The next day, when sunlight poured into the living room of Tohsaka Manor once more, the heavy atmosphere had not eased in the slightest.
"…In short, before we get a clear read on the other enemies, we have to deal with the single most obvious threat first." Waver sat at the head of the sofa, a vast map of Fuyuki City spread out before him, several key areas circled in red pen.
He hadn't slept a wink all night, his eye sockets sunken, yet his spirits were unusually high, as if he'd returned to that unforgettable war of ten years ago.
"Berserker." Rin picked up the thread, her expression equally grave.
The frustration from the botched summoning the previous night had been forcibly suppressed, replaced by the calm and reason befitting an excellent magus.
"The Einzbern family's Servant has always been a Berserker, known for raw violence and power. They're holed up in their forest castle out in the countryside, easy to defend and hard to attack. And according to the Clock Tower's records, they've very likely summoned the great hero of legend, Heracles."
"Heracles…" Hearing the name, Saber's emerald eyes narrowed a fraction. Even on the Throne of Heroes, that was a name that thundered.
"So what do we do?" Shirou couldn't help asking. He couldn't follow these legend-tier subjects at all and could only voice the most basic question. "Do we just storm in?"
"Idiot! Do you think this is some game?" Rin shot him a contemptuous look at once. "That's Heracles! An immortal body with the Noble Phantasm God Hand! Charge in recklessly and we're just going to our deaths!"
"Then…" Shirou was choked into silence.
The living room sank into silence again.
A powerful enemy, unknown details, and the fragile trust within their own ranks all pressed down on everyone's hearts like a mountain.
Just then, Seiji, who'd been standing quietly behind Waver like a competent piece of background scenery, was abruptly called on by Waver.
"Fujiwara, what's your view?"
"Me?" Seiji startled, hands waving quickly. "Teacher, Miss Tohsaka, I'm only an observer. A crucial strategic decision like this, I…"
"Enough modesty," Waver cut him off. "Your head works better than anyone else here. Let's hear it."
In an instant, every gaze in the room fixed on Seiji.
Under their stares, a "troubled" expression appeared on his face. He hesitated for a moment, then slowly walked to the map and picked up a pen.
"Since Teacher and Miss Tohsaka trust me, then I'll… offer a humble, half-formed thought."
He kept his posture extremely low, but the moment he picked up the pen, his whole aura quietly shifted. A scholar's absolute, rational calm radiated from him.
"I believe Miss Tohsaka's judgment is correct. Attacking head-on is the worst of options. But… sitting and waiting for death is equally a dead end."
With the pen, he drew a large X over the position of Einzbern Castle on the map.
"Berserker's strength is beyond doubt. But that strength is also his greatest weakness."
"What do you mean?" Rin pressed.
"Because Berserker is irrational." Seiji explained. "He has no reason, only the instinct to destroy. Which means his behavior pattern is predictable."
"As long as we can offer him a lure attractive enough, we can draw him out of that fortified castle. Draw him onto the battlefield we've prepared for him, the most fitting one of all."
"A lure?" Shirou frowned. "Isn't that far too dangerous?"
"War always comes with sacrifice." Seiji's tone was calm to the point of coldness. "What we need to do isn't avoid sacrifice, but maximize the value of that sacrifice."
His gaze swept over Saber and Archer present.
"Our aim isn't to kill Berserker. With his God Hand ability, it's all but impossible for us to kill him outright in a single battle."
"Our aim should be to test."
With the pen, he drew a circle over an open stretch of ground on the map.
"To test the specific effects of his God Hand. To test what kind of attacks have no effect on him, and what kind can truly take his life. To test the limits of his movement, the properties of his Noble Phantasm, and how his Master, the Einzbern homunculus, will command him."
"We need data."
"Only once we've grasped enough data can we, in the next battle, devise a plan that can truly kill him."
Seiji's words plunged the entire living room into a dead silence.
A light of excitement glittered in Waver's eyes. The plan was bold, cool-headed, efficient, full of the beauty of logic.
