Can a monster act like a hero?

by davido747

"May you find happiness in the next life." That was easier said than done, even more so for a horrible villain like him. Or so Yuuki Shirou thought before meeting a certain pink-haired alien and being introduced to a bizarre world filled with aliens, servants, and absurd situations. But maybe this time, he will achieve that beautiful dream he threw aside a long time ago.

7. Chapter 6: I waited for a thousand years

Here we meet again! Before you read further, I'll let you know this is the second part of a double update, so if you arrived here by mistake before reading this beach episode's first part, then you should go back one chapter.

Now, if you're here after reading the prior chapter, then I'll just advise you to prepare Tukihime's main theme. You'll know without a doubt when to play it, and it will enhance the experience.

Let's get to the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights over Type-Moon, the Fate Franchise, or To Love Ru.

---

The days that followed their extreme poker night could be summarized as... an acid trip. And maybe that was being generous.

"Fufu... In the end, you too wanted to cuddle with me, Shirou-kun." Having woken up hugging Alice should have been already a really bad omen.

He always slept like a rock, so just the fact that he moved in his sleep was already weird, let alone to hug her. They were at the beach, during summer. There was no way his body moved on its own in search of her warmth.

And she didn't waste a second to capitalize on it, clinging to him like a koala. For a moment, he thought she was serious about it, her red lips coming really close to his. As much as he'd like to deny it, at that moment, just awake and susceptible to his primal urges, he might not have been able to refuse her. She was actually the one who backed down and fled to the bathroom, flustered.

However, she seemed to be back to her usual self when they arrived at the beach. There was no time to dwell on it, though, as their first activity became extreme rather quick.

"Hey! Why in the world do I have to team up with these two!? You might not think of them as a threat, but they're an enemy I need to defeat!"

"Stop complaining already, X. Just this once, I'll team up with you once again, if only to win those tasty desserts."

"Get ready, Shirou. I won't hold back this time. Show me the real might of the "Strongest"!"

The trio at the other side of the volleyball net was the most volatile combination possible. Alice's app once again managed to make the worst possible selections.

"You heard them, Shirou-kun. Let's have a fun match."

"Don't worry, Shero, we've got this."

And his team wasn't any better. Because no one here looked like they would enjoy a moderated game. Unlike the other two teams, who had Mikan around and therefore wouldn't do anything stupid unless they wanted to face the wrath of an over-protective big brother.

As expected, just a few minutes later, their playing field had been turned into a crystal valley due to the sheer heat generated by the ball traveling at supersonic speeds. From an outside perspective, it looked like they were shooting missiles at each other, and that somehow didn't deter some passing-by aliens from stopping to watch the match.

"Let's end this, Lancelot!"

It was already the match point. Well, only because they decided to drop the rule about needing a difference of two points to win, or else they'd have been there all day.

Ex hung the ball high, and Melusine jumped after it. She started to spin midair, so fast that her right foot somehow caught on flames, leaving a trail that seemed like a fire tornado.

Well, there was no rule against kicking the ball at the opponent's side of the field, but no ordinary human would think of performing a bicycle kick instead of just smashing the ball with their hand.

"Take this!"

But the White Dragon decided that it would be cooler this way, performing an aerial crash that turned the ball into an actual shooting star with her mana burst.

"A wonderful shot! But it's useless against my Justice Fist!"

Using one of her favorite moves, she crushed one of her gems in her fist and punched the ball, unleashing an explosion with enough force to kill all of its momentum and leave it hanging in the air. Then her maid jumped, but instead of smashing the ball with all her might, she just passed it near the net.

"Finish it, Shirou-kun!"

"Okay then." The auburn-haired boy jumped to hit the ball, but in midair, he saw a figure getting in his way.

"I won't let you! Let's settle this, Shirou!"

X was the last line of defense. Usually, players in her position would try to block his shot by jumping in front of it. But the blonde Assassin wasn't much for playing defensively. So, instead, she went with the good ol' "the best defense is a good attack" and, much like Melusine, spun to kick the ball.

In response to her offensive, Shirou changed his approach. Instead of hitting the ball with his palm, he punched it with his own mana burst.

"Ora!"

"Useless!"

His fist and her leg clashed as the two let out thunderous roars, squishing the ball between them and releasing a shock wave that was felt in the entire beach. Some seconds of struggle passed until it was obvious who was going to come out on top.

"Damn it! Why does your cheat skill work during a volleyball game!?"

"You're still technically using violence against me, you know?"

"We'll use the power of friendship then!" Ex suddenly joined X, kicking the ball at the same time.

The blonde Assassin widened her eyes, only to deadpan the next second. "That might have worked... if we weren't mortal enemies and this wasn't a beach episode!"

As she predicted, Ex came too late, when Shirou was already too strong, and the two look-alikes were pushed away. The ball rocketed into the sand, finally putting an end to the endless match.

---

"A little bit to the left, Mikan!"

"No, too much! To your right!"

"Take one step ahead!"

"No, you're fine as you are!"

The sight of his little sister blindfolded and trying to take a swing at a watermelon with everyone's guidance was something he had never expected. Although calling that jumbled mess of voices "guidance" was being generous. She was flailing around in confusion, trying to make sense of it.

"Please, stop for a moment, Mikan." Miraculously, the blindfolded girl managed to distinguish Yami's quiet voice and stopped completely.

"Turn to your right ten degrees." Unfortunately, the next instruction was just as confusing. How was she supposed to know how much she should turn based on degrees?

"Haah..." After having waited for minutes, he decided to give some advice of his own. "Mikan, lower the stick while keeping your arms stretched until it touches the sand."

She followed her Onii-chan's command, and then she realized what he wanted her to do next. Without waiting for the next instruction, she turned right, dragging the stick through the ground until it came to a halt, pressed against the watermelon.

"There!" Mikan let out a satisfied voice. Now, the only thing left to do was to position herself for a good swing. Depending on the state of the watermelon, it could be as tough as a human cranium... which was a really disturbing comparison, now that she thought about it.

"Hey, doesn't that take the fun out of this?" Haruna asked, a bit let down, and Shirou answered bluntly.

"Unless you wanted to stay doing this the rest of the day. Besides, that wouldn't have worked if you guys hadn't managed to get her within striking range."

"Haaaah!" Mikan finally took the swing, but despite having put all her strength into it, she only managed to put a dent in the watermelon.

Even without her sense of sight, she could tell the stick had bounced off rather than crushing the target, so she immediately repositioned herself to make another attempt. But unbeknownst to her, some blonde hairs had stealthily wrapped around the tick just as she was about to bring it down, and when she performed the motion, these added just enough strength so the fruit was finally smashed.

"Yay! I did it!"

While Mikan celebrated, the auburn-haired boy looked at Yami beside him, and she looked away, not unlike a little kid trying to fake innocence. Not that he was upset or anything.

---

"This is it! Power and servant parameters don't matter that much when it comes to swimming! Proper technique and hydro-dynamics are what determines the victor!"

That must have been what X thought as she smugly swam at top speed until the buoy that determined the safe distance for swimming without getting dragged by currents or running into a vessel. They were currently having races as a way to open up their stomachs, and she was feeling absolutely confident in this.

Unfortunately for her, she forgot about someone else with what she called "cheat skills".

"Hydro-dynamics mean as much to me as aerodynamics in this Spirit Origin! Which is nothing!"

"WHAT!?"

With her supreme speed as a true dragon, Melusine just crushed the competition. Meanwhile, Shirou had been occupied in a completely different activity.

"This goes like this?"

"Yes, Shirou-dono. Now, we turn it on and... you're ready to go." Tomoe said as she finished configuring the VR goggles for Shirou.

That didn't seem right, given what the others were doing, but that was more of his attempt at sitting this one out backfiring. In her current Spirit Origin, it looked like she had set as her goal for the trip to make everyone, without exception, experience her VR games, and she didn't miss the opportunity the moment he was left relatively alone.

Whether she had portable consoles on her at all times or she ran back to the villa to grab them was something he wasn't even sure if he wanted to know.

"So... what are we playing?"

"Do you like racing games?"

There was a pause. Not because he was taking a moment to think about it, but because he felt someone sitting right beside him, close enough so that their elbows were touching. Was that necessary? The girl in question was apparently too excited to notice it as she put a wheel-shaped controller on his hand.

"There are some games of that genre in the city's arcade, but Mikan and I stuck mostly to fighting games. This will pretty much be my first time playing one."

"Okay, I'll go easy on you then." That wasn't as reassuring as she thought it was. Given how Lala surpassed him despite only being adept at video games, a seasoned gamer like Tomoe would steamroll him even if he was actually good at the game.

It turned out to be a game really similar to that series of spin-offs from the famous Japanese franchise about an Italian plumber. That meant that he had a slightly better chance, thanks to the RNG factor provided by the items. The player in the first position could easily end up in the last position in the blink of an eye if they were hit by several special objects back-to-back.

On the other side, given his luck, he was even more susceptible to get screwed by the items.

After getting a feel of the controls and selecting the characters, they started a series of races through different maps in default speed. And he quickly realized that what Tomoe meant by "holding back" was not abusing the maps' shortcuts to end the races in record time, but she was pretty much destroying him anyway.

Even getting past the NPCs to get to second place and remotely close to her was getting quite hard for him.

But that was the least of his concerns. You see, due to this being a VR version of the game, it was in a first-person perspective. Which meant that they had to turn their heads around to see their surroundings.

And that, in turn, meant there was a lot of movement, and due to their position, a lot of physical contact between them. Translating into his meager chances of putting up a fight going down the drain.

"Come on, Shirou-dono! You're getting close!"

"Wha-"

After he finally managed to get Tomoe's character in sight, with the goal around the corner, she suddenly decided to tilt to her right, outright pressing her body against his.

Again, was she really that caught up in the heat of the moment to be oblivious to what she was doing? It might not be her case, given that she was actually several years older than him despite how young she looked, but he couldn't just ignore this kind of stimuli!

As a consequence, he ended up drifting off the road, letting some of the NPCs overtake him, finishing in fifth place.

Tomoe lifted her goggles to look at him for a moment and raised an eyebrow at him. "What's the matter, Shirou-dono? Did you get nervous in your first race?"

Her face was literally inches from his, and that's what she thought was the reason behind his fluster? That swimsuit Spirit Origin really warped her common sense.

