Holding Back the Sea
Repercussions
A stunned moment after hearing Sakura's words, Berserker had demanded to know where they were. Sakura gave up their location immediately and then he and Mrs. O'Leary shadow traveled there immediately.
On the bright side, they were out of the city, like he'd hoped. They were in a hotel about forty miles outside of Fuyuki, and only because they'd stopped for the night. After this, he wanted them to put another fifty miles between them and the battlefield, at least. Maybe take a plane over to China, or something—Kariya had said that the Matou family had money and that he could access it easily. Okay, maybe not a plane, but if they were willing to travel on Mrs. O'Leary…she could take them anywhere. If they needed, they could start a new life somewhere far away—he could give them some advice about how to make it in New York, if they were willing. A week from now, they'd be so far away from Fuyuki that none of the other Masters would ever find them in time.
On the down side, that should have protected them, but it hadn't.
And he couldn't understand why. It couldn't have been an enemy Servant—only Caster and Assassin were unaccounted for and, though he admired Kariya, if either of them had shown up, he'd be dead by now.
But then who, or what, had hurt him?
Knowing the only way to find out would be to ask and examine the area, Berserker rushed up the stairs and found the room number Sakura had given him. He was so upset that when he found the door was locked, he honestly considered breaking it down before remembering that he could dematerialize as a Servant and passed neatly through, his hound's shadow following him all the while.
If he had been a bit less distraught, he would have materialized away from Sakura and attracted her attention, but he didn't know if he had any time to waste and did so right in front of her instead, startling the young girl and making himself feel guilty in the process—but he clamped tightly down on the feeling, as he'd been trained to do, and went straight to business.
"Sakura, where's Kariya?" He demanded.
Like any child would be, Sakura was frozen at the sight of a grown man clad in full body armor appearing suddenly in front of him, especially when she realized who it was—namely, a person that she'd talked to on the phone moments before, while he was over forty miles away.
"Sakura!" He nearly yelled.
Startling the girl into motion, she grabbed his hand and quickly pulled him into the hotel room's small bedroom.
Kariya was on the bed and the sheets were stained with blood. In fact, so were his clothes and skin.
He was at his master's side in an instant. He couldn't claim to be a doctor, but he'd seen thousands of battlefield injuries and he knew how to give, at least, some basic treatment. Granted, those were usually other demigods who he could just give ambrosia and nectar to and quicken their healing and he didn't have any on him at the moment—and it would kill Kariya even if he did—but even so, he looked Kariya over quickly.
There weren't any visible wounds or signs that he'd been attacked—it was like Kariya had bleed straight through his skin. Berserker quickly decided that it could only be the worms inside him, unless he'd gotten cursed or something. But why were they hurting him this much? Kariya had said that he'd lasted a year, but if it could do this much damage to him in a day, Berserker couldn't imagine that being possible.
"When did this start?" He asked Sakura. The young girl's eyes darted quickly to him, to Kariya, and then back.
"About ten minutes ago, maybe?" She blurted after a moment of panicked thought.
About ten minutes ago—
Realization and reaction were almost simultaneous. He abandoned his material form, flew through the ceiling, and raced quickly for the nearest body of water his senses could find. Fortunately, Kariya had stayed near the coast and a moment later his spiritual form dove into the water.
His plan had worked. None of the other Servants knew where Kariya was, in all likelihood.
But there was one thing distance could not protect him from.
The bond between a Servant and his Master. It didn't care about distance; it simply drained away the Master's prana and gave it to the Servant. Berserker didn't know why his battle would have caused this, but it was the only thing he could think of that had happened about ten ago.
For whatever reason, by using his master's prana, he was hurting him. And he'd used a lot of prana in the battle. Even now, he felt Kariya's energy being feed to him, trying to refill what he'd used up. Moments before, it had even been used to sustain his material form and in every action he took, from walking to blinking.
