Day 4: Shirou — A Man With A Mind Of Steel
Shirou walked more quickly than usual as headed down the familiar route from school back to his house. It wasn't out of concern of being without the defense of either of his Servants — he doubted any other Master would attack him in such a public place when it was still light out. Rather, he was in a hurry to get home so that he could start planning a battle strategy with Saber and Rin. Though Shirou had vowed to avoid fighting if at all possible, the situation at the school wasn't something he could just ignore. If one of the Servants was putting innocent lives at risk, then he would do whatever was necessary to stop it. However, his only actual experience fighting as a Master was against Berserker, and that had ended with him getting nearly torn in half by the giant's axe-sword — not an outcome he wished to repeat. He couldn't afford to fail, not when the lives of others were at stake. Since Shinji had indicated that the enemy was Caster, a Servant specializing in magecraft, he hoped Rin might have some ideas about how to best fight any enemy magus.
Shirou was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice when someone stuck out a foot in front of him. He tripped spectacularly, sprawling face-first on the hard cement of the sidewalk.
"You do well to kiss the dirt, mongrel." a haughty voice said. "It is only proper for a commoner such as yourself to abase yourself in my presence."
Shirou pulled his face off the ground and looked at the one who had tripped him. It was a young man in dark pants and a black leather jacket, leaning casually against the stone wall surrounding one of the houses on the side of the road. He had golden blonde hair and red eyes with a disturbing, snake-like quality to them.
"But I am in a jovial mood today, and so will permit you to despoil my grandeur with your unworthy eyes." the man continued. "I suppose there is some faint chance that even a mongrel like you could prove entertaining."
"Entertaining?" Shirou spat, anger rising. "So you just go around bullying people for fun, is that it?"
"Righteous outrage, is it?" the man asked. "The sure sign of a limited mind, burdened by petty ideals about justice and fairness. People should live for the sake of their own pleasure, not some idealistic nonsense about proper adherence to rules. How disappointing; of all the mongrels I've seen fit to judge, you may be the dullest one yet."
"So you have assaulted other people." Shirou said, clenching his fists.
Then a memory clicked into place — a couple day ago, Sakura telling him that she'd been accosted by a creepy foreign man while walking to his house.
"You — did you also 'judge' a girl named Sakura Matou?" Shirou demanded. "Tell me!"
"Matou?" the man said. "Ah, you mean the black vessel of the Makiri. I was bored and thought she might provide me with some amusement. She also proved disappointing; though not so much as you, Shirou Emiya."
"How do you know my name?" Shirou asked.
"Well, it's obvious." the man said with a laugh. "After watching your for just a short time, I can already tell. You have the same foolish ideals as that man. No one who knew Kiritsugu Emiya could doubt that you are his son."
"You... knew my father?" Shirou asked.
"I met him once, but only briefly." the man said. "I certainly didn't know him as well as Kirie."
"Kirie?" Shirou said. "Wait... you mean Kotomine, the priest?"
"Yes, that's right." the man said. "But you test my patience, mongrel. I have no use for those who cannot entertain me. I will not permit you to waste any more of my precious time."
With those parting words, the man grabbed the stone wall behind him and agilely pulled himself over it. Shirou quickly scrambled to his feet; but looking over the wall, he wasn't able to see any trace of the gold-haired man. It was as though he had simply vanished.
Shirou didn't understand the first thing about what had just transpired. All he knew was that he needed answers... and that he had an idea as to where to get them. Somewhat uncomfortably, Shirou turned away from the path back to his house and instead began walking towards Kotomine Church.
"Did I know your father?" Kirie Kotomine asked. "That's truly what you came here to ask?"
"There are some other things I want to discuss regarding the War." Shirou said. "But first... this is something I need to know. You said you participated in the Holy Grail War ten years ago. My father was also a mage in Fuyuki at that time, so..."
Shirou trailed off uncomfortably. He felt ill at ease, though he wasn't certain whether it was due to the stifling atmosphere of the church or the imposing presence of the priest himself. There was something slightly sardonic about the smile that tugged at the edges of Kotomine's mouth, as though he were preparing to reveal the punch line to a particularly cruel joke.
"Yes, Kiritsugu Emiya was one of the seven Masters who participated in the Fourth Grail War ten years ago." Kotomine said. "He desired to be a hero of justice who would save the world from all evils, and sought the Holy Grail to fulfill that wish. He and his Saber-class Servant did quite well, in fact — though, as you can easily tell by the state of the world today, he was ultimately unsuccessful at claiming the Grail's miracle."
