Chapter 157 - 57.2

Mystic Eyes that could see the lines of death on any person, object, or concept? That could sever the coils of mortality and undo the very laws that held the world together? In the hands of a Dead Apostle Ancestor?!

That was exactly the sort of thing they should have known about before they came to Misaki Town, something that could turn the tide of any battle, and if she managed to survive the upcoming fight, Noel swore she was going to have words with the scouts and informants who'd overlooked something so huge.

"Ciel needs our help." Shirou stated once more, and this time, Noel nodded in agreement. "Roa has stopped hiding. He is located to the West of here, in that direction. Ciel is probably there as well."

He pointed to the West North-West, and Noel looked back at her own tracker, who, after once more consulting her equipment, went wide-eyed in shock, before she nodded hastily in affirmation.

For a moment longer, Noel hesitated, still wary of this being an elaborate trap, but in the end, she figured it couldn't hurt to go and take a careful look at least.

"Very well." She thus said, gesturing at her team to form up behind her. "We shall believe you for now. Let us follow Roa's tracks."

"I'll go on ahead." The Magus said, already rising into the air. "I wish you the best of luck, miss Executor."

"It's Noel." She replied, before she struck a cross. "And Godspeed to you, Magus."

"Shirou." He reminded her, before he was off, flying so fast Noel was surprised he didn't break the sound barrier.

Once he was well and truly gone, her lieutenant came up to her, his eyes set in a bemused look.

Tall, broad, and with a white beard that reached to his belt, he was the most physically impressive member of the team, which was one of the reasons he'd been selected as lieutenant.

When the leader, Ciel, was a small girl who looked like she was barely past her teenage years and the second-in-command, Noel, looked like an older student trying to find her first proper job, it was quite useful to have a more experienced-looking gentleman present to talk with the civilians.

Especially in a society as patriarchal as Japan.

"Do you believe him, ma'am?" The lieutenant rumbled in his heavy voice.

"Strangely enough, I do." For once, both her head and her heart agreed on something, and it was that this strange Magus could be trusted, for now. "Do you disagree?"

"No. He seemed surprisingly reliable, for a Magus." The lieutenant passed a hand over his beard in thought, somehow managing to make the gesture look very distinguished. "But we must be wary all the same. Even if the boy didn't mean to deceive us, he might have been deceived himself."

"Quite." Noel had been thinking along the same lines, and she quickly touched the man's shoulder to show her appreciation. "I suppose there's nothing for it then. Let's find Roa and help Ciel kill him."

It sounded so simple in theory, yet she had to do her utmost best to hide her apprehension at the mere thought of fighting Roa herself.

She'd talked a big game to the Magus, to Shirou, about her team's ability to fight Ancestors, but the truth of the matter was that only Ciel could realistically fight one of those monsters. The rest of them were very useful for culling the Dead and the minor Dead Apostles, but against an Ancestor, they would fall like bowling pins before a boulder.

Noel had trained so hard for so long to become stronger, to get closer to Ciel, the woman who had saved her life on multiple occasions, but the gap between them had only widened over the years. She couldn't fight an Ancestor now, and she couldn't see any future in which she could realistically fight one either. Not to win at least.

But that didn't make a difference now. They were members of the Burial Agency, and they weren't going to back down from a fight, not when their leader might need them.

The Church praised the bonds of friendship and camaraderie, and Noel would be damned if she failed to live up to it now.

"Let's go!" She ordered, and after her team assumed their standard formation again, they were off.

Had they been any less disciplined, they might have shouted in agreement or something sappy like that, but they were professionals. The only indication of their motivation was the sound of heavy footsteps, which contained more strength than usual.

To Noel though, that was more than enough.

Shirou was only marginally surprised when he discovered that Roa and Arcueid, the ones whose scent he'd been tracking, had decided to throw down inside a school.

Schools seemed to be at the heart of many modern stories, not in part because they were so essential to modern life. They were everywhere, both in the mundane world and the Moonlit World, with even the Clocktower technically being one.

Big events taking place in schools was something so ubiquitous in fact that Shirou fully expected something to happen at his own Homurahara High School soon. Perhaps even the kick-off of the Grail War itself.

It wasn't guaranteed, but at the same time, he wouldn't be surprised either.

Reality and fiction were closely intertwined, and that went doubly so for him.

But future visions and philosophical pondering would have to wait until later. For now, he had to help slay Roa, before his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception claimed too many victims.

