Chapter 4, Raid on Aylesbury

Shirou and Kiritsugu were traveling in the direction of the town of Aylesbury. He had to concentrate. He was heading straight for a conflict against the most powerful dead apostles. Any mistake could cause his death, but, even so, he couldn't take his mind off the conversation he had last night...

He was lying on her bed, exhausted. It was an hour since he has managed to finish reforging Caliburn. Now the sword was resting inside the scabbard they had bought for it. Calling this new sword, Caliburn, would no longer be correct. They not only reformed the sword through its fragments, thanks to their father's contacts, they had also obtained the fragments of Merodach.

Merodach was the sword that Gram was based on, and Caliburn was based on Gram. In short, Merodach was the prototype of both swords. However, if Caliburn were to face either of these two, it would lose miserably, the reason being the following:

Merodach was created at the height of the era of magic, the era of the gods. This is a sword related to Marduk himself, the murderer of Tiamat. And with which, probably, he dismembered the primordial goddess after murdering her.

Gram was created based on Merodach, and unlike Caliburn, it was created as a sword made for battle, while Caliburn was more like the symbol of a monarch, a ceremonial sword. Hence, Caliburn would always lose to both, or at least until now.

Ever since he found out about Avalon, he tried to track it down using his magecraft, and miraculously, the sheath manifested in front of him. Using his structural grasp, he was able to "see" the history of it, and then, he was able to see both of them: to "King Arthur" and the sword of promised victory.

Shirou was sure that he couldn't track Excalibur. Being a divine construction, he didn't fully understand its structure, but he could state something: If Excalibur and Merodach faced each other, Merodach would lose.

If he discussed this with Flat and explained the specs of the weapons, then the boy would say something like this:

'Oh, so Caliburn is a B + grade weapon. Gram was originally a grade A weapon, but, after colliding against Gungnir, which caused its rupture and, being reformed, it became an A + grade weapon and even became so powerful that it killed a dragon. Merodach was much more powerful than the original Gram but weaker than Excalibur, an A ++ grade weapon. Therefore, Merodach is most likely an A + grade weapon and was matched by its successor, Gram, upon being reformed and receiving Fafnir blood.'

Shirou couldn't understand how Flat could explain legendary weapon capabilities using video game terms.

The reforged Caliburn was more powerful than the original. They used the Merodach fragments and fused them with those of Caliburn. At first, both he and his ancestor wondered whether they should turn Caliburn into a sword made solely for battle. However, knowing its history and capabilities, Shirou decided that Caliburn would continue to be a sword that, although it could be used as a sword for battle, would still be a ceremonial sword. Using the terms Flat had taught him, the new Caliburn was an A-rank weapon, though he didn't know how strong it would become in the hands of a proper king.

Suddenly, a song began to play, taking him out of his reverie...

It was the tone of his cell phone. Shirou grabbed it and observed who was calling him. Since his departure from the Clock Tower, he had not spoken to almost anyone.

He spoke to Rin once, a few weeks ago, and their conversation could be summarized as follows:

"Rin, I..."

"Once you get back, you're going to have to give me explanations. Do you understand?" She interrupted him with a tone of voice that reflected that she would not take no for an answer.

"Yes, I know," he responded immediately.

"You better. Until now, we've taken care of each other. I might take this as a betrayal of my trust. Do you know?"

"Yes, I know!" Shirou was really sorry and wanted to show it to her somehow, "You are really a good person, Rin. You didn't file a report when you discovered me. You acted as my tutor to help me pass my exams. I... I really am very grateful for everything you have done for me..."

"W-What is this all about, idiot?" She asked, somewhat embarrassed, "I'm just acting like a good second owner, be thankful."

"Yes, you're right. Thank you very much, Rin."

Although still a bit embarrassed, she continued, "I've heard about the jobs and things your father has done," This worried the redhead, "I really can't believe you're his son, you of all people."

"It is a long story," Shirou paused, "The old man... He is no longer exactly as he was before. Although he is still the magus killer, he has changed... a little..."

She did not comment on this. She simply said, "I don't know what you're up to, but whatever it is, make sure you get back alive. You can't die without giving me explanations first, do you understand?"

This time he smiled, although not everything was solved, he felt that a weight was lifted from him, "Yes, see you in a month..."

On the other hand, Luvia hadn't called him, and he was worried about this. The apprentice magus was well aware of the antagonistic relationship his father had had with the Edelfelt family. This had led him to confront them in various jobs, and the boy was afraid that Luvia would begin to see him as an enemy. He didn't want to call her. He wanted to talk to her face to face. He knew that when he returned to the Clock Tower, he would have to. It was something he could not avoid...

Caules, for his part, sent him a message asking how he was. He responded to his message, and the two started a conversation. In this, he explained why he had hidden his last name and what was his relationship with Kiritsugu. Caules found it understandable that the redhead hid his last name. Caules also told him about his troubled relationship with his sister and some things about his relationship with the rest of his family. He found it amusing that they both had an older sister with whom they had a complicated relationship, at least in Caules's case. And, well, he had no brotherly relationship with Ilya, and that was something he wanted to fix.

And now, he was calling him Gray...

"Hello, Gray…?" Shirou asked.

