7 Chapter 7 - Into Darkness

I stand upon a meadow, pleasant and peaceful. I feel the gentle blow of the morning wind. I hear the chime of the rustling blades of grass around me, swaying and dancing in the wind. It is a utopia, a world without stains, where all is beautiful.

I stand upon a desert of ashen dust, where swords after swords are planted upright across the desert. They are graves, each a symbol of the life it had taken. Giant gears, rusting and unmoving, hover in the air, awaiting its final moments as it begins to crumble.

I stand inside a cave of infinite wonders, where the darkness is warded away by the crystals that shine in the dark. Each blinks an individual color, all melding into one collage of colorful lights. Each is a path towards greatness, some brighter than others, but all great and wonderful.

I stand before a house. It is a quaint little thing, with flowers of belladonna grown around it. Rivers flow haphazardly around me, seeming to crack the earth it runs through. The moon above twinkled playfully, but there are no stars around it to accompany it.

They all burn.

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

[You have slept! HP, MP, and Stamina fully recovered!]

"What…the…?" I wake up with a frown, confused about where that dream suddenly came from. The meaning itself it obvious, each dream symbolizing one of the four 'main characters' of the Fate/Stay Night series, but why they all burned and why I even saw it in the first place is a complete mystery.

Maybe that was the '?' from completing the quest? No, that doesn't seem to be the case, since I can clearly see a mysterious unnamed box in my inventory. I don't think it's my Mystic Eyes acting up either, since I didn't have time to use them before the reduced oxygen in the high altitudes I was in last time forced me unconscious.

I'll find out later I guess. And on that note, let's check out what the mystery item is!

[Mysterious box]

A strange black cube. There seems to be a small button on its bottom, most likely to open the box. There is a small note attached to it.

"May fate never chain you again."

…Huh. What a nice message.

Anyways, I'll save opening the box for later. For now, I want to take a look around the area. I want to see if anything happened while I was asleep…That, and I just want to admire the damage I caused from a closer view. Seeing it from so high up was great and all, but having a closer view is always better, and the clouds were being annoying last time.

After gently moving away from Shirou, whose head had come to rest on my shoulder (would've taken a picture of him, but I have no camera, and the store doesn't sell any!), I exit the building and jump up to the rooftop, where Saber is standing, sword held firmly in her hands, and her eyes keeping a vigilant view of the surroundings. Despite that, she seems fairly relaxed, if the smile she has as she turns over to me is any indication.

"Have you recovered, Tsunaka-san?" She asks. "Yep. Still a bit dizzy, but it'll go away eventually." I say, smiling slightly as I see the destruction left behind by my little stunt. "By the way, has anything happened? Any more of those 'Alter' servants appeared recently?"

The smile Saber has slips away, turning to a solemn frown. She nods. "Yes. I spotted one wandering around at those locations, though he didn't come any closer than several acres towards us." Her eyes narrow. "He seems to be observing us."

"Makes sense. We did just kill one of them, you know?" She nods in agreement, her lips curved upwards to a small smile. "Yes, and it was thanks to you. Without you, we would've been defeated." She then bows. "Thank you, Tsunaka-san."

"A-Ah. It's nothing." I say shyly. She isn't wrong, but I can't help but feel undeserving of her words, you know?

Silence falls around us, mostly neutral, but it feels like the most embarrassing moment I've ever experienced. So, with no further conversations planned, I walk forward and prepare myself to boost myself towards the area of battle. "Um, I'll be leaving now, to admire the view and stuff. Uh, protect Shirou while I'm gone, okay?"

"I will come with you." Saber says, matter of factly, and I turn around to see Saber standing right behind me, with Shirou carried on her back. "As powerful as you are, if you happen to meet an 'Alter' servant, defeat is very likely." She says, then smiles coyly. "That, and you magi seem to have a knack of getting into trouble."

"N-Not all the time…" I mutter to myself, though Saber seems to have heard it and raises an eyebrow. "…okay, maybe most of the time."

"I'm glad you agree." She steps forward. "Shall we go?"

"…Yeah. Let's."

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

Our journey towards the battle site was surprisingly pleasant. Since we don't have a gunman firing magical bullets at us from miles away, we decided to take the slow route and walk there. The silence between us was still pretty damn awkward though, mostly because I didn't have anything to talk about, but Saber seemed fine with it, so…yeah.

"Woah…" And once there, I can only gape at the sheer scale of destruction my little space throwing caused. I mean, the explosion didn't create much of a crater, but damn the radius of absolute desolation that explosion caused is terrifying. About…3 to 4 times larger than the entire perimeter of Homurahara Academy.

"Are you not going to retrieve your sword?" Saber asks beside me, and it's thanks to her that I notice that the [Blade of Anarchy] is still rooted in the center of this entire circle of destruction. Floating over to it, since the ground's still scalding hot, I make a swift tap on the blade's handle and pull it into my inventory. Once that's done, I hovered back to where Saber and Shirou are and begin our walk back.

Again, we retrace the steps we went to get here, but unlike last time, Saber begins to speak.

"May I ask something, Tsunaka-san?" I slowly nod, and she continues. "What do you plan to do after…all of this?"

"…What do you mean?" At my question, Saber stops, looking up and vacantly staring at the unmoving morning skies above. "The town you lived in is no more. There might be survivors, but as you said, they might be long gone the moment we return. The grail is not what it seems, and I doubt it has the capability of answering your wishes. There is no longer a reason for you, or us servants to battle." She turns to me. "What do you plan to do now?"

"…"

…She's right. Fuyuki's basically gone, and it's pretty damn clear the grail won't be bringing it back anytime soon. The war's pretty much over by now, and there is no winner to take the stage.

"…I don't know." I answer honestly. "Honestly, this entire situation has spiraled way beyond comprehension. I entered thinking that it'll be a battle between seven legendary figures of history, but now? I don't even know where I am, and I'm stuck fighting these weird altered versions of past heroes."

"…But," A smile makes its way onto my face. "I think that's the beauty of it really."

