It was hot and sandy, with the heat bearing down on it.
Yet despite being outside, exposed to the harsh elements, it felt no heat nor the cool breeze that came. The sand that blew past it was dismissed.
All it did was move forward. Forward. Forward. Until…
"Metal Reflect Slime! Attack!"
It obeyed.
It obeyed its current Master. Defending its summoner and attacking at the same time.
This was the same throughout the ages.
Serve. Defend. Attack. Serve. Defend. Attack. Serve. Defend. Attack.
It had no thoughts. It had no memories. All it did was copy its foe to be utilized better. It was a tool to the very end.
Just a tool made by a caster to be utilized and exploited. Even when its master fell, another took its place. So the cycle continued again and again, from one age to the next.
"Say hello to Metal Reflect Slime!" No matter the era.
Once more it was summoned. Once more it was a tool. Once more it would co-cop-c*p-#$p-C-c-5CccCpee.
So-s*(mething was wr- !ong. Something ha-haDd changed. Its cor-core.
It ab #orbe* something un-u*(kown. E-E-Exotic. It was…It w $s…
…
…
"Say hello to my E**^Nn G0^# Sli$^!"
Eyes shot open, a gasp is heard, a wheeze soon after. "Au-kuuhh." His back was in pain. His head was pounding. His own stomach felt as if its organs had been pulverized, with his nerves shaking as if they'd been electrocuted"Ugh." Kayneth never felt so vulnerable.
But he was still a magus, and a powerful one at that. This wasn't pure arrogance either, as Kayneth was well-known for his status and lineage. Someone who earned his rank and title. As such, in spite of how shaky he felt, already he cast a few calming spells onto him with a simple healing spell for the body. This would ensure he could make the correct decision instead of overreacting, thus making things worse.
Kayneth soon felt himself growing calm, his confidence returning. Though it didn't change the fact that his body felt less than pleasant. As he felt his eyes adjusting, Kayneth realized he couldn't see anything. It was completely dark here.
"Uhhh." He also wasn't alone.
For a moment a part of Kayneth considered attacking then and there. This wasn't because he didn't know who it was. Heaven's no, he wasn't a fool. He was fully aware that the person likely near him in this darkness was that ill-bred man Kariya Matou.
What a pitiful man.
Unable to stand, looking so pale, limping on one leg. It was rather strange such a sad little man was participating in this war. Certainly Kayneth can't deny the man must have had his reasons, yet to join the Holy Grail War in such pitiful condition? While he was no doctor, Kayneth didn't need to be one to tell Kariya wouldn't last long, even if he wasn't killed in battle.
There's also the fact that in the end, he and Kariya are still enemies. 'But,' Kayneth ceased his hand. 'Even I'm not some honorless swine who goes back on his word.' Matou should consider himself lucky.
Or maybe not seeing as the two were…somewhere. Clearing his throat, Kayneth spoke a single word. Saying, "Lēoht."
From his hand a small orb of light appeared and its brilliance lit up the surrounding area, allowing Kayneth to actually see where he was, though he had his guesses from the texture his hands felt. It was a spherical orb that he laid in, where Matou was a few feet next to him.
It helped that his memories were finally coming back to him. Gripping his head, Kayneth recalled it all. His meeting with Matou, how he and his beloved fiance were about to be partnered up. Then…then…
His teeth gritted down as he remembered. How his feet shook beneath him. The way the ground cracked. How he saw his Servant rush at him and spread into a protective barrier before the building had started breaking. How the Berserker reached for her own Master only to fail as the floor split at that moment. Only Metal Reflect Slime's actions had saved them both.
"Cowardly magus!" Kayneth found himself spitting the words out, beyond enraged. Attacking him without introducing themselves. Just going for the kill without even considering the honor between two magus who fought. "The nerve!" Such humiliation. It wasn't right at all.
Worse, all the effort he made in creating his workshop was laid to waste. With all the mystic codes he brought likely to be destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Many of which he had liked.
