Chapter 8: Identity

The actions of his sister had sent everyone into a frenzy, but perhaps none were more worried, or personally involved, then Kuro. Even now, he was moving around the workshop he had set up in a nearby abandoned factory. This was to make sure that they had a chance. They knew they would never be able to break in on their own, Ayumi held too much of an advantage. But at the very least, they could use the others as decoys and get in, and maybe even steal the Holy Grail itself. But they knew that Kuro's sister could not be allowed to continue with her machinations.

With that mindset, they had left the workshop and were heading towards the building. Everyone seemed to be off the streets, and hte city felt darker tonight. So far, there hadn't been any more pulsewaves, but who knew how long that would last. Everyone seemed to be out in force, all of them planning to hit the building and either stop the transfer or steal the Grail for themselves.

Kuro was monitoring all activity, and he had sent some things ahead for their arrival on the battlefield. So far, the only servants he couldn't locate was Assassin and Lancer. Assassin was within expectations, but Lancer was surprising. He had detected network activity regarding to Berserker, Saber, Rider, and Archer.

Castor's magical aura was a bit odd, having dipped and blipped a few times and Kuro had lost their signal repeatedly.

This was definently a sign that the next battle, or series of battles, would be massive. After all, it was unlikely that the servants would all work together. Lancer for sure would not, and Saber's group had the most to lose.

Still, with Kuro's "acquired" merchendise and his plans, he hoped to come out on top. Shiro was a bit concerned about some things, but both were getting ready to deploy.

"Preparations are underway, I set things up to be ready for our arrival" Kuro mentioned as he and Shiro began to get ready to move out. However, Shiro quickly pulled Kuro out of the way as a magical blast nearly hit them both.

"So you are Kuro Kurogami? I suppose seeing is believing" Waver said as he stepped out into the spotlight, Flat right next to him.

"Castor...tsk, they cloned their signals!"

Kuro realized what had happened immediately, and placed a barrier around himself. Shiro stepped forward, taking out a large invisible sword.

"You have quite the strange strategy, attack us instead of the one currently stealing the grail".

"This was the first time we were able to detect your movements. As such, we couldn't let this chance slip by".

Normally, Kuro and Shiro used a lot of various methods to mask their pressence, and even more to keep their home base a secret. Due to the situation, they were rushing things and couldn't take as many.

Shiro immediately appeared behind the two, slashing through them both. However, both were actually illusions, as Flat appeared above them both in the air, unleashing a high powered magecraft attack down on them.

Kuro kept up his barrier, while Shiro dodged or blocked the attacks and even sent one right back at Flat.

However, that was when Shiro noticed it. The sword, which used to be invisible, was now covered with some sort of paint like substance. It seemed to force the sword to appear in front of them, revealing its truth.

"As expected, that sword is Excalibur" Waver muttered from the shadows, audible enough for them to hear however. "However, that was a teleport, and those abilities you have seen so far, are not one of the Saber Class. You are a Castor Class...a Castor who can use Excalibur? There is only one person who fits that description".

Flat appeared behind him, unleashing a powerful magical blast but getting blocked by the sword, which sent the attack right back at Flat and hurt him a bit as he floated back into the air.

"Your true identity...its Merlin".

Shiro chuckled a bit.

"You serious? How interesting, what a strange theory".

"There are very few people who can use Excalibur. You are not Arturia, and Gilgamesh was summoned as Archer. Considering all the abilities you have shown so far, as well as not overwhelming Lancer with a sword alone, you are not a Saber or even a weapon class. Castor is the best fit for you".

As that was said, suddenly chains shot out of the ground and attempted to ensare Waver, but he was able to dodge.

When did he summon these? No, with Merlin, any Magecraft or Magic could be possible.

"Interesting theory. However, is that really the correct answer?"

Making us doubt it? No, this might be a mind game. Making us think he wants us to doubt it, when in fact he wants us to accept it...but that would mean he isn't Merlin? No no, this is a mental trap.

"Be careful Castor, he is attempting to use psychological tricks on us".

The two clashed again, the magic sword against Flat's magic. It created a rupture that caused quite a bit of reverberation in the area, but thankfully this was a factory district and it was shut down right now.

At that point, several magical attacks rained down from the sky upon Flat, but he was able to block them all. And yet, he still took damage suddenly.

"It seems you are quite skilled" Flat mentioned, teleporting away and healing his own damage.

Master, we have an issue. I cant sense the magical energy he used in that last attack. I only noticed it because I saw a reflection of it in a window, but I couldn't identify a source.

I am having similar difficulties. Is this actually the work of a Noble Phantasm? We dont know how many Merlin might have.

Waver felt there was something that was bugging him though. He had been so certain of his deduction, however whenever he saw and heard Merlin speak, something was nagging at him. As if there was more to this he was not seeing.