"Beauty, you say?" Saber repeats, amused, but not mocking. I nod to her, beginning to explain as we continue walking. "Yeah. Like, I don't have the wisdom of a sage under my belt, but I think it's a nice thing not knowing everything's that gonna happen. That's what life is all about, right? The little twist and turns, the corners and jumps you need to suddenly take. That's what makes living this life worth it."

"It won't be nice. There'll be pitfalls that'll take you down. There'll be turns and corners that lead you nowhere. You'll get hurt and you'll get beaten down." I stop for a moment to catch my breath. "…But that's what makes us human. To get back up, to learn from our past and move onwards, that's what I think being human is all about. If I can just see where everything will go the moment I'm born, I'm not human anymore. I'll just be a robot, a machine running on a predestined path."

"…So, yeah." I finish with a sigh, not because I'm tired, but because that was the most philosophical I've ever gotten since…ever, really.

"I see." Saber says, her lips curled a small smile. "I see…" She closes her eyes, seemingly in thought, before she opens them. Her green eyes seem to glitter. "Yes. I suppose what you say makes sense."

She stops walking. "Tsunaka-san, I have a request."

I stop as well, and turn around to meet her. "…Go on."

Her eyes flutter back towards her unconscious master, before moving back to stare at mine. "I came here with the wish to overrule my kingship, to change the course of history so that I may and will never become king." She looks away, looking ashamed. "But your words have made me realize that doing so is wrong. I would be trampling over the past that had created me."

She kneels down, and though having Shirou on her back as she does so makes for quite the odd sight, I can see the conviction in her eyes as she looks to me, those green orbs seeming to glitter under the light of the sun. "I am a servant, a weapon meant to protect my master from harm. In this moment, it matters not that I was a king, I now exist to protect my lord from harm. Therefore, Tsunaka Hanami, may I entrust the lives of me and my lord in your hands? May you lend me a hand and guide me?"

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

"I refuse."

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

"…Eh?" Saber looks up, shocked, somewhat hurt, but those feelings wash away as she sees Tsunaka looking away from her, her eyes hazy and dim, as if her mind is far away. "Saber, I can barely keep myself alive. The world's out to kill me, and I can't claim that my survival came from my skills." She smiles weakly at her. "I'm still a magus-in-training, and as mystical my abilities are, a powerful servant will still kick me around like leaves."

Tsunaka stops for a moment, her hand hovering just over her neck. "…I don't think I told you last time, but I…nearly died." She says slowly, weak laughter bubbling out of her. "When I was in Alaya's prison, one of the servants nearly severed my head from my neck, and it's only due to…luck that I survived from that encounter."

There is clearly more to her story, but Saber refrains from asking anything. Tsunaka looked extremely uncomfortable as she told her tale, and though hidden, she could see the silent horror her eyes held as she traced a finger across her neck. A reminder that, for all the incredible powers she holds, she is human. That reminder is…relieving.

"Look, I'm no Merlin. I can't cast grand spells or call out prophecies out of the blue. But…" She scratches the back of her neck as her cheeks gain a light dusting of red. She seems to murmur something as well, but Saber is too far to comprehend what she said. "Well, I…can be your ally, or a friend. I can't guarantee our complete safety, but hey, safety in numbers, I guess."

Saber blinks, staring incredulously at her, before she laughs. "Yes, you're no Merlin. That'd be bad."

"Yeah…I don't think having another Merlin around would be a good idea." Tsunaka nods solemnly. Saber scoffs as she stands. Simply remembering what one Merlin did to her, two existing in the same plane would cause the world to explode, as will her brain cells. The unending annoyances that man brought with his 'little' pranks were…absurd.

"By the way, Saber, I think I know where we are."

"…Sorry?" Saber blinks. "I think I know where we are." She repeats again, pointing down at the ground to emphasize her point. "…So, where are we?" Saber says after a short bout of silence.

"'A fake world created by Angra Mainyu, created to free himself from the burdens of all the evils, for if there exists no beings to judge you, then there shall be no sin'." Tsunaka explains, though the wording was quite strange. "'Empty as it is, a strange phenomenon has happened, and seven of the deadly sins have materialized, taking the form of altered versions of the Servants summoned the Fifth Holy Grail War. Strangely en…ough...'" Tsunaka's explanation grinds to a halt, along with the slow widening of her eyes.

"Ah, so that's why Medusa was such a slut."

"…What?"

"…nothing." Tsunaka says slowly, closing her eyes and nodding solemnly to herself. "It's nothing. I just came to a grand realization, that's all."

"I see." She says, not wanting to continue that random topic and focus back onto what she said. 'A mirror world created by Angra Mainyu. I remember her saying something about Angra Mainyu corrupting the grail. To create another separate world…he must be extremely strong.' It makes her doubt whether they can truly escape this world with their lives and minds intact.

She shakes the thought away. "And how did you know?"

Tsunaka doesn't say anything, but simply points up to her eyes, both a shining a flowing blue instead of their usual light green. 'Her Mystic Eyes…I see.' She hadn't noticed it, but she'd been using her Mystic Eyes constantly from the moment they left their resting building to visit the site of battle. How that had escaped her notice, Saber doesn't know. "Your eyes can do that?" She nods.

"And you didn't tell me?" Tsunaka turns to her, this time pointing straight at her head. "This place is huge. Took me a while to cipher through the entire thing, and even more to get it into an understandable set of information. And, agh…" Tsunaka grimaces as she nurses her forehead. "Now my head hurts…"

She says so jokingly, but her feet have become wobbly and she seems like she can fall over the moment she looks away. "Do you need a rest?" Tsunaka nods minutely, closing her eyes as her Mystic Eyes deactivate. Gently, she places a hand around the girl's waist and lowers her down onto the street to sit. Tsunaka takes several deeo breaths as she nursed her forehead, taking a full minute and a half to get back up on her own two feet. Even then, she still looked wobbly and ready to fall, but she waved Saber's hand away when she offered to help.

'It must have taken a large toll on her.' Saber notes down mentally, reminding her of the painful headache she had in the past when Merlin decided that throwing her into the sky and spinning her around for 'fun' was a good idea. That particular moment ended with her on the ground, her vision and eyes spinning, and Merlin safely grounded and locked in the dungeon for several days.

