"Olga. Pay attention, we're here." Waver suddenly called out, pulling the car to a stop next to a thick tree, the girl actually paying attention to where she currently was and noticing the thick forest around them.
"That took a while." She commented simply, sliding out of the car and stretching with a groan, noticing that both of her companions were doing the same.
Good, she wasn't the odd man out then. She didn't have to worry about saving face in front of her new teacher and fellow apprentice.
That still didn't sound right to say, even in the confines of her mind.
"I warned you how long it would take. And we still have a while longer, yet."
"We're making our way by foot?" Gray assumed, stretching her arms behind her while leaning forward slightly to counterbalance.
"Would you like me to name every issue with approaching the dig sight through the main road?" The man responded in turn, patting Olga's shoulder when he noticed her go pale.
No doubt imagining the blood bath that would have ensued had they decided on doing such a foolish and, quite literally, suicidal move.
"I was just confirming it, not suggesting a differing course of action." Gray huffed, placing her hands on her hips and giving Waver a very well-practiced glare of annoyance.
"Right. My bad. Anyway, let's go girls." He gestured forward with his hands and started to walk, followed shortly by his first and second apprentice.
The forest they walked through was thick, but far from the thickest that Waver or Gray had ever traversed, and full of vibrant green vegetation. The dig sight they were heading to was in an, objectively, disadvantageous position; located in a valley surrounded on nearly every side by mountainous terrain and elevated positions. Which was why Waver was prepared to run into resistance far before they ever reached the dig sight, assuming that the Einzbern's would have set up a perimeter to dissuade, or outright retaliate against, potential enemies.
It was at times like this that he wished he had the unique blend of experience and innate talent that people like Kiritsugu Emiya seemed to carry in spades. Sure, he knew how Magi thought better than most, being a nearly full-time Thaumaturgical professor would do that, but he himself was still mostly set in the exact same type of mindset. He could see only the most obvious of problems without outside assistance or epiphanies, which was disadvantageous in this situation since what he needed was a way to circumvent typical Magi planning.
Sure, with Gray by his side they could likely dispatch of whatever scouts or sentries they had posted around the perimeter of the sight, assuming they have such things and not just a Bounded Field, but the real issue was the unknown number of Homunculi that they'd have to deal with.
Unsurprisingly, Waver wasn't quite as confident in the three of them being able to win against 10, 20, potentially even hundreds of Homunculi.
"You're spiraling, Master." The man snapped out of his thoughts and looked up with a hum at Gray's words, seeing Gray giving him a concerned look, and Olga giving him a confused one.
"I'm fine Gray. Just thinking over what we may be expecting when we get there." The Magus answered, easily, not actually expecting Gray to drop the line of questioning but willing to try, nonetheless.
"Then you're thinking too hard."
"Gray! You need to choose your words better!" Olga admonished, flushed with second-hand embarrassment at the rather monotone and blunt words that her fellow apprentice had spoken.
"Sugarcoating it will just mean he'll start spiraling again. Master is made of thick stuff; he can handle simple comments." Gray deadpanned at the Animusphere, patting Waver on the back and making him stumble forward.
"Strength, Gray." He huffed, getting her basically instinctually blank look in return.
"My apologies."
"Now you're hitting him!?"
"….I let you spend too much time around Shirou." Waver deadpanned, getting a sudden and suspiciously innocent smile in return.
"I have no idea what you mean, Master."
"Yeah. Of course not." The man snorted, rolling his eyes and continuing to walk.
"Gray! What was that?!" Olga hissed almost in the hooded girl's ear, if not for the difference in their heights.
"Master admires those that know when and how to speak candidly. Being overly confrontational does nothing, but neither does being a doormat."
"But- He's- Lord El Melloi II is our master!" The younger girl looked scandalized by the thought that Waver would want someone to be occasionally blunt to him.
"Yes, he is. But that doesn't mean he has absolute control, nor should he." The older girl responded, her eyes trailing over the trees and foliage lazily as they walked.
"Just leave it Olga. Not only is Gray right, but she's as stubborn as they come. You'd sooner win an argument with Alexandar the Great than her."
