King of Heroes - Chapter 6/City of Conflict
=6=
Luvia was woken up at the crack of dawn by a constant knocking at the doors to her manor. A quick check of the bounded field, which was supposed to keep everyone at bay, revealed a group of two. One of which was the local Campione. Without hesitation, she dashed downstairs posthaste.
As soon as the doors opened, she was greeted by the sight of Shirou Emiya in his battle outfit and Rin Tohsaka. "Hah. She looks like a bird made a nest in her hair and then fought with a cat." She thought to herself.
Rin growled. "You know I can hear you, right?"
"Oops." Luvia smiled innocently. "Sorry, when I'm tired I sometimes speak without thinking."
Tohsaka was convinced she wasn't sorry at all. "Oh, don't worry about it. Besides, it's not like your hair looks any better." She smirked. "Did the servants not have time to do it for you?"
"Jealous of my wealth? So plebian of you. Then again, I don't know what else to expect from a lowborn."
"Ugh! I will show you lowborn." Rin began to roll up her sleeves.
"Bring it on. I will show you why I was the Finnish Junior Wrestling League champion two years in a row."
"Enough." Shirou cut off the discussion before it could devolve into a full-on brawl. "We have bigger issues to deal with."
Luvia nodded and stepped aside to let the pair in.
"Do you mind if I use the kitchen?" Shirou asked.
"Uh… Sure. Down that hall." Despite her confusion, the blonde directed him and led Rin into the drawing room. It would offer them proper privacy.
The Campione joined them in near-record time with a cup of coffee and two cups of tea. And a whole plate of steaming-fresh scones.
"Emiya-kun…" Rin slowly turned from staring at the cup of coffee to looking at the boy. "Where did you get those scones?"
"Sakura and I made them yesterday. After Gray, I wanted to experiment. These are with peach jam, these are with raspberry jam, and these are with blueberry."
"Hohoho." Luvia laughed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "And how did you manage to get them so hot this fast?"
"Oh, I just put those into the Gate straight out of the oven."
"And it… worked?" The blonde pressed.
"Yeah. Honestly, I'm just as surprised. I guess my authority is better than I expected." He shook his head. "But that's not important right now."
Shirou then proceeded to describe in detail the last night's events. "...After he got away, I stayed with the people until the police arrived. I made sure to heal anyone who was in a bad condition but…" the memory of the dead would probably haunt him. Some of the unfortunate ones died in transport. "Given that Centipede guy, I think it's safe to say this is Zouken's plan. The people were probably for some experiment of his."
"Wait, I thought Zouken Matou was dead. It was part of what caused such a stir at the Mages Association. Besides the Campione business itself, that is." She added.
"We thought he died, but then there have been a lot of strange things going on in the city. Between the seemingly random attack on the bank where the criminals were armed by some mysterious 'boss', to then the attack on the Police precinct where they were held, to now major human trafficking operation in the docks." Luvia wanted to interrupt Shirou, but he held his hand up. "And then there is the… whatever the gang leader at the docks used. A sort of serum that transformed him into a giant centipede in a single moment. He managed to escape and is now hiding somewhere in the city."
"Okay… A few things. The theory that this is Zouken from beyond the grave is, frankly speaking, ridiculous. Couldn't it be some other magus?"
"You didn't see him." Shirou protested. "That monster didn't… he wasn't a human anymore. He turned his body into a swarm of worms. And as for the bank… someone has given those men guns. The same someone who was trafficking people last night. The same someone who has been handing out syringes with transforming concoctions to normal people." He insisted.
"From what I gathered from Sakura, Zouken was a Dead Apostle in all but name. Every month or two he sacrificed several people to the pit of worms to sustain himself. It's… frighteningly possible that if some of those worms escaped the destruction Emiya-kun dropped on the Matou residence, Zouken might still be around."
"That's… I should report this to the Mage's Association. It would have broad ramifications." Luvia turned to look at Shirou. "If that's alright with you of course."
"Fine. But I don't want them sending anyone here to deal with it." He demanded.
"What? But why?" Rin stared at him.
