Once again, they climbed the stairs that led to Ryuudo Temple.
The sky had no stars or moon, just the snowflakes highlighted on that dark night.
Shirou and Saber were in front of them, in silence, each step forward was nerve-racking. The darkness waiting for the Master and Servant was something more than an environment. It had form and was an enemy.
"No trespassing..." Jeanne read the fence before jumping over it like the others. "Because of the accident, entry was prohibited. That's good."
"Kirei's work," Amakusa spoke beside her. "Now it's treated as important evidence for coma accidents. The common people must be confused, but they are safe. A good decision. I can feel how wrong this place is without even seeing the enemy."
"Yes. It's an ominous place..." Jeanne knew that the worst was yet to come. "We haven't seen anything else since Kirei Kotomine reported the recent losses, but I'm sure that has more. This kind of statistics always leave some people out."
Amakusa agreed with the fellow saint, but for a different reason. He was sure that Kirei hadn't said the full number, just the enough to move Shirou to the next stage of the play that he was forming to quench his sadistic tastes. He wasn't going to tell the woman that; until now, no one had linked his last name in Trifas's fragment to Kirei's, probably because the last impression was his real name, and a more impactful one.
He preferred to keep it that way. There was no need to return to the relationships of a life long since left behind.
It was like another world when they entered the compound. The sky was still black, but the snow was falling harder and the whole environment glowed in a very beautiful faint blue. It wasn't natural lighting or ambience.
"Impressive!" Nero was speechless. "Certainly impressive!" And then her excitement finally erupted. "I have my reservations about the whole simulation thing, but I have to tip my hat for this kind of setting. It's like being inside a painting and the real world at the same time. It's not exactly the art I love and respect, but at least they tried to reproduce it." Nero realized something in that moment: "Like an amateur, umu! In my festivals, they're not highly-skilled, so I forbade anyone to laugh at these people. Even inferior, art is art, and amateurs have a charm too!"
"Good grief, sometimes you can be frighteningly boring."
"You lack appreciation for art, Casko! Umu!"
Circe found beautiful too, but it didn't change her disappointment with that fragment. If she could, she would have left already.
One would have expected to hear only terrible things about a Holy Grail War, but Circe was always happy to listen to Medea's stories; she had good memories about the war she lost. Medea always cracked a smile telling about the few moments with the man named Souichirou, who was quiet and cold, but treated her better than any other man in her life.
It was the few moments that Circe could see her niece acting like she did when she was young.
That was the reason why Circe came to see that fragment, not because of the battles nor because of Emiya's past, but her niece. Circe always hoped that Souchirou would one day appear as a pseudo-servant. She even hinted at it once and Medea tried to hide her delight at the possibility. But since it never happened, see some moments from the past would be some consolation, at least.
But the worst had happened.
In Circe's viewing room, the disappearance of servants during Medea's death from the fragment made many lose their attention to what was happening. But she kept watching, the only one. She noticed how the two corpses had their arms outstretched, as if they were trying to reach each other's hand. And that made her very sad.
["Sakura has given me a bitter pill to shallow about last night," said Saber.]
Lancelot's frustation with that girl was only growing, but he kept his silence out of respect for his king and the others who apparently had taken a liking to Matou. He didn't hate the girl, not even remotely, she reminded him of the countless maidens he'd encountered during his lifetime. If he was summoned by her, Lancelot would obey with respect, especially because until now nothing about Sakura showed something that could put him against her.
But Sakura seemed to have some beef with his king. And that made him frustrated.
"..." Lancelot sighed and rubbed his face. He was a grown man and a knight above that, but there he was, acting like a child. Not everyone needed to like his king, and it wasn't like Sakura had really disrespected her.
He was back in the same position as when he first saw King Arthur in Chaldea. That was the truth. He shouldn't and if Artoria knew she would be angry, but he couldn't stop the feeling of guilt from overwhelming him.
He had smiled with his Round Table companions, accepted to stand beside Artoria, but he still had stuck in his mind the corpse of Gareth, the rage of Gawain, the fall of Camelot, Artoria's suffering and Bedivere carrying the burden of ending their king's reign — especially the Bedivere of Chaldea who lived endless years dealing with their failure.
Chaldea's life never made him forget, Lancelot just learned to isolate in some corner of his mind.
The fragment changed that.
"Sir!" Gareth caught him by the arm. "Are you okay?"
The Knight of the Lake was embarrassed, noticing eyes on him. Artoria was one of them. "It was only a small slip. I didn't pay attention to these last few steps. Don't worry about me." Their group was one of the last to arrive at the compound.
Artoria wanted to say something, he noticed, but she gave up. Probably out of consideration for his feelings. "The king does not understand the hearts of men. Lancelot almost laughed remembering those words. If Tristan had been stupid for mistaking Arthur Pendragon, he was one of the stupidest for agreeing.
It wasn't her who didn't understand them, they were those who didn't understand her.
Seeing Artoria following the rest, noticing how she gave him one last look, still concerned... how could anyone have the courage to accuse her of something like that?
"Thanks, Gareth." The sadness in Lancelot's smile was unfortunately not successfully hidden. And Gareth noticed as she watched him hurrying to join the others knights.
She wasn't the only one.
"See our King fighting to undo the reign she fought so hard to build and maintain is certainly sad. So very sad." Tristan started talking when he saw Artoria getting a little ahead of them to walk beside Emiya. "You're not the only one here who feels remorse seeing such thing, Sir Lancelot."
Neither Lancelot nor the other knights needed to hear Tristan's harp to know what he felt now.
"It's impossible to let go of the past completely, isn't it?" Gareth regretted not wearing her armor at the moment; the metal would prevent her fingers, squeezing her chest, from causing pain beyond what she already felt inside. "That's just unfair."
