Chapter 11: Day 2, Morning
The Gods Return from Twilight
Underneath the meat processing plant.
"I won't mind if you kill me? How many humans do you believe would agree to that?"
Bazdilot asked the homunculus intruder without changing his expression.
She, on the other hand, appeared genuinely confused.
"What? I don't see why I should treat them as humans if they won't do what I tell them."
It did not sound like a joke or sarcasm.
At that point, it became clear that they would not reach an understanding. Bazdilot, however, remained expressionless and decided to continue the conversation in order to learn about his opponent. Alkeides, still materialized, waited behind him. It was unusual for a Master to take the lead, but both Alkeides and Bazdilot judged that, as Alkeides' primary weapon was a bow, it was better for him to hang back and survey the field.
"Is that how an Einzbern homunculus thinks?"
It was possible that an advanced homunculus might consider itself to be above humans. Francesca had told him many things about the Einzberns. Still, something about this homunculus' ideology leanings seemed off. To begin with, the aura cloaking her body was not that of any homunculus Bazdilot knew.
"The Einzberns? Oh, you mean the people who made this vessel? They're not as good as us, but, well, I suppose they did their best."
"…'Vessel'?"
"Yes. Without it, I would have had to possess some other human by force… but then our souls would have mixed and caused slight shifts in my memories and personality. I don't have to worry about that with this body. It's almost like it was born to be a divine vessel."
A divine vessel. The instant those words left the woman's mouth, Bazdilot felt a chill in the air behind him.
"…A divine vessel?" Alkeides asked the woman, drawing his bow.
"That's right."
"You claim to be a god, then?"
"A goddess, actually, but… Hey!"
The Einzbern homunculus' eyes widened as she spoke. A thunderous roar passed by Bazdilot. A gale sprung up in the room. A death-clad arrow flew at the self-proclaimed goddess, drawing in the magical energy in the workshop.
The woman appeared flustered, but quickly released magical energy from her hand to envelop the arrow, which then began to make loops around her as if guided by invisible rails in the air. Then, without losing velocity, the arrow Alkeides had fired flew back at Bazdilot.
"…"
Bazdilot tilted his head slightly to the right and dodged the arrow by a hair's breadth. The shockwave assaulted his skin, eardrums and eyeballs, but the mystically-reinforced surface of his body repelled it with brute force. Behind him, Alkeides grabbed the arrow with one hand. A moment later, a tremor ran through the air of the workshop.
Having viewed the sequence of events, Bazdilot narrowed his eyes.
No special magecraft. She parried Alkeides' shot with pure magical energy control.
At that point, neither Bazdilot nor Alkeides believed the woman in front of them to be a homunculus mage. Bazdilot did not know who or what she really was — he could not judge the truth of her claim to be a "goddess" — but it was at least reasonable to consider her as "something" with power to rival a Servant. Behind him, Alkeides seemed to have reached the same conclusion. A ripple of searing hate reached Bazdilot through the path of magical energy between them, prompting him to consider what he could do to restrain Alkeides.
The self-proclaimed goddess and the avenger ignored Bazdilot as they exchanged words.
"That wasn't very polite. You must be as arrogant as an eastern emperor, shooting at a goddess like that."
"Which of us lacks manners, woman who names herself a goddess in my presence? I demand to know why you have so rudely intruded in our base of operations."
"Oh? Isn't this a Holy Grail War? I'm neither a Master nor a Servant, but I'm free to ally myself with any faction I choose…"
At that point, a dangerous glint entered the homunculus' eye and her hand produced countless arrow-shaped bolts of light.
"It's only natural for me to help eliminate the detestable opposing forces, wouldn't you agree?"
She spit the words out lightly, but there was no emotion in her voice. Something in the woman's attitude almost suggested a mechanical doll attempting to simulate humanity.
In the same instant, the innumerable arrow-shaped bundles of magical energy launched themselves at Alkeides… only to vanish right in front of Bazdilot and reappear from a wall in a different place, flying straight at the homunculus woman.
The woman made one downward flap of her hand without uttering a word. All the arrows turned downward, dispersing magical energy, and vanished before reaching the floor.
"S-spatial… labyrinthization…"
The mage who had, up to that point, hidden herself in the shadows of the entrance behind the woman who called herself a goddess spoke. The goddess heard her apparent companion and addressed Bazdilot with a fearless grin.
"Finally decided to activate your wards? You're certainly easygoing, making a maze when I'm already right in front of you."
"Hardly," Bazdilot responded dispassionately to the goddess' contemptuous tone. "This is its proper application."
Bazdilot remained expressionless as he spread his arms and emitted magical energy from both hands. The roof of the underground workshop writhed open to reveal a bluish spring sky. The entire meat processing plant was twisting into an entirely different form. A moment later, vicious demonic beasts appeared from the ceiling, which had twisted open in a spiral pattern, and entered freefall. It was as if the entire plant had become a gigantic carnivorous beast that was trying to devour the people inside it.
Haruri, who had been cowering behind Filia, could not suppress an exclamation at the sight.
"…Im-impossible… Such a large-scale defense mechanism…"
He's partially transformed it into an otherworld…?
If he can create a defense mechanism on this scale, why didn't he start by…
That was as far as Haruri's thoughts got before Filia spoke.
"Hmm… I see."
She matter-of-factly considered the peculiarities of her enemy's workshop while observing the falling demonic beasts with annoyance.
"This workshop isn't for keeping intruders out; it was designed from the ground up to stop anyone who enters from leaving… It gives you a glimpse into the twisted personality of its maker."
Filia grinned broadly, raised her hand in the direction of the plummeting beasts… and ostentatiously loosed an arrow of magical energy.
X X
Coalsman Special Corrections Center.
"…The workshop in the industrial district is active?"
After receiving his subordinate's report, Faldeus strode to a corner of the monitor room.
His Servant, Assassin, was currently en route to the Scradio Family's headquarters on the West Coast in order to assassinate Galvarosso Scradio. That left Faldeus unprotected. As a result, he was determined to be thorough with his workshop's defenses and with gathering intelligence. He had hoped that there would be no major developments, but it appeared that the world had not heard his prayers — things had been hectic since early morning.