Luvia nodded "I have to agree with the peasant. I would have thought dealing with him would be your priority."
"Yes, but I would prefer to do it by my rules. Kiritsugu has told me some stories about the Enforcers and I would prefer to keep them out. Especially if there is a chance that my… older sister gets involved."
Rin hid her face between her hands. Leave it to that idiot to take that lesson to heart.
"I… I will pass your requests along. I'm sure that Lady Bathomeloi will respect your wish. Still… wouldn't some help be a good thing?"
Shirou sighed. "No. I don't think I could trust whoever they send and I don't think they would be able to help much."
"What do you mean? Surely getting someone experienced with tracking a magus would benefit your plans."
"Zouken is not operating like a magus though." Rin pointed out, causing Luvia to let out a huff.
"Yes. He is making deals with criminals, using gangs to do his dirty work. He is importing people damn it!" Shirou growled.
"Emiya-kun…" Rin looked at the Campione. "You did everything you could."
"I know. I know I saved everyone there. But some of them were long dead. And… the others… Stacked together in the containers, terrified, sick…"
"But alive. And you saved them."
"The leader has escaped. If… whatever Zouken provided them is permanent, he is still out there. And we can't even know he is the only one."
"I'm still not sure if Zouken Matou is truly behind this…" Luvia interjected. "But I will help any way I can. Teacher always says that instead of focusing on whodunit and howdunit, you should focus on whydunit. The motive. So let's ignore Zouken for now and focus on the actions."
"Whoever is behind this," Shirou entertained her, "has been supplying criminals with a drug that transforms them into some phantasmal species."
"What does anyone have to gain from giving out stuff like that though?" Rin wondered out loud.
"Are we sure he is giving them out?" The Campione countered. "Old man said that there was an uptick in drug deals. Something changed in the balance of power a few months ago. Someone new entering the market might explain the upset."
"But Zouken would only get involved in this after you became a Godslayer, no?" Luvia smirked. "So maybe I was right and that's not him after all, hmm?" She sent Rin a wink. In response, the girl clenched her fists but stayed silent.
"That would mean someone else is providing the drug. And that they are much more involved in the Fuyuki's Criminal underbelly." Shirou groaned. "Guess I will have to contact Old Man Raiga again."
"You promised to go watch that Sumo Wrestling show with him either way, so stop complaining."
"Sumo Wrestling?" Luvia's eyes glimmered. "While I mostly prefer the Western wrestling scene, I must admit… I've been curious about the more… exotic variations."
"You weren't invited." Rin shot her down, grumbling.
"And you weren't asked and yet you're speaking." The blonde shot right back.
"Why you…" Tohsaka gritted her teeth.
"I will ask him, but knowing the Old Man he will be happy to have someone join us. He always complains that no one enjoys the good old sport." Shirou smiled. "He had to stop taking Taiga after she almost jumped into the ring."
"Why would she do that? Even I know women are not allowed to touch the ring…"
The boy got a faraway look. "It's better if you don't know."
=6=
"I gotta say, I'm surprised." Raiga laughed. "I did not expect any of Shirou's friends to come with us, much less enjoy herself"
Shirou, Luvia, the Old Man, and some Fujimura men were leaving the Fuyuki Arena where the event occurred.
"But of course, Mr. Fujimura." The blonde smiled. "Any true lady ought to have an interest in wrestling."
Shirou let out a short chuckle. "You were certainly enthusiastic."
"A shame little Tohsaka didn't want to join us too." The old man said.
"She wanted to look into something with the heretic god attack."
"Well, you just have to invite her to the family dinner on Sunday. I would love to continue-" his words were interrupted when a man jumped from behind the car. He was armed with a knife and aimed right at Raiga. The man brought his cane up to block the strike, but the attacker never got that close.
Luvia stepped in front and delivered an uppercut that sent him flying several feet off the ground. Then she jumped up and delivered an overhead slam that sent him back down. The concrete, already weakened from her jump, cracked on the impact.
Raiga's men were stunned by the display. The old man smirked. "My boy, you sure know how to pick them?"
"What?" Shirou turned to his grandfather.