Gawain put a hand on his sister's shoulder, trying to comfort her.
"I would say otherwise. It is justice. But only towards fools like us. And "us" does not include you, Sir Gareth. You have no part in our burden. Neither you nor Bedivere." Tristan didn't give either the time to reply, he continued, "You gave it your all, still by our king's side."
"But... I wish I had done more..." Gareth said in frustration.
Gawain gave Lancelot a "do not fall down that dark hole again" look as he noticed the knight almost writhing in guilt.
"I share your sentiments, but you made a mistake, my friend," Bedivere answered. "Unlike the Bedivere you knew, I am a sinner as strong or more than all of you together... the hell I put my King through is unforgivable and even my journey was not enough to make up for it..."
["I failed to protect you because of my inexperience, Shirou."
"I just went and did this to myself."
"The issue is me not being able to stop you from heading into the battlefield." Saber seemed to be more in a state of acceptance than irritation. She was training him for a reason. "But I will fight together with you and protect you."
Shirou had nothing to say about that. Saber wasn't wrong and he didn't intend to change his ways either.
"That is my mission. For Sakura's sake, as well."]
"It's so strange to see our King serving someone..." Gareth was the first to break the silence in the large group, though her comment was only directed at her Round Table companions.
"What, are you blind?" Mordred was confused. "It's the same with Master."
"I know, but it's different... I don't know how to explain."
"I understand Sir Gareth's point of view." Jekyll decided to help the girl. "The war we're seeing is very down to earth compared to the problem called Lostbelt. Or even the singularities before. It is also more similar to what Holy Grail Wars and the Master-Servant relationship was originally meant to be."
Gareth thanked her friend for the explanation that she was unable to gave. Jekyll was always good with words and that made the conversations between them some of the girl's favorites.
"To be entrusted with a sword is to be entrusted with a destiny," Bedivere recited. "Just as we had an oath with her, our King made one with Shirou Emiya. We must respect it just as we demand others to respect ours."
"Hmmmmm..." Mordred crossed her arms behind her head, watching her father and Shirou climbing other pair of stairs to enter the temple. "I find unfair that Father has to deal with this burden. I mean, I respect young mother wanting to fight too, but he should know he doesn't have the skills." Kairi Sisigou had, if he hadn't she would had thrown him into a hole and left him there until the end of the war.
"I kinda agree with her," said Ishtar floating above them. "Shirou's a good kid, but it is a failure as a Master with these choices. His role is to coordinate his servant, not throw himself at the first opportunity to die... look, he need to understand that the heroes here are the servants, not him! He's just risking his life!"
"Lucky him to have Avalon or he'd be dead. Archer said that the contact with the shadow wasn't all that dangerous, but I doubt he would have wake up fine if he hadn't the scabbard." Robin Hood commented. "Like Ishtar said, Archer running around like a suicidal is acceptable 'cause he's a Heroic Spirit. But when you're just a human..."
"He's no different from the fools who came to our island," Stheno said. "For what the kid's worth, he'd be a perfect fit for the era we lived in."
"You lot speak as if Ritsuka is any different." Artoria Alter broke the string of criticism towards Shirou, drawing everyone's attention. Her eyes were fixed on Shirou's back, disappearing into the temple. "Just as you started to see this kind of attitude as courage when we talk about her, it shouldn't be any different with Shirou." She looked at Mash. "Mash probably has a list of Ritsuka's bad choices that caused her to lose a few years of life due to so much stress. Am I right?"
"Yes!"
"You didn't even thought twice before answering!" Ritsuka cried. "Is this how you truly feel about me!?"
Artoria was surprised to see Alter defending Shirou, she expected from the Alter only disgust and frustation towards someone like her previous master. And until now, Alter didn't seem to like him very much, anyway.
"Surprised?" Alter asked when she noticed the gaze. "The boy is incompetent and stupid, but he's not coward. I believe that a worthy Master needs to be on the battlefield instead of scratching his ass far away. If someone is being a burden, it is not him, but you and your incompentence alone."
When Shirou jumped in front of Saber, Alter saw that choice as a sentimental impulse, a weakness. But he saved Rin the same way shortly afterwards. Alter still thought it was stupid, but she respected his conviction. Shirou was brave, everything she needed to at least live with a Master without cutting his head off on the first day.
The knights of course were disturbed by the insult to Artoria. However, the one who said was another Artoria, so they stood there, not knowing what to do.
"You are not wrong." Artoria sighed. "I could be performing better, even with the limitations. But..." She smiled. "I'm glad you're feeling this way about Shirou." He was a important person for Artoria, one of the most important, therefore hearing her companions speaking so badly about him made her frustrated. I can only hope that Alter will be the first in a long list of those who will change their minds...
"Let me repeat. I still think he's incompetent and stupid."
Jeanne Alter snorted. "What a bunch of crap. The idiot conquered you and you didn't even notice. It was the same with Emiya, you nagged him for a week and then started hanging out in the kitchen almost as much as your normal self!"
"W-Why are you saying such things, man-eater!?" Artoria Alter grabbed the other Alter's collar. "Do you want to die!?"
"C'mon, how about we save the flirting between you two for another time?" Jason complained. And he regretted immediately.
"Oh god, girls, stop!" Ritsuka ran towards the two Alter's that had opened a pact of peace to ally themselves in search of the captain's heart. "Jason has a loose mouth, he didn't mean what he said!"
"Am I wrong not to find Shirou's actions wrong, Siegfried?" Astolfo asked. "Of course, it makes you worried, but it's cute. And heroic. He treats Saber more like a human than a weapon. Isn't that good?"
"I agree. I respect the way he acts with Saber too." And he truly did. The memories of his last master were not preasent, so he was a bit surprised to be summoned back to Chaldea and meet that man's son. Goredolf was much different from his father, even with some similar characteristics. "Shirou is a good person."
