Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Fate/Zero:Epilogue: Five Years Later

2011-04-06T03:46:47Z

129.22.164.102:

=== Five Years Later ===

It was a night with a beautiful moon. Emiya Kiritsugu gazed out at the moon as he silently stood by the window.

Although it was already winter, the temperature wasn’t very low; it was just cold enough to let the skin feel the slight prickle of a chill. It was the ideal weather to view the moon.

A boy sat beside him. He was also quietly gazing out at the moon with Kiritrugu.

His name was Shirō.

He was the only existence that Kiritsugu managed to save from the fire that made him lose everything.

It had been five years since then. Shirō, who was a kid, was also gradually growing up.

Kiritsugu adopted Shirō, who had no one left to rely on due to the fire, and managed to barely live on after tidying up the ruined house with the storage room that Irisviel had bought.

As for why he did that – even he himself did not know. He had nowhere else to go. Did he also have no more reasons left to keep living?

All the goals and beliefs the man named Emiya Kiritsugu had once possessed were burnt to ashes with that fire. The thing that returned from that barren field was simply a corpse that had retained a beating heart.

In fact, had he not saved Shirō, then Kiritsugu would perhaps have truly died a long time ago.

However, he met Shirō. He met this child who had fortunately escaped from the raging fire that had claimed innumerable lives.

That was the miracle which resurrected him from the shell that was once named Emiya Kiritsugu.

Even if he were to look back on it now, this had been a very wondrous life.

The man who had lost his wife and daughter again became a father –

The child who had lost his parents again became a son –

Now that he thought about it, he had repeated this unchanging life day after day.

Shirō was now calling Kiritsugu ‘old man’ while the latter hadn’t even hit 40 years old. Maybe the kid felt it was more natural that way.

But the truth was that the stamina still lingering within Kiritsugu’s body was nothing more than a spluttering candle in the wind. In truth, he was not much different from an old man after all.

After that, he peacefully and calmly passed his days as if he was living within the dream of another man.

On that day five years ago, a line had been drawn across his life, which had already lost everything. No one else had disappeared before Kiritsugu after that.

Be it Shirō, Taiga, Raiga-san or the youngsters in the Fujimura Group; none of them had left him since they met, and they were still together even now.

The meetings he used to have with other people were simply the beginning of separation.

However, such a happiness was not without a reason.

Because the things that he had lost in the past would never come back.

Kiritsugu had repeatedly used the excuse of ‘traveling overseas’ to get Shirō to stay home while he traveled to the Einsberns. He wanted to save his daughter, who had been left all alone within the City of Winter.

However, no matter how obstinately Kiritsugu repeated his visits, Jubstacheit was still unwilling to open the forest’s bounded field. That was understandable. All the efforts the Einsberns put into the fourth Heaven’s Feel came to nothing because of Kiritsugu’s last-minute betrayal. A man such as Kiritsugu would have to remain silent even if he was punished, but Acht did not do that. Did he want to put the traitor to exile like a stray dog and let it struggle on its last legs, and carry that shameful title for the rest of its life? Or did he plan to let Kiritsugu never see his daughter again and use that as the most severe punishment that can be inflicted? No matter what, it was already a fact.

Had he been the Kiritsugu of the past, the infamous “Magus Killer”, then he might have been able to forcibly break through this icy bounded field and rush to his daughter’s side. However, the current Kiritsugu had been touched by “Angra Mainyu” and had already been corroded by this curse. His flesh was getting weaker and weaker. His limbs atrophied, his sight began to fade, and he had completely lost the ability to use magecraft. He was not much different from a terminally ill patient. He couldn’t even find the starting point of the bounded field, and could only wander in the blizzard, waiting till death.

He understood all his attempts had been in vain – recently Kiritsugu had already faintly felt that his time was probably up. In other words, he probably hadn’t had much time left since the moment he became cursed by the black mud.

Therefore he had recently been staying home all the time, drowning in memories as he passed the time in a daze.

What had his life been about –

As he thought of this, he silently gazed up at the moon with Shirō.

“… When I was a kid, I used to want to be a hero of justice very much.”

Suddenly, he muttered this unconsciously.

Like a shipwreck that had sunken beneath the surface a long long time ago, those untouched and forgotten words suddenly escaped from his lips – that was right. He seemed to have said something like that to someone else some time ago, although he didn’t manage to fulfill it at the end. But just when did that happen?

However, when he heard Kiritsugu, Shirō suddenly showed an expression of displeasure.

“What? You’re saying you used to want to, then have you given up now?”

Since the boy harbored a deep admiration for Kiritsugu, Shirō seemed to hate having Kiritsugu say such self-deprecating words. Kiritsugu had often felt extremely ashamed toward this sentiment.

The boy thought his foster father was an incomparably great man. He did not understand Emiya Kiritsugu’s past – including that disaster which made the man lose everything. He simply and merely made Kiritsugu a goal to be admired.

The spirit of self-sacrifice and sense of justice that Shirō held in his heart were so great that it almost seemed twisted, and all this were displayed through the extreme respect and admiration that he showed to Kiritsugu. That was also the only regret in the days that the father and the son passed together. Shirō wished to become Kiritsugu. He wanted to follow the road that Kiritsugu had walked. Although Kiritsugu wanted to tell him how foolish such an idea was, he didn’t manage to say it even till the end.

If Shirō lived like Kiritsugu and walked toward destruction just like him, then these five peaceful years of life would become a curse at the end as well.

Is your aspiration still there? Shirō questioned back. This made Kiritsugu’s heart ache – that’s right, how wonderful would it be if it could gradually disappear with the passage of time.

Kiritsugu pretended to gaze out towards the distant moon, and hid the sorrowful memories with a bitter smile.

“Hmm, it is rather regrettable. Heroes have a time limit too, and it’s hard to fulfill once you become an adult. It would have been better if I realized that earlier.”

Had he realized it earlier – then he wouldn’t have been tricked by the sweet lie of miracles that flew the banner called dreams.

Kiritsugu had once released a demon powerful enough to destroy the world because of his aspirations. It was too late when he finally realized his mistake. Countless people had died because of it, including Shirō’s own father and mother.

And that harbinger of Hell was still lurking beneath Mount Enzō even now. After that battle, Kiritsugu had repeatedly visited that place with dynamite, and spent years to map out the situation of a few leylines. He had meticulously created a ‘bump’ at a location leading towards Mount Enzō. That might be the last time for him to use magecraft in his life.

The prana produced from the junction of numerous leylines will collect upon that ‘bump’ with time. When its limit is reached, a localized earthquake will be triggered deep within Mount Enzō. It would take a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of about 40 years for the ‘bump’ to break. If all his calculations were correct, then the cavern within Mount Enzō would collapse and seal away the “Greater Grail” forever. Though he would not be able to live to see that day, Kiritsugu had done the best he could to prevent the fifth Heaven’s Feel 60 years later.

Shirō seemed to have been guided into a deep contemplation from Kiritsugu’s casual words. However, he seemed to have accepted Kiritsugu’s viewpoint, and answered with a nod.

“Really? Then there’s really nothing you can do.”

“True. I’m really powerless.”

Kiritsugu also answered with a slight hint of heartfelt pain.

Nothing you can do –

There wasn’t much lament or sorrow in that phrase. Kiritsugu gazed up at the night sky.

“ – Ahh, what a beautiful moon – ”

It was as if this was the only night in his life that had such a beautiful moon, and Kiritsugu was overjoyed with sharing such a beautiful memory with Shirō.

“Hmm. If you can’t fulfill it anymore, then let me fulfill it for you.”

The youth promised casually in the elegant night. He said that he’ll achieve something, which Kiritsugu had longed for but could not fulfill, in Kiritsugu’s place.

In that moment, Kiritsugu remembered.

He had also made a promise like this. He had also said something like this before a person that was more important to him than anyone else.

Back then, he had firmly believed that the things within his heart will never be lost. But that confidence – had now been forgotten, forgotten until just a moment ago.

“Dad is an adult already, so maybe you can’t do anything anymore. But I’m alright. So entrust it to me, entrust Dad’s dream –”

Shirō kept saying those words that sounded like a promise. His words, together with tonight’s view, became an unforgettable memory that was carved into Kiritsugu’s heart.

That’s right. If it was under such a beautiful moon – then he would never forget.

Emiya Shirō’s very first thought and this precious and innocent prayer will definitely became a most beautiful memory, and be forever retained in his heart.

However, had the boy really inherited the dream of his foolish father, he would probably begin an endless lament and experience a bottomless despair.

But he would definitely be able to recall the self that existed at this moment as long as he remembered this night. He would remember this heart his young self had; this heart which was fearless, unknown to sorrow, and full of aspirations.

That would also be – the salvation that Kiritsugu, who had lost himself without knowing and had been grinded down by time little by little, had hoped for.

“Yes. Ahh – then I’ll be at peace now.”

Even if Shirō walks the same path as him, he would never become the same man.

All the scars in his heart seemed to have healed when he understood this. Emiya Kiritsugu closed his eyes.

Then –

This man who accomplished nothing in his life and did not win a single victory stopped breathing. His last moments were full of relief, and he passed away as if he had merely fallen asleep.

''– Kerry, what kind of a man would you like to become?''

She asked under the dazzling sunlight.

He would never forget her smile and her gentleness.

This world is so beautiful. How he wished that time would forever be stopped in this beautiful moment.

As he thought this, he spoke his promise without knowing.

''I’ll never forget what I felt today.''

– I, want to be a hero of justice!

<center>'''FIN'''</center>

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Fate/Zero:Epilogue:_Half_A_Year_Later|Half A Year Later]]
| Return to [[Fate/Zero|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Fate/Zero:Volume_4_Postface|Postface]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Fate/Zero:Epilogue: Half A Year Later

2011-03-13T04:27:54Z

129.22.164.102:

=== Half a Year Later ===

“– I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand up on the earth.”

A funeral procession progressed alone in the icy-cold rain.

A young girl was the person who managed the funeral.

No expressions of sorrow or anxiety were written on her, but she only numbly went on according to the procedure of the funeral. While this expression made those who came to mourn feel her strength, none of them held any feelings of pity towards her.

It was a funeral for a high-born clan. For elders, children who grew up under such a strict education should be able to bear anything. The mourners sitting here all held the same belief.

“And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes – I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me… Amen.”

Then the coffin was buried into the earth. With some words of prayer from the others, the mourners left one by one. In the rain that once again regained its silence, only the young girl who took charge of the funeral and the priest who led the ceremonies were left behind.

“Good work. It was already very splendid as the debut of the next Head of the family. I believe your father would feel proud too.”

Rin just nodded in silence hearing those words of praise for her. Her left wrist had already been carved with the Magic Crest of the Tōsaka family. Her body was still not used to the Crest that had only recently been grafted and kept on inflicting pain on her. But there was no sign of agony shown on the young girl’s face, and she endured the funeral until the very last minute. Indeed, this willpower of hers didn’t match her age.

The letter that Tokiomi wrote, which entrusted everything to the Association after his death, was almost perfect; it was truly a real portrait of the man himself. The transfer of the body and the extraction of the Crest were all entrusted to the Association’s headquarters in London by Kotomine Kirei, Rin’s guardian. The Crest was handed to Tokiomi’s friends to be guarded securely to ensure that it would be impeccably transplanted onto Rin’s body in the future.

Transplanting a Crest into someone will cause a great burden to the body, therefore it was best to transplant it to the family successor before his or her secondary sexual characteristics have developed completely. However, when the previous Head suddenly passes away, many unthought-of difficulties often would occur. But Tokiomi had overcome this and made impeccable preparations. He had passed the essence of magecraft that the Tohsaka house had complied over the generations all unto Rin without omitting a single thing.