But he had other sources of prana and, as a dematerialized spirit, he would use up less prana like this. Even now, he could feel the sea quickly feeding him energy and the pull on Kariya dropping. All he could do right now was sit and wait. When all of his prana had returned, he'd fly back to Kariya; until then, he'd just have to hope that his assumption was right.
Because if it wasn't, he'd just left Kariya there to die.
XxXXxX
"Your spear bounced off his skin?" Lancer's master asked. "You're sure of that?"
Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi had always been defined by the word 'prodigy.' From the very beginning, he had always been considered better than anyone he'd competed against and had never faced an opponent he couldn't defeat. Even after his desired artifact, which he'd hoped to use to summon Alexander the Great, had been stolen, he had not worried—he'd merely been enraged. Finding out that his former student had summoned the Ancient King in his stead merely added fuel to the fire.
But he still hadn't worried. Despite everything, he had still come through, summoning the Servant Lancer, who he would bet his pride on in this fight.
But now, after the first battle was over…he was worried.
In truth, the battle that had so recently ended profited him a great deal. He'd already known Rider's identity, but having been able to witness the battle, he'd gotten the chance to use the Master's Perspective to view the stats and abilities of other Servants and compare them to Lancer's.
Even he could admit that their stats were frightening. Saber, Archer, Rider, and Berserker…if one were to look at their stats as a whole, each of them was stronger than Lancer.
However, even against physically superior opponents, a Servant's Noble Phantasm could change everything.
And yet…Lancer's had failed.
This, too, said a great deal.
Gae Dearg – The Crimson Rose of Exorcism. It wasn't a weapon that could be marveled at for its incredible destructive power like Rider's chariot, but in its own way, it was a very frightening weapon. It was able to render magical enchantments and projections useless by severing all ties with prana. It could pass through the armor of Servants, which was made out of prana, cut holes in bounded fields, nullify any magical enhancements, and could even sever the ties between a source of prana and all its recipients. It's not strong enough to completely destroy the target and it would continue to function normally once the blade was removed, but as long as the blade was in contact with its target, it would disrupt it.
Because of that power, while its sheer destructive power wasn't overwhelming, if it came in contact with another Noble Phantasm it would prove quite dangerous. However…it cannot cancel the effects of completed magecraft or curses. As such, if it simply bounced of Berserker's skin, then, without a doubt…
Berserker's body itself was a Noble Phantasm—specifically, a curse that granted him either resistance or immunity to harm.
Furthermore, having been able to view the battle, Kayneth was able to recognize and understand Berserker's Noble Phantasms. The Deception of Divinity—an effect which worked by increasing its owners Divinity until they were effectively a materialized Divine Spirit. By itself, it granted no Divinity; it 'increased,' but did not 'grant.' All the powers it bestowed were simply a result of that ability—the natural powers of a Divine Spirit. As such, Berserker was surely a demigod—and as the Noble Phantasm had not specifically granted control of the water, it was highly likely that Berserker was the offspring of an sea god or some other aquatic deity.
Putting these two facts together left him with only one real conclusion. Kayneth could only think of one invulnerable demigod of the sea that wore bronze armor and a shield engraved with images.
On the bright side, if his opponent was Achilles, then Lancer could still defeat him. A single strike to his Achilles Tendon with Lancer's other Noble Phantasm, Gae Buidhe, and Berserker's death was almost assured.
And yet…Kayneth could not help but think of the risks. Despite Lancer's prowess and skill with his spears, Achilles was famed for having fought a spearman whose legend, if anything, far surpassed Lancer's. The famous Hector of Troy had fallen to him—who was to say Lancer would not do the same? Achilles may have had one weak point, but he was otherwise invulnerable, and Lancer was not. Even with his knowledge, it was still dangerously possible that it might be Lancer's body being dragged behind a chariot after the battle was over.
But perhaps he should leave that conclusion to Lancer, whose skill far surpassed his as both a warrior and soldier.
