Fate Alternative T

by Rinaru

The air was laden with smoke and ash, the sparkling sound and heat of the flames, the smell of burning flesh. The first thing he saw was that hell, it is the first thing remembers, because all his past life was burned in that accident. Or so he believed... Bright and forgotten flashes began to resurface from those memories... One word echoed loudly: Muramasa.

13. Chapter 10, The Wild Hunt

Disclaimer: FATE does not belong to me, all its history and characters belong to Type-Moon.

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Chapter 10, The Wild Hunt.

Several weeks had passed since Shirou's date with Gray.

At this moment, Shirou was in the dream world, and he was having what is known as a lucid dream, or in short, he knew he was inside a dream, but… was it really a dream? No, probably not, and how did he know? Well, because he had never dreamed of his past before the fire, so more than a dream, it was probably memories, and not his, but her.

Shirou was in a park in a residential area, and indeed, this was the same residential area where he lived before the flames consumed everything, and he was sure of this because there he was, or rather, a younger version of him.

A young Shirou was playing in that park. The boy had a bandage on his face, which was full of dirt, and in his hands was a baseball bat, which surprised his adolescent version since he never felt a particular fondness for the sport. On the other hand, a few meters away, there was a girl: she had black hair, combed down, which covered one of her eyes, her visible eye was blue, and she had a slight smile on her face.

"Are you ready, Shirou!?" said the girl holding a baseball.

His younger self smirked, "Throw it at me with all your might, Tachi!"

That name caused terrible pain in his chest, "T-Tachi, no…Tachie."

That girl was one of his neighbors, whom he had known for quite some time, and if he used the clichés of the manga that Caules had lent him, then she would be something like his childhood friend. And, due to the accident, he had forgotten about her until now…

The teenager watched as his younger version played baseball with the girl. These dreams had begun to show since his last meeting with Manaka, and, speaking of the King of Rome, here she was, a young Manaka who had just entered her teens. The young girl was a little older than Shirou and Tachie and was holding hands with a girl the same age as his younger version, both of them had entered the park, and the blonde let the brunette go to play with the rest of the children.

Pamp!

A loud bang was heard, and turning his gaze, he saw his younger version crash to the ground. It seemed that little Shirou had been distracted by the entrance of the three girls and did not see that the ball, which had been thrown by Tachie, was headed towards his head.

"Shirou!?" Tachie yelled as she walked up to his younger version, "are you alright!?"

Shirou nodded slightly, "Y-Yeah."

"What are you talking about? You have a lump forming!" Worried, Tachie said, "I-I'll go get your parents, wait for me here."

So, his friend went to another place...

His current version couldn't blame him, because Manaka looked like a porcelain doll, and that would amaze any child, but, what should have caught the boy's attention the most, should have been Manaka's companion:

She was a dark-skinned girl who wore a white dress and had a kind of attractiveness that the boy couldn't describe, and both her hair and her eyes were violet. The girl stood several meters away from any form of life as she looked around her with a surprised expression, the only person she seemed to be able to get close to easily was Manaka.

Maybe the young Shirou couldn't know it, but his adolescent version could assure that this woman was dangerous, absurdly dangerous. And, even knowing this, he couldn't help but watch as the younger version of him went straight to talk to both girls. For a moment, he was surprised at the situation, the extravagant woman stayed behind while the two children seemed to be talking, and apparently, it was for a good reason because Manaka barely spoke. It seems that his thought about Manaka being a doll was much closer to reality than he believed; however, the redheaded youth kept trying to have a conversation with the blonde youth.

Suddenly, the world began to whiten, it seemed that the dream was beginning to disappear, and the last thing the teenager could see was, at first, his futile attempt to relate to Manaka.

The boy opened his eyes, and there he could see little Fou licking his cheek, he usually accompanied Altrouge, but most of the time, he kept sleeping in the apartment to avoid both unwanted attention and to recharge his energy and maintain it more easily. It seemed like, being in his true form, Fou used up a lot of energy, and in a healthy world, getting it back wouldn't be a problem, but, in the current state of the world, getting it back costs more than expected. Recharging his energy was not something that would drain the life of the world, far from it, as it would take several decades for the world to die completely, even if Fou abused his power; however, as the Beast of Gaia, Fou tried to take care of his progenitor as much as possible.

"Thank you, Fou."

The little animal was in charge of waking him up on those days when fatigue overcame him. The young man turned his gaze to the person next to him, her face was inches from his, and he blushed when he saw her. She could constantly tease him, but those jokes worked for an obvious reason other than his inexperience with women: he really did find Altrouge very attractive, to say otherwise would be lying to himself.

Clearing his mind of thoughts that would get him into trouble, he got up and set about making breakfast.

But it wasn't just that, he could tell that many girls he knew were attractive in his eyes, some had different attractions, like Luvia and Rin, but that wasn't the important thing. There were relationships that he could easily define, such as his friendship with Ayaka, as well as his friendship and alliance with Luvia; however, there were slightly more complicated relationships, such as his relationship with Rin, and even so, at the bottom line, he could come up with an answer, however hard: he admired her diligence, as well as, at times, her stubbornness, and, at least for now, mostly admiration was what he felt for her.

Lastly, there were relationships that he just couldn't put into words: His relationship with Gray, with Altrouge, and, in a sense, with Manaka, were relationships that were just too complicated to define.

His relationship with Gray was strange from the beginning, this was due to the bond created between them thanks to Avalon, and although at present he knew why he felt that strange sensation of comfort around the girl, the knowledge of how and why the relic worked, did not make it easier to understand their relationship. Ever since he discovered that their bond was a consequence of Avalon, the redhead had been somewhat afraid that, if the sheath disappeared, the relationship between him and the gravedigger would disappear with it; however, the young man believed that, at this point, with or without the sheath, their relationship would hold. He wouldn't deny that proving this was one of the reasons he offered to give Avalon back to her, but that didn't matter anymore, because something changed that day after they both talked on the Ferris wheel, and not just for him, because Gray also acted differently when she was together with him, and this was not something Shirou only had noticed on his own, as Svin and the professor had mentioned it as well. Thus, another feeling began to grow within him, was it the desire to protect Gray that he shared along with Svin? Or was it something else? He didn't know, he had theories about it, but at the moment it was too early to risk jumping to a conclusion. So, in short, only time will define his relationship with the girl.

On the other hand, his relationship with Altrouge was just as complicated, maybe more so. Now he knew that his survival in the fight against the Princess was not by luck, but that Altrouge was desperate when she met him, and it was his stubbornness, as well as his desire to create a sword that could cut fate, to which the Princess held on to keep from sinking. And at first, it was just that, a mutual dependency, but it was logical that their relationship would evolve:

The reasons why their relationship had changed over time were the Princess's "unnecessary" actions, since considering what she wanted out of their relationship, she didn't need to help him deal with the things he had found out about Kiritsugu, and she also didn't need him to be able to read the environment, and, much less, it was a priority for her to help him with the problems of his past, and yet she decided to help him with all this.

Now that he thought about it, the things Altrouge had done for him were similar to what Rin had also done for him; however, there was a difference: unlike Rin, he and Altrouge shared a secret, one hidden in plain sight. It was obvious that the life of the world was coming to an end, but whether it was due to political struggles, conflicts of interest, or for any other reason, everyone seemed to want to avoid the problem in one way or another, and both, normal people and magi, were the same in this regard, and, that said, their secret was simple but unthinkable according to current logic: They would deal with all these problems, and this meant that they had to find a way to heal the world, deal with the despair that plagued living beings, and face the Ultimate Ones and the Harvest Star, and all of this they would do together, this secret made them confidantes, and just as she had cared for and supported him, Shirou wanted to do the same for her, he wanted to be there for her and support her when she needed it, and that made a deeper emotion begin to rise inside him.

So, when he tried to define their relationship, he was met with the same unsatisfying answer: only time will tell.

Finally, there was his relationship with Manaka, and he was clear about what he felt for the girl: fear, or at least he thought so. Since he met her for the first time, he feared her, she was the manifestation of that hell that accompanied him, and it may be that, with time and the change in her appearance, his fear had progressively diminished; however, even so, he knew there were things she was keeping from him and, above all, she was absurdly dangerous.

However, the boy had realized something: maybe a large part of him had died in the fire, but apparently, a small part had survived. His memories may be gone, his soul may have been left mostly empty, and yet the part of his soul that harbored his feelings somehow remained intact. The pain that speared right into his heart at seeing his childhood friend play with him, the pain of hearing her name again, was proof of that, and this didn't apply only to her, but also to Manaka.

His logic, his instinct, and basically everything he'd learned in the last few years told him to stay away from the girl, but those feelings that hadn't been consumed by the flames told him that she was his friend, just like Tachie... and because of this clash between logic and feelings, he couldn't define their relationship either.

"Hmn… that smells good…" Altrouge woke up to the smell of food.

"Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

This was usual for the two of them.

"We'd better have breakfast soon and head to the station."

Altrouge nodded, "The Marbury's Workshop, right?"

