06 -[EMIYAs]

[A/N]

Correction, Gilgamesh is 1/3rd human, and 2/3rd God, not 3/4th. I'm sorry for this silly mistake, I am retarded when it comes to math and confused the two fractions.

On a side note, could you guys give more comments and reviews?

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Archer watched the light show happening above with a complicated expression.

Well, he was a bit glad he wasn't included in that battle, Gilgamesh was obviously holding back whenever he fought with most people, but...

Looking at the mountain-sized sword Noble Phantasm emerging out of that giant Gate of Babylon, that didn't seem to be the case anymore.

On the other hand, Saber was a real beast for sure.

Abel's fighting style didn't resemble any martial arts EMIYA was familiar with, indeed, it was like a Phantasmal Beast in human form was the one fighting Gilgamesh.

And his Strength supported that line of thinking.

With EMIYA's personal experience in fighting him as well as watching the aerial confrontation currently occurring, Abel should be one of, if not the physically strongest Servant summoned in this War.

This was saying a lot since Archer knew that Heracles was roaming around somewhere around here.

Although there was something off about him, and Archer wasn't talking about his mental state...

The Saber Servant should have done a lot of bodily harm to Archer, so much so that he couldn't participate in the War this early.

This was the case in every other timeline.

Yet Abel only did some superficial damage, even if he was possibly stronger than Artoria...

Was it deliberate? But why would he even do that?

Well, it might be because of the way Abel's Noble Phantasm worked, which was more of an expanding domain of attacks rather than Artoria's straightforward laser beam, allowing more time for Shirou to stop him...

But Archer's gut told him that something fishy was swimming in this sea of lies.

It was hard enough dealing with one overpowered unpredictable prick, but two at the same time? That seemed a bit excessive...

However glad Archer was that he wasn't directly involved, he felt a bit bitter.

All that provocation and revelation of his identity just to get ignored like a third wheel?

He honestly felt like having blue balls.

Also, Gilgamesh was literally using his Gate of Babylon to play background music during the fight, what the hell!?

Using one of the most powerful Noble Phantasms in the world to play boss music, that's...

That is a travesty! Travesty? Travis Scott...

"Archer!"

The voice of an exasperated and confused Rin Tohsaka brought the Servant out of his stupor.

"You...what did Saber mean when he said you were..." She paused, looking at the confused boy beside her, "...him?"

"Cough..." Archer faked a cough as he considered how to respond, "I am him..."

Er, how should he get about explaining this...

"I am you, Shirou." He said, establishing eye contact with his younger self, who in turn, widened his eyes.

"At least, a version of you..." He explained as he held his swords tightly.

"...But...aren't Heroic Spirits dead heroes from the past...?" Rin asked, thoroughly confused.

"Yeah, I'm not dead yet..." Shirou pointed out, looking at his...future self.

"The Throne of Heroes also contains Heroic Spirits from the future, Rin." He said, looking at the twin-tailed girl.

"It exists outside of the timelines, thus it can extract heroes from all of time," Archer said, as he glanced to the side, looking at Saber's sword that had been plunged into the floor.

"I...I'm from a timeline where the events of this war have already taken place, suffice to say, I'm from the future." He said with a frown.

"However, it's not your future, but an alternate one that cannot possibly take place any more," EMIYA said, shaking his head.

"Alternate future...?" Rin considered the Archer's words, "Timelines...so the Multiverse theory is real..." She thought with an amazed and baffled expression.

"How did I...you die?" Shirou suddenly asked, looking at the tanned Archer, "And why do we look so...different?" He asked with some confusion laced with curiosity.

Rin nodded at this question, although looking closer, Archer did indeed share a resemblance with Shirou, but the skin tone, and the hair...that made no sense.

"I'm not supposed to tell you." Archer said as he shook his head, "But I don't think that really matters anymore..."

"The reason we look so different is because I fried myself by using too much Projection Magecraft...and obviously, I'm older." He said with a foul expression.

"And regarding how I died..." Archer paused as he looked at his young self, "How we died..."