["Nothing seems strange. How about you, Saber?"
"... Its is the same for me. But I am sure this area is abnormal. We are surrounded by a different common sense ever since we came on this mountain."
Shirou and Saber sneaked around the temple, looking for enemies.]
To their surprise, instead of being placed on random teams again, the fragment only highlighted in their minds the need to follow the pair that had just entered the temple. And they did, finding them quickly, both searching room by room.
"We won't be divided, then..." Ritsuka commented as she fixed her hair with pieces burned by Jeanne Alter's flames.
Mash didn't feel that as a good sign.
"Your Highness, may I ask you a question?" Jekyll asked Artoria.
"It is not necessary for you to call me that, Jekyll. I am no longer a king in Chaldea, just a teammate," Artoria responded with a slight smile.
"Even I wonder what to call her sometimes." Irisviel chuckled. "I'm afraid your knights will look down on me."
Artoria sighed. "If that's the impression they give you, I beg for your pardon. I, myself, tried to convince them to treat me like any other knight of the Round Table. But clearly, it didn't work." She looked at them, walking a few meters back, but they all hid behind other servants.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of, Ms. Artoria. It shows how important you are to them. I'm happy that even after all this time my students still call me teacher." Chiron was pretty proud of that.
"Exactly!" Gawain's voice came from behind, though he didn't have the balls to appear himself.
"Well, I can try to see this way too..." Artoria sighed again. "Oh, sorry, Jekyll. Ask your question."
"Why don't you use your spirit form? It would be very useful in situations like this."
"Actually, I was wondering about this too," Tamamo said. "Even that ugly raincoat would be unnecessary. Is it because Shirou's weird summoning?"
"The raincoat was not that bad!"
Jekyll noticed that Artoria seemed hesitant to answer his question. "Sorry, Your Highness. I don't want to meddle if it's a personal matter."
Noticing Jekyll waving his arms in the air, probably in fear, Artoria thought about what kind of difficulties he had with Mordred. "I'm not Mordred. Don't worry. It's personal, but meaningless at this point. In my war — and this one too, of course — I was no ordinary servant. I made a contract with the Counter Guardian to seek out the Grail. That's the reason why."
Upon hearing that everyone fell silent.
Irisviel already knew about the contract, but remembering at that moment made her notice how many similarities the King of Knights had with the Red Archer. No wonder Artoria preferred to spend most of her time in Chaldea with him.
"Godammit, it's Assassin!" Jason exclaimed.
[Shirou and Saber explored a good part of the temple, finding nothing. The chaos only started when they went behind the temple.
The servant appeared from the darkness, suddenly aiming an attack at Shirou who was thrown into the temple by Saber who at the same time protected herself and counterattacked the enemy. But he was fast and dodged.]
"Nice, Father!" Mordred cheered along with other servants.
["... Saber!?" Shirou composed himself on the ground. Although he wasn't his servant's target, the force she threw him away was quite strong for a human not to be at least stunned.
Saber closed the door to the room that she threw him, trying to get her Master out of Assassin's reach.]
Ritsuka, Mash and the children ran to the door that Saber closed, poking their heads in there to see how the boy was doing and they were relieved to see him okay.
["Shirou! It's Assassin!" Saber roared as she tried to kill the opponent. She didn't hold back on her strokes. "You stay here!"
Shirou got up and ran towards his servant on instinct, but was stopped by two things: the first was the fact that the two servants had already left the area.]
Kuro poked her head out of the room and turned to Saber chasing Assassin. "What is she doing!? Shirou will be alone!"
"It's the only way to guarantee his life!" Irisviel replied. "That kind of servant is extremely dangerous to be around a Master. One small mistake and it's gone!"
[And for the second reason why Shirou couldn't leave the room...]
"Oh no!" Illya said. "Big Brother!"
"What's going on in there?" Boudica ran towards the room when she noticed how stressed the children became.
["What flies into a flame?" A hundred insects formed Zouken Matou. "You do, indeed."]
"Zouken!" Boudica exclaimed upon seeing the man. "Oh no!"
"And now!?" Ishtar screamed. "Where are we going!?"
"Pause!" Ritsuka gritted her teeth. "Pause!"
"Senpai?"
"Damn, it's not working again! I give up using this crap!"
Mash noticed that the fragment wasn't throwing them to different locations as it normally would, nor covering their eyes with images.
Naturally, only the option of following the fight like Lancer and Assassin remained, but this time was a little different...
[In the distance, Assassin threw daggers at Saber who deflected them with ease, continuing her pursuit.
Inside the temple, Shirou picked up one of the shinai next to him. "Trace on!"]
"We're going to have to decide what to watch now!?" Jason complained. "What the heck!?"
Mordred looked at the closed door, listening to the sound of insects and Shirou running around destroying them, and then she looked at her Father disappearing behind a house, along with Assassin.
The decision for Mordred was quick and easy.
"Sorry, young mother, but I'm going after Father!" And she ran to not lose more of Artoria's fight.
"I'm going with her too!" Robin leapt, following the knight.
Irisviel didn't know what to do. She was worried about her friend's fight, but she also worried about Kiritsugu's son. The indecision ended when she saw all the children jumping into the room, worried about Shirou.
The rest of the servants split off in the direction that most interested them.
"Artoria?" Jeanne called the woman who seemed very tense. The saint preferred to stay with Shirou.
Artoria took her eyes off her knights — who only rushed to see "her" fight after her permission. "I feel like I know the result already..." She answered the saint and friend with an expression that Jeanne had never seen in that face before: a mix of worry and defeat so great it made the Ruler almost cry.