"Yes," Shirou served the breakfast plates as Altrouge took a seat at the table, "Professor Wills from the Faculty of Spiritual Evocation asked the professor for help investigating his late father's workshop."

"There were multiple murders the last time the workshop was active, weren't there?"

Shirou nodded, "Among the dead is Professor Wills's father. Perhaps because of this large number of murders, and as it was a request from an authority in the Faculty of Spiritual Evocation, the professor decided to ask several of us for help."

"Who else will come?"

"In addition to us, and along with the professor and Gray, they will also come: his sister, as well as Caules and Sieg."

"Why did he ask us for help? And why those other two?"

"Hmn… I think, in our case, it's because the professor saw Neocaliburn since I had to use it against Gurdoa. He asked me about this one and what I told him was the same as what I told Rin, and this one, being a holy sword, has strong effects against evil spirits, so that must be why he asked for our help. As for Caules, even if his talent lies in Bioelectric Magecraft, his family is known for Spirit Evocation, so he must have some talent in that area."

"I see…"

Saying this, and after grabbing their things, they both left the apartment, along with Fou, who had climbed on the Princess's shoulder.

After several minutes, they arrived at the London train station, and there were those already mentioned, along with another man.

He was a tall man of similar height to Lord El-Melloi II, his hair was blond and his eyes were amber in color. Lastly, he was wearing a formal white suit.

"Professor, we have arrived…" said the boy.

The young Lord nodded, "Well, with this, we can go to the workshop"

They all greeted each other and, after a few minutes, they got on the train, and within this, the group was divided into smaller groups, although they were all so close together that they could easily hear each other.

"Lord…" Wills spoke up.

"Is something wrong, Wills?" asked the young Lord.

He nodded, "There is something I must inform you about: The main branch of the Codrington family reported to Legislation."

Waver, who was drinking tea, ended up choking on its contents, "W-What? Is Legislation involved?"

"Oh…" Reines smiled, "if Legislation gets involved and judges against you, then you could lose ownership above the workshop, right?"

Wills nodded, "That's right, and if that happens, the main family will get the right above the workshop."

The young Lord covered his face with one of his hands, "It had to be Legislation..."

"Is there something wrong with Legislation?" Altrouge asked Shirou.

"They're supposed to be the ones keeping the secret of our world. Luvia once told me that the professor had clashes with some members."

"I hope this trip won't be too bumpy," Caules said.

Shirou smiled uncomfortably, "I'd like to say that there won't be any problem, but... it's unlikely."

"Do you think something bad will happen?" Sieg asked.

"Well, the last few times I've helped the professor, I've ended up facing something dangerous every time."

After a while, the group reached their destination and left the train station. Finally, they started their way to the Marbury workshop.

"L-Lady Reines, are you alright?" Gray asked worriedly.

"Y-Yes, I just need to…" Reines said as she covered her eyes with pain.

"Here, my Lady," Trimmau said, a mystical code for Reines, handing her a container of eye drops.

Trimmau was made of quicksilver and resembled a maid in an old uniform, and also, like a mystic code, her intelligence was limited to the actions a maid was supposed to do.

"A mystic eye?" Wills asked.

Waver nodded, "Yes, the mystic eyes of Reines change color and turn red when they come into contact with magical energy. The leylines must be more unstable than we thought."

"Professor, that is…" Shirou whispered.

Waver looked in the same direction as the redhead, and there was a rune and not exactly a modern one. I see... Then, the young Lord looked at the sky, it was getting cloudy, "The element of the wind is moving violently, it looks like it's going to rain, we better hurry up."

After several minutes, the group reached the workshop.

"Ah… ah... ah..." Waver gasped as he leaned over for air after running for several minutes, "I didn't think we'd have to run so much."

Caules was almost as tired as Waver. Reines and Sieg were much less tired than the previous two. And Gray, Altrouge, Shirou, as well as Wills, were not tired at all.

Gray was holding Lord El-Melloi II, who was gasping from lack of air.

"I think you need to do some exercise, my dear brother," Reines sneered, "you are a very weak young man."

Waver would have answered her if he had had air in his lungs.

"So you're here at last," said a voice from the second floor, and, after those words echoed through the lobby, a snake appeared out of nowhere and wrapped itself around Wills, turning into bandages and causing him to fall to the ground.

This was enough for Trimmau to get in front of Reines and transform its hands into two clubs, and for Gray to transform Add into its scythe form. Shirou just looked towards where the voice came from, as no assassin would give a clue to her location in such a stupid way. For her part, Altrouge didn't prepare, because, well, she was Altrouge. And finally, Caules and Sieg did not react, as they were not used to being attacked by surprise.

However, neither of them moved, as the young Lord stopped them. He possessed a frown as if he knew the origin of that voice.

After the voice stopped, a woman appeared from the second floor.

She was a fair-skinned woman with dark hair and lighter eyes of a similar color, she wore glasses, and the most fascinating thing about her appearance was that she was wearing a black Japanese kimono with violet trim.

"I didn't know you were here, Miss Adashino."

The woman smiled faintly, "Well, as you well know Lord, Legislation must study any case that endangers the secrecy of our world," Adashino walked down the stairs, "and the conclusion of this investigation…"

"Don't tell me you've already concluded!"

She smiled, " Yes, I have already finished my investigation, and we have concluded that Wills Pelham Codrington, you are the murderer of Mr. Trevor."

Wills managed to undo the bandages from his mouth, "B-But? W-Why?"

"Shut up, parricide!" a woman yelled.

A woman appeared behind Adashino, she had a dark complexion, light eyes, dark reddish hair, and was wearing a black outfit.

"W-Waletta!?" Wills asked surprised and worried.

"She is…?" asked the young Lord.

"She is Waletta Codrington, is a member of the main branch of the Codrington family, and they sent her as a witness."

"And how did you conclude that Wills is the culprit?" asked the young Lord.

"Well, you see, what happened was…"

And from there, the conversation turned to how they had failed to summon Mr. Trevor's spirit, how Wills had been in the workshop the day of the accident that ended up causing several deaths, and how this was more than enough evidence to judge Wills as guilty. Waver argued that all of this information was circumstantial and that the evocation teacher could not be prosecuted based on these facts alone. Adashino replied that it was not only due to this, but that someone had erased the remains of Mr. Trevor's spirit, as well as that of all other workers, and that could only be achieved by a Necromancer, as Wills was. And Wills, for his part, admitted trying to evoke the remains of his father's spirit, but he also admitted that he had failed. Lord El-Melloi then argued that, due to the storm that had broken out and the lightning that was falling, and that these were also the main cause of death of the other murders, they should allow him to investigate at least until the storm was over. For her part, Reines also contributed by saying that the Department of Spiritual Evocation had permitted them to investigate the case. So, after all this discussion, in the end, they were allowed to investigate until the sky became clear.

Thus, the group was divided into three: Lord El-Melloi II and Wills went to the library since Wills wanted to teach the young Lord something, while the rest of the groups went to look for clues in other rooms.

---

With the Lord...

Wills was handing the young Lord some books for him to examine.

"Thank you," Waver was reading about the workings of the Marbury workshop, "Waletta, what relationship do you have with her?"

Wills gave an awkward smile, "We were childhood friends, but for some reason, she hates me now."

Waver looked at him incredulously, "Don't tell me that you... you refused to marry her?"

Wills smiled, "Good deduction, detective."

"Ahhh…" Waver sighed, "if you get prosecuted for this… she'll inherit the workshop, right?"

Wills nodded.

Waver sighed again, "Like out of a painting, typical of her..."

"And what is your relationship with Miss Adashino?"

"She's the person I argue with the most in Legislation," after reviewing the books, the Lord turned to the evocation teacher, "well, what do you want to teach me?"

"Wait a minute," Wills's eyes suddenly changed color to violet with a purple rim, "okay, she's here..."

"Here…?"

"Excuse me…" Wills sprinkled the Lord with a bluish powder.

After finishing sprinkling the powder, he could see her, "Is it… a fairy?"

Sure enough, a woman with pointed ears, long light reddish hair, fair complexion, and slightly blue eyes appeared in front of the two men. She wore a green dress adorned with flowers.

She tried to say something, but before they could hear her words, she disappeared.

"Disappeared…" Waver turned to the evocation teacher, "do you have fairy eyes?"

Wills nodded, "It's not a very powerful mystic eye, but I've had it for as long as I can remember. Every time she shows up, she tries to tell me something, and then someone dies. I just want to know what she's trying to tell me."

"Lightning, assassinations, fairies, ancient runes... maybe... the Wild Hunt?"

That said, both the Lord and the professor continued to investigate the books, maybe there would be information about this in them.

---

With Reines and Gray…

"Lady Raines, I don't think we should search the workshop without permission…"

Reines was searching every part of the room, "Hmn… this magical power," Reines squeezed a gem that was decorating a fireplace, this sank and revealed a secret passage that led into the depths, and upon seeing this, she smiled, "oh, a secret passage? This is getting interesting."