He feared he might be too late however, having been held up for quite a while by the Spider Queen, and when he arrived in the sky above the school, he saw that his fears had indeed come true.

He couldn't see any sort of battle taking place, not from above, but right there, next to the school's main building, lay a corpse, in a puddle of its own blood.

The corpse of a blonde woman, sliced neatly into several pieces.

Deja vu much?

Shirou quickly descended and landed at Arcueid's side, taking stock of the situation.

Once again, she was still alive despite having been cut into pieces. She missed an arm, a leg, and she had been bisected, with a deep cut running from her shoulder to her kidney. All those wounds had been dealt with that Authority that cut into Reality itself, which Shirou now knew originated from the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, and her attempts at healing herself were once more ineffective.

At the same time, the redhead heard the sounds of battle coming from the upper floor of the building, and he assumed for now that Shiki and Ciel were still fighting Roa despite Arcueid's loss.

Then there was no time to lose. They probably needed help, fast.

He got to work on healing Arcueid immediately, utilising all the tricks he'd learned when he'd healed her the previous time. Fortunately, she'd only been cut into four this time rather than seventeen, and all the pieces were present, so it shouldn't take too long to put her back together. Furthermore, it turned out that the Authority of the elder Shiki Tohno was even less than that of the younger, which made it far easier to break the effects of his Mystic Eyes.

Within a minute, Arcueid was sitting up again, none the worse for wear.

"Thank you very much." She beamed, before she sobered up again as she got back to her feet. "He surprised me and knocked me out of the fight. I didn't expect he'd have Shiki's power too."

"Neither did I." Not until the Spider Queen had told him directly at least. "Who else was with you?"

"Shiki and the Executor. They are fighting the Serpent now."

As if to confirm her words, an almighty crash sounded upstairs, as if a wall had been smashed by a body flying into it. Hopefully a vampire-body.

"Let's get up there and help them."

"Carry me." Arcueid half-asked, half-ordered, holding out her arms.

"…Alright." Shirou awkwardly stepped forward to wrap his arms around her torso, but was then pushed back all of a sudden.

"Not like that." She scolded him, before practically dropping herself into his arms, bridal style, wrapping her arms around his neck in turn. "This is how you should carry a lady."

"…Very well." Shirou wasn't going to waste time on arguing, so he tightened his hold, braced himself, and then flew straight towards the broken window.

"Weeee!" It was a very short journey, but Arcueid still found the time to let out an excited squeal, apparently not having much experience with flying.

Her excitement died a quick death however when they arrived at the field of battle, where the situation became clear in one look.

It was, in a word, critical.

Both Shiki and Ciel had been wounded quite grievously in the few minutes Arcueid had been away. Ciel had lost a hand that wasn't regrowing, there was an awful gash on her face that only just missed her eyes, and she didn't seem able to use her left leg anymore.

Shiki was comparatively less wounded, but he too was covered in cuts and grazes that kept bleeding, refusing to heal, and he'd lost a few fingers on top of that.

Fortunately, Roa hadn't come out of the fight unscathed either. A black key was sticking out of his shoulder, he'd been stabbed in the abdomen, and his knee seemed to be broken, though that wound was rapidly healing.

Likely, Shiki and Roa had been having a knife-fight, trying to use their Mystic Eyes of Death Perception on the other, while Ciel had run interference, trying to hamper Roa's attacks and expose him to lethal strikes from Shiki.

The appearance of Arcueid and Shirou caused a lull in the fighting, as Shiki broke out into a smile, Ciel heaved a tiny sigh of relief, and Roa's eyes widened in shock at seeing the White Princess hale and hearty before him.

To his credit, the false Ancestor didn't remain shocked for long, and with a sharp gesture of his hand, he unleashed a swift attack.

He generated multiple powerful discharges of current, materialising in the form of lightning bolts coming straight at Shirou and Arcueid.

Lightning.

Against Shirou.

The redhead would have smirked if the situation wasn't so serious.

He didn't even have to gesture or move in any way. He just willed the electricity out of existence, utterly neutralising the attack with a mere thought.

Then, in one smooth motion, Shirou dropped Arcueid to the ground, materialised Mjolnir again, and threw the hammer at the false Vampire Lord before he had a chance to process just how badly his attack had failed.

A brilliant hit.

The hammer smashed into Roa's gut, right on top of the stab wound, and rammed him through the wall behind him, and the one behind that, generating a ruckus that was almost enough to drown out the cry of agony.

