"Owowooooow..." Assassin moaned as he rubbed his back. "Saber was so mean, Master! She tried to vaporize me!"
"I know how you feel, old buddy. That overseer bitch tried to turn me into a pin cushion!" Freed complained. He was definitely aware of the killing intent those two bitches were giving him. At the mere memory of such, he scowled and turned to Kokabiel, who sat lavishly in a rather finely decorated chair, flipping through the pages of a book in his hand. "And you, you old cuckhold son of a bitch! You never told me that Overseer bitch was a Master, either!" He roared in anger as he pulled at the roots of his hair, kicking the wall repeatedly so hard that it nearly gave way. "Dammit dammit dammiiiiiiit! Saber's brat of a Master had a Sacred Gear too! Fucking hell! I thought he nearly ripped off my jaw with that lucky hit!"
"... Are you done with your temper tantrum?" Kokabiel asked with almost disinterest. "If you are, then you should know it would have made no difference if I had told you that Caren Hortensia was Archer's Master. You would have tried to kill her as well. If not worse."
"Not my point, old man!" the madman hissed. "Now what am I supposed to do?! Those Shitty Devils and their Servants are gonna be on my ass faster than you can say fuck!"
Kokabiel smirked. "You don't have to worry." he said, flipping through another page. Freed and Assassin looked at one another in confusion before looking at the Cadre whose grin grew wider. "I've taken the necessary precautions. Tonight, I expect you to retrieve Asia Argento's Twilight Healing."
"And how do you expect me to do that? I don't got a fucking army."
"You do now."
Freed stared at the Fallen before he cocked his head. "... Say what now?"
"You will be fighting five to six Masters at once. Naturally, you will need a sizable force to fight them. Thankfully, the only real threats are Saber and Lancer. The other four Servants should be easy."
Freed snorted. He didn't know much about Servants, other than that they were a bunch of badass motherfuckers who could kill your ass in so many ways, it wasn't funny. Hell, take a look at his awesome Assassin buddy! He killed his own maker in a hundred ways before he finally ended the fucker's life! Seriously! And now his boss was telling him to go to war with so many asskickers? With what kind of army? Fallen Angels? Exorcists?!
… Ah, who the fuck was he kidding?! All he had to do was just kill the Masters, right? Without a fuck buddy to keep their mana supplied, a Servant was pretty much worthless without 'em! They would be starved and die off in seconds! He just needed to get the Servants and Masters separated!
"Okay, big man… what sort of army do you got for me?"
"T-Thank you so much for looking after me, Sister Hortensia." Asia bowed deeply in gratitude as Archer handed her a cup of tea. "I'm sorry if I cause you any trouble!"
Caren smiled thinly as she sat across from Asia, pulling the chair out from the table before placing herself on top of it. "Believe me, little girl, it is hardly any trouble." she told her. "If anything, I should be thanking you for alleviating me of my boredom."
"Boredom?"
"Oh, yes." Archer giggled. "Master gets so bored when all she does is paperwork and observing the war from here. I am Archer, by the way. Servant to Caren Hortensia. A pleasure to meet you, Asia Argento."
"O-Oh, no! The pleasure is mine, Lady Archer!"
"So polite..." The petite female smiled in amusement. "Such a pity that she is dragged into all of this."
"Indeed." Caren nodded in agreement. "Fortunately, that troublesome child is currently investigating the matter, and should turn up results quite soon." Though she half-expected the decision to remain in-effect. True, despite Twilight Healing's requirement for one to be of pure heart and that it was purposely designed to heal all manner of beings, the decision to excommunicate Asia Argento would likely remain for a while. Much like a court decision, it was quite difficult to overturn it. It wasn't impossible to say, but it was hard to accomplish. Very hard.
At least the consolation prize would be those Bishops' heads on a silver platter. The boy was quite good at such things.
"So then, little girl… how was your brief stay with the Grigori?"
"V-Very well, actually. Lady Raynare treated me kindly before I was told that I would be placed under the care of the Grail War's overseer."
Kindly, hm? Caren thought in dry humor. More like putting up a facade so she could see your face and hope shattered once she tore your Sacred Gear from your heart.
Well, in the end. It didn't really matter. Raynare and her accomplices were dead. No sense in telling the girl something unnecessary. Now, all that is left to be done is to figure out what to do with the young nun.
Caren looked at her hand, which held the tea cup nervously. The marking was faded, almost resembling a bruise, but it was otherwise proof.
A Command Seal.
It seems that child's information was correct. So, there will be more than the standard seven. Bah, how troubling. Keeping track of seven Servants and Masters is hard enough, but 14? Or more?
Was this how her father felt when he was tasked with supervising the Fifth Holy Grail War? As screwed up as it was? True, seven was the norm, but a few of the Servants and the events that transpired were anything but normal. From a false Assassin to a second one being spawned, even if it was a true Assassin by all rights. And of course the irregularity that was the corrupted Grail nearly manifested in the world as "All the Evils in the World." Her lips threatened to become a smile at that particular memory.
I should give that woman a call. Perhaps to catch up on old times. The smile then threatened to become a Cheshire-like grin. And then some...