"Shirou, is it you?" The girl spoke from the other end of the phone.

The boy nodded, more out of habit than anything else, "Yes."

"I see. I… Well… I wanted to know... How were you?"

"Well, my old man and I are getting ready for a job..."

"Your father? Emiya Kiritsugu, right?"

"Yes. I know I have a lot of explanations to give, but…"

"But…?"

He didn't know how to express himself properly, "My father believed that if the Association magi knew about our relationship beforehand, I would be rejected by everyone. Maybe they might even want to get back at him by using me," Shirou laughed lightly, "You know, at first, I pretended to be strong by telling him that I didn't mind being judged for being related to him. Although, I guess, in the end, he saw through me..."

Gray whispered a few words, "You didn't want to be judged for being related to someone else..."

"Yes. I am not ashamed of my relationship with Kiritsugu. In fact, I am proud to be his son. But, to keep me safe, he decided that hiding it was best."

"I... understand it," without the boy being able to see it, she touched her face, "I know perfectly…"

The boy could see that there was something else in her words, but he preferred not to pressure her...

"Will you go back to the Clock Tower?" Gray asked changing the subject.

"Yes. I just hope the teacher still accepts me in his classes. He seemed quite tense when he met with Kiritsugu…"

That drew a little laugh from the lord's apprentice. She remembered the ghostly appearance her master had left after his meeting with Shirou's father. Although she was concerned at first, after Flat's nonsense showing off his autograph, she had the teacher doing him his famous grip, proving he was okay in the end. Another surprising thing was the appearance of Reines in the lord's office after class. Even the young lady couldn't act calm after learning that the infamous magus killer visited her beloved older brother.

"Although my master was a bit… affected, after meeting with your father. He doesn't seem to hate him, or anything like that in particular, although I heard him say that he didn't want to have him as an enemy ever again..."

"Enemy? Were Kiritsugu and the master enemies?"

"It seems. I couldn't find out much, but it seems they both met in Japan, in a city called Fuyuki..."

"I see…"

Those statements confused the boy. According to what Kiritsugu had told him, he had traveled to Japan to get away from the moonlit world. Why had he and his master been enemies?

"Wait, the teacher went to Japan?"

"It seems, but I was not able to make him tell me more..." Realizing that they had drifted off the subject, Gray tried to return to it, "But that's not what I wanted to talk about, what I mean is, I'm sure the teacher will continue to teach you!"

Maybe that's why he referred to Fuyuki as that damn city. The boy thought, unable to stop reflecting on these revelations. However, seeing the effusiveness that the girl put into her last statement, he snapped out of his reflection state, "Thanks for the support. I needed it. I'll do everything I can to get back to the Clock Tower."

"In that case, we'll see you in two weeks..." The girl said happily.

"Yes, thank you, Gray. By the way, did they end the case with the Iselma family?"

"Well, more than a case it was a social gathering, at least, in the beginning. I traveled as the bodyguard of Lady Reines."

"The teacher's younger sister?"

"Yes, I'll tell you everything when we meet again..."

The call ended, and the redhead felt another weight being lifted from him. It was getting late, and it was time to go to bed. Tomorrow would be the day. He was nervous. Would he be able to be of help? If he had learned something from his father, it was to be clear about his abilities. That said, he did a self-analysis...

He must have turned fifteen, or so he thought because he really didn't even know when his birthday was. It had been two years since he started studying as a blacksmith, since that day he met Muramasa and a school year since he entered the Clock Tower.

In all that time, Shirou had learned quite a bit:

He learned, thanks to his ancestor, the properties of many metals. He studied the alloys these could create when combined. He also learned about the properties of non-metallic elements, but that they had been used in many weapons to give them special properties, Wyvern scales, their claws, and teeth, he had even learned to work with bones of human beings and phantasmal species. For a moment, the redhead thought he could work with any material, how naive...

The boy raised his bandaged hands. These were full of cuts, bruises, and there was even a burn. His fingers were shaking, and the simple act of moving them caused him great pain. However, he smiled. These injuries were the result of having reforged Caliburn. It was then that he realized how far he was from his goal. Caliburn was a rank b, b + Heroic Relic at best, and he had just reforged it, using both its shards, as well as Merodach's shards, a weapon of, minimum, rank A +, but even so, the redhead wouldn't make any excuses. Thanks to his structural grasp, he was able to examine the structure of both swords. He saw how both blades were forged and had their fragments as a basis, compared to creating a new sword, by rebuilding a sword instead of forging it from scratch, the apprentice of blacksmith had an overwhelming advantage.

"And my goal is to create the largest sword ever seen, a sword that surpasses Caliburn and Merodach, and I will have to create it from scratch…" Shirou didn't get depressed, or at least not at all, but he had realized the reality of it, "I am far from reaching it..."

"Of course, you're far away, brat! Our family has been forging for more than 500 years, and the times we have been able to reach for something like the ultimate sword can be counted on the fingers of one hand. And, in the end, none of these achieved to reach what we craved. You've only been training seriously for two years. You've accomplished more than most would. In fact, I'd almost call you a prodigy."

"Thank you, grandfather. I will do my best to achieve it..." The boy smiled.

