Day 3: Luvia — Red-Eyed Destroyer

Luvia knew that she was being hunted. Though she could see or hear nothing out of the ordinary, some primal instinct was screaming at her — she was being watched, she was being followed, she was the target of murderous intent. It was a deep subconscious response, the instinctual nervousness of a gazelle being stalked by a lion. But despite the chills that ran down her spine, Luvia smiled to herself. It seemed that the murderous Servant she was searching for had finally taken the bait.

Luvia was careful not to give any outward sign that she'd noticed the enemy Servant's presence. To all appearances, she was just an ordinary woman on a nighttime stroll through the suburbs of Fuyuki, oblivious to the Servant preparing to attack. She casually slid her hands into her pockets, as though to shelter them from the chilly night air. In fact, this action served two purposes: it was a prearranged signal to her own Servant that the trap was about to be sprung, and it allowed her to grab some of her magic-imbued gemstones she'd been saving for this confrontation.

From the manner of the Servant's previous killings, Luvia had guessed that stealth was not its strong suit. This assumption was quickly proved correct: no sooner had she sensed the enemy's presence than it showed itself, dashing out of the concealing shadows and breaking into a flat run towards Luvia. There was no attempt to take her unawares, no sneaking about in the darkness or trying to use the terrain for its benefit; it simply broke into a headlong charge, rushing straight across a well-lit intersection to reach Luvia as fast as possible. But if it did have one thing going for it, it was speed: it was closing the distance between them at an alarming rate. Luvia abandoned any plans of waiting to the last moment to take it by surprise, and flung out her hand and began a hasty incantation.

"Sechs Edelsteine — Fimbulwinter!" Luvia shouted.

The six blue gems that flew from her hand exploded into a cloud of slushy snow that hung suspended in the air. The momentum of the Servant's charge eliminated any possibility of dodging, not that it appeared inclined to even try: the attacker plunged headlong into the fog of magic as if not even registering it as an obstacle. As soon as the Servant had entered it, however, the spell was triggered. The cloud began to whirl and collapse around the Servant's body, turning into a miniature snow devil. A moment later, there was a burst of intense cold that forced Luvia to take several steps backwards. Her breath condensed into a white cloud in the suddenly freezing air, and a layer of frost spread across the surrounding road and sidewalk. Finally, the mist faded, revealing the Servant to be frozen in place. A great mass of ice had enveloped its lower body up to the waist, anchoring it solidly to the pavement.

Now that the Servant was immobilized, Luvia could see it clearly. The madness that blazed in its red eyes left her with little doubt that its class was Berserker. Beyond that, it had few unique features. It did not appear to carry any distinctive weapons, being empty-handed; nor did it have any ornate armor, wearing what seemed to be battle-torn monk robes. The only two distinguishing traits that Luvia saw were a complicated magic circle tattooed on its right arm, and a large X-shaped scar covering its face.

The scarred Berserker seemed to just be realizing its predicament. Its expression seemed almost disbelieving as its well-toned muscles strained in vain at the ice imprisoning it; then its features shifted into a mask of such unbridled fury and murderous intent that Luvia flinched. It let out a strangulated cry of rage, screaming with such intensity that it practically foamed at the mouth. Its vocalizations were so akin to the howling of a rabid beast that it took a few moments for Luvia to realize that it was actually speaking words.

"Aaaaalchemy!" the mad Servant roared. "Aaaalchemist!"

The scarred Berserker raised its right arm, then swung it downwards to slam the ice. Luvia was unconcerned; the magically reinforced ice wouldn't shatter under even Servant-strength blows. She thought it strange, though, that the Servant had not closed its hand into a fist as one might expect of someone trying to deliver a forceful punch, but instead had spread its fingers wide as though to deliver a slap. But the meaning of this gesture became clear the moment the Servant's palm came into contact with the ice. The tattoo on its arm blazed a vivid red, and great sparks of red energy flew from the point of contact. Then, a moment later, the mass of entrapping ice exploded into a cloud of boiling mist.

Luvia was stunned. Since no amount of physical force could have broken her magic ice, the Servant must have used his own magecraft to deconstruct her spell. But Servants of the Berserker class were supposed to be utterly mad, incapable of reason — certainly not capable of the high-level magecraft necessary to counteract her trap. It must be the magic circle on its arm, she realized. It was functioning the way a Magic Crest would — allowing the Servant to perform certain specific pre-developed magecraft despite not being coherent enough to utilize it through normal methods. This magic circle contained some kind of destructive magecraft that allowed the Servant to break apart anything it could lay its hand on. What's more, this was almost certainly its Noble Phantasm — meaning it was a supreme technique on a level far beyond anything Luvia could hope to reach. In other words, there was no magic she could throw at it that it could not effortlessly destroy.