To begin with, the Servant — apparently Assassin — who had assaulted the police station had returned to the mansion which was now Sigma's base of operations. Saber and a woman who appeared to be his Master had also arrived there, and were now reportedly sleeping in a guest room.
Incomprehensible.
Faldeus had asked Sigma if it would be possible to dispose of them, but the response had come that it would be difficult, as Assassin was wary of Sigma. Accordingly, Faldeus had instructed Sigma to propose an alliance in order to acquire information, as well as to challenge the King of Heroes and Lancer, his trusted friend who was conjectured to possess equal power. The exchange, however, had ultimately served only to confuse Faldeus. He had asked if Sigma had ever managed to identify the Servant he had summoned. The answer he had received after a few seconds of silence had defied reason.
"…Chaplin. Lancer Charlie Chaplin. That's the Heroic Spirit I summoned."
"…Sorry, could you repeat that?"
"Lancer Charlie Chaplin. I will ascertain his Noble Phantasm and skills before long. I've determined that using a Command Seal to force him to talk is not a good strategy. Excuse me."
At that point the communication had cut off, leaving Faldeus to cradle his head for a while.
Chaplin.
What on Earth…? Is that possible…?
The King of Comedy, a Lancer? Why?
Is he lying? No… Even if he is, Chaplin still wouldn't make sense. What the hell is going on in this Grail War?
He had still been wondering when he had been brought the report that "the Scradio Family's composite mystic workshop has activated."
"…This is why I opposed letting Francesca choose personnel."
Faldeus had initially considered making under-the-table deals with various Clock Tower factions and temporarily headhunting mages from them. There were any number of candidates — Augustus Henrik Asplund from Valué, Krast Lenny Wegner from Kishua, Valeia Cyclephy from Mystile, Mizaria Clowrum from Chimera, etcetera. Mage's mages who were nonetheless on a level that they could completely control. Faldeus' original scheme had been to manipulate such people from behind the scenes.
Because the overall plan called for making an enemy of the Clock Tower, however, a variety of "strays" had ended up participating as Masters through Francesca's mediation. Even Sigma, who had some ties to Faldeus, ended up causing chaos, as their earlier conversation proved. By the time he heard a report that Haruri was being lead toward Bazdilot's workshop by an Einzbern homunculus, it was enough to make him regret sending Assassin away.
Instantaneous movement may be possible with the use of a Command Seal, but all the way from the West Coast?
In a real Grail War, it would be one thing. But in this fake Grail War, forced into being through absurdity piled on absurdity, not even Faldeus, on the side of the masterminds, could predict what irregularities might occur.
Damn Haruri Borzak… Just when it seems like she's going to offer Bazdilot an alliance, she turns around and starts a battle out of nowhere. Or is this the Einzbern homunculus' doing…?
Faldeus' head ached. He was about to heave a sigh when his subordinate, the female mage Aludra, called out to him.
"The workshop appears to be at maximum deployment. It seems that a ward was simultaneously erected around the entire industrial district to keep people away, but I've set additional repelling wards around the perimeter just to be safe. We've also received a communication from the police station saying that members of Clan Calatin are en route."
"Roger that. They'd best keep their distance; they could easily be devoured by the workshop."
"…Setting wards around a workshop of that size and treating it to become an otherworld… I can hardly believe it."
"Oh, the area they turned into an otherworld isn't that large."
Faldeus casually explained the trick in response to his subordinate's misgivings.
"I've heard that, during the fourth Holy Grail War in Fuyuki, the previous Lord El-Melloi constructed enough of a labyrinth in his workshop to turn part of a hotel corridor into an otherworld. Even for a mage of his abilities furnished with three magical energy reactors tuned for his use, however, that was the limit. It might be different for Caubac Alcatraz, the renowned labyrinth mage of antiquity, but it's just not possible for a mage to transform an entire city block into an otherworld."
Faldeus shook his head as he matter-of-factly explained the situation. Or perhaps he was attempting to isolate himself from the present confusion by talking about what was, to him, common sense.
"Bazdilot only activated the workshop. It's actually the joint creation of the Scradio Family's mages. I doubt that even Bazdilot can leave when it's in full operation."
"A joint creation, sir?"
"Yes. The product of a number of mages combining their fields of expertise — otherworlds, illusions, wards, the installation of demonic beasts. Individually they can't match the defensive capabilities of the previous Lord El-Melloi's workshop, but Bazdilot possesses uncommon magical energy. They made a stunt on that scale made possible by having him activate other mages' workshops through brute force.
"It's not just that plant," Faldeus continued, watching the writhing meat processing plant on the monitor. "Scradio Family mages have worked on all the surrounding factories as well. They all function to support the workshop in that meat processing plant. As a result, it would be difficult for even an accomplished mage to escape the workshop when it's in that state."
"Then, the Einzbern homunculus and Miss Borzak are helpless?"
"Not at all," Faldeus immediately contradicted his subordinate as if his earlier praise of the workshop had been a lie.
"It would be one thing if they'd gone in alone. With the Heroic Spirit Haruri summoned, however, it's a different story. The workshop in Fuyuki I mentioned was destroyed along with the entire hotel, but if a Servant well-versed in magecraft had challenged the labyrinth, they would have broken through it sooner or later."
Faldeus' opinion on this matter was the opposite of what it had been ten years earlier. A modern labyinthized workshop was difficult to penetrate; even a Heroic Spirit would need to exploit a weak point or back door, he had thought. Now that he had accessed the data from the puppet his ancestor had left behind — the record of the third Fuyuki Holy Grail War — and had contact with the Heroic Spirit Hassan-I Sabbah, however, he was in no doubt. A maze of that level would not work on a powerful Heroic Spirit.
Although I doubt that weak Avenger in the record of the third Fuyuki war could do anything about it, Faldeus thought as he turned his attention to a monitor.
"In any case, if she summons her Servant to break out of the workshop, it will be a golden opportunity for us to observe its abilities."
Without taking his eyes off the monitor showing a familiar's bird's eye view of the meat processing plant, Faldeus contacted a subordinate about one other matter.
"…Cattle calling Thorn. How do things look on your end?"