However, due to the numerous procedures involved with the transport of the body and the removal of the Crest, over six months passed before Tokiomi’s body was returned home. As a result, people who attended the funeral procession today were only the few people who knew the truth of his death, completely unrelated to the prestige and achievements the family had achieved in its homeland. A lonely funeral like this is already a sin one must bear as a magus.

Kirei looked around the cemetery, which suddenly became desolate, and turned around to meet the taxi that had waited at the back.

“It’s about time to let Mother come out, right?”

“– Mm, it’s about time.”

Tōsaka Aoi, who was supposed to organize the funeral as the widow, was unable to appear in front of the guests due to her health condition that required her to stay in bed. Although reluctant to let her come into contact with outsiders, Rin still wanted her mother to meet her father one last time before the coffin was to be buried beneath the earth.

Rin had been waiting for her mother’s arrival since before the other mourners arrived. She walked towards the car, helped her mother onto the wheelchair, and pushed it towards Tokiomi’s grave. In the wheelchair, although the widow still looked very young and beautiful, there wasn’t any expression engraved on her face; only a hazy, dreamy stare that looked into the void.

“Mom, here, say a final goodbye to father.”

Hearing Rin’s urging sound, Aoi’s dreamy eyes finally slowly gathered on one spot on the ground.

Her eyes slowly swept around the gravestones surrounding her, and opened her eyes wide as if having finally realized something.

“Ah – What, Rin? Is it someone’s funeral today?”

“Yes. Because father passed away.”

“Oh my goodness! I’ll have to hurry and take out Tokiomi’s funeral clothes – Rin, go help Sakura to get dressed. Ahhh what to do what to do. I haven’t prepared anything…”

Aoi, who was sitting on a wheelchair, sank into a brief panic. Then, she suddenly bent down like a marionette with its strings broken. Moreover, when she finally lifted her head up again, she showed a gentle smile towards the empty air before her, and stretched out her fingers towards the front.

“See, my dear, your tie is skewed again. And there’s a string sticking to your shoulder. Haha, try to cheer up a bit. You’re the father that Rin and Sakura are proud of…”

Aoi prattled on and on to the husband that only she could see. Meanwhile, Rin simply stayed by her mother’s side and guarded her in silence.

Tōsaka Aoi, who had received brain damage as a result of oxygen deprivation, was unable to communicate properly with Kirei and Rin anymore. Undoubtedly for Rin, Aoi had been an innocent victim swept up into the Fourth Heaven’s Feel just like her father.

However, for Aoi who was no longer able to correctly comprehend reality, perhaps this was happier for her. Her heart had remained at that time when Sakura was still in the house and Tokiomi was still alive. She wandered in the spacious Tōsaka mansion, conversed and laughed with the husband and younger daughter in her memories, and lived on forever in the beautiful dream of a happy family.

Only Rin was left behind in the real world by herself. She took care of such a mother, but could only look at her silently and was unable to move a single step into that happy picture. She hid the sadness that no one else could feel, bore the heavy burden of being the head of a magecraft clan upon her young body, and endured the pain of the Crest. It was truly a far-too-cruel fate for a young girl who was only a primary school student.

Kotomine Kirei, however, thought that it was an incomparably good strike of luck that he was made the guardian of such a tragic girl.

He could only feel joy through the other’s pain and suffering. To Kirei, who had known his twisted true colors a long time ago, Rin’s current predicaments were undoubtedly the best environment to make her grow into a sentimental girl. Since Kirei would be able to appraise everything from the closest distance, it was undoubtedly an enjoyment comparable to tasting the most outstanding wine.

However – what angered him was the fact that he had never received such rewards.

Though she was burdened with this tragic fate, the young girl didn’t shed a single tear. Not even a weak word was ever said by her.

Even now, before her pitiful mother who could not comprehend her father’s passing, Rin still kept a calm look. She forcibly suppressed her sorrow and grief inside her heart, and waited for her mother to calm down. This would have been a situation where other children of her age, who were spoiled to death by their parents, would never have been able to endure.

Rin had already acknowledged and accepted her fate, and was courageous enough to boldly face it. Such rare pride and self-control were the greatest virtues possessed by the young girl named Tōsaka Rin, but it was the thing that angered Kirei the most.

After having had her full of bitterness and pain, this jewel named Rin began to take on shape from the unshaped raw ore. He had originally thought that seeing the shameful behavior of her beloved mother would wound her soul, but he did not expect her to accept her mother’s weakness of becoming enthralled in dreams with a merciful and accommodating heart.

This young girl was advancing step by step towards the heretic road named magecraft. Perhaps one day she would become just like her father, and discard all the twisted evil of a magus and form a most righteous and balanced personality. Of course, that would be the most boring development for Kirei. He had originally expected very much to see just what kind of a warped flower would bloom out of Tokiomi’s daughter.

Keeping all of the secrets in his heart, Kirei placed his hand on Rin’s shoulders as if encouraging her.

“I will stay in Japan for some time… Is there anything else you’re worried about for the future?”

“… Nothing much. I’ve been too much of a trouble for you, but now it’s fine.”

The young girl answered with a tough tone, not even looking at Kirei.

Rin obeyed her father’s last words, and did not object to having Kotomine Kirei become her guardian. However, she found it difficult to cover up her spite toward him. He was Tokiomi’s assistant and headed toward the same battlefield, but in the end still failed to protect Tokiomi. Rin’s heart was still full of anger and suspicion toward such a man named Kirei till this day.

Kirei only felt Rin’s inexperienced hatred to be laughable. What would the expression on this girl’s face be when she one day came to know the truth? He would be quite looking forward to see it.

“We will meet again after six months. Then the second Crest transplantation process can be performed. Please take care of yourself.”

“…You don’t have to say a thing I already know about.”

“I think that I will be mainly working overseas in the future. I’m terribly sorry to say this, but I think I cannot live in Japan. I am truly unsuitable to be a guardian…”

“If you’re busy then it cannot be helped. I will obviously take good care of mother and the Tōsaka family while you’re gone. You can go crusade against heretics or do whatever you like as long as you don’t bring us trouble.”

Hah, even Rin can bluff like this? Her tone today was sharper than usual. Perhaps today really was more painful than ever for this girl.

A rather sickening idea suddenly flashed through Kirei’s mind.

“– Rin, you are the true Head of the Tōsaka house from today onwards. In order to celebrate this special occasion, I am giving you a gift.”

As he said that, Kirei pulled a dagger from within his coat together with its sheath.

This was the same Azoth Sword that was given to him by Tokiomi as a symbol of friendship. Today’s funeral also made Kirei remember the man who had passed away, so he brought this dagger along. It was also a little compensation for the man who had died by his hand.

“This is what I received from Tokiomi-sensei in the past when he recognized the achievements of my magecraft studies– I think it’s better that you take care of it from now on.”

Rin took the dagger, pulled the dagger from its sheath, and studied it carefully. She caressed the leather of the hilt and the magecraft runes on the blade almost reverently, as if she could feel the warmth of her father’s fingers within.

“… Father …”

A small ripple suddenly appeared on the dagger that the girl held in her hands – a single drop of tear suddenly tumbled down the immaculate blade.

This was the first time that Rin had shed tears in front of Kirei.

As if having tasted the wine he had been waiting for too long, Kirei’s heart shook with joy.

Rin didn’t know anything. The dagger that she held in her hand and received her tears was once fully stained with the fresh blood that poured out of Tokiomi’s heart. Perhaps she would even consider this dagger as a memento of her memorable father and deferentially treasure it in the future. Of course, the pre-requisite was that she did not know this was the murder weapon that killed her father.

This extreme irony and the pleasure of violating a pure heart made Kotomine Kirei receive an insurmountable satisfaction.

Rin, who was crying with her head lowered, was completely ignorant to the priest beside her who was blossoming with a silent smile. She only held on tightly to the dagger of fate in her hands.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Fate/Zero:Epilogue:_The_Next_Day|The Next Day]]
| Return to [[Fate/Zero|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Fate/Zero:Epilogue:_Five_Years_Later|Epilogue: Five Years Later]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Fate/Zero:Act 16 Part 6

2011-02-18T21:21:38Z

129.22.164.102:

=== -03:54:28 ===

The battle tactic analysis concerning Kotomine Kirei – was conducted based on information from Hisau Maiya, who had fought him twice.

He threw Black Keys for ranged battle. A single throw, together with preparatory movements, can be completed in 0.3 seconds. As for continuous throwing, it had been confirmed that he can complete four throws in 0.7 seconds. He can also attack without obstacles toward unconfirmed targets. The power of the blades, half-spiritual entities, can penetrate iron. Chances of a hit – 100% when he is using illusions.

He used Baji quan for melee fighting. Although the details were unclear, he was indeed at the level of an expert. He had seriously injured Maiya, who had a dagger, with just one blow. The destructive power of this kind of attack can snap a tree with two blows, and was extraordinarily dangerous.

The frock covering his entire body had been reinforced with bullet-proof materials and processed to protect against spells. It can defend against the impact and the penetration power of 9mm Parabellum bullets.

As for the result of pre-battle intelligence gathered from other fields – according to the magecraft teaching result report obtained from Tōsaka Tokiomi, Kotomine Kirei’s level of magecraft learning had not progressed beyond the degree of a beginner. His most outstanding skill was simply spiritual healing. If he were to use any effective measures during battle, then the only predictable one would be physical enhancement; his most adept skill, used to exert even greater physical strength.

Lastly, predicting his battle tactics.

Since Emiya Kiritsugu had thoroughly hid himself, the most information Kotomine Kirei could get to analyze Kiritsugu’s tactics would consist of rumors. The only battle in this Heaven’s Feel that forced Kiritsugu to use his ‘secret weapon’ was the fight against Lord El-Melloi. The bounded field of the Einzbern Castle at that time was still dense enough to prevent the Assassins from penetrating. Moreover, Kirei himself was tied down in the battle with Maiya and Irisivel during that time. In conclusion, it was impossible for Kirei to know about Innate Time Control and the ‘Origin Bullet’. It can be concluded that he would not have countermeasures for these.

– The above was all the information that Emiya Kiritsugu had gathered concerning the final decisive battle.

Firstly, their initial wave of attacks consists of Black Keys versus bullets. Of course, Kirei would be in an overwhelmingly disadvantageous position. However, if he wanted to rely on magecraft to compensate for his lack in weaponry, then it would be very possible for Kirei to rush up fearlessly and shorten the distance between them.

At last, the Executor waved the wing-like six Black Keys and rushed toward Kiritsugu from the front. It seemed that he had made the defensive preparations for Kiritsugu’s bullets.

That was exactly what Kiritsugu had wanted. Kiritsugu could ensure the success of his killing blow precisely because Kirei had made defensive measure. It was because he was firing the magecraft bullet from his Mystic Code.

With the belief that the early bird gets the worm, Kiritsugu fired toward his opponent. Kirei should have been able to completely predict the trajectory of the bullet from Kiritsugu’s killing aura and preparatory actions. As a humanoid Shura, an Executor of the Holy Church, the quickness of Kirei’s mind far surpassed that of a bullet.

Kirei initiated a large scale magecraft.

The Black Keys that he grasped with both hands instantly swelled up into more than twice their original size. The half-spiritual blades, which were woven with magecraft to begin with, had extra prana instilled into them and were completely ‘strengthened’. Although the forceful execution of this spell evidently surpassed the limit of the weapons themselves, it was enough to handle one bullet. Kirei crossed the six enormous swords before his chest and held them in fan-like formation. The mighty destructive power of the .30-06 Springfield assault rifle bullet was completely sealed off in an instant.

