Day 8: Shirou — Grail Of The Einzberns
Shirou awoke to an annoying buzzing sensation, like a static charge on his skin. It took him a few moments to get his bearings. He had trained with Red Archer long into the early hours of the morning, practicing Projection magecraft until Shirou had finally collapsed from exhaustion. By the time that had happened, his backyard had come to resemble the hill of swords which haunted his dreams: hundreds of swords of all different types with their blades embedded in the ground. But acting out that desolate vision seemed to have finally exorcized it from his subconscious; his sleep had been the most peaceful and relaxed he had experienced since the start of the War. His dreams had been filled with the warm golden light of Arturia's long-for utopia, Avalon; and though his rest had been cut short, he felt fully refreshed and once more ready for action.
Shirou snapped fully awake as he finally realized the cause of the tingling sensation which had woken him: the bounded field surrounding the house was reacting to the presence of an uninvited Master. Shirou's thoughts immediately flew to Sakura, and he instinctively reached up and clutched the crystal dagger pendant which now hung around his neck. Had the False Avenger sent its forces back to attack his house once again, so soon after being defeated? He wasn't certain he was yet strong enough to free Sakura from her cursed chain, but he was certainly going to give it his best effort.
Shirou leapt out of bed and rushed to the front of the house. Rin was already there with her Archers and Shirou's Sabers; though they couldn't sense the bounded field like Shirou could, Rin's Archer were charged with sentinel duty and must have spotted the intruder. However, the girl who had trespassed on the Emiya property and triggered the perimeter alarm was not Sakura Matou; but rather, Caren Ortensia.
"Ah... Nurse Caren?" Shirou asked, blinking. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at your job at the school?"
"Pleasant greetings to you, Master Emiya." Caren said, bowing. "Circumstances being what they are, the time has come for me to discard my disguise as school nurse and reveal my true identity: Exorcist for the Holy Church, and Master in this Holy Grail War. It has come to my attention that you and a number of other Masters are organizing an alliance aimed at stopping the threat posed to the world by the corrupted Grail, and I wish to join you in this effort. And though it is impolite to force a girl to wait outside and hold her at arrow-point, you are no doubt still on high guard following the False Avenger's attack last night, and so I forgive your caution."
"Oh!" Shirou said. "Right, of course. Um, if you're interesting in helping, we'll certainly hear you out. Come in."
He gestured at Rin's Servants for them to lower their bows, and opened the door.
"Thank you." Caren said. "May I presume to extend this invitation to my Servant as well?"
She gestured back towards the front gate at the edge of the property, and a Servant stepped forwards. Shirou instantly recognized the tattoo-covered body of the Avenger who had aided him in fighting Dark Rider at the school.
"Absolutely not!" Arturia interjected, bristling. "That abomination is an Avenger, source of the Grail's corruption! Can't you sense the aura of evil it exudes?"
"I am aware of True Avenger's evil nature; and I forgive him, for his own essential nature is something he is powerless to chance." Caren said. "I assure you that he will behave himself and abide by the rules of hospitality."
"I have to ask a question." Rin said. "Avenger is the source of the Grail's corruption. So what would happen if we were to slay him right here, right now?"
"This physical incarnation of Avenger is separate from the curse of All Evils Of This World, which is already within the Grail." Caren said. "Killing this vessel would only send Avenger's soul to the Grail which would absorb his energy and grow that much closer to opening. It would do nothing to stop the curse; and of course it would have no impact at all on the False Avenger, which is connected to a separate False Grail."
"...Alright." Rin said. "I won't insist on destroying him if there's nothing to be gained."
"And I forgive you for considering it." Caren said.
"Shirou..." Arturia said warningly.
Come on, we should at least give him a chance." Shirou said. "He did help us out at the school."
"Very well." Arturia said with a sigh. "But please, be on your guard."
Shirou and Rin roused Bazett and Luvia and gathered all the Servants into the dining room to hear Caren speak. True Avenger was kept at a distance from the rest of the group, watched with a suspicious eye by Arturia.