"No activity. Two heat sources inside the mansion, apparently humans. Based on magical energy readings, it looks like two materialized Servants as well."
"Two… There should be three Heroic Spirits, including the one Sigma summoned… Are there any dematerialized?"
I can't tell. I confirmed a Servant who appears to be Saber through a second floor window, but there are strange fluctuations in the magical energy readings… Almost like multiple overlapping spirit forms…"
Faldeus was just about to ask his subordinate for a more detailed report, when…
"Fluctuations? What do you mean? Send me the exact…"
"What's wrong?"
The subordinate was suspicious of the way Faldeus' words suddenly cut off, but his question never reached Faldeus' ears. Faldeus' eyes were fixed on the monitor displaying the meat processing plant, where he could see something impossible writhing.
"…Cattle calling Thorn. Leave the minimum number of personnel there and head for the industrial district ASAP."
After ending the call with the bare minimum of instructions, Faldeus glared at the monitor. He knew what Heroic Spirit Haruri had planned to summon. After all, it had been Faldeus who went through the state to prepare her catalyst. The thing he saw, however, looked like nothing he had anticipated. To begin with, it looked more like an animal or an insect than a Heroic Spirit. It's body was also covered in pistons, wires and cables, and it was large enough to stomp a small prefabricated house flat with ease.
Faldeus narrowed his eyes at the "thing" and muttered to himself.
"Haruri… What the hell did you summon…?"
X X
Several minutes earlier. The meat processing plant.
"Master, will these wards hinder my movements?"
Although his words were calm, Alkeides seemed ready to unleash his full power at the slightest provocation. Given that a woman had appeared claiming to be a goddess — one of his sworn enemies — that was to be expected. Bazdilot made no move to rebuke or restrain him; he just stood between the woman and Alkeides and spoke dispassionately.
"They have directionality, but it isn't perfect. Still, a little hindrance shouldn't be a problem for you. If you have the strength to trample a goddess, show it to me here."
"…That goes without saying."
Alkeides began moving toward the upper part of the shifting meat processing plant in order to deliver a blow to the goddess, who continued to deal with the downpour of demonic beasts. Bazdilot sprang into action at the same time. He drew a crude pistol from a pocket and began a slow walk toward the female mage who had appeared with the woman.
"Ah…"
Haruri's eyes met those of the approaching owner of the workshop, and she was assailed by a sensation of blood leaving her body. Bazdilot had the air of what a chimera born only to kill ends up as. His gaze filled Haruri with fresh conviction that she had come to a place she could never leave. Physically, she could not go back outside. There was no going back in terms of her situation, either. She regretted allowing events to carry her to this point. At the same time, however, she considered that, without Filia, she would have lost her life anyway.
In that case, what should she do with the life she had gained? The answer that came to her was, of course, her revenge on mage society.
"…"
As Haruri recalled her own past, the fear faded from her eyes and she began to gradually regain her cool. She hated mage society, but this ability to switch over her emotions spoke to her talent as a mage. Be that as it may, her mind was now filled with the determination to use everything she had been blessed with to fight her way free of that place.
Oh, that's right. My plan was always to rage as much as I could in this world and disappear.
What am I afraid of?
Perhaps Bazdilot noticed the shift in Haruri's mentality, because he stopped walking and, keeping his gun trained on her, posed a question.
"Was it your idea to come here?"
"…Filia suggested it. I just… followed her."
"I see. So, that thing is called Filia… What is it?"
It seemed that Filia's abnormality worried Bazdilot after all. Haruri shook her head, keeping her nerves trained on the muzzle pointed at her.
"I owe her my life. That's all I know and, right now, that's all I need."
"Well now," Filia laughed as she went on wiping out demonic beasts some distance away, "you can say some delightful things, despite all the time you spent cowering. Well, it's true that, as long as you realize my charm, you don't need to understand me."
Out of nowhere, an arrow flew at her blind spot. As before, however, the dense magical energy that surrounded her deflected its trajectory, hurling it into the ongoing torrent of demonic beasts. The beasts it struck were blasted to smithereens. Bazdilot's Servant — presumably Archer — fired more arrows under cover of the spraying blood.
"Nothing you do will…?!"
Filia swallowed her words in mid-sentence. Reflected in her eyes were several dozen arrows flying out of the sky that peeked through the open ceiling. Who knew when he had found time to fire them. Based on the fact that their trajectories precisely targeted Filia, however, it seemed unlikely that he had simply shot countless shafts into the air and waited for them to come down. Then, Filia noticed — the bronze arrows were transforming as they fell, becoming birds with metal wings and beaks.
"Are those… the Stymphalides, familiars of the western war god…?"
The sight of the arrows transforming one by one into giant birds with bronze-coated beaks, wings and talons was fantastical. As the birds were rushing at her full of bloodlust, however, Filia had no time to be fascinated.
"…Not half bad."
Filia spoke as if she was impressed, but she wiped all expression from her face as the innumerable birds attacked.
Haruri, meanwhile, was distracted by the onslaught. No sooner had she looked away than a bullet fired from Bazdilot's pistol, aimed squarely at the girl mage's heart.
That bullet, however, never reached Haruri. Bazdilot's ammunition was crafted to pierce advanced defensive magecraft, but it ricocheted off an invisible wall.
A moment later, "it" materialized in the center of the workshop.
Something like static crackled through the space between Bazdilot and Haruri. A giant mass of rust-colored iron appeared, forming a wall between the two.
Meanwhile, in another part of the workshop, another mass of iron scythed through the air above Filia, smashing all the bronze birds born from arrows in a single strike.
The static spread to a wider area. At last, an enormous shape fully revealed itself in the workshop.
The most abnormal thing about it was its size. The Berserker that appeared before Haruri was far huger than when she had first set eyes on it, having achieved truly monstrous proportions.
X X
An underground facility.
In a room where the sun did not shine, a woman froze in the act of tending to a horse.
"What's wrong, Polyte? Your magical energy went a little wild for a moment there."
Hearing a woman's voice from the room next door, the woman called Polyte answered with some confusion.
"Just now… I sensed my father's cherished birds… but they soon vanished."
"Birds?"
