Fate/Zero Desire

Idea of a Monster 

He remembered being surrounded by flames.

It felt as if he was walking for hours into that place. The world was on fire. The flames were the world. Yet, the people of meat walked unscathed from the terrible rage of the fire.

'Where am I?'

Kariya was perfectly aware that it was a dream, of course. He remembered falling unconscious after the fight, only to see himself in that place.

No, he was trying to figure out if he was seeing the dream of one of his Servants. He had no luck in finding clues about his situation, however.

'Is this Archer's mind? I can't understand why Lancelot would have this memory.'

Or maybe you are hallucinating, said a small part of his conscience. Sad to say, but Kariya couldn't contest that part of himself.

Footsteps. The Master turned around.

"Archer? Berserker?"

Feeling a presence in his back, he turned to see neither. And the figure weirded him out.

It was as if he was a Frankenstein-esque creature. Most of his skin was purple, but Kariya couldn't perceive if they were bruises or old burn marks. The clothes had burn marks, and his white hair had traces of black -was that paint or the natural color? He couldn't say.

Kariya took a step back. All of his instincts told the same thing:

'That man is dangerous.'

Then, he laughed. The face of the man melted, his cranium slowly becoming visible.

"Tell my old man that I will wait for him in hell! KYAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!"

Kariya had no time to run before being engulfed in blue flames.

His head hit metal. Kariya winced, putting his right hand on it.

"Ow…"

He touched his face. No signs of carbonized meat, only his face, wrinkled by the worms. For the first time, he was glad that it was that way.

The renegade heir of the Matou stared at the dumpster he hit. It was of a faded green, and he could hear the noises of mice doing who knows what.

With a bit of effort - it was hard to do anything when half of your body was functionally useless - the man managed to put himself on foot.

"Master."

Kariya glanced at his Servant. He was sitting against a wall, squeezing a stress ball.

"You didn't buy that with our money, did you?" asked the Master, staring confusedly at the object.

"A few guys were making a bet," said Endeavor. "It involved a sauna. I had to deal with worse temperatures, so it was an easy win for me." he stared at the ball. "Although I feel that I should have bought something else. It's not fit for a Heroic Spirit, and it's about to-"

BOOM!

His hand crushed the spherical object in a piece of rubber. The Archer of Musutafu frowned.

"Hm. Yes, a shame indeed. Should have used that money for more practical investments," the man threw the rest of the toy in the dumpster. "How are you feeling?"

The Master looked at himself, then at his Servant.

"Like shit. My default condition, in short," replied Kariya. "And you?"

"Fuming," said Enji. He glanced at a point in the street. The mark of two feet was there as if someone had stepped on the fresh cement. "In both senses."

Kariya sighed.

"I'm also unhappy. If we had caught your counterpart, then…"

He coughed. Kariya noticed that some blood went flying from his mouth. Endeavor held his shoulder and made him drink some water.

"I also bought some supplies in the meantime," said the hero. "Water bottles, energy bars. It's not a healthy diet, but it will have to do," once he let Kariya take a breath, he passed some pills to his Master. "Have those with a sip. It helps to swallow the medicine."

The weakened man obliged, putting the pills in his mouth and then drinking the water. He coughed, letting some of the liquid out, but no capsule left his mouth. The magus took a deep breath.

"I retract what I said. I feel terrible. Those tasted a whole new level of bad."

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," said Endeavor. Then, he grimaced. "On second thought, let's hope this does not apply to the golden bastard."

Kariya picked one of the energy bars, ripping the top with his teeth and munching it. Thankfully, the jaw's muscles were one of the few body parts that weren't utterly busted.

"Is he that strong?"

Archer of Musutafu nodded.

"Yes. I would be dead if I did a single mistake against that man."

That went into his head when he saw twenty-something Noble Phantasm-grade weapons appearing from those portals.

'One wrong move and it was all over to me.'

He could count on his hand what people ever made him instantly think that in life: the first High-End he fought, All for One, and Shigaraki Tomura after inheriting his teacher's Quirk. Not even Dabi made him think that from the get-go.

"Hmph. I was too arrogant in thinking Jet Burn would suffice. I should have hit him with everything from the get-go."

"...considering the damage you did to the surroundings, I think we merely underestimated the power of Tokiomi's Servant," retorted Kariya. "Your flames are powerful."

Endeavor snapped his fingers.

"I was using Flashfire Fist, and it still wasn't enough."

Kariya gulped.

Most of Endeavor's arsenal was dependent on two things: his Mana Burst and his Noble Phantasm.

For starters, Mana Burst was a skill that allowed for the channeling of magical energy through his body for many applications in combat -mainly to raise attack power. However, that was an adaptation to the rules of this world: Endeavor's abilities in his land came from something called a Quirk, which, from Kariya's understanding, was exactly like a comic book superpower combined with lots of genetics thrown in the middle. 

The power of Endeavor was Hellflame, allowing him to release powerful flames from his body as deadly projectiles. Thus, the full name of the skill was Mana Burst (Hellflame), weaker than proper Mana Burst (Flame), but infinitely cheaper for a power of that level, at the cost of overheating with too much usage and needing some time to get to max strength.

Said time was reduced using his Noble Phantasm: Flashfire Fist - Righteous Flames that Go Beyond. It was a move that raised the heat of his flames to the maximum in a short time while also having some variety in form -like with Jet Burn. 

It was a terrific power, even when Endeavor held back his punches.

"Let it be," replied Kariya tiredly. "We still have time to get that guy. And next time you won't hold back, right?"

Endeavor shrugged.

"I will make sure the circumstances are favorable," he paused. "Although…could you call Berserker for me?"

The eyebrow on the right side of his face raised.

"The last thing I want to see is him," said Kariya, touching his chest as if still feeling the pain.

"And all I want is to have some words with him," retorted Endeavor. "Don't worry. Hopefully, it will be short."

The Master sighed.

"All right. Come here, Berserker."

The black knight appeared after some seconds. Thankfully, it wasn't being loud or even mad -just staring at his Master and his partner.

Well, until said partner decked him in the gut with so much strength that the Servant of Madness bowed. And he was wearing armor.

"AAAAA-!"

The knight attempted a counterpunch, but, for all his skill in close combat, the Archer of Musutafu capitalized on his offensive advantage and gave an uppercut in his chin, sending the head flying backward. 

"Archer! What the-?!"

"This is necessary, Master," said the hero. "Even if it's personally unpleasant for me."

When the knight attempted to rise from the ground, Endeavor put his feet on the chest plate. While Lancelot could overpower the Archer in close quarters, the Servant of the Bow used his weight to compensate for the difference.

"You will listen to me, you moron," said Enji. "Because I need to say some words after your stunt last night. So, that girl is this Arthur figure? Don't raise your voice."

The knight snarled - "Arthur, Arthur" -until smoke started to go up from Endeavor's shoes.

"Don't waste our time. Nod if yes."

The Berserker slowly nodded. Archer's eyes narrowed, and Kariya realized a second later one fact:

'Berserker can understand what we are saying?'

The Servant looked furious and desperate, attempting to escape his current position. However, Archer was determined to keep him under control and exerted even more weight on his leg. The tension in the room was palpable as the two men faced off in a silent struggle. 

"Good," Archer of Musutafu raised his feet and stomped on Lancelot's chest. "Because now we are avoiding her like the plague."

"AAAAAAAAARRRRR-!"

Endeavor clenched his fist, flames surging through it. 

"You can protest it all you want," said the Archer. "But your actions wounded our Master, our anchor to this world. You are a knight, yet you harmed our 'lord'. If you were a hero in my home, I would burn your Hero License to crisps for that!"

He approached the fist a bit to the face of the Servant, who noticeably went silent.

"I can't win this alone, unfortunately. Kariya and I need your strength to face what is to come. But let me tell you one thing: if you are why he became injured before we reach our objective, it won't be by the blade of Saber that you will fall, but to my flames! You hear me?!"

Silence. Then, the knight nodded. Endeavor took his feet out of the Berserker's chest.

"Good. I don't know your story with Saber, but we need to think hard, not be impulsive. The first to lose is the first to be overwhelmed by his emotions. Use them as fuel, but never as a guide."

He glanced at his Master.

"This is true for you too."

The Master blinked.

"What did I do?!"

Endeavor crossed his arms.

"How did you get here in the first place?"

"Ugh-!"

The worst part was that Kariya couldn't disagree with his Servant there -the decision to save Sakura was purely emotional, and by the time he realized it was a bad idea, he had already crossed a point of no return.

Berserker glared at Archer, growling.

"Don't give me that look," said the hero. "I attempted to do this the educated way last night, and you decided to disappear. You are acting like a damn brat! No, scratch that: this is an offense to brats! I knew a first-year in UA with an explosive temper that was more controlled than you!"

Lancelot huffed -or seemingly did so. It was hard to say with the helmet.

"Now, I ask," said Endeavor. "Was my message clear?"

The black knight grunted but nodded. The Archer let his shoulders relax.

"Don't make me resort to such crude methods again. There will be no mercy."

The Knight of the Lake turned his back to his partner, disappearing in black smoke.

Kariya let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding.

"That was…a thing," said the Master.

The pro hero grimaced.

"It was," agreed the man. "I'm not one to be ruthless with people other than villains, but I felt this was the best way to convey my message," he glanced at the sky. "And speaking of messages…"

Kariya turned to where his Servant was looking. He could see a glittering smoke above the Church.

"It's a signal for Masters," said the Matou. "The Overseer is summoning the Masters to talk. What do you think it's about? The killings?"

Archer grimaced.

"It would make sense," said the Flame Hero. "But it could also be an unrelated subject. Regardless, it's better to send a familiar to understand the situation."

Kariya nodded. Wincing, a bug went out of his sleeve, flying to the skies.

"It shouldn't take too long," said Kariya. "As Berserker will protect me, I want you to look at the city, Endeavor. See if you can find where the other Masters are, especially if we want to avoid Saber."

The man nodded.

"A wise choice," declared the hero. "The one who knows the field rules the world. I shall return by midday. Until then, relax and keep yourself as healthy as possible."

"If that's even possible…" grumbled the Master, touching his other hand with the working one. Then, a memory came to his head. "One more thing before going."

The Archer turned to his Master. He gulped, thinking if it was a good idea to say that, but he went ahead:

"The body with white hair…he says that he waits for you in hell."

The expression of the man darkened.

"I see. Thanks for letting me know, Master."

Before the Master could ask anything, the man jumped to the top of the building, never looking back.

Father Risei made sure that all the familiars were present before starting the reunion.

He did the counting. While he prepared for any Masters to make their presence known in his Church, none showed physically -as expected, supposed Risei. The figures seated at the benches were familiars of all shapes. He saw the jade bird of Tokiomi -a mere formality, but a necessary one -a bug that was doubtlessly from Kariya Matou, a wire bird from the Einzbern, a formidable hawk, and, last but not least, a smart-eyed mouse -it was easy to say which was El-Melloi, and which was the young Velvet.

And, of course, Kirei heard the reunion behind the wall while he was “treated.”

Satisfied, the Overseer spoke:

"Greetings, Masters. I hoped we would not need to meet, but extraordinary circumstances forced my hand by calling all of you here. Alas, things are dire."

His voice echoed in the chamber, the acoustic of the place being naturally good to more common intents.

"The Holy Grail summoned all of you in the search for your wishes, those who seek the power to fulfill their wildest dreams. Now, however, it's evident that someone betrayed this search."

He looked at the familiars, who did not betray the thoughts of their controllers. 

"The Master of Caster and Berserker of Inaba was recently discovered to be responsible not only for a string of murders happening in this city but also for the sudden disappearance of many, with his Servants actively helping him in his nefarious deeds. I trust that I don't need to say how big of a violation this is to the rules of the War."

He could imagine the sweat going down the spines of the Masters. If those deaths continued, it could call the eyes of the Association, and from there, it was all downhill.

"This Master and his Servants are no longer individual targets, but rather threats for the integrity of this War, and the Moonlit World as a whole. With that in mind, by my authority as supervisor, I decided to change the rules of this conflict."

He pushed the right sleeve of his arm, revealing the Command Seals there engraved.

"Entrusted to me in this conflict are the Command Seals of the fallen Masters of previous wars. I trust you understand their value, especially in the circumstances specific to this engagement."

While each Servant had its own set of Seals, Command Seals were always valuable. He saw nothing wrong in emphasizing that fact to incentive the Masters to do well.

"I can transfer them to anyone as I see fit," said Risei. "Thus, these are the rules. None of the Masters here present are to engage in hostilities but to focus on the hunt for Berserker of Inaba and his entourage. The ones to land the decisive blow in that group shall receive a Command Seal for each Servant that your Servants struck down and one more for the head of the Master. Working together is allowed: I shall reward the participants all the same. Once this ends, we shall proceed with the Holy Grail War as before.”

He paused, letting the Masters process the information.

"Any questions?"

Silence. Then, one by one, each familiar left the building, flying - or, in the case of the mice of Waver Velvet, running - through the open doors in the front.

After a few minutes, Risei allowed himself to leave the room to meet Kirei. He was together with the 'puppeteer' he called for Kirei.

"Done," said their accomplice, a mercenary recognized by his skills in the art. "Come and see it."

Risei glanced at the piece around his son's arm. Tokiomi had reasoned that there was a chance of someone seeing Kirei in the Church despite their best efforts, so they had a proper order for the man.

The sight of it was impressive. The structure, crafted from oak wood, appeared incredibly mobile and lifelike (as lifelike as a prosthesis could be, he had to add) from a close distance.

