Chapter 8: Conflict in the Forest
Phew, I was excited while writing this chapter. I've got a little surprise here.
-130:45:08
Lord El-Melloi sauntered along the path to the castle up ahead. His research told him that it and a most of the forest surrounding it had been purchased by the Einzberns.
He could hear the clash of the Servants further away, drawing a smirk from him. With so many running about, Caster's fate was as good as sealed. And Lancer with his speed was almost certainly the one that would strike the final blow. Meaning there might be a chance he could persuade the overseer to reward only him for the Servant's death.
The sound of gunfire through the trees soured his good mood a bit. He'd been using a familiar to keep track of his Servants' actions, including their joining the effort against those abominations Caster had called forth. And herattempt on Assassin X's life. "Leave it to that black-suited brute to complicate things," he grumbled to himself. Archer X's priorities should've been to eliminate Caster first before trying to settle any petty vendettas, but now she'd gotten herself into a scrap with that alcoholic ruffian of a foreign Saber.
Oh well. If she perished in battle tonight, it would mean one less migraine and more time to keep an eye on Lancer (the Servant he'd wanted in the first place) for Kayneth. And if she succeeded in killing Saber X, then maybe she wasn't so useless after all. Assassin X, a bonus.
Besides, the professor hadn't forgotten how those familiars had insulted him at the docks. The thought of those two falling dead to the ground put a pleased grin on his face. And Iskandar's punishment, ohoho… That would be a joy to behold. And then that simpering mouse that stole him from Kayneth would be next… Ah, but first things first.
Caster's Master wasn't here from what he had divined. It seems that psychopath had just enough sense to realize intruding in a battle between Servants was tantamount to suicide. But Kayneth could most assuredly track him down via his connection to the soon-to-be dead Servant. And his absence left one other target.
He could clearly see the front of the castle now. Credit where credit was due, the Einzberns had taste in class. And the Einzbern Master was almost certainly in there. Oh, Kayneth could feel the powerful Bounded Field surrounding him, but an amulet from an Austrian alchemist that had once been in conflict with that family shielded him effectively from any surprises that might've befallen him. And with Saber and Assassin X busy out in the forest, he had the perfect opportunity to engage the homunculus in a proper duel between magi. Sola-Ui would have to rescind her previous barbs in the wake of his victory.
The proud scholar calmly withdrew a certain amethyst from his pocket, knelt down a bit and pressed it into the lightly soggy soil. "Thou art of earth yet not of earth," he intoned in a clear voice, "of man yet not of man. Thou shalt rest in paradise."
The crystal sank into the earth, a green glow marking its movement. Then the glow spread into a sizable radius that Kayneth stepped out of with no hurry. A slight tremor through the ground, then rock and soil erupted upwards, shifting and rearranging until three seconds later, it had become a large golem ten feet tall, with blocky arms and legs and the amethyst in its center, surrounded by green markings.
The Archibald patriarch smirked pleased as he lifted his right index finger up and cast it towards the house. The golem immediately began to lumber towards it. Just as he'd been told, the runes across the amethyst not only enchanted the soil to surround it, but it also allowed him to retain full operational command over it. And no need for verbal chants, hand gestures alone sufficed.
But just in case… His left hand retrieved a test tube filled with mercury. He pulled out the cork on top and began to pour the special liquid. "Fervor, mei sanguis." No sooner did the first drops hit the ground did the entire swell and expand into exactly ten liters of mercury. It coalesced into a large blob by his side, Kayneth chanting, "Automatoportum defensio: Automatoportum quaerere: Dilectus incrisio." Volumen Hydrargyrum rippled upon processing the command, the Supreme Mystic Code he had lovingly crafted in his twenties ready to attack and defend at a moment's notice. Together, magus and mercury set off after the mass of earth towards the Einzbern mansion.
A boulder-like fist smashed the front door and most of the doorway to smithereens. As his construct stepped aside, Kayneth strode into the entrance hallway with a confident smirk. "Kayneth El-Melloi, ninth head of the Archibald family has arrived," he announced into the empty room, confident that its owner would clearly hear him. "Master of the Einzberns, come forth so we can duel for the Holy Grail with our lives and our sacred honor!"
Silence was his only answer. Disappointing; he'd expected a proper response from a member of one of the Three Founding Families. The Master pursed his lips as he watched for anything to happen. Then his keen eyes noticed a modern camera installed in the upper right corner. An unexpected feature for a proud family of Thaumaturgy. He walked further into the hall to have a closer look.
A thin wire snapped by his leg, and four vases in separate corners suddenly burst apart. Multiple tiny balls of metal flew across the room at a speed that would've perforated any regular human. Smoke wafted from the traps, obscuring most of the hall.
Its dispersal revealed the golem undamaged save for a few tiny chinks here and there from the barrage, and a massive sphere of mercury amidst a circle of scorched wood, ruined carpet and smoking beads. The mercury flowed aside to reveal an unscathed and unimpressed Master of Lancer and Archer X. He clicked his tongue at the stench of gunpowder. A barbaric trap like this, instead of elegant anti-intruder magecraft? Kayneth recalled Archer X's warning from last night, of marksmen prowling the shipping yard.
His respect for the owners of this castle plummeted further. "Stooping low, aren't we, Einzbern?" he muttered in disgust. Then he began to walk further into the complex, motioning for the golem to follow with the beckoning of his finger. Volumen Hydrargyrum trailed obediently behind its smirking master. "Very well," Lord El-Melloi sneered. "This will not be a duel, but an extermination."