Rin looked at Seiji with an extremely complicated gaze.
She had to admit this plan was more thorough, and more… ruthless, than anything she could have devised.
And Shirou felt a chill rise from deep within. He couldn't accept a plan that spoke of "lures" and "sacrifice" as though they were a matter of course.
"But… who plays the lure?" he couldn't help asking.
Seiji's gaze settled calmly on Saber.
"Miss Saber's speed and Instinct make her the best choice. She can evade Berserker's lethal attacks the instant they come and successfully lure him to the appointed location."
"And Mr. Archer can snipe and harass from long range, providing cover for Miss Saber and recording the battle data."
"As for the Masters, they should remain in the rear, ready to support with Command Spells at any time. This is the lowest-risk, highest-reward plan."
…
The "Berserker Trap and Test Plan" that Seiji proposed was, in the end, passed thanks to Waver overriding all objections and Rin's tacit consent.
Preparing the plan would take time. And during that time, Seiji put forward a new "suggestion."
"Teacher, I think it's necessary to make another trip to the church before we carry out the plan."
At the morning table, Seiji passed out the sandwiches he'd made by hand while remarking, as if in passing.
"Go to the church again? Why?" Waver asked, puzzled, sipping his coffee. "We've already reported in."
"Precisely because we've reported in, that's all the more reason to go." Seiji explained. "Last night's battle made no small stir. Lancer's exit, Saber and Archer entering the world at the same time… as the Overseer, Kirei Kotomine cannot possibly be unaware."
"Under such circumstances, going to him on our own to report the situation shows respect for the Overseer on the one hand and gives him no handle on us. On the other hand, it's also a probe."
"A probe?" Rin, chewing her sandwich, took an interest too.
"Yes."
Seiji nodded. "A probe of his attitude toward this accident. If he acts indifferent, it shows he's just a competent, neutral Overseer. But if he shows unusual interest in this chaos… then it proves that he, or the Holy Church behind him, has other designs on this Holy Grail War."
"That makes sense." Waver pondered for a moment, then approved the proposal. "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you'll never be defeated. Getting a clear read on the Overseer is indeed important."
"So who goes?" Rin asked. She herself had no fondness for that gloomy priest.
"I'll accompany Teacher." Seiji volunteered. "I'm only an observer, the least sensitive identity there is. Having me accompany Teacher is the least likely to put the other party on guard."
His proposal seemed, once again, perfectly reasonable.
And so, an hour later, Seiji once more got into Waver's car, bound for that grim church atop the mountain.
…
Inside the church, it was as cold and deathly still as ever.
Kirei Kotomine stood before the altar, his back to them, seemingly in prayer.
Hearing footsteps, he slowly turned. Those dead-water eyes passed right over Waver and settled on Seiji.
"It's you." His tone carried not a ripple.
"Father Kotomine." Waver stepped forward, placing himself in front of Seiji, and got straight to the point. "We've come to report last night's events. Lancer has exited, Saber and Archer have entered the world, and the Holy Grail War has formally begun."
"I know." Kirei's reply was clipped to the point of being unpleasant. "Anything else?"
"We'd like to know the Church's stance on this matter." Waver pressed.
"The Church's stance is to have no stance." Kirei said flatly. "So long as you don't affect ordinary citizens and don't expose the mysteries to the world, you could turn this city upside down and it would be no concern of ours."
His answer was flawless, fully in keeping with the position of a neutral Overseer.
But beneath that seemingly placid expression, Seiji caught a trace of a deeply buried emotion called "pleasure."
This man was enjoying the chaos.
[System Analysis: Monitoring target emotional fluctuations…]
[Faint positive emotional feedback of excitement and anticipation detected…]
[Conclusion: The target is highly satisfied with the current chaotic situation.]
So that's how it is… Seiji sneered inwardly.
Just then, Kirei's gaze fell on Seiji once more.
"You," he said abruptly, addressing Seiji. "You seem… quite afraid of me?"
Seiji's body trembled faintly at once, "beyond his control." He lowered his head, not daring to meet the other man's eyes, his voice turning a little stammering.