"I hope you know this was harder to do than a proper prosthesis," said the mercenary. "Little time and had to stay awake two straight days for every piece to fit right."

Kirei stared at the structure, flexing its fingers. The false arm answered without issue. 

"It is serviceable," said the priest. 

Risei nodded, turning to the mercenary.

"You shall receive your reward once you leave the country," he said, passing a document. "Give this to any priest to retrieve it. Don't tell anyone what you did here."

The man nodded.

"A pleasure doing business," so he left the room.

Kirei waited a few minutes before speaking:

"Do you think he will blurt something out?"

"Men like him are professionals," replied the Overseer. "They had a reputation to keep. However, for good measure, Tokiomi ordered his Assassin to trail him until he leaves town."

The man nodded, taking the contraption. Risei saw that it had some couching inside, to the comfort of its user.

"Such a troublesome scheme," commented the man. "In hindsight, I would alter for Bradley to 'cut' my hand rather than the arm."

"It is what it is, my son," said Risei. "Besides, you don't need to wear this all the time, only in public. And, considering your magecraft, you can find use in this structure. Its sturdiness turns into a good improvised armor or bludgeon."

His son frowned with some doubt.

"Alas, we have more important things to worry about now," said the Overseer. "The dice roll. Now, we hunt for Caster and to achieve triumph."

'Yes…and maybe more,' thought Kirei to himself. Then, he huffed.

Surely at the end of the day, his efforts -the efforts of Hassan, he corrected himself - would not bear fruits. Right?

He wondered why now he wished to fail in his mission.

Waver opened his eyes, touching his forehead. It was sweaty.

'Not too surprising, I guess,' he thought. 'I swear that  El-Melloi familiar was glaring at me. And that killer talk…"

He shuddered. 

"You look unwell, Master," said Dumbledore. "What was the reason for the reunion?"

Waver raised his eyebrow.

"Didn't you read my mind in the meantime?"

Waver was thinking of his Servant's Legilimens. Then, it also occurred that they shared a mental link.

"Just because you can read someone's mind, it doesn't mean that you should," pointed out the Caster. "Besides, think of this as a way to train yourself after the issues you had yesterday."

The boy coughed a bit, embarrassed. 

"Y-yeah, fair enough. Rider, come here, and - you are still at that?!"

The Servant turned his head from the television. He was wearing an XXXL-sized white shirt with the logo of some videogame - "Admirable Tactics" - written on it.

The Servant of Cavalry was also currently pantless, his lower parts thankfully being covered by a boxer -one of Waver's boxers, resized to fit the King of Conquerors by the magic of Dumbledore -which didn't make it less awkward seeing one of the world's finest rulers watching some military documentary and eating chocolate dressed like a child would in Saturday morning in the summer.

"Hm? Is something wrong with my dressing choice?" asked the Rider, munching at the bar.

"Everything," said Waver, exasperated. "If this is some attempt at making me buy trousers for you, it's not working."

"...is it now?"

Waver put a hand on his face, taking a deep breath. Thank god the MacKenzie were not home, or else they would be in danger of hearing the increasingly annoyed requests of Waver -well, if they ever got through the muffling effect on Dumbledore's spells, anyway.

"Take down one or two Servants, and we can talk," said the boy tiredly. He didn't want to, but he was getting used to his Servant's antics, which didn't bode well for his sanity.

"Ah! I see!" said the Rider, clapping his hands. "So, if I bring the bloodied head of one of our foes, I shall receive the power of 'trousers' and wander the streets! Yes, this is quite the deal!"

Waver sighed. Dumbledore, meanwhile, scratched his beard.

"So I suppose it's up to me to help in our search," he glanced at his clothes. "Unfortunately, I fear that the style of wizards and muggles is too incompatible to mix in the crowd. Thankfully, I think I have just the thing to help."

With a move of his hand, he called forth…

"An owl?"

Indeed, it was a barn owl if Waver's zoology was correct. It was a magnificent animal with a white heart-like face and long brown wings.

"I caught this little girl last night," he said. "She has clever eyes, you see.

"Indeed, indeed," nodded Iskandar. "They are the symbol of Athena, after all. Very wise birds, the owls."

"...I fail to see how this will help us," said the Master. "This doesn't even feel like a familiar."

"As I said, because it's not," repeated Dumbledore. "Using familiars is one of the few things that elude me in the system of this world. Alas, there's no need for that: with these magnificent birds of prey, the Wizard World progressed ever since witches were witches, and muggles attempted to foolishly burn us without knowing we have spells against such things."

"With owls?" asked Waver.

"We had other means of communication, of course," added the wizard. "And, depending on the country, other animals are more prominent as mascots. However, owls are common birds worldwide while being cheap to keep and having -mostly -good intellect. I have experience caring for birds like them, sparrows, and phoenixes, so it'll be easy to keep her healthy."

"Hmm…" hummed the boy. "Yeah, I guess that- Hold on, did you say phoenixes?"

"Indeed, although I suppose that, considering how long they live, I should have said a phoenix. Grammar is an important thing, after all."

The young magus wanted to say what was the important thing, but he gave up midway.

"So, we have a way to look around without being noticed," said Waver, approaching the hand to open the cage. "Good to know, I guess, although I still don't trust the damn birdbrain that-"

The owl pecked the fingers.

"Ow!"

He retrieved his hand, glaring at the bird of prey.

"What the hell!" said Waver. "I thought you tamed her!"

"I said I took care of her, not trained," said the Caster of Hogwarts. "Amongst my many talents, falconry is not one of them."

"Besides, you were being rude to her," said Iskandar, touching the bird, who chirped happily at the thought. "I like you, little bird. That's some attitude in this little body!"

Waver would swear that the damn bird gave him a stink eye.

"Does she have a name?" asked the King of Conquerors.

"Hm, I had something in mind…" said the Caster of Hogwarts. "Does Minerva sound good?"

"Minerva…the Roman version of Athena, whose symbol is an owl," said the Macedonian conqueror. "Yes, I like this."

Dumbledore chuckled.

"In truth, I didn't have such meaningful ideas in my head," said the older man. "I only thought that her stare reminded me of someone I used to know. While she was more of a cat person, I can testify that any student of Gryffindor would say that her eyes were like those of owls, haha!"

"Seems a terrifying lady…" said Waver.

The wizard winked.

"She was, indeed. If someone ever dared to harm a hair of a student in Hogwarts, well, taking from an author, 'Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned.'"

Waver blinked.

"...I thought this was about women humiliated by their lovers?"

Dumbledore blinked.

"It was? Hm, forgive this senile mind of mine. It seems that even I have my faults. Alas, sometimes, being deep is not necessarily better than being simple. After all, there is a certain complexity in simplicity."

Rider raised an eyebrow. Was that wrong quote deliberate? He only saw the man blink to him before Waver said:

"To be complex is to be simple…isn't this paradoxical?" he asked.

"Of course not," said the red-haired man. Well, two could play that game. "Some of my most successful battles had simple strategies in their core. After all, the more complex your plan, the more chances there are for something to go wrong. Lady Tyche can be a whimsical one, Master.”

"And, one thing I noticed through all the years," finished Dumbledore. "It's that the simplest solution is often the overlooked one. Which has its advantages if you know how to use this information."

Waver scratched the back of his head.

"Ugh, how can something so simple be so complex?"

"That's the point, boy," said Iskandar. "To be simple is to be complex; to be complex is to be simple. It's such a philosophical discussion that I wish for Aristotle's presence, as he would have so much to say about the subject. However, the point that Dumbledore is attempting to get across is that simplicity has its virtues."

The boy scratched his chin, frowning.

"Hm…Agh!" he said, throwing his arms in the air. "Why are we even talking about this?! We have more important things than small talk!"

Dumbledore shook his head.

"Ah, young people…always in a rush," said the man. "Alas, I agree that it's time to let our fettered friend do her thing."

He opened the cage, letting Minerva climb on his blackened arm. Then, he opened the window with his wand and let the bird fly.

"Go," he said. "Warn us of anything strange."

The barn owl obliged, taking flight in the morning sun.

"I still have my doubts about this," said Waver. "I should probably be helping on the lookout for the other Caster as well."

"You should," agreed Dumbledore. "But not today. We still have no idea of what kind of action the other teams will take in the face of this situation."

"Hm, I see, I see," said Iskandar. "Yes, you are correct. The matter is urgent, but being cautious is for the best."

"Ain't they going for the Command Seals as well?" asked Waver. "I may not know much about strategy, but even I can tell that seizing a powerful resource like that while denying the others the same thing is a sound plan."

"So you are not hopeless after all, boy," said Iskandar. "And on paper, your suggestion is the most logical approach to this situation at first glance. However, this is also an opportune time for other actions…like sneak attacks."

Waver gulped.

"Sneak attacks? But this is illegal!"

"Yes," said the sorcerer. "But how to prove that such an infraction happened? You could say something akin to 'that Master is collaborating with the enemy' as a reason to attack. It is an admittedly weak one, but my point is that if it gives them an advantage, the other teams will find any way possible to prejudice their opponents in the race. After all, you wouldn't want someone like your old teacher to gain the Seals, right?"

The Master gulped. The thought of Kayneth having one free seal to his Servants was almost nightmarish. Even thinking of letting other Masters have the reward was chilling.

"I see your point," he said. "Besides, Minerva should at least help nailing down the area where Caster set his Territory if she's as smart as you say."

Dumbledore winked.

"Some of the more capable helpers I had in life were birds. Do not fret: she won't disappoint."

Rider turned to the television.

"Hm…But things will get stale fast today," said the red-haired man. "After all, even this little wonder box must have some limit to its entertainment."

Dumbledore scratched his beard.

"Well…there's something I would like to test something with Master that you can watch King Iskandar. If it's of your interest, that is."

"Testing something?"

He paused.

"Indeed. I wish to see how compatible you are with the magic system of my world."

BUMP!

"Be careful! These books are worth more than this entire building!"

"I only piled them! What, do you think I will rip a page off or something?!"

Kayneth grunted, moving to where Rider of Tokyo-3 was reading. The magus snarled.

"There! A bit more, and it would fall from the table!" he said, picking the near-falling texts. "You don't understand how expensive these things are! It's the original myths in old English!"

"Buy a book in modern language, dipshit!" said the Rider. "It's less expensive and does not sound like something coming from a Shakespeare piece!"

"Shakespeare wrote in modern English, you ignoramus! Early Modern English, but still modern!"

"Whatever! Just leave me alone, old man!"

Kayneth stepped angrily out of the workshop, likely to cool down his head.

Asuka sighed, putting the books a bit deeper on the table.

"Ugh…what a pain."

While her Master knew that his Servant would be from Ireland, he had no idea which hero he would summon. Cú Chulainn, the monstrous spearman that destroyed armies? Fionn, the leader of the brave Knights of Fianna? Or perhaps a more recent figure like Suibhne, the king cursed to become half-bird by a saint?

These and other stories were what Asuka saw through her reading, which took the entire last night and the morning of today. While the Rider was perfectly capable of going scouting for clues on where the killer Caster and that clown, the Berserker of Inaba, were, Diarmuid had offered to do this instead, rushedly asking for some of Kayneth's clothes borrowed in case he needed to go to ground level and left.

'He's acting weird, isn't he?'

Well, her crush partner was a bit aloof, but he not only talked with Kayneth alone, but he also didn't bother to see if she wanted to help him. Uncharacteristic. And already last night, after the fight, he had been off. Then he got alone with Sola-Ui and-

'Did that bitch declare her feelings to him?!'

Her blood boiled at the thought. The gal of-!

She stopped herself. No, getting angry would only make things worse. The pilot knew that from yesterday. There was no guarantee that the woman did that -although the Rider was sure that Sola-Ui was the reason for the aloofness of Diarmuid.

And speaking of the man…

She stared at the books. As expected of a myth, there were slight alterations from version to version -although, as they were original, less than one would imagine. They counted on the adventures of the noble Knights of Fianna, led by Fionn MacCumhaill -pronounced Finn McCool, weirdly enough -and their feats as some of the finest warriors in Ireland. Their unity was legendary.

Thus, their downfall began with treason by the one said to be the most loyal one.

That being, of course, Diarmuid.

One day, he unwittingly charmed Fionn's bride, making her fall madly in love with the knight. However, Diarmuid had no interest in betraying his lord, so the queen cast a spell on him to run away with her, leading to a hunt by part of the Knights that, while bloody, barely avoided being tragic as Fionn ultimately decided to recon their relationship and make amends.

After that event, there was a boar hunt, on which Diarmuid got heavily wounded (there was something about that being a demon boar that was his half-brother, but Asuka didn't understand how that worked). Fionn could turn every water he touched into a healing balsam, but, still enraged by the betrayal, he accidentally dropped the liquid twice over, leading to the knight's death and, later, to the destruction of the Knights of Fianna as a group.

"Such bullshit. Diarmuid gets hypnotized, and the woman gets away scot-free?!"

She saw nothing in the materials about what happened to the queen. Nothing. Zero. Zilch.

"Such a terrible story…"

"Such is the case with most myths."

She turned to see Kayneth entering the room, a bit calmer. He scowled.

"Please, refrain from crushing the pages. These are valuable documents."

Slowly, she put the book back on the pile.

"People in the old days had such fondness for tragedies," she says. "Even from where I came from, we still spoke about people like Hercules and his ilk. It seems so distasteful to put people in tragedy after tragedy."

"Not too different from how life goes for many, no?"

Asuka grunted.

"I suppose this hits a bit too close to home."

Kayneth nodded. He remembered what he saw that night. The memories of a world ravaged by beasts were almost enough for him to spend the night with open eyes. 

