The night was deep as ink.
Ryuudou Temple, the ancient monastery crouched atop the mountain, was radiating a suffocating pulse of magical energy.
The entire mountain was wrapped in an invisible barrier, like a slumbering behemoth waiting for its prey to walk into the snare.
At the foot of the mountain, two figures tore through the silence.
Rin Tohsaka wore a red coat, her pretty face taut, and those blue eyes that always carried confidence and pride now held nothing but the resolve of someone who had burned her bridges behind her.
"Archer, are you ready?" she asked in a low voice, her throat dry with tension.
"Tch. Do you really need to ask something so pointless, Rin?"
The red-clad Heroic Spirit beside her, Archer, answered with his usual mocking tone, but those hawk-like eyes carried a gravity she'd never seen in them before.
They were the last of the resistance.
When that man, Seiji Fujiwara, tore off his disguise and revealed his unfathomable power and scheming, the entire chessboard of the Holy Grail War had been overturned.
Lancer had exited the stage, Caster had changed allegiance, Rider had submitted, and even Saber and her Master had been dragged into an abyss of shattered conviction by that man's silver-tongued manipulation.
Now, only they were left.
"The enemy is probably more than one Heroic Spirit," Rin analyzed rapidly. "Caster Medea, Rider Medusa, and that Assassin he controls who's stationed at the temple gate. What we're facing is a hopeless battle of two against three, maybe more."
"So?" Archer shot back flatly. "It's too late to start getting scared now. If you've decided to do this, then don't make that face like you're about to cry, third-rate magus."
"Wh-who's crying!"
Rin choked on that, then forced her chest out.
That's right, who was she? She was the heir of the Tohsaka family, a genius magus even the Clock Tower acknowledged!
Even if the enemy were Satan himself, she would smash open the road to victory with her own gems!
"Let's go, Archer! Show him the magecraft of the Tohsaka family!"
The two hesitated no longer. Their figures blurred into twin afterimages, racing up the long stone steps toward the heart of the magical storm, Ryuudou Temple, in a desperate charge!
...
At the same time, deep within the main hall of Ryuudou Temple.
This place had been remade into the Age of Gods witch's Workshop. The air was thick with ether, and the floor and walls were carved with runes glowing faintly with eerie light.
Seiji Fujiwara sat at ease on an ornate obsidian throne built from magecraft, chin propped on one hand, a playful smile curving his lips.
Before him hung a massive screen formed from a water-mirror technique.
On the screen, the image of Rin Tohsaka and Archer charging up the mountain path played out clearly.
"Heh, so they've come."
He laughed softly, as though appreciating a play whose script had long since been written.
"My Lord, do you need me to step in and crush these two annoying insects?"
An ethereal, alluring voice came from beside him.
Medea, the witch of the Age of Gods, stood in respectful attendance at his side. This former princess of Colchis, the witch of betrayal who in legend could even steal away the Golden Fleece, now looked at Seiji Fujiwara with eyes full of fervent worship and awe.
This man had used knowledge she couldn't comprehend to effortlessly unravel her confusion about the Root.
This man had granted her the "freedom" and "power" she had long craved.
He was no Master.
He was a god.
He was the one true god worthy of her devoting everything to serve.
"No rush." Seiji waved a hand. "The final fireworks would be terribly dull if they bloomed too quickly."
His gaze swept to the other side of the throne.
The purple-haired enchantress, Rider Medusa, stood silent in the shadows like a flawless sculpture. She said nothing, but that restrained yet surging magical energy had already made her stance clear.
[System directive issued: Final cleanup mission, "Twilight of the Hero," is now active.]
[Mission objective: Utterly crush the last resisting force (Rin Tohsaka and Archer), and recover the high-value target Rin Tohsaka.]
[Mission reward: Evaluated comprehensively based on method of defeat and the targets' degree of despair.]
System, you really do understand me, Seiji chuckled inwardly.
He rose slowly to his feet and spread his arms wide, like a monarch embracing the entire night.
"Medea. Medusa."
"Go."
"Let our guests experience the grandest, most magnificent... feast of despair."
"As you command, my Lord."
The figures of the two female Heroic Spirits vanished from the spot in an instant.