Instinctively Muramasa smiled. How many of his descendants had he guided? He had already lost count, and although none reached the ultimate sword, the blacksmith was proud of what every one of them had accomplished, and his latest descendant was no exception. "You're just starting, as a blacksmith, and as a magus, you still have a long way to go... Take advantage of all the experiences this will bring, kid."

The apprentice blacksmith nodded.

True, his path as a blacksmith was only beginning. And his path as a magus was not much different. For a moment, he thought back to his first year in the Clock Tower...

Thanks to lord Trambellio's classes, in the General Fundamentals faculty, he was able to learn the most basic of the basics: The study of mana and the differences between the mana of the world and the od within him. He also learned things like studying ley lines. How to feel the lines and how to analyze them, also the location where they were. He learned the different types of magecraft: offensive, defensive, healing, sympathetic, contagious, etc. Another of his achievements, although one more personal than anything else, was to ensure that his classmate did not feel so uncomfortable with his presence. She even managed to know her name: Ayaka Sajyou, although, he had not yet managed to get both of them to have a long conversation without the girl looking uncomfortable.

In his classes in the Mineralogy department, he had improved in the use of his structural grasp, thanks to the constant use of it to analyze minerals, precious stones, and different metals. Furthermore, since most of the jobs he made them together with Rin and Luvia as classmates, Shirou had learned about her jewel magecraft. Although he couldn't transfer the od from him to jewels and use them to cast different types of spells, he had come up with a few ideas on how to use the energy transfer to his advantage. However, he still did not have the necessary knowledge to test his theory. He would have to wait until his second year, in addition to asking Rin or Luvia for help, if he could get them to forgive him.

For their part, Lord El-Melloi's classes were a bubble of air in the middle of a flood. The redhead knew that his first year being the most general would also be the most difficult. In the other classes, there were many situations in which, due to his lack of elemental affinity, he couldn't do any of the activities proposed by the teacher. This caused his grades to drop, and he had to hold on to what little he could do. Besides, he had to trying twice or three times as much as his other classmates. Many times, this situation was very frustrating for him. However, Lord El-Melloi II managed to bring out the potential of each of his students.

He remembered the first time Caules showed his magecraft to the professor...

"Why are you using spiritual evocation!? Even if you have some talent in that branch of magecraft. Isn't it obvious that your talent lies in the bioelectric magecraft?" Said the young lord.

The same had not happened with him, because unlike Caules, he had already found what he was good at. The problem is that, since what the redhead was talented in was in so few areas, the young lord decided to give him some alternatives that would complement his magecraft.

In fact, he listed them for him:

"1-. Try to manipulate the shape of your projections. In this way, you can make them better suited to your needs. 2-. Reinforce your body at the same time that you reinforce your projection so that both are more resistant. 3-. And finally, I recommend you study the runes. With these, even if you don't have any elemental affinity, you can use them to your advantage. In fact, you will be able to engrave them on your weapons and give them other effects."

Shirou, following his master's advice, had practiced and, until now, the results had been mixed:

He could slightly manipulate the shape of his weapons, their length, weight, and thickness. But manipulating the form to his pleasure was something that was still out of his reach. He was able to reinforce his body in a short time. He still couldn't do crazy things like mold steel with his bare hands, but his reinforcement was good enough to resist things like the attacks from Shinji's familiars. However, the redhead was still unable to reinforce his body and the weapon he was using at the same time. Last, and most importantly, his study with the runes. Unfortunately, he planned to delve into the runes during his second year of apprenticeship, but time was not on his side. He had learned the basic runes. But still, he was not able to combine them or use complicated effects with them.

And this was the reason why Kiritsugu did not want to reveal his relationship with the apprentice magus until he had completed his second year of study. During his first year, he had only received the introduction to his studies. The general education that everyone should know. And, in his second year, it is when he should begin to specialize. But fate was capricious and, if they wanted to have a better chance of recovering the Emiya crest, then they would have to take a chance...

Speaking of the Emiya crest, Kiritsugu had made sure that Shirou knew how to use all the tools at his fingertips, making his training almost hell. The redhead had spent hours for days shooting at various targets, from immobile to mobile. He had learned to use all types of pistols, from the oldest to the automatic, even with the use of a scope or a silencer. Although that wasn't really bad about the training...

One of the first things that the magus killer taught him was to hypnotize himself. He did it when he had to project a more powerful weapon than usual, such as Caliburn, which required a large part of his od to project it. In that case, he used the command: trace on, while, to quickly activate the temporary magecraft of his magic crest, he used the command: time alter.

The magus killer also taught him how to move so as not to put more pressure, well, more than he was already putting by speeding up his time, on his limbs.

"Old man, why did you bring that gun?"

Kiritsugu was loading blank bullets into a pneumatic pistol, "Shirou, you told me that Avalon worked when you were around Lord El-Melloi's apprentice, didn't you?"

The redhead nodded.

The magus killer finished loading the bullets, "That's fine; however, Avalon will only work with its full power when you are near the girl. Once you get too far away from her, its performance will depend on the mana it has stored. As you do not use any type of shield, your only tool when defending yourself will be your own reflexes and the temporary alteration to dodge."

"I understand."