Emiya didn't looked interested in any of the fights. He looked around and observed some servants who preferred to stay with Shirou: Atalanta, Tamamo, Raikou, Musashi... Then, he said to his master, "If the worst happens, it will be Artoria's turn to disappear."
Mash and the others looked at Emiya with surprise. Ritsuka, almost scared, walked away from Emiya and entered the room Shirou was in.
"Emiya...?" Mash called.
"She will not disappear," was everything he said before entering the room too.
[Saber's invisible sword took shape as soon as Assassin stopped running. The light that emanated from the now revealed blade illuminated the environment around them and made the enemy servant the only darkness there.
"Oh! So you were hiding your sword with the curse of the wind. I see, you can attack me with mere air pressure from where you are standing."
Saber's only response was a single attack. The windstorm was like a heavenly dragon, its serpentine body winding about to devour its prey.]
Circe windened her eyes seeing that attack. She landed on the roof of a house next to where Saber was fighting. It only took a single glance for the witch to know that it would be a difficult attack to dodge, even before completed. To evade that attack would take more than agility.
"Hah!" Mordred chuckled. "Father won real quick!"
"No..." Bedivere replied in a pained tone. Mordred didn't have the memories of the Sixth Singularity, and she cleary didn't participate on the same team as Hassan before either.
["God is great!" Assassin charged at the wave of vacuum with a yell of delight.]
Astolfo, who was on the roof of the house where the fight was happening, was startled by that unexpected and sudden reaction. If it wasn't for Siegfried holding him, he would have fallen from there.
"What!?" The surprise of Mordred and the others was the same. Unfortunately Bedivere suspicion was right.
[A blow aimed at her neck was almost the end of Saber, but the woman dodged and counterattacked once more. The black figure vaulted overhead to land behind her. In a flash, she turned and slashed behind her, but Assassin had already jumped out of range.]
"Protection Against the Wind..." Scáthach remembered noticing that skill once she fought alongside the man. According to him, it was the only magecraft he knew and it was so rarely used in Chaldea that sometimes perhaps even the servant himself forgot about it. "This skill will complicate Artoria's victory."
[Saber stepped forward as soon as her eyes caught Assassin, there was no time for conversation or stalling.
"Your Master is being entertained by my lord. All I had to do was merely amusing your attention."]
Gawain and Lancelot were nearly breaking their teeth from clenching them so hard. Hassan not only took advantage of their king, but he also mocked her.
Regardless of what they were feeling about the Assassin, suddenly they all felt the same chill that Saber felt. A shiver that was difficult to describe or even understand, it was an abnormal and practilly foreign feeling. If one tried mentally to understand it, probably the best way to categorize it would be as something along the lines of "the feeling of inevitable defeat".
[Before reaching the enemy, the ground of the place was pierced by the same tentacles that attacked Lancer. Needless to say, every single one of the tentacles was focused on Saber, while the black figure just watched.]
"That damn shadow again!" Jason backed away in fear.
Chiron frowned, worried about Artoria.
[From the lake a great wave of water exploded in the house, from where more tentacles came out finally capturing his target. They wrapped themselves around Saber's legs and started infecting her with absurd speed.]
"Artoria!" Jeanne jumped towards her friend when she heard Artoria's scream and saw her legs suddenly lose strength. "Are you okay!?"
The others watching the bugs chasing Shirou turned to the King of Knights.
["Servants cannot oppose that shadow. Even I, one who is close to it, get my magical energy drained if I touch it. As you are pure, merely touching it will make you lose your sanity."
Saber roared gathering all her power to resist the shadow.]
"Father!" Mordred felt the fear and frustration that gripped the King of Knights' heart at that moment.
Just by looking at her eyes, Iskandar's mouth fell open as soon as he realized what Saber was planning. "Impressive as always, King of Knights! You are resisting until you get the strength to tear your own feet to escape."
"What!?" Ishtar exclaimed. "Is she crazy!? How is she going to get out of here afterwards?"
"Crawling if necessary," Circe replied in a serious tone. She had just gained another layer of respect for the woman there. Medea had said a lot things about King Arthur, a mix of respect and envy that could only be aimed at someone admirable. This was the first time the queen witch was seeing the supreme Saber in action. "That shadow is no joke. I'm sure that even the most powerful servant among us couldn't win a battle against that thing. Even I, the greatest witch, would probably be swallowed in seconds."
Chiron shared the same fascination as the rest. He didn't need to listen to the King of Knights' thoughts or even that simulation of her feelings to know what was happening to her. His eyes saw very well how her existence was rotting away from her feet, she shouldn't even feel them anymore, if the teacher had to guess. "Seems like you and Heracles fell in an unfair war..."
["Before you disappear. I will take your heart."
Assassin's deformed arm revealed itself once more, adding bloodlust to the place already gripped by the miasma of death.]
It was a real terror to behold, a situation none of them would want to be in.
"She's doing it!" Siegfried's eyes widened when he realized. "She's managing to fight off..."
The rest barely managed to react to such a feat.
[Zouken laughed at the futile attempts to advance against him, always interrupted by waves of insects.]
"At this rate, he'll die!" Ereshkigal agonized over how Shirou as unable to do anything.
[Feeling that he had gained space for an uninterrupted action, Shirou Emiya raised his hand and his Command Seals glowed a bright red.
"Saber!"]
Atalanta smiled. "Good choice!"
A wave of relief washed over everyone there. For a few moments, they gained the believe that the confrontation would end well.
["Zabaniya," was said calmly and coldly. The very long arm took on a red hue and the target was chosen.
Saber's mind froze. That arm could reach her, and would rip her heart out. Fast and like a thrust of a lance, the attack approached.]
"My king!" The knights' voice filled the ears of the servants present there.
A sound of cutting meat and gushing blood drowned out those same screams.
[Assassin screamed in pain at his now mangled arm.