Inside the hall, only Seiji Fujiwara remained. He settled back onto the throne and watched with great interest the two figures on the screen about to step into a death trap.
"Come, Rin Tohsaka."
"Let me see how long that so-called genius and pride of yours can hold up against my absolute design."
I do hope you can let me enjoy this a little longer...
-
A thunderous blast erupted.
The mountain gate of Ryuudou Temple shattered with a roar beneath a "Gandr" Rin had concentrated with the power of three gems.
Rubble and splinters scattered in every direction, smoke and dust billowing.
"Good! We broke through!" A flash of joy crossed Rin's face.
But the moment the dust cleared, her smile froze.
Beyond the gate, on the road leading to the main hall, a tall, slender figure stood quietly like a lone pine.
He wore an old-fashioned kimono and held an absurdly long katana, and his whole body gave off the keen, otherworldly aura unique to a swordsman.
The false Assassin, Sasaki Kojirou.
"Oh? To break through Lady Caster's outer barrier is worthy of praise," Sasaki Kojirou said, an easy smile on his face. "However, this road is closed."
"The guardian of the gate, is it..." Archer stepped forward, shielding Rin behind him, his black and white blades already in hand. "Rin, leave this one to me, and you take the chance to..."
"It's useless."
Sasaki Kojirou shook his head, cutting him off.
"In the net my Lord has laid across heaven and earth, there is no such thing as a chance to slip through."
"Your Lord?" Archer's brow furrowed deeper.
This unqualified Servant who should have been summoned by Caster was calling Seiji Fujiwara his "Lord"?
What exactly had that man done to these Heroic Spirits?
"Talk is pointless." Sasaki Kojirou settled into his stance, and the long blade known as the "Monohoshizao" reflected a cold, frigid gleam in the moonlight. "If you wish to pass, first ask the sword in my hand!"
Before the words had even faded, his figure vanished.
The next instant, a silver flash, fast to the very limit, appeared before Archer!
"Tsubame Gaeshi!"
No incantation, no preparation.
A single step, a single swing, three slashing arcs each on a completely different trajectory yet all arriving at once, sealing off every space Archer had to evade!
This was a supreme technique surpassing human skill, reaching into the realm of "True Magic"!
Sparks flew in all directions!
In that flash of lightning, Archer used the twin blades in his hands to precisely block the lethal triple strike. The immense force drove him back half a step, his arms going faintly numb.
So fast! So strong!
This Assassin was far stronger than the records described!
"Rin! Go!" Archer roared, both blades sweeping out as he locked into combat with Sasaki Kojirou.
The clash of blade light and sword shadow engulfed the entire gate in an instant.
Rin gritted her teeth. She knew this was no time to hesitate. She trusted Archer to hold the man off; she had to find the mastermind behind all of this as fast as she could!
She slipped past the two locked in battle, her petite figure darting like a leopard into the temple courtyard.
But the moment she set foot inside the courtyard.
The world changed.
The scenery around her was unchanged, yet the density of magical energy in the air surged tenfold in an instant!
Countless visible lines of magical power webbed across the entire space like a spider's net. Every breath she took, every heartbeat, even the very way the Magic Circuits inside her body operated, all of it seemed to be thoroughly analyzed and seen through by some invisible force.
"Welcome to my Workshop, young lady of the Tohsaka family."
Medea's figure appeared atop the roof of the main hall as if by teleportation. She looked down at Rin from on high, her eyes carrying the mocking amusement of a cat toying with a mouse.
"Here, that Jewel Magecraft you take such pride in is nothing but a child's plaything."
"The domain barrier... of an Age of Gods magus!"
Rin's face went deathly pale in an instant.
She felt like a person stripped naked and thrown out into a frozen wasteland. Here, her magecraft was suppressed without limit. And the enemy's magecraft was amplified without limit!
This was not an even fight at all!
"What's wrong? Where's that pride of yours?" Medea smiled and lightly raised a finger.
"...Rule Breaker!"
A beam of purple light shot from her fingertip, aimed not at Rin herself but at the air around her.
The space twisted with a hum.
To her horror, Rin discovered that the dozen-some gems she had arranged in advance within her clothing, meant for defense and instantaneous bursts of power, all lost their magical energy at the same moment, reduced to a pile of useless stones!
