. If he fell down, he wouldn't have the strength to stand again. If he fell, he would surely die. So he continued to force himself forwards, step after agonizing step, through the seemingly endless sea of fire that had consumed the surrounding city. He could hear the screams of others trapped in the flames, people begging for help, for rescue, for salvation. But Shirou covered his ears and continued walking. He couldn't save them; he couldn't even save himself. Fuyuki City had become a hell from which no living soul could depart. No matter how much they begged and pleaded, he had no choice but to ignore them and walk on, seeking an impossible miracle. He was powerless to save them, and so walked on as they screamed and burned and died.
Slowly, painfully slowly, the screaming faded away as the fire claimed its victims. Then, as it drew into the evening, rain began to fall and extinguish the fire. All that remained was Shirou Emiya, alone and surrounded by death on all sides. The last of his energy leaving him, his legs had given way and he had fallen to the ground. He was finally ready to accept it: that there was no point in struggling any further, that he like all of the others, would be claimed by death.
But he had survived. Before he could die, he had been found by the magus who would become his adoptive father, Kiritsugu Emiya. Kiritsugu had been crying when he found Shirou, crying tears of joy at finding someone alive. And in that moment, Shirou had come to admire Kiritsugu more than anyone else in the world. It was a scene indelibly etched into his memory, and it lingered in his mind as he woke up.
Shirou found himself lying on a futon in his house. The side of his chest had been heavily bandaged; but now that he'd woken from the dream and was able to separate his current sensations from his memories of the fire 10 years ago, it didn't seem to be hurting all that badly. His fuzzy recollection of the last few moments before he blacked out the previous night were telling him that he had been torn nearly in half by a blow from Berserker's stone axe-sword, but that couldn't possibly been right. He wouldn't have survived such a serious wound, let alone be feeling better the next morning. On the other hand, he clearly had been injured somehow, or he wouldn't be bandaged or feeling lingering pain.
Still trying to puzzle out what had actually happened, Shirou noticed for the first time that he was not alone in the room. Taiga and Sakura were standing over him wearing expressions of concern. Rin was also present, though her face seemed to convey more puzzlement than concern. Most strangely, Saber was also present, albeit dressed in a modern robe rather her knightly armor. After a moment, all these intense attention being directed his way started to make him feel a bit uncomfortable.
"Um... why's everyone looking at me like that...? Shirou asked.
"Why do you think, dummy!" Taiga shouted. "Rin and Saber brought you home in the early hours of the morning, all bloody and beaten up; we were worried about you, of course! Especially poor Sakura. She came over here to see you last night, but you'd already left. Then, when she left to go back to her own house, she was accosted by some creepy foreigner!"
"What!" Shirou said. "Sakura, he didn't try and touch you or anything, did he!?"
"No... he never threatened or physically menaced me." Sakura said hesitantly. "But he kept asking these creepy questions, and there was something really unnerving about him, so I went back to the house and asked Fujimura-sensei if I could sleep over for the night."
"I gave her permission, of course; but I was expecting you to be back soon to talk to her about it." Taiga said. "I was not expecting you to get dragged in, bloody and unconscious, being carried by two people I'd never met before, in the early hours of the morning!"
"I was so worried, senpai!" Sakura said. "Rin told me it wasn't as bad as it looked, but there was just so much blood... your clothes were soaked in it! If you died... I don't what I'd do..."
"Wait just a moment..." Shirou said, his addled brain struggling to keep up with everyone's words. "Rin and Saber brought me home... Fuji-nee, you know Saber!?"
That was bad. Servants weren't supposed to be seen my non-magi; in fact, to keep the Holy Grail Wars a secret, the usual policy was for Servants to kill any human who witness them. Shirou doubted that a servant as chivalrous and noble as Saber appeared to be would do such a thing, but she should have at least hidden herself by turning into spiritual form.
"Saber introduced herself to me as a foreign friend of Kiritsugu." Taiga said. "She said that she'd promised Kiritsugu that she'd look after you after his death, and so had come by to see how you were fairing — and a good thing, too, considering the condition she found you in! She's convinced me to let her stay and watch over you for a while you recover. Any friend of Kiritsugu is a friend of mine."
Shirou relaxed. Saber had not only come up with a magnificent explanation for her identity and presence, she had even gotten Taiga's approval to stay in the house.