"Don't you think we should get some space-"

"Hey, that looks fun! Can I join in, Lady Tomoe!?" A third voice interrupted him, and both turned to look at its owner, who turned out to be Run.

"Of course!" The albino Saber didn't hesitate and shoved another pair of VR goggles and a controller in the green-haired girl's hands.

Shirou got a brief reprieve as Tomoe helped Run set everything, but things got even worse when the latter sat by his other side effectively sandwiching him. And this time, it was completely intentional.

"Ah! I got you there, Shirou!"

"No, Run-san. You two of you should work together to defeat me!"

"Okay! Let's give our best then!"

"Yeah..."

It was just too much. Getting so much physical contact with two cute girls under the scorching sun and getting drenched in their sweat, effectively preventing him from properly sweating to cool off...

At this rate, he was going to pass out from a heat stroke before even finishing the first race.

"Hey, what in the world are you three doing!?" His usual lifesaver, Kotegawa, noticed it almost too late, and he barely managed to pull himself together.

---

Absurd situations like these kept happening. The kickabout they decided to have the next day after the volleyball was a recipe for disaster. Kotegawa had come up with the idea because she remembered an old soccer anime in which the characters used flashy techniques similar to what they did during the volleyball match.

The thing was... the powers in that series seemed illusory since no one was too harmed despite getting hit by apparent nukes. A soccer match between servants... well, all the bullshit getting thrown around was every bit as lethal as it looked.

And as nonsensical as it sounded, things didn't escalate as much as when they played another game that was the Shining Blue Galaxy equivalent of another of the Italian plumber's spin-offs. The one that was pretty much a mixture of several board games, but with even more random things to screw people with bad luck.

Despite no extra rule like they did with the poker, chaos ensued with everyone taking the game too seriously. God knows what would happen if they decided to play something like Monopoly.

However, the treasure hunt Luvia had organized for the second to last day of the trip took the cake. The tourists in the region, alien or not, must have been freaked out seeing so many colorful people running around like headless chickens.

With the simple reward of "choosing their activity for the final day", everyone put their best effort into it.

Well, except for a certain auburn-haired boy. Not that he didn't want to take part in it. It was just that, when he was reaching the end in a good spot, he drew the paper with his next treasure to find from the box and was met with a devastating blow.

"Bring your secret crush."

Why in the world did someone think that was a good idea? This was a treasure hunt, not one of those games teenagers above the legal age liked to play with challenges that forced you to drink in case of failure.

Of course, he just resigned and went back to the villa to start making dinner, much to everyone's disappointment.

The winner ended up being Alice, once again going head-to-head against Melusine. And her decision, picking from the options Luvia gave her, was...

"A karaoke, huh?" The Pretender servant asked her with a soft tone.

They were alone, basking in the night breeze hitting their balcony. The two of them were already wearing their sleepwear, and Shirou was sitting on one of the chairs around the table at the terrace's center, while Alice was sitting on the railing, with a full moon behind.

Her pale skin was pretty much gleaming with the moonlight. As a True Ancestor, or servant derived from one, her power output depended on the moon's phases, currently being at its highest. But also, it made her figure now resemble more an ephemeral spirit than ever.

"Yes, I thought it was the most fitting activity for what I will confess."

"Ignoring that obvious wordplay, are you sure you want to confess it in front of so many people?"

When he said "karaoke", it wasn't referring to just their group doing it inside the villa. Luvia planned it to take place on the beach, open to the public, resembling more an amateur concert.

"Of course not. I'll tell you after I'm done at the stage."

"What's the point of that then?"

"I have the perfect song in mind to set up the mood. Just you wait~" She finished her phrase while winking at him.

Even after everything that had happened during this trip, that cute expression still made his heart jump a beat. Which was starting to border the absurd. Even if his body was filled with hormones, someone who lived all his life as a sword shouldn't be swayed so easily.

"Well, if everything goes as intended and nothing absurd happens..."

"Fufu, I doubt it. While Melusine and Ex's presence made this trip even more chaotic, no one showed up to truly make a ruckus. The only thing remarkable would be all those posters about a missing alien pet I saw during the treasure hunt- oh?"

She suddenly paused, her expression showing surprise for a moment, before she started giggling as if she had just heard a really good joke.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Shirou asked with some concern. Maybe she finally lost it like True Ancestors are destined to do at some point.

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't think I could jinx myself so fast. You see, just a moment ago, someone was stupid enough to breach Luvia-sama's bounded field around the villa."

"You mean-" Before he could even finish the question, he got his answer in the form of thunderous sounds coming from inside the building, which made his body tense. "A gun? Why hasn't Luvia's bounded field pulverized the intruder if they came with killing intention?"

"She said putting up such a complex bounded field just for a week and then having to dismantle it wasn't worth it. Besides, even if it were a servant, it won't be a problem with how much firepower we have."

"Tch, she went from greed to laziness... I'll go deal with it then." The auburn-haired boy rose up, almost knocking back the chair, and sprinted into the building without waiting for his roommate.

He reached the main hall, the place where he guessed the gunshots came from, and immediately flipped the light switch on. However, nothing happened. The room remained shrouded in darkness, and he could only make out the layout thanks to the moonlight coming from the windows.

"They cut the power... they really mean business, huh?"

He couldn't see any signs of a fight going on... only the aftermath of one. A single body was lying motionless in the middle of the room, one he couldn't recognize as any of the people in the villa. Upon approaching and turning it around so the corpse was facing up, it finally clicked in his mind.

"The shady butler? If anything, I expected him to be the intruder..."

The cause of death was clear: a high-caliber bullet-size hole in his chest that had been dripping with liquid. But upon close inspection...

"That isn't blood." The one who spoke was Alice, who had finally caught up to him. "It looks more like oil. I knew he wasn't human, but was he even a living being?"

He could see surprise and curiosity in her expression, but she certainly wasn't taking this as seriously as he did. He couldn't let a murderer roam the same building in which his sister was sleeping.

"Even if the guy was a robot, this doesn't make sense. Either the killer is a complete amateur who didn't even bother to dispose of the evidence or... huh!?"

His neck snapped to the side, his enhanced ears having picked up noises coming from the hall leading to the kitchen.

"Hey-" Without so much of a warning, he kicked the floor with enough force to crack it, blowing away the "corpse" and startling Alice.

In a single movement, his servant attire replaced his sleepwear, his steel-tipped boot kicked the door, and Kanshou and Bakuya slashed at the first thing in the room that moved. A metallic sound rang through the kitchen, sparks flying and illuminating the room for an instant.

After some seconds, the fridge's sliced door slid and fell to the ground, revealing the one who blocked his attack to be a certain blonde Sacred Sword wielder. She was wearing some lion-themed pajamas, accompanied by her trademark cap.

"X? What are you doing here?"

"The hell!? I'm the one who should be asking! You can't seriously just attack a girl with so much killing intent just because she was having a little midnight snack!"

"The building was left without electricity, the damn butler got shot in the room next to this one, and that's the first thing you do!?" His serious tone made her step back, but her irritation didn't recede.

"I was already here when that happened! I thought it was just one of you guys who made the noise!"

"Hnn..." The red knight grunted, and without a word, he turned around and disappeared just as fast as he came into the room, leaving the blonde Assassin confused.

"Just stay here or return to your room, X-san! We'll handle this!" She heard another voice from someone running after the boy, but that didn't exactly explain things.

When she walked out of the kitchen, though, her confusion just grew even more. There was no corpse there, just a large stain of strange liquid.

---

"Did you hear that, Yami-san?"

"Hnn..." The golden-haired girl hummed in agreement as she looked at her trembling roommate.

The way Mikan managed to somehow adapt to her brother's group of mentally deranged people had made Yami forget for a moment that this girl was just unsuited for this side of the world.

Both Luvia and Kotegawa had blessed her, making sure she wouldn't come to harm during their activities, but at the end of the day, that had been all games. Now, though, she could immediately tell that someone sharing her profession had breached into the villa. And she already had an idea of their identity.

The question was, who were they after? She thought the option of hiring someone to deal with Shirou and take Lala's hand was off the table ever since they sent that frog guy packing. She still wasn't even sure to this day what was the attack he used to leave the guy so traumatized.

Someone else, then? There weren't that many options. Most of the people in this villa had no fame whatsoever in this sector of the universe. Maybe they came specifically after her? The fact that she technically failed to complete a mission for the first time could be seen as a sign of weakness, and in her line of work, the less competence, the better.

"What should we do?" Mikan's voice brought her out of her musings, to which she replied with a flat stare.

"We stay here. Yuuki Shirou and the others will most likely deal with the intruder quickly. In the remote case they target this room, I'll fight them while you make a run for it."

"Okay..." That was the most sensible thing to do, but still, it made the brown-haired girl clutch her chest. It sounded like she was a damsel in distress or even a burden.

Unfortunately, things didn't seem to go that way when Yami's expression turned into a frown, and she looked at the door. Gesturing to her to keep quiet, the red-eyed girl approached the door in complete silence before suddenly slamming it open with a kick.

"Kyaa!" A surprised yelp was heard from the hallway, but Yami stood there motionless instead of attacking whoever it was. That was a good sign... right?

"Princess Lala?" She asked with surprise in her voice, which quickly spread to Mikan.

What was Lala doing roaming through the dark hallways, apparently alone? The pink-haired princess wasn't an example of common sense, but even she wasn't crazy enough to act so carelessly in a situation like this. At the very least, she should be accompanied by Kotegawa, her roommate.

"Ah, you surprised me there, Yami-chan." Lala's voice came after a moment, and Mikan found herself walking up to her friend's side and meeting her brother's fiancee.

She was there, pushing herself up to her feet, dressed in the same comfy clothes she used back at home and giving them her trademark smile.

"What are you doing alone at a time like this, Princess Lala?" Yami took the words out of her mouth. And they seemed... a bit confrontational if you asked Mikan.

She too was sensing that there was something really wrong here, but she couldn't tell if that was caused by the situation in general.

"I was coming back from having a glass of water in the kitchen when I heard the gunshots, and I ended up running away without paying attention to my surroundings. Can I hide in your room for the moment?"

That was a logical explanation... a bit too elaborate, if you asked Yami. Besides... would Lala really run away from just some gunshots? Back when she attacked Yuuki Shirou for the first time, he told Lala to run away, but she ignored him and eventually caught up to them.

