6 Chapter 6 - Broken and Reforged

[You have rested in a futon, and your injury has fully healed. HP, MP, and stamina fully recovered!]

…Strange, despite the joyous message and not having any future pain attacks, I…don't feel all that happy…No, it's more like I don't feel anything at all.

Darkness surrounds me, swirling and ever-expanding. This was probably when I'd start to feel worried, but my heart feels…empty.

Something is happening to me, and it's dulling my emotions.

I won't let that happen.

"[PRANA BURST]." A light breaks through the darkness, exploding outwards in a flash of prana, blowing away the surrounding black mud that coats me. All my senses and emotions rush in all at once, and a sudden gasp leaves my lips.

"Ugh, what ju…st…" My words fail me as I look around, seeing the tainted mud of Angra Mainyu flowing across the barren dirt. I see remains of houses, wreckages of cars, and the charred remains of human flesh. The feeling of non-existent bile rises in my throat, but I force it down, holding a hand over my mouth and activating [Stoicism] to numb the feeling. It doesn't completely work, but it gives me enough focus to notice that the mud is moving, slowly inching to me, and I erect a quick erect a wall of prana around me.

I look around once more, and in silent horror I realize that I've been standing on the ruins of what used to be the Emiya Estate. Thankfully, I don't see any of the main character's remains around me, but, then again, they could've…died…somewhere else.

Just, what the hell happened?

I don't know, but I sure as hell will find out.

…but first, I'll quickly clothe myself, since the mud burnt away my clothes.

Which brings up a good question actually, why am I not, well, dead? The rest are burnt to their bones, and my clothes were melted, so why am I still alive? Should I at least be going insane from taking in all the evils of the world or something? Mah, I'll find out why later as well. For now, the objective is to find Shirou and Saber, and perhaps Tohsaka and Archer as well.

Now clothed with another replica of my casual clothes, I begin to navigate across the mud-covered ground, making sure to keep supplying my barrier with prana as the mud chipped away at it.

My surroundings stayed the same as I walk onwards, mere rubble and remain of human civilization burnt and destroyed by the tainted mud. An hour passes, then two, and there is still nothing else besides the flowing black mud. I can feel the despair trickling in as my MP drops below half, but I push onwards.

Roughly 3 hours and a half after I began walking, I see the first place, untouched and unhurt by the mud.

I just didn't expect it to be Homurahara Academy of all places.

Unlike the other buildings I've passed, the school was still fairly intact, mostly thanks to the large dome-shaped barrier placed around it, stopping any black mud from flowing in. And not only that,

[Blood Fort Andromeda: Outer Seal, Temple of Light]

Rank B++

A powerful Noble Phantasm belonging to Medusa. Constructed by her use of her Mystic Eyes and strengthened through unknown mysteries, anything inside it is secluded from the outside world, and the lifeforce of those who are inside is slowly sucked away to be converted into prana.

However, a strange new mystery has been added, and the need for lifeforce has been negated, instead switched to taking in the prana from the surrounding tainted mud.

Since its need for lifeforce is no longer there, I walk into the confines of the school fairly easily, only feeling a slight dissonance as my body adapted to the sudden pressure of prana in the air. 'Yosh, let's see who's in here!' I walk through the gates and into the main school building, past the lockers and into the hallways, peering into the empty classrooms.

My hope deflates, but before I start to despair again, my magus hearing catches something, the sound of clinking gears and clashing swords. 'Archer!' Hope rekindled, I speed towards the source of the noise. I crash out through the doors and into the school grounds, where the remains of many footsteps are imprinted into the dirt. I desperately follow them, stopping right before the entrance into the school indoor gym.

With a deep breath, I push the doors open and step in,

To be greeted by Archer, his bow poised, an altered Caladbolg drawn, aimed straight at me. We stare for a good minute or two, before I raise a hand in greeting. "U-Um, hello." I say awkwardly, and Archer keeps his bow drawn at me for another good minute before he pulls his arm back down, letting the traced Noble Phantasms fade. "You're alive." He states evenly, though he seems rather surprised. "…I am." I say back, and he nurses his forehead, sighing weakly before looking at me again. "…How?"

I shrug, and he sighs, and then laughs. "Ah, what the hell." He finally says, dropping his hand back down and staring at me.

It's then that I noticed. He looks weak, his tanned skin seems paler than normal, his steel colored eyes are dim and unfocused, and his shoulders are slumped. His lips are curled upwards into a weak, resigned smile.

"…where are the others?"

"My master is wounded and asleep. Saber and her master are missing. Most of the school students and staff are injured, hungry, and tired. Most of the city has been burnt down. Other masters and servants are missing as well…And you were presumed dead." He laughs, mirthlessly and cold, and I can't help but wince at the sound. "This entire war's gone to shit. And…hah, why am I even saying this…"

"Archer, how many people are there in this building, excluding me and you?"

He looks at me strangely, before he looks around, his steely eyes swiftly counting the number of people in the gymnasium. "116." He says confidently, then turning to look at me again. "What are you planning."

"Oh, nothing…" I reply nonchalantly as I will the [Item Shop] to show up, motionlessly scrolling through the [Miscellaneous] section. 'There!' I do a quick bulk purchase of the item, before switching it to my inventory panel. "Archer, mind moving away a little?" I ask, getting ready to drop everything I just bought. "…sure."

He takes several steps back, and with nothing around me, I shout with a smile.

"Alright everyone, food's here!"

...................

Archer's eyes nearly fell from his sockets when he sees a neatly piled stack of bento boxes suddenly manifest from thin air. Roused from both Tsunaka's call and the new fragrance of food in the air, the weak students turn to them, and in that one moment he sees the hope of a hundred rekindle.

It is an act of true heroism, to rouse the hearts of those who have fallen to darkness.

Unlike him.

Archer shakes his head, forcing down the dark thoughts with his clinical assessment over what the hell the girl just did. Teleportation is one possibility, but that's something not even the strongest of magi (excluding one annoying vampire) can do. Projection is another, but he is a master of said magecraft, and he knows what is genuine and not. Which leaves one last possibility,

Creation.