"Dad never told me anything about it." Shirou said. "Not once during my training did he ever mention participating in something like the Holy Grail War."
"I can't say I'm surprised by that." Kotomine said. "He probably wished to put all memory of those days behind him. The truth is, the Kiritsugu who fought in the that War was a very different man from the Kiritsugu who raised you."
"What was he like, back then?" Shirou asked.
"He was legendary for his coldness." Kotomine said. "They called him the Magus-Killer; an assassin who would use any means to bring down his target. Sniping, bombs in public locations, even shooting down an entire jetliner — there was no means so despicable that he would not use it in pursuit of his end. He would appear mysteriously and vanish just as suddenly, always turning up in the midst of war zones where the fighting was thickest; and wherever he went, he spilled oceans of blood. And when he was asked why he did what he did, he would give only a single reason: to save the world."
Shirou absorbed this information in silence.
"Kiritsugu was a contradiction." Kotomine said. "He desired to be the ideal hero, the savior of the world — but also believed that the world could not be saved by just or honorable means. Sometimes, it might only be possible to save ten people by killing one person. Even if that one person had no malice, even if they were an utter innocent, Kiritsugu would not hesitate to take their life in order to preserve the lives of the greater number. Thus, in pursuing his ideal, he took it to its dark and bloody conclusion. Kill one to save ten, kill ten to save a hundred, kill a hundred to save a thousand, kill a thousand to save a million... on and on it went. The longer he pursued his ideal, the more corpses piled beneath him. The man who wanted to save ended up doing nothing but killing. Yet no matter the carnage around him, no matter to atrocities he was forced to bear, Kiritsugu persisted in seeking his ideal. And so I dared to imagine that he might be a man like myself. Someone utterly empty inside; a shell of a man, sustained and driven only by the unbearable burden of his impossible ideal."
Kotomine paused, giving Shirou time to wonder about his words. The ideal that had driven Kiritsugu was the desire to become a hero. What, then, was the ideal that drove this priest, who called himself an otherwise empty existence?
"But in the end, Kiritsugu disappointed me." Kotomine said. "When the War was over, when the Grail was beyond his grasp, he was able to abandon his ideal and move on to a normal life."
The memory of that night fell like a shroud upon Shirou's mind. It enveloped his senses, as though he were reliving it once more. Kiritsugu, weak and crippled, his body wrapped in the sickly scent of decay, sat beside him on the back porch of the house, looking up at the stars.
"When I was little," Kiritsugu said, "I wanted to be a hero."
"What?" Shirou had asked innocently. "You wanted to be? Did you give up?"
"Yeah." There was a tinge of sadness to Kiritsugu's voice. "Unfortunately, being a hero is a time-limited thing. When you grow up, it's hard to call yourself one. I should have realized that earlier."
"I see." Shirou had said. "Since you couldn't do it, then I'll do it. You're an adult now, so you can't do it. But leave it to me... Your dream."
That had been his final promise to Kiritsugu, in the last moments before the man had died. Shirou, who had lost everything in the fire, had no reason to go on living. But from the bottom of his heart, he had admired the man who had saved him, and so he had taken on that man's dream as his own. Shirou had sworn that he would become a hero.
"All right." Kiritsugu had said with his last breath. "I feel better."
The memory faded, and the church came back into Shirou's sight. Kotomine had noticed that he was lost in reverie and had patiently paused speaking. Once he noticed that Shirou's attention was once more upon him, the priest resumed as though he'd never stopped.
"Kiritsugu was not hollow like myself." Kotomine said. "He possessed a human heart, an inner identity beyond living for his ideal. If he seemed dead inside, it was because he suppressed his true self as a hindrance to his ruthless pursuit of being the perfect hero. And so, once he realized his dream was impossible and unburdened himself of its crushing weight, he could live as an ordinary man and raise you as his son. It is not the same for myself. Even if I can never achieve that which I seek, I cannot cease to strive for it. I know no other way to live. I am a failure in every other regard, as a father and a human being. I must confess, I both hated and envied Kiritsugu — I resent all those who posses what I cannot, but I hated Kiritsugu most of all, for deceiving me into believing that I was not alone in my torment."
"Kirie Kotomine." Shirou said. "Just what... what sort of man are you?"
The priest stared at Shirou with eyes that seemed as dark and hollow as death itself.
"I am a man who knows no normal joy." the priest said tonelessly. "A man whose heart beats only with curses. A man who was defective from birth. And... I am a man who will kill you, or be killed by you."