"Umm... of co-" Mikan's words were cut off when the golden-haired girl pulled her closer with her arm. "Yami-san?"

"Stay close to me, Mikan. I smell something fishy here."

Mikan wasn't the only one blinking owlishly. Lala mirrored her and raised her arms to try and calm the situation.

"What do you mean, Yami-chan? This isn't the time to-" Whatever Lala was about to say when her expression morphed into one neither Mikan nor Yami had seen her make.

One of pure horror.

"Mikan!" Guided by instinct, the legendary assassin reacted to the killing intent that was suddenly aimed at them, turning around while shoving Mikan behind her.

Just a beat later, a series of gunshots illuminated the hallway, and that fraction of a second was the only time allowed to her to see where the gun's cannon was pointed at for each shot. More than enough.

Both of her hands turned into swords, and she went on to deflect or cut each single bullet. She might have had a little trouble had it been the Golden Darkness before meeting Yuuki Shirou and his friends, but after all the fights she had had these recent weeks, her reflexes and technique were sharper than ever.

After some seconds of gunshots, metallic clangs, and the surroundings getting filled with holes, the attacker finally emptied their clip.

Yami took a moment to throw a side glance at both Mikan and "Lala". The first one had lost all color in her face, trembling in understandable fear. Someone emptying an entire magazine on her wasn't something a sweet girl like her was prepared for. This was someone going for the kill, not crazy strong people playing around.

But "Lala" making the same expression pretty much confirmed Yami's suspicions. The real Lala would have jumped to defend Mikan, not cowered behind them. This was an impostor that only managed to replicate Lala's appearance, voice, and some of her mannerisms.

With that assessed, Yami focused her undivided attention on the mysterious attacker, who was calmly reloading their pistol.

A man of average height, with tanned skin, golden eyes that glowered in the darkness like a cat's, black, unkempt hair, and clad in a black coat that covered his entire body. And also, a familiar face for Yami.

Even if they had only met once, that man was also a renowned hitman across the galaxy.

"Kuro..."

"Konjiki no Yami." The man acknowledged her back with a flat tone. But unexpectedly, he decided to keep talking rather than getting back to business. "You've changed. To think I'd find you in civil clothes and trying to protect someone. Unfortunately..."

He brought up his gun again, making Mikan gasp behind her. "You're getting in my way."

The golden-haired girl bit her lip. "I know. But I can't let you kill your target in front of my friend. She doesn't belong to this side of the world."

She looked again at Mikan, and her heart skipped a beat when she was met with a mortified look.

"B-but... Yami-san... that man is trying to k-kill Lala-san."

Things were getting worse by the second. She knew Mikan was sharp enough to tell there was something wrong with that "Lala", but the panic had made her enter a state of denial apparently.

"Mikan, that isn't-"

"Hey..." A fifth voice interrupted the conversation, accompanied by a new wave of killing intent that was suffocating.

No. Calling it "killing intent" wasn't making it justice. This was what prey felt when they faced a predator, and their instinctive fear overwhelmed even the basic "fight or fly" reaction, causing them to freeze. Impending death.

It was the same thing that Lacospo guy must have felt before his pet frog got annihilated. So there was only one person that could give off such aura.

Said person's left hand landed on Kuro's shoulder like a snake biting their prey before Yami finally got a glimpse of that face. As expected, Yuuki Shirou's face was set in a cold expression, with those golden eyes fixed on her fellow Assassin.

"Keep aiming that gun at my little sister and I'll make sure whatever is left is you will fit in the tiny package I'll send back to whatever scum hired you."

There was no enmity. Those eyes were looking at Kuro as if he were just a mere target as he stated his promise. Her fellow hitman must have felt a chill run down his spine if the way he became completely stiff despite how hard he tried to keep his cool was a sign. It was another sight she thought she'd never see.

"She isn't my target. She and Golden Darkness just need to step away and let me kill that-"

"Wrong answer."

That was definitely a bad call. Unlike them, Yuuki Shirou had just arrived and had no way of telling that wasn't the real Lala, so he would of course protect them. Which was exactly what Kuro's target intended by assuming that appearance.

"...!" Yami's breath got stuck in her throat when she saw Shirou's right hand move.

If that attack was thrown, it would be over. The hitman Kuro would really get turned into a red splash in front of everyone. Beneath that cold exterior, there was actually a big brother completely livid.

"Wait, Yuuki Shirou!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, not caring about letting her own stress taint her voice. And it might actually have been that which made him stop and look at her.

That, in turn, put her in the receiving end of that glare, almost causing her legs to crumble, but she forced out her next words with all her willpower.

"That isn't Lala! It's an impostor!"

Golden eyes widened, but there was a delay between her shout and that reaction. His eyes were no longer on her but behind her. And when she turned around, Konjiki no Yami felt a lump in her throat that made it almost impossible to breathe.

Mikan was in utter shock, tears threatening to come down her cheeks as "Lala" restrained her while pressing the barrel of a gun against her temple.

"I see I've been found out. But no matter. If you three don't want me to put a hole in this girl's head, you better let me escape from this planet."

If the situation hadn't been already discouraging, hearing someone with Lala's face and voice say that was plain awful. The three couldn't help but grit their teeth as "Lala" started to walk backwards slowly, confidence written all over her face.

They truly found the perfect hostage. The little sister of Yuuki Shirou, the infamous new fianceé of Lala Satalin Deviluke, who had disposed of his competence in brutal ways. She was also Golden Darkness's friend, and while they hadn't managed to manipulate those two monsters to take care of Kuro, he wouldn't even try to kill them after getting threatened like that.

That's what "Lala" must have thought, but then...

"Trace on." Those words were followed by the hallway getting filled with floating swords with their blades pointed at them.

"Woah there.ç! Haven't you heard a single word of what I just said?" "Lala" threatened him by pressing the barrel even more harshly against Mikan's head, causing her to sob.

That only achieved getting the red knight even angrier, the aura he was releasing growing more intense. It felt like getting poured with mood. It was now more like they were looking at the very concept of violence.

"Release my sister at this instant, or I'll blow you to bits faster than you can pull that trigger!"

"Try it if you dare! Do you really have what it takes to risk your precious sister's life and kill someone with your fiancee's face!?" The impostor must have lost all sense of reason for them to be asking to get killed like that.

But there was something backing up their statement. The fact that Shirou didn't fire those swords the moment he projected them. Was he actually hesitating? She knew those swords were always fired at speeds superior to most bullets. There was no way that guy could react to them.

Then again, the chance of "Lala" pulling the trigger even after their body was skewered just because their finger spasmed was still very real.

"Onii-chan..." Yami could hear at that moment how something snapped inside Shirou upon hearing his sister's pleading smile.

The floating swords crumpled into specks of light, and at the same time, energy started to gather on Shirou's right hand. The magical energy had barely taken shape, but everyone in the room was already hit by a sense of impending doom. Whatever sword he was bringing out, it felt more as if his presence of pure violence was condensing into a single shape.

"I am the bone-"

"What the!?"

Whatever he was doing was interrupted by an abrupt sound of metal being torn apart and "Lala's" surprised voice. All their eyes then moved to the anomaly that had appeared in "her" body, which caused several widened eyes.

A pale hand had pierced right through "Lala's" back and come out of her chest.

"Thank god I made it in time. Sorry to keep you waiting, Shirou-kun." A certain black-haired Moon Cancer peeked from behind "Lala" with an smile of her lips that didn't match the brutality she just performed.

The impostor's body went limp, as any living creature would after having their spine obliterated like that. However, instead of destroyed bones showing and blood gushing out like a fountain, the impostor's body buzzed like a machine malfunctioning. Seconds later, the visual camouflage they had been using faded away, revealing a robotic body controlled by a small, round-shaped, green alien in a cockpit where its head should have been.

"Damn it! The maid? You didn't even hesitate for a bit..."

"Well, it is kind of mine and Luvia-sama's fault for not properly checking your background, so it's only natural I get rid of you."

After saying that, Alice pulled out her hand, making sure she ripped out a good chunk of pieces and cable. The metallic body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, letting go Mikan, who stumbled forward for a couple of steps before Shirou caught her and pulled her into a tight hug.

"It's alright, Mikan. You're safe."

The moment those words left Shirou's lips, all of his sister's emotions poured out like water overflowing from a collapsed dam, and she started to cry on his chest.

Yami stood beside them, clearly wanting to do something to comfort her friend. Her hands opened and closed, hesitating to hug her as well. She doubted she could give her the same warmth as Yuuki Shirou, not to mention she would have to share the hug with him. So, in the end, she ended up refraining from it and addressing Kuro, who had hid his gun in his cloak.

"Who was that guy?"

"The man of ten thousand faces, Khameleon. A member of the intergalactic mafia that deserted and ran away with valuable information. Althought this is the first I've seen his real appearance."

"What should we do about him?" Alice chimed in, having wrapped Khameleon in chains and resting her right foot on the cockpit, causing it to crack much to the guy's horror.

"Wait, wait, wait! I'm more valuable alive!"

"Sir, I must ask you to kindly shut up." Alice's expression darkened despite keeping her smile as she finally smashed the glass and planted her foot on the alien, making him trash in pain.

Witnessing the scene, a drop of sweat rolled down Kuro's forehead. "You've made some... colorful friends, Konjiki no Yami."

"You don't say. Those are servants for you. Although that boy over there is my target."

"Your target... So that really is the infamous fiancee of Deviluke's first princess. In that case-"

"He mopped the floor with me." Yami answered before he even made the question, but there was no shame in her voice. "I'm staying around to look for ways to defeat him."

The black-haired hitman hummed, most likely having read between lines as well. "Good luck with that then. As for Khameleon, if the Lala Satalin Deviluke is here, we can have her contact Zastin, and he will hand him to the authorities."

With that said, he disappeared into the night, and Alice volunteered to be the one to make the arrangement with Lala, leaving the Yuuki siblings and Yami alone in the dark hallway.

When the golden-haired hitman finally mustered the courage to look at them, Shirou was getting up on his feet, with an asleep Mikan. His expression was back to the usual stoic mask, but when their eyes met, the ghost of a smile showed on his lips.

"Thanks for taking care of Mikan, Yami."

"No... I wasn't able to protect her innocence." She answered, unable to keep her bitterness in check.

"It was bound to happen at some point. If someone is to blame, it's me."

