[Fate/ninth heaven] Forgotten Wings; Ashes [route I, day 12]

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Masterlist and readme are here.

Ashes

  …Slowly.
  I wake up from a deep sleep.

  Carefully, I sit up, and recognize my own room.
  Still, I am disoriented for a while, or maybe it would be better to say that I simply cannot think quite yet.
  We made it out of the forest early in the morning and returned home.
  I went to sleep then, and so did everyone else.
  …Obviously.
  I pulled out something insane during that fight.
  It would be strange if I wasn’t exhausted.
  Lancer used his Noble Phantasm and Saber was hurt.
  Both of them needed to rest.
  Rose and Roswell were surely tired too.

  It’s surely already about noon.
  I should get up and try to make some food.
  …………
  I try to suppress the scene from last night.
  That was no better than a dream.
  It was a measure that had to be taken for our survival, nothing more.
  If I don’t think of it that way, then I’m not going to be able to face them.

  I take a deep breath and dig up a change of clothing, then go to wash my face and get ready.

  But when I head downstairs, the living room and table are empty.
  The only person there aside from me is Rose, who is standing idly in front of the sink while staring out the window.

  …I freeze.
  My body wants to remember how it felt to be inside her.
  My desire wants to awaken and rage out of control, but I can’t let it.
  I turn away and try to straighten out my thoughts.
  No, first of all—

  “—So you’re embarrassed after all. I figured you were going to be.”
  Rose says so calmly.
  I turn back to look.
  She’s leaning against the counter with something like a bitter smile.

  “Rose.”
  I don’t know what to say.

  She pushes her hair back in an unusually girlish gesture.
  “—Don’t worry. I’m not going to pick on you about it.
  “It was probably a stressful situation for you and all, and I’m sure you find it strange that I can be so calm about this.”

  Rose smiles.
  “It’s a situation I’m more familiar with than you.
  “Like I told you, it wasn’t my first time at all, and this is what my body’s made for after all.”

  “—Hold on.”
  I don’t understand what she’s saying.

  “After everything, I guess I’m glad you reacted normally.”
  Rose shrugs her shoulders and continues looking at me with a smile.
  “But then, it would be unfair to you to compare you to the other magi who trained me for use as their spare battery.
  “—You never knew better, but you’ve still always treated me like a person. This was necessary for our survival, and yet right now you’re trying not to think about having had sex with Lancer and me.”

  I don’t understand what she’s talking about.
  But I feel uneasy.
  “—Rose, of course I don’t want to think about it.
  “We’re in the middle of a war, and no matter what the reason was, we still did something embarrassing like that.
  “I don’t want to trouble you any more after having made you do something like that to help make Lancer stronger.”

  Rose smiles bitterly.
  “It’s going to be hard to explain this to you no matter what because I don’t know where to start, even though you still have the right to know.
  “But before anything else, what makes you different is that you have consideration for how Lancer and I feel, and feel desire for us outside of having to connect sexually and magically to survive.
  “Most of the magi I’ve known in my lifetime aren’t like that at all.”

  She says so calmly.
  This girl younger and slightly smaller than me, who’s still always been more of a sempai and an older sister than someone who looks up to me.

  “…Rose, please explain.
  “I may not know very much, but I at least understand that not very many magi would have been able to improvise a ritual like the one we used.
  “And I’m worried about the way that you’ve been talking.”

  Rose nods.
  “All right. You’ve always wondered why I hate familiar-users so much, haven’t you?
  “—It’s because I’m not human.”

  She says something absurd with a blank face.

  “What are you talking about? To begin with, Rose, you’re—”
  Rose holds up a hand to make me be quiet, and I fall silent.
  Then she points to her ears.
  She touches the black tips of her ears and pulls them forward and back demonstratively, as if explaining something extremely obvious.
  “My magic shouldn’t work on you like this, but then you’re sheltered enough to have not considered it strange usually.
  “Still, now that you’ve experienced life in the open, haven’t you ever wondered about these?
  “Even among magi, ordinary people don’t have cat ears.”