It makes him shiver in fright. Magecraft may be wild and powerful, but it can't touch on the realm of godhood. If this girl can do so…then how strong is she truly?

But that is all speculation, and speculation is just that, speculation. Without answers and truths to reveal, he'll only be grasping at empty straws, and there are many things he'll rather spend his time on.

Like waking up his master and forcing down some food into her for example.

..................

With the food problem now sated, I decided to head up to the main school building's roof and enjoy the view from there…then again, there isn't much of a view besides the translucent barrier and the burning cityscape. It reminds me a lot of Singularity F from F/GO actually. Wonder if there're also skeletons roaming around the burning city?

My random thoughts are broken when I spot a pair of hands lean onto the railing I'm leaning on.

"Is she okay?" I ask, keeping my eyes on the burning landscape before me. "…She's still weak, but she's getting better…the food helped as well." The man beside me sighs. "Though she's now complaining over how unfair everything is." I don't look, but I can vividly imagine the wry grin he has on his face.

"Doesn't that just mean she's back to normal though?" I ask with a grin of my own, and Archer laughs slightly. "Heh, I suppose so."

A surprisingly comfortable silence passes between us despite the circumstances we find ourselves in. We bask in the silence, simply content to relax, more so for Archer than for me seeing how much he's relaxed since I first saw him drawing his bow on me.

Sadly, the peace doesn't last long, and the sounds of rattling bones can be heard coming from one of the school gates, which just happens to be the gate closest to the school gymnasium. I move to see what's trying to come in, but Archer swiftly traces his bow and fires several arrows into the air, tracing a tall arc before moving down like meteorites, exploding the monsters that were trying to enter. I turn to ask him, but he places a finger on his lips and readies another arrow on his bow.

A shrill cry sounds from the left, but Archer releases his arrow, and it swerves through the air, ignoring every single law of physics and stabbing into whatever monster it came from. Another, much gruffer and deep comes from behind me, and again he traces and fires an arrow at it. A dull thud sounds a second after that.

Several more cries, this time more beastly, is heard from under us. Archer simply shoots a pair of arrows into the air, before letting them crash back down onto whatever monsters were waiting at the ground.

And just like that, all grows quiet again.

"Damn." I mean, I know Archer's strong and all, but damn. That was one hell of a show. "But are you okay? You didn't spend all your prana like that, did you?"

"Don't worry. I'm fine." He waves the concern away, and I reluctantly stay quiet, even if I don't quite believe his words.

With our words exchanged, we resume our peaceful silence, leaning on the rails and watching the cityscape burn.

....................

[Blacksmithing Lv 67 – 32%]

A skill with the forge and hammer, the power to craft and mold iron and steel into shape, turning them into objects of use.

Maximum rank of materials capable of being used: B+

Hrmm, I wonder if this counts as cheating…

You see, around an hour after Archer's little display, I asked Archer for a quick spar (which I got absolutely kicked at. Him laughing at me didn't help in the slightest). It's not because I wanted to test my strength against him, which was partially true, but what I truly wanted to see him trace Kanshou and Bakuya.

Why, you ask? Because the creator's a legendary blacksmith, and I've been planning to raise my [Blacksmithin] skill, so why not get some hints and pointers from looking at its history?

It worked, only, it worked too well. Instead of just gaining some tips on how to improve, my brain got blasted by a myriad of knowledge about blacksmithing, which was actually what caused my defeat in the little spar. Then, after heading out with the excuse to 'look around a little', I went into my [Tool Station] and began applying my newly gained knowledge.

My skill's jumped nearly 50 levels since then.

It's stupidly overpowered, but this [Gamer] life of mine isn't a game (ironically), so I'll take any glitches in the system, thank you very much! I can probably do the same with my [Sword Mastery] skill, but I'll save doing that when Archer decides to bust out some of his other weapons from his Reality Marble.

Ooh, wonder how [Unlimited Blade Works] will look like…

Anyways, with now that I'm pretty proficient at smithing stuff, I entered my [Tool Station] ID to try and use one of the broken Noble Phantasms I got from killing those empty Heroic Spirits.

I have several items to choose to recreate, but my choices are limited. Atalanta's bow is a bit too high ranked for me to recreate. Diarmuid's spears are…well, they're actually quite a nice choice, but I already have a strong melee weapon. Any of the cloth-based items are a no-go for me, for obvious reasons.

Which then leaves me with Billy's broken revolver.

I mean, I do have a lot of ranged attacks, but they're simply too weak right now (and I could barely injure Caster using them last time). Having a ranged Noble Phantasm will definitely help me, so, yeah!

Taking out the shattered revolver from my inventory, I place the broken Noble Phantasm onto the smithing table, and with a smithing hammer in my hand and a range of different metals by my side, I begin the process to restore the weapon.

I won't spare you any details, but it was…exhilarating, really.

I feel myself…almost glide throughout the smithery, my arms moving from one place to another, one with the materials and the other with the hammer. Each motion is fluid, controlled, as if I've trained for this since the dawn of time. Clinks and Clangs ring out through the ID, mixed together with the sweltering of the fire of the forge. I'd abandoned my shirt for a pair of black sports bra I changed into (standing next to a fire is hot, you know!).

A couple hours of hammering and sweltering heat later, I pick up the newly recreated revolver.

[Thunderer]

Rank C

A revolver used by Billy the Kid, said to have to never miss the target. Strangely enough, the need for bullets is no longer there, instead replaced to simply form bullets from your prana. An effect of turning into a Noble Phantasm perhaps?

+40 Intelligence when wielded

+30 Dexterity when wielded

+20 Wisdom when wielded

Uses [MP] to create bullets; strength of bullets depends on your Intelligence

But…I'm not quite sure why, but when I stare at the small iron revolver, I can't help but feel unsatisfied, both with its power and with the ease of its creation. Not quite sure where that latter feeling came from, but I just feel like I can do…better, create something more powerful.

I place the firearm down, and taking out the mountain of metals from before, I begin experimenting, breaking down and rebuilding the Noble Phantasm with different materials to create different sizes and shapes, one that I feel like it'll suit me the best. In that tiny corner of the ID, hours after hours pass by as bars of metal seem to disappear one after another, burnt into the fire to modify the revolver, before being melted and cast away when I decide that it simply didn't fit.

