Chapter 212: The Last Rising Sun Part 2

Bang! Bang! Gunshots rang out, illuminating the scene with brief flashes. The policemen and some military men looked frightened at whoever was in front of them.

The floor was littered with the bodies of criminals, where blood spread like a crimson puddle. The cells of the inmates were smashed, cut with clean, straight cuts. And in the midst of it all, that hooded man put on a muted expression beneath the darkness of his garb.

"You can block bullets with a couple of knives..."

"There's no way we can capture him, much less kill him."

The hooded man, Toru, shook his head.

"No need to expend so many resources on me. I was just about to leave. I already have what I want."

"Don't move, monster! Identify yourself or we'll open fire again!"

Toru sighed seriously and, with the strange light coming from his eyes, said:

"I am a Shinigami and I have come to take the souls of these sinners!"

The policemen did not take this seriously and started shooting, but Toru dodged the bullets and blocked them with the edge of the daggers.

"If you'll excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, I have to go."

As the bullets passed close to his body, he made a graceful bow and his body dematerialized two seconds later.

Everyone present was very frightened to see this. No one understood anything that happened, but no doubt all of this will become a news story that will go around Japan.

-Hours later-

With his eyes closed, sitting on the roof of the tallest building in Fuyuki, Toru found himself sitting on the ground meditating. Silently he felt the wind rush through his disembodied body, as strange voices began to echo inside his mind.

The voices, so distant and bizarre, whispered:

[Monster...]

Toru opened his eyes after hearing that and unconsciously materialized his body and held the daggers tightly. Confused he looked around, but there was nothing and no one. Those sudden voices left him thoughtful for a second until....

Drip...

"¿...?"

A drip fell. Toru looked at the ground and realized that what fell was blood. Suddenly he felt something warm running down his cheek. A little tired, he brought his hand to his cheek and when he saw his fingers, he realized that what fell was a tear of blood.

On both sides of his face, the blood fell in the form of warm tears, accompanied by a slight dizziness and feeling of discomfort.

Thoughtfully, he stood quietly watching the blood, but then voices shouted desperately at him:

[Monster!]

It was then that he felt a severe headache that brought him to his knees. His vision became dark and for a moment, below his knees, he seemed to see the ocean of blood, where glowing white eyes and bloody hands moved violently, as if all those entities wanted to reach him.

Silently, with difficulty and after a second when all this strange event passed, he stood up touching his head painfully and blinking a couple of times to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary.

With his eyes shining, he looked out at the sunset wondering:

"How long has it been since the last time?"

The voices echoing in the ocean of blood. The souls looking at him with hatred and sadness at the bottom of that crimson liquid. The pain he caused to his world throbbing inside his brain. The strange visions he had when he escaped from Konoha. All of that is coming back...

Toru smiled tiredly.

"Uhhh... that always hurts so much..."

Ignoring everything as he always usually does, he wiped the blood from his face and sat back down on the ground as his body dematerialized once more. To preserve energy and prepare for tonight, for, at this moment, Toru feels that the end of this is very near, so this kind of schizophrenic attacks can't be allowed to stop him. Yes, he himself knows that he is not right in the head, but before he can seek professional help, he had to win this war and reincarnate.

"In any case..."

Slowly the sun began to set on the horizon. Before long it will be time to start moving into the shadows of the night.

The plan for now is simple. Watch and pray that all the enemies kill each other before he runs out of mana, as his body is consuming too much mana even while in dematerialized mode.

"Watching and waiting. What fun..."

He said wryly.

***

So when the sun finally set on the horizon, Toru began to feel strange fluctuations in the surrounding mana.

He got up from the ground and cautiously observed.

"The disturbances in the mana are far away and difficult to decipher..."

Trying to sense the mana from too far away is not recommended. However, this let Toru know that at this moment the enemy has started to move. Now it was necessary to know where exactly they are.

So he set off jumping between the buildings, watching everything with the Shigan. If there was the slightest strange movement, his eyes would be able to see it.

'I guess this is going to be really boring.'

Thus he moved between Fuyuki at a high speed for a while.

Also, in order not to waste mana, he was using powerful jumps on the air platforms. For that, his body has to materialize, only then he can jump between the platforms.

His jumps are quite long. This way he takes advantage of the acceleration force and does not expend excess energy.

With the cold air passing over his face, he thought about his chances.

'If it's to be one Servant against another, I'd rather it be Saber against Archer or Archer against Rider. Saber has a chance to kill Archer and Archer has a chance to kill Rider. If what I want to see happens, then that would leave Berserker for last. But, should Saber and Berserker face off, Saber will most likely win. Still, what bothers me is Rider's Noble Phantasm. It's too dangerous. I can fight Archer's Noble Phantasm at my maximum power or dodge Saber's Excalibur, but facing such a massive army is something I can't do. That's my weakness based on the mana I possess'.

Last time, even if he had the strength of more than 50+ of his clones at maximum, he was pathetically defeated. Well, although the outcome of that fight was just an illusion.

'I would maybe stand a chance if I could use my Noble Phantasm but, without a Master to provide me with mana, I won't be able to perform my attack. In a fight, I won't have the time or mana to summon Saigo no Yoake.'

Toru possesses an anti-fortress Noble Phantasm (Saigo no Yoake) just like Saber's. The difference is in how they both summon. The difference is in how they both summon their Noble Phantasm. While Saber raises the sword high and summons Excalibur's light in a single second, Toru needs more time to charge his ability, as it requires a few extra steps.