"N-no… Father, your aura is… just too overwhelming…"
He played the image of a weak, utterly harmless "bookworm" to perfection.
Seeing this, Waver frowned at once and shielded Seiji more closely.
"Kotomine, my assistant is just an ordinary magus who's no good at fighting. Put away that Executor act of yours!"
"Heh heh…"
A low, ambiguous laugh came from Kirei's throat.
His gaze seemed to pierce through Seiji's "cowardly" disguise, looking straight into that same "hollowness" in the depths of his soul.
"Is that so? Just an… ordinary magus?"
He said nothing more, only turned, leaving a cold figure with his back to them.
"If there's nothing else, then please go. Don't disturb my prayers to the Lord."
Waver gave a cold snort and dragged the still-"trembling" Seiji out of the church at a quick pace.
It wasn't until they were in the car that Seiji seemed to "come back to himself," letting out a long breath.
"Teacher… that man is terrifying… I felt like I was being eyed by a venomous snake…"
"I told you long ago to stay away from him." Waver started the car, speaking sourly.
He had no suspicion of Seiji's performance whatsoever.
Because in his eyes, for a theoretician with no combat ability to react this way when facing a butcher like Kirei, whose hands were soaked in blood, was nothing but natural.
And Seiji leaned back against his seat, watching the scenery rush past the window, a cold smile in the depths of his eyes.
Back in the church, he and Kirei had already carried out a wordless "exchange," in a manner only two of the same kind could understand.
He had shown Kirei his "harmlessness."
And Kirei had exposed to him his "pleasure."
A perfect closed loop of mutual probing had formed.
Kirei Kotomine… a superb variable to throw the board into disorder.
Seiji had already begun thinking about how to use this "variable" to add still more "drama" to his coming plans.
…
Night, like a vast black velvet, shrouded the forest on the outskirts of Fuyuki City.
This was Einzbern family territory.
Ancient trees blotted out the sky, and the air was thick with the damp scent of rotting leaves, and… a faint, heart-quickening trace of magic.
Saber's figure slipped through the woods without a sound, like a sprite under the moon.
Every step landed precisely where the dead leaves were thinnest, without producing the slightest extra sound.
Behind her, high in the canopy, the red-clad Archer knelt on one knee on a thick branch, like a leopard poised to spring. The black and white twin blades in his hands had vanished, replaced by a black longbow of strikingly futuristic design.
And on a hillside several kilometers away.
Waver and Rin watched tensely at a semi-transparent surveillance screen projected by magecraft before them.
On the screen was a live feed of Saber and Archer.
"…How's the situation?" Waver's voice was a little hoarse with tension.
"Everything's going smoothly."
Seiji's voice came through the communication device beside them, calm and without a ripple. "Saber has entered the castle's alert range. According to thermal sensors, a massive magic source inside the castle is approaching fast. Contact estimated in thirty seconds."
He sat in a box van disguised as a survey vehicle, several screens flickering with various data before him.
"Fujiwara, are you sure this distance is safe?" Rin couldn't help asking.
"Rest assured, Miss Tohsaka." Seiji answered. "Our current position is outside the critical threshold of the enemy Master's perception range. And I've laid down three layers of optical camouflage and magic-shielding barriers. Unless their Caster comes out personally to hunt for targets, we're absolutely safe."
His confidence put Rin a little more at ease.
Just then.
The image on the surveillance screen suddenly shook violently.
A roar, not one a human could produce, brimming with madness and brutality, came from deep within the forest.
The sound seemed able to rip eardrums apart, and even Waver and the others, kilometers away, felt their hearts lurch.
"Here he comes!" Waver shouted.
On the screen, an immense black shadow, like a small mountain, snapped through several large trees and burst into view before Saber with a thunderous crash.
It was a giant over two and a half meters tall, with bronze-colored skin.
His muscles were knotted like rock, packed with explosive power. His eyes were given over wholly to a mad blood-red, with no trace of reason to be found.