FATE/IRREGULAR SUMMONS
Chapter 13: Resurgence of the Legendary Duel
While Shirou's group were busy fighting Medea, Caren quietly headed for Mt. Enzou and searched around the base of the mountain. Now that there weren't any Servants around to interrupt her, she could take her time and examine what was happening with the mana-infested foliage. Aside from interrogating the local monks, she also wanted to bring back photographic evidence of the damage that the Holy Grail War was causing Fuyuki. Her intention was to convince her superiors to speak with the Mages' Association about putting a permanent end to the Wars… so long as this one ended without causing some kind of world-ending catastrophe.
All the while, Caren couldn't stop thinking about what Connla said about the Holy Grail being tainted with evil. She wished she knew what the cause of it was, but she was certain that the Lancer would have no idea. Whatever forces that had summoned her only wanted to show her what would happen if things spiraled out of control, and that she was called upon to prevent such a calamity. Worrying about why the Grail was corrupted was obviously not part of her duties. Caren sighed to herself.
Honestly… If things really were this bad, couldn't a stronger Servant have been summoned? What is the point of summoning the nearly-forgotten Child of Cuchulainn if she doesn't possess the strength that most Servants do?
This wasn't borne out of disgust for Connla's weakness, but rather respect for it. Caren understood that Connla was not capable of putting a stop to such a cataclysm by herself. Maybe she had been called upon to rally the other Servants, but that didn't explain the actual purpose of summoning Connla rather than someone else. Was it merely because Bazett wanted a Servant who was close in skill to Cuchulainn? Was Scathach not available, and so Connla was chosen instead? Or was there really a unique purpose that only Connla could fulfill?
Caren snapped some photographs of leaves that were stained red, along with dirt that visibly permeated a deep purple haze. She wasn't really concentrating on her work though, so some shots came out poorly. She was simply too preoccupied with all of these thoughts swirling in her head to focus on her job as an investigator.
What's wrong with me? Why am I thinking so much about Lancer?
Maybe she was disappointed with the caliber of Servant that Bazett had summoned, but Caren certainly didn't hate Connla for it. In fact, she was probably one of the few people that someone as anti-social as Caren had come to enjoy having around for company. The priestess had never experienced such feelings of concern for anyone other than herself before, so she was rather confused about how to deal with these rampant thoughts.
She decided to put the camera away for now and distract herself by speaking with the monks. Since Ryuudou Temple had been demolished from the previous fight, the residing trainees had to relocate to a sanctuary situated elsewhere in the outskirts of Fuyuki. Caren knew where it was, so she headed into the forest. It would take about an hour of walking before she reached the sanctum, but she wouldn't even make it to the halfway point.
She suddenly stopped. A disturbing breeze ruffled the dead leaves hanging above her. The cold air turned even more frigid. It wasn't from a drop in temperature however.
There, blocking her path, was an expressionless man in a priest's stole. He simply stood there and stared at her with that dead look in his eyes, keeping his arms behind his back. Neither of them moved from their spots. The intense stare-down continued for a good minute.
"… It's been a long time, Caren Hortensia," Kotomine Kirei finally announced.
"Yes. Though, to be honest with you, I wish it had been longer," Caren retorted.
"You've certainly grown up into a fine young woman. You're almost a spitting image of your mother."
"Of course. I couldn't have possibly inherited any sort of beauty from you. You are pure ugliness, through and through."
"Is that your own opinion, or the Church's decree?"
"Who can say? All I embody is the will of the Heavenly Father, and He has commanded me to silence the evils that stir within Fuyuki. It goes without saying that you are one of them."
"You are wrong. God does not punish. He only forgives."
"That's the excuse which cult leaders, Satanists, and commonplace zealots hide behind. Doing whatever one wants with the pretext that they will forgiven in the end is naught more than heresy. It is people like you who sully the Holy Father's good name and stain the Church's reputation. With the power vested within me, I have come to end your life, Kotomine Kirei."
"Is that so?" he responded with no inflection. "I suppose getting to the point is preferable to engaging in needless conversation. Then I will make a proposition of my own."