The bullet was deflected away together with flying sparks. At the same time the Black Keys, which had been filled with too much prana, could no longer handle the heavy load and shattered completely.

This extraordinary skill, which allowed swords to surpass bullets, now became a wrong move. It was truly shocking that Kirei, who shouldn’t even have a Magic Crest, could exert such a surprising skill. But more importantly, this would allow the fatal destruction of Kirei’s Magic Circuits, which were currently serving as a sack full of energy. Due to Emiya Kiritsugu’s repulsion towards the ‘Origin’, Kirei’s flesh would instantly be annihilated due to the magecraft running rampant in his body – that was what was supposed to happen.

A rapidly approaching figure clad in black frock suddenly appeared within the fragments of the six Black Keys, which were scattering away. Kiritsugu couldn’t help but gasp in surprise.

“Time alter——double accel!”

His body reacted sooner than his brain while he remained in shock. Kiritsugu chanted a spell.

Kiritsugu jumped backward at the last moment. Kirei’s right feet ferociously swept past the tip of Kiritsugu’s nose, and the left feet that followed up the attack didn’t land on Kiritsugu’s neck either. Kirei’s smooth roundhouse kicking attack completely missed its target under the confusion caused by Kiritsugu’s double-speed movement.

That was not within the scope of his predictions. The ‘Origin Bullet’ fired from his magecraft Contender gun was nullified – Kiritsugu couldn’t figure out the reason no matter what. Meanwhile, Kirei didn’t know the reason for Kiritsugu’s surprise. Even Kirei wouldn’t have imagined that the uniqueness of his magecraft had surprisingly nullified Kiritsugu’s killing blow.

Kirei had never been an orthodox magus. Kirei, whose Magic Circuits were yet to be developed properly, only obtained a source of prana through utilizing the spare Command Seals he received from Risei so he could instantly learn how to use magecraft. Although the characteristics of the Command Seals meant they were disposables which would disappear upon use, it had managed to save Kirei at the end. The moment that the magecraft was activated and the ‘Origin Bullet’ made contact to exert the effect, the Command Seal that served as the source of prana had simply disappeared from Kirei’s arm.

Having his one-turn-kill plan completely disrupted, Kiritsugu could only progress onto his next step. He did not expect the opponent to attack back. Although in terms of the result, Kirei’s attack would only be a waste of efforts, the overwhelming destructive power of his martial arts was evident. This man is a high-level martial artist, and Kiritsugu won’t have any chances of victory if he was pulled into melee fighting with him.

Kiritsugu ignored the damage Innate Time Control gave him as a side effect and maintained its activation and escaped Kirei’s range at once. Firstly, he had to increase the distance between them, otherwise he would have no chance. Kiritsugu would be able to deal with Kirei if the other simply threw Black Keys, but the current competition had become an authentic contest of ‘distance’. Kiritsugu was retreating, while Kirei was advancing. Since the ideal distance for them to initiate an attack differed between the two men, now they could only compete their speed on foot.

The power of mobility that Innate Time Control gave to him was Kiritsugu’s most reliable defence. Firstly, a certain distance was needed to fill the Contender bullets. As long As Kiritsugu was at a relatively close distance where his enemy’s fists won’t hit him, but at the same time won’t be able to predict the bullet’s path and thus escape, then he would be able to surely finish the enemy this time. Even if the bullet contained no magecraft, the bulletproof vests that the enemy wore which had been mentioned in Maiya’s report would not be able to stop the innate penetration power of these hunting bullets that can kill even large beasts in one shot. Though he understood that the continuous activation of Innate Time Control was nothing less than suicide, he had no other choices at this moment.

However – Even then, Kiritsugu still underestimated the man Kotomine Kirei.

It wasn’t due to Kiritsugu’s overly-fast speed or a miscalculation that caused Kirei’s roundhouse kick to go off the mark. Kiritsugu’s movement wasn’t so nimble that Kirei was completely unable to grasp it. Once he understood that Kiritsugu was only moving at twice the speed of normal human – Kirei also made appropriate calculations.

Therefore, Kiritsugu immediately experienced surprised for the second time.

The space between them was more than five steps. The tall Executor took a slight step forward, and shortened this seemingly safe distance. This step, which sneaked toward the enemy along the ground without announcing its speed, was called ‘the moving stance’. It was also one of the dangerous secret skills of Baji Quan.

The tall, frock-clad figure slid in front of Kiritsugu like a Reaper, while Kiritsugu was shivering all over. Baji Quan can exert its greatest power at this distance. Kirei’s fist smashed down heavily toward the enemy with the power to reach infinity in all eight directions…

Kirei stepped forward. The concrete floor boomed under the impact, and the heavily planted forward fist smashed against Kiritsugu’s chest like a rock. Using the ‘Eight Postures of the Buddha Guards’ style, Kirei’s single blow had the same power as a grenade exploding in front of someone’s chest. Kiritsusu’s body, which took the full force of the blow, flew out into the air like a strand of hay and slammed into the support pillars that crowded the room. He never had the chance to defend himself. His thoracic cavity tore apart under the heavy hit of Kirei’s iron fist, and his lung and heart were pounded into nothing more than a mesh of meat.

Kirei remained clutching his fist and experienced the feel of death on his hand, and at the same time sighed slowly. Even a fight to the death, in which every second mattered, took only one moment to decide the victor. He experienced an emptiness that he had never felt before the moment he attained victory. This had originally been an end that he had pursued with a crazed fervor.

This lethargy made Kirei’s focus dull. He didn’t know that the opponent would actually sneak in an attack at this momentary gap. Nor did he realize that he would be the next to experience surprise.

There was a piercing pain between his brows, and the splashing red covered his field of sight.

The sound of gunfire beside his ears made Kirei instinctively raise his arms to shield his head before he understood what was going on. A rain of 9mm bullets was mercilessly showered upon him. The sleeves, which were made of Kevlar and covered in protective sigils, barely managed against the force of the bullets. Kirei was stunned.

Even Kiritsugu did not expect himself to be revived. He had already been prepared to die when Kirei neared him. In truth, Kiritsugu’s heart and lungs had indeed been completely destroyed, and the best he could manage should have been a final struggle.

However, seconds before his blood-deprived brain was about to die due to lack of oxygen, the heavy and uncontrollable injury on his body had healed completely by itself. Of course, Kiritsugu didn’t use any healing magecraft. Nonetheless, Kiritsugu had no doubts concerning this shocking miracle. He immediately understood what was going on.

The Noble Phantasm, Avalon – the holy relic that had summoned Saber and had been kept by Old Man Acht, the sheath of the holy sword that had protected Irisviel’s body for so long. Kiritsugu obtained this sheath when he separated from his wife, this sword sheath that can prevent aging and possesses a mighty healing power. Since it had been sealed inside Kiritsugu’s body, who was Saber’s authentic Master, the sheath could obtain prana from Saber and exert its effect in full according to the contract.

Although Kiritsugu understood its ability, he had never confirmed it with his own eyes. Therefore, he did not expect the sheath to be able to heal fatal injuries. The current situation was completely unpredicted for him. Kiritsugu was indeed admirable; he began to consider battle tactics as soon as he realized that he had been revived. He didn’t open his eyes, and he suppressed the urge to cough as his body began to breathe again, and pretended to be dead while waiting for the chance to launch a surprise attack.

Unfortunately, the Contender in his right hand still needed a bullet to fill it. If he were really to attack the other at unawares, then he could only use his left hand to take out the short automatic machine gun from the holster on his chest and fire. However, since Kirei’s strategies against bullets were perfect, Kiritsugu must aim at his head if he were to have a chance at victory.

It was awkward angle, and he could only fire instinctively. Moreover, the target was very small. Kiritsugu, who was a master shooter, managed a hit even though these three obstacles presented themselves before him. However, though the bullet hit its target, Kirei’s head was not shot through. Only the skin on his brow was scraped. Bullets can easily be deflected off their effective angles since the skull is made of curves, and therefore it is a rule in real battles to avoid aiming at the head.

Kiritsugu adjusted the machine gun into full automatic mode after he understood his surprise attack had failed, and sealed Kirei’s movements using a tight wall of suppressive fire. At the same time, he used his right hand to take out the empty shell in the Contender’s barrel. Although it was hard to use only his left hand to control the machine gun’s kickback inertia, which was as ferocious and wild as an untamed horse, Kiritsugu’s right hand still managed to fluently carry out a series of movements. It was as if he had trained himself into a war machine.

What was more worthy of praise was his strength of mind. Even though his two hands were engaged in two completely different tasks, he actually managed to chant out a spell with a superhuman concentration.

“Time alter——double accel!”

The time within his body changed. Kiritsugu threw everything to the wind in order to maximally use the tiny gap that he had managed to steal from this strong enemy.

He drove his accelerated limbs and leapt up from the ground, jumping backwards to further the distance. The machine gun ran out of bullets. Kirei adjusted his pose. Kiritsugu threw away the machine gun and grabbed a .30-06 bullet with his now empty left hand. Kirei loomed near. With a near-flight speed – Kiritsugu filled the Contender’s open barrel with the bullet. He closed the barrel half-way, took aim –

A space of three steps separated him from Kirei’s iron fists.

The Contender once again let out a furious roar. Kirei had no time to dodge, nor did he have time to pull out Black Keys.

Actually, Kirei never intended to dodge.

Kirei once again activated his Command Seals the moment he stepped toward Kiritsugu. He strengthened his physical abilities – he accelerated his reaction time and multiplied the maximum power output of his right flexor, radius muscle, and Pronator teres muscle. There was no time to strengthen the sleeve of the bulletproof frock. The rest depended on his skill.

Kirei moved his right arm again before the Contender shot out a bullet. His arm, having transformed into a lethal megacraft Mystic Code, carved a spiral in the air and a tornado roared into being.

This movement became a spiralling force. It had originally been a defensive skill to nullify the opponent’s fists, but it had been performed at an extraordinary speed after the prana of two Command Seals had been infused into it.

The bullet, which left the barrel at a speed of 2500 inches per second, was wrapped into the spiral that moved at a divine speed. Even so, the .30-06 bullet still kept a straight path. It tore apart the Kevlar sleeves and clashed viciously with Kirei’s hardened arm, emitting alien sounds like the clash of two mill stones.

The scattering sparks distorted the usual laws of physics. It was a supernatural phenomena where the approximately 3000 pound per inch kinetic energy bent its knees to the power of prana. Kiritsugu felt a chill creeping up his skin as he watched the second Contender bullet had its trajectory forcibly changed and flew off toward the distance.

Monster – he didn’t know how to describe this man apart from that word. At this moment, Kotomine Kirei’s battle prowess could probably be considered that of a desperate man. Just what kind of a willpower was required for a living man to drill his own body into such a terrifying lethal weapon?

A piercing pain suddenly invaded his entire body. With a moan, Kiritsugu stumbled. His body had reached its limit due to the continuous activation of Innate Time Control. The blood vessels all around his body had ruptured, and the bones in his limbs also began to fracture due to having borne an unimaginable burden.

However, Kirei did not follow up his attack during this pause. He remained where he stood and did not move, as if he was observing the opponent’s next move. Large amounts of blood gushed out of his right arm where the frock sleeve was torn. It was probably because he had used too much prana with his unskilled method. His right arm, which had been overly strengthened by magecraft, was severely wounded as the price for having blocked the Contender’s blow.