"There is, however, one thing that's bugging me." Taiga said. "Saber may have brought you back, but she refused to explain just how it is that you came to be injured. Just what were you doing out in the dead of night that ended with you in this condition? Well, c'mon, out with it!"
There was no way Shirou could involve an ordinary person like Taiga in the Grail War. He scrambled for the first excuse his still-fuzzy mind could proffer.
"Oh, it was, uh, an accident." Shirou said. "A silly accident, which was completely my fault, for being careless. And Saber didn't want to tell you because... because she was planning on asking permission to stay here, and as a guest it would be very rude of her to say my injuries were completely my fault, but that's the truth of the matter. I'm very sorry to have worried you, and I'll never do anything like it again. Okay?"
"Um, that's a bit..." Taiga began to say, before being interrupted.
"Of course." Sakura said. "I'm just glad that you're okay, senpai. I'll make you some breakfast right away!"
She ran off to the kitchen, dragging Taiga along in her wake. Shirou knew it was useless protesting when Sakura got like this, so there was nothing to do but go along with it. Out of deference to his injured state, she brought his meal to him in bed so he wouldn't have to drag himself to the table. Unfortunately, this meant that Saber and Rin were left alone with Taiga in the dining room. Taiga was a nice enough person most of the time, but she could get rather overprotective of him, and he dreaded to think what kind of grilling she was giving the girls. Shirou could barely focus on Sakura's small talk, as he kept envisioning all the disastrous scenarios that could result from Saber's anachronistic knowledge of the world. Just how far from the past was she? Did she know anything about proper table etiquette?
His worries, however, proved to be unfounded. When the meal was finished and everyone reconvened in Shirou's room, Taiga and Saber were apparently getting along quite well. From the end of the conversation he caught, it sounded like Taiga had been regaling her with tales from her days as a competitor in kendo tournaments. As a warrior, Saber probably respected Taiga's martial achievement; perhaps Rin had subtly directed the conversation along those lines. In any case, be it by Rin's influence or by blind luck, disaster had been averted.
"Um, Fuji-nee..." Shirou said. "Would it be okay if I skipped school today, for medical reasons? I'm feeling a lot better, but I don't want to push my body too hard too quickly..."
"Oh, I agree completely." Taiga said. "You have to put your health first. You can catch up once you've recovered more."
"Fujimura-sensei... would it be alright if I stayed home as well?" Sakura asked. "Shirou should have someone to look after him while he's injured..."
"That won't be a problem." Saber said. "I will be staying at his house and can tend to his needs."
Sakura's eyes narrowed. She stared at Saber with something very much like... jealousy?
"School is important, Sakura." Shirou said. "You don't need to worry about me; I trust Saber to take good care of me. Please, don't miss class, or people might get worried."
"...Alright." Sakura said, a bit hesitantly. "If that's what you want... senpai."
"Actually," Rin said abruptly, "I think it might be best if I stayed home from school as well. After spending so much time out in the cold last night, I'm feeling kind of ill; I'm afraid I might be coming down with something."
Now that he looked at her, Rin indeed looked a little unhealthy. Her face was flushed and sweat beaded her brow. Taiga placed the back of her hand against Rin's forehead, then nodded somberly.
"Look's like you're running a fever." Taiga confirmed. "I'll see to it that you're excused for the day. I hope you get better soon — and please, no more late-night adventures for either of you."
"Fuji-nee, would you mind walking with Sakura to school?" Shirou asked. "After what happened last night..."
"Don't you worry about a thing!" Taiga said authoritatively. "Should any creep attempt to stalk, molest, or even merely discomfit Sakura, I will make them answer to the Tora-Shinai!"
Taiga viciously slammed her old kendo sword down on Shirou's dresser, leaving a dent. Shirou relaxed; he knew from firsthand experience that Taiga's swordsmanship was quite formidable. He didn't like the idea of some creep lurking around the town accosting girls at night; but unlike the business of the Holy Grail War, it was something Taiga could handle on her own. Sakura would be safe as long as she stayed with her.
As soon as Taiga had escorted Sakura out of the house, Rin let out a big sigh of relief. She placed on finger against her forehead and muttered something in German. A spell shut down, sending off a small spark of dissipating energy, and Rin's complexion abruptly improved.
"Ah, that's a lot better." she said, wiping away the sweat.
"You were faking?" Shirou asked.
"I used a Gandr curse on myself." Rin said. "It's a fairly weak spell that makes you sick. I wanted to have a talk with you, and it's the best excuse for skipping school I could think of."
