"You know Erza will kill you when she wakes up, right?" Happy pointed out, flying next to Yuto.
"Whoa! I'm terrified," Yuto replied casually.
Such a threat did not bother him in the slightest.
"I'm not breaking the rules," Yuto said. "I'm not trying to complete an S-Class Quest, I'm just trying to stop cultists from awakening a powerful demon."
He wasn't even interested in the demon in the first place. He wanted to meet Berserker again and find out more about the story he had told him.
"Now hurry up and lead me to the temple," Yuto said, tightening tighter the chains that bound Happy's tail.
Yuto's impatience was justified by the fact that he realised he was being watched. He doubted that they were the allies of the Sub-Zero Emperor, but rather the masters of Assassin and Berserker who were watching them.
[Master, you said there are servants, but I don't feel anything,] Mordred said, mentally connecting Yuto. [One is Assassin so it is normal he is hiding, but how can a Berserker hide his presence so well?]
[That's no ordinary Berserker,] Yuto said. [I don't know how to explain it, but I had a feeling he wasn't crazy.]
Yuto had noticed that Berserker's speeches while fighting made logical sense, as well as the tactics he had adopted, were perfectly rational, with the final Noble Phantasm signifying that madness probably stemmed from his way of fighting.
[It almost certainly has the characteristic abilities of the Assassin, Caster and Saber Classes, and if I'm right, the most important of the Archer Class,] Yuto added. [Do you know what this means?]
[He will be my springboard,] Mordred replied.
[What?] Yuto blinked quickly.
[I will win the Holy Grail and use it to reincarnate,] Mordred said. [And when I am reborn, I am going to do whatever I want to do without worrying about anything.]
Yuto smiled slightly.
Following Happy's directions, Yuto reached the temple in the middle of the forest. It had to be of great importance because Yuto immediately noticed the barrier around the perimeter of the temple.
"Let's find Natsu," Yuto said.
"That won't be necessary," Happy said as Yuto was about to stop Natsu on the fly. "It looks like he came."
Berserker came out from the temple.
"For Igneel's foster son, he is very weak," Berserker said, focusing on Yuto. "You had to get out of this place when I gave you the chance."
"I was never the kind of person who follows orders," Yuto stated. "Do you know why I am here?"
"You want to know about the Holy Grail War, don't you?" Berserker guessed. "Well, yes, the almighty cup was created."
"How?" Yuto asked.
"I don't know and I don't care. I am fighting for my wish," Berserker replied, concentrating the magic energy in his right hand. "You seem to be participating too. That makes you my enemy."
The symbols on the back of Yuto's hand were proof that he was one of the seven masters competing for the Holy Grail and this automatically made him an enemy of all the other masters and servants.
"What are you talking about?" Happy faded in front of Yuto's deadly gaze. "I didn't see anything. I don't know anything. Don't kill me!"
Yuto sighed. It is not that he had a real reason to participate in the holy grail war so if he had to give an answer, it was certainly to win it for Mordred.
"I propose an alliance on behalf of my master," Berserker said, surprising Yuto. "Your Saber and I will kill the other four Servants while your Caster provides strategic support."
That made sense. An alliance between Berserker and Saber was advantageous if two points were not considered.
"What do you want in return?" Yuto asked, suspecting that this was not an initiative of the master but of Berserker.
"My master has plans for that grail, but I don't know what they are. Honestly, I couldn't care less about that scum," Berserker replied with contempt. "I planned to use the Holy Grail to bring true peace."
Berserker's statement had surprised Mordred that she abandoned the spiritual form.
"If you want peace, why did you become a Berserker?" Mordred asked, pointing Clarent at Berserker.
"I am like that because humans asked for me to be like that," Berserker replied as his gaze remained fixed on Natsu. "My whole family was killed because of some stupid dispute between the rulers. And I made them pay for taking them away from me." That's how he realised that maybe true peace was possible. "If humans lose the will to fight and to possess more and more, there will be no more wars and wealth will be equally distributed. No one will suffer or shed blood anymore."
"This can only apply in a world deprived of freedom." Mordred's face was a mixture of different emotions. Although she could understand logic and see some goodness in Berserker's desire, the idea of peace through fear and deprivation was absolutely bullshit. "I don't want to accept such an alliance, but the decision is yours, master."
It was the same case as Morgan, who planned to exploit him to extract the Sword of Selection before Artoria could do so. Even then Yuto refused to be her tool; on the one hand, because he hated Morgan for killing his parents; on the other because he didn't want to be a king.
