Chapter 73: A resolve fortified and a path chosen!

Raising my chin slightly, I shot off my shadow spears one by one. Each one released a small crack as it broke the sound barrier upon their release. I was not expecting any of the spells to hit, truth be told, as this was Rider after all. While Medusa died quite often in the timelines, it didn't mean she was a weak Servant by any stretch of the imagination. No, one could say it was merely her Fate that she was always killed off fairly easily.

And since Fate had no bearings on any of my actions, Rider was able to display her agility freely. Almost dancing around my shadow spears with the utmost ease. I made a small note that she made sure to never actually physically touch the spears in any way. With an inner smirk I thought, 'Clever girl. But let's see just how many spears you can dodge…'

With a devious and ever so slightly sadistic smile forming on my face, I snap my fingers again. As Rider finished dodging the last spear by practically vaulting over it like some sort of sport event her face twisted with a frown as she noticed the vast increase in the number of shadow spears.

Giving her a mock slow clap and flashing my pearly whites at her I said, "As expected of you, Medusa." Noticing her stiffening ever so slightly at me directly naming her I gave her a dismissive wave and continued, "Please. Any mage worth their salt would sense the magic pooling behind your mask around your eyes. Add that to how many Servants have 'Special Eyes' and actively seal their eyes? Well, it doesn't take a genius."

With a slightly frustrated frown she asked, "And who are you?"

I just gave her a smirk as I answered, "Now, isn't that the question of the hour~? If you're still alive in the next few minutes I might just answer you."

With a thought hundreds of shadow spears shot off, all trained on Rider. To her credit, she didn't panic in the slightest and simply went back to her "dance." My perception increased as one of the spears came exceedingly close to tearing off her head. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as I watched the shadow spear rip through the fabric of her mask and reveal her frowning face.

Time slowly returned back to normal as I relaxed my perception as Rider continued to dodge to the best of her impressive abilities. As fast and dexterous as she was, she wasn't perfect and the number of shadow spears being sent at her was slowly overwhelming her.

It wasn't long before a shadow spear was on a direct course towards her heart. I knew she wasn't going to be able to dodge this one in time. Rider knew she wasn't able to dodge this one in time as well if the resignation on her face was any indication. However, mere moments before the spear was going to run her through, a soft voice spoke out, "Wait."

All of my spears instantly froze right where they were, which left Rider standing in an awkward position with a spear hovering mere centimetres from her heart. She made no effort to move however as she understood that having a spear so close like this meant I had her dead to rights.

I dismissed all the spears but the one over her heart as I looked back at Rin. She was just finishing packing up her little bento container when she called out it seemed. Finally finishing her little chore, she stood up and joined me at my side as she asked, "Rider, why would my sister attack me?"

Rider shook her head and then answered, "She did not. I am… on loan to one Shinji Matou. It was he who ordered this foolish attack."

Returning my attention to Rider, I gave Rin a quick side glance to see her disgusted sneer at the mention of Shinji. And she voiced as much, "That pathetic weasel and waste of space? Is he so pathetic that he wants to kill any girl that refuses his, frankly, disgusting advances?"

Rider simply shrugged her shoulders as much as her awkward position would allow as she said, "I do not try to understand the mind of my Masters, even temporary ones."

With a frown, Rin turned towards me and simply said, "Caster."

With a smirk I snapped my fingers, causing several shadow chains to erupt out of Rider's own shadow and bring her low. Now in a kneeling position with chains all over her body forcing her to lean slightly back along with pulling her arms behind her, she sighed and said, "You never took me seriously for even a moment, did you?"

Creating a simple fan and hiding all but my eyes I let out a soft chuckle before I replied, "Not even for a single breath."

Dismissing my fan with a wave of my hand, followed by another snap of my fingers, Shinji was suddenly standing before us facing Rider. With clear confusion in his voice he asked, "Rider? What happened, what-"

Before he could finish his question however, he was interrupted by Rin's cold voice, "Shinji Matou, you pathetic boy. You have one chance to explain why you have my sister's Servant under your command, and why you sent her after me."

As Shinji jumped a little at the sudden voice, he quickly spun around and the moment he saw Rin his face twisted into an ugly sneer. As the two of them started to bicker back and forth, I took a peek at everyone's souls to check the progression of the corruption that was still being dispersed around the school.

Starting with Rider, I wasn't the least bit surprised she was able to resist a great deal of the array I had set up. It wasn't particularly strong by any means after all, and Servants were naturally rather resistant entities. Her being was still nearly 100% pure of any corruption, but if she were to stay in the array for an exceedingly long time I suspected that would eventually change.

Glancing at Shinji I wasn't all too surprised to see his soul nearly pitch black. He was garbage so seeing that he was nearing the completion of the corruption was par for the course really. Though this corruption wasn't the normal kind I usually spread, this was simply making the worse of him more prevalent and wide spread. He had precious little morals to flip in the first place after all, so it was more like this was simply driving him to a dark madness.

Looking at Rin however almost caused a smile to spread widely on my face. Her once neutral, if a little bright, soul was now MUCH darker. Her corruption was of my classic type, I was converting her to a more… agreeable alignment. Per the norm, I was making sure she was still very much "Rin," however it wouldn't be amiss to simply call her "Dark Rin" eventually. From the array and my own mana corrupting her, I estimated she would be fully converted by the time school was out if nothing exceptional happened.