"What do you want to talk about?" Shirou asked.
"Strategy." Rin said. "Last night's encounter made it clear that Berserker is the most powerful opponent in this War; and since we both fought against it together, I figured we might make a temporary alliance until we can defeat it."
"Well, I don't see any reason to fight you, so I guess I'd be fine with an alliance... if my Servants agreed." Shirou said cautiously.
"Oh, yeah, that's right." Rin said. "Since we're alone now, you can show yourselves."
The air shimmered as Red Archer, Black Archer, and Crow appeared in the room. They must have been present all along, invisible and intangible in their spiritual forms to avoid being seen by Sakura and Taiga.
"Hey, Saber." Shirou asked. "Why'd you introduce yourself to Taiga? Couldn't you have entered spiritual form like them?"
"Unfortunately, I could not." Saber said. "For some reason, I am stuck in material form, unable to transform into a spirit. Since I will have to stay near you at all times for your protection, I thought it best to introduce myself in such a way as to secure lodging at your residence."
"Good thinking." Shirou said. "What's your opinion on the temporary alliance being offered by Tohsaka?"
"Before we talk about that, there is an important question I must ask you." Saber said sharply. "Master, last night, why did you place yourself in the path of Berserker's sword?"
"Well, that's obvious, isn't it?" Shirou said. "It's only natural to want to protect a girl in danger."
Saber bristled at this response.
"I am no mere girl." she growled. "I am an honored knight, a heroic spirit of epic legend, and my natural strength and combat ability both far exceed yours. I have no need of protection."
"Not that you even could have protected her." Rin added. "A Servant depends on its Master for the prana that allows it to maintain its form in this world. It makes no sense for a Master to sacrifice himself for a Servant, since the Servant will simply disappear anyway if its Master is defeated."
"You think that makes a difference!?" Shirou demanded of them. "If I see someone in trouble, I have to help them! If I can't protect anyone, then my life has no meaning! Even if I were to die, it would be worth it if I could save someone else. Ten years ago, when I was caught in the fire, I thought that I was going to die. I had lost everything — my home, and my family; but just as I surrendered and accepted my own death, I was saved by Kiritsugu Emiya. I was empty, but Kiritsugu gave me a reason to keep living. Seeing how happy he was to have saved me, I found a dream beautiful enough to be worth living for. I decided to become a hero who saved others. Striving to reach that goal has been the only thing keeping me going since that day. For that purpose, I will live my life as a sword...!"
...I am the bone of my sword...
A fresh wave of pain erupted from Shirou's bandaged wound. Damn, it seemed he really had been hit with Berserker's axe-sword and somehow miraculously survived. For a moment, it was all Shirou could do to clench his teeth and try not to scream. Then the pain mercifully retreated, and he could focus on the conversation. Rin was speaking, looking at him with something like pity as she did so.
"That way of thinking, valuing everybody else's lives above your own... it's distorted, Shirou." Rin was saying. "It's not the way humans were meant to live."
"A hero who saves others?" Red Archer asked, his voice twisted by scorn. "Impossible! No such thing even exists. Your precious ideal is nothing but ball and chain holding you back. And if you cannot give up on it, then your impossible ideal will end up dragging you down to the depths of hell and drowning you there!"
"I will not give up!" Shirou shouted. "Even if my ideal really is impossible, I still believe that it is something worth fighting for. I would rather pursuing my ideal than survive by betraying it — because I would never be able to forgive myself for abandoning the thing most precious to me!"
Red Archer took a step backwards as though physically struck. For a moment, his features twisted with an emotion that Shirou would almost have called shame. Then the red Servant turned away and have a contemptuous snort.
"I must also agree that the path of the hero is sought only by fools." Black Archer said. "In my mortal life, I had a friend... a girl not many years younger than you, Shirou — who had a dream of becoming a virtuous hero of justice. In the end, however, her dream betrayed and destroyed her. And so, know that I speak from experience when I tell you that heroism has no rewards."
"It doesn't need to have rewards." Shirou shot back. "Simply being a hero is itself a reward. The only happiness I know is the pleasure of saving others. Being a hero is the only thing that can give me fulfillment. Even if... my way of thinking is distorted like you... this is the only path that stands before me. I must become a hero — because that is the only way Shirou Emiya knows how to live!"
"I still don't agree with your ideals... but I won't push the point any further." Rin said. "What we really need to do is pool our information on Berserker and see if we can spot any weaknesses or come up with a strategy that might give us an advantage."