"Proposition?" Caren wondered. "What could someone like you possibly offer to me other than verbal bile?"
"… Kuzuki Soichirou."
"Hm?"
Kirei's lips curled into a hollow smile. "That is the identity of Caster's Master."
The nun's eye twitched in annoyance. "Am I supposed to take you at your word or something? What proof do you have that that man is a Master?"
"You never saw his Command Spell when you met him before, didn't you?"
"I never thought to look."
"Then that is all the evidence you need. I have confirmed that Kuzuki Soichirou is the Master your faction should assassinate in order to be rid of Caster."
"In exchange for what? Surely you're not just telling me this out of the goodness of your heart. I saw the state that the church has been left in. Caster must have ambushed you for whatever reason, and so you fled for your life. Now you expect me to do the dirty work for you while you kick back and wait for everyone to kill each other."
"If you understand that much, then this makes matters easier for me," Kirei said plainly, making no notion to refute Caren's statement. "You and your Servant will hunt down Kuzuki and Caster, regardless if it is at my insistence or not. If you are to ignore me, you will also be ignoring all of the denizens of Fuyuki and allowing them to be eaten by that witch."
"I don't like repeating myself, but you seem to be enjoying the sound of your own voice so much that we're almost straying off-topic. I'll say this only one more time; in exchange for what?" Caren urged.
"Let's see… How about for your own life? If you and your Servant can survive against me and my Servant, then your odds of victory will improve. Lose, however, and I'll have no choice but to rely on the Einzberns. Berserker will kill Caster and her faction with little effort."
"A game of survival, huh?" the nun murmured. Then her smile became as mischievous as his. "This sounds like fun."
As if responding to her taunt, a third figure rushed along the treetops until he was directly above her and pointed his spear at the top of her cranium. She didn't even look up at the intruder, confident that he would not hit his mark. Her confidence was certainly well-founded, because a fourth person instantly rocketed at the attacker and deflected his weapon away from her with a mighty clash of steel.
Cuchulainn tumbled backwards in mid-air before landing a few feet away from Kirei. Connla, fully hidden in her Identity Concealment spell, likewise took her stance near Caren. She didn't remain there for long, as she rushed at Cuchulainn in an imperceptible flurry of winds. He clenched his fanged teeth, and his skin creased with fury as he desperately deflected his invisible opponent's spear strikes. Although he couldn't see Connla, the potent breezes her weapon caused with each thrust served to betray her position each time, allowing him to fend her off rather easily.
Cuchulainn delivered a mighty swing that Connla had to use all of her strength to block, and the momentum tossed her several yards away. He snarled in consternation, "One Servant concealing their weapon is dishonorable enough, but one who hides their entire form is pathetic as they come! Show me your face so that I can remember who I've slain!"
Connla ignored his taunting and rushed to meet him in battle once again. She surrounded herself in gusting winds and became a human missile that hacked, slashed and stabbed at him numerous times. Fending off a humanoid bullet who was also invisible proved to be quite the challenge for Cuchulainn, and one of Connla's blows wound up causing him to twirl on his heel clumsily. She landed squarely behind him and stabbed at his back, but he whipped around in time and brought Gae Bolg down upon her spear, forcing the blade deep into the dirt. She was forced to let go of it to avoid being slashed apart, and the Identity Concealment surrounding it wore off once her hands disengaged from her weapon.
"A spear?" Cuchulainn muttered. "Looks like Archer was right. You really are a Lancer."
She remained silent, but a sharp sensation of dread threatened to explode within her as she thought, This is bad! Is he going to recognize me from my spear alone!?
To her immense relief, he disregarded it and scoffed, "Well now that you're disarmed, you're not going to escape from me! HAH!"
He ran straight for her and swiped Gae Bolg multiple times at her. She effortlessly dodged and rolled about, all while calmly pondering, Good. It seems my weapon is much too plain for him to distinguish as mine.