"Thank you for the compliment." Gray smiled and nodded.
"I…don't think that was a compliment." Olga deadpanned at the other girl.
"It was more of a backhanded compliment, but master holds Alexander the Great in high esteem. If he compares you to him, it's either to convince you to try harder, or an acclaim to how far ahead you are."
"Huh…"
Following that, the conversation died out naturally, leaving the three of them in a somewhat comfortable silence as they made their way through the forest. Waver leading the way with Olga behind him and Gray rounding up the back, occasionally having to purposefully step on a twig or make some noise to assure her companions that she was still there.
The knowledge that they were going to be attacked, at least eventually, kept Waver and Olga tensed and on high alert the entire time, though Gray was noticeably calmer as she followed behind them. Something she barely had to focus on since not only was she far more confident in her ability to fight than either of her companions, but also in the fact that she understood how much energy it wasted too constantly be so high-strung.
She'd remind her two companions of that, but she didn't think it would do much considering their dispositions and the situation that they were quite literally walking head-first into. And admittedly their senses were far less fine-tuned than her's, so staying on guard was probably for the best for the both of them.
Which was probably why at least Waver wasn't very surprised when three globes of flesh flew out of the foliage towards them, only to be cut down by the knife of Gray as she started to open the hatch to Add's cage with her free hand.
"Master, no." Was all she said as Olga stumbled back a step with a worried expression.
"Fine. Fine. So long as you have it handled, I won't interfere with this one." He relented with his hands up.
"Excellent."
"L-Lord El Melloi II! Why aren't you helping?" Olga yelped, clearly scared for the continued survival of Gray as her senses began to pick up the number of Magi nearby.
"Just sit back and watch Olga." Waver replied, placing a hand in front of her to stop her from trying to move forward.
"First Stage Restraints, Rescind!"
"Hell yeah!" With a chirp of sheer elation Add transformed into a rather beautiful, and deadly, scythe that Gray held out to her side.
And then in a blur and a crack of wind she was gone, Olga's eyes losing focus for the briefest of moments as she struggled to find where she even went, let alone follow her movements.
"Agh!" The cry of pain caught her attention and caused her to look over, seeing Gray pulling all of the Magi out of their hiding places and systemically tearing them apart.
Her movements were fast, brutal, lethal and above all else, beautiful. Her scythe spun and slashed clear through everything put in its path in flashes of silver and gold that mesmerized the young Animusphere.
With the simplest of spins, the Reaper leant back and avoided the Necromantic globes of flesh lobbed at her by the necromancer of the offending group. Spinning Grim Reaper around her mid-section she brought the blade around and sliced through the globes on its way back towards her, slicing out at the already injured Magus and catching him across the chest once more before he could stumble out of melee range to be replaced by his companions.
And come in they did, rushing at her from opposite directions in an attempt to try and split her focus so that they could cut her down with the Mystic Codes in their hands. The Mystic Codes themselves were nothing to write home about, but they didn't need to be to injure her, so she simply wouldn't allow them to.
Spinning her weapon once more, she smacked both of the weapons with the 'pommel' and blunt side of her weapon at once, stopping the spin half-way through by catching the shaft of Grim Reaper in the arch of her foot. Before either of the Magi could even begin to regain their composure from having their weapons smacked so violently off course, Gray lashed out once more. Flexing both of her arms and kicking off with her foot and launch the Grim Reaper into a blur of razor-sharp metal.
So fast was the action, and so sharp was her weapon, that the girl couldn't even feel the blade slice into and back out of her opponents, trailing blood behind it as she was practically encased in a webbed dome of the viscus liquid. Both bodies hitting the floor and quickly being followed by their blood trails as the girl shot forward with a burst of speed and Prana that left the last two Magi unable to comprehend the fate now approaching them.
Hooking the blade to be inline and diagonally slanted along the first Magi's abdomen she sliced clean through it without even having to swing, her momentum enough to get the job done for her. Though the lack of effort also meant that his body could put up just enough momentum to tilt her vector upwards towards a thicker than usual branch, flying straight past the last Magus as she did so. Hitting and then pushing right off the branch, she launched herself straight towards the fourth, and last, Magus of the group. Spinning in the air she separated his head clean from his body and landed on the ground with a bounce, flipping and cartwheeling to kill off her momentum so that she could end her rapid movement with a rather stylish slide right back into place besides her master.
