Fate: Bonds Beyond Humanity

by Apprentice of Life

In a world where all can be real, what does it mean to be human? What is the meaning of humanity? A meeting between a human and a devil will have them discovering the truth while chasing their dreams. My take on the combined worlds of Fate and DxD with characters from other franchises if they can be adapted to it. Harem.

13. Chapter 13

Fate/Bonds Beyond Humanity

…..

13-The Rearguard Of Heroes

…..

Being a security guard can actually be a pretty boring and easy job. It all depends on the location and what exactly is being protected. If it is something that many people want like money then the security needs to be tighter than it would be for an empty storage where all the guards would need to do is keep out some unruly teenagers.

Protecting an accounting office is not supposed to be difficult and most of the time the guards just take care of the main gate, sitting down on their small space to keep an eye on both the people's entrance and the car's.

The two guards are a pair that have been working a few years together at this point in time, one is old by a good couple of years, had a white hair due to age that covered his head beneath the official cap of the company with the image of a red shield in the cap and shirt. He was wearing the official uniform of a button up shirt and a club. On his face was a proud, silver mustache.

His companion was younger for a good couple of years but was still a proper adult. His face was clean and he had black combed hair. His uniform was the same as his friend, even if the older man rejected the title, but he had no facial hair.

It was a mind numbing job most days that usually involved just opening the door to functionaries and checking if those that wanted to park inside had permission, something that could be easily done by a machine but the company insisted on using manned stations. At least the two had each other as company to talk and pass the time or else the experience would be many times worse.

Not that the security guards are going to complain, a job is a job and that is an easy one, all things considered. Most days are calm and rarely something new happens to the guards.

Suffice to say, it's not everyday a black Lamborghini passes in front of the gates going a few meters down the street before stopping and slowly backtracking to their post. The two guards look at each other and then back to the car that just pulled over their station, one of the glass windows lowers down to show a young man with white hair. "Excuse me sir? Is this an accounting office?"

He was dressed in a black blazer with a white shirt and sunglasses on his eyes. At his side they could see that he had the company of a woman but couldn't see much else inside. It was clear it was a rich man, even if young, with a gold watch and expensive clothes and car and that prompted the guards to look at each other before one asked. "Can...we help you?"

"Ah, yes." The whitehaired man was trying to sound confident but was failing for some reason. "I was told about an accounting firm in the region and I'm looking for it." He then points at the building. "Is that the place?" Then the young man inclines his head out of the car window. "Please say yes. I have some girls here, man, and have places to go later."

The younger security guard manages to take a peek and he almost stutters a reply upon seeing a young woman with black hair dressed in a red shirt with red earrings, one bracelets encrusted in jewels in each arm and a pendant that looks like a heart and appears to be really expensive.

Her green eyes turn to the young security guard and he could tell she was using a little makeup but it is her expression that gets most of his attention; she looks bored, really bored. While young she was beautiful but her almost dead stare is almost taking away part of her beauty.

Before the more experienced guard could ask anymore questions the younger was already talking. "Yes, this is the Rearguard Accounting Firm, one of the best in town." The older guard takes a deep breath exasperated while the white haired man smiles.

"Really? Great! I was looking for this place all day." He then turns to the girl. "Isn't that great Rinna?"

"Are we done then? You promised to take me to the mall." Her tone is like ice and the guards could see that the young man looks nervous.

"Well...we still have to get in and talk about-"

"I don't care. Get it done or I will leave." That had the white haired man panicking.

"Hey, fellas! This is where Takiwara-san works, right?" Dropping the name of their boss so casually startled the guards a little. "Can you call him for me? Tell him that Shishio has arrived?"

"He...only comes a little later in the day." The older guard points out, and the white haired man starts to look around in a panic.

"Tell me you are joking." No response.

"So? Are we going in or what?" The one called Rinna asked.

"Wait a bit dear. I need to present my documents to this nice gentleman." He gets out of the car and approaches the security boot." Please tell me you are joking."

"Afraid not Shishio-san." It was the younger again that showed some sympathy for him. "He always comes in later in the day so he can accumulate his work and leave with everything done without break."

"He is kinda famous for it really." The older guard said. "The kind of guy that wants to enjoy life."

"So he will be in for how long? Five hours? Six?" Both guards look at each other, both with grim faces and the older turns back, looking ready to deliver bad news.

"He will arrive in more or less an hour and then he will leave to take care of other business after dealing with the paperwork of the day." The older man's face was full of pity and Shishio didn't have a reaction, he just looked startled.

"Doesn't he have an assistant or something like that?" At the question the younger guard actually bright up.

"Yes, he has. Maybe we can call Yukino-sama to help him?" The older guard shakes his head.

"You know she hates being distracted from her own work. We can't even call her since she took out her phone from her office." Before they could argue more, Shishio intervened.

"Wait! He has an assistant! You guys have to let me in!"

"Why?" The older guard looks at him with suspicion.

"Because if you don't give me something to do, Rinna will be upset. I can't make her upset. It's already bad enough that we aren't alone on this trip and she doesn't like to waste time." When he said they weren't alone, the younger guard stuck his neck out to look inside the car could see a whitehead woman in a business suit missing a tie and with some buttons looking ready to pop out of her clothes, it was comprehensible that she supposedly was their chaperone. The young guard had to hold himself back from comment since that woman was pretty much his type, cold expression and all.

"Why is that important? Either come back in an hour or tomorrow." The white haired man shakes his head.

"I can't. I need to talk with him about my inheritance. I also took out a lot of cash today to spend time with Rinna." Shishio scratches his neck. "She has expensive tastes." Looking at the woman checking her nails they could believe that each bracelet carried four gems each with multiple colors. "Please. You two need to let me in. Either you do or my father will be upset."

"We can't just let anyone pass, kid." The old guard looked him in the eyes, there was sympathy but he had work to do. "Even if we did, we don't know you."

"Wait! Just let me," fishing something from his pocket the whitehead presented his documents, "here. Now you know me. You can even keep that until I get back."

Looking at the driver's license the guard stopped to think about it. He was not swayed just yet, not having enough reason to really let anyone pass.

"What if I paid you?" Both of the guards look at him with wide eyes.

"Are you offering to bribe us sonny?" The older guard gave his fellow white hair the stinky eye. The younger whitehead looks in panic but the younger guard then asks.

"How much?" That shocked his fellow guard.

"What do you think you are doing?" The younger man just shrugs.

"Hey, it's not like we are watching over state property here. Besides, what can he do in an accounting firm? He will just go to the reception and that will be that." It was a good point and both turned to look at the whitehaired young man. "So? How much?"

"Ah…do you guys take dollars?"

Five minutes later both guards have a stack of cash each while they allow the car to enter. "This can get us into trouble."

"So what?" The younger of the duo was counting his earnings. "Besides, rejecting ten grand from a rich kid? In dollars? No way in hell."

"Don't talk too loud." The man points at the camera.

"Bwa! Shows what you know, old man. Those cameras have no sound." He puts the money in his pocket. "Not our fault they prefer to watch the outside, with the boundary field and everything."

The older guard shakes his head. "Think he is a friend of the 'elites''?"

"Maybe? I don't care." That got a grunt from the other man.

"You will care if he brings troubles and we have to explain ourselves." The younger man waves it off.

"He is just a rich brat. What can he possibly do?"

…

"I can't believe that worked." Shirou says while hitting his head at the top of the driving wheel of the car.

"I am also pleasantly surprised." Rin says while shaking her head. "Why did you call Liz your chaperone? Wasn't the plan for her to be your-"

"Because he can't lie." Yoruichi says in her cat form. "I heard every word and I have to say; I'm impressed. For someone unable to lie, you are really good at distorting the truth."

"That doesn't sound good." The temporary whitehead focuses on driving, trying to find a place to park. "There are a lot of cars here."

"That is great. Lots of people means less chance of a mess." The cat woman comments, turning back into her true form, her hair was tied into a ponytail that reaches her waist, with an orange overshirt with long sleeves that didn't cover her arms, leaving enough to show she had black wrist warmers the same color of the visible black undershirt that she was wearing and black stretch pants with lightweight brown shoes. On her waist there is a beige sash.

Overall the whole get up got Rin to raise an eyebrow. "And you are sure you aren't going to be caught dressed like this?"

"Nyah. Don't underestimate senjutsu, magus." Rin smiles back.

"It didn't help you yesterday." Yoruichi couldn't deny that. "But you are fine...right?"

"Yes. There is a boundary field around that is strong against yokais but I'm good. In my true form this is nothing." The woman closes her hand into a fist. "But the car helped to limit the effects. I thought I would be more uncomfortable inside until we passed the guards but this thing is excellent."

Shirou lets out a non critical. "Hmm." He knows the story of the car, how it was reinforced and by lots of runes and materials all around it. The tires were made from a special plastic that was refined from a holy site, the structure was picked apart and then remade with every corner covered inside and out with special paint to protect against spells.

A boundary field that isn't focusing on keeping people out is nothing against this car and even then it can be used as a battering ram to break barriers. Shirou even managed to identify the person who led the project from the story of the car, the man was proud of his 'babies' and worked for Kiritsugu, Shirou knows that since he had dinner with his family a few years ago and met the mechanic. His mother liked them but Shirou never saw them after the ocasion.

'He must still be working for dad since this car is relatively new.' Shirou could see the image of the man in his mind, a little chub, dressed in red, his son wanted to be a racer. But he couldn't remember the names. "Are you sure you are fine now?" The natural redhead decides to focus on the now.

"Yes, to my true form this is a weak field and I will be fine." Yoruichi looks around. "We must find a place to park so you guys can go in while I look around for a bit. Don't bother going for a place too hidden, I will be fine."

"Dressing in orange?" Rin points out.

Yoruichi smiles. "I'll repeat myself, don't underestimate senjutsu. Or my speed for that matter." Pointing to herself, the yellow eye yokai claims. "I'm the fastest yokai alive. If anything I'm worried you guys can't stall long enough."

"We aren't going to stall. Just find someone that we can ask a couple of questions to." Shirou remains optimistic.

"We don't even know if they will give you the time of the day." Rin is there to keep him grounded. "We still don't know why such a place has a field in the first place. At least you have to admit that there is something fishy."

"Not denying that." The former redhead finds a spot and slowly starts to park the car. "But they may have a good reason.' Innocent until proven contrary'."

Unfortunately Shirou is not used to driving. While the character he is playing has a license he himself doesn't have one and only knows the basics because his mother insisted for him to learn.

The times that he had Irisviel as his teacher only lose to the times the woman drove herself. She was always insisting on him going faster, laws of traffic be damned.

Taking his mind out the many times he was part of a traffic accident, he manages to park. "Are you sure you should go by yourself?" He asks Yoruichi while taking out his seat belt.

"I will be fine. Now that we are inside there is no way someone can detect me easily." The woman said with confidence. "Don't worry about me. Ask a couple of questions and see what you can find in your end."

"And how are we going to do it again since the boss of the place is out?" Rin questions, skeptic. "Or does that site have more than just his timetable?"

"That was actually from his social media." Shirou comments. "He apparently has some followers and he is also the kind of guy that is invited to some high class parties. He loves to eat out too."

"Doesn't matter. The problem still remains." Tohsaka really didn't like to be reminded she lacks something. "Who do we talk to?"

"Second in command, we just ask." Liz suggests, waiting for Shirou to exit the car so they could move on.

"Well…we won't get anything done by just waiting." With that said, Shirou steps out of the car followed by everyone else.

Yoruichi doesn't waste a second, exiting from the same side as Liz; she rushes to the side of the building, passing between the cars and avoiding cameras. The parking lot is not too big and soon she disappears behind the building.

"I don't like that we are really letting her go alone." Rin steps besides Shirou as he finishes commenting.

"She will be fine. We have to focus on us now, Shishio-san." The ravenhead takes Shirou's arm in an embrace.

Liz decides to follow her example and also holds one of his arms with hers but because of her more generous bosom they end up sandwiching the arm. Shirou notices and blushes but his focus is still on the situation.

The trio step forward the women paying attention to the environment around them but besides the boundary field the place looks normal, reinforcing their theory that the place must have a couple of magicians around using the place as a cover for something.

It wasn't unusual for such methods to be used, especially if there was something illegal afoot. Below places that are open to the public or have a big circulation of people are perfect for such things if they can get underground, there is still the possibility that the thing is actually legal in some way and that is what their team needs to figure out.