"L-Lady Reines, we shouldn't go without informing Sir!"

"Don't worry, Gray, my philosophy is to do what other people don't want to do, and also, if we tell my brother, Adashino will know too, so let's investigate first."

Saying that Reines went into the passageway followed by Trimmau, and Gray sighed and followed her closely.

---

With the other four...

Shirou, Altrouge, Caules, and Sieg were walking through the corridors of the mansion, they were following Fou, who seemed to be following a trail.

"I'm surprised that Fou can follow any trail in this place," Shirou said.

"What are you talking about?" asked the Princess.

"By replacing my sense of smell, I can smell magical energy, but in this place, the mana saturation is so high that I'm not able to distinguish anything."

"Is it like with Lady Reines' eyes?" Caules asked.

Shirou nodded, "Not exactly, but the effect in terms of tracking is similar."

"The lightning is increasing…" Sieg said as he watched the storm through a window.

"This is not normal…" Altrouge spoke up.

"Fou!"

"Is something wrong, Fou?" asked her master.

"Fou! Fouuu!"

The little dog barked towards where the workshop door was since they had given it a full circle.

"What?" Caules exclaimed.

"That's…" the Princess spoke.

"You…?" Shirou asked.

Sieg just looked at her strangely.

What they had in front of them was a woman, she had whitish skin with natural bone armor of a bluish color, silver hair, and, most impressive, there were two pairs of faerie wings on her back. She was also wearing a beautiful teal-colored dress.

"We meet again, young man," the fairy spoke.

"Do you know her?" asked the Princess.

Shirou nodded, "I met her a few months ago…"

The fairy looked at his belt, where he carried Neocaliburn, and she smiled, "I'm glad you were able to silence our requiem."

He held the sword and smiled too.

However, her gaze quickly changed to one that showed seriousness, "Nevertheless, the matter that has brought us together again is quite worrying."

"What are you talking about?"

KRAAKABOOM!

A huge bolt of lightning fell from the sky, and thunder echoed throughout the area.

"They're coming…" then the fairy turned to the redhead, "you must come with me."

"Huh? Where are we going?"

"We're running out of time, and if you don't come with me, the people inside this workshop will be in danger…" after saying this, the fairy opened the door of the workshop. The cold, the wind, and the rain entered with force inside it, but even so, she went out into the storm.

"Rouge, what do you think we should do?"

Altrouge was thoughtful for a moment, "Fairies are a way for the planet to show its will…"

And this includes me as well to a certain extent since I am a hybrid between the true ancestors, who are qualified as great fairies. The Princess informed the redhead through their contract.

"Ignoring her words would not be wise," she finished.

Shirou nodded, "Caules, can you two wait for us here?"

"Wait, if there are spirits involved, maybe I can be of use!" said the chestnut.

Shirou thought about it for a few moments, he didn't want to bring Caules to a probably very dangerous place, but it wasn't a secret for him that his friend didn't feel especially useful in the last few days, and, knowing that rejecting him would only add to that feeling, he decided to accept, "Okay, but stay behind Rouge and me, remember you're not the type to fight on the front lines."

Caules nodded.

"Are you coming with us too, Sieg?"

The homunculus nodded.

"Okay, let's go."

With that said, the group left the workshop and followed the fairy, and with the storm against them, they walked until they reached an entrance on a small rise in the land.

The fairy stopped for a few moments in front of the entrance, "Come on, who will be your ally is waiting for you inside."

They looked at each other strangely, but they followed the fairy, and, what awaited them after entering the depths of the earth, was a huge labyrinth of underground tunnels.

---

With Gray and Reines…

The girls had been walking for several minutes…

"Lady Reines, this environment is familiar to me…"

Princess El-Melloi gave the young gravedigger a strange look, "What do you mean?"

"As a grave keeper, I can tell that this place is a graveyard."

"I see, then this must be the core of the workshop."

Saying this, both of them continued walking.

"Ouch!" Reiner's eyes turned red again.

"Lady Reines, are you all right?"

"Y-Yes. The effect of the eye drops wore off faster than usual."

"Are you sure you want to continue?"

Reines nodded.

The three continued walking, and in the tunnels, they found several skulls, and they planned to go a little deeper, but…

"Be careful, Gray!"

Reines staggered, having activated a trap within the tunnels, and Gray pushed her away from a rock that nearly crushed them both; however, the collapse did not stop, and Trimmau transformed to protect Reines, and suddenly, a second rock was about to fall on Gray...

Bam!

A bullet was fired at the stone, splitting it in two.

The dust scattered, and from it emerged a mercenary, a necromancer, Kairi Sisigou, "Are you all right?"

"You are…?"

Kairi smirked as he reloaded his gun, "It seems they consider you a trio of thieves," Kairi said as he fired at some corpse spirits flying towards them.

"They're not entirely wrong, AUGHH!" Reines yelled as her eyes got so hot that fire began to emanate from them.

Seeing the state of Reines and the spirits, Kairi said, "Hell, they seem to be getting more and more worked up. I know a shortcut to the exit, but it will be a bumpy road. Can you follow me?"

Gray saw Reines's state and then turned to the necromancer, and she nodded, "Yes."

Saying this, the group fled through the tunnels.

---

With Shirou's group, Altrouge, Caules, and Sieg...

They had walked for several minutes.

"These tunnels are really long…" Caules said.

The fairy nodded, "Yes, the tunnels reach the mountains."

Suddenly, there was a tremor, and that made Caules stumble and...

Bum! Crashhh!

"Watch out!"

Small and consecutive explosions caused a collapse inside the cave, as well as the separation of the group, which ended up divided into three different paths.

…

"Fou, are you alright?" Altrouge asked.

"Fou…" the little animal said, nodding.

Both had separated from the rest of the group and in front of them was a huge amount of earth and rocks.

"Okay, let's tear this 'wall' apart," Altrouge prepared to destroy the rocks that had come up from the explosion, so, unleashing a bit of the power of her first stage, she transformed her hands into claws and, with a quick movement, she hit the rocks with great force, however, the moment her fist impacted against them, the ground shook, threatening a second landslide.

"Hell, it looks like we won't be able to meet up with the rest of the group this way... we'll have to find a way back. Are you ready, Fou?"

"…"

The sound of hooves was heard in the great tunnel...

"Fou?"

The Princess looked back and saw Fou growling at some sort of shadow, a humanoid shadow riding a horse.

Altrouge smiled, "Lightning, fairies, and now horsemen, so the Wild Hunt."

The shadow multiplied, filling the entire tunnel.

She readied her claws, "This will be fun…"

The Twilight Princess advanced against the cavalcade of wraiths and undead.

---

With Caules and Sieg…

The two had been isolated from the rest of the group. They had tried to cross the rocks, but it was useless, and without being able to do anything else, Sieg and Caules were forced to go back the way they had come, but...

And as the duo walked through the tunnel...

"We have to hurry up and tell the professor, so maybe with the help of the others we can move the rocks," Caules said.

"Yes..." Sieg replied, "Caules!"

Sieg pushed Caules away before he was struck by lightning.

"What the hell!?" Caules wondered as he watched whatever it was that had attacked them.

Sieg drew his sword.

GRRRR!

What the two observed was a large hound with blackish skin, which radiated lightning that varied between a lilac and violet color.

"What's that?" Sieg asked concerned.

"I-I think it's a black dog, a spectral hound…"

"What do we do, Caules?"

But before the young magus could reply, the black dog attacked.

WRRRAAAA!

With great speed, the hound lunged at Sieg, who was the one with the weapon.

However, Sieg was a homunculus who, from before birth, had been programmed to be able to use Magecraft, and, in his case, he could use a magecraft called Logical Path: Open, which allowed him to transform, metaphorically speaking, anything that his magical energy touched so that he would achieve the desired result with the least amount of effort required. He was also able to use other basic magecrafts, such as the Suggestion and Healing Magecraft, and Shirou had also taught him basic Reinforcement Magecraft so that he could reinforce his sword.

And the latter was what Sieg did, and reinforcing his sword, he deflected the black dog's attack.

WRRRAAAA!

The hound attacked him three times, and however, Sieg with effort managed to stop the constant attacking and biting.

ZzZzZzZzZzZz

Seeing that its attacks had no effect, the spectral hound began to generate electricity...

WRRRAAAA!

The black dog roared and electricity shot out at Sieg. However, Caules ran in front of the young homunculus taking the attack for him.

"Caules!"

The electric current completely enveloped the young man, and however, this did not singe him, instead, it enveloped him for a few seconds and then was redirected towards a cylindrical silver container that had two green stripes and a large purple stripe. This was a mystic code created for Caules after Lord El-Melloi had informed him that most of his potential lay in Bioelectric Magecraft. This battery, through contact, was capable of adjusting bioelectric currents to increase his or someone else's healing abilities, activate a person's Od, or could even store and release electricity.

Caules redirected the electrical current and stored it in his battery.

"Sieg, I have an idea, can you help me?"

Sieg smiled slightly as he nodded, "What do you need me to do?"

GRRRR!