"You did that last move on purpose." Waver accused his first apprentice, raising his eyebrow at her as her weapon began to fold back into her chatty partner.
"Perhaps." Was all she responded with, not a single hair out of place as the drops of blood that had landed on her cloak rolled right off it.
A rather handy enchantment in retrospect.
Though the casual conversation did nothing to lessen, let alone end, the wide-eyed, stupefied look that the grey-haired girl was getting from Olga. The younger girl's mind replaying everything that she'd managed to catch of the fight with a hungry fever that surprised even herself.
Olga Marie Animusphere was always a girl that thought herself a superhuman amongst even Magi, with Magic Circuits that were ranked EX in any documents that could be found without black ink on it. Her intellect was far above others her age that she had met, as admittedly little as that number came out to be, and her understanding of the basics and principles of Magecraft were leagues ahead of where others had expected her to be time and time again.
Even her subsequent meetings and comparisons to the likes of Kirschtaria Wodime weren't enough to shake that belief in herself. That belief that she was special and unique in a way that couldn't be outdone. The claims to his abilities and knowledge were great in both scope and number but they always spoke of what he could do, not what he had done.
Yet now, watching Gray dismantle those four magi in such a quick, brutal and effortless fashion? Olga could feel the pride that she'd always fallen back on, that feeling of 'superhuman', wobbling and creaking. In that very moment, Olga realized that if she was a superhuman amongst even the likes of Magi, then Gray was a superhuman amongst superhuman's, a true transcendent existence amongst the Moonlit World.
And in that singular moment, Olga realized just what kind of road was ahead of her. Just how much work she'd need to put in to place herself properly in that label of Superhuman and be able to mean it going forward.
Yet, for some reason, that thought didn't annoy her as it once would have. No, now instead it filled her with a burning desire, one that she would complete. Starting with this relic and the homunculi guarding it.
"Don't we have a relic to be going after?" She asked, taking her fellow apprentice's advice and trying to be as blunt as possible when she spoke, even if it hurt her inside.
"Yes, you're right Olga. Let's keep going Gray."
"Yes, lets."
XXXxxxXXX
Twenty Minutes Later
The area was engulfed head to toe in chaos. Thaumaturgy and weaponry flying across what was once a rather well forested area as one force of Homunculi, that the group of three could only assume was Yggdmillenna, fought a smaller, much more entrenched group of albino Homunculi.
"So those are Einzbern Homunculi…" Olga whispered, her eyes gazing over the battlefield from the elevated position she had been led to by Waver.
"They're holding their ground well. Basic tactics but effective and of a far better quality per creation compared to the attacking forces." Waver mumbled to himself, looking over the battlefield with a pensive expression, his arms crossed.
"Neither side can make ground. Though one of them doesn't have to, so it plays well in their favour. For the Yggdmillennia forces to advance they'll need to clear the No Man's Land in between of the traps."
"Traps? What are we looking at, Gray?" Waver asked, watching an Einzbern fireball arc over the battlefield like a mortar and strike a hastily erected barrier created from a flicked-out series of paper seals.
'Onmyoudou? So, I see the rumors of the Yggdmillennia spreading their roots far and wide are true. Though this is still further than most of the Clock Tower believes they've spread…'
"Not sure. My skin prickles just thinking about going down there but there's too many conflicting signatures and sources of danger to say what anything might be."
"Your skin?..." Olga questioned with a confused look.
"Gray has better instincts than most people you're likely to ever meet. I'd trust her gut judgement over most of the Clock Tower any time of any day."
Kra-koom!
The deafening explosion from the battlefield caught their attention, the group of three quickly focusing their attention back on the fight as the dust was blown away quickly by more than one wind spell. The purpose for such a large smokescreen was made rather evident the moment sight returned to them, watching many of the Einzbern at the back of their forces have to peel off to dispose of the Magi that seemed to rush out of every possible bush and tree in proximity.