He then stared at Rin, particularly, at her hand where the Command Seals were present.

"It's because of Saber." He said with a solemn smile, widening Shirou's eyes.

"I'm not going to tell you anything else, this timeline is already so messed up as it is, it might get pruned or break off into a..." He stopped himself.

"That's not something you want to happen." He explained as Shirou stepped forward, a complicated expression on his face.

"I think I know why you were killed by Saber..." Shirou said, surprising both Archer and Rin.

"And if I'm true, then it might be your fault, Archer...me? Er, you." Shirou said, crossing his arms as he seemed to have made his own conclusion.

He was right to be hesitant, it seemed.

This Archer, this alternate future of himself must have carried out the plan, using a Command Seal to kill Saber.

There must have been a loophole in the wording, allowing Abel to murder his Master before killing himself.

This was his theory.

"Wait, wait just a second!" Rin stepped forward, an incredulous expression on her face as she stood just beside Shirou.

"Why are you so much older if you died at Saber's hands? Shouldn't you be the same age? The Holy Grail War can't possibly last that long, right?" Rin asked, suspicion in her deep blue eyes.

"I didn't die during the War," EMIYA said, responding to Rin's statement as he walked over to the Tumbling Blade sticking out of the shattered floor.

"It's...complicated, and as I said, I'm not telling you anything else," Archer said as he eyed the Noble Phantasm before him.

In truth, he was lying out of his ass. The Saber in his timeline wasn't even a man, after all, let alone some prick from the Bible.

He didn't even really die, he just made a certain contract.

But they didn't need to know that, now did they?

His goal was to kill himself, to achieve freedom via paradox...how's he supposed to do that with all those Command Seals around?

He'd needed to wait until Rin wasted all of them, then when that's accomplished, he'd strike and eliminate Shirou Emiya before he could make that contract, thus setting him free from the Throne of Heroes.

This was his plan, at least, initially...

But seeing as how different this timeline was...

Would it even work? Would it be considered a paradox?

Archer frowned as he realized that wouldn't be the case anymore.

After all, the paradox relied on Shirou Emiya being killed before he made that contract by a Shirou Emiya who was already trapped in the contract.

That would be a real paradox, because how would the Shirou Emiya of his future exist if he died before he could even make the contract that made him want to kill the Shirou Emiya of the past?

It was a confusing loop, but that's what paradoxes were meant to be, to confuse the world and make it erase his future and replace it with a new one.

Or none at all.

But it wouldn't work anymore, this Shirou Emiya was already so different, no longer Archer's true past self.

It's basically already guaranteed that he'd no longer end up as Archer, thus the paradox wouldn't work.

A change of plans was necessary.

He still wanted to go through with freeing himself, but this Shirou was on the path of divergence...

The specifics didn't really matter, as long as Shirou ended up making that contract, it should count as a paradox.

So Archer had to make sure his past self ended up as his past self, he had to make sure that Shirou would end up falling into that pit of despair in the future and agree to become a Counter Guardian.

Of course, he'd kill him before then.

But to do that, he had to get rid of Saber.

That guy was unpredictable as Archer wasn't familiar with him, so it was best that he just went away.

Therefore, he needed to manipulate his past self to go against Saber.

Archer hated doing this, lying and deceiving. He had originally planned just to tell some meagre half-truths and not elaborate on them, but...it was the only way now.

Well, it probably wasn't, but it was the only one he could think of right now.

Hopefully, the ends justify the means.

"This sword..." Archer muttered as under the suspicious gaze of Rin and the resolute eyes of Shirou, he touched the base of the hilt with his hand.

Obviously, he couldn't do this before lest he expose his identity, but now that the cat's out of the hat...or, er, is it out of the bag?

Well, it really doesn't matter.

Archer's eyes bore down on the still sword plunged into the floor, this sword, the sword wielded by Saber.

He immediately recognized it as an [EX] Rank Noble Phantasm, those kinds of weapons just had a unique air to them.

It was the same kind of ancient feeling he had when looking at the Sword of Rupture...just, otherwordly.

