"I underestimated her resolve…"
"We both did…"
Rin felt like she was having a dream, words misting in her mind, light moans escaping her mouth now and then.
"Can you sense it, kid?"
"… I sensed it the moment I was summoned, old fart."
"Someone has unleashed the Evil upon this world…"
"… Is that why you are here? An anomaly?"
"That word suits you the best."
"Humph! Don't talk like you know me…"
"Perhaps… I do know you…"
Rin couldn't handle it anymore.
Her head was banging against her skull as if someone was hammering it from inside.
It didn't matter if she was dreaming or not; if she heard these two bickering for one second, she would end up going insane!
Biting through the pain, Rin opened her eyes, the blurry images of the two Heroic Spirits entering her vision.
"She overestimated her Mana reserves," Assassin was saying.
Archer nodded. "Using two Command Seals together was a bad idea…"
"Shut up!" Rin snapped, holding her head.
Archer and Assassin frowned, feeling the power of her words upon them.
"I was wrong," Archer said, smiling. "You are an excellent mage, Rin Tohsaka. Such a broad command shouldn't feel so oppressive, but here we are…"
Reluctantly, Assassin nodded.
Seeing her getting up, blushing, he stepped away and leaned against a wall, crossing his arms.
Archer kept going on, though, lecturing Rin about the importance of each Command Seal and how useful they could be in a battle.
It was especially so now that Rin needed to supply Mana to not one but two Heroic Spirits.
"At a glance," Archer said, looking out through the window, "it feels great — having two Servants. However, in a War of such high stakes, this can work against us. It would be wise if you didn't use us against an enemy together."
Assassin let out a grunt. "The kid is finally making some sense," he said, making Archer's brows twitch. "A quick ambush from me, followed by Archer's full power attack in case the enemy survived. This should be our strategy."
"Haha!" Archer suddenly laughed. "Someone's already making preparations for failures…"
"Alright…" Rin sighed. "That's enough…"
Now, she was also feeling that having two Servants wouldn't truly equate to a grand advantage, especially these two!
"First," Rin demanded, "tell me which Heroic Spirits you two are."
For a moment, silence reigned in the hall, as if both the Servants were waiting for each other to answer first.
"And…" Rin pressed.
Archer sighed. "I cannot answer that question, Master," he said, "simply because I don't know the answer myself."
Rin's jaw dropped, her head snapping toward Assassin.
The second Servant too shook his head, saying nothing else.
"What?!" Rin hissed, the headache worsening. "How am I supposed to know your strengths if I don't know which Heroic Spirits you two are?!!"
A Heroic Spirit's true name not only revealed the identity, but also the mythological strength they possessed, going as far as giving a hint about their Noble Phantasms.
Hearing Rin, both Servants let out a low chuckle together.
"You don't have to worry about my strength…" Archer said.
Assassin nodded, finishing. "… Summoned by you, I am naturally the strongest."
The two Heroic Spirits' gazes met before they broke it with a jerk of their heads.
Rin, on the other hand, just shook her head, sighing. "I am going to sleep," she told them. "Here are your orders… Clean this mess and make sure I get a good breakfast when I wake up."
"…?"
"…?"
…
The next evening,
The entire day, Rin walked around Fuyuki City, familiarizing Archer and Assassin with all the locations.
Suddenly, just as they were returning, Rin's eyes landed on the evening-news on TV screens propped up outside a store.
It was still broadcasting the last night's gas explosions, she observed.
However, just as she was about to move on, the reporter mentioned the location where the explosion had taken place.
Rin's entire body jolted as if she had been electrocuted.
"What happened, Rin?" Archer asked. "Did you sense a Servant?"
"No…" Assassin flatly replied.
Both Servants were invisible to the public, but could communicate with Rin mentally.
Without answering them, though, Rin broke out in a run, her face paling.
Running and running, caring for nothing, Rin reached the location.
Where a grand mansion once stood, only a patch of black land could be seen now, strewn with massive craters here and there.
Not only that, there was such a nauseating smell in the atmosphere that Rin gagged. If it wasn't because of the shocking sight, she would have almost puked.
Surprisingly, the police and other people observing the sight weren't showing any sign of nausea.
"Do you know this place, Rin?" Archer asked.
"It's… Matou Mansion…" Rin brokenly said, disbelieving the scale of the explosion. "What happened?"
Suddenly, she remembered the tremors that had woken her up last evening, a chill washing over her spine.
"It's hard to tell," Archer commented. "There's Corruption here. Evil. It's best not to stay near this place for long…"
"We are being watched," Assassin suddenly said. "At least two Servants."
"Rin…" someone called her from behind.
Rin's head snapped over her shoulder.
It was Ayako Mitsuzuri, her classmate.
"Ayako…" Rin could barely say anything.
"I was so worried when you didn't come today," Ayako said, tears streaming down her face. "Police came to school… We heard the explosion last night, but… I didn't know it happened here…"
"What…" Rin couldn't ask.
"They said…" Ayako said. "They said… They couldn't find bodies… Everything was burned…"
Rin, like a puppet, looked at the blackened ground, Sakura's face flashing past her eyes.
"No…" Rin turned around and ran, Ayako bawling behind her.
"No!" Rin wiped her eyes, a look of determination flashing across her face. "This — wasn't an explosion. Archer. Assassin. Get ready."
Two invisible figures blurred, magical fluctuations erupting from them, surrounding Rin.
A great magical family like that couldn't just disappear out of the blue — not by an explosion, Rin knew.
She did not know what happened to the Matous.
So, Rin decided to go to someone who would know it for sure.
Because, if someone did know, then it would be him — Kirei Kotomine, the Overseer!
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100 Power Stones: +1 Bonus Chapter