"Y-You, how dare you do that with that dying body of yours!?"]
"Eat this, motherfucker!" Mordred roared almost as if it was a victory.
Iskandar would laugh, celebrate and admire the King of Knights, but...
"It seems that no matter how many times we met, Saber, I will always look at you with pity," said Iskandar sadly. "I've heard it before from Gray, but now I can see that she was right. The world really seems to fight against you."
[Saber upraised sword fell to the ground. Assassin's cursed arm did not reach Saber.]
"Of course, that wouldn't be enough to defeat a powerful servant like her. But..." Scathach had the same expression as Iskandar.
[That had been the last victory of the King of Knights in that war. Every strength she had to escape the shadow was thrown at Assassin, and now there was nothing left in her.
It was too late, she was becoming a part of this darkness, which swallowed up even the moonlight.
"Forgive me, Shirou..." Even in all that pain, she managed one last, apologetic gasp before sinking into the deep mud.]
Saber's disappearance made Assassin, the place and all servants silent. Even the knights had nothing to said, they could only feel. And if someone really wanted to discover how shocked everyone was, it would just be necessary to look at their faces.
But the silence and shock didn't last long.
"Father!" Mordred jumped out of the house in a hurry, worried about the real Artoria.
[A flash of Sakura writhing on the bed, sweating, appeared into their eyes.]
Ritsuka barely paid attention to that random and strange scene, throwing herself next to Saber. "Artoria! Artoria!"
Whatever was happening to the Saber of the fragment, Artoria seemed to be feeling most of the pain, writhing in Jeanne's arms.
"Is she going to disappear too!?" Atalanta asked, worried.
"Please, not her. Not her!" Ritsuka hugged Artoria tightly.
[Shirou looked at the back of his hand as he realized that not only had Saber not appeared, but his seals were gone.
"It seems everything is done now. If you are a Master, surely you can tell? That your Servant has been annihilated from this world..." Zouken smiled and that time it carried more than sadism — there was the satisfaction of victory too.]
Saber stopped moving. And for a few moments everyone expected the worst, but nothing happened.
"She's fine," Ritsuka said. "She's fine! She just fainted!"
In contrast to the servants' relief, Shirou screamed in fury.
["Bastard!" Shirou yelled as he protected himself from the insects that were advancing on him with much more aggressiveness.]
"Big Brother!" Illya once again held back her tears, feeling the terror of the moment. "N-No!"
"Don't worry, Illya. There are two movies left! The main character can't die yet!" Ruby tried to calm her down.
Mash stared at Emiya after seeing Artoria safe. He had said with conviction that she would be fine, but until Ritsuka confirmed, he was tense.
Emiya was completely focused on the movie now. To be honest, he hadn't taken seriously the possibility of Saber dying in the fragment. This is the first time I've seen a war where Shirou Emiya doesn't have Saber on his side. What are you going to do now? You've lost even the sword who swore to protect you. The only thing who guaranteed your life.
["Then let us end things here. There are still uses for the daughter of Tohsaka, but you are of no more use. You can die along with Saber on my holy land."
Shirou managed to get rid of the bugs and tried to attack Zouken again, but he was stopped by Assassin who threw him towards a distant wall with a kick.]
The Emiya family ran to the boy as if they could help him. Shirou was out of breath and dizzy, maybe he'd hit his head on the impact. The situation was not good.
["You've made it, Assassin. Then I shall leave the kid to you as well. This is an easy task compared to Saber, so enjoy it all you want."
A white, skull mask smiling in the darkness took Zouken's place as Shirou's greatest threat. And with no other option but to wait for death, the boy could only accept the blades that were aimed at his throat, forehead, heart and stomach.]
The fragment had forty-eight servants from Chaldea at that time. Twenty followed Saber and twenty-eight stayed with Shirou.
In hurry and worry, twenty servants were returning as quickly as possible to the temple.
The twenty-eight watched the probably end of Shirou, asking themselves how he would be saved.
And when the twenty servants finally reached the room where Shirou was about to be killed, they were now twenty-one.
[The blades bounced in the air and, pathetically, fell to the ground.
The servant Rider had arrived.]
"Medusa!" Stheno and Euryale exclaimed at the same time.
"Rider?" Emiya widened his eyes. "Why is she...?" But his mind reached an answer before he could finish that question. Good job, Sakura...
Despite the arrival of the other twenty servants, no one paid any attention to them, all too focused on Rider.
["Ri...der...?" Shirou didn't know if he was more stunned by the pain in his body or the unexpected figure protecting him.
"Are you going to oppose me...!?" Zouken was surprised and confused.
Rider barely let the old man finish talking and advanced towards Assassin, starting a fight.]
Medusa blushed upon seeing the entire group roaring in celebration of her appearance. She never expected to see that kind of reaction, not to her, just to Saber or Archer, or anyone else. But not her.
The King of Knights had a heroic figure and was ready to be celebrated, but she was just an anti-hero who would likely be discarded at the start of the war again.
But now even her sisters seemed excited by her presence.
Medusa enjoyed that rare moment for a few seconds. Just a few because she focused her attention on her counterpart. We both know who ordered you to come here. Don't let her down.
[The two servants were dressed in black. The two servants advanced towards each other like shadows. Too fast to be easily seen by human eyes.
The masked figure leaped about the temple. He jumped from the wall to the ceiling, then from the ceiling to the floor, hurling daggers from each position.]
Suddenly the crowd fell silent. Attacks came from all directions, the daggers were simply impossible to block or deflect.
[Shirou's incredulous expression matched the Chaldeans' reaction. He didn't believe she could escape that attack. Rider's performance against Saber showed that she wasn't a powerful servant.
Therefore, the outcome was obvious.]
Stheno and Euryale squeezed Medusa's hands tightly. It hurted like always, but this time the woman noticed that there was a bit of nervousness too. And excitement.