  …Well, she’s right, but…
  When we first met, Rose was the only girl I’d ever known, and the only one close to my age I’d ever seen.
  My world when I was young had been made up of Hector-sama and the servants attending him, and I really didn’t know about anything else.
  I might have wondered about the way Rose looks when we first met, but I quickly accepted it without asking anything because it wasn’t important if I just wanted to be near her and learn from her.

  “You know that Hector-sama is on this level, right?
  “He and the other powerful magi made me after you were born.
  “Part of my body was constructed from a cat, which is why I look like this; part of my innate magical properties forces the people around me to accept it as normal without questioning it.
  “For instance, even though Roswell is a magus, when he looks at me, only his subconscious would notice that I have a cat’s ears.
  “His conscious mind glosses over it because of my body’s natural magical camouflage.”
  Rose explains it in a calm voice, the same way she’s explained so many things to me.
  “I was created as a blank familiar in order to help develop your magic and teach you more directly than Hector-sama and his servants could.
  “You always had the potential to be a magic user, but the truth is that a lot of your potential was unformed, so someone would have to wake it up and shape it.
  “They created a ‘scalpel’ to do so, and that was me.
  “I have multiple uses, though.
  “My construction was very complex as I’m far above the level of your garden familiars, like the bird Vienya uses.
  “I have my own will, my body can store prana, I have Magic Circuits and a synthetic Magic Crest copying the things that Hector-sama’s servants have.
  “My life is tied to yours, though. If you ever died, I would either die or be crippled as well.”

  I stand in silence as Rose speaks.
  It feels as unreal as Lancer’s memories that seep into me almost every night.
  …Perhaps because this is a cold explanation and I can see the things that Lancer experienced, it doesn’t feel quite real and I almost want to deny it out loud.

  “…Of course, I’m here as your magical backup as well.
  “Your prana and mine are tightly connected, and any serious manipulations of the way your Magic Circuits flow would require sex.
  “I was able to tamper with the bond between you and Lancer, even. It would be impossible for an ordinary magus, but this is what I was made for.
  “—Well, it’s easier if you know the theory.
  “But I fully understand the theory and the method and I’ve had experience with providing other people magical energy.
  “I was always made to manipulate the connection myself, so even though it’s not something you’d ordinarily boast about, I’m good at this.”
  Rose goes on quite nonchalantly.
  “—Don’t make that surprised face at me, Ein. I told you plenty of times that I wasn’t a virgin, and you know it with your body, too.
  “It was your first time too, but when last night did I bleed or feel pain?”
  …I don’t want to linger over the memories, but what she says is true.
  “I’ve been trained in this for years, after all. Since before we met.”
  Rose speaks simply and calmly, as if it’s a given fact that’s not to be fussed over.

  But I feel cold.
  “Trained—you mean, they…?”

  She raises her eyebrows at me.
  “You can’t say they raped me or anything like that.
  “—Like I said before, I’m a familiar, and I knew that that was what I was for.
  “I’ve supplied a number of the people working under Hector-sama with magic power many times, and even Hector-sama himself.
  “They only cared about the magic exchange, and that was all I bothered with too, even though it was uncomfortable a lot of the time.”
  Rose dismisses sex as just a ritual and part of her training.

  “So I’m not embarrassed and I’m not angry at you.
  “You see me as a person and always have, and you treated me accordingly.
  “The way you’re acting is just more proof of that, and you deserve to know why I’m not going to get angry at you or anything.”
  Rose says so with her words full of worldly understanding and nonchalance.
  …She pauses, and then smiles.
  “And I know you better than to think you’ll change your opinion of me just because I’m not human. You’re not that kind of person, and you’ve treated Lancer like an ordinary human even knowing what he is from the start.”
  Looking at Rose, I can see the figure of a wise and strong adult in the form of the girl who’s always led me through everything.
  …But I can also see something else.

  …I can see the silhouette of a girl raised to believe that because she was born a bit differently than other people, she didn’t have the right to decide what would happen to her own body.

  I walk into the kitchen and lean on the counter next to Rose.
  Even though she believes in me so casually, I want to show her that this doesn’t change anything, really.
  “—Thank you for telling me that.
  “To be honest, it’s kind of a lot to absorb, and I don’t think I’ll be able to fully let it sink in until after we’re done fighting.
  “I’ll be thinking about it after the Grail War ends, too.
  “But I’m glad you confided in me.”

