The first thing my eyes caught when I blew through the castle wall were the red marks on Rin's cheeks, her bruised throat and then the rope burns along her wrists and legs.
I put a hand on my chin, moving my gaze to Illyasviel von Einzbern.
Despite her innocent face, she was not a child, not a puppet, and not being fooled into this by someone. What she did, she chose to. By her own will, she decided that she wanted to have her little Berserker rip me limb from limb when first we met.
Even now, with how she was clenching her small fists in frustration, this girl truly believed that I was the one in the wrong for interrupting her... with whatever she was doing.
Actually, what was she doing?
"Rin?"
The indignant lady of the Tohsaka stared at me curiously.
"What was she up to just now? No lies now."
Rin bit her lower lip, before shaking her head, "She was having her maids beat me because she felt like it. Right, she was also gloating about whether she should let Heracles have his way with me before killing me, for the same reason."
I pinched my nose.
Her 'intentions' weren't so out-of-place. Magi were as debauched and uncaring as they were influential. But, even those heartless people usually had at least some goal in mind when they inflicted great horror on their test subjects.
"She's wrong." The little girl interrupted my thoughts with a small smile. "I've already decided. I'm going to have you watch as he uses her like a broken toy. You should have thought-"
I calmly snapped my fingers. The two combat ready maids behind her jerked, then froze in place. The very world around them shifted to block their every movement. As they watched, I stepped closer to their mistress.
"You're a magus."
As such, she deserved no mercy.
"So... So are you." She bit out.
I grinned, eyes shimmering. "That's why I'm not going to get in his way for once. Don't get mad now-"
Her gaze sharpened, and I felt the mana around us rile to answer her call. The maids behind her struggled against my hold, but that spell had held Nobunaga once, they stood no chance.
"-I'm still treating you with more courtesy than you deserve."
The past only went so far, and I definitely cared for Rin more than I did this cruel stranger. That was enough for me. I imagined Shirou would question her decisions, ask her for her motivations and maybe make her see the right path somehow after suffering through much.
I... didn't really like that kind of suffering anymore. Actions against my desires needed consequences.
"How dare you-"
"Do what you want."
"Let go of my maids! Berserker!"
A mad roar shook the castle and the forest around. Outside, critters scattered, and birds of prey took to the skies. Suddenly, a fist was emerging from the darkness of the cells, aimed for my face.
"Henry!"
It never reached me. The distance had become so vast that such an outcome became a complete impossibility. Then, space stretched. An invisible force struck my assailant, throwing him through the wall behind us.
With a hand, I turned and reached for the maids. When I snapped my fingers, they fell to their knees, and their heads tumbled into their own laps. Before she could even scream, blood sprayed from the fresh wounds, marring Illyasviel's snow-white hair.
I killed them.
I felt nothing for it.
A choked sob escaped Illyasviel's throat as I was pulling Rin to her feet.
"Did I go too far?"
She stared at me in silence for a moment. "No. I don't know what Emiya might think, but I'm not going to defend someone so disgusting."
"You suck at reassuring people." I chortled.
Well, not like I needed that anyway.
"...Screw you. I'm never agreeing with you again."
Howling madly, Berserker came charging right back as if possessed by some demon. The giant's flesh rippled, struggling to contain his own raw strength, and his veins pulsed a bright red.
"Kill them, Berserker! Rip them both apart!" His master screeched with tears in her eyes.
"Isn't this a Greek Hero?" I wondered aloud as the world shifted around us.
We now stood a ways off, in full view of the great-walled castle that suddenly came out of the mist as though we'd wandered into some fairytale. The great tall walls made me feel some sort of primal awe.
A pity there wasn't more time to take in the sight. I held a certain enthusiasm for such grand magical workshops.
"He is. Heracles. Hercules. Whichever you prefer." Rin nodded, "Fighting him is going to be some trouble. You don't have any Command Seals either."
Actually, I had two.
Instead of speaking, I merely showed her the back of my left palm just as Medusa jumped down from a tree. Her head turned to Rin, then back to me.
"Will we fight?"
Personally, I had something much more pressing on my mind.
"Has nobody considered the issue with leaving someone from Ancient Greece with children? This is like me entrusting my kid sister to Father Mark."
Rin's face dropped. "T...That's slander."
"The fuck it is. He always tells me about his basement-" I licked my dry lips, "-well, used to, I guess."
"Wha-... no, nevermind that! Why do you have another servant?"
"Cause I'm him."
For a moment, Rin looked like she wanted to say something. But, she simply quieted down and gripped my shirt by the cuff.
"You can tell me how good I look later. I think Berserker's coming."
