FATE/IRREGULAR SUMMONS
Chapter 26: Encounter in the Dark Night
"At this point, since you are the main character, you might as well summon a certain Archer wearing a Mythological Mystic Code and have the two of them fight in a mysterious space until the end of time. So, how about it?"
- Cuchulainn Alter's profile, Fate/Grand Order
Sakura stumbled back a few steps when she saw Cuchulainn's horrific grin after he mercilessly killed Illyasviel. She then turned and ran as fast as she could. He noticed her and wielded Gae Bolg with murderous intent, preparing to throw it through the panicking girl's back.
"FATHEEE~EEER!"
His heart jolted, and the illusion Angra Mainyu showed him instantly vanished when he heard the familiar girl's voice scream at him. He whirled his head around to see where the girl was coming from, then found the real Connla leaping high above him after bouncing off a tree. She swung her spear over him. He raised Gae Bolg to fend her off, and their eyes met for a brief moment.
"I-Is that… the Lesser Grail…!?" Connla grunted when she saw Illyasviel's heart in Cuchulainn's hand.
"HAH!" he snarled and forced her off him with a single swing. She vaulted aside and landed between him and Sakura so that she could protect the teenager. Archer landed nearby, and the air bubble that allowed Caren to fly next to him dissipated once her feet touched the ground.
"Sakura!" they heard Shirou yelling from within the woods. He and Rin had not retreated very far, and only returned when they didn't hear the sounds of battle.
"Senpai!" she gasped and tightly hugged both of them while resisting the urge to cry.
Cuchulainn panned his eyes so that he glanced at the entire group, then murmured with no inflection whatsoever, "Looks like the gang's all here."
"That's enough, Lancer!" Rin demanded, pointing her hand at him in preparation for firing any necessary Gandr shots. "A Servant can't use the Grail since they need to be sacrificed to activate it!"
"Is that right…?" he glared at her with such a demonic gaze that it made her blood chill. The skin on his face creased as he heartily laughed at her.
"Feh heh… Fwah hah hah… FWAH HAH HAH HAH! BWAHHAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!"
Rin shivered, "W-What's so funny!?"
Cuchulainn widened his eyes and exclaimed, "Little late to be saying that when the Lesser Grail is as full as it can be!"
"What!?" Archer snarled. "Even with Rider and Assassin dead, there should only be four Servants' worth of mana in it!"
"Saber and that other Archer who killed Berserker struck each other down earlier."
"Then that explosion from the Einzbern Manor was…"
"Exactly! Since there were nine of us, plus the quality of mana from the deceased Servants was so potent, it means a seventh sacrifice won't be necessary!"
"Gh-!?"
Caren muttered, "Since you were in contact with the vessel when that happened…"
"Yeah," Cuchulainn replied. "I have become the vector for granting Angra Mainyu's wish. The Grail likewise heard my wish and is granting it as we speak."
In a normal Holy Grail War, it was impossible for Servants to use the chalice to make a wish since it required the energy of all seven Servants to activate it in the first place. Even if a Servant helped their Master achieve victory, depending on the amount of magical energy stored within the Grail at the end of the War, that Servant would then have to be killed as well. The irony was that a Master could not physically handle the Grail themselves. Only Servants could do that, meaning the Heaven's Feel system was horrendously flawed right from the onset. Add to the equation how Angra Mainyu had corrupted the Grail with All the World's Evil so that no wish would ever be granted without causing great destruction, and the entire process was doomed to failure no matter what.
This was not a traditional War involving seven Masters and seven Servants though. Due to Gilgamesh and Connla adding to the total number of Servants, plus several participants flirting with the rules of the war, it meant that at least two or three Servants could survive to the end and win the Grail, either for themselves or their Master. Just as Cuchulainn claimed, with so many powerful and notorious Servants such as Artoria, Gilgamesh, Heracles and Medusa participating in this particular conflict, the Grail could be filled up with just six Heroic Spirits' worth of mana this time around.
This irregular Holy Grail War had now become a battle to the death between three Servants, and one of them had the completed Grail in their possession.
Connla trembled, but remained in her combat stance as she demanded, "What did you wish for, Father?"
His mirthful snarl turned into a blank, stony expression as he stared at her. After a moment of silence, he said, "The Grail showed me everything. This entire era is abundant with too much life at the expense of pride and honor. And when there is a surplus of something, it tends to lose its value. Such volatility has given rise to monsters like Kotomine and Zouken, who are able to discard numerous lives without anyone else so much as batting an eye to consider punishing them. That goes for you too, Archer, using despicable tricks and endangering others rather than fighting like a real warrior."
"Hmph," the white-haired man scoffed quietly.