The scarred Berserker strode forwards out of the dissipating fog, red sparks still flying from its clenched right hand.

"MaaaacDougaaaal!" the Servant howled incoherently. "Freeeeezer!"

It spread its fingers wide once more and then lunged for Luvia, covering the distance between them in a heartbeat. The Servant's palm filled her vision as it reached out to clutch Luvia's face. Memories of the gruesome condition of the corpses left behind in the Berserker's wake filled her mind. It was going to use its magecraft to break apart her body, to unbind her skin and blood and bones, to leave her as nothing more than a steaming pile of meat with a hand print embedded in her broken skull. Death was coming, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"AT Field, full power."

A mere inch from her face, the scarred Berserker's hand slammed into an invisible barrier. As much as the Berserker's muscles strained, he could not overcome the power that was obstructing him. His tattooed arm blazed with destructive light, but the red sparks of his magecraft were harmlessly deflected. Bathed in lightning, the form of the shield protecting Luvia became visible: a wall of energy, comprised of constantly expanding concentric hexagons. It was the impenetrable defensive Noble Phantasm possessed by Lancer Rei Ayanami: Absolute Terror Field, the Boundary of the Soul.

Since Luvia had never heard any legends of a heroic spirit of the name Rei Ayanami, she'd had to ask the Servant herself to learn what her capabilities might be. Rei had explained that she possessed three Noble Phantasms: a defensive shield, an anti-personnel spear, and an anti-army mount. The latter was apparently a living weapon created to battle the Ultimate Ones, or Angels as Rei called them; but unfortunately, it could only be utilized if Rei was summoned as the Rider class. But that still left her with two trump cards, the first of which was the Absolute Terror Field.

The AT Field was a conceptual weapon embodying the boundary of the soul, the sacred territory into which none may intrude. The wall that had manifested between Luvia and her attacker was not composed of mere magically-reinforced matter, like her Fimbulwinter spell, but was the pure essence of spirit itself. The scarred Berserker might be able to destroy any physical object with a touch, but the divine, eternal soul was something that lay beyond its grasp. No matter how fiercely his Right Hand of Destruction blazed, it was nothing before the radiance of Rei's soul. As the field expanded, the scarred Beserker was slowly but inexorably pushed backwards. Finally, the notion of the futility of its assault managed to penetrate its rage-clouded mind, and it leapt backwards to distance itself from Luvia and her Servant.

That motion saved its life. For at that instant, Rei lashed out with the second of her Noble Phantasms: the Lance of Longinus. The massive two-pronged red lance, for which Rei had been summoned as the Lancer class, was a weapon designed to pierce AT Fields — to violate the sanctity of souls. It was a merciless weapon that would pierce any defense and penetrate not only the target's flesh, but their very soul. Even a spiritual being like a Servant, which could normally only be killed by the destruction of the head or heart, would perish of a single wound made by a weapon designed to destroy spirit itself.

The enormous lance was thrust forwards at enormous speed, and with far greater ease than anyone looking at Rei would have thought such a slender girl capable of. Had the scarred Berserker persisted any longer in pressing its palm against Rei's AT Field, it would not have been able to move out of range of such a swift strike. But through some animalistic instinct, it had withdrawn just in time to dodge. The Servant twisted its body out of the weapon's way with remarkable agility; the part of Luvia's mind that wasn't paralyzed by fear distantly noted that the epic spirit must have at one time been highly proficient in martial arts. Though its madness had robbed it of the ability to use any refined skills, it still retained the muscle memory of a master of the craft.

With the lance at full extension, the scarred Berserker reached out and grabbed the shaft in its right hand. For a moment, a wave of panic struck Luvia: what if the enemy destroyed her Servant's weapon? But though the Servant clenched its hand, the tattoos on its arm didn't light up. As soon as she was able to think clearly again, Luvia realized that her worry had been foolish. The Lance of Longinus was not a weapon made of metal, but the crystallization of a Divine Mystery that surpassed any hope of human understanding. A human magecraft could not prevail over a True Magic any more than wood could cut steel. The Berserker's Noble Phantasm might seem very powerful at first glance, but it was actually very limited: it had only the power to destroy physical materials. Such a power could dispatch ordinary humans with ease, but it would never prevail in a direct contest against another Noble Phantasm.