Yoruichi, had the job of finding some way to get underground through the building, since the boundary field protected the place itself instead of just an area on the ground the alternative of a magician having some kind of deal or operation above is considerably high.

The doors open automatically and the first thing they see is that there is a woman who just put down a phone behind a desk with 'reception' written on a plaque. The place was a lobby and she had brown hair tied on a braid, she was dressed in a vest that had the firm emblem above her heart.

All around the lobby there were people walking around with papers, briefcases and moving around for different parts of the place. It wasn't chaotic or anything of the type, people were just moving to do their jobs.

The trio decides to move and talk to the woman in the reception. "Excuse me, miss?" Shirou was about to talk when the woman lowered her head and said,

"Good afternoon Shishio-sama. You are expected." The magi eyes widen as Shirou and Rin give side glaces to each other. Liz holds his hand firmly, trying to convey her concern. "The guards told us about your dilemma," once she said that the three relaxed a little, "Yakada-sama is going to see you now."

The receptionist gestures with a hand and there was a man there, using a suit with the shield on his chest. "If you would follow me." Seeing no reason to disagree, they all followed the man.

Deciding to try and get some information, Rin nodges Shirou and gestures with her head to try and make Shirou ask since her 'character' wouldn't. Fortunately Shirou got the message. "Excuse me sir, I came here to-"

"To talk with Yurameshe-sama about an account and your inheritance. Unfortunately the main manager isn't here at the moment but Yakada-sama is usually the go to guy when he is out. You don't need to worry about anything." The man said with a smile and that prompted Liz and Rin to separate a little from Shirou.

The trio follows man through the building to one of the offices, not noticing how everyone else paused their tasks and stared or straight out glare to the departing individuals. A couple of seconds later, the two security guards come in, also sporting angry eyes.

…

Entering by a service area was easy, there were no cameras actually pointing for the insides of the firm's property at any point. The whole place was basically a giant blind spot and Yoruichi couldn't tell exactly if it was by design or not. On one hand it guaranteed less proof of more unscrupulous activities, on the other it meant that the security was awful.

The yokai could ponder about it as much as she wanted but that wouldn't help her as much as the lack of security would. She manages to knock out someone with two fingers and ki before entering the building from a cargo entrance.

Around her there were some materials and boxes, mostly food and snacks. Hearing a couple of people talking she deduced that there was a lunchroom in the building, not something that is seen in every workplace but she has no right to judge.

It wasn't for nothing that the building is big, it has its own storage room with people working on it. She sees some kind of fighting club happening in the corner but opts for ignoring it, using the crates and the space of the room to maneuver around to try and find something suspicious.

But the area that she already was is the one that she would check anyway, easier to hide something around boxes, an isolated path that most people would ignore or hardly pass, probably disguised as a wall.

The noble woman keeps looking, always keeping herself in the shadows, her steps silent as a cat and her eyes only visible for an instant for those that paid attention only to dismiss them as a trick of light once they looked again and saw nothing.

But for the time being Yoruichi is being minucius and patient. Without a clear idea of who the magicians in the company are, how many they are or their intent it was difficult to find their workshop or workshops if it is an alliance instead of just an operation. The fact that she has too little information to work with at the moment.

That is not even mentioning the methods that the individual might be using, or the possibility that is not a human on this little project. 'But what else would be?' Yoruichi debates to herself while slipping into a corner to the main office, the path was clear and if she was seen she may have to knock out more people. 'Another yokai would be affected by the barrier as well, even now I can feel the damn thing. I can't tell for certain if this boundary field would also affect devils or strays, it's not my area but I'm guessing it does affect them.'

She reaches the kitchen and manages to pinpoint where everyone present was with her ears. Keeping up her sthealty approach, she moves around with great care while the chefs work.

'Gods are too prideful in general for such methods but I can't discard the possibility. Another faction is definitivally on the table.' Yoruichi cuts out her thoughts and jumps silently to above a giant fridge. A helper starts to look into it and she slips past his awareness while he is distracted. 'Angels? They have a church in town, even if it is runned down it can be fixed and both sets of those feathered bastards would have a place to be anyway.'

Exiting the kitchen the cat yokai extends her senses to try and find something that could help guide her. She manages to locate plenty of people's vital signs but nothing that jumps and tells her that anyone else in the building is anything but human.

'I will have to start checking rooms one by one.' That is the worst situation because of the size of the building itself. 'There is a chance that there is nothing on the first floor but in the middle of the building, that will make it hard to find but a secondary field could block out the workshop.'

The nekoshou stops for a moment and places her back against a wall when she hears people approaching from one side. Yoruichi was about to retreat for a previous corredor but hesitated when she felt more people coming from there.

'Great! I am between the lunchroom and both hallways and it is almost lunch hour.' Sighing, she looks around and finds a door without vital signs behind it. It was a janitor's closet. 'I took too long and have found nothing so far. Maybe I should have come dressed the same as Liz? That way I could have infiltrated more easily? Heh, except that I definitely don't look like the typical japanese woman.' She thinks with a grin before her face turns somber.

At least she now had a quiet and private space inside the building itself, with it Yoruichi sits down among the mops and cleaning products with her legs crossed and starts to do her least favorite activity; meditation.

And solitary meditation at that. Senjutsu is stronger the more practitioners are working together or even with the help of someone else depending on the process. Because of her preferences, she never got to the fun parts of the art and she was about to do one of the aspects that she most hated, to try and find a 'needle in a haystack.'

It was a simple trick in concept, she is going to use her ki to feel for the ki of everyone in the area. Now that she is inside the building the boundary field won't be able to stop someone with her skills.

Different species have different vital signs, not only physically but also spiritually. A god can carry so much vitality inside them that it was almost like staring at the sun while a small rat had barely enough to fill a cup if it was a common animal.

But members of the supernatural also have their differences, both to those that do extend their lives or just practitioners. Magicians for the most part had their life force mixed with mana in such a way that they could be indistinguishable when the practitioner lives long enough that using magic becomes a second nature, to magi their circuits become an even bigger component.

In theory she could have used such methods earlier but there was a chance she would be found in the 'warehouse' of the building. In a janitor room, the only person she needs to worry about is the janitor, more than one judging by the size of the building but it was a perfect spot to knock out people and hide them as she looks for unusual presences.

Yoruichi closes her eyes, expands her senses...then she chuckles. "Well. I'll be damned." Getting up the woman goes to the door and opens it without ceremony. "Color me impressed! I didn't expect these numbers!"

Glaring at her were men and women dressed in suits, chef garb, security uniform and even some of the carriers that were working in storage, all of them were armed with many kinds of weapons.

From katanas to spears, bows and arrows mixed with guns and some staves. There were at least twenty people standing outside the room she was hiding ready for a fight and all of them were glaring at her, daring her to move.

Concentrating just a little she can tell that more people are coming in her direction. Soon the numbers would swell more. All the employees of the firm were tense, some were holding their weapons with so much strength their fist was paling with the blood flow becoming uneven.

Yoruichi didn't look bothered, if anything the grin on her face made it look like the whole situation was funny or planned. But it wasn't, her mind was running over all the possibilities and the only one that was logical with what she felt with her senjutsu is something that she didn't expect at all.

Under those circumstances she could only ask. "Are you all going to just stand there?" She places an arm to support herself at the door. "Or is someone going to introduce themselves and tell me exactly what is going on? Please, don't choose the second," her grin turns savage, "go for the third option. Try to take me down!"

That was all some needed to hear as the first guy launched himself with a katana to cut her head. Yoruichi steps back, the sword getting stuck on the door, then she punches the office worker. It was the signal for the others to start attacking.

With the close quarters, the many swordsmen were the first on the fray while the rest stepped back to give them some space. That wasn't what the yokai wanted but she would meet them mid charge nonetheless.

A knee to the face of the closest one and once he falls she extends that leg into a kick to get the one just behind, using her other leg to a backflip she delivers another kick on the fourth and quickly delivers a jab to finish the last sword user.

But Yoruichi has no time to relax as gunshots ring and arrows fly in her direction. She manages to dodge them with some difficulty while noticing that the arrows were enchanted with wind spells for speed. "Lots of variety here!" She comments as she kicks a wall to get closer while magicians try to raise barriers to stop her advance.

They were not fast enough to stop her from getting in range and starting pummeling their ranged fighters. The spear users tried to keep her at bay more directly but after a couple of seconds every single person on the hallway was on the ground with the exception of the yokai who put them there.

"Now I don't need to spy on you! Just need one of you to answer a couple of easy questions!" Feeling more people approaching she turns and sees more armed men and women down the hall, the magicians on the front this time and charging their spells. "Wait! Don't-"

Magic circles generate flames that fly in her direction and Yoruichi focuses her ki on her fists, the life energy making a golden coat that allows her to throw quick punches to neutralize the fire before it burns anyone.

Following the fire were more fighters, ready to kill her and Yoruichi accelerates her pace. "QUICK! RAISE A BA-" The woman screaming couldn't finish since the leader of the Shihoin clan had already delivered a blow to the back of her neck. The others surrounding her barely put a defense as they are kicked and beaten.

"Tch. Throwing magic around like that regardless of allies." Yoruichi frowns once she feels more presence approaching her position. "You guys sick me." She finishes her phrase as an armed platoon positions to shoot her, ten men armed with machine guns. "Is everyone here-"

"FIRE!" With the order given the men open fire, once again not caring who was between them and Yoruichi, their goal was clearly just to kill her.

Dust starts to rise as the shots are still fired until every single one of the shooters are without ammunition. They started to replace the cartridges of the guns when they heard a voice behind them. "As I was saying," in an incredible feat of speed and flexibility she delivers another sequence of kicks with her hands on the floor, finishing it by throwing herself into the commander's direction and pressing him against the wall with an arm, "is everyone here a goddamn mercenary?"

"'Mercenary'? Shows what you know, monster." Yoruichi presses the neck harder.

"Great. Mind illuminating me about this whole operation?" The man's lips were sealed but that just made Yoruichi smile while she pressed harder. "Come on, man. You don't want to lose an arm or a leg?"

But the man smiles and Yoruichi jumps to the side, avoiding another sword. But this next set of fighters were not like the ones before. They were dressed in black with masks with sword sheaths on their backs and their weapons in hand.

Once had a katana, another carried a pair of sais, the third had a naginata and the fourth had a chain with a scythe on the end. "Ninjas? Really? And coordinating weapons too! Great! Just fantastic!"

The man Yoruichi was interrogating fixes his neck and gets a gun from the ground. "You aren't leaving here alive monster!" Once the gun is ready again, the ninjas take point, ready for the fight. "Nor will your little companions! This place will be your grave!"

"Ha! I was expecting an accounting pun like, 'you will pay for invading' or something like that." She says in a mockery tone but the whole situation meant that Shirou's group was in trouble. Focusing her ki, she could feel that there were stronger presences on the upper floors and that her allies were fighting them. "Son of a bitch."

Not only did the situation take an unexpected turn but Yoruichi realized that she was dealing with the small fry and that the real dangerous ones were up above. She glares at the opponents before her, more and more people arrive and soon she finds herself surrounded.

"You know...you guys are making me lose my patience." Around the yokai her energy starts to emerge into a yellow aura. "I probably won't be able to hold back anymore."

"And there you are, monster! Your true self!" The main proclaims, only receiving a glare in reply. "We may not be the strongest but we will make sure to take you down!"

"Don't blame me if I kill you all." Her nails now look sharper as her youki gets mixed with her ki.

"Come at us then! 'THUNDER GODDESS' YORUICHI!" The man roars in challenge, all present ready to give their lives for a goal, an objective. To kill the woman before them. All of them knew the yokai by reputation and knew that under normal conditions they would have no chance to win such a fight or have even an opportunity of victory.

But these were not normal conditions, they were extremely unfavorable to the nekoshou. In a normal fight they would already be defeated by principle even before the first punch, this was the woman that is known as the fastest yokai, maybe even the fastest woman alive, someone who once defeated an army in less than 5 minutes while leaving that battle without taking a scratch. That could run from one corner of Japan to another in a couple of hours without breaking a sweat.

The leader of one of the four pillars of Kyoto, a noblewoman with spectacular skill and speed, Shihoin Yoruichi, can decimate their numbers in moments and everyone knows that. But that is in open spaces, either a plain field or a mountain range where she could use her speed and power without restraint.

She was in an intersection with three passages and a wall at her back, no room to circumvent or properly retreat, no space to pick them apart properly and run to others to keep going without exposing her back.

