Undying Fate

" Can we get sushi again, Silva?"

Illyasveil asked as she yawned.

" There are plenty of other things to try, Illyasveil, and-."

" Illya. Call me Illya, Silva."

I guess taking her to Tokyo to try some local cuisine was a good idea since she wants to be more familiar. I really need to thank Skadi for making an armband Mystic Code to hide my fur-covered arms from most people. I could not take her out to Fuyuki as it would draw her parent's attention. Good thing distance has little meaning for me between Door To Darkness and Magic-powered flight. The silver-haired girl looked ready for bed, so I picked her up and carried her to her room at my residence. I set her down on her bed and wished her goodnight.

" Sleep well, Illya."

" Good night, Silva."

I left her room and went to find Skadi in her room, organizing her new clothes and setting her desserts in her personal fridge and freezer. I waited for her to get done, and once she did, she materialized her combat outfit, a pinkish purple regal dress with thigh-high boots that matched, as we had work to do tonight. I asked Caster.

" Do you have everything ready?"

" Of course; what else do you expect, Silva?"

I opened a portal, and we soon found ourselves at Fuyuki's pier. Skadi then handed me some disc-like Mystic Codes, and I tossed them into the river. Minutes went by, and mist started to rise from the water at an accelerated rate. Once the fog covers the whole town, it's time to end an old monster.

***

Kariya Matou went out of the Matou Manor to hunt down other Servants, or at least that was what he told Zouken. He decided to head to the other side of town to avoid being drawn into the crossfire. He could not help but smile at knowing that the old vampire that was his father in blood only was going to die today finally, and Sakura will be free. Berserker's Master just needed to kill Tokiomi Tohsaka first so the broken little girl could reunite with her mother and sister. The Crest Worms inside him were agitated by his elated emotions and blood lust for the Tohsaka Head's death.

Kariya calmed down and limbed toward the coming mist with a tight reign on Berserker as the mad Servant could tell the fog was a Mystic Code and wanted to seek out and destroy whoever created it. Berserker's Master cursed his father with a grin.

" Drop dead, you old vampire."

As much as he would like to watch the Undead Apostle die after parasitizing his family, the Matou's, for generations, he knew that he would be a liability with the Worms inside him. Kariya limbed into the thick mist and faded from sight.

***

Tokiomi saw the mist surround his home but did not enter as it was a Mystic Code, and his defenses kept it out. He had a grim look as he speculated.

" Caster is on the move."

Gilgamesh looked at the mist and knew its function was to obscure the sight and detection abilities of all the participants in the Holy Grail War. He felt annoyed and amused by this action, annoyed that some mongrel was daring to deprive him of his entertainment, amused that he could guess that Caster and their Master were going to do something big. Archer took out a spyglass from his treasury and looked through it to bypass the mist, and he grinned at what he saw.

***

Waver Velvet looked at the mist and knew something was going to happen but did not know what. Iskandar had a neutral expression and was on guard as the fog covered Fuyuki entirely.

" Rider, do you think Caster is behind this mist?"

" Yes, and there is no telling who Caster will attack first, but they will attack someone as this mist hides their actions."

Rider summoned his Via Expugnatio Noble Phantasm and put his Master on the chariot, then took to the sky to surveil the mist-covered city. Waver then pointed out.

" Rider, does being up in the sky make us an easier target if it's us that Caster is after?"

Iskandar laughed and then said.

" Then I should feel honored as Caster has clearly put in a lot of effort to hide their actions and keep the other Servants from interfering, as this mist is hiding everything that could give away their position. I look forward to finally meeting the last Servant for the Holy Grail War!"

At Rider's flamboyant degree, his Master sighed and braced himself as much as he could.

***

Kiritsugu Emiya looked at the thick fog covering the city and smoked as he tried to analyze what Caster and their Master's next move would be. He came to the assumption that they were going to target one of the other Servants. Saber and Irisviel, we're safe, as the mist did not reach the Einzbern Castle near Fuyuki. Archer is an unlikely target due to his troublesome Noble Phantasm that could call upon a wide variety of weapons and rain them down on his enemies. That leaves Rider and Berserker.