"Lancer…what would you say if I told you that I suspected Berserker of being Achilles?" He asked. "If so, his heel would be his weak point…could you defeat him?"
"I think that if you're right, we would have a very dangerous opponent."
Both Lancer and Kayneth shifted their eyes to the woman as she walked out of the bedroom. Despite her flaming red hair, there was definitely something icy about her face and eyes; her name was Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri. Despite being younger than him, she was both Kayneth's teacher and his fiancée.
And, more than that, she was also someone whose opinions Kayneth greatly respected.
Seeing that she had their attention, Sola continued.
"In this war, knowledge is power—or, to put it another way, ignorance is weakness. Achilles is, of course, dangerous, as shown in the Iliad. An invulnerable warrior who defeated many heroes, but with a weak point on his heel. And yet…he is more dangerous because of what we do not know of him. The Iliad detailed the last year of a decade of fighting, leaving out the details of the previous nine. Prior to that, the Greeks sailed to Troy, but were lost at sea for eight years. And before that, he spent a number of years hidden as a girl name Pyrrha at his mother's behest and before that, Achilles was trained by the Centaur Chiron for an unknown period of time, which was left largely undetailed. He could have done a great deal, during that time—thirty years, at least, which is a span of time that could fit most hero's entire legends."
Kayneth frowned.
"Hidden as a girl?"
"Out of all that, that was what you focused on?" Sola asked. "It was prophesized he would die in the Trojan War but also that the Greeks needed him to win. His mother hid him as a girl on the Isle of Scryos, where he had a child with the princess and presumably did other things, but it's largely undefined."
Kayneth put that aside and focused.
"You're right. There are too many unknowns—he could have done anything in that time period. Chiron taught many heroes, as I remember; he could have taught Achilles a great deal. Perhaps I'm misremembering, but I recall legends of him marrying the witch Medea in the Underworld—whether or not that's true, it's possible he could know magecraft, as it's still part of his legend."
He shook his head.
"Fighting him directly may be too dangerous, even knowing his weakness, but perhaps…" Kayneth closed his eyes contemplatively. "In that battle, he consented to working with Lancer. Given the circumstances, perhaps he would be willing to ally with us…at least for now. It would give us a great advantage, to have the mighty Achilles on our side."
—Indeed, that would be the ideal strategy in his eyes. Using Lancer's Noble Phantasms and hit and run tactics to slowly cripple opponents while avoiding any direct confrontations and then using Berserker's overwhelming power to crush them, they could meet Berserker in the final battle and he could use his Command Seals to win the battle and the war as a whole.
Sola nodded in agreement, before her eyes widened in alarm.
"Though, even if it didn't say for sure in the Iliad, there were rumors about Achilles and Patroclus; perhaps his reasons for allying with Lancer are not completely pure?" She said, seeming honestly worried about it.
Kayneth blinked once, before understanding.
"Ah, yes; in that case, perhaps Lancer should be the one to handle crafting the alliance."
Lancer blinked in turn.
"…What?" He asked, before his eyes widened. "Wait…what?"
Kayneth sighed.
"That was a joke, Lancer. Achilles was also married and repeatedly pursued women; the events of the Iliad had a lot to do with a fight over one in particular. And more to the point, I wouldn't actually whore you out."
But even so…for a moment, Sola had seemed honestly alarmed. Kayneth frowned slightly and continued.
"Due to the danger he presents, however, I would like you to be the one to meet with Berserker."
Lancer nodded then, expression having returned to normal.
And then the fire alarm began to ring, followed moments later by the telephone.
Kayneth picked it up unworriedly and listened for a moment.
"It seems there a several fires. They're scattered and not too severe, but it appears to be arson. Given what has happened tonight, it seems unlikely to be a coincidence."
"Someone wants to get rid of the crowd." Sola stated.
"Yes. It looks like someone from earlier wants to play some more. Shall I leave dealing with this matter to you, Lancer?"