"Why do you think Diarmuid wants to betray you?" asked Asuka. "If anything, he seems to be the last person that would screw us. Is it only because of the Love Spot?"

He crossed his arms.

"Well, I have good reason to be worried. You saw how Sola-Ui was acting, no? History has a sadistic tendency to repeat itself, no?"

"If that's the case, I would be more worried about your bride then," said the Rider, touching the book. "Like, the one who moved first was Fionn's bride, not Diarmuid. I can control myself close to him thanks to my Magic Resistance. Sola-Ui is being a shameless hag!"

Kayneth groaned but didn't argue. He didn't like the girl badmouthing his love but had to accept the facts.

"What do you expect me to do? She's entranced in his spell, and even with Lancer far away, her thoughts only go to him. He, who will disappear once we win this War, and not me, the arranged husband that, even then, loves her dearly! It's driving me up the walls!"

Asuka bit her lip.

"I mean…an arranged marriage is still an arranged marriage. I would be pretty unhappy if I were treated as a bargaining chip by my responsibles…"

She held a moment to think about it. Would any of them ever consider that? Well, for all that she disliked Misato, the pilot couldn't ever think of her doing that. Kaji was in the same boat -she was the closest he had to a daughter, much to her frustration. 

Gendo, on the other hand…Yeah, if it advanced his plans significantly, he would give her away in a heartbeat.

"You see this from the point of view of a magus," said Asuka. "But I guess that the problem is perspective. I'm not a social savant, but it's what I feel in the guts."

"Perspective?" asked Kayneth.

The pilot clapped her hands.

"To sum it up: you see things as a magi. She sees things as a normal person. Simple as that."

Kayneth crossed his arms.

"Preposterous. Sola-Ui is part of a family with a secular tradition in the Clock Tower. I can't think why she would turn her back on their traditions," he paused. "Although..."

He remembered that her history in her family was a turbulent one, as her early life was influenced by a rather rough in-fight. She was trained with her brother, Bram, to lead the family, only for things to calm down and for him to take the helm as the heir…one that wasn't as great as they expected, and, while a skillful instructor, was not all that great as a magus, the most important thing for the heir of an ancient clan.

This was part of why they married Sola-Ui to him: to gain political leverage, as his family was one of the most powerful in the world.

"Could this be the reason for her…distorted mindset?" he wondered, hand on the chin.

"I would say that a magi's line of thought is distorted, but alright…" grumbled Asuka. "Though, you agree with what I say?"

"I don't," he countered and then added. "But…I also see nothing that can disprove your theory."

While Kayneth would scrutinize Asuka for such a ridiculous idea, he had to reckon that doing things with a traditional mindset was not working.

Thus, for once, he would listen.

"So tell me, o wise pilot, what is your suggestion for me to approach Sola-Ui?"

The girl put a hand on her chin.

"Well…what does she like?"

He raised a finger only to put it down. The Rider had the urge to facepalm.

"Listen, I know I'm not the best person for this job, but I suppose you need to know something about the person you love to…you know, make her love you back."

"I am a busy man!" he protested. "The job of a Lord and a prime lecturer does not leave many spaces for going out! We only really stood together for much time at home or in the laboratory."

"Is she your bride or your assistant?!" asked Asuka, exasperated.

'Good lord, why can't love be a simple affair?'

First, there was Kaji, then Third Child, and now this stupid love dodecahedron. All she wanted was to get together with Diarmuid: why did that need to be so complicated?

She took a deep breath.

"Tell me you at least know what she likes to eat."

He nodded weakly.

"Tikka Masala. A favorite of hers, with her dessert of choice being a cheesecake."

Asuka took a deep breath and then clapped her hands.

"Alright, let's try a classic move that should be executable in this situation: dinner at candlelight."

Kayneth scoffed.

"Really? Dinner at candlelight?"

"Oh, you have a smarter idea, mister smartypants?" asked Asuka mockingly. "How about a moonlit walk with a serial killer wandering around? Or a small dance in a clubhouse with enemies surrounding you? Or even better: kissing that stupid Third Child with less emotional awareness than a pufferfish with all shots of that going wrong?!" she paused. "Ignore that last one. The point is that you want it to be safe. You want it to be satisfactory. And better start from somewhere. So, dinner at candlelight. It's cliche, but it works, I guess."

Kayneth gave a deadpan stare.

"You are sending mixed messages, Rider," he sighed. "It's a sign of how bad things are that I am willing to try that. It shouldn't be too hard to hypnotize the staff to make the plates for us."

He lifted from his seat and went straight to the door before turning to the girl.

"You will have your chance to talk alone with Diarmuid during the dinner. Make it count."

And with that, he left.

Asuka grumbled.

"Not even a thank you?" she grumbled.

Still…

That was as good an opportunity as any. Kayneth was right. If there was any hope of conquering Diarmuid's heart, it all began there.

Asuka sighed, looking at the sun, still high in the sky. It wasn't even midday. Good.

She needed lots of time to organize her thoughts.

Kiritsugu was used to bad awakenings.

It was part of the job as a mercenary. It could be anything: stirred muscles, sprained ankles, a bullet going into the wrong place. Even he, who was more calculated in his moves, still had his fair share of battle scars.

Mostly self-inflicted. Innate Time Control was a very dangerous magecraft with how it constantly put his life at risk, and he had to use Double Accel to do some very sudden movements.

Which probably was one of the reasons why Irisviel learned healing magecraft.

"Ah, you are awake!" said Irisviel, excited. "How are you feeling?"

He looked around. They were in a double room without distinct traits other than its crimson curtains and the puffy bed.

The Magus Killer let out a small smile to his wife.

"I am mostly fine. The damage was not impactful enough to leave any scars. Good work, Iri."

The vessel of the Holy Grail smiled back.

"Ah, thank you. I was getting worried about how long you took to wake up. I had to go to a reunion in the Church while you were sleeping."

The man frowned.

"Explain."

As the homunculus explained the reason for the reunion, Kiritsugu meditated on the subject.

'I see. It makes sense on paper for the Church to be worried over this,' he thought. 'But, considering what we suspect…'

"Do you think Risei Kotomine had a hidden agenda?"

The homunculus twirled a curl of her hair in deep thought.

"I am not as good as you in this type of thing, Kiritsugu," she said. "But the deal seems convenient for Tokiomi Tohsaka, considering how powerful yet rowdy Archer was. He had a high rank in Independent Action, right?"

The mercenary nodded.

"Considering how the Archer was acting…it could mean that Tohsaka needed to use one of his Seals to reel him in."

Kiritsugu bit his lip. If Sabers excelled in most combat situations, Archers thrived with long-ranged projectiles and mighty Noble Phantasms. He had considered going for an Archer -apparently, the Einzbern had a lead to an artifact belonging to Heracles - but he thought twice once he learned of the Independent Action skill, which allowed them to act without the magical supply of a Master, to the point that, in some cases, it's possible to stay for up to a week in the world as long as they didn't fight anyone.

Understandably, Kiritsugu would rather have someone that would not disobey him if it was convenient.

"That Servant is dangerous," he said. "But I suppose that we can talk more with each other. Did Maiya say anything?"

Irisviel shook her head.

"Your assistant didn't say much -although we lost a scout bat close to the Church."

'Drat,' thought the mercenary. 'So much for spying on them.'

It was a risky proposal in the first place, but still disappointing. Knowing what the Overseer and Kirei Kotomine were doing would be invaluable, but Kiritsugu worked with worse before.

He lifted from the bed, carefully seeing if his legs could support the weight. Seeing that was the case, he started to go to the door.

"Careful," warned Irisviel. "Some muscles in your right leg are still-"

Right at that moment, Kiritsugu felt his leg falter, nearly leading to him falling face-first into the corridor's floor before a hand grabbed him by the collar.

"...healing."

However, the man was not focusing on his wife anymore but on the figure that lifted him.

"Morning, Master."

Saber dressed in the same clothes that Irisviel chose for her back in Germany, only opting to discard her coat on a chair beside the door to the room.

"Morning," replied Kiritsugu. "I would think you would do other things here."

She shrugged, putting the man back on his feet.

"You thought wrong," she said. "I decided to stay here, watching Lady Irisviel heal you."

The eyes of the mercenary narrowed. He could call the lie from a mile away, as the memory of last night still lived in his head.

'I would like to have a heart-to-heart after the battle.'

He glanced with the side of his eye to Irisviel, who shrugged helplessly. It seems that Saber was unmoved by her resolution.

"It was unnecessary," he said. "If anything were wrong, Irisviel would know as the controller of the Bounded Field around the land."

The knight nodded.

"I suppose the meeting with Caster left me somewhat rattled. I hope you understand my worries."

'I do,' he thought. 'Both that and your true reason for stalking me.'

"Where is Shadow?" asked the mercenary. 

"He went into the woods," said Artoria. "Said he needed some time to himself."

Kiritsugu nodded.

"Go call him. We have a war meeting happening in fifteen minutes."

Fifteen minutes later

As Kiritsugu expected, Maiya was already organizing the information.

She knew his line of thought very well: In the board, there was all they had about their enemies: profiles, photos, speculations, all nicely organized in six distinct segments.

Kiritsugu and Shadow -currently holding the gem he calls a Chaos Emerald, watching the light go through it -sat at one side, while Irisviel and Saber -still staring at him with determination in her eyes - sat at the other.

"Sir," said Maiya. "It's good to see you in good health. I was worried your rustiness would get in the way."

He raised an eyebrow. With any other person, he wouldn't be able to tell, but with Maiya, Kiritsugu knew that this was the closest idea she had for a joke.

"I didn't leave you alone to learn about comedy," said the mercenary dryly. "I was informed that the Overseer altered the rules of the conflict. We are to set our sights against the group of Caster, Berserker of Inaba, and their Master. Correct?"

Maiya nodded.

"They were deemed liabilities for the secrecy of the War, sir. That was the official explanation."

Kiritsugu raised an eyebrow. He remembered what Irisviel said about her feelings on the matter.

"I see," said the mercenary. "What do we know? And, on that matter, what do we have about the other teams?"

Saber frowned at that while the Lancer of the ARK looked at his Master, curious.

Maiya continued.

"As stated by Risei Kotomine, the Master is the serial killer that is rampaging through the streets. We met with both of his Servants before. Berserker of Inaba, true name Tohru Adachi, managed to take the place of the man that the Fujimura group designed to ride the limousine that Saber and Lady Irisviel used to leave the airport, and then appeared in the port with a mysterious guardian entity that has power over the winds, lightning, and mysterious magic that managed capable of bypassing Saber's natural resistance."

The knight instinctively touched her arm, still reeling from that spell.

"That magic seemed to have taken its toll, however," added Shadow. "I don't think he can spam that, but the entity is no slouch in the physical department. If I were to guess, the user himself is pretty weak in close combat."

"And he has some kind of ability to hide his presence as a Servant," said Irisviel. "We were close for fifteen minutes and never felt anything."

"...not anything," said Saber. "When I was eye to eye, my Instinct blared that something was off, but I couldn't discern what it was at the time. I don't think it's a reliable way to track him, though," she lamented. "At best, I can catch him if he tries to disguise himself again."

Kiritsugu frowned. It didn't sit well how close that man got to them.

"What about the Caster? Gilles de Rais?"

His assistant shook her head.

"Nothing concrete. Many of the magical activities that Gilles de Rais practiced were, in truth, the work of the magus François Prelati, to the point that his summoning in the Caster class is unexpected. That said, it's safe to say that he's versed in some of the arts that Prelati was known for -mainly, the summoning of demons."

"Lovely," replied the hedgehog sarcastically. "What kind of demons are we talking about?"

The woman shrugged.

"There is no register. That's all I could find about the subject. And we don't know where his base is currently."

Saber lifted from her chair.

"I suppose the curse of action next is obvious, no?" asked the knight. "Shadow and I have a significant advantage against those two. If we start our search soon, we may catch them before the other teams and seize the Command Spells."

Kiritsugu, however, shook his head.

"It's not up to you to make the call. Before making any decisions, I wish to hear what we have about the other teams."

He stared at Artoria, who reluctantly sat down. Irisviel looked between Master and Servant, worry growing by the minute.

Shadow grunted slightly. The tension was rising.

"Continue," replied the Magus Killer.

His assistant obliged.

"I will attempt to sum up what we know," she said, pointing at pictures of Waver Velvet, Iskandar, and Caster of Hogwarts. "Waver Velvet is…was a student in the Clock Tower. By unknown means, he summoned Alexander the Great, King of Conquerors and Rider class, and the second Caster, first name Albus. Alexander -also called Iskandar -has a chariot dragged by Phantasmal Beasts and has the property of releasing magical lightning. It's unclear if it's a power of the chariot itself or from the bulls. Meanwhile, Albus showed prowess in an unknown yet versatile magecraft style. Again, no clue on their position, but we can suppose that, as they have a Caster, it will be hard to track their base."

Next, she pointed to images of Lord El-Melloi, Diarmuid, and Rider of Tokyo-2. "The Master that sent the challenge yesterday is Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, lord of the Mineralogy Department in the Clock Tower and a powerful magus with the Brand rank."

Kiritsugu grimaced. Of the magi of the Fourth Holy Grail War, Kayneth El-Melloi was doubtlessly the second most dangerous for him, all because of his magical raw prowess, standing above Tokiomi Tohsaka and his many terrain advantages and behind the wild card that was Kirei Kotomine.

"So he's a big shot?" asked Lancer of the ARK. "He seemed rather idiotic last night for someone with so much prestige."

Maiya shrugged.

"Power does not equal wisdom. For all his strength, I doubt that El-Melloi prepared with the right mindset to fight a war."