"I was dispatched to Fuyuki with a simple purpose: the assassination of Overseer Kirie Kotomine for heresy against the Church." Caren said. "In violation of Church neutrality, he interfered with the Holy Grail War by forming a contract with a Servant: an Archer which was first summoned in the Fourth War, ten years ago."
"I am familiar with that Archer." Arturia said with a frown. "He was a most formidable opponent. Defeating him will not be easy."
"Defeating the Servant was not my task; merely eliminating the Overseer, and I was adequately equipped for that mission." Caren said. "The appearance of the False Grail and the False Servants has significantly complicated matters, however. I am by now convinced that Kotomine is either allied with, or at least covertly supporting, the False Avenger."
Now Bazett was frowning.
"Shirou and Rin informed me that it was Zouken Matou who corrupted this War by summoning a False Grail." she said.
"No, I think Caren's right." Shirou said. "Kotomine may not have caused the appearance of the False Servants; but he's clearly aware of the Grail's corruption but wants the War to continue anyway. Last time I spoke to him, he made it clear that he was an enemy. I don't know why, but I think we have to assume he shares the same goal as False Avenger: to unleash the curse, All Evils Of This World."
"I don't understand how this could be." Bazett said. "The Overseer of the War, Kotomine has... Kotomine is..."
She seemed to struggle for words, then fell silent with a disturbed expression on her face.
"I can totally buy that shitty fake priest turning coat." Rin said. "The question is, what should we do? We were already pushed to the limit fighting False Avenger's current slaves. Add Kotomine and this powerful Archer he supposedly has, and I have a hard time seeing how we can win."
"Our top priority has to be stopping the Grail War." Caren said. "So long as we can prevent the birth of the curse, it matters not if we perish in the process: the world will be saved. Loose ends like Zouken and Kotomine can then be handled by the appropriate authorities in the Mages Association and the Holy Church at their leisure, without the pressure of an impending apocalypse."
"How do we stop the War, though?" Shirou asked. "My father Kiritsugu tried to stop it by destroying the Grail ten years ago, but that clearly didn't work or we wouldn't be in this situation now."
"Kiritsugu failed because he did not fully understand the ritual." Caren said. "The Holy Grail actually has two separate parts: the Lesser Grail and the Great Grail. It might be easiest to understand by analogy – think of the Great Grail as a uterus and the Lesser Grail as a vagina. The Great Grail is the womb of the Mother Harlot, filled with all the filth and abominations of the Earth; the Lesser Grail is the birth canal through which–"
"Um, I don't really get this metaphor." Shirou said awkwardly. "Could you try a different one?"
"Very well." Caren said. "Think of the Great Grail as a wish-granting engine, and the Lesser Grail as the key which turns on that engine. The engine has been cursed by All Evils Of This World – if turned on, instead of granting a wish or opening a path to the Root, it will cause the destruction of the world. What Kiritsugu did at the end of the last War was to destroy the Lesser Grail, the key. This caused the Great Grail to shut down before it did any more damage than the great Fuyuki fire; but the engine itself wasn't damaged. It was still intact, still corrupted – just waiting for this War, when a new key would appear to turn it on once more."
"I see." Shirou said. "Then, how do we destroy the engine?"
"It was initially constructed by the Sorceror Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, who remains a member of the Mage Association." Caren said. "With his guidance, the Association mages could surely unravel the ritual and thus disassemble the engine. And now that they know the Great Grail is tainted, they have every incentive to do so. This will be the last Holy Grail War – we need only prevent the key from turning this one final time."
Caren then hesitated.
"Although I am trying to be motivational, honesty compels me to add that I am less certain about the duplicate Grail which has been created by Zouken. While it clearly also has a Great Grail which is contaminated by a similar Avenger's curse, there's no guarantee that the foundational formulae are the same as Zelretch's Grail. Even the Sorcerer might not know how to disassemble it. But... since Zouken created it, perhaps he knows the method to unmake it as well. We must all strive to look on the bright side, so please forgive my momentary pessimism."
"Alright." Shirou said. "Stop the Grail from activating, and get Zouken to undo whatever he did. Those are clear objectives I can get behind. Where can we find this key?"