Metals came and went, and my money slowly drained out of my account, but I can feel myself slowly getting there! I've long abandoned the thought of using simply one type of metal, and now am instead experimenting with mixing and melding different types of metal into the gun, even creating some new random alloys from several different metals.

Soon enough, I find my ideal trinity.

[Hellstone Ore], [Smooth Obsidian], and [Thorium]. The first for its incredible durability and fire-enchanting prowess, the second to allow the gun to withstand the Hellstone's influence and not melt, and the last as a powerful prana conductor, along with its innate nature to create sparks of lightning.

I begin moving once again. I melt the previous model of the [Thunderer] away, leaving behind the inner mechanisms of the Noble Phantasm (which is still intact despite being heated for who knows how long). I heat the bar of Hellstone and begin molding it into shape, creating the barrel and the frame of the firearm. The smooth obsidian becomes the protective layer around the hellstone, acting as a safety measure against the hellstone's power.

The cylinder, the one where the bullets are usually loaded into, has been turned into a strange machine that forms the magical bullets. Using the thorium, I both create a shell for the mechanism and upgrade any previous weaker metals with this new magical conductor.

Last, but not least, I connect each part together, and with the comfortable leather handle it had from the beginning, the [Thunderer] is made anew.

[Blood of Iris: Thunderer]

Rank C++

A revolver used by Billy the Kid, remodeled and remain by the hands of Tsunaka Hanami. Though much of its history is lost, a new power is formed, a rekindling of strength from the materials that make it. If one is to listen closely, the roaring of the flames of the underworld can be heard, mixed in with the snapping of lightning of the clouds.

+80 Intelligence when wielded

+65 Dexterity when wielded

+45 Wisdom when wielded

+20 Luck when wielded

Uses [MP] to create bullets; strength of bullets depends on your Intelligence

Bullets fired from the [Thunderer] are applied with the [Fire] and [Lighning] attribute

It looks completely different from how it started. Gone is the small iron revolver it once was, replaced by a handgun I can't really call a 'revolver' anymore. It's…more like an angular desert eagle, with a leather-covered handle, a black and crimson barrel, intertwining with the light blue at the center of the gun's frame.

Yeah…so…

I made a Noble Phantasm! (well, remade is the more accurate term, but whatever)

Ma~, this feeling of accomplishing something sure is nice. Makes me pumped for any future Noble Phantasms I might remake. But, for now, with the [Thunderer] fixed and remodeled, I place it into my inventory and walk out the one door in the ID, letting myself return back to the small janitor's room I entered the ID from.

My hand hovers over the doorknob, but I then stop, remembering that the only thing covering my breasts is a black pair of (sweaty) sports bra. "…Ah." I grab a towel out of my inventory and quickly dry myself, before wearing another new white shirt replica over my chest. Having avoided a potentially embarrassing moment, I twist the doorknob and walk out.

To then bump into a certain twin-tailed magus who was walking in front of the door.

"Hya!?" Our cries overlap as I collapse onto her. We end up in quite the compromising situation, with me dropped over her, and both our chests pressed against each other. "Wh…Wha…?" Rin stutters, her face blushing a storm, and I have no doubt that my face is the same, though [Stoicism]'s helping me out in not screaming.

That damned Archer laughing from around the corner isn't helping either!

"Um…sorry, Tohsaka-san." Ja~, what an awkward response from me…can't help it really. I mean, as I stand up and extend a hand towards her, I can't help but notice just how…weak she looked. Like, the Rin I remember is pretty as she is prideful, but here? I see none of that. She isn't instantly shouting at me, or pointing fingers, or other things the tsundere liked to do. She simply looks away, before shyly taking my hand.

As I help her stand, I further notice the weakness in her arm, the slump of her shoulders, and the slow blinking of her eyes. She is weak, and most likely hurting, and I can't do anything to help her. "…why were you in there anyway…?" She asks, her eyes staring at mine.

Well, at least her need to question everything is still there.

"Uh…reasons?" I answer weakly, since I don't really know what to say to her. I mean, it's not like I can straight up say that I went into a pocket dimension I made, can I? She'll probably freak out and strangle me to teach her how to do that. Her eyes narrow in suspicion, and I shiver slightly, also feeling another hard stare from further down the corridor.

"And what reasons exactly?" Oi, oi, I can't really answer if your face is so damn close, Tohsaka-san…is what I would've said if I had the chance, but before my snarky quip can be said, Rin sways, her eyes suddenly growing pale before she tilts backward. My hands catch her just in time before she reaches the ground, but…aside from that, why does this remind me of something…?

…ah, it's just like back then.

"…Archer." I manage to say between the flashes of memory in my head. "Do you mind seeing what's going on?"

No confirmation is given, but I can hear his presence fading, so he probably just went out. 'What the hell's going on…?' I don't know, but Rin's safety comes first (or else jealous hero/boyfriend will get angry). Carrying her in my arms, I jump out of the empty window next to me and land smoothly onto the dirt below. I make my way to the gymnasium, and pushing the door open, I enter.

My lips form a thin line as I look around the building, seeing every single student and teacher inside collapsed onto the floor, their eyes wide open, dull and unblinking.

[[Stoicism] has leveled up!]

After I set Rin down by the wall, I quickly rush out the building to see what's going on. [Sprint] and [Reinforcement] activates on my legs, and my Dexterity leaps upwards as I leap across the dirt, creating cracks and small explosions with each step. I reach the edge of the barrier around the school in seconds, but my feet are rooted onto the ground, my eyes wide open as I stare out. Bodies of the people of Fuyuki, burnt and melting, are slowly rising out of the mud. Their original bodies cannot be seen, covered by the layers of tainted mud over their skin, and their eyes are burning red.

[? Lv -]

HP: -

MP: -

Stamina: -

Strangely, it doesn't seem to exist, yet it does at the same time. Wonder what these could be?

…oi, even the [Gamer] system doesn't know what those things are?

The lack of descriptions aside, it's quite a nice distraction to have. I don't really want to see or think about what those monsters are created from, lest my [Stoicism] becomes obsolete and the horror of this entire situation tears into me.