"Don't worry. I remember my younger days. Though…" He leaned conspicuously. "If you ask me, that Rin girl is still the best one."
The boy just groaned. "Stop sticking your head into my life, Old Man!"
"Sir… are you all right?" One of Raiga's men, Amakasu if Shirou remembered correctly, spoke. For his bravery, he received a smack to the head with a cane.
"Not thanks to you." Raiga walked over and kicked the would-be assassin. The man groaned in pain. "How did someone manage to sneak so close to us?"
"I think I might have the answer…" Luvia pointed to the guy's neck, where his skin was replaced with countless miniature gray scales. Slowly, his entire skin became scaly.
"By the heavens…" One of the men made a warding gesture. "What is that thing?"
"The new drug." Shirou realized. "Someone wanted to make sure the attack went without a problem."
"Still… was the camouflage ability a stroke of luck, or do they get some form of choice with what they get?"
"Rin mentioned something about Origin and Element influencing the result," Shirou recalled.
"I don't care how he got those powers, I care who sent him." Raiga snarled.
"That's easy." Amakasu pointed at the man's coat. "He's from Washimine Group."
"If that's true, they realize this is an act of war?"
"Old man?" Shirou looked at his grandfather figure. Contrary to his usual attitude, Raiga was deathly serious.
"The city has been on the edge of open conflict for some time now. I've told you, Shirou, that the youngsters don't want to play by the old rules. Kunimi clan and now Washimine Group… I could try to solve this peacefully but to go after the head openly like that… In my times it was unheard of."
Raiga hit the assassin one more time with his cane and got into the car. Luvia and Shirou joined him in the back and Touma got behind the wheel.
"They might feel brave because they have a magus supporting them." The girl pointed out. "Magecraft is a true force multiplier."
"Yes… and whoever is supplying them with those guns."
"I wouldn't be surprised if they were one and the same. The magus wants to take over the criminal side of Fuyuki."
"Then we fight fire with fire." Shirou decided.
"Oh?" Raiga smirked. "And what do you propose?"
"Luvia and Rin could teach some of your men the basics of magecraft. And I will in the meantime deal with tracking down the enemy magus and his workshop."
"I will, of course, strive to do my best, Your Majesty." Luvia bowed, turning to Shirou, "But… are you certain this is the best decision? Most magi only take one or two apprentices at a time."
"The Clock Tower teaches entire classes, right?"
"I don't think you understand the work that would need to be put into this." The blonde deadpanned. "To teach someone even the basics would take months, or more realistically years."
"It would still help in the long run." Shirou pressed. "And I didn't know you were one to back away from a challenge?" He smiled. "I wonder if Tohsaka will be more amenable."
"Ohohoho." The girl laughed. "A challenge? How sly, my king. Of course, I will try, if it's you asking." She thought for a second. "This will be the first time Japan is going to see any sort of Mage's Association since Oda Nobunaga scattered the four families to the wind."
"Wait, what?"
Luvia began to recite. "The four families were tasked with protecting the mystery of Japan opposed Oda Nobunaga during his conquests. He was promoting the use of new technologies which went against their mandate. So… he fought them and forced them to go into hiding. Even now, centuries later, Magecraft is only practiced by a few selected families."
"As interesting as the story is…" Raiga interrupted, "I would like to discuss some matter with you, my boy."
"Of course."
"If you plan to go against the groups that are acting up, I implore you to be careful. They do not follow the old code of honor. I cannot be certain how they'll react to your attacks."
"Don't worry, Grandpa, I will be careful. But I can't let them just do as they wish any longer. Between the incident in the docks and the attack today… I think it's time to show them that I won't accept them hurting innocents in my city."
Raiga took note of the glimmer in the boy's eyes and the steel in his voice. He couldn't help but smile. Even if his adopted grandson wouldn't follow in his footsteps, he would at least care for the city long after Raiga retired. Maybe his son-in-law could keep the seat warm until Shirou chose to get involved.
Or maybe, Raiga thought, that boy will turn the Fujimura Group into something even greater. A magical Yakuza… who would've thought?