There was a long silence as the two stared at each other.
"I'm not going to kill you." Shirou finally said.
"I can foresee no other outcome." Kotomine said. "From what I have told you just now, you should already understand: my ideal is contrary to yours. If you are to see your ideal through to the end, then I will inevitably become your enemy."
"Even so, I won't kill you." Shirou said. "I don't want to become a hero to kill people; I want to save them. I don't care how many people Kiritsugu killed before the War; that wasn't what made me admire him. It was because he saved me that I thought he was a hero — and that I decided to live to fulfill his dream."
Kotomine grinned cruelly.
"But surely you must see that saving everyone is impossible." Kotomine said. "When evil threatens good, that evil must be destroyed. When the lives of the few are balanced against the lives of the many, the few must be sacrificed so that the many might live. Kiritsugu understood that truth. That is why he turned his mind to steel and abandoned his naive notions of honor or justice, why he stopped his ears to the lamentations of his victims and soaked his hands in innocent blood. If you do the same, then I can predict this War's outcome with certainty. You will sweep aside all obstacles that hinder you, friend and foe alike, and defeat even me to claim the Grail. Shirou Emiya, with a mind of steel, could not fail to be victorious. Will you not discard your honor in order to seize the fulfillment of your ideal?"
"That is not my ideal!" Shirou shouted. "The ideal hero is one who saves everyone! Without making anyone suffer, without sacrificing any innocents! I won't compromise with anything less! No matter how naive that ideal is, no matter how impossible it may seem... No, even if it really is impossible, I will never give up! That's what it means to devote yourself to your ideal!"
"Do you really believe you can achieve happiness that way?" Kotomine asked. "Forever sacrificing yourself for the sake of others, forever suffering on their behalf? Forever having your fragile dreams dashed against the harsh reality of this merciless world? Forever striving for something which is beyond your grasp, and forever being tormented when you fall short? Do you believe that such a way of life could ever give you joy?"
"You're wrong!" Shirou said. "That way of life is the only thing that could give me joy! Like I could ever be happy if I knew people were suffering and I wasn't doing everything I could to stop it. Being a hero — saving others — is the only dream I have to live for! I could never live any other way! I— I— I— "
I am the bone of my sword!
Shirou choked on his words and clutched his chest as agony erupted in his body. Prana rushed unbidden through his magic circuits, overflowing from its ordinary channels like a flood-swollen river overspilling its banks, and his vision went red. It felt as though his heart were being pierced from within by a cold steel blade. Unable to draw breath, Shirou collapsed onto one of the church's wooden benches.
"Interesting." Kotomine said. "Perhaps you are not like Kiritsugu, ignoring mundane happiness for the pursuit of your ideal, but one who is truly unable to find any joy in the ordinary course of living. Perhaps you will not disappoint me as he did. I shall be watching you with keen interest, Shirou Emiya."
Shirou was unable to respond. The pain began to lessen as the prana faded — whatever the cause of that surge, the constant power drain of being a Master meant that he simply didn't have enough prana in his circuits to keep his body saturated for long. The phantom pain in his heart vanished and he resumed breathing, but he could only manage shallow gulps of air.
"Oh, but I see that you are overwrought." Kotomine said. "Please forgive me; I got somewhat carried away during the conversation and appear to have worked you up into a panic attack. My sincerest apologizes; I shall endeavor to avoid such sensitive subjects in the future. Perhaps it would be best if we were to speak about something less likely to produce such an intense emotional reaction. Perhaps you'd like to hear what I've learned regarding the anomalies in this War, for instance?"
Uncertain if he was capable of speaking yet, Shirou merely nodded.
"My investigation has revealed that this War is unlike any other which has preceded it." Kotomine said. "Two Servants of every class are appearing instead of the usual one per class. Whenever a Servant is summoned normally, another Servant of the same class abnormally appears nearby. This second Servant does not begin with a connection to the magus who summoned it, and must either convince that magus to become the Master of two Servants — as you and young Tohsaka did, for the two Sabers and the two Archers — or else go and find some other magus qualified to be their Master and form a contract with them. It seems that there have been at least two cases of this happening — and there are at least three Servants still seeking a Master, who face the danger of being eliminated simply by running out of prana unless they are able to make contracts soon. Though, it should be noted, the option of extending their lifespan by consuming humans for prana also exists for them."
"I won't let them." Shirou said.
Summoning strength, he managed to stand. His throat still felt raspy, and his legs wobbled slightly, but the pain in his heart had vanished and he was breathing normally once more.