The hound glared at the duo menacingly, looking for any opportunity to attack them.

"I need you to hold it for a bit, physical attacks won't do much damage, but we should be able to hold it for a few moments."

Sieg nodded and braced himself for the dog's next attack, Caules, for his part, retreated and bided his time.

WRRRAAAA!

Once again, the dog attacked the two boys, and this time Sieg did not deflect it with his sword, but instead, using his magecraft, Logical Path: Open, he "turned" the palm of his hand into the barrel of a gun and, with a punch, "fired" a bullet from a said weapon. His fist slammed into the black dog, knocking it back, and before the dog got up, Sieg plunged his sword into the wraith's belly, preventing it from getting up.

Being a wraith, physical attacks wouldn't do much damage to it, and only with a mystic code or magecraft specialized in damaging spirits could it be easily defeated, but at least they could hold it back.

ZzZzZzZzZzZz

The hound charged electricity and emanated it throughout its body, trying to hit Sieg; however, Sieg "turned" his body into a lightning rod, transmitting the electricity to the ground and preventing it from causing damage.

Caules took advantage of this moment and cut his finger, then stood next to the dog, and the spectral hound attacked him trying to free itself, but Sieg kept it attached to the ground, and with his blood, Caules traced a magic circle composed by several different symbols, and when this was complete, he began to recite.

"Let flesh and lightning be the essence;

Stones and the archduke of the pacts as foundations;

It allows a wall to rise against the wind that is about to fall;

The cardinal doors close;

Let the road divided into three reach the kingdom from the crown that rotates;

Let it be declared now; its flesh will be under my service, and my destiny will be under its claws and fangs;

Answer me, if it is willing to obey this will and this truth;

An oath will be taken here;

I will obtain all the virtues of all Heaven…!

I will have dominion over all the evils of Hell!

Now, our destinies are united!"

The spectral hound growled, roared, squirmed, and its claws nearly reached for the magus, but as Caules' chant progressed, its will began to be subdued. This chant was used as a basis to invoke or contract with different spirits; however, it was modified according to the kind of spirit with which the magi wanted to contract.

Once Caules finished singing, the black dog stopped resisting.

The young magus looked at the homunculus, "Sieg, please release it, should no longer attack us."

Nodding, Sieg drew his sword from the wraith's belly.

The hound got up, and, as if nothing had happened, it sat down like a tame dog.

Caules smiled, "It will be my familiar now, so it will be on our side from now on."

The homunculus watched the young magus, Caules had a smile on his face, but Sieg had lived long enough with the young Yggdmillennia to know that he was barely holding himself back from shouting in delight. Having been able to help the person he helped save his life, Sieg couldn't help but feel happy as well.

But this was short-lived, "Wait, we must hurry!"

"Hey?" Sieg looked at him confused.

"The Black Dogs don't act alone, they come in packs!"

This surprised the homunculus, "The workshop!"

Caules nodded, raising his Primeval Battery, he said, "Come on, get inside the battery."

Given the order, the hound transformed its entire being into electricity and impregnated the Primeval Battery, staying inside it.

"Let's go."

Sieg nodded.

But before they left the site, Caules paused for a moment, "Sieg…"

"Yes?" asked the confused boy.

"Thank you," the magus told him, smiling.

The homunculus nodded smiling, and the two boys walked out of the tunnel and into the storm.

---

In the workshop…

The young Lord was worried, all his students and his sister had disappeared from one moment to another, and when he was thinking of going out to look for them, the workshop door opened.

He watched as three people entered, his apprentice, his sister, who was being carried by Trimmau, and a man he did not know.

"Reines!" exclaimed the surprised Lord.

"Relax, just she passed out."

Waver approached Wills, then asked the newcomer, "Who are you?"

"Kairi Sisigou, a mercenary as well as a necromancer, born in Japan, takes any dirty job, and in Legislation, he's quite famous," Adashino said as she walked down the stairs to the second floor.

Kairi looked at her and said, "If I remember correctly, I still have a seat in the Clock Tower…"

"And what did this celebrity come for?" El-Melloi asked.

"Mr. Sisigou was a friend of my father's," Wills replied.

"I came to offer my condolences…"

"Hmm, in that case, why did you head to the necropolis, instead of heading straight for the workshop?" Adashino asked.

"The tunnels reach the foot of the mountain, crossing them is the best way to come without having to face the storm."

Wills nodded.

"I understand," Adashino said.

"Well, with this storm, boy, can I use the usual room?" Kairi asked.

Wills nodded, "Yeah, let me tag along."

Waver watched as Wills walked away with the mercenary, and, seeing his sister's condition, he led her and Trimmau to the room Wills had prepared for them.

…

Complaining, he asked, "Why do we have to share a room?" as he sat in a chair.

Reines, who was lying down, smiled, "This room is perfect for us to procreate, don't you think...?"

This surprised and embarrassed the Lord, "W-W-Why the hell would we do that!?"

"Because your magic circuit is pathetic, big brother," smiling, Reines uncovered her blanket inviting Waver, "but at least then you can contribute your seed to the family lineage."

"Just shut up and go to sleep!" the Lord yelled as he threw a pillow at her.

"You're not good with jokes…"

"If you can say such nonsense, then you must be fine."

KRAAKABOOM!

Lightning continued to strike as the storm continued.

Gray walked into the room, "Sir, do you know where the others are? I've been looking all over the workshop for them, but I can't find them."

Waver shook his head, "No, I looked for them too, but I didn't find them either."

KRAAKABOOM!

This worried the young grave keeper, "Y-You don't think they went outside in this storm, do you!?"

Waver looked down, "I hope not…"

"AAAHHH!"

A terrible scream resounded through the workshop.

"What was that!?" Waver asked.

"Sir!" Gray said.

Waver nodded, "Come on, Gray! Trimmau, protect Reines!"

Waver and Gray ran out of the room.

"W-Wait!" Reines tried to object, but both had already left the room.

The two of them ran through the living room and the corridors until they stopped when...

"W-What!? / M-Miss Waletta!?" Waver and Gray said respectively.

There was a broken window through which lightning seemed to have entered, and in front of this, Waletta was lying dead in the corridor.

"What happened here?" Adashino said upon arrival.

"It's like she has been struck by lightning," Kairi said arriving shortly after.

"W-Waletta?" Wills asked in amazement, who, oddly enough, had arrived last, making Adashino suspicious.

She was about to limit his movements once more, but…

"PROFESSOR!"

The group turned to where they had heard the scream.

"Caules!?" without much thought, Waver and Gray ran to the source of the scream.

The two arrived at the lobby of the workshop, and there they found Caules and Sieg, both of them were tired and seemed to have had to run for their lives.

"What happened to both of you? Why the hell did you come out in the middle of this storm!?" Waver asked.

"T-That doesn't matter now, they're coming!" Caules tried to explain.

"Them? Who are you talking about?" Waver asked, "you don't mean…"

"Black dogs, horsemen, a lot of them, we h-had to run," Sieg said.

"Wait, Caules, where are Shirou and Rouge!?" Gray asked worriedly.

"We split up inside the tunnels. A black dog attacked us there while we were following a fairy, the roof collapsed, so I don't think they'll chase them."

"The fairy, the black dogs, and now the horsemen," Waver expressed, "also the murders and the spirits of the dead cannot be summoned."

"What you say is quite worrying, Lord," Kairi had followed the two of them shortly after they began their career, "those are the characteristics of a certain legend."

"A Certain Legend?" Gray asked.

The mercenary nodded, he showed a book he had found on one of the shelves in the workshop library, "In England, it is believed that the souls of children who die young do not go to heaven and instead become fairies, but this only applies to children, while those souls of older people who do not ascend to heaven are said to be hunted down by a hunt for wraiths and undead, and ultimately forced to become part of it."

"Is that a children's story?" the girl asked.

Kairi nodded, "A member of my family liked these kinds of stories."

"You're talking about the Wild Hunt, right?"

Kairi nodded.

"All of this looks like the recreation of the legend, a trip to the underworld... I see!" Waver addressed the necromancer, "Sisigou, I will need your participation."

He smiled, "You'll have to pay me, right?"

Waver looked away.

Kairi laughed and held out his open hand, "Give me a cigar, that will be enough."

Waver nodded giving him one, and then turned to his students, "You two, round up everyone else; we'll meet you in the workshop basement."

Caules and Sieg nodded and spread out to search for the rest of the workshop's inhabitants.

"Gray, the faster we solve this case, the faster we can go looking for them," said Waver, seeing how his apprentice looked at the door without taking her eyes off the exit, almost as if she was considering going out to look for them in the middle of the storm.

Looking down, she nodded, "Yes."

---

Several minutes ago, with Shirou.

"Rouge, Caules, Sieg!" Shirou yelled trying to talk to the rest of his companions.

"I'm afraid the rocks are too robust, so your voice can't reach them," said the fairy, "even so, I suggest we go ahead because if we don't face them, it's likely you won't see them again."

This worried the redhead, "What do you mean!?"