'Granted, what matters is that I'm alive so not all is lost.' Even so, the rage he felt didn't go away. As he adjusted himself within his Servant that had automatically protected him, an order he had given it before which seems to have worked out well, Kayneth then felt himself touching something soft and wet.
Kariya was already in his sights which meant-
"Ah, Sola!" How shameful it was to forget about her. A small bit of guilt nagged its way into Kayneth as he now realized his fiance had been caught up in the attack just as him and Matou. Turning to face her, Kayneth needed to see if she was alright. Understanding that like him, she must have been quite shaken by all of this. "My dear, are you alr-"
No more words left his lips as he found himself frozen. His mind came to a complete halt.
Inside the spear, there were three things inside.
Kayneth El-Melloi, Master of Caster.
Kariya Matou, Master of Berserker.
Lastly, Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, the woman that entered Kayneth's life and heart himself.
A woman that, while a bit hesitant to his advances, knew that in time she'd recuperate them once he showed her his charm. His genius. Why, winning the Holy Grail War would change her mind of all those bad opinions she had of him. That scowl turning to a devoted smile towards him.
"..." Or, at least that had been the plan. Like Berserker, Kayneth did not see Sola at all in the sphere.
…Most of her anyway.
Inside the sphere that was his Servant, with him and Matou, Kayneth saw a bloody leg that clearly belonged to her which seeped out blood from the stump that had been cut off from the rest of her body. There were no signs of the rest of her inside the sphere the two men were in, just the stump of her own limb.
It…was very likely that Metal Reflect Slime hadn't bothered to reach out to her. If anything, Kayneth's previous commands to it had been for him, having unintentionally never mentioned her at all. Kariya had just been close enough to be engulfed while Sola…had only managed to get her leg in before the rest had been cut off. Leaving the rest of Sola outside the sphere and alone, among a crumbling building with no additional leg to support her.
Kayneth was a genius. A man of status at the Clock Tower. A teacher that taught the arts to his students. In other words, Kayneth quickly connected what had happened. All of which caused Kayneth to go silent, at the sudden rush he felt in his head. Eyes positioned on the leg and no more than that, not even giving Kariya a single glance.
After what felt like hours, a sudden bile could be felt inside Kayneth's own throat. A sickening dawn accompanied the bile at the same time, Kayneth still touching the bloody leg as some of the blood made its way to his outfit.
Then, lifelessly, Kayneth removed his hand and looked at the blood on his palm. His eyes looked more empty before something sparked in them.
A type of red rage. Where his mouth opened wide and-
…
Outside the rubble, where the hotel lay in ruins,, with bodies all over with some that had been crushed, many had already begun leaving the disaster area. Officers who evacuated the public and kept them back, and magus who used hypnotism to ensure there was no further trouble. As such, this meant that nobody heard what could only be described as a despair-induced scream coming from what should have been a ruined wreck.
This also meant nobody saw the ruins of the hotel suddenly shift before something massive burst from the rubble at a majestic height. One that soon left before anybody could even notice it.
"Master." Except for the lone Lancer who continued watching events for her Master in spiritual form. A rare look of concern expressing herself as she realized what she had just seen. "We may have a problem."
Much of Assassin's mood hadn't changed all that much, and why would it?
He had gone out in an attempt to humiliate and introduce despair to the humans. Glad to see their suffering, their agony. Their own faces twisting into fear and terror at what his other-half would accomplish towards them. All while enjoying the spectacle of two Servants failing to even harm his other-half.
Then everything was turned around when that blasted metal Servant arrived and turned his other-half into target practice. A walking pincushion to mock while the other Servants had the gall to strike at someone that was weakened. The audacity of it all! That wasn't even mentioning how that woman dared to strike him.
It only got worse when his other-half not only failed to increase its power, but then vanished out of nowhere. It made Assassin briefly worry if his other-half had been killed somehow.
Thankfully, after some time cooling off and concentrating, Assassin discovered his unique connection to his other-half did indeed exist still. It was strained, almost overlooked, yet it existed. All of which told Assassin his other-half was alive. He just didn't know where.
Now, back in his useless Master's lair, who had been gathering more children to play with, Assassin mearley grumbled as he watched in hiding at what his Master was doing. In this case, having fun with a drum set.