"Of course, as a participant in the Holy Grail War, it is your prerogative to decide which enemies to target first." Kotomine said. "However, as a neutral party, I can't share any information with your regarding the other Masters and Servants. So if you expect me to say, for instance, which Servant is the Fuyuki serial killer and where you might find it, you are out of luck."
"Is there anything you can say?" Shirou asked.
"I have confirmed the appearance of 12 Servants, meaning that 6 summonings have taken place." Kotomine said. "That means that there is still one Master who has not yet summoned their Servants — the final two, when they do appear, will be of the class Assassin. That is all I am permitted to say to you in my role as Overseer of the Fifth Grail War."
"There's one more thing." Shirou said. "One of the Masters has had their Servant set up a bounded field over Homurahara high school."
"I am aware." the priest said serenely. "However, that in and of itself breaks no rules. If the Master fails to properly cover up his actions afterwards, I will exercise my authority as Overseer — but it would, of course, be too late for the victims. So if you wish to prevent a tragedy, it is entirely up to you to identify and defeat the Servant responsible."
"Thanks for nothing, then." Shirou said bitterly, standing to leave.
"Do not forget, Shirou Emiya, that I am your enemy." the priest's voice was as cold as the ocean depths. "I will remain a neutral Overseer and will not interfere with the progress of the War; but should you be the one who emerges victorious at the end, then when you step forward to claim the Grail, you will inevitably find me standing in your way."
Shirou left the church without looking back.
==Interlude: False Saber Kiyomasa "Crow" Senji==
Crow, invisible in his spirit form, swiftly ascended the slopes of Mt. Enzou. It did not take him long to determine that the Matou kid had been telling the truth: a bounded field had been erected over the temple on the mountain's summit. He could feel it pulsing ahead of him like an invisible electric fence, making his incorporeal form itch uncomfortably. He might be able to force his way through the barrier if he took physical form and put all his strength to the task, but his ability to fight would be severely diminished so long as he remained inside of it. It was certainly much too risky to try on his own. Crow backed off from the barrier, but not very far. Technically, having confirmed the barrier's presence, his mission was complete and he could go report back to his Master; but where was the fun in that? After coming all this way, he hoped to gather a bit more information before departing.
Crow had not been a magus in life. Hell, he hadn't even known magic existed. But his Servant body came with senses that he could instinctively interpret. He lacked the knowledge to craft prana into spells, but he could still sense its presence in the world. The whole mountain was a nexus of power — a convergence of leylines. And unlike him, a Servant of the Caster class would have the ability to tap into it and use it to boost their magic. But just as he could sense this, Crow could also sense that their was a "flow" to the leylines — a current, like in rivers. If the spiritual barrier were to completely enclose the mountain, it would cut off that flow and cause the prana to stagnate. Therefore, there must be at least one opening in the barrier for the leylines to flow through.
Crow began circling around the mountain's summit, searching for an opening in the bounded field. He assumed that the gap would be somewhere well concealed and out of the way, and was therefore surprised when his scouting seemed to indicate that the position of the opening corresponded with the temple's main gate. Perhaps there was some occult reason why it had to be located there, or perhaps Caster simply found it most convenient to enter and exit the temple the same way as the humans who resided there. Either way, Crow had located a path into the enemy's territory.
As Crow approached the temple gate, he spotted a human walking along the path towards it. Crow hesitated. On the one hand, he could probably slip past this human undetected and scout out the interior of the temple. But though the human might not notice his intrusion, there was every possibility that Caster would — even his own Master had a spell on his house to alert him if an enemy came gallivanting in, and that kid was by his own admission a half-assed amateur when it came to magecraft. On the other hand, by talking to this person, he might be able to safely gather some valuable intelligence about what was going on inside the temple — maybe find some hints as to where within the temple Caster was residing, who her Master was, that kind of thing.
Crow assumed his physical form, then walked up to speak to the man approaching the gate.
"Yo!" Crow called. "Are you one of those monks who lives here?"
"I am not." the man said. "While I have temporarily taken up residence here, I am not a monk. My name is Soichirou Kuzuki, and I am a high-school teacher."
Well, well, wasn't this the most interesting coincidence. A barrier over the temple, a barrier over the school, and a man who just so happened to frequent both. Crow's mouth stretched into the sharkish grin of a predator who has smelled blood.
"A high-school teacher, you say?" Crow asked. "At Homurahara, perhaps? Tell me, Kuzuki-san, do the words Holy Grail mean anything to you?"