"If we're talking about Berserker, I guess my first question is why I'm still alive." Shirou said. "If it really did hit me... shouldn't I be dead?"
"Your wound did indeed appear mortal to my eyes." Saber said. "However, I felt you drawing prana from me; and moments later, your injuries seemed to heal themselves before my very eyes. It was not a full recovery, but your remaining injuries were not life-threatening."
"So... you saved me?" Shirou asked.
"It was not a conscious decision on my part." Saber said. "And I have no knowledge of how to heal others with my prana. Whatever happened, it was triggered by you, Master."
"I think I understand." Rin said. "I bet it's a consequence of him botching your summoning. Normally, a Master is supposed to be able to provide his Servant with prana and speed its healing when its injured. But Emiya-kun can't do either of those things, because he's somehow set up the channel between you two to flow the opposite direction: he's draining your prana to heal himself. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it for myself — everything I know about magecraft says such a thing shouldn't be possible — but it seems that his incompetence has triumphed over even the laws of magic."
"Um, don't you think that's a little harsh, Tohsaka?" Shirou asked.
"No, I think calling your magecraft incompetent is a fair statement of fact." Rin said. "Let me guess: you can't see Servant parameters either."
"Servant... parameters?" Shirou asked.
"Proper Masters are able to identify the class, alignment, and parameter rankings of Servants simply by looking at them." Rin said. "I figured you might be deficient in this area as well, and so I brought you this."
Rin handed Shirou an old book. Shirou felt the warm buzz of magical energy as he held it, and felt safe in guessing that it was not any ordinary book but a product of magecraft."
"That tome should compensate for your inability to see parameters." Rin said haughtily. "Just stare at the pages while focusing your mind on the Servant in question, and its parameters will appear in a form that's easy for your mind to understand."
Shirou flipped through the book, noting that all of the pages appeared to be blank, then turned back to the beginning. Opening to a pair of clean pages, he closed his eyes and focused on his two Servants, Saber and Crow. When he opened his eyes, ink appeared to have seeped from the pages and sketched out rough outlines of his Servants along with writing and diagrams explaining their parameters. Shirou looked at the information that had appeared:
Servant Saber (True)
Master: Shirou Emiya
True Name: ?
Alignment: Lawful Good
Parameters
STR: C
END: D
AGI: D
MGI: C
LCK: C
N.P.: C
Noble Phantasms
Invisible Air (Boundary Field of the Wind King): C rank Anti-Personnel Noble Phantasm
An invisible sword. It does not allow the enemy to determine its range. It is simple, but tremendously effective in hand-to-hand combat.
Servant Saber (False)
Master: Shirou Emiya
True Name: Kiyomasa Senji ("Crow")
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Parameters
STR: C
END: C
AGI: D
MGI: E
LCK: C
N.P.: D
Noble Phantasms
Crow Claw (Slicing Branch Of Sin): D rank Anti-Personnel Noble Phantasm
The ability to infuse one's own blood with prana and shape it into swords. The blades can be reshaped at will so long as they remain connected to the Servant's body. If separated, they revert to ordinary blood.
Shirou turned the page. The next two pages showed Rin's two Archer-class Servants, with Red Archer being titled "Servant Archer (True)" and Black Archer titled "Servant Archer (False)". Their parameters seemed about comparable to his own Servants; while she was better than him at providing her Servants with prana, the Saber class's base stats were superior to the Archer class, so it evened out. There was also a page for the blue-clad Servant with a spear who had tried to kill him; but since Shirou didn't know anything about the spirit or his Master, there wasn't much information there. Shirou only learned that the blue warrior was "Servant Lancer (True)", that he was of Lawful Neutral alignment, and that he seemed to have a slight advantage over Shirou's Servants terms of his parameters, save for his E rank in the Luck stat. A one-on-one fight might be tricky; but with both Servants working together, Shirou was confident that he could beat him.
Finally, Shirou turned the page again and concentrated on the Servant he was most interested in: the impossibly powerful Berserker he and Rin had fought without success last night.
Servant Berserker (True)
Master: Ilyasviel von Einzbern
True Name: Heracles
Alignment: Chaotic Insane
Parameters
STR: A+
END: A
AGI: A
MGI: A
LCK: B
N.P.: A
Noble Phantasms
?