"Sorry, but I have to refuse," Yuto replied, nodding to Mordred. "Mordred, in the names of Pendragon, Emiya, and Tohsaka. Beat Berserker's ass."
Mordred smiled excitedly. "It will be a real pleasure, master."
Lucy and Gray trembled in terror before Erza's piercing gaze. By the looks of things, she would have exploded pretty soon, and the irony was, they weren't involved. She was angry because someone had dared disobey the authority that had been given to her by the master.
"Know that you are in a lot of trouble," Erza said. "No one will protect you from the severe punishment that the master will give you."
At worst, the punishment was "that". It was so cruel that Gray almost had a heart attack just remembering it.
Erza sighed and turned towards Merlin. "Who are you?" she asked.
"Just a magus serving your friend," Merlin replied. "He politely asked me to keep you safe here."
Politely was not the right word. Lucy was there and saw that Yuto had literally threatened him with atrocious death if anything happened to them. Literally, Yuto told him that 'What Morgan could do to him would be more enjoyable than what Yuto would do'.
"You couldn't leave this island even if you wanted to," Merlin said. "Assassin is waiting on your ship to kill you."
"Who the hell are they?" Lucy asked.
"They are very much like the Celestial Spirits summoned by you to fight," Merlin said casually. "They are impossible to beat for humans and that is why another servant has been summoned."
The fact that someone summoned them meant that the secret of the Holy Grail War and the servants as fuel for the Holy Grail had leaked. And there was only one person who could have done it.
"You cannot defeat them and neither Yuto can. Saber can stand up to them at least for a while," Merlin said, outlining how critical their situation was. "I don't recommend joining them. It could end badly for you."
The gigantic explosion that followed was proof of what Merlin just said.
"Hmm..." Merlin brooded, touching his chin.
The people who could have spread the concept of Servant were few. Except for Yuto who surely would never reveal it, the only people Merlin was certain of knew such information was Erza's mother, however, she knew nothing of the Holy Grail.
"Start packing your things. You will leave this island as soon as Natsu returns," Merlin said, on Yuto's orders.
"What should we do with Deliora? That fool wants to free it," Gray said.
"What if he does?" Merlin turned to Gray. "You underestimate your teacher. She actually killed Deliora."
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, confused.
"It is the principle of equivalent exchange," Merlin revealed. "Magic always requires a price, but in return for such a toll, it has more or less powerful effects."
"Ur gave her own life to seal that monster," Gray said. "It is her will that forms that ice. Melting it means killing her!"
The young were truly stubborn nowadays.
"Very well. Go and stop him." Merlin moved, giving way. "Does melting that ice really mean killing Ur?"
"..." Gray passed past Merlin, leaving the tent and then the camp.
Everything had gone according to Yuto's calculations, but how exhausting it was to act on stage.
Merlin sighed. "I'm a director, not an actor," he complained inwardly.
"Shit." Mordred spat blood while staring at Berserker. "For a mad warrior, you have a lot of sanity."
"Your worldview is narrow," Berserker appeared before Mordred, swinging his sword violently down.
The sword slammed against the ground while Mordred left her spiritual form and appeared at a safe distance from Berserker.
"I didn't think an honourable knight could use a technique like that," Berserker admitted.
"Honour here, honour there. I'm tired!" Mordred charged Clarent with mana and swung violently at Berserker. "AAARGH! Fuck Caliburn! Fuck King Arthur! Fuck Morgan! Fuck everybody and everything!"
The memories were not just images. They picked up the feelings of those who had lived them and she too was no different. She was aware that it was not she who had lived those memories, however, they were still the memories of the "Mordred" who had lived and experienced and therefore equally hers.
"Say your last prayers because you won't say anything when I chop your head off." The magic energy enveloped Mordred, who appeared before Berserker.
"Do you really want to kill me, Mo-chan?"
Mordred widened her eyes and suddenly stopped her assault. There was only one person in the world who called her that way.
"Y-Yuto..." Mordred muttered.
Mordred was stunned, confused and petrified at the realisation, leaving Berserker free for a violent backlash, which shattered Mordred's armour.
"You're so naive!" Berserker approached dangerously.
Mordred splat the blood.
"That's all the swagger you were putting on earlier?" Berserker pointed Excalibur Morgan at Mordred's throat, who, in return, looked at him furiously. "Love makes you weak. I needed one reference to him and your spirit collapsed like a house of cards."