The men and women of the Rearguard were ready and willing to throw their lives away in the process of killing her, their hopes and dreams being deposited on their allies which were not present. If one such as Yoruichi is out of the board soon then any future operations in Japan would be easier and so they attack with the determination of eliminating her as a threat.

Yoruichi is in a conundrum, she can't bring out her full power to bear and is surrounded. She can see the first spells and bullets starting to fly in her direction from three sides and knowing that everything was basically a trap.

The place wasn't a hideout for a small group of magicians, every single person there is a trained fighter in some fashion that just happens to also work other jobs.

She has no time to waste thinking and with a swiftness she punches the wall on her back and retreats, dodging the attacks and taking cover to the side from the frontal assault. That would only give her a couple of seconds but Yoruichi couldn't help but feel the people dying around her from the crossfire.

Another wall blows up and a group pours down, their spells flying in her direction. Focusing her ki, Yoruichi disrupts their attacks with a punch that knocks most of the magicians to the ground. Again she had no time to think as from her entrance an armed group rushes with swords, knives and spears in hand.

Now that she was in the lunch hall she had more space to retreat and jumping on one of the tables she does a flip that ends up kicking the table to that hole and hitting some of her rushing opponents.

Two more explosions happen and Yoruichi knows they were trying to use their numbers against her, even if she had more room to maneuver now it was still limited. The main issue is that her allies were above her and she doesn't want to get them killed.

'From the reckless way they are fighting,' Yoruichi begins to think while dodging a shot and rushing to neutralize the shooter, hitting the first with an open palm, pushing him on his companions, 'they care more about killing me than protecting each other. They also are not that strong or this building is still important since they aren't trying to bury me in it should be on the table.'

If they valued her death more than their lives that should be the first thing they did but they were trying to kill her directly. Doing a roundhouse kick, Yoruichi notices the ninjas from before coming in her direction and her smile returns to her face.

'They want to take me out themselves then fine! I will make sure they regret it.' The one with the chain throws it at her and instead of dodging the yokai grabs it and pulls with her full strength. "GET OVER HERE!"

The ninja had his arm tied with the chain and couldn't stop himself from reaching Yoruichi and receiving an uppercut for his troubles. A naginata tries to skew her but the yokai lifts her leg and kicks it down to the ground before delivering another kick on the face of her opponent.

An arrow hits her shoulder but with ki, her youki and her natural resistance Yoruichi feels the hit but doesn't let it distract her as the katana and sai user are both knocked out by a haymaker and back hand punch respectively.

A wind spell goes for her head but the yokai dodges again, the coordination of this group being good enough that they were not getting in the way of each other's attacks. Sure they were using their allies as a distraction and even didn't care if they died in general from what the noblewoman could see but they never stopped each other and she is always being attacked by someone ever since they changed the place of the fight.

'If the ceiling was higher or I had a couple of seconds I could have ended this already.' Kicking another person on the face only was satisfying for so long before getting stale. Grabbing a chair to the side, she launches it to get another archer down. 'If we weren't in a building...if I hadn't brought Shirou and the others. I shouldn't be thinking about that now!'

She throws a woman that tried to stab her over her shoulder and finishes her with a quick jap. If Yoruichi knew that the place was some kind of militar clandestine operation of the moonlit world she would have said 'screw it' and just charged in the day prior guns blazing and to get her answers like that.

Even if the boundary field was slowing her down the fact was that she is too strong to be affected in her normal form. In these conditions she can bring down the whole building herself but isn't because of the people she came with.

All that means she needs to hold back and be methodical about her approach, defeating everyone on the lower floors before making her way to the top where Shirou and the others are.

"CUBE!" She hears a man's voice delivering an order but she had no idea what that meant. Ignoring it she hears a bullet come from the side and she jumps back only to hit a wall with her side and the bullet hitting her shoulder.

She felt the thing sting and there was now a hole on her overshirt but Yoruichi was fine, if not angry that her favorite attire got damaged. She jumps to hit the shooter when she feels herself hitting a wall. "A small barrier?"

Confusion can be fatal on the battlefield as arrows and bullets fly in her direction. Realizing that she couldn't retreat, Yoruichi focuses herself and makes a yellow cocoon of ki to block the attacks, realizing that the magicians were not throwing spells anymore and that no one else was advancing.

Wondering how the projectiles were passing the barrier she can see four spellcasters focusing on a circle behind ten armed people ready to protect them. That was fine with the cat yokai who takes a deep breath and makes the cocoon expand and start to push the walls that were trying to hold her.

She could try and break it by force but it would be a waste of time and energy since the magicians could just try again. "KEEP FIRING! DON'T LET THE OPPORTUNITY GO TO WASTE!"

But they already were and just not realizing, the yokai's own barrier not using energy to directly block the projectiles and the nekomata wanted to laugh at their attempt. If that group magicians were out then she suspected that there would be no more small barrier for her to worry about and that was why she was exerting that much pressure.

She smiles as they fall in her trap since she is making them think they actually have a chance of keeping her pinned in place while exerting more and more pressure, forcing the magicians to try and add more power to the power that took more effort and mana.

Her smile turns even more savage as she notices another four spellcasters joining the ones that first made the barrier in an attempt to stop her. Her lips had to fight back to stop herself to show a feral grin once another set of four joins and apparently there were other magicians sending their mana even if they were unable to help with the array of spells.

That was one of the many advantages of senjutsu, the whole process is costing way less than it was costing them and she has a bigger reserve of mana than them besides the fact she can add her youki makes things even better for her.

Being a yokai had too many advantages to fight in a straight fight and even if there was a virtual army against her they lacked weapons to take her out or anything that could work effectively against yokais, something that was dumbfounding for her since talismans and charms were developed for centuries to counter her race and yet all they had was a single boundary field.

It wasn't the weakest one but it was barely bothering her. She at least expected some charms to be used against her at this point but there was nothing, just generic stuff and brute force.

'I know that the old arts have mostly died out since most magicians use more european methods but this is ridiculous.' Noticing that no more magicians were being added to the pile to reinforce the barrier, Yoruichi expands her energy more.

The ones defending the magicians could only watch as some collapsed and others started bleeding from their nose and eyes trying to keep the barrier going while their friends fell around them. A few more seconds later the barrier shatters and one of the magicians falls down dead, completely spent.

Looking around her she notices that the constant attack has stopped as the members of the 'Rearguard Accounting' look at her in fear, now realizing what it means to be fighting her and the power she actually has.

"DON'T STOP!" The commander that she was interrogating previously shouts the order. "SHE MUST HAVE A WEAKNESS! KILL HER!"

As a nekomata she has some, but the correct methods weren't being used against her. No help from the divine, no yokai repellent talismans, not even catnip to play on the stereotype of her species. She thinks that there may be some lack of intel that was responsible for this but couldn't even shrug as another wave of attacks comes at her.

Finally losing her patience, Yoruichi fists are surrounded by ki and youki, converting as much mana as she could in her yokai energy. Sparks begin to fly as she then punches another person trying to get her from behind only for him to fly and hit a wall. "If you want to live, you better run!"

She will interrogate whoever is on the top later, her new friends are probably fighting as well and she won't waste any more time.

…

Minutes earlier Shirou's group was escorted to the top floor of the company.

The elevator ride was quick and everything looks fine, Shirou even believes that their group is moving to meet the person responsible by the boundary field since he could smell it more strongly every step he took inside the accounting firm.

Liz was at his back while Rin kept her eyes peeled around at his side, both were now a step or so away from him to give everyone time to react. Their escort doesnt say anything else after they meet each other, he just guides them without any further comments. He hadn't even told them his own name.

Rin can tell that everyone else is watching them, they try to pass themselves as distracted by their work but the actual head of the Tohsaka is observant and if Rin could see that she was sure Liz noticed too.

The maid dressed in a suit could feel something in the air, it was making her instincts go crazy, warning her of imminent danger while she could see nothing. Nothing besides officer workers, computers and cubicles.

Still Leysritt keeps her guard up, if there is to be a fight she is going to be ready to win it swiftly and decisively. Trusting on the instincts that she was born with was the only thing that she could do until there was a clear signal that the people around her are really dangerous and even if they were there was still no aggression which was what they wanted.

Fact is that Shirou wants to talk, to hear this place's side before anything violent ends up happening. There was a chance that, even if the place wasn't here legally it could be just a magician using the ley line for something other than sinister purposes. Shirou can understand that since he had a place with the same function in Kuoh academy.

As far as he knows, it can be just a single magus in a workshop that joined the company for the ley line. Maybe even hypnotized some people but that wasn't that malicious if all they wanted is a space to work if.

Depending on what they did to make this Shirou is willing to talk with the devils to make things more official. But that is all depending on what was done to secure all this. If the person did something that Shirou considers morally bankrupt then he won't hesitate to apprehend them and call the devils to make sure there was no permanent damage.

But all of that hinged on him talking with that person first and as the smell gets stronger the more confident Shirou is that they are going in the direction of the magician.

Their guide finally stops in front of some closed doors and he prepares to open them. "Please wait here for a moment. Yakada-sama will be here soon." He opens the double doors for an auditorium and the trio enters with Shirou looking around oddly.

'Where is the magician?' The smell in the room was stronger than anywhere else, he could tell that it was the same as the boundary field around the place but many times more intense.

The place was big, not gigantic but enough that it could be used as a room in a cinema without much trouble. The lines of chairs on one side with a stage on the other with a big screen for presentations and two tables with chairs for the presentators. On the corner there was also a station with some sound boxes and some controls with cables getting out.

The chairs were black in color and the place was clean, its gray carpet presenting no defects as it extends from after the stage, which was taller than a table, until another control panel on another corner which was used for the projector.

"Okay. We are inside another boundary field." Rin whispers to her fellow magus, her tone full of annoyance. "Why didn't you smell that?"

"I thought it was the magician's workshop." Shirou admits, whispering back to her while Liz steps forward and starts to look around.

Rin can feel her eyebrow twitch. "What? What kind of stupid magician you think we are dealing with here? No one just takes a couple of strangers to their workshop. And why would they bring us to them anyway? You are just a rich kid."

"That was why I thought the mana was more intense." Shirou defends himself. "I mean, it's not like we are stuck here...right?" Both turn around and look to the open door with the man still outside, he appears to be ignoring them but the young man sticks his hand through the door, feeling nothing. "See, no boundary field."

"Or it has another function." It was clear that the woman was frustrated.

"You two are not as quiet as you think." The voice surprises them both as a tall man enters the auditorium, almost having to duck to pass by the door, with a smaller one at his side. "But at least we can drop the lies and you can answer what a bunch of yokais are doing in our building."

Besides the tall man that looks more like a tug there was another that looks like a more normal salary man with combed hair and glasses. Both had black hair but one is dressed in a more lax maner, letting his muscles show while the other just shakes his head and fixes his glasses. "Yakada, there is no need to be rude. Besides from what we can tell the white haired boy is a human so you don't need to be so aggressive."

"I would like to state that we both are human." Rin says immediately and the one identified as Yakada shrugs.

"Doesn't matter. Both of you are allied with yokai. Or is it a coincidence that the day after one tries to pass our boundary field you show up?" They couldn't deny that and the buff man then points at Liz. "Besides, are you going to deny she isn't human?"

Shirou steps forward, not liking how the man talked. "And what is that supposed to mean?" The other man gets even closer and the size difference is apparent when he needs to lower his head to stare Shirou in the eyes.

"It means she isn't human and we don't want that shit here." Before things escalated the other man decides to intervene.

"Yakada, there is no reason to be so antagonistic." The salary man extends his hand. "My name is Sakashite Mamoru, pleased to meet you."

"Likewise." Shirou's upbringing kicks in and he shakes the other man's hand. "I am-"

"Shishio or something. Doesn't matter since your name is fake." Yakada interrupts, glaring at the temporary white hair. "What do you want here? It's clear you lied your way in."

"What my friend means to say," Sakashite tries to stop the conversation from turning volatile when he notices Shirou's eyes turn to his companion in annoyance, "Is that you are all pretty suspicious in your intentions for coming here."

"We apologize for our rudeness." Rin decides to intervene, putting some of her training in politics to the test. "But my friend here felt your boundary field and we would like to ask a couple of questions."

Yakada lets out a laugh. "And why should we tell you anything?" He makes a sign with his hand and the man at the doors closes them. "We don't know you."

"But you are in our territory." Rin says with confidence, making both men frown.