  Rose nods and smiles.
  “I wanted to be the one to get the Command Spell, even though my chances were pretty slim as I’m not an ordinary magus.
  “But in the end, it’s all right that I didn’t.
  “You’re taking good care of Lancer, and knowingly becoming a familiar-user hasn’t changed you at all.
  “—Besides, I still won, because you’re hopeless without me.”
  Rose gives me a cheeky and complacent smile.

  …I smile back.
  No one else is around.
  If I really wanted to, I could probably lean in and kiss her, and she wouldn’t get angry or push me away.
  We might even go further.
  Everyone else still seems to be sleeping.
  …But I know that this isn’t the time for such things.
  I may not be able to read the future, but I’m sure that if we survive this Grail War, then someday we’re going to do it again.
  Not for the sake of a magical transfer or anything like that.
  Just to do it.
  …I want to show her that beyond my just treating her as a person, she is a person.
  No matter what kind of person she is or how she was born.
  Even if she has been raised so she isn’t aware of this one thing, Rose is smart and brave and competent.
  She deserves to be loved and pleased and made to feel good.

  …If I said so, she would really get mad.
  And I’ll have to stop thinking about it soon, because it’s embarrassing.
  But last night… isn’t something we should or have to regret.

  So Rose and I stand still in the kitchen in silence as we wait for the rest of the house to wake up, and even after what I’ve been told, it’s a very peaceful feeling.

  …Eventually everyone else trails in, and we make lunch.
  Vienya especially seems to be half-asleep, and everyone is groggy as we pass around the soy sauce and eat rice.

  “—So anyway, now the Riders are gone too.
  “All that’s left as far as the enemy Servants go is Berserker and Caster.”
  Rose fiddles with her spoon idly.
  “—Man, I can’t believe that Caster still hasn’t come out at all yet.
  “Five Servants out of nine have been defeated, but we haven’t seen hide nor hair of it yet. Either that’s a really lazy Servant and Master pair, or they’re just opportunistic and hoping that we’ll finish each other off and they’ll only have to fight one battle.”
  Rose’s tone is disapproving, as if wanting to make the insult that that kind of opportunism is also a sign of laziness.
  “—There’s nothing we can do.
  “Hector-sama said that there’s certainly a Caster-class Servant in this Grail War, so we just have to think that it’s in hiding.”
  Roswell shakes his head.
  “You have the word of the supervisor, and we’ve been all over the town and haven’t sensed a thing from Caster yet.
  “That Servant must be quite skilled at staying concealed, or just in a place that lets it hide well, after all.”
  The air is filled with the sounds of sighs.
  “…So anyway, what should our plan be for tonight?”
  Rose stretches.
  “—That one’s obvious, Ein.
  “We have to go out on patrol again, all of us, and track down Berserker if we can’t get Caster to come out.
  “We don’t know about Caster, but at least Berserker might be roaming around.
  “Probably, we should stay in Miyama now.
  “This is where the Tohsaka household is, after all, and our best chance at finding Caster would be to surprise them there.
  “If they’re a real opportunist, they’ll just go where the Holy Grail is going to appear and then wait for us to come to them. Besides, Miyama is where we ran into Berserker before.”
  Saber narrows her eyes.
  Either because of her vendetta against Berserker or her memories of her near defeat, Saber narrows her eyes and stabs her food with her chopsticks in a petulant gesture.
  Roswell sighs.
  “—If we’re going to be finding Berserker, then all of us will be necessary.”
  …He really is right.
  It’s been a while, but I still remember it.
  If we hadn’t been saved by Archer and Saber and given the advantage of numbers, we definitely would have been killed.
  The problem is still Nessiah, who is very powerful and seems like he could fight a Servant on even ground, even being a magus instead of a strong fighter.
  Berserker, who is already a strong Servant, is made even more of a monster by his monster of a Master.
  We have to come at him with full force or we’ll be killed.