"Human life is no longer precious. There are so many people hoarding this planet that it is begging for a purge. There have not been any heroes for so long that evil has been allowed to fester, turning all of humanity – billions upon billions of individual people - into a singular entity of malice and apathy. It is the most frightening creature that this world has ever seen, even worse than the Phantasmals of yore."
That's exactly what Lord Gilgamesh was saying, Connla thought. He said that he had gained a mortal body, but was his spirit affected by the Grail in some capacity as well?
"What are you trying to say, Lancer!?" Shirou demanded. "That you want to be some kind of 'hero' who will save the world by culling the population!?"
"Not a 'hero', per se," Cuchulainn retorted coolly. "If my desire deems me to be 'evil', then so be it. I don't care how anyone views me. Besides, you should understand me the most, Emiya Shirou. Didn't your entire town get wiped out in that fire 10 years ago? You lost everyone around you, yet no one gave a damn. They just rebuilt and moved on, neglecting to mourn the ones who were lost, nor acknowledging the survivors' suffering."
"That's wrong! Kiritsugu saved me that day! And everyone in Fuyuki held a memorial for everyone we lost!"
"Just a memorial? They didn't learn a thing about what killed those people? Or could it be that the Church and the Mages' Association had the incident wiped clean from public view?"
Rin looked away sullenly. Deep down, she knew that was the truth. Both organizations would have done everything they could to suppress the truth behind the Fourth Holy Grail War and the culminating New Fuyuki Fire that signaled the end of that conflict. It wasn't supposed to have happened like that – the seven Masters and their Servants should have kept innocent bystanders away from the battle. Yet through a series of unfortunate coincidences and poor decisions made by the participants, hundreds of people died and had their legacies swept away by those in power, all to save their own reputations.
Cuchulainn noticed Rin's uneasiness and sneered. "Looks like someone gets what I'm talking about. If it's easy for the people of this era to write off a few hundred deaths, let's see what would happen if those numbers became exponential. Maybe a few thousand? No, that wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket. A hundred thousand? Nope, still not close. Several million? Maybe, if only the tragedies of World War II weren't such a distant memory. If I want human life to have meaning anymore, I'd have to eliminate billions all at once. Then a silly little memorial won't be enough for any survivors to cope with such losses."
"You're kidding!" Shirou screamed angrily. "Do you think I'd let you get away with that!?"
"Fascinating. What can a Master without a Servant do against me and All of the World's Evil that has tainted this Holy Grail?"
The teenager gasped, and his eyes shrunk into furious dots.
Cuchulainn rambled, "My wish was 'to see my daughter as a hero', but the Grail warped that wish so that it became 'to see my daughter become the hero, while incarnating as the penultimate villain that she must stop from destroying the world'. If someone wished 'to become a hero that saves everyone', the Grail will change it into a wish 'to become a hero by killing everyone so no one needs to be saved in the first place'. If another person wished for 'all the money in the world', all others will become jealous and riot against each other, turning into a massive war that will claim everyone in the name of greed.
"Don't you idiots get it!? Any wish you make upon this thing will always be interpreted as one that will result in this world's annihilation! The Grail is useless! Yet this piece of junk chose me to be the harbinger of the destruction it wants! We're the ones being used to help make the Grail's wish come true!"
While the others were already aware of this fact, Archer stepped back in astonishment and snarled, "Ridiculous… So the entire system was flawed right from the beginning…"
"Yeah. Kotomine knew about it too, yet he still became a forbidden participant who manipulated everyone from behind the shadows in order to claim it for himself. That's why he slew my previous Master and forced me to be his little errand boy. Well now, it would seem I'll be the one enjoying the last laugh instead of that conniving bastard."
The pulsating Lesser Grail burst and oozed into a strange black sludge-like substance that crept over Cuchulainn's body and engulfed his form. The Lust Worm living on his back writhed uncontrollably. The Blackening Lancer smiled in vile glee as he allowed the malevolent mud to consume him from head to toe. It even engulfed Gae Bolg and started to transform it.
"Father!?" Connla cried and tried to run to him, but Archer thrust his hand in front of her.
"It's too late for him!" he warned her. "Whatever he may become, we have to fight him!"
"This can't be…"
This was exactly what she was most afraid of. Cuchulainn had touched the malevolent Grail and exposed himself to the destruction that could end the world. She fought so desperately in order to prevent this outcome, but it was happening right before her eyes. As far as she believed, she had ultimately failed in protecting her father from Angra Mainyu's curses. Her heart sunk into unspeakable depths as she watched him be swallowed by the cursed mud.