But, even then, this is seriously scary. The tainted corpses are standing idly, bent over slightly.

Then they all turn to me, their heads snapping with unnatural speeds. They aren't moving, thankfully enough, but having hundreds of red empty eyes staring at me isn't the most comfortable of things to go through. '…okay, what to-

"Well, isn't this nice?"

I don't get to see who said that as a kick strikes my back, sending me flying out and into the pool of tainted mud outside the school perimeters. I attempt to turn my head to see the prick who kicked me out, but countless mud-covered hands clamp over me, and I find myself struggling to breathe as bodies after bodies pile over me.

Soon, no light can pass through the mangled pile of corpses over me, and I feel the coldness of apathy of the tainted mud reaching into my mind. I try to reach out one last time, but the mud covers my eyes, and a silent gasp escapes me as I sink.

'Ah, shit.' Was my last thought before pain courses through my heart, and my consciousness fades.

..................

Waver Velvet had seen some crazy things in his life. Going on to steal his former teacher's summoning catalyst, summoning the great King Iskander, then having him fight against other individuals of great power, finding out king Arthur is actually female, and then watching as the grail is destroyed and along with it came the black mud that burnt Fuyuki. All of that in the span of a couple of weeks, and when he was still a teenager.

But this?

He'd seen Fuyuki burn from the grail's mud, but that was only a part of the entire city. This time, the mud threatened to reach other cities around the area, and to make it worse than it already is, the corpses touched by the mud are then reanimated as…those things. It doesn't help that he can't approach the area, since the last group of magi to do so suddenly fell unconscious and were eaten by the crawling mud.

Even now, all he can do is observe the area from afar, precisely on a mountain tens of kilometers away from the place.

'What a fucked up situation…' He laments silently as he lights the cigar in his mouth.

..................

Agh…ouch…damn it, my entire body hurts…did truck-kun hit me or something?

I slowly lift my eyes open…to then be greeted by the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my entire life (uh, two lives).

Above me is a velvet ceiling made of…whatever that wiggling and crawling thing is. It's almost like a muscle, with tendons moving constantly, though much more fluidly. I can also see the faint outlines of faces, their mouth wide open, as if screaming. As my vision clears, I realize that it isn't just the ceiling, but the walls around me and the floor are like that as well.

"Gyah!?" Of course, as a normal sane human, I freak out and immediately spring up to my feet to get away, only to then see that everywhere else is the same.

[[Stoicism] has leveled up!]

I sigh, rubbing the back of my neck. Lying down on a mass of moving flesh isn't very comfortable, and even now I can still feel the lingering feeling of the writhing on my neck. Gah, it makes me shiver…!

Anyways…let's see what this place is…

[Heart of the Grail]

A physical manifestation of the grail, its halls now twisted and tainted by all the evils of the world. Thread carefully.

…wait, I'm…in the grail?

Holy…wow, um, okay. Well, this is…uh, 'bad' is an understatement really. And…if I'm now in the grail, does that mean I have to fight against Angra Mainyu or something!?

I hope not!

…With, that out of the way, I guess it's time to explore…? But I can either go forward or backward, and both paths lead down into the darkness. Both paths with no end in sight, and a high possibility of me dying, or even worse, getting corrupted and becoming the grail's pawn. Lose or lose…or I can also stay here and wait, which is also a losing situation.

What a nice circumstance to be in.

So, with no plans whatsoever, I decide to go forward, embarking on a dark and lonely path through the heart of the grail, with my Mystic Eyes active to make sure I can see in the dark. Alone, this entire place is…boring, to put it lightly. There isn't much variety in the way each hall looks. But add in the silence, the writhing of the flesh around me, and the distant sound of a beating heart, and this place rockets right up to Silent Hill levels of creepiness.

"Hmm~, what a nice girl you are~"

'Who was-!?' I quickly turn around. No one is there. 'What-' I barely manage to restrain a yelp as I feel a finger gently trace up my back. "W-Who…are you?" I say, trying (and failing) to not let my voice waver. A soft giggle sounds behind me, and the finger is pulled back, before two pale hands lovingly wrap around my waist.

"What ar-, h-hey!" I try to escape, but one hand moves up to my chest, and playfully, it begins to…message my breast. Another giggle, and the other hand moves down to play with my nether regions. "A-Ah!?" I continue to struggle, but the hands are getting faster, and each sensual spark tears through my strength.

"How cute~!"

"Tch…!" My magic circuits flare to life, and my od surges through my system, before I expel it, exploding outwards in a flash of powerful prana. I turn around to see my attacker, now identified as an adult woman, is sent flying back, tumbling across the writhing ground before leaping back and landing gracefully on her feet.

'That's…'

"Rider?" My voice slips out, drawing the yellow eyes of the purple-haired woman. "Ara, who's this 'rider'? Mm~, it reminds me that I haven't ridden anything in a while~…" The last part was said in a whisper, but my enhanced hearing catches it, and damn is that one hell to twist the meaning of those words. Then again, the Rider I see before me looks more like a super carefree slut than an actual servant.

Her long purple hair's still there, but her mask is no more, revealing the sickly yellow eyes she has. Her weird dress/spandex is…um…'skimpier', I guess. It's shorter, thinner, shows off her breasts more, and I can clearly see her panties…or lack of it. Actually, the damn clothing mostly covers her stomach area, with the underside of her breast partially covered by the damn thing. The fact that she is smiling lewdly and that I can see faint traces of…uh, liquid on her thighs isn't helping her image either.

Well, if she even cares about having an image anyways.

"So, um, w-who are, uh, you?" I try to ask, though I sound like a broken record with how much I stuttered. "Mm~? Ah~! I haven't introduced myself, haven't I~?" She giggles again, sounding pleasant yet eerie. "I'm Medusa. It's nice to see you~"

I gulp. "…It's nice to see you too."

She giggles again, and that eerie feeling comes back, crawling up my spine. I gulp again, my hand unconsciously moving to wipe the sweat from my forehead. 'Why…is it so hot?'

