Mist crept between the trees, covering the field like a living shroud. The dry leaves didn't move, the wind seemed absent, as if the world awaited the outcome of a silent confrontation.
In the center, surrounded by ancient stones and dense shadows, Tachie stood firm, her feet planted firmly on the damp ground.
In her hands was a long, curved scythe with a black handle and a silver blade. She held it with a strange calm, as if the weapon were an extension of her own body.
On the other side, Assassin.
Dark hood, light body, almost weightless, and in her hands, a katana, a short, sharp, precise blade. Her posture was low, her torso inclined, like a serpent ready to strike.
Tachie's eyes gleamed in the pale moonlight.
"So… you haven't left here yet, have you?"
Assassin responded only with silence. He didn't need words. The katana she wielded was enough, a sacred relic, made to kill with a single cut.
CLANG!
The scythe came first. A sideways arc, savage and powerful.
Assassin blocked with the flat of the katana, stepping back nimbly, his feet gliding like a dancer's. He countered with a quick slash, aiming for the waist, but Tachie spun around, and the scythe came down hard.
CRASH!
The scythe's blade dug into the ground, creating a small crack in the stone.
Tachie recoiled, gasping.
Assassin watched her. Still silent. The eyes behind the hood showed calm and absolute focus.
"Don't you feel anything when you kill?" she asked, swinging the scythe from side to side with ease, as if she were moving her thoughts in time with the weapon.
Assassin took a slight step forward. "I sense... that you're hesitating."
Tachie gritted her teeth.
With a dry cry, she lunged forward again.
This time with everything she had.
The scythe sliced through the air in wide, unpredictable curves, with brute force and fury.
But Assassin was prepared. His movements were more restrained, shorter. He danced between Tachie's attacks like a leaf in the wind: parrying, dodging, retreating, and then… slashing.
A precise blow grazed Tachie's shoulder, slicing open the flesh with surgical coldness.
She grunted in pain, but didn't flinch.
She twisted the scythe's handle and attempted an upward strike.
Assassin leaped back, landing on a rock. The katana's blade glistened with freshly spilled blood.
Tachie took a deep breath.
Assassin spoke, this time with a faint tone of respect: "Your anger is powerful. But anger is not technique."
Tachie tightened her grip on the scythe, her eyes fixed on the katana she'd been denied. "And technique... doesn't bury ghosts."
They advanced simultaneously.
The blades clinked, cutting through the mist.
Scythe against katana.
Assassin and Tachie moved like echoes of each other, swift, lethal, silent.
After another impact, they pulled away, panting. The blade of Tachie's scythe bore the marks of the katana's steel. Assassin's shoulder was bleeding, but his eyes remained calm.
Then he spoke. His voice was soft, almost ethereal, like a whisper from time immemorial. "Don't you see? We are the same."
Tachie didn't answer immediately, but her grip on the scythe tightened.
Assassin took another step forward, katana lowered, but alert. "We have been forgotten.
Erased by ages that don't care about what we once were.
The world doesn't want martyrs... it wants symbols it can control.
We both... are remnants of something time wanted to bury."
Tachie stared at him silently. Her eyes were dark and fixed, as if they were boring into him.
"You speak as if you were a victimin." she said finally. Her voice was firm, bitter. "As if the world owed you something."
Assassin raised his head slightly. "Isn't that right?"
Tachie took a step forward, her silhouette silhouetted by the mist that stirred with her presence. *No. I haven't been forgotten. I was left behind."
She swung the scythe slowly. "It's not the same."
Assassin frowned beneath the hood. "So you fight to be remembered?"
"I fight because..." she replied, "because I'm still here."
Without warning, she struck.
The air was sliced by the scythe in a savage, sharp, downward arc. Assassin raised the katana in time, but the impact knocked him back two steps, his feet dragging on the wet ground.
She didn't stop. "You want to die as a symbol, Assassin.
But I will survive as a real person."
Another strike.
"With scars. With anger. With a body. With soul."
Another impact.
Assassin could barely keep up.
"You extinguished yourself of your own free will…
But I refused."
The scythe came from below, aiming for the abdomen.
And in that moment, Assassin realized, they were not equals.
They never were.
The blow came clean, fierce, definitive.