"The Stymphalides — monstrous birds that my father, the god of war, was said to have loved... Although I hear that he drove them from the peninsula…"
"I see. Maybe 'he' summoned them, then? He had your belt, didn't he? Still, if they've vanished, I doubt it would be a good idea to drop everything and rush over."
"Polyte" considered briefly, then nodded her assent to the voice's ready answer.
"I suppose so. Don't worry, Master; I won't act on my own again," the woman declared with dignity. Her cheeks reddened slightly as she continued.
"And Master… calling me 'Polyte' is, well…"
"What? Why? You're Hippolyte, so 'Polyte.' Oh, would 'Hippo' be better?"
"…Polyte is fine."
The Rider Class Servant Hippolyte heaved an exasperated sigh. Her attitude hinted that she was less annoyed than embarrassed by the nickname. A serious look suddenly entered her eyes as turned them back to the direction the presence had come from.
Hippolyte did not normally excel in sensing presences. She was, however, sensitive to any that resembled the Noble Phantasm she wore — the war belt she had inherited from her father.
Polyte supposed that Alkeides was involved in a battle. She refocused and turned back to her horse. All the while gritting her teeth at the thought of the great hero she would one day have to settle things with — or rather, of the avenger he had sunk to.
X X
The meat processing plant.
"Oh, you protected me while you were at it? Good boy."
Filia looked up at "it," surveying the flock of crushed bronze birds with a faint smile.
It was Haruri's Servant, which had thus far kept its form and presence hidden. No one, however, was more shocked by its appearance than Haruri herself.
"What?"
It's gotten… even bigger than before?
On the way to the plant, when it had been crawling on buildings, it had been roughly the size of an elephant. Now, however, it had completed a transformation into a mechanical spider gigantic enough to wrap its legs around even the enormous trailers used to transport an elephant to a zoo. Although it did not appear to be making any large movements, the sounds of spinning gears and metal scraping against metal still sounded from it and its eyes blazed with their usual white-hot light.
Then, a voice like a record player with a rusty needle, the same voice that Haruri had first heard, resounded in Bazdilot's workshop.
"EEEEennNNNe… eEEEeeeENennnennNEEEMmimimimie."
Berserker's body shook as it roared, trying to make some appeal.
Haruri was perplexed.
"Come on, Haruri!" A grinning Filia called out to her. "You're his Master, so hurry up and give him an order."
"What…?"
"He's asking who the enemy is. If you leave him alone, I'm pretty sure he'll think all the little children apart from you and me are enemies and demolish the city. Is that alright with you?"
At that, Haruri hurriedly turned back to Berserker.
Designate an enemy. That was what Berserker's blazing eyes were telling her as it continued to stand between her and Bazdilot, shielding her.
Bazdilot had fired many more bullets, sometimes using magically-induced refraction to target Haruri's blind spots, but cables that sprouted from Berserker's body swatted every shot aside.
And Berserker was slowly vanishing into thin air. Even the sound of it was disappearing. The "pressure" it exerted, however, remained in workshop.
This is different from the concealment Filia performed in the city earlier. Even I can't see it.
Can this Heroic Spirit turn invisible under its own power…?
Haruri gulped. It was coming home to her that she had made a contract with a shocking Heroic Spirit.
Tell this Berserker who the enemy was, Filia had said. She felt that she was being tested. Could she kill a person, even an enemy Master?
Haruri pondered. Like a mage, she stifled her emotions and froze her trembling heart.
Would she give the order? The order to kill?
Would she, like a mage, free herself from the ethics of reality? Or would she prattle on about justified self defence, as if to openly declaring that she was still human? Even though she had thrown herself into the Grail War?
"…"
After a brief indecision, she shouted at the invisible Berserker.
"Berserker! The enemy is this mage's workshop! Please… smash it to bits!"
The area reverberated with Berserker's creaking and its grating cry, as if it was pleased to be ordered.
Filia, who had leapt to Haruri's side without her noticing, quietly laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Hya?!"
Haruri let out a cry of surprise. Filia narrowed her eyes.
"Well now, you dodged that nicely," she said, smiling kindly at Haruri. "You didn't outright order him to kill."
"…Th-that's not what I…"
"Oh, don't misunderstand me; I'm not blaming you."
Filia grinned broadly as she dispatched the surviving demonic beasts one after the other with arrows of magical energy. Then, without her smile faltering at all, she matter-of-factly declared:
"I mean, if you were the kind of girl who could give the order to kill that easily, you'd fall into the category of 'mage,' not 'human,' and then…"
The end of her sentence was blotted out by sounds of destruction. The invisible Berserker must have begun to rampage. The nearby walls and floors were crushed. It demolished the entrance to a corridor that had been partially transformed into an otherworld by brute force.
"Now, you leave the rest to Berserker and run. I'll have to be cautious dealing with that mage with the scary face and the twisted Heroic Spirit; if I don't kill them carefully, the 'mud' will fly everywhere…" Filia said as she leapt again and vanished through a break in the rubble.
Haruri broke out in a cold sweat as she watched her. She didn't need to be told to throw herself at the doorway now that it was no longer an otherworld. Almost as if she was fleeing Filia, rather than Bazdilot or his bow-wielding Servant.
Amid the roar of destruction, she had caught the end of what the smiling Filia had said.
"I mean, if you were the kind of girl who could give the order to kill that easily, you'd fall into the category of 'mage,' not 'human,' and then…
"Honestly, there'd be no point keeping you alive."
It had been no joke. She was certain of that.
Haruri was still grateful to Filia for saving her. At the same time, however, she was deeply afraid of her. A question that she had pondered many time before reoccurred to her.
What in the world have I summoned?
"…"
It can't have dematerialized, Bazdilot decided. It was probably an optical camouflage ability. Even the sound disappearing must be due to one of the Heroic Spirit's Skills, or possibly to that self-proclaimed "goddess."
Bazdilot judged that, if it had dematerialized inside his workshop, then, Servant or not, it would have suffered heavy damage from the wards and magecraft. He surmised that the "thing" — he could not tell if it was a Heroic Spirit or a monster — had been isolating its form, sounds and magical energy from the beginning.