The conversation died there, and the long night finally came to an end with everyone going to sleep.

---

The beach became really crowded the next afternoon, a stark contrast to the previous days. Luvia had the great idea of advertising their concert to make sure there would be a public, and despite them being totally random people, the tourists immediately flocked to the scenario they built just because their group consisted of mostly cute girls.

Beauty rules the world, or so they say. If you asked Shirou, the fact that most of the public they attracted was men past their thirties was disturbing. But he was more concerned about his little sister sitting beside him in the front row. The two Yuuki siblings and Yami were the only ones, as all the other girls wanted to participate in the concert.

She was still trying to put up her rebellious preteen act, reverting back to call him by his name rather than "Onii-chan", but she wasn't fooling anyone. For someone who had lived a peaceful life up until now to get thrown into such an extreme situation... it would surely leave a scar on her soul.

For once, he was grateful to the... colorful people around him, as they had all been trying to help and cheer her up in their ways.

Seeing X acting like a regular person was disturbing, though.

Apparently, Luvia and Haruna had gone to get the power back on while they dealt with the situation. Tomoe didn't notice it since she had been playing video games with headsets on, and much to Kotegawa's embarrassment, she had slept through it. Lala had actually come out to check, but she ran into Alice, who told her to go back to her room while they solved the situation.

Suffice to say, the feeling of guilt was shared among everyone.

All noise stayed down when the Goddess of Justice finally stepped onto the stage, all eyes drawn to her stunning figure like moths to a flame.

"Welcome, everyone, to this small spectacle my friends and I have prepared! Let's all have fun together this afternoon!" The crowd erupted in cheers, but they were quickly silenced when the blonde Goddess raised her hand. "Now, I won't make you wait. Let's give way to our first singer, Alice!"

Much to Shirou's surprise, the Moon Cancer was the first to step into the spotlight, mic in hand and wearing for the first time in all the trip the pure white bikini she had been reluctant to buy.

He didn't expect her to take over the scenery with a flamboyant personality befitting of an idol, but he wouldn't describe Alice with words like "introvert" or "shy". Maybe she only became a tease when it was around their group, but she was upfront, if anything.

Well, the Alice that addressed the audience, while keeping her smile, was flustered and spoke shyly.

"Hello, everyone! This song I'm going to sing is one I want to dedicate to a special person for me. Someone I was finally able to meet after a really long wait. I hope you enjoy it!"

After waiting a couple of seconds for the crowd to quiet down, she cued the DJ to play the music and grabbed the mic with both hands. A soft piano melody accompanied by an acoustic guitar filled the beach that went on for some seconds before the black-haired girl moved her red lips.

"Heart beats fast, colors and promises..."

"How to be brave? How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?"

"But watching you stand alone,"

"All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow."

"One step closer..."

It was a love song, sung in a really soft tone that steadily grew stronger with the melody. A song about a girl in love with someone she couldn't reach. Someone lonely that she drew inspiration from, and wished she could finally close that distance, no matter how much time it took.

This kind of song...

Was she actually planning for a love confession after the concert? That was the only kind of mood this song would set.

But if the gaze from those crimson eyes that landed on him from time to time told him something, it was that she was serious about this. No teasing Alice wanting to make fun of him by being too assertive or throw him into embarrassing situations with the other girls.

It was hard for him not to get embarrassed as well. Some of the song's lines were just too direct.

"I loved you for a thousand years, and I will love you for a thousand more."

He honestly hoped that was just a part of the original song and not something Alice shared. That kind of sincere devotion was something he just couldn't reciprocate.

By the time she finished singing, most of the people in the public were crying and cheering for her, most likely having misunderstood her intentions. Although some did catch the glances she threw at Shirou and were giving him jealous glares.

Even Mikan was feeling like crying. Fortunately, the next girl who climbed onto the stage would lighten up the mood-

"Be sure not to tear your eyes from me, Shirou-sama! I'll be dedicating this next song to you as well!" Or so he thought, but with Run not even bothering to be discrete about her intentions, the glares just intensified.

If there was something idol fans hated, it would be idols having a boyfriend or even a crush.

Well, at least the song she chose to sing was way more... bombastic? It definitely fell into the usual genre that actual idols stuck to.

Shirou found himself enjoying the concert, even with a big part of his mind focused on whatever Alice was going to tell him. It got to a point where he just couldn't put it aside any longer. A deep part within him really wanted to know the cause behind all his weird reactions around her as of late.

So when Luvia decided to make a brief pause after Haruna, Lala, and Tomoe took their turns, making it to over half of the participants, Shirou sent a glance at Alice, and she nodded, knowing what was on his mind.

"I'm making a quick trip to the toilet." After saying that, the auburn-haired boy disappeared, leaving the two little girls a little startled.

It clearly became apparent when he didn't make it back after ten minutes, with everyone already getting prepared for the next performance.

"Huh!? Where's Darling!? Don't tell me he ran away because he was too embarrassed!?" Melusine, who was prepared to sing next, was making a fuse after not finding him, and that wasn't a good sign.

That girl acted like a caring big sister with Mikan, but her common sense was one of the most warped among the group, so she tended to snap and resort to disproportionate violence when she got frustrated.

"Why is Yuuki Shirou taking so long- …!" Yami's musing was cut abruptly when alarms started to flare in her head. "Again!? What is it-"

She didn't need to look that far for what triggered her instincts when the public suddenly entered in massive panic and hysteria.

Much to her astonishment, a big mass of seawater had invaded the beach. It wasn't a big wave or anything like that. Judging by the two big bulging eyes at its peak and the tendrils forming from it to attack any onlooker, it seemed to be some kind of living creature.

And to make things even weirder, that thing was clearly discriminating between their prey. Men were beaten up and thrown aside unceremoniously, while the few women and girls were being caught and... stripped before getting-

"Aaaaah! Where the hell did that thing come from!?" Mikan hid behind Yami after witnessing the pervert things that creature was doing to the poor girl it caught, although it at least didn't escalate to something more... traumatizing.

Still, that left Yami discombobulated for a moment, repulsion filling her entire being to the point she felt chills running down her spine.

"Ah! It's you, Nuppul! Where have you been, boy!?" She heard someone in the crowd refer to that thing as if it were a dog, and that at least answered Mikan's question. They too saw the posters of a missing pet, but what kind of pet was that!?

"How dare you ruin the concert before my lover got to hear my song!?" Fortunately, Melusine immediately retaliated, starting to pummel the thing with beams shot from her golden gauntlets, and the other servants soon joined her.

It looked like that thing would be dealt with quickly despite the mess it caused.

Unfortunately, there was always more. Because that thing might as well have been a harmless puppy compared to that thing that burst through the scenery.

A true monster in every sense of the word.

A few minutes before...

---

"Well, here we are." The black hired beauty said upon walking behind the modest toilet building near the scenery. She turned around to face him with her trademark smile and her hands clasped behind her. "This is it. The moment we've both been waiting for."

"Yeah... For starters... will you tell me your true name then?" He asked, not being sure what emotion he should let show in his expression, resulting in a way more serious guise than he intended.

"Well, before that, I think you need a little bit of context. You are aware of the major design flaw we True Ancestors bear, right?"

"Of course. Your vampiric impulses, inherited from the Crimson Moon. Despite having no need for blood to sustain yourselves as elementals, you thirst for it. And when you finally taste it, there's no going back. A ticking bomb that is bound to blow up in everyone's face sooner or later."

"Bingo! Now, as for the next question, what is the countermeasure True Ancestors devised to tackle the problem when the number of members of their kin that lost their mind became worrying?"

"I guess that would be Archetype: Earth. The White Princess of the True Ancestors, Arcueid Brunestud. I've met her a couple of times... I think. You know how records work for us servants."

Alice's eyes squinted at that for a moment before returning to her usual expression. At least they were on the same page regarding that gal.

"Correct again. Things usually take time to get to that point. More than a millennium after the Kaleidoscope defeats the Crimson Moon, which usually happens around the Fourth Century. However, in one particular timeline, the breaking point for True Ancestor came way sooner. Around the First Century. The Crimson Moon was felled even before the AD era, and his followers were left around scrambling with leftover directions."

His eyebrows trembled for a moment, seeing where this was going. "So... you're telling me that Archetype: Earth was already around when I was alive?"

"Yes. Where do you think all those high-ranking dead apostles came from? The world of vampires was in utter chaos, and the Holy Church and their Burial Agency weren't even a thing, so there was no one to keep them in check."

"That makes sense. But... what does this have to do with you?" He asked the one-million-question, mentally preparing for whatever answer she provided.

"You see, Arcueid Brunestud was the finished product, so to speak. Before that, the True Ancestors, under the Crimson Moon's instructions, created a prototype they discarded after they deemed her unsuited for their needs. And that, of course, would be yours truly."

After saying that, her bikini was replaced by the long, regal, black dress the girl from his memories had been wearing, the servant attire she had never donned up until now. She unclasped her hands and grabbed both sides of her dress's skirt to perform a reverence with elegance befitting of a noble.

"My true name is Altrouge Brunestud, the Vampire Princess of the Dead Apostles, and Arcueid's big sister."

She added that last bit playfully, letting him know that, despite the impression she was making, she was still the same Alice. However, that didn't quite cut it. The moment she revealed her true name, he was hit by a feeling of something being wrong here. It was actually a familiar feeling, but he couldn't put a finger on it.

"I see..." Well, the revelation wasn't that impactful for him, but it explained her ability to retain memories through incarnations better than most servants. She was a being created to take the Archetype position, the literal brain of the planet containing all of its memories.

What he was truly interested in was what came after this revelation. What was her relationship with him?

"You're asking yourself how could Altrouge Brunestud develop these feelings despite her brief encounter with a nameless hero that died shortly after." She stated while bringing a hand to her chest, seemingly reading his mind.

"Bingo. I know of a person I'm fated to be related with, so another one would be... surprising."

"Very well. Let me tell you the story of a young princess who was stumbling around the world, unsure of her life's purpose after being cast away in favor of a little sister that was, admittedly, kind of too strong."

The princess started to gesture with her hands as she shared her tale, adding in theatrics. She wanted the story to feel like an old fairy tale.

