Sword of Fate | Chapter 9

The priest raised his eyebrow. "...Very well." He turned to Shirou and Kirito. "Oh? I did not expect a Master to bring his Servant with him. Hm... I shall allow it this time, but know that the church is a neutral ground. The rules forbid battle here. Regardless, I am Kotomine Kirei, the one entrusted with this church. Tell me seventh Master, what is your name? And who is the Servant that you have summoned?"

Shirou paused, unsettled by the priest's presence. "–Emiya Shirou. And this is..." He turned to Kirito.

"Servant Saber as called forth by the Holy Grail. As the contract states, I have answered my Master's call to fight in this war."

Rin and Shirou looked at Kirito in surprise.

He looked the priest in the eyes and continued. "My Master is curious as to the nature of this conflict. He is not a proper magus and therefore uninformed about the war."

Kirei smirked, an odd expression on the priest's face. "I see. Then let us correct his misunderstandings."

"Emiya Shirou. A Master is not a role that you can transfer, nor one can you stop once you are chosen. Those who have the Command Spells carved into them cannot resign, the holy mark signifying a trial of fate itself." The priest spoke, stopping any of Shirou's questions with his facts. "If you wish to retire from the war, the only option is to obtain the Holy Grail and wish for it. Everything will be as you desire then, Emiya Shirou."

"Your wishes, your desires, even those unseen burns you carry can be healed with the Holy Grail. Therefore you should desire it."

"Wha–" Shirou took a step back. The priest's words didn't make sense, but they pounded in his head and settled like a thick veil.

Kirito frowned. There was something about the priest that bothered him. Something familiar, but he couldn't place it. A feeling he had felt long ago from another person...

He shook the thought away. The priest's words were upsetting Shirou and the man was going on a tangent. "Kotomine Kirei, that was your name right?"

The priest nodded. "Yes Saber, that is indeed my name. Though I suppose I cannot say the same is true for yourself."

"Stay on track. My Master is here for you to teach him the rules. If you're just going to preach, we will leave and be done with you."

"He's right Kirei." Rin cut in. "Stop trying to open up old scars."

Kotomine looked between the two and sighed. "Of course Rin. So let us return to the topic. Emiya Shirou, the war you are in is called the 'Holy Grail War'. It is a bloody struggle between seven masters and their servants for the ultimate goal of the Holy Grail. With it, a single wish may be fulfilled."

At those words, Shirou was finally shaken out of his stupor. "Wait. You keep saying 'Holy Grail'. Do you mean the actual Holy Grail? The one that held the blood of Christ?"

"Does it matter? The Holy Grail that appears in this town is real. You have seen proof of it already in the miracle of summoning the Servants. Such a miracle as close to resurrecting the dead is almost a sorcery. The unreality of an object with that unlimited power is worthless in front of its truth."

Shirou was perplexed. "Then why do we have to kill each other? If something's that powerful, can't we just share it?"

"That is a fair point, Emiya Shirou. However, only one may claim the Holy Grail." Kotomine spread his arms, as if looking towards God for guidance. "The Holy Grail chooses people suitable to obtain it and selects the appropriate owner by making them fight for it. That is the ritual where those chosen by the Holy Grail kill each other to obtain it. That is what is known as the Holy Grail War."

Shirou shook his head. "I'm not convinced. Even though only one person can be chosen, I don't understand why we have to kill the other Masters." He cast a sideline glance at Rin. "There shouldn't be a need for those meaningless deaths."

Rin looked surprised at Shirou's response. "Eh? Hold on Emiya, you're misunderstanding it. You don't have to kill the other Masters."

"You will." Kotomine spoke with a sense of finality.

She shot the priest a dirty look. "You be quiet Kirei. Now Emiya, the Holy Grail in this town is in spirit form. It doesn't have an actual form so we have to materialize it with a ritual. We can call for it, but we can't reach it. Do you understand what that means?"

"Ah... that's why you need the Servants. Only spirits can touch spirits."

Rin nodded. "Exactly. Thus, the goal of the Holy Grail War is to eliminate all the other Servants. There's no rule saying you have to kill the other Masters."

Shirou let out a sigh of relief. He was worried that he would have to kill Rin. So even if he participated, she wouldn't have to die.

Kotomine smiled again and looked at Shirou. "That is true, but let me ask you Emiya Shirou. Do you think you can beat your Servant? Can you match his speed, strength or skill?"

"—Oh."

"Yes, Emiya Shirou. Servants are difficult to defeat even with other Servants. Yet, no matter how strong the Servant is, they will still fade when the Master is dead. So..."

It was a simple solution. Kill the Masters and you didn't have to worry about the Servants. But was it right to do it just because it was easy?

"That won't be a problem." And then Kirito spoke, as if denying that path. "I will be more than a match for any Servants we encounter."

"Is that so?" Kotomine gave the swordsman an amused grin. "Then your Master needn't worry about any deaths." He turned back to Shirou.

"Well then, do you have any other questions? We have covered the basis of the war already. If that is all..."

"Wait. As the supervisor of this war, what would you do if someone with malicious intent obtained the grail? If a person with a wish like 'ending the world' showed up and won, what would happen?"

It was something that troubled Shirou. It could very well be that there was a Master like that who had no problems with killing others, or wanted nothing but violence. And if that happened, innocent people, like Sakura and Fuji-nee, would die. Shirou couldn't accept that.

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