They travel back in silence, mostly out of consideration for Tsunaka who looks like she's about to hit the bucket any minute then.

Once they are back, Tsunaka goes to sleep instantly, sleeping beside Shirou, while Saber waits atop the roof, her eyes vigilantly searching for any enemies in the vicinity.

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

Clang!

"Ngh…!" Shirou grunts as he skids to a stop, glaring at the man standing before him. His hands clench down on the katana in their grasp, drawing knowledge of the man-killer that once wielded this blade, but his skills are just a mere copy, an imitation forced down into the form of a young boy. Against a true swordsman, his skills are simply not enough.

The man stares at him, his red hair flowing wildly behind him. His face, though covered by a black mask, is twisted by a small frown. The sword in his hands hangs idly by his waist, waiting for Shirou to come up and strike him again.

Shirou curses silently to himself, as he pushes himself back up, his sword held over his shoulder.

From the moment he appeared here, in this field of long, untamed grass, cloaked by the darkness of the rain clouds above, the red-haired man had come to him, his sword poised to strike. If it wasn't for him reinforcing his legs, he would've been cut down before he could escape. It didn't end there however, as the man chased him around relentlessly, his black katana clashing against his.

It's been hours since he first began, and he was still at an impasse.

The man spoke no words, but the history his sword held told him everything he needed to know. [Monohoshi Zao], a katana, long enough to be a washing pole, wielded by Sasaki Kojiro, rival to Musashi Miyamoto, and a swordsman who trained so much in cutting a swallow, his skills reached into the realm of true magic.

But this version is different, twisted. He is not a swordsman, but a ninja who fancied using a katana. He holds no pride, both for his life or his technique, and cuts down his foes in silence to fulfill the duties laid out to him by his lord.

Both are capable of using his Noble Phantasm, and both are deadly even without it.

Shirou springs forward with a thrust. Sasaki easily blocks, sliding the blade off over his shoulder before knocking the blade to the side. He kicks Shirou in the gut, then driving the butt of his blade onto his forehead and delivering a low kick to knock him over. Shirou jumps and strikes down, and blocked by Sasaki, he twists his grip and pushes his sword past the guarding sword. The sound of screeching iron echoes throughout the field as Shirou drives his sword into a downward stab, creating a small slash on Sasaki's cheek.

Pleasant surprise flickers in his eyes, before he lets go of his blade and sends his elbow onto Shirou's kidney, before then grabbing his leg and spinning him up. Disoriented, Shirou can only gasp as a powerful punch is driven into his face, sending him spinning backward and crashing into the dirt. It was his first hit, though the counter he received after that was hardly worth it.

'But,' A small smile surfaces as he stands back up, drawing back into his stance, 'I hit him.' Od surges into his legs, 'Defeating him isn't impossible!' And he lunges forward. Sasaki moves to parry the strike, but he is surprised when Shirou suddenly throws that sword at high speeds, forcing him to guard with the face of his blade and knock it away, leaving his center open to attacks. Shirou moves in to attack, but his punch is blocked by his other hand.

Keeping a grip on his opponent's hand, Sasaki sends a kick to Shirou's exposed side, but to his shock, Shirou traps the leg by crunching it between his knee and his other elbow. He recoils from shock once he realizes it is the move he used several minutes ago to stop his sword, and that moment of shock leaves him open to a strong kick to his unprotected stomach. Pain strikes his nerves, causing his hands to go slack and let both Shirou's hand and his sword go.

'Surprised, huh?' He muses silently, traces of welled up frustration escaping through his confident smirk. 'After all, imitation is the best kind of flattery!'

Shirou moves quickly, his hand snapping to the left. He places his hand comfortably around the Monohoshi Zao, and [Structural Analysis] is cast. Memories, true and twisted, surges into his mind, and though he ends up on the receiving end of a particularly powerful punch that sends him flying, his smile never left. He takes a deep breath, spending a good several seconds before standing up, twirling the sword and placing it atop his shoulder with finesse a new swordsman would never have.

He'd spent several painstaking hours to try and imitate some of his Sasaki's movements from visual cues alone, but it is well worth it!

Sasaki simply sighs, moving to take hold of the fallen [Kojiki Kiyomitsu] and then falling into his usual casual stance, though he looks obviously uncomfortable, unsued to the much shorter length of the katana. 'An opening. Without his longer sword he's unable to keep me from approaching close.' A voice, one Shirou recognizes as his own, whispers into his mind, most likely an effect of taking in the memories and skills of a ninja. 'My range is longer. It's better to overwhelm him at a range.'

Shirou charges forward, and the battle resumes, only, this time, Sasaki is forced to move as Shirou's strikes precisely and relentlessly, flowing from one attack to another, made even worse when he'd sometimes use Sasaki's copied skill, then using the skills he gained from Okita, and then even mixing them both. Coupled with his shorter sword and Shirou's longer blade reach, Sasaki finds himself hardpressed to strike back as he continues to accumulate injuries.

Forced sliding back across the dirt, Sasaki's face contorts into a frustrated, yet amused smile as he lets go of his sword, then punching it flying at Shirou. He barely dodges, but at the cost of creating a small gap in his motion, one Sasaki utilizes completely.

His hands strike quick and painfully, more like jabs than actual punches, but still with that painful backlash. Shirou attempts to block with the face of his blade, somewhat succeeding, but ultimately failing as many strikes move past his guard and hits him. Each attack sends brief but painful shocks of pain, one he realizes is caused by him targeting his vital points, but he grits through the pain and starts varying his moves, adding in counters and parries.

Their exchange turns into a dance. They move from one instance to another, their attacks melding into a strange battle of fists and blades. With one step back one takes, the other takes two steps forward. One moment of surprise is dealt with many successive attacks. Any openings and possible vulnerabilities are taken advantage of.

'…!' A light twinkles between the blades of grass, and Shirou realizes that Sasaki's outstretched hand is now carrying the previously fallen [Kojiki Kiyomitsu]. The movement of his hand, one he believed to be forced by the strike he made onto it with the pommel of his sword was turned into a preparation for an attack. Shirou tries to move away, but he realizes he'd gotten far too close in their exchange of fists and sword.