"The Wild Hunt, this is made up of a pack of spectral hounds and undead horsemen led, this time, by 'King Arthur'."

Surprised, Shirou asked, "The Wild Hunt? Is that legend coming true?"

"Yes, and as I said, they are a group made up of the aforementioned, they go to different places, and, depending on the place, their leader usually changes, King Arthur, Odin, Charlemagne, Fionn Mac Cumhaill, and even, Sir Francis Drake. And this time, the hunt is headed here to hunt down the spirits of the people in the workshop and lead them to the underworld, or make them part of the hunt."

"But that's impossible, 'King Arthur' didn't die in this world, she left for Avalon, right? And also Sir Francis Drake..."

The fairy nodded as she walked deeper into the tunnels, "It is not exactly the spirit of these beings that commands the hunt, but is more like the manifestation of their respective legends in the form of specters."

"But I can't take on the whole hunt, that would be crazy."

The faery nodded, "I know, but 'King Arthur' has parted ways with the rest of the hunt, as have the spectral hounds and horsemen. "He" is waiting for you."

"To me?"

She nodded, "The sword you carry has drawn him, along with the holy spear your partner carries."

The holy spear? His companion? The only person he knew who was related to the old King of Knights was...

"Gray?"

"Gray, so that's her name. I suggest you don't let her use Rhongomyniad too much, as its power is not something a human should possess, and not even Altria was able to handle it without the danger of losing her humanity, and in the worst case, this could happen to Gray. As for the manifestation that guides the Wild Hunt, it cannot appear before her, for its very existence is disturbed by hers, but you are different, so it is coming for you."

"Wait, what do you mean Gray can lose her humanity!? And, what does the wraith want, does it want Caliburn back?"

She shook her head, "I doubt it, it's a wraith, not the real King, so its motivations are foreign to me, but maybe, it just wants to test you."

"To me?"

"The sword you carry is not the sword of a simple warrior, it is the weapon of a King, and although you have reforged it, you did not remove this quality."

"We thought taking that quality away from it was wrong."

"Who are those who believed?"

Shirou raised his katana, "Ah, right, he is my ancestor, Muramasa."

"Delighted," spoke the spirit of the master smith.

"You were very quiet, did something happen?" Shirou asked.

"No, I simply thought that my participation would not contribute anything, at least, until now, because the one who chose to keep it that way was you. I would have transformed it into a full-fledged weapon."

Shirou smiled awkwardly, "Sorry, he's still mad about that."

She gave a small smile, "Never mind. From my point of view, it was the best choice, but if you're going to be the wielder of that sword, then you need to understand what it wants."

"Bearer? I planned to keep it until someone worthy claimed it."

"Will you reject the decision of the Sword of Selection?"

This confused the boy, "It decision? Wait, Neocaliburn only allows me to use it because I reformed it, right?"

She looked at him in surprise, "Even if it were so, use it is one thing, but giving you its light… do you think it only allows it because you reforged it? No, it's not that simple; besides, you've already found someone worthy of it, haven't you? Then, why haven't you given it to her?"

This caught the boy's attention. It was true that Neocaliburn had allowed him to use its light, and not only once, but twice, and besides, he had thought of giving Avalon back to Gray, but it had never crossed his mind to give her the Sword of Selection.

She laughed, "You never thought about it, did you? Maybe it was because it was very natural, but you've already grown fond of it, just like Altria many years ago."

This embarrassed the boy a bit, did he really never realize how attached he was to the sword?

"Caliburn has already guided the King of Knights, its work there is done, and now Neocaliburn must guide someone else, but remember, this is the sword of a King, not that of a warrior or a blacksmith, and sooner or later, you will realize this. Just let it guide you."

Although somewhat confused, he nodded, "You spoke of an ally…"

She nodded, "Yes, and we've already arrived."

The two came to a vast cave, and in this was a hooded person.

This person looked up and said, "Oh? It hasn't been long since we last met, boy, but even so, have you matured somewhat as a warrior?"

Her voice surprised the boy, "You are... Hephaestion's younger twin sister!"

This surprised the woman, "What the hell!? How did you find that out!?" she said as she drew her short sword and removed her hood.

The woman was wearing a red and black outfit, with gold details, it was made up of a skirt, a pair of stockings and… an armor that looked a lot like a sports bra? These were all black, she also wore a second "skirt" longer than the first and a pair of sleeves, all red. Furthermore, her eyes were heterochromatic, one of which was a very pale gray with a slightly golden tint, while the other was blue, she also possessed black-colored hair and a fair complexion.

But before either of them could do anything, the fairy stepped between them, "Right now, we can't afford to fight each other, as we have a difficult enemy to deal with."

This caused the woman to smile, "The specter of the King of Knights, is it not?"

The woman nodded, then looked at Shirou, "She agreed to be our ally in this battle."

"What? Are you serious?"

The woman nodded, "I am a warrior, so how could I miss out on being able to face the specter of an ancient and famous King?"

"We don't have time, let's go," said the fairy as she left the cave through another tunnel.

And though he mistrusted the Hephaestion's younger twin sister, the boy followed the fairy, with the heroic spirit following him.

---

In the workshop…

Lord El-Melloi, Kairi, and Wills each stood before a small column covered in white sheets, and Gray, Caules, Sieg, and Adashino were watching from afar, with Reines in the middle of the top three.

"Wills, Kairi, and Reines, are you ready?"

"Yeah, but we can't conjure any spirits here, Lord," Kairi said.

"It doesn't matter, we won't do evocation, it will be an incantation," El-Melloi II replied.

"Brother, in my current state, I don't think I can help you."

"It doesn't matter, just stay there. Trimmau, hold her so she doesn't move."

"Understood," replied the mystic code.

And this caused Reines to pout.

When everything was ready...

"We light a guiding flame here..." Kairi began.

"Far Being, behold the guiding flame on the other side of the white wall…" Wills continued.

"A hammer that crushes lies, a boat that crosses the sea, some stairs that cross a ravine..." Kairi continued.

"I invite you to come, celebrated being, blessed creatures..." Wills spoke again.

"Eternal flame disperses mist and attracts visitors..." El-Melloi finished.

With the incantation said, the flames of the torches flared up and surrounded the floor, and at the same time, Reines's and Wills's mystical eyes activated together, and then the flames turned lilac, and the faerie that Wills had taught the Lord in the library made an appearance once more.

"I didn't think you would use this kind of Magecraft…"

"C-Can you talk?" Wills asked.

"With the mystic eye of Reines and the fairy's eye of Wills, it was easy."

"Don't treat me like a catalyst!" cried Princess El-Melloi.

"I don't treat you like one! Right now you are exactly one."

Waver continued, "This workshop is designed to draw the power of the mystic eyes and the power of the ley lines, so the mystic eyes are strengthened by the power of the lines, and that magical power uses the energy of the dead and creates artificial fairies, right?"

The faery nodded, "Exactly, human."

"What do you mean, Sir?"

"I mean the culprit was Mr. Trevor and the murder weapon was the workshop itself!"

"Are you saying lightning didn't strike randomly!?" Wills asked.

Waver nodded, "The workshop calls to the black dogs and they kill. In the days of murders, the position of the Moon and stars powered Hell and Earth, and thanks to the power of the fairies, along with the power of the fairy's eyes, the workshop transforms the souls of the deceased, turning them into black dogs, into artificial fairies."

"Dogs that devour the souls of the dead," Kairi said, "and the gears of this workshop are this fairy and Wills's fairy's eyes…"

"Mr. Trevor created this workshop to control the artificial fairies, and he didn't care how many deaths it caused," El-Melloi finished.

"But then, how did Mr. Trevor die?" Reines asked.

"I killed him," answered the fairy.

"You?" Wills asked.

"Yes," turning around, she addressed Wills, "That magus tricked you and used you to disrupt order. That's why I punished him."

"I see, but the workshop didn't stop, and that's why you asked for help," Waver said.

He turned and nodded, "I knew the woman would die, so I tried to warn them, but it was too late because a marching force is not stopped that easily."

"W-What?" Wills asked in dismay.

"I didn't want you to be sad, that's all," the fairy said.

"I see, and since she was here, you didn't want to part with the workshop, right, Wills…?" Waver said.

"How do you know!?" the evocation magus asked.

"You are famous for hating women, and whoever spends a lot of time with fairies falls in love with them."

Suddenly, the floor began to rip and the entire workshop shook.

"Something's wrong with the leylines!" Kairi said.

"It can't be, did I underestimate Adashino's seal? Did my ritual throw the workshop out of control?" Waver exclaimed.

"Yes, but it's not just that," the fairy spoke up.

"What are you talking about?"

The fairy was serious, "The workshop calls the black dogs, imitating the legend of the Wild Hunt. The workshop did not stop, the leylines went haywire, and now the workshop has gone haywire too, and all of the above led to this conclusion: the imitation of the legend ended up calling the real one; the Wild Hunt it's coming!"