Mjolnir promptly returned to Shirou's hand, but he didn't pursue for now, instead tending to the wounded before they bled out.

First, he healed Shiki, closing the cuts and grazes and reattaching his fingers to his hand. After that, he saw to Ciel's injuries, mending the gash in her face and the fracture in her hip.

"Do you know where your hand is?" He asked her, looking around for the missing appendage. He could make her a new one, but it would take much longer than reattaching it.

"Here!" Arcueid found it first though, somewhere down the hall, and she threw it at him like it was a tennis ball.

"Careful with that!" Ciel snapped, very vexed to see how her body part was treated with such irreverence, but she was distracted when he put her hand back on her wrist, healing it with but a tap of his finger. "Ah, thanks."

"No problem." Shirou assured her, before he looked around, at his three allies and the smashed hallway. "What happened here?"

"He tricked us." Shiki fumed, looking extremely offended at his own ability being used against him.

"He got us good." Arcueid agreed, sounding awfully chipper for some reason, a big, broad smile gracing her face. "If you hadn't been here, Shirou, this might have been the end of us."

"I doubt it was that serious!" Shirou deadpanned.

Arcueid would have pulled herself together in time, and although Ciel and Shiki had been wounded, they hadn't been defeated. Furthermore, Roa had been injured too, sufficiently so to seriously hamper his fighting abilities. As far as Shirou could see, the battle could still have gone either way.

Though he imagined Ciel and Shiki were pleased with his help nevertheless. It was better to be almost certain of victory than to have it be a toss-up after all.

And with the Moon Princess, a senior Executor, a young man with an awfully lethal ability, and a demigod working together, victory was indeed all but assured.

Which meant Roa was likely going to make a run for it now.

"We cannot allow the Serpent to flee!" Ciel was thinking along the same lines, retrieving the Black Keys that she'd scattered all around the hallway with a sense of frustrated urgency. "If he hasn't already!"

"He hasn't." Shirou assured her.

With his Clairvoyance, the redhead was able to look through walls if he concentrated, and saw that the Serpent was only now getting up from where he'd been thrown down earlier. Mjolnir had severely injured him, and it had taken quite a while for the wounds to heal enough for Roa to get back to his feet.

Like several other Ancestors before him, Roa now experienced what it was like to be wounded by an alien weapon of near-endless Divinity. How difficult it was to heal the injuries that it had dealt him.

He was not coping any better than Arkhangel or the Spider Queen.

"Should we follow him then?" Shiki asked, gesturing at the hole in the wall. "Before he runs?"

"No need."

If they charged after him now, they could probably catch him easily enough, but why take the risk?

Shirou had already established that the walls weren't load-bearing, not integral to the building's structural integrity, so he made a gesture with his hand, calling upon the wind to obey his orders.

Powerful gales shaped into razor-sharp blades, and they sliced into the walls, rapidly cutting them into pieces, which were then blown off to the sides, clearing their way.

With one motion, Shirou had changed two separate classrooms and a hallway into one big, open space. A testament to his growing control over his abilities.

"AARGH!"

Judging by the cry of pain and surprise, Roa had been caught in the storm of debris, and indeed, once their view was clear, they could all see him lying on the ground, bruised and battered.

Not so much though that he couldn't move anymore. Like a startled hare, Roa leapt away, rushing off on all fours, all dignity abandoned in the face of such overwhelming opposition.

He didn't get very far.

In a flash, Arcueid caught up with him, and she grabbed the back of his neck, before she slammed him down into the ground with a sickening squelch. Then, she lifted him up again, and slammed him down once more, before she threw him into a nearby wall. He hadn't even finished healing from that when she grabbed him at the throat and shoved his face into the floor.

Although Dead Apostles were much stronger than humans, and Ancestors even more so, they were no match against the White Princess, and Roa was painfully reminded of that fact as Arcueid literally wiped the floor with him.

"Ouch!"

But Roa never would have survived for so many centuries if he was the sort who'd allow himself to be slaughtered like that, and eventually, he managed to nick Arcueid's arm with his knife.

He had to have targeted a specific spot with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception too, for her arm promptly became numb, forcing her to drop him.

He hadn't even gotten back to his feet however before Ciel jumped him next, throwing him on his back with her on top of him.

She punched him in the throat, making him gasp for air, and then grabbed the hand holding the knife, pushed it down onto the ground, and rammed a Black Key into the wrist, pinning it to the floor.