He takes a quick step back, and Sasaki makes two sudden steps forward. The spark of the black blade reaches his eyes, as his sword moves.

Three slashes, converging into one singular point occurs, cutting through the laws of reality and reaching into the realm of magic. 'I'm too close!' Shirou knows it's too late to move away. The Noble Phantasm will strike him, and his blood will be spilled.

That's why,

He stomps his foot down to a stop. He taps into the knowledge within the blade, and as the wind blows, his arms move. Three slashes occur at the same instant, passing through the three slashes Sasaki made. Their words are said as one.

""[Tsubame Gaeshi]!""

Six slashes reach their intended targets. Shirou and Sasaki pass by one another, their shoulders missing by an inch as they skid to a stop a small distance away. Shirou heaves a pained sigh as blood spills out from across his chest, now marred with three deep slash wounds. He idly notes the blood around him, splashing onto the dirt and grass and painting the fauna around him a deep red.

No sounds are made, until Sasaki topples forward, his chest cut into three sections, split apart. His eyes are wide open from shock, but a ghost of a smile lingers beneath his black mask.

They'd unleashed the same technique, used the same amount of strength, and pushed on with the same speed, but he was a magus.

And magi never truly play fair.

As he turns to see Sasaki's cut body begin to fade away into motes of gold, he grimly imagined what would've happened if he didn't use Reinforcement in time, or if he hadn't tilted his body slightly to not let his body be severed completely, or if Sasaki had been holding his [Monohoshi Zao] instead of the much shorter sword. Whatever the case may be, those possibilities will never happen now.

He sighs, closing his eyes in an attempt to divert his attention from the pain. It works, to a certain extent, as one simply doesn't ignore the fact that you have three massive slash wounds across your chest, unless you're one of those superheroes Shirou likes to watch from TV when he's not doing anything.

Suddenly, he feels a tinge of warmth touch his face, and opening his eyes, he sees the dark clouds above part, breaking away to let the sunlight from above peer down upon the grasslands. The skies above are orange, decorated by streaks of red and gold, reminding him of the setting sky he once saw with his adoptive father. It is beautiful, enchanting,

And unfit someone like him.

"Deserving or not, such questions don't truly matter."

He turns around in shock, and there, standing right over where the altered Sasaki faded, is the true Sasaki, this time in the form he saw back at the temple. His hair has returned to purple, and his ninja outfit is no more, now switched for his purple hakama, with the [Monohoshi Zao] planted beside him. He smiles serenely, and though his mouth doesn't move, his voice rings out through the field of grass.

"You find yourself unfit, and that is true. No man, woman, or child deserves the beauty this world carries, the wonders it gives, the light it shines for us. Each of us are sinful, some more than others."

Sasaki looks up and closes his eyes. "My skill may have been trained by myself, but had the world had not granted me such opportunity and time to do so, then I would've been just like any other men, toiling the fields and simply living."

"Even as my body failed me, I was grateful for the blessing that has been granted for me. Lost to history I may be, and forgotten by the river of time, but I do not, and will never regret or condemn, for this life of mine is not truly mine. So do not ever think of yourself as deserving, never be conceited of the life you hold, but be grateful for the chance that has been gifted to you."

"Do so, and you will never come to regret." With that, the true Sasaki disappears into golden motes of light, floating up into the setting sky and melding together into the streaks of colors above. The sword he once holds remains there, planted into the earth. 'A gift…huh.' Shirou isn't sure why, but he knows that is so.

'Be grateful, is it…' He muses as he looks up to the sky. It…is true, really. His life itself still exists because of Kiritsugu. If he hadn't saved him from the fire back then, he would've become another victim of that accursed fire. If Tsunaka hadn't appeared that one random night, then he would've never advanced his magecraft to this point. If it hadn't been for Saber, he would've been killed by Lancer that night.

If there's something he really is grateful for, it'll be those three people.

…It's strange really. Aside from Kiritsugu, thinking of those two girls lifts his heavy heart, and the voices putting him down seem to fade. His heart beats a little faster, and idly, he realized he misses them after hours of fighting alone. With a small chuckle, he smiles, before fading away into sparks of gold.

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

He wakes to find a weight on his shoulder, one coming from Tsunaka, whose head had leaned onto his shoulder when she fell asleep. His breath hitches slightly as he stays there, simply staring at her. He'd seen her asleep, but this is the first time he's seen her be so…peaceful, to say the least. Her sleep, or what he's seen of her sleep, is always a seemingly arduous task. She moves a lot, and she occasionally mumbles and whispers to herself. Some of her mumblings are harmless, others are…interesting, and most are scary and very worrying.

To see her sleeping like this, wrapped by the calming silence of this building, and with her face lit by the sunlight peering from the windows, it's…nice, he supposes.

Gently moving away, he stands up and walks out of the room and up the stairs, coming out to the roof of the building. There, Saber is standing, sword planted onto the rooftop, ready to be used as her eyes watched the surrounding cityscape. It paints a beautiful image, surely befitting of a king.

He shakes the strange thoughts away and walks up to her side. "Good morning, Shirou. I hope you've recovered" Saber says, turning to him with a smile. He smiles shyly and looks down, seeing that the wounds on his legs and the slash wounds he gathered in his dream are gone. "Yeah. Sorry about that."

"…I would lecture you about not hurting yourself, as you are my master, but you'll get injured anyway." She sighs ruefully, and he mutters another soft apology. "Just…do take care of yourself, Shirou."

"I will." He wanted to say, but he knows that he can't promise such a thing, so he simply nods. Saber doesn't seem completely satisfied by the reply, but she spoke no further about it.

Then, the calming silence turns tense, and Saber pulls back her sword and readies herself. "Enemy servants! Get ready, Shirou!" He nods, moving to pull his katana from the sheath on his waist, only to realize that the sheathe is no longer there, and that the Noble Phantasm is already in his hands. "When did…?" He asks, though he files those questions for later, instead falling into his stance as a man leaps up onto the rooftop.