After a brief pause, Bazdilot reached a coldhearted decision and telepathically communicated it to Alkeides.
"This workshop will likely be destroyed. You may go all out."
"Are you sure?" Alkeides asked. "You'll lose that device as well."
"Not a problem," Bazdilot responded without hesitation. "The Family is already capable of mass-producing it.
"Any Mana Crystals we produce now would just be a drop in the bucket. Don't worry; our current supply was evacuated the moment the workshop's defense mechanisms activated. I wouldn't be able to show my face to the Scradio Family if I lost it all due to my own stinginess."
Having dispassionately made up his mind to abandon something, Bazdilot performed reinforcement magecraft on his own body and leapt into the flying rubble.
"Either way, now that we've made this much of a scene, Faldeus and Orlando will take action. You making a bigger scene won't change anything."
"So long as our opponent calls herself a goddess — be the truth what it may — I have no intention of taking the secrecy of magecraft into consideration."
"I don't care. Arrangements are in place to dispose of the whole city if it comes to that. Faldeus will activate them if the need arises, whatever Francesca and the police chief think.
"It's only a sacrifice of eight hundred thousand people," Bazdilot questioned Alkeides, his voice still impassive. "Even the Clock Tower would approve it in exchange for magical secrecy. But are you prepared to make it?"
"Naturally," Alkeides answered the probing question without hesitation. "It's a fair price to pay for the destruction of the gods."
Then, Alkeides unleashed his power. In order to bring the hammer down on the woman who called herself a goddess and the Servant of the mage who seemed to be her underling.
It did not matter if they were foreign gods, different from the bitter enemies he knew.
X X
The wetland mansion.
"Don't stick your head out the window, Ayaka. Snipers are scary, you know? Even I was shot dead by Pierre."
"I wouldn't stick my head out if you asked me to."
Ayaka and Saber were going over the situation while hiding themselves deep inside the mansion.
When Ayaka heard from Sigma that the mansion was "surrounded by a special forces unit," she had first assumed that it was SWAT or some other police unit in pursuit. According to Sigma, however, they were pawns of the mages who had organized this Holy Grail War.
"Part of the US government conspiring with mages? Is this some kind of fantasy movie?"
"Don't be like that, Ayaka. People in power and mages make a good combination, you know? In the shadow of the great King of Knights was the flower mage who brought him into the world. I may not have had a court mage myself, but I did have an odd fellow who followed me around."
"…You mean Saint-Germain?" Ayaka could not help blurting out in spite of how nervous she had been to bring up the name earlier.
"You're well-informed. Is he famous?"
Saber looked surprised. Ayaka was just wondering how to explain when Sigma reappeared in the doorway.
"Seventy percent of the unit was just transferred to another location. The only ones left here are observers. So, if you want to move, I think now's the time."
"Transferred?"
Ayaka had a hard time keeping step with Sigma's matter-of-fact demeanor.
He was a participant in the Grail War and he had been in combat with Assassin when they had met him the night before, but he had not seemed immediately hostile. Saber had begun persuading him to "form an alliance" and "sit at the same round table." "As long as it's an anti-war pact," Sigma had surprisingly responded, with the result that they had ended up staying together in the mansion.
Ayaka heaved a big sigh and wondered how things had ended up like this.
To begin with, Saber had made a temporary agreement with the green-haired Heroic Spirit "while they dealt with mud and sickness." He had seemingly made a deal with Assassin, who had also been present, as well.
"I cannot forgive you for your deeds in life," Assassin has said. "Still, I am aware that you fought alongside one of the great chiefs. Therefore, I will spare you until we have eliminated that demon."
It seemed that they had avoided a fight to the death for the moment.
Before Ayaka had a chance to pick her jaw up off the floor, Assassin has suggested that, if they needed a base, there was a suitable house in the wetlands. Apparently the "demon" might return to it, so they had ended up going together.
After that, umm, there was a light in the window, so Assassin went to take a look. A little while later there was a big bang and a flash from inside the room…
Ayaka had still been confused while Saber conducted negotiations. By the time she regained her senses, the situation had changed.
Ayaka felt that she really was just being dragged around. At the same time, she was torn between being ashamed of her own cowardice and grateful to Saber for protecting her.
She had fallen asleep with those thoughts. But then had come that dream, and after all that they were apparently up against a special forces unit.
I can't understand the people who willingly participate in the Grail War, she thought as she questioned Sigma.
"Wouldn't selling us out put you in a better position?"
It was a blunt question, but Sigma answered it.
"Faldeus is the type to eliminate you as soon as he's done with you. If it comes to that, I'd like to have ties to people like you as well."
"So we're insurance, then… But isn't there a chance that you'll cut us loose as soon as you're done with us?"
"I won't deny it. That's why I don't mind if you keep your guards up with me. I don't trust you with my whole heart, so it's fine if you don't trust me with your whole head."
Ayaka sighed at Sigma's frank manner of speaking. She was wondering what she ought to ask him when Saber broke in.
"You said that seven tenths of the force moved. Has something happened?"
"Apparently a monster is on a rampage in the factory district."
"A monster?! You must tell me more about…"
Oh, this looks bad.
Ayaka hurriedly tried to stop the conversation, but she was too late.
"I don't know if it's someone's Heroic Spirit or a creature summoned by a Heroic Spirit, but according to a communication I intercepted, a monster about the size of this house is destroying the factory district."
Once she was sure Sigma had finished speaking, Ayaka turned slowly to look at Saber. She saw a grown man whose eyes were shining like a little boy's.
"Saber."
"Yes? What is it, Ayaka?"
"Do you want to go?" Ayaka asked bluntly.
"…What are you saying, Ayaka?!" Saber answered, avoiding her eyes. "I do want to go reenact the slaying of the demon cat, shield in hand! In fact, I'd absolutely love to! But I can't go dragging you into danger, now, can I?"
"You took to me into a forest with other Servants without warning yesterday."
"I suppose I did… But still… It is a monster…"
They may only have known each other for a few days, but there were some things that Ayaka understood about Saber. He was basically a giant cat, acting on spinal reflex and with unbelievable energy. He would happily pounce on a tuft of green foxtail swaying in the breeze dozens of kilometers away if it caught his interest. But for all that, he was kind. And so, he ended up torn between his own desires and his concern for Ayaka.