Further away, Kiritsugu Emiya stood alone in the room, watching the intruder progress through the building via the cameras and his laptop on the table. He had already sent Iri to leave with Maiya for her own safety; a prudent decision, considering the uninvited guest. His dark eyes scanned the features of El-Melloi's assets. A broad golem designed for instant creation and not requiring verbal instructions, mercury enchanted with magic to automatically defend its owner… No wonder the claymore mines he'd set up had proven ineffective.
Having seen enough through the cameras, Kiritsugu closed the laptop and picked up the Calico M950 beside it. He knew this gun alone wouldn't be sufficient to penetrate his target's defenses, though. He'd have to use what magus training he'd learned as well. But there was no need to recall Saber or Assassin X for this. The latter had already provided his Master with an unexpected edge.
His hand went for the doorknob… and paused. A thin sliver of silver liquid trickled through the keyhole, then paused as ripples traveled through its surface. "So that's it," Kiritsugu muttered as the liquid retracted. "Automated probe." Then his trained ears picked up a rumbling just before the floor underneath the table erupted.
The golem grew visible through the cloud of dust, its massive fists reaching up to crunch into holds to lift its weighty mass. Kiritsugu fired instinctively. The Calico's 9mm. rounds peppered the golem's front but did little damage. The crystal in its center, its core, was too covered by rock and soil for a clean shot. As a foot crunched amidst the table's splinters, it made to swing for the puny human in front of it.
Time alter, Kiritsugu mentally chanted even as he began to sprint, double accel! Magic surged through him, and the world around him seemed to slow down. The golem's heavy fist moved in such a crawl that he easily darted away from the mass. That wasn't really the case, though; rather, the flow of time in the Mage Killer's internal functions had been accelerated to twice its regular speed. He sped away from the construct and into the hole it had made, rolling to a stop on his knees in the lower floor. Another leap forward to further the distance.
Once there, Kiritsugu quickly chanted, Release alter!Immediately, the increase ceased, and his body reverted back to his regular setting. And with that came a wave of pain that rippled through every bone and blood vessel. The gift of Innate Time Control that just kept giving. He sucked in quick breaths and rose to capitalize on the advantage-
"Quick little rat, aren't you?"
And just his luck, Kayneth El-Melloi stood in front of him, mercury flowing about him.
"It seems you know some magecraft after all," the magus sneered. Though the technique he just witnessed was curious, he could discern its properties with a glance. "But meddling about with time in your own body is rather taxing, isn't it?" He lifted his hand, a sign for the golem above to cease movement. This rat, he would finish himself.
Three tentacles of silver liquid rose around him, curling like big whips with razor-thin tips. "Allow me to put you out of your misery."
Kiritsugu tensed. He hadn't recovered enough to use Innate Time Control effectively again. "Scalp!" The tentacles hurtled towards him, slicing deep into him-
Poof!
Smoke burst from Kiritsugu Emiya's body, making Kayneth watch in shock, then a wooden chair was now being cut to splinters by his Volumen Hydrargyrum. The man was nowhere to be seen.
Kayneth's eyes darted about in an attempt to understand what precisely had happened. Did he cast some sort of illusion? No, I would've never been fooled by enchantments of such a pitiful level. Time-Space Manipulation, then? No… from what I saw, his magecraft involved manipulating the flow of time inside himself, turning his own body into a Reality Marble. A magus of his level couldn't affect the outside world with that, he lacks the skill and power.
His mouth twitched into a cold leer. "So, the little rat has a few more tricks, then?" The professor swept his hand to the side, commanding, "Ire sanctio!" The blob of mercury beside him immediately shot out tentacles that stretched out and divided further across the room, the liquid traveling across surfaces and through cracks in search for its master's enemy. Kayneth snapped a new gesture that made the golem lumber off and then crossed his arms in pride. "No matter, he's no match for me on any scale." He walked away in the opposite direction, no hurry in his steps. No amount of trickery would save this… dabbler for long.
In a different hallway, Kiritsugu ran while reloading his Calico, a miniscule smirk on his lips. Substitution Jutsu, huh? Not bad. Not bad at all.
-244:01:34
Assassin X had gone into great depth about the odd magecraft-like abilities of his world. The many facets of jutsu had proven curious from both a thaumaturgic and a tactical standpoint. The latter of which was more important to Kiritsugu, but even he was slightly intrigued with how Assassin X could duplicate himself or breathe fire so easily. Even the comparatively mundane trick of flipping onto the ceiling and standing perfectly there as though he were right side up on the floor. "All with just a little magic," he quipped to the trio as he sat cross-legged on the ceiling's surface, one hand by his chin, another tapping his legs.
But the real discovery hadn't really been made by the Servant.
Assassin X had just summoned his hounds and was introducing them to the group when Iri paused in her playing with Biscuit and Bull to look at the wall in thought. Saber and Kiritsugu had their backs to her, engrossed in Assassin X's explanation of the dogs' tracking acumen. Therefore, all three started at a thud and a yelp behind them. They turned to see a slightly dizzy homunculus lying on the floor and two worried doggies fussing over her.
Kiritsugu's Mage Killer-mindset swiftly receded as his husband instincts took over. "Iri!" He hurried over to her side, the Servants quickly moving to the opposite in case.
His wife simply shook her head before giggling at the snouts nudging her. "I'm alright, boys. Just a little flustered." She gently pushed their fluffy heads away as Kiritsugu helped her sit up slowly.