It is Lancer, but just like the others, altered. His hair is still blue and eyes still red, but his appearance has changed drastically. He has a dark blue hood over his head, his legs are covered by a scaly, almost animal-like set of greaves, red tribal marks are painted across his uncovered chest, and he has an actual lizard-like tail, one bigger than the red spear in his hand.

Cú Chulainn, hound of Ireland, wielder of [Gáe Bolg].

He knows that spear, fairly intimately, even spent a heart to know it, but, in a twisted way, he is grateful for it. If he hadn't 'died' being stabbed by Lancer at the beginning of the war, he wouldn't have been pressured to summon Saber, and things would've turned out way different then they did now.

With a grin, Lancer bends and lunges forward. Shirou and Saber move away immediately, side-stepping the charging man and dealing several quick strikes as he passes. No visible damage is seen despite his bare chest being slashed, but Shirou remains undeterred, weaving around the much slower Lancer as he easily takes the sword strikes he makes, while idly batting away Saber's attacks. Shirou pivots on his feet, before leaping with his sword poised to stab Lancer's unguarded neck, only for the man to suddenly duck, and for his large spiky tail to smack him back and down from the rooftop.

"Shirou!" Saber prepares to assist her fallen master, but Lancer throws his spear onto the edge of the rooftop. The spear glows a menacing red, before copies of it spike up all around the roof, creating a fence of spears, each spear having several spikes that can grow into a spear at any time. Lancer lazily plucks out one of the spears and charges, bringing down his spear onto her. Saber guards, but the power behind his attack forces her onto her knee, with the concrete under her cracking.

Gritting her teeth, she diverts the force and jumps away, before pulling her arm back and driving her sword forwards, creating a spiraling blast of wind. Once again, Lancer simply stands there, only being forced back a short distance.

Only to then see that Saber is no longer there. He turns around, and with a scowl, he forces down the blood in his throat as a powerful strike is made onto his kidney, coming from the face of Saber Excalibur, further empowered by her using [Mana Burst]. Lancer expertly twirls his spear around and stabs backward, before having his tail knock Saber onto the railings. She grunts, but she hears a low hum from behind her neck, and swiftly jumps away as another red spear sprouts from the spear she crashed onto.

But her quick retreat leaves her open to attack, and attack Lancer did, as he leaps forward, and though not fast, the sudden near-death experience left her too slow to move away from his incoming spear.

One she is saved from when Shirou suddenly breaks through a side of the spear-railings with a three-stage thrust from his katana and ducks under the spear, before knocking it up, with Lancer carried upwards along with it. 'Fast…!' Not just a simple testament to his speed, but also to his memory and observation, as she recognized the move he just did as the one she used on Lancer the night she was first summoned.

But Shirou isn't finished.

"[Mumyou," Bending his legs, he aims his sword upwards, and with a yell he leaps up. "Sandan-Zuki]!" Three upward thrusts are made, aimed at Lancer's shoulders, and blowing a hole right through the bones and joints as Shirou flies up and past the large man. Snarling, Lancer attempts to swipe the attacker away with his tail, but Saber put a stop to that, sending a downward cut onto his chest before following up with a hit with the face of her blade, blasting the large lance user away.

Shirou lands quietly, ready to charge forward, before he suddenly stops. He sniffs the air, and his eyes go wide, before they narrow and a slight smirk plays on his lips. Saber stares at him strangely, but she reads the words he silently says and nods.

"Send him crashing down the building."

Lancer gets up from the floor and roars. His body is cloaked by a dark miasma, and crimson red spikes grow out from his collar and fingers, creating a makeshift helmet and claws. He charges forward, and so does Shirou, fully intent on meeting his attack. Their distance shortens, and once only an inch separates them, Lancer springs his claws forwards.

But Shirou relaxes, his breathing calms, and drawing from the knowledge he has gained, he shifts his stance, and though with a shorter blade, he moves, and three words are muttered.

"[Tsubame Gaeshi]." Three slashes are made, but this time not to strike onto one singular point, but at three different locations, diverting the claws away from their intended path and causing him to trip. He sends his prana into his leg, and with it reinforced, he kicks Lancer up into the air, where Saber is ready to meet him, Excalibur in hand, primed and cloaked in wind.

She pulls her arms back, before she pushes them forward with a shout. "[Invisible Air]!" A spiraling burst of wind is shot out from her sword, tackling right into Lancer and sending him crashing down through the rooftop, through the floor beneath it, and right onto the floor at ground level.

It is there where the [Blade of Anarchy] has been propped up, blade up and burning in crimson flames. Lancer sees the impending threat and quickly attempts to form several interlocking spikes on his chest to protect him, but Tsunaka moves in behind him, and with a reinforced and jet-propelled kick, she sends him flying faster, crashing onto the ground face first, and impaling him right through the burning greatsword.

He seems quite dead, but just to be sure, Tsunaka pulls out the [Thunderer] and makes several (I.E. hundreds, since she knew how damn powerful [Battle Continuation] is) magical shots at the man's head, while internally grimacing and having [Stoicism] level up as she held in the urge to barf at the horrid scene of his head getting exploded by her bullets.

After seeing his body begin to break down into golden particles, she deems it enough and puts the [Thunderer] away before she falls down. She gulps, trying to keep a steady breath as she slowly banished the horrid scene from her mind. It works, somewhat, but she still feels sick and lightheaded, so she stays there, simply sitting, drowning out the noises of burning flesh from her mind.

The sounds don't fade. It never does.

But she pushes on, and as Shirou and Saber comes down to see her, she replies back with a smile, pushing down all those memories to sort out for later, and hopefully not forget them. She didn't want to forget her humanity, thank you very much!

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

[You have killed Cú Chulainn –Alter–. Gained 70000 Exp!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have gained 10x [Void's Dust], 12x [Arrow Heads of Attonement], [Corrupted Heroic Shard]!]

…Anyways, the disgust over shooting someone's head over and over again aside, I leveled up again~! Still haven't found any uses for [Void's Dust] and the [Arrow Heads], but the heroic shard though…

[Corrupted Heroic Shard]

A strange crystal holding strange powers from the gates beyond. Strength seems to cascade out from it, and you feel stronger from just holding it in your hands. Perhaps, if purified, you can acquire the power inside.