"So you flushed it down the toilet?" Mordred grimaced. "Is that what they want?"
Under his helmet, a vein pulsed on Berserker's forehead. The grip on his hand squeezed on the hilt of his sword, visibly trembling.
"DON'T DARE TO TALK LIKE YOU KNOW ME!" Berserker exploded, throwing Mordred away. "You weren't there when I held their bodies in my hands. You weren't there when my best friend was eaten before my eyes. So don't dare say you understand me."
Mordred quickly raised Clarent to block Berserker's assault, which now perfectly reflected his servant class. In return for his reason, he had obtained substantial physical enhancements. Moreover, without reason, Berserker no longer had any limiter.
"It's true. I don't know his suffering, nor will I ever understand it. I don't know what it's like to lose your family." Mordred blocked and dodged Berserker's attacks, but they were getting more and more powerful, pressing and unpredictable. "What did he want? What do you want?"
Still focusing on the battle, Mordred wondered who he was angry with. She did not understand whether Berserker was angry with the world that had stolen his family from him or whether he was angry with himself for not being able to protect them.
"But I know one thing for sure." Mordred pulled on her legs, pushing hard upwards to remove the enemy sword that was getting closer and closer to his neck, and then kicked Berserker away. "We made him this. The witch is not the only culprit. We also have our weight in his sufferings."
The helmet that concealed Berserker's face shattered, showing Berserker's hideous disfigured face. The left half of his face was horribly burnt, while the other half was pale white. One eye was completely fused to the burnt skin while the other was of a golden cold.
"You're right. I don't know anything about you, so I won't bother to take it easy." A staggering Mordred got up, ready to get back in the game. Her eyes were burning with more determination than before. "It's time to say goodbye."
Mana started flowing through the sword. The surrounding area was bathed by a red light as crimson lightning gushed from Clarent.
"Clarent. Blood. Arthur."
The moment Erza arrived at the temple, Yuto was waiting for her in front of the entrance. Natsu, bound by steel chains, was struggling to free himself.
"You..." Erza called menacingly.
"I admit it. I thought it would take you longer to regain consciousness," Yuto replied, sarcastically.
Beyond the face he had, Yuto was really serious. He was amazed Erza had taken little time to recover and track him down.
"No more sarcasm," Erza threatened, pointing a sword at Yuto's throat. "Let's get Gray and leave."
Erza surrendered when a large sword fell from the sky, blocking the entrance to the temple.
"Was it you?" Erza turned to Yuto, staring at him angrily. "Make this sword vanish."
"I won't," Yuto forcefully rejected. "No one will enter that door until Gray wins."
Yuto had not stayed out by chance. There was a reason and it was to take time for Gray to be able to confront and defeat the Sub-Zero Emperor. He wasn't sure of Gray's chances of victory, but he prayed that Gray could win. Otherwise, he would have had to intervene to resolve the disaster he had caused.
"You wouldn't change your mind even if I begged you," Yuto said, letting go of a long sigh.
There was a strange stubbornness in Erza's eyes. It was something that Yuto found familiar that caused mixed feelings.
"If you beat me, I'll let you go to Gray, and I won't do another header. If you lose, you'll let these guys finish the job." An unnamed sword appeared in Yuto's hand. "Do you accept the bet?"
"Does melting that ice mean killing Ur?"
Iced Shell was probably one of the most powerful ice spells ever created, and for that reason, the price to pay for its use was so high.
The ice was Ur's body and her will was what held it together. Obviously, that ice was subjected to the laws of the world and it was bound to melt eventually, but forcibly dissolving or destroying it was like killing her.
And yet, why did those words seem so much food for thought?
"You have finally come, Gray." The Sub-zero Emperor said, yet remaining turned to Deliora.
Sub-zero Emperor was a thin young man of medium stature. He had blue-silver hair, most of which were prickly strands that protruded upwards at the top of his head, except for some that were kept facing down and partially covering the upper left of his face. He wore a large white cloak, with a wide collar, golden borders and fur trim, on his shoulders. Under this cloak, he wore a blue tunic with a high collar and golden edges, long to the knees and tight at the waist by a simple black leather belt. His clothing also included large dark trousers tucked inside steel skimmers.