"I wouldn't..."
Likely, that stupid brat was throwing some tantrum inside with her servant watching over her, about how she hated me and the world, and that she was the only one who ever suffered and that somehow gave her the right to have people violated at her leisure.
I wanted NO part of that.
That was why I immediately dipped after killing her maids.
"You're oddly calm about that." Rin raised a brow, back to her usual self. "You know, facing Heracles. It's not like he's a big deal."
He was definitely a big deal.
"I already knew what was going on in there." I shrugged, raising a finger to point at the castle's ramparts. "That infuriating bastard told me. I just didn't believe him."
From high above, a man with hair of gold watched us all with an amused smirk playing across his lips. Despite the distance, I could easily make out his shimmering red eyes.
"Who is that?"
"Some senile old man that thinks he's above me."
Just as those words left my mouth, the air behind him rippled. Numerous golden gates opened against the puffy, white skies. From them emerged countless treasures, swords and lances and axes, wielded by the greatest of humanity's heroes.
Yet, I knew, he had no intention of striking us.
I quickly pocketed my aviators.
When a mad howl shook the air, and Heracles came flying out of the broken castle wall, the sky lit up. Those same treasures rained down. They struck the greatest hero of Ancient Greece... and impotently rattled off his bare skin, unable to pierce his flesh.
"Huh."
He was so tough that attacks below a certain magnitude simply had no effect on him at all. That alone made him one of the strongest servants participating in this war.
Yet, against someone like Gilgamesh, that ability was useless.
Another hail of treasures rained down just as Heracles reached for me with a hand. They blew right through him, buried themselves in his back and pierced his gut.
If a certain weapon didn't work, Gilgamesh could simply pull out one that would.
The nature of the Gate of Babylon made it so he'd never even run out.
From up high, the King of Heroes laughed boisterously, arms crossed as he rained down hell. Heracles had long lost his reason, but even then, he was forced to recognise that man as the more immediate threat. His flesh knit itself together, vein by vein, and he roared at the King.
"Don't bark at me, you mad dog!"
Gilgamesh swung his arm.
Those wounds were opened anew, by weapons wholly different from the ones before.
"You disgusting mongrel. For that insolence alone, you deserve a thousand deaths. I shall do with killing that child you hold so dear in front of your eyes."
To his horrible words, I only whistled.
"How the tables have turned, huh?" Rin murmured, clutching her chest.
"Do you want me to stop him?"
I wasn't going to.
She shook her head.
That was good. An unexpectedly 'normal' response.
Gilgamesh stepped off the ramparts, falling freely through the air as Berserker shot forth. His speed and might ripped asunder the very earth beneath his feet.
Again, long before he ever even reached his target, a golden chain was wrapping itself around his arm. His trajectory broke abruptly as he was yanked backwards and thrown back at me.
For a moment, my eyes pulsed and my head was wracked with an abrupt pain. Blood trickled down my nose.
That was all.
I knew what those chains were.
The Chains of Heaven, Enkidu.
Their nature wasn't much of a surprise honestly. After all, even Nobunaga grew stronger according to the Divinity her foe held.
Against the Son of Zeus, they were supremely effective.
I waved my hand, an invisible force struck him in the side. The greatest hero of Ancient Greece was suddenly flung into the dense forest. The chains yanked him right back and tossed him the other way, right back at the castle.
Through all that, Gilgamesh simply walked towards us with such ease one would think he was taking a leisurely walk through nature instead of absolutely wrecking Berserker.
He even had a hand in his pocket.
"Well, mongrel? I was right, was I not?"
"Yea-"
"Of course, I was! It is I. There was no other choice."
"Do you uh-" I scratched the back of my head. "Do you pop a stiffy from your own reflection, mate?"
He definitely did, didn't he?
Unfortunately, the King of Heroes never answered my earnest query.
"I permit your leave. Take your little girl, and that snake, and begone from my sight."
I pursed my lips.
"Yet know that I will surely come after you next. Be honoured and rejoice, mongrel. You will receive that child's core and become the Lesser Grail I desire."
What?
"Sure." I couldn't help but rub my nose, "If you want to commit suicide, be my guest."
Apparently, Rin did not share my confidence with the way she paled. Just then, Heracles roared aloud once more. The very ground trembled in fear as the mad servant burst forth from the treeline, grinding his sharp teeth together.
Utterly composed in the face of even that monstrosity, Medusa moved in front of me even when there was no need to.
"I think I want to watch this fight."
"Then be blinded by my radiance, and woe that you shall never reach me." The King laughed once more, running a hand through his air.
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