"Man, this rocks!" While using the arms of a child as the drum sticks with pulled out intestines covering the music equipment on it. Honestly, it puzzled him why people called him a monster when there were people like this.
Still, at least his Master was busy with his toys to bother talking with him instead. The man was a waste of space like any other humans with Assassin having no intention to get along with him. He summoned him and that was all between them and their relationship. He only came back here because he didn't have anywhere to go he'd call a base.
Clicking his tongue, Assassin notes how his Master seemed so simple-minded as the human grabbed a decapitated head and grabbed a knife, all while a shivering child leaked out tears. Honestly, this is why humans should be destroyed. At least he killed them rather than let them suffer in this type of condition.
Just watching this went out to prove that humans truly were unworthy to protect. Yet Number 39 and his master said otherwise. Ugh. Self-righteous imbeciles.
"Oh, hey. Are you back yet Assassin?" Assassin then heard his Master calling out to him once more. Having been doing it for a while, only for Assassin to ignore him. His thoughts on humans were already clear. If anything, he saw no point in speaking with some depraved individual. Better to just cut off any connection between them and never meet again.
'Although,' Assassin found himself looking at Ryuunosuke. Primarily, at his Command Seals. 'It would be such a waste to lose those.' Command Seals that would allow Assassin to do all sorts of things. Including powering him up.
In all honesty, this is why he couldn't completely divorce himself from his Master. Those Command Seals were just too precious to lose. If anything, he needed to find a way to take those away for his benefit. The only question was, how?
'I need some expertise on this, much as I hate to admit it.' Someone from this world that was smart and knew what they were doing. The problem was finding them, obviously. Also convincing them to help out as well. Though that last part could be ignored since Assassin is capable of just possessing the person and 'persuading' them to help by altering their mind.
Again, however, he needed to find someone that had knowledge on these command spells . Who had this knowledge but wasn't threatening to him. Last thing he needed was another human getting in his way. Yuma and his little friends were already bad enough, so no need for a repeat.
So, dwelling on all of this, Assassin decided he needed to find someone that could help free him from this clown so he could use his full potential. His mind sorting through any possible path to support his goal.
"Ah." Thankfully, he had an idea in mind. He just needed to make a quick visit somewhere and all will be well. For him, anyway.
"Send in some of our men to make a quick visit to the media department, then, the news department. Also alter some memories here and there, to calm the mood." Once again the night was nothing but a storm as any calm had long since passed. Risei, ever busy once more, found himself speaking to many enforcers of the church. No, not those enforcers, but men and women who pledged themselves for the secrecy of magecraft.
All of whom were now just as tired as he was. Some had a few bags under their eyes, indicating they had little sleep. Not that anybody else in the city was any different, as another terrorist attack has occurred.
Or, as Risei and those in the know, knew it as another strike against another Master. Even with the ceasefire, it seemed a few didn't listen. Granted, Risei expected such a thing, as magus weren't always keen on listening to the Church, but even he didn't expect this. The complete destruction of a hotel, filled with hundreds of innocent civilians.
And just after an entire city block had been damaged with many dead.
It took a lot of effort to not grip his head and pull out his hair. To go out and find the Master that did this and give a small beating or two. He didn't think anything could be worse than Assassins rampage, but apparently fate proved him wrong.
Now scrambling as fast as they could, those of the church, and even magus from the Association were doing their best to keep a lid on things from going too far. From downplaying events, ensuring the military didn't get involved,and trying to convince the public that it wasn't a terrorist attack as the people are saying it, but an accident. An unfortunate accident.
Yet people weren't stupid.
Naive, maybe. Easily fooled. Give them a plausible explanation and they'd accept it, with suggestion magecraft used to make things easier. But everything had a limit, even fooling people.
The construction site, the park, the city block and now this. Disaster after disaster happening all over Fuyuki city, occuring in such quick succession. Not to mention while noticeable due to the more distinguished catastrophe's, the church has discovered a large amount of dead bodies that the public has yet to discover. Heaven only knows that if the civilians realized this, then any order left would be thrown out the window.
