Chapter 210: Interlude 3

Gigantic tentacles rose from the depths of the water, lashing the water with great force.

The water was rising like turbulent waves, and in the midst of it all, the maiden once called the King of Knights advanced at full speed, rushing above the water with determination etched on her face.

***

His eyes, chasing every movement of the Servants in front of him, moved from side to side, analyzing everything.

The battle had finally begun, though there were also some irregularities about the place.

"If I remember correctly, that woman's name is Sola-Ui."

Toru looked back at one of the nearby buildings. His eyes saw the trail of mana that Archer left behind.

On top of that building, that woman was looking at everything with a worried expression.

"It would be a perfect opportunity..."

He thought about going to kill her right away, but he understood that doing that would be a stupid choice. She could use those pesky Command Seals to bring Lancer to her side.

"Hm... lately everything is against me, I see."

Everything used to go as he planned, but ever since Kirei ordered him to weaken Rider, situations always turn against him.

'Anyway. This will be a good, long night. It merits a drink of wine to start with.'

He jumped down from the bridge until he reached the building where Sola-Ui is.

"Good evening."

He suddenly appeared at the woman's side, sitting down on the floor as he pulled the barrel of wine from one of the seals on his wrists.

Sola-Ui, for her part, let out a small high-pitched cry as Toru appeared, falling on her own butt.

"Assassin...?"

She got up from the ground immediately.

When she looked up, she saw the young boy sitting quietly watching the scenery here. Still, this was not a good thing.

He is an Assassin and Assassins only know how to do one thing.

She, then, was not going to allow herself to die in this place. So she prepared to call Lancer, but stopped as Toru took two glasses and poured the wine.

"Would you like some? A woman once told me that it's better to drink together with someone than in complete solitude."

Sola-Ui was confused.

She shyly turned away from Toru, but he didn't do anything about it.

He knew what this woman was thinking. So it wasn't worth it to change her mind.

However...

"If you think I'm going to kill you, you're wrong. I won't kill you, at least not today. I want to enjoy this in peace."

With his eyes glowing in the dark, after removing his hood, he waved the cup a little for Sola-Ui to see.

"Will you accept? It's okay if you don't want to."

Seeing him extending the cup of wine with his cold gaze, she felt like death itself was handing her a cup with poison in it. The look on that boy's face, plus the cold tone of his voice, made his words seem like a threat.

"Well..."

She timidly took the cup and nervously stared off into the distance.

She felt that Assassin at any moment would attack, but this guy was very calm.

"One of my clones saw what you did to El-Melloi. That was a very cruel betrayal, I must admit."

"What are you talking about?"

With the wine glass in her hands, Sola-Ui became defensive.

"You forced him to give you the Command Seals. The poor man had no choice but to agree, otherwise you would have broken all his fingers."

"Nonsense. What could someone like you know?"

"Mmm... I may look young, but I know a lot of things. Like how you're currently under the spell of Lancer's curse. Saber didn't fall for that stupid trick the first time I saw them."

"Spell...?"

Toru narrowed his eyes.

'Sola-Ui, a weak-minded woman. She's not worth killing. She will die alone...'

Because of her betrayal, possibly her death would be ironic, but one had to wait and see what happens in the future. Toru already had his predictions though.

'Surely Emiya or Tokiomi will be the one to end this woman's life.'

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, brat."

"A brat who can cut off your hand before you use the Seals. Think again, woman, who's faster, my daggers or your mind?"

This was an obvious provocation for this woman not to suspect his weakness. Having no Master, it is quite easy to die for ridiculous things.

It is better to appear the same as usual than to reveal his weaknesses, for this boy's speed is no longer the same, much less his strength and agility now that he has no Master.

In response to this, Sola-Ui just continued to drink the wine in silence while trying to guess what was going on in the distance.

"Hmp! This wine better than it looks!"

She changed the subject. Just like Kayneth, she had too big of an ego. Though she knows how to hide it better than that man.

"Yeah. I stole it from Rider."

"Uhg!"

After hearing that, Sola-Ui choked on the wine. Fortunately, she didn't choke.