Having heard this, the whole group ran towards the entrance of the workshop, and what they saw there left them terrified: a huge pack of black dogs, and behind them, in the distance, a large door, a portal to the Kingdom of the Fairies. Furthermore, they also noticed something else: Far in the distance, a gigantic light shone down from the mountains.

Gray was holding Add tightly in her hands, she knew it, something was happening, and the tightness she felt in her chest was a sign, no, it was more than that: the bond she shared with Shirou began to request for a large quantity of magical energy. So worried, she couldn't help but think: Shirou, please stay safe.

---

And, a few minutes ago, with the redhead…

Shirou and the woman followed the fairy to the end of one of the tunnels.

"Excuse me, but…"

"Yes?" the woman answered.

"You don't have a name, do you?"

"Of course not, after all, I was Iskandar's shadow."

"So what do I call you?" the boy asked.

"Hmm… Faker, yes, Faker is fine."

He decided not to ask her any more about this, since she didn't seem to like the subject, and yet, Why do I feel as if something that belongs to me has been taken from me? The boy wondered.

"We have arrived."

KRAAKABOOM!

The storm had increased, the lightning was falling nonstop, and, in the distance, they could see it: A spectral horse and a man riding on it, he carried a spear and was covered entirely by black armor, and yet, they could see his eyes glowing red. He stood several meters away on a hill, below the storm and with lightning falling all around him.

"That... that doesn't look like the King of Knights!"

The fairy shook her head, "No, I already told you, it's not Altria, it's the manifestation of how the collective of humanity imagines the King of Knights leading the Wild Hunt, and as long as he doesn't want it, the horsemen they won't ride alongside him, and even so, most of the dogs in the pack have already been dispatched," then, the fairy scanned the surroundings, "but it's strange, even if the riders don't ride alongside him, they're not here, so where are they?"

Faker smirked, "Never mind! Looks like he's been waiting for us. Alright, let's do this, kid."

"Do this? What do you mean!?"

She smiled even more broadly, "To this! Come my Hecatic Wheel: Demonic Heaven Wheel!"

A red bolt of lightning fell from the sky, and on the spot where it had fallen, a large ancient war chariot emerged, which had two prows and was steered by two skeletal wyverns.

"It's been a while since I fought with my mount."

Faker climbed onto the chariot and extended her hand to the young magus.

Shirou didn't know what to do in this situation. He knew that he must stop the King's specter, and also, he knew that fighting an enemy on a mount while on foot was insane.

So he decided to consider his options:

As his first option, he thought of using the Black Barrel, but the storm was so violent that he didn't think he could hit the target. Then, as his second option, there was both the Vorpal sword and the Monohoshi Zao, and yet he didn't think they were enough to bring down the wraith. And finally, as his third option, there was the Phantom Punishment, and as for this one, he didn't know if that thing even had magic circuits, and, anyway, he would have to stab him up close for the knife to take effect and doing this was practically suicide.

After considering these options, he looked at Neocaliburn on his belt, he didn't know why, but he was sure that, this time, he was forced to use it. Did he feel the need to prove himself to the sword and against the reminiscence of its original wielder? Or maybe it was because of his pride in his creation? He didn't know, but he wanted to find out.

In the end, he took Faker's hand and climbed onto the battle chariot.

The Spectral King's spear began to shine with the same electricity that the black dogs radiated, but to a greater extent, and Shirou also unsheathed his sword, and by reciting that prayer for the third time, Neocaliburn began to shine with that light that burned everything that touched.

Faker was amazed to feel the power of the holy sword, but then she smiled excitedly, and, taking the reins of the chariot, she told the boy, "I'll take care of leading us to him, and you'll take care of the attack."

Faker whipped the reins, and, through the storm, with lightning everywhere, the chariot moved forward. On the other hand, the Wraith King's horse neighed and, with great speed, went down the hill.

They were only a few seconds, but for Shirou, they passed as slowly as if they were several minutes. He had never wondered what a King should be like because he wasn't supposed to become one, but one thing was clear: a King protected his kingdom, and although this was not the same case, he had to stop the Spectral King and thus protect everyone who was in the Marbury Workshop. And so, a few instants before the encounter between the three, he swung his sword, just at the same time that the Spectral King swung his spear, and at the moment of the impact, a strong clash of energies enveloped the three of them, all this while the fairy watched them in the distance.

---

At the Marbury Workshop…

Adashino stretched out her hands, and from the sleeves of her kimono, bandages came out to cover the entire workshop, "With this will last a bit longer," then, she turned to the others, "since I'm also responsible for this, I'm also going to help you, I'll take care of Reines and the boys, the rest of you will have to face them."

"You heard her, come on!" Waver shouted to the rest of the group.

"Add, limit cancellation! First level!"

"Okay!"

Add took its scythe form, and then Gray shot out of the workshop against the pack, at the same time, the black dogs jumped at her, but Gray cut them down easily, and since they were spirits, Add feasted on them.

"Oh yes, baby, this is a first-class banquet!" Laughed the mystic code by devouring the wraiths.

Kairi pulled out a sawed-off shotgun, and due to its shape, it had a short-range, so he had to wait for them to get close before he could hit them. The shotgun uses human fingers as bullets, combining the properties of Gandr's ability to curse others with physical force with his necromancy, so that they burrow into the target's body, and reach their heart, causing the curse to rupture as a "one shot, one kill" demon bullet.

"My father… my father caused all of this."

Wills summoned a pair of knives that embodied the concept of cutting by writing the word ceorfan in the air, and, making a great display of Reinforcement Magecraft, he slashed any black dog that came near him with great skill.

"Well done, evocation genie," the necromancer smiled, "hey Lord! Will the Tower pay for the expenses!?" Kairi said.

"Let Legislation pay!" Waver answered.

Lord El-Melloi used a shooting spell, using his hand as if it were a gun and, with his shots, hit the black dogs.

But one of the hounds was very fast and jumped to attack the Lord; however, Gray cut it before it could reach it.

"There are too many!" Wills said.

"The Wild Hunt is huge and the workshop is turning the entire necropolis into artificial fairies!"

WRRRAAAA!

A huge black dog, bigger than any of the others, came out of the doorway, and it didn't stop for a moment and charged the workshop.

Seeing that they had no choice, the young Lord told his apprentice, "Gray… please… I'll leave them to you!"

Seeing her teacher's state, Gray nodded, "Okay."

She stood in front of the entire horde of black dogs and began her chant...

"What is she going to do?" Kairi asked.

"She's going to unlock the mystery of her mystic code," Waver replied.

"Grave me…"

Add began to glow and its appearance began to change.

"Oh no! They already realized that she is the most dangerous of the group," Wills shouted before being assaulted by two black dogs.

The gigantic black dog advanced first and fired a large amount of electricity toward Gray, but before it hit, Kairi stepped in the middle blocking the attack.

Gray was surprised, but Kairi told her, "Don't worry! Finish what you started!"

Nodding, Gray sang, "Ancient secret, bear death. Sweet mysteries, return to nothing."

"Stopping artificial personality," Add said, though its voice sounded more robotic, "minimum magic power agglutination value exceeded. Starting second level limit release."

"Anchoring the Holy Spear!"

Add had become a huge pillar of light that dispelled the storm around the workshop. The horde of hounds headed straight for Gray, and when these were close to her, Gray shoved the massive pillar against them.

"Rhongo… myniad!"

The pillar of light obliterated the entire pack, dissipating them in an instant.

Kairi whistled in astonishment, and everyone else watched the complete annihilation of the pack; however, the portal to the fairy kingdom was still open.

"Not enough? Was the spell completed before we could stop it?" Waver asked.

"S-Sir…" Gray stumbled.

"Gray!? What's wrong!?"

Waver knew that Gray could use the spear without completely exhausting herself, so why was she staggering?

"There…" she said pointing into the distance.

Rhongomyniad had broken up the storm the pack had caused around the workshop, but, in the distance, the lightning continued to strike even harder.

"What does this mean?"

"Hey, Lord…?" Kairi asked.

"Yes?"

"If this is the Wild Hunt, where are the undead riders and the leader who commands them?"

Noticing this, Waver looked to where the lightning continued to fall.

Gray staggered a second time.

"Gray, are you okay?" asked the Lord.

"Y-Yes. Avalon is taking a lot of my magical energy…"

"Avalon?" the Lord asked.

Gray pointed to where the lightning kept falling, "Shirou must be there. Quick…"

This only confirmed the worst fears of the Lord, because if his student and the apprentice of this were in that place, then they were facing the rest of the hunt.

"We must go there!" Caules said, with Sieg nodding.

Waver nodded as well, understanding his students.

"Wait Lord, what do we do with the portal?" Kairi asked.

"If it wasn't closed with the destruction of the pack, there is only one thing left to do," Adashino said.

"Hmn, and that would be...?" Reines asked.

"We must remove Wills' mystic eyes and destroy the workshop," she answered.

"That will only make the spirits even more upset!" The Lord answered.

"But analyzing and dismantling the spell will take months," Kairi said.

Waver didn't have time for this, and it showed on his face.