The man's answer came in the form of action. He immediately fell into a flawless fighting stance and sent his right fist hurtling towards Crow's head. Crow couldn't help but be impressed; from the speed and grace of the Kuzuki's attack, he could immediately tell that the man was a skillful fighter. Had Crow still been merely human, the surprise attack would have flattened him. But he had become a Servant, an embodiment of heroic ideals that no mere mortal could match. Even as he first sensed the fist coming, Crow was already sliding his head out of the way. No matter how skillful his opponent might be, there was no surpassing a Servant's reflexes; Kuzuki's fist blew past the side of Crow's head through empty air.
Then, with impossible speed, Kuzuki unleashed his real attack.
Faster than even Crow's eyes could follow, Kuzuki reversed the direction arm. As he drew it back, he opened his fist and spread his fingers into a talon-like clutching position. Like a snake striking its prey, Kuzuki's hand darted inwards and bit into Crow's throat, fingers tearing through his flesh and seizing the side of his neck in an unbreakable iron grasp. Then the continuing motion of Kuzuki's arm pulled his hand away — ripping out a sizeable chunk of flesh from Crow's neck with it.
Such was the speed of the move that Crow only realized what had happened when he saw the chunk of bloody flesh and muscle gripped in Kuzuki's fist. Then he felt that unmistakable sensation he'd experienced twice before, when he'd lost his eye and his arm — the pain of having a piece of himself torn away. Blood geysered from his torn throat, spraying from his severed carotid artery and jugular vein. It was a wound that would have killed a human within seconds.
Of course, even when he'd been human, Crow had been made of sterner stuff than most. Sending a surge of prana through his escaping lifeblood, Crow used his Branch of Sin to call back as much as he could. He then immediately solidified it into a crystalline scab that covered the wound, preventing any more from being lost. A wound this major would have consequences even for a Servant, and he doubted his Master knew any magic to accelerate his recovery. And if Kuzuki were to tear out Crow's throat completely and sever his spine... even a Servant would die if decapitated.
Without having even paused to see the effect of his first strike, Kuzuki was already launching into a second strike. He lashed out again with his left fist, this time aiming for the left side of Crow's head — trying to take advantage of the blind spot created by Crow's eyepatch. Crow raised his one whole arm to deflect the punch, and once again the man's style instantly changed — his hand transitioning from a closed-fist punch intended to pulverize bone into a claw-like clutch aimed at hooking into a ripping away flesh. This time, however, Crow was ready. He had been in a lot of fights in prison, and while he'd sometimes lost due to his opponent utilizing some underhanded dirty trick, he considered it a point of pride that he never fell for the same trick twice.
Kuzuki's fingers bit into Crow's forearm and then pulled back, ripping out a large chunk of flesh and drawing it back with them. But the blood that sprayed from the wound was already crystallizing, forming into a spike that thrust outwards through the meaty chunk that had been torn from him and then onwards through the center of Kuzuki's palm. As soon as it had pierced through, the blade grew backwards-facing barbs like a fishhook, so Kuzuki wouldn't be able to free himself from it easily. Kuzuki gritted his teeth in pain but did not cry out, despite the extraordinary pain he must be feeling.
"Dead center!" Crow said, noting with satisfaction that his windpipe was still intact — he hadn't been quite sure about that, given the condition of his neck. "Now, have some Crow Claw!"
A jet of blood erupted from the stump of Crow's severed arm, then solidified into a long, curving sword. Crow swept it upwards in a slash that threatened to split the man from crotch to sternum if he didn't dodge. Kuzuki's legs fired with incredible strength, carrying him backwards far enough that Crow's blade merely grazed his clothing. But his escape came with a price: in pulling his left palm free of the barbed blade that had impaled it, Kuzuki had utterly mangled his hand. Blood stream from a wound with jaggedly torn edges, so broad across that Crow was willing to bet he could've pushed a beer can through it. The fingers were limp, the tendons that connected to them severed by Kuzuki's wound.
"You've got some sweet moves, old man." Crow said. "You almost made me feel like I was a Deadman again. But as much as I'd like to see this Corpse Carnival through to its conclusion, my Master probably wouldn't approve — this was only supposed to be a scouting mission, and he seems to have some weird moral dilemma regarding killing humans as opposed to Servants. So go crying back to your Servant, and consider yourself luck, because next time we meet..."
Crow raised one finger and drew it in a quick line across his mangled throat.
"Ssssslice!" he hissed with a bloody grin.