Cuchulainn's mind swam in an imperceptible sea of reds and blacks that resembled twisted human figures. His original sense of self was slowly melting away and mixing into this cauldron of malice and chaos. This was the bottom of the pot, where human resentment and hatred festered like an untreated infection. He thought he was going to lose his mind if he remained here any longer than necessary.
"_"
Something inhuman seemed to speak to him. It only came out as a bizarre, "Shaaaa," sound though. A few seconds passed, or it could have been an entire eternity, but the quagmire of putrid colors gradually faded to black. Then, random visions assaulted his psyche, and he couldn't make sense of them at first. What exactly was he being shown?
A winding desert…
A vibrant city littered with thousands of dead bodies…
Connla fighting alongside some Servants he had never seen before…
And himself in a demonic form that he was unfamiliar with…
Soon, the images pieced together into a coherent story. Although only a few brief seconds passed, he experienced the entire Nevada Singularity as if he had been in both Connla and his other self's perspectives. He saw the other Cuchulainn using one Holy Grail to wish for Connla to appear as a Servant, while using a second one to set up the stage where she could become the 'hero' he always dreamed of. He watched as Connla triumphed over the tribulations set before her.
Is this… what inducted her into the Throne?
It had to be. He was being shown the alternate world where Connla was victorious in her battle. Because of his other self's wish, she had been pulled out of the depths of obscurity and promoted into a Heroic Spirit. That was why she had been summoned into this era – it wasn't because of her tale in life, but rather her accomplishments in an alternate universe. If Fuyuki Cuchulainn had never touched the abomination called the Holy Grail, he would have never been able to witness Connla's very first adventure as a Servant.
I see. So that's what the truth is…
He smiled to himself. The confusion he felt before immediately vanished as he latched himself to something grounded in reality. The silver lining of being shown what Connla was capable of overcame the madness of lingering within a proverbial mixing pot of human malice.
How silly. Of course it is. My grief over killing her must have been so strong that it affected me in that world, just as much as it's affecting me here.
His grin soon vanished however. He wasn't satisfied with seeing what happened in other worlds. He wanted to experience Connla's strength firsthand. He needed to see that her victory in the parallel world wasn't just some random fluke, and that it really had been achieved through her own strength. He wanted to make sure that his other self had made the right decision in wishing for Connla to be a Heroic Spirit.
In other words, he wanted to put her to the ultimate test once more.
Within the darkness, a series of sinewy fibers stretched toward him. Cuchulainn raised his hand and reached out for the threads. They gradually wrapped around his fingers and hand, then wormed their way across his arm…
Back in reality, the tar-like mud that engulfed Cuchulainn soon began to melt off his body, revealing his new visage.
"Uh-!?" Connla was so consumed with shock that she could only let out a pitiful yelp. All of the blood practically drained itself out of her cheeks. Time didn't feel like it was moving forward as her gaze remained transfixed on her mutating father.
She had every right to be terrified. He had emerged in his Cuchulainn Alter visage, complete with black cape, red fur trim, spiked tail, numerous monster bones wrapping around his appendages, and tattoos covering his face and body. The Crest Worm that was attached to his back fused with the tail as one long mutant creature running along his spine. Gae Bolg was likewise deformed and covered in dozens of thorny spikes. The entire getup looked absolutely painful for him to wear, as if someone took a bunch of blackened rose vines and ensnared him so hard that any movement he made would be sheer agony from the long thorns digging through his flesh. He really did look like a calamity-class Servant who could destroy all of humanity.
"This is too awful…" Shirou murmured.
"Get a grip, both of you!" Archer exclaimed angrily. "We have to do anything we can to kill this monstrosity!"
"I know that! Lancer, you need to concentrate! Don't worry about anything except fighting him head-on!"
"I-I'm…" Connla shivered, practically on the verge of crying. "I'm not sure… I can do this…"
"It's okay! Archer and I will support you with everything we have!"
"That's not it. Father's turned into such a beast... and if we fail… he'll destroy the world… because of me…"
Cuchulainn replied bitterly while getting into his battle stance, "Stop saying that. Don't think for a second that any of this is your fault. I made the choice of using this goddamn Grail and exposing myself to its Blackening, all so I could test your ability as a Servant. I want to see the potential sleeping within you and bring it to the surface, even if it means corroding my Spirit Origin to turn myself into an Alter. I want to be sure that you becoming a Heroic Spirit wasn't a mistake, and I will gladly suffer the consequences to make this wish come true. It is the least I can do for robbing you of the ability to realize your true strength back when we were alive."
"Father…"
"Now come, Connla! Show me how capable you are as my own flesh and blood! Make me proud by saving this world from my madness!"