Shadow scoffed.

"So he's a fool then."

Again, the woman shrugged.

"You are entitled to have your opinions, but he's likely to be a significant obstacle on the way forward."

After a moment, the hedgehog nodded in agreement.

"Proceed."

And so she did.

"We know that the other Lancer's identity is that of Diarmuid Ua Duibne, or Diarmuid of the Love Spot, an Irish warrior famed by the titular Love Spot that snared the hearts of many."

"I could feel it," said Irisviel, shuddering. "The type of thoughts that Spot brought to mind were inappropriate for a married woman."

After a moment, Maiya nodded too.

"I had to focus on other things to avoid the spell. Use that trick next time if we are to meet face to face. Otherwise, it's possible to avoid the effects with extraordinary mental fortitude, or," the mercenary stared at Artoria. "Elevated Magic Resistance. Outside of that, his speed is nothing to scoff at, and his two spears have troublesome properties to null magic and inflict unhealable wounds, respectively."

The knight, once again, touched her wound, now covered with a bandage to stank the blood flow.

"His partner, the second Rider, has a type of massive robot as its steed. It seems she can use it many times in a row, meaning that the energy waste is lower than expected for a Noble Phantasm of that size, but has a limit that forces her to switch it to ground fights from time to time, where she can summon parts of the machine to do the fighting."

"Hm…" hummed Irisviel. "A Phantasm of that size should be exhausting to sustain, but Lord El-Melloi seemed fine when we saw him. Anything on that?"

The other woman shook her head.

"Nothing precise. We know the man brought an array of Mystic Codes to his base in the Hyatt Hotel, but we need further investigation before jumping to conclusions. He also brought his wife, Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, with him, which makes her a...figure of interest."

'A figure of interest?' repeated Saber. 'Did she want to say something else? She paused for a second.'

Maiya pointed at the part of Kariya Matou, Archer of Musutafu and Berserker -whose figure still brought chills down the spine of the King of Knights. Just who was he?

"Kariya Matou was an unexpected addition to the Master line-up. He has a known enmity with the clan's patriarch, Zouken Matou, but then he returned to Fuyuki a year ago and practically begged to be reintroduced into the ways of the family. The image I point to is of him appearing in a market in Shinto, going to an ATM to take all the money in his account, a day ago."

The participants look attentively at the picture of the man that, even in the image, seemed barely able to walk.

"What kind of magecraft does this to the body?" wondered Shadow. "He seems deader than alive."

"...I've seen worse," said Kiritsugu. "At least it's restrained only to himself. I suppose that, as he's inexperienced, this is an attempt to compensate for that. However, his body must be frail from the punishment. And then there are his Servants…"

Maiya took that as a sign to continue.

"He commands over the Berserker of this world, a mad yet skilled warrior that seems to turn anything he touches into a Noble Phantasm, and the Archer of Musutafu, whose flames managed to damage his fellow Knight class. That is if it matters in this circumstance. Considering that he's from another world, his fire may not register as magic."

Saber, however, shook her head.

"If it wasn't magical, I'm sure the golden Archer would have died. Each weapon he summoned was in the level of a Noble Phantasm, and that man burned through it as if it was common metal."

Shadow nodded.

"I'm inclined to agree. That man is powerful and smart, a dangerous combination. He waited for the moment when everyone would have its guard down to attack, and no one noticed until it happened. I still do not know how he hid from everyone's sight."

"I suppose it was height."

The Servants looked at their Master.

"You couldn't see it from your position, but we managed to see Archer of Musutafu dropping from the sky before releasing the flames on the golden Archer. It was not only an attack but a way to break his fall. I suppose he used his flames to fly to a high altitude and fell from the sky as a military para shooter would do in a HALO jump. In the chaos of the fight, you wouldn't have focused on that approaching presence until too late or would dismiss it as something minor."

"...what is a HALO jump?" asked Artoria, bopping her head.

"High-altitude, low opening," explained her companion. "A type of movement to avoid radar detection."

Kiritsugu raised an eyebrow, curious. He didn't expect such a thorough explanation by part of the Servant of the Spear. 'Maybe a side-effect from Natural-Born Fighter? It seems the most likely explanation, as such knowledge can be useful in fights.'

"Hm, so he's pretty smart…" said Irisviel. "Although I am curious about the clothes he wears. It reminds me of some of the comic books that Kiritsugu brought from time to time from the places he went to. I liked a lot of the duck that was a superhero!"

"...at this point, I don't doubt we could have to face a duck in a fight," said Saber, looking at her partner. "But yes, although his clothes had a moderate defense, they also were flashy. Maybe his previous occupation required certain…" she paused, searching for the word. "...recognition?"

"Hm…It is a theory that makes sense," said Maiya. "But, again, I fear there's no way to be sure with those Servants. The best we can do is to unveil the identities of the ones from our world."

'Again with the chill in the spine,' thought Artoria. 'Why do I dislike this? It makes perfect sense, and yet…I feel I won't like what I find.'

"Now, these four forces in and of themselves have their strengths and weaknesses," said Maiya. "But the biggest threat for us now is this group."

She pointed at where the photos of all members -bar the Assassin of Tohsaka - were laid upon: Tokiomi, Kirei, Saber of Amestris, Archer, and the supposedly dead Assassin.

"The faction of Tohsaka," grunted Kiritsugu.

"Hm…" frowned Artoria. "If I'm not mistaken, from what I heard from your assistant, the Assassin of this world had been taken out, and his Master eliminated from the War and sent to the Church. Why is he still there?"

In response, the assistant picked something from her pocket, showing it to the others in the room.

The figures were remarkably different, but the skull mask left no doubt that the man that got killed and the woman standing in that metallic structure were related.

"I see…" said the king. "A ploy to trick the other Masters," her eyes widened. "That would mean-"

"That this man has contact inside the neutral ground of the Church," said Maiya. "Unnecessary, for the leader of this faction, Tokiomi Tohsaka, is known friend of Risei Kotomine, Overseer and father of Tokiomi's apprentice, Kirei," she pointed at the picture of a man holding into a stumped arm. "The Master that, supposedly, was removed from this conflict."

Kiritsugu felt his stomach do a flip at that moment. It was always like this when they talked about that man.

He never felt that before. In his years as a Magus Killer, Kiritsugh had to face some of the most dangerous and most insane sorcerers on the planet, and yet, none of them put fear in his heart like Kirei Kotomine, a man that, by all means, made no sense for him. All the mercenary had for insight was his instincts.

And they told him that the former Executor was one of the few men with a realistic chance of taking him down.

"I would say it should be hard to fake slashing an arm from its owner," said Irisviel. "Is this one of the abilities of their Servants?"

In an attempt to distance himself from the previous line of thought, Kiritsugu answered:

"It's what we think. Further analysis of a video from our familiars shows that the flower petals of a tree that doesn't bloom at this time of the year went out of Kirei's sleeve at the moment of the blow. It's probably the power of the other Assassin because Kotomine's Assassin can summon body doubles. All we know of that second one is that it should be one of the eighteen techniques named Zabaniya that the Old Men in the Mountain used, but nothing else. A worthless knowledge, considering that all of these moves are secret."

"Still," said Shadow. "Some knowledge is better than no knowledge. At least we know to be careful about what we do next. What about the other Servants?"

Maiya pointed at the picture of Kirei.

"As I said, the current theory is that the Assassin that Tohsaka summoned has an ability related to flowers. Maybe it's a type of magecraft we are unaware of, or it could be something else, but it did make a third arm for Kotomine. So it could be similar to the other Assassin's Phantasm. As for the other two…"

She pointed at the images of Saber of Amestris and Archer.

"We couldn't see much of the abilities of the other Saber, but he seems skillful, but with an exploitable weakness in his eyepatch. It shouldn't be too troublesome at first glance. Archer, on the other hand…"

She went silent, as no other words needed to be said. With an ego the size of a mountain and the firepower to match the bravado, the golden hero was the Servant to be wary.

"Hm, I suppose this was a productive meeting," said Saber. "But I still question the need for this arrangement. Our target is rather obvious. Not only are Caster and Berserker of Inaba dangerous, but the reward for our success is also game-changing."

Kiritsugu nodded.

"I recognize those points. But I say we must tread carefully in these circumstances."

He pointed at the picture of the Church.

"As Maiya said, Risei is in cahoots with Tokiomi Tohsaka. On paper, their odds of acquiring the reward are the biggest amongst all the Masters, with three, possibly four, Servants serving as their eyes and having the land advantage. Thus, this opens two clear options in my eyes."

He raised a finger.

"Number one. We use your similarity to Jeanne D'Arc to attract Gilles to us."

Artoria scowled.

"You can't be serious in using such a cowardly tactic. I refuse. My code does not allow me to play with the mind of a man clearly in a poor mental state."

"Is this pity that I hear in your voice?" asked the Lancer of the ARK. "A man like that does not seem deserving of such mercy."

Saber crossed her arms.

"It's not a question of mercy. It's a matter of principle, and that man, for all his evil, was once a noble hero. If you want a more pragmatic reason, then it's because Gilles de Rais set his eyes on another target - Diarmuid. He won't go after me until he's finished. Even if that was not the case, I refuse to collaborate in this scheme."

Kiritsugu closed his eyes.

"In this case, there is option two," he lifted the finger. "Do nothing."

The knight lifted from her seat, beating the hands on the desk.

"Excuse me?!"

The mercenary didn't flinch.

"It's a simple logic exercise. The Tohsaka faction has the game rigged in their favor: thus, their odds of getting the target are significantly bigger than ours. And then you consider the other groups, which are all deadset in obtaining the Seals for their reasons, as they are valuable, indeed," he paused. "But an additional Seal means nothing if the user is dead."

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"What do you have in mind?"

"It's simple," said the mercenary. "To obtain the Command Seals, the winning Master has to present himself to the Overseer in the Church. If we cut them right when they come to claim their prize…"

The frown of Saber increased.

"So? Your proposal is for us to stay still in this castle when mad killers roam the streets?"

"We would watch," said Kiritsugu. "We would learn the secrets of other Masters. Their magic, possible hideouts, and possible weaknesses. We would have an outstanding tactical advantage when all settled down."

"You avoid my question," protested Artoria, her voice slowly increasing. "In the wake of a fearsome evildoer, you say for us to stay away and do nothing?!"

"It's not our problem," said Kiritsugu, gritting his teeth. "The other Masters have everything under control. We merely sacrifice one advantage for another. Simple as that."

Saber glared at the man.

"I can't believe it. So your suggestions are either to be a coward and exploit the mentality of a broken man or to sit and do nothing? All while they slaughter man and woman alike?!"

At this point, the king was almost screaming, her voice brimming with anger.

"So what is your suggestion, Saber?" asked Kiritsugu.

"To beat them at their own game," said the Servant of the Sword. "To slay those men and to conquer the prize before anyone else."

"Denied," retorted the mercenary. "The odds are too stacked against us."

"Are they zero?"

They turned to Shadow, who had his arms crossed.

"Shadow?" asked Irisviel, confused. "What do you mean by that?"

The hedgehog shrugged.

"Exactly what I meant. Are the odds of success in Saber's plan zero? Answer."

Kiritsugu blinked. He crossed his arms, humming.

"I wouldn't say they are zero. Even taking out Artoria's apparent similarity to Jeanne D'Arc, Gilles de Rais also took an interest in you. And we have the advantage of knowing their current target."

"Lancer," said Maiya. "Currently, the base of El-Melloi is atop the Hyatt Hotel, a place reinforced with all kinds of magical defenses that no magus would dare to strike because of the risk of revealing magecraft to normal eyes. But Caster clearly does not care for such things…"

"I see," said Saber. "So, if we know where they will attack, we only need to wait for the when. It still bothers me to let Caster go unchecked, but…"

She turned to her Master.

"So? Are these conditions satisfactory for you?"

Kiritsugu grits his teeth.

"One attempt. If it does not work, we default to one of the two other plans. And this is the most lenient I will be to follow your whims."

Shadow raised his eyebrow but didn't say anything.

Saber also went silent for a bit before answering:

"...I accept these conditions," said the knight. "And will make the most out of it. Is there anything else to talk about, Hisau?"

The mercenary shook her head.

"We have a set goal then," concluded Saber. "If so, I will be outside. The modern era vehicles interest me quite a bit."

Irisviel looked weirdly at the knight as she left the room.

"What is wrong, Iri?" asked Kiritsugu. "You seemed confused by something."

The homunculus blinked.

"Oh, it's nothing really, Kiritsugu. It's just that last commentary that Saber did. She had time to watch our cars, even insisting on parking your car close to mine. I only thought she had more than enough time to watch them."

'Parking our cars close to one another?'

He saw Maiya with the corner of his eye, a small expression of surprise on her face. The mercenary hadn't known about that.

Kiritsugu inwardly cursed, realizing the knight's plan.

He and Maiya needed to return to the city to scout the environment. They were kilometers away from the city, meaning the only way to reach there was by road.

And Artoria just said she would watch the two vehicles indefinitely -all while having already seen them and put them together.

She would have her talk. One way or the other.

Endeavor knew the worst that the world had to offer.

The scum. The lowlifes. The criminals that crawled in the dark for their nefarious purposes. 

Those were familiar sights for a veteran hero like him.

And still, it never got easier.

"Is the trail still fresh?"

'I am almost sure that it is. The bugs felt two signatures here ten minutes ago before they left.'

The Flame Hero sighed: so close, yet so far. Nothing to do about that, however: in a Quirkless world, a man using fire to fly would give way too much attention, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

"No sign of cops? Helpers from the Church?"

'None of them,' said Kariya. 'The trail is as fresh as you can get.'