She got behind him and planted her hand on his shoulder, then conjured a Ken Rune that detonated as a powerful burst of wind, sending him flying in a twister motion several hundred meters away. Although shocked, he managed to regain his bearings and skidded backwards on his feet in a hunched position. Connla took this chance to retrieve her weapon, causing it to disappear from his view once more, then she ran in to challenge him again.
"Interesting," Cuchulainn licked his lips. "So you're good with both weapons and magic. My teacher would have loved to break in someone as cocky as you."
Connla disregarded the irony in his statement and went on the offensive with several spear stabs to his upper body. He smirked while dodging each thrust, then whipped his body around to deliver a roundhouse kick to her side. She skidded back on her toes, then leapt upside-down over him as he stabbed the ground where she had been. She landed on his shoulders, then hopped off him to cause his face to smack against the pavement.
"Cheeky bastard!" he roared, stumbling back to his feet as Connla landed nearby. The dust her feet kicked up clued him in to where she was, and he let out a fierce battle cry while running at her. Connla lightly grunted, rushing just millimeters beneath the piercing spear while swiping her blade against his unguarded belly. The searing pain shocked Cuchulainn, and he glanced down at his eviscerated abdomen. Copious amounts of blood seeped out and stained his ultramarine bodysuit. He pressed his hand against the wound and immediately used healing Runecraft to at least stop the bleeding, although it did nothing to help ease the crippling agony of his bowels threatening to ooze out.
"Damn it…" he snarled while glaring at his invisible opponent. He had expected his stabbing attack to gouge through an adult-sized body. The fact that it completely missed during his foe's uninterrupted charge and they were able to get in a hit against one of his unguarded vitals meant that, at the very least, he was dealing with someone who was very short in stature.
While Cuchulainn was preoccupied with treating himself, that was when he heard Caren chant, "Noli Me Tangere…"
A familiar strip of red cloth coiled around Cuchulainn's torso and upper legs, completely immobilizing him. Caren had used this opportunity to ensnare the Celtic hero with the Shroud of Magdalene, and she held it firmly in place as he struggled to break free. Ironically, the cloth actually served as a makeshift surgical dressing that prevented his stomach wound from bleeding out.
Caren and Cuchulainn glared at each other, fighting to overcome the other in this deadly stalemate. That was when Kirei rushed in at her from the side, brandishing his Black Keys between his fingers as he sought to cleave her into shreds. She clenched her teeth, unsure of whether to remain rooted to the spot to restrain Cuchulainn and give Connla the chance to defeat him, or to get out of the way to save her own life.
In an instant, the decision had been made for her.
Kirei stopped in mid-thrust. His typically cold, deadpan eyes suddenly widened with shock, and he bared his teeth not in anger, but in agony. Splatters of blood hit the pavement next to him, and both Cuchulainn and Caren looked over to see what had happened.
Before Kirei knew it, Connla had rushed in to attack him rather than go for Cuchulainn. With one clean swipe of her spear, she had cut off Kirei's left arm. The severed limb plopped to the ground on top of the gross amount of blood spewing from his wound. It slid out of the torn sleeve, revealing a multitude of Command Spells etched on the flesh.
He hadn't seen her coming since she was still invisible to everyone else present, plus he was more preoccupied with ending Caren's life than defending himself against a Servant. He realized how much his hubris cost him – that particular arm happened to possess the surplus Command Spells he inherited from his father Risei, including the ones he pilfered from Bazett. If someone else stole the arm away from him, he would lose his ability to act as a Master.
Kirei wasn't sure if he was looking Connla in the eye, so he assumed he was and glared ferociously. She returned his malicious expression with a completely calm stare not unlike that of a professional assassin's gaze. He wasn't sure if cutting off his arm was Second Lancer's true intention or what. Did she have prior knowledge that his left arm was the one bearing the Command Spells? How could she come across this information in the first place? Why was she going after him with such fervor? But perhaps the most important question echoed foremost in his mind:
Who are you?
Kirei had no choice but to sheathe the swords in his right hand and stumble back to retrieve his severed arm. No matter the cost, he would not allow these precious Command Spells to be claimed by someone else, not even Caren. He still had a goal to reach. He refused to die until he found the entertainment he so desperately sought to sate his sinister desires. He didn't know who Second Lancer was, but Kirei began to bear a terrible grudge against her for interfering with his carefully-constructed plans.