Some made rushes straight towards where the excavation was still being done by what looked to be even more Einzbern homunculi and some were smarter, staying back and trying to pick off the fighters that peeled away, and the other Magi.
From his position, he could see that Olga's fingers were twitching, undoubtedly a reflex at seeing so many Magi either throwing their pride away or acting so callous that it made even him pause. But he couldn't afford either of his apprentices ruining the advantage that they had now, putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing to remind her that he was there and that he'd support her.
Though, rather surprisingly, it wasn't Olga that he should have been watching in that moment.
"Wha- Who?" Gray's astonished mumble made him look over.
"Gray?"
"That man wasn't hit that hard by that spell…And that Yggdmillennia shouldn't have succumbed to his blood loss yet…"
"A fourth party?" He questioned seriously, since an assassin going around without him noticing wasn't something that he wanted to deal with.
Or if he had to, he wanted to make sure that he had as much information as humanly possible.
Instead of answering him, Gray stayed silent, her eyes locked on the battlefield with an intensity that unnerved even Waver, despite having known her for quite a few years by this point.
"There! A bullet?" Ice filled Waver's veins and his hand immediately clammed up on Olga's shoulder.
"Emiya…" He breathed out, trying to regain his composure.
"Shirou's dad!?" Gray whisper yelled, whirling on him and making Olga give a curious hum.
"Is it him? Why is he here?" Waver hissed, his gaze falling to the grass as he tapped his chin.
"If you're looking for allies, perhaps the father of Shirou could lend his assistance?" Olga suggested to Waver, blurting it out before she could really think over it.
"That a great suggestion, Olga." Gray nodded enthusiastically, giving Olga at least some semblance of praise for her blurted suggestion.
"We have no way of sending a message, no way to move around the battlefield without being found and currently there's still far too many combatants for me to want to move at all. And we don't even know if it is him." Waver argued, getting frowns from both girls at the reminder of just what situation they were crouched on the edge of.
"I suppose waiting will be our best bet." Gray acquiesced, though he could see that she wasn't totally thrilled at the thought.
Though considering how many times she'd asked to visit Fuyuki when Shirou returned home for the year it didn't surprise him. Honestly the fact that he'd managed to keep her here was more of a surprise than her asking to meet up with them in the first place.
Now, all they had to do was wait for a break or a lull in the combat so that they could move or capitalize on it somehow. All they had to do was wait.
XXXxxxXXX
Fuyuki, Current time
Shirou walked into his room, his hand still flexed and tensed up from the status update he had gotten on his sister.
"Worried about your sister?" The red-haired teen nearly headbutted the wall right then and there, seeing Gilgamesh leaning against his wall with an arrogant expression like always.
"She's my family, of course I am." He responded simply instead, locking gazes with Gilgamesh, one eye to two.
"Are you saying that you know what a true family is like?" Gilgamesh taunted the teenager, getting a flat look in return.
"And you do?"
"Watch your tongue." The man glared, getting a huff from the teen.
"You've got an unusually short temper today. What's wrong, did our fight not give you enough entertainment?" He asked, though Gilgamesh could see the briefest hints of annoyance in his gaze as he spoke.
"No, in fact, it did not. The vermin that marked you never showed up because that mongrel showed up too early."
"You mean Altrouge?"
"You know who I meant, do not play stupid with me, smith."
"Hm. Looks like I'll have to use Rule Breaker to break this then." The teen mumbled, raising his hand and staring at the currently flawless skin that hid the binding marks of his contract with the Ancestor.
"No. I'll be dealing with it personally, as a King is meant to do when one attempts to harm his people." The golden king waxed, getting an amused look for all of a second before the teen let out a bark of laughter.
"And what, exactly, is so funny?" Gilgamesh scowled, giving Shirou a glare that promised pain, and a glare that was brushed off rather easily.
"Nothing. I just thought for a moment you sounded like a really prideful parent. Like one that's trying to help but is trying to hide the fact that they're helping."
"I'd sooner take the cowards way to the Throne than be your father." Gilgamesh spoke bluntly, getting a shrug from Shirou.