"What the hell?" Shirou demanded. "How can that Servant be so ridiculously overpowered? Why are its parameters so much higher than any of ours?"
"I'd say there are a number of reasons." Rin said. "As the Einzbern girl said, she's giving all her prana to one Servant while we're splitting ours between two, but there's more to it than that. The class ability of the Berserker Class is Mad Enhancement, which increases the Servant's parameters in exchange for its sanity. Usually, it's used to compensate for a Servant with below-average stats. But Heracles is an enormously powerful epic spirit in his own right; adding on Mad Enhancement on top of that elevates him to truly absurd levels."
"I thought that Saber was considered the best class of Servant." Shirou said. "If Berserker's Mad Enhancement can make him so much more powerful than any other Servant, why isn't his class considered the best?"
"Because, in all the previous Wars, the Berserker-class Servants ended up killing their own Masters." Rin said somberly. "Either directly, in fits of uncontrollable madness; or indirectly, by placing impossible prana burdens on their Masters and eating their Masters' souls when their Masters could not provide enough. Heracles is already an epic hero of legendary strength; to maintain him even normally would require a magus of immense power. To have him fight under Mad Enhancement... there's not a human alive with the ability to provide that much prana."
"Then how..." Shirou began to ask.
"Ilysasviel von Einzbern is not human." Rin said. "She is a made-thing, a puppet, constructed by the elders of the Einzbern Family for the purpose of winning this war. As such, she was designed to have a huge number of magic circuits, far more than in any human — enough to maintain the Mad Enhancement of Berserker Heracles."
"So you're basically saying we're no match for her?" Shirou asked
"Not magically, anyway." Rin said. "Performing such extensive bodily modification carries a price. You probably noticed how small and frail she is; while her magic circuits are overdeveloped, the rest of her body is underdeveloped. Ilyasviel was created as a weapon to win this Holy Grail War, but I doubt she'll live for very long afterwards. As they say, the flame that burns twice as bright lasts only half as long."
"That's so sad." Shirou said. "For the Einzbern family to steal a little girl's entire life away and turn her into a weapon..."
"Oh, don't you dare pity her." Rin said. "May I remind you, she was perfectly willing to kill both of us last night. You said you wanted to avoid killing the other Masters if possible, but would you seriously object to killing a clearly psychotic enemy who is bent on harming others and who doesn't have much longer to live in any case?"
"Of course we can't let her go around killing as she pleases... but there must be some way of stopping her other than killing her." Shirou said.
"Well, if you think such a way exists, you better think it up quick." Rin said. "Because, if we're looking at it realistically, the most effective strategy of dealing with Berserker is to eliminate his Master. While some Servants can last a while without a Master and try to form a contract with someone else, that monster burns through prana so quickly that it'd vanish almost immediately. We can't take it in a straight fight; but like Black Archer said, we've got four Servants at our disposal as opposed to just one for Ilyasviel. So if we came at her from four directions at once..."
"That was a bluff." Black Archer said. "I wouldn't actually kill her."
"Look, I know Berserker's a lot stronger than you." Rin said. "But Archers specialize in ranged attacks, right? So if we use the Sabers as bait, we can get Berserker to leave her side and chase after them, and then you could hit her from long range—"
"You misunderstand." Black Archer said. "I didn't say I couldn't kill her; it would have been easy to eliminate her yesterday if I'd made use of Faust Buckler. I said wouldn't actually kill her."
"What the hell!?" Rin demanded. "Are you actually saying that, while the rest of us were fighting for our lives, you were holding back!?"
"You seem to have gotten the wrong idea." Black Archer said. "Let me remind you that I have no desire for the Holy Grail in the first place. It really doesn't matter to me at all whether I die or not. But as long as I'm here, I'm going to follow my conscience. Since you're my Master, I do feel an obligation to protect you. But I also feel sympathy for that girl, Ilyasviel von Einzbern. I've known a lot of girls who put their trust in wishes, were betrayed, and died in despair. Looking at that girl... I got the feeling that she is going to suffer a terrible fate. In your conversation with Shirou, you confirmed my belief. If it was within my power, I would want to save her; but at the very least, I will not be the one responsible for her tragic end. So I will die in battle protecting you against Berserker if need be, but I will not kill that girl. Understand?"
"Unbelievable." Rin said. "I somehow got a Servant who's both a nihilist and has a conscience. What about you, Red Archer? You understand why we have to kill the Einzbern Master, right?"
Red Archer frowned and sighed deeply.