  The plan is made to go out patrolling again tonight, and to leave the house in Vienya’s care again, as without a Servant she would be in danger confronting a Master as powerful as Nessiah.
  As for what to do until then, I suggest that we go back to training.
  “—I won’t be able to join you.”
  Saber says so unexpectedly with an uncomfortable face.
  “My wounds are healed on the outside, but they need a little more time before the inside is completely fixed.
  “So I need to stay with Roswell and rest as much as I can until we go out.”
  …Oh.
  “So then, will you be okay when we go out to fight?”
  Saber nods her head to my question.
  “Yes. I’m doing this because I do not want to be at any kind of disadvantage when I face that man.
  “We haven’t both been called into this war for me to be defeated easily and laughed at.”
  I see.
  Saber has her pride too, and she recognizes Berserker as the most dangerous enemy.
  …He probably is, for her, considering that they were nemeses in the legend.
  Roswell nods.
  “I guess we’ll stay up here, then.
  “Ein, go ahead and use the basement. We’ll all stay out of your way.”
  I nod my thanks to everyone.
  “Okay then, let’s go, Lancer.”
  I stand up and begin to head for the stairs.
  …Unusually, there’s a pause before I hear Lancer get up.
  It’s odd, but he follows me into the basement as usual.

  …Rose hasn’t even bothered to move her things back this time, and so there’s still plenty of open space.
  Lancer takes his place at the other end of the room.
  He calls his Noble Phantasm and takes the same stance as always.
  …Huh?
  Something’s different.
  I might not have noticed it before, but something about the way Lancer is standing seems uncertain.
  He has a mild expression on his face that might be dissatisfaction.
  “…Then, Master.
  “Please create your weapon so that we may resume the training.”

  …
  ……
  ………
  …Something is definitely odd here.
  We’ve been training for nearly two hours and I’ve worked up a good sweat.
  Soon it’s going to be dinnertime, so we’ve already come to a rest.
  Apparently Roswell is working to create something good for us, and there’s no need to head up while we’re still cooling off.
  …But it’s odd.
  I don’t know if he’s still tired from the battle against the Riders or not, but Lancer has been fighting strangely today.
  As usual, he attacks me without mercy and has been driving me around for the past two hours, but despite his serious attitude, it’s as though the will to follow through has disappeared.
  Any time we come in too close and he drives me back, every time I realize too late that I’ve left myself open for a close-in attack or connecting blow that would push me to the edge of consciousness, Lancer has not pursued it.
  I know that he must be seeing those openings, as it is utterly unthinkable that someone at Lancer’s level would not.
  And still, he never pursued them.
  …Well, I can’t complain about that too much as I’m not as exhausted, and besides, bringing our bodies that close might have made me dredge up that night’s dream and made me unable to continue.
  Still, how much am I going to learn from this?
  “…Hey, Lancer.”
  I raise my voice to ask him to hit me harder tomorrow as usual.
  Lancer turns toward me absentmindedly.
  The way he’s standing still seems unsure.
  “Lancer?”
  Is he all right?
  I stand up and walk over to him.
  …I doubt that Servants can catch colds, but stranger things have always happened, and so I guess I can’t dismiss the fact that he might be sick.
  After all, it’s a little worrying for Lancer to space out like this.
  …But when I come close enough that we’re less than arm’s length apart, Lancer takes a quick step away from me.
  He’s avoiding my gaze and his face seems flushed.

  …Wait.
  There’s no way Lancer is sick.
  But can this actually really be—

  “Master.”
  Lancer closes his eyes and his Noble Phantasm disappears.
  “We should hurry upstairs, or we may be late for dinner.”
  Before I can say anything, he’s already headed for the stairs.
  …That settles it.
  Lancer is never ever the one who declares it’s time to stop and eat.

  …Well.
  I can’t complain because this is exactly as embarrassing for me as it is for him.
  But I just hope that it isn’t going to make things too awkward for the rest of this time.

  Tonight, Roswell has made a sumptuous dinner of rice and seafood with a lemon-based seasoning.
  The sourness along with the salt and butter is an excellent taste, and I’m a little bit jealous.
  Lancer eats silently as ever, and everyone has a second helping except Vienya, who eats four servings. And there’s still enough to put in the freezer to heat up for tomorrow.
  I think to myself how strange it is that no matter how many new people we meet and invite into our home during this war, they always wind up just like part of our family in the end.
  —If not for the war.
  —We might not even have met, and yet if we had met outside the war, we probably could have become like this without any need of bloodshed or pain.