"You with the devils then?" Yakada almost spits out the word 'devils'. "That is worse than yokai."

Shirou didn't like the guy's attitude and decided to try and talk with the other. "Sakashite-san, why do you have a boundary field in such a building and in this place? That is all we want to know."

The salary man raises an eyebrow. "We know that using such an open base of operations is...peculiar. But we have no evil intentions here." He fixes his glasses. "If anything you all are the suspicious ones."

"Look, we just want to ask a couple of questions." Shirou sounds a bit more aggressive than he intended but that was the truth.

"And why should we answer any of them?" Yakada pokes Shirou's chest but instead of reacting the magus looks at the man at his side.

"Please understand, a boundary field in the middle of the town is weird. Especially with the information we just uncovered." The man fixes his glasses and tries to think on what to say.

Unfortunately for him, his friend wasn't that patient. "Then you wouldn't mind answering some of our questions would you?" Shirou nods and Rin has no objection. It sounds fair to them. "Then why are you here? Our boundary field has been here for years and nobody ever noticed."

"That was the first time I passed around your building. I detected it while we were looking into the fire of 10 years ago," Shirou confessed.

"Why were you investigating the fire?" Sakashite asks before his friend could get another world in.

Both look at each other, not knowing how to explain. Their silence was taken badly from Yakada. "Answer the question."

It isn't hesitation that was stopping them but the fact that they don't know yet if the people in front of them are the ones responsible for the incident. 'Still it wasn't fair to just ask without saying something.' The sword magus decides to share something. "One of us figured out that the fire occurred in the form of a magic circle but the effects are still unknown. All we know for sure is that almost everyone inside the circle on the occasion died after and that this place could potentially be the origin point."

Now it was the turn of the two men to look at each other. "We haven't anything to do with that." Yakada affirms. "It still gives you no reason for you to enter here and spy on us."

"What would you do if you found something that was potentially illegal?" Shirou asks, his train of thought being that he would do something about it, and Sakashite answers with a more normal reply.

"I would call the authorities…" His eyes go wide and his friend grabs Shirou by his shirt.

"YOU CALLED THE DEVILS ON US?" Liz suddenly was there at the side grabbing the man's arm. "WHAT?"

"Let him go." She warns calmly, the two glare at each other with their muscles tensing, something nobody else wants.

"Liz, calm down."

"Yakada, control yourself."

But they didn't listen entirely, Liz wouldn't let the man's arm go until he released Shirou and the man wasn't willing to let the younger go until he had satisfying answers.

With her allies in the middle of a standoff Rin tries to think of a solution for the dilemma they were facing, the fact that Yoruichi is running around the building now makes her nervous but she also was more confident since they had the bigger numbers.

Tohsaka claps with her hands, calling everyone's attention to her. "Look. It's clear that you have a problem with the devils. We can solve that later. If you aren't doing anything wrong I am sure we can find a solution-"

"And who are they to say what we are doing is wrong or not?" The man holds Shirou's shirt tighter and Liz reacts acoordly. "Besides, we know you have entered here with another invasor. I bet it was the yokai that tried to enter here before."

Denying wouldn't help them anyway so Rin tries to circumvent it. "We needed guarantees in case you didn't come to meet with us. We don't want the normal workers here caught in a fight."

That made Yakada laugh. "Is that why you came during the day?" He ends up letting Shirou go which in turn made Liz let him go as well. "You really know nothing about our operation." He affirms with a smile.

"True." Rin admits with a frown. "But there is on reason for us to fight."

"Actually we now have plenty of reasons." The almost timid Sakashite says, taking a step back. "You inform the devils of us...and you also have this fourth invader running around from what we can tell."

"We can call her." Shirou says quickly. "We don't want a fight. We only want to know if you had anything to do with the fire 10 years ago."

"We weren't here at that time...But that is not relevant now." Something felt off for Shirou when the man talked, like his voice had gained some kind of edge. "You called the devils and if anything we must not allow them to know about our operation. Best we can do is get rid of you all and move before we are caught."

"Are you sure that is a good idea?" Rin messes with one of her bracelets, preparing herself for a fight. "This goof here doesn't want a fight," she motions Shirou with her head, "Besides this is three against two anyway and you know we have another on the building."

Both men smile and the shorter of the pair says. "This would be easier if you were yokais but I suppose it can't be helped. You may have another person in the building," he throws a little back kick at the door and Shirou and Rin palled at the sigh of at least thirty armed people. "but we have a small army."

Liz didn't hesitate, before Yakada could say anything she was already punching him in the face, launching the man on his allies. Rin also doesn't waste any time and throws a jewel to the ground which prompts the salary man to jump out as a small barrier appears blocking the door and the shots of guns and arrows that hit it.

"Why are they doing this?" Shirou asks, both confused and irritated. "If they had nothing to do with the fire-"

"Stop thinking about it!" Rin complains as Liz picks up the desk on the stage of the auditorium, pushing it in front of the barrier. "It's clear they want a fight." From the way they moved and the fact that the trio is cornered in a space with few exits all indicated that they were planning this ambush from the very beginning.

Accepting that Rin was right, even if he didn't like that, Shirou asks. "How long can that last?"

"It was made with manticore hair, thank you by the way, and it can hold for a couple of minutes at best." She can also see that some magic was being used but it was just elemental spells. "Or they can send a magician worth a damn to try and open it. Either way, we are on a timetable."

"We will have to fight." Liz affirms while putting the other table behind the barrier.

"If they are attacking us, Yoruichi is also in trouble." When Rin said that, Shirou got concerned. Unlike them, she was alone and he wouldn't let his feline friend in peril.

Searching around quickly he looks to the floor and blinks. "I think I have an idea."

Outside of the barrier Yakada was getting up after the punch. 'That was a really strong hook.' Using his magic he was healing himself but the reality was that the opponent was truly inhuman, even if it was just one. The members of the Rearguard were trying to break the red barrier made from a little gem but it was still holding strong. 'Not our people's fault, the damn devils always get the best ones working for them.'

It wasn't like he can claim that by his side were the strongest members of his organization either. The Rearguard company is just an outpost with a commercial function to keep their operations running. While everyone there has combat training in one way or another they all didn't compare with most of the trained fighters of the factions.

Power level wise the majority of the building would have difficulty taking care of a single middle class devil individually, that is why they tried to bring their opponents inside a stronger anti yokai boundary field to take them out fast and turn all the efforts on the last one that is lost in the building.

Still, there are exceptions, four people in the operation that are much stronger than the rest. Yakada is one and the other. "Sakashite, you need to call Yukino and get the sword." The last line made the man pause.

"You want me to-? No. No! Are you insane?" Yakada could understand his friend's fear. "Besides, that is Yu- no! My sensei 's sword! I won't take it without permission."

"That punch could have taken my head off." That shocked his friend. "If I wasn't prepared for a fight from the beginning I would be dead. We need the fire power and Yurameshe-sama's sword is our best bet and you are the best swordsman we have at the moment."

The salary man was sweating, he was nervous about it but nodded. "I will go get it. Once I do, keep everyone else away from me."

'I know you idiot.' Yakada was about to say something before they heard a strong impact on the auditorium. "What the-"

"What is going on?"

"Did some spell manage to pass the barrier?"

"It is still up!"

Instead of wasting time and with questions Yakada jumps to his feet and runs to the barrier, fist raised. He charges mana on his fist and unleashes a devastating attack that breaks the barrier.

His men walk forward but he knows they won't find anyone there, since he could see a big hole on the ground leading to the lower floor. "SPREAD OUT! THEY ESCAPED THIS POSITION!"

Hearing his orders the Rearguard moves back and Yakada had only time to give his friend a sad nod. Both of them knew that the trio is not the biggest threat if the cat is on the prowl and they need to finish them quickly.

'With luck Yukino will get them.' Yakada thinks while dropping down the hole and looking around, there are people over the whole complex ready to fight but the enemy is not weakened as planned.

…

Their escape from the top floor doesn't mean that the trio has time to relax. After starting running to try and find some stairs, they soon saw another armed group that charged in their direction.

Liz takes point and starts to deliver punches and kicks to neutralize the attacker with Shirou and Rin throwing knives and spells respectively to give her cover. "Don't kill them!"

"You kidding me Emiya? They are trying to kill us!" Rin shoots a dark spell from her finger hitting someone on the head before throwing a fireball from her hand to block an arrow going in her direction.

"We don't know what they are even doing here!" Shirou points out, grabbing a sword by the sides with his bare hands and hitting the swordswoman in her stomach with his knee. "They may also have some reason for this."

Immediately he summons a shield to block a lightning bolt coming in his direction while Liz rushes towards the attacking magician who has no time to block the punch which knocks him out and Liz uses his shirt to hold him in front of her to use the man as a shield.

Their opponents didn't care and attacked anyway, a sword piercing the man's back alerts Liz of the fact and she throws the man away before he gets killed and then she punches the swordsman. She is trying hard to obey Shirou's order and for now it was possible but she didn't know how long they could last on this rhythm.

Shirou blocks a spear and kicks the user to the side. "Can you make another explosion like the one before?" He uses the shield he traced previously to block the bullets of a machine gun. It was one made in the similarities of the hoplitas of Greece and it was thick enough to block without trouble but a little heavy to move fast.

Rin gets behind him and prepares another gem, a sapphire. "Not that size, the next one will be way bigger and we will be too close in this space." She throws the gem and gets closer to Shirou as the area in front of her was hit by a sudden blizzard. Many fall to the ground with their limbs frozen. "We need to get in a more open space."

Nodding Shirou makes another sword and throws it, hitting a magician about to cast a spell on the shoulder. "LIZ! BREAK A WALL!"

No hesitation or questions, the maid avaliates the situation around her and grabs a spellcaster that was making a circle with some fire already leaving it. She grabs him and throws him on another group before turning and punching a wall, breaking it apart. "Done!"

"RUN!" Shirou throws his shield to knock more people out and the three run into another corridor. "Let's get some space for Rin, then we can go to another floor."

They didn't know the layout of the building but they managed to end up in a place that was full of cubicles, the kind of place that a person could lose themselves in only work and if not careful fall into depression. "Here we go!" Rin takes another small gem from her bracelet, there were two left. "An explosion coming right up!"

And with that they drop another floor, in the same kind of the one they just dropped down from. But more destroyed with debris still falling from above. "Lets-" Shirou is hit with a white beam before he can finish the line.

""SHIROU!"" Both women shout for him but another attack is coming and Rin manages to block it with a gem from another bracelet forming a green shield. "Go get him. I will take care of this." The magus said, Liz didn't need to be told twice before running to check on Shirou.

Another light beam goes at Rin but her shield holds and she can see the attacker. It was a woman from the figure underneath the robes with a huge bead necklace on her right arm that she was using to channel her mana on the offensive. "Don't you have pride in your origins, little girl?" The woman's voice was suave and behind her another group appeared, armed with many varieties of weapons. "Learning european magic instead of the ones of our land?"

"I could care less, it was what my father taught me." Rin replies, knowing by the information the woman gave that she was a magician of some kind, even if she didn't know her especiality. 'No circles mean circuits. She claims it is a magic from Japan so the possibilities are...' A thought comes to Rin's mind. "You are the one that created the boundary field."

"Guilty as charged, not that it matters." She plucks a few figures from her robes, pieces of paper cut like people's figures. "You all stay back! I will deal with them!"

"Confident much?" Rin asks, making her shield disappear to conserve the mana on her jewel.

"They would get in the way." She uses her mana on the paper and lets them fly. The paper then glows in a white light as they transform into forms that look like small men with gray skin, small horns with uneven teeth, big bellies but with thin skin. Creatures that Rin studied some time in her life.

"Oni?" The magus looks at the woman covered in robes from head to toe, considers the magic she just used and takes a guess. "You are an onmyoji."

"Oh~ Bravo, little magus. You know a little more about our culture than I expected." The covered woman extends her arms. "I am the diviner, Yukino! One of the last onmyoji! And you better be prepared to die!" The onis all were armed with clubs and their black and red eyes indicated they had every intention of murdering her. "Kill her!"

The onis hiss and charge at her but Rin is not afraid. She had studied them in the past and compared to the most powerful ones like Shuten Douji, these were low level oni and much weaker than the legendary being.

With that in mind Rin channeled some mana to a ruby on her earring and used it to make a mass of fire in front of her where the onis end up throwing themselves into, trying to reach her by the shortest path possible. Once the four creatures were burned to a crisp Rin pushes her fireball to the woman.