Or perhaps take it in now?

An ominous suggestion, and a tempting one at that, since, as it says, holding the small black gem in my hands made me feel like I can take on Gilgamesh in his prime form (which is a definite lie, since Gilgamesh is overpowered). Though, of course, I'm not dumb and desperate enough to do that until I can protect my mind and soul from getting corrupted by it.

Well, either that, or just find a way to purify it.

That aside, after confirming to Saber and Shirou that I'm fine, we made our way out of the building, only to see that the sky has split open, leading to a place shroud in darkness, almost like a sheet of cloth being torn from the center. Though it, with my Mystic Eyes active I can see the walls of a certain familiar, and wriggling place. Shirou, now hopeful that an exit has presented itself, immediately tried to go there, only to then realize he couldn't fly and ask help from Saber, who then shook her head, as she didn't have any flight techniques either.

Which leaves me as the one to carry the team…literally.

"Saber…please take off your armor…" I rasp weakly from under the large slab of polished rock I'm currently pushing up to the sky with prana jets on both feet. "We are entering enemy territory, Tsunaka-san. Being unprotected now would be a bad idea." So she says, but I swear that the damn girl's smirking the last time I saw! But I can only comply with a sigh, and continue pushing the slab of rock and the two passengers on it upwards.

Soon, we enter through the rift, and activating my Mystic Eyes, we begin ascending through the dark column of the [Heart of the Grail]. It's actually quite an awesome feeling, knowing that I'm ascending back through the hole that I escaped this place through, now with friends and new powers by my side.

Which means that I'll be facing slut Medusa again…gyah, just thinking about it makes me shiver…

But,

[You have received a message!]

…huh? Wait, I have a [Message] system now? Huh…Cool. Let's see what this message is!

[Sender: System]

[Hey, Tsunaka-chan! Sorry it took me so long to contact you! That mirror world's interference was being annoying. Anyways, as you can see, I've added a new [Message] add-on onto your UI, so you'll be able to send and receive messages from your party members and me!

…But, anyways, to echo what Saber said earlier, what do you plan to do now? Not to put you down or anything, but the grail's mud has begun to reach out of Japan. The world is in full panic, and magi and other magical beings alike are scrambling for anything to save themselves. The school's still fine, but the barrier around it is cracking. Once it does, Archer will be swallowed, and the grail will have 6 servants worth of power to extend the reach of its mud.

Remember, if you die, you only have…maybe 2 or 3 more chances to respawn before the root fully claims your soul.

So…be careful, [Gamer].

So the situation's gotten that bad…huh. That's…horrifying, and if we're not fast enough, the entire world will be covered by the grail's mud.

Will we be alright, I wonder…

"Tsunaka-san, are you okay?"

"…huh?" Shirou…?

"You weren't answering our calls. Are you tired? Do you need to rest?" I remain silent for a moment, before I sigh. "…It's alright. Just thinking."

"I see." He doesn't sound satisfied at all, but he doesn't question any further. Heh, what a gentleman. "By the way, do you guys have anything to, you know, make the place bright?"

"Worry not, Tsunaka-san." This time, Saber responds. "My Excalibur passively generates light."

"So you're using your legendary weapon as a glorified flashlight?" I deadpan. "Indeed." She answers back, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And you're okay with that?" After I say so, she answers immediately. "A weapon is nothing if not used. Though it is a sword, it too generates light. I'd be misusing it if I didn't make use of it."

"Does that mean you'll strip if it helps you win?" I ask, playfully, but also curious.

"Yes."

'For a king, you sure are shameless.' I can't help but think to myself. Shirou seems to think the same as well, if his indignant sputtering is to be any indication. I sigh, shaking my head with a wry smile before-, ara? The weight of the stone slab I'm carrying is suddenly gone. "We're up on the ground. You may throw the rock away now, Tsunaka-san." Saber says, so I let go of the stone slab and move aside, letting it fall back down into the abyss. I swiftly rocket up and land behind the two, staring forward towards the hall of writhing flesh.

"Well, here we are." Ah, the [Heart of the Grail]…here I am, back once again.

But the layout is different. There aren't any more twists and turns, no more corners to navigate through. With my Mystic Eyes, all I see is one extending hall of flesh, leading towards one direction. What lies at the end, I can't quite see, but surely this is our final frontier!

…Woah, that sounded like a game trailer.

And, of course, since I'm back in this damned place, my molester's waiting right there, watching me from afar with those eerie purple eyes of her. She doesn't move, just watches, a wide smile on her face, and it makes her image a whole lot more terrifying. Not only that, since Saber and Shirou can't see past the light Excalibur's casting, they don't know that she's there, just, watching.

"Um, Saber, Shirou, be careful. There's an alter servant waiting across us." Both their eyes open in realization on who it is, and quickly nods before preparing themselves for combat, Saber keeping her sword upfront and Shirou summoning the [Kojiki Kiyomitsu] into his hands, with the faint blue outline of what seems to be a haori flashing over and around his chest.

[Coat of Oaths –Incomplete–]

A haori worn by Okita Souji. Normally, wearing this would enhance the rank of the wearer's attributes, but the Noble Phantasm construct is incomplete, and the effects are nulled.

So Shirou's beginning to tap into Okita's other Noble Phantasms, huh? Damn, for a guy who was supposed to become a faker who copies other weapons and Noble Phantasm, he's really absorbing and becoming a true Heroic Spirit. I wonder if he'll start changing physically as well?

Gya~, a female Shirou. Oh, the endless embarrassments he would receive! (If Heaven's Failure is any indication)

Now, it's nice that both of them are so ready to fight again, but…

"Ne, Shirou, Saber, will you be fine? It hasn't even been an hour since you guys last fought."

"Worry not, Tsunaka-san. I barely used any magic. If I'm not forced to use my Noble Phantasm, then I shall be fine." Saber answers first, confident and sure.