The Berserker seemed to realize this as well; not through intellectual analysis like Luvia, but through the same deep atavistic impulse that had allowed Luvia to sense she was being stalked. The predator had now become the prey, and its instincts told it that it was time to flee and live to hunt another day. With one last snarl of rage, the Berserker released its grip and turned, breaking out into a full-tilt run into the darkness of the night.

But Rei wasn't just going to stand by and let her enemy escape. She took a few loping steps as if to follow the scarred Servant, then flung the Lance of Longinus like a javelin. The weapon seemed to come alive, as though moving of its own will. The two prongs curled into a helix that shrank in on itself, entwining to form a single point. The lance then gave a tremendous burst of acceleration, seeming to rip itself free of Rei's hands, and continued to pick up speed as it rocketed through the air at the fleeing Berserker's back.

But once again, some preternatural sixth sense saved the Berserker. As Rei was throwing the lance, it abruptly dropped into a crouch in the middle of the street and slammed its right hand against the asphalt. There was a flash of red light, then a great explosion of dust as a large section of the street was vaporized. The scarred Berserker plummeted into the crater, the flying lance spearing through the empty air where his form had been only a moment ago. Then there was the sound of iron clattering to the ground, as a manhole cover that had been blown into the air by the explosion came crashing back down to earth, and Luvia realized that her adversary had escaped into the sewers.

Rei extended her hands, and the Lance of Longinus reversed the direction of its flight. It came sailing back into her grasp, the tines uncurling as it came to a stop. Rei lowered the weapon, signaling that the fight was over. After taking a few deep breaths to compose herself, Luvia spoke.

"Well, that didn't go as well as planned." she said, as casually as she could manage. "But at least we managed to gain some valuable information about our target."

"That is true." Rei said. "I observed the surrounding area as you instructed, and saw no evidence of a Master. I believe that your prior hypotheses regarding this Servant are correct. It likely appeared in an abnormal fashion with no Master, as I did, and has been surviving by consuming the souls of those it kills for prana. Furthermore, we now know the manner in which it kills, and the manner of function of his Noble Phantasm."

"More important than seeing the power of its Noble Phantasm, we've seen its weakness." Luvia said. "Even when it played its trump card, the Servant wasn't able to overcome your AT Field; knowing that will give us a huge advantage in planning for our next fight. Though, I'm troubled that even after seeing its Noble Phantasm in action, I still don't know its identity."

"I do not either." Rei said. "I should be able to recognize the Noble Phantasm of any Servant from the records of Akasha, but there does not seem to be any epic hero in the history of the world matching his description. Even so, now knowing his capabilities as we do, it should be a simple matter to defeat him during our next encounter."

"A simple matter?" Luvia asked. "That might be overstating the case a bit, I think."

"I believe I could have eliminated him during this encounter if I'd utilized the full power of the Lance." Rei said calmly.

"Why didn't you, then?" Luvia asked peevishly.

"You instructed me not to cause a disturbance or draw any attention to myself." Rei said. "The Lance breaks the sound barrier when it accelerates to full speed, generating a sonic boom that is audible for over 17 kilometers. I judged that would be in contravention of your orders. Was I incorrect?"

"Uh, no, you made the correct decision." Luvia said. " Lord El-Melloi II would kill me if I made a disturbance like that when I'm not even supposed to be in the War in the first place. Let's try and win while sticking to sub-sonic throws, okay?"

"Understood." Rei said. "Against this opponent, I believe that will be possible. Now that I have observed his movements and fighting style, I can use my AT Field to pin him during our next encounter and pierce him with the lance. However, if it is your intention to remain in the War afterwards, we will eventually face more troublesome opponents. Specifically, I am concerned about the Archer-class Servants of that girl you seem to have a rivalry with, Rin Tohsaka. Because Archers specialize in attacking from a distance, combating them without unleashing the full power of the lance could prove problematic."

"You just let me worry about Tohsaka, alright?" Luvia said. "I'll definitely come up with a plan for putting that commoner in her place. It's just a matter of forcing an engagement on advantageous terrain — some kind of enclosed space where we can pin them down and force them to fight in close quarters. Underground would be ideal — if we could lure them into the subway system, for instance... But we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. Taking out that Berserker is priority number one. Do you think it'll come after me again, or will we have to track it down?"

"It is difficult to be certain." Rei said. "Its actions seem to stem from its madness rather than any strategic plan, which makes it hard to predict. It seems to retain some primitive sense of self-preservation, as it had enough intelligence to retreat when it realized it was at a disadvantage; but its compulsion to murder may drive it to seek you out again regardless of the risk, particularly as other targets fitting the profile of his preferred victim become scarcer."