Yukino was not impressed, she just pulls out more talismans and fills them with even more mana. Repeating the process three more onis appear, one red, one green and one blue. All three are much bigger than the previous ones, almost hitting the ceiling with their heads with long hair and armed with bigger clubs as well, these with spikes.

'How much mana does she have?' Summon familiars is not something simple, usually those who use other creatures to fight need to prepare themselves but the older woman just called three onis easily. 'Calm down. I can do this.'

Shirou manages to sit down feeling the wound on his chest. In an instant a copy of EM, something he got so used to making that he barely needed to think for it to show up on his hands, was already working. The pain and the burn started to alleviate and could see Liz approaching. He also could see someone charging at her. "LIZ! LOOK OUT!"

Yakada arrived on the battlefield and he came like a train, charging directly at the one he considered the greatest threat. He grabs the maid that was distracted in trying to get to Shirou and slams her into one of the cubicles, her back hitting a computer and a desk before slamming the floor.

The tall man starts to punch down and Liz holds her arms up to block the punch the Yakada delivers. He goes for a sequence to keep her down but the maid waits for a couple seconds to make sure she has his rhythm to make absolutely sure she could grab one of the man's arms and then break it with a punch.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" The scream doesn't distract the whitehaired woman, even if the man's arm is now bent out of shape she hits him on the stomach to push him out and get up.

Now it was the man's back that hit the ground but he recovers quickly only for Liz to deliver a jab and then a hook on his face making Yakada bleed. She was about to deliver a punch when the 2nd in command blocks with an arm, but Liz aims to follow up with another punch that is blocked by the other arm, that was not bent out of shape anymore which surprised the maid.

The man delivers a headbutt, following it up with a punch and a stomp, sending the woman into another cubicle but Liz recovers fast, just bleeding a little as she takes off the overshirt of her suit.

She can tell that the man isn't as strong as her but he has some kind of ability that allows him to heal fast. 'Troublesome.' Leysritt thinks mildly depressed considering that she will have to disobey Shirou and charges at full speed, delivering a strong punch on the man's face, sending him flying for the second time that day, breaking lots of walls until he hits the stone one.

The homunculus thought she had won until the man got up, bleeding but alive and surrounded by mana. It mends his body and she can recognize the green energy similar to healing magic.

A magus using healing on himself mid fight was something considerably impressive but it didn't give him any offensive capability nor stop her from beating him to a pup to make him stop.

With that plan in mind Liz charges forward and Yakada smiles as he dodges her punch by rolling to the side. As he gets up for a counter Liz doesn't let him, following his position she hits him on the liver and starts delivering a beating of a lifetime on the man.

After healing himself enough that his muscles wouldn't stop his moviment Shirou gets up, he can see that Rin is practically surrounded, running around and dodging three monsters while Liz has complete control of the situation even if her opponent keeps getting up, a little more bruised every time.

Thinking that Liz has everything under control Shirou traces a sword and rushes to help Rin. The girl was having some difficulties now that there were three huge brutes helping her opponent while the older woman shoots a blast or another of mana from time to time.

The office was actually a scenery that benefited Rin since she could dodge and hide everywhere, behind the tin walls or desks that form the small work spaces. She can also use the chairs and stations as weapons, placing the almost spent gem at the side of a computer and letting one of the oni approach only for her to jump back and an explosion happens soon after.

Looking at the damage she causes she sees the red oni shrugging off the blast and advancing. Rin runs to the side only to see the blue oni taking a deep breath and releasing a blizzard in her direction.

Unlike the ones that suffered a similar fate on her hands earlier Rin is better prepared and using the mana on her other earring she creates a fire wall this time, not caring if the whole building caught fire in the process. The blue oni takes a couple of steps back, not liking the flames.

But the red oni loves them and launches itself immediately, its club above its head and aiming at Rin's own head. With a mental trigger to command the gems on her bracelets, the magus unleashes a blast of bure mana at the oni, destroying its stomach and canceling the invocation.

Getting rid of the red oni gave her a second to take a breath but Rin forgot about the green oni who makes itself known by aiming for the girls side. Rin had no time to react but Shirou arrives just in time and with his wyvern sword he decapitates the green oni instantly. "RIN! You alright?"

Having no time to be shocked or surprised the girl nods. "Yes! Thank you!" The two get closer, the fire wall still keeping the blue oni at bay while its summoner mouth showed she was growing even if they couldn't see the rest of her face. "Careful Emiya. She is a diviner. And a really powerful one at that."

"She is a what now?" That made the robbed woman snarl.

"A onmyoji! Have you no culture, you swine?" Mana emanates from the woman in rage.

"You have a real way with women, Emiya." Rin affirms while getting ready to defend herself.

"Just tell me what she is and what she can do!" He begs, getting his sword closer to his chest in a defensive position.

The diviner heard him and if anything her aura of rage got stronger. "You will know soon enough BOY!" Another white beam shot out from her hand with the beads but Shirou was ready this time.

In front of him a big shield shows up and Shirou uses his shoulder to not be pushed back by the attack. It is not piercing and has more heat than power. "The diviners were once the official mages of the court from Japan, but they lost favor." Rin says, also getting behind the shield. "They can predict the future to an extent, summon monsters of many kinds and are also capable of making powerful talismans. But they are awful at using mana directly. Wasteful really."

"I heard that YOU BRAT!" The intensity of the attack skyrockets and Shirou starts to feel himself being pushed back. "I WILL SHOW YOU WASTEFUL!"

"Anything else?" He asks while feeling the pressure.

"Her reserves are absurd if she can do all this. Summoning is something even us magi struggle with and she is popping onis out like they are out of style." Which they were considering the art is in extinction but that is not the point that Rin is trying to make.

The beam stops as the woman takes a deep breath. Behind her robes Yukino is still upset but manages to control herself after venting a bit of her temper. Close to her, the last oni stands ready, the summoning creature is considerable stupid but not to the point of lauching itself into danger like its lesser breathering.

Realizing that the oni isn't going to advance with both the flames and the shield on his way, Yukino starts to think of a strategy. "Yukino-sama." One of the men behind her, a guy with a broadsword, steps forward. "Let us help. We can take down those intruders."

"Get back." She warns, raising a hand and stopping the oni. "You all...will only get on the way." The man and everyone else behind him retire while the woman pulls more pieces of paper from her robes filling her hands with many samples of the same talisman. "Let me show you my true power! The power of one onmyouji!" She fills the talismans with mana and throws them around. "SHIKIGAMI!"

Appearing all around the room were the onis, all blue, red or green in color, every single one armed and with bloodlust in their eyes. Shirou undoes the shield and holds his sword firmily. "So...do we have a plan?"

"That makes no sense!" Was all that Rin had time to say, not really talking to him, before the attack began.

Shirou notices they are going for him first and he dodges to the side when the first blue ogre gets to him but has no chance to retaliate as a green ogre hits him. Rin tries to send some curses and spells at the woman, realizing that the diviner must be sending mana to keep the onis present.

It was for nothing as the onis protected their mistress. Yukino's exposed mouth now shows her amusement as Rin gets a hit as well for her troubles by a club to the side.

The Tohsaka head was clad that she was using reinforcement because the hit head hurt. Another oni came close to try and crush her head, a red one which meant fire. Realizing the colors meant elements allowed her to determine the proper spell to deal with it and in one of her bracelets she still has a sapphire.

Calling mana to it and focusing Rin sends a jet of mana at the oni's face. The pressure was strong enough to push back a person and wouldn't be enough to even phase the oni but its nature was of fire, his skin was fire made flesh and it lost its head easily.

'These are not true oni but shikigami.' Rin turns around aiming with her arm to a green oni that was gunning for her, another gem being used and a fireball slams the creature on the face. 'Just spirits and specters of fallen oni. They are using their elements to make a body but that is also a weakness.'

Her time was up once three more charged at her, she slips below one since they were much taller and sends another fireball to another green oni and kicks a red oni on the leg, making the bone pop of on the other side, only for a blue one to hit her with its palm almost crushing her to the ground.

'Blue…is…' Focusing her energy in a already used gem she sends a fireball. 'Either ice...or water…' Rin is losing her concentration but then she uses the mana on her necklace to kick in some mana and help her make the spell bigger.

The fire onis weren't bothered by it but the flames managed to take out another set of onis. Using more mana from her main gem she reinforces her legs and kicks the floor to get some distance.

If her father hadn't given her that necklace Rin was sure that she would be a goner. The main jewel of the Tohsaka family with years of mana stocked up to be used by the Tohsaka head, it is the proof that her father accepted that Rin is the legitime head of their family even if he disagreed with some of her policies.

There were many ways that she can use the mana present in the jewel, the most direct would be to lay waste to everything in sight. But that was not recommended inside a building and instead she can use it to act as a reserve to keep her going.

It was it that helped her recover just in time to dodge another attack and send another water gun to eliminate another red oni. Steading herself Rin rushes towards another closer and sends an Reinforcement empowered punch to eliminate another, turning around and sending a palm strike to another.

Rin can tell that if the oni were truly present she wouldn't be able to win but shikigami were frail, presences powered only by the magician present. A lot of offensive power but their defense is not the best, normal humans couldn't win but Rin can, she is sure of it.

Reality came crashing down on her once a huge ball of wind slammed on her, sending her down. The green oni that attacked charges furiously, ready to end her before she sends another fireball and ends it instead.

"RIN!" Shirou watches his friend still surrounded by oni and tries to reach her but he was surrounded himself and trying to get rid of his opposition. There was little time to hesitate and he cut the monsters with ease thanks to his sword.

Be it by cutting them by the waist in half or their heads or just swinging his sword and cutting them in half the onis were falling easily but they just kept going at him. They have some intelligence, some sense of preservation but it was buried beneath their bloodlust to take him out.

"Please stop this!" Shirou pleads to Yukino who turns her head to look at him directly. "We didn't come for a fight! Just stop!" Maybe with her they could cease the violence.

But then the woman shakes her head and says. "You may have not come for a fight but you are an ally of devils and as the allies of heroes it is our duty to see you perish!" As one a group of red oni joins together and fire pours out of their mouth.

Shirou has no time to properly mount a defense and uses his sword to block some of the flames while reinforcing his clothes and body to the limit, being thrown back because of the flames. His clothes got a little burnt but the natural redhead gets up and starts swinging his sword again, taking down two more onis. He is now focusing more on the red ones, deeming them the bigger threat.

He slashes another one and jumps to the side to cut one more. Looking around he could see that RIn was in the same situation but the numbers of oni are tinning down. Since talking isn't going to help he turns his focus completely on taking out the opponent's numbers while trying to go into Rin's direction.

Cutting another oni down Shirou is hit on the side by a club and can feel the pain on his back, he chooses to ignore it and cuts down a blue oni and a green one that tried to follow up its companion's success only to fail as Shirou punches one and cuts the other and them gets the first one with a stab in the heart.

Getting rid of part of the suit that got too damaged and was getting in the way, he reinforces his button up shirt and charges again, stabbing one oni in the gut and then doing an uppercut with his sword.

Getting to Rin was complicated in these circumstances and he turns himself completely on taking down the onis, hoping that his friend can survive this as well.

Leysritt wants to help Shirou, Rin too but she just can't leave her adversary alone since he also would try and stop her or just go and attack one of the others. Any normal human would already be dead but the guy just gets up after every hit, heals a bit and tries to attack her again with moderate success.

If the maid lowers her guard he can do some real damage, Liz is sure he is using some magic or sacred gear of some kind for defense while using Reinforcement for offense. He is also blocking any attack that aims for the head, not caring for anything else.

So naturally Liz is trying to use his head as a gong only for his arms to block her every time no matter how many times she had already broken the limbs, they always got on her way again and again in a couple of seconds without fail.

Yakada manages to punch Liz in the gut. 'She hasn't noticed yet. Good.' He can feel his connection to Yukino sustaining him, helping him in the fight. They were the closest ones to each other in the firm but not necessary by choice but necessity.

Her job is mostly to stay back and summon her onis to fight while his place is on the front lines. Being born with a good number of circuits, Yakada kept his whole body steadily reinforced, absorbing another blow aimed to the head with his arm, the woman again trying to get hold of it.

She would fail again, he trains everyday to break out any grip that could threaten his head and this was just similar to his spars, only more brutal.