"Well…I should be fine if I don't use a Noble Phantasm one after another." Shirou finally says after his bout of initial silence, and if you think about it, he's right. While his Noble Phantasms don't seem to use a lot of MP, they're still Noble Phantasms, and constant use of them will become costly. That, and his low quality magic circuits, which he only has 27 of, pretty much means he won't be spammin' his sword's Noble Phantasm any time soon.

"…Alright then. Let's meet her head on." They nod, and with Saber in the front as our guiding light, we begin walking forward, inching closer and closer towards Medusa, who stands there, staring, with her chained knives summoned in both hands. Her smile is frozen on her face, amused and playful, as she clinks her knife together, creating a sharp spark of light in the dark.

I blink,

And then she's gone.

"Shit! Saber-!" Before my call can be heard, a chained knife wraps around and digs into Saber's leg, causing Saber to trip before she is dragged forward. Shirou quickly moves to follow, but he's forced back to defend himself as another chained knife springs forward, trying to wrap around him and pull him forward.

Suddenly, the chain swerves around and attempts to pierce his back, but he spins and knocks the chained knife away, only for it to move towards me. I only had a moment to reinforce my arm as the chained knife wraps around and cuts into, but not quite stabbing into my left forearm. With my limb secured, the chain is pulled back, and me with it.

"TSUNAKA!" Shirou's cry goes unanswered as I'm pulled into the darkness by the chain, dragging me across the wriggling fleshy floor before I'm pulled into the swirling black portal that is at the end of the seemingly endless hall.

A few moments filled with the feeling of my body being torn apart later, I pop out onto the other side, falling face-first onto more wriggling flesh-, oh god that feels really weird.

Quickly standing up to get my face away from that disgusting feeling, I quickly pull out the [Thunderer] and aim it at my left, only to then realize that the person I felt is actually Saber, who too had her Excalibur pinned at my neck. We stare for a moment, before we quickly retract our weapons. "Ah, sorry." I say first, and she shakes her head and apologizes as well. "I apologize as well, Tsunaka-san."

"On that note, where might we be exactly?" Saber asks me, and…I have no clue. Using my Mystic Eyes only says that I'm in the [Heart of the Grail]. We haven't left the place just yet, but I have no further clues as to where this might be. Well, I could look further into this place, but I don't want to end up incapacitated, especially in an unknown area like this.

"I…I don't know." I say with a frown, before looking up towards that…thing floating in the air, shadowed by the darkness around us. "But wherever we are, we're in for quite a fight." Saber, not having night vision like I do, can only look around in confusion, but she heeds the warning and readies her sword.

The ground begins to rumble, and the air seems to tremble as pillars of light shoot up around the large room we're in, lighting up the walls of flesh around us,

And the monstrosity that floats before us.

"Dear…god." Saber mutters, fear evident in her expression. I don't blame her, since I feel like my heart's about to burst from the pressure that thing is exuding. It probably would've crippled me if not for [Stoicism] alleviating some of the feeling. I heave out a slow sigh, and wiping away the sweat on my forehead, I look up once more.

[HEART OF THE GRAIL]

HP: /

MP: -

Stamina: -

The core of what was once the Holy Grail, now twisted by the curses of all the evils of the world. It holds the power of the true magic, and is the gate into the [Throne of Heroes]. Alive, yet not, it seeks to act upon its one and only purpose, to fulfill the wishes that have been placed upon it.

And now, it seeks to rid of you.

It's a disgusting, twitching gigantic mass of flesh, tied and stitched together by hundreds of chains. It roughly resembles the shape of a heart, though somewhat misshapen and dripping with blood. It's…an uncanny little, well, not so little thing, made even more terrifying by the many red tentacles that are sprouting from it, and the eerie echoes of what seems to be a distorted and muffled laugh.

Slowly, the heart begins to thump, and as tainted mud starts to flow down the walls, I can only gulp, my knuckles white as I grip the [Thunderer].

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

"Ara, ara~, so you're one of her friends, hmm~?" Medusa calls out enticingly, but Shirou makes no sound. He remains silent, eyes wide as he stares blankly at the darkness where both girls had been dragged into. He stays rooted in place, even as Medusa begins to approach, speaking, but her words failing to reach his ears.

He can't hear her, or anything, for there is but a single voice echoing in his mind.

'I failed.'

Body reinforced, he bursts forward, guided Medusa's scent and brandishes his katana. He closes their distance quickly, and he sends three stabs towards her. Medusa moves just as fast, batting his strikes away with her chained knives. She smiles, amused, but the smile is wiped away as he delivers a sudden kick to her gut, then grabbing the back of her head and smashing it down onto his raised knee, before hitting her bruised face with the butt of his sword. Dazed and shocked, she fails to move away from a particularly strong punch to the gut.

"My~…you're not cute at all…" Medusa groans as she straightens herself. Shirou says nothing, simply stepping forward and slashing down. She blocks, wary and no longer playful, before twisting her arm around his and jabbing at his wrist, attempting to weaken his grip. It's when she feels her fingers crash onto hard steel that she senses the sheer amount of prana he'd surged into that location.

'How is he able to see me!?' Truthfully, he cannot. His eyes are not like Tsunaka's, he can't see through the darkness around him. The shrouding dark around her should've become an advantage.

If only she doesn't smell so strongly, then her element of surprise would have never been broken.

It's only when he sent a quick jab onto her neck with incredible precision and kicked her back with the force no human could ever muster that she realized he wasn't a mere boy.

The man before her is a Heroic Spirit, and she'd decided to play with one.

The two girls from before she could take and drag away due to the element of surprise and her superior speed, but she'd lost that element, and the redhead before her is a fighter who fights with speed, one that can contest or perhaps even surpass hers.

She can no longer hold back.

She pulls her knife down, whipping the chains attached to them against the fleshy floor before she charges forward. Shirou moves forward as well, and their bout resume, this time an even match of sword against knives. Medusa's snake-like flexibility and skill with her knives keeps Shirou at bay, while she finds herself pressed to exploit any openings due to his unorthodox sword movements.