  Carefully, we lock up and leave the house to Vienya.
  With Saber in normal clothes and Lancer not materialized, we begin to walk down the sidewalks of this blue and silent world.

  The world is very quiet in Miyama at night.
  There are still probably plenty of people wandering around in Shinto at this time, but that’s only natural as this is the residential district and over there it’s more office buildings and stores.
  For now, the only sound is our footsteps on the paved cement, and our breathing.
  We don’t need to talk, as everything important has already been said, and besides we need to keep our guard up.

  As the hours pass by and the date comes closer to changing, we walk up and down the streets and even check by the Ryudou Temple, but we don’t find anything.
  There are a few places left to check like the unfinished edges of the town and the empty places where the early battles occurred, so we head towards there.
  Roswell and Saber are in the lead, walking with their steps almost in perfect time.
  Aside from their magical presence, they seem almost like any other young couple.
  …Well, that and their serious expressions, but those are just because this is an important battle for Saber especially.
  I’m sure that Lancer and I wouldn’t look like this together in a million years.
  Even Rose and would I look more like classmates or sempai and kouhai than a couple.
  If the three of us were able to walk down the street together, putting aside the issue of Lancer’s wings, I’m sure that the only people who would stare at us would be the people who stare because we stand out.
  …But Roswell and Saber are different.
  A beautiful girl and an elegant but proud magus.
  Especially with the air of majesty that Saber can carry, they seem like the kind of pair that statues might be made to represent.
  …Even during dinnertimes, when Saber sometimes acts childish and Roswell acts smug and pompous about his cooking, they are so well suited that all I can do is envy them.
  It’s similar to my respect for Rose’s magic, just a wistful longing from afar, knowing that this is something I will never achieve.

  After a long and peaceful walk, a dull ache starts up in my arm just as we get to a particularly abandoned-looking stretch of destroyed road.
  They are sitting on a large piece of rubble that looks like it’s a part of the road itself, jutting up and making something of a shelf-like bench.
  Berserker is watching us approach, but makes no move to get up.
  He is wearing modern clothing instead of his armor, and watches us with an expressionless face, eyes following us alertly.
  The moonlight highlights his hair brightly, while the blue shadows make it look more purple than red.
  …Nessiah is leaning into his Servant’s side with his eyes closed, arm linked through Berserker’s.
  Just like the last time we saw them, he is dressed all in white and carrying his heavy book on his lap, and in the moonlight, he looks more like a mannequin or a porcelain statue than something real.
  As we approach, Nessiah sits up slowly and rubs at his eyes with the back of his hand in a delicate gesture.
  The figure of the two of them is mysteriously captivating.

  “—Oh, there you are.”
  Nessiah looks at us and calls out with a drowsy voice.
  “We were searching for you earlier, but it was taking too long and I was getting tired, so we decided we might as well wait for you to come to us.”

  Master and Servant stand up.
  Berserker remains silent, watching us while standing at Nessiah’s side protectively.
  His gaze seems to be focused on Saber, but that’s only to be expected.
  Not displaying any of the malevolence from before, Nessiah looks like an empty doll.
  Still, I can feel the traces of their intense magical presence, and it would be bad to consider them anything other than a real threat, despite the fact that they are outnumbered.

  “You’ve been busy lately, haven’t you?”
  Nessiah asks in an absent tone as if not really expecting an answer.
  “By my count, there should only be these three left and Caster.
  “—But then, this Grail War is meant to end soon, so I suppose there’s nothing else for it.”

  Apparently, they’ve been keeping track of the defeated Servants somehow as well.
  “And now we’ll draw things closer to the final curtain call, I suppose.”
  The white figure separates from Berserker for a moment.
  The golden book opens and holds still in midair as if on a podium, and Nessiah takes the sides of his skirts and bends in something more like a curtsy than a bow.
  …No.
  It’s more like a marionette sagging on its strings than a curtsy.
  After a pause, Nessiah stands up straight and holds Berserker’s hand.
  …There’s something about this scene that imprints itself upon my heart.
  Given Nessiah’s small stature as compared to Berserker’s height, it should look comical, like mismatched siblings or a parent and child, but that movement has incomparable grace.
  …I guessed about it before, but I’m sure now.
  More than anyone, this Master and Servant are connected by a strong “bond”.
  I don’t think it’s anything that I can understand so easily.
  But this bond will be as much a weapon as Nessiah’s magic or Berserker’s Noble Phantasm.

