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Morning – Assault Assembly
Shortly afterwards, Archer and I bid farewell to Dorei and Karin.
The two of them leave on Dorei’s motorcycle. He plans to drop Karin near her target first, and then head to the site of his own battle.
Archer and I, of course, don’t need any help from vehicles. In fact, we can cross the distance much faster when we are alone.
This is especially true for Archer, who needs to circle around the castle while keeping her presence hidden.
“Alright. I’ll see you later then, Archer.”
I say this and pat her to the shoulder. Archer flashes me a grin, and nudges my hand with her chin.
It’s almost like watching an especially eager hunting dog.
“Yeah. I’ll show you just how much use I can be. It’s my time to prove once and for all that you made no mistake when it came to giving me a second chance.”
Her answer, as usual, comes with unwavering dedication.
It’s a wish born from uncertainty, and her desire to prove her own value.
Such way of thinking can only be admired.
--------- Though, that being said…
“Good, but… don’t get yourself killed. It’s no longer about being useful or not, Archer. You’re a friend to both Karin and I. So don’t take any unnecessary risks.”
I say this with a decidedly serious expression, one that makes Archer look a bit surprised.
But, then, she simply nods and smiles softly, tapping my chest once with her tiny fist.
“You know you’re talking to a Servant, right? Die now or disappear later, it’s really not that different.”
She speaks a little bitterly, but her face shows nothing but warmth.
“Still… thanks, Rider. I’ll be sure to be careful.”
Melting into her spirit form, she turns around and jumps to the nearby rooftop.
I faintly sense how Archer’s presence grows distant, and eventually disappears completely. As usual, she is quick on her feet, moving like a gust of wind when she wants to.
But, her actions are correct. We can’t afford to dally here.
Sun has made well on its way up the canopy of sky, and soon enough, it’ll be noon. That’s when our assault will start, and the battle against Caster begins.
I cannot remain here alone. I must make haste.
Giving the house one last glance, I make a small wish to myself that this won’t be the last time I see that old building.
Whether my time here, in this Holy Grail War, is long or short, I still want to spend more moments in that warm place, surrounded by the smiles of my friends.
In only a few days, it has grown to be something I can proudly call a home.
And I intend to keep calling it that for as long as I can.
For that reason, and many others… I must now leave. After all, if we allow Caster to be, our lives are in constant danger.
“Yeah, I suppose this is to protect our happiness, too.”
I murmur to myself.
Then, without a second glance back, I change into my spirit form.
My legs push against the ground, and with a single leap, I’m flying over the rooftops.
The city zooms past be as I head out, my eyes already seeking out the vague shape of the forest in the distance.
But, even as I hurry forward, I cannot help a stray thought entering my mind.
Those sandwiches… we never got around eating them.
Even though Ilya specifically prepared them for us for today.
I cannot see it, of course, but even I can feel my expression faltering momentarily.
… That’s another wish, I suppose.
Hopefully, when we get back, we’ll have time to eat those sandwiches.
… All of us, including the person who made them.
………
……
…
Finally, I drop back to the ground, feeling the grass and leaves under my boots.
The change of scenery was fast, to the point I paid no attention to the journey itself. Indeed, it was uneventful to the point I began to wonder if I was truly about to enter a full-scale battle.
But now that I’m in the forest… now that the time is beginning to be up, I feel it.
The rising tension within my heart.
The perspiration of anticipation on my skin.
The restless movement of my toes and fingers.
------- Oh yes, I can feel it once more… this desire to test my might against the great heroes of legends.
To see if my power truly is how I believe it to be, and if I truly am as great as they sang.
I want to put it all on the line once more, to feel that thrill.
And I’m about to. This time, I’m not reacting to an attack made by another. This time, I’m not fighting to simply protect the innocent.
This time, willingly and knowingly, I’m about to wage war against someone who is identified as a “Heroic Spirit.”
… I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel excited.
The forest around the Einzbern castle is as dark and brooding as ever, like an army of giants slowly holding their ranks steady.
Shadows cast to the ground hide all the scurrying little animals that are fleeing from the scene. They can feel it, the breathless wind that announces what is about to happen.
Nature, as uncaring and emotionless as it is, is always quick on the uptake when destruction is about to happen.
After all, it invented the very concept of “destruction.” Why would it not know when its children are about to follow its example?
----- No, most likely, the animals feel the same excitement, but it is simply too much for them to bear.
They prioritize their own survival, and I cannot blame them. After all, this is not their battle, and they have no gain in this.
I wouldn’t say that senseless destruction is purely a human concept but… yes, I suppose that’s it.
Only humans willingly strive for it.
I chuckle at my own thoughts and crack my knuckles. Simply smelling the air tells me I’m skirting around the edge of the pranafield.
Somewhere out there, not many meters from where I’m standing, the earth itself must be slowly twisting thanks to how much magical energy is being generated on a daily basis.
Who knows, it might even be a beautiful sight?