She clenched her teeth and squealed in frustration, then raised her spear and charged at him with a loud cry. He blocked her attack and glared into her strained eyes. He knew she didn't want to do this. She must have been so fed up with him putting her through the gamut over and over again. Her despair must have reached a point where she believed that all of her efforts had no meaning because the people who tested her constantly kept moving the goalpost further and further away. Aife certainly abused Connla like that, Scathach employed a similar training regimen, and Cuchulainn himself kept pushing her to the brink by causing incidents that she needed to resolve. Yet Connla was bound by the geas to never back down from a fight, so she had no choice but to stand up for herself.
She was trapped in an endless state of trying, trying, and trying to impress her loved ones, only to find out that it wasn't good enough. It never was 'good enough'. 'Good enough' was not 'good enough'. She had to be the 'best'. Even then, being the 'best' was still not 'good enough'. Left or right, up or down, east or west, north or south, head to toe, night to day, dawn 'til dusk, dreaming or awake, Connla was being tortured no matter where she went. She simply lived for the sake of trying, having given up on the prospect of being praised or rewarded for her efforts.
Although it wasn't quite the same as how Shirou lived his life, the result was essentially the same – they weren't 'heroes', but machines programmed to live up to impossible expectations.
Even though he was the one who challenged Connla, it was only after hearing her scream of absolute exasperation that Cuchulainn realized how tired she was of this nonsense. Even though he possessed enough power to level Fuyuki into ruins, he desperately fought against the Grail's influence so that he could maintain his sense of self and fight her fairly. If he didn't, he would have reduced her to a pulpy mess of blood and viscera without realizing it.
I'm sorry, kid. Just one last push. I promise…
He pushed Connla off, but she tumbled backwards onto her feet and pounced on him again like a rabid animal. After hearing his declaration of war against humanity and his desire to test her again, she was the one who went crazy and attacked him without rhyme or reason. She leapt, twisted, and flipped about in a total frenzy as she flailed her spear and some Rune spells at him. He grunted each time he parried her, then leapt back to avoid her weapon as it slammed into the ground. If he didn't, his head would have been liquefied like a squashed tomato.
Meanwhile, Archer got down on one knee and readied his bow, then projected a large broadsword as his 'arrow'. As Cuchulainn skidded backwards, Archer fired the shot with all his might. The sword struck Gae Bolg and sent the Celtic hero sailing through several large gravestones. Shirou likewise dashed toward the stricken Cuchulainn while materializing Kanshou and Bakuya in his hands and bore down on him, thrusting one of the swords straight for his neck. Cuchulainn raised his hand to use it as an impromptu shield, and the blade cleaved through it. It was kept back just inches from his carotid artery, and Cuchulainn grabbed Shirou's other wrist so he couldn't try the same thing again.
Shirou grunted between labored breaths, "What you're doing is wrong! You can't just force someone to become a hero against their will! A real hero of justice is born from within, and Second Lancer most definitely fits the bill! You're the one who's not satisfied! You're just angry with yourself for killing her, yet you don't know of any other way to overcome your guilt than by torturing her like this! A bastard like you should never have been her father! She's much too good for the likes of you!"
"Kgggggh-!" Cuchulainn snarled. Shirou's words bit into his soul like a wild dog mauling its prey.
"'Ireland's Child of Light'!? What a goddamn joke! You make me truly and utterly sick to my stomach! That's why I'm going to do everything I can to kill you! I'm going to give Second Lancer the peace she's always yearned for!"
Connla snapped out of her fury-driven mania when she heard Shirou's proclamation, and her mind returned to normal. Never before had she heard anyone say that they wanted to fight for her. She was so used to fighting her battles all by herself that she wasn't sure what to make of this strange emotion welling within her. It felt warm and inviting, as if she finally found someone she could depend on. All of her anxiety seemed to melt away, and she relaxed a little.
Shirou…
Cuchulainn went utterly berserk when he heard those insults. The Grail's influence was gradually winning over him, and his body was enveloped in a fog of blacks and reds. Shirou felt some kind of strange pressure weigh down his spirit, and he leapt back to escape from whatever was happening to him. Cuchulainn was using Madness of the Spirits to affect Shirou's willpower, but the teenager clearly didn't show any signs of slowing down.
He stretched his arm out to project a different weapon. This one turned out to be Heracles' massive sword-club, yet somehow Shirou possessed the strength necessary to wield it. He let out a huge cry as he gripped the giant weapon and swung it horizontally, intent on cleaving Cuchulainn into half the same way he did to Kojirou. The corrupted spearman jumped back to avoid certain death, but a huge gash was carved across his pectorals, destroying the mitsudomoe tattoo and leaving copious amounts of blood flowing over the more stylized abdominal tattoo.