"My, my~, you seem quite flushed there, what's wrong, girl~?" Medusa asks, gently cupping my cheeks. 'When did she…?' I don't quite get to finish the thought as my head is pulled down onto her breasts. "There, there, get better~" She sings, almost like a mother to a child, as she happily forces me to snuggle her large breasts. "Mmph!?" I struggle to escape, but her arms hold strength far beyond what her skimpy arms first implied. That is worrying, and the fact that my need to get away is slowly fading is even more worrying.

"Aph, jheth aphay!" My muffled voice would've been comical, and Medusa did giggle a bit, but when the barrel of the new reborn [Thunderer] is pressed on her abdomen, Medusa quickly retreats, jumping back and materializing the chain daggers her true Rider self usually uses. "My~, how feisty~"

"[Fire]!"

"Mhm, definitely feisty~!" Medusa giggles as she steps away from the three approaching bullets, but her giggles die when the flaming magical bullets suddenly spark with lightning, before exploding in a blast of fire and electricity.

"Ah~, how stimulating!" Instead, a moan overtakes her giggle, and as she steps out of the dust cloud, completely unharmed, with a fierce blush on her cheeks, I can confidently say that the entire situation just became a whole lot weirder.

But no matter how weird Medusa is, one thing stands for certain.

Servant or whatever she is now, I can't beat her.

[Run]

[Quest: Escape]

You're within a strange place, with an enemy far beyond your strength. Escape is the only option.

Requirements: Escape from Medusa

Extra Mission: Escape from the heart of the grail before you escape Medusa

Reward: Your Life

Extra Reward: ?

Failure: Your death (?)

Welp, the [Gamer]'s telling me, my instinct's screaming at me, and my heart is about to burst, both from dawning fear and arousal, so, with [Sprint] and [Reinforcement] active, I initiate the JoJo family's main, and most powerful technique.

"RUN BIAATTCCHHH!" I scream as I lunge past her with all my might, and I continue running, leaping forwards with high speeds. I don't look back, but I can hear another set of footsteps following behind me, along with a sultry giggle that prompts me to reinforce my leg for an increase in speed. The flux of prana actually injured my legs, creating a small rupture on my calf, but I continue running.

An idea pops into my head, and I smile, before creating several dozens prana grenades and missiles before launching them at the ground behind me. "Let's go!" Adrenaline surges through my system, and I can't contain the laugh in my throat as a cascade of explosions occurs behind my back. I don't quite know whether or not my stunt slowed Medusa down, or whether it really worked at all, but I let those grim thoughts sit in the back of my head as I let myself enjoy the moment.

I turn a corner, just in time to avoid the pair of reaching hands behind me and return to my sprint, biting the bottom of my lip as the cracks on the back of my leg becomes larger. My eyes move forward, and hidden in the darkness, a single notification pops up.

"That's-!" A chain wraps around my legs, clutching them together, and cutting my sentence off as a giggle sounds behind me. "Finally got you~" Medusa approaches slowly, her slow steps emphasized in the darkness. "You sure were fast!" She says cheerfully, then pulling the chains and digging the chains deeper into my injured legs.

"Ngh…!"

"Ah~, even your grunts are cute~!" This woman…! She keeps tightening her hold on the chains, and my HP keeps on dropping! Damn it, a sadist and a slut…she could've been good ecchi material if she isn't trying to kill me!

'But…!' I whimper softly, before a feral smile appears on my face. "Ara, what might you be thinking now, hmm~?" She asks, playfully tugging the chains in her hands, but my smile remains. My magic circuits flare to life, od surges through my body, pooling in the soles of my feet, lightning it a brilliant green. I bite the bottom of my lip, before I let the od burst forward, coming out as an explosion that pushes my bound self forward.

And down into the large gaping hole.

[Due to certain actions, you have gained the skill [Prana Rocket Propulsion]!]

"Wha-!?" Medusa shouts, clearly shocked since she didn't instantly just yank me back up. Well, just in case…

Bang!

Three consecutive bullets are fired from the [Thunderer], destroying the linked chains around my legs and letting me fall deeper into the hole. I can hear the distant distressed shout of Medusa, but her voice is quickly becoming distant, so at least the threat of getting eaten by the horny snake isn't there anymore.

[Quest: [Escape] has been completed!]

[Main Mission has been accomplished!]

[You escaped with your life!]

Then again, I could be going somewhere even worse.

[WARNING! YOU ARE ENTERING A PROHIBITED AREA! ANY AID FROM THE [SYSTEM] WILL BE NULLIFIED! WARNING!]

…Fuck.

......................

"What a…strange place I've ended up in…" I murmur under my breath as I attempt to stand, before falling back down as strength fades from my injured legs. It's truly unfortunate, but it seems my extensive reinforcing and Medusa's antics have put my legs out of commission. It's nice that [Stoicism]'s helping mute some of the pain (somehow), but still, having to stay here is gonna suck…

But…this place truly is strange…

It's…almost like I've fallen back into the real world, right in the center of Homurahara Academy's trace field, but I know better. The sky looks normal, but the sun isn't moving, nor are the clouds. There aren't any winds either. The buildings look the same, but my Mystic Eyes can easily see that they aren't real, but mere imitations of said structures made of prana, almost like a projection created by magecraft. That, and the fact that this entire place is flooded with ambient mana.

I might as well check out the new skill I got…

[Prana Rocket Propulsion Lv 1 – 03%]

By ejecting a concentrated burst of prana, you can propel yourself into the air.

Costs 50 MP/minute to use

Current maximum speed is 60 Km/Hour

Passively grants +1 Intelligence

Oh? So there's a speed limit on this thing? Does that mean I can't go beyond the limit, or will I suffer a backlash if I do so? Hmm…I'll need to do some testing.

But! This gives me a solution to my current immobility!

Taking a deep breath, I face both my palms towards the ground, and I activate the new skill with on palms. A jet of prana is shot out, and I begin to rise, wobbling in the air before ultimately crashing back down, and eating some dirt in the process.

Around 10 minutes later, and after a whole lot of dirt-eating and face cleaning, I've managed to adapt myself to using the propulsion jet with my hands. Now, all I need is a set of red robotic armor and I can go up and join the avengers!

…Anyways, now that I can travel around, I ascend into the sky and travel out into the city, keeping my Mystic Eyes active as I look down and around the deserted city.