[Not a single one of the daggers had stuck its target. Rider evaded the countless daggers with pure speed, while crawling on the ground, as if saying there was no need to repel them.]
The crowd's voice came back to life with double the strength.
"Yes!" The Gorgon sisters jumped in joy and excitement.
Medusa was happy seeing her normal strenght in action. That battle won't be difficult to win.
["What are you playing around for, Assassin...!? You don't need to go easy on her! Finish this right now!"]
Raikou opened a dark smile when the old man became desesperate. Finally, that disguting existence lost the pedestal he was on.
While everyone else was cheering and watching the fight, the knights gathered around Artoria. Even Mordred didn't seem interested in the fight going on next to them.
"So, are you sure she won't disappear?"
"No, Mordred. For the third time, she won't." Emiya stood nearby while watching the fight.
"She's fine. I don't think it'll be long before Artoria wakes up," Mash said, happy.
["I cannot do that. She is different from before."]
"Hassan of the Cursed Arm is not wrong," Scáthach spoke. "She's performing at the same level as she does here in Chaldea. I wonder why..."
"Kill them all!" Kama roared along with the rest. "Kill the three bastards!"
"Three...?" Parvati sighed. What kind of "cheering" is that?
[Rider dashed forward once more, mimicking the same attack she dodged before — attacking the enemy from all directions at once with bliding speed.
The difference between the two was Assassin not being able to completely dodge or block them as she did. His defense had been broken and from this point on, the Assassin was unable to put his feet on the ground. He just couldn't reach it.
He was punched in the face, thrown away just to come back in the same direction by a kick, and so on until Rider finally gave him a last blow in his shoulder.]
"My lord, have mercy on Hassan..." said Martha feeling sorry for him.
"Holy shit, this is not a fight, this is a massacre!" Jason said in surprise.
[Rider's invisible dagger was stuck in Assassin when he went into despair and threw more of his daggers at the woman who once again dodged with ease. As if she was dancing.
Her body sank lower and she jumped to the roof, forcing Assassin to follow her.
She flew between the pillars with all the grace in the world. The enemy slammed against the ceiling and pillars of the temple with violence.]
"That's metal as hell, Medusa!" Ritsuka trembled with excitement over that scene. "You're amazing! And sexy!"
"T-Thanks, Master..." Medusa replied in a low voice, once again blushing.
[The skull mask let out a scream of anguish. Not saying a word, Rider continued to mercilessly swing Assassin about the room. It was just like a flail.
Unable to do anything, Assassin was smashed against every surface in the room, his limbs bending in all directions.
Shirou had to duck to not be dragged along.]
He wasn't the only one that got down to avoid being hit by Assassin, they all did on instinct.
"Sheesh, Medusa, I'm feeling sorry for him!" Parvati said.
"I'm not. Torture the bastard!" Kama demanded.
[After flailing Assassin to her content, she used the centrifugal force and let go. It was a hammer throw.
Assassin, his bones broken, was thrown to the outside of the temple bouncing and sliding across the floor amidst his continuous screams of pain.
As soon as he stopped, he ran away.
"Fool..." Zouken doesn't express anything but disappointment, following his servant and disappearing into insects.]
"Fan-freakin'-tastic! Another one who let that bastard live!" Jeanne Alter complained.
Emiya understood Alter's frustration, but there was more at stake than she knew. Sakura took a risky choice by going against her grandfather. "You were smart not to let your emotions get the best of you and let those two go away," he said to Medusa as he walked past her.
Medusa could barely react to what Archer said because her sisters pulled her closer.
"You did great there, Medusa!"
A silence fell before them shortly after. The three blushed. Or at least the Gorgon sisters seemed to blush.
Euryale cleared her throat and said, "These gorilla arms couldn't finish him off, though?"
Stheno did the same and added, "Impressive how you can always fail in something so simple, Medusa. I'm disappointed..."
"At least it made up for the embarrassment she put us through at the beginning of the movie!"
"True."
Medusa heard her sisters with a smile. "Sorry, sisters. And thank you."
[With the end of the battle, the only ones left in the temple were Shirou and Rider. The boy got up with difficulty and dragged himself close to the exit.
"Please wait. It's dangerous to go alone." The servant, noticing the boy's act, moved to accompany him.]
"What is this idiot doing wanting to run outside!?" Kuro almost pulled her hair out. "The only thing keeping him from dying right now is Rider over there!"
Irisviel walked beside Shirou, matching his low speed. "He wants to look for Saber..."
["You're Shinji's servant. So why did you save me?"
"My orders are not to let you die. I only obeyed my master."
Shirou didn't seem to believe or care about the answer. Again, he turned his back on her and left the temple.]
"He's really bad..." Ishtar noticed as she floated around the boy, he writhed in pain with each step.
"He has one hell of resistance, I can tell you that." Jason was actually impressed by how Shirou managed to swallow his own pain and keep doing what he needed to do.
"Avalon has no effect on him now that Saber is gone. Am I wrong, Emiya?" Chiron asked.
"Avalon?" Jason asked.
"No, not anymore. Once the conection between the two ends, the healing effect fades away. Now he's back to normal."
"I would say 'back to normal' just in theory." Jekyll analyzed Shirou's physical state. "With everthing he suffered, a normal person would be already lying on the ground and possibly even dead... he's pretty tough."
["Saber! Saber!"]
Shirou's screams echoed in the temple's compound as the group of servants left together.
"She looks fine, Senpai."
Ritsuka listened to Mash's relieved words as she watched Gawain carrying Artoria on his back after placing her there with help from Lancelot and Tristan. Bedivere as worried as the rest made sure to relief everyone from being worried about his king, letting them know that she would probably wake up soon.