=6=
Shirou ran on the rooftops. He was easily able to cover the distance between the buildings. Before him, a Centipede weaved between the outcroppings as it tried to lose him.
Yet another sword fired from the gate and almost hit the transformed human.
It took Shirou a few days until he managed to track down the gang leader from the docks. In the meantime, he disassembled a few smaller groups that were supporting the escalation. Raiga was calling for a meeting to settle the disputes peacefully, but as he predicted, there was little desire for a conversation on either side.
The Kunimi Clan and the Washiminie group were both gearing up for conflict. They forcefully absorbed several groups that Shirou had cracked down on before. The selected members were usually either released from arrest with the criminals' help or disappeared from their cells only to then return to the streets.
Raiga was working to stop that but every criminal group had their own police contacts.
For now, though, Shirou had one goal. The Centipede was slowly getting away. Sure, the Campione could more than likely kill him any time he wanted, but any clue to the source of the mysterious power-granting drug was too valuable to lose like that.
As the centipede made yet another turn, Shirou was momentarily distracted by a fiery halo in the distance. Several blocks away, a building was on fire.
With a growl, he sent one last barrage at the Centipede and then rushed toward the fire.
It turned out that an old apartment house was burning to the ground. The fire was contained but the firefighters were unable to contain the flames.
Shirou began to search for a water-related treasure in his arsenal. He easily found a ship or five, but that wasn't what he was looking for. What good would a cannon barrage be here…
His search was interrupted by a cry for help. Someone was on the upper floors, trapped.
Instantly, he burst into action. A slight reinforcement helped him along. The firefighters made way for him as they heard the sound of breaking concrete. As he reached the building, he grabbed onto the brick wall.
"Trace. On." Bluish-golden lines spread from where he grabbed and up all the way, enveloping the building. The onlookers gasped at the light show, but Shirou wasn't here for them. At the same time as the structure was reinforced to the limit, the hero has gained the current floor plan for the building. The stairs had collapsed and he had a feeling that using reinforced jumping inside would be problematic.
Climbing up was not easy. He had to keep the Reinforcement to a minimum to keep the building stable, but he managed.
The cries for help kept coming from the upper floor.
As Shirou was reaching the top, fire burst at him. Two concentrated streams slammed into him, knocking him back down a level.
Hysteric cackling filled the building.
"He was right!" A man. Possibly the same one who called for help, Shirou realized. "He told the boss you'd come and here you are. Ready to die!" The shrill sound grated on the hero's ears.
"Who are you?"
A man jumped down to the same floor. Now Shirou could see that he had a collection of dragon tattoos all over his exposed chest. He wore loose pants and no shoes. His hair had been replaced by flames.
"Kingsblade!" He continued to cackle. "Where are my manners? I know your name, but you don't know mine."
Shirou used that opportunity to get up. His katana appeared in his hand.
"See, people just love your superhero act. So I decided to play to the loyal fans. You can call me… Red Dragon."
"You set this building on fire."
"Duh. I told you that I had to get your attention somehow." He kept putting a stronger accent on words. Like Japanese wasn't his first language. Or at least like he was trying to mask an accent.
"And the people?"
"Eh, probably they got out. You can't expect me to check every room, really. Besides, what's a few casualties where I get to be the one who takes out the budding hero."
Shirou was done with questions. Instead, he clenched his fist as several swords flew at the man in front of him. One of the swords pierced through his chest, leaving a gaping hole.
"Oh man!" His enemy cackled. "You went for the kill! I thought you were a goody-two-shoes kinda guy. But you are metal!"
A fire burst from the wound. Slowly, the man's entire body turned to fire. Now, his face was just two glowing embers and a set of flame tongues that resembled teeth.
"I guess I should get serious. See how you like this."
Shirou dodged to the side as flames consumed the entire floor. The heated air blasted out the windows and even walls cracked under the pressure. The hero blindly fired several swords at the maniac, but it didn't stop the fire. Staying close to the ground, Shirou crawled behind the nearby wall.
"The building is going to collapse any second and the fight might start spreading." He muttered as he searched for something that could stop the fires. And more precisely, stop a human made out of fire.