The cruel steel pierced through skin, flesh, and bone, but Roa couldn't even cry out in pain, as Ciel viciously backhanded him across the face immediately after, knocking out several teeth.

"Do you remember me?!" She shouted at him, her face red from exertion, tears of grief and hatred pouring down her cheeks as she came face to face with her most hated enemy, closer than ever before. "Do! You! Remember! ME!?"

Every word was punctuated by a punch or backhand, culminating in a vicious beatdown, but at the end, Roa was grinning widely, as if he was the one with the upper hand.

"How could I not?" He laughed, his voice awfully throaty and wet from the blood spurting out of his mouth. "My dear Elesia. You killed my five previous Incarnations, and even now, you still hunt me. I don't think we'll ever forget each other. Are you perhaps in love with me?"

"You disgust me!" She shouted, grabbing the collar of his cloak, her eyes blazing with fury. "You disgust everyone!"

"Disgust? Yes, perhaps I am disgusting. However, you cannot deny we had such a good time together, my dear Elesia, when I was stuck inside your head." Roa was needling her, trying to get under her skin, and it seemed to be working too, as Ciel's hands started shaking. "Admit it. You miss the might I granted you. You miss being so far above the rabble. You crave power, my power, and the only reason you pursue me so doggedly is to repent for those desires, which your leash holders are so quick to deem sinful."

"I do crave power." Ciel admitted, her grip on his collar tightening. "But only to kill you! No other reason!"

"You cannot kill me in any way that matters." Roa scoffed, missing how Ciel froze for a moment, before her hands stilled as her agitation decreased. "You are damned annoying, that is true, but killing me is no more than a setback. I am eternal!"

"…Heh."

Ciel's tears soon stopped flowing, and she relaxed slightly, as her expression of hate and grief slowly morphed into satisfied smugness.

She glanced back at Shiki, who was standing at the ready, before turning to Roa again, visibly enjoying his lack of knowledge, his lack of knowledge on an ability he'd stolen years before but apparently never studied well.

"And you know what the youngsters say these days." Somehow, Roa managed to miss Ciel's massively improved mood, grinning as if he was about to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"

Suddenly, he lunged for her, snapping at her throat, probably in an attempt to turn her into a thrall.

Ciel merely lifted an unimpressed eyebrow however, not even bothering to dodge. Unlike the Serpent, she'd kept an eye on her surroundings, so she knew there was nothing to fear.

A fraction of a second later, Arcueid's heel came down upon Roa's head, slamming it back down onto the ground well before he could take a bite out of Ciel.

Had she put her full strength into that, his head would have popped like an overripe grape. As he was still alive however, she'd clearly held back.

In fact, Arcueid had been holding back from the beginning. If she'd wanted to, she could have obliterated Roa with a single punch, turned him into a smear on the wall even. Such was the difference between the Moon Princess at peak condition and a false Dead Apostle Ancestor who lost most of his power every time he Reincarnated.

The same was true for Ciel. Had she been fully serious, she would have stabbed her Black Keys into his eyes or his throat instead of his wrist. For an Executor who'd fought several full-powered Ancestors, battling this weakened husk was a comparatively small matter.

But neither woman had gone full-out, because simply damaging him would solve nothing.

It might feel good to obliterate him, to hurt him like he'd hurt them, but Roa would simply heal from any wound they dealt him, up to and including the popping of his head like an overripe grape. Now that he had made the school his own Territory, using spells and Magecraft that even Rin would have found mind-boggling, and with the full moon shining brightly in the night sky, giving him strength, it was nearly impossible to kill him, especially within the boundaries of the school.

Now, Shirou could probably have broken those spells, dispelled the Territory, and obscured the moon with a few dark clouds, making it far easier to kill him, but that wouldn't help either. It would do nothing to deal with the main problem.

As Roa had said himself, being killed was nothing but a slight inconvenience to him, a mere interruption. His Soul would live on, free to seek out another host, and the whole song and dance would start all over again.

He was the Serpent of Akasha, a Reincarnator and a parasite, and his physical body meant nothing to him.

If they wanted him gone forever, they needed a way to destroy his Soul, a way they had always lacked before.

But which they had now.

With Roa pinned down under Arcueid's heel, Ciel was free to pin his other wrist to the ground too. Furthermore, she stabbed Black Keys into both his shoulders, and wanted to do the same for his ankles, only to find she had no more of her daggers left.