"I'm not someone easy to manage even as a friend, so that's understandable. But hey, what would you be like as a parent, do you reckon?"
"You've asked me this before."
"I have?... Oh, yeah."
"Wasting my time with such inane- What would you be like as a parent, smith?" Gilgamesh flipped the question, getting a thoughtful hum from the boy as he held his chin.
"I'd….probably be a bad one." The admittance was rather surprising, even to someone as generally unflappable as Gilgamesh.
"Oh? All those big claims and comments and here you are admitting that you'd be a failure as a parent?" He taunted the teen, smirking somewhat cruelly.
"I never said a failure. I just said bad." Shirou corrected, seeing the faintest of twitches in Gilgamesh's left eye. "I'd never know when I'm being too harsh or too soft on them. I'd likely have difficulty remembering their mental and physical limits and trying to have them emulate emotions from me of all people would leave them just a step above where I was after the fire."
"And you have the gall to ask me about-"
"But I'd try." Shirou cut him off, staring him in the eyes once more with his singular human eye. "No matter how many mistakes I made, I'd keep trying until I either succeed or can't try anymore. The first time I asked you that question you told me 'The perfect parent'. That doesn't sound like a real answer to me anymore, sorry Gilgamesh. It just sounds like someone that couldn't answer but had too anyway." He walked over to a table in his room to grab a notebook and pen that he had lying on it, pausing as golden portals opened up around him.
"What gives you the right to speak to your King in such a manner? What gives you the right to insult me in such a way?" Gilgamesh growled, well and truly pissed, his aura pressing down on Shirou's shoulders with far less results than even a few months ago.
"My sister is currently half dead, Gilgamesh. My sister is deteriorating by the moment and even the best purification that Caren can manage might not flush the curse from her system. One of my best friends in the world is on the verge of house arrest after she passed out helping me fight Enhance and the other is worried sick about her, me and Illya. I'm sorry I worded it so bluntly, but I just don't have the energy for our usual verbal bouts, and I'm frayed at the edges as is. You hate lies, so I haven't spoken a lie to you, not one."
The air between the two was tense and neither spoke a word, staring at the other with two violent cacophonies of emotions that threatened to swallow either one of them, or both, whole where they stood. Though after a minute, finally, Gilgamesh broke the silence with a haughty scoff.
"Such an imperfect human, letting your stress affect you to this level. Have you truly learnt nothing?" He mocked the teen, getting a flat look in return. "I'll forgive the transgression only this once as you've done me a service in getting rid of one of those vermin from my kingdom."
'Way to bounce back and deflect Gilgamesh…' Shirou thought to himself as the man continued to talk.
"I will give you a few days to get your head back on straight and have an apology ready! Worry not, I only require ten minutes at the least. Now, I'm off for a truly historic endeavour, my first ever invasion!"
"An invasion? On whom?"
"The vermin of contracts, could you not even infer that much?" He mocked Shirou once more.
"I thought it was going to be against the vineyard that 'made' you drink a wine with Antifreeze in it." He deadpanned, taking an odd satisfaction in the dry glare he got in return.
"You had to remind me."
"Yes. I definitely did."
"Well, as I stated before I will be launching my first ever invasion! A truly momentous occasion. Once I'm done, Rider won't have a title anymore. King of Conquerors will have to go to me, as it rightfully should for the victory I'll be achieving." He buffed his nails on his jacket, getting a snort from the teen.
"I look forward to hearing about it on the news."
"Never speak such blasphemous words again."
"The newspaper then."
"Acceptable. Now, I'll be off. Remember, ten-minute grovelling in five days' time." And with all the grace of an Assassin-class Servant, the golden King hopped out of the window of the teens room, beginning to casually walk down the street, away from the rebuilt Emiya residence.
Truly, Magecraft was the gift that kept on giving.
"Who does that brat think he is? Speaking to me in such a manner. Only Enkidu was ever allowed to-" The Golden King caught himself, blinking once, twice, thrice as he continued to walk.
With a deep breath in, and a deep breath out, he closed his eyes and shook his head.
"No. Comparing him to Enkidu is too cruel, even for my standards."