"The preparation of the Lesser Grails is the specialty of the Einzbern family." Caren said. "The homunculus Ilyasviel von Einzbern possesses the key of the True Grail. Preventing it from falling into enemy hands should be our top priority – though the Lesser Grail is not supposed to activate until all Servants have been defeated, the Great Grail has already absorbed so much mana from the four previous inconclusive Wars that it could open at any time. Once we have secured the key to the True Grail, we can worry about trying to find the False one."
"Reaching out to Ilyasviel should be a priority anyway – she's the last independent Master, who has allied with neither us nor our enemies." Shirou said. "I just hope Ilya is willing to listen – she hasn't been very open to negotiating thus far."
"We could all go, as a show of force." Rin said. "Our two Archers and Sabers were able to fight nearly evenly with Heracles before, so having Lina on our side should tip the scales. Even that arrogant Einbern doll will have to realize she can't beat all of us."
"Um, I once tried to steal from that girl's castle and got in a big fight while escaping." Lina said, raising her hand weakly. "Do you think she might be holding a grudge over that?"
"No, going with our Servants would just provoke a fight; that's exactly what we're trying to avoid." Shirou said. "But Ilya has always shown respect for the rules of the War. Each time she's encountered me when I didn't have any Servants with me, she hasn't attacked. And if Caren comes along to explain that Kotomine has broken the rules and is no longer fit to be Overseer, she just might be willing to listen."
"A sensible plan." Caren said. "However, if I am to accompany you, then True Avenger must accompany me. It is no fault of his own, but his inherent nature means he is liable to misbehave if I am not nearby to reign him in."
The Servant called Angra Mainyu gave a shrug and a devilish grin.
"I'm not sure that's a very good idea." Shirou said. "One of the times Ilya spoke to me was to warn me about True Avenger. She seems to have encountered him before, and didn't like him at all. If she sees him with us, that might prompt her to attack instead of talk."
"I have considered this." Caren said. "I don't believe Ilya is aware that I have entered into a contract with Avenger as his Master, so we may be able to trick her into believing that we have taken him prisoner. We could pretend to have captured him and brought him to her; and this may rouse her curiosity sufficiently to come out and speak to us."
"Ah... but how exactly would you go about capturing a Servant or holding one prisoner?" Shirou asked. "I mean, they're spiritual beings, so it's not like you could put one in handcuffs..."
"Mystic Code: Shroud of Magdalene." Caren said.
The plain-looking cloth draped over her shoulders suddenly sprung to life and lashed out like a snake, stretching across the room to entwine itself around True Avenger. Faster even than a Servant's reflexes, it wrapped itself around his arms and torso, binding his hands tightly to his sides. As he let out a cry of protest, the cloth encircled his head and gagged his mouth as well.
"This should suffice." Caren said.
"Well... alright." Shirou said. "That's pretty impressive, I guess. Though you could have just explained it..."
"I find demonstrations to be far more persuasive." Caren said.
Avenger struggled to free himself from the shroud, but it only wrapped around him more tightly. A band pinned his knees together, and he toppled face-first onto the floor. Shirou thought he saw something almost like amusement gleam in Caren's eyes... but surely not. This was a woman who constantly apologized and expressed forgiveness, after all.
"Are you seriously considering this plan, Shirou?" Arturia asked, a worried frown on her face. "It seems extremely risky."
"I'll be fine." Shirou said, tapping his chest. "I have Avalon, remember? With your sheath, I won't die even if I'm killed."
"Just don't do anything too reckless." Arturia said. "Guaranteed survival is not at all the same as guaranteed victory. Even with Avalon and the Projection ability you have been practicing, there is no way you could stand a chance against Heracles. If Ilya does attack, you must promise to retreat."
"I understand." Shirou said.
He looked down at Angra Mainyu, who was now writhing on the floor like a caterpillar. Seeing the Servant like this, it was hard to believe he was really an embodiment of All The World's Evil.
"Well, let's give it our best shot." Shirou said.
Shirou felt a crawling sensation on his skin as he passed through the bounded field surrounding the forest outside Einzbern castle.
"Well, now Ilya knows we're coming." Shirou said.
