Disclaimer: I do not own anything that appears in this story with all belonging to its respective owners and I am not attempting to or making a profit from this work of fiction.
In the blackened and hazy desert Archer once more looked in the distance, twilight spreading beyond it and with a sigh he turned away from it.
"This is going to have to be dealt with soon."
Shirou stopped running once he was out the forest and set Rin down before waiting for Saber to rush out and slammed her head back and into a tree with enough force to almost topple it and blood leaked down the side of her head.
Before Rin could react he had grabbed her shirt and slammed her back against a tree with one hand as the other was held out to the side and in a flash of red light Kanshou was held in it.
"What do you think you're doing, you'll die without me?" Rin demanded and Shirou didn't let his shock at the lack of fear show.
"Don't talk." Shirou ordered her with Kanshou pressed against her throat." Right now I need something to kill so where's the next Servant?"
"Shirou!"
The Magus turned to see Sakura and Rider landing in front of them so he didn't attack her, at least yet.
"Sakura, good to see you but what are you doing out here?" Shirou asked her, a smile quickly put on his face." I didn't think you would travel out here at this time."
"I felt like coming to see you and I have to ask you a question." Sakura told him and Shirou just remembered he was still holding Rin up against the tree and let her fall, hoping Sakura would ignore the odd situation she found him in.
He was wrong as Sakura gestured to Rin and Saber, the Servant slowly waking up and Rin already standing.
"I'll help you kill them if you want, we can win the Grail War together and I'll even give you the wish." Sakura told him and Shirou became very confused at the normally sweet girl volunteering to murder someone.
"Archer, deal with Rider." Rin ordered and with a short glare behind him Rin backed away and over to the now standing Saber.
"I told you not to talk." Shirou very nearly growled at her." So stay silent or I kill you."
"Archer?" Sakura's question drew his attention and he sighed.
"It's a long story so ho…"
"He's somehow been made into her Servant." Rider told Sakura and the purple haired Master frowned.
"Then if I take her hand then Shirou would be under my control?" Sakura asked and the Magus sighed as he stepped back in time to avoid Rider's dagger from punching through his stomach.
"Rider, don't kill him, just wound him." Sakura ordered and the Servant nodded before rushing forward and attacking the currently weaponless Shirou.
A pair of silver hatchets appearing in a flash of light changed that and he was able to deflect Rider's dagger as she threw it towards him.
"Sakura?" Rin asked as the Matou Magus turned to the Tohsaka Magus.
"Rin, right?" Sakura asked and the black haired Magus nodded before having to roll out of what seemed to be a fist made of shadows shooting towards her.
"What are you doing?" Rin demanded, firing Gandr shots at Sakura only for what looked like a wall of shadows to stop them.
"Killing you!" Sakura shouted and Rin saw insanity in her eyes even as a massive featureless figure made of what seemed like shadows emerged from behind Sakura and picked her up in one massive hand before the other came down as a fist, directly on Rin.
"Master!"
Saber had shaken off her daze in time to intervene in the fight, using her own body to stop the blow from crushing Rin.
"Master, leave. Now." Saber's words weren't strained and were spoken in the way of a king so Rin very quickly obeyed as with a shout Saber had pushed up and thrown the shadow creature on its back.
The Servant swiftly drew her sword from her side and used Prana Burst as she leaped into the air, dropping down near the figure's head and cutting it in half with a single blow.
More of the figures emerged around her though only slightly taller than her now, the strengths lying in the sheer numbers that even now continued to grow and grow.
'This is going to take some time.' Saber thought with a sigh before rushing forward, cleaving three in half at the waist before turning on her heel and stabbing through another that attempted to attack from behind, it's arms shaping into blades with barbed tips.
Two others charged her from both sides and Saber chose to use Prana Burst to put her sword through several of the shadow figures in front of her before ripping her sword out from the side to cut down two more charging her from that side only to have to sidestep three others as they descended on her, long blades sprouting from their entire body and seeking to skewer and cage Saber at once.