"Of course." Lancer stated, already fading away. "I shall return once I am victorious."
XxXXxX
Outside, Kiritsugu made a phone call, dialing an empty number.
A moment later, a very small but precisely placed explosion went off within the building and it began to collapse.
Kiristugu gave it a single glance to assure himself that it was working according to plan and then glanced away. To be honest, this was far from ideal—but against a skilled pair of magi, it would be best to deal with them before they had time to set up appropriate counter-measures. More than that, with Matou Kariya absent, Waver Velvet constantly close to his powerful Servant, Tohsaka Tokiomi behind powerful defenses, Kotomine Kirei in the Church, and Caster's master unknown, the fact of the matter was that Lancer's master was the only one he could strike at easily and have an real chance of removing an opponent early in the war—despite the inconvient situation, it was best to act on this chance before the El-Melloi's could secure a better location or establish a Workshop.
And indeed, Kayneth and his wife should be dead. The Servant Lancer would fade away momentarily. It seemed, for a moment, that everything had gone according to plan.
And then he heard the clashing of metal as Lancer and Saber continued to fight.
XxXXxX
High above Kiritsugu, on the unfinished thirty-eighth floor, Maiya had been carefully watched the window of her target's hotel room. If Kiritsugu's plan had failed, she would have been in position to ambush them.
However…that did not seem to be necessary. The hotel had completely collapsed and all she was doing now was watching the rubble.
Even so, she was careful. Unmoving, Maiya stared silently at the rubble for three minutes and then lowered her weapon. Despite having seen the destruction of the hotel, she was not excited or tense in the slightest; for her, this was just another day.
Though, admittedly, it had been a very rough day.
Maiya was not one to speak of her feelings, much less allow them to interfere with her work. She also wasn't one to feel emotions for any particular target, as it could interfere with her work.
However, if she was, she would hold a grudge against Berserker, who'd nearly knocked her off a high building and drowned her with that wave he'd conjured. It was probably a coincidence that it had happened to hit both she and Kiritsugu, but if not for Saber, both of them would have drowned.
Of course, even if she had held a grudge—which she didn't—she'd have been powerless to do anything about it to a Servant. Normally, she'd go after the Master instead, but Matou Kariya was quickly proving himself two things; smart and dangerous. Having had a chance to check the police records after they finally examined the Matou household, she was able to confirm that Matou Zouken was dead, and probably killed at Kariya's orders. The house, of course, was empty of people.
Next, she'd checked the house listed under Kariya's name, but it was also empty and Kariya's car was gone. She'd found signs of his Servant living there, apparently trying to draw out people foolish enough to attack some place so obvious and had quickly removed herself from the area.
She'd then attempted to hunt down where Kariya now was, but all signs pointed to him having left the city completely. Given time, Maiya could definitely hunt him down, but with a day's head start and counting, it wouldn't be something that she could do in the middle of the Grail War. Especially since if he caught wind of her, he could summon his Servant with a Command Seal and have him kill her.
Leaving the city could be interpreted in two ways.
It could be viewed simply as an act of cowardice in which he was fleeing for his life, but that didn't make sense. Outside of the Holy War, no one had any reason to chase him and if he was running from the Servants and Masters, he could easily have just made his Servant kill himself with a Command Seal and approach the Church.
The other way it could be interpreted was as a move of complete confidence. Traditionally, all Master's stayed by their Servants to support them and control the War first hand with their magic and Command Seals. Some literally stood on the battlefield while others watched from afar, but none had actually left the city. By doing so, Kariya was basically saying that he had no need to involve himself or even look over Berserker's actions. It was a statement of complete certainty in his own victory.
Granted, if Maiya had a loyal, invulnerable super soldier who could create Tidal Waves on demand at her beck and call, it was possible she might feel a little cocky, too. Irisviel had shared her suspicions that Berserker was Achilles, an extraordinarily dangerous Servant, which also explained his status as Berserker despite his personality—and without his Master present as a target, the only way to the Holy Grail was through his invulnerable hide. It seemed to chaff Kiritsugu slightly, but to defeat Berserker, they would have to rely completely on Saber.