The Archer let out a sigh. Yes, crime scenes never got easier to face. It only introduced more and more variety depending on the creativity of the perpetrators and the reasoning for each crime.

Creativity? Pretty fucking high if the killing spree from the last day was any indication.

Reasoning? None at first, which made the Servant serial killers even more dangerous and unpredictable.

It almost made him miss Nomus. At least most of them were too stupid to have malicious thoughts.

"I'm going in," said the Archer of Musutafu. "Keep your eyes open."

He moved to open the door but stopped himself. Not only was it likely locked, but it could interfere with the investigation of other groups -like the police. Even if the Church would clean any signs of magic in the area, there was still the off-chance of police figuring out something about the Master, which could give them clues.

Thankfully, his summoning as a Servant gave a useful trick to Endeavor.

Feeling his physical form disappear, the spirit went through the wall and rematerialized.

'Quite convenient, indeed,' thought the hero. 'It's almost like a second quirk without any drawbacks.'

It was a shame that the power was mostly useless in a fight, but Enji thought it was fine. It was still a handy tool.

'Now, time to start the investigation,' thought the Servant of the Bow. 'Kariya, do you have any other details about the place?'

He could feel the displeasure in the voice of the Master.

'Sorry. My bug only saw the last moments of the kidnapping. It detected a total of seven signatures in the place.'

'Seven, huh?'

He looked around the place. The Archer was inside a living room, but a messy one. The tables were on the ground, a pot of flowers having been broken during the fall. A couch was flipped over, covered in some icky substances. The only thing that wasn't a total mess was the shelf with a television, but even that was covered in the same mysterious liquid.

The Servant crouched to observe the substance. Unfortunately, he didn't have the support of a forensic crew to analyze what it was, so what his eyes saw would have to do.

"Doesn't seem acid, at first glance…" he mumbled, carefully putting one of his fingers below where the liquid dripped. Nothing. "Hm…"

Cautiously, he put some of the substance on the tip of his tongue, only to nearly spit it.

'What the hell!' said Kariya. 'Did you just poison yourself?!'

'I did not do such a thing,' said the hero. 'I knew that the criminal group likes to play with their victims, so I supposed that it was a somewhat harmless substance -at worse, I would have taken a paralytic venom, which is unlikely given the signs of struggle. It turns out that it's salty -seawater, I think.'

'Seawater…' said Kariya. 'This home is closer to the river than the ocean. Is this something that the Servants did or their Master?'

'A good question as any,' reflected Endeavor. Then, something caught his eye, close to one of the fallen tables, looking like a destroyed frame. Five people were in the image - a boy and a girl, their mother and father, and an older man -he supposed it was a grandfather.

"Five people in the house…" said Endeavor. "It means the invaders were the Master and one of his Servants. If they even have the slightest common sense, it's logical to put one to watch their Territory while the other walks with the Master."

'They could be crazy,' pointed out his Master. 

"Always assume that your opponent is as competent as you are at first," retorted the Archer. "That way, you will never be surprised and get around issues."

Seeing nothing interesting, the hero left the living room, going into a corridor. At the end of it, there was a stair.

'Still early in the morning,' he thought. 'That means that some of their targets would still be in bed when they attacked.'

'You seem to have done this before,' said Kariya. 'I thought you were a superhero or something like that.'

'A hero,' corrected the Servant as he went through the corridor. 'In a world where most people have superpowers, the super part loses some meaning. You would be hard-pressed to find even a single rescue worker that didn't have some Quirks that helped them in their jobs. It's the opposite of how things are in this world: only 20% of people were Quirkless back in my home.'

He noticed Kariya holding his breath. The number of magi in the world barely came into the tens of thousands, and Archer of Musutafu came from a world where practically everyone had something akin to that?

Even for someone that barely qualified as a magus, it was an insane thing to hear.

'It's…wild,' said the renegade Matou. 'Does everyone launch flames like you, or is it a you thing?'

'Hm, a weird way to put it, but it's not exactly a 'me thing'. What a Quirk turns out to be depends on the parental DNA. Sometimes you inherit something that your parents had, but most of the time, it turns out to be a completely new thing. Two of my elder sons, Natsuo and Fuyumi, inherited their mother's Quirk, Frost, which allows them to produce ice. Meanwhile, my newer son, Shoto, has Half-Cold Half-Hot, giving the properties of Frost and Hellflame.'

'I see…it sounds quite handy,' commented Kariya. 'You said you worry about overheating, but the ice counteracts that. It sounds like a pretty potent combination!'

'...yeah,' said Enji. 

It was what he had in mind before asking the hand of Rei to her family.

He reached the second floor. Again, there was the liquid that he supposed was seawater. With a closer look, Endeavor noticed how circular they once were -the liquid dripped a bit in the wall, but it was still vaguely circular.

"Hm…what do you think could have done this?" asked Endeavor. "In your opinion as a magus."

'...I think maybe a summoning?' said Kariya. 'I'm not very knowledgeable about these things, but it seems it could be that. Maybe Caster or Berserker of Inaba can summon sea creatures? Or something like that.'

The hero approached the circle again.

"Hm…so I should think of this like an Emitter or…no, the angle is too awkward to be like a Transformation type, and it would have more signs of destruction. Let's treat it like an Emitter."

It probably wasn't the most apt description for whatever technique they were using, but, from what he knew from Kariya, most magecraft had similarities to Emitter quirks -with the on-and-off Transformation and Mutant-esque types.

"Hm…so one of them can summon some creature related to the sea? But why?"

Endeavor decided to move onward to the likely crime scenes -the bedrooms. There were three of them -one for the parents, one for the children, and one for the grandfather.

By far, the messiest was the latter one. There were marks of the summoning coming from all places, and the left side of the bed was destroyed. Part of the roof had some blood in it, now already dry.

'It's obvious that the grandfather had reacted,' said Kariya. 'I mean, no need to be a detective for that.'

Endeavor nodded. He glanced again at the blood.

"You saw that happen around ten minutes ago, and the dry blood says the assault began at least twenty minutes ago."

'How can you tell?'

"It's the amount of time that blood takes to dry."

The next room was the parent's room -which, much to the surprise of the two, was untarnished -albeit the blankets were messy. The sludge from the other room was also not there.

"Hm…not too unexpected," said Enji. "There were marks of struggle in the living room. I suppose the parents were on the first floor watching television when the group got the jump on them, leading to a futile effort to fight the invaders."

'How can you tell that?'

'Experience and lots of logic,' said Endeavor. 'I am not a detective, but you usually are screwed as a hero if you don't have some intuition.'

Finally, he went to the children's room. It was split, in a way. One of the beds -a pink one with the image of rabbits was nice and comfy, but the other -blue with pictures of some sentai hero -was in disarray.

"Hm, this is gonna need some thought…" said the Archer.

It was indeed quite the conundrum. If the two beds were messy, it would be easy to say what happened. But with only one, it lifted a question.

What happened? Did one of the kids leave their bed before the attack? If so, where they went?

'Maybe…the bathroom?' suggested Kariya. 'That's one of the first places you normally go when you wake up, right?'

Enji nodded. It was a solid take.

And it turned out to be accurate, as the hero found more seawater in the door. Opening, the bathroom seemed untouched outside the salty liquid dripping from the walls.

"I see," said Enji. "I suppose we have enough for a full picture."

'We do?' replied Kariya.

The hero shrugged.

"At least to make conjectures over what happened here."

He pointed his finger downward.

"The chaos in the living room sounded like it would make a lot of noise. I say that it was the last in the line of events, with the duo -which I suppose are the serial killer Master and Caster, to allow the silent entrance in this home -went to the second floor."

He looked at the bathroom and then at the child's room. 

"One of the children - I suppose the girl, considering the colors and picture below. She woke up and decided to go to the bathroom a few minutes earlier. So, rather than finding two sleeping kids, they found one very awake boy, who naturally was confused by who the invaders were. I suppose this led to the grandfather's awakening. I say that the struggle in the two rooms happened simultaneously and that Caster summoned entities to contain both of them, going down one or two minutes later to deal with the parents, who likely heard the noises on the upper floor."

The hero looked pitifully at the bathroom.

"Poor girl…she must have been scared and did something that led Caster or the Master to figure out her presence. So paralyzed by fear, there was too little struggle."

'A-all of this with such few things?!' asked Kariya.

"As I said, they are suppositions. Maybe I am wrong about which kid went to the bathroom, and the other is a messy sleeper. Or if the parents ever noticed the chaos before being struck down. A correct insight could give clues on their modus operandi, however. That said, I'm fairly sure they went for the children first. And, if my memory does not fail, the one common trait between all the disappeared families is that they had at least one child, correct?"

'It's what it is in the newspaper, yes. Dammit, those things are getting so expensive nowadays…' mumbled Kariya. 'But there's still an important question to answer. From where they came?'

Enji frowned.

"Hm. The front door seemed to be locked. So it's likely Caster broke in from behind. Let's get going."

He did so. As suspected, the door led to a small backyard with a few dead plants and a sleeping dog.

"Good to know that they value the life of animals," said the Archer sarcastically. "That will surely shave a year or two from that freak's life sentence."

He approached the animal. He seemed to have fallen asleep while running if the odd position of the legs was a sign.

'How careless,' said Kariya. 'These guys seem to be making things on the go.'

"It seems to be," said Enji. "Which makes them even more dangerous. You never know what they have in mind until they make a move. Now, I doubt they jumped over the fence to get here. So, how did they…?"

"The sewers, of course."

Instinctively, the Archer launched a fiery projectile at his target, who bobbed the head slightly to the side, avoiding the move by the skin of their teeth. It collided with a brick wall, making a small hole in it.

"Eesh," said Assassin of Ohara. "No need for such aggressive gestures. Don't you know we are in a truce?"

Robin didn't show it, but she was a bit startled by the attack. And by the situation itself.

She wasn't expecting company. At all.

On Tokiomi's order, the Assassin of Ohara was to investigate the locations that the Overseer indicated as crime scenes from the acts of Gilles de Rais. As no one else could have that information, the pirate expected to be alone.

So it was surprising seeing the fiery Archer that angered Gilgamesh in the case.

'Hmph,' had said Tokiomi. 'Retreat. We can't risk giving our game away.'

However, if Robin was something, it was someone willing to take some risks. Thus, with a bit of positioning, she managed to put her ears in places close enough to hear the deductions of the enemy Servant -along with seeing some other things.

When he left the house, she decided it would be time to exchange some notes.

"You know we can talk silently with our Masters, right?"

The man silently glared at the woman -currently wearing a cowboy hat to slightly obscure her face. And because she liked that particular type of hat. Robin learned to appreciate the virtue of constant shade in her time in Alabasta.

"Hmph," said Endeavor. "I didn't know I would have a companion in this crime scene other than the voices in my head."

And speaking of them…

'A Servant from Tohsaka…' growled Kariya. 'And we can't do anything to her.'

Even ignoring the truce, they were in plain daylight. Endeavor had no doubt about being able to overwhelm the Servant of the Shadows, but his powers were too flashy to go unnoticed, and the last thing the Archer wanted was for his team to have a bounty on their heads.

Robin let out a wry smile. Just as she planned. And the best part was that there wouldn't be any need to reveal her powers.

She raised her hands.

"At ease," said the Servant. "We are not enemies today…nor allies. That said, the Overseer won't take kindly to aggressive acts against groups other than the Serial Killer faction. So, wouldn't it be better to cooperate rather than be grumpy around each other?"

'Tell her to shove that offer up her ass,' snarled the man. 'I don't want to have anything with that-'

'Wait,' said Endeavor. 'Don't let anger cloud your actions, Master. She said something that could be relevant to the case. Sometimes, even heroes had to work with shady individuals to get information.'

"An equivalent exchange," said the hero. "You tell me about the sewers, and I tell you about what I deducted inside the house."

'Enji!' protested Kariya.

'Trust me, Master,' said the Servant. 'It's not my first talk with individuals like her.'

Robin tipped her hat slightly.

"Hm. Yes, it sounds like a fair deal. The truth is, I went around some of the more recent crime scenes," well, Hassan did go to those scenes. But tomato, tomato. "And I noticed an interesting pattern."

She pointed to beyond the wall that Endeavor burnt.

"If you look down, you'll see a manhole that's partially open."

It was as she said. The metallic cover was partially open.

"Hm. Those things are pretty heavy," commented Endeavor. "The user would need to have augmented strength…but for a Servant, it would be easy to move it."

The Assassin clapped her hands.

"Bravo, bravo!" said the pirate. "All the targeted houses were close to these passages, making me think they are using the sewers to move around and get to their targets. A rather simple yet efficient strategy. Now…" Her smile widened a bit. "What do you have for me, mister detective?"

'Give her false information,' said the Master of the Archer, grumpy. 'I don't want to give any advantage to-'

'Master,' said Endeavor. 'While I don't have any issues doing as you order, I don't think she lies. Besides, I feel there is no harm in telling what I figured out. I will handle this.'

Kariya scoffed but complied. So far, the advice from Servant has been spot-on.

"Hm…" hummed Enji, organizing the ideas. "If you saw other crime scenes, you won't find much that will catch your eye. That said, I can tell that this was a sloppy job."

Her eyebrow widened.

"Oh? What makes you so certain of that?"

He snapped his fingers.

"First. The Master -the serial killer -struck at night before the start of the War. My Master detected the signals of Servants around half an hour ago. As you can see, it's already ten o'clock. Way past nighttime. Something made them go out in desperate need of prey."

Then Endeavor pointed at the house.