Deciding that was a good note to depart on, Crow returned to spiritual form and fled the mountain, heading back to his Master's home to relay the news that he had identified Caster's Master.
==Interlude Out==
Shirou arrived back at his house to find Saber, Crow, Rin, and her two Archers all waiting for him. What's more, none of them seemed particularly happy to see him.
"Shirou!" Saber shouted. "Where have you been? Wandering around the city without a Servant to protect you is not merely dangerous, it's utterly foolish!"
"I just went to Kotomine Church to speak to the Overseer." Shirou said. "It's neutral ground; I wasn't in any danger."
He decided not to mention his encounter with the blonde-haired, red-eyed man. There was no sense in making Saber worry unnecessarily.
"Did he give you any pertinent information?" Saber asked.
"I'm afraid not." Shirou said. "The bastard doesn't seem to care how many people the Servant kills so long as the Master can sweep it all under the rug afterwards."
"I could've told you that." Rin muttered.
"Well, I'm glad to say that my trip was more successful." Crow said. "Not only did I confirm the presence of a bounded field at Ryuudou Temple, but I believe that I've identified Caster's Master: a man named Souichirou Kuzuki."
"Kuzuki-sensei?" Shirou asked in surprise. "That can't be right."
Kuzuki was a teacher at the school. While he wasn't particularly amiable, he had never struck Shirou as being particularly cruel either. His overall impression of the man was that he was a serious professional who valued hard work.
"For what it's worth, he didn't immediately peg me as a Servant, so I doubt he's a trained magus." Crow said. "But he did immediately attack me once I revealed knowledge about the Holy Grail War — and not only that, he managed to a land some decent blows. A mere human shouldn't have been able to inflict such significant damage on me. At a guess, he'd had enchantments cast on his limbs to amplify his speed and strength. The work of a Caster, in other words."
"It makes sense." Rin said slowly. "If Kuzuki isn't a magus himself, then that would explain why I never sensed anything off about him at school. And we know that Caster has been absorbing prana from people under the guise of gas leaks; it could draw enough energy that way to sustain itself even with a Master who isn't a magus and thus doesn't have a proper connection to it."
She turned to Crow.
"It was foolish of you to engage, though." she lectured. "If the Master alone was dangerous enough to harm you, then you could've been in real trouble if Caster had been close enough to provide combat support. You should've returned to deliver your report as soon as you confirmed the presence of the bounded field."
"Lady, if you think I could turn down the chance for a good fight, you don't know me at all." Crow said. "Sneaking around just isn't my style. Anyway, I managed to get back alive, didn't I? I'll be healed up soon enough."
"So you're not at full strength now?" Shirou asked.
"I can manage." Crow said, with a wave of his hand. "The prana you're providing isn't enough for me to heal instantly; your Magic Circuits aren't all that efficient, to be honest, so trying to draw more might cause you some serious side-effects. But in case you hadn't gathered, I'm pretty durable — it'll take more than a couple of scratches to slow me down."
Shirou recalled the stabbing pain he had experienced in Kotomine Church. Had that been a side-effect of Crow tapping his prana to fight? And if so, how badly would a full battle, with both of his Servants fighting to the maximum of their ability, wear on his body? But no, he couldn't concern himself with that. He'd endure whatever pain was necessary to save the students of the school.
"As a magus, you are probably the most knowledgeable about the fighting style of the Caster class." Saber said to Rin. "What can you tell us?"
"Casters usually begin the Wars as among the weakest of Servants in terms of raw parameters, next to Assassin." Rin said. "Their largest advantage is their ability to use divination spells and such to spy on the enemy Servants and Masters, thus gaining information about their locations and specific strengths and weaknesses."
"In which case, double the number of Servants having appeared for whatever reason works to our advantage." Crow reasoned. "Caster's attention will be split in more different directions, with less time available to concentrate on any individual Servant."
"It would be foolish to count on our enemy being ignorant." Black Archer advised. "Since Saber and Berserker are considered among the most powerful types of Servant in the War, it is probable that Caster observed our battle against the Einzbern Master. And even if we had somehow managed to avoid Caster's attention before, Crow getting into a fight with its Master will have certainly drawn its attention."
"Wait a minute." Shirou said. "Could Caster be spying on us right now? Like, actually listening to the battle plans we're making? There's an old bounded field over the property set up by Kiritsugu, but I don't think it would block the magic of a Servant."
"I don't think Caster's scrying is quite that precise." Rin said. "I mean, it can probably tell where you are and that you're collaborating with me; but to actually eavesdrop on what we're saying, it would probably have to send a familiar to the house. The bounded field would certainly be able to detect such an intrusion, if not necessarily prevent it."
