I hope they negotiate now. After a brief stand in silence, the talk started, and the Japanese MC trope with Rin explained to Illya who I am and what I want from them as best they could. Apparently didn't convince much, so I'll have to intervene again. "Couldn't convince you?"
"No. And what will you give me then?" Illya.
"Hm, you? Revenge on your mother's killer? And the one because of whom Kiritsugu couldn't take you?" Honestly, I don't remember how her mother died, but it was apparently the priest.
"Who?!" Illya reacted way too vividly.
"So you're interested? Good, shake their hands as a sign of alliance, and I'll tell you." It went even too easy.
While the trio sealed the alliance, I glanced at the clock—2 a.m., well, they might still make it today. Things are moving fast somehow.
"Tell me!" Illya stomped her foot.
"Short version or extended with backstory?" Why not, I don't mind.
After a brief silence and subsequent council, they unanimously chose extended.
Well, as I said, I don't mind. "Good, where to start? You have two main goals; the first is Gilgamesh—he was summoned as Archer in the 4th Holy Grail War, but midway decided Rin's father no longer suited him—so he conspired with one... mm, crazy priest named Kirei, who was a Master and lost his Servant, that if he kills his Master—Rin's father—he'd contract with him. Gilgamesh didn't win that war, but managed to stay in the world. And for 10 years now, he's been gorging on constant sacrifices and devouring ordinary people's souls. You could say he's the 8th Servant of this war, though counting Caster and Assassin's deaths, it's 6."
I listened to a couple shouts from the audience, which I ignored until Illya asked her interested question. "Caster and Assassin are dead?"
"Yes, funny story: Caster had a falling out with her Master, so he sold her to Lancer. But before they came to kill her, she killed her Master and barely escaped. In the forests by the local Jedi Temple, Assassin and his Master found her—the Master was a local teacher; since he wasn't a mage, Caster killed them there, but without Master's sustenance and exhausted, she didn't last much longer and died." And why not, the legend sounds good; plus, it covers me additionally.
"Can an ordinary person become a Master?" That was from Rin.
"Yes, but special conditions are needed—shortage of mages for the ritual, and the person must be... mm, special? Mostly maniacs, killers, and assassins fit. Your school teacher was just a killer, and in the previous war, Caster was summoned by an ordinary maniac; ask Artoria—she's popular with us, might tell about her past admirer." Slippery topic, so I shifted to Artoria.
Artoria frowned and said. "No."
"Understandable, but back to Gil. Also a crazy psycho and admirer of our queen. His wish for the Grail—to bring the apocalypse to reduce the number of people and make everything like before. You know, when humanity huddled in small cities behind big walls, and hordes of magical beasts and other monsters roamed outside. His ability is the Gate of Babylon, from which he shoots every possible Noble Phantasm weapon. Making it nearly impossible to get close, and even your Berserker, Illya, couldn't do anything to him. Even his 12 lives wouldn't suffice to withstand a salvo of 100 or 1000 swords, spears, and the like—considering it's all enchanted, surviving is nearly impossible. Plus, he has a flying artifact letting him hover far above the ground."
I paused to gauge the listeners; seems they got it. "Alas, not the end; the main problem is his primary weapon, a sword that can create black holes and cause ground rifts. Considering his truly colossal mana reserves gathered over 10 years, beating him is hard but possible. His main weakness—total lack of close combat weapon skill, which with his truly endless arsenal he doesn't need anyway. And as painful as it is to admit, the only one with a chance against him is your Archer, Rin—as you've seen, with swords he could hold off Lancer. So, using his Unlimited Blade Works analog, he'll manifest a pseudo-dimension and there, gaining advantage, create copies of Gilgamesh's weapons to fend him off, giving a chance to close in and force close combat to kill him."
"Unlimited Blade Works analog? Pseudo-dimension?" Rin raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, your Archer isn't a hero from the past, and not really a 'Heroic Spirit.' But the Grail maintains some balance, so it gave him an analog." Deep down, I don't know what his ability's called, but something about a sword field I remember.
"I see." Rin nodded.
"Good, second goal—Kirei himself, a complex personality. Born mentally defective, couldn't get pleasure or joy from anything except others' suffering. But held out long until during the previous war he gave in to Gilgamesh's persuasions—killed his own father, the local priest and previous Church Watcher, then killed Rin's father to contract with Gilgamesh. He's a truly strong mage who held off a strong witch, Heroic Spirit, and machine-gun fire at once. That's Artoria, Illya's mother, and the mercenary who was Kiritsugu's lover. Later killed Illya's mother and that mercenary, severely wounded Kiritsugu—damaging his Magical Circuits and undermining his health, leading to early death. At war's end, reached the destroyed Grail, which granted a piece of his wish—to revel in others' suffering, causing the local tragedy. Goal for this war—repeat the previous result but on a larger scale, ideally the whole world. Naturally, due to similar wishes, still allied with Gilgamesh."
Here the shouting started from my listeners—revenge, bastard, and such. Letting them vent, I continued. "Recently, after the Holy Grail War—started kidnapping and killing people to fatten Gilgamesh. As I said—if you hurry, you can save someone from his basement. Oh yeah, and volunteered as Rin's guardian and teacher for some reason? Dunno, maybe got some perverse pleasure, or wanted to raise a pet Master for this war."
Rin couldn't hold back again, and insults flew; waiting for her to finish, I continued. "The only one with a chance against him is your Berserker, Illya, but better if you and Rin pressure him with magic additionally. But I didn't forget you, Shirou and Artoria—since a new war started, he summoned a new Servant for himself—Lancer."
"Impossible!" Rin and Illya were surprisingly in sync.
"Why not? New war—new Servant. Even a Servant can summon a Servant in principle, but usually only Casters know how. But that's just a fun fact minute." These knowledge won't give them anything, but revealing such secrets should build more trust.
"That's a violation of Holy Grail War rules!" Archer-Shirou decided to chime in.
I couldn't hold back and ironically snorted. "How righteous you are, but here's a scary secret—in every war, someone breaks the unwritten rules. But back to Lancer; you've met him recently, Shirou—he just a bit killed you recently. Since you, Shirou, are pretty much nothing—and don't delude yourself, fending him off with a pipe wasn't your merit. So, Artoria will take him on, as he showed no special power, and her sword skills should suffice to at least hold him until the others finish and help her."
"I can." Grumpy Artoria muttered. "Win."
"Hm, pride flared?" Not surprised. "Because of how your fight with Lancer ended in the previous war?"
Artoria stayed silent, just frowning harder.
"What are you talking about?" Japanese MC trope.
"Not my secret; she'll tell if she wants. Well, if you want a one-on-one duel with him, go ahead—who am I to tell sapients how they want to die. My job is just to give the task, but discuss it with Shirou as your Master. After all, because of him, you're extremely weak now and could lose if others don't help." Tsk, knightly pride and all that.
"I can; my knightly pride demands it!" Artoria got generous with a full sentence.
While Artoria stubbornly argued with Shirou about risks and that she's a girl and shouldn't fight alone, I checked Rin and Illya's reactions—they were almost indifferent, mild interest. After all, they intend to win, and the option where one Servant dies—or better, Artoria and Lancer kill each other—is preferable.
But nothing lasts forever; Artoria seemed to convince the Japanese MC trope, but I feel if she starts losing, the Japanese MC trope will interfere in her fight. And quite possibly die—I want to believe that at least.
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: Granulan