"But that will only work if you can use the magecraft in a matter of seconds. So, to improve your reflexes and to get used to using the double accel more naturally, I am going to shoot you, and you will have to activate the time alter to avoid it."

"What!?"

"Don't worry, this pistol is designed to fire a bit slower than usual, and these bullets won't hurt you much ..." Kiritsugu pointed the gun at Shirou.

In his mind, the young magus apprentice could only think of one thing: "Oh shit...!"

The result of that infernal training was that the redhead ended up with multiple bruises all over his body from his failed attempts. Kiritsugu also did not allow him to reinforce his body as the pain made him alert. However, at the end of those two horrible months, he had gotten used to activating the time alter in a matter of seconds, allowing him to dodge the bullets ... most of the time ...

"Rou…? Shi... rou…? Shirou!?" His father yelled, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Eh?"

"Are you okay? The phoenix tears worked, right?"

The redhead nodded, "Yeah, I was just a little nervous, so I got a little lost in my thoughts."

Instead of letting Avalon heal him from his wounds caused by Caliburn's reformation and his training, Shirou preferred to use phoenix tears. In order not to exhaust the mana that the scabbard had. These were part of the medicines that Dr. Pieceman had given them, although they did not have many due to how expensive they were. Especially considering how strange the phoenixes were in today's world.

The freelancer nodded. He got out of the car while grabbing his briefcase, "Come on, we've arrived."

The apprentice magus followed his father when he realized that they had parked at one of those stalls to buy fuel.

"The town of Aylesbury is one kilometer away. There are numerous barriers and bounded fields that protect the area. So, the rest of the journey will be best done on foot."

"The Association and the Church have prepared a place to meet half a kilometer apart, haven't they?" asked the redhead.

Kiritsugu nodded.

As he walked, Shirou asked him, "Old man, there is something I don't understand: Why are we going to attack the place just before the ritual is completed?"

"Although, both the Mage's Association and the Holy Church have been monitoring the area, all that has been invested in the town is legitimate funds, as well as human labor. Therefore, they cannot act, even if they know that it is a farm for the dead apostles. As long as that human justice is maintained, they cannot act until the supernatural has made an appearance."

"And the time before?"

"It happened more or less the same. The Association and the Church attacked when the ritual was about to be completed, and although they managed to stop it, it still caused the premature degradation of the planet."

"And now the same thing will happen?"

Kiritsugu nodded, "Five years ago, the dead apostles started investing in the land once more. It was then that the Association again monitored the village..."

The Dark Six, the second apostle dead within 27, how powerful will it be so that the ritual that serves for their rebirth, even incomplete, is capable of degrading the entire planet? The boy thought.

After thirty minutes of walking ...

On a hill, they could see a kind of camp. This was surrounded by barriers, delimited fields, executors, and other members of both organizations.

"The Association and the Church need to modernize..."

The freelancer nodded.

They reached the entrance to the camp and found two executioners. By their clothing, one seemed to be from the Church and the other from the Association. The latter recognized his father and reluctantly let them pass.

The camp could be separated into three parts: The Church premises, the Association premises, and, in the middle, the freelancers.

"Oh…!? But if he is the magus killer..."

Shirou turned towards the origin of the voice to see a man in his thirties. His devilish appearance was like that of an American outlaw. He possessed a scarred face, sharp eyes with a look hidden by dark glasses, a muscular body, and a black jacket made from flayed skins of magical beasts. He also smelled of blood and gunpowder. This essence emanated from his entire body.

"Sisigou Kairi?" Kiritsugu asked, noticing the mercenary.

The man approached, showing a sharp smile, "Himself. I had heard you were back in business, but I never expected to see you here."

"Considering the stakes, there was no way I didn't come," Kiritsugu replied calmly.

"Yes, you're right. The pay is very good," said the necromancer.

"I didn't mean that..." Thought the magus killer, "This time I did not come to loot bodies, or for money..."

Kairi looked at him strangely but did not ask questions, "And the boy?"

"He is my son, Emiya Shirou," Kiritsugu replied, "Shirou, this is Kairi Sisigou, a spellcaster, and freelancer, just like us. I have met him in some jobs..."

"It's my pleasure," Shirou replied politely.

However, the necromancer did not reply. For a moment, an awkward silence reigned throughout the environment.

Kairi took off his glasses, cleaned them, and seeing that Shirou's image didn't disappear, he asked the question, "Are you serious?"

They both did not understand the question.

"What do you mean?" asked the magus killer.

"Nothing... is that... I never thought that, of all people, you were a family man."

"So strange is...?" Shirou asked.

The necromancer smiled uncomfortably, "W-Well boy, your father was classified as the magus killer for having shot down an entire plane to hunt down a dead apostle. It is a strange thing to be told that this person is a family man."

Kiritsugu frowned as he recalled the last mission he performed with his teacher.

"Old man? Does something happen?"

Seeing Shirou looking at him with curiosity and concern, he clarified, "Excuse me both… In that mission, Borzak had turned all the passengers into his extensions, So the safest thing was to eliminate them all by shooting down the plane..."

"Borzak?"

"The dead apostle..."

Although Shirou would have liked to know more about that story, the three of them were interrupted by a third...

"Hmm… You are quite an interesting human, you know?"

"Eh…?"