Gray took a deep breath, to calm his thoughts and tame his anxieties and fears. "Ten years ago I caused Ur's death. That's never going to change. But, Lyon, what you want to do is madness. Do you want to release Deliora? Do it, but how will you defeat it if not even Ur managed?! And even if you could, how many people would lose their lives in the backfire? What would be different from what I did, Lyon?"
Lyon made an angry face.
"You spent so much time researching to melt it that you figured out what that ice is, didn't you?" The temperature in Deliora's room dropped because of Gray's cold air. "That ice is Ur. Her will is what holds it together!"
Gray could read into Lyon's cold eyes and his stoic face. Words could not penetrate Lyon.
"I see. I am not the only beast in a cage." Gray sighed wearily. "Since you do not want to reason, then I will not scruple." The cold air around Gray grew denser. "I'll stop you with the bad."
"Impossible," Happy muttered in shock.
Natsu was pale as a sheet. "Erza is losing."
Erza, AKA Titania, the Fairy Queen, was known as the most powerful and dangerous woman in the guild. Many had challenged her but few had managed to beat her. But now she was struggling in her own field. For every armour she wore, Yuto replied with a different weapon but suited the circumstance and easily took over.
"Will you give up and we'll finish this?" Yuto asked, knowing the answer.
Of course, she wouldn't give up.
Erza equipped a black armour, with some silver trim. A pair of wings, similar to those of a dragon, were hung behind. The neck was protected by a choker decorated with several gems. Its large epaulettes, each consisting of two silver-lined plates superimposed, have silver crosses and flank the collar. The armour reveals a good part of the neckline and belly, with plaques that flank its sides and reach the large belt, composed of very long plaques and silver edges in the shape of feathers and decorated with silver crosses. The vest left the front of Elsa's body exposed, her groyne covered with a dark garment. The thin gloves had prominent protection for his hands, each with silver motifs.
"At least it'll come in handy as training," Yuto said.
Yuto had noticed something. His body acted as of its own accord. He didn't feel like someone was controlling him, telling him what to do. The feeling was more like an animal coming out of hibernation.
In that case, he just had to do what his gut told him.
Yuto closed his eyes.
"Requip."
As Yuto's body shone, a series of screens appeared in Yuto's mind. They portrayed weapons and armour that were contained within a separate dimension.
As he imagined, the magic called "Requip" was nothing more than a space-displacement magic, close to the Second Magic. He didn't quite understand his situation yet, but it didn't matter anymore.
The one he chose was particular because it looked more like the clothes of a hunter than a knight. However, it was one of his favourites and had used it since before the Sixth Holy Grail War. It was a simple black armour that adhered perfectly to Yuto's body, a pair of tight trousers, with a pair of belts that crossed each other and protruding pockets attached to them, and a pair of armoured boots. The arms were wrapped in shrouds that Yuto had "borrowed" from the church.
"Sending Gray against a demon seems like a wise choice?!" Erza snapped, repeatedly swinging her sword. "He is not ready."
Yuto raised his sword to parry the opponent's attack. "Who established it?"
Yuto could see scars on Erza's arms, leading him to believe that she must have had a rather difficult past.
"All people have ghosts and sooner or later we have to face them." Yuto slightly pushed Erza away and kicked her in the stomach. "We may have someone by our side, but we must overcome them on our own."
Erza spat blood and stared at Yuto. His reasoning made sense.
Erza rose. "So what was your idea?"
"Gray must kill his teacher, freeing her from the ice prison and giving her deserved rest," Yuto let the sword dissolve and replaced the armour with civilian clothing. "And at that point, he will need you, his closest friends."
"For moral support," Erza reasoned.
There would have been consequences. The despair, guilt, and desire to go back to undo what had been done were just some of the possible consequences and this was the role that Yuto had foreshadowed for Erza, Natsu, Lucy and Happy.
"Why do you do that?" Erza asked.
"The master said something that made me think. He described the guild as a family. If it's true, then you have to help each other." Yuto expected help when he needed it. "Here's why-"
Yuto stopped when he felt an imminent danger coming his way.
"Watch out, Erza!"
Erza didn't understand what was happening until she realised she was on the ground. Yuto stood before her. The horror marked the features of Erza's face when she saw the swords stabbed in Yuto's body.
- Clang.
Footsteps were getting closer and closer. At the same time, nature seemed to wither and die.
Berserker appeared from the clearing, dragging Mordred by the only leg she had left.
"You…" Yuto's eyes turned golden in front of Mordred's battered body, which seemed ready to disappear at any moment.
"Grrraugh!"