"It's not like she was turned into a pariah. Both True Ancestors and dead apostles were divided into factions based on which princess they supported or that suited them for their own plans. But even then, our princess was on the back-foot. She wasn't born as a pure True Ancestor, conceived as more of a mixture of True Ancestor and dead apostle. That meant she had no access to a Marble Phantasm, and dead apostles' Idea Bloods weren't even a thing by that time since Alaya was strong enough to repel any attempt at creating one. To sum it up, she didn't have that many options to survive in such a hellish world filled with True Ancestors gone berserk and rebelling dead apostles."

She stopped her theatrics for a moment and focused her red eyes on him. Or, more exactly, his right hand.

"It was then that, by mere chance, I ran into a cute, white fur ball. My first real friend, Mr. Fou."

"Cath Palug. So, the moment you saw that thing could feed on human misery to grow, you decided to fill him up." He answered while squinting his eyes.

"Hey, don't make it sound like I forced him. He started growing just by journeying with me, so it was consensual when I started to help him reach his adult form. We just went around to have him close to the towns and cities attacked by vampires. Admittedly, some were orchestrated by the princess's followers, but those were only after a mysterious individual started hunting down dead apostles left and right, and even picking up fights with True Ancestors."

Alice sent him a knowing smile and leaned closer to him. "Are you even aware of how you put the magical world upside down, Mr. Nameless?"

The auburn-haired grunted at that. "I didn't care about the kind of reputation I was earning. As you said, there was no one to keep them in check, so I ended up filling that role. The only reason I made sure to always thoroughly cover my tracks was to avoid getting hunted down, be it by vampires or the Clock Tower. My situation wasn't brighter than yours."

"But you somehow made it work. Using ambush tactics, carefully picking your targets and studying them, even if it meant making sacrifices. And then, boom! They were eliminated in brutal ways, leaving the aftermath of the battle seeming as if a hurricane had passed by."

Shirou's expression turned into one of surprise and even embarrassment as Alice started to speak of his deeds in the same way a fan would do about their idols.

"Superior creatures that looked down on humanity and arrogant magi from long lineages alike started to get paranoid, fearing the moment that the mysterious monster would target them. And things only escalated further when you started to use even more overwhelming force to deal with the ones that had taken precautions. The threat of their fortresses or lairs suddenly blowing up was very much real. You were the boogeyman, used by parents to scare off children in the same way they used the spider later. It was impossible for the princess not to take an interest in you. And then the incident at Roma happened."

The smile on Alice's face became a little dull as she saw the emotions running through Shirou's face upon mentioning that. She was painfully aware of how that marked him and who he had been referring to as "destined one".

"The important part is that the princess was finally able to see the mysterious monster in action. Imagine her surprise when she realized he was a human. She immediately started working on arranging a meeting with him. It wasn't just a matter of satisfying her curiosity. Dear Fou was a really good bodyguard despite not being fully grown, but the princess was interested in swaying that kind of power to her side as well. They had the same goal of destroying the True Ancestors lost to their thirst, and he might even help her settle her score with her little sister."

"That's why you set up that attack on Britannia? Just to lure me in?"

"What? It's not like you had an address to send you an invitation, or a house at all. Seriously, no wonder your hair turned white. You had no plans of settling or even taking a break."

"That was the point. An address would just be like asking everyone to attack me."

She ignored his blank stare and flat answer and continued with her retelling. "And it made things complicated. The princess didn't want to make a bad impression, but her subordinates didn't take well orders to just stir conflict without killing, so they ended up doing whatever they wanted. At least that made the nameless hero come immediately."

She made a pause, her expression turning nostalgic. "The princess made sure to be on her best looks while her underlings got slaughtered. It was supposed to be a meeting between equals, more so after you drew that sword from the stone in your way to her castle. All the effort she put, only to be met with "As if I'd work with a vampire. Get lost." She was... understandably mad."

"What was she even expecting? Regardless of her intentions, True Ancestors are humanity's natural enemy. And throwing her bus-sized bodyguard at me didn't help."

Altrouge pouted at that. "True Ancestor or not, she was a young maiden that had never been rejected so harshly. But that, unintentionally, ended up starting the shortest yet greatest battle in the magical world, with her as the only witness. It only lasted what it took the nameless hero to deploy his reality marble. And if that wasn't already surprising enough, he and Fou attacked each other at immense speed. She wasn't able to make out what happened and was met with the most unbelievable outcome. Fou had been shredded apart, with swords piercing his body from both in and out. And there was the nameless hero, standing there gallantly with his black sword despite the gaping holes in his body."

Her expression turned soft before she spoke the next words. "The princess's world was turned upside down. She couldn't help but stand there in a daze, with her mouth agape, unable to fully process what had transpired before her eyes. She didn't react when the nameless hero finally fell lifelessly seconds after. Not even when The World manifested there to make a contract with him. After what could have been hours, she finally approached both corpses and knelt beside the nameless hero, just to stare at him for an equally long time."

Altrouge paused, her repressed emotions surfacing as she recounted what could have very well been the lowest point of her life. "She wasn't mad about all her plans getting ruined in mere seconds. The whole situation with the True Ancestors, the Crimson Moon's machinations to resurrect itself, and her feud with her little sister. Everything ceased to matter. The only thing that she wanted was answers to her questions. Who was that man, and how did he achieve something that should have been impossible?"

"And she didn't just... you know... turn me into a dead apostle?" He asked, even though he could already guess the answer.

The World had made sure to quickly whisk away his soul to engrave it into the Throne of Heroes. Had Altrouge tried to resurrect him by turning him into a dead apostle, all she would have gotten was a soulless husk that would have never been able to grow into a proper dead apostle.

However, he still wanted to confirm what she did. After hearing all the questionable things Altrouge Brunestud did in his timeline, it was hard to keep treating Alice the same as always. If she replied that she did, in fact, desecrate his body to try to turn him into a vampire subordinate. That would most likely be the last straw that broke the camel's back.

But to his surprise, and maybe relief, she shook her head and gave him a sweet smile. "No. The princess wanted to meet the nameless hero, not a dead apostle version of him. You know that when a human is turned into a dead apostle, their very soul is corrupted and warped by the curse, don't you?"

"In that case, what did she do?"

"That's something she spent a lot of time thinking. In fact, before she could decide on what to do, the humans who saw the nameless hero draw the sword in the stone arrived at the scene. After finding who they thought would be their King and savior dead, alongside the carcass of a horrendous monster and a seemingly mourning princess, what do you think they did?"

Shirou's golden eyes started to widen upon realizing what she meant.

"Don't tell me..."

Altrouge's lips formed a smirk. "Yes. After giving you a burial, word of the red knight that vanquished the horrendous monster that had been terrorizing both Britannia and the Roman Empire, and saved a princess imprisoned in a castle, started to spread, which would later be properly redacted into books."

"And she didn't try to clear the misunderstanding? A princess of dead apostles shouldn't have taken being treated as a human well." He asked, almost desperately, trying to deny that such legends about him existed, even if they most likely were the ones responsible for his anomalous class.

"Remember that she was still in shock. Besides, what right did she have to look down on humanity after one of them defeated the planet's apex predator? She just went along, and while she couldn't prevent the Clock Tower from retrieving Fou's remnants, she made sure no magi or vampires made it even close to the nameless hero's resting place. As you know, the furor didn't last that long since no one could even properly identify you, so she didn't have to spend that much time guarding it. But it was enough for her to sort out her thoughts and feelings. And thus, she started her new journey."

She tentatively reached out to take his hands with hers, and with some reluctance, he let her do it.

"It was a pointless journey after a pipe dream. She must have known that she would never be able to fulfill her wish, but she did it anyway because there was still a chance, no matter how abysmal. He had been recorded into the Throne of Heroes and appointed as Counter Guardian, so she could have run into him if she managed to be present during a tragedy that required their intervention."

"That would have turned her into just another target to dispatch, regardless if it was my or another Guardian." He told her, feeling a pang of pity.

"She didn't mind. After centuries, her simple wish turned into just seeing you again. But unfortunately, the few times she managed to be there when a Counter Guardian was summoned, it wasn't you."

Of course. Counter Guardians only show up when the situation is already grim, but he, in particular, is mostly reserved for cases where The World doesn't even care if that particular timeline would have to be pruned after he is done blowing up the threat. Cases where the intention was doing damage control so the threat doesn't spread to other worlds rather than saving something.

"Did she try her luck with a Holy Grail War?"

"She did. Unfortunately, while the Kaleidoscope wasn't against her wish, he made sure only humans could be chosen as masters for the Fuyuki Holy Grail War. And as you can imagine, you were never summoned by all the rituals she witnessed."

The question of why she didn't just attack a master before they performed the summoning ritual and either cut their arm with the command seals or simply threaten them to use her catalyst popped into his mind, but she most likely tried it and failed. A catalyst increases your chances of summoning an intended heroic spirit, but it isn't a 100% guarantee.

"And that's where her tale ends?" He asked with some skepticism and received a nod.

"Yes. Altrouge Brunestud disappeared quietly, tragically failing in her pursuit. But she was still recorded in the Throne of Heroes. Which leads us to some years ago, when I finally reincarnated after getting my ass handed by the Primordial Goddess."

Her solemn tone made a 180, becoming filled with enthusiasm. "You know, the servant Altrouge Brunestud is usually a magical girl that goes around the universe fighting evil alongside her trusted partner Fou."

"Really? If you were an ally of justice, why did you have to infiltrate the team sent to fight the Primordial Goddess?"

"Because magical girls aren't entities regulated by the government." She answered in a flat tone as if that were common knowledge. "Getting back on topic, as you can see, this particular incarnation was different. If my theory is correct, since her beloved nameless hero was here, that Altrouge's memories and will made it here as well. So I knew fate would bring us together sooner or later."

That had to be one of the cheesiest lines he'd ever heard, and it sounded to him more like a terrifying stalker rather than something romantic.

It didn't help that he was starting to have a considerable migraine with all this new perspective of his past life shoved onto him. Now, he was the one who needed some time to sort out his feelings about this revelation. But there was a final question he wanted to ask.

"Okay, I get now the sort of relationship I had with you. But I want to ask, why did you even bother going by a fake name? It's not like I would have been able to deduce all that even if you had introduced yourself as Altrouge."

At that, the black-haired beauty had to repress a chuckle and gave him a look that pretty much said: "You silly."

"I wasn't hiding anything, Shirou-kun. I thought you would have put it together by now, but I guess I'll have to show it to you."