"So we don't have to worry about Caster listening in on us." Shirou said. "But it'll be watching, which means we won't have the element of surprise — it will see us approaching Ryuudou Temple."
"If at all possible, it would be best to lure Caster out of the temple in order to fight it." Rin said. "Casters start out weak; but the longer the War goes on, the more time they have to cast power spells and set up magical defenses. There's no telling how many traps it has already placed on the temple grounds."
"I don't see why Caster would leave." Crow said. "It's obviously spent a lot of effort setting up a nice defensive position for itself. As far as I can tell, there's only one opening to the anti-Servant barrier around the temple, making it a natural chokepoint. That's where it'll want to engage us — where we can't surround it and use our superior numbers to our advantage."
"The field cannot be completely impenetrable." Black Archer suggested. "We can attack from multiple directions, if we are willing to expend the energy necessary to break through."
"I might consider that, if you were at full strength." Rin said. "But having to maintain two Servants means that both of you are weakened. Caster's Master was a match for Crow in his current state — meaning that if you spent the power the break through the barrier, he'd be more than a match for you."
"You're all ignoring the obvious solution." Red Archer said, entering the conversation for the first time. "I can fire an exploding projectile through the opening in the barrier and destroy the temple, forcing the rat to flee its hole."
Shirou remembered the fight against Berserker, the sea of flame that had been produced when the spiral arrow-sword Caladbolg II exploded against the giant's chest. While Berserker's Noble Phantasm had protected him from harm, Caster was unlikely to possess such endurance. Even if it survived the blast, the flames would lay waste to the temple, ruining all of the intricate traps Caster might have prepared. There was only one problem...
"Caster isn't the only one in the temple." Shirou said. "The Ryuudou family lives there, and a bunch of monks as well. You'd be killing them all."
"So?" Red Archer asked. "Having made the temple its base, Caster is likely draining their prana. They will all eventually succumb and die in any event. Accept that they are lost, and sacrifice them in order to destroy the enemy in the most efficient manner possible — thus saving the most lives overall. If it's a choice between the small number of monks in the temple and the whole of the student body at school, the choice should be obvious, right?"
Kotomine's smug, smirking face flashed in Shirou's mind. That was what the priest had said Kiritsugu had done — sacrificed the few to save the many. It was the temptation he had dangled before Shirou: to abandon his ideal of saving everybody in favor of an easier path, a compromised and half-hearted way of life where he only protected people when it was simple or convenient. Shutting his ears to the pleas of the suffering, drowning himself in innocent blood, becoming a hero who could not save but could only destroy...
Shirou saw a sky of fire and endlessly grinding gears. He saw a hill of swords, impaling corpses beyond number. And he saw a man who had turned his mind to steel, thrown himself headlong into hell for the sake of a world which would never cease betraying him. His existence cursed, his name forgotten, the red-coated hero endlessly muttered curses of bitter regret as he suffered eternally, skewered by dozens of blades, atop that hill of swords.
"No." Shirou said.
But the man did not suffer because of the steel that pierced his flesh. He would not flinch from pain of the swords inside of him, because that was all he had ever known. From the very beginning, his body had been made out of swords.
"What?" Red Archer asked.
"I said no." Shirou said. "You will not destroy the temple."
Nor did the man suffer because the world he had sacrificed his life and his afterlife for had rejected him. He had known from the start that he would never be thanked or rewarded, that following his way of life to its end could lead him to only one possible conclusion.
"That's not your decision to make." Red Archer said. "If my Master decides it is the best strategy—"
"Then I'll break our alliance and stop you with my own hands." Shirou said. "I won't permit anyone to be harmed — not the students at the school, and not the monks at the temple, and not even Kuzuki-sensei."
The man suffered because he had betrayed his own true self. For the sake of expediency, he had forsaken the ideals at the core of his being as childish and naive. An ideal hero doesn't exist, it's impossible to save everyone, such foolish idealism won't save the world, it's kill or be killed, kill the few to save the many, turn your mind to steel and never shed another tear... With each new betrayal, he had killed a part of himself, until all that remained was a shell of regret and lamentation.
"I'm going to save everyone." Shirou said.
"You fool!" Red Archer spat. "Trying to be an ideal hero who saves everyone? Such a thing doesn't exist in the real world! It's impossible to save everyone; your naive idealism will only result in more people dying! Spare an enemy Master? This is war — you kill or you get killed! Sometimes it's necessary to kill a few in order to save others!"