The two men kept their disdainful eyes on each other, and analyzed the situation as they each thought of their next move.

According to Kirei’s analysis, Kiritsugu’s strategy – consisted of a magecraft that can accelerate his movement and a healing power that could even revive the caster even if the heart was destroyed. In other words, Kirei had to admit that he could not win no matter how heavy a wound he may deal to the enemy, unless he could destroy Kiritsugu’s brain with one blow. As for himself… his right arm had been damaged from the muscle to the bone, and he could only manage one more blow even if he was prepared to shatter his entire right fist. On the other hand, although the wound on his forehead wasn’t deep, the blood that seeped out had affected the sight of his left eye. The bulletproof ability of the frock had also been severely reduced since he had been shot at multiple times, and only the protective sigils close to his body remained intact. He had twelve Black Keys and eight Command Seals left.

According to Kiritsugu’s analysis, Kirei’s strategy – consisted of an unknown prana source that can nullify his ‘Origin Bullet’, and his ultimate Baji Quan skills. Melee fighting would be extremely disadvantageous for him. As for himself… he had lost his machine gun and the Contender needed to be filed again. His remaining weapons consist of one dagger and two grenades. The heavy wound that his chest had obtained at first had all but healed and won’t affect his movements, but he didn’t know about the damage caused by Innate Time Control –

Kiritsugu finally felt that there was something different when he attempted to tighten the muscles on his arms and legs.

He could move them; there were no difficulties. The bones which had definitely snapped a while ago were now in perfect condition, as if they had never been damaged – no, he could still feel the echo of that pain in his body, but there were no injuries.

“… I see.”

Kiritsugu finally understood the true worth of this trump card within his body. It seemed Avalon not only could heal injuries dealt by his enemies, but also the damages dealt by himself. This discovery gave Kiritsugu, whom had fallen into a desperate situation by fighting with an unimaginably strong enemy, the greatest confidence in the world.

Which means –

“Time alter——triple accel!”

Kiritsugu boldly leapt toward Kirei at the same time that he muttered that forbidden spell. His completely unpredictable acceleration caught Kirei off-guard. One blow from the hardened walnut wood smashed Kirei’s right radius and ulna. This time, his right arm was completely ruined.

As the same time that he struck out viciously with his right arm, Kiritsugu drew out the dagger by his waist using his left hand. He concluded that it didn’t matter how great a threat Kirei’s martial art skills may prove to be; victory would belong to Kiritsugu as long as he kept moving at three times the speed of a normal human. Using Innate Time Control in this way would ordinarily be suicide, but he could now use it to its full potential as a strategic weapon thanks to the protection of Saber’s sheath.

Kirei dodged the upward stab as the dagger was removed from its sheath, and used his left arm to block the downward slash and backhand horizontal swing Kiritsugu followed up with. However, Kiritsugu edged toward Kirei’s left side using these three attacks, and prepared to use Kirei’s blind spot – due to his left eye’s ruined eyesight – as his advantage. As long as he stayed to the enemy’s left side, Kiritsugu would have all the chances in the world to successfully succumb Kirei from his blind spot.

Kiritsugu’s sharp blade crept nearer, but Kirei didn’t turn and used his left side of the body to block everything. Turning around would have been pointless; his broken right arm could not possibly block Kiritsugu’s dagger. Therefore, though it was very disadvantageous for Kirei to use his left side of the body to defend himself, he had no other choices.

The dagger attacked continuously as it flashed with a chilling light. Ordinary humans would never have been able to see Kiritsugu’s movement, and could only have captured the lighting-like residual images of the dagger. However, Kirei blocked every single attack using just his left hand. Kirei, who easily defended himself even when faced with attacks made at three times the speed of normal humans, terrified Kiritsugu. There were a few attacks that Kirei would never have seen coming with his eyes, but the Executor’s left arm made effective defences as if it had grown eyes.

“Could this be the idea of – ‘hearing’ a move!?”

Kiritsugu only had a vague impression of this phrase. It had been said that when a martial artist had reached a certain advanced state in his skills, he wouldn’t need eyesight to detect the enemy’s movement. He could predict the opponent’s next move purely on the brief moment when his arm touched that of his opponent.

Then the attacks from his blind spot had also been rendered pointless. Since the direction the attacks were coming from weren’t changing, Kirei could block them even if he couldn’t see them. This man’s skills made him someone who wouldn’t be at a disadvantage even when put under the duress of speed.

Kiritsugu’s arms, legs, and heart let out sad screams of excruciating pain with every swing of the dagger. The adverse effect of Innate Time Control was also mercilessly tearing apart Kiritsugu’s flesh. At the same time, Avalon was also fixing the damage. Regardless of how Saber herself had used it, the sheath was only ‘healing’ Kiritsugu while in his body; in other words, it was only nullifying the ‘damages received’. That meant the excruciating pain of torn tendons and snapped bones were tormenting Kiritsugu’s nerves every single moment.

Even so, Kiritsugu did not hesitate. There was no need to hesitate. As long as his body could maintain its functions, he didn’t need to pay any attention to what he was feeling. Kiritsugu bet everything on the effect of the sheath of the holy sword, and continued to accelerate against the normal time flow as if his life depended on it.

“Whoaaaaaaaaa!!”

Kiritsugu’s body was reborn at the same time as it was dying. Kiritsugu shrieked out of agony while he swung his dagger, aiming for the enemy before him. His blood vessels, which endlessly repeated a cycle of rupture and repair, shed out sanguineous mists with his every move.

Kirei suddenly changed his feet stance, and rolled forward towards his left. Kiritsugu had thought that the enemy’s ability to ‘hear’ a move had been pushed to its limit, but Kirei unexpectedly used his feet to hook one of Kiritsugu’s legs from the inside. This legwork was named ‘the locking stance’. Kiritsugu immediately stumbled backwards. After he finally managed to balance himself, he realized that a heavy blow from Kirei was fast approaching. However, since his weight had shifted backwards, he would definitely be hit.

If so – Kiritsugu squeezed out a spell from his throat that was frothing with blood.

“Time alter ——square accel!”

The explosive pain boiled into every part of his senses. Kiritsugu leapt up and backwards, and turned in mid-air to escape out of Kirei’s range of attack. At the same time, he threw out the dagger in his left hand with all the strength in his body. Faced with this shocking repeated acceleration, Kirei couldn’t dodge no matter how good his ‘move-hearing’ skills were. The dagger tore through air and flew toward Kirei’s thigh. The Kevlar fibres were pierced through and the sharp blade stabbed deep into flesh.

Kiritsugu maintained his four-time acceleration and continued to leap backwards as if there was a throttle equipped on him. He had moved about ten meters away from Kirei in the blink of an eye. Kirei took the opportunity to take out a Black Key and throw at him, but Kiritsugu dodged it with ease and began to refill the Contender at the same time.

He pulled it and opened the barrel.

Kirei rushed up. He paid no attention to the dagger, which was still sticking out of his left leg. Even the fact that the sharp blade was tearing the wound open wider as he ran did not cause him to hesitate any.

The expelled cartridge danced in the air; the light of the golden bronze sparkled.

Kirei pulled out four Black Keys with his left hand. That was the limit to the number he can wield in one hand.

Kiritsugu put the new bullet into the barrel. The bullet slide in easily, but this split second had seemed so long in the quadruple-accelerated time.

Kirei threw his Black Keys, not to the front, but upwards. The four sharp blades danced in the air beneath the tall ceiling of the large prop warehouse like boomerangs. Kirei didn’t plan to use the Black Keys for a normal attack; Kiritsugu didn’t know his intentions. Moreover, there was no time to ponder Kirei’s intention at this moment.

With one flick upwards, the gun barrel was closed. The Contender once again transformed into that heinous murder weapon.

Kirei was getting close. He again used his martial art stances to shorten the distance between him and Kiritsugu, but he won’t be getting any nearer. Right now, Kiritsugu would definitely be able to dodge him and fire at the same time.

The Black Keys landed from above him. Kiritsugu finally perceived Kirei’s tactics when the four sharp blades surrounded him in all directions like a bird cage.

Sealing his movements – if Kiritsugu wanted to dodge Kirei’s sudden advance, there the sharp blades of the Black Keys would be waiting for him no matter where he moved toward. Kirei’s intention had always been to seal Kiritsugu’s movements when he threw the Black Keys.

The only way to stay alive was to fire before he was attacked.

Kiritsugu aimed with Contender. There was no need to be anxious, no need to be fearful. All he needed to do was focus on firing at the enemy in front of him.

Kirei stepped on the ground viciously with his right foot and leapt forward. This leap equaled to about five normal steps. His left foot would likely be broken the moment he land, but it didn’t matter; the following blow would decide the victor. There was no need to hold back; his entire body had been fully prepared. His goal was to perform one of the Eight Grand Openings – The Standing Upward Cannon. The smashing upper hook would definitely shatter the opponent’s skull into pieces.

I will win – both men believed firmly in that.

I will die – both men understood that fact.

The fist and the gun that contained the will for a sure kill finally completed their last exchange.

Emiya Kiritsugu and Kotomine Kirei, who were deeply engrossed in battle, did not notice the abnormality above them.

Directly above the big prop warehouse where the two men were, Irisviel’s already-cold corpse was placed upon the raised stage of the music hall.

As the ‘Guardian’, she had almost lost all signs of life. The organs within her body had already reverted to the form of the Vessel of the Grail, and was waiting to recollect the souls of the remaining Servants.

After Archer’s victory, this vessel had finally absorbed the soul of the fourth Servant.

The sealing enchantment had already disappeared. Having gathered enormous amounts of prana, its residual waves brought scorching heat to its surroundings.

The corpse of the beautiful homunculus was completely consumed by the heat in the blink of an eye, and was reduced to ashes. That was not all. The golden cup that had contacted the outside air charred the floor and the curtains, and roaring flames enveloped the completely empty stage.

On the stage where the fire was raging ever wilder, the golden cup floated in the air as if it was upheld by a pair of invisible hands. The ceremony of the descent of the Holy Grail, which the Three Noble Families of the Beginning had desired so much, had begun silently even without the presence of a priest.

Then – a gap no wider than the width of a hair, so minute and almost invisible, appeared on the ‘Gate’ that remained tightly closed. Through this tiny gap, something beyond the Gate silently seeped into the Holy Grail.

That thing seemed very similar to ‘mud’. It was black, simply and only black, a ‘thing’ that seemed like mud.

The thing that seeped into the Holy Grail suddenly overflew by one drop, then another drop. It soon became a thin black line. Like a crack that had appeared on a dam, the black torrents soon completely overflew out of the vessel and drained toward the stage floor.

The strength of the stage floor could not bear that inky black substance at all. The dirty mud seeped into the brand new building materials, eroding them, and flew even deeper like how the water from melted snow seeps into land.

The moment that the trigger of the magecraft gun was pressed –

The moment the floor moaned from the heavy step –

In that moment, Kiritsugu only saw Kirei, and Kirei only saw Kiritsugu.

The two of them did not detect that thing, which dribbled down through the ceiling, even till the end.

At that brief moment between life and death, the two men were drenched with the black dirty mud that descended from above.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Fate/Zero:Act_16_Part_5|Act 16, Part 5]]
| Return to [[Fate/Zero|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Fate/Zero:Act_16_Part_7|Act 16, Part 7]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Fate/Zero:Act 16 Part 2

2011-01-30T20:40:31Z

129.22.164.102:

-03：59：48

At this moment, Saber was wandering aimlessly in eastern Shinto in search of Irisviel. Naturally, she too noticed the smoke signal given out at the Fuyuki Municipal Hall.