Shirou turned to see an elderly priest, the man was quite tall and had white hair. He wore glasses and dressed in a ceremonial robe.

"Excuse me, are you referring to me?" Shirou asked.

"Yes." The priest nodded with a smile, "My master became interested in you after feeling the energy emanates from that weapon on his belt."

"Can you feel it? It is inactive…" Said Shirou surprised.

The priest nodded, "Even if it is not being used, it is a powerful holy sword. Its power is felt at a great distance, as long as you can sense this kind of thing, of course."

Suddenly, a little rat walked up to the priest. He picked up the rodent he picked up and... Did he start talking to it? The rat seemed to say something to him, and he nodded, "It seems that my lord wants to meet him. However, because the Church does not allow him to come in person, and because my master has to attend to someone else, he cannot come. However, he says he will look for it when he starts the operation.

With this said, the priest began to walk away.

"Wait! Who you are!?"

The old man stopped and replied, "I have no proper name, but they know me as the king of rats."

Kiritsugu narrowed his eyes, "Shirou, be careful."

"Why?" asked the confused redhead.

"Kid, the rat king is how one of Merem Solomon's familiar is known, one of the dead apostles who works for the Burial Agency," Kairi replied, to which Kiritsugu nodded.

"Are there dead apostles working for the Church?"

"Two so far, maybe three actually."

Again, the conversation was interrupted, although, this time, by three people, two women, and a man... They were on a platform.

The two women were young.

One of them is a woman with brown eyes and hair, her hair is long, and she wears it tied in a ponytail. She wears a white suit while carrying a whip. It could be said that she denoted nobility above all things.

The other was a woman in a church uniform, and as the other woman, her hair was long. She was smiling kindly, but that smile made Shirou's spine tremble.

The last one is an older man who was dressed in ceremonial church clothes.

Shirou felt a hand on his shoulder and looked at his father ...

The girl with the whip is the deputy director of the Clock Tower, Barthomeloi Lorelei. The other woman is the director of the Burial Agency, Narbareck. And, finally, the man is Cardinal Laurentis. He is said to be the closest man to obtaining the position of the next pope.

Shirou nodded. These people were extremely powerful in various ways.

The cardinal was the one who directed the operation, "We are gathered here in harmony, even with our differences, to destroy a common enemy..." Despite what the cardinal said, Shirou could tell that the three parties that made up the assembled wanted to kill each other. However, the gaze of the two women behind the cardinal silenced any attempt to dispute, "The operation will take place in ten minutes and will consist of three phases:

The first phase will be the incursion of the vanguard. This will be made up of members of both the Association and members of the Church.

The second stage will be made up of freelancers paid by both organizations. You will be in charge of destabilizing the enemy's formation.

The last and third stage will be made up of the most powerful members of the two organizations. Once the location of our objectives is known, we will attack them using the most powerful of our arsenal. That said, the family of magi, the Ainsworths, have agreed to help us using their magecraft, Flash Air, to take us to town without the dead apostles being able to detect us. Brace yourselves. We start in ten minutes..."

"Well, that seems to be it..." Kairi said, seeing how the three of them retired. It seems that both the deputy director of the Association and the director of the Burial Agency had only come to silence any objections and to make an appearance, "See you on the battlefield, magus killer, and magus killer Jr."

Kiritsugu frowned slightly due to the way the necromancer called out to his son. He knew that other people would link Shirou to his title sooner or later. However, he wanted to prevent his son from being seen as the second magus killer. He didn't want this to become a hereditary position or something like that; however, it seemed that it was already late.

"Shirou…"

"Yes?"

"You will need to learn to locate yourself in places like this, and I need to speak to some associates. So, we will meet here when our part of the operation begins. Do you understand?"

The redhead nodded.

"Don't get in trouble. This place is like a powder keg, and it only takes one spark to set it off."

"I understand."

Shirou wandered around the place for a few minutes, not far from the central area. He was not well received by the executors of the Church or the Association. However, when he went near the Association side...

"Ouch…" the redhead groaned, not realizing that he had collided with someone, "Excuse me," he said quickly, not wanting to create any problems.

"It doesn't matter. I wasn't very aware of where I was going either..."

Shirou raised his gaze towards the person he had bumped into. She was a woman taller than him, and she must have been around 21 years old. The woman wore a black two-piece suit with a purple-red tie. She has short, magenta hair and a mole just below her left eye.

"Aren't you too young to be here, boy?" She asked while narrowing her eyes.

"I'm only here with my father," replied the redhead.

This attracted the woman's attention, "Your father, who?"

Shirou didn't know whether to reveal this information. It was very likely that many of those present had grudges against his father, "Excuse me, that's private..."

"I see… Be careful. This place can be as dangerous as Aylesbury," with that, the woman walked away.

Seeing that the time was approaching, Shirou returned to the place where he had met Kairi and where his father was waiting for him.

"Ready?" Kiritsugu asked.

To which Shirou nodded.

The duo walked towards one of the Ainsworth magi, the family leader, Zachary Ainsworth, a grown man with long blue-black hair.

He directed them to go where his daughter was. He was going to send a large group of magi, and he wasn't capable enough to send more at the same time.

They headed towards the girl and, for a moment, both, Shirou and Ainsworth's eldest daughter, stared at each other.