Caren gave no reply; and Avenger, bound as he was with Caren's cloth over his mouth, could not speak. Shirou had questioned if that was necessary, but Caren had advised him that, unless gagged, Avenger was liable to make vulgar or insulting comments which would jeopardize their negotiation with Ilya. She didn't hold it against him; it was simply in his nature as an embodiment of evil. Shirou had been forced to agree to the wisdom of this; and since Caren hadn't been receptive to his occasional attempts to engage her in casual conversation,, they'd walked mostly in silence.
The forest was quiet, almost eerily so, but Shirou took that as a good sign. If Ilya wasn't in the mood for visitors, they certainly would have heard the thunderous sound of Berserker Heracles crashing through the forest to destroy them. Shirou didn't think the giant capable of stealth; an Assassin-class Servant might well sneak up on them by remaining in spiritual form until the moment it was ready to strike, but the Berserker's Mad Enhancement meant it didn't have the cunning or patience for such a tactic. The only way Berserker would remain passive in spirit form was if Ilya was nearby to keep it under control. However, there was still the possibility that Ilya might choose to ambush them in the forest instead of awaiting them at her castle, in which case the giant Servant would certainly be by her side.
Shirou was on high alert as the three of them entered a clearing near the castle. If Ilya were going to engage them in battle, this would be the place: Berserker's great bulk meant he would be at a disadvantage among the dense trees, so it would be more advantageous to confront them in an open space.
He and Caren had proceeded a short way into the clearing when the foliage on the other side suddenly rustled. Shirou immediately froze, his heart leaping into his throat as he tried to calculate whether he would be able to make it back to the tree line behind him faster than Heracles could charge across the middle of the open clearing. However, it was not the giant Servant who emerged from the from the brush; nor was it the petite form of Ilyasviel. Rather, he found himself facing two women clad in traditional maid outfits. Though the woman in the lead was empty-handed, the one following her held an incongruously large halberd made of a silvery-white metal. Based on their faces, which shared the same red eyes and pale skin as Ilya, Shirou guessed that they must also be Einzberns.
"Greetings, homunculi." Caren said. "You must be servants of Ilyasviel von Einzbern."
"Correct." the first maid said. "I am Sella, and this is Leysritt. We have come to end your lives."
"Please do not act in haste." Caren said. "We have come to speak with your mistress regarding a vital matter pertaining to the Holy Grail War. I am certain she will want to hear from us."
"What Lady Ilyasviel desires is not relevant in this instance." Sella said. "She was ordered before the War by the Great Father Jubstacheit to avenge the family's betrayal at the hands of Kiritsugu Emiya by eliminating Shirou Emiya. However, the mistress has proven far too lenient in her dealings with him, perhaps due to some lingering misplaced familial affection. The Great Father's communications in this matter have become increasingly threatening, and he has made it clear that any further hesitation from Ilyasviel will be indicative of a defective nature. Therefore, since she has shown no sign of moving against Emiya, we have decided that it would be best to handle the matter for her."
"A homunculus capable of acting against its master's wishes?" Caren said. "Truly remarkable. It seems this world will never cease to surprise."
"We may be acting without the mistress's orders, but it is in her own best interest." Sella said. "We're doing this for Lady Ilyasviel's own good. We will not allow her to lose the confidence of the Great Father; not when victory is so close to her grasp."
"I forgive you for your excessive zeal." Caren said. "But it seems conflict between us cannot be avoided. Of course, I myself am not much of a fighter; therefore, I will be leaving this matter to you, Avenger."
The cloth wrapping around Avenger suddenly unwound itself and withdraw back to Caren's shoulder. Avenger stretched his arms and cracked his shoulders, then materialized his fang-like daggers Tawrich and Zarich.
"I don't suppose you could just tie them up like you did Avenger?" Shirou asked.
"My apologies, but the Shroud of Magdalene can only restrain males." Caren said. "I am quite powerless in this situation. Rest assured that I will be watching from the sidelines and praying for your success."
With that, she turned and began striding towards the treeline.
"Figures." Shirou said.