His concern remained. "Iri, are you alright? What happened? Was it-"
"Oh, no, Kiritsugu," she assured him while smoothing her dress, "nothing like that! I was just trying something." The homunculus then emulated their daughter in a cute little pout. "Thought it was working for a moment…"
Saber shared a puzzled look with her partner before asking, "…What were you trying, Irisviel?"
The red eyes glanced at her. "I wanted to see if I could emulate Assassin X's wall-walking."
"…Excuse me?" Assassin X's eye was wide open.
All stared in shock at her, even the hounds, but she continued unabashed as she stood up from the carpet, not noticing Kiritsugu being limply pulled along. "Well, yes. You said this 'jutsu' was similar to magecraft, Assassin X, and based on your presentations, I agree with you. As a homunculus of Einzbern origin," she tapped the side of her left eye, "I have a bit of a higher sense for mana than an average magus. So, when you were on the ceiling, I felt the magic curling along your feet, your legs, whichever body part was attaching itself.
Iri shrugged. "It looked fairly similar to Thaumaturgy like Reinforcement, so I wondered, could I do that, too, with my magecraft knowledge?" She then walked to the wall again with a frown. "It didn't work the first few times, even though I was sure I was following your example, so I tried adding a little more mana. Then for about two seconds, I felt like my foot was actually affixed to the surface. See?" She placed her bare foot against the wall and concentrated. Mana grew visible around the limb's sole, and as the others watched in shock, she lifted her other foot… and didn't fall back to the ground.
Then she suddenly launched off the wall with a surprised sound, landing into the quickly spread arms of Assassin X and Saber. Iri huffed in disappointment. "That's basically what happened. And I still don't know what I am doing wrong."
Even with her time spent with Merlin, Saber was no expert in magic. Kiritsugu specialized in hunting magi, not in magecraft itself, let alone this new frontier. They couldn't have helped if they wanted to. Assassin X, on the other hand, developed a thoughtful gleam in her eye. "…Why don't you try again, Irisviel?" The others looked to him, but he simply guided the lady back to the slightly cracked wall. "This time, I'll see if I can coach you through it."
She nodded in interest, and he placed his sandaled foot against the wall. "Now, this technique is similar to the principle of magnetism. I assume you're familiar with it?"
"Of course. Attraction and repulsion."
"Right. And that's basically how this jutsu works: making your foot stick to the wall like a magnet affixes itself to metal." He gestured to his raised leg. "The key is focusing a fixed amount of chakra," he snapped his fingers, "ah, that might be another difficulty you were having. In this world, there are two different kinds of Magical Energy, right?"
Irisviel nodded. "Mana, which is the greater Magical Energy in the world's atmosphere, and od, which is the life force inside every living being. The lesser source." She tilted her head. "Wait… wouldn't od be closer in comparison to the idea of chakra than mana?"
The ninja pointed to her. "Exactly. Jutsu is harnessing one's internal energy and kneading it into special techniques. Which means that od must be the right kind of energy required for this. You instinctively channeled od and mana into your foot when you tried to emulate me, Irisviel, because that's how most spells work here. But I think you need only od for this." He gestured towards her leg, prompting her to place it against the wall.
"Now, as I was saying, the key is focusing a certain amount of energy to the bottom of your foot. Too little, and it can't affix, but too much, and you're repelled from the surface." Assassin X took one step along the wall, then another as a demonstration. Then the wall beneath him cracked, and he was pushed away, gracefully flipping back onto the floor next to Iri. "Try again with one foot, but this time, no mana, just od."
She nodded before concentrating at the spot where her foot rested against the wall. Only od, no mana… Not too much, not too little…
She lifted tentatively her other foot… and remained "standing." Excitement welled up in her, but she kept her cool. With magecraft, you needed to keep your focus when casting a spell, or the effect could dissipate. Her training already helped in this case. The homunculus placed her other foot on the surface and repeated the mental process, then took another step… and another… and another… They were small, careful, but she wasn't far from the ceiling now.
Iri looked at it in wonder, then turned her head back around to look with starry eyes back at the little crowd she'd attracted. Kakashi nodded to her in approval, Artoria smiled in encouragement (even as she kept her arms out, ready to catch her), Bull and Biscuit panted in excitement, and Kiritsugu… gazed with a hint of wonder up at his wife. She smiled to him, and he returned it instinctively.
Then Assassin X turned to him. "Alright, Master, now it's your turn." His smile shifted into a confused frown, but his Servant pulled him to the wall. "Come along. Irisviel was birthed of magic, but if you, a human of this world, can do it as well, then I might have an idea."
Kiritsugu remained a little reluctant but relented eventually. His first attempts were lackluster, his own doubt limiting the flow of od to his feet. But an encouraging smile from Iri convinced him to try harder. Soon, he was tentatively walking along the wall until they met halfway. For a tiny moment, the man allowed himself to enjoy this strange sense of accomplishment. Then responsibility returned. He glanced down. "So, what's the point?"
"The point," Assassin X beckoned for them to come back down, "is that it seems possible for this world's mages to learn jutsu." Both returned carefully to proper ground, albeit with a mutual stumble. "And that in turn means," the jonin clapped his hands onto their shoulders, "that I've just found myself two new students."