Liz goes for a swift kick on the man's leg, again breaking bones, again he falls to the ground and she goes for the kill only for him to grab her arm and try to do what she did to him prior. They already did this little dance and she smashed his throat with her other hand forcing him to let go only for his leg to kick her off.

'How?' Leysritt asks herself but she has no answer, never facing an opponent like that who didn't care about how much blood he split or any organs other than the brain.

There was no flame to indicate a Phenex, no divinity for a sacred gear and she can't see anything else but his circuits flaring while his body is completely covered with blood, his own blood is the majority since she also lost some in their exchanges.

But she can't see the trick he was using. In her mind all he had was healing and reinforcement but at that point he should have run out of mana and not been able to keep up with her.

Leysritt herself was starting to grow exhausted and unless she can figure out some way to win soon either he is going to manage to get the drop on her or Shirou is going to be in peril.

In reality Shirou is trying to link up with Rin still, there just wasn't enough space until the number of onis diminishes but after cutting one in half he can see the woman, Yukino, walking around the office and getting sheets of paper spread throughout the floor.

Using magic she cuts the recently acquired paper in the form of another talisman and casually throws it in the air, another big oni appearing. If Shirou wasn't busy he would have frowned or even screamed in frustration.

Warming his circuits he was going to try something. Since the oni were just 'pieces of paper', Shirou plans to use mana and a lot of swords. "TRACE ON!"

Swords, at least a dozen of them exactly the same as the one in his hand, appear over Shirou's head and around him. The redhead turned white then runs, dodging the blades he relinquished to gravity as they pierce the onis with some difficulty.

Even if the monsters were summoned empowered by paper and mana a certain degree of strength was necessary to put them down and gravity alone wasn't enough for his newly made weapons to finish the job.

But they distracted them, both the monsters and their summoner who couldn't help herself but stare at what Shirou did, trying to wrap her head on how he did that. She knew it wasn't a sacred gear, Yukino met plenty of users in her life to be able to tell, including a woman who has the Blade Blacksmith sacred gear and she knew for a fact that wasn't it.

While the oni have initiative of their own, the mana they use is coming from a person and they need an extra to use their strongest attacks, without it they were just big monsters with clubs. So when a rain of swords happened, they retreated and were unable to stop Shirou from reaching Rin and cutting the onis around her.

"Rin! You alright?" The twin tailed magus glares at him.

"No, not at all." A second later Shirou offers a scalpel for her. "Thanks."

"Boy!" They see Yukino approach, at least ten oni still around her. "Do you have a sacred gear?"

Both magus look at each other and Rin places a hand on Shirou's shoulder. "If he answers that, would you mind answering a question?"

The older woman chuckles. "I don't think you realize the position you are in, girl."

"It is just a 'yes or no' question. Nothing much." Shirou could see that Tohsaka was healing, the scalpel firmly on her hands but the way she was closing her fist had a finger on the tip.

"Sure." Yukino replies, her curiosity winning.

"No, he doesn't have one. That was all magecraft." Rin then lets out a small while Yukino's mouth indicates a frown. "My turn, are you using the ley line to supply yourself with mana?" She didn't get an answer, if anything the mana around the woman just got more intense. "Fantastic! The whole place is her workshop! Just fantastic!"

Rin was frustrated and Shirou can understand why. As someone with a workshop above a really good ley line he knows the limits of someone using it and they were nothing to scoff at. All the woman needs to do is pace herself and take care to not overload the flux of mana she is using and then she can fight indefinitely.

"Excellent! Talk about a trump card!" The magus in red just looks around in frustration. "Just by stepping a foot on the building we fell into a trap! Great job! I can see why this place would be a good workshop!"

Taking into account that before the fire there was already a ley line or some mystical quality that made the space worth considering for a base means that after it the ley line may be bigger and better.

Yukino chooses to say nothing, letting her amusement show with a smirk. Until she can't stop herself from gloating a bit. "That is right! Can you see the situation you are in now?"

"Yeah. I can see that we are going to lose to a hack!" Rin's comment sounds like a tease but the woman lost any semblance of amusement.

"What did you say?" Again an aura of rage surrounds the woman. "Care to repeat that? I think I misheard you!"

"Well...here you are claiming your magic is so great," Rin motions with her hands to the onis still around, "when in reality the only reason you can do half of the things you do is because of a ley line!" The woman is getting even madder.

"Rin. What are you doing?" Shirou tries to whisper to her but she isn't done.

"So much for pride right?" Rin starts to move her hands in a pattern, but it wasn't for a spell or something like that, there wasn't mana involved. "I mean, the only reason you are winning is because of the extra mana," again she was moving her hands around, everyone's attention was on her but there was no mana being used, "truly the superior art of magic, doing something every magician on the planet with a descent house can do."

'Those movements!' Shirou finally recognizes the gesture Rin was doing. 'Hand signals.'

It was a message for him, she was counting on using her words to distract everyone while trying to communicate something. With the onis covering their front and Yukino getting more and more upset Shirou was the only one with an opportunity to get the signal. It was something small really but part of the world of magic that hand movements can be used for spells and sign language is a way to learn the basics of it.

Even then Rin isn't using mana on her hands, just making the moviments to talk with him, sending a message that was simple enough and then repeating her movements, disguising them as simple gestures to enfasys her point.

"Clearly you need all the help you can get with your magic since all you can do is summon these mid tier brutes!" Yukino finally snapped.

"You think you're clever? These 'brutes' as you called them are going to kill you!" The woman didn't need to justify herself, she is using the tricks of the trade to secure her victory.

But pride is a powerful thing, something that one can use to better themselves or fall to it and Rin was pushing the exact right buttons. "Of course they will! You can't do nothing yourself after all."

"At least I don't need some pretty stones to use my magic!" Rin actually nods at that.

"Yes, you just have some pieces of paper that burn out after use. At least my gems pay themselves back." Then Rin places a hand on her mouth, pretending to be in shock. "Or do you use toilet paper? Is that how you have so many?"

If it wasn't clear that the woman was getting even more upset, the aura of murder and power around her was proof of her rage. But Rin refused to let go.

"I mean, is that why you work in an office? To get cheap paper?" Everyone could almost see the veins jumping behind the hood. "That is so sad. I am really sorry for you."

'You have no ground to stand on!' Shirou almost wanted to scream. 'Even if you are dressed with lots of jewels your family is basically bankrupt!'

And she knows that, Rin can't forget that for the life of her but her opponent doesn't know it and it was clear to Tohsaka that Yukino had some issues about her magic. "If you need some money and ask nicely I may give you one of my jewels. I am sure you could sell it for a good peny."

'You wouldn't!' The redhead fought to keep his mouth shut.

Fortunately he wasn't the one to crack first. "YOU BRAT!" Instead of raising the output of mana to her summons, the woman raises her aura and converts it into another blast to throw it at the girl who annoyed her so much. "DIE! DIE! DIE!"

Shirou moves fast to trace three objects. The first is a shield to block the blast, a blast that wasn't able to kill him previously when he was caught off guard so he knows that he can block it with his shield, the woman just lacks offensive capabilities for herself.

The other two were sunglasses, one he puts on his face and the other he passes to Rin, as she instructed with hand signals, that was all he knew of her plan and he had no idea of the rest of the plan.

Even with some minimal intelect the onis didn't know what to do in the situation, their summoner is attacking and they are ready to kill whatever tried to approach her or even survived the rage attack, they didn't spread around or change their positions, keeping themselves on the same spot while the shield stops the attack easily.

Something flies from behind the shield, the monsters notice it, the summoner doesn't. It was a small red stone that the oni had no idea what it really did, lacking the knowledge that for a magus like Rin that is a dangerous weapon. Yukino didn't notice their reaction, didn't see the stone flying above her head, her rage blinding her for anything other than the destruction of her enemies.

The monsters just watch the shining stone flying until gravity starts to claim it. They could see that it wasn't going to hit their summoner or any of them, so they let it fall where it would, right in front of the woman and her attack.

A massive shockwave followed by a flash is unleashed once the gem makes contact with the magic blast, making everyone in the room fall to the floor and breaking every window. Liz and her opponent who were trading blows fell to their sides, the employees of the firm that were watching didn't even notice that something had happened until they fell on their backs and the diviner also lost her footing together with the focus to keep the spell going, the wave of mana coming undone. There is still onis around and they avoided to fall completely but their senses were disturbed by the shockwave and their vision was imparied by the strong line. Everyone was disrupted in a way or another by the explosion.

Everyone except Shirou, who was holding his shield but almost lost his balance once there was nothing to push against, since there was no attack going in his direction anymore, and Rin who unlike everyone else knew what was coming and got around the shield just after the shockwave.

With everyone else out of their feet, including the onis, Rin finally has a chance to win this fight. With everyone else out of their feet and the diviner distracted and trying to recover, the Tohsaka gets closer. One oni notices her and tries to swing his club only to get its head blasted off for his troubles as Rin finally gets a hand on the woman that tried to kill her repeatedly this day.

"Got you!" Rin declares as she delivers a reinforced punch on the diviner's face and then another on the stomach, making her lose air while the Tohsaka then finishes her with a fist on the back of her head.

Without their summoner maintenance the onis disappear, something that got a sigh of relief from Rin as she checks her opponent, the robe covering her head falling to the side leaving a woman with black hair in a pixie cut haircut and a soft face on the ground.

Yakada felt Yukino being defeated, his body suddenly losing all energy. "Well shit." He couldn't stop himself, especially when Liz gets up, bleeding, bruised and looking at him, waiting for him to get up.

When he didn't, Leysritt asked. "Mana transfer?" She deducts since the only difference between before and now was that the man's partner was out and he looks much weaker.

"It doesn't matter." But that didn't mean that he was out standing up slowly. "I still can-"

Liz punches him in the face, knocking Yakada out and breaking his nose, this time it didn't regenerate and the man didn't recover. "Yes, it does." The man may have had regeneration and defense but without mana he had nothing.

The rest of the Rearguard could only look as their commanders were defeated, their spirits shattered. By no means the invaders were 100% but as they watched as the three joined together and the whitehaired male started to heal the female they knew that there was no one between them that could fight this fight.

Or almost no one. "Damn, the two of them lost." The men and women turn to see Sakashite, approaching as he usually looks with his normal gray suit with only a single addition, a katana with a black handle and scabbard, just looking at it made many have goosebumps.

"Sakashita-sama, what should we do?" The man stops his calm march to battle to look at the woman who asked.

"Stay out of the way. There is nothing any of you can do and I can't promise I won't kill you if you get closer." He didn't even begin fighting and there was already a bloodlust surrounding him, even stronger than an oni's. 'Calm down. The targets are already there and soon I will have their blood. This katana demands it. I can almost hear it.'

In the invader group Rin felt confident enough to say. "I think we can get someone talking now. Most of these guys look to be too scared to do anything without their leaders." She turns back at Shirou and Liz. "We can't leave without anything after all this."

Interrogating someone isn't something that Shirou knows how to do and he honestly didn't trust Liz to do it by the fact he wouldn't know how she would go at it. "We can negotiate now. We just need to figure out what to ask." His sword will make sure they don't fall into a lie. "I still can't believe that you got hurt like that Liz."

"He had healing magic and Reinforcement." It was amusing for him how she defended herself. "Could only win when you knocked the woman out." That made Shirou pause the treatment to blink.

"So she was transfering mana to him at a distance and constantly? Where have I heard that before?"

"It doesn't matter." Rin said quickly. "What is important is that everything is over. It doesn't matter what the guy did to last so long. He lost."

Liz nods and then looks to the direction where the rest of the enemy was. "Someone is approaching." Hearing her Shirou stops the treatment and undoes all his weapons, getting ready just in case it was a new opponent.

"Look at that, looks like someone is coming to negotiate." Rin comments and they see Sakashite approaching, he has a sword on his hand but it wasn't out and he looks non threatening. "Ready to answer some questions, Sakashite-san?"

Letting his tie lose and taking it out, the man looks at Rin almost apathetic. "I apologize but I have no intention of answering your questions." He starts to take out his glasses, looking at them for a moment before letting them fall to the ground, breaking. "In fact, none of you are leaving here alive."

"Bold thing to say since we defeated your strongest fighters." Rin points out. "Look, we didn't want this fight, you guys started it. If you let us talk before, we could have called our friend, asked our questions and left without needing to ruin half of the building."

He brings the katana in front of his face, a hand in the handle and the other in the scabbard. "At this point it doesn't matter. This sword demands blood and I shall deliver it." Shirou felt something looking at that blade, something familiar.