Though she did not understand the significance of the signal, it undoubtedly had something to do with the Heaven’s Feel. Like one critically ill who would turn to any doctor, as if grasping a lifeline, Saber immediately turned the vehicle and sped in the direction where the smoke signal had flared.

Saber, who did not need to cross the Mion River to reach her destination, was not attacked by Archer who was guarding the bridge, and arrived first at the Fuyuki Municipal Hall.

Saber drove the V-MAX through the silent night scene; revving the V-type four-cylinder engine, she drove into the front porch, the walls of which still looked new.

Within her sight there was no sign of the enemy, and neither could she sense any killing intent hidden in the darkness. In that case—was the enemy hiding within the building?

Saber gazed for a moment at the pitch-black area near the outer wall of the Municipal Hall, turning the V-MAX around to the guiding road designated for visitors. She followed the sloping path that extended below the building, and entered the underground parking area.

In the underground area where the moonlight could not reach, the white light of the headlights cut through the darkness to shine on the icy cement wall. The wide car park, designed to accommodate more than a hundred cars, had not yet been opened for use; only several cars from the construction company were parked here and there, the rest of the empty space was heavy with dusty air.

The rough roar of the V-MAX’s engine was also instantly swallowed up by the strange, crypt-like silence. Saber warily glanced at the surroundings. All around her was dense darkness, the shadows of the support pillars that had been built everywhere… extremely suitable for the enemy to hide his form. More importantly, her instinct felt the murderous intent that almost saturated the air.

“Ah…”

From the floor came a resentful sigh; it sounded like the groaning of the dead from a dark abyss.

Saber could not have heard this sound wrongly, for she had many times been its target—

“URRRRRR!!”

She immediately reacted to the explosion that closely followed the roar.

Saber turned(1) and retreated quickly. At her previous position, the V-MAX that had been left there was surrounded by the fire that splashed like rain. In just one instant, her beloved steel steed had turned into a shapeless heap of scrap. The gunpowder scent of burning reached Saber’s nose.

“This weapon is—“

Saber had an impression of it. This was the rain of fire that had turned Lancer’s Master and the rest— all who had fallen terrible victim to Emiya Kiritsugu’s calculations—into pitiful corpses; in this modern world, it had become a mainstream mechanized shooting weapon.

In the depths of the darkness, red lotuses of flame blossomed once more. Under the firelight that shone from the muzzle of the gun, the black shadow of Berserker lengthened to a state of deformity as it gestured threateningly on the walls of the underground parking area. Without the slightest hesitation, Saber leaped into the air, dashing out through a baptism of flying lead bullets. The stray bullets of unimaginably destructive power tore open a large hole in the cement of the ground and walls. That power obviously could not be spoken of in tandem with the weapon that Maiya had used. Saber sensed that even though she was a Servant, if she were hit she would be fatally wounded; she gnashed her teeth in anger.

Of course, she could not have known the process by which Berserker had obtained the pistols. Both of the crazed black knight’s hands held a modern firearm that Kotomine Kirei had prepared using the power of his position as Supervisor; Berserker nimbly and freely operated them as if they had been extensions of his own hands. The firearms’ structure and holster were all immersed in the hated prana, and had turned into fierce magecraft military equipment that could even threaten Saber.

“▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅！”
The two machine guns were not in any way inferior to the black knight’s angry howl; screeching hotly, they attacked Saber. The bullets, faster than the speed of sound, were still unable to surpass the speed of Saber’s sword; nevertheless, the speed of twenty-odd bullets per second left her with only the ability to parry.

Berserker could confer the properties of a Noble Phantasm on the weapon in his hand, regardless of its origin or time period. Once it had been upgraded to the category of Noble Phantasm, the difference(2) between the two weapon types of ‘sword’ and ‘firearm’ forced Saber into a decisively disadvantageous situation.

Because the construction was not yet finished, a large number of paint cans were piled in one corner of the parking lot. One of the stray bullets impacted there; the calcinated bullet caused the solvent to explode. The underground darkness was dissipated by red lotuses of flame.

Saber was so restricted by the curtain of bullets that she could not close in; she looked around in search of a method by which she could return from certain defeat. At that time, she saw a small truck that was parked in a lot at the corner of the car park.

“—That’s it!”

Taking the risk that she would be forced into the corner with no route of retreat, Saber dashed toward the vehicle she had set her eyes on. Berserker pursued her as she fled, at the same time shooting at random with the firearms in his hands. Saber made a ferocious step that narrowly preceded the howling bullets, dashing into the back of the truck. She brandished the back of her sword upward, flinging the structure of the vehicle into the air.

At this point, the rain of bullets targeting Saber crumpled the truck as if it had been a paper model. Saber continued to hide behind the structure of the truck, pieces of which had been scattered all over, using her shoulder to halt the rotating chassis. Like this, she dashed toward Berserker.

Berserker continued to shoot, using the machine gun to mercilessly smash the structure of the truck to iron chips. Even though the heavy frame of the truck quickly met its fate of being disintegrated, from Saber’s perspective, as long as the ‘temporary shield’ could close the distance and bring Berserker into proximity of the sword’s attack, it would be enough.

“Uaoaoaoao!”

The bullets, which had penetrated the structure of the truck, grazed her face and shoulders. One bullet sent sparks flying in all directions as it impacted on the oil tank, combusting the fuel inside. The structure of the vehicle, which had already become unrecognizable, was consigned to the flames. Nevertheless, even this did not stop the footsteps of Saber’s attack.

When the distance from the adversary had closed to less than ten meters, Saber picked an opportune moment to throw the wreckage of the truck toward Berserker. Facing the flaming iron scrap, Berserker not only did not dodge, but brought up a single hand in the attempt to smash it with a single fist.

—The time was ripe.

“Ha-a!!”

Along with a high shout, Saber once again pressed in on the burning structure of the truck like an electro-optical stone(3), using all her strength to attack downward. The precious sword pierced the burning piece of iron that had been used as a distraction; the point of the sword closed in on Berserker, who had been on the other side.

Blocked by the obstacle, Berserker completely did not see Saber’s actions, and thus had no way of avoiding this attack. At the third clash of blades, Saber finally scored a hit on the enemy in one blow. From the point of her sword, a sense of having scored a direct hit travelled to her hand.
But—

“—Too shallow!?”

On Saber’s side, because of the blocking shield, she too could not directly see her target. Even though she had indeed scored a hit on the other by relying on her intuition to attack, she had ultimately not been lucky enough to have scored a critical hit in that blow. The front part of Barrier of the Wind King, though it had accurately impacted on the center of the forehead of the black helmet, it had been unable to smash the skull inside.

The outside of the truck was subject to a heavy rain of bullets, and its inside had been pierced by a sword; this time it finally broke into two pieces. Although Berserker had not received a fatal wound, because his face had been fiercely attacked, he staggered backward and would not be able to recover for a time. That was a space enough to make a follow-up attack. Now the scales of victory were tipped toward Saber.

Saber kicked aside the burning vehicle wreckage, and used the stance of the above paragraph (sword raised high above her head, a stance to intimidate the enemy) to raise her sword. This time she would definitely not let him off. She aimed at the defenseless top of Berserker’s head, and gambled victory on the following direct attack.

Stance, speed, timing were all perfect. That was a strike worthy of the name of the sword-wielding Heroic Spirit, enough to make one believe that the outcome had been decided—precisely thus, the instant when Saber’s sword was stopped in midair was especially surprising.

Berserker threw away the machine guns, trapping the blade of the Barrier of the Wind King between his bare hands before her eyes. That consummate skill was unbelievable on two counts. Not only because he had used an impossible stance to respond to Saber’s killing follow-up attack, but also that the path of the invisible Barrier of the Wind King could not have been seen through. But the Black Knight had grabbed the white blade with his bare hands to seal Saber’s attack, as if he had known everything about Saber’s sword, from the shape to the length, like the back of his hand.

Saber suddenly realized the fatal danger of having Berserker come into contact with her weapon; she shuddered violently. She banished the astonishment of her heart to the back of her mind, and used all her strength to kick out towards the black knight’s chest area. Berserker, who could not take the blow and thus retreated, released the precious sword, causing Saber’s beloved weapon to narrowly escape the danger of being corroded by the other’s black magic.

The sprinklers on the ceiling began to react to the flames that were spreading everywhere; they began to violently spray curtains of water. Even though their bodies were exposed to the fireproof water that was falling like rain, the platinum and black knights nevertheless did not move in the slightest, as they confronted each other.

In Saber’s heart again rushed forth a question that could not be overlooked.

The deceptive illusion of Barrier of the Wind King had been ineffective against Berserker. He was obviously very familiar with the sword that was protected by an invisible sheath. In other words, that meant that he had originally known her before she had become a Heroic Spirit.

At the warehouse district and the Mion River, this black knight had shown an abnormal persistence in attacking Saber. If that had not been the Master’s instruction, but this insane Heroic Spirit’s own hatred…

The more she stared at the black fog, the more indistinct the details of the armor became. This indicated that around Berserker’s body was twined a similar delusionary protection similar to the Barrier of the Wind King, making it impossible to see the true face of this Heroic Spirit. But at this point Saber could not but believe—he was undoubtedly one of the knights who had known her.

“… From your skill, you are definitely not an anonymous knight. I ask you!”

Saber made up her mind and cried out loudly toward the enemy whom she confronted through the mist.
“Since you have recognized that I am the King of Britain Arturia Pendragon, and challenged me as such, then you should report your background, for the glory of a knight! To issue a challenge while hiding your identity is akin to making a plot!”

The sound of water like heavily falling rain began to infiltrate the clear ‘ka-da-ka-da’ sound of metal. Though it was very slight, the sound that permeated the ears was cold enough to be terrifying; undoubtedly it was made by Berserker—under the cover of the black mist, his full-body armor was trembling.

That was the gentle sound of the armor that completely covered his limbs, as the pieces rippled gently and knocked against each other.

“You…”

Saber finally discovered the origin of the strange sound that was like a sigh or a groan that crawled across the ground.

The cracked, sobbing sound (4) originated from the depths of the black helmet. Berserker’s entire body shuddered, revealing an emotion that could not be suppressed.

Laughter—when Saber understood it thus, an unspeakable shudder ran through her body.

Without any deduction or proof, with only her sixth sense as guidance, she realized—her previous interrogation had been a fatal mistake.

It was a pity that she had realized it too late. The words that would have summoned to her the worst possible curse had long since been spoken through her own lips.

The black fog that painted the black knight’s entire body began to swirl and contract. Within the rushing mist, the pitch-black armor finally revealed its true colors.

That was perfect armor that was neither exquisite nor crude, but that perfectly combined both magnificence and functionality.

The delicate, nuanced workmanship of a smith who had done everything he could—made it look both formidable and well put together. Even the countless marks on it had become carvings that highlighted the wearer’s illustrious military exploits. That was the ideal battle outfit that all knights cannot help but envy.

Saber recognized the hero that had once worn that armor to ride forth on the battlefield. At the Round Table of Camelot he had been an unrivaled swordsman more radiant than any other; he had been a knight more excellent and a warrior more loyal and brave than any other.

“You are—how could —“

She wished that she had seen wrongly. He was the ideal incarnation that embodied the true face of the ‘knight’. That illustrious appearance could not have become the pitch-black form corroded by the Mad Enhancement curse.

The black knight laughed sinisterly as if mocking Saber’s thoughts, reaching toward the hilt of the precious sword in its scabbard. That sword had neither been picked up nor stolen. This Heroic Spirit who had been hiding his name all along was finally revealing his own Noble Phantasm.