The Master of Chaldea felt that the first movie was closer to ending.
[With no other option but to accept the fact that he had lost Saber and his role as Master, he decided to leave.
"I shall see you home. It is dangerous to walk alone at night, even with the enemy gone."
"... What?" Shirou stopped walking and turned to Rider, confused. "I don't get it. Is that also an order from your Master?"]
"Hrnh! As if that little shit was going to give an order like that..." Jeanne Alter said. "Just her being here to help is almost a miracle."
["No, I have received no such command. This is my personal choice. It is a whim of mine, nothing more."]
Come to think of it, Medusa is one of the most isolated servants in Chaldea. She's always on her own... Poor girl. Boudica stared at the woman for a long time, wondering what to do. Well, whatever, it's worth a try. Get ready, Rider, you'll be making new friends soon!
["I see. I'll believe you in that case, but you don't have to walk me home. We're enemies, so I can't get further in debt to you."
"Enemies?" The one who was surprised this time was Rider. "So you still have the will to fight us? Even though you are not a magus and have lost your Servant?"
"..."]
Scáthach smiled. Good choice, kid. Silence can answer the question, so your real feelings and intentions are left to you alone. It's a choice that many should adopt in their lifes instead of talking nonsense.
["Okay. I understand. Then please be careful on your way home."
With that, Rider started walking away from Shirou, leaving him behind.
"... Thanks."
She turned around, surprised.
"Ugh..." Shirou was embarrassed.
"What did you just say?" Rider asked in a strange tone.]
"My god, Medusa, you look scarier after hearing a 'thank you' than fighting!" Ritsuka immediately understood why Shirou looked away nervously.
She blushed, but said nothing. I didn't mean to scare him, it was just genuine surprise. The one from the fragment wasn't the only surprise, Medusa herself was too. She only interacted with the boy in that confrontation at school, so she knew very little about him. I wonder if you truly are the good person she told me about.
["I-I said thank you. I would've died if you hadn't saved me... As you can see, I can't give anything in return right now. So I have to at least thank you."
"Please do not mind. I only obeyed my orders. I will kill you immediately if my master's order changes."]
"Please..." Kama whispered.
"Can you stop?" Parvarti asked.
"Can you go away? Shoo, shoo! There are a lot of servants here, stay away from me."
[With those cold, emotionless words, Rider disappeared through the mountain gate.
"I thought so. That's why I told her I wouldn't take any favors."]
Hoh? It seems I misjudged him a bit. Scáthach followed the boy out of the temple along with everyone. To be honest, he's an intriguing boy that gets even more interesting when knowing who he might become. Honestly, I thought he would only survive this war due to Artoria's presence... but he seems to be adapting to her absence pretty quickly. Let's see how you'll fight from now on, Shirou Emiya.
[The Matou house appeared before the servants, now divided into groups.]
Once the groups were made, Irisviel had to rush towards Artoria to stop the woman from falling to the ground. Gawain who carried her had gone to a different group.
"I thought we were going to continue with Big Brother..." Kuro sighed. Putting her feelings aside, the girl checked who was in her group. "She'll become a burden if she doesn't wake up soon."
"What did you just say, you brat?" Mordred asked in a menacing tone.
Astolfo and Gareth immediately got between the two, not even waiting for any chance of a fight start.
"This isn't the time for childishness! Artoria was attacked by the Singularity, it's a miracle she's still with us!" Parvati exclaimed. "Mordred, you're going to carry your father. And you, little girl, will think twice before saying insentive things to deal with your concern for Shirou. Do you two understand what I just said?"
Mordred and Kuro snorted, but obeyed the woman.
"I was going to carry her anyway, you didn't have to ask..."
"I didn't mean to offend anyone, I just made an observation..."
Parvati sighed, tired. When she felt taps on her shoulder and turned around, she saw Astolfo and Gareth giving her a thumbs up.
[Rin and Archer appeared from the road and entered the house, heading straight to the interior.
"Have you noticed it, Archer?" Rin asked as they explored the first floor of the house.
"Of course. But it shouldn't be harmful. If you choose to ignore it, I will as well. Our target is that monster."]
The groups didn't even have time to process the information or choose to explore the rest of the place on their own as the fragment itself threw them into Shinji's room, the presence of whom the Master and her Servant were speaking.
[Shinji was writing in a notebook. Next to him was books that made it clear that he was studying.]
"Hmmm... I expected a more sinister room," Ishtar commented as she looked around.
Boudica walked over to the boy and took a look at the books.
"German, huh?" Ritsuka said. "No idea what it says though."
The Queen of Victory then walked to Shinji's shelf, analyzing the books there. It had books from many languages. The genres were diverse and many had themes that had nothing to do with the Magecraft's world.
"He seems pretty smart. And hardworking." Boudica said to the others. "All these books... I think he already read them all."
Ritsuka took a look as well. "Wow. He got everything here. All top-notch stuff that would get you into any college in the world. If these books aren't for decoration and he actually read everything... goddammit."
Muramasa shrugged. "Ain't surprised, y'know? What I've seen most in my life were fools who had talents in areas that could be useful to the people, but preferred to pick up a sword and go to the battefield in search of glory. They all die young..." It was a sour memory as many of these idiots would run to their deaths carrying his swords.
"This kind of fool exists in every era. In Britain, the sons of lords let their frustration get the better of their heads and missed out a lot of choices for a better life. Of course, a privilege they only had in the first place because they were born as nobles." Artoria Alter shook her head.
"Guy has no manga here..." Ritsuka complained, searching. "Not even a children's book..."
"I'd rather burn than be a book on his shelf!" Nursery said crossing her arms.
[The fragment, then, took all the groups to where Rin and Archer were now. A basement of the house with a pit full of bugs.
"What the hell is this?" The girl punched the ground. "They called this 'a training room'!? Not a place like this!"]