"They were hoping to get the inhabitants of this lair still asleep. No such luck: the mother and the father were watching television, and the children were awake after one of them-a girl -went to the bathroom. So, when Caster and his Master entered the room, the boy started to make a ruckus that woke the grandfather next door. What happens next is that the Caster uses his magic to force silence. It is a wild thing that harms its victims to such an extent that it calls the parent's attention -which Caster swiftly took care of."

He lowered his voice. "The girl hid in the bathroom, hearing the noises and attempting to hide, terrified. So much that she barely resisted being taken away. The deed done, they rushedly left the house into the sewers, as you said."

Even the usually unflappable Robin couldn't help but let out a scowl.

"I met some messed-up people in my home," she said. "But even some of them had their codes. This Caster is nothing but a monster at the end of the day."

"Not a monster," retorted Endeavor. "A criminal. I met both types in my career, and I can tell that this is the work of a criminal. A messed-up criminal, but one that still is not a monster."

Then again, it was tough to surpass that mark in Archer's eyes, considering that the lowest in that imaginary scale was the Nomus, and the highest was All for One.

"If he went by the sewer…" Archer scratched his chin. "Yes, I don't think we have hope of tracking him."

By experience, the man knew of the labyrinthic nature of sewers, and so far, Kariya had not detected any magical sign, hidden by someone.

'Of all things for Caster to be good at,' lamented the Master.

'I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about it,' said Endeavor. 'Patience. We still got useful information from this trade.'

From afar, the noise of police sirens closed in.

"Hm, the Church is taking their sweet time coming here," said Assassin of Ohara. "Alas, it seems our time together, although brief, was quite productive." She moved to leave but hesitated. "Although, I do have another question…"

'Another question?' thought Endeavor. 

"I'm hearing. Be aware that I'm not obliged to answer you or be honest."

"As to be expected," said Robin. "Well then, here it goes: what makes a man like Kariya Matou so willing to throw away his life?"

'!' '!'

The question caught both Master and Servant off-guard.

"What makes you ask that?!" asked the Archer, letting a bit of anger escape his voice.

The woman, once more, raised her hands.

"My fault is that I am curious, you see," said the woman. "The magi culture fascinates me, and your friend is an enormous anomaly from what I saw. Ergo, your insight should be useful in learning more. Don't worry about lies: I can easily tell falsehood from truth."

'...I can also see through lies, you crazy woman.'

Curious, she certainly was. But Endeavor felt there was more to her than a mere wish to understand a magus mentality.

'So? What is your command, Master?'

Kariya didn't answer for a good ten seconds before saying:

'Answer with these words…'

And so he did.

"Tokiomi Tohsaka knows exactly why Kariya Matou fights," said Archer. "My Master cannot forgive his actions in this life."

"...I see," said Robin. "So it all comes down to a little Sakura blossom, huh?"

'Wait, she knows about Sakura?' replied Kariya, stunned. 'How-'

Before any could ask a question, the woman started to disappear.

"I thank you for your collaboration, mister detective," said the tanned woman. "Farewell."

And then the woman faded away, leaving the blazing Archer seeing a wall.

'...what was that about?' asked Kariya. 'Why was she interested in the subject?'

"...I don't know," admitted Endeavor. "But I feel she won't interfere with our search."

The sirens got louder.

"Time to go. The last thing I want is to become a known criminal."

Enji lept to the skies, dissolving in blazes. 

When the unconscious dog woke up a few minutes later, he wondered why the smell of ashes was in the air and who were all those weird people in his house.

Kiritsugu would rather be in a shootout than facing Saber.

And he hated straight combat.

Master and Servant watched each other from their positions - Saber standing in the middle of the single two cars in a ray of 10 kilometers, and Kiritsugu from the top of the castle, his muscles so tensed that they nearly hurt.

"This is ridiculous."

And, of course, there was Lancer of the ARK, watching the scene with an indescribable amount of annoyance. Irisviel was also there, with the only person in the group absent being Maiya -currently taking a shower, as the opportunities to do so would be limited in the next few days. Besides, she had faith that her boss would figure things out.

Thus far, that trust had been misplaced.

Once again, the man threw another cigar -the fourth already -to the ground and put the fifth in the mouth.

"You will end with bad lungs at this rhythm, Kiritsugu," said Irisviel worried. "Did you smoke like that before meeting me?"

'Only when nervous,' he thought. When Natalia first let him smoke, he was twelve. At the time, the boy that would become a machine was but a newbie in the nitty-gritty of the world of magical assassination, and the half-succubus, in an attempt to make him relax on a mission, let him have some of her cigarettes and from there, he only stopped once he got closer to Irisviel.

The last time he smoked that much in a sitting was after a particularly tough job in Istanbul that ended with him breaking both legs plus three ribs and Maiya barely living after being stabbed in the back.

Kiritsugu assured his customer that he would never work for him again after that.

The Magus Killer moved to pick another cigarette before Shadow, annoyed, picked the paper tube and threw it away -and, for good measure, obliterated it with a Chaos Spear.

"Enough," said the Servant, annoyed. "I have entertained your petty tantrum for too long."

"My tantrum?" said Kiritsugu, annoyed. "It's not me that is actively hindering our war efforts."

"She's not doing that…yet," said Shadow. "As long as your assistant is still preparing herself to leave, Artoria is not hurting us. Later we will see, but I note that she does not seem to be aggressively blocking the way."

Indeed, that was the case. If anything, the knight seemed lax when not staring at her Master.

"These are mere formalities," said the mercenary grumpily. "Saber will not let me leave until I do what she wants."

"So why not just send Maiya, then?" asked Irisviel. "I don't think Artoria would stop her."

The mercenary gave some thought before shaking his head.

"Maybe. But four eyes are better than two. And Maiya's specialty is as a support force. With me close, we have the best opportunities to slay distracted Masters. Sending familiars from here is also a big no for similar reasons. So, my best option is to wait."

"To wait," repeated the Lancer of the ARK. "Wait for what? For her to leave?"

"You are correct," said the mercenary. "Saber is fighting against her wish to stop the Serial Killer alliance from continuing their slaughter. So, seeing that we are wasting time, she will eventually let me take the car unchallenged."

"...there are so many ways this plan can fail that it's not even funny," said Shadow. "If you are so gungho in making her leave, why not use a Command Seal?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" snarled the Magus Killer. "I won't waste a Seal on something like that. And, with her massive Magic Resistance, we will need two to make the order stick. It's simply not worth it."

The hedgehog put his gloved hands in the face. Irisviel looked worried at the Lancer.

"Shadow? Are you alright?"

"How do I look for you?" he groaned. "If there is something I hate more in the world, it is foolish people. And both of them are being Foolish, with a capital F."

The face of the Master wrinkled, but he didn't dignify it with an answer, instead popping another cigar.

Irisviel sighed. She knew how headstrong Kiritsugu could be with certain things, but that was a whole new world for her.

What could she even say? That Saber would agree to his methods without issue?

No. Not only Irisviel herself wasn't familiar with how her husband worked, but she also felt he wouldn't believe that at all.

On the other hand, the homunculus was savvy enough to know that this couldn't stand for much time. And, considering how Shadow was at a loss, it was up to her to change things.

"Kiritsugu. You can't avoid Saber for the remainder of the War. It sounds impossible and unviable!"

He glanced at his wife.

"Because it is. I'm only attempting to minimize significant interactions, and I can tell that this will make or break our group. And I'm inclined to say that it will break."

"You can't know," insisted the homunculus. "Maybe you two have more in common than it looks like."

"An assassin and a knight having common traits?" snarled Kiritsugu. "You would have better luck finding a needle in a barn."

"You want to protect something," pressed the homunculus. "Maybe you can start from there?"

"Ah yes," said the man. "She protects by playing pure and good knight and me by sacrificing a life for a thousand. I'm sorry, Iri, but it just won't work. It's impossible."

"Like our relationship was impossible? Or the fact that I learned how to think by myself?"

The man shut his mouth. The woman decided to press forward.

"You will never know if you don't try, Kiritsugu," said Irisviel. "Admit it. Part of you knew that this would come sooner or earlier. The relationship between a Master and a Servant is a two-way street, and you can't expect to only receive without giving any trust."

At this point, Shadow said:

"She's right. Trust is important, regardless of how you stand with a companion."

The mercenary raised an eyebrow.

"Personal experience? You pass me the air of a loner."

"And the same applies to you," replied the hedgehog. "If it wasn't by the rules of the War, I'm sure you would have attempted to eliminate all the Servants by yourself. I would rather do some things by myself, for instance. But we can't. Sometimes, other people possess essential skills that are fundamental for success. Just as we need you, Master, the opposite is also true."

His mind went to Eggman and Rouge. The skills of the bat proved invaluable to infiltrate enemy areas and gather the emeralds for their plans. Meanwhile, the vast resources of the evil doctor allowed for his escape from Prison Island in the first place and let him travel faster even than when on foot.

Kiritsugu didn't answer, looking at the forest.

Part of him didn't want to admit it, but Shadow had a point. It was one of the reasons why he trained Maiya in the first place: not even he could have eyes everywhere, and he had to trust her for their partnership work in the first place.

"...don't expect that we end this talk as friends," said the mercenary.

Shadow shrugged.

"One of the persons I trusted the most was also the biggest pain in the ass in my life," said Shadow. "Trust is not about liking someone: it's about knowing they will do their part of the job."

The mercenary looked at Saber. He felt Irisviel grabbing his shoulder.

"Dear," said his wife. "Remember when Illya hurt her knee and had to stay with a band-aid? She was fearful of taking it out once it healed because it hurt. What did you say?"

Silence. Then…

"Better rip it off at once rather than drag it on. The pain of ripping away only takes a few minutes, while doing the slow way prolongs it for days."

She giggled slightly.

"Word by word," said the homunculus. "Maybe it's time to rip it off, and whatever happens, happens."

"This is not comforting in the slightest," said Kiritsugu.

But he knew it wasn't supposed to be. Irisviel was only stating what he had been avoiding to face.

The mercenary moved to pick another cigar but decided that smoking one more would only delay the inevitable.

"Fine," he said. "Let's see if the king and I can look eye to eye."

“...nothing?” asked Enji for the thirtieth time in that hour. He heard the sigh of Kariya.

‘Nothing,’ confirmed the Master. ‘You were correct in that the attack was an anomaly. Either they got wise and managed to hide their trails, or they stopped entirely from attacking.’

Endeavor sighed. Part of him hoped that he could catch the Serial Killer group -as he was now dubbing them -and use Kariya's bug to the Territory of the Caster. No luck with that.

He passed through Berserker -invisible, of course - who looked at Archer and grunted.

“You better not be saying anything rude,” said the Flame Hero. “I was rough, but better to set a line in the sand now than you sucking Master dry like a juice box.”

‘Ar…’

Endeavor scratched his chin.

“Why are you so obsessed over your lord? I would be less than thrilled if I had to face a friendly face in this war…well, except for All Might.”

He wondered if he could hold a candle for the man in his prime as he was. ‘Probably not, but it still seems interesting to think about it.’

The Berserker grunted again. Endeavor sighed.

“Look. We will get to fight that group eventually. Be patient, and don't overstep your bounds. This is all I can say to you.”

He could feel the stare of the maddened knight on him but didn't flinch. After a few seconds, the black-armored figure let out something that felt like a sigh and returned to watch the surroundings as Endeavor faced their Master -currently taking another medicine for pain.

Judging by his face, the taste was not very good.

“It seems our hunt was fruitless…” grumbled the Master.

The Archer nodded.

“Indeed. It was a long shot anyway, but…”

The hero didn't finish. Endeavor was proud of his ability to solve cases swiftly, but he had his fair share of tough cookies, and this case kept shaping to be one of them.

“Your best shot is to scout any places close to sewer entrances and hope we catch them in the act,” said the Archer, growling. “I don't like this. We already involved too many innocents in this conflict.”

The most frustrating aspect of being a hero is the awareness you can't help everyone. No matter how hard you tried, how long you worked, there would always be one person you couldn't help, even with all the Quirks of the world.

‘Well, maybe you could,’ he thought bitterly. ‘But the one person that could do that is also the very own model of a supervillain.’

Kariya shook his head.

“It's always the same with these wars, I heard. Besides the First War, something always caused chaos in the city. The second ended with all Masters dead, and the Third had the Nazis and the Imperial Army involved in the fight for the Grail. Zouken was alive for all of them somehow.”

Endeavor blinked.

“When was the first War?”

“1810. Again, don't ask me how, but Zouken is one of those types of magi that managed to live a long time. It's a family secret that Zouken Matou also founded the clan when we still were Makiri five hundred years ago in Russia.”

Endeavor blinked. 

“You don't seem as shocked as I expected,” said the Master.

“I…had my experience with beings like him,” said the hero. “Although I feel more surprised that he lived for so long.”

Kariya shrugged.

“I don't know the specifics, but let me tell you one thing. As Zouken is right now, he's not much different from a monster -physically and mentally.”

Kariya remembered precisely the point where he didn't want anything to do with that family and magic. It was slightly before the beginning of his formal training as a magus. He remembered his father calling a prostitute one night to the home. Curious, the boy saw the head of the house taking the hypnotized woman to the basement -the worm pit.

He could still hear the screams.

“You didn't call Caster a monster but a mere criminal,” said Kariya, attempting to avoid the memory. “Why? His actions seem very monstrous to me.”

The Archer sighed, thinking about how to answer the question.