But I soon see that this place isn't a complete imitation of the real Fuyuki. Some buildings are different, distorted, bent, as if it was a clay model that got squashed. From what I've observed, the places didn't have anything in common, and it's almost as if whoever created this place simply didn't have enough prana to complete this place, and compromised several places at random. It…gives the Fuyuki imitation an uncanny feeling.

I'd have confidently called this entire city deserted…if I didn't spot a singe of auburn hair in the distance, belonging to a boy in a certain familiar white and blue sleeved shirt.

"That's…!" Excitement and elation soar in my heart as I fly towards the individual in question. As I get closer, I notice more things, like the katana in his hands, the flecks of light dancing around him, and the blonde woman standing by his side, wielding a regal blade that shines with light.

Then I see those golden eyes belonging to him, and I just can't help it.

"SHIROU-KUN!" I shout happily, catching the attention of the boy, whose eyes are wide open. His mouth opens, but before he can say anything I crash into him, sending us both rolling across the pavement.

"T-Tsunaka-san!?" He manages to say before I glomp him into a tight hug.

I don't care how this looks from the outside, nor do I care about the fact that Saber's staring at us while giggling, because Shirou's alive!

"You're alive!" I say happily, placing my head against his chest. "You're alive…!" My arms tighten around him, feeling the warmth he gives. I begin to tremble. "You're…alive…" I say, shakily, and before I can stop it, my elation morphs into relief as I begin to cry. "You're…you're…uuaaa!"

"…Yeah. I'm alive." Shirou says after a pause, before gently returning the hug.

We spend some time like this, simply sitting together, me crying my fears out and Shirou comforting me, [Stoicism] doing nothing to stop these feelings. Eventually, another hand, one I recognized as Saber's, began rubbing my back as well. Though the action is stiff and rather awkward, I still appreciate the sentiment and pulled her into a hug as well. When I did that, she stiffens, probably confused as to what to do, but quickly warmed up and relaxed.

"Mn…so…what've you guys been doin'?" I ask while wiping away the tears in my eyes. Both servant and master look at each for a moment, before Saber speaks up. "We've been fighting the 'Alter' Servants in the area, ever since we were swallowed by the mud and came here." When she said that, I notice that Shirou visibly darkened. Did something bad happen?

"So, what's your story, Tsunaka-san?" Uu…Saber, if you ask it so directly, bad memories are going to spring up, you know? But I keep my thoughts to myself and begin to recount my side of the story. Shirou's face brightens considerably when he hears that Homurahara is being protected, but quickly falls into a panic when he sees just how truly bad the injuries on my legs are. Saber is more interested in the fact that I 'fell' into the [Heart of the Grail] before literally falling into this Fuyuki imitation to escape Medusa and asked several questions about it, but I couldn't answer any of them. Both are left with major questions, but both seem glad to see that I'm mostly okay.

"So, what do we do now?" Shirou asks after his relatively long moment of silence, pulling both Saber and I from the conversation we were having. "How do we get out of here?"

"Shirou…" Saber says with a frown, and I frown as well. The moment he heard that there are still people up there, struggling to stay alive, he'd been asking to get back to the real world.

…I can't imagine how he feels right now, knowing that another fire has broken out through Fuyuki, this time caused by him.

"I don't know." I answer plain and coldly, causing Shirou to wince at the sudden smack of reality. "We're stuck in a place we don't know about, those 'Alter' servants are after us, and even if we get back up to the real world, we won't know if anyone will be left alive. For all we know, the barrier around Homurahara could've broken already, and everyone could be dead." Memories of the past, foreign yet familiar, from when I was but a normal teenage girl flashes in my mind, but I shake them away.

"But, we'll get out," I say as my Mystic eyes light up. "That, I can guarantee."

"Tsunaka-san…"

"Indeed. I agree with Tsunaka-san, Shirou. As your servant, I will do everything to keep you safe." She smiles. "So do not lose hope, master."

"Tsunaka-san, Saber…" His mouth opens, but it closes, before it curves into a small smile. "Yeah, you're right."

The three of us shared a smile, but the pleasant atmosphere is broken by the sudden hail of gunshots from above, forcing us to separate and jump away. Looking up, I spot a man standing atop one of the buildings around us, his skin a near ashen black, eyes the shade of dimmed gold, and holding a pair of black and white guns, both poised and aimed down at them. His mouth is curved downwards, etched into an eternal frown that marred his face.

"Archer…" I say absently, lost in a haze as my Mystic Eyes sift through the countless memories that are hidden inside those two guns. They told of anger, sadness, love, hatehatehatehate

I freeze up, and my throat clenches as searing heat courses through my heart. The numbing feeling of apathy invades my mind, but within that, I hear a small voice, laughing and crying, wishing for salvation, either by love or death. Images flash through my mind, ones of grit and battle, one of sadness and relief, one of death and blood, one of silent resignation, and one of drowning madness.

It-, he is calling for help.

[A strange voice resounds in your mind, telling and praying for the call of salvation. His soul is beyond hope, and his body and heart is beyond repair, but at least, one last path still exists]

[Quest: A Hero of Justice]

EMIYA Alter appears before you, his silent gaze peering into your soul. Yet, his guns tell the tale of his suffering, and his cry for salvation reaches your heart. [Gamer], save him, grant him his final wish, before he breaks down forever.

Requirements: Kill EMIYA Alter

Reward: EMIYA Alter is freed, ?

Failure: Your death, Shirou's Death, Saber's Death, EMIYA Alter's eternal torture

The heat fades as my Mystic Eyes finish searching through the altered guns' history, and…I mean, to think he'd suffered so much…

A man wishing for death, no to simply end his pain, but so that this version of him can cease to exist, to make sure the ideal of being a 'Hero of Justice' will not be stained by his existence. He hates Emiya Shirou, and EMIYA even more, but he hates himself the most.

I don't need this quest to spur me to action, damn it.

"Shirou, Saber. Let's go." I say, and they nod. Saber goes first, leaping into the air to close the distance between them, with Shirou following behind her, using the windows on the buildings as stepping stones to ascend. I bring out my [Thunderer] and provide support fire from down on the ground.