Saber was stupid to leave his Noble Phantasm here, Archer thought. That guy seemed to have a storage space much like Gilgamesh, so why not just store it there?

Well, EMIYA would be even more stupid if he didn't take advantage.

This ought to be a great addition to his collection.

Usually, he wouldn't be able to Trace weapons of Divinity, like Ea or Gae Bolg.

Excalibur was a special exception due to the close relationship he had with the King of Knights...

But weirdly enough, this sword in front of him possessed not a single drop of a God's influence.

It felt overwhelmingly...mortal, earthly even, yet distinctly not human.

He didn't like the sword's design, it looked a bit too big and clunky, more like a chunk of raw iron shaped like a sword than a real one. It was an impractical weapon in the hands of someone who didn't possess Saber's overwhelming physical strength and barbaric fighting style.

It also didn't look all that sharp, but more...blunt.

Well, it is still an [EX] Rank Phantasm nonetheless.

"The Tumbling Blade, so that's your name..." He appraised as Magical Power gathered in his arms, "TRACE—" But then, like a passing comet, a scarlet red light interrupted his Aria.

"Gae Bolg!"

The Mind's Eye of the red-wearing Counter Guardian activated as the world seemed to slow down, his eyes snapping to the side as a familiar figure stood there in a throwing posture.

Lancer.

Piercing through the air was the Irish warrior's signature Noble Phantasm, handed down by Scathach of Scotland, the blood-red spear of Gae Bolg flew with lightning-fast speeds as it set its divinely blessed sights on the target's heart.

"NO!" Archer shouted as the Gae Bolg headed straight for his past self's heart, the younger Shirou widening his eyes and mouth as he attempted to step back to run away.

But how could he run away? How could a teenager run away from the enchanted Gae Bolg, the Divine Spear made in the image of a God King's weapon? The spear that single-handedly pierced the heart of every soldier in Medb's army...

It is said that not even a Great Fairy or a Dragon from the Age of Gods could dodge Gae Bolg's piercing strike, let alone a budding 'Hero of Justice' like Shirou Emiya.

Indeed, for the instance that it was thrown, Gae Bolg had already conceptually pierced through the target's heart. The spear flying to the target was a mere formality so that the wielder wouldn't look weird when they fought.

So it was impossible to dodge Gae Bolg, the only thing that could prevent its piercing strike was if you could somehow block it with speeds even faster than the blood-red spear.

-CLANG

And Gae Bolg was knocked away from its course.

Rin audibly gasped as all three looked at the ground beside Archer's hand, where the Tumbling Blade used to rest.

It was gone, for it had somehow moved on its volition and struck the blood-red spear of Ulster's Hero of Light with speeds that made even Archer blink.

The Spear of Gae Bolg was knocked to the side, but in a near instant, it regained its bearing as it flew and once again tried to pierce Shirou's heart.

And again...

-CLANG

The Tumbling Blade swung itself as if personally held by Saber, the large thick blade easily knocking away the spear just inches away from Shirou's heart.

Archer was amazed, this shouldn't be possible. Even if time was stopped, the Gae Bolg would always manage to bullshit its way into the target's heart, the enchantment placed on it was just that powerful.

Perhaps the only thing that could block it was another weapon of Divine calibre, such was the reason why he planned to rely on Rho Aias to block the spear.

Rho Aias wasn't actually Divine, but it might still work due to being the ultimate anti-projectile defence system, perhaps even the most powerful one humanity has ever wielded for that specific purpose.

But as previously observed, the Tumbling Blade was a non-Divine weapon, so how in the hell was it stopping Gae Bolg?

The cycle of being knocked away by the blade only to try again in the fruitless task of piercing Shirou's heart continued as Gae Bolg became faster and faster, but in return, the Tumbling Blade was always slightly faster.

-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

Multiple metallic clanging sounds could be heard reverberating through the Church's interior as a perimeter of sparks surrounded the young Master with every collision.

Archer jumped toward Lancer, taking the opportunity to strike the currently Phantasm-less Cu Chulainn.

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120 Power Stones this week, please. Will give double chapter when achieved.