Meanwhile, the man finally noticed that his target was gone. He maintained the flames but he started to walk around. Walls began to creak.
Shirou was out of time. He knew it. And the building would have to be demolished anyway. With that in mind, he braved the fires for a moment and jumped out the nearest window. It was only then he realized that neither his armor nor his skin was in any way damaged by the heat. Stashing that thought for later, Shirou landed from the fall and rolled a few more steps away.
"The fortune of the king. The treasures suited for his majesty. Only he stands above all and holds the key to All The World Treasured. [Gate of Babylon]! Open!" As he chanted, the sky lit up with countless golden lights. Swords, spears, knives, axes, all glimmering in the fires that raged before the gathered crowd.
The hero stood up. With a swipe of his hand, he ordered the barrage to begin. If he couldn't find a weapon to deal with the living fire in time, he would just hope that something among his treasures did the job.
It took only a few shots before the building began to collapse. The walls were already damaged by the fire when the first treasure hit. And the onslaught didn't stop.
The onlookers gasped when the attack first began.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" one of the firefighters finally called when the top three floors caved into themselves and Shirou kept firing.
"The fire was only growing stronger. If I collapse the building, hopefully, it will make it more manageable." He chose not to reveal the arsonist yet. With any luck, no one would know that someone was there in the first place. Or at least what was inside. He would just claim that the arsonist attacked him.
It seemed that the gamble worked. The fires were slowly dying down with no one to maintain them. The firefighters were able to get this under control.
"Hey! There is someone there!"
The moment one of the rescue workers called out, Shirou sprung into action. The mystic code of speed formed in his hand as he ran across the rubble.
Fires erupted from among the ruins.
Shirou reinforced his body to the limit and forced as much energy into the sword as he believed it could hold.
The rescue worker was pushed away just in time as a hand made from fire shot out to grab him. Instead, the hand dissolved a moment later as the hero cut it off with a strong strike.
"You are ballsy." The voice cackled. The fires reformed into a humanoid figure. "I didn't expect you to collapse the building. What if someone was inside."
"There wasn't. Not with the heat you were generating." Shirou countered.
For just a brief moment, the monster grew to several stories tall, only to then diminish into nothing as he sunk into the rubble.
"We will meet again, little hero." With that, any traces of fires disappeared.
Shirou held back a curse as a whole swarm of reporters rushed toward him now that the threat was gone.
=6=
Ayako stood in front of a corkboard as she pinned another photo. Red wool led from the picture back to the center, where there was a picture of Shirou Emiya smiling.
She pinned the thread in place. The girl collapsed into her chair.
The blurry image of the golden man stared at her from one corner. She still had no idea who that was exactly, but just thinking about him sent shivers down her spine. Then there was Tohsaka. She knew that the… the witch was in on this. And she accused Emiya of blowing up Shinji's house. Now the teen was gone, but Sakura came to school as normal so it was another part of the mystery. Plus she had seen Shirou use the same… powers as the Golden Man that night.
Fujimura Group had something to do with this mess. Shirou was friends with them. She knew that for years but she always assumed it was because of their teacher, Taiga. Her familial ties with Emiya had been the worst-kept secret in the school.
Kingsblade. Shirou Emiya's alter ego moonlighting as a superhero. For some reason, no one else seemed to recognize him despite his face being plastered over the front page of newspapers.
Finally, she had a final piece she had uncovered. Monsters. There had been three so far that the public had known of. The scaled beast that brought down the Police Precinct, the Centipede in the docks, and the… Ifrit, as the media called him. The arsonist who brought down the building in the Shinto district.
All three have fought Emiya. And all three were defeated, with the scaly one ending up torn into shreds by weapons.
"Emiya has killed someone." The realization was not a new one, but… it reminded her of the stakes. One misstep and she might end up vanishing, just like Shinji's grandfather. Or she might just… forget. Tohsaka mentioned something about suggestions and Ayako would bet that it was more than just a few nice words.
The girl spared a glance at the bow on her bed. The arrows were bunched next to it. And there was a small knife she borrowed from her uncle.
"Let them come. I'll not be as defenseless as that night ever again.
=6=