“How would you define a monster?” asked the hero. “Is it someone that has a disregard for other humans? You could argue that it's intrinsic to all villains - inevitably, their actions will cause prejudice to others, regardless of innocence or guilt. Is it someone that performs horrid actions? In the past, some were praised for taking such decisions. Is it someone that has the appearance of a monster? Well, in my world, this was a social debate by itself, but I knew people with Mutant Quirks that were more human than many Emitters,” he paused. “For context, a Mutant Quirk gives certain ‘abnormalities’ to their users, meaning they have things like two heads, a tail, or, in extreme cases, make you look like other animals.”

Kariya nodded slightly.

“But…what is the point you are trying to reach? What is a monster, then?”

Endeavor scratched his chin.

“Hm…I suppose it's someone that truly has no reason to do what he does.”

Kariya raised an eyebrow.

“No…reason?”

“Or, I suppose, it's better to say no excuses. Some people do bad things to get higher in the food chain -local, state, country, world, you name it. People that have conditions altering their mindstate to an unhealthy one. Figures overwhelmed by vengeful wishes. I could go on, but I suppose you see what I mean. There's a reason why. Even with some hurdles, you could see what led them to do what they did.”

He paused, letting the words sink into Kariya's mind.

“This is the difference between a criminal and a monster for me. A criminal does crime to achieve his objectives, whatever they are. On the other hand, the monster does what he does for pleasure. Of course, you need to discuss what leads people to be true monsters: how many dastard actions are required for that to happen? What is he willing to do to get there? Keep making these questions, question how much of their humanity and others he's willing to sacrifice, and you will have the true monster.”

The Master blinked, having some difficulty processing all of that.

“Did…did you find many monsters in life?”

The Archer of Musutafu looked his anchor in the eye.

“I say that I only found two people worthy of that title,” he touched his scar. One was a scientist that manipulated the DNA of others to generate monsters. And the other…” then, his left hand touched the right arm. “A man that deserved the title of Demon King, ruling the Japanese underworld for a century with an iron fist.”

Kariya gulped.

“You know, the more you talk about your home, the more I get terrified.”

“I suppose this is the appropriate reaction,” said Endeavor. “And now you understand why I insist on calling Caster a criminal. He's dangerous, yes, but I have yet to see him fit these parameters,” he paused, then snarled. “Yet.”

The two partners went silent for a few minutes. They heard the rumble of a moving city close to the end of another week. That Friday barely began, but so much happened, so many things changed how the battle for the Grail War. It was as if everything could change at the drop of a hat.

Maybe that was what led Kariya to ask:

“The guy in my dream…was him your son?”

Endeavor turned slightly to his Master.

“What makes you think that?”

The Master felt his throat oddly coarse now.

“He…he called you old man. Maybe I am jumping to conclusions, but-”

The Archer interrupted him with a raised hand. The Knight class Servant looked to the sky.

“Do you remember that talk we had about Quirks earlier?”

The man slowly nodded.

“Yes. About how Quirks can be affected by genetics, right?”

“Good, you were paying attention,” said the hero. “Well then. I also spoke about how diverse the results of a child's Quirk can be. In the early days of Quirks, people rapidly realized how to design powers around certain ideal attributes by combining two others with the desired traits.”

The bug-infested man took a moment to process that.

“Wait, like in an arranged marriage?”

“Exactly like an arranged marriage,” corrected the Servant. “Of course, such an idea was soon deemed unethical, but not before many families gave birth to many children with diverse sets of powers,” the man licked his lips, preparing to explain what came next. “For the longest time as a hero, I was obsessed with beating one man to the top. A Symbol of Peace.”

“A Symbol of…Peace?” repeated Kariya.

“A man whose mere presence controlled the crime in Japan for years. That was the man I ambitioned to be,” Enji sighed. “At one point, however, I realized I would never achieve my dream. I would never be number one. So, I intended to create an heir that could succeed where I failed. And I theorized that an ice-based Quirk would be necessary to counterbalance the downsides of Hellflame -and, as I said, I succeeded with my fourth child, Shoto, and Fuyumi and Natsuo inherited her mother's power.”

“You…you are kinda creeping me out now,” said Kariya, slowly rising from his seated position. His heart was beating at an accelerated pace. “You are speaking like a magus would. Like…”

Like Tokiomi would. He remembered that one of the reasons that the head of Tohsakas married his former love was because her family -the Zenjou -produced magi with exceptional magic circuits, a blessing for any magical family. Zouken also attempted to push him towards this path, but the rebellious son had already decided he would not marry Aoi for that monstrous family.

“...I cared for Rei as well as I could,” continued Enji. “Even if our relationship was distant, I attempted my best to be there. Maybe that was the start of the tragedy of the Todoroki family.”

The Master looked at his Servant confused. The spirit continued.

“The name of our firstborn was Toya Todoroki. And he was afflicted by the cruel side of Quirk genetics.”

“The cruel side of Quirk genetics?” asked Kariya. “What do you mean by that?”

“Genetics is not an exact science, Master,” he dryly smiled. “We know how it works, a child receives half of the genes from both parents. But no one can control what comes from that. And thus, Toya, wielder of the stronger version of Hellflame, Blueflame, couldn't handle the heat of its flames, as it inherited a frost resistance rather than a heat one."

The face of the man paled. He understood how hot the flames of Endeavor were. If someone without Magic Resistance attempted to tank that, their fate would be incineration.

“No…”

The man ignored the Master.

“Next, we had Fuyumi, a presence that we thought would do well for the stability of the family. But soon, I realized the danger of Toya's Quirk. I decided to stop training him for his sake, but…he wouldn't stop, even after the birth of his two younger brothers, including Shoto.”

He paused.

“Maybe…maybe if I had given up on the idea of a successor in my family, things wouldn't have gone that way if I were satisfied with raising two kids with all the love and care I could muster. But I was a fool. And my decisions led to our family splitting and…for Toya to turn to a life of crime.”

The hands of the man were trembling.

“I…I'm sorry, Master. It's an unpleasant subject for me. I fear I can't say much more.”

Kariya stood silent for a few seconds. Then, he said:

“I see. I'm sorry for having asked.”

His tone was wholly neutral, but his hands also were shaken -if Enji had to guess, in anger.

“I will leave,” said the Archer. “With the clue I have, maybe we can find the territory of Caster and seize the reward.”

The Master didn't answer. The hero slowly disappeared in flames.

“I'm sorry for upsetting you, Master,” said Enji, vanishing completely.

After a few minutes, Kariya picked up a bottle and ate the last pill inside. He attempted to throw it at the garbage can, but it missed and cracked into the glass pieces on the floor.

“You…you were just like them,” said the bitter magus. “You were a goddamned Tokiomi!”

The rage he bottled inside of him almost erupted, but he managed to contain himself, if barely. 

“Can…can I even trust you?!”

Kiritsugu felt as if he was walking down the corridor for his execution. 

As a wanted man by at least half a dozen police, Kiritsugh always felt that, before his work with the Einzbern, the fate that awaited him was to be judged and killed by the world -and he had made peace with that fact.

Not so much with talking with King Arthur about how she rules.

“Are you going to chicken out right now?”

Shadow was beside him, tapping his left shoe patiently in the snow. Irisviel stood atop the castle while Maiya carried a few tools to the car, Artoria not lifting a finger to intercept her, her eyes set on the Magus Killer as if fearing he could disappear on a whim.

“No,” said the magus, taking one final cigar and giving it a pull. Then, he spit it and threw it in the snow. One last bit of courage. “Let's end this.”

Servant and Master walked straight in the blonde knight's direction. She glanced at them with a carefully neutral expression.

“Saber,” said Kiritsugu simply.

“...Master,” replied Artoria, equally as simple.

‘Oh dear,’ thought Shadow. ‘Off to a great start.’

The trio went silent for a minute. The tension was so high that it was almost possible to cut it with a knife.

“I suppose making space for cheap talk is pointless,” said the knight. “We know what we want to talk about.”

“Or you know what you want to talk about,” said the mercenary. “And you left me with no choice but to engage in conversation.”

“I did not do such a thing,” said Artoria. “You could always ignore me.”

‘Could I really?’ thought Kiritsugu. ‘It's either the choice of talking and risking a complete break of our trust and ignoring you, which would guarantee the worst-case scenario.’

Artoria unknowingly created a lose-lose situation for the mercenary, where neither option was significantly better -so he had to take the least worse.

The Servant of the Sword took a deep breath.

“Answer honestly. What do you plan to wish for the Grail?”

The man looked deep into the eye of the heroine and said, with the most honesty he ever had with another person since the beginning of his career:

“To save the world.”

The knight looked deeply at the man.

“I find this hard to believe,” she said blandly. “For your actions speak differently than your words.”

“What actions of mine speak like that?” ask the Master, already knowing the answer.

“The demolition of that building yesterday,” said the knight. “Logically, it should be impossible for an amateur to set things fast enough, even with the help of Shadow's help. Thus, this leads me to believe you already did that before.”

The man shrugged, seeing no point in denying it.

“Guilty as charged,” he said. “But there are many legal positions that require this type of knowledge. For all you know, I could have been a builder before.”

“Were you?”

“...no,” admitted the man. “Indeed, I was not.”

Shadow huffed.

“Then why waste time with such a joke?” said the hedgehog, annoyed. “Be straight, Master.”

Saber's eyes narrowed.

“Yes, be straight. How can someone willing to go to such extremes to slay the enemy wish to save the world?”

“The building was empty,” countered the mercenary. “I saw with thermal vision. And, even if it had people, I would do my best to evacuate them."

“Would you?” said the knight. “I only have your word to trust. And, thus far, there is no reason to have faith in that.”

“What a coincidence, I feel the same thing as you!” the voice of Kiritsugu raised ever slightly. 

“I have my oath as a knight. There is no better promise to make."

“Is it?” said the mercenary. “I only have your word for it.”

The eyes of the knight narrowed down.

“It would be better for you not to blemish a knight's oath. Breaking such promises would be akin to death for me.”

“So. You. Say,” said the magus. “And yet, when you are desperate, you will shed away such ideals and fight like a desperate.”

“I would never!” said Artoria, her voice raising as well. “Do you think I am the King of Knights by breaking my vows?!”

“Well, I heard your most trustworthy knight -a man said to be the ideal knight - did so.”

The mercenary stared at Artoria dead in the eyes.

“What does that mean about you?”

This seemed to have angered Artoria as she grabbed her Master by the coat and lifted him.

“Artoria!” said Shadow.

Maiya, meanwhile, pointed a gun at the knight -it wouldn't do anything, but it was old instincts talking. However, the knight had no intention of hurting her Master.

“Do not. Say. That name. In vain,” she growled in a sound more akin to what her magical ancestors did in the old days. “He wouldn't have broken those vows if…”

She opened her hand, letting the man fall to the ground with a thud. 

“...if I had been a better king,” completed Artoria.

Master and Servant stared at each other -but something felt different. Gone was the firm energy of Saber and entered a deep melancholy.

“I don't know if you spoke the truth, Master…but I will say what I want for the Grail. I wish to change the past. For Arthur Pendragon to never be king, and for another to step up and take his place as the King of Britain and lead it to a new era. A better ruler than I could ever be.”

The knight turned to enter the castle. However…

“Such foolishness.”

The knight turned to the hedgehog.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, Artoria Pendragon,” said the Ultimate Lifeform. “I find your wish foolish.”

“...why?” asks the woman.

He crosses his arms.

“How can one define worthiness? How can one tell that a leader will be good? How can you assure the ruler will be the right man -or woman -for the job? Can you answer any of these questions for me, King?”

“The Sword of Selection, Caliburn,” said the king. “Anyone that could lift it is sure to be a good king.”

“Well then. How do we know that someone in your time was worthy of performing the same task as you?”

“...”

Silence. Saber couldn't answer that.

“But surely, there were great men that could have done that!” she added hastily. “Figures that could lead Britain to a better, greater future.”

“Or Britain could not have a future,” countered the hedgehog. “For no one stepped to the task in the time of biggest need, and the kingdom was rotten away by its enemies. It pisses me off. You are so drowned in your guilt that you can't even consider how bad things can get. Such foolishness pisses me off!”

“What do you know about being king?” said Artoria. “What can you tell about the weight of carrying the lives of thousands on your back? Are you aware of how difficult that is?”

He raised his finger.

“One.”

“Hm?”

“I know how hard it is to raise the weight of one life,” said the artificial being. “And I failed to protect her when it mattered the most.”

The knight went silent.

“Shadow…” said Kiritsugu.

“I don't need your pity, Master,” said the hedgehog. “The point I try to make is that I may not have ruled, but I understand the weight of life and the pain of losing it. Yet, against all the odds, I won't use my wish to save her.”

“It's…not?” asked Saber. “Then what is it?”

He looked at the forest. Silent, magnificent, serene.

‘Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog.’

“To honor her final will and keep carrying onward. To be not shackled by the past, but to never forget.”

He stared straight at the eyes of the knight.

“The one thing we share in the whole is the feeling of the shackles of the past dragging us down. The difference is, I am free of them. How about you?”

“I…I can't ever forget,” said the knight. “This is my duty as a king. I need to think about my subjects. I need to save them.”

“Saber.”

The knight looked at her Master -a bit rattled by the previous experience, but still, his voice felt a bit softer.

“You want to save everyone. But this is impossible.”

The knight blinked.

“Why?” she asked weakly. “Is it too much to want for everyone to live well? To be happy?”

The man took a deep breath.

“Because this is the way things are. Sometimes, to save a hundred, you must kill one man. This is the philosophy I lived my entire life. If it makes me a devil, so it is. As long as the largest number of people possible are safe, then I will gladly take all the evils in the world on my back. I'm sure even you had to make such hard decisions.”

Silence. Artoria couldn't deny it. How many villages were destroyed in the wake of the many attacks against the kingdom? How many times was she forced to choose to save one and let two others burn? Even in Camelot's prime, the King of Knights never escaped those choices.