XXXxxxXXX
Fuyuki, Matou Residence
"That little shit!" Shinji hissed, his fists clenched tight, and his expression twisted into a dark one of pure hatred tinged with bloodlust.
"Who does he think he is!? Mocking me like that! She's mine dammit! Mine! And he's taken her from me! Refusing to give her back! Refusing to so much as tell me about her!" He ranted to himself, throwing his hands out and stomping in a useless attempt to try and clear the anger that boiled beneath his skin.
He'd gone to Shirou with nothing different about him that day. He had interacted with that one eyed shit just like he always did, just like what had always worked! But now all of a sudden he was stonewalling him!?
'Who the fuck does he think that he is!? That fucker is the adopted son of an extinct, sealing designate-level failure of a Magus Family and he thinks that he can deny the rightful heir of the Matou!?'
Shinji had to muffle a scream and stomped a few more times, his face turning a shade of red not too dissimilar to a toddler throwing a tantrum.
"Emiya! You think you can cross me!? Oh I'll fucking show you! I'll show you the fucking difference between us alright! Beat you senseless and show you just what I do with what I own and not him! Watch him cry out-"
"Shinji." The singular, decrepit voice froze the teen in his tracks, only to make him turn to face his grandfather with a rather cowardly and high-pitched yelp.
"G-Grandfather! You're…outside of your Workshop awfully early today. Looking rather spry." He tried to butter his grandfather up, though like usual it was met with a stony expression that often-left Shinji wondering if Zouken even understood half of what he was saying.
"Assaulting and murdering the Emiya boy?" He questioned, making the teen gulp and pale, awkwardly tugging at his collar.
"N-No grandfather, it was just…lines for a school play. That's all." He lied, smiling shakily and laughing.
"You were told of your orders. They may have come through the girl's mouth, but they are my words." Shinji gulped, his forced smile dying an agonising death as Zouken continued.
"You were going to go against my word and assault a member of another family on top of that? It seems you truly have learnt nothing."
Shinji opened his mouth to say something more, potentially something meaningful, though the decaying corpse of a man doubted it. Not that he could, considering that a scream left the teens lips instead, brought forth by the worms that Zouken had in his room at all times beginning their attack on the teen.
It was slow and it was painful, his worms were never meant for combat after all, those were what some of the other soul-insects were for. But they completed their purpose, snuffing the life of the worthless, cowardly purple haired boy with minimal damage done to the body itself so that it could be properly changed to fit the cover story.
Truthfully, he didn't care what the boy did, no one in this backwater town could harm him in any way and the boy had no Od, so he was a non-factor regardless. But what he would be useful for, at least in death, was yet another way to manage his control over the girl. He was already confident in his control and his conditioning of her, of that he had no doubt, but it never hurt to have contingencies and the girl so deeply loved her brother.
It was a consequence of his conditioning of her, but the origin mattered far less than the results. If he could spin the story correctly it would be criminally easy to place the guilt all on her shoulders once she returned from the Emiya compound as she was soon to do. Yes, that would be perfect. The boy's death would be 'caused' by him going out to speak to her because he missed her presence so dearly and was worried after all the explosions, yes that would fit nicely.
Turning, he began to shuffle out of the room only to clip the doorway on the way out, causing him to stumble and glare at the doorway ever so slightly, wondering how he had managed to lose his balance enough to do so. The thought persisting as he began to walk once more.
'Hm. A minor distraction caused by fantasies, nothing more, nothing less. Though the door seemed much closer…'
And unknowingly to him it was, since the house had been renovated in 1923. A renovation that he had personally overseen and made meticulous notes on, yet he'd forgotten in this moment, the thought never so much as tickling his mind.
"No matter. The boy's corpse is a higher priority."
XXXxxxXXX
Greece, hours later
"Kiri I'm boreddddd." Irisviel whined, kneeling on the grass nearby her husband as he lay on the ground covered head to toe in leaves, bushes and other such shrubbery.
"I'm aware Iri. But you knew what was going to happen, I warned you."
"I can't even read a book." The beautiful woman pouted, pulling a leaf out of her hair.
"Did you bring a book?"