Connla landed near him and crouched into position, intent on slaying the priest. That was when Cuchulainn managed to raise Gae Bolg high enough to cut through the Shroud of Magdalene, rendering the cloth surrounding him useless and allowing him to break free. Caren lost her balance and tripped back, fearing he was going to attack her. Instead, Cuchulainn snatched Kirei under his arm and leapt high above the duo. He landed upon the top of a branch and hopped further away, sparing not even a glance at his opponents. He figured that retreat was the best option since his stomach had been sliced open and Kirei had lost a limb, both of which had been caused by the same Servant.
Caren and Connla watched them leave in tense silence. Once they were sure that their enemies were truly gone, Connla exhaled a sigh of relief and muttered in her distorted voice, "It'S oVeR…"
"That was much too close for comfort," Caren frowned hard, feeling a bit shaken from experiencing her first real battle.
"ArE yOu UNhaRmeD?" Connla asked
"I am fine. I just never anticipated that Kirei would move against us so soon. We should reconvene with the others and tell them what has transpired."
"UnDeRstOOd."
Connla enveloped Caren in a vacuum of winds that floated her off the ground, then jumped in the opposite direction while making the blustery orb follow her. She refused to lower the Identity Concealment until they were certain that at least Cuchulainn wouldn't follow them. Twenty minutes later, they reached a safe location between the mountain and Edelfelt Manor, and Connla set Caren down.
"I tHinK wE aRe iN tHe cLEaR," Connla said.
"Goodness. What a night this is turning into," Caren brushed some dirt off of her shirt. "Emiya and the others are dealing with Caster, and we were ambushed by Kirei and Cuchulainn."
"I wOnDeR hoW KiReI knEw tO lOoK fOr yOu tHeRE."
"He must have realized that we've been running around like headless chickens looking for any information about Caster, so he figured that at least someone would go speak with Ryuudou's monks. Since he knows who Caster's Master is, he could dangle that info in front of us like a carrot in order to get us to do what he wants."
"I sEe."
"Well, thanks to you, his sordid plans didn't work out as well as he would have liked. In fact, I would have been quite disappointed if we had wound up killing them right here and now. I want to savor the experience of making that man squirm beneath my heel."
"At LEasT thEy haVE BeEn seVeRelY wEAkeNeD. ThIS shOuLD bUy uS tHe tIMe wE nEEd tO coNTaCt CaStEr, BeRsERkeR aNd thEIr MaStErS."
"Indeed. Kirei will have to go back into hiding to recuperate, and he'll need Lancer to protect him. Kirei is fully aware that I am someone who wouldn't hesitate to reveal his part in the war."
"i'M sURe tHeY wiLL lIe loW AnD wAiT foR uS tO eXpoSe soME kInD oF weAkNesS bEfoRe emErgInG aGaIN. oR iT's poSSibLe thAT KiReI hAs sOmE kiNd oF seCrEt aCe uP hIs SLeeVe."
"I bet he would. We need to hurry."
As they returned to Edelfelt Manor, Connla dispelled her Identity Concealment and asked Caren, "By the way, I couldn't help but notice that you were speaking in a rather familiar tone with Kirei. Do you two know each other or something?"
"Oh dear. What a wild imagination you have," the nun scoffed. "Though I suppose that's to be expected with a child such as yourself."
"Don't play dumb, Ms. Hortensia. I heard you say it to him – that you couldn't 'inherit' any sort of beauty from him. He also said that you look like your mother. Does this mean that Kirei is…?"
Caren shrugged. "I suppose there's no hiding it from you. As you suspect, I am the daughter of Kotomine Kirei and Claudia Hortensia."
"Y-You're kidding, right?" Connla stammered and blinked in bewilderment. "That's the first time I'm hearing this."
"That's not exactly something I'm proud of, so I try not to boast about it too much. Besides, I have no lingering attachment with Kirei anymore. After my mother committed suicide 10 years ago, he left me in the care of my mother's relatives in Italy, and essentially abandoned me. As a result, I have also turned my back to him. My relation with that man has no bearing on the job the Church has given me."