Just as she said that, her black dress disappeared, replaced by yet another servant garment. This one, though, immediately had Shirou gawking.

Yeah, deep down, he knew this was the true nature of their relationship. It was the only way to explain the strange familiarity between them and why she made him remember a certain empress from time to time.

It was a bridal gown. The white fabric clung to her porcelain-like skin, enhancing her natural beauty even more, and her now flustered face was sporting a confident smile.

"I said my true name is Altrouge Brunestud, the Vampire Princess of the Dead Apostles, but I am also Alice, the Bride of the Hero. You could say my name got a little warped as our legend was transmitted orally."

At that moment, another thing clicked in his mind. Now he knew why he felt like that when she revealed her first true name. Moon Cancer had been the original class of Altrouge Brunestud, the magical girl. But the servant in front of him had their Spirit Origin warped due to another completely separate aspect of the original heroic spirit being shoved into the mix.

Therefore, her actual class was none other than Pretender, just like him. It was fitting, as they both ended up unwittingly creating a legend that had little to do with what actually happened, fooling the entire world.

He had to actually shake his head to regain his bearings. If she had sprung this on him when they met, he would have been able to easily shrug it off. But after the time they spent together...

Despite all the teasing, she was pretty much the closest thing to having a levelheaded person around. One that has been supporting him ever since they met. A part of him was starting to regret hearing all of this, wanting to keep their previous relationship.

But he guessed it was how things were. He was a Beast that not only embodied violence but the progress achieved through it. He might tend to put aside some problems, especially if they were related to romance, but getting stagnant isn't his thing.

"So, do you really want to complicate my already messy love life by joining the "unilateral marriage" club?"

His half-joking question managed to dispel the heavy atmosphere to some extent, getting her to giggle. However, her smile suddenly turned a little disturbing before she answered.

"Maybe. However, while being able to meet you was already a dream come true, there's also something I'm dying to know. Something you unfortunately refused to answer the other day and promised to reveal today."

Yeah, that was one of the things he had shoved into the back of his mind. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell her. Rather than it was something he really didn't want to bring up unless the situation really got desperate.

"About that... well, would you believe me if I told you I myself don't remember that much how it happened? I already told you I just attack with my entire being out of desperation."

"Shirou-kun, that's unfair. I bared my whole being in front of you, and you still refuse to be honest." Well, so much for that. "But I understand. As a nameless hero and Counter Guardian, it's only natural to start forgetting things. That's why I came up with a foolproof way to jolt your memories."

That almost sounded considerate... if it wasn't for the fact that she was still keeping that disturbing smile. But her next words, said in the sweetest tone possible, gave him genuine chills.

"... right, my dear Fou?"

The moment she said that, a familiar, white fur ball stepped from behind Alice and glared daggers at him while growling. That thing was definitely eager to tear him apart, most likely having inherited the memories from the monster he slayed, but was only refraining from doing so just because his master had yet to give the order.

His body entered a stance on its own, and his combat outfit was summoned without him giving the mental command. Every cell in his being was screaming at him to attack that thing with everything he's got.

"Alice... are you nuts? You know there's only one way for this to end."

"Then show it to me." She answered with an equally serious tone. Her smile had been replaced by a resolute look. This was the culmination of that Altrouge's journey, and she was seeing it through no matter the result.

"Show me the absolute violence that was able to kill the invincible killer."

Cath Palug took that as her master's signal, and after letting out a monstrous howl that didn't fit his current appearance at all, he started to grow into the horrendous monster Shirou was more familiar with. A white wolf the size of a bus, with its tail and some parts of its fur waving like blue flames.

Still, it didn't have its horned crown, so once again, they were on equal footing.

The fact that Alice jumped away to not be caught in the fight didn't even register in his mind. His golden eyes were completely focused in those blood-shot, blue eyes. For them, in the eye of the storm, they were just hitting each other with hostile intent. For anyone else who witnessed their standoff, their minds would definitely shatter after being subjected to their combined presence as aberrant monsters.

""ROAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!""

Without any warning, the two let out a roar that might as well have been a war cry and swung their claws at each other. Both attacks were so fast that even servants would have had trouble seeing them, but then, an explosion ensued.

The toilet building was vaporized. The shock wave created a massive crater, blasting a curtain of sand that reached the height of a tidal wave, accompanied by an eardrum-shattering sound.

"Kuh!" Just a beat later, the red knight found himself soaring above the beach like a rag doll. Even if those had been technically identical attacks, it was obvious which of the two enemies had the weight advantage to hold their ground.

There was no time to observe his surroundings and where he was going to land. The white wolf had pursued him with a big jump that propelled him like a missile. That was the prime definition of nightmare fuel.

"Trace on!" This time, he didn't lash out instinctively and brought out one of his most trusted weapons to meet the invincible killer. The model of all swords that select the king wrapped itself in golden light with his mana burst before he frantically swung it.

The attacks rained on him at such a pace that even his hawk-like eyes could barely make out what was happening. A ruthless onslaught that would make even the Gate of Babylon's firing rate look slow, and with an overwhelming force that make even Heracles' attacks look weak.

The Original Sin clashed against the monstrous claws, filling the space above the beach with small explosions. For any poor onlooker, that would have been the closest thing they would experience to a Valencian mascletá. For Shirou, even with his Beast Authority working in overdrive, he was pretty much clinging to live. Both he and the white wolf were constantly getting stronger than each other, creating something akin to a paradox.

While the white wolf got stronger just by virtue of being Gaia's monster, the planet's apex predator, the red knight caught up to him with a very simple concept. If you use violence against someone, you'll always be answered with greater violence, one way or another. Converting that into a winning move was an entirely different matter.

Death approached slowly. All his magic circuits flared like disco lights as he recklessly loaded countless blueprints into them and fired them in hopes of deflecting some of the incoming attacks. He was tracing B-rank and A-rank noble phantasms as if he were just another Gate of Babylon, thanks to all the energy he got from his Authority. Thethe possibility of screwing up and projecting one inside his body didn't even cross his mind. He was just desperately buying time with everything he had.

After some seconds that felt like an eternity, his back crashed through something metallic that he was able to recognize as Luvia's scenery. The place where Mikan was. Before the horror started to settle, he felt his body piercing through something else, this time, something liquid. It was as if he went through a mass of water in the middle of the air.

It still hurt as if he had hit a wall of bricks, but at least it slowed him down enough for him to make a proper landing. The moment his back hit the sand, he rolled to his feet while pouring an obscene amount of magical energy into his sword. With a mana burst fired from the blade, he redirected his momentum with a spin and bolted back in the direction he came from.

The Primate Murder had just burst through the scenery, no doubt causing heart attacks left and right. Yet, the white wolf's focus was surely on its fellow apex predator, ignoring all the other servants around as it hurled at the red knight.

"ROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!"

"Cleave the wicked, MERODACH!"

Both met right on the mass of water, no doubt vaporizing it in their clash. The light that burns everything it touches covered both figures and blinded everyone around before a tremor shook the entire beach.

Once the light died down, Shirou found himself once again getting blown away, with Merodach falling apart into light specks. And of course, that thing had just some of its hair burned and was already pouncing at him.

Just unleashing one noble phantasm, or even several, wasn't going to cut it. But he already knew that. Trying to defeat that thing with less had been just wishful thinking on his part, praying that just because that thing was now Alice's noble phantasm, it would be slightly weaker.

"Damn it-" He was already going to swing his claw to create another brief breather, but then someone swoop in and snatched him away.

He had to take a moment to undo his tunnel vision, realizing he was now being held in the air by a white-haired dragon.

"Shirou! Why are you suddenly fighting another Beast!? You should have at least waited to do it after my concert!"

"There's no time for your usual nonsense!" Despite her using a calm tone, he barked back with hysteria in his voice. "Don't even try to engage with that thing! You'll only get killed!"

His warning came a tad too late. Both heroines X were already attacking from opposite sides, becoming blurs that left afterimages whenever they slashed the white wolf's fur.

"Hey, Ex! Can you keep up with me!"

"Hmph. You should worry about keeping up with me."

"Then let's do this! Just like the old times!"

Back up immediately arrived in the form of torrents of blue flames coming from the Goddess of Love floating above and spears emerging from the ground called forth by the Goddess of the Underworld.

"What's with this barbaric Beast? How can this even fulfill the requirements?"

"Worry about that later, Kama! Hit it with everything you've got!"

Meanwhile, The Goddess of Justice, her Oni bodyguard, and Konjiki no Yami had immediately taken Lala, Run, and Mikan to a safer distance, standing behind Luvia's barrier. Her defenses, powered by her immense magical energy, were trembling like crazy with the explosions. They could barely see anything due to all the sand and dust getting thrown around, with only a few flashes making it through and the terror-inducing howls of the Beast.

"What is that... monster?" Yami ventured to ask after somehow pulling herself together. She had seen her fair share of space monsters, but this made her reconsider if she would be able to call any other creature a "monster".

"That's... Alice's pet." Luvia's answer made everyone else except Tomoe take a double take.

"Then why is it going on a rampage?"

"I don't know. I only heard of it. This is actually my first time seeing it, and I must say, Alice really undersold it. I don't think we have any chance against it. We can only hope Alice can bring it to his senses or..." She left her words hanging, but just hearing the usually confident Luvia talk in such a somber tone was already telling.

"Gah!" And just a second later, her prediction was turned into a reality as X's injured body crashed into her barrier, staining it and the sand around with blood. She stubbornly tried to get back on fit, but it was obvious she was closer to fainting than rejoining the fight.

Ex had also been swatted away like a fly, and the Goddesses' attacks were most likely just tickling the monster.

"Tch! Let me go, Melusine! I have to do something-"

"No, I can't let you fight that thing in your current mental state, Shirou!" The albino girl talked back, this time with an equally serious voice. However, unlike his, who was aggressive, hers felt more... soothing. "I'm aware of your story with that monster. That's why I need you to calm down."

"That's easy for you to say! You haven't been through a shocking revelation and then made to fight the thing that killed you."

Understanding filled Melusine's expression. "So she finally spilled the beans, huh? Now I get it. Regardless, you won't be able to defeat that thing if you don't give it your all. Even if you miraculously defeat it without using your ultimate technique, that girl will keep bringing it back as long as you don't give her what she wants."

"I know, damn it... But there's a price for using what she wants to see."