"Students?" Kiritsugu repeated skeptically while Iri looked interested. "…Are you actually thinking about teaching us these jutsu?" He sighed. "Not that I don't see the potential for them, but I'm imagining this would take years of training. Years we don't have, and there's already enough other concerns that we have to deal with for the Grail War."
"True, but I don't think it'll take that long in your cases." Assassin X scratched his chin. "I don't intend on teaching all of my techniques because you're right about lacking the time, but some of the basics might come in handy. And considering you have years of experience with magecraft, I think it's just a matter of… shifting perspective a little." He stepped back next to Saber, spreading his arms wide. "Besides, are you really willing to let a potential asset slip through your fingers out of skepticism?"
"No offense meant, Master," Saber stepped up to beside her partner with a diplomatic tone, "but Assassin X is right. This Grail War could prove to be unlike anything any of us could begin to imagine. Perhaps learning Assassin X's ways can provide you with an advantage needed to win." She glanced ruefully to Assassin X. "I lack the training for this, but you have an opportunity here. An opportunity that none of the other Masters may receive."
Kiritsugu glanced between his Servants, the gears whirring about in his head. Try as he did, though, he couldn't deliver any suitable argument against this idea. They were right; this Grail War was inviting Heroic Spirits from worlds he could've never imagined. These jutsu alone had proven to be not quite like any magecraft he'd encountered or read about, and considering his occupation, that was an accomplishment. Who knows what other X Servants might be bringing to the battle? Or how their Masters would make use of them?
Hence his reluctance fading away in favor of what Natalia had once taught him: use any resource at your disposal to win. You can rarely afford to be picky. "…What do you have in mind?" was Kiritsugu's eventual question.
Iri beamed at him in encouragement, herself curious as to what they could learn. Assassin X simply turned sideways, one hand extended towards the door. "A few jutsu easy to learn quickly. One in particular that ought to come in handy on many levels."
The time since then and now had been interspersed with lessons and training not like anything Kiritsugu had learned before. His and Iri's first lessons had been mostly to improve their flow of od and develop a certain familiarity with the sensations. This came in the form of climbing up tall trees without their hands and later actually walking on the surface of a defrosted lake close to the Einzbern mansion.
Saber had volunteered as associate lifeguard seeing as she could naturally walk on water. Though she had seemed a tiny bit apprehensive. Kiritsugu had wondered briefly if she were incapable of swimming before dismissing the ridiculous idea; he'd been busy enough trying not to lose focus and fall into ice-cold water.
Once they'd gained the familiarity, Assassin X taught them the basic mindset behind casting jutsu, and after that came the first actual technique: the Shadow Clone Jutsu. The Master still remembered the flash of inspiration when he created his first duplicate (that admittedly had too small a nose to be considered a perfect clone, but he improved); all the different ways he could use something like this, especially with what else Assassin X told him about the trick.
Time had been needed for other preparations and travel, of course, but the lessons had culminated into a few extra weapons in the hunter's arsenal. And he'd been admittedly a little eager to field-test them. The Substitution Jutsu had been a success just now; right before those mercury whips had struck him, he'd switched places with a chair next to him and escaped. The high-speed movement hadn't even taxed his body like his family magecraft would've, and it seemed to have rattled Kayneth slightly. Excellent.
The Mage Killer ceased his running to slip behind a corner to catch his breath. He could hear a tiny flowing sound through the air. Jutsu were all well and good, but this required something more familiar to a mage. Grateful that his body had taken a chance to recover from the earlier double speed, he prepared a different use. Time alter, he shut his eyes in concentration, triple stagnate.
Even as a mercury probe began to trickle down next to him, Kiritsugu's entire body was growing still inside and out. His rapidly beating heart slowed down, almost as though it had stopped completely. His breathing retarded, and his metabolism moved at a trickle compared to his usual pace. Kiritsugu opened his eyes to find his environment much brighter than usual. No, his eyes simply perceived more light. All results of Innate Time Control's opposite use.
Even with the increased brightness, he could still make out the mercury drop next to him, slowly dripping down. But it never rippled as it did before. Just as he had discerned: These things lack eyes, so they react to fluctuations in heat or the air. If I slow my internal time to a third its speed and lower my respiration and heartbeat as far as they can go, they can't detect me. Sure enough, the probe's surface remained unchanged and eventually retracted.
Release alter. Kiritsugu released a breath as his internal functions began to realign with the flow of the world around him. Just as it might've gotten risky. Thuds from around the corner told him that the golem was approaching, but something designed that simple couldn't move its heavy body that quickly. He still had a little time. Time he already knew how to use.
Placing the Calico on a nearby stand, Kiritsugu brought together his index and middle fingers into a t-formation. His od flared up before a Shadow Clone poofed into existence next to him. The original traded a nod with his duplicate, the latter knowing perfectly well what was expected of him. The Calico was reclaimed, and they sprinted off in opposite directions.
Kayneth El-Melloi had lost his best chance to kill him in their first encounter. Now, the Mage Killer was ready for the hunt.
-130:44:55
Irisviel moved as quietly as she could through the trees, silently wincing at every leaf rustling or odd branch snapping by her steps. "Please hurry, ma'am." The woman Maiya was a phantom in comparison; she only knew Kiritsugu's ally was there because she saw her. Another thing that unnerved her about this woman who had been acquainted with Kiritsugu before Irisviel, who knew the Mage Killer better than she ever could.