Though that might not be so fortunate for Toru.

***

A gigantic purple cloud was generated around the monster, which had the shape of a grotesque squid with skin similar to that of the mist that suddenly appeared around it.

Artoria was fiercely attacking the tentacles emerging from the depths of the river with the edge of her sword.

Something not so similar was happening with Iskandar, who was ramming the monster with the power of his war chariot along with the muscular bulls that put their strength into battle.

Meanwhile, Lancer was just waiting for the perfect moment to wound Caster with his cursed spear.

***

"Oh. That was pretty quick."

Toru looked up at the sky, where two military jets were moving at high speed across the sky.

Near where the jets were flying, Toru saw some sort of strange golden craft with neon green lights.

"Archer... so there you were."

"Huh? Huh?"

Sola-Ui was confused, how could Assassin see what was going on if everything was covered in that thick purple haze?

No, she understood something at that moment.

It was something a bit disturbing, but she could see how the Assassin's eyes were moving strangely. The boy's pupils seemed to look at all the scenes simultaneously, as if he was present in each of those places.

So...

'Caster ate one of the jets... there's only one left. Human weapons can't fight him...'

He finished his glass of wine and immediately poured himself another.

He tasted the drink and put on a soft gentle smile.

"It's delicious. uh...?"

Someone else arrived.

"Berserker is here too...?"

Toru looked up, realizing that Berserker was on top of the surviving jet. The latter began to corrupt the jet into his Noble Phantasm.

And that, at the same time, was something Archer watched with a smirk.

"Interesting. All the Servants are here."

Toru said. All gathered in one place for this bloodshed.

...

"Hey..."

Sola-Ui tapped Toru's shoulder with an index finger.

He looked at her and realized that she was holding the empty wine glass. He smiled at her with his bright eyes and poured her some more wine.

"This is all getting more hectic than I thought it would."

Boom! Boom! Missile explosions echoed high in the sky. It looked like an interesting confrontation had begun.

"The glowing swords of that smug guy. The dark missiles of the Noble Phantasm of the knight who plunged into madness!"

With a hot sigh, Toru nodded his head. After that, he looked to the right, where another confrontation was beginning.

'Matō Kariya, Tōsaka Tokiomi...'

Toru's gaze darkened. There was no way he could know what those two men were talking about right now, but judging by Kariya's expression, this was about Sakura.

Toru took a few seconds to think things over and then looked away from those two.

'It's not my problem...'

At least not what those two men want, but Sakura....

...

"Caster is approaching the coast..."

Even for Sola-Ui, who didn't have super developed eyes like Toru's, she could see the giant monster moving through the fog.

"And the fight between Archer and Berserker only intensifies."

Many things were happening simultaneously, but this is a good thing.

Sola-Ui saw Toru smile mischievously. It was obvious to her what this kid was thinking.

'If everyone kills each other, that will be my advantage.'

In fact, there was something very interesting in all of this, as Toru can kill Caster at any time very easily.

This is why he was smiling. He wasn't going to help anyone in this war, as it was fun for Toru to watch them struggle for something that he himself can solve with a slight movement of his daggers.

Deep in his heart is the love of death and battle, through his veins runs the blood of a shinobi warrior. The cursed heritage of the Uchiha and the man who comes from this world.

"Hm..."

Toru turned his gaze to where Kariya and Tokiomi are supposed to be. He frowned as he saw and felt that Kirei was also there, but the latter was immobile, doing nothing.

'Kirei... What are you planning to do?'

He asked himself with a frown. He was still feeling a bit frustrated and angry about the last order Kirei gave him, which almost killed him. But as he recalled the frustration, the battle between these two men had a humiliating outcome for Kariya, who fell engulfed in Tokiomi's flames.

Not even insect magic was able to do anything to a Magus as talented as Tokiomi, but....

'Matō Kariya...'

Toru set his eyes on him.

When Kariya fell to the bottom of an alley, Toru realized that this one didn't die, though he's still in critical condition. It was then that the idea of using that man as his temporary Master came to his mind.

All that was needed was to wait for someone to get rid of Berserker.