Red Archer's ranting fell on deaf ears. The only thing in Shirou's mind was the tragic hero pincushioned by blades atop the hill of swords. The man spat curse after spiteful curse — and each bitter word was directed at himself.
"That's enough, Red Archer." Rin said firmly. "We've talked about this."
The knight in red broke off his rant mid-word and grimaced. It seemed that despite his insolent personality, even he had learned to fear Tohsaka's wrath.
"I believe this is a situation where a simple plan might be the most effective." Saber suggested diplomatically. "The fact that all of Casters action thus far have been defensive in nature suggests to that it believes it could not defeat in a straight fight. In battle, overestimating the enemy can be as dangerous as underestimating them: the longer we delay, the more time Caster will have to study us and to prepare defenses. We've been assuming that Ryuudou Temple is an intricate trap, but the opposite could just as easily be true: Caster might be making it appear to be a trap in the hope of frightening us into inaction until it can gather enough prana to actually combat us."
"That... actually makes sense." Rin said. "Standard strategy is never to engage a Caster in its own magic workshop, because that's where it's most powerful... but standard strategy assumes a Caster who's been receiving a constant prana supply from its Master, not one trying to scrape by on prana stolen from humans under the guise of gas leaks. It's a perfect bluff: relying on what everyone assumes about the way a Caster operates in order to make it seem more dangerous than it actually is. Don't forget, it's been using prana to summon familiars, set up barriers over the temple and school, remotely spy on the opposition, and enchant its Master to amplify his fighting ability — how much can it really have left over for setting up the elaborate traps and ambushes that we're worrying so much over?"
"We've all been talking about how the chokepoint created by the bounded field is an obvious place for an ambush." Crow said. "But if you think about it, there's no sense in making your actual ambushes look just like ambushes. Generally, you try to make your ambushes look like exploitable vulnerabilities, and make your actual vulnerabilities look like traps."
"That is my thinking exactly." Saber said. "Therefore, I propose a frontal assault against Ryuudou Temple. "I will take the lead position and confront Caster at the opening in the barrier."
"You plan on fighting Caster alone?" Shirou asked.
"The Archers can support me from behind." Saber said. "Though the temple entrance may be too narrow for us to fight side-by-side, both have demonstrated the ability to launch projectiles that do not follow straight paths — Red Archer's paired throwing swords, and Black Archer's prana arrows. As for Crow, it would not make sense for him to take the front line considering he is injured... and in any case, at least one Servant should remain beside you and Rin in case another Master tries to take advantage of our distraction to ambush you."
"It's not like I'm grading the Servants on participation." Shirou said. "What I meant was, it sounds like you'll be in the most danger — since you're in front, you'll be the first one Caster targets with its magic."
"I have A-rank Magic Resistance." Saber said. "Even were Caster at peak power, I could likely endure its attacks without difficulty; in its weakened condition, I may well be fully immune to anything less than a Noble Phantasm."
"It know it makes sense, but..." Shirou said. "It just doesn't feel right, putting a girl in danger."
Rin slapped her forehead.
"Do not insult my honor as a knight." Saber said sternly. "To fight as a warrior is both my duty and my privilege."
Shirou flinched under her fierce glare, and Saber softened her tone.
"I am your sword, Shirou." she said. "Your weapon in this Holy Grail War. Do not think of me as a person, but as tool to achieve your ends. If you are not willing to use me, then you will not be able to save anyone. And if you are not comfortable with my fighting on your behalf, know that I fight on my own as well: for the sake of my wish, and to protect those who might be harmed by the wish of one who is unworthy. But above all else, know this: you cannot stop me from fighting. I am going to destroy Caster and save the students at your school — and I will do so with or without your permission."
"Well spoken, Saber." Black Archer said, giving the other female Servant a nod of approval.
It was a rare display of emotion from usually stoic girl, and Shirou realized with some embarrassment how he must appear in the eyes of these two epic heroes.
"I guess I have no choice, then." Shirou said. "I agree. But just so we're clear, the primary target is Caster, not Kuzuki-sensei. I won't permit the killing of any human, be they bystander or Master."
"I understand." Saber said. "I have no desire for needless bloodshed. Since Kuzuki is not a magus, there is no need to fear him contracting another Servant. The Caster sustaining itself on human souls is the true threat that must be eliminated — and the sooner, the better."
"When do you want to strike?" Rin asked.
"Tonight." Saber said. "As soon as the moon rises."