For a moment he focused his eyes on it, trying to place the sensation he was feeling. Deciding to not waste any time and to try and figure out what was happening he tries to use Structural Analysis on the sword only for it to be directed at the scabbard, a scabbard that has some kind of seal that made any attempt to scry the blade be direct towards it while also masking its location, informing about the owner of the sword, the true owner, almost as if inviting people for a challenge.

While the sheath was mostly black Shirou is able to find the seal right below the guard of the katana. Made out of a different wood, red in color, its shape reminds him of a ring surrounding the blade inside and with three circles a couple of millimeters apart.

Sakashite is not the owner, his teacher and actual manager of the company is the real owner, a man that took care of the weapon with care and forbade his apprentice to use it without permission, something that the story of the scabbard tells him and he is about to do.

"Now, the three of you will die. If it is any consolation...no. There is no consolation! Once this sword is drawn, only a painful death awaits you." Rin, to stop the man from drawing his sword and not liking what the man was saying, points a finger at the man and shoots a curse.

The salaryman movement is swift and he actually cuts the curse to then charge at Rin to cut her head off. Shirou reacts, tracing his sword to block the attack and put himself between, but someone was faster.

Liz leaps from where she was sitting, aiming to knock the man out with one punch. She didn't feel any magic from him even if she felt something from the sword, much like Shirou she can tell that the weapon is special, not in the way that her charge can but every instinct is telling her that she needs to take the guy down quickly.

In a flash Leysritt is cut from her shouters down, almost cutting her in half. The homunculus looks to herself, having difficulty to process what happened, never before had she suffered such damage.

Her bones which were stronger than most metals, her flesh which can take the strongest of blows, the body made to fight unparalleled odds is damaged together with many of her organs. She is cut from the shoulder blade to her stomach and can't move because of both pain and the fact that she lost her ability to stand with her heart also damaged. The man was already going for a second strike from below, every intention of finishing the job clear on his head.

"LIZ!" Shirou was on him before he could, sword against sword as he fought to stop the katana. "RIN! TAKE CARE OF HER!" He uses all the strength on his arms to push the guy back, his sword clashing against the katana.

"You really are a fool." Sakashite eyes now had an edge they lacked before, an assassin sharpness that promised death. Then he smiled "But I shall oblige and kill you first." The man pushes back but Shirou uses Reinforcement to keep up the pressure, trying to keep the sword stuck, finding difficulties even with the man using only one hand.

Frustrated with the turn of events, Rin thinks of dragging Liz away from the fighting while Shirou keeps attacking his opponent like a madman but she was too hurt to try and immediately she began to work. Rin is not a specialist in healing magic but she can do it even if it costs more mana for her than it would for Shirou and his EM. "Come on sensei. Don't you dare to die on us."

The cut was deep, too deep. Rin is trying to piece how that could have happened since she knew Liz was a homunculus and a high level one at that, any sword that could cut her was not normal. If it was more horizontal then there is no doubt in her mind Liz would have been cut in half.

Shirou keeps walling at the man but he is blocking all his strikes easily, so far Shirou has failed to even scratch him. Sakashita looks amused, a cruel smile on his face as he looks at the swords. "You care for her don't you?"

For a moment the muscles of the man relaxed before he suddenly started to push back against Shirou. The man's smile just keeps getting wider and more bloodthirst, their swords separate as Sakashite manages to cut Shirou on the leg.

Felling the wound Shirou takes a few steps back, disengaging and the salaryman just lets him go, a smile still on his lips. The magus was sure that he had reinforced his leg and pants but he could still feel the wound.

But that wasn't surprising, now he remembered what that sensation was. It was the same one he felt at the mall. He looks at the sword firmily, his circuits activating-

A man standing alone in a room, ten dead bodies surrounding him, the sword dripping blood-

"KILL THE TRAITORS!" Shouts a man in uniform, the sword on his hand cutting the head of his opponent. "DOWN WITH THE TOKUGAWA!"-

Walking in a desert road, aimless. A group approaches and demands the man's money and sword. They end dead and the man returns to walk forward aimless-

Alone, working on a forge sat a man who is finishing the final touches on the sword. Repetition after repetition, the man is old at this point, in the twilight years of his life. Yet he folds the blade again and again and once he has finished he lifts it over to examine his work. "Another failure."-

-Shirou recovers his vision of the present, his Structural Analysis having only lasted a moment, a single second once he focused his eyes on the blade.

It is magnificent, an example of skill and determination that can't be easily contented. Made with care and dedication it is a thing to behold and admire. And it is extremely lethal in a way most people can't begin to comprehend.

And Shirou now knows, he knows that sword, its history of blood and, most importantly, he also knows its name. "Rin. Get Liz and run."

To say Tohsaka is surprised is an understatement. "What are you-"

"NO TIME! GET HER AND GO!" Panic was present in his voice but contrary to him their new enemy was calm, extremely calm.

"You think I will let anyone escape?" He walks a couple of steps and Shirou gets ready. "Maybe I should kill them first." Sakashite moves fast, faster than a human without magic should and he tries to go around Shirou.

Not willing to let him pass, Shirou changes his position, not knowing how the salaryman was running that fast but not allowing him to get what he wanted easily, moving closer to his friends. The target was clear and once the man's crazy eyes locked in on an opening he raced for it and the younger man jumped to block.

Rin is stunned by the two swords that are literally right in front of her eyes. "That is a Noble Phantasm! Get Liz and go!" Stunned from the information but understanding the danger they actually are in, Rin reinforces her arms and tries to carry Liz only for Shirou to be repealed and the katana to cut her arm. "TOHSAKA!"

Shirou doesn't hesitate and tries to go at the man with a rapid sequence of slashes to get him away only to have every single one parried easily. "You have no killing intent kid. Even angry your attacks lack," Sakashite locks the blades again and hits the magus in the chest with his knee, "determination." He cuts Shirou's shoulder, once again bypassing his defenses. "You need some killer instinct." He goes for an overhead slash to finish Shirou off.

The magus traces another sword, Wolfsbane and tries to use its ability to at least delay the attack, delay because Shirou knows he can't stop it, not really.

And the older man knows it too, he could see by just looking at Shirou's sword that even if it was as tinner as his katana it was still made of a worse material and worse techniques. Compared with the sword in his hands the magus sword is nothing and he was sure that he made his first victim of the day.

But even if Wolfsbane is cut and broken, the momentum was reduced, Shirou still raises the wyvern sword enough to stop the death that was coming from him. His shoulder is still hit, regardless of Reinforcement on the leftovers of his shirt and he bleeds more.

The bite of the steel is strong and Shirou shouts trying to push his opponent back only to fail. His actual sword was holding but the position and wound on his shoulder is making things more difficult.

From behind Shirou comes a strong heat and Sakashite sees the fireball flying to his face. Not willing to take the risk, he lets Shirou push him away from danger. "A Noble Phantasm? Are you serious?" Rin asks, her biggest jewel now on her hands. "We can't win this."

"We can." Shirou says, not with confidence but still resolute. "Get Liz away from here, I can do this."

"Are you insane?" Rin demands to know.

"No. He is just smart enough to understand the reality of your situation." Katana on his shoulder, Sakashita smiles, his hair getting messi from the fight but his face is one of enjoyment together with a touch of insanity. "He knows that if he runs with you I will just chase. He is giving you two a chance." Then he shrugs. "Not that it matters anyway. It just means that after I take care of him, I can enjoy some time chasing you."

Rin lets out a frown and looks at Liz who is still bleeding and also is low on mana. If the homunculus is to be healed, Rin knows she needs some space and time but if a man with a Noble Phantasm on his hands they won't be getting it.

"Rin, get Liz and go." Shirou repeats, almost begging in his voice, but Rin shakes her head.

"No way in hell. Besides if we go and you lose I won't be able to kick your ass for dragging us on this." He had given her plenty of chances to back out but she still came and would be damned if she didn't help him survive. "What is the name of the Noble Phantasm? If it has some weakness the name will reveal it."

Shirou shakes his head and steps forward. "That is a sword that was elevated to legend not on its own merit alone but for the skill of its creator."

"Oh~ You know my sword boy?" His attitude was much more cooky now but Shirou didn't focus on it. If the insane man wants to talk, that was fine by him since it gave him time to recover and prepare.

Noticing that the blood was starting to spread on what was left of his shirt he tore it off so it didn't get in the way of combat, it was useless anyway. "It is one of many works, born out of obsession, of skill and prowess. Years of experience and determination were poured on that sword and even if it is- was classified as a failure by its creator there is no doubt in my mind that it is the finest sword that I have ever seen."

It was clear for all to see the man was enjoying the description and that was exactly what Shirou wanted. If the guy is focused on other things it gives time for the magus to try and find a solution for this mess.

'We are inside a building so Earthbreaker is useless. This guy has good movement of feet and is superior to me in combat, the only times I managed to pin him was when he let me so trying to shock him is useless without an opening. The only good sword I have against him is…' He holds the wyvern sword tightly. "The sword itself hasn't a real name because its creator never bothered with it. But it speaks even more of his skills that such a blade has not only survived the passage of time but was elevated to a Noble Phantasm just for being made by that man. His swords gained fame and a legacy of blood, all for the machinations and fear of a single family combined with just how great the blades actually are."

"Yes, they did!" The man, euphoric, shouts in happiness. "Some of the strongest blades of Japan carry his name! Say it!"

Shirou wouldn't deny him. "Muramasa." Just saying the name was enough to make everyone in the room grow pale.

"Mu-Mu-Muramasa?" Rin felt her skin crawl after hearing it.

"That- that is Yurameshe-sama's sword?" One of the men asks his compatriots and suddenly they all can feel the bloodlust around the place rise.

"What did you say?" Sakashite's aura of murder grew in strenght and his eyes turn to the man who talked. "What did you call my sword?"

Shirou could see where this was going before it happened. "RUN!" The warning was given but the man didn't understand, at least not until Muramasa had already pierced his heart.

Everyone around them looked in shock as the salaryman now stood in front of his subordinate, sword piercing his heart and lung. "Sakashite...-sama?".

"It's my sword...do you all hear me? MY SWORD!" Everyone takes a step back, watching as their companion's body falls to the ground, still breathing. Some spellcasters don't hesitate to get him and heal the man with all they have.

The movement itself was fast, one moment he was in the middle of the former office at Shirou's reach and the next he had already cut another man down with ease. Fear was spreading but everyone was rooted in place, the aura of murder around the former calm man that they once knew scarying them all into submission.

"Am...I...clear?" Everyone nods and in the next second Sakashite gives them a gentle smile. "Good. Now you all stay put. I don't want to kill you in an accident." The man fixes his hair a little and for a moment he looks like the mildly mannered person he was previously allowing the others to save their companion, almost as if the movement was deliberate.

But nobody can belive that, the aura of murder is still around him and while he walks back towards Shirou the magus decides to meet him in the middle of the room, getting more distance between the murderer and his friends.

'I need to take him out and fast.' Shirou begins to think. 'I can't win in a straight fight. His sword is better than anything that I have ever made and none of mine has some trick to help me on this one.' A plan forms in his mind, he knows he can't hesitate or else Liz and Rin also are going to die.

"Your sword before...that silver one. It was weak but had an interesting trick." Sakashite begins to say, almost like if he was talking about the weather. "Do you have anything else like that?"

"Yes, I do." Shirou really hopes Rin is using the time to run already. "I made a lot of swords over the years. None like yours," and the man smiled at that, "but they do have some good tricks."

"Great! One sec." Faster than Shirou expected, the man ran until he reached behind Rin who was trying to carry Liz away. Both magi can just look at him with wide eyes. "I will let you heal her since this woman's bones managed to survive Muramasa." He affirms while holding his sword to the twin tailed magus neck. "But please, don't try to leave. If your friend fails to entertain me I will need to use you and your other friend as compensation to not kill my comrades."

'Odds are that he is going to kill everyone anyway.' Rin gently places Liz carefully back on the ground and starts to work in a healing spell. She turns to Shirou saying 'I am sorry' with her eyes. She knew the stories about Muramasa and was afraid what the man could do with that Noble Phantasm.

He got the message and raised his sword again, the man advancing in his direction without any rush or hurry. This was all a game for him now, he was just that much assured of his victory that Shirou can already tell he is going to play more than fight.

That is just fine for him, there is the possibility that the man makes an opening and the magus will capitalize when it happens.