'What are these creatures?' Saber asked herself even as she cut down three that were grouped together with a single slash.' They are not truly evil creatures, sealed or not Excalibur would harm them by being in their presence.'
Rin dodged another bolt of what looked to be the same substance making up the small army keeping Saber away from her.
"Sakura, what happened to you?" Rin asked as she rolled out of the way of another blast, it burrowing into the ground beneath her before it exploded as blades, attempting to skewer her but it failed.
"You left me there with those people!" Sakura snapped and Rin was nearly struck by a hammer shaped out of the substance.
"I wanted to protect you, the Magus Asso…" Rin couldn't finish as the substance shaped into three figures that attacked her relentlessly.
An arrow pierced all of them and pinned them to a tree before a spear slammed through their heads, keeping them there.
"What, that's not possible, how are you doing this?" Sakura demanded, shocked as she saw the figures actually trapped and her enraged question was directed at Rin before she was forced to dodge a knife thrown at her feet.
Shirou landed in front of Rin with his back to her and a pair of silver longswords in his hands, held with the tips pointed upwards at his side.
"Are you sure you're a genius Rin?" Shirou asked her." I could probably take on both of them by myself but instead of calling me over you try to fight her? I mean come on, don't be that stupid, it could get you killed in this war."
"Shirou?" Sakura asked and the Magus frowned as he looked into her eyes.
"Sakura, what's wrong with your eyes?"
"What do you mean, they were fine this morning?"
He was suddenly in front of her and holding one of the swords up to her face, the blade widening to act as a makeshift mirror and showed Sakura's normally purple eyes had red spreading throughout them.
"Why are they red?"
His question wouldn't be answered as the chain on one of Rider's daggers wrapped around his throat and she pulled him into the air and slammed him into the ground moments later, Shirou's hands struggling to get the chain off the entire time.
"Master, I will handle this Servant, deal with his Master." Rider called back to Sakura before rushing towards where Shirou had landed, somewhere in the forest the three had exited from.
It seemed like whatever was happening in Sakura once she saw the change in her eyes was gone and was replaced with nothing but pure hatred and it was all directed towards Rin.
"He called you Master, right?" Sakura asked Rin who didn't offer any response, shocked at the level of power suddenly emitting from Sakura." Then you even took him from me!"
Rin had no time to think about what Sakura had said as she was attacked by a dozen of the shadow figures, all of them summoned with a wave of Sakura's hand and they attacked relentlessly and without exhausting themselves.
'What the hell is going on with her?' Rin asked herself even as several Gandr shots took down most of the figures in seconds and the rest were dealt with the arriving Saber, cutting all of them down before they could reach the Tohsaka Magus.
"Master, perhaps we should retreat." Saber told her, her invisible sword held in a guard stance in front of her." She seems to be able to summon an army at will."
"You're right, we need to go get Archer through so try to hold her off while I find him." Rin told her Servant before turning and sprinting into the forest, Reinforcement giving her enough speed to find Shirou in a minute of searching.
He ducked under the sweeping swing of Rider's chain dagger before sidestepping the second one she fired towards his feet but the unexpected third one swung at him wrapped around his waist and he cursed as Rider used it to slam him into a tree which toppled over at the force he hit it with.
A pair of rapiers slipped between the links and kept it from moving again as they stabbed into the ground before Shirou threw several knives that lengthened into spears in midair before a pair of short swords appeared in his hands and he cut the chain and raced forward towards Rider only for the Servant to evade his charge and rapid slashes towards her and threw two chain daggers at him, the two swinging towards him with one high and the other low. Shirou very quickly shifted the short swords into broadswords as he flipped one of the changing short swords into a reverse grip, each sword stopping a chain blade but completely covering themselves in the chains as they swung around them.
"Damn." Shirou cursed as Rider pulled on the chains before he could let the swords go so he was pulled forward with them and a foot slammed into his face moments later before Rider acted faster than he could see and his falling body was wrapped in chains as the Servant had drawn two more chain daggers after letting the two wrapped around his weapons go.