"Don't sweat it." Avenger said, twirling his knives. "I'm the third-best in the world when it comes to slaughtering humans. This pair of second-rate Einzbern dolls shouldn't pose much difficulty."
"Ah, one more thing." Caren said, half-turning back. "As our ultimate goal is still to acquire Ilyasviel's assistance, and dismembering her maids is not likely to endear us to her, I must order you to restrain yourself to non-lethal force. You as well, Shirou. Thank you for your consideration"
"...Great." Shirou said.
"Don't think holding back will earn you any mercy." Leysritt warned.
She yanked out a few of the stray white hairs that poked out from beneath her headdress and raised them to the air.
"Zelle!" she shouted.
There was a powerful pulse of magecraft, and the hairs transformed into glowing wire constructs in the shapes of birds. Though they must have been familiars, each of the birds hummed and crackled with so much prana that Shirou might have mistaken them for separate mages if he'd sensed them without seeing them.
"Interesting technique." Avenger said, giving a shark-like grin. "I think I'll take this one. You can go ahead and handle the one with the big pig-sticker."
Shirou moved to position himself across from the other maid, Sella. He felt a twinge of guilt at having to fight despite Arturia's advice, but battling a maid was a much different matter than going against a Servant like Heracles.
"Trace, on." Shirou said.
He materialized the swords Kanshou and Bakuya in his hands. The projection was swifter and smoother than before; his time practicing with Red Archer had paid off, accustomizing his magic circuits to the process. The twin swords fit smoothly in Shirou's grip, feeling like extensions of his own body. Though the short length of their blades would seem to put them at a large disadvantage against Leysritt's lengthy halberd, Shirou was counting on their hidden ability – the magnetic attraction they exerted on one another – to serve as his trump card in this fight.
Shirou wasn't foolhardy enough to move into striking range of Leysritt's weapon; the curved blades and spiked tip of the polearm suggested that it would function equally well as a stabbing or slashing weapon. A careless attack would expose him to a lethal cut or thrust long before he got into range to use his shorter blades. Rather, his best bet was to dodge the maid's first attack, then to counter-strike while she was overbalanced by the massive weapon. Blocking wasn't an option, not when it was so much larger than his swords.
Leysritt suddenly exploded into motion. Shirou had prepared himself for either a cautious advance or a reckless charge, but Leysritt surprised him by instead leaping straight into the air. Her legs fired with supernatural force, smashing a crater into the forest floor as she launched herself into the sky above him. Leysritt swung her halberd over her head as she moved, bringing it down in a fearsome chop as though Shirou were a cord of wood on a chopping block. Shirou barely managed to scramble backwards before the halberd's heavy blade slammed into the spot of ground where'd been standing, sending huge chunks of dirt flying in every direction.
Seeing how deeply the blade had been embedded in the ground, Shirou caught his balance and tried to dash forwards before Leysritt could free it. However, Leysritt lifted the giant weapon without the slightest apparent effort, smoothly transitioning the movement into a thrust towards Shirou's chest. Shirou lunged to the side at the last moment, then was forced to roll backwards as Leysritt launched in a rapid flurry of sweeps and stabs. It was clear now that Shirou had badly misjudged the quality of his opposition. Leysritt was not a Servant, true; but neither was she a human. She was a combat homunculus, the end product of centuries of Einzbern experimentation and refinement, and possessed speed and strength far in excess of any human. Shirou could not last long against an enemy of the caliber, so his only chance was to quickly land a decisive hit.
As Shirou was forced back towards the edge of the clearing, he found his chance. Leysritt overcommitted on one of her thrusts; when Shirou dodged the blade, it embedded itself deeply in the trunk of a tree behind him. This bought Shirou a moment's respite from Leysritt's relentless attacks, and he used the time to fling one of the swords he held at her head. Leysritt's reflexes allowed her to shift just out of the way with inhuman, mechanical precision; but Shirou had been expecting that. Kanshou and Bakuya were connected by an irresistible pull; since he still held one of the blades, the one he had thrown was drawn to reverse its course and begin spinning directly towards the enter of Leysritt's back.