"A-Achoo!" Somewhere in the Southeast, a woman dressed in a black suit with red hair sneezed violently, nearly throwing herself from her chair and dropping her strawberry cheesecake. Sniffling, she wiped away the snot with a napkin before frowning. "This chill down my back...is Hortensia talking about me?"
Probably. a male voice in the back of her head called back. Strangely, the woman's left arm developed a soft blue glow as bizarre markings became visible in the gap between the cuff of her shirt and the black glove she wore. She's in Kuoh, right? Supervising that new Grail War?
"Yep. And I'm staying as far away from that crap as possible." the woman stated firmly as she took a bite of her cake, noting how its flavor was a bit off, but otherwise still tasty. "Especially with what she dragged me into twelve years ago."
The voice snickered. I thought that was pretty damn funny.
"Only you would think so, Avenger."
Haru could not sleep. It was maybe 11 or 12 at night, yet no matter how long he closed his eyes and dreamed of boobs and sexiness, he found himself unable to fall unconscious into the beautiful world of dreams. Instead, all he could do was stare up at the ceiling with mixed feelings.
"... Are you still thinking about what the Overseer said, Haru?" Altera asked as she materialized next to him, a concerned look on her face. "If it's about Assassin and his Master, you don't have to get involved. That Gremory woman and her peerage are probably already hunting for him. We don't have to go looking for him."
Haru sighed. "I know, Altera." he said. "But… I still think it's wrong. Freed's crazy. No, scratch that. He deserves to be locked up in a basement twenty feet underneath the crazy house. But killing him?"
"Sometimes, Master, you don't have a choice but to kill someone."
"I know. I know..."
He's been told this by multiple people. The Devils, his aunt, and now the overseer. Even now, with all this craziness, he thought he was in some sort of realistic dream.
But this was reality.
He could follow Altera's suggestion and not get involved… but what then? What was he supposed to do? He never wanted to become involved in this war in the first place. He should have just forfeited his Command Seals. That way, he could just live a normal life. Sona had even suggested that to him. He was a normal person. He shouldn't have to get involved in such affairs. There was no place for him here on this chaotic battlefield.
But, then...
He turned over and stared at Altera. The amazon warrior blinked before her cheeks turned bright red beneath his intense gaze.
"I am… the Great King. I am destruction itself, falling like a star to crush all those beneath. Thus, I ask of you... Are you worthy of being my Master?"
Such words, while carried with power and authority befitting one of the most powerful classes to his understanding, were also laced with such sadness that it did not suit her. She was a perfection of beauty, grace and power. That much he knew. So, why...?
Why did she look so sad?
"Ku...s-so unfair, Master..." Haru blinked, returning to reality to find a very bashful Altera unable to meet his gaze. Her cheeks were steadily turning more red and was tapping her index fingers together. "I-If you stare at me in such a way..."
Eh? Was I staring at her that hard?
"S-Sorry." He quickly averted his gaze. He didn't mean to stare. He just got lost in thought.
Strangely, Altera seemed almost disappointed, but otherwise looked quite embarrassed.
Haru looked back up at the ceiling, recalling the chaotic events that happened today. Absent-mindedly, he rubbed his shoulder. He almost felt as if he could still feel the burning white bullet that Freed had put in there. The wound was gone and the bullet was nowhere to be seen. There wasn't even any scar tissue when he had bathed.
Asia-chan healed my wound with that light... he thought, remembering the warm, welcoming emerald glow that fell from her hands. What was that? Magecraft? Or a Sacred Gear?
Asia Argento. The main reason why he couldn't sleep.
She always a nun who was transferred here recently, yet she was caught up in all of that insanity. He was worried for her. While he could see he was safe with the Overseer, something about her rubbed him the wrong way. He just couldn't tell what. He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much. She was a stranger. He never met her before. But something about her just seemed so… different. As if there was a mystery that he couldn't quite figure out.
Haru knew he shouldn't get involved with her further. She was already safe. After all, she was with the overseer of the Grail War. It was pretty much the safest place to be, especially with a nutjob like Freed running around.
So...why was he still so troubled?
"... Ah, screw it." he eventually groaned and pulled himself. "Can't go to sleep, so what the hell?"
"Master?"
"Come on, Altera. Let's pay Asia-chan a visit."
Off to the far distance, stretching out into the horizon, Freed couldn't help but whistle as he looked up at the wide array of soldiers. Many were garbed in dark armaments, pitch black feathery wings stretching out from their backs and spears of light forged in their hands. Others were human, garbed in black robes and swords of light.
"Master!" Assassin giggled, dancing around like a madman. "Look look look! SO MANY KILLERS!"
"I think I'm in love, old buddy..." Freed grinned. "Fuck. I think I'm getting erect. And all this! Just to take a nun! Best. Fucking job. EVER."
Kokabial laughed. "I'm glad you approve. While they are nowhere on par with a Servant, they make up for that in sheer numbers." he stated. "Do remember the plan. My forces will attack the Devils and separate them. Your job is to take the girl. Alive. Fail, and I will have your head on a pike."
"Ohohoho. Don't you worry, Boss man!" the madman smirked. "Consider that little fuck doll yours!" He turned around and looked at his Servant. "C'mon, Assassin! It's time for a PARTY!"
Unknown to the citizens of Kuoh, the small city would soon become a horrible battleground.
Tonight, the ceasefire will end.
Tonight… the Holy Grail War begins.