"You little motherfucker!" Cuchulainn seethed with clenched teeth as he placed his hand on the wound. His anger caused him to momentarily lose control of his body, and Angra Mainyu forced him to leap away from the battle site. The entire group watched him as he became a small red dot hovering in the night sky.
"Not good!" Archer grumbled and raised his bow again. "I can sense tremendous amounts of mana being gathered into Gae Bolg!"
"Is he trying to wipe us all out in one go?" Rin wondered as she approached him.
"No. The energy's being directed somewhere else…"
Connla shifted her eyes toward Fuyuki Bridge, then let out a horrified cry and exclaimed, "The evacuees!"
She immediately surrounded herself in a wind bubble and flew straight for Cuchulainn like a rocket. Without thinking, Shirou raced toward Fuyuki on ground while keeping his eyes on the two Servants. He wasn't sure what was going on, but if Cuchulainn was indeed targeting innocent people, then there was no need for him to ask any questions.
"Damn it," Archer grumbled. "One thing after the other. Then again, we're approaching the decisive hours of the Grail War, so total chaos is to be expected. Those two are lost in the emotions of fighting that guy, so I'll have to be the one to come up with the strategies."
He glanced at his arm, realizing that it appeared ghostly and translucent. He scoffed, "Shit. I'm going to disappear before I can be of any help…"
"Archer."
He turned to face Rin. The sullen, yet firm-faced girl approached him and murmured, "I lost Saber. That means I'm free to make another contract with you."
He raised his eyebrow. "You sure? I betrayed you once before. What guarantee is there that I won't do it again?"
"You've accepted Shirou. Even through all of the hardships and failures you went through in your life, you still found it within yourself to acknowledge him. That must have been so hard for you. So then, I've been wondering… if it was as equally difficult for you to betray me."
"…"
"I don't think you're completely heartless. If I did, I would have just stood here and watched you disappear. But I know you want to help Shirou and Second Lancer. Furthermore, I know I'm not strong enough to fight a monster like Cuchulainn. If I can send a Servant to provide backup for them, then it will be like I'm there with them in spirit. I believe that's all I can do to give my support for all three of you."
"Hm. If you're that dead set on it, then who am I to refuse? Just don't come crying to me when you realize that all of your prana stores are depleted."
"If it means destroying the Grail, then it'll be worth it."
Rin raised her hand and performed the same ritual she did when she contracted with Artoria. She then asked Archer, "Will you once again be the sword that decides my fate?"
He stared at her with an expressionless gaze. After a moment, he finally replied, "I will."
The Command Spells formed on her hand for the third time. His fading body was reinvigorated with a new supply of mana, and his form regained solidity. He flexed his fingers and muttered, "Phew. Been a while since I felt this energized."
Caren stepped forth and demanded, "Are you done with your little heart-to-heart? We have to worry about keeping Bazett away from Cuchulainn as much as possible. Sakura and I are going to need your help for that, Rin."
"Yeah," the Mage replied, then quickly glanced at Archer as he was about to leave and said, "Just one last thing before you go."
"What is it?"
"Come closer, would you?"
"Huh…?" Archer leaned his head down to her height.
She then gave him the hardest slap to the face she could muster.
Chaldea
Connla laid on her side and shivered like how a leaf would on a windy day. She was hyperventilating in her sleep, and the sheets were once again covered in sweat. Her breathing was so frantic and erratic that her heart was literally begging for oxygen. Cuchulainn Alter leaned over her and implored, "Hey, calm down! What's gotten into you!?"
She refused to let up though, which made him worry even more than usual. The previous battles she experienced her other self go through didn't cause such a severe reaction. He wondered if she was watching some kind of death match that would decide the fate of the world she was witnessing. No matter how much he called out to her though, Connla would not settle down.
Just then, a bubbly female's voice exclaimed, "Cuuu~uuu!"
"Hrrgh," he snarled as he recognized the woman from the over-saccharine cadence of her voice alone. "What do you want, Medb? I'm a little busy here."
"I just thought I'd pop in for a bit," the young queen replied and showed him a box of handmade chocolates. "I've made some sweets for Connie when she would… wake up…"
Her jovial tone trailed off as she saw Cuchulainn holding Connla. The little girl continued wheezing and gasping for air while trembling maniacally. Medb set the box down and rushed to the opposite side of the bed while exclaiming, "What's wrong!? Is she having a seizure!?"
"Nothing like that," he muttered. "She'll settle down soon enough."
"Oh, okay…" the queen murmured, though still appeared concerned.
"I'm gonna give her a bath now, so you get lost already."
"A bath, hm? Then I'll join you! You know how much I love baths!"