  “—Now.
  “I presume that you children are here to challenge us over who has the right to the Holy Grail, as per the norm.”

  I step forward.
  As Lancer’s Master, I must be the one to answer these words.
  “Yes.
  “Either use up your remaining Command Spells and retire, or we must do battle here.”

  Nessiah smiles bitterly and closes his eyes.
  He places his free hand on the center of his chest and traces it over his body.
  “…That which has been carved into this flesh will never fade.
  “I will not allow it.
  “No matter how this battle ends, I will be the Master of Berserker until I am erased from this world.”
  —His response, is words of a terrible love.

  “As I told you before, I will not allow you children to take the Holy Grail.
  “It belongs to us already.”

  “—Nessiah.”
  Berserker speaks with a smile.
  “You’re talking to a bunch of witless small fries and one of the most stubborn princesses I’ve ever known.
  “We’ll have to beat it into them to make them understand.”

  Saber’s form changes.
  From the bright-natured girl to the pure queen with sword in hand.
  Lancer appears at my side and steps forward, pointing his Diviner forward.

  “—Then.”
  Nessiah’s eyes open fully, and he releases Berserker, spreading both hands wide with a twisted smile.
  “Go get them, Berserker—!!”

  “—”
  The next moment, Berserker is halfway across the road.
  His body is covered in red and gold armor, and the long-poled scythe Noble Phantasm is in his hands.
  Saber meets his charge with a heavy crash, and their bodies strain for a moment before Saber begins to be pushed back due to Berserker’s sheer size.
  Lancer drives in at Berserker’s side, but the attack is deflected by that heavy armor, and Berserker leaps a step backward to slash at them both.

  …A scythe is ordinarily an extremely unwieldy weapon.
  Still, Berserker’s height and technical skill enable him to use it with deadly force.
  His body is reinforced with great magic and despite having been a mostly mortal hero, I can tell that in his current state, he is more than a match for either Saber or Lancer alone.
  …As it is, the two of them together are just more than a match for him, but with his natural strength he is able to hold them off and do them damage.
  The small wounds pile up and then heal.
  For now, any serious damage to Berserker himself is prevented by his heavy armor.

  —Nessiah’s voice.
  He’s speaking harsh, sharp words in a language I can’t understand, but which makes me want to cover my ears to try to block it out.
  It’s painful just to listen to it.

  Rose grabs my arm and starts to pull me backwards.
  Roswell is also getting out of the way.
  Nessiah raises his hand and calls out, and fire like a waterfall crashes down onto the three Servants.

  My Command Spell stings, but it’s not the same as the tearing pain that told me we were in danger before.

  When the flames disperse, Berserker has taken no damage, and Lancer also seems fine. Only Saber has been directly harmed, with her clothes and skin singed or burned in places.
  —The battle continues to get faster.
  Berserker’s scythe is a sharp crescent flash through the air, and it is a precise deathly strike.
  Lancer and Saber both aim for his unguarded body, straining to put an end to this without having to overuse their Noble Phantasms, but Berserker twists like a thrown cat and is able to repel both of their attacks.
  —It’s insane.
  …Worse, Nessiah continues to rain down fire spells.
  They don’t hurt Lancer very much and Berserker is unaffected, but it’s plain to see that Saber is starting to suffer from the repeated blows.
  She does not slow down, but the arc of her sword has become less clean and more desperate, easier for Berserker to block or cast aside.

  …This is a dangerous situation to be in.
  If Saber should fall, then we’ll lose our advantage and it will be two on one instead of two against two.
  …And yet.
  Berserker and Nessiah work together in a seamless front, trusting each other completely, with Nessiah taking full advantage of his Servant’s strengths.
  If there’s any one thing that we should strive for in the few remaining days of this Grail War… it should be to become like this.
  Not so much in power, but in unity.