This was the scene Rin arrived to and she mentally cursed before a Gandr shot slammed into Rider as she grabbed Shirou and using the enhanced strength Reinforcement gave her she threw him onto his shoulder and moved as fast as she could with the added weight.
"Rin, just get these things off me, she's going to kill you if you keep this up!" Shirou was immediately dropped and a sword appeared in Rin's hand with a slight strain on Shirou's part.
Rin lifted it above her head and brought it down moments later with it easily cutting through the chains while stopping against his armor as the sword was covered in a red light and vanished seconds later.
"Alright, let's go." Shirou moved faster than Rin could see and threw her over one shoulder before leaping and landed next to Saber a few seconds later.
The Servant was struggling to keep any of Sakura's shadow creatures from entering the forest and had succeeded in it but was growing exhausted at the seemingly limitless number in front of her and it kept growing a dozen more every moment.
Shirou grabbed her moments later and threw her over his shoulder to join Rin and Saber had dismissed her armor after observing her situation and let out a relieved sigh as Shirou's next jump slightly cratered the ground and she observed what seemed to be an amateur and uncontrolled use of her Prana Burst.
'So, that's your plan?' Archer asked after Shirou explained his plan.
'It's the best I've got.' Shirou answered with a mental shrug of his shoulder and Archer sighed.
'You are going to kill yourself sooner than later, you know that?' Archer asked with another sigh and Shirou merely chuckled, confusing both Rin and Saber as he seemingly chuckled at nothing.
'He's lost it.' Rin thought with a sigh.' That war's finally gotten to him.'
Shirou finally stopped and let the two down at large hill around a kilometer from Sakura and Rider.
"I am the bone of my sword."
Shirou was consumed in a red light that quickly formed itself into his normal bow.
"Steel is my body and fire is my blood."
Red light consumed Shirou again before it faded to show a quiver filled with arrows on his back with one in his hands.
"Both of you, stand back and don't get any closer from where you are." Shirou ordered them as he drew one of the arrows, the arrow pitch black with and had a barbed look to it.
Shirou used Reinforcement on the bow and pulled its back to the limit before notching the arrow.
"I have created over a thousand blades. Now fly, Hrunting."
The bow was further strengthened and Shirou pulled it back further as his eyes found his target and he released the bowstring.
An instant later and a flash of red light Shirou's quiver was empty and he turned away as a massive explosion erupted into existence in the distance.
"Archer, what was that?" Rin asked and Shirou sighed as he walked down the hill.
He didn't know how long it would take Rin to understand but he wouldn't answer to Archer.
The sound of a sword coming out of its sheath drew his attention behind him and it allowed him to dodge a chain dagger swung at him from the side.
"What, how are you still alive?" Shirou demanded in shock, his attack should have killed them and he knew it.
"I have my ways." Sakura's voice answered as an army of the shadow figures appeared around him and more surrounded Rin and Saber.
'This…this is unexpected.' Archer commented and Shirou felt a surge of energy through his body.' Perhaps it's time to use my Noble Phantasm?'
'Yeah, that would be good but kind of bad.'
'Why?'
'I can save it for when we fight Berserker again or when Rin orders Saber to kill me.'
'I doubt that. Rin probably won't kill you with Saber, she'll let Berserker do it when we face him and Illyasveil again.'
'Not helping.'
'I know and dodge to the left.'
Shirou did so and avoided a spear of shadows that would have nearly killed him and he quickly held a pair of axes in his hands.
"What is going on here, what are these things?" Shirou called up to Rin only to see Saber having thrown her over her shoulder as she dealt not only with the army attacking her but with Rider as well.
Shirou quickly formed his bow and fired three arrows up at Rider that forced her back before he had to discard it as several of the shadow figures grabbed it.
'Okay, how long with it take to activate?' Shirou asked and Archer sighed.
'I was one word away from finishing it when we fought Saber and Rin.' Archer told him and Shirou nodded and was about to rushed up to Saber and Rin when the shadow figures around him all suddenly charged him and they formed around him, losing their shape and melding together as they did so.