"SCHHHHHK—!"
Tachie's scythe slashed through Assassin, slicing diagonally across his torso, from hip to shoulder. For an instant, everything froze. The sound of the blade tearing flesh, the air, the silence. Nothing else moved.
Assassin stopped.
The katana slipped from his fingers, falling to the ground with a soft, metallic sound.
He looked down, seeing the cut.
Then, slowly, at Tachie.
"So… that was it…"
His voice was calm. Without hatred. Without regret.
As if he were accepting the fate he already sensed. "You… survived…
While I… disappeared."
And then his body began to unravel.
First, his feet turned to dark smoke. Then his legs. The cut glowed like a burning line, and the mist around it seemed to suck it in. What remained of Assassin's cloak floated weightlessly, being pulled into the void.
But when everything finally vanished, something remained.
Something small.
Lying on the sodden ground.
A finger.
Black, with a long, gnarled nail. Pulsing. Cursed.
One of Sukuna's fingers.
Tachie's eyes widened.
The air grew heavier.
The mist itself seemed to recede, as if the object repelled her.
She approached slowly, the scythe still in her hands, her body bruised but firm. She stared at that fragment of pure, cursed energy, radiating a presence that seemed to mock reality.
"So that was why…" she murmured.
"…what made him so strong…"
The rage Assassin carried, the silence, the disproportionate power…
It wasn't just his.
It was the echo of Sukuna within him.
A servant corrupted by the purest curse.
Tachie reached out hesitantly, not to touch him, but to wrap the cloth of her clothing around him. She couldn't leave it there. She knew what it was. She knew what she could do.
With her finger wrapped, she looked one last time at where Assassin had vanished. "Disappear, then.
But this time…
without taking anyone else with you."
And so, the forest returned to silence.
But the weight of that confrontation still echoed in Tachie's chest.
Changing perspective...
Shirou, Rin, and Choso advanced through the ancient temple, their footsteps echoing on the cold stones. The place was too silent, as if even time had stopped within. Statues of forgotten gods, unlit candles, and faded tapestries told stories no one remembered.
Rin ran her fingers along the wall, searching for marks, runes, or any trace of residual energy.
"There's something here…" she murmured.
Choso, for his part, kept his eyes focused on the dark corners, where the smell of blood seemed strongest.
Shirou, his hand on the hilt of his blade, stood between them, alert.
It was then that Rin stopped. "Here."
She pressed a stone carved in the shape of a lotus flower.
CLACK.
A slight tremor.
The wall ahead moved slowly, revealing a hidden passage.
A narrow, dark corridor opened before them, as if the temple were opening its mouth to swallow the three of them. The smell that came from it was ancient, dry, and mixed with a faint metallic odor.
Choso took a step forward. "Blood… lots of blood…
But not fresh."
Shirou looked inside, then at the two of them. "Let's take it easy. It could be a trap."
Rin nodded, conjuring a small sphere of magical light in her palm, illuminating the narrow path. The walls were covered in strange inscriptions, which even she couldn't clearly interpret.
"This architecture… seems older than the temple itself." Rin said in surprise.
Choso growled softly. "Something is watching us."
The group continued, step by step, until the passage began to descend…
…toward something that seemed alive, even beneath the earth.
And then, far below, they saw a door studded with nails and seals.
A humming sound echoed behind it.
Shirou frowned. "Whatever's in there…
It shouldn't be released."
As they reached the sealed door, Rin cautiously reached out. The magical seals were nearly extinguished, as if something or someone were consuming them from within. Evil energy escaped through the cracks like smoke, barely perceptible.
She touched the center of one of the protective circles, and in a sudden flash, the seals vanished.
The door slowly opened with a heavy groan of stone and iron.
On the other side, the darkness revealed a strange and harrowing scene:
Sakura.
She was kneeling in the center of the underground chamber, surrounded by magical symbols embedded in the floor, slowly swirling purple and red, like ethereal chains. Her wrists and ankles were sealed with enchanted bands that prevented any movement.
"Sakura!" Rin stepped forward, her voice trembling between relief and panic.
But the instant the three of them approached…
THUD.
A dull thud of boots on the stone floor.