Both of them turned to look in the direction they sensed Alice's presence. She was there on the sideline, still wearing her bridal dress, clasping her hands over her chest, and throwing him a look that seemed almost... pleading.

Why was she even making that expression? This was checkmate. There was no way for him to kill that thing without replicating what he did back then-

Unless...

Kill her.

That's it. That was the most optimal solution. Why hadn't he thought about it sooner?

"Hey, look at me!" However, just as he was targeting Alice, Melusine suddenly forced his head to look at her. "Don't even entertain that thought! I know you appreciate your relationship with that girl, even if she's being whimsical right now. Do you really want to throw that aside and revert to how you were before meeting everyone?"

The auburn-haired boy gritted his teeth. "This isn't about me or her. If you had to choose between one person and the entire world, wouldn't the choice be obvious?"

"Of course, you dummy! If I had to choose between my lover or everyone else, I'd choose the first without hesitation. And I expect you to do the same." Her answer left him perplexed, and she took the opportunity to give him a sneaky kiss on the cheek. "So, don't hesitate. Do what you must do, and we'll handle whatever comes after!"

After her unilateral declaration, the Dragon of Albion dropped him and flew at top speed to confront the white wolf, most likely to buy him the time he needed to prepare himself. Well, he wasn't sure if buying time was the appropriate term, as she started to radiate immense power, far greater than anything she had shown thus far.

Her swimwear was replaced by a skin-tight, white swimsuit. A pair of horns emerged from her head while her tiny blue wings and tail turned into majestic, white dragon wings and tail.

"HAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"ROOOOOARRRRRRRR!"

Surprisingly, the monster acknowledged her as an actual enemy, and clashed his claws against her Arondights rather than just trying to swat her away like a fly.

As the battle between those mythical creatures raged on, the red knight caressed both of his temples.

Melusine was once again doing whatever she pleased, but just this once, he was more or less thankful. There was still some hesitation in his mind. He didn't want this world to perish, much less be the cause of it.

But Melusine was right. Even if he thought he could... kill Alice if he repressed his emotions, it would still hurt. Whether he liked it or not, he couldn't deny their bond. Not to mention that doing it in front of Mikan and Lala would be plain horrible...

"Tsk... Screw it! I am the bone of my sword!"

There was no going back. The moment his black sword fully manifested in his hand, it felt as if he had loaded a single bullet into a revolver before spinning the drum and pointing the cannon at his temple.

Just unleashing the Excalibur-like beam that cut everything in its way, or even a simple mana burst, was already bad, but it was still manageable if he didn't overdo it. But what he was about to do would be too much for his Pretender class container.

"Haaah..." His body adopted a thrusting stance as he evened his breath, something not that far from Okita Souji's famous Hira Seigan.

His golden eyes locked onto the target, his mortal enemy. Everything else didn't matter. All excess was removed. It was the white wolf, him, and his sword.

No, that wasn't entirely correct. Because he and his sword had to become a single entity. He had to fully embrace his Beast Authority of Comparison. He had to become humanity's absolute violence that tramples over all other beings on this planet and leaves them behind on their way to the stars.

He had to put his entire being into this next attack, as he told Alice. While Melusine had called it technique, this wasn't something elaborate enough to deserve such a title. He could never have been able to pull an ultimate technique just like that in his last moments.

"...!" Alice's heart skipped a beat when she noticed the shift in the red knight's aura as it condensed into his black blade.

This was it. This was what Altrouge Brunestud had journeyed for millennia to see again. The impossible attack that killed the invincible killer.

She focused all her vampiric senses into witnessing it, to the point she was able to count every grain of sand between the red knight and the white wolf. This time, she would make sure to analyze it and engrave it in her mind.

"Grrr!" The Primate Murder noticed it too, losing all interest in Melusine and focusing solely on him. Its power and killing intent rouse to the challenge.

The entire beach was plunged into a dead silence with both ultimate murderers inches away from lunging at each other, their muscles twitching from all the tension in them.

Then, a single drop of sweat slid from Alice's cheek to her chin and fell to the sand. It was such an insignificant thing, yet the moment the drop hit the sand-

The world exploded. Most witnesses couldn't even see when they moved before their clash shook space itself. The sound produced by it felt as if the world was truly falling apart.

But the Bride of the Hero was able to discern what happened.

The moment the red knight rushed forward, his black sword, the weaponized version of his Beast Authority, attacked so fast that it looked like he threw all the attacks simultaneously. More than ten attacks, brutal thrusts, and slashes, overlapped, creating an inexorable onslaugh. The attacks slipped through Fou's claws and connected with its body, ripping apart his white fur and tearing massive holes in its flesh.

That in itself would have been a fatal attack for literally any other creature, be it servants, Gods, or True Ancestors. But that wouldn't have been enough to kill the invincible killer, and the red knight knew it.

That's why it had been only the prelude to the real attack.

The sword and he were one and the same. Therefore, once the black blade sunk into the white wolf's flesh, his very origin invaded it. In other words, the answer he received after living all his life as a sword, the Unlimited Blade Works, manifested inside Fou's body.

Countless blades from all ages and countries, all of them imbued with his Beast Authority, reaped the monster apart from the inside out.

The very endless history of human violence attacked from within, making the result completely unavoidable.

The white wolf's shredded body fell to the ground silently, quickly dispersing into dust. The red knight stood there, completely rigid, a single trail of blood sliding down his chin.

Despite his efforts, there was still a hole through his chest. It missed by a small margin his heart and spirit core, which would have killed him instantly, but it was still fatal. Even with the blades from his reality marble quickly working to close it and Camael's flames trying to heal it, he doubted they would make it in time.

The flames from his replica of that sword didn't hold a candle to the original. He didn't have the deep, affectionate bond his other self had with the legitimate owner.

Just as he predicted, this could only end in one way. His legs, devoid of any strength, finally lost their balance, causing him to fall backwards like a puppet with its strings cut. His face remained a stoic façade with no emotion.

Back when he was alive, he felt some satisfaction after defeating that monster. Now, though, there was nothing. In fact... a part of him regretted this outcome. But it was better to take his leave here. That way, he-

"I have you, my hero." His thoughts were interrupted when someone embraced him from behind, preventing him from hitting the floor.

A warm feeling started to invade his cold body. It wasn't just because of the tender hug, and how who he assumed to be Alice was affectionately pressing her cheek against his. Strength was returning to his body, and his wound started to close at a fast pace.

"Oh..." He then realized. These were the same cheat skills a certain Bride Saber obtained in a specific Saint Graph that shouldn't have existed in the first place. Just like them.

"Thank you, Shirou-kun. For fulfilling Altrouge's wish." Her voice was filled with immense gratitude and deep sorrow at the same time.

She had acted irrationally. The helplessness from those memories must have been too much for her to handle. But she wasn't completely devoid of common sense like X, so she knew he had every right to be mad at her.

"This is all I ever wanted. I understand if you- mmh!" Her words came to an abrupt end when he sealed her lips with his finger.

"I'm angry, but I wouldn't say I'm mad. Almost everyone in our group had a crash-out like that at some point. And I... still want to think of you as a... friend." He was unable to say that while looking the girl in the eye, so he ended up looking away.

Knowing him, Alice knew that must have taken more effort for him than regular people confessing their love. A blissful smile formed on her lips for a moment, but his next words gave her a pause.

"Besides, you have to take responsibility."

"Huh? What do you mean?" She asked, confused. Was he actually springing that cliché on her?

"That attack made full use of my Beast Authority. Do you think I can keep this regular servant vessel after that? It's only a matter of time until I turn into a fully grown Beast."

She bit her lip, the consequences of her actions finally dawning on her. But her confidence returned just seconds later. "I see... In that case, I'll make sure to keep your growth in check. I helped Fou with his, so you can trust me to handle yours."

He could only pray her confidence was well founded. But before he could say something else, he finally decided to cut in.

"Hmph. I'll let you have this win, vampire. But don't even think of dropping your guard." Melusine dropped those words near them like a true tsundere, and it served to pull them out of their bubble just in time before everyone else surrounded them.

"Shirou, are you okay!?"

"Onii-chan!"

"Alice, what in the world was that!?"

"And where did you even get the bridal dress!?"

"Aren't you two too close!?"

The princess chuckled while the red knight rubbed his forehead when his sister suddenly hugged him while everyone bombarded them with questions.

"I'm okay. We were just sorting out some unfinished matters from our past." He said, trying to calm them down, but as things stood, it would take more than that to ease Mikan's stress.

"Yeah, sorry for scaring you, everyone. Now that I got that out of my chest, I can go back to being everyone's beloved Alice." The black-haired beauty rose after saying that, showing them a bright smile while her dress faded away, replaced by her bikini.

"So you two actually knew each other before becoming servants, huh?" Luvia wasn't that surprised, and instead went straight to admonish her. "In that case, you'll be the one to clean this mess up. And also, can you use whatever you used to heal Shero on these two?"

She said that last part while pointing at Tomoe, who was carrying the two unconscious forms of X and Ex, which actually caused a reaction from Melusine.

"Huh!? How did you get pummeled so hard, Boss!? Hang in there!"

Alice chuckled as she walked up to the white-haired Saber, but before that, she stopped beside her fellow princess and whispered to her ear.

"Don't worry, Lala-sama. I'm rooting for you as well."

Her words only confused her, but she already had too much in her mind to think about it. The day that was supposed to be the most intense one as they bid farewell to their vacation came to an abrupt end, leaving only an awkward feeling as each of them dealt with the emotional aftermath of witnessing that monster...

… and how Shirou killed it with even more overwhelming violence.

---

Meanwhile, at the Yuuki Residence...

"Damn, there's really no one in this house. Were we so unlucky that we came while Onee-chan and that Shirou guy went on a vacation?"

"I wouldn't be surprised, given the weather. This must be the summer break."

A pair of pink-haired princesses were talking after searching through the modest house, not caring about the fact that it was a crime. If their big sister lived here, then they would, of course, be welcomed, or so they thought.

"Do you think we should prepare something for when they come back?" The third princess asked, and the second princess caressed her chin.

"Yeah, we could prepare a test for that Yuuki Shirou guy. I won't accept him if he doesn't meet my expectations."

"That's not what I meant, but it's a good idea."

They ended up in Lala's room, which was surprisingly clean and tidied up. It was hard to think this was her room, if it wasn't because its technology level was ages ahead of the rest of the house.