But now was no time for thoughts like this. No sooner did Irisviel sense the approach of Lancer, Archer X and Saber had Kiritsugu instructed her to leave the castle with Maiya as a bodyguard. For her own safety, he had said; the Master of the former two Servants may attempt an attack. A reasonable concern, judging by the explosion she heard a while back.
Saber and Assassin X couldn't help either of them, not with so many other Servants about. Aside from Caster and his army of vile demons, she had noticed that not all of the others were confronting him but engaging each other in battle. She sensed Berserker and Rider X's arrival as well, but those two were having their own clash further away. Hence their current route; the mysterious knight and metallic titan were not to be trifled with.
As she followed Maiya, another tremor rippled through Iri's body. She stiffened just as her escort glanced back and immediately noticed what had happened. "Something wrong, Ma'am?"
She leaned against a tree to steady herself. "Another new intruder," Irisviel's red eyes glanced to her right, "not far from here. We'll run into them if we head that way."
Maiya nodded. "Then we'll have to head north." She frowned slightly as gunshots rang out. "Saber X and Archer X are fighting near that area, but if we stick to the shadows-"
But Irisviel shut her eyes as she concentrated. Her clairvoyant magecraft sharpened her focus, allowing her to see the intruder's black clothes, the gold cross hanging around his neck, the dull eyes-
She gasped. "Kirei Kotomine." Her eyes opened to see Maiya's stance growing tense at the name. It was barely noticeable; she'd have to thank Assassin X later for his pointers about noticing details. But this man was of far greater concern right now. The one that Kiritsugu had placed a kill-on-sight order on for Saber and Assassin X, to which neither had voiced a single objection; the one that had summoned that otherworldly conqueror that was fighting close by; the one that her love outright admitted to being afraid of…
Maiya fingered her Calico's grip. She hadn't forgotten her last encounter with Kotomine. He may've surprised her, but she had still been no match for him. If it hadn't been for Assassin X's intervention, it was very likely that man would've killed her then and there. And what's worse, his real target had been Kiritsugu. She couldn't let the priest near him, but-
"Miss Maiya," her ward's words prompted her to focus. Irisviel was giving her a strange look. "Kiritsugu's orders are to keep me safe, right?"
"Yes…" the suited woman conceded, "but…"
"But what? You were just thinking 'I can't let that man anywhere near Kiritsugu,' weren't you?" Irisviel gave her an odd smile, one of both kindness and steel. "On that, we agree."
"Ma'am, I…"
The homunculus ceased to smile. Saber and Assassin X were fighting for their lives right now. Rushing after the priest would leave their backs wide open. Kiritsugu himself was busy with another. That left them with only one option. "We have to stop Kirei Kotomine." She declared with utter conviction. "He's the greatest threat to Kiritsugu, and we're the only ones right now that can do something." She stared at her ally. "Are you with me, Miss Maiya?"
The woman eyed the one before her, the one that had claimed Kiritsugu's heart and was now talking about fighting to protect him. This homunculus shouldn't be suited for battle, but she stood ready for the imminent violence without hesitation. First Assassin X and now her… Maiya found herself thinking. There's more to them than at first glance.
And she knew what her answer would be. Maiya Hisau adjusted her grip on her gun and squared her shoulders. "My apologies, ma'am. Please prepare yourself."
"Don't worry about me," Irisviel von Einzbern assured her. "Just concentrate on your duty." She flexed her fingers. Truth be told, she'd been hoping a bit for a chance to test her combative abilities "Not what you've been ordered, but what you believe is right." Her ally hummed in agreement, checking her other firearm with mechanical movements. Irisviel recognized the teachings of her husband in the way her hands flew swiftly over the gun's individual parts with no hesitation or stumble. A human trained to act like a machine.
And her, a homunculus taught to be a human. By the same man, no less.
A giggle escaped her lips before she knew it. Maiya gave her a perplexed glance. "Something wrong, ma'am?"
"Not at all." Two women quite different from one another, yet united for the sake of one man… Irisviel smiled despite the tension in the back of her mind. "The human heart is an odd little thing."
Saber cut a Horror in half, then spun around to slice off the limbs of another that reached for Caster X. The wizard returned the favor a second later by enveloping both in a sphere of light that repelled a third monster dropping down on them. It crashed right on top of Lancer's crimson spear, dying instantly from the mana loss. Caster X lifted his staff to the air, drawing in stray surges of electricity from Assassin X to release them in a concentrated bolt that fried two more and weakened a third enough for Saber to cut it down.
As Assassin X leaped over a starfish beast, placing a piece of paper on its head that exploded a second later, he landed in a crouch that turned into a lunge to pierce another reaching for Lancer's back. The knight class Servant in turn dealt permanent wounds to another with his golden weapon, allowing the shinobi to shred it to pieces with a series of water slashes. Saber leaped high to bifurcate a third hurtling for her partner, landing beside him amidst the blood.
The four traded nods with one another, then continued to press on through Caster's army even as the insane familiar called upon his Noble Phantasm's magics yet again.
In another clearing, Archer X's SMGs flared up as they trailed after Saber X, the lean Servant sprinting among the trees. Harbinger's blade remained curled, but the handle had shortened to sword length, the result being a bladed tonfa that its wielder used alternately to block those few bullets that caught up with him and return fire via its shotgun function. She rolled under the sprays and changed tactics. One of the guns disappeared and a grenade shimmered in place, Archer X freeing the pin with her thumb to hurl it in front of her opponent's path. Saber X skidded to a stop upon seeing it, but instead of backtracking as she'd anticipated, he leaped high and tossed his curled blade towards her. The Freelancer threw herself back just before it could've split her in half while the forest in front of her erupted in fire. The Noble Phantasm spun off in an arc. Archer glared about the area, but her fellow knight class was nowhere to be seen. Until he dropped from high above onto her, his sword aimed at her head.