"Of course, if it was anyone else, I would agree with you." he said. "Unfortunately, Ilya is the sole exception. She is the one person I could never bring myself to kill. Sorry."
"Agh!" Rin said. "This is insubordination! I'm your Master! I can order you with a Command Spell!"
"Feel free." Red Archer said. "Of course, due to your earlier frivolity, you have only one Command Spell remaining. Which means you wouldn't be able to order me not to kill you afterwards."
He spoke casually, but there was not the slightest uncertainty in his voice. His eyes glinted like fire reflecting off steel —
...steel is my body and fire is my blood...
— and Shirou grimaced and pressed a hand against his bandages as another wave of fresh pain swept through him. For a moment, it had felt as though the flesh around his wound was being skewered by countless swords. However, the sensation wasn't nearly so bad this time, and seemed to pass quicker as well. As soon as it had faded, Shirou focused on the conversation again.
"...do it if I had to." Crow was saying. "I don't like to fight girls; but sometimes, there's no other choice. Some people just need to be put down. Back in prison, there was one inmate, she was known as the Kindergartener Killer, and..."
"That's enough." Shirou said. "I made it clear when I agreed to participate in this War: I'm not aiming to kill Masters. Even... even if she doesn't have much time left, I won't stain my hands with blood. So let's do something useful and think of a way of killing that giant."
"I may possess such a method." Saber said. "Master, thus far I have kept my sword sheathed within the Invisible Air. Were I to unleash its true power as a Noble Phantasm, it would be capable of performing an A-rank Anti-Fortress attack. I believe this would be capable of overpowering whatever defensive Noble Phantasm protects Berserker from damage."
"An Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm?" Rin nodded appreciatively. "Yeah, that might just about do it."
"What's this Anti-Fortress stuff?" Shirou asked.
"Noble Phantasms are classified according to the magnitude of the target they are intended to destroy." Rin said. "For instance, the Invisible Air which conceals Saber's sword is a magic that is aimed at killing a single person at a time, so it is called Anti-Personnel. But there are also types of Noble Phantasms which specialize in destroying entire armies, called Anti-Army; or in completely annihilating whole fortified positions, called Anti-Fortress. Theoretically speaking, this could even extend up to Anti-World."
"Oh, I see." Shirou said. "So, the bigger the better, right?"
"No, that's not it at all!" Rin said. "It's all about the using the right tool for the right situation. Think of it like... the difference between a gun and a cruise missile. If you're trying to destroy an entire enemy castle, obviously the cruise missile would be better. But if you're only facing one person, then the gun would be more useful — it takes much less time to aim and shoot, it's fast to reload, it's a lot cheaper, and it doesn't do a ton of unnecessary collateral damage to the surrounding area. Just the bare minimum to eliminate an opponent is fine; there's no points for overkill."
"So Berserker's the type of opponent that requires a cruise missile to defeat." Shirou said. "But last night, we were surrounded by houses — if we had used such a powerful attack, a lot of innocent people might have gotten hurt. That's why you held back, right, Saber?"
"That is indeed the main reason." Saber said. "I must admit that there were some other considerations. For instance, using my true Noble Phantasm would require me to unsheath my sword and reveal my true identity. Even if I was successful in destroying Berserker, there are still many other opponents remaining in the war, and discovering my identity would provide them with an enormous advantage. But above all else, my honor as a knight demands that I prioritize the protection of innocent lives even above my own. I hope that this will not be a problem, my Master."
"No, it's not a problem at all." Shirou said. "In fact, I'm glad to hear you say that. I wouldn't want the kind of Servant who would go full out without any consideration for who might be caught in the crossfire."
Red Archer snorted in contempt and derision.
"The honor of a knight?" he asked. "Stop acting so righteous. There's another reason you didn't use your Noble Phantasm, isn't there? It comes down to another difference between a gun and a cruise missile: a gun can always be reloaded, but a missile can only be fired once."
"What do you mean by that?" Shirou demanded, glaring with hostility at the red knight.
"I believe he's referring to the problem you have supplying Saber with prana." Black Archer said quietly. "The greater the magnitude of a Noble Phantasm, the more prana it requires. Even under normal circumstances, I would not expect an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm to be capable of being used more than a few times over the course of a War. After launching their attack, the Servant would be left exhausted, depleted of prana. And with Saber unable to replenish her supply... it would most likely be fatal."
"Is this true, Saber?" Shirou asked.