Something about this whole situation seemed quite off. But he wasn't sure what it was.

Flat unleashed several magical blasts at Shiro, but he ran up the wall while utilizing a shield that blocked magical attacks completely, and slashed at Flat. Flat was able to dodge, however he looked at it quite curiously.

"What exactly is this? The flow of magical energy..."

Before he could continue his thoughts, several more projectiles rained down upon him. Another bombardment from above. He had been so focused on avoiding the close range attack, that several of them hit him cleanly.

And yet, something was bothering not just him, but Waver as well.

Unless...is this a distraction?

Waver quickly got up to a high point, and looked around to see what he could find. That was when he saw it, the city in all its glory.

"Tsk. They already escaped" he muttered. Soon afterwards, the entire area suddenly began to fritz out, as if it was a malfunctioning computer screen, before derendering and showing the reality: those two were already gone. What he had seen was a totally empty city before the spell faded, just background art basically. It was obvious the two had run off some time ago. "No wonder the magical energy couldn't be sensed. They had been using long ranged attacks and fled at some point".

"...but why did they run? If I am being honest, I think we were at a disadvantage. I couldn't even tell there was an illusion at first, the Castor is quite skilled".

"No, it looked like this was Kurogami Magecraft. He utilized the lights of this entire area to create a virtual space. Considering no damage was transfered over, it might actually just be a Virtual World Reality Marble".

"Magecraft plus computers. The Kurogami Household is quite adept at utilizing modern times".

"In return, their house barely stayed afloat before technology developed to this level however".

However, even then, isn't this too strong? We were ambushing them, how did they establish a Reality Marble? Unless...Merlin's skill, iv read about this, is Hero Creation. Dont tell me...that is his plan?

If Waver was right, then those two might unexpectedly be the final boss...but that was only if he was right.

There was still something bugging him. Something in his head, telling him his deduction might not be correct.

That there was a crucial aspect he was missing from all this.

I will have to head to the battlefield, and see for myself.


"Energy levels are steady. The Grail will soon be transfering into our position" one man stated in a command room, as Ayumi entered and watched over the process. "Energy levels have exceeded our bounded fields however. Several powerful magical signatures are already on their way here".

"Who will arrive first?"

"We have confirmation of Rider and Saber...wait, we just got a massive spike at the entrance! Berserker has appeared!"

"Out of nowhere? How did he get around our sensors?"

"Unknown, but with this much force, he is preparing an attack!"

"Deploy the automatons. See if they can take him out, or maybe even just go and use a command spell".

Berserker Classes typically had to reserve their Command Spells more then anyone else, because of the fact that they needed methods to bring them back from their madness. Otherwise, it could get dangerous for both Servant and Master.

"Ma'am, Rider appears to plan to fly past all the defenses and reach the upper floors directly".

"Archer will take care of them".

At that point, a new monitor appeared, showing a hooded figure.

"Ruler. They have arrived".

"They might view this as an attempt to use two Grails in a Grail War. They might not take kindly to that sort of action".

"Well, in this, everyone seems to have some sort of secret, some hack they implimented".

As she said that, she sat in her chair and touched her bandaged arm.

"Archer, rain down the hell of Babylon upon them all".


Ruler, who watched as the forces began to clash, sighed.

"It appears that the intro to the Grail War will soon reach its climax. I doubt I can keep my identity hidden for long. And that is when the true Grail War will begin".

That was when Ruler spotted something else.

"...hou? So that is the 8th Servant? I understand now".

Ruler smiled, awaiting the arrival of the 8th.

"I wonder if anyone can even remotely fathom the truth that is about to happen in this Grail War?"

As Ruler said that, they watched the new battle that had begun.


Rider flew upwards towards the tower, only for an array of Noble Phantasms to be fired at him. They were able to dodge, but the attacks kept coming and coming.

"You will not tresspass upon my domain, Rider".

"Hmmf! We will see about that, lightbulb boy!"

Gilgamesh responded to the insult by launching an all out attack upon Rider, but Rider was able to dodge all of it.

And yet, the building itself seemed to activate its defenses, as beams of energy were fired right as Astolfo. However, suddenly a Noble Phantasm activated, blocking all magical attacks and preventing the blows as Rider focused on the areas that the attacks fired from and destroyed them. Gilgamesh continued to harass him, but it was no use as Rider was simply too fast and too evasive.

Rider then proceeded to attack Gilgamesh with a flurry of attacks, but GIlgamesh countered and managed to score a hit even, knocking Rider away. He then thrust forward with his own lance, planning on skewering Rider...only for a barrier to completely stop his attack.

"...to think you would have something capable of stopping my attack. And here I thought that barrier just worked on magical attacks".

"I have way more surprises then you would imagine!" Astolfo said, as he got behind Archer suddenly and struck at his back.