Her trump cards had been crippled in an instant, by a method she couldn't begin to comprehend!
"This... this is impossible!"
Cold sweat slid down her temple.
So this was the power of an Age of Gods magus? This was the confidence behind Seiji Fujiwara?
"Now, do you still think you have any chance of winning?" Medea's voice echoed through the courtyard like a final judgment.
...
On the distant throne, Seiji Fujiwara watched Rin Tohsaka's pretty face filled with shock and terror in the water-mirror, and smiled with satisfaction.
"Yes, that's the expression."
This was exactly what he savored, the process of grinding a genius beneath his heel and crushing her pride bit by bit.
"But the real show has only just begun."
His gaze turned to Archer, who was still fighting the Assassin.
"Let me see, guardian."
"When your one and only hope also falls into despair, what kind of dazzling sparks will you bloom with?"
-
At the gate, the battle had reached a white-hot pitch.
Sasaki Kojirou's sword was fast, precise, vicious. Every stroke left no trace, impossible to track. He was like the purest grandmaster of the sword, taking that single word, "technique," to its absolute extreme.
Archer, for his part, fought him to a standstill with his wealth of combat experience and his endless stream of Projection.
The black and white blades clashed against the Monohoshizao again and again, throwing off a dense, teeth-grating chorus of scraping metal.
"Your sword is impressive," Sasaki Kojirou said sincerely after one exchange, using the force to retreat. "Full of trials and hardship, every move steeped in the scent of blood. You are no ordinary hero."
"Likewise." Archer's breathing had grown ragged too. "Your Tsubame Gaeshi truly lives up to the name of a secret blade. But if this is all you've got..."
His eyes went suddenly sharp.
"...then this ends here!"
The magical energy inside him began to surge violently.
But at that very moment, a scream full of pain and despair came from deep within the temple.
"Aaah!"
It was Rin's voice!
Archer's heart clenched, and his offensive slowed by half a beat.
That one-thousandth-of-a-second opening was all it took!
"Distraction in battle is a fatal mistake!"
Sasaki Kojirou's blade struck like a viper lunging from its den, breaking through Archer's defense in an instant and leaving a wound on his chest deep enough to show bone!
Archer let out a muffled grunt, blood staining his red coat crimson.
"Rin!"
Ignoring his own injury, he looked frantically toward the depths of the courtyard.
There he saw Rin Tohsaka bound by countless purple tentacles of magical energy, suspended in midair. Her Magic Circuits were completely sealed, her face white as paper, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, all ability to fight already lost.
Medea floated before her, toying with a strangely shaped golden dagger that seemed capable of tearing reality's rules apart.
"Archer, your Master is already my captive," Medea's voice carried over clearly. "Now, lay down your weapons and surrender, and perhaps I'll let her die quickly."
"You... you're asking to die!"
Archer's eyes blazed crimson with rage in an instant.
A magical energy so immense it sent shudders through everything erupted from his wounded body, held back not at all!
The air around him began to grow scorching hot.
Across the ground, countless cracks surfaced, as if something were about to break up through the earth!
"Oh? Planning to risk it all?"
On the distant throne, the corner of Seiji Fujiwara's mouth curled into a delighted arc.
"This is the moment I've been waiting for!"
What he wanted to see was precisely the most brilliant light a hero blooms with in the depths of despair!
Archer paid no mind to anyone.
From his mouth began the chant, the one unique aria that represented his entire life.
"I am the bone of my sword."
A fierce wind began to howl, centered on him.
"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."
The sky was dyed the fiery red of dusk. Vast, turning phantoms of gears flickered in and out of sight among the clouds!
"I have created over a thousand blades."
"Unknown to Death."
"Nor known to Life."
"Have withstood pain to create many weapons."
"Yet, those hands will never hold anything."
"So as I pray..."
His voice grew louder and louder, as if declaring his existence to the entire world!
"...Unlimited Blade Works!!!"
As the final line of the chant fell.
The world was utterly rewritten!
Ryuudou Temple was gone. The night was gone.
In their place was an endless, crimson wasteland studded with countless swords, spears, and blades!
In the sky above hung enormous, rust-covered gears.
This was the guardian's only Noble Phantasm, the manifestation of his inner landscape, Unlimited Blade Works!
In this world, he was the absolute ruler!
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