Shirou quickly Traced a few more though, and she gave him a grateful nod when he handed them to her, before using them to turn Roa into a proper pincushion, completely nailed to the ground.

It was a testament to the Serpent's pain tolerance that he only grit his teeth in response. When Arcueid stepped back, he lifted his head again, the only indication of his suffering being a slight twitch in his otherwise mocking expression.

"What's this?" He asked with a lop-sided smile. "Are you going to torture me? Hope I lose my mind from the agony and cease to be a threat? I'm a Dead Apostle, dear, I don't have a mind to lose."

"I know." Ciel assured him, returning his smile with a smile of her own. "Neither killing nor torturing you will stop you. What we need to do is destroy your Soul along with your body, and fortunately, we have just the right man for the job."

"What?"

"Did it never occur to you that your Mystic Eyes can be used for more than just cutting up your enemies?" Ciel's smile grew at Roa's confusion. "If you'd taken a moment to properly learn of your own abilities instead of rushing into battle headfirst, you might have discovered that the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception allow you to destroy even the intangible. To destroy someone's Soul."

"You're bluffing!" Roa immediately denied it, shaking his head as if that would change anything. "It can be used to kill, but it doesn't affect the Soul! The pretty princess over there healed just fine! Twice! It didn't even cost her anything!"

Ah, so that was the source of his confidence. He thought that since Arcueid didn't suffer from any complications from being slashed to pieces with the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, he would be similarly unaffected.

And really, with the information he had available, that was a perfectly logical conclusion to make.

It was wrong of course, but still, logical.

As long as you didn't know that it had been Shirou who'd pulled Arcueid back from the brink both times.

Roa had to have seen something in their expressions that gave away their inner thoughts, because he went from confused to worried very quickly.

Even more so when Ciel pulled back and Shiki advanced towards him, knife in hand and glasses off.

"S-Shiki, brother, l-little bro, you wouldn't do this, would you?" He protested, finally starting to fight against his restraints. "I-I… R-Roa might be dominant, but Tohno Shiki is in here as well! He's watching as we speak! Y-You wouldn't kill him, would you?!"

Shiki didn't reply, his eyes laser-focused on a certain spot on the false Ancestor's abdomen, and Shirou was startled to notice he was emitting bloodlust. A crazed, alarming sort of bloodlust.

"That's what Shiki was like when he attacked me." Arcueid whispered to him, looking oddly fascinated by the sight.

"You cannot do this!" Roa had become much more vehement in his protests, his eyes blazing with various emotions Shirou couldn't quite make out. "You owe me, Shiki! You owe me! You stole from me!"

"Huh?" That actually managed to make the younger Shiki pause, his bloodlust almost fizzling out on the spot. "W-What do you mean?"

"You stole my life!" Roa roared, and Shirou was surprised to discover that his anger was sincere. "You stole my life and you don't even know it! Was that old man's Hypnosis so powerful that you cannot remember even now that everything you have was supposed to be mine?!"

"I-I…"

"Akiha is my sister! Makihisa, bastard that he is, is myfather! The Tohno-manor is my manor! Kohaku and Hisui are my maids!"

"Is he pretending to be the older Shiki now?" Ciel muttered softly, frowning in slight concern.

"Not pretending." Shirou shook his head, recognising Roa's latest trick for what it was. "He is the older Shiki. Roa gave back the reins, at least partially, to the actual owner of the body."

The elder Shiki's Soul was not gone after all. Just like Ciel, he was still in there, in his own body, but delegated to a backseat, unable to do anything unless Roa allowed it. Now, he was being used as a shield.

"That is low." Ciel hissed, eliciting a nod from Shirou.

It was indeed low.

And it was all the more effective for it.

"You took everything from me! Thief!"

"T-That's… I'm not…" The younger Shiki had gone even paler than normal, the hand holding the knife shaking in confusion and doubt. "I… I am sorry?"

"You are a cuckoo young! Growing fat on the care of a family not your own!" The older brother spat, angry veins popping out all over his face. "You tricked us all! If you had any decency, you'd give back what you took from me! But no! Instead, you come here to kill me!"

Shiki had lost every bit of bloodlust he'd had before, unable to take another step to or from, the knife in his hand slowly lowering as he flinched at every accusation thrown his way.

Shirou almost stepped in, to at least shut Roa up, but he was held back, by Arcueid of all people.