Medusa narrows her yellow eyes. Reversing her grip, she lunges forward at high speeds, intent on stabbing them deep into Shirou's forehead. He ducks and rolls under her, before kicking off the ground with the butt of his blade to spring back up and deliver an upwards slash from behind. She twists and blocks, letting one of the knives go before kicking it, causing it to spin around the katana's blade.

With a smirk, she grabs onto the chain and yanks the katana away. Shirou's eyes widen in shock, and seeing that causes a wave of glee to course through her. Ske delivers a quick kick to his head, knocking him back, before landing and snapping forward, knife pointed at his unprotected heart.

One should know, that overconfidence is a slow, and insidious killer.

It's to her shock then that his head suddenly snaps forward, and in an act of absolute insanity, smashes his forehead against the face of the knife, knocking it downwards. His head snaps back, hitting her nose with a sick crunch before she finds herself knocked up by a dizzying uppercut to the neck. Shirou moves to deliver a strong side-kick to her neck, but Medusa swiftly bends her head away, barely evading the kick, and jumps away.

The man before her is an enemy she's never faced against. He is skilled, swift, and unpredictable. He has no visible magical prowess, and he has no special blessings granted to him. All his attacks are of pure power and skill only. Not even seeing his companions be dragged into the darkness seemed to dull his attacks. The rage in his eyes is cold and focused, and that makes him all the more terrifying.

She doesn't stop Shirou as he walks over to his fallen sword and picks it up, both to observe and to heal from his attacks. She can see a slight bruise forming on his forehead, along with several shallow cuts due to him butting his head onto her knives' somewhat jagged blades, but other than that, the man is mainly unhurt.

If only she'd pulled him and his servant and kept that other girl instead, then she wouldn't have gotten into this mess, but she could hardly complain now, especially as he swiftly approaches, her sword ready to be swung.

She blocks his sword with her knife, but she sees him relax his grip and quickly jump to avoid a low kick. He tightens his grip once more and knocks the knife away, before stabbing forward. She deflects the strike with her other knife, but his reinforced strength knocks the knife away as well. The small moment her block made allows her to jump away safely, only receiving a mild cut across her cheek.

'I can't keep doing this!' She grits her teeth. She doesn't like what she'll do next, but the prospect of losing is even worse!

So, with prana surging into her eyes, the sickly yellow glow an eerie purple, and the seal holding back her Mystic Eyes are shattered.

By reflex, Shirou quickly brings up his katana, causing the pair of Mystic Eyes to first target his sword, causing it to quickly turn to stone before crumbling away. Shock colors his face, but he quickly rushes towards her to stop her, but her eyes flash again, and his hand begins to petrify. It spreads quickly, reaching up to his upper arm in seconds, with his previous reinforcements slowing it down by a small margin.

Her eyes flash again, and this time his legs begin to petrify, but right before they begin to turn, prana surges into his foot and he bursts forward at high velocity. She stops her eyes and moves to avoid the charge, but due to her incomplete petrification of his legs, his knee hasn't been touched, and it allows him to deliver a solid kick right onto her neck.

They roll back together, both incapacitated due to their own reasons, but Medusa quickly turns her head to him to complete the petrification, only to then realize in horror that he'd brought up his stone arm and pushed them down into her left eye. His arm is reinforced, and since it'd become stone, the reinforcement made it sharper, and due to that, it easily stabs right into her eye socket.

"AAAAHHH!" She lets out a blood-curdling scream, one that grows louder as another reinforced stone arm stabs her other eye. Blood spurts out as pain sparks throughout her brain, her nerves overloading from the sheer intensity. Weakening numbness spread throughout her body as the sheer pain broke her down, and she didn't have any strength left to oppose as Shirou places his knee on her neck. She hears a soft breath, and with it, she hears one final crunch before her consciousness fades.

Shakily, Shirou sighs, pulling his arms back out from her skull and moving away. The lifeless body begins to fade, before it disappears into a sparkle of golden light. The weight on his arms and legs disappear as well as the stone over them cracks and fades, though the blood on both his hands is still there.

He sits there for a moment, calming himself down as remnants of his old ideal screams to him, screaming of him taking the life of another, but his gained experience from both Okita and Sasaki Alter's lives easily allows him to push those voices away. Despite that, the feeling of the blood on his hands is there, and they will stay there forever, a reminder that he'd taken a life.

Actually, looking into his gained experiences, the draping of someone else's blood on one's hand seemed to almost be a rite of passage back then, a moment when they'd evolved to become warriors.

Although…that kill was quite…brutal. He isn't quite sure why he went through such procedures, but it was either his hand or stabbing his sword through her skull, and his sword crumbled earlier so…yeah.

On that note,

'My sword! MY SWORD! Huaa! The sword Hanami-chan gave me brooookkkee!'

'It's just a sword. You can get another one.'

The banter of voices in his head is getting out of hand, made all the weirder since the voices are…him…Well, his psyche that's been influenced by analyzing and delving into the histories of the two swords he used [Structural Analysis] on. It's strange, and he doesn't quite understand it himself, but it's quite amusing to listen to.

'Another one!? Don't you have any sympathy!?'

'It's a sword, a piece of metal. It's not alive.'

'It's your partner!'

'Ninjas work alone.'

He would've listened more, but a wave of terror flushed in through his link with Saber, and alarm bells blared in his head. Saber doesn't fear much, not even in the face of death, which is understandable, since she's probably seen death at the battlefield countless times. But this was different. It was primal, an involuntary fear we all hold.

Something is wrong.

He bolts up to run, but suddenly falls back down. "What…?" A feeling of lethargy courses through his system, and it's only with dawning horror that he realizes what's going on.

His magic circuits are burning from overuse, barely safe from exploding due to his high endurance.

His body is completely sore from using many unfamiliar moves he'd just gained.

'I can't move.'

He tries once more, but this time, he doesn't move an inch. "Come…on…!" He tries to crawl, but the wriggling flesh underneath him doesn't allow him a solid grip to pull him forward.

Gritting his teeth, he slams his fist onto the ground, cursing as he's forced to recover, only allowed to feel the horror Saber feels, hoping desperately to help her fight whatever monstrosity she's facing.

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

If only he knew.

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