[Due to certain actions, you have gained the skill [Handgun Mastery]!]

Oh, finally!

Anyways, Archer isn't idle as we commence our attacks, hopping from one rooftop to another and firing down on us. He bats away Saber's [Excalibur] and Shirou's katana when they got too close, and unleashes hails of gunfire down on me anytime he has the chance, forcing me to hover with my new skill and move between covers. He'd occasionally create walls of swords when the master and servant combo got too close for him to defend with his bayoneted guns, but doing so seems to put a strain on him, causing his movements to slow when he does so.

We make use of every chance we have, Saber and Shirou attacking him anytime his guard is open, creating several large slashes on his chest and one across his back. Even then, with him facing against three opponents at once, he wasn't an easy opponent to battle, even nearly severing Shirou's head from his neck if not for Shirou bringing his katana up at the last second, which still left a nasty gash across his neck despite having been blocked by the katana's blade.

And just after that, when Shirou is trying to move back,

"I aM thE BoNE Of mY SWorD"

Dark miasma rises around Archer, gathering into the barrel of the modified Kanshou handgun, before he aims the gun at Shirou and pulls the trigger. A bullet, pitch black with red veins running across it is fired and flies towards Shirou's exposed chest, and it's only because I managed to detect his Noble Phantasm's activation that I managed to boost up to him in time to push both of us out of the bullet's path. It lands on the pavement, before swords after swords sprout out of the ground, then exploding in a violent explosion of swords.

"Shirou, I'm going to fly up to prepare an attack. Get Saber and run when my signal comes, okay?" I whisper. He nods, running back to attack just as we land on a rooftop. Plan set, I store my gun back into my inventory and point both my palms downwards, before boosting upwards into the sky, ascending high beyond the clouds and reaching into the earth's atmosphere.

Oxygen levels have dropped significantly, and I can feel my body heat quickly fading from the intense cold around me, so I need to be fast!

Pulling out the [Blade of Anarchy], I hold the blade as I would a javelin. I hoist it above my shoulder, easily aiming it downwards towards where Archer is with my Mystic Eyes, and pour my od into it to reinforce it. With a grimace, I sigh, feeling the weakness weighing down on me, both from being up so high and having a quarter of my total MP getting sucked into the large sword.

But, it's time! I bring out [Thunderer] into my free hand and fire several bullets down as a signal. I wait for Shirou and Saber to move away, and when they're far enough, I reinforce my arm for maximum throwing power, injecting some more od into it, igniting the large sword in crimson fire, before throwing it down back towards the earth. It gains tremendous speed as it descends, quickly breaking through the sound barrier and creating pulsing waves of sound as it travels down.

Several seconds pass in relative silence, before the distant sound of an explosion is heard, followed by an enormous shockwave traveling outwards, blowing away the buildings and roads and casting the clouds apart.

Still, even then-

...............

When Archer's Noble Phantasm was fired, a part of him had wished Tsunaka hadn't come and pushed them both away. It'd be justice, it said. It'll be redemption, for your sin of bathing the world in fire, it said again, and he didn't refute it. After all, that'll all you're about, aren't you? Being the ideal Hero of Justice.

But then he'd remember when Tsunaka crashed into him, and then cried, glad that he was alive, that she could see and touch and feel him again, and that voice would lower. Seeing her cry hurt, and since his death would become a source of anguish for that girl, what else can he do but stay alive to soothe her?

Shirou shakes his head and leaps away from a hail of gunfire, landing his feet against a building's wall before launching back towards Archer. The tanned man's expression remains unchanged in that eternal frown of his. It makes him remember the face of Tohsaka's Servant, and that unsettled and angered him for some strange reason.

He delivers several quick stabs, each blocked by the man's bayoneted guns before he jumps back to allow Saber to pass him from behind and attack him. They exchanged several deadly strikes, each clash they have causing the area around them to contort and shatter from the winds their attacks sent out.

Saber. Arturia Pendragon, son of Uther, king of Camelot, wielder of Excalibur. It was…strange to know that the person he was now fighting with was such a renowned figure in history, though her massive appetite did break the image. It'd been a little awkward when they first met, but it'd become much easier, especially since they first fell into this Fuyuki imitation and was forced to fight against the 'Alter' servants.

That was when she unveiled the wind around her blade to reveal [Excalibur]. [Structural Analysis] worked instantly the moment his eyes were laid on the sword, tracing through its history, and collecting skills and knowledge from Saber. Some of them he could use, like her swordsmanship, and some other ones he couldn't even comprehend. That was also how he first came to know who she was actually, but he withheld from opening the fact that he knew who she truly was, since she was adamant on not giving him her true name.

"Ah!" Saber shouts as Archer disperses his guns, causing Saber to stumble forwards. With her stomach open, Archer falls into a stance, and delivers a powerful straight punch to her gut. Wind seems to spiral around him, before Saber lurches backward, sent flying back, crashing through building after building before she carved a crater into the ground.

"Saber!" He moves, just as several magical bullets, coated in fire and lightning rained down on Archer, forcing him to trace his guns and block them. He rushes towards Saber, stopping by the crater she is in to pull her up and away, just as Tsunaka had instructed him so.

"Shirou…" Saber says weakly, still dazed from the punch she received. Gritting his teeth, he sheathes his blade, carries her in his arms and leaps away, moving quickly as gunfire rained down on them. He turns his head and sees that Archer hasn't moved from his spot, simply continuing to fire his guns at them.

But then he sees a red blur falling through the clouds, and his instincts scream at him to run.

'Faster!' He pushes his od into his legs and leaps forward, bursting across the road at high speeds, but sacrificing any thoughts of evasion to simply focus on getting as far as possible. He winces slightly several bullets graze by him, creating small wounds across his body, but he keeps running. And then, the rain of bullets suddenly stops,

And hell followed.

The blur crashed onto Archer, followed by an explosion, easily over triple the size of Archer's attack on Berserker near the overseer's church. It engulfs all that stands inside it, burning them to molten plasma. Howls of wind shoot outwards, tearing buildings and structures up from the ground and flinging them away. Even Shirou isn't safe from it, though his reinforced body did manage to withstand the shockwaves of the blast before being thrown back across the road.

