Now things are coming to a close. Only 3 Servants left. Who will win? Who will lose? And how much property damage will they cause? Tune in to find out.
Chapter 14: The End of Days
(6:30pm, Underground Sewers)
Kirei looked up as Berserker came in, almost frothing at the mouth as he carried Irisviel. He stood before him, shaking with rage.
"Thank you, my friend." Kirei said. "You may remove your disguise."
Berserker flipped like a 2D image, Irisviel hitting the ground as Archer stood in his place. Though he had his helmet on, Kirei could tell he was still furious.
"I…Will…Kill…You." Archer growled out. Kirei knew it was an idle threat. Archer couldn't do a thing to him.
"Place the woman into the circle. Then leave and stand guard." Kirei commanded. Archer placed her in the circle with care, before stomping out to the tunnel mouth to keep watch. An hour later, she stirred awake. She gasped as she saw where she was and who she was with.
"Yes. We are in the lair Soulstein's Servants set up shop." He confirmed. "And yet Emiya doesn't seem to be looking here. Soon the Holy Grail War will be over. And it seems likely that I'll be the one who will have the power to grant the wish of the Einzberns." Irisviel frowned at him. "Are you so unhappy that it would be me?"
"There is but one man to whom I would trust the Grail." She countered. "And it is certainly not you, Inquisitor. Kiritsugu Emiya has already seen right through you Kirei. He recognises you as his most dangerous enemy. You can't escape."
"Your words are as the gospel to my ears. Kiritsugu Emiya, is exactly as I imagined him to be after all."
"How laughable. You couldn't be further from him if you tried."
Kirei stopped pacing. "What did you say?"
"Kiritsugu Emiya can see through you. The reverse is impossible. You have none of the wonderful things that he carries deep inside his heart."
"Why do you speak of me in such a manner, woman?" He grabbed her by the neck. "I freely admit it. I am a man empty and desolate inside. So how do he and I differ?" He started squeezing harder. "Devoting himself to one fruitless war after another for years? Senseless slaughter, utter recklessness, wasted effort? If he does not doubt, or find this life pointless as I do, then what is he?" He finally released her, letting her gasp for breath before speaking. "Tell me. What is his wish? What would he ask of The Holy Grail? What prayer would he intrust to the wish-granting device?"
"Very well." Irisviel wheezed. "I'll tell you. Kiritsugu Emiya's wish, is humanity's salvation. An end to all warfare. And bloodshed and suffering. Forever. True peace upon the Earth."
Kirei shook with rage. "What was that?" He gritted.
"You can never understand it. That is the difference between you two. He has something to believe in."
"Conflict in intrusive to Humanity. To eliminate it completely would mean the elimination of Humanity itself. As an ideal it is totally futile. The nonsense that a child would spout."
"Yes. And that is why, his only hope is for a true miracle. Many time, Kiritsugu has been forced to…to sacrifice the lives of people he's loved because of his beliefs. Yes. You see he's far too kind to chase ideals. He must love even knowing that it will mean losing that love."
"I understand." Kirei merely said as he grabbed her head. Irisviel could only cry as he grabbed by the throat again, holding it between both hands. She gasped as he squeezed tighter, and tighter, and tighter.
Until it snapped.
He let go, and her body fell to the ground again.
"I understand well. So that is Kiritsugu Emiya."
He now knew his reason for fighting. He will grind Emiya's ideals to dust right before him, along with the Holy Grail he longs for.
(7:00pm, Einzberns' Berserker's Castle)
Saber flew overhead on Sindragosa. He had lost Berserker during the chase. True, he had to spare a moment to make Invincible look like a motorcycle. But he should've still caught up to him.
No matter. They already knew where one of his bases were.
And so he found himself flying above the Castle Berserker had looted from them. It didn't seem as if a mad-scientist Servant was home, but he could still cross it off his list. Mentally commanding her, Sindragosa fired a frozen blast at the castle. Part of the garden froze over as the ramparts collapsed from the cold. Berserker's monsters started pouring out of the place.