From the shadows to the left of the chamber, a figure stepped out with firm steps. The dark suit, the serene eyes, and the emotionless face were all too familiar to Shirou.
"Professor… Kuzuki?" Shirou stopped, shocked.
The man stood between them and Sakura. His eyes reflected no doubt or hesitation. Only the blankness of someone who had already chosen their role on the board.
"You… are one of the Masters…?" Shirou asked, almost in disbelief.
Kuzuki nodded slightly.
"I was summoned to this war. My Servant is Caster." His voice was neutral, almost numb. "And my duty is to stop anyone who tries to free the girl."
Choso clenched his fists. Rin was already forming an attack seal.
Shirou, for his part, couldn't help but feel conflicted. He respected Kuzuki as a teacher. A fair man. But now…
He was on the other side.
Kuzuki raised a hand. "If you want to pass, you'll have to defeat me."
And then, in a single movement, he disappeared from sight and advanced with the strength and speed of someone who had made a pact with something far greater than himself.
The confrontation was about to explode.
"Run!" Shirou shouted, drawing his projecting blade just as Kuzuki advanced.
"I'll hold him off! Go to Sakura!"
Rin hesitated for a second, but saw the determination in Shirou's eyes; he was ready to fight, even knowing his former teacher's abnormal strength.
Choso nodded briefly, and the two of them rushed toward the center of the chamber, where Sakura still knelt, motionless, her eyes closed as if dreaming or being held in a trance.
But before they could reach her,
A magical glow cut through the air.
A figure appeared, floating above a bluish magic circle that was forming in the air.
"Too late."
Caster.
Long robes, piercing eyes, and a subtle smile on her lips. The Servant of the Mystic Arts regarded them with a look that mixed sovereignty and disgust.
"Archer's master. Always meddling. And the cursed blood brother…" She glanced briefly at Choso. "You won't stop her from fulfilling her role."
Rin gritted her teeth. "What is your plan, Caster?"
Caster raised her arms, and the symbols around Sakura glowed brighter. "The original Holy Grail was destroyed. But… it left remnants. Sakura is the perfect vessel. With her, I can rebuild the Grail my way. A Grail free from the system, the rules, the limitations of the Tower Mages."
Choso stepped forward. "And what happens to her…?"
Caster smiled, as if it were an irrelevant question. "She is… the chalice. The vessel. Her will is already fading. Soon, only the perfect form of my creation will remain."
Rin raised her hand, her magical energy vibrating violently. "You've lost your mind, Caster! We won't let you use my sister as an instrument for this madness!"
The aura around Caster grew. "Then fight. But know this: the more time you waste… the closer she will be to ceasing to be Sakura."
Meanwhile, in the shadows behind them, the fight between Shirou and Kuzuki had already begun,
with the sound of fists that shattered logic itself and blades struggling to keep up with a seemingly invincible opponent.
Shirou positioned himself, feeling the weight of the pressure Kuzuki was emanating. The professor advanced without hesitation, each blow carrying an almost surgical precision, as if every movement had been calculated to take Shirou down in the shortest possible time.
The first punch came fast, so fast that Shirou barely managed to raise his blade to parry. The impact reverberated through his arms, nearly ripping the sword from his hands. This... this isn't normal strength... he thought, gritting his teeth.
Kuzuki didn't seem to change expression, as if fighting were merely a continuation of his routine. His stance was simple, but his strength was overwhelming, each strike breaking Shirou's rhythm.
"This has to be... Caster..." Shirou deduced, realizing that his body was reinforced by some kind of enchantment. Kuzuki, even without displaying visible magic, moved like a lethal predator.
As Shirou backed away to analyze the pattern of blows, he could smell ozone in the air, a remnant of Caster's magical presence ahead. If he didn't find an opening quickly, Kuzuki would shatter him before he could reach Sakura.
Choso advanced, his red eyes fixed on Caster's figure, the cold, cutting tone of his voice echoing through the night air.
"Don't mess with my family!"
The mage smiled almost amusedly, as if his words were a sweet taunt.
"Family? How adorable…" she said, raising her staff, causing the air around her to distort with concentrated mana. "But you're mistaken if you think you can stop me."