Unfortunately, I have no time to admire it, nor the opportunity to find out. If I were to enter the field before it shut down, it would jeopardize this whole plan.
Therefore I simply carry on, walking forward and keeping my eyes open.
My fingers slowly move back and forth, reaching for air instinctively. It is a habit born from countless situations like this.
I guess it’d be silly to claim I seek to grasp the tension that is building up, but that’s the only explanation I can give.
I want to feel that momentary pulse before it is set off, and seek out how it forms into a singular point before the explosion.
A ritual similar to this must exist to all warriors in one way or another. We are creatures that can anticipate what is coming, and thus, appreciate it even more. We who are familiar with what battle entails know rare chances like this are fleeting moments.
As I push through the undergrowth and peer ahead into the dark forest, I recall the words of the giantess I met two days ago.
“It is obvious for me to search out the strongest enemy I can find.”
In that sense, I think the two of us are fairly similar.
We are summoned, so it is obvious that we fight.
We fight, so it is obvious we seek out the strongest enemies.
We seek out the strongest enemies, so it is obvious that we…
That we…
Hah. What indeed?
The reasons may differ. Enjoyment, glory, honor, desire, lust, madness… we can call our impulses with myriad of titles, and try to justify them if we so wish.
But in the end, I suppose none of that truly does matter.
We do what we want, and that is that. “Why” is a question for later times, for campfires, bards and historians in the far, far future.
It was so now, and it will continue to be so into the end of times. Only the means change shape.
So, let us throw out all those excuses, justifications, reasons and desires.
Let us throw ourselves into battle simply because it exists.
Let us focus on the only thing that matters right here, and right now---!
My fist strikes the nearby tree, cracking it nearly in half.
In that instant, my clothes disappear softly and are replaced by the armor of bronze-colored metals that clad me in their protection.
My eyes focus ahead, where I can see the rising shape of a tower-like shrine.
“… Let us focus on this impulse we call ‘battle’.”
I softly murmur this as I step forward.
I feel as my pulse grows rapid, becoming like a beating war-drum.
The blood that was sleeping for so long awakens with a satisfied roar, knowing that the time is once more.
My hands clench into fists, and grin spreads on my face.
------------ Sasaki Kojiro called me a beast that used civility as a disguise.
I do not exactly agree on that. Not least because the samurai meant it as an insult.
But I think the fundamental thing he was wrong about was…
“Here we go.”
… I never had any disguise to begin with.
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Interlude
Pluck the String
The forest behind the western residential district was not as foreboding as its other parts, but it still resonated with slight sense of danger.
Even the woman in white, now prowling through it, could sense that unnatural creatures had started to use it as their route of passage.
She scoffed at the idea of these supernatural monsters walking mere meters away from everyday people and their everyday lives.
To her, it was just a shining example of how close-minded the people of modern times could be.
There was no sense of wonder, no fear of the unknown that used to exist.
Instead of being treated with a slight sense of dreadful awe, this patch of forest was seen only as another collection of flora and fauna spreading near their houses.
No wonder Caster’s minions and familiars were able to move undetected around the perimeter of the city.
The humans themselves, and their habit of staring at their own navels without a care in the world, made it not only possible but also very easy.
------ She couldn’t help but to feel delighted in such selfishness.
Still, it also made her job that much easier.
There were no hikers to worry about, and she could approach the shrine in relative peace.
The whole forest felt absolutely deserted, save for the few imprints of magic here and there left by the monsters.
Only the rustle of leaves in the wind reached her ears, easing up her tensed-up mind.
“Well, I suppose now is as good a time as any to start wondering what the hell I am doing here?”
The woman in white mutters to herself, while fiddling with her armored left hand.
Setting it ready was best done in relative peace, after all.
Still, she had to admit this was something very unlike her.
Even originally, she had simply wanted to check if that girl had survived Assassin’s retribution, and nothing else.
And yet, after meeting with Rider, her whole plan of action had been derailed.
Before she even knew what sort of toads were escaping from her mouth, she had professed that she felt indebted to the girl, and had promised to repay such a thing.
Later that night, her Master had nearly used all her Command Spells in fit of magnificent annoyance.
“I guess that was something that made the whole fiasco nearly worth it.”
She said this with oddly cheerful bitterness to her tone.
In a way, annoying her own Master had become something of a goal to her. Such people always deserved to be knocked down a peg or two, after all.
But was it really worth all this?
She was essentially working for a Master not her own.
Getting dragged along to a foolishly naïve plan such as this had never been part of her plan. But, just like before, Rider had managed to derail any course of action she had foreseen.
The problem wasn’t even the fact that this plan, and the Master it centered around, Karin, were so naïve. No, naïve fools were something she had some experience in.
… The worst part of it was Rider himself.
He was not naïve, far from it.
No, she was a danger unlike any other. Not only did he believe in the whole crap about debts, friendship and honor, but he actually made such daydreams into reality.
There was not an individual more maddeningly dangerous as that.