On the opposite side, Berserker parried a diagonal slash with his branch weapon, then brought up his right elbow to intercept a punch. Rider X crouched low to sweep his leg, but the knight leaped effortlessly over the massive limb and flipped forward for a downward smash. Rider X rolled with impressive speed for his bulk out of the reinforced branch's path just before it crushed the spot where he'd been. Rising to his feet, the ex-gladiator fired his cannon. Berserker twisted his body underneath the plasma, discarding the branch to snag a couple of pebbles. He then rolled forward before thrusting his hands out; the rocks in his gauntlets, blackened by his Noble Phantasm, sped like bullets towards their target. Rider X crossed his arms but grunted from their impact; they'd been hurled at specific points of his limbs to increase the damage. Nothing he couldn't shrug off, though.
Then the black creature tackled him further into the trees.
Needless to say, the sounds of battle resonated through nearly every corner of the forest. Kirei drank every last one of them in with a deceptively stoic face. Inwardly, though, a part of his soul began to grow excited. His heartrate increased by a millisecond. Fingers twitched. And his thoughts drifted to his more recent… dreams.
Dreams of violence. Pits filled with scrap metal and corpses. Though most of the scrap metal used to becorpses. Steel and energy flying through the air even as an all-encompassing cheer surrounded the combatants.
And in the center of it all stood a certain metallic being. Always victorious regardless of who opposed him or how many. Some attacked him head-on, others opted for stealth and traps. Yet no matter the odds, no one could defeat the gladiator named Megatronus. "I STILL FUNCTION!" That cry would often follow his inevitable victory. Impressive for a once nameless miner.
Normally, Kirei wouldn't bat an eye at such barbarity, but the words from that Heroic Spirit duo made him wonder how the memories, brutal and painful as they were, could be laced with such excitement, such… pleasure. On the one hand, he sensed that Rider relished having been a warrior throughout his life. On the other, he absolutely loathed how his life had begun, among the lowest of castes of his homeworld. A particular moment, part of a conversation, was among the last of his dreams:
"You don't need to take your caste grievances out on me," someone else was saying. Someone that sparked a multitude of conflicting emotions inside him. "The caste system hasn't helped me any more than it has you."
"Again, that's where you're wrong." He shot back even as the gladiatorial battle before them reached its climax. "Your caste is safe. You observe. You move data and put it into places where your betters decide if it has been put in the right place." He tapped his knuckle against his own chest. "My caste dies. We die in industrial accidents when molten alloy pours over us, or energy leaks from a conduit and vaporizes our processors, or when liquid nitrogen shatters our limbs, or when a crane spills a cubic kilounit of raw ore and crushes us to junk." His tone had grown bitter as the memories of so many of his deceased brethren swept through his mind. "We die. You watch. Do not compare the two."
All the while, he continued to drink in the battle. And a growing part of him savored the one to come.
Again, an odd contradiction, Kirei wondered. To strive for direct confrontations of physical might and strength of will yet delight in matching your cunning against that of others in strategy and rhetoric; to hate your origins, the unfairness behind it all, yet simultaneously take pride in your struggle throughout your life and invite even more… curious.
Then he noted some disturbed leaves just ahead and remembered the reason he was out here. Assassin had slipped into the Bounded Field undetected to confirm that Saber and Assassin X were preoccupied with another battle. So many other Servants being involved was a bit of a bother, but he wasn't surprised. The bounty for Caster's death drew them here like moths to a flame. Rider X had (for once) the grace to let him know he was around and, apparently, preoccupied with the crazed knight. That battle wasn't too far from his current position.
Whatever concern Kirei felt towards an encounter with an enemy Servant (he'd in particular instructed two Hassans to watch their counterpart now) was minimal compared to the tension towards facing Kiritsugu Emiya. If he was simply an ally to the Einzbern Master, then he'd be guarding her. If he was the Master, then he'd be monitoring the battle. Either way, the Einzbern castle was his destination, and with both Einzbern Servants distracted, they could finally meet.
Assassin had warned him, though, that Lord El-Melloi had already reached the castle and seemed to be fighting. The priest's knuckles cracked; he wasn't about to let some glory-seeking bookworm stand between him and his- rival? Prize? Well, now. I think Rider X is influencing me more than I thought.
Kirei's musings were interrupted by a warning sounding in his mind. Trained reflexes allowed him to evade a spread of bullets zipping through the forest. They're all coming from one source. Single opponent, high vantage point. His eyes swept along the trees until they caught a silhouette darting silently amongst them. Two Black Keys flew up towards it but hit only bark. Quick one. Or…? Gunfire sounded behind him, prompting the Executor to whirl around and launch more Keys, but the blades failed again to pierce his opponent. That volley had been more dangerous than the first one, and Kirei could sense more presences around him. Initial confusion gave way to comprehension. "Illusions."
Suddenly, bullets struck his back, and these were, in fact, real. The priest fell forward, his face hitting the ground with a grunt.
Maiya slowly stepped out of the woods, Calico still at the ready. Her twin feint seemed to have paid off, but she'd heard enough of the Church's special militia to be wary of this supposed victory. And this man had proven to be dangerous. She wasn't taking any chances with him.