Getting dragged around is a pain, Ayaka thought, but being a burden is even worse.
Just as she was about to say something to Saber… she saw "it" out of the corner of her eye.
"…!"
Cold sweat broke out on her face. Her breathing became spontaneously ragged.
Why…?
There's no elevator here…!
A girl wearing a red hood, lingering on the bed. She slowly turned her face toward Ayaka, but the hood concealed her eyes and expression. The girl's mouth moved slowly. Ayaka had a feeling that it was about to break into a grin. Ayaka was ready to scream in terror.
"What's wrong? Ayaka?"
At that point, Saber called out to her and she regained the reason she had been about to lose. The girl in the red hood vanished from the bed, leaving only Saber and Sigma staring at Ayaka's face in confusion.
"No, it's nothing. So, what are we going to do? Go take a look?"
Ayaka turned serious and made the suggestion herself. Before Saber could answer, however, Sigma interrupted.
"This is just advice, but it would be better if you didn't."
"Why?"
Sigma prefaced his response to Ayaka's question with, "I received another communication earlier," before adding a supplement concerning the current situation.
"It sounds like my real employer is up to something."
"Your employer… Isn't that a US special forces group?"
"I'm not contractually obligated to maintain confidentiality, but it's still my duty. So, I can't give you the details, but… at the very least, it definitely won't be anything good. You'd better stay away from there for a while if you don't want to be caught up in it."
At that point, Sigma fell silent for a moment. Ayaka could not be sure if what he said next was meant as a joke or not.
"Of course… it was probably too late for both of us the moment we got near this city during all this."
X X
Somewhere dark.
Almost no outside light penetrated Francesca's workshop. Monitors were the only sources of illumination.
The workshop's owner, Francesca, was scattering pastries and bags of sweets across the disheveled bed as she squared off against her Servant, the boy Prelati.
"If that's how it is, I'll have to give you an order as your Master, you know? …Speaking of which, don't you think giving yourself an order is an awfully perverse pleasure? How does it feel on the receiving end?"
"It's unspeakable; a mix of envy and masochism, like I might have a gestalt collapse in the midst of intoxication. Care to trade places tomorrow?"
"It sounds lovely, but I can't. I mean, you'd go and start a game like stealing my Command Seals and making me kill myself instead the moment we switched, wouldn't you?"
"You got that right! I'd expect nothing less of me! You're a tricky one!" The boy Prelati cackled, slumping against the wall.
"So?" He continued. "What's your order? I can pretty well guess, of course."
"And you guess right! I want my Servant Prelati to go work out a peaceful solution to that war of the monsters in the factory district by force! Wow! Doesn't that sound fun?"
"A normal Servant wouldn't want anything to do with this, even if you did use a Command Seal."
"But you'll go, won't you?"
Francesca smiled impishly at her male self. The boy Prelati responded with an impish grin of his own and nodded.
Francesca rapped the floor with the point of her umbrella, as if to say that a contract had been sealed. The wall that the boy Prelati was leaning against drew back with a mechanical click. The wall then slid aside like the door of a train, breaking the workshop's isolated from the outside world.
Light, light, light flooded into the room, accompanied by a transparent indigo color. Francesca beheld the white radiance of the sun and a deep sky blue harmony. That is to say, an infinite expanse of firmament, more vibrant than the sky seen from above ground.
The boy Prelati, meanwhile, tumbled out as he had been leaning. A different view met his eyes.
Endless red earth spread out below him. The city looked like a mound of salt spilled on the barren plain. If it had been night, the city lights would have looked like a starry sky that was partial to one location.
Prelati faintly regretted that he did not have the chance to see that as he spread his arms without hesitation and began his freefall while executing a series of dance-like spins.
The lowest layer of the stratosphere, twenty kilometers up. That was where Francesca's workshop was.
It was a giant airship, two hundred meters from end to end. Francesca had taken a high-altitude unmanned airship that the US military was in the process of testing, applied many layers of wards to it — invisibility, wind-aversion, etcetera. She had piled modification on modification, mystically, scientifically, and as a matter of taste. That said, it was hardly a mobile fortress, bristling with weapons straight out of a scifi novel. It was simply a two hundred meter balloon used to lift the meager area of Prelati's workshop.
It was an extreme height from which Francesca could look down on everything, but could hardly grasp events on the surface with her naked eyes. With Prelati's enhanced sight, however, it was possible to confirm something on the scale of the disturbance in the factory district.
He saw a gargantuan mechanical spider on a rampage and a bowman-turned-avenger challenging it alone. The factories around them were destroyed. There was no longer any trace of the meat processing plant. He could see scraps of otherworld and ward-induced static, as well as demonic beasts that had spilled out of the workshop. A scene of chaos had begun to unfold.
Prelati laughed with simple, unadulterated joy at the sight.
"Ahaha! Splendid! Wonderful! It's wonderful, Francesca!"
Even while he laughed, the ground was perceptibly closing in on him. The boy continued to digest his clear view of the chaos in the factory district as he shifted his thoughts to the next stage.
I'd love to see that scenery spread through the whole city… but not yet. Not yet. I've got to hold on a little longer.
He strove to keep a cool head, although the overflowing smile never left his face. But then, he was only making a pretense of restraint in order to experience longer, greater pleasure.
I've still got to control myself, if only to keep up appearances. That friend of Master's — Faldeus — could easily put an end to the whole city.
The boy Prelati, high on the speed of freefall, settled on a target. That done, he spread his arms and continued his head-first descent. Then, in the midst of the endless expanse of sky, he chanted, recited, sang. He sang the praises of his Noble Phantasm and chanted verses expressing the joy of deploying it.
"I make an offering. To this broken world I offer blessings and thanks and sacrifices!"
"I offer thanks to mother Até, born the embodiment of madness!"
"I offer blessings to the holy spirits of the world, who taught me magecraft, the madness of men!"
"O saint and knight who showed me a different madness, neither of you were mistaken!"
"I make an offering! To all humanity, permitted by this broken world, I offer the sacrifice that is me!"