The attack should have come from her blind spot; but somehow, the homunculus was able to sense it. Leysritt poured her unnatural strength into her halberd, and the stuck blade cleaved cleanly through the trunk of the tree in which it had been briefly entrapped. She pivoted her whole body, swinging the halberd in a sweeping arc that brought it around to intercept Shirou's thrown sword with such speed and force that the Projected blade was shattered like glass by the impact. And Leysritt didn't stop her swing with just that; she continued pivoting on the pont where she stood, letting the halberd build up even greater speed and force as the curve of its arc brought it back around towards Shirou.
The halberd would surely shatter Shirou's remaining sword just as easily as it had the first, and there wasn't enough time to Project a different one. Even so, Shirou let prana blaze through his Magic Circuits.
"Trace, on!" Shirou shouted
The enemy's halberd was already swinging towards his chest, a blow which aimed to cleave him in two. Shirou fully understand that he could not Project a new weapon fast enough to intercept that attack. Therefore, he entrusted his life to his Reinforcement magecraft. The single remaining sword from the pair he had initially projected was a sadly degraded example of a Noble Phantasm; in the first place, he had only copied Kanshou and Bakuya from his observations of Red Archer, and Red Archer viewed them as disposable tools rather than exemplary treasures. But Shirou was sure that this sword hid a greater potential, if he could only draw it out and make it manifest itself. Tracing the sword's design and composition with his structural grasp, he visualized the perfect form for it – the ideal state which would give him access to its full potential power...
"Overedge!' Shirou shouted.
As prana burned through his body and into the sword, it instantly grew in size several times over, putting it in position to blow the incoming strike from Leysritt's halberd. There was a tremendous clash as the two weapons collided. Even Reinforced by Shirou's magecraft, his sword was blown to pieces by the impact of Leysritt's weapon. However, this time, at least, it put up enough resistance to interrupt her swing. Leysritt staggered backwards as her halberd rebounded from the impact with so much force she nearly toppled over.
Shirou now had an opportunity to Project once again. However, he couldn't be certain that he would get another chance. So, he needed to Project a weapon capable of withstanding a clash against that halberd; something he was absolutely certain wouldn't break. In a flash, the answer came to him: the halberd itself. It might be capable of overcoming any other weapon, but it couldn't overcome itself.
"Trace, on!"
The firing hammer in his head slammed down, and a perfect copy of Leysritt's halberd materialized in Shirou's hands. As soon as he replicated the composition, he nearly dropped it – the halberd was made of solid rhenium, far too heavy for any human to lift. With such ludicrous density, it was no wonder it had been able to smash through Shirou's other Projections with ease. But now that he had committed to the Projection, it was too late to change his mind and start over; Leysritt was already regaining her balance and preparing to resume her attacks. If the halberd was to massive for Shirou to wield, then he would have to overcome his limitations and do it anyway. He would reproduce not merely the weapon, but his opponent's strength as well.
From the origins and history of the weapon, Shirou derived the required strength parameters for its usage. Then, pouring even more prana through his Magic Circuits, he applied Reinforcement to his arm in order to increase his strength to that degree. It felt agonizing, as if the flesh in his arm were being torn apart and interlaced with steel, but Shirou gritted his teeth and bore the pain. Applying Reinforcement to his own body was risky, but Shirou now knew he had Avalon to fall back on – even if he pushed himself beyond his limits, it would surely repair the damage later. So, in the moment, he was free to go all-out.
With a surge of strength, Shirou lifted his halberd just in time to block a strike from Leysritt. The two identical weapons interlocked and caught on one another, a stalemate. Though Leysritt's face was largely expressionless, Shirou was certain her eyes widened in surprise. She couldn't believe that Shirou, apparently so badly outmatched at the beginning of their fight, was now standing against her on an even footing.