Archer however quickly disapeared, and Astolfo's barrier took a hit by a different attack. A lance that had come out and attacked with full force, even putting a dent in the barrier. It then flew back into the hands of the one who threw it, Lancer.

"Did you really think your plan would work, mongrel?" Gilgamesh stated, as countless gates of babylon opened up.

Archer then surged with magical energy, and even more gates opened up as an all out assault began. The barrier around the building repaired itself in the meantime, but Rider was far too busy to disrupt it. Even with both him and Lancer, Gilgamesh was attacking them both with his full force, preventing them from doing little more then dodging.

Astolfo was not someone who gave up easily however, and quickly teleported behind Gilgamesh to strike. Gilgamesh attacked him first, but the barrier appeared again as Astolfo's cape glistened in the wind, his magical energy striking through and doing critical damage to the enemy.

What is this...this barrier? I didn't sense him actviating a Noble Phantasm at all.

Astolfo was a powerful servant, not that GIlgamesh truly thought that. However, he was having difficulty understanding their attacks and abilities. For some reason, it was as if Astolfo wwas able to use multiple Noble Phantasms at the same time.

Gilgamesh found it annoying and odd, and launched an attack on Astolfo with far more strength then normal. HUndreds of Noble Phantasms, raining down upon them from all directions. No place to run to, evade, or escape. And yet, these hundreds of Noble Phantasms were blocked by that barrier. In fact, it appeared to be blocked by two.

Rider's Master stood atop the building, watching this fight.

"Astolfo...its time we kicked this up to the next level, isn't it?"

"Yes Master" Astolfo replied, as he gathered a huge ton of magical energy and attacked Gilgamesh with everything he had, protected by the barriers. Lancer came from behind, the attacks on her having lessened since Astolfo got so much focus. However, Gilgamesh just raised his lance as he made an all out attack. Suddenly, all those gates of babylon reappeared around them, and the noble phantasms were shot out with the greatest of intensity and power. So much destructive power, it wounded Lancer and even pushed Astolfo back.

And yet, Gilgamesh still found himself struck in the back with a serious hit. The attack had so much force, it even cracked his armor and wounded him, making him cough up some blood. And the culprit was...Elle Puc, who then hopped on the Gryphon with Astolfo.

"...impossible...there is no way a master can injure..." Gilgamesh started to say, but then he saw something that truly turned the tables on his expectations.


"Confirm! What the hell am I looking at?!" Ayumi Kurogami shouted, raging at what she saw before her. "How did we miss this?! How is this even possible?!"

She threw her drink to the ground in rage, as her subordinates checked their data.

"We are confirming visuals now...but it appears to be genuine".

"Checking with our spies in New York now".

"Magical readings are...confirmed".


Meanwhile, at Director Hashiyama's base, they were also in an uproar.

"Confirming data and appearances. This is impossible though...how did this happen?!"

The second in command watched in shock at what was displayed on the screen in front of her, something so outlandish she couldn't fathom it.

"Ma'am, the image is genuine! This is confirmed!"

"...to think something like this would happen".


"What the hell?!" Mila shouted in rage. "I knew this Grail War was going to be abused like crazy, but how is this even possible?!"

She then looked over at the workshop.

"Prepare the weapons faster! Tsk. We all attacked the wrong person. Gilgamesh might be a monster...but this is just cheating".

She was visibly upset by this development.


Assassin meanwhile, watched from a distance.

"SHould I do something about this?"

"Rider is of no concern" the artificial voice told him. "Instead, its time to get something else done while we have the chance".

"There is a more important target?"

"Yes, I finally have a location to soemthing I have been looking for. A very important object we will need. And something else we will really want".

"Understood. Where do I go?"


Ruler meanwhile looked on the situation with some amusement.

"To think, you would pull something like this Rider...no, Riders".


Where Gilgamesh had managed to lay a scratch, on the Glove of Astolfo, there was now a tear. But through this tear, something impossible could be seen. Command Spells.

Astolfo possessed the Command Spells. In other words, Astolfo was not the Servant...but the Master.

And as for who Astolfo summoned...

Elle Puc...or rather, Jean D'Arc, stood. Abandoning her disguise for her battle attire, she was now with Astolfo in full force. As Noble Phantasms rained down on them, the barrier created from her flag protected them both.

Astolfo just smiled, and glared at Gilgamesh.

"You wont be standing in the way of true love! We will have our wish granted!"

The wish that Jean D'Arc and Astolfo shared, their final bit of unsettled business, the thing neither of them could just let be...the fact that Sieg was trapped in the Reverse. And not given his true happy ending.

And for that reason, Astolfo had not been the servant who was summoned, but instead became a Master in this Holy Grail War.

And summoned Jean DArc as Rider.