  …For now, though, there is not much that I can do.
  There isn’t enough room for me to get around the battlefield and attempt to attack Nessiah again physically, even were I to project a powerful weapon.
  If I were to attack him head-on, he would only switch to targeting me instead of Saber, and it shouldn’t need to be said how long I would last in a direct battle.
  When it comes to this, I doubt that I have any real way to contribute to the battle and help Lancer to win, other than trying to find an opening for him.

  …Even though I don’t want to order the death of a Master, technically the fastest way to put an end to this battle would be to attack Nessiah directly.
  But to do that, someone would have to get past Berserker first.

  —For we mages at least, this is impossible.

  The second method would be to wear Berserker down before Saber herself is worn down.
  …This isn’t a very viable option as I have no idea who will give out first at this rate.

  It would also be good if one of us could attack Berserker with some form of spell that he’s weak to, but our Servants aren’t.
  He’s a demon, so light-based spells might be effective, and they shouldn’t do much damage to Saber or Lancer.
  But I’m no good at things like that, Rose is strongest with fire and contact magic, and Roswell specializes in dark magic, lowering that possibility.

  Or we could distract Berserker with something strong enough to give someone else a chance at a finishing blow…

  “—Lancer!
  “It’s no good holding back, you might as well get ready to use your Noble Phantasm!”

  The knight pauses for a moment after blocking and glances back at me.
  …I know he can see that I have an idea now.
  After everything, Lancer knows me at least well enough to understand that.
  He nods to show that he’s willing to put his trust in me.

  “—Then, we will reply in kind.
  “Berserker, with as much force as you can…!”

  Nessiah calls out from behind his Servant.
  “—Right.”

  “Stand back, Saber.”
  Roswell beckons his Servant away, and she retreats out of the blast zone as Lancer lifts his body into the air and begins to prepare his holy spear.
  Berserker closes his eyes and pulls his scythe back.

  “LORELEI—”
  But as the explosion of flames begins to descend, Berserker lunges forward, swinging his scythe forward in a powerful gesture.

  “PROMINENCE!”

  I shield my face, but am able to peek through my fingers for the inevitable result.
  The great cataclysm of fire rains down.
  …So Berserker’s attack was too late.
  Not even a great demon could stand up to something like Lancer’s Noble Phantasm—

    “…Heh.
    “If you’re trying to kill me, then you’re going to need to turn up the heat more.”

  …Something vast erupts from within the conflagration.
  It’s also fire.
  Pale fire with the usual colors inverted, gold to red instead of red to gold.
  The fire is in the shape of a massive beast—a dragon or a phoenix—and rises out of the shockwave of Lancer’s attack, cutting a vast swath through the purgatorial pool of holy fire and streaming forward toward Lancer himself.
  The flames wrap around Lancer and lose their form, vanishing.

  —Pain runs up my arm and Lancer lands heavily, just as Berserker becomes visible when the flames of Lancer’s Noble Phantasm start dying down.

  He is braced with one eye closed, but smiling dangerously.
  …His hair flickers around him like fire itself, and his face and armor is smudged with ash.
  —His breastplate has been blown away, leaving him partly exposed.

  “—Saber!”

  She rushes back in, and strikes hard before Berserker is able to get his guard back up.
  The sound of the slice, and of the sword’s blade grating against the armor that remains, rings through the night air.

  “Kh…!”

  As Saber pulls away, Berserker lets out a harsh voice and swings at her, then pivots to strike at Lancer.

  Lancer also retreats several paces, and Berserker falters.
  There is a deep and ugly gash across his chest.
  The wound does not appear to be fatal, but it’s sure that he’ll have trouble maneuvering now.
  —It worked.
  We’ve opened Berserker to attacks…!

  “Gulcasa—!!”
  Anxiously.
  From the other edge of the battlefield, Nessiah calls out his Servant’s true name.

  “—Stay there!”
  Not taking his eyes off his opponents for even a second, Berserker calls back.
  “I’m going to protect you this time. I’ll protect you, so stay there!
  “No matter what, we’re going to make it out of this, so give me the strength I need…!”