'So, Archer, try a little harder and hopefully my plan will begin.'

However, because he had been distracted watching Kariya, he did not notice that Rider had used his Noble Phantasm to lock Caster. Simultaneously with that, Berserker managed to blow up Archer's ship.

...

'Haa... here we go again...'

Nothing goes Toru's way anymore.

...

Regretting that everything is happening strangely, Toru drank another glass of wine and looked at Saber, who, along with the others, were talking about something he didn't understand.

"Uh?"

Toru opened his eyes in confusion. Suddenly Lancer broke the red spear that cursed whoever was cut by its edge.

'What are they trying to do?'

He realized that too late.

'It can't be... no...'

He narrowed his eyes in regret.

Right after Lancer broke the spear, Saber finally materialized her sword.

'The legend of the King of Knights...'

Toru sighed at this. He smiled wryly saying:

"Looks like my chances of winning are greatly diminished."

Sola-Ui felt a chill after hearing the boy. She looked directly at the Mio River, where Berserker suddenly started attacking Saber after causing Archer to explode next to his vehicle.

This only made Toru feel more disappointed. Everything he wants to do is falling apart in front of his eyes.

To forget that the World is against him, he decided to overanalyze something else.

"There's something that has me worried."

Toru said. Sola-Ui listened in silence.

"Why does Berserker only attack Saber?"

In fact, this also happened the first time. Berserker, upon seeing Saber, completely freaked out and started attacking.

"There's something I'm missing."

However, there was no time to think.

A flare exploded in the distance, only to materialize the gigantic figure of that demonic squid a few seconds later.

Just as this was happening, Archer reappeared over the bridge, attacking Berserker with everything he had until the "rabid dog" disappeared shrouded in a black wake due to the damage taken.

"Looks like this is over fast..."

Toru could see Artoria, who raised the golden sword high in the air.

At that moment, radiant and majestic golden particles began to rise from the ground above everything surrounding the place, gathering above the sword which began to radiate a blinding light.

Toru opened his eyes at the light displayed and understood something.

...

'You carried the faith of many...'

...

Toru carries the hatred of many....

...

The Assassin and the King of Knights, two such opposites...

...

It was with that same light that something strange happened to Toru. That bright light bouncing over the river and reflecting all over the place seemed to call out to him.

He unconsciously reached out his hand trying to reach Saber's light, but it was so far away and bright, so perfect and pure that it hurt.

What...

What is the name of the weapon that carries a peerless light?

'Not even my Noble Phantasm can shine so brightly.'

Confused, he remembered the name of the legend and just then, in the distance, Artoria's voice resounded pronouncing the name of the weapon that resonates even after so many hundreds of years.

Its legend...

"EXCALIBUR!"

This girl's voice rose to the sky like the light of her sword.

Excalibur's glow intensified, becoming a shining pillar of light that, after Artoria lowered her arms to strike the blow, moved through the water whipping hard at Caster, who began to disintegrate in rhythm with the light.

Sola-Ui was frightened at the sight of the overwhelming power of Saber's Noble Phantasm. She immediately thought that Lancer would not be able to fight against it. So, in fear of such power, she looked at Assassin, but what she saw left her confused....

The boy was holding out his hand, as if reaching for the light. His hair covered his eyes, but thanks to the slight melancholic smile he had, Sola-Ui could deduce what expression the boy had.

In turn, Toru sensed something familiar in the light of Saber's sword.

It was then that the scene of that star in front of the emotionless scientist flashed inside his mind. As the man's assistants applauded and celebrated the birth of the Light of Humanity, a light of salvation...

A light of hope and faith....

[The light of a Hero]

A light in Toru... that was extinguished long, long ago....

...

"I guess this is where it ends."

He stood up with his sad smile and looked at Sola-Ui as Excalibur's light faded.

"Maybe we'll see each other later. It won't be like now, though. You keep the cup. I'll take the rest."

With those words, he tapped the wine barrel and it disappeared shrouded in a cloud of smoke along with the empty cup. He fixed his hair after that and with determination jumped into the void.

Sola-Ui rushed to Assassin, but he was gone.

To be continued...