"What... is this blasfemous place...?"
If Nero Claudius was someone heartless and purely evil, she would find in that stone chamber a specific kind of happiness, one named "inspiration to create a masterpiece." Centuries of paintings by very talented artists tried to decipher what hell should really look like, little did they know they just needed to look at that place.
The murky greenish darkness that engulfed the groups was not dark enough to prevent Atalanta from seeing what existed in the various holes in the wall: putrifying corpses being slowly swallowed by insects. From outside and from inside. In all her years inside Argo, living various adventures, she could count in her hands the number of times something had visually assaulted her in the way that pit had, and not one of those things she saw came close to that.
The place wasn't terrifying just because of its appearance, but the implications of what Rin Tohsaka had just said.
"Training... ground...?" Gray questioned in a low and weak voice. Add didn't even have the courage to say a word.
El Melloi II dropped the cigarette from his mouth, letting it fall to the floor. As much as all those years in Clock Tower had matured him, this was beyond anything he saw before. His mind went straight to Shinji, but the boy was just aggressive and pathetic. Then his mind went to Sakura, but he didn't believe in the possibility of her having entered that place, the girl seemed too kind and sane to had suffered that.
That basement was the old man's bed, he choose to believe. No one could enter that hell and live a life like Shinji or Sakura.
"What the hell is this place!?" Iskandar roared, filled with rage after a long time. "How could anyone create something like this!?"
Scáthach held Mash in her arms when she noticed the girl losing strenght in her legs. "Hang in there, Mash, that's part of human nature too. Specifically, magi."
"I know, but... but...!" Mash had to fight against tears. "How could anyone do that... to another... person...?"
The Shielder didn't even know how someone could train in that place. What was the point? Kill all those bugs while they were trying to kill you?
Kama completely lost control of her body in that pit. What was Sakura Matou and the goddess merged, broke and merged again. The shock was so great that Kama felt that she had been burned by Shiva all over again.
It was a terrible experience. The despair that covered her was formed from three different sources: her personal feelings, the simulated feelings from the fragment and, most importantly, the feelings from her vessel.
Later, the goddess would regret having come to that Singularity, having entered that fragment. Kama felt that her Spiritual Core was hurted by a phantom attack, but that was just her dealing with the sudden shock.
What was really attacked was the Saint Graph. The goddess wasn't paralyzed there, unresponsive, for no reason. She lost ground for Sakura Matou at that moment. If she had 80% control of that body, now she would only have 60%.
In her own group, Parvati felt the terror everyone was witnessing, but the impact on her compared to Kama was nothing. Both her and Kama always knew about their vessel being the same person, and Parvati knew that the girl had suffered a lot, but never had any memory or knowledge of how or why.
Now, she knew how. Sakura, my poor girl, I'm so sorry! That place was Krimi Bhojanam itself.
Euryale and Stheno walked away from Medusa. The two weren't stupid, everything had a limit and now was not the time to tease her, much less stay close to the woman. Not when the Rider was filling the floor beside her feet with her own blood. Medusa was destroying the palm of her hands with her nails. The only way she found to endure the reality before her and the others servants.
"What a disgusting and desperate method for power..." Reines stared at the pit with disbelief. She had seen many things in her life dealing with magus, but that was a place on par with Dead Apostles.
Emiya shared the same reaction as his counterpart. The impact was the same, but he was less shocked than most there. The place was really a nightmare in the real world and paying attention to Rin's words only made it worse. How many times Shirou Emiya come to this house to play with Shinji Matou and didn't notice what was under his feet?
Emiya averted his eyes from the bugs to Kama. The goddess seemed to be affected beyond the natural shock. He decided to pay attention in case she needed help.
["Do you despise me? How I tether my rotting body with the lives of others..."
"No. How you're obsessed with life is what makes you worthy to be my lord."]
No one had the energy to react to that scene.
[Instead of being teleported to another place, their vision was covered by a black world where Saber floated, alone in all that pitch blackness.
"Have I lost?"]
The Knights of the Round Table widened their eyes. They didn't know if they were surprised or happy to see their king again, since they thought her participation was over.
["It cannot be!"
"Don't bother!"]
"Wait a sec..." Jeanne Alter would recognize that voice and tone even if she were deaf.
["That is the Holy Grail! In order to seize it with my hands, I...!"]
Lancelot closed his eyes, no longer having the strength to see the rest of that scene. Sadly, the scene remained visible even after closing his eyes. It was almost torture.
The epitome of frustation and self-hatred happened with the knigths right there. See the King of Knights, the famous King Arthur who they followed with so much love and faithfulness, a figure so powerful and hopeful, now crawling through that darkness desperately, seeking a Grail, a miracle to undo her existence... was something that would get stuck in their Saint Graph and mind, whenever or wherever they were summoned.
["I'm telling you, don't bother with it."
"Who is it? Don't get in my way—"
As if looking into a broken mirror, Artoria Pendragon found a distorted reflection of herself.
"Who is it, you ask?" That dark figure smiled. "That's something that should be obvious with one look."]
Jeanne Alter would normally yell "That bitch, she's in the movie!?", but even she wasn't in the mood to say anything.
Artoria Alter didn't need to be in the same group as Jeanne to know her reaction. However, although visually she and that thing were similar, she already knew that they were completely different existences.
[Shirou dragged himself until he arrived in his house. There, Sakura was waiting.
"Senpai. Where have you been? You're injured again like that! Please take care of yourself more!"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. And... at least, I'm home. Sakura.]
The servants were all together in that scene, but none of them opened their mouths to say something. Somehow that fragment was more exhausting than many singularities they've been through, even without a single combat so far.
[Hey, Kiritsugu... I don't get it. What do I have to do in order to become a hero of justice?]