Saber could only watch on helplessly as he slowly drew the precious sword from its scabbard.

She could not have been wrong; the design of the sword was the same as that of her own, the carvings of magical(5) text the proof that it had not been forged by mortal hands. The flash of the sharp blade under the moonlight was like the water of the lake as it shone with radiance. That was a limitless sword that would not be damaged regardless of what attack it had received.

Only he who was exalted as ‘the perfect knight’ was worthy of having that sword; its name was also known as ‘the indestructible(6) light of the lake’—that was the proof that indicated the bearer’s name even more clearly than if he had said it himself.

“… Ar… thur…”

The sighing cry reverberated within the black helmet. In this one vibration, the mask that had already cracked under Saber’s previous blow now shattered.

From the fractured mask was revealed a blackened face.

Nothing remained of the beautiful visage that had once drawn the admiration of many women. Yesterday’s hatred had made him gaunt and pallid as a phantom; only his eyes filled with hatred gave out light. That was the visage of a living dead man who had lost everything because of a curse.

“… Ah…”

Saber felt her knees weaken. The unyielding King of Knights forgot herself in helplessness; as if unable to bear the weight of water droplets that rained upon her shoulders and back, she fell to her knees upon the wet floor.

—Even those who are heroes will fall to lose even the most basic of honor—

In the past, someone had spoken to her thus.

In that case, had the curse started from then?

“… Do you really…”

Saber looked at the figure before her eyes, who had long since lost the distinguished dignity of yesterday and had been thoroughly changed by falling into the seat of madness; hot tears rushed forth, and she could only question.

“… Do you really hate me that much, my friend… even if you have become like that… do you hate me that much, Knight of the Lake!”

At that instant, the young girl who maintained her glory to the very end, who fought for honor to the very last—

That was the instant when she failed.

Fate/Zero:Act 16 Part 1

2011-01-30T20:15:05Z

129.22.164.102: /* -04:08:29 */

=== -04:08:29 ===

Two o'clock A.M. -

The silence of the streets which have fallen asleep is deeper than usual and complete. Even the night-owl residents - perhaps terrified by the repeated cases - obeyed the appeal to self-imposed curfews and were submissively drawn into their homes. Even the shadows of cars disappeared from the road's surface. The asphalt, clearly lit by only the street lights, was frozen by the air of the winter night.

This townscape where human life had completely ceased looked like it belonged inside a scene with toys stretched to life-size. If a place beyond the recognition of normal humans is called an 'alien world', then without doubt that is what nighttime Fuyuki is.

A single heroic horse sprinted cross that bizarre landscape as though it ruled over the place. Waver was being carried on its vigorous back, hurrying towards his place of death. Directly behind him was the massive and magnificent chest of the King of Conquerors, so close that even his pounding heartbeats were transmitted.

Even if he were to survive past this night, Waver would never forget this tense, silent exaltation. There is a time known in the world as the 'moment of truth'. When the soul is bared, released from all deception and embellishment, it takes in the sweeping view of the world in its true state, an instant of nothing but the shaking of the heart. Surely, that was what he was reflecting on right now. The instant when any and all of the world's mysteries and paradoxes are comprehended while they remain unanswered. The instant the meaning of existence and the value of death can be clearly grasped even without words. It is a time of supreme bliss, of release from all the bewilderment and uncertainty, the hardships of human life.

The warhorse leisurely slipped out of the sleeping city and jumped toward the riverbank, filled with still water in the color of darkness. In the still night, the great bridge they were aiming for was lit in white by the brilliance of hollow mercury lamps.

"Rider, that's......"

The King of Conquerors responded to the pointing Waver with a nod.

While standing on the bridge illuminated as if by broad daylight, his brilliantly golden majestic appearance radiated all the more, as though sneering at such counterfeits as artificial light. The remorseless coldheartedness of his eyes' deep crimson glint froze Waver's entire body with fear while they were still separated by hundreds of meters.

Servant Archer, King of Heroes Gilgamesh -

It wasn't that he hadn't prepared himself. From the beginning, he had understood that this was an unavoidable opponent. Even so, now that he was once again facing the real thing, the air of intimidation overcame all of the heart's defenses and came to crush the core of his soul.

"You scared, boy?"

Rider, who felt Waver's shaking, asked quietly. The boy frankly nodded without any pretenses at bravery.

"Yeah, I'm scared. Or I guess, to put it your way, 'my heart is jumping with excitement'."

At his tense response, the King of Conquerors' face broke into a pleased smile.

"That's exactly it. When the enemy is mighty, the yearning for the sweet wine of victory becomes utter bliss. Oh ho, looks like you understand it now."

Bucephalus strode majestically, carrying the bravely boasting Rider to the foot of the bridge.

This will be their fourth, and doubtless their final, chance meeting. The primordial King of Heroes and the legendary King of Conquerors. To the two of them, both occupying the wide four-lane road as though they owned it, the only obstacle that can hinder them is each other. The bridge was a one-way road; if one wouldn't back down, then the other wouldn't try to avoid. For a competition of tyranny between these two kingly beings, it was an inevitable, even fated, battlefield.

Bucephalus stopped his hooves, having halted after evidently sensing the will of his rider, who rewarded him by scratching his mane.

"Boy, wait here for now."

" - Huh?"

Rider lowered himself from the back of his beloved horse, stood on the ground, and began walking with an air of composure towards the waiting enemy. As though it had been prearranged, Archer also began walking to meet him halfway, his heels ringing out haughtily.

They were not warriors who simply competed with only their martial skills. Seeing as they will both compete in tyranny, in addition to crossing swords, they must also proceed through the proper channels.

"Rider, where is your vaunted chariot?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, Archer questioned him with restless anger.

"Ah, that. Well. Aggravatingly, that Saber has carried it off."

Rider replied with a carefree shrug. Archer stared at him, scrutinizing with his blood-colored eyes.

"...Did you forget what I had decided? You were informed that you would be defeated at your most perfect condition."

"Hm, now that you mention it, that's right."

With no fear for the intimidation, Rider, in an exceedingly bold and ferocious way, bent his lips and smiled.

"True, my weapon has been consumed. But do not take that that lightly, King of Heroes. Tonight, Iskander is incomplete, and therefore beyond complete."

It was an incoherent manner of speaking, but Archer did not sneer at his nonsense, and looked over Rider's entire body with sharp eyes that seemed to cut into him.

" - I see. Yes, your Aura is overflowing. It is unusually stalwart. It seems you do not stand before me without some prospects of victory."

It was the truth. While he had lost one of his Noble Phantasms, the amount of prana seething off Rider right now was several times higher than before. The three expended Command Seals which Waver had intended to 'waste away meaninglessly' were unwittingly exercising an effect.

When using the Command Seals to activate the ultimate authority, the vaguer the contents, the more reduced the effects will be. On that point, as Waver's earlier orders all lacked concreteness, in terms of using the Command Seals, they were in effect wasted. On the other hand, a Command Seal activated not as an absolute command bending the will of the Servant, but based on the consent of both parties, would not only enforce but would become a way to support and amplify the Servant's actions. In this case, similar to how Kiritsugu's Saber achieved Spatial Relocation, the Command Seals can at times make possible something unprecedented which overturns the normal methods of magecraft, something on the same level as 'Magic'.

While the method of usage made little impression, as the three Seals conformed to the Servant's own will and furthermore were activated in succession, Rider received a definite effect from Waver's Command Seals - as long as he aspires to the action of 'victory', Rider will receive an amplified amount of Prana support compared to normal. Frankly, the current Rider is, even more so than in the past, at his 'most perfect'.

"Hey, Archer. Speaking of decisions, wasn't there one more agreement from our banquet before?"

"The conclusion that we would have no choice but to kill one another?"

"Didn't we say we would drink up the rest of the wine before that?"

Rider, with an honest smile unthinkable for one preparing for mortal combat, urged the King of Heroes.

"At that time, some boorish fellows tried to spoil our banquet... but there was still something left in the bottle. You can't fool my eyes."

"As expected of the king of usurpation. You are sharp-sighted when it comes to the belongings of others."

Archer, with a bitter smile, once again called forth a set of drinking vessels from the alternate-world 'vault' to his hand. The bottle was emptied, and the rest of the high-quality wine from the Age of the Gods at its bottom was poured completely into two cups; like two boxers crossing their gloves, they solemnly knocked their cups together.

"One more thing, King of Babylonia. My last summation to you."

"Permitted. State it."

His goblet still raised, and wearing a serious face while some rascally naivete remained in his gaze, Iskander began.

"For example, if my Aionion Hetairoi was equipped by your Gate of Babylon, it would undoubtedly become the most powerful army. Even that President of the West won't be more than a break of wind."

"Hm. And?"

"Once again, will you not be my ally? If we join together, we can surely conquer unto the ends of the stars."

Hearing this, the King of Heroes, as though he had heard some very satisfying satire, laughed out loud without a care.

"How deeply amusing you are. It has been a long time since I had laughed this much at something other than a jester's foolish nonsense."

Even as he laughed, his ruthless dread did not weaken in the slightest. Perhaps, to this golden-colored ruler, killing intent and great delight held roughly the same meaning.

"It is unfortunate, but I do not require a second friend. Past and future, my companion will only be one - and, there needs not be two kingly ones."

At such a resolute response, the King of Conquerors simply nodded quietly without showing his dejection.

"That is a high and lonely kingship. I shall challenge that unshakable state of affairs with great admiration."

"Good. Display yourself to your heart's desire, King of Conquerors. You are a foe worthy of my judgment."

The two Kings gulped down their last drink together, disposed of the emptied cups, and turned back on their heels. Without turning around again, the two each returned to the bridgehead they came from.

Waver, who had watched over their last toast with a tense expression, went to meet the King's return with a sigh.

"Do you two, actually get along?"

"Well, we'll be killing each other now. Or he could be the last opponent in my entire life that I will exchange glances with. I can't be ungrateful."

"...Don't be stupid."

Waver countered Iskander's joking tone with a stifled voice.

"There's no way you can be killed. I won't accept that. Did you forget my Command Seals?"

"That's right - yeah, that's it."

With an intrepid smile, Rider once again straddled the back of the waiting Bucephalus, and unsheathed the sword affixed to his hip.

"Gather, my brethen! Tonight, we shall mark our gallant figures into the strongest legend!"

A wind of hot sand blew onto the bridge as though responding to the King's call and scattered the mist from the river.

The thoughts of the Heroic Spirits who had once saw the same dream as the King, drawn from beyond time and space, now came together and wove around the sword of the Cypriots.

A boundless blue sky. A horizon, blurred by the heat haze, that all would gaze at with a single heart in order to ascertain its very end.

The mental images of the brave ones, who crossed time to seek the battlefield, eroded even reality and changed the uninhabited great bridge into a great plain with a raging whirlwind.

And one by one, the Heroic Spirits hastened to the stage of the decisive battle they were ordered to.

"Ahh......"

This was the second time Waver had seen the spectacle of the arrayed Aionion Hetairoi in their magnificence. Even though it was no longer something to be shocked by, now that he knew the meaning of this ultimate Noble Phantasm which actualized the kingship of Iskander, he was overwhelmed by a sense of awe even greater than the first time.

The shining elites of the cavalry - the bond of lord and servant they formed with the King of Conquerors once upon a time can overcome even the separation between this life and the afterlife.

There is nowhere that their battlefield, sublimed into eternity, cannot be actualized. If the King of Conquerors would again set forth on tyranny, then no matter where he was, his servants would hasten to him.