Now that his own situation was less dire, Shirou could spare the attention to check and see how True Avenger was doing. It was apparent at a glance that Shirou needn't have worried – though extremely weak by Servant standards, he was still far superior in capability to a human, and even the advanced capabilities of an Einzbern homunculus couldn't bridge that gap. A number of the glowing bird familiars however over Sella's shoulders, spitting out lances of light, but not one touched True Avenger's body. He swung his claw-like daggers in front of him in an intricate dance which managed to intercept every single bolt of energy, harmlessly deflecting or dispersing them. Now and then, when he sensed an opening in the pattern of Sella's attacks, he would dart forwards and sweep one of the daggers at her. The precision of his strikes was such that he could cut through the fabric of Sella's clothes without so much as nicking the skin beneath. Sella's body-covering maid outfit had already been covered in gaping rents that exposed nearly all of her body. It was apparent that True Avenger could have ended the fight any time he chose, but was holding back in order to comply with Caren's order not to kill Ilya's maids.
Shirou had just turned his attention back to Leysritt when he suddenly felt a tremor run through the ground. A moment later, there was the sound of a distant explosion, followed by a monstrous roar.
"That was Heracles!" Sella said. "Someone's attacking the castle – Lady Ilyasviel is in danger!"
Without another word, both of the homunculi immediately ceased their attacks, turned around, and ran into the forest in the direction of the disturbance. Shirou and True Avenger were left standing awkwardly and staring after them.
"This isn't good." Caren said. "I sense that several powerful evil spirits have appeared in that direction. It seems likely that the False Avenger is launching an attack against Ilyasviel's castle. I forgive both of you for standing there like idiots, but we really should be following them."
"Ah... yeah, that's right!" Shirou said.
He released the halberd he had projected; it was much too unwieldy a weapon for him to run with. If they were going to encounter the Dark Servants, he'd wanted to Project a different weapon, anyway.
"Come on!" Shirou said. " We have to try and save Ilya!"
The three of them dashed into the forest, following the same path that Sella and Leysritt had taken. The trail of the homunculi was not difficult to follow; the two were forgoing any attempt at stealth or covering their tracks in order to go to their aid of their master as quickly as possible. But even though they were prioritizing speed above all else, it was not very long before the pursuing group caught up to them. Sella, it seemed, being a homunculus designed for magecraft, did not possess much in the way of physical strength or stamina. Leysritt, while much more fit, was burdened by the weight of her rhenium halberd. Unlike Shirou, who could just Project another weapon with his magecraft, discarding it to run faster would leave her unarmed and helpless when she did arrive.
Fortunately, the homunculi did not attempt to resume the fight when Shirou caught up to them. Despite the conflict they'd just been engaged in, they all understood that False Avenger represented a far greater danger to Ilya. Based on the thunderous sounds of battle which echoed through the forest, it was clear to all that a huge confrontation must be taking place at Ilya's castle. There was nothing on their minds except coming to Ilya's aid as quickly as possible.
Finally, they burst through a line of trees into the clearing surrounding Ilya's castle. What awaited them there was a scene of devastation. The side of the castle had been smashed in, and False Avenger's cursed black chains crawled the walls like heavy sheets of ivy. The landscape all around carved with scars and craters from battle; and in the center of it all, True Berserker Heracles was fighting.
True Berserker's body had been pierced by hundreds of chains. Spiked nails had been embedded in his arms, his legs, his chest, his back, and his head. But even so, the giant continued to fight. He was blind; several chains had embedded themselves in each eye, and tears composed of equal parts blood and black curses fell continuously from the sockets. However, he could still sense the presence of the chains bearing down on him, and swung wild blows in their direction. Even in such an injured state, his speed and power were so great that his aimless strikes repelled the seemingly endless mass of chains again and again; even the slightest contact was enough to smash the curse-empowered chains to ash. Each time the great stone axe-sword struck the earth, it gouged a trench and sent chunks of dirt and stone flying; even the mere wind generated by the swing of his sword was enough to create a pressure wave that forced the chains backwards.
Heracles could not block all of the chains that continued to launch themselves at him out of the shadows; they were too fast and too great in number. He was shattering them by the thousands; but as more and more of him was eaten away by the curses flowing through the chains, more and more of the cruel nails managed to embed themselves in his body. The cursed chains focused their assault on his chest — if they could pierce his breast and inject their curse directly into his heart, it would be over in an instant. However, True Berserker was too large, his skin too tough and thick; the nails drove themselves in as deeply as they could, but they were unable to reach his heart.