Choso didn't wait for further provocation. His movements were swift, blood flowing through his veins in a controlled manner until it emerged, forming blades and projectiles in the air. He launched the first strike, forcing the Caster to erect a magical barrier that sparked on contact.
Meanwhile, Rin ran toward Sakura, her heart racing, feeling the magical pressure around her as if she were crossing a storm field.
The Caster, even on the defensive, began to chant an incantation, trying to keep Choso occupied while her ritual to recreate the Grail formed behind her, a complex magic circle pulsing with dark energy.
Choso, realizing the danger, increased the flow of blood in his attacks, with each step closer, making it clear that he would not retreat even an inch.
Choso kept his gaze fixed on caster, feeling the magic energy vibrates in the air, but without being intimidated. He quickly noticed, from her hesitant movements, that despite being powerful with spells, her body was not used to direct combat.
"You can launch as many tricks as you want…" He said, closing his fists and taking on combat stance "… but his body doesn't follow his magic."
Caster clenched his teeth, responding with a sarcastic smile, trying to mask the concern. It has brought about magical circles around, firing beams of light and gusts of energy. Choso dodged with calculated movements, gradually approaching, forcing her to retreat.
The temple echoed with the shock of the explosions and the dry sound of his steps against the floor. Caster recited hasty enchantments, but Choso was already close enough to interrupt his concentration with a quick blow, breaking the rhythm of battle and forcing her to defend herself with a magic dagger, something clearly improvised.
Rin ran down the narrow corridor of the temple, the sound of the stones gritting under his feet mingling with the echo distant from the fight of Choso and Caster. The cold wind that passed through the entrance carried a strange smell of incense and something metallic, as if the air itself were contaminated by the magical presence that accumulated there.
She finally spotted Sakura, stopped in the center of a circle of bluish runes that pulsed like a heart, breathing irregularly, her pale face, her eyes half -circled. Each time Rin took a step, a wave of subtle but intense energy, pushed her back, as if an invisible wall was protecting her sister.
Rin reached out, trying to cross the barrier.
"Sakura!" His voice carried despair and urgency. But as soon as her fingers touched the air ahead, a magic discharge hit her, burning her skin like iron. Rin backed away with a painful sigh, smelling the smelling fabric from his sleeve.
She clenched her teeth. The barrier was not just a common defensive trick, it was a complex spell, a living web fed by a direct bond with caster. As long as the servant was standing, the barrier would not fall.
"So that's it ... To touch her, I need to knock down the witch." He thought, feeling the weight of that conclusion. The heart was beating hard, not just by physical effort, but for anger. Sakura's vision arrested, fragile and helpless, was like salt on an old wound that never healed.
Behind her, the energy of Choso spells exploded in muffled waves, mixing with the dry sound of steps and impacts. Rin knew that although he was facing Caster seriously, he could not count on this fight lasting forever. Caster was cunning, and a carelessness could turn the fight against them.
She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. When he opened them again, there was pure determination in his gaze. Its fingers automatically sought the enchanted gems attached to the belt, each charged with magical energy accumulated over the days, perhaps weeks.
If I wanted to save Sakura, I couldn't just wait.
"Caster ..." he murmured, turning to the sound of battle. "You messed with the wrong person."
Rin began to walk toward the fight, each step echoing firmly in the empty temple. She knew that, to get to Sakura, she would need to cross Caster and that it meant fighting like it was the last time she would hold a gem in life.
Rin squeezed the step, but kept the distance, avoiding drawing Caster's attention to herself.
His sharp eyes analyzed the battlefield with the accustomed to think quickly.
She knew that attacking Caster would directly be reckless, that woman controlled spells and enchantments like breathing, and even if Rin was a skilled magic, the difference in experience was stark.
So the idea began to mature: if she couldn't knock the servant, perhaps knocking the master the key to breaking her strength.
She spotted Shirou, still defending herself with difficulty, but determined not to retreat.
From his point of observation, Rin perceived every short movement, as if studying a dangerous puzzle.
Caster master was not exactly on display, but Rin knew he should be around, feeding the magic connection that supported the servant.
She remained in the dim light, moving between obstacles, wreckage, shadows and broken columns not to be seen.
As she watched, she felt the frustration of seeing Sakura so close but untouchable.