"I would have never known…"
"Don't worry about it. Those are just concrete facts, and nothing more. Or are you going to tell me that trying to kill my father is the wrong thing to do?"
Connla shook her head and said, "No, not at all. I have to fight my father as well."
"Of course. You're only just recognizing that we've always been in the same boat then."
"Mm. Having to fight Cuchulainn doesn't change my primary objective."
"Then there is nothing further to discuss. Let's wait inside for Shirou and the others to come back. Hopefully with good news."
Connla entered the mansion first, and Caren followed behind while staring at the little girl's back. That was when she realized that her earlier worries had fully dissipated, and she was no longer hesitant about entrusting everything to the child Lancer.
Maybe it's because I finally got to see how she fights against the man who killed her in life. Now that she's survived against virtually half of the war's Servants by now, I should re-evaluate her strength as a Servant… and perhaps not worry about her safety as much.
Way in the opposite direction of Mt. Enzou, Cuchulainn continued carrying the unconscious Kirei under his arm. All the while, he couldn't stop thinking about the battle he just fought. No matter how much he tried to justify his failure with himself, the fact remained that he had screwed up once again. The first time was when he revealed his Noble Phantasm to Artoria. Now the other Lancer had humiliated him with a crippling injury, all while shielding their identity from him.
Cuchulainn now understood that this 'Second Lancer' would be the most problematic Heroic Spirit for him to deal with in the coming days. Even after fighting her, he still couldn't pinpoint her exact identity, and that greatly agitated him. He could only make feeble guesses, and there was no way in hell he would rely on half-baked assumptions when she had handed him a defeat so soundly in this fight. Regardless if Kirei had been holding him back, Cuchulainn still fought with everything he had, and it still hadn't been enough.
His very soul trembled. He was a hero who had never lost in his lifetime. Sure, it wasn't a guarantee that he would be as unrivaled in his life as a Servant, but he was confident in his abilities as one of the world's most recognized spearmen. If Second Lancer really wasn't Scathach using some kind of strange disguise, then who was capable of matching him?
As he fled the scene with the nearly blacked-out Kirei in tow, Cuchulainn continuously brainstormed the possibilities. Several names came to mind, such as his 'brother' and best friend Ferdiad, who likewise trained with Cuchulainn in the Land of Shadows. But he remembered Ferdiad as a frank and honest man who wouldn't resort to tricks like rendering himself invisible or attacking his Master. That aside, Ferdiad was also known for possessing tough skin that no weapon could pierce, which had forced Cuchulainn to use Gae Bolg on him in their destined battle. Second Lancer had bled out easily when Gae Bolg grazed her skin several times before, which wouldn't have happened if she had been Ferdiad.
Fergus was another likelihood since he was one of the few heroes who could actually defeat Cuchulainn – in fact, it was virtually ingrained in his destiny to lose to Fergus should they ever fight. The problem was that Fergus was better known as a Saber wielding the legendary Rainbow Sword Caladbolg, and the invisible Servant was most definitely a Lancer. Cuchulainn even got to see Second Lancer's weapon for himself, and it was not Caladbolg whatsoever.
The plainness of that spear also bothered him. if she really had been Scathach, she would have used her own copy of Gae Bolg to counter his rather than be foolish enough to rely on an ordinary lance. He recognized the design as a boar spear, crafted for the purpose of killing the demonic boars that roamed his homeland. No, Scathach wouldn't be stupid enough to fight like a common soldier when she had all the tools and resources needed to fell him in one swoop.
… Or was this some kind of reverse psychology she was playing on him? Cuchulainn had to remember how cunning Scathach was. Maybe she really was capable of altering her physical form, and maybe she did use an ordinary spear precisely to confuse him. But then, what was the point of such tomfoolery? Scathach had nothing to fear from revealing herself to him. She could take on her pupil face-to-face with no trouble at all. Resorting to such tricks just seemed out of character for her, at least from his perspective.