The woman in white would have taken an egomaniacal villain any day over such a bright, burning star such as Rider.
At least with the former she could have shot them in the back without a second thought.
But as for the bronze-clad Servant…
… as much as she hated to admit it, she probably would not have been able to do it.
Not because of some twisted sense pity or delusional bond she shared with him.
------- But because she wouldn’t dare to kill someone as rare as him.
“You inspirational bastards are all the same… you become synonymous with our faith in the whole mankind and its future. How am I supposed to kill something like that?”
She mutters to herself and curses softly under her breath.
The fingers in her left hand are clenched into a fist, which causes the sides of the gauntlet to spring up, spreading like a pair of thin wings.
The string tightened to its utmost limit during that same process.
The cynical laughter quietly escaping from her lips is not something she intended.
However, if she did not allow her body to react in some manner of disgust, she knew she would not be able to focus properly.
Many great masters often likened the act of shooting with a bow to killing yourself in a figurative sense. For her, such rituals were simply useless waste of words.
No, for her, the only thing she had to focus on was making the effort to pull the string.
The rest would take care of itself.
She was, after all, the type of person that could not miss even if she honestly tried it. As long as she was aiming at the target, she knew that she would hit it.
That was why she cancelled out all the noise that she heard from her environment. The only things important now were the sun shining straight above her, and the arrow she was pulling from the quiver hidden within her hakama.
The only source of music allowed to her during this time was the beating of her own heart as she put the black arrow, made of catalpa wood and reinforced with magecraft, to the string and pulled.
The light creaking of the string accompanied that pulsating beat.
“It’s because of idiots like you that I’m dragged to doing stuff like this, time and time again… What a load.”
She speaks, her words softer than they should be.
If one had seen the form of the white archer at that moment, there would have been no small amount of confusion created.
After all, there was something inherently wrong with her very image.
The bow growing from her gauntlet, the string residing on the palm-side of the arm, the arrow which radiated ritualistic energy… these were all very understandable for a Heroic Spirit.
No, the problem was the bowman herself.
Her stance was too sloppy to be called professional, yet too perfect to be called amateurish.
The way she carried herself was that of a commoner, but the aura around her echoed with the images of a priestess.
Her eyes held no interest in her target, yet anyone who saw them knew they would never leave it.
If one had to find a name for a being such as her, it would have most likely been a “natural genius.”
--------- “Completed from the very beginning.”
“Sorry, monster.”
She speaks softly as the string reaches its limit.
“I know you would have probably preferred something more akin to a virtuous hero saving a palace, but… it’s a bit impossible to me. Something as dirty as I cannot purify anything.”
A small smile floats to her lips, and her gaze hardens. The tip of the holy arrow rests against the back of her hand.
“But still… know that all evil shall be dispelled, when the string of this bow twangs.”
Then, on the second that the sun reaches its apex on the sky…
“---- Ha!”
The arrow is released from over a kilometer away from its intended target, and tears through the forest with a howl not unlike that of a mad beast.
Interlude Out
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Moment of Truth – Thoughts to send Home
I kick the ground.
Without a moment’s notice, I run, no, jump like a bullet razing the whole forest in its wake. The undergrowth is uprooted thanks to the wind generated by my charge.
The target I’m aiming for is only couple of hundred meters from my current position.
I see it, in all its monstrous glory.
I suppose Dorei was right, as always.
The white fur, the sickle-like claws, the mark of a king on its forehead… yes, I think I know exactly what this beast waiting for me is. A true guardian as its name suggest, it is something even I cannot take lightly.
Not because I wouldn’t be able to defeat it, no.
--- But because taking it lightly would be an insult for a creature of such magnificence.
It heard my charge, of course. I brought down the forest behind me, so of course it heard me.
What surprises me is that it is already intercepting me when there’s about hundred meters to the shrine.
The tower-like structure rising before me is adorned with colors of white, black and red, like many buildings of traditional importance in this country.
In a way, that, if anything, makes it clear why Caster seems to be so powerful.
Chances are very good that he is a Heroic Spirit of this very land.
… But, I cannot allow my thoughts to wonder. No, what I must focus on right now is the beast before me.
The two of us, the two carnivorous animals about to collide, are the only things that matter in this moment.
Its white, blinding light of charge, mane of magical energy trailing behind it.
My bronze, scorching light of charge, enveloping my fists like a fiery blaze.
The two will collide, and for better and for worse, the battle will begin.
Therefore, just before that, I can only send out one wish, one hope, one thought.
A small desire to see them survive this ordeal placed before us.
A last speck of worry spent for the sake of someone else…!
- Karin, be safe!
- Archer, be safe!
- Dorei, be safe!
- Whitey, be safe!
Author's Note: So, finally the battle is underway.
Incidentally, this choice does not affect the next scene, but it's placed here. After all, while the following updates will show the battles from the perspectives of all the characters (not only Rider), only the person chosen here will here will have two interludes to elaborate more about what happens.
Originally Posted by Arashi_Leonhart
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