As Prelati shouted his self-centered invocation, the space around him began to distort. As he hurtled toward the surface, he bellowed the name of the great magecraft that was his Noble Phantasm at the ground.
"Grand Illusion!"
X X
The surface. The factory district.
"There she is! It's that woman!"
Black-suited Scradio Family mages closed in on Haruri with bloodcurdling expressions. Berserker was prioritizing the destruction of the workshop and Filia was with him, so she would have to protect herself.
The meat processing plant was no longer recognizable. It seemed, however, that the surrounding factories were also mage's workshops of some kind. Berserker recognized them as enemies and was busy dedicating itself to their destruction. By the time Haruri saw Berserker spit fire and turn the grounds of one factory into a sea of flame, she had already given up thinking about his actions.
Anyway, right now, I've got to focus on making it through this…
"Everybody! Please!"
At Haruri's shout, a number of bees that had been concealed in her clothing showed themselves.
"…Stop those people!" She begged the countless bees hovering around her collar. The bees took off in perfect order and made contact with the men behind her.
"What the…? Bees?!"
"It's no use struggling… Swat the — Guh?!"
While a few bees flew straight in as a decoy, the remainder made a high-speed flight and looped around behind the men. The men, stung on the backs of their necks, hurriedly tried to fight back with magecraft. An instant later, however, one after the other of them fainted to the ground.
Just a little further…! This workshop's influence can't extend beyond this district…!
Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw demonic beasts that had gone out of control with the destruction of the workshop skirmishing with the Scradio Family's black suits while Berserker mowed down two smokestacks rising from a factory at once. She could also see a bowman racing up the toppling smokestacks, leaping high into the air and firing arrows that resembled laser beams.
The arrows scored a direct hit on Berserker's back. Berserker's creaking scream resounded throughout the district. The bowman continued his barrage. This time, however, Berserker used the cables and wires that shrouded its body like tentacles to swat them out of the air.
She could also see Filia weaving through the gaps with her counterattacks. The bowman scattered them with a sweep of his bow. It seemed like the tide of battle was seesawing back and forth.
It was not a battle she could keep up with, Haruri thought as she sent Berserker a mental cheer.
My magical energy isn't much, but I don't mind if you suck it dry. So… So, wreck it. Wreck it all! Everything mages have built! Every last thing!
Berserker uprooted power cables from the ravaged ground and began incorporating them into its body as a power source to supplement his magical energy. Strangely, as it did so, its body began to grow even more gigantic, absorbing the rubble of the surrounding factories.
I don't care who or what you are anymore! Please, please smash this hold world of mages into…
At that point, a bullet grazed Haruri's shoulder and gouged out a chunk of flesh. She let out a silent scream and collapsed on the spot.
The defensive barrier that covered her body had momentarily destroyed. The bullet had reached her unprotected shoulder. Its force had been dampened, but it had still been enough to tear a chunk out of Haruri's shoulder and send her tumbling to the ground.
"Haruri Borzak," the man who had fired the shot — Bazdilot Cordelion — asked without the least change in his expression, "what the hell did you summon?"
"…You think I'd reveal information… about my Servant that easily?"
"It would be easy to kill you right here. But then it would be impossible to what that monstrosity will do when it goes out of control. If you give me its data or order it to commit suicide with a Command Seal, I'll put you out of your misery without any unnecessary pain."
"Not… 'I'll leave you with your life,' then…"
Haruri struggled to her feet, clutching her shoulder. Bazdilot looked faintly puzzled.
"You don't look like a mage foolish enough to believe nonsense like that."
A mage.
Haruri had mixed feelings about someone as half-baked as she was being treated that way as she silently steeled herself.
I'll order it with everything I've got and make it look like I'm making it kill itself. "Completely destroy every mage's workshop in this city. Then, move on to Las Vegas or Los Angeles. Keep going as long as your power holds out."
After that, the Protectors of the Land can do whatever they want. Their Mystery may be lost too, but I can't say sorry for that.
"Alright. By my Command Seal, I order Berserker…" Haruri began, slowly raising her hands — when she all too suddenly dropped into a bottomless hell.
Only Bazdilot, standing a few meters in front of her with his gun at the ready, remained unchanged. The sky abruptly rushed away upward. In other words, Bazdilot was falling along with her.
Go back a few seconds.
Filia was the first to notice the abnormality.
"…This magical energy… A descendent of those Mycenaean freeloaders?"
The instant she muttered those words, she saw it. The ground under her feet vanished without warning and she began to fall.
"Hey?!"
She hurriedly attempted to fly, then realized that the magical energy filling the space around her had vanished.
"This is… You didn't fool me; you fooled the world's texture! Unbelievable!"
A look around told her that the ground under her feet was not all that had vanished. A perfect circle of land, centered on the meat processing plant and encompassing most of the factory district, was gone. A blackness with no visible bottom gaped in its place. On top of that, all the magical energy in the area had disappeared without a trace. The Scradio Family mages, Filia, Alkeides and even the giant Berserker were all falling alike. As they all resigned themselves to freefall, Filia glared at the source of the phenomenon.
The boy who had plummeted to earth with death-defying speed flashed the homunculus who was glaring at him an innocent grin. It seemed that some contrivance allowed him, and him alone, to use magical energy. He adjusted his speed to match Filia, Haruri, Bazdilot and Alkeides, who had only just begun falling, standing shoulder to shoulder with them as they were all swallowed by the bottomless pit.
"Hey there. I see a lot of new faces. Has it already been a day since I met the archer there on a snowy mountain?"
The androgynous boy's voice rang out light and easy as he fell head first. He spread his arms wide and addressed all the beings falling along with him.
"The Oriental Avici hell is supposed to be falling for two thousand years. Still, I suppose it's kind in that, after two thousand years, you do reach the bottom. Of course, knowing that you were going to suffer for quintillions more years once you do, it might be better to keep falling. Which do you prefer?"
Around the hole, where there had been nothing but jet black walls of earth, various glowing objects popped into being and vanished just as suddenly in time with his speech. Oni at a banquet; a parade in an abandoned amusement park; children dying of hunger and thirst; an infinite expanse of starry sky; monsters too repulsive to describe; a city so beautiful it could only be described as a land of gold; the figure of a holy woman racing across a wasteland; corpses of knights stretching to the ends of the earth. Every one of them felt real.