That was the pride of being together with the King.

The joy of being able to battle together, of their hot surging blood.

"Our enemy is the King of Heroes, mightier than tens of thousands - an opponent lacking in no regards! Come, heroic warriors, show the original Heroic Spirit the way of our tyranny!"

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh - !!!"

At Iskander's roar, the cheers of the arrayed troops rose into the air.

Only the solitary Archer was before them, confronting the great host which boiled like the high seas, but he did not show a speck of dismay and simply stood, imposingly blocking their path. His appearance, painted in gold, was like a single arduous towering peak. The air of intimidation was unmistakably unprecedented, precisely what would come from a demigod Heroic Spirit.

"Come, lord of the vanquishers. Now you shall know the true form of a King......"

At the boldly boasting King of Heroes, the host of Heroic Spirits, led by the heroic horse Bucephalus, finally charged in a wedge formation.

Rider bellowed as he spearheaded the vanguard. Answering his roar, the knights released a battle cry. To the surging waves and harsh thundering songs, Waver also added his own small voice with all his might.

"AAAALaLaLaLaie!!"

Fate/Zero:Act 15 Part 2

2011-01-12T00:59:31Z

129.22.164.102: /* -17:21:41 */

===-17:21:41===


That day in Fuyuki city was remembered by people as being a day of abnormal weather conditions.

Unbelievably, the daily north wind ceased suddenly, and midsummer-like intense sunlight heated up the seemingly stagnated air, causing an unseasonable heat haze all over the place. Bafflingly high temperatures and humidity – inexplicable even to weather forecasters – occurred over a very limited region with Fuyuki city as its centre, increasingly fueling the premonition first felt by the clueless townspeople when strange things started to happen.

The guerrilla incidents happening one after another in the city; the appalling, bizarre murderers; the disappearance of infants – not even a clue to the solutions was found. There was no sign of the night curfew being lifted, and worse still, there was the incident of the waste processing occurring on the Mion River the day before yesterday – with these continuous bizarre incidents getting on to the nerves of the exhausted people, they could not help but to feel that this peculiar weather was an omen for more calamities to occur.

<center>X X</center>

Sitting within the shade of a tree wide-awake, Emiya Kiritsugu watched as the angle of his shadow slowly changed due to the blazing sunlight.

Although more than 40 hours had elapsed since he last slept, his senses were still tensed, not even desiring rest.

Because he was in a dangerous situation, he had to time his break well to take a rest, and to maintain a condition at which he could deal with things perfectly at crucial times – this was his experience as a professional fighter. Because the forewarning boundary field was already in place at its key positions, when someone approached him he could instantly wake up. If he was in standby mode now, he could enter into REM sleep within a few seconds, and could possibly deal with his accumulated fatigue as well.

However, at this moment, Kiritsugu did not even spare a thought about such established caution. To cut off his feelings and maintain his very best condition was also one of his “mechanisms”, but under the state of being prepared to be scorched, he was able to surpass his limits and overdrive himself – this was another “mechanism”. The thing able to convert himself to such operational state was none other than the premonition of “settling the score” he felt under his skin.

Right now, the thing Kiritsugu was anticipating for was by the side of the pond in the back of Ryūdōji Temple, which was situated along the mountainside of Mount Enzō, east of Miyama town of Fuyuki city.

After confirming Tokiomi’s fallout and Kotomine Kirei’s comeback at the Tōsaka residence yesterday night, Kiritsugu launched an assault on the Shinto church immediately, but that which was supposed to be his headquarters was already empty. There were signs of humans being there about an hour before, so it was possibly a paper-thin miss. The delays during the invasions of the Matō residence and Tōsaka residence had cost him precious time.

At that point, Kiritsugu had completely abandoned his search for Irisviel. That’s because he came to the conclusion that if he continued to be attached to her, he would fall all the more into the enemy’s trap. If he wanted to have any chance of winning, Kiritsugu had no choice but to enter into battles not as a husband who lost his wife, but as a Master seeking the Holy Grail.

By relinquishing the “Holy Grail vessel” – the trump card of the Einsberns – Kiritsugu now had to participate in the Holy Grail war with terms similar to that of outsider Masters (not from the three origin families). The strategy of luring the enemy to make mistakes whilst utilizing his superiority and overlooking his defense was no longer viable; he now had to seek ambush opportunities to outsmart his leading rivals. Thinking about it, what made the strategy of jumping ahead of his opponents effective was that he could, from this point onwards, fortify his position – which was to look beyond the final stage of the battle – and to set up traps about it.

From the outside, the War of the Holy Grail was mending its image as a battle royal, but as the war progressed, it began to show signs of it being a battle of occupying each other’s camps. The ultimate goal was to hold the ceremony for the descent of the Holy Grail; but to secure a proper place for the altar was part of the victor’s path which could not be avoided.

In Fuyuki, there were only four points in the land containing the suitable spiritual ground to summon the Holy Grail.

The first key place was Mount Enzō which held the natural cavern, the “Dragon’s Hole”. At that place, the “Greater Holy Grail” – which used Justica as a foundation – was located. It was a secret altar known only to the three origin families, their favorite ever since it was prepared 180 years ago.

The Tōsaka family – which provided the ground – had the right to use the best spiritual leyline as their base. However, the prana overflowing from Mount Enzō was too powerful, and too dangerous to be used as a living ground to bring up the next generation of magi. Hence, they set up their stronghold at the next best spiritual leyline – the Tōsaka residence of today. Though inferior to the Greater Holy Grail, this place was sustained by sufficient spiritual power to summon the Holy Grail.

The Makiri were assigned to a ground when they migrated here, but because they realized that the spiritual aura of the ground was not suitable for the family’s element, they shifted their base, the Matō residence, to a different place. The original spiritual leyline was protected by the Holy Church who intervened later. Today, it was at the top of the hill on which Fuyuki Church was built – that was the third spiritual leyline. Far away from Mount Enzō, it was located at the outskirts of Shinto, which was at the opposite side of the river – however, it was not much inferior to the second best spiritual ground.

The fourth spiritual leyline did not exist in this ground originally – because of spiritual processing by the other three spiritual leylines, the flow of mana subtly induced an anomaly; forming a gathering spot after 100 odd years, which appeared at a certain location as a result of it. It could also be called a subsequent spiritual ground. Through subsequent investigations, the fact that it was sufficiently furnished with spiritual grounds to carry out the ceremony, was confirmed; and during the third Holy Grail War, it was marked as a candidate site. Today, this place was located at the centre of the developing residential area of Shinto. Nevertheless, there was a problem with it, in that a council meeting hall was just built recently on that spot.

Even if Kotomine Kirei had taken possession of the “vessel of the Holy Grail”, in the end, he had to perform the ceremony at one of these four key spiritual grounds. If Kiritsugu went to those places, set up traps and could ambush him, then there was a high chance of turning the tables around.

With Fuyuki Church left unoccupied, Kiritsugu unexpectedly landed in a good position of being able to secure the Tōsaka residence and the Fuyuki Church – the second and third best spiritual leylines. The silver lining of the cloud; in order to use this to his fullest advantage, all the way till morning, Kiritsugu planted explosives into the two buildings, making them into traps. And then, since noon, he had set up a new position at Ryūdōji Temple, and was on the lookout all the time.

Kiritsugu anticipated that Kirei would probably choose Mount Enzō as the ceremonial place. His enemy had vanished from Fuyuki Church. Naturally there was also a possibility that his intention was to seclude himself from society, but for him to relinquish the spiritual leyline he had already secured in the first place, he would only want to perform the ceremony at the best spiritual ground – Kiritsugu thus conjectured. If he thought about it, after obliterating Tokiomi Tōsaka, his residence was also at Kirei’s disposal – but he had left that place readily, so what’s left was just the Greater Holy Grail at Mount Enzō.

Obviously, there was a non-zero possibility that all of these were just a bluff to mislead Kiritsugu, and that Kirei would return to Fuyuki Church or Tōsaka residence. However, because of that, Kiritsugu had already set traps so that if Kirei set foot in any of the buildings, he would not be able to return alive. After being bombed to death, if the “vessel of the Holy Grail” was still unharmed, then victory would easily be his – as for Irisviel’s life, Kiritsugu had already looked philosophically upon it as a loss.

If he were to further increase his chances of outwitting Kirei, he could not disregard the Fuyuki council hall – the fourth spiritual leyline. As for that place, Kiritsugu settled on placing a familiar there for the purpose of surveillance. After being confirmed as being a spiritual ground, the “ground of origin” was left just like that without any spell-like defense being set up around it. Compared with the other three ceremonial sites – which were “hard to attack and easy to defend” – the council hall was not a strategic position at all, from the view of magi battles.

Hypothetically speaking, if Kotomine Kirei were to appear at the city council hall, then Kiritsugu would carry out a full-front assault. It was of course the worst development, but the risk of such a thing happening was also the lowest. If he acted according to priorities, whether he was right or wrong, the place he had to seize no matter what was Mount Enzō.

If Maiya was not harmed, she would be able to secure the city council hall, and confront Kirei directly with her perfect preparations. But, it was futile to lament about it. At this point, he could only rely on himself.

Suddenly, Kiritsugu recalled those times after he had lost Natalia. Come to think of it, his experiences of independent action without joining anyone, was surprisingly little. To have felt that unexpectedly, was it because Kiritsugu was always the one surviving in the end?

Kiritsugu thought about it, and felt that he had led a life distantly connected to the word “alone”. It could also be called a life much crueler than being alone. There was always someone beside Kiritsugu. The one making excuses all this while for killing or causing the deaths of those “someones” was again, Kiritsugu.

Both Maiya and Irisviel were people he was destined to part with ever since he met them. Sure enough, as he thought, Kiritsugu was left on his own, trying to enter the final stage of the battle. To begin this way, and to end this way – this had to be Emiya Kiritsugu’s fate. Someone like him who had lost so many people – such absurdity was unforgivable.

–The boundary field established at the temple gates sensed the presence of something approaching. Kiritsugu cut off his disorganized emotions, held his Calico submachine gun in his hands, and stealthily examined the grounds. Nevertheless, his caution was not necessary. Kiritsugu already knew the prana waves which approached him.

Come to think of it, there was someone – who was the strongest reinforcement to him – that had not joined his side as an ally yet. At that fact, despite himself, Kiritsugu could not help but to be surprised and snigger. She was still alive. Though it was hard to decide that if this noble knight – which was not part of Kiritsugu’s tactics – joined him, whether she would be an “ally” or not.

Though hidden, a Servant could not be mistaken about her own Master’s whereabouts. Saber was not lost, and she had come all the way to the front of the treetop at which Kiritsugu was hiding himself, and had stopped within a distance from which they could talk, but outside the perimeter at which they could exchange blows – a delicate distance indeed. A distance too far for intimate words to be exchanged between them; that was also the distance separating the hearts of this Master and his Servant.

The slender figure in suit was as imposing as ever, but the exhaustion within her face could not be concealed. As a Heroic Spirit, physical fatigue was nothing to her; but the excessive exhaustion due to her worrying was a completely different matter. The commanding glint in her eyes during those times when she was waiting upon Irisviel, was evidently losing its force.

“ – Since yesterday night, I had been searching all over the streets for Irisviel. But, I still haven’t discovered anything……I’m very sorry.”

The Servant he did not think about and had left behind; Kiritsugu had no interest at all at how much time she had wasted within a night; and when he heard about her idle actions which were just as he expected, he could not even think of any words to answer her.

Even now Saber’s aim was still to “rescue Irisviel”.