"No…"
"Then no."
"So, I could have if I'd brought one!?"
"No."
"Hmph! No sexy times for you." She huffed, crossing her arms and turning away from him.
"Don't look away from an active battlefield Iri." Kiritsugu spoke, never once looking away from the fighting happening at the excavation site.
"Right, my bad." She giggled in embarrassment and turned back to look at it.
In the hours of fighting the Einzbern's had lost some numbers but had also deeply entrenched themselves in the area surrounding the excavation site, complete with transmuted walls, battlements and defenses since the Yggdmillennia seemed downright hyperfixated on breaking through. An unbreakable wall facing a thousand constant daggers from almost all directions, and while initially it had been a nerve-fraying thing to watch from the sidelines, at this stage it had begun to blur together into a haze of optical white noise.
"Hmmm. The Yggdmillennia are trying to tunnel underneath again.." Irisviel muttered, getting a short hum from the man.
The Emiya matriarch had served as Kiritsugu's reconnaissance support ever since the fighting had begun, keeping track of the wider movements of all the Homunculi and Magi in the immediate vicinity, including the couple groups that had yet to move and engage, as they were also doing. Her focus on the wider, overarching movement of the battle allowing Kiritsugu to safely narrow his gaze on particular participants of interest or targets that he was planning to go after if events permitted it.
So far, he had five that he periodically checked on, especially if one side pushed the status quo or they happened to get especially risky or aggressive in their plans.
"Kiri…this feeling.." Irisviel muttered, hunching over a little to minimise being found as Kiritsugu's grip on his gun tightened ever so slightly.
"Yes. I feel it too. Something is about to change."
It was an odd feeling, one that even the Homunculi fighting below them couldn't begin to grasp as they fought on with weaponry and low tier spells to conserve energy. It was a feeling that they were unable to grasp, with only four people in the vicinity able to feel it.
Those four people were Kiritsugu Emiya, Irisviel Emiya, Waver Velvet, and Gray.
These four, amongst the supernatural and the insanity that surrounded them, all had one thing that allowed them to sense this premonition, this shift in the proverbial winds. That one thing was instincts.
Irisviel's and Waver's born of their lives as Magi and most importantly their participation in the dangers of the Fourth Holy Grail War.
Kiritsugu Emiya's born of a lifetime of mercenary work and his own participation in the dangerous event that seems to have birthed so many anomalies of the Moonlit world.
And Gray, the oddity even amongst these three, who had faced no life-or-death trials or tribulations but has the body of the late King Arthur of Britain. A body which carried over its instincts when it was reborn in the modern era amongst the tatters of Gray's previous existence.
The air behind one of the Homunculi actively excavating the relic swirled and burst outwards as it was displaced by two figures, blue squares of prana fading away into increasingly smaller motes of light.
The very idea of instincts was one that were widespread yet very few ever sought to truly look into. They saw that if a particular event happened with enough frequency or an event with enough of an impact was experienced that instincts would be developed following the experience. Yet what they failed to understand was why.
Behind Kiritsugu and Irisviel an Einzbern homunculus appeared in a swirl of wind and fading blue squares, behind Gray, Olga and Waver a Yggdmillennia homunculus appeared in an identical fashion.
"Time Alter.."
Instincts were the accumulated experiences of the soul imprinted upon the body, tied and tangled into every bone, muscle, nerve, cell and even DNA given enough experience. The 'mystery' of the soul given a nearly tangible form that stuck past even death, which allowed even someone like Gray to have the experiences of a body missing its original soul.
Homunculi were created with an imprint of information, of combat techniques or of spells or even of servant duties. They were given knowledge of how to do something but not what it felt like, not the effects it had or what could potentially follow it. The homunculi fighting below were proficient fighters in many metrics, yet their methods of learning gave them no experience, no instincts of their own. The opening gamble of the two that had appeared directly behind the excavator relied subconsciously on this lack of information, of their surprise staying a surprise as they struck out.
The Einzbern Homunculi was torn to shreds by the metal wires of Irisviel, brought to life without nary a single sound as the entire form of her husband spasmed with the kickback of his firearm.