  “—”
  Saber begins to ready her blade for another swing, and Lancer backs away another few paces.
  He is nearly up to where we are.
  I can tell that he is injured, although it’s not badly enough for real worry.
  “—It’s okay, Lancer.
  “Saber can handle it from here, so go ahead and return to spirit form. You did a good job.”
  Lancer nods once, and then vanishes from sight.

  But then.
  “—All right. I’m releasing the limiters now.
  “Gulcasa. If your body can’t withstand this, I’ll never forgive you.”

  Berserker has no reply.
  Instead, he just smiles bitterly at us, teeth gritted and bared in a harsh grin.

  …The sound of something cracking.
  The air around us heats up, and Berserker’s eyes go blank, empty pits of gold.
  The black marks around his eyes deepen and sharpen, and the dark heartbeat of power that’s always enshrouded his body intensifies.
  This pressure is—

  …Still, Saber runs forward.
  Like a white streak of light or a proclamation of the gods.
  She parts the air and rushes forward to clash with Berserker as he finally goes mad.

  …Heavy blows struck with all their strength.
  The air fills with the sounds of metal clashing and clanging, and it hurts my ears.

  It’s just like the legends.
  Within the hellfire and the mad aura around Berserker that feels like it’s crushing my lungs from within my chest, the white queen and the red emperor reenact their fateful confrontation.

  I might be able to get Lancer to manifest again.
  I might be able to rush in myself and strike a critical blow.
  But such things don’t occur to me now.
  All I can do is watch in awe.

  …Finally.
  Berserker’s voice is raised in a hoarse cry that is equally roar and scream, and Saber punctuates each blow with a desperate shout.
  They are slowing down to the point that it no longer hurts my head to watch them trade blows.
  Saber’s body is battered and covered in shallow cuts, her dress frayed in places, but she does not falter.
  For all the exhaustion evident in her movements, she continues to strike each blow as hard as the last.
  Berserker is covered in serious injuries.
  His armor is mostly destroyed and his body has been slashed open in several places, vast red gashes that nearly go down to the bone.
  Still, there is no reason in his eyes and no regard to how critical a state his body is in.
  The only directive remaining is his self-appointed task to protect his Master.
  …He truly is a demon.
  This is a monster in the shape of a man.
  …And yet.
  The battle between the two of them is beautiful.

  “—!!”

  With all her strength,
  Saber pushes her sword forward.

  “Kh, ah—?!”

  The tip of the blade erupts from Berserker’s back, through his spine, covered in blood and other fluid.
  Blood runs from Berserker’s mouth as the choked cry of pain leaves his body.
  The aura of madness dissipates as Saber pulls her sword back, and his legs collapse, sending him to the ground hard.
  …It’s no surprise.
  Saber’s fatal blow severed the spinal column and cut away the use of the lower half of his body, leaving collapse as the only thing he could do.

  “…Gulcasa…?”

  Soft and shaken.
  It’s already too late for the Master to do anything.
  The wind tosses back Berserker’s long hair, slowly turning to ash from the ends up, as though his body is gradually becoming steam and being torn apart.

  “…Gulcasa—!!”

  Running footsteps.
  I am close enough to see Berserker’s eyes close, and open again as ordinary.
  With the last of his strength, he turns to look over his shoulder at the Master rushing to his side, no longer able to care about the danger he may be putting himself in by coming near us.
  …All of Nessiah’s composure is long gone.
  His body is shaking and his eyes are wild, filled with tears.

  “Gulcasa—”
  Calling his Servant’s name as though it’s the only thing he knows how to do.
  Finally, he reaches the still-smoldering part of the road, and the collapsed body of his Berserker.

  He reaches out, perhaps to put his arms around his Servant for comfort, perhaps just to steady the both of them.
  But the second after he lays hands on Berserker’s body…,
  ……that Servant’s body disappears.

  Nessiah stands alone in the middle of the street, frozen.
  His body buckles, and he falls to the ground heavily, the same way Berserker did.
  —His voice raises.

  The wordless scream is filled with grief and rage and a hundred other emotions I can’t put names to.
  It goes on and on, even after his voice begins to crack, and it continues for eternity.


  —“Eternity” ends.
  The only proof that Berserker was here in this war,
    the only proof that such a “bond” existed…

  …is the pale body lying twisted and unmoving in the middle of the pavement.