Maiya waited a few more seconds, just to be sure, before removing the bullets from her gun and slinging the assault rifle over her shoulder.
Almost immediately, she froze and she became aware of another presence. No, perhaps it had been there from the beginning, but had simply waited for her to store her most powerful weapon.
But she was never unarmed. At most, she was less armed. In a single smooth motion, she drew the 9mm-calibur handgun from her side and pointed it into the shadows.
"—Your senses are sharp, miss."
Maiya did not respond or ask questions. Whoever it was, the simple fact that he'd located her—that was enough for him to become her target.
"And also," The hidden man continued. "It's good that you were prepared."
An object was thrown towards her, landing on the ground in front of her. She quickly shifted her gun down towards it, focusing on it before returning her gun towards the man after she was sure it wasn't dangerous.
Even so, she recognized it immediately as the corpses of one of her bat familiars after she saw the CCD camera on it.
If that was so, then without a doubt, the person in front of her could only be—
"Kotomine Kirei…"
"Oh? This should be the first time we've met, so how do you know my name?" He asked, his tone mocking. "Do you perhaps have precognition? If so, I bet you know lots of other things to. For example, this is a good place to spy on Fuyuki Hyatt hotel's thirty second floor…could someone important live there, I wonder?"
Looking past her, Kirei sighed.
"Even so…blowing up the building, too? That man…can he still be called a magus? No; should he even be considered a magus at all?"
In that moment, Maiya realized something.
This man knows. He knows about Emiya Kiritsugu, just like Emiya Kiritsugu knows about Kotomine Kirei.
"If you have precognition, could you answer a question for me? Where is the man who should be here in your place?"
In that same moment, Maiya realized that this man had to die and pulled the trigger three times.
Yet, she missed completely.
Kotomine's speed may have been great, but there was no way he could dodge a bullet. So, instead, he definitely dodged before she fired.
Not only that, but her gun was sent clattering on the floor. Even as he'd dodged, Kotomine had drawn and thrown the iconic weapon of the Church's Executioners—a Black Key. Even thrown, it had enough force to sink into concrete, but it only cut her hand—it was simply an attack to take away her weapon.
After all, she had yet to answer his question.
He had somehow known that she and Kiritsugu were going to attack this hotel. Knowing that, he'd set up shop nearby and waited for them—without a doubt, she was here for Emiya Kiritsugu. For that reason, he wanted to capture her alive—then, as long as he could make her talk, it would be fine. He could find out where Kiritsugu was, even if he had to break her arms and legs in the process.
But…Maiya should have checked in with Kiritsugu minutes ago. By now, he'd have realized something wrong; if she could hold on a little longer, then…
Suddenly a veil of smoke began to appear on the floor. A simple smoke screen, it was an America model that anyone with the right connections could get.
But Maiya hadn't thrown it. Kotomine knew he would miss, even as he hurled another Black Key.
In seconds, the smoke was gone, and Maiya with it.
He was over a hundred meters from the ground and there were no buildings around that could stand shoulder to shoulder with this once, but definitely…the magus he was after had thrown that bomb. As long as he was able to confirm that, he definitely gained something by coming here this night.
Even as that thought passed through his mind, he glanced to the side, feeling the breath of his Servant.
"Assassin?"
As if waiting to be acknowledged, his Servant materialized.
"Didn't I tell you not to materialize where you can be seen?"
"I'm terribly sorry, Master, but I have a very urgent report to make. As instructed, we have been carefully watching Saber and Lancer's battle, but…someone has chosen to interrupt."
Kotomine understood immediately. If it was a battle between Servants, the only one who could interrupt was, naturally, another Servant.
But was it someone from earlier? Or could it possibly be…?