I also had to hold back a snicker as it seemed that conversing with Shinji was also quickly spreading the Darkness in her. With a suppressed amused expression I thought, 'Well, he is nearly literal trash, so I am not surprised if I am being honest. Hmm, now there is a thought, maybe I should wipe out that family line…'

While I was mulling over the pro's and con's of purging that particular bloodline I suddenly felt a massive surge of Darkness through the constant link my sisters and I share. Before I could even start to question what was happening I heard Mothers voice in my head, "Don't worry, my dear daughter~. Little Tearwyn has already taken action. Be proud! She acted so fast, she really does love her new family so very much~."

I couldn't help the soft smile that appeared on my lips as I answered, 'That's good. Tearwyn having more than just me is a little painful, but I won't let jealousy prevent her from experiencing any happiness she can. Least of all happiness from having a family that loves her as much as I do.'

Somehow knowing that Mother nodded her head, I put my trust in my other sisters and turned my attention back to the two children in front of me. Their conversation was getting rather heated, or rather Shinji was. Rin still had a calm and collected look about her, even if her face was slightly twisted because of the disgusted feelings she had towards Shinji.

While on the other hand Shinji was nearly red in the face with rage and his shouting had also started to produce a disgusting amount of saliva. It wasn't long before he turned to Rider and shouted, "Rider! Stop fucking around and kill these bitches already!"

I could only raise an eyebrow in mild amusement at this fool's total failure to read a situation. Even Rin, and Rider to a much lesser extent, had a look of near flabbergasted exasperation on her face.

Shinji just released a frustrated "Kyle" level screech and stomped his way over to the bound Servant. As he reached for one of the shadow chains binding her he yelled, "Damn it, you useless fucking Servant! I SAID STOP-"

However, his loud screeching was interrupted the moment he grasped a chain with both of his hands and tried to pull. Or rather his screeching was converted into screams of pain as his hands had dissolved up to his forearms. He quickly fell on his back screaming in pain while holding up the stumps he now had for arms to his face.

As his hysterical and frankly hilarious screams continued Rin gave me a side glance, to which I simply smirked and shrugged. Rider simply blinked blankly at the situation, taking the whole thing in a calm stride. This sack of shit wasn't her true master anyway, so I didn't expect her to be too heartbroken about it.

Rin looked back down at the wailing man baby and with cold, dismissive eyes she said, "Caster."

Turning my attention to her and humming a bit to let her know I was paying attention she continued, "What would you say if I wanted to… help my sister and destroy a bloodline?"

I chuckled darkly and answered, "I'd say you're the 'master' in this situation and can do as you please." I turned my gaze back to Shinji as I continued, "I won't even make you use a command seal, and will freely help you~."

As Rin nodded her head and adopted a look of concentration as she devised her next step I thought, 'And this will most likely finish the corruption of your soul, my "master." And things will only get that much more interesting with a Dark Rin leading the charge~.'

Rin suddenly raised her head and started looking towards the door that led back into the school as she asked, "Why is no-one coming to investigate his screaming?"

With an amused huff I answered, "Contrary to what you might think, I am very much capable of creating a barrier that will prevent sound from travelling~."

Rin tossed me a small glare while the tiniest of blushes appeared on her face for a few moments. She let out an exasperated sigh as she turned her attention back to Shinji as she asked, "Can you…."

Again she let out a long and drawn out sigh. She shook her head and then looked up at me with eyes filled with determination and purpose, "Fuck it. My father is no longer the head of this family. I am." She then turned to Shinji and said, "Shinji Matou! For your revolting attitude and attempt on my life I, Rin Tohsaka, head of the Tohsaka household, formally declare a blood feud! I am also taking back my sister from your disgusting family."

She then looked back at me and said, "Caster. Break him."

A cruel smile was instantly on my face as I said, "With pleasure."

I walked over to the sad sack of shit that was still, understandably honestly, wailing about the loss of his hands and gave him a light kick to the ribs. As he painfully cradled his chest with the wind knocked out of him I said, "Try not to break within the first few seconds. But knowing you, I fully expect you to defecate yourself within five. Crucio."

And just like that, he instantly filled his lungs with new air and began to scream with unholy abandon. I was, much to my amusement and displeasure, correct about how long he'd last. It was only three seconds later that he literally shat and pissed himself.

Amidst his screaming Rider, with her voice full of apprehension and wariness, asked, "What… are you doing to him, exactly? I've never seen nor heard of a spell like that…"

I simply hummed for a second or so before answering, "The Cruciatus Curse. A dark type of magic with the sole intention of bringing astronomical levels of pain to its victims. It not only strikes every single nerve in the body, lighting them up like a Christmas tree, but it also targets the soul loosely. By now, the boy you knew is long gone. The only thing left will be a gibbering mess of madness or a catatonic body."

With a wave of my hand I dismissed the spell, and true to my word all that was left was the broken husk of the boy once known as Shinji Matou. His eyes stared at nothing with a soulless look about them, and he was no longer screaming or making any movements at all. Truly, broken.

Rin walked over and looked down at the boy as if he was garbage on the side of the road; no less than that. And honestly, he truly was when he was alive and kicking. She nodded her head and turned her attention to the still bound Servant and said, "Rider. You will return to my sister and you WILL protect her. I noticed no command seals on that… thing, so return. Return and protect your true master. Caster and I will be along shortly to wipe out that family."

With a snap of my fingers the chains faded away into black smoke and Rider was gone. Rin turned to me and said, "Let's go. This is something I should have done ages ago, and it's high time I stopped ignoring the signs."

[author] Here be chapter 73~! Hope you enjoyed it ^-^[/author]