“Only because you are right doesn't mean this is correct, Master,” said the swordswoman. “If you don't wish to help as many as possible, then…”

“Then what?” asked Kiritsugu. “I am a realist, Saber. I don't do oaths, I don't fight how others want me to fight. This is the life of a mercenary: in only for the result, no matter the how.”

“Such a path…such a path only leads to more violence,” said the blonde woman. “The means can't justify the ends, Master. I can't believe that.”

“Are you sure this is a fact?” asked the man. “Maybe it does if it makes the world better. That's a price I'm willing to pay.”

“Is it?” asked the knight. “Even if it means leaving your wife and your child behind?”

“Even then,” said the mercenary. “If it's a world where Illya can live free of fear.”

She remembered hearing about the short time that Irisiviel still had to live. The promise that the two parents made for their child to appease her childish demands.

The knight turned her back to the man.

“Master,” she said. “I now realize we won't be able to be in harmony, for we live in different worlds.”

“I could tell this from the beginning…” mumbled the man, but there was no bitterness in his voice. “But?”

The knight looked at Irisviel, who looked worried after the last few minutes.

‘The king can't understand the heart of men,’ said a voice in her head. Was that what her knight spoke about on that day?

“...but you are more than I thought,” she continued. “I don't think we can ever face eye to eye. I walk in the light while you thrive in the shade. But trust is a two-way street. In the same way, you didn't trust me, I also am guilty of not having faith in my Master.”

She turned her head slightly to see the man.

“I will trust you, Master. Can you give it back? Put the trust that the actions I do will lead us to victory?”

The man didn't answer…because he didn't know what to say. Yes? No? Maybe? The mercenary was never put in a situation like that in his career.

“You don't know,” she concluded. “Well then. Actions shall speak louder than words when the time comes.”

Then, she looked at Shadow.

“Lancer. Thank you. Things could have ended poorly if you didn't put yourself in the line.”

The hedgehog shrugged.

“This situation was getting silly in the first place,” he claimed. “I had to do that to cut the nonsense by the root. And this situation was partially my fault in the first place.”

Kiritsugu raised his eyebrow but said nothing.

Artoria dared to let out a small smile.

“I suppose it's true. I ask the same question that I asked our Master: do you trust me?”

The Ultimate Lifeform crossed his arms.

“As long as you are reliable, yes, I do. I can't agree with some things, but I don't care for that.”

The knight nodded.

“Well then. I suppose I held us down for long enough. Farewell, Kiritsugu Emiya, Maiya Hisau, Shadow the Hedgehog. May fate allow you to find Caster before it's too late.”

And, with these words, the knight walked to the castle.

In the meantime, the legs of Kiritsugu gave in.

“Sir?!” asked Maiya, worried. “Is your leg-?”

“It's alright,” said the Master. “I think I was only nervous.”

If the mercenary wasn't well-trained he would be visibly sweating bullets. That talk put him on edge. But…

“This…went better than expected,” said the Master.

Shadow nodded.

“Yes…I suppose it did.”

The hedgehog let himself relax for the first time in the day. He helped his Master lift from the ground.

“It would be better for you to ride, Maiya,” said the man. “I think I will be a bit dizzy in the next few hours.”

The woman nodded, starting up the vehicle.

“Shadow…” said the Master. “One thing bugs me for a while. How did you know that talking would work?”

The hedgehog shrugged.

“I didn't,” he replied. “It worked for me, but it could not have worked for you and Saber. I only felt that, by letting out your grievances, you two could express your hostilities at each other in a single burst. At least I felt it would have helped you.”

The mercenary snorted.

“Me? What makes me so special?”

The hedgehog shrugged.

“I only felt we were similar enough to give it a shot.”

‘Similar enough?’ thought Kiritsugu. ‘What does Lancer mean by that?’

“Does Saber remember someone you knew?” he asked.

The hedgehog tapped his foot.

“Two. Artoria remembers two people I used to know. One by appearance and the other by personality. A person I dearly loved, and the other I wished to kick its ass the most.”

The Magus Killer blinked.

“That last one…is the one you said you trusted?”

“Indeed,” said Shadow, a bit annoyed. “I didn't live even a week on Earth, and that guy was the biggest pain in the ass I met. He also was quite idealistic. A fool, if I ever saw one.”

The mercenary looked at the hedgehog. The 'fool' lacked the annoyance of previous ones.

“I hear a but.”

“...he and his friends also helped me see the truth of my purpose,” finished Shadow. “And the blue one was, as much as it pains me to admit, my match in almost every way possible. A rival, you can say. I didn't think much of him, but he had the skill to match his ego.”

Kiritsugu scoffed.

“I see now what you mean by similarities. We both had to deal with idealistic fools.”

The Lancer shook his head.

“It's…something deeper. I feel it will be better if you figure this out yourself.”

The mercenary grunted.

“Sure. Let another thing for me to figure out. Not like I don't have enough on the plate.”

“It was an accident,” said the hedgehog exasperated. “It's not like I suggested Artoria do that.”

“What did you say?”

“...to be direct with you,” grunted the Servant. “And I still don't get a few things. Like, what there is between you and-”

The two heard a chuckle coming from the driver's seat.

“What is so funny, Maiya?” asked Kiritsugu.

She shook her head.

“Nothing, sir. It's just…" she paused to think about her words. "I never imagined that the person you would be more social with was a hedgehog that looks as if it comes from a cartoon. It's so silly I can't help but laugh.”

The man started to answer but found himself unable to do so. He couldn't disagree with the point of his employee.

“...may I have a last one?”

The hedgehog shrugged.

“Be my guest.”

The mercenary lit the final cigar for the day and let out a cloud of smoke.

‘I will be damned, Acht. You still keep winning, huh?’

“Is it ready?”

“It is. Master did the job, I kept guard. As asked, your glyphs are surrounding the area."

“Good, good. It means that few will notice what happens. Ah, but a shame we are being hunted! To hear the terrorized screams of the masses would be delightful for my ears.”

“Hey, you were the one that went raiding a place in the middle of the day. Don't you know about serial killer 101? Never go out on clear days. It's like asking a cop to see you bloodied and send you to prison.”

“Ah, it was a lapse of judgment. The spells keeping the latest canvas of Ryuunosuke alive faded away, and I couldn't salvage the piece. It won't happen again.”

“You better. I was watching the scene, and two Servants appeared there, including the flame guy. He seems to be some superhero or crap like that. Peh! As if Saber didn't fit enough as a goody-two-shoes.”

“Ah, sweet Jeanne! So noble, yet so innocent. If only you weren't around that dark entity from beyond the stars!”

“I would imagine that an alien would be more…weird. But that's beside the point. The thing is, shit is set and done. All we need to do is wait for night and then…”

Hands clap.

“Ah, it will be a bloodbath. I will enjoy this a lot.”

“Ahaha! Do not forget your mission, my friend. I require you to distract the young pilot of that machine beyond the stars.”

“Wait, the machine is also an alien?”

“So I feel.”

“Darn…what, gonna tell me that my power is also from an alien too?”

“I feel only divinity…tarnished by lots of shadows. Yes, when I set my eyes on you, I knew from the bottom of my heart we would be best friends in another life!”

“Eeeh…don't force it, dude. More like those two guys that always drink together. I am only insane like that because I'm a Berserker. Mad Enhancement and all that. At least no fog god is ordering me around like a puppet.”

“Ah, another connection! We were mere tools for gods, only to be set aside! Yes, there is no doubt. Our friendship shall prevail beyond this turn, Adachi, my dear!”

“...sure, if you like to be that way.”

Again the sound of clapping.

“Ah, yes, yes! Delightful, delightful. A comrade in arms! How I missed this feeling! Yes! The night will be ours, Adachi! And may all the powers of hell be at our side! HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Ryuunosuke snapped his fingers.

“Oi, Caster! I am trying to get in the mood here! Can you go a bit lower in the dramatic laughter?”

Silence. Then…

“Oh, I see. My excuses, Master. Now, where was I? Hahahahahahaha…”

“Sheesh, Bluebeard is loud with his laughs…” mumbled Ryuunosuke.

The child in front of him screamed -but let out no sound, courtesy of Caster's spellcraft.

“I made a house, some birds, an image of that cute dog -good thing we didn't need to kill it -and a sewer rat. Now, what do I do with you?”

The child screamed, looking at her unconscious family, carvings in the stomach. Were they dead? In a coma? Who could say? The worst one was her brother, having birds also in the forehead. How could this happen to them? Why? Why?!

Tears fell from her face. The face of Uryuu gave a worried expression.

“Hey, don't cry. It makes it hard to focus. Maybe I am doing something wrong here…maybe I need a hero?”

The eyes of the girl widened a bit. Yes, a hero! Be a hero! It was all in the anime she used to see, the magical girl redeeming the other one, the dark magic user. He could do it!

“Ah, I see! I will draw an image of that hero guy! I can look at Berserker's mind to see it!”

And, just like that, her hopes plummeted to earth. She started screaming again, her tears going down faster than ever.

“Don't be like that,” said the orange-haired man. “Think of it like a tattoo! A pretty early one. Now, I need a theme for some mood. Oh, I know one! Mune ni tsuketeru maaka-!”

The girl screamed as the knife slashed against her skin, but it went unheard.

If someone else were in the room, they would only hear the moderate cackling of a disgraced marshall, the resigned sighs of a serial killer, and its disciple singing the theme of a tokusatsu show.

Archer of Musutafu - Endeavor 

True Name: Enji Todoroki

Title: Flame Hero Endeavor

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Alternate Classes: Assassin, Berserker

Parameters:

Strength: B

Endurance: B

Speed: B

Mana: C

Luck: D

NP: B+

Class Skills

Independent Action - B

Allows it to retain its independence, even when rejecting energy from its master. At high ranks, it's possible to remain in the world for a limited time, even without a contract. As a downside, it's harder to control this servant. 

While not an insistent loner like others in the class, Archer was very well known for being someone that handled even the toughest situations by itself. As long as he does not engage in battle or use his Noble Phantasm, he can stay for up to two days without a master.

Magic Resistance - E+

Allows to reduce magical damage instead of nullifying it. Endeavor lived in a modern era, meaning he never had to face magic users: however, the nature of his body means that he can resist fire-based attacks better than most. 

Personal Skills

Mana Burst (Hellflame) - A

A variation of Mana Burst (Fire), caused by the nature of Archer's physiology. 

He comes from a world where most people possess superpowers known as Quirks, that one is born with (in most cases anyway). The name of Enji's Quirk is Hellflame -like the subdivision of this Mana Burst. It allows him to generate and control incredibly intense fire that can, at its best, vaporize people with ease. It's also responsible for his above average fire resistance. What differs it from Mana Burst (Fire) is that, while somewhat weaker on average, it's also almost costless and can reach even greater heights when Archer is on the right mindset.

However, he must be careful using Hellflame - while he's resistant to flames, his resistance to heat does not match, and he must control his intensity in battle, or else he runs the risk of overheating.

Hero Tactics - A+

A variation of tactics applied to hero work. Allows to plan for large-scale engagements with minimal damage to citizens or surroundings. Also, when facing enemies of the “Chaotic” and/or “Evil” alignments, this skill receives a rank-up. While he was known as the Number Two Hero for most of his life, it's easy to argue that, overall, Endeavor was the more efficient hero, having one of the best registers of closed cases in the history of the Hero Commission. While his power would already be a great asset, it's his mind that makes him one of the few men capable of matching the Number One Hero in taking down great threats.

Indomitable - B

Physical abilities and endurance that are superhuman. Also considered an upgraded version of Battle Continuation. 

When facing the unknown, he continued.

When facing monsters, he continued.

When facing the consequences of his actions, he continued.

And, in the face of great evil, when all hope seemed lost, he continued.

Enji Todoroki is one that keeps moving through adversity, even when his spirit should have been crushed. He's born to fight. Through countless Endeavors, he shall only give up when his body is unable to move and no other action can be taken, other than laugh in face of danger.

Noble Phantasm

Flashfire Fist/Prominence Burn - Righteous Flames that Go Beyond

Rank: D/B+

Classification: Support, Anti-Unit/Anti-Army

A unique Phantasm that shares two names, both are techniques that Endeavor developed in life and that became associated with his hero identity. Both are natural extensions of his use of Hellflame, developed to end most fights quickly, not giving much chance to overheat himself.

One could call Flashfire Fist the basis of most of Archer's arsenal, as he developed most other attacks, including Prominence Burn, from it. It's a simple attack that increases its flames to the highest temperature and most firepower (pun not intended). Against most foes he faced, this attack is a sure-kill move, and despite its rank, can harm even the strongest Heroic Spirits. Of course, this causes quick overheat, but Enji can use this move in different forms (Hell Spider, Jet Burn and Hell's Curtain), which allows him to face different situations with great efficacy. 

The second stage of this Phantasm, Prominence Burn, it's also the most powerful technique that Archer possesses. By focusing his flames, he can emit a mighty heat beam that overpowers even the finest healing factors. It's so dangerous that Enji will, not even under the influence of all three command seals available to a master, ever use it if there's the slightest risk of collateral damage, usually aiming for the sky or places where damage to people will be nonexistent.

However, what most masters can't see is that this move has also a secret property: the more Archer is wounded, the stronger it becomes -thus the plus modifier. At desperate times, he fully embodies the Plus Ultra spirit, and goes beyond his limits to release an even stronger attack than the original Prominence Burn. As he usually also uses this attack at a close range, it also means that this attack is effectively an instant kill for most heroic spirits.