"Master…Caster has finally chosen to reveal himself."
XxXXxX
Saber and Lancer clashed fiercely. Unlike before, on the sands of the beach, their fight now took place in the city and the destruction was obvious. The entire street looked like an earthquake had hit it; windows were broken, lights were shattered, and the road had been cracked and broken.
They had been fighting a life and death battle for nearly ten minutes, and yet…neither of those two warriors had broken a sweat. The destruction of the street was merely a side effect of their clash.
Sweeping his longer spear at Saber's legs, Lancer's weapon carved an arc in the ground as she leapt over it. Bringing up his shorter spear, he managed to block Saber's descending blade just in time, but the sheer impact was enough to break the pavement beneath his feet. Using the blade as a pivot, he turned his entire body, taking one step away so that he could properly swing his longer spear at her throat.
Saber barely leapt out of the way, seeming to have sensed the attack coming before he'd even made it, but he'd clashed blades with her enough times by now to guess see would and had prepared for it, coming around again with a jab of his shorter spear that left his arms pointing in opposite directions before turning his longer around in a flash and thrusting it towards her without even waiting to see if she'd parry the first attack, forcing her to continue her retreat.
In close combat, they were equally skilled, but in this situation, Lancer had the advantage. Having borne witness to the battle earlier, he knew the truth of Saber's blade. Even if it was now invisible, he'd seen its size and shape, and he could counter it as if it were completely visible. Meanwhile, the only one who even had the slightest idea about the truth of Lancer's spears was Berserker—and even then, he only had a vague idea about one.
For Saber, who had no way to know which spear was his Noble Phantasm, she had to be weary of both. Even if she'd know that both were Noble Phantasms, she would have had to be careful—without knowing what either of them did, she could not risk allow herself to be hit.
So it truly said a great deal about Saber's skill with a blade, as well as her sheer physical ability, that she had not received a single blow from either of Lancer's two spears. It spoke even more of Lancer's ability, however, that she had failed to land even a single blow in return, despite having much lower stats than his opponent in almost every regard.
Even so, without a doubt, both of those warriors would have enjoying themselves in a different situation. Rather than fighting Berserker, who was a soldier who would do whatever was needed to achieve result, whether that meant fighting fairly or dirty, Lancer and Saber were, without a doubt, two knights, fighting for their lords. Both of them acknowledged each other's skills and fought all the harder because of it.
And yet…the Grail War was not about enjoyment. Lancer fought because his Master had been in that building as it collapsed. His continued presence revealed that his Master was still alive, but he had no way of knowing how long it would last. Saber fought as she had been order too, for the sole purpose of keeping Lancer away from his Master. There was no honor in holding back a brave knight as his lord was executed, and so Saber felt no joy in this fight.
In this way, it would only be a matter of time before Lancer revealed his Noble Phantasm, and the moment when he did way very well decided the entire fight. That simple fact was the only reason he had yet to reveal his secret weapons—the moment when he first did would be his best chance at victory. If he used it unwisely, he could easily waste the opportunity. But at the same time, he had to move fast.
But in the same way, if his attack failed and Saber learnt of the true nature of his weapons…without a doubt, the tide of the battle would surely shift in that instant.
For a long, tense moment, bother Servants were still, each ready to spring in to action at the slightest movement.
And then they were interrupted.
"—It has been such a long time, O' Holy Maiden." A voice suddenly spoke.
Attention immediately swerved towards the source. At just a glance, it could be easily seen that he wasn't a normal person. He wore a luxurious but archaic robe of scarlet and black and his eyes were abnormally large, like an owl or a cat. And even if one were to ignore that, no normal person would interrupt a fight between two raging heroes, especially not with the barrier raised over the area.
Lancer tensed.
"Friend of yours, Saber?" He asked, suspecting a trap.
"No, I have never seen him before." Saber immediately denied. Having already been forced to use dishonorable tactics, she had no wish to tarnish her reputation further.