The Yggdmillennia Homunculi fell to the ground slowly, his weapon dropping to the ground mutely as his fingers twitched and relaxed against his will, his body toppling right as his head went left, a drop of blood leaving Gray's knife as Olga's scream pierced the battlefield.
A scream matched by only one other. The target of Kiritsugu's body shakingly powerful of a shot.
The black-haired, blue-eyed teen that had been reaching for the relic wasn't even able to twitch before the bullet had covered the hundreds of meters between them. The specially made Armour-Piercing Heavy Bullets Kiritsugu had brought for specifically this assignment ate the distance in an instant, buried itself right of the teen's spine and just south of his shoulder blade, and exploded clean out the other side in a spray of blood and dragged along muscle and organ tissue.
Hitting the ground in a small explosion of dirt and dust the wound burst out with blood from both sides as the Homunculus stumbled away from the two and the injured party struck the ground knee-first. A scream tearing itself from his throat and seemingly the very depths of his soul as it filled the air alongside Olga's. Clutching near the hole in his abdomen with his left hand he tipped forward, stopped only by the hands of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl at his side as she kneeled down beside him.
The black-haired teen's body began to shake and shiver, his clothes going red with blood in an instant as he shakily breathed in, seemingly to scream out in pain once more, only beat to it this time by one of the Yggdmillennia Homunculi behind him.
"Who- AINSWORTH!"
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Hey Guys!
Sorry but no omake or side story this time. I had no ideas ;-;
Also, it seems like unless the chapter centers around Shirou or features some big battle I struggle to reach 7k. Is this what they call catering a story to a main character?...Fuck it who knows, but its whats happening.
How was the chapter? I think its pretty solid. Not great, not shit. Just solid. It does what it's meant to do, and it does it with enough competency that I don't feel sick. We're doing character exploration in this mini arc, and gearing it up to end on the biggest battle in the fic for a while.
In other words, I'm 2.3K into chap 20 as of writing this AN, im gonna have to put off graduating uni for at least like 4-6 months due to one class I failed last year, and one of my current classes has a 33% drop rate as of a couple weeks ago, so I may need to repeat that one as well. Agh.
Also, for those that have been around for a while, you may be realizing what month is coming up and you may remember what I did last year. Unfortunately, that won't be happening again. I was unable to stockpile chapters for HttB at all this year and instead just started a bunch of works that I have no plans to actively continue. So I may just post all those chapters and make sure people are aware of that fact.
For information regarding that, join my discord!
ctMzhq3
AND NOW FOR THE REVIEW REPLIES:
1740: Well, the assignment has come, gone, and I'm still waiting on the mark for it. So, we'll see if I can get above 8% this time.
Arturia LeFay: He's imagining all of his coffers being sucked up by back paid child support.
The embodiment of Weirdness: Thank you! That's very good to hear! Yes, it's funny writing Caren try and fail to piss Liz off. And the roster is indeed changing, it'll be revealed in time xP
Moose master5543: It's not a spoiler, it's tainted. It's been stated before in the story, just not recently XD
Ariadne Venegas: Thank you! And the Ancestor's reaction to Enhance's death will be covered eventually. Probably not right away, but eventually. And yes, Gil's issue will always be his arrogance.
Fujin of shadows: It will definitely improve, but I'm not going to put a number on it or anything. That'd ruin the surprise.
Hollowichigo12: I'm glad you've enjoyed the direction of the story so far and that you enjoy it enough to theorise like this. And yes, I want Olga and Shirou to meet as well.
StoryReiter: Yeah buddyyyyy, and he doesn't even realize it either. And thank you for your blessings but as I'm from hell I am now melting.
Zukafew119: Hello once again! Glad to see you back. There's a lot that you've said so I'm not going to get around to all of it. I'm just going to say that when you mentioned how long it had been since we saw Gray and Waver I think I took physical psychic damage. (PS. Please put spaces between your paragraphs, it makes it much easier to read everything you have to say. Thank you!)
AND THAT'S THE END OF REVIEW REPLIES!
Thank you all for reading and I might potentially see you guys on my other fics across and ao3 this following Nov.