The sister's face, oblivious to what was happening, seemed farther than ever, even a few meters.
Rin bit her lip, divided between the desire to run to her and the cold logic that said that it would only put both in danger.
"Master first" she thought, adjusting the weight of the spell bag on his shoulder.
If she found the right weakness and struck at the precise moment, perhaps he could end the threat before Caster even realized it.
And deep down, Rin knew that was the only way she could free Sakura without losing everything in the process.
Kuzuki maintained a calm expression, as if he were simply performing another routine movement, but his strikes had the speed and precision of a predator who had already calculated his prey's every reaction.
Shirou, breathing deeply, projected blades in succession, not so much to injure him immediately, but to create angles of attack that would force him back or open up an opening. Yet, each sword that appeared was deflected with a single sharp swing of the arm or a side kick that dismantled Shirou's posture.
When Rin appeared on the scene, the pressure shifted.
She ran to the side, her body vibrating with concentrated magical energy. She tensed every muscle in her arms and legs, feeling the pulse of strength as if it could shatter stone. Without hesitation, she advanced, dodging a well-aimed blow from Kuzuki and countering with a spinning kick that shook the ground with its impact.
Kuzuki blocked, but for the first time, he took a step back.
Shirou noticed this and took advantage of the fact that the swords were now coming faster, materializing in midair and shooting like stakes, forcing Kuzuki to divide them with the attention that had previously been focused on a single opponent.
"Don't let your guard down!" Rin shouted, sliding to the side to strike in sync with Shirou.
He nodded, adjusting his rhythm, and the two began to move as if they had been training together for years: a strike from Rin would break down the defense, followed by Shirou's blade, applying pressure, and the cycle would repeat.
Even so, it was clear that Kuzuki still had plenty of strength left. His gaze betrayed no irritation, only cold analysis, as if calculating exactly how long it would take to disarm them both.
Kuzuki staggered back, his once calm eyes glazed with pain and impact. The combined strength of Rin and Shirou had finally broken through his impeccable guard. Shirou's last sword flashed for a moment in the moonlight before landing a clean blow to the professor's side, enough to knock the breath out of him.
Rin, her body still tense from the magical reinforcement, took a step back, breathing rapidly, but without taking her eyes off her opponent. Kuzuki tried to maintain his balance, but his knees gave way; the dull thud of his body hitting the ground echoed off the sidewalk.
"It's over…" Shirou murmured, still panting, keeping his sword raised until he was certain he wouldn't react.
Rin glanced at the unconscious professor and then at Shirou, a slight nod indicating that, for now, his threat was neutralized. But deep down, they both knew that the true source of the danger—Caster—was still at large.
The cold wind passed between them, carrying the tense silence of the night, as if the air itself were aware that the fight was far from over.
Caster's eyes widened as she saw Kuzuki fall, her calm expression shattering in an instant. The fury in her gaze nearly materialized, and the magical energy around her surged like a wave about to engulf everything.
"Look at me." Choso said in a deep voice, his tone thick with menace. "You will not touch my family."
The air grew heavy as the blood around him began to move, floating in geometric patterns, forming thick, translucent walls. Each barrier throbbed as if with its own pulse, reinforced by layers upon layers of pressure.
Caster launched energy beams, trying to break through the defenses, but the barriers absorbed and deflected the attacks, sending small crimson droplets splashing onto the ground. Choso advanced step by step, adjusting the position of the living walls of blood, closing in on the siege.
With each movement, it was as if he were carving a deadly maze; any gap Caster found, he filled with more hardened blood.
"If you want to fight, then fight me." he growled, his eyes fixed on her, completely ignoring the chaos around him. "But don't touch anyone else."
The air around them seemed to vibrate with the pressure of Choso's attack. The compressed spheres of blood spun rapidly, each one pulsing like a small heart ready to burst. He extended his hands and, with one firm movement, released them all at once.
The supernova formed in the next instant, a whirlwind of energy and condensed blood that expanded like a silent explosion, casting a reddish glow that stained the battlefield. The impact hit Caster hard, as if the full weight of gravity itself had concentrated on her.