She is a girl the same age or maybe slightly older than him. It could tell that she was tall and beautiful, with long golden hair tied in long pigtails and blue eyes. She wore a ruffled white dress shirt, a long black skirt with white boots, a small brown leather belt at the waist, and a pair of low-back knife sheaths.

Physically, she looked a lot like Rin, except for some slight... or, rather, large differences. Besides that, both Rin's hair and eyes were darker, while the girl's hair was lighter.

She stared at him, wondering to herself: What was a boy her age doing going to a battlefield? And Shirou stared at her for, well, hormones...

"They are ready?" She asked gently.

They both nodded, the girl stretched out her arm, and, from the tips of her fingers, a diamond-shaped portal opened. They went right through it, and from one moment to the next, the whole scene changed.

Now they were in the middle of a street. Shirou analyzed his surroundings and realized the state of the town. It was an amalgamation of styles. There were old buildings of more than eight decades old. Some of them were destroyed, probably the aftermath of the fighting thirty years ago. For Aylesbury had no economic value, so it only began to flourish when the dead apostles began to invest money and, since the ritual was stopped, no one had made large investments in the town. At least, not until five years ago. As a result, there were also new buildings to contrast, although few and some not finished.

But there was something that gave him a bad feeling. Aylesbury was a farm for the dead apostles. Although its population was not even close to being very large, it was still very considerable, but the street was empty.

"Old man…?" Shirou asked worriedly.

"Keep alert. They will come any minute. We have to get off the main streets it is better if we fight in narrower places," said the magus killer as he pulled out a Calico M950, a submachine gun, from his briefcase and placed a knife holder on his belt with a knife similar to those used by the army.

Shirou nodded, knowing that all the villagers would probably be his enemies. It would be bad if they were overwhelmed by a majority of dead apostles...

Sooner rather than later, the dead apostles began to show up no, more specifically, ghouls began to appear everywhere. It was getting dark, so the sunlight should hurt them, but, even so, they launched themselves against the duo without thinking twice. It was not an absurd amount, so instead of fleeing, Kiritsugu aimed his submachine gun at the ghouls and began firing. These possessed reflexes and superhuman strength, allowing them to dodge much of the Calico's bullets. However, even with the speed and reflexes of the ghouls, they could not avoid all the bullets. The bullets pierced them in the head, torso, and other limbs.

However, the number of ghouls progressively increased, and they began to be used as a meat shield for each other. In this way, they got closer and closer. But, when one of them got close enough to the duo...

SLASH!

The bloodsucker's head was severed from its neck and sent flying through the air. With the long length of his sword, the Monohoshi Zao, Shirou slashed anyone who got close enough to enter his range. Thanks to this combination, Shirou and Kiritsugu held their position for several minutes...

"Kid, back!"

Hearing his ancestor's warning, Shirou drew his second sword, just in time to stop a blow from one of the ghouls that had managed to sneak into his field of vision. Right after Muramasa stopped the bloodsucker's attack, the redhead used the Monohoshi Zao to stab him and split his body in half.

"Shirou, the alleys!" Kiritsugu said as he saw how, little by little, the undead began to overcome them.

The boy nodded as he began to back away, along with his father following him closely, towards one of the alleys of the town. When they were close enough, both of them gave up all attempts to hold their position and started running into it. Shirou cut into pieces anything that moved towards him, intending to hurt him. Kiritsugu followed him as he shot backward, causing the bloodsuckers to be unable to capture them. They ran for several minutes until they managed to lose their pursuers.

As they left the alleys, they both came to a small street.

"It's weird. Why did they stop chasing us?" The redhead asked, confused.

The magus killer began to analyze where they were. Seeing no ghoul, he narrowed his eyes, "This is bad…"

"Why?"

"The dead apostles use their ghouls to harvest blood. If they are not prowling around, then that means..."

"That they have brought us our food, is that what you mean. Isn't that so, sister?"

The father and son duo observed two people: a boy and a girl. They both had the appearance of being slightly older than Shirou, and they both possessed crimson eyes and platinum-colored hair. The two wore clothes in the purest Victorian style

"You are…" Kiritsugu soon recognized them, "Shirou, watch out. These two are the sons of a candidate for the position of the top 27 dead apostles."

This seemed to anger the boy, who rushed over to them while yelling, "My father is not a simple aspiring one of the 27. He will become one of them!"

From a scabbard on his belt, the boy drew a sword. It was a silver and white sword, with blue details, a western bastard sword. With the superhuman speed of a dead apostle, he arrived in front of Kiritsugu in a matter of seconds and prepared to cut him in half...

"Time alter; double accel…"

Clink!

The bastard sword slammed into the Monohoshi Zao and was deflected to the side.

PAMP!

The dead Apostle blocked the Calico's bullets with inhuman speed and backed away.

The girl giggled, seeing her brother being countered by the other duo, "How pathetic you are. Do you want some help?"

"Shut up! Just support me from afar," the boy replied.

"Good, but don't destroy the boy. I want to eat him as a reward," she said, licking her lips.