"Do you even understand what's going on here? This is a medical emergency. If you have the energy to flirt with me, then you have the energy to change her sheets-"
She ignored him and trotted straight for the bathtub, then happily undressed herself while crooning, "Aaah, the three of us bathing together… Just the thing I've always dreamed of…"
"Are you even listening to me, you idiot?" Cuchulainn snarled as he set Connla in the tub of warm water.
Now fully naked, Medb lifted her leg and dunked it within the water in a seductive manner while chuckling, "Don't be silly. Just consider this a time for us to bond as family."
"More of your half-assed excuses? Well whatever. Since you're already in, you might as well help me clean the kid up. She's been sweating shitloads lately, and it's a total nightmare to keep up with Nightingale's demands for proper hygiene. I swear, that woman is a real terror when she's mad…"
"Aww, poor baby!" Medb whimpered as she ran her fingers through Connla's hair to lather some shampoo in it. "Don't you worry a lick, sweetie! Once Auntie Medb's done, you'll be so squeaky clean that the gods will be jealous!"
Cuchulainn grumbled under his breath, "Aaand she's not on the same page as me. Typical."
Fuyuki
Mitsuzuri Ayako sat in her parents' van and yawned several times. An hour ago, her parents forced her to wake up and get in the van so they could leave the city. Ayako initially didn't understand what was going on, and her parents seemed as equally confused. All of them had been woken up when a police officer called their house and stated that the city government issued an evacuation order. All they knew was that one of the houses in the residential neighborhood had blown up in an unexplained explosion. Coupled with all of the other strange happenings occurring in Fuyuki, and many citizens were more than eager to evacuate on their own.
Ayako somberly stared out the window and thought about what her future was going to be like. Would she have to move away from Fuyuki, leaving behind her friends and archery club mates? Or would she want to live in a city that was riddled with more problems than anyone could comprehend? She was already having trouble understanding why Shinji was killed, and was constantly worrying about where Shirou, Rin and Sakura had disappeared to. Over the last few days, Ayako was also getting word from Fujimura Taiga that one of Homuhara's teachers, Kuzuki Soichirou, had gone missing.
What a disaster, she thought while wiping her groggy eyes. Just what in the world is going on with this town? It's like it's haunted with monsters or something…
The news was already droning in the background, and Ayako paid attention just enough to catch an important update:
"Okay… Yes, I'm getting word now," the newscaster murmured, apparently sounding just as confused as she was. "Investigators are already at the scene of the residential explosion, and they have verified that the house belongs to the Matou family."
"Matou!?" Ayako snapped to attention when she heard that name. "Oh god, don't tell me Sakura was there!"
"Fortunately, it appears that there were no discernible casualties, but officials are saying-"
"Oh… Oh thank goodness…!" she gasped and sat back. Of course she had been worried about Sakura's disappearance, but she felt much more relieved to know that her friend had not died in the explosion. As she leaned back in her seat, she turned her head toward the window while listening to the report. However, her attention drifted to the sight of a peculiar red flash glowing high above the city's commercial district.
"What's that?" her mother asked at the same time.
"Some kind of signal flare?" her father wondered. "Or is it a news hovercraft observing us?"
Ayako pressed her hand against the glass and stared intently at the crimson flare. She couldn't explain it in words, but something deep within her gut told her that it wasn't anything as simple as her parents suggested…
After Cuchulainn retreated from the graveyard, he hurried through the abandoned residential district, leaping and bounding high above houses, businesses and high-rise structures until he reached the area near Fuyuki Bridge. All the while, Gae Bolg radiated so much power that it was unleashing an ear-piercing shriek. Cuchulainn was having trouble containing this power, and the Holy Grail's compulsion for total destruction wasn't helping him much. It was like the Grail and Gae Bolg were in harmony, and Cuchulainn was fighting a losing battle against them. Unable to constrain these horrible impulses anymore, he found a tall skyscraper and rushed up its side like a wild animal before leaping off and facing the congested Fuyuki Bridge.
Gae Bolg shone an intense crimson color. Cuchulainn needed to keep the spear's carnal impulses in check, yet he felt its power continuously surging and surging within his hand. His entire body screamed in pain, and he was constantly using healing Runes to keep himself from exploding into a mess of blood and guts. The Noble Phantasm had transformed from an Anti-Unit to an Anti-Army attack. Although the effect of rewriting causality was removed, the sheer force lingering within the spear made it that such a curse wouldn't be necessary to begin with. He knew that once he threw it upon Fuyuki Bridge, everyone who was present would die in a cataclysm much, much worse than the New Fuyuki Fire.
Shit! I can't… hold it back…!