Well. Looks like he found his home after all.
"God-fucking-dammit!" He heard Berserker yell as he walked out the front door. Looking up, he jumped onto the roof of the castle. "Seriously Saber? You chose the worst time to attack me. And why couldn't you have gone after Archer or something?"
"You know why I'm here." Saber said coldly.
"Yeah, I do. I'm shouting questions at you and acting like I wasn't expecting you because I'm fucking bored." Even Saber could tell he was being sarcastic.
"Return Irisviel von Einzbern immediately."
Berserker seemed to scratch his head in puzzlement. "Albino girl? Good-looking? Your 'Master'? Probably looks sexy in a bikini?"
"Yes, yes, yes, and I don't care."
"Don't have her. Honest. Cross my useless heart and hope to get dismembered."
Saber frowned, before remembering that there was another Servant who could disguise himself. One who was still alive. Archer.
"Oh. My. God." Berserker seemed to realise the same thing. "I'm gonna kill that idiot. I told him, 'Don't interfere with my work, and don't go Stupid Evil on me'."
"Kiritsugu." Saber contacted his master through the command seals. "Looks like Tohsaka was behind the attack."
"Impossible." He replied. "While you were looking around town, I went to spy on Tohsaka. His barriers were all down, and I found his blood in his study. Too much to survive."
"Well given Berserker's 'work' I doubt Archer wouldn't interfere. Which leaves…"
Emiya gasped. "Kirei Kotomine."
"You want me to help you?"
"We'll need to deal with Berserker anyway. Might as well kill him now."
"Right." Saber cut the link tuning in to find that Berserker was still going strong.
"…with a goddamn pig." He growled in anger. "Now where the fuck were we?" He looked up to see that Saber had fired another frost blast. "Oh goddammit." He jumped, easily clearing the blast as it slammed into the castle. His arms became a sword and shield as armour covered him. Their blades clashed as Berserker landed on Sindra's head. Saber was annoyed to find himself being pushed back. They swung their blades, but neither managed to land a blow. Their defences were too good.
"Well, this is fun." Berserker snarked as they clashed again. "But I think we need some volunteers from the crowd." Giant worm…things rose from the ground and grabbed some rubble with their mouths. Sindra had to dodge as they threw the rubble, and Saber and Berserker had to hold on tightly. "On second thought, maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Tendrils from his legs grabbed hold, allowing him to get close enough to attack Saber while Sindra attacked the monsters below. But Saber still managed to block the blow, slicing Berserker's arm off for good measure. Berserker grew back another arm, but as they were about to clash, a very large boulder slammed into Sindra. Using this time of distraction, the others pummelled her with rubble, destroying what little wing-membrane was left. Both Servants looked at each other as the undead dragon fell like a rock.
"Oh yeah. This was a really bad idea. Why did I think this would help?" Saber blocked out the enemy, commanding Sindra to charge up her blast and release it on landing. That should remove most of Berserker's 'crowd'. Firing a blast of ice from one hand, Saber managed to create a ramp that led back to the ground safely. Berserker, for his part, slammed into the ground and jumped out of the crater he had made.
And Sindragosa slammed belly-first onto the ground, a wave of frost billowing out in an explosion.
"Whoa." Berserker said as he shook the frost off. "So dragons really do explode when they die. I thought that was made-up." Saber charged him again, but Berserker was faster than he looked. His shield intercepted Frostmourne. But that was fine too.
"Remorseless Winter." He shouted. A storm of ice and snow formed around him. Berserker seemed to be repeatedly buffeted by the wind, making it easier to land blows. But any injuries he sustained seemed to heal almost as fast as he made them. They backed away from each other.
"Fun. But let's make things…interesting." Berserker said.
"Like when you decided to knock my dragon out of the sky with you still on it?"
"Fuck you. My Name Is Legion." A glow surrounded them, forming into New York Zero again. The dead rose and stood behind Berserker. He smirked as Saber took in the numbers.