With the Rearguard contingent one of the men makes an observation. "We need to take Yukino-sama and Yakada-sama out of the line of fire."

A woman points out. "This is a terrible idea. If we get close we can die." Only for another to say.

"We just need to be careful. With any luck Sakashite-sama will just kill the invaders and everything is going to be fine." While the majority can agree with the assessment there are some that are afraid of the curse.

Muramasa's swords were said to be cursed and many heard about the stories of how a kind man can use one of those swords and become a monster thirsty for blood. Watching the calm, gentle and good mannered man that they knew, someone that usually works with them in the office and shares stories with them on their breaks or while out drinking, become some kind of demon was proof enough for them that the curse is real.

Few miths have reached Muramasa's fame, fewer can claim to have reached his level in making swords and one of them becoming a Noble Phantasm isn't really a surprise. But Shirou is confident that he can defeat that nameless blade. It is a Muramasa but the old man himself called it a failure and that instilled Shirou some confidence.

Thanks to his magic Shirou knows the ability that the sword carries and he knows he isn't the proper opponent for it since he lacks royal authority. The speed his opponent exhibits is the fruit of his own training and not the Noble Phantasm power but that doesn't change the fact that it is still an extremely sharp blade.

'I can't let my guard down. One single cut in the wrong place will be my death." Defense is useless, he needs to go on the offensive. "Here I go!" Shirou starts running around but the man is not pursuing as the magus is circulating the room, watching him carefully.

Tracing his knives Shirou throws a volley as soon he was certain only his opponent was the only one who would get hurt. With his sword and its scabbard Muramasa deflects the first four but that was expected and a second volley is already flying with a third and a fourth following it up with a second difference, the magus using one hand refusing to let go of his own sword.

Easily Sakashite deflects the second and the third, he was about to hit the fourth with his scabbard when the knives caught fire. The goal was to destroy the scabbard but it was undamaged after the deflection. "Fireballs with knives? Cool!" The man licks his lips. "Show me more!"

Already the man was proving to be as fast as Kiba, a devil that was built for speed, and Shirou barely manages to raise his sword in time, tracing another wyverns sword to try and cut the man's leg only for the sheath to intercept. 'Not only it has a seal...that thing is though.' He raises his knee, blocking his opponent's who made a similar movement to hit him.

Both were more the less the same height but Shirou, even with magic, feels he is much weaker for some reason. Both push each other back as their weapons collide again, sparks flying with every collision as their blades clash, Shirou trying to break the man's defense while Sakashite just smiles as the younger man tries to break his guard.

For now the stalemate was allowed by the older of the fighters, he is the more experienced swordsman and has the better sword. The thing is that he is also lost in his adrenaline, waiting to challenge the youth and for him to bring out more swords.

"Come on kid! Show me something else! Muramasa wants a challenge!" Pushing both Shirou's swords to the side he kicks the magus again but before taking the kick he lets go of one of his swords, freeing himself from its weight and extends his hand against the madman.

Quickly a sword appears on his hands, the tip already extending to hit Sakashita in the chest. Once it makes contact an electrical charge is unleashed and the man screams in pain for a moment and Shirou is ready to stop the spell when the scream turns into laughter.

"YES! THAT IS IT!" Ignoring the electrical currents in his body the man attacks again, hitting Shirou in the chest with his sheath before cutting him on the torso and forcing him back to hs didn't lose an arm. "SHOW ME MORE!"

Not being able to regain his bearings since Sakashite was assaulting him constantly Shirou has only one sword on hand and keeps using it to block the strikes of the Muramasa. That left himself open for a strike on his face, a kick on his leg that made him fall to the ground.

Rolling out of the way, Shirou avoids losing his head but his opponent isn't done and is on Shirou again, the magus with his back against the floor trying to hold back the sword. He can see up close the deranged smile on the man's face, how his eyes carried a madness it really wasn't present before.

"Is that all?" Even if the tone was one of disappointment, the user of Muramasa didn't lose his smile. "Then you can die now." He hits Shirou to the side with his scabbard, poking his ribs with it. "Come on kid! Don't die on me so easily!"

The hits keep coming with the side of the tip of the scabbard but Shirou persists to hold back the sword, ignoring the pain. Trying to go for a kick, Sakashite dodged and the magus didn't waste time. "Trace on!"

Swords fall around him, Muramasa parrying two while its user retreated, Once that the opponent is far enough, Shirou gets to his feet and lets his other blades go while keeping his wyvern sword on hand. "You can make swords fall from the sky? That is fun!"

Technically he can make swords anywhere in a radius around him, it is something he has been practicing for hours since Waver revealed that he could trace from a distance but it was not that far, just one meter from distance from himself in any direction. It is a technique he is still experimenting with and the cost of mana is still substantial at the moment but it is a useful skill to have.

Reflecting on his situation Shirou makes a shield, a small circular one with a spike on the middle. The idea is to pierce the other man with the shield and separate him from the Muramasa to win the fight.

There is a swift on the man's face once he sees the shield, a frown shows up on it and for some reason he looks disappointed. "A shield? That is no fun." The man glares at Shirou with irritation. "Bring out a sword! A shield will only get in the way."

"No offense but I will use my shield." There is no reason for Shirou to hear his opponent, especially one that wishes to kill him.

Sakashite didn't like what he heard. "That is a coward's weapon! Make another sword so we can have more fun!" Shirou, of course, refuses him, not verbally but by just getting into an instance with the shield on the front, ready for threats. "Tsk. Fine! Fun time is over!"

The man then places the sword on its scabbard, bends himself forward a little and puts his right foot in front of the other. "Iaijutsu?" 'Drawing the sword', also known as Battôjutsu, is a technique that consists in drawing the blade from the scabbard and using it for an immediate attack.

It is a facet of the kendo sport and something that can be really hard to pull off, using proper stance and leg work it is possible to get a bigger degree of damage with a real blade but most of the time it's just used for a quick strike in short range.

There was just the problem in pulling something like that out in these circumstances; it's supposed to be a defensive technique, a counter attack most of the time as far as Shirou is concerned.

Taking that position, away from Shirou with a good distance between them, made no sense for the redhead. It is basically an easy to read move that Shirou can see coming and can potentially capitalize, Sakashite may be fast but such a direct attack like that spoke more of overconfidence than anything else.

Undoing his shield, he immediately traces another much bigger and plants it on the ground, a plan on his mind.

Shirou knows he can't defeat Muramasa, it's a fact that the Noble Phantasm is superior to anything in his arsenal at that moment. But he can parry it, redirect it.

If the point of the offensive is using Iaido to get him to lower his guard Shirou can move around if a bigger shield is on the way, if it is a direct attack the shield can soft the blow enough for him to cut the madman's arm and get this over with since the scabbard won't be in a position to defend his counter.

"This is the first time!" The man licks his lips. "For the first time I will use my ultimate technique with the ultimate sword! I can't wait! My body is vibrating with emotion!" His wide eyes have no more anger or frustration from Shirou having pulled out the shield. "GET READY!"

Shirou was ready, his best shield on the front with his sword right behind it in case everything was just an elaborated faint. With everything set all he can do is watch as the man leaps in his direction, but before he actually connects with Shirou his other foot touches down and he accelerates more, sword being drawn.

"Ultimate Slash!" Muramasa hits Shiro's flesh after ruining both the sword and shield he had on his hands.

It is said that someone working in keeping a Muramasa sharp could lose their fingers and they wouldn't even notice. Looking down at himself Shirou saw the cut on his body but there was no pain, only the blood leaving him.

Soon he loses the strength to stay on his feet as he falls on his back, a similar event to what happened with Liz but on a lesser scale, the shield and his sword managed to keep the blow away from his vitals but the result is still evident. His shield was cut in half to perfection, the sword as well. Nothing resisted the passage of Muramasa.

'Is this the end?' Shirou wonders to himself as he falls on his back. He can hear Rin's voice, demanding that he gets up, but it is almost muted, like she is really distant.

"Damn! I wanted to cut you in half!" Blood keeps leaving Shirou's body and Sakashite looks at the last remains of his weapons. "If you haven't tried that cowardness on me maybe I could have had more fun with you!"

Yet Sakashite is not disapointed. His attack combined with Muramasa worked to perfection in his eyes, breaking the defense and Shirou's weapons like they were paper.

'My sensei is selfish. Forbidding me from using such treasure. He only wanted the power for himself.' Losing his temper at Rin's voice, Sakashite turns towards her. "Have you finished healing the other bitch?" That shuts the magus up. "You didn't? Well, I am not in the mood for waiting! So," He turns completely to her, "I hope you can entertain me!"

Immediately Tohsaka rises to her feat and unleashes a barrage of spells and curses at the man. Mana, fire, water, ice, anything that she can do she tries.

But Muramasa is always there, blocking every blast, every elemental concoction that she can think of using. Glaring at the man, Rin takes out her bracelet and throws it, mana starting to accumulate into a potential explosion.

But the bracelet, it's jewels and the mana that was accumulated are easily cut, much to the woman's shock. "That is it?" Once again the man sounds disappointed. "Oh, well. Time to die I guess."

Refusing to accept the outcome Rin keeps throwing anything she has at the guy, who just dodges and walks forward without any concern.

'Get up.' Shirou orders himself. 'Come on...he is going to kill Rin...Liz...get up' He can feel his muscles tensing, the lost blood is making things difficult but he starts to move his leg, mana for Reinforcement being accumulated to help his return. 'Even if I get up...what can I do?'

He didn't know where the thought came from but it was a good question nonetheless. His best sword was cut in half, there is nothing that he could throw at the man to win the fight, Muramasa was truly a great swordsmith, not even Kiba's swords can compete with a sword the maker himself called a failure.

'I have no sword able to fight that. If I do, he will just use that technique again and destroy it. Not even my shield survived.' It was the reality, everything was telling him to give up. But he could hear Rin, still trying to fight. 'No! There has to be a solution! A sword! All only need one sword that can survive Muramasa!'

It clicked on his mind on that second, the solution. It gave Shirou strength to get up, to stand once again on his feet, slowly at first but soon he was on his knees and getting up.

Rin stops throwing her attacks and that surprises Sakashite who can see she didn't quit yet, however her eyes are full of confusion and hope. That prompted the man to look behind him and smile again. "You alive brat?" He turns completely, forgetting about Rin and joy was in his voice. "Have you thought of any new swords to use? I want to test my Muramasa more!

Shirou lets out a chuckle. "I can't just bring swords out of nowhere."

Judging the concept of creation.

"What do you mean?" Sakashite asks with a raised eyebrow.

Hypothesizing the basic structure.

"All that I make are fakes, copies of my creations and other stuff. Everything I do is something that I have seen before or made once in the past."

Duplicating the composition of materials.

The man approaches, his sword at ready with plans to cut Shirou into pieces. "Doesn't matter if they are copies or not. I hope you have something else to show me. If not, you will die."

Imitating the skill of its making.

Shirou smiles at the man. "The best things I can do are swords. Any sword! And I think I have the perfect one to deal with you."

Sympathizing with the experience of its growth.

"Great! Show me then! Show me a sword that can compare to my MURAMASA!" Once again the man leaps to Shirou, sword already at ready.

Reproducing the accumulated years.

A flame made of teal mana is on Shirou's hand, he raises it to meet the attack, his own sword still taking form. It just needs a little push.

Excelling every manufacturing process.

"I am the bone of my sword." The block is successful and the shape of the sword starts to reveal itself. Many had wide eyes looking at it, Rin being one of the more shocked.

"He- that- what?" She was not the only one that was having a crisis at the moment, every single student of magic watching the fight is having difficulties to process what they are seeing. They all saw the katana in Shirou's hands and found it an impossibility.

"Isn't that...?" Someone tried to ask something but found he lacked the words.

"Is that possible?" Asks a male with a staff.

"I don't know?" Nobody could explain how it was happening but it happened.

The most confused person was Sakashite himself. Before him are two swords, twins in a sense for the man can't see the difference between the one on his hand and the other blocking his strike.

Lacking awareness, the older man wasn't able to stop Shirou from pushing him back. In reality he barely reacted just looking at the sword in Shirou's hands and his own. "How?" A tone of anger starts to seep in his voice.

"I told you didn't? I have a sword to deal with you. Here is a sword equal to a Muramasa." Shirou's smile can only be called mischievous. Changing his footing, he uses both hands to raise his sword to his shoulder level, pointing it to his opponent. "Another Muramasa!"

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