The strange man, whose face had seemed so happy, had frozen at her words.
"How can you say that?" He demanded. "Do you not remember me?"
"Rather than remembering, this is the first time we have ever met." Saber said tensely. "Perhaps you have the wrong person."
"It's me! Your loyal servant, Gilles de Rais! I've always prayed that we'd meet again—always waited! For that reason, I came here across space and time, Jeanne!"
Lancer sucked in a sudden breath at the name, while Saber was merely surprised. Already, two Servants had declared their names, whilst Saber had been forced to reveal her own. As Assassin was always one of the faceless Hassan…over half of the Servants had revealed their true identities on the first day of this war; more, if their assumptions about Berserker proved correct.
"I do not know your name, nor do I know of this Jeanne. But as you have already declared your name, I am honor bound to do the same. I am Arturia, the rightful child of Uther Pendragon, and the king of Britain."
"How…could it be? Could you have forgotten who you were in life? Not only that, but your mind has been befuddled! You…you…God, why are you so cruel to this lovely maiden of mine!?"
"…Saber, there is no point in saying anything more to this man." Lancer said.
As Saber was an incomplete Heroic Spirit, she did not possess the knowledge which surpassed both space and time that one gains upon entering the Throne of Heroes. But Lancer was a true Heroic Spirit, and of course he knew about it.
About the insanity of the legendary Bluebeard—Baron Gilles de Rais.
"He used to be a hero in France," Lancer said. "But he turned his back on it all and fell to black magic. No one knows for sure how many people he killed, since he often burned the bodies, but estimates have gone as high as six hundred. But they all have one thing in common—the victims were between the ages of six and eighteen."
Caster narrowed his eyes in annoyance at being interrupted, but made no attempt to protest his innocence. He just seemed annoyed that Lancer would dare talk. For her part, Saber widened her eyes in shock at Lancer's words before narrowing abruptly. She lifted her blade and set her jaw—this was a person that she couldn't possibly leave alone.
Lancer continued without pausing.
"His descent into madness came at about the same time that Jeanne d'Arc met her end. The two were connected and fought beside each other, but perhaps you look like her, Saber. However…without a doubt, that man is insane; he has accepted you as Joan of Arc and words will not convince him otherwise."
For a moment, Caster was silent as he carefully observed Saber, who was already too angry to speak. The mad light in his eyes had slowly diminished and his face had calmed.
But it was not sanity or reason that had replaced it, but a silent resolution. His belief had not faded in the slightest—if anything, it had just grown strong through being denied.
"…It seems that words alone won't be enough. Has even your heart been sealed, Jeanne?" Caster lamented. "Then I'm very sorry—it seems I must use enforced therapy on you. Have no fear—no matter what needs to be done, I will definitely see it through."
Lancer and Saber immediately tensed at his words. There should have been absolutely no need to worry. After all, he was a Caster and they each belonged to one of the Knight classes. In physical combat, Caster…without a doubt, he was no threat to them. Either of them could effortlessly crush him and end the matter in mere seconds. The Caster class's only advantage—it great magical power—would mean little to nothing against either of them, thanks to the Magic Resistance inherent to their classes.
Saber, who was untouchable to modern magi…Lancer, who could only be affected by High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals…in a battle against someone who had to rely completely on magic, victory against either of them was something that should have been 'impossible.' Caster's spells would be canceled completely if they targeted either of them, so…there should have been nothing to fear.
And yet…why was it?
Why did both of those Servants feel an irrepressible tremor of fear?
All Caster had done was reach into the folds of his cloak and retrieve a simple book.
The book was strange looking, with a cover of wet, glistening human flesh. It was disgusting, but…a Caster with a spell book wasn't unusual. And neither Saber nor Lancer was so new to battle or death that they would be unnerved by the sight of a book bound in skin.
And yet—
"Cthulhu fhtagn." Caster said.