"Let Shiki make his own decision." She told him, wholly calm and composed. "We can step in at any point, so please, give him a moment to conquer his past."

There was not a trace left of her normal flighty attitude. Her childish demeanour had completely disappeared, and in its place was a mature woman who'd grasped the whole situation in a heartbeat and wanted to give a troubled youth a chance to overcome his old trauma.

For the shortest of moments, she wasn't the normal Arcueid, slightly shorter than him, with short, blond hair, the face of a young woman, and modern clothes. Rather, she seemed like an ideal version of herself, two heads taller than him, well in her thirties, her hair reaching down to her calves, and wearing a dress that seemed to have been spun from the light of the moon itself.

Then Shirou blinked, and the old Arcueid was back, her hands folded under her chin as she looked worriedly at the two Shikis, fidgeting and shuffling without end in her concern.

"Why are you even here, pretender?!" The older Shiki cried, drawing Shirou's attention back to the scene playing out in front of him. "Do you truly go all the way to the bone?! What more do you want to take from me?! You already have everything! Everything!"

The tortured screech was the limit, and Shiki took a frightened step back, unable to even consider killing his brother anymore.

Playing right into the false Ancestor's hands.

"Got you."

Within the blink of an eye, Roa seized control again, throwing the older Shiki on the backseat of his own body.

"YAARGGGHHH!"

Then, with a scream of heart-rending agony, his body changed into pure lightning, shifting from a state of matter to a state of energy through a baffling display of Magecraft.

No longer bound by the Black Keys, he shot away like the lightning bolt he now actually was, ending up right behind Shiki, perfectly placed for an attack in the back.

An opportunity he did not pass up on.

His knife flashed forward, aimed at Shiki's lower back, where it would sever the spine and either kill or cripple him…

"I don't think so!"

-Had it not been intercepted at the last possible moment by Mjolnir, thrown by Shirou to block the attack.

The knife ricocheted off, and then Arcueid appeared on scene, punting Roa right into the wall behind him.

Neither of them had been surprised by the sudden attack, having anticipated a dirty trick like that, so they reacted promptly.

Roa's bones shattered and blood spurted out of countless wounds when he collided with the wall, but the false Ancestor laughed, healing so rapidly it was as if he was never wounded in the first place.

"What happened to you, White Princess?" He spat, easily getting up. "In the past, you could kill me so easily. Why can't you now?"

Arcueid didn't reply, but rushed him again, taking great care to avoid the butcher's knife.

She grabbed his collar and threw him into the ceiling, before she punched him away again when he came down.

But he healed again.

She kicked him so hard against the legs that they actually came off, pierced his chest with her hand, tore off his head, and flung him into another wall.

Yet within a fraction of a second, he was back.

"Weak!" He hissed, now looking more annoyed than amused. "How can you be so weak?!"

A steel support beam, thrown by Arcueid, pierced his stomach the next moment, pinning him to the wall again.

"Feeble."

A slash from Arcueid's nails shredded his head.

"Frail."

She tore his body into two pieces.

"Meagre."

She threw him down onto the ground, before stepping closer, lifting her leg to grind him into dust under her heel-

When Shirou grabbed her around the middle and pulled her back.

Just in time to avoid Roa's knife, aimed for what was probably a Line of Death.

"Calm down!" The redhead thundered, keeping a tight hold on Arcueid as she struggled against him. "Don't lose your head!"

"Too late." Roa laughed, before he raced forward and lashed out at the blonde woman.

He would have hit her too, if Shirou hadn't twisted them around at the very last moment, taking the blow himself.

"Ah…?"

He couldn't even scream when it hit him.

"Bwahahaha!"

"Shirou!"

"Magus!"

Roa laughed, Ciel and Arcueid screamed in shock, and Shirou staggered, his hand coming up to clutch at his bleeding side.

W-What…?

What was happening?

He could hear the screams, even understand what they were saying, but it was like they were under water, or very far away.

His vision was swimming, unsteady. The light of the moon and the stars seemed to dim, and all colours leaked away from his sight.

His breathing was difficult, ragged, and it took him an astoundingly long time to remember just what had happened one moment earlier.

His connection to the Mysterious Power felt muted, his Magic Circuits turned cold, and the strength was sapped from his limbs.

For the first time in his life, he felt what it was like to be stabbed in a Line of Death, and it sucked.