The idea of trying to use some of the gadgets displayed on the shelves crossed their minds, but they quickly discarded the notion. The chances of messing up the house were too high, and at least the younger of the two sisters didn't want to make a bad impression.

However, their eyes were inevitably drawn to a certain object resting on the desk instead of the shelves.

"Hey, what's this?"

"It looks like a video game console. Look, there seems to be a manual."

Well, calling it a manual would be generous. While it was luckily written in Devilukean, they quickly realized it was more of a collection of rough notes taken by Lala during the creation process. With that in mind, they skimmed through it until they reached the final conclusions.

I went too overboard with the game. The console didn't have enough computational power to run the game, and it almost fried the house's electrical system from drawing too much power. I can't tell Shirou this last part, though.

"So it was a bust. What a pity. I really wanted to play Onee-sama's game." The second princess commented a little dejectedly, but the third princess didn't let the matter go and gave one last look at her surroundings.

She knew her big sister was stubborn to a fault. There was no way she would have just given up on this project of hers.

"Huh?" It was then that she caught a glint out of the corner of her purple eyes. She turned around to look at what looked to be an armored vault, with a mysterious purple light pouring through a small glass.

Why did her big sister have an armored vault? That question immediately crossed Momo's mind, but she found herself walking up to take a better look. She couldn't tell why, but she felt like she was attracted to it.

After leaning closer to look through the glass, she discovered the source of the light. It was some kind of gem, pulsating with raw energy. More questions popped into her mind while she stared at it, almost in a trance, but then a single thought put everything away.

"Hey, Momo. Something interesting?" Her twin-tailed sister asked with a raised eyebrow, and she turned to look at her with a smile.

"Nana, I think I found big sister's solution to the energy problem."

"Really!? Then what are we waiting for!"

Well, while she said that with confidence, there was still a problem. They needed to figure out how to open the vault and then find a way to connect the gem to the console as a battery.

But first things first, she took a look at the keypad on the vault's side, and strangely enough, it wasn't numeric as those things typically were. It had letters instead, and that already gave Momo an idea.

Her hand moved to input the character combination in her mind, and after pressing the enter button, to their surprise, it actually worked. With a mechanical sound, the vault retracted into the wall, leaving only a glass cage between them and the gem.

"Wow! You're a genius, Momo! How did you figure out big sis' password?"

The third princess couldn't repress a giggle. "It was just a hunch. But it turns out Onee-sama is actually quite romantic. She set Shirou's name as the password."

"HUH!?"

---

In a faraway planet...

What should have been a peaceful night suddenly turned to day when flames pushed away the darkness. What once had been an imposing, futuristic fortress had now been turned into a smoldering hell.

It looked as if a meteor had crashed into it. The kind of destruction one would attribute to a natural disaster. However, the sound of heavy, metallic footsteps revealed the true culprit.

A tall knight clad in a silver armor with golden accents that, while mechanical in nature, still retained similarities with medieval armors. The helmet sported a golden visor that obscured a blue lens that shone amidst the inferno. The flames stuck to the armor harmlessly, as if they were just a cloak that slowly receded as the knight walked away.

After taking enough distance from the pile of flames, rubble, and corpses, the knight stopped and let out a deep breath. The voice came out transformed into a flat, artificial tone, but even then, one could tell there was some tiredness in it.

"Mission complete." The words came out stiff, as if this was just an ingrained routine, typical of soldiers.

The knight then looked to the side, their gaze fixed on the only other living being left in the area. A little girl that seemed completely out of place in this hellish place, both in appearance and demeanor.

She was sitting on a rock, her silver hair ending in blue accents tied in a single pigtail dancing with the wind. Her equally silver eyes were completely focused on a video console she was expertly operating without a care in her surroundings. Her outfit was a chaotic mixture of clothes and accessories that would immediately give her the label of "gamer girl", with blue, purple, and black predominating.

"Silver Wolf, did you secure the cargo?" The knight asked with an almost exasperated tone.

"Who do you take me for, Sam? The Stellaron is already nicely wrapped and sent back to the base. Piece of cake." The silver-haired girl replied nonchalantly without taking her focus away from her console.

"In that case, we should return already."

The knight's next words, though, caused her to pause and arc an eyebrow at her partner. "Why the hurry? It's not like there's anyone there right now."

"Do you want to stay beside a graveyard?"

"That's not what I meant. We could make a little detour. There's this new game-"

"Silver Wolf, you know I can't enter any shop in my armor, nor can I stay outside of it for long."

The gamer girl paused again, looking at the knight intently. "Not even a quick in-and-out? That's rough. My condolences."

"No... This is just our first mission as an independent pair, so it's understandable. Besides, I'm used to it."

"Okay... no more awkward atmosphere. Let's get-"

Her words were interrupted by her retro ringtone, and she put back her console to look at her phone.

"A message from Elio? It hasn't even been a minute since we finished the script. I didn't know he was this much of a slave driver. Let's see..."

The silver knight then witnessed how their partner's usual flat expression turned into one of pure shock, her jaw left hanging. With their curiosity piqued, they comically took a peak over the little girl's shoulder. Only to be left in the same astonished state after reading the short message on the cell's screen.

"The future beyond 24 hours is no longer observable."

---

And that's it for now. Yeah, quite the pair of "post-credits scenes". While those are pretty much the set up for the next special arc, this entire episode could be said to be a prelude for it.

Mikan receiving her first traumas and Shirou turning into a ticking bomb after using his ultimate killing technique will be key themes to be explored in the next arc. Well, while the next arc will be a special crossover, as I already anticipated, it will actually be centered directly around Shirou. Alice's backstory only contained the parts where Shirou was involved with the vampire world and his death. The more disturbing part that dealt with humans will be addressed there.

Now, if you don't know who those two characters I introduced in the last scene are, they are from "Honkai: Star Rail". It won't be like "Reenacting a Legend", though, so they'll only be here for the next arc. I actually teased them through X in the Solomon chapter of my other story "Absolute Demonic Front of Blades". As for the third character teased there, you'll meet her in the next chapter. Not that hard to guess since she is the character who contrasts this Shirou I mentioned in previous author notes. A heroine that did reach their happy ending.

If you don't get what's implied in the last line, that's pretty much the same as "Fate/Grand Order", when the Sheba lenses show a prediction like: "the planet will go puff in 24 hours." In fact, it's a reference to Lostbelt 6's beginning. So yeah, the next arc will be self-contained in something similar to a Singularity that affected both the Servantverse and Honkaiverse since the mysterious gem came from there.

This is something I ended up cooking up after reading a particular mini-arc from To Love Ru. You know, the one where Nana and Momo are introduced, setting up the virtual world to test Rito. After reading it, I asked myself: "How can I adapt that into this story in an entertaining way?" Because in that arc, Yami could already pummel through the game ignoring the rules, so that would pretty much mean the entire cast in this story would do the same.

And that leads to another question you might be asking yourself: "How can the story top the stakes from this beach chapter featuring the Primate Murder? This was supposed to be the calm before the storm." To that, I must answer that I already gave you a clue in the previous chapter. The metaphor of the lighter and the butane cylinder wasn't just referring to leaving the game console with a virtual world and the mysterious gem in the same room. Shirou actually dropped something there that will make things even more complicated.

Now, going back to this chapter's star, Alice/Altrouge, her relationship with King of Fakers Alter was planned before this story was even a concept. But then came the funny part. After reading Tsukihime Remake, I was left thinking, "Wait, Arcueid is only 800 years old? I thought she was way older and that date was just the time Roa showed up". And that led to a series of discoveries, like the Crimson Moon actually being alive during the First Century, and by extension, Altrouge most likely not being around during that time. So yeah, while those don't affect the original "King of Fakers: Saving them all", I had to come up with an entirely new timeline for Alice and King of Fakers Alter's backstories. Thankfully, Zelretch is actually ancient, having studied under Solomon in the 900 BC, so pushing back Crimson Moon's death wasn't that far-fetched.

The relationship between those two is a clear parallel to Arcueid and Tohno Shiki's. Altrouge gets her perception shattered because something she deemed impossible happens. In this case, it's Fou who gets killed and not her, by an equally unassuming guy who turned out to be a killing machine. Alice's crash out in this chapter was almost as bad as Arcueid's during Ciel's route's true ending. And while I gave this servant version of Altrouge Arcueid's Marble Phantasm as another clue to her identity, the in-lore reason is basically that, since Servantverse's Arcueid decided to become Magical Girl Phantasmoon, stealing her thunder, she was petty enough to steal something from her. This also leads to another fun fact. Alice's true class being Pretender was something I came up with way back when I was writing her backstory, so imagine my face when they released Phantasmoon as a Pretender. That's another coincidence to add to the list, like me deciding to add Honkai stuff to "Reenacting a Legend" at the same time the "Fate/Stay Nigth" x "Honkai: Star Rail" collab was announced, or me writing the Nero from King of Fakers Alter's timeline to be the Whore of Babylon just before the Lilim Harlot event dropping and revealing almost same backstory I had in mind.

What's next? The devil girl from Ordeal Call IV being Altrouge's appearance in her transformed state? Nah, that's too much of a shot in the dark, but I'm really looking forward to seeing Altrouge's official debut and seeing how much of her personality I got right from the few anecdotes we have.

As another curiosity, I want to leave for the reals who like to read this monsters of an Author's Note I like to drop, do you guys remember that One-shot I wrote at the end of one of Absolute Demonic Front of Blades' chapters? The one with King of Fakers Alter getting summoned by Kiritsugu and Irisviel in the "Fate/Kaleid Prisma Illya" timeline, speedrunning the Fourth Holy Grail War, and then getting strong-armed to be Illya's brother, effectively becoming that timeline's Emiya Shirou. Well, the idea was for that timeline to be actually King of Faker Alter's original timeline, and therefore, having Altrouge showing up to check if he was summoned in the Holy Grail War, leading to their fated reunion. As someone who goes around saying she has a magical girl transformation, she would really fit in the story. A part of me really wants to write that story, but that would doom my update schedule.

I mean, imagine the encounter between this Altrouge and regular Arcueid, with the former dragging Shirou instead of Fou to flex him as her new bodyguard.

With all that text wall out of my system, I hope you enjoyed these two chapters, and I'll meet you in the next chapter of "Reenacting a Legend". I won't make any promise so I don't jinx myself.

Hasta la vista!