"Do what you want…"

Shirou used his structural grasp on the sword. He was surprised to discover its identity: it was the so-called Vorpal sword. A sword capable of weakening various phantasmal species and creatures from the moonlit world. For a moment, Shirou remembered that, within the ritual, several members of the factions of the dead apostles were going to participate. And he supposed that the boy had the sword as a form of prevention against a possible conflict. Unfortunately for him, said sword did not affect magi.

Steel collided with steel in fierce combat, Shirou deflecting every blow from his enemy. His katanas were not made for this type of combat in which he had to compete by crashing using only brute force against other weapons. If he put too much pressure on his swords, they could be damaged.

Despite the dead apostle's agility, strength, and reflexes, Shirou was able to match him with every blow.

"Tsubame Gaeshi!"

The dead apostle was effectively cut to pieces, but his curse of restoration brought him back in a matter of a few minutes, and while the bloodsucker recovered...

PUMP!

Shirou heard a shot. He saw how the sister had drawn a gun and fired at him, "Time alter, double accel…" Activating his magecraft once more, the redhead was able to narrowly dodge the enemy's attack.

PUMP!

Two shots flew towards the girl, and she dodged them with ease. Suddenly, bullets rained down like raindrops as they crossed the battlefield.

"Kiritsugu, be careful! That rifle is a concept weapon known as a Black Barrel. It is a weapon that disintegrates the ether. It seems that it was modified by the dead apostles to react to the activation of the magical circuits. It increases its damage if it hits you while your circuits are activated, and by destroying the ether, elemental magecraft is useless against it."

"Hmm ...? How did you find out that, brat?" The boy's discovery caught the girl's interest.

Kiritsugu understood that a bullet from that rifle would be fatal, whether it hit him normally or hit him while using the time alter.

The male dead apostle recovered from the wounds caused by the famous swordsman's technique, and seeing that he needed more strength to overcome his enemy, he reinforced his body and launched himself at Shirou. Again, he began a rapid exchange of attacks.

PAMP! PAMP! PAMP!

A flurry of shots was directed towards the redhead, piercing even the male dead apostle. Shirou did his best to avoid them, but there were too many bullets. They hit him and threw him several meters behind, a little in front of his father.

"You bastard! Could you warn me !?" The boy complained.

"Oh, come on, you weren't going to die for that," the girl shrugged, "Now go and take advantage of he being weak."

The dead apostle saw the boy just getting up and, without waiting to be cured, rushed against him. Shirou managed to react in time to stop the bloodsucker's attack with one of his swords and used the other to pierce his foot, preventing him from moving freely. Little by little, the curse of restoration began to take effect and heal the wounds of the dead apostle.

"Now!" Shirou yelled.

"Hmm ...?" Exclaimed the stunned apostle.

¡Pump!

A bullet went through the boy's head, killing him instantly. He fell towards the redhead. Shirou shook him off and watched in surprise as the girl laughed at what had happened to her brother.

"T-That fool, h-he, he really let two humans kill him a second time. Ha! Ha! Ha!" She laughed at the girl as if she didn't care.

"It seems like it worked," Shirou said as he approached his father.

The magus Killer nodded, "Yes, although it probably only works in conditions like these. Where the apostles are not that strong, they depend so much on magecraft and, on days like this," Kiritsugu whispered so that the girl wouldn't hear him.

"Ha, Ha, Ha."

"Will you keep laughing?" Shirou asked, "Your brother is dead, you know?"

"What about that? The curse will bring him back..."

"Then, why hasn't he come back?" Kiritsugu asked, "It was just a shot to the head."

At that moment, she realized; they were right, her brother was not regenerating.

"What?" She exclaimed in surprise, "What did they do to him !?" She screamed desperately.

"Nothing special. Your regeneration curse is not absolute," said the magus killer.

The curse of restoration was the way the dead apostles recovered. It returned the dead apostle to his original state, even before receiving the attack. But there was a big problem with this curse: it depended on the phases of the moon. And, just today, it was the new moon, the phase where the curse was weakest. Also, the bullet fired was an origin bullet. These were conceptual weapons that drove the magical circuits of any being they hit crazy, in addition to destroying them, as long as they were active, causing an enormous amount of necrosis that prevented healing.

With the curse in its normal state, or at its full potential, the bullets would not be able to finish off the dead apostle. But with the curse in its weakest state, the conceptual weapon was able to bypass the curse and prevent regression.

"Bastards!" Quickly, the bloodsucker lunged forward, dodging the bullets Kiritsugu was firing at her.

Shirou stood in front but couldn't stop her. The woman threw herself against the freelancer, and he received a strong blow that sent him flying several meters away, but not before he threw a bottle of holy water at her face that burned her and destroyed her vision...

"AAAAHHH!" The uncontrolled woman screamed without being able to see anything.

The magus killer stood up, spitting blood. If he had reinforced his body, then he would have died with that blow, "Shirou!"

The boy understood his father's message and ran towards the girl. Not being able to see him, he managed to dodge her erratic blows, and, using his projection magecraft, he projected another weapon. It was the same knife that Kiritsugu had on their belt as well as one of their creations. He had used several of the origin bullets as material, in this way, the boy had created a knife with the same properties as bullets. Kiritsugu called it: Phantasm Punishment.

The redhead brandished the knife, piercing the bloodsucker's neck.