From last midnight till this morning, within this time when Kiritsugu had steadily prepared the deathtraps for Kotomine Kirei, this Servant had probably sought Irisviel recklessly, and drove around in the city looking for her without even any hint of where she was.

Was that the willpower as a knight? The naively honest loyalty towards someone she had once served? …… Her actions were just a silly plan with no strategic planning whatsoever. But at the same time, it was also a stinging criticism towards Kiritsugu who had resigned to the death of his wife, and changed his strategies accordingly.

Needless to say, she did not come all the way to this place to mock him. Saber was just stopping by at Ryūdōji temple as part of her search for Irisviel, and sensed the presence of her Master. But to have to see her again the second day, and having to once again face the difference between their principles and their actions, he could do nothing but to ascertain all the more the conflicting principles between both of them.

From the dim shadows of the tree, at that cold look from Kiritsugu, the dry premonition she felt within her heart returned. – Perhaps, even until the end of the war, she would not have the chance to respectably exchange a single word with her own Master.

“……Well then, I will continue the search for Irisviel. If there’s anything, summon me with the Command Seals like last time.”

After saying that, Saber returned to the temple grounds. Needless to say, she was neither called back, nor were there any words of appreciation before her departure.

From the viewpoint of the Holy Grail contest, Kiritsugu’s actions was the best plan – Even Saber herself understood that. Because of that, she could also decide without a doubt that it was safe to leave this place to him. She had no fear of leaving Kiritsugu alone. If the situation arose when the Servant was needed, the compelling force of the Command Seals could transcend even space and summon her to his side – she had already experienced that last night, and confirmed it.

Whilst descending the flight of stone steps connecting the temple gate to the ground below, Saber squinted her eyes in the unpleasantly blazing sun.

The enemies to be killed could not be found, and the location of the one she was to protect could not be ascertained…… what’s left was just her definite intuition, which told her that she could not afford to waste a single moment.

Not even knowing where to go, she was spurred on from the inside by the tingling impatience.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Fate/Zero:Act_15_Part_1|Act 15, Part 1]]
| Return to [[Fate/Zero|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Fate/Zero:Act_15_Part_3|Act 15, Part 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Fate/Zero:Act 15 Part 1

2011-01-08T20:08:21Z

129.22.164.102: /* -25:48:06 */

[[Image:FZ_v04_193.png|thumb|Act 15]]
=== -25:48:06 ===

The sky was already brightening by the time Waver Velvet returned to the MacKenzie house in Miyama.

He had walked for hours on the night footpath. He wouldn’t have managed to make it back to town had he not met a taxi on the way. It had been a stroke of luck that an empty taxi was in such a remote location, but he didn't know if he should feel thankful or angry. Fortune should have graced them when Rider and Waver were in their fiercest moment of battle. He could only feel sad at this untimely luck.

Waver let out a long sigh at his prolonged night march when he got out of the taxi. Suddenly, he heard someone call out to him.

“– Hey, Waver. Come, come here.”

The voice was coming from above his head.

He lifted his head. Old man Glen, the patriarch of the family that Waver had assumed was sound asleep, was sitting on the rooftop of the second story and was waving at Waver as he stood at the door.

“Grandpa? You… what are you doing?”

“Alright, alright. Come on up. I’ve got something to say to you.”

“Something to say to me? Then… why are you on the roof?”

“You won't find a view like this anywhere else. There's no better place than this to be bathed in the light of the early dawn.”

This kind of strange behavior was enough to make people wonder if he was going senile. To be honest, Waver didn’t feel like humoring the old man. He had returned with a tired, shuffling gait after having suffered through the chilly night air; all he wanted right now was to tuck into bed as soon as possible and let his exhausted body have some rest.

“Grandpa… can it wait till morning?”

“Don’t say that.”

Although his tone was placid, old man Glen was quite adamant.

“Kid, you better get up there. That old man seems to really want to say something to you.”

A rough voice that only Waver could hear said this above his shoulder. Rider had finally promised to conserve his prana and remained in spiritual form on his return journey after his fight with Saber.

“I’ll keep an eye out on the surroundings. Don’t worry.”

“It’s not a matter of whether I’m worried…”

Waver wanted to rebuke, but immediately hushed himself. Old men Glen couldn’t see a Servant in spiritual form. If Waver spoke, it would look like he was muttering to himself oddly.

“No one cares about what I think…”

At this stage, with the War of the Holy Grail almost at its end, he had to force himself to provide company for this useless old man. Waver couldn’t help but feel resentful. However, it would only drag this on for longer if he started to argue. Even if he didn’t agree to it, he still didn’t know how to respond if he was asked why he was returning in the early hours of the morning. In the end, Waver could only walk towards the roof, where the old man was at.

The MacKenzie house differed from the other houses in one way: its roof had an attic and a skylight. It was easy to climb up to the roof through the skylight if one used the ladder that stretched towards the rooftop attic from the second-story stairway. It had not been made that way by accident. Rather, the house had been been designed to enable easy access to the rooftop when from construction. It was easy to get onto the roof if one got used to it.

Although it was easy to get up to the roof, he had to endure the frosty and chilly winter dawn. Waver, having gotten up from the skylight, shivered in the northern wind. With absolutely nothing to break it, the chill of the wind at this height was incomparable to what it had been on ground level.

“Sit. Here, I prepared some coffee. Drinking it will heat you up.”

Old man Glen said loudly as he poured the steaming liquid out of the thermal flask and into the mug. He was wearing a down coat and had a few blankets wrapped around him. It seemed the old man had made thorough preparations for the cold. Waver couldn’t think of a reason for the old man to do this.

“Grandpa… how long have you been sitting here?”

“I woke up when the sky was getting bright, and I discovered you were still not back. Moreover, you can look at the spring constellations at this time of the year. So I wanted to look at the sky while I waited for my grandson’s return…”

Waver didn’t reply when he heard those drunken and almost senile words, just drinking his coffee nonchalantly. Glen had thought of getting up specifically to look at constellations; did all old men have such leisurely thoughts?

“What’s wrong, Waver? Didn’t you like this spot a lot when you were young? You watched the stars with me many times. Do you still remember that?”

“Mm… I think so.”

Waver gazed out at the scene beneath him as he perfunctorily brushed off these past events that he had no memories of.

The entirety of Fuyuki city, from Miyama to the sea, could be seen from the rooftop since the house was grounded at the side of the hill. The air was fresh and crisp while the dawn dyed the sea with a shade of pearly pink, and he could even detect with his eyes the shadow of sails sailing away to distant lands.

“How is it? Isn’t this a nice view?”

“…”

It was the entire view of the battlefield for Waver. He had no leisure in his heart to appreciate such beauty.

“I first set foot on this land because of a business trip… Martha asked for two things when I discussed the decision to leave our bones on the land of Fuyuki with her. One was that the house was to be built on the hill of Miyama, and the other was that there had to be a skylight that allowed us to go on the roof… However, Chris still couldn’t forget Toronto. He just didn’t want to be brought up a Japanese.”

Glen’s gaze, immersed in memory, looked toward the other side of the ocean, his homeland where his departed son resided.

“… Do you really like Japan that much?”

“You could say that. But if that was ultimately the reason why I fought with my son and separated with him… then honestly, I regret it…”

The old man let out a sigh as he recalled those years of loneliness.

“I’ve always dreamed of sitting on the roof and watching the stars with my grandson just like this, though I expect it will never happen.”

“– Huh?”

There was an obvious incongruity in that reminiscence, accompanied with a bitter smile. That made Waver pause.

As if mocking him, old man Glen silently shook his head and said.

“My real grandson never came to the roof with me. Martha is also afraid of heights. I’d always been alone when I watched the stars…”

What injured Waver more than the awkwardness and the sense of crisis was the feeling of humiliation.

“Say, Waver, you aren’t our grandson, right?”

The subliminal hint was removed – moreover, it was by this gentle old man with no training in magecraft.

“I –”

“Mmm, who are you? It doesn’t matter. It’s incredible that Martha and I actually believed you were our grandson. But even after living for so long, I've found that some incredible things in this world remain incredible no matter how hard you think about them… Your usual behavior was gentler than our grandson's, anyways.”

“… Aren’t you angry?”

Waver asked in a small voice. Old man Glen said with a complex but calm expression.

“As for that, of course I’m angry. However, Martha is always smiling happily now; that used to be impossible. I need to thank you for that."

“…”

“Also, it seemed you didn’t enter our house with ill intent. Straightforward youths like you and that man Alex are so hard to find nowadays. As to why you deceived us… I couldn’t understand it even if I wanted to.”

Waver came to the conclusion that this old man was completely defenseless and extremely dense. Even the lab rats in the Clock Tower were smarter than him.

Why didn’t he hate Waver? Why didn’t he blame Waver? For Waver, who only knew the small world of the Mage's Association, the old man’s leniency was something he couldn’t comprehend.

“Or maybe I can ask you to stay only because I don’t know anything about you… If possible, I hope we can keep this relationship for a while longer. Myself aside, Martha probably didn’t feel anything unusual. It doesn’t matter if it was a dream. The times we spent with our kind grandson has been our hard-sought treasure.”

Waver couldn’t bring himself to look at the old man. He lowered his eyes and looked at his hands.

It was a pair of hands that would one day create great mysteries. He had such talent – even if others refuted him, at the very least, he could firmly believe in that possibility about himself.

But what was the result?

He didn’t even carry out a hypnotic hint, the most basic art amongst basics, to an outstanding degree. It wasn’t a matter of luck or an accident. Those excuses were useless. His magecraft didn’t even maintain a satisfactory result even when faced with this kind old man who begged him to deceive them a while longer.

Had he been that man, he could have obtained his goal while laughing and holding a goblet in his hand.

Not only did Waver Velvet’s magecraft fail to achieve such a result, he had been indebted to another’s gentleness in return.

There was a sense of ridiculousness on top of regret – yes, he was only a clown.

Staring into the empty sky, Waver became oblivious to his surroundings and sank into contemplation. Now he fully understood the mindsets of those in the Clock Tower who laughed at him. Waver was laughing at his own stupidity with those people.

Although he thought as such, he couldn’t actually laugh. Glen and Martha MacKenzie weren’t expecting a comedy.

They were making a sincere request to Waver in their own way. Now that he thought about it, it was the first time that he wasn’t the subject of ridicule.

“… I’m sorry, I can’t promise you that. I can’t even promise that I can safely return here next time.”

“So you and Alex are doing something that endangers your lives?”

“Yes.”

Saber’s Noble Phantasm and its cold light flashed before his eyes. That had happened half a day ago. The abyss of death that Waver saw then won’t be forgotten by him anytime soon.

Old man Glen was silent for a while as if in thought, then he gave a heavy nod.

“Although I don’t know how important that thing is to you… I do hope you listen to me say this. You’ll realize that there’s nothing more important than life itself when you look back after having lived through most of it.”

This logic was in contrary to the reason Waver gambled his youth.

The so called way of magecraft could only be started after the practitioner became prepared to die – the ultimate state could only be achieved by burning away one’s life. That was the direction he had labored towards until this day.

However, if one were to search for a way of existence that fits oneself, then perhaps the words said by this peaceful old man would prove to be the truth.

With a sense of loss that left him at a loss of words, Waver stared at the dawn.

Little did he know then that he was greeting the final day of the fourth War of the Holy Grail.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Fate/Zero:Act_14_Part_5|Act 14, Part 5]]
| Return to [[Fate/Zero|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Fate/Zero:Act_15_Part_2|Act 15, Part 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>