Explosions erupted inside it, tossing it away from Shirou but it simply flowed back towards him only for the Sword Magus to repel it again but it closed in on the third attempt, waves forming from all sides around him and forming a dome he wouldn't be escaping from as more now began filling it. Shirou very quickly came to a decision on what to do and leapt up to the dome with a pair of katana appearing in his hands.
'I can't get free.' Shirou thought in some panic, his weapons breaking apart, seemingly rusting in seconds, the moment he tried to cut his way out and the substance took on tar-like properties as he found it harder and harder to move anything caught but it, be it weapons or his body as tendrils rose up from what was below him and he found it impossible to free his hand from it once they caught one.
'What is this stuff in the first place?' Shirou asked Archer as he was pulled to the ground and slammed into it with waves crashing down on him moments later.
'I have no idea, I've never encountered this before in my life.' Archer spoke after a moment with another surge of energy to Shirou.' Just use my Noble Phantasm and we'll deal with this.'
"I a…" that was as far as Shirou got in the chant before the substance flooded his mouth and he found himself choking on it as it poured down his throat while forcing his mouth to remain open no matter how hard he tried to close it.
Suddenly it ended and Shirou collapsed on the ground, coughing and sputtering as he tried to cough out something that was no longer there.
"What the hell?" Shirou asked as he stopped coughing and slowly dragged himself up." What the hell was that?"
"Me."
Shirou turned to see Sakura standing nearby and was shocked enough at her statement that he nearly fell off his feet.
"What?" Shirou couldn't find anything else to say besides that one word and Sakura giggled at him.
"Shirou, I'm probably the strongest person in this war, I can do a lot of things you wouldn't know about." Sakura told him and Shirou took a step back when she stepped forward.
"Why are you running from me Shirou?" Sakura tilted her head to the side as she asked and Shirou found himself unnerved by the red filling her eyes.
"What's happening to you Sakura, don't you see whatever this power is, is changing you?" Shirou's question was answered by laughter from Sakura.
"You're one to talk, last time I saw you I'm pretty sure you had red hair and brown eyes and the next time I see you with white hair and gray eyes and you've gotten a tan, so Shirou, what happened to you?" Sakura had very easily turned Shirou's questions around.
"I made a mistake, I still don't know how I've got this power but I haven't gon…" Shirou couldn't finish his sentence as Sakura broke into laughter once again.
"A mistake, that's really the best you could call it?" Sakura asked him before waved one hand towards him." You've merged with a Servant, it's not hard to see from all the power you've gained."
"Archer, ignore her!" Rin called down to him as Saber landed next to him with Rider landing behind Sakura, the dozen injuries Saber had inflicted on her already healing." She's lost it and o…"
"Shut up!" Sakura snapped as Shirou noticed the red very quickly filling her eyes.
The shadow figures appeared around them all again and both Shirou and Saber cursed as they were about to attack when Sakura called them off from attacking with a wave of her hand.
"Shirou, I can give you a chance to surrender and help me." Sakura told him as she walked up to him and the Sword Magus only stared at her for a moment before glancing back at Rin and Saber.
"I am the bone of my sword."
Kanshou and Bakuya appeared in his hands and without further warning he rushed forward at speeds to fast to be seen but the chain attached to Rider's weapon wrapped around his hands and bound them together.
"Steel is my body and fire is my blood."
Weapons covered in a red glow shot forward from behind him and kept Rider form attacking him as she leapt back to avoid them.
Several of the weapons grazed the chains and they fell to the ground before Shirou held his hands out in front of him and a crossbow appeared in each.
"I have created over a thousand blades."
He fired a bolt from each and managed to pin Rider's shoulders to the ground before a single claymore appeared in his hands and he rushed towards the pinned Servant only to be intercepted by a horde of the shadow figures as Rider tore herself fear and returned to Sakura's side.
"Unknown to Death,"
Shirou turned the crossbows into a pair or broadswords he cut apart nearly a dozen of the figures before he leapt over them and threw both swords down, explosions tearing apart a piece of the army.