It was almost enough to destroy the lesser Scradio mages' sense of self. More than half of completely lost their grips consciousness on the spot. Despite being prevented from using magecraft, however, Bazdilot Cordelion maintained his usual vicious non-expression. Even so, he must have had his hands full controlling the "mud" inside of him, because what looked like black tattoos peeking out of his cuffs could be seen to writhe fiercely on his skin.
"What's your game, Caster?"
Bazdilot was impassive. The boy he called Caster, who was still upside down, made a respectful bow before replying.
"All is to ensure that the Holy Grail War proceeds without incident. At this rate, Faldeus will burn a hole in his stomach, the world will be full of sorrow, flowers will bloom, birds will sing, and as soon as the butterfly at the ends of the earth dances and starts a typhoon, and Faldeus' business making barrels to put bodies in will turn a profit."
The latter half of his speech was probably meaningless. Bazdilot ignored it and continued to glare.
"Tough crowd," Caster cackled. Then, he gave an answer.
"Don't worry; I'm a friend. I'm your friend. I'm a friend to humanity, a friend to the gods, a friend to demonic beasts, and a friend to mages. So, so that none of them are lost… I've come to postpone the festivities."
Caster clapped his hands. The sides of the whole vanished, revealing thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people falling.
"I don't know about you, but I don't want to kill the eight hundred thousand people of Snowfield just yet."
At that point, the boy vanished — only to reappear as a giant, seemingly kilometers tall. While still falling down the pit — which appeared after all to be bottomless — he stated his wish.
"So… how about make a deal for the present?
"A deal with little old me, who the foul-mouthed peasants used to call… a 'demon.'"
X X
Coalsman Special Corrections Center.
"…So, you've done it, Francesca…"
Faldeus watched the scene on the monitor with an uncharacteristic frown.
The abnormality had occurred immediately after he received a message from Francesca, saying, "Don't worry; I'll work it out somehow or other before long." The instant Faldeus confirmed it, he decided that this was an "evil day" — expressing his situation in the parlance of onmyōdō, which lay outside his area of expertise.
The monitor showed a jet black hole almost completely erasing the factory district. It was well outside the realm of what he could pass off as land subsidence. Even if he took "emergency measures" to erase the entire city of Snowfield, that hole alone would certainly remain for all of America to see.
In addition, a surveillance satellite would pass high above the city in a few more minutes. It was a civilian satellite, supplying data to civilian researchers in close to real time. The day it showed a hole of this size this clearly, the concealment of Mystery would be the least of his worries.
He was just about to phone Francesca to inquire how she intended to take responsibility, when another abnormality began on the monitor.
No sooner was the colossal hole filled in than, almost like time was rewinding, the toppled smokestacks and crumbled walls of the factories began to reform. Even the burnt grass in the empty lots regained its verdant life.
"…What is this…?"
A transmission from Francesca reached the bewildered Faldeus.
"Yoo-hoo? Are you surprised? I bet I softened that grumpy look of yours a little. Well?"
"…This is no laughing matter. What exactly did you do?"
"Oh, just an illusion," Francesca roared with laughter as she answered Faldeus' question. "Of course, it's my Noble Phantasm as a Heroic Spirit, so it can things orders of magnitude more stunning than turning a wasteland into a snowy mountain! Oh, I almost forgot — I can't say why, but the people who were brawling down there seem to have suddenly reached a peaceful settlement. Mysterious, isn't it? Maybe it was the power of love? Isn't that lovely? Love, I mean!"
Faldeus ignored the better part of her words and correctly deduced that she must have struck some kind of deal. Before he could press her about it, however, Francesca gave him a reminder by way of a warning.
"Don't forget — until it's all over, we're enemies in the Holy Grail War too."
Then, almost incidentally, she said something about the restored factories that Faldeus found difficult to believe.
"They may look like they're back to normal, but it is still an illusion, you know? You can touch them, live in them, even go on using them as factories and workshops, but that's all they are! In about five days the world will realize it's being fooled and they'll crumble just like they were, so take care of the cover up before then!"
With that parting wholesale delegation of responsibility, Francesca ended the call.
Faldeus turned his eyes skyward, glaring at the airship he should not be able to see through the ceiling.
"…If there is a next time, Francesca, I'll eliminate you before it starts."
"We have a strange report, sir."
Faldeus decided that, in any case, he would have to start work on a cover up operation. He was considering putting it down to mismanagement, suggesting the same gas company implicated in the desert explosion. The report Aludra handed him was insufficient to draw his interest.
"We have a report that Clan Calatin members are en route. They must have used repelling wards to induce an evacuation."
The report read, "Civilians living near the factory district have simultaneously begun a mass evacuation to the city center and suburbs." As far as Faldeus could see, it was, in fact, only natural that people who had heard those explosions and sounds of destruction would evacuate of their own accord.
That was why he was unable to notice the abnormality at once — to notice that, while the disturbance in the factory district had been quelled, something even more dangerous had awakened in its place.
X X
In a dream.
"I wonder if the people over by the factories are alright."
"I'm sure they are… See? Look there!" The boy pointed "They all came over here! They evacuated to the city!"
Tsubaki, seeing a large crowd of townspeople headed their way, heaved a sigh of relief.
A little earlier, a sound like thunder had come from the direction of the factories. Tsubaki's new friend Jester had said that they were burning.
"Oh; if there's a fire, there must be people. I wonder if they're OK. I hope they all managed to evacuate."
Seeing Jester worry made Tsubaki uneasy. That had made her talk to "Mr. Black."
"I hope the people around the factories are able to get away in time."
All the while unaware that, behind her, the boy who called himself Jester was wearing a wicked grin.
Thus, the one hundred and twenty thousand people who lived in the area around the factory district contracted an unknown "illness." While the bloodsucker in a boy's skin grasped the truth… the city began to roll gently, but inexorably, toward tragedy.
And even he was unaware that, in only half a day, people who would attempt to stop it would appear.
Originally Posted by OtherSideofSky
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