Chapter 66: [Fragarach]
To deal with troublemakers, you must use the methods designed for troublemakers.
This was a lesson Emiya Shirou learned from the world of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
After all, the more powerful a person is, the more confident they are in themselves. Even someone like Kujo Jotaro was the type of person who wouldn't listen to others' suggestions and only followed his own thoughts—at least until someone managed to give him a beating.
And how does one go about beating someone, or rather, what method best chips away at the confidence of these "tough nuts" to make them receptive to advice?
While such things didn't happen to him in the JoJo world where he had altered the plot, in Shirou's past-life memories, the methods DIO used to tame the Stand users under his command—how he made that group of arrogant and fierce warriors obedient—were faithfully recorded in the original work.
That is to say...
"—Trace on!!"
From a perspective belonging to a Stand user that no one else could see, a golden, muscular humanoid Stand stood beside Emiya Shirou like a guardian deity.
—[Pseudo-The World]!!
The invincible Stand belonging to DIO from the world of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure was silently explaining the truth behind the previous string of "mysterious yet impressive" events.
It was precisely because of the existence of [Pseudo-The World], and his familiarity with Bazett's information through his past-life memories, that Shirou was confident: no matter what Bazett tried to do, he could handle it all!
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—"Now then, first, let's organize the current information."
Unaware of the source of Shirou's confidence, Bazett—who had fully armed herself under Shirou's allowance and used the time to tidy up her understanding of the situation—glanced at Lancer. Lancer hadn't made a move, seemingly agreeing with Shirou's proposal.
She then looked at Tohsaka Rin, who, according to her gathered intel, was marked as the current head of one of the three founding families—the Tohsaka family—and was very likely a Master chosen by the Grail for this war.
Finally, she looked at the red-clad Archer standing beside Rin. Even without using a Master's authority to observe him, one could tell just by the massive leaking mana that he was by no means ordinary.
Bazett thought silently: —"It seems a lot really did happen while I was unconscious."
—"Lancer, and the 'priest' Lancer mentioned... is it Kirei? That makes sense; back then, it seemed only Kirei could have ambushed me..."
It was hard to describe Bazett's current mood. While Bazett's brain usually didn't work very sharply in daily life—even being somewhat "love-struck" due to a lack of affection since childhood—when it came to matters related to combat, her IQ would rarely but surely reclaim the high ground.
Therefore, no matter how much she didn't want to admit it, Kotomine Kirei—for whom she held a unilateral affection—had actually been using her from start to finish. Whether it was using that affection to goad her into participating in the Holy Grail War, or using her trust to backstab her and steal her Command Spells and Servant.
—"Stop, stop, stop. Put the matter of Kirei aside for now."
Thinking of Kirei inevitably brought up associations with her failed life. Bazett quickly stopped her wandering thoughts to prevent herself from being defeated by reality before Shirou even made a move. She focused all her attention on the upcoming match.
—"The most important thing now is the next battle. Just as animals determine dominance in a pack through fighting and killing, this match isn't just a simple contest; it will determine who holds the initiative after we form an alliance."
—"Since Kirei is no longer trustworthy, I, who only have Lancer left, absolutely cannot allow Lancer to continue being restricted in the upcoming alliance! As Lancer's Master, I cannot lose!"
She had her reason to fight. But how could she crack Shirou's ability? She didn't even know what Shirou had done yet.
—"No, there is still information."
—"The head of the Tohsaka family is undoubtedly a Master. Then this man who can stand with her and seems to take a leading role is clearly a Master as well."
—"But here, besides Lancer and that red one who seems to be the Tohsaka head's Servant, I don't see any other Servants."
—"The ability to hide one's tracks and the ability to make me keep falling... a Servant who fits both of those points, in my knowledge, seems to be only one—"
—"Astolfo, one of the Twelve Paladins of Charlemagne!"
The Hippogriff that exists nowhere in this world, and the Magic Spear that forces anyone struck by it to fall.
—"In that case..."
Following this train of thought, using purely physical techniques wouldn't work. Even if she wore her Rune-engraved gloves to strengthen her base stats, it would be difficult to deal with unreasonable attacks appearing from unknown corners.
However, if physical techniques weren't enough, she just had to stop being stubborn about them. Now that she had guessed Shirou's trump card, having made full preparations, she couldn't possibly lose!
"It's not too late to surrender now," Bazett spoke.
Lead-colored spheres began to float around Bazett. Along with her words, they emitted a chilling, hair-raising magical energy.
"Though I still don't understand many things, since Lancer accepted your claim and confirmed that you did indeed save my life, I naturally won't make any decisions in the upcoming alliance that you would find unacceptable, nor will I let you bear the risks of the alliance alone."
Bazett was very confident when she said this. After all, she truly had the strength to back up her promise—both for the match with Shirou and for victory in the Holy Grail War.
But...
"[Fragarach], the most perfect counter-attack Noble Phantasm in Celtic mythology... or so they say. But this 'perfect' counter-attack Noble Phantasm has one most fatal flaw."
Watching [Fragarach] gradually change its shape from a sphere to a sword under Bazett's continuous output of mana, and feeling a certain concept aiming at his body, Shirou simply declared calmly:
"—ZA WARUDO!!"
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