"Well, I don't feel right about sitting back and letting it continue to kill until it has no choice but to come back to us." Luvia said. "I think we should get more proactive in hunting it down. Taking the fight to it will also have other advantages, like being able to choose to attack at a place where there's no convenient sewer for it to run away to. Or going into the fight with your AT Field already up, rather than waiting until I'm half an inch from having my brain vaporized."

"I apologize for the closeness of that encounter." Rei said. "But I cannot keep my AT Field active at all times. It embodies the isolation of my soul, and severs all outside interference — including the channel by which I draw prana from you. Maintaining it for too long would threaten my existence."

"That is a problem." Luvia said. "Is there any way to bypass that? With a Command Spell, for instance?"

"I believe even the magic of a Command Spell would be ineffective when the AT Field is active." Rei said. "The exchange of spiritual energy through the AT Field is possible, but only when the soul is willing to surrender the barrier that separates itself from the other and accept another existence as an integral part of itself."

Luvia tried turning that over in her head a few times.

"...Sorry, could you say that more simply?" she asked.

"The AT Field can be permeable to one with whom I am intimate enough to expose the depths of my soul." Rei said. "To someone who... I love."

"Don't go getting any strange ideas." Luvia said. "Our relationship is purely that of business partners, so if you think I'm going to give you a mana transfer—"

"You are misunderstanding." Rei said. "The intimacy I am speaking about is emotional, not physical. Consider the meaning of soulmate, as opposed to mating in the biological sens—"

Rei abruptly stopped speaking mid-sentence and raised the Lance of Longinus into a defensive posture.

"Is the Berserker returning?" Luvia asked in alarm.

She was already reaching into her pocket for more gems, as futile as they would be, but Rei shook her head.

"It is not a Servant." she said. "A human is approaching."

She pointed, and after a moment Luvia saw for herself. The approaching stranger was a human woman. Her skin was extemely pale; not truly albino like Rei's, but close. Her hair was a light grey in color, and her eyes were yellow. She wore an outfit consisting of a black hat, black shirt, black dress, and black stockings; but she didn't seem to be trying to hide herself in the darkness. To the contrary, she approached at a casual pace, showing no sign of fear even though she must surely be able to see the giant weapon in Rei's hands.

"Who are you?" Luvia demanded of the newcomer. "Are you a magus?"

"My name is Caren Ortensia." the woman said. "I am not a magus. I am an Exorcist for the Holy Church. I am also currently working as the nurse at the local high school, but that is only a temporary assignment for the duration of the Holy Grail War."

"So you're not a Master... but you do know about the War." Luvia said. "What do you want, then?"

"I am not currently a Master, but I intend to become one." Caren said. "There appear to be a number of Servants without Masters running lose in Fuyuki. I planned to form a contract with the one who attacked you, though it appears he has run away."

Luvia was too shocked to respond. For one thing, members of the Church didn't become Masters. The Holy Church viewed magecraft as a heresy, and Servants as evil spirits who didn't belong in the world. The reason a member of the Church was traditionally chosen as Overseer of the War was because they could be counted on to be unbiased, holding all of the participating magi in equal contempt. For someone who had progressed far enough in the Church to reach the exalted rank of Exorcist to desire to become a Master was unthinkable... blasphemous. And not only that, this woman had openly declared her intention to enter the War to another Master, before even gaining a Servant to protect herself. No magus would do such a thing, for their opponents would seize any opportunity to eliminate them. If this woman really did intend to take a Servant and seek the Grail, then she would eventually become Luvia's enemy. And here she was, standing before Luvia and Rei, utterly defenseless...

"I understand." Caren said, nodding knowingly. "You are considering killing me to prevent me from becoming competition in the future. That is a perfectly understandable reaction from a magus. You are forgiven. However, you should know that I do not myself intend to compete to win the Holy Grail, and thus pose no threat to any such ambitions of your own."

"If you're not going to fight for the Holy Grail, why were you trying to make a contract with a Servant?" Luvia asked accusingly.

"It is necessary for the completion of my mission." Caren said. "The Church has given me dispensation to violate their laws for the purpose of this assignment. Any sins I am forced to commit in the process will be forgiven. However, the acquisition of the Holy Grail is not within the scope of my mission; thus, after completing the task I have been given, I will have to use a Command Spell to force my Servant to commit suicide. The remaining Masters will then be free to carry out the War to its natural conclusion."

"A plenary indulgence, basically." Luvia said. "And just what task is so important that the Church has decided to give you such lassitude?"

"Concerns have arisen over the neutrality of the current Overseer of the War, Kirie Kotomine." Caren said. "Are you familiar with him."