Further away, Irisviel sensed something from her hiding spot and shouted telepathically, 'Miss Maiya, look out!' But it was a moment too late; a Black Key flashed from the trees, slashing her right calf. Hissing in pain, Maiya watched the body before her fade away as Kirei Kotomine leaped from his spot with more of those blades at the ready. She ignored the pain to open fire again. The Calico's bullets hurtled towards the priest even as he charged, arms crossed in front of his face. They bounced harmlessly off him; them being this close, Maiya recognized the weavings of Kevlar and sacramental blessings of his clothing. Her guns lacked the percussive force to pierce it.
But she still had a few cards to play.
Just before Kirei had fully closed the distance, someone dropped from the branches over him, a tactical knife glinting by the scant moonlight. He spun to parry the blade and was a little perplexed; his attacker looked exactly like the woman he'd been fighting. The same woman who dropped her now empty gun to draw her own knife and lunged. Blades flashed as Kirei clashed with the twin women, evaluating his current position. His opponents shared height, clothing, facial features set in a stoic expression, and even the sense of mana. An illusion? No, the vibrations from his weapons clashing with theirs traveling down his arms couldn't come from any misdirection magecraft. Both were real, very real. But not quite at his level.
As for Maiya, she made a mental note to thank Assassin X later for teaching her this "jutsu" earlier today. The Shadow Clone moved and fought exactly like she did, except for the uninjured calf, of course. Between the two, they were slowly making ground. The Church's Black Keys were primarily projectiles. Their length wasn't suitable for melee, it was already a feat for Kotomine to wield them so skillfully like this. And Kevlar couldn't stop a knife.
Then Kirei suddenly brought his leg up to Maiya's stomach. Hampered by her wound, she fell back from the kick with a grunt, leaving only her clone in the fight. That one in turn scraped her knife alongside the longer blade to seize the momentary off-balance. But her opponent was too fast. He replanted his foot, dropped his right Key, and grabbed hold of the clone's wrist, stopping her attack. She barely had a chance to grab something from her jacket pocket when his left foot kicked out her support at the exact same moment his left elbow struck the flesh before her heart.
Six Grand Opening-Elbow Upthrust: a devastating technique of bajiquan, the Chinese martial art Risei Kotomine had instructed his son for years in. This combo would easily shatter two, maybe three ribs and inflict such internal damage that the woman would be in total pain. This knowledge pleased Kirei a bit, moreso because he knew Emiya was close by. One stomp to her chest, and she'd be-
The body burst into smoke as his blow finished, no trace of her left. Kirei was just surprised enough by this unfamiliar technique that he initially failed to notice four little papers fluttering onto his torso, all of which carried the same collection of Japanese markings.
As he registered them, his eyes focused with some alarm on the main kanji, baku. Explode.
Maiya wasted no time in pointing her left index and middle finger at her target. Her Magic Circuits crackled as the papers detonated like grenades, blowing the bigger man backwards. Kirei landed in a crouch as tiny flames danced across his robes; he barely managed to apply Reinforcement to them, and it had been incomplete. His body, resilient though it was, ached slightly from the explosions' force. He could even feel some blood trickling from his chest.
Maiya almost smirked: when Assassin X had first told her of their discovery concerning jutsu, her first reaction had been skepticism, of course. That quickly changed once he helped her walk alongside the hotel's wall (while making sure nobody noticed them). The sensation of standing on a vertical surface had been odd, even for her, but she quickly grew more interested. She'd asked him this afternoon, right after learning the Shadow Clone Jutsu, if he had any offensive uses for jutsu she could use. The Servant had explained that even he couldn't teach high-level techniques in just one afternoon, but he had an idea for her request.
The woman going by the name Maiya Hisau used to enjoy drawing when she'd been little. Sketches of buildings or people, writing Chinese, Japanese, or even a little Arabic from a grumpy old Sufi (the kindest man in her childhood), those were tiny rays of light amidst the darkness of her past before Kiritsugu had pulled her out. This allowed her to copy quite easily the markings on the paper bombs Assassin X showed her, and thanks to the Tree-Climbing Exercise, infusing a little od into the paper was simple. The results spoke for themselves.
In hindsight, they could've used some of these bombs to bring down the Hyatt. Oh well.
Kirei Kotomine was already rising to his full height with a frown, though. Maiya had hoped that the bombs would do a little more damage, but at least she'd been given time to recover. A backflip carried her to a tree behind her where she affixed herself.
Kirei's eyes narrowed at how the woman remained rooted to the bark despite gravity, then he grunted when a bullet scraped against his cheek. Maiya fired her Glock three more times even as he advanced. That double, the papers, this nullifying of gravity… what sort of magecraft is this? …No matter. She won't stop me.
Then a new voice drew both of their attention. "That's enough, Kirei Kotomine." Noting how the woman's face shifted into shock, Kirei halted and turned despite the danger. Stepping into the small clearing, moonlight glinting around her, was the Einzbern homunculus. The alleged Master of Saber and Assassin X.
This was a surprise. If she was indeed the Servants' Master, then her safety ought to be top priority. She should've been running while Kirei was battling her obvious bodyguard, but here she stood. Wary of a trap, Kirei coolly spoke, "Woman, I don't know what you're thinking, but you are not my target tonight."