The heat is unbearable, and it would've seared his skin black if he hadn't reinforced it beforehand. The roads and buildings around him don't have such protection, and simply melted at the sheer heat of the blast.

After an entire minute, the dome of heated plasma finally fades, but it isn't over just yet.

Crimson fire, one similar yet different to the one lit by the tainted mud spread throughout the area, burning away any surviving buildings that were lucky enough to survive the initial blast. The flames are relentless, pushing onwards constantly and consuming any that comes in its way.

It brings him back really, to when the sky tore open, and fire rained down from the heavens, bringing hell upon the earth, tearing through Fuyuki, leaving behind a sea of corpses of people crying for him to help. Why didn't you help them? Hero of Justice? Is leaving them behind something a hero would do?

He shakes himself free from the thought and quickly moved away. While the fire didn't spread all that far, the heat they carry can still be felt from where he previously was. Now, on the rooftop of a building kilometers away from the center of all the destruction, Shirou can only gape at the sheer scale of destruction caused by that one attack. How Tsunaka managed to do this, he doesn't know, but she'd already broken his expectation that she was a normal magus the moment she so easily handed him a Noble Phantasm belonging to one of Japan's famous samurai.

"…Shirou." Saber calls out and he looks down at her, seeing her fidgeting around. "Please put me down. This position is quite shameful." He didn't quite understand what she means, until he realizes that he's been carrying her all this time, in bridal-carry no less. He sucks his breath and gently places her down, quickly nodded and muttering an apology. "Mm. There's nothing to apologize about, Shirou. You saved me, after all." She shakes her head with a smile, one he returns with his own.

He can save their share of embarrassing moments for later however. His smile gave away to a focused frown as he turns back to the source of that entire catastrophe, reinforcing his eyes to the best of his capability without injuring them to see a hazy figure of what seems to be a large jagged bastard sword stuck in the ground.

And the silhouette of a man standing beside it.

'He's still alive!?' He nearly shouts. That attack destroyed over half of this Fuyuki City imitation, and he still lives!?

But as the clouds of dust and ash fade into the air, he sees that the servant hadn't survived such an attack cleanly. His skin, black as it was, is now even darker, seared and marred by the intense heat and the crimson fire. Blood runs down the many wounds spread across his body. His right hand is completely gone, reduced to a mere stump, while his other hand is mostly intact, though still dotted with many wounds and slashes.

His golden eyes are staring at him, seemingly brighter than ever before.

Shirou feels a shiver crawling up his body as he sees Archer's expression morph into a smirk. His instinct screams at him, telling him to run to him. Archer traces the modified Bakuya into his hand and aimed it upwards,

Towards an unconscious falling Tsunaka.

"Saber! Catch Tsunaka! I'll take care of Archer!" He barks out, and seeing the nod she gave, his magic circuits come to life as he bursts forward. There are no more buildings blocking his way, giving way for him to increase his speed. His od flares, the blood vessels in his leg bursts from the reinforcement, but he pays them no pain, as he unsheathes his sword and holds it over and behind his shoulder.

Archer's finger twitches, moving to pull down the trigger,

But he won't let him.

As the distance between them shortens to a mere meter, his arm springs forward, his katana poised and aimed to strike, "[Mumyou Sandan-Zuki]!" And he strikes, delivering three stabs into his heart at an instant, blowing through him and creating a massive hole through his chest, big enough for him to fly through and land on the other side. His landing is far from ideal, mostly involving him stabbing his katana into the smoldering dirt and holding onto it to grapple him to a stop, but it allows him to see the damage he's inflicted on Archer, and that Saber had successfully caught Tsunaka without having her create a crater.

Archer turns around, and with that smirk still on his face, he pulls his arm around and aims Bakuya onto him, and fires. The bullet flies, twisting and digging into his chest, before pain wracks his body.

Memories of his life flashes by his eyes, of when he was nothing but a bumbling and naïve hero wishing to be a Hero of Justice, to the many thankless jobs he did to protect the innocent, to the many things he had to leave behind when he contracted the world, to the killings he had to commit to uphold his ideals, and to the final killings of innocents he had to do that broke him.

Archer is showing him the ends of his ideal, Shirou realized as he stays frozen in unmoving time, watching these memories play out in his mind. It showed the ends of where his journey will lead him to, what it will take away from him.

But he knew already. He didn't show it, his body didn't grow or change, but his heart had grown. The histories held in the [Kojiki Kiyomitsu] and [Excalibur] told the tales of two warriors, whose hands were covered in blood. They stained themselves, not for pleasure, but to simply uphold their ideals, one to serve her lord and the other to protect her kingdom.

The world is a ruthless place, one where a Hero of Justice can never truly exist, but he's grown from the experiences he's had, either his or not, and he made peace with that. He may never become a hero, and he may never be able to save everyone, or anyone, but that's fine.

Because despite how impossible that dream may be, it's never truly wrong to help others, no matter how selfish the reason may be.

Time resumes, and a gasp leaves his lips as he falls onto his knees, recovering from that sudden burst of pain. "Hah…Hah…" He looks up to the Archer. He smiles at him, not one of mockery or taunting, but one of genuine relief. I see, so you'll still hold onto that useless ideal of yours. Shirou can almost hear him say, but he merely returns the smile. Archer looks surprised, but he shakes his head, seemingly amused, before his riddled body fades into particles of gold.

"Shirou!" Saber calls out as she approaches her master, her worry evident in her eyes as she carrier the unconscious Tsunaka on her back. Shirou shakes his head with a smile and stands up, before then falling back down and remembering that the blood vessels of the back of his legs had burst when he overpumped them with his od.

"I…guess I won't be moving for a while." He says with a laugh, though Saber is less than amused and proceeds to lecture him about it. He laughs it off, just as he always does, but he'll make sure to reduce the injuries he'll accumulate in the future, if only so that Saber and Tsunaka won't get angry at him.

Carried to an intact building kilometers away from the scene of their battle, he's then laid down by the wall to rest, with Tsunaka beside him and Saber standing protectively over them. He smiles at that, and his eyes slowly close.

'Ne, jii-san. It's…fine to be selfish, right?'