"My turn. The Damned Stand Ready." Another Reality Marble formed, changing the side Saber was standing on. Buildings changed into spikes of ice. Fire became frost. A massive dark citadel stood behind Saber.
And the Scourge came swarming out.
Their number seemed limitless, as great as the Infected. There were the standard skeletons, but there were also ghosts, mages, catapults, monsters stitched together. And a fleet of dracoliches filled the sky. A lich and a giant scarab stood next to Saber.
"My King." The lich said. "It is good to see you again."
Saber smiled. "Hello Kel'thuzad. My old friend." He turned to face the scarab. "And you to Anub'arak."
"My King." It said in a deep voice. Saber turned to face Berserker.
"So, an army of Infected bioweapons." Berserker said. "Versus an army of Undead. If fate set this up, then the universe is awesome!"
"These Infected seem to devour organic material and can heal from any wound, but are vulnerable to frost magic." Saber said to Kel'thuzad.
"Understood. We'll have the Abominations throw things at them instead." Satisfied, Saber pointed his blade at Berserker. His Scourge charged forward, while Berserker's monsters ran at them. Those who used frost magic fired as many blasts as they could, but Saber knew they wouldn't slow them down.
The two armies clashed, and their worlds shook from their strength.
(7:20pm, Reality Marble)
Berserker growled. They had fought for hours. But the passage of time in the Marbles was different to out there. A good thing, considering neither were making much of a dent.
Saber's decision to weaken them with frost was a good plan. The problem was that the Red Zone kept making more of them. Balancing things out, the undead kept rising from the ice and snow, while robed men summoned in buildings that churned out more of them.
Saber and Berserker were clashing in the centre of it all, a calm around them that none disturbed. Though Berserker's strength was impossible, Saber's armour protected him from all but the worst of it. And he kept slicing off Berserker's limbs. Though his ability made it harder each time, he knew he would run out of biomass if things didn't change. He slammed his fists together, generating a shockwave that blew Saber back.
"Top Of The Food Chain." He shouted. Biomass swirled around him as he got bigger. The ground cracked from his weight and from him anchoring himself. Soon, he was covered by a massive growth, more tentacles helping him hold his girth up. He roared, blasting away the undead around him as Hydra-sized tentacles slammed into more.
"Well." Kel'thuzad said. "This could be a problem." With the number of undead weakened, the Infected managed to gain more ground. The snow and ice turned into stone and flesh as they drew closer.
"Thank you, Arch-mage Obvious." He used an Ice Sphere against Berserker, but he healed over the dead flesh. The Frost Wyrms attacked him, but they did even less damage. Red orbs flew through the air, and smashed them apart. "His adaptability is getting stronger. I need something strong enough to stop him." He could use Wrath, but he would be too weak to fight Archer. And no one could tell where Avenger had gone after the attack against Viggato. There had to be something else. He noticed that when a tendril was hit, Berserker bobbed in its direction, before attacking some more. "All units, attack the tendrils at his base." He started forming a plan. Rocks and ice and magic peppered the tendrils. It almost seemed as though Berserker was dancing the way he swayed. He fired more orbs and some rocks at the Scourge, but it helped little even with his army still attacking. Eventually, the tendrils shattered, and Berserker fell over with a roar. Saber could see him in the beast's mouth, but knew stabbing him there wouldn't help.
"Raging Spirit." He fired a blast at Berserker, but the effects surprised even him.
The spell was meant to pull out a part of an enemy's soul, attacking them with all their inner fury and hatred and generally being what they would be if they were Scourge. But with Berserker, instead of one, there were hundreds. Men, women and even children. Ranging from ordinary citizens, to soldiers of the modern world. Berserker had gotten back up, but realised things were not good. He roared, but it didn't stop the charge.