"I'm well aware," Irisviel replied in the same tone. She may not have been a warrior like Saber or Assassin X, or a trained killer like Kiritsugu or Maiya, but she still steeled herself. She knew what she had to do. "I know why you've come here, and I won't allow it. You won't come anywhere near Kiritsugu Emiya." Her fist clenched as she remembered the terror in her love's voice when he'd been in her arms. "We'll stop you. Here and now."
What is she- No, this is my chance! Maiya rallied from her surprise to use their enemy's distraction and concentrated. As Assassin X had taught her, the Tree-Climbing Exercise required a specific amount of od. Too little, she'd fall off. Too much…
The bark beneath her boots ruptured as she launched towards the priest, pistol in one hand, knife in the other. Unfortunately, he sensed it coming and leaned away, the blade cutting only hair. Maiya fired one-handed as she spun around, but she couldn't aim properly. Thus, the most damage her shots did was nick the man's left knuckle. The rest bounced off his robes. "Ma'am, please run!" She called behind her even as her knife clanged against a Black Key. "This man's an Executor of the Church, he specializes in hunting magi! Regular magic can't beat him!" The only reason Maiya's attacks had worked was because she'd been using jutsu, something he couldn't be familiar with.
Irisviel knew this, too. She voiced a silent thankyou to Assassin X for his lessons. But they weren't the first experience the homunculus had with abnormal magecraft, oh no. She'd sworn to herself that she'd never be a crutch to Kiritsugu, and the wires she began to unwind from her sleeves were the fruits of her efforts. "Driving wasn't the only thing I learned from Kiritsugu." The wires began to move on their own as light shimmered off them. Kotomine knocked Maiya away before watching with a hint of curiosity.
Irisviel's thoughts drifted through times of happiness, sadness, frustration, excitement… all moments, all emotions she had experienced thanks to one wonderful man. And the threads wrapping around each other tightly were thanks to one other lesson. "Kiritsugu taught me how to live and how to survive!" Irisviel's proclamation was the herald to her weapon taking form: an eagle formed from the shimmering threads. "Shapen ist Leben!" Her construct screeched on her shoulder like a real eagle.
Maiya pushed herself up from the dirt just in time to watch the creature of wires soar across the battlefield. So she isn'tcompletely defenseless. Good to know.
As he evaded the first lunge, Kirei admitted to himself that he hadn't seen this coming. He knew that the Einzbern family's specialty was alchemy, but this sort of application was unexpected. It moves and sounds like an actual bird. Forging magecraft, then. But the Executor had one particular advantage over her: combat experience. He tracked the flight pattern of the "eagle" and impaled it with his Black Eye when it came too close.
The construct's threads began to unravel… and then a second eagle swooped in from behind. Kirei's eyes widened as a second homunculus stepped out of the forest, controlling the creature that slashed at his back. Moreover, the one he'd stabbed extended its wires down the blade up to his arm, binding it tightly.
Irisviel nodded to her Shadow Clone as she approached, the other bird continuing to attack. She was proud of what she'd managed to accomplish with her abilities, but that didn't mean she wouldn't apply the jutsu her friend had taught her. Two birds were better than one in this fight.
Kirei tried to ward off the eagle, but he let his left hand drift too close to his right. The wires there shot out to entangle it as well. That left him effectively armless. Still, a martial artist didn't need his hands to be a threat. He ducked under the bird's claws, pressed his feet against the ground, and launched to the homunculus controlling his restraints. One kick and it'd be over.
A gunshot echoed, then a bullet cracked against his left knee; it failed to pierce the pants, but the force unsettled Kirei's balance for just one second. Irisviel traded a glance with Maiya, smoke wafting from her handgun, before pouring more mana into her wires. They pulled the big man towards a tree, and her Shadow Clone directed her eagle's talons to clasp down hard on his shoulders, drawing blood and a cringe from him. The combined alchemical magic made him slam hard against the tree, wires wrapping over his arms and legs to the wood. Kirei glared at them but couldn't dislodge himself.
Still, neither Irisviel nor her clone relaxed. They could sense their prey's struggle through the wires. And Assassin X had warned his Master's wife of the downside of Shadow Clones. The magecraft might've been doubled, but each Irisviel had only half of her od. It was taking everything just to keep this man rooted to the tree; he was stronger than she'd thought. "Miss Maiya, finish him now!" Her ally nodded before replacing her munitions clip for a fresh one.
Yet despite the current situation, with death a possibility and trepidation of meeting it before he'd faced Kiritsugu Emiya… a smile grew on Kirei Kotomine's lips. His heartbeat quickened, fingers danced against each other, he sucked in air with something foreign stirring inside him. I don't know why, Kirei thought through his struggling, but this battle, this uncertainty of victory… it's like nothing I've known before.
His mind flashed back to those memories of the pits, of battlefields where energy and weapons hurtled everywhere. Death had always been so close to Megatron when he had lived, yet he had always faced it head-on. And every single time, regardless of the circumstances, he had known… pleasure.
Now Kirei understood. To face the prospect of death, when there was so much to live for, and then beat the odds… That was a certain kind of joy.
Arms and legs bound. Grown tree, about thirty cm. thick. Gun trailing up for his head. Adrenaline pumping through his body.
The women all started as a loud BOOM echoed from the tree. Kirei's smile widened minutely. "Impossible…" Irisviel whispered in worry.
A master martial artist did not limit himself to merely training fists or feet. Elbows, knees, back, chest, all of these needed to be honed through exercise. If the entire body was forged into a weapon, then restrained limbs meant nothing.