In the end, the Noble Phantasm is the skill that materializes the tale or legend of a Heroic Spirit. So, what is Toru's legend? Well, he was the one who died amidst flames and fire illuminating the dark and depressing sky of the battlefield. With the bright light of his power, a star in the sky?

His legend already had a name...

'If I'm lucky, maybe I'll manage to find a Master later. For the time being...'

His eyes saw activity above one of the buildings pointing towards the forest outside of Fuyuki.

He stopped on top of one of the buildings and looked off into the distance. Before he could realize who was there, though, an intense light flickered in the distance.

He looked at the giant light that spread across the outskirts of Fuyuki and smiled calmly.

"Saber, huh. Who was the lucky guy who had to swallow all that light straight in the face?"

There was no way he could see it, but on the outskirts of the city, Saber attacked Rider with Excalibur's light.

Toru again felt nostalgic at the sight of the light of that legendary weapon. He didn't understand how that light brought back the memory of when he managed to keep alive the artificial star he created in his past life.

'I can't find an explanation for that, but one thing is for sure.'

Saber's light is the light of a hero and that light brought back nostalgia to Toru.

It was as if he...

"Hm... Kirei."

Before he could lock himself in his own thoughts, he looked up at the roof of that building.

Kirei there, but also someone strange. An old man.

"What is that thing...?"

He squinted his eyes at the sight of him. That old man had very strange death lines. It was as if his body was composed of multiple life forms that made up a single chain life. Standing together, their death lines intertwined to shape that person.

He then remembered.

"Where have I seen those death lines..."

...

The lines of death inside Sakura's body....

...

When he recognized that, he froze for a second. Then, something strange happened to him. A strong flame flared up in the depths of his heart, accompanied by an indescribable anger. He clenched his fists so tightly that he began to bleed. A different expression formed on his face, an expression of anger like no other. Scowling, he gritted his teeth very hard.

The light of death intensified in his eyes and, along with the memory of Sakura's kind smile, something inside Toru shattered. Blood boiled inside his body and, before he could realize it, he had put a large amount of mana into his legs along with a platform of air.

The daggers materialized in his hands and....

"How dare you..."

He whispered. It was then that the air platform exploded after Toru propelled himself with all his might.

"How dare you, you bastard!!!"

The noise alerted the old man in the distance, which made him grin mischievously. However, for Kirei, that was different. From his point of view, Assassin suddenly appeared in the blink of an eye screaming and slicing the old man in half with the flaming edge of his daggers.

"Assassin?"

Toru paid no attention to Kirei. After appearing in front of Zōken, he turned around to look at the old man. The latter was lying on the ground with his body broken in half. Even so, there was no blood or guts scattered on the ground, instead, about ten strange maggots lying between Zōken's severed torso writhed in agony until they died.

The old man's body came back together after that and a deep, macabre laugh resounded. Rising from the ground, the old man looked at Toru with fascination.

"Look what we have here. The most interesting Servant in this whole war."

Unwilling to listen to this old man's foul voice, Toru lunged forward again, slicing the bastard in half once more. But this one, instead of falling, scattered transforming into a bunch of flying insects.

"I take back what I said, Kirei. There's someone worse than us right here."

The insects flew around Toru causing the sickening sound of wings flapping. Still, he didn't care about this and began to burn them all with the flames of his daggers. He wasn't going to listen to anyone at that moment, as anger is overpowering him with its scorching and painful flames.

"Assassin, after observing you for a long time, I can tell that you are not like the other Servants that have been summoned for this war. There is something that sets you apart from among them all."

The insects spoke one after the other.

"In you I see an evil far deeper than mine or Kirei's. You reek of the blood of many, many people. Agony and suffering haunt you..."

As Toru attacked, Zōken began to laugh nonstop.

"I see the evil of humanity in you..."

And somewhere else, that strange being smiled at Zōken's insight.

"After everything I've seen you do, I'm very interested to see how this war with you ends. Therefore, Assassin, I look forward to seeing how you will shed your crocodile tears when this is all over."

And after saying all that, the insects scattered and disappeared into the darkness of the night.

"Come back, you coward! I'll kill you! I'll make you see hell! Come back, you bastard!!!"

Although Toru wanted to go after him, the old bastard disappeared in a second. His presence was completely erased and nothing was left of him except for the dead insects that disintegrated from the flames.

"Looks like we meet again. You've been doing your own thing in other cities."

Kirei spoke to him.

Toru, still filled with anger, looked at the man with a completely shadowed gaze.

"Kirei..."

"Hello, Assassin. Before even starting a conversation, I wonder if it's okay for you to waste your time and mana on me. I know you hold a grudge against me, but that doesn't matter now. I guess you didn't see it, but..."

Kirei turned his back to Toru to hide his sick smile.

"Matō Kariya was here and right now he's heading to a specific place. You might be interested to know what for."

Toru clenched his daggers. He didn't understand anything this traitor said to him.

However, Kirei's smile widened and a name came out of his mouth.

"Zenjō Aoi..."

And hearing this, Toru opened his eyes forgetting his anger. Realizing everything, he turned around and leaped through the sky looking for Kariya's presence.

Kirei watched him walk away and crossed his hands behind his back.

"Let's see what you will do in this situation, Asahi Toru."

He has become someone who is fascinated by watching the world burn.

To be continued...