"Don't worry, Lord, I sensed it from the beginning," Wills approached the portal where the fairy was waiting for him, "I'll close it from the other side."

"Wait, Wills, the dead will drag you down with them!" the Lord yelled.

He smiled, "I will not die, I will go to the kingdom where Waletta and my father are," Wills turned to Waver, "thank you."

Said this, both crossed to the portal and disappeared...

The Lord wanted to chase after him, but he didn't have time, because Gray had already left for the place where the storm still raged, followed by Caules and Sieg, so, left with no other choice, he gave up mourning his colleague in favor of saving his student.

"Reines, stay here with Adashino. We'll be back soon!"

"Wait, brother!" Reines tried to follow him, but her eyes clouded her vision forcing her to stop.

Surprisingly, Kairi followed them, "Lord, by Shirou, do you mean the Emiya kid?"

Waver nodded, "Do you know him?"

Kairi nodded, "I met him at Aylesbury. He seems to like to go from one hell to another."

"He has terrible luck…!" the teacher replied.

---

In the place where the storm was still raging…

Shirou's whole body ached, his vision had turned completely black for a few moments, but he could feel the water hitting his face, and he could also feel Neocaliburn that was still in his hand, so leaning on his sword, he got up. How had he survived? Maybe Faker had helped him? Or was it Avalon? Right now, he didn't care. He looked at what was happening around him: he was still on top of Faker's battle chariot, but it was no longer traveling on the ground, it was now traveling in the sky.

"What is...!?"

"Down!"

Shirou ducked his head quickly at Faker's warning.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!? Be careless for a second on the battlefield and you'll die," Faker scolded him as she sliced a black dog in half that nearly devoured the boy's head.

"What happened!? Where did those things come from!?" the boy asked as he projected the Monohoshi Zao and, taking advantage of the long reach of the katana, proceeded to cut down those who came near him.

"You fell unconscious after the clash against the specter; however, your attack was good enough to stun it momentarily, I was about to take advantage of the moment to finish him off, but those things began to rise from below the ground and prevented it."

Shirou approached the sides of the chariot and could see how the Spectral King was chasing them in the distance through the skies, followed by a large pack of spectral dogs that moved through the clouds like violet lightning across the skies.

If this is the Wild Hunt, then those must be the spectral hounds, but I thought they had already been dispatched… Then the boy turned his gaze to where the Marbury Workshop must be. There's something wrong, the leylines are getting out of control, and the mana flow is getting erratic.

"I'm not sure what's going on, but if the legend is true, then the Wild Hunt must be causing the spirits that were in the necropolis to become part of its forces, and, if the necropolis is as big as I think it is, the number of spirits that will end up becoming part of its forces will be immense. Faker, watch out!" the boy shouted when he saw how, from behind the servant, a spectral horseman attacked her trying to take her life.

The servant, much more experienced than he, and with great agility, deflected the spectral rider's sword and threw him away from the chariot.

"How are you driving this thing if you're not holding the reins!?" asked the boy as he worriedly watched as the chariot drove itself.

"It's on autopilot! But that doesn't matter now, listen to me, brat, I can easily fight multiple enemies, and even so, if the pack keeps increasing and the riders join too, then there's no way I'll be able to keep us alive."

"So, what do we do!? Do you have any ideas!?" Shirou asked as he slashed at another black dog coming at him.

"Tell me, do you have a way to draw the Wraith King's attention to yourself?"

"Y-Yes, but I have to get close to him, and why? I want to engage him in single combat, but it's impossible with the pack protecting him."

"That's exactly why, if you want to kill a snake, you have to cut off its head first. Tell me, do you know what a pincer attack is?" Shirou nodded, and Faker smiled, "fine, in that case, I'll get you close to him and you'll draw his attention, then I'll drop you on the ground and you'll attack him from there, while I'll turn around and attack him from behind."

"That's crazy, any mistake will cost us our lives!"

"Exactly, you should be prepared for this kind of thing when entering a battlefield, remember it well, brat!" Faker took up the reins of the war chariot and turned on the Wraith King, as well as the pack, who were chasing them in the distance, "Let's get closer!"

Shirou wanted to tell her that this was crazy once again, but from the way she was putting it, it seemed like they really had a chance, and, so oddly enough, he managed to calm down relatively quickly and prepared to execute the maneuver.

The black dogs launched themselves against the chariot, and this surrounded itself with red lightning around it, knocking them down one after another, and so the violet electricity of the specters and the red electricity that surrounded the chariot collided with each other as they both got closer to each time more, and while, Faker and Shirou both cut down any of the black dogs that came near them.

"Now!"

Shirou hurried over and wrote some runes in the air in the wraith's direction, "Algiz, Nauthiz, Ansuz, Inguz."

This was a spell for death matches, a curse of one-on-one combat created by the Knights of the Red Branch. Once it is cast by inscribing Algiz, Nauthiz, Ansuz, and Inguz in successive order, the caster becomes forbidden from retreating and the target cannot refuse combat.

Thus these runes shot towards the specter and made his gaze completely fixate on the redhead, and just as he was about to charge against them a second time, Faker quickly tilted the battle chariot preventing the collision. After this, the Spectral King hurriedly turned his horse to chase the two of them, who were quickly heading toward the ground.

And when they were close enough to it, Shirou jumped off the battle chariot and stood firmly on the ground, as Faker rode away on her chariot and took to the skies again. Once on the ground, Shirou lifted his head to see what he was up against:

ZzZzZzZzZzZz

In the heights, the boy saw the Spectral King and a pack of spectral dogs fill the sky, such a sight was truly amazing and terrifying in equal measure, and, while the violet rays illuminated the entire place, at the same time, they fiercely whipped the earth. At this time, the Wild Hunt seemed to be the storm itself.

With great swiftness, the Spectral King lunged at Shirou, and, instinctively, he activated his Reinforcement and his Time Manipulation Magecraft to face him.

The boy watched as the specter charged at him with his lightning-charged spear and followed by the spectral dogs, and for a moment, he doubted himself, because he didn't even know if he was capable of attacking with enough power to stop the Wild Hunt, and yet...

"Kiddo, focus on the enemy in front of you! If you hesitate, the only thing that awaits you is a failure!" his ancestor yelled at his side.

The redhead nodded. Even if he only had a slim chance of succeeding, this wouldn't do any good if he failed because of his doubts, or in other words, he didn't have time to hesitate, "Yes, you're right." Shirou looked at his enemy for any weakness and managed to see that the spectral figure had numerous cracks in his armor, perhaps the previous attack had done enough damage, and perhaps this one had managed to survive thanks to the fact that he was absorbing the power of the leylines.

As the Wraith King descended, his spear emanated more and more electricity it seems that he wanted to end all this once and for all.

Shirou knew he only had one choice, so he charged the sword with what little Od he still had left. However, compared to the vast amount of magical energy converted into lightning that the specter had gathered, the light from Neocaliburn seemed much duller. He tried to use the overflowing mana from the leyline, but it was so erratic that he had a hard time controlling it.

Seeing his dire situation, numerous doubts began to arise within himself: Why had the specter waited for him? What was it that he wanted? Could he beat him?

"Kiddo, remember what the fairy told you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Like a blacksmith, you must be able to guarantee the quality of any of your work, and to do this, you must test for yourself the handling of your swords, test the cuts that they produce, and, in the future, I will teach you the method so that you can extract the full potential of any sword, but now, you must go even further, you must understand the sword you wield on a level beyond the physical, or, as the fairy said: let the sword guide you."

I don't know what it is to be a King, I never asked myself, and I know what my goals are, but I don't know how to reach them, even so, if it is lending me your power for some special reason if your purpose is to guide me...

Shirou sharpened his resolve and stood strong before the storm, before the Wraith King and his pack.

ZzZzZzZzZzZz

And, just before launching his attack, he could only think: So please lend me that light once more, help me to move forward into the future, grant me victory! And by his prayers, and for an instant, the light of Neocaliburn shone brighter, as the redhead wielded it in an upward attack against the storm.

Light emanated from the blade and shot up into the heavens as if to rip them in half, and, on the other hand, with awesome ferocity, the Wild Hunt descended like the storm itself against the light. Both forces met and pushed against each other as the earth trembled in repercussion at the impact of both.

Shirou gritted his teeth and tried to push his attack with all his might, at first, he thought that this second attack would be much weaker than the first, but both because of the power of the sword, which was shining more brightly than before, and also because the boy hadn't taken into account that, unlike his previous fights, he now possessed more magic circuits thanks to his crest, this second attack far outweighed the first, and yet the entire Wild Hunt seemed to have become one against him: the dogs turned into lightning bolts, charging the Wraith King's spear harder and allowing him to hold his own against his attack. At least until...

"Hmm... not bad at all, looks like I won't even need to attack with all I've got, now descend, my Hecatic Wheel, let's put an end to this battle!"