The sound was muffled, but the force was devastating. The magical barrier she had conjured shattered like glass under extreme pressure. Caster's robes flapped violently, and her body was thrown backward, sliding across the stone floor from the impact. She let out a hoarse groan, her face contorted in pain, before falling to her side, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
The shock racked her nerves; even her vision seemed to blur. Her mana dissipated like sand slipping through her fingers, and the connection to her remaining spells snapped one by one. As she tried to rise, her arms gave way, and she toppled over again, her body weighing more heavily than ever.
Her eyes darted to the side and, to her horror, saw Kuzuki unconscious, lying a few feet away from her. The fury that had previously burned in her chest was now mixed with a strange sense of helplessness. She tried to call out to him, but her voice came out as a broken whisper.
Meanwhile, Choso stood firm, his cold gaze fixed on her, the blood still hanging in the air around him like threatening petals ready for another attack. The sound of falling drops echoed across the silent field, marking the tense balance between imminent victory and the servant's nearly extinguished resistance.
Caster's body finally gave way. With a last heavy sigh, she fell beside Kuzuki, barely conscious, the two masters and servant now vulnerable on the field, just as Choso had planned.
Caster's body trembled slightly, her ragged breathing betraying the effort it took to hold herself there. Her gaze, once sharp and cold, was now clouded, as if each blink were a heavy weight. She knelt beside Kuzuki, her trembling hands gently touching his face. Her fingers slowly brushed against his master's skin, carefully brushing away a strand of hair that covered part of his forehead.
"You… were always so stubborn…" she murmured in a low tone, almost a whisper that barely reached her own ear.
The magic holding her materialized was wavering, like a thread about to snap. Yet, there was something in his features that held her captive in that moment. She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the faint warmth still emanating from Kuzuki, and a small, sad smile formed on her lips.
The battlefield seemed distant. The sound of the wind, the smell of blood and earth—everything dissolved in his presence. For Caster, there were no more enemies, strategies, or spells; only this silent moment between them remained, as if the world had stopped just to allow her to look at him one last time.
Her fingertips slid down to grasp his hand, squeezing it with an almost imperceptible gentleness. Her voice trembled. "I… didn't want it to end like this."
But she didn't let go. No matter what happened next, at that moment, she wouldn't allow the distance between them to grow more than a few inches.
Choso walked slowly to where Caster stood, his footsteps heavy against the ground, as if bearing not only the weight of the battle, but also of something much deeper. The blood that still floated around him gathered in dark threads, disappearing into the palms of his hands. He looked at the fallen woman, his eyes carrying a cold seriousness, but also a silent understanding.
"Both I… and you…" he began, his voice low and grave, as if speaking more to himself than to her. "We were cursed by fate… marked to live something we never asked for."
Caster stared at him, his breathing shallow, but still holding that look that blended dignity and resignation.
"The only difference…" Choso continued, stopping a few steps away from her, "is that each of us followed a different path. You, for your master… I, for my brothers."
The wind carried the metallic smell of blood and the dust kicked up by the fight. Between them, there was no longer any rush to attack. For a moment, only silence remained, the kind of silence that exists when two enemies realize that, in another scenario, they might even have understood each other.
Choso didn't look away, and although her body was ready to fight again if necessary, her words carried a weight that sounded almost like a lament.
Rin approached slowly, her heart still racing and her hands trembling from what had just happened. The silence around her felt heavy, only the distant sound of the wind cutting through the field breaking the tension. She knelt beside Sakura's unconscious body, hesitating for a moment before extending her hand.
When her fingers gently touched her sister's shoulder, a familiar warmth coursed through her chest, mixed with a knot of worry. Rin pulled her closer, cradling Sakura's head in her lap. Her arms wrapped around her in a firm, almost protective embrace, as if she were afraid she would disappear if she loosened her grip.
"R-Rin..."
She took a deep breath, feeling Sakura's soft scent, the same as years ago, when they were just two sisters living under the same roof, before everything was corrupted by curses and secrets. A tear escaped through the corner of Rin's eye, silently sliding down the cheek.
"It's okay…" She murmured, the low and embargoed voice, more to herself than to her unconscious sister. "It's over ... I'm here now ..."
Rin's chest hurt with a mixture of relief and guilt, but she didn't let go of Sakura for a moment, as if that contact were the only one anchor left for both of them at that time.
End of Chapter 22