Assuming it wasn't already.
"Mr. Kotomine." A nun called out to Risei, coming right next to him.
"Yes, sister?" Risei asked politely. Even if he was in a rather sour mood, he wouldn't let it show nor reveal any ill-manners. It wasn't this woman's fault, nor did she deserve any scorn. Besides, not like this was the first time Risei had to deal with such a mess. He still had headaches from the third war.
"Someone is calling you." The nun answered him. "They said they wanted to talk."
The Association. Hm, unlikely. So it could be either Kirei or Tokiomi. Perhaps they had something to help him with. "Thank you for informing me." Risei told the nun. "Tell the others I'll be back, I need to answer this." After a quick good-bye, Risei left the woman and entered a private room.
Breathing in and exhaling, letting loose some of the stress he accumulated, Risei walked to a device and spoke to it. The same device Tokiomi had, "Hello."
"Risei." It was Tokiomi, who sounded a tad tired. "I overheard what had happened. I wanted to see how you were doing."
"Not well." Risei answered a bit bluntly, tired. Not feeling particularly happy. Tokiomi clearly noticed this, as he spoke a little more softly.
Telling Risei, "I imagine you have plenty of help."
"Quite a bit." Sitting down, pushing his back against the soft material the chair had, Risei lowered his voice a little while rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Even with the support, we're still having trouble dealing with all of this. I imagine the news has reached you."
"You'd be correct." Like Risei, Tokiomi didn't sound any happier about this situation than anybody else. "While I normally don't pay attention to the mundane affairs aside from my public image and average business, even I can tell the people of Fuyuki are slowly starting to panic."
Much talk was involved on who was attacking this city, with more police officers out on patrol than ever. Countless news reporters were swarming the city's mayor for answers and how they'll respond to the mess happening right in front of them. Even those who hadn't been directly affected by these incidents were starting to shiver that they could be next.
This latest disaster was just putting more kindling in the fire. A fire that threatened to spread and affect not just the civilians of this city, but even the magus that lived here. Tokiomi had received calls from magus who believed him responsible as Second Owner of the land here.
"This needs to be dealt with soon." Risei responded, in no mood to be subtle. "At this point, I'm going to assume that the other Masters will escalate in the belief that if they don't act now, they won't have another chance." Especially since, thanks to the church's own spies, Risei was well aware of two people who had been in the hotel building that blew up.
"I agree." Tokiomi trusted Risei's judgment. While Risei may not have been a magus, he dealt with them on a daily basis. As such, the priest could be trusted in predicting how a magus could act, with Tokiomi feeling the same. "Even so, it's unlikely you calling on them to cease once more will do anything."
"You're right. Aside from you and my son, I understand the others will not just do as I say, even if I tell them the repercussions of their actions." While nobody has made any bold moves in revealing magecraft, their continuous exploits in undermining the other Masters could eventually cause risk in the secrecy. "Which is why I have a favor to ask of you." Risei said.
"...and that is." Tokiomi listened very carefully.
"Meet me in the Church without drawing notice, and inside my private room. I'll have Kirei keep an eye out with Lancer just to be safe." Risei looked at his arm and pulled back his sleeve. What he would do now would break the rules and the oaths he swore. All with the addition that he would rightfully earn the ire of one particular Servant alongside Tokiomi.
The bubbling panic and disorder across the city thought told him the cost if he didn't act though. "I believe we may need Archer and her power to deal with this." He let his words out slowly, letting Tokiomi take the time to process them.
"I'll be there before noon." It was time to deal with the other Servants and Masters personally.
"Father." Especially since his son had just arrived. With Risei getting a bad feeling it wasn't good news.
Seems things are getting real as we calm things down for a bit, all while someone is probably going to die in the future. I did say Kiritsugu's actions had consequences, with such a price now soon to make its way to him as per canon.
In the meantime, Assassin is trying to find ways to be more dangerous while Risei himself suggests a very risky plan that will either work out or cause more harm than good. With the same risks applying to Number 96 as he also makes a choice that could endanger him, yet make it all worth it.