"You... Bastard…!" Blood spilled from her throat, it prevented her from speaking, and she ended up choking. The effect was the same as with her brother. Little by little, the conceptual weapon overcame the curse, corroding her entire being. Shirou looked at what he had done: the corpse of the woman writhing in a vain attempt by the curse to keep her alive.

Her necrotic body, her torn throat, the blood staining her clothes… His father had prepared him for this, but... even so, nausea invaded him, and he was on the verge of vomiting.

Suddenly, the earth began to shake. Several old buildings began to creak, and some even collapsed. It seemed that the pitched battle was increasing. Suddenly, two buildings behind him collapsed, and their debris fell from all sides.

"Old man!"

The rubble had separated them...

From the other side, the magus killer replied, "Shirou, go back to the camp, I'll meet you there. The apostles we killed were the Louvre children. They were two dead apostles over a hundred years old. It should be enough for them to recognize our usefulness."

"I understand. Make sure you come back, old!"

Kiritsugu smiled slightly.

I should tell you that.

Before walking away, the magus killer said, "Don't go down the main streets. The true apostles, those who are among the 27, will begin to face each other. As well as the most powerful members of the Church and the Association.

That said, Kiritsugu and Shirou parted ways.

The apprentice magus walked away from the scene where the confrontation had occurred, though, not without first taking up the arms of both apostles.

He didn't realize that a little rat had been watching his entire fight…

He ran through the alleys of the town, sometimes seeing executioners or freelancers confronting dead apostles. If he saw someone in distress, he would stop for a moment and cause a slight distraction with the Black Barrel. After all, it wasn't wrong to help others if he could.

And, while fleeing the conflict area, he saw something that confused him. In a children's park, there was a girl. She was a pretty girl a little younger than him, with long black hair and very fair skin. She wore a beautiful victorian evening gown.

But the strangest thing was how she played innocently in the park with a… Puppy? Well, that was what it appeared to be. Although for him, he looked more like a squirrel. A cute animal with white fur with some slightly bluish details.

"Fou?" The little being barked upon noticing his presence.

The girl stopped and looked at him. She had beautiful scarlet eyes that he could tell had a charm without equal.

"You are…?" She asked.

Despite the strange situation, he replied, "Muramasa Shirou."

She smiled, "And what faction do you come from?"

She smiled, "And which faction do you belong to?"

"Faction?" Shirou said, confused, "Oh, no. I am a freelancer. More importantly, what are you doing here!?" Shirou was shocked. At first, he believed that the girl was an apostle. But, when he used his nose to smell her, he did not perceive any essence.

He had replaced his sense of smell to perceive magecraft, another of the things he had learned in the Clock Tower, and it had never failed him. In fact, although Shirou did not know how to use it consciously until he arrived at the Clock Tower, he had done so long before he reached it. This was how he noticed the agglomeration of mana in Lady Valualeta's office.

"Me? I was invited to come..."

"Invited?"

"So is." The girl smiled, "Although it looks like a big mess was made just like last time."

"Last time?" Shirou's thoughts stopped when, suddenly, the sky was covered with a canopy of wings. They produced an enormous change in the world, creating a world of death where absolute darkness began to swallow the light of the moon and the stars, "W-what the hell is this?"

"Nevermore, it's the Gransurg Blackmore reality marble, one of the 27," the girl said dismissively.

"Moon Devourer!? Dead Apostle Killer!?" Shirou asked, terrified.

She nodded happily, "Yup, that one. He is a good joker. Seventeen hundred years ago he made mankind believe that he had died, although no one knows why. He probably came to kill me along with Merem. They must both be facing Rizo and Fina."

These names brought chills to Shirou. Fina-blood Svelten and Rizo-Waal Strout, both are dead apostles from among the most powerful, both are part of the 27.

"Watch out!" Shirou used the Black Barrel to destroy a ghoul that was approaching to attack the girl.

The girl was surprised by the boy's action, "Did you protect me?"

She seemed to be puzzled.

"Well, the ghoul was going to hurt you, wasn't he? I wasn't going to let it happen, at least, not while I was here."

This brought a smile to the girl's face, "Oh! Now that I think about it, I'll be late. I got distracted by playing and also watching the fights. Since you're going to protect me, will you escort me too?"

"Escort you?" The confused boy asked.

"Yes," she replied.

Shirou wanted to refuse. He had to go back to the camp as his father had told him but, there was something ... something in those beautiful crimson eyes, something that did not allow him to refuse, "Sure. Where are we going?"

"To the caves! You know, there are some caves under this town. We are supposed to meet there," she said cheerfully and innocently.

"Fou!" The little animal barked.

"Oh right, he is cath palug, although you can call him Fou."

"Nice to meet you, Fou," the boy said as he stretched out his hand towards the little animal.

The girl smiled, "Treat him well, PM."

Hearing his master's orders, Fou climbed up Shirou's hand and licked his cheek.

"Then let's head for the caves!" The girl said as she raised a hand happily.

"To the caves! / Fou, fou," said the other two.

In this way, Shirou left with the girl and the little animal, forgetting that, literally, he was in the middle of a pitched battle between executors of the Church and the Association, magi, dead apostles, ghouls, and other creatures...