"As I said before, I was summoned with an enormous reserve of prana." Saber said, avoiding looking Shirou in the eyes. "I believe it would be possible to use my Noble Phantasm a single time without disappearing."
"In the interest of full disclosure, I also have a secret Noble Phantasm which I believe might be able to overcome Berserker's defense." Black Archer volunteered. "However, due to the nature of the attack, I would unavoidably perish along with him. Still, since it really doesn't matter to me whether or not I win, I leave the decision of whether or not to authorize its use to you, Rin."
"No one's going to be sacrificing themselves." Shirou said firmly. "After listening to you all, I've figured out how we should handle Berserker."
"You think you've figured out a strategy already?" Rin asked dubiously.
"You've all been talking like Berserker is the first opponent we should face." Shirou said. "It's the opposite. We should be leaving Berserker for last."
"How do you figure that?" Crow asked.
"It's just the logical conclusion from what everyone's been saying." Shirou said. "Saber, you said that revealing your true identity would put you at a disadvantage, because the other participants in the War could use that knowledge against you. But Ilyasviel doesn't seem to be hiding her Servant's identity as Heracles at all. I bet all the other participants in the War also see him as a big threat and are trying to figure out his weakness. If we wait, one of them might take him down. And Black Archer, you said that powerful Noble Phantasms are difficult to use repeatedly. We don't know exactly what kind of Noble Phantasm Berserker is using to prevent himself from being injured; but if he has lots of fights with other Servants over the course of the War, there's a chance that it will have weakened somewhat by the end. That would be when we had the best chance of defeating him. Even if it doesn't weaken; you said, Rin, that Ilyasviel's physical condition would probably deteriorate over time. That means if we were forced to use your plan to lure Berserker away and kill her, it would be easier the longer we waited. And Saber, you said that you might be able to use your Noble Phantasm once — if Berserker was the final opponent and you defeated him, it wouldn't matter if you were completely exhausted afterwards, because the Grail would immediately become ours!"
By the time Shirou had finished, Rin's jaw was hanging open.
"Unbelievable." she said. "All this reasoning... from the same person who thought it was a good idea to jump in front of Berserker's sword?"
"I couldn't have come up with it own my own — I just put together what everyone else was saying." Shirou said.
"I have no objection, Master." Saber said. "All enemies must be defeated in the end; I care not in which order we challenge them."
"I'm the kind of guy who likes to go after the strongest opponent first, but what the hell." Crow said. "I wasn't having much luck last night, so I'll give your way a try."
Black Archer shrugged, indicating indifference. The only one to voice disagreement was Red Archer.
"How hopelessly naive." Red Archer said. "Just what I would expect of you. You think you can somehow get through this War without staining your hands with blood? Such a hopeless ideal will result in nothing but defeat."
Shirou stood and faced the red-coated Servant, ignoring the dagger-like pain from his bandaged wound. The longer he spent around the mysterious knight, the more he disliked him. Something about the Servant's speech rubbed him the wrong way, as though the bitterness in his scornful words struck at the very foundation of Shirou Emiya. The two stared into each others' eyes, and the air between them seemed to chafe with friction.
"Do you think there's a problem with my plan, Red Archer?" Shirou asked.
"Two come to mind." Red Archer said. "First, even if you try to avoid attacking Berserker, you cannot prevent Ilya from seeking out and attacking you."
"We can run, though." Shirou said. "The rules of the Holy Grail War is supposed to be kept secret. If Ilyasviel is following the rules, then she can't let her Servant rampage around populated areas for very long without running afoul of the Overseer."
The face of the priest at the church filled Shirou's mind. He couldn't help but recall the slightly mocking words that had gripped his heart and stopped him in his tracks the first time he'd tried to leave the chapel: "Rejoice, Shirou Emiya. Your wish will finally be granted."
"It's just a feeling, but... between Berserker and Kirie Kotomine, for some reason, I think Kotomine is somehow scarier." Shirou said.
Rin grimaced and nodded.
"But the second problem with your plan isn't one you'll be able to weasel out of." Red Archer said. "You suggest defeating Berserker last. Except, he wouldn't really be the last enemy, would he? Because you and Rin might be acting buddy-buddy right now; but in the end, the nature of the War is such that only one Master can win."
Without waiting for Shirou to respond, the knight in red faded into spiritual form and vanished from the room. It was just as well, because Shirou could think of nothing to say.