Even so, it was clear that True Berserker was in agony. Each of the hundreds of chains connected to his body was continually pumping curses into his body. His body was tormented by the darkness eating at him from within; the malignant energy burned inside of him like a black fire. His bones had begun to soften and crack, large sections of his skin peeled off of the burning flesh beneath, his teeth fell from his disintegrating gums as his tongue burned to ash in his mouth.
But his heart continued to beat.
It should have stopped already. Heracles' body had been engulfed by the curse that embodied "All the World's Evil". It was a curse potent enough to kill True Berserker a thousand times a second. His Noble Phantasm, God Hand, granted him only twelve lives. So he should have long ago been overcome and perished.
And yet, his heart continued to beat.
His heart beat because he forced it to.
Through sheer force of will, True Berserker ordered his heart to continue to beat. The reason for this was obvious: the small white girl who cowered behind his back.
He could not die yet. Not until Ilya was safe. So even with a body now composed more of darkness, fire, and cursed mud than of flesh, blood, and bone, Heracles continued to fight.
But though Ilya stood only a short distance away from her Servant, they might as well have been on the other side of an unbridgeable chasm; for Dark Lancer Rei stood between them. Each time he slashed his axe-sword at the chains assaulting him, Heracles would slam it into the glowing orange barrier of the AT Field on the backswing with a thunderous crash. However, even had he been able to direct his full strength at the barrier without the chains distracting him, it would have been in vain: no amount of physical strength could penetrate the absolute boundary of the soul.
Rei's other Noble Phantasm, the soul-piercing spear Lance of Longinus, was still missing; apparently she had not been able to recover it after it was sent hurtling away by Lina's spell during the battle at the house. Without it, there was no way for Rei to strike back at Heracles; she could only stand her ground against him. But time was on her side: not only were False Avenger's curses progressively eating away at Heracles' body, but Ilya was in peril as well. Her back against the other side of Rei's AT Field, she faced off against the Dark Rider and Dark Berserker.
A whole cloud of Zelle familiars similar to the ones Sella had used against True Avenger floated in front of Ilya, spitting scything lines of burning light. If Sella's magecraft skill had been remarkable, Ilya's was nearly unearthly. Shirou couldn't even begin to measure the amount of magical energy she was putting out. But even so, no human magus could match a Servant, let alone two at once. The Dark Servants dodged the magical blasts with inhuman reflexes; and on the occasions a beam of killing light did manage to pierce them, a pulse of cursed energy would flow through False Avenger's chains to repair the damage within seconds. They pressed inwards, Dark Rider striking familiars out of the sky with her nail-daggers and Dark Berserker blowing them apart with the annihilating grasp of his right hand, until finally they were within arm's reach of Ilya. Dark Rider wrapped the chains of her nail-daggers around Ilya's small body, binding her arms to her sides, then grabbed her in a bear hug.
"No!" Shirou shouted.
He reached into himself and tried to call upon Avalon's light, to Project it outwards and disrupt False Avenger's chains as he had at the house. But Avalon was the strongest Noble Phantasm he'd ever tried to reproduce; if not for the original relic being embedded in his body, he was certain it would be impossible. While it automatically worked to heal him, turning that power outwards was an incredibly difficult task. He'd only been able to manage it before because Avalon had been working at full power, drawing him back from the very brink of death, and he'd super-charged it with the magic of a Command Spell. But now, he had only a single Command Spell remaining. Were he to use it, he would forfeit his contract with Arturia. Shirou couldn't do that to her. Yet without the Command Spell assisting him, his Projection of Avalon was just too slow. He'd never be able to use it effectively against False Avenger this way. He was trapped between two unacceptable alternatives and couldn't decide.
Before he could make up his mind, it was over. Dark Rider's chain pulled taut, dragging her into the shadows to disappear, and she pulled Ilya's struggling form with her. Dark Berserker and Rei retreated as well, leaving only the massive chain-studded body of Heracles. He stood motionless for a few moment, his mighty axe-sword still raised mid-swing. Then, at last, he gave in to the curse and allowed the chains to drag him down into the darkness to rejoin his Master.
Einzbern castle stood silent and empty.
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