In this way, a second storm was unleashed, and unlike the first, this one filled the sky with red lightning as the Hecatic Wheel hurtled down to the Wild Hunt. Faker poured her magical energy into the mount to maximize the power of her attack, taking it to new levels, and in this way, and for a moment, the sky shone with three different lights: the light that burned evil, the purple light and savage of the Wild Hunt, and the reddish light of the lightning bolts of Faker's conquest. But it only lasted that, a brief moment, and then the purple light began to fade as it was crushed and torn between the other lights, the dogs howled in pain as they were burned, and finally, even the Wraith King himself uttered a terrible roar of pain as his power was overwhelmed by both flanks and hit by both attacks, like that, Neocaliburn's light split the storm at the same time Faker's lightning bolts slammed into the earth.

The battle chariot descended several meters away from where the boy was, Shirou, for his part, was about to fall, but he refused, sticking the sword into the ground and leaning on it.

In the distance, the fairy smiled, this was the reason why she believed that maintaining the nature of the Sword of Selection was the right thing to do, because, in the hands of a wielder Neocaliburn recognized as a proper King, its true power as a holy sword would be revealed. So, as the boy continued to grow as a good King, the sword would allow him to use more and more of its power. And, even if this time Neocaliburn only allowed him to use a little more of its power, the mere fact that it allowed it already indicated that the boy was walking in the right direction.

"You planned this, didn't you?" Faker said approaching her.

She shook her head, "No, but I did take the opportunity. We should go before they get here."

"Who are you talking about?"

She looked into the distance, "Of two very powerful ones who are taking a liking to the boy."

Faker clicked her tongue, "Retreating without taking your enemy's life is a bit disappointing…"

"But seeing the growth of your future opponents, doesn't it excite you?"

Faker smiled and said, "Say what you want."

With that said, she disappeared back into her spirit form. And, after taking one last look at the boy, the fairy also disappeared.

…

In a nearby place...

Hundreds of corpses of horsemen, as well as their mounts, adorned a meadow. And all these undead were dismembered and their souls destroyed.

At the top of a hill of bodies, Altrouge stood, and she stared into the distance. On her own, she had dealt with all the riders of the Wild Hunt.

The Twilight Princess smiled, "He's getting better, at least this time he didn't pass out."

"Fou! Fou!"

"Yeah, I thought I'd have to intervene too... Let's go, we'd better get there before he falls over."

"Fou!"

Said this, Fou stood on her shoulder and after howling, a light enveloped them both.

Shirou watched as a light appeared a few meters near him, and, for a moment, he thought it might be a rider from the Wild Hunt, but after seeing her crimson eyes, he allowed himself to fall to the ground.

Altrouge walked over to him, "You know what you did was stupid, don't you?"

"Yeah…"

"You knew that even if you destroyed the wraith, there was no guarantee that the rest of the Wild Hunt would stop, right?"

"Yeah…"

She narrowed her eyes, "So?"

"I just trusted."

This puzzled the Princess, "What?"

"The spectral hounds were spirits, so I was hoping Gray could handle them. And, as for the riders, I was hoping you wouldn't let them get away with it, after all, you told me to trust you, didn't you?"

The Princess pouted a little, "Good answer," then, she smiled 'kindly', "but…"

"Ouch!"

Altrouge gave him a light hit.

"Why the hit?"

"I simply wanted to hit you, you don't have the right to jump into a death match without telling me first, you know?"

"I-I'll keep that in mind..."

"Now rest, the others must be coming soon."

"But…"

"Rest, or I will make you rest."

He closed his eyes immediately.

---

In another unknown place...

That 'nameless' fairy was walking towards a huge construction, a great tower, which had no doors or windows, and also seemed to grow vertically to infinity.

With a snap of her fingers she changed her appearance, now looking less 'faerie' and more 'human'.

"Did you call me, teacher?" she asked.

From the bottom of the tower, a voice was heard.

"I never thought you would interact with humans again, Nimue," the voice was jubilant and animated, "and stop calling me teacher, it makes me feel old."

Nimue smiled, "Well, you would if you could, Merlin. From your point of view, a great story must be brewing in front of you."

Merlin sighed, "Yes, or so I hope, I'd love to participate, but I'm confined to this tower because a dear student of mine tried to assassinate me…"

"This is the punishment my dear teacher deserved for playing with what he shouldn't, including the fate of that little girl..." the fairy answered with a surprisingly cold tone of voice compared to the kind one used before.

And not giving the slightest importance to that statement, the magician continued, "For a moment, I thought that humanity would end with a sad end, but this plot twist has made me emotional. Was it your will, or the World?"

"At this point, I can't manifest myself in the current world by my own strength, and only in that workshop that created a portal to our world, I was able to influence. I also had nothing to do with the boy reaching the Caliburn's fragments, nor in his meeting with the bearer of the holy spear," then she asked, "will you also watch this possible last tale of the heroism of the humanity, Merlín?"

He laughed, "Of course, I will. As the biggest fan of the stories that humanity weaves, there is no way I will miss it. Even at the end of time, I will continue to watch and watch over them. So let's enjoy this great story, and if we're lucky, it won't be the last."

"Do you think they can reach it?"

"Who knows, but we will be the ones to witness it, the end of humanity, or the beginning of the Age of Will. I'm excited…"

...

...

...

Shirou opened his eyes, he was on the London train. Sitting on one side of him was Gray, who was holding one of his hands, and on the other side was Altrouge, who was leaning on him, and, in front of him, were Sieg and Caules, in the next seat, were Reines, Trimmau, and the teacher.

They were all asleep, exhausted from the trip, and suddenly, his cell phone rang, he reached into his jacket pockets and pulled out two things: his cell phone and a letter.

The letter was addressed to his teacher, had it been Faker? He didn't know it, but he would give it to him when he woke up.

After reading the messages on his cell phone, the boy sighed. One was from Rin, in which she informed him that she had almost finished printing the magic circle on the prototype of the Zelretch's sword, so next week they could test it. The other message was from Kiritsugu, he had returned safely from the Middle East, and apparently, he brought him a present. From these two messages Shirou deduced that the following week would be complicated, and besides, he would surely receive a big scolding when everyone woke up, so, still exhausted, he preferred to sleep and face the punishment later.

---

Omake.

Once Caules finished the chant, the black dog stopped resisting.

The young Pokémon trainer looked at the homunculus, "Sieg, please release it. It shouldn't attack us anymore."

Nodding, Sieg drew his sword from the belly of the Ghost-type Pokémon.

The hound got up and, as if nothing had happened, sat down like a tame dog.

Caules smiled, "Now it will be my Pokémon, and it will be on our side from now on."

The homunculus watched the young Pokémon trainer, Caules had a smile on his face, but Sieg had lived long enough with the young Yggdmillennia to know that he was barely holding himself back from screaming with joy. Having been able to help the person he helped save his life, Sieg couldn't help but feel happy as well.

But this was short-lived, "Wait..." Caules took out his cell phone and turned its camera towards the black dog, then, he frowned, "the Iv's aren't quite well distributed, and it has the wrong nature," Caules sighed as he kept his cell phone and ordered the black dog to enter his Pokeball (primeval battery), "we have no other, we will have to capture more and force them through breeding."

Sieg looked at him confused, "Couldn't we use the Super Training you talked about earlier?"

Caules shook his head, "Unfortunately, Super Training gear is only available in Japan, and the Pokémon Association is not on good terms with Pokémon Organizations in Asia. Who knows how many years it will take before we can use it?"

"I see, luckily the Wild Hunt has a whole pack of black dogs, so there are still plenty of black dogs left for us to capture," Sieg tried to encourage him.

Caules smiled and nodded, "You're right, come on Sieg, let's catch them all!"

---

Author Notes:

Hi everyone!

It has been a while, practically a year, since the last publication of a chapter, but fortunately, this has come to an end. I have already finished the review process, both for the original version in Spanish, as well as the already published chapters of this version, and, finally, I finished translating this chapter, which, by the way, is the longest so far.

Now let's move on to the comments and to finish, a small announcement:

Guest: For both Fate Redline and Garden of the Sinners, the answer is yes, and at the same time, no.

King Allen:

Kiritsugu wants Shirou to help him when he's ready, obviously, he's not going to take a 13-year-old kid to raid a magi family's workshop.

As for Shinji, he's a designer baby in this fic (like his EXTRA version), so yes, he does have magic circuits.

ArcherFF: My English is not good either, so no problem. As for whether Shirou will have those changes, it's more fun if you find out by reading.

Princess Liu Hnh: Yes, I understand what you mean, and this is due to my inexperience when I started writing; however, all that will improve a lot in the next chapters.

Wizzer96: Well, I have sought the help of other people for the translation, and I have worked with two different people, but neither of them ended up working. One of them made the same mistakes as me, and the other disappeared from one day to the next.

Finally, I want to inform you that I opened a Pa_ treon, for several reasons that I already explained there. The sponsors will have multiple benefits such as: from the next chapter, they will be able to read them a week in advance, there will also be polls about which story they want to see updated, etc. So for those who want and can support the translations, you can find me there by putting the address www .pa tre on. com(Slash) Rinaru

And with nothing more to say, see you in the next chapter.