There was one more person Cuchulainn thought of, but he readily dismissed it as folly.
Connla…
He knew that his 'son', though valiant and strong in her own right, had not accomplished anything worthwhile to be recorded in the Throne of Heroes. If someone didn't exist in the Throne, that meant they could never be summoned as a Servant. It was for that simple reason that Cuchulainn couldn't believe that his own offspring had been summoned in this war. Besides, she was much too innocent to partake in such a bloody battle royale. If she really was summoned as a Servant in some crazed alternate reality, he felt she was better suited to dealing with worldly threats rather than fighting against fellow Servants in some demented contest.
Cuchulainn shook his head and tried to stop thinking about Connla. The immense grief and self-loathing he felt from killing her was still palpable, so he wanted to block that memory from his mind however he could. As he continued retreating to a safe location with Kirei, he continued to think of any other heroes that fit the criteria as Second Lancer.
Caren and Connla waited about two hours for the others to return. When they did, they were met with a most dismal sight. Sakura and Rin were carrying the slumped Shirou over their shoulders, while Medusa remained on guard behind them. All of them had forlorn looks on their faces. Coupled with Shirou's grotesque shoulder injury, Caren and Connla could tell that things had not ended well for them. They opted to hold off on the questions for now until they took care of Shirou first.
The girls rested him on the couch and bandaged his wounds. While they were working, Caren muttered, "Does Emiya have a thing for getting himself nearly killed all the time?"
Rin grimaced, "Something's seriously screwed up with him."
"It must be because he's a survivor of the New Fuyuki Fire," Sakura murmured sadly. "Caster gloated all about it in an attempt to get him on her side."
"How tasteless… But not as stupid as Emiya willing to give up his arm to save me."
"Does this mean you were awake during that conversation?"
"Yeah. I heard every word of it. I didn't want to alert Caster though, so I pretended to be asleep."
Caren demanded gruffly, "Could you save that kind of talk until you get Lancer and I up to speed? I honestly have no idea what you are going on about. And where in the world is Saber?"
Rin sighed, then showed her both Shirou's and her own hands. "I know this will be hard to believe, but Caster took Saber and Archer away from us. We no longer have their Command Spells."
The nun's dismay could not be described in words. Connla likewise paled in fright. That was when Medusa interjected, "Caster's True Name is the Traitorous Witch of Colchis, Medea. Her Noble Phantasm is a dagger that can nullify magic, and that is exactly what she used to filch Saber and Archer's Command Spells."
"This is bad…" Caren whispered. "Though we know where Caster is hiding and who her Master is, it won't do us much good if her numbers have been bolstered so suddenly."
"You mean you found out who her Master is?"
"Yeah. Tohsaka Rin, Matou Sakura, I need to ask you two something."
The girls faced Caren, and she asked with a stern expression, "Do either of you two know Kuzuki Soichirou?"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
There it was. Shirou was experiencing the same nightmare. Once again, he had become a sword that was being tempered by an unknown man. This time though, the pain wasn't as intense as it had been the first few times he had this dream. He must have grown adjusted to the feel of the hammer's strikes and the searing heat of the furnace.
Not only that, he was starting to see the man's face a little more clearly now. His vision wasn't perfect, but he could see aged creases on his elderly face, and his eyes were weary with fatigue. Sweat rolled off his emaciated chest – he must have been so focused on repairing Shirou that he had not eaten in days. In fact, an untouched bowl of cold rice was on a nearby work table. The workshop appeared to be as dull as the old man's countenance, being nothing more than a solid stone room with a single small window to let in enough sunlight.
Then, Shirou thought he heard the man speak. The words were jumbled and disjointed, but he could make out the stranger's cantankerous attitude quite clearly.
"… stupid… care of… self… cannot… fight as… help… cer…"
Shirou had no idea what the man was trying to tell him. He didn't have the strength to ask him to speak up. All he could do was listen carefully between each metallic pound of the steel hammer. After a short while of this, the sound seemed to lull him into a state of relaxed slumber.
Clang! Clang! Clang… Clang… Cl…