Against his volition, Cuchulainn's lips began to speak the dreaded words:
"Gae…"
Just then, a flash of green distracted him. He glanced back and found Connla barreling straight for him at terminal velocity, letting out a loud battle cry.
"YAAAAAH!"
"Gh!?"
Before he could react, they crashed into each other, and a massive tornado billowed all around them. Cuchulainn could no longer focus on charging Gae Bolg, and he was sent plummeting hundreds of meters back to the ground. Connla continued forward on a wide trajectory, twisting her entire body upside-down until she faced back at her father as he fell. She descended upon Fuyuki Bridge around a kilometer away, coming dangerously close to crashing into the river that divided the town.
Meanwhile, thanks to his energized magic circuits, Shirou had run so fast that he was able to keep up with Connla as she tumbled wildly across the air. He screamed and leapt high, reaching out to catch Connla in his arms and bring her down safely. They landed on the nearly empty streets of the modernized district of Fuyuki, and he set her down. They looked around in anxious silence for Cuchulainn, and Shirou felt genuinely spooked by how the street lights continued flashing their lights even though there was no traffic to guide. Cuchulainn had become so powerful that his mere presence caused Fuyuki to become a proverbial ghost town.
If this is the kind of world that will follow should the Holy Grail be completed…
He clenched his teeth and snarled bitterly.
No. I mustn't think about it. I won't let that happen. No matter what, I will destroy the Grail!
Connla remained on high alert and shifted her eyes about. Then goose bumps suddenly formed on her skin, and she instinctively shrieked, "GET BACK!"
She used a quick wind spell to toss Shirou aside while she jumped in the opposite direction. A fraction of a second after this, Gae Bolg pierced through the gap between them, barely missing them by centimeters. As the pair crashed to the ground, the legendary spear continued on its trajectory until it punctured through the engine of a large truck. The vehicle detonated in a deafening display of sound and fury, and the rush of heat pushed away the late winter chill. The pair ignored the flames raging behind them and focused their attention on the monstrous hooded man pouncing from building to building toward them. Cuchulainn raised his arm and mentally commanded Gae Bolg to return to his hand. It extracted itself from the wreckage and spun past Shirou and Connla to reunite with its owner.
The mean glare in Cuchulainn's eyes was more than enough to prompt the pair to fight him once more.
Shirou conjured a series of short swords to catapult at him, but he dodged and weaved his way through the bombardment. Cuchulainn instantly snatched both Shirou and Connla's throats, then continued his mad rush until he smashed their backs against a garage wall, warping the metal from the force alone. The two warriors were left reeling in absolute agony. Connla surviving was one thing, but if Shirou had not gained a resilience equal to a Servant's, he would have definitely died from the crushing impact.
"Gah… Shit!" Shirou gasped as he felt Cuchulainn's hand tighten around his throat. Connla likewise yelped when she realized she was being choked to death, which made it impossible for her to focus on using any Runecraft to repel him.
"I am the bone of my sword…"
The trio heard Archer's voice echo through the air. Cuchulainn became especially furious when he whirled his head to the side and found the bowman projecting a familiar spiral-shaped sword to use as his arrow.
"Caladbolg!"
The weapon streaked past various cars and vehicles, barreling right for Cuchulainn's chest. He had to let go of Shirou and Connla to block it with Gae Bolg, but the incredible force behind the shot sent him flying backwards before it detonated in a brilliant white flash. Shirou fell to his knees and gasped for air, eventually recovering enough to ask Connla, "Are you okay?"
Connla coughed heavily, then wearily hobbled onto her feet before replying, "I think so."
Archer landed in front of them and created Kanshou and Bakuya once more while exclaiming, "No time for dawdling! He's coming back for more!"
Right as he said this, Cuchulainn burst out of the flames and roared like never before. Archer charged in to meet him in combat, hoping to give the others enough time to recuperate. He had to remember the strategies he used in his very first fight against Cuchulainn at Homuhara, but the overwhelming power that this corrupted Alter version possessed was quite shocking to him. Even so, Cuchulainn had a tendency to use the same movements and reactionary strategies, so Archer could at least capitalize on those habits even when he was trapped in a dance of death that he couldn't escape from.
As Cuchulainn landed on the pavement, he noticed a series of Runes illuminating below his feet. He glared down at them and realized they formed the pattern for a pillar of fire to erupt beneath him. He quickly summoned a Shield Rune to block the flames as they rushed up and catapulted him like how a broken fire hydrant blew its top off. After chanting the spell, Connla shouted to her partners, "Get him now!"