"My entry into the War has been somewhat, uh, unofficial." Luvia said. "I'm currently only hunting that Berserker, not competing for the Grail... technically speaking. So I haven't actually introduced myself to the Overseer. I figure it'll be better to present my participation as a fait accompli after taking the Berserker out. Better to ask forgiveness than seek permission, so to say."

"Kirie Kotomine was once a highly respected Executor for the Holy Church's Burial Division." Caren said. "However, ten years ago, he left the Church in order to apprentice as a magus under Tokiomi Tohsaka and ultimately participated in the previous Holy Grail War as a magus. However, he ended up being the first Master to have his Servant eliminated, and retreated to the Church for sanctuary. As he was repentant for his sins, the decision was made that his heresy would be forgiven and he would be allowed to return to the Church fold."

More likely, there had been some kind of shady backroom deal, Luvia thought. The Tohsaka family had some ties to the Holy Church that other magi viewed with suspicion — it was rumored that the family's founder, Nagato Tohsaka, was a secret Christian during the time the religion was outlawed during the Edo period. And given that Caren had just admitted she was being granted forgiveness for the use of a Servant in pursuit of a specific goal on the Church's behalf... well, it wasn't hard to imagine that Kotomine had made been in a similar situation.

"After the death of the previous Overseer, Kotomine was granted permission to carry the remaining unused Command Spells from previous Wars." Caren said. "However, at the time, it was assumed that the next Holy Grail War would not occur for the usual sixty years — by which time Kotomine would be deceased or else too infirm to compete as a Master. The aberrant occurrence of this War a mere ten years after the previous one has raised renewed concerns about him. This alone might not have been enough for the Church to take action, but then it was learned that additional abnormal Servants without Masters had appeared."

"They're afraid that Kotomine will use one of his leftover Command Spells to make a contract with one of the Masterless Servants that have appeared." Luvia guessed.

"That is correct." Caren has said. "As such, I have been dispatched to eliminate Kotomine so that a suitable replacement can take his place as Overseer. However, if Kotomine has indeed betrayed the Church and taken a Servant of his own, my abilities as an Exorcist will not be sufficient to defeat him. Therefore, I have been granted the authority to acquire a Servant of my own."

"And if it turns out he hasn't actually taken a Servant?" Luvia asked.

"My mission does not change." Caren said.

"Charming." Luvia said.

"Those are the orders I have been given by the Holy Church." Caren said. "There will be forgiveness for Kirie Kotomine."

"Well, this sounds like an internal Church matter, so as a magus I suppose I have no standing to make complaints." Luvia said. "As one human being to another, though, I recommend that you reconsider pursuing a contract with this Servant. In case you haven't been watching the news, it's kind of being going on a mass murder spree targeting people based on their hair and eye color. You don't precisely fit its profile, but your hair is light enough that it may consider you a target. It's evil and quite likely insane, so it would likely as soon kill you as contract with you."

"I forgive him." Caren said.

"What do you mean, you forgive it?" Luvia said. "It's a monster that's running amok and eating peoples' souls!"

"Him, not it." Caren said. "And I mean exactly what I said: I forgive him. It is my belief that no one in this world is born evil. We are all the children of God, and through His sacrifice are born without sin. If there are people who do evil, it is because tragic circumstances have conspired to lead them astray from God's light. This Heroic Spirit was summoned, through no fault of his own, into the class of Berserker, thus clouding his mind with rage. And, through no fault of his own, he has no Master to provide him with prana, thus forcing him to consume others in order to continue his existence. Any evil deeds he has committed are the fault of those events, and do not darken his soul. And so, I forgive him."

"Well, that's well and good for you." Luvia said. "But I doubt it's much comfort to the families of those he's killed. And since he's going to keep on killing unless someone stops him, it's not going to stop me from hunting him down and killing him like the rabid beast he is."

"If that is your decision, then I will not oppose you." Caren said. "And I forgive you."

"I don't want or need your forgiveness for carrying out my mission." Luvia said crossly.

"You have it nonetheless." Caren said. "I will take my leave now. According to the Church's information, there are still a Rider-class Servant and a Caster-class Servant which as of yet have no Masters, so I will be seeking out one of them to form a contract with. If you wish to kill me, now is your chance."

Luvia hesitated for a moment, then turned head.

"Hmph!" she said. "I am not so craven or uncultured as to strike down an unarmed woman. If the War's Overseer really is your only target, then you are free to go... this time. But if I see you trying to use a Servant to enter the War, it'll be you who's begging for forgiveness!"

"I understand." Caren said. "Then farewell for now. And know that I forgive you for hesitating before you answered."

The strange woman curtsied before Luvia, then turned and departed into the night.