The Magus Killer then weighed the pros and cons of attacking either Servant. Rider had a fairly weak Master that paled in comparison to the other Master. The young Mage was inexperienced and was being led around by his Servant for the most part. However, the Rider Class has the highest agility among all the other Classes, so pinning him down would be difficult if Rider decided to retreat instead of fight.

Kiritsugu then considered Berserker and his Master. Berserker is a direct fighter, and his Master is a half-baked Mage with limited training. The mad Servant would fly off the handle, and his Master could barely restrain the wild beast if her even bothered. Considering that Berserker's combat ability was undoubtedly one the highest in the Holy Grail War, seeing how he countered Archer but again, this only applied in a straightforward fight.

The Magus Killer felt that Berserker was Caster's most likely target and contacted Mainyu to get eyes on the Servant but was met with static on his oversized mobile phone. He went to do it himself, seeing that wireless communication was down. He prepared a thermal imaging scope to try and pick out Kariya as every other person in the city retreated indoors due to the mist having a hypnotic suggestion effect on mundane people.

***

I found myself in front of the Matou residence with my weapon, Snærkló in hand or paw in my case. I readied myself for the fight ahead, as Skadi is my safety net in case things go south. A Bounded Field surrounds the entire residence that prevents Zouken Makiri from escaping. I entered the Bounded Field and was immediately greeted by the Undead Apostle himself.

" My, I certainly was expecting any guests tonight; if you're looking for Kariya, you just missed him."

" Actually, I am here for you, Zouken Makiri."

As I spoke, I spread out my Aura to feel out Zouken's soul so I could end things as quickly as I could. Once he's dead, his familiars will go on a frenzy, and I need to reach Sakura immediately to remove the Worms inside her with Transmutation. As for Shinji and his father, I could not care less. The Undead Apostle narrowed his eyes at me as he sneered.

" You think having a Servant back you make you invincible, young man?"

" No, I don't need to be invincible to kill an Undead Apostle."

Zouken's eyes widened in surprise at me, calling him out on his true nature; then his expression turned cold as various insect-like familiars started to appear and surround me. I may be confident in my abilities, but it's still unnerving to see all these creepy crawlies surrounding me. The Undead Apostle demanded.

" How do you know that, young man?"

" I did my research, and you are not as clever or thorough as you think you are."

" I see; I will look forward to finding out how you discovered my true nature."

The familiars started to swarm me, and I covered my body with Dark Wrath; his familiar died instantly as they came in contact with the dark energy surrounding me. As I stayed passive, I focused on finding the Worm that had Zouken's soul and I found it after spreading my Aura deep underground. I also found another soul down in the basement below the Matou residence; that's likely Sakura. Thankfully the Bounded Field Skadi had set up also covers the underground. I blasted the puppet in front of me before making my way to the basement.

The Undead Apostle can't be killed easily. It would take something on bar with a tactical missile to end him, which I have in spades. Transmuting the ground beneath me, I saw insects swarming around the little girl as she did not resist. The familiars burned from my Semblance as I reached for Sakura. I could not take any chances as I kept my dark energy cloak up and burned the girl as I used Transmutation to remove the Worms in her body. She did not scream from pain or showed barely any reaction and only looked at me with dead empty eyes.

Zouken then roared out as his familiar converged into a giant construct.

" You think you can steal from me and stop my ambitions!"

I pulled Sakura within my energy cloak to protect her, and the construct tried to strike me with a massive fist made out of insects. As the massive fist drew closer, I used my Divinity to enhance my Aura to touch Zouken's soul and use Soul Archive on him to acquire all of his knowledge. The fist clashed against Dark Wrath and me, but I was unmoving. I then told Zouken with every bit of venom and hatred I felt for the Worm.

" You are nothing but a pathetic old worm that has gotten worn down by time and failure with a hard-on for a homunculus that came into being by a fluke of Mystery that could not convince her to keep on living and not sacrifice herself to form the Grail. And now, I will end you."

I used all of my Aura, Magic, and Divinity to unleash an attack to guarantee this old Worm's death. Good thing Skadi made this Bounded Field very durable.

***

All of Fuyuki shook, and many assumed it was just an earthquake, aside from a select few that knew what had happened last night.