Both Archer and Shirou leapt and ran across the walls of various businesses to pursue Cuchulainn. As he spun in mid-air to recover his momentum, the two men engaged him in a two-on-one duel. Despite being outnumbered, he managed to beat them back with large swipes of Gae Bolg. He then faced Archer and attempted to cut him into pieces, all while bearing that hideously mirthful grin.
"Rho Aias!" the bowman exclaimed, having enough focus to conjure a two-petal shield that just managed to parry the blow. The barrier shattered into pieces, and Archer was so stunned by Cuchulainn's raw strength that he was sent hurtling to the side.
"Got you now!" the Berserker raged and took a swipe at Archer's neck.
"I don't think so!" Shirou retorted and jumped in to cover for Archer. Cuchulainn snarled and engaged Shirou in another intense fight, made more awkward by how they were clashing their weapons while simultaneously running along walls and rooftops. All the while, Cuchulainn was destroying each of Shirou's hastily-crafted swords, but the teenager simply replaced them and kept fighting. Eventually, the pair landed on an apartment rooftop. Cuchulainn's eye twitched and he frowned hard at Shirou for a moment.
"Exactly the same as before…" he grumbled. "I've broken your weapons 27 times, yet you still have more. Do you and that bastard Archer have something in common?"
"Heh. 'Something in common' is putting it lightly," Shirou retorted. "Think of it as us 'being the same guy, but from different worlds'."
"Well I'll be damned," Cuchulainn widened his eyes in a fleeting moment of surprise. "No wonder I felt like I was having déjà vu. Even so, you're still just a cocky piece of shit who has no chance of defeating me."
"Maybe I don't. But I know someone who does!"
"What-?"
The Berserker became confused when he watched Shirou perform a long back flip to escape. Then, he heard a young girl's voice murmur through the night air, "Concealed identities… Blinking vignettes… Unsolved mysteries…"
Cuchulainn cursed to himself when he realized the trap that Shirou had led him into. He recognized that incantation and realized that Connla was about to use her Noble Phantasm on him. He fervently looked around for her, but couldn't figure out where she was concealing herself.
"Laoch Gan Finsceal!"
The water silo that Connla had been hiding inside burst open from its side, allowing her to shoot for Cuchulainn like a bullet. She didn't have many surfaces to ricochet off of, so she had previously set up a bunch of platform Runes to facilitate this. She whipped, whizzed and streaked by him dozens of times as an imperceptible white line, cutting through both him and the air as effortlessly as a cracking whip. The winds rushing in multiple directions made him lose his balance even more, and Connla finished the attack by aiming her feet straight for his chest. For just a split second, he saw that her expression was as equally feral as his.
A windstorm broke all around the area as the two Servants made contact. Shirou and Archer actually had to hold their ground to avoid being blown away, and they covered their faces as broken glass swirled everywhere around them. Once Connla delivered her rush kick to Cuchulainn's abdomen, the two of them fell off the roof in a wide arc. She quickly vaulted off him and landed near her partners, all while watching her father careen and crash violently onto the road several hundred meters ahead.
Smoke rose around the bleeding and battered Berserker. Eventually, he clamored onto his knee and momentarily glared at the others. Although he wanted to continue the fight here, the Grail was commanding his body to flee for now. He didn't want to obey, but its control was too overwhelming for him to resist. Without a word of acknowledgement, Cuchulainn leapt out of the smoke and disappeared into the night.
"Now where is he going!?" Shirou barked. "I swear, his movements are not making sense anymore!"
"This is probably just a theory, but I would imagine that he and the Grail are actually in conflict with each other," Archer surmised.
"How could you tell?"
"From when I dueled him just now. If it hadn't been for that, I probably wouldn't still be alive."
Connla stared at Cuchulainn's vanishing form for a moment, then realized what direction he was headed in. She let out a choked scream and immediately leapt into the sky after him. Archer yelled out while following her, "Hey, what's wrong!? Do you know where he's going!?"
"He's after my Master!"
"You mean Caren Hortensia?"
"No, my real Master, Bazett Fraga McRemitz! He must be out to kill her while she's still comatose!"
"Sounds like bad news. If your Master's killed, that means you'll disappear too, leaving no one but me to face him on equal grounds."
"Exactly! If we hurry, we can make it there ahead of him! Just follow me!"
Connla led the way for Archer and Shirou, hopping and running through the abandoned district until they returned to the outskirts of Fuyuki and headed for Edelfelt Manor.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Good god, Altera, why'd you need so many frickin' Evil Bones to level your skills? Getting her and Gramps maxed out during the Da Vinci event was the cause for the delay, which left me feeling quite exhausted. Add to it how I had to shovel hard snow on Sunday, and I was just way too sore to consider writing. But now I'm back in business, so it shouldn't be long before I get this whole thing wrapped up.