Berserker was screaming as bigger parts of him were blown apart by the souls. He wasn't able to regenerate fast enough to stop them. He gave a ground-shaking roar again and again, but he ended up destroying his own monsters instead as they rushed in to destroy the spirits. They were all as strong as a dozen Infected, while they were helped out by the Scourge still attacking. Soon, there was only the real Berserker, rushing around with a dozen souls remaining. Kel'thuzad used his Frost Aura to slow him down, and the fight was over. Whatever was left of Berserker was bombarded by more and more Ice and Death spells, fragmenting under the onslaught. His Reality Marble faded, leaving only the Icecrown Citadel.
Berserker was dead.
(7:30pm, Fuyuki Streets)
Kariya kept sobbing. He was a monster. He had only gone there to make Tohsaka pay for hurting Sakura, and instead he…he…
He murdered Aoi. He ripped her apart like an animal. It was Berserker's gift. If he didn't have that, then Aoi might've lived. He had to atone. He had to suffer. But a world without Aoi was too much.
Berserker. He could win the Grail. Then they could bring her back, whole and alive, and no memory of him killing her. It work out. It would work out.
But then his hand glowed. The one with the Command Seals. He looked to see them fade.
.NO! He had a chance! A chance to make things right! And fate ripped it right from under his feet. It took his chance. As he thought that, he wanted to kill himself. He felt his heart slow, his body shut down. He was standing on a rooftop and felt himself fall.
And that was the last thing he remembered.
Mercer woke up in the middle of a crater. He looked up to see that he was in an empty street. He looked back at his memory. Due to the fact he was a Heroic Spirit, he could remember everything about his fight with Saber. He could go and get revenge, but something told him that would go as badly as the first time. Besides, now he could get back to his research without any bother. Why would they care? He wasn't a Servant anymore.
"Sorry about this Kariya." Mercer said to himself. "But if I came back, then you must've tired of this life anyway." He walked off, going to find another place to call home besides the church.
And so Mercer came back to life.
(7:40pm, Fuyuki Streets)
Kiritsugu ran as fast as he could. Just moments ago, flares were fired into the sky above the Fuyuki Theatre. He was nearly blindsided by a large mana consumption, most likely from Saber's battle. He was gasping as he ran down the streets. He'd never make it at this rate. He heard a galloping as Saber pulled up on a motorcycle. Except that it wasn't making any normal noises. It was neighing and was nearly entirely silent. Saber looked down at him for a moment.
"While I admit that we'll never actually get along due to our differences, we can stand each other long enough to finish off Archer." He said as the motorcycle became Invincible. He held out his hand to Emiya. "After that, we can discuss our wishes to our heart's content."
Emiya still felt wary. Hadn't Saber betrayed everyone he cared about for power? Who's to say he wouldn't stab him in the back as soon as they won? But he couldn't really worry about that. Irisviel was in Kotomine's hands. He had no choice but to trust him for now. As he grabbed Saber's hand, he was pulled up onto the horse's back. It reared up before charging towards the Theatre, and Kirei Kotomine.
The final battle was nearly upon them.
(Fuyuki Theatre)
Irisviel looked peaceful as her corpse laid on the table. One would think she was sleeping. But they would be horrified as her body burst into flames. Soon every part of her was burning away, giving off a stench of burnt flesh. After a while of this, a golden cup rose from her ashes. The Holy Grail. The powerful artefact everyone had been all too willing to kill for.
And then black mud started flooding out of it, and a cackle seemed to echo round the room.
There we go everyone. Berserker is down, but as Saber will learn, you can't keep a good Runner down forever. To Berserker, there was nothing wrong with coding himself into Kariya's DNA, to be reborn when Kariya died. After all, he's not using his body anymore. I'll admit that I couldn't think of a way for either side to win. They're both massive armies of undead that just get back up. But after reading about Raging Spirit's effects on the Wow Wiki, I knew that was the key. Mercer had devoured hundreds of people like crazy, giving Saber lots of ammo to use. But still, this fight was why I chose the Lich King and Mercer. To have these titanic kings clash. Hope you liked it.
Also, that 'god-damned pig' line is from Dragonball Z Abridged. I thought it would be funny to include it. Somehow I think Mercer's got a worse idea for it than Vegeta did.