"Nor known to Life."
Kanshou and Bakuya appeared in his hands and he hesitated for a moment as he landed between a group of the shadow figures.
'I really hate to use these blades for something like this.' Shirou thought with a sigh.
'Then use something else.' Archer told him as the swords vanished in a flash of red light before being replaced by a handful of knives in each hand, each one proving to be explosive once they hit anything.
"Have withstood pain to create many weapons."
Shirou rolled out of the way of a wave of the shadow substance as a few dozen of the shadow figures had merged together into it before forming it into a massive version of themselves that towered over Shirou.
Shirou's bow appeared in one hand and he held three swords rapidly shifting into arrows in the other. He fired them immediately and the resulting explosion tossed the large figure onto its back where Shirou blew its head off as his bow shifted into a ballista that fired a rain of bolts into it.
"Yet those hands will never hold anything."
The Magus/Servant leapt back to avoid a dozen of the shadow figures charging him and cleared a spot for him to land with several dozen throwing knives that exploded, each knife aimed to take out several targets so he had breathing space when he landed.
"So as I pray…"
The shadow figures around him all collapsed into a puddle of the substance that formed them and quickly merged into a crushing wave that engulfed Shirou moments later, cutting off his chant.
"Saber, get him out!" Rin ordered her Servant and the King of Knights nodded before racing forward, using Prana Burst to increase her speed and releasing Invisible Air behind her at an angle to rocket into the air.
"Ex.." the Sword of Promised Victory was released and the blade drew in Prana as Saber drew it back."…calibur!"
A wave of light launched from her swing and the wave that had crushed Shirou was destroyed moments later, eradicated by the Holy Light unleashed by the Sword of Promised Victory.
Saber had quickly sealed her weapon once again and landed on the ground as Shirou slowly picked himself off the ground, wincing even as the blades knitted his body back together and coughing to clear his lungs.
"Kill him, kill him, kill him!" Sakura snapped and the army around Shirou charged him, the bodies turning themselves into horrific looking weapons but the Magus was unperturbed by it, not even a weapon in his hands.
"So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works."
Flames consumed Shirou and were spreading, consuming everything but neither Rin, Saber, Rider, or Sakura felt anything as the flames washed over them, consuming them and placing them into the middle of a inferno, well Sakura wouldn't have noticed anything anyway as she screamed incoherently for a moment before she composed herself, albeit very, very, very little.
"Kill him, crush him, rip him to pieces, do whatever you want I just don't want to see him again!" Sakura screamed and the substance of shadows moved to do as she commanded, forming into a single being that seemed to tear open a mouth that was sown together and roaring, showing a mouth filled with rows and rows of crimson stained teeth before it rushed forward, showing no restraint or planning and if any it was shaping its arms into long barbed blades.
Shirou only smirked as the flames raging around them all finally died down to show a desert of blackened sand covered in the haze forging would cause and coloring the sky with it as countless massive gears hung above them.
All around the city any Master, Servant, or Magus in general felt the overwhelming power the Noble Phantasm emitted once it was activated and this drew them there, all with varying thoughts on the matter.
Gilgamesh simply smirked as he walked along a path in the forest, the path taking him directly to the fight.
Lancer followed his Master as the two ran towards what was obvious a Noble Phantasm.
Illyasveil had ordered Berserker to carry her towards the fight, aiming to kill who ever had unleashed the Noble Phantasm.
Caster, with effort, took her and Kuzuki to it, against Kuzuki's argument to remain where they were so she could regain her strength.
One Zouken Matou merely grinned from a room in the basement of his manor, satisfied his plan would draw to completion sooner than even he had thought such a short time ago.
"This generation is truly very interesting." Zouken spoke to himself as he saw what was very likely the endgame of this Grail War as all those he had deemed as important showed on his diagram and all were converging at a single location." If I had known so much could be accomplished at that time I would have done much more."
AN: Well, this part of the story will probably finish next chapter or the one after that so leave any reviews on either the ending of the Grail War Arc or pairing for later on in the story.
Peace.