There was no pain, oddly enough. It just felt… hollow. Like ice, slowly creeping up in his veins.

It was as if a part of him was suddenly disconnected from the rest, and he could feel how his Healing Abilities struggled with the wound. A wound that wielded behind it a terrible power. A cursed power.

He could easily see how this was something that might vanquish even immortals.

But Shirou wasn't so easy to kill.

With the stubbornness and bullheadedness he was renowned for, he gathered his focus, taking in a deep breath despite the unwillingness of his lungs to cooperate.

He forced his Magic Circuits into action, and reached out to the Mysterious Power again, feeling how it eagerly reached back.

He knew how to deal with wounds like this. He'd done it before, twice even.

Just like he'd overpowered Arcueid's wounds, so too did he overpower his own, bathing himself in his golden light, the exact same shade as his eyes.

Before Roa could even think of capitalising on Shirou's injury, he was already healed again.

Such was his Authority.

The Authority of a Demigod to whom his people's health and happiness was the highest priority there was.

"What-?!"

Of course, Shirou did not fail to retaliate, and Roa once more got very closely acquainted with Mjolnir very quickly. Hammer to face, in fact.

It was a blow that shook the entire building, and this time, after Roa was smashed through a wall, he did not get up.

He might have claimed the school as his personal Territory, it might have been a full moon tonight, and he might have been a false Dead Apostle Ancestor, but that didn't mean healing from a Divine attack was going to be easy.

"Magus…"

"Shirou!"

Ciel seemed shocked that he'd recovered so quickly, but Arcueid promptly embraced him, relief pouring off of her.

"I wasn't even worried." She declared, the confidence in her voice completely at odds with the aforementioned relief, causing the blue-haired nun to give her an incredulous look.

"Damn… you…"

The muttered curse was a sign that Roa had patched himself up, and Arcueid broke the hug in favour of unsheathing her claws again. Meanwhile, Ciel took out her Black Keys, together with some other Holy weaponry, and Shirou readied Mjolnir, ready to end this once and for all.

He'd never tested the Cleansing Power before on a creature that could Reincarnate, but after his experiences with Zouken and the Spider Queen, he was fairly confident he could destroy a Soul if he really tried.

"Wait."

But then they stopped.

And Shiki took a step forward.

"Please let me finish this." He asked them, his voice bereft of anger or confusion, determination clear in his eyes. "I promise I will not fail again."

Shirou studied him, looking for any sign of weakness, but when he did not find any, he backed down easily enough. He still had Nasu's instructions to account for after all, to not kill Roa himself, so if Shiki wanted to take another crack at the job, that suited him just fine.

"Lunge deep." He advised his fellow teen. "And cut deeper."

His only response was a nod.

"Be careful." Ciel urged him.

"Don't let him catch you off guard again." Arcueid added.

Shiki nodded again, pausing to give the women a grateful look, before his expression hardened, and he strolled forward, towards Roa.

"Here to have another go at your brother?" The false Ancestor sneered as he climbed to his feet, though he was still swaying from the blow Shirou had dealt him. "Making sure I can't claim my rightful inheritance from under your nose?"

"You have no right to it anymore!" Shiki countered harshly, prepared for such verbal attacks this time. "You lost it when you killed me! When you hurt Akiha! It wouldn't even surprise me if you killed father too!"

"I did. Damn that Makihisa." The Serpent spat on the ground after uttering the name, with such contempt that it was clear that the gesture had come from the elder Tohno Shiki rather than Roa. "But what of it? In the Moonlit World, the strongest rule! And I am the strongest! I have ascended above humanity in any and every way. I am a Dead Apostle Ancestor, and now, I even have the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception to boot! A limitless ability!"

"Not limitless."

"What?!"

"Behold." Shiki raised his knife, carefully aiming it at a spot somewhere to his left, before swiping the blade to the right.

Immediately after, all Roa's Enchantments, everything he'd done to make the school his Personal Territory, came apart at the seams.

"What?!" Roa looked around wildly, clearly confused. "What happened?! I did not release the equation holding this place together!"

"I killed it." Shiki explained, lowering the knife again. "You should be able to understand what I did. Death is the end of everything, and everything in existence is only a single step removed from it. So I killed your equation with my knife."

Roa stared blankly at him for a moment, before he huffed. Then he started laughing.

"Bwahahahahaha hahahahaha!" His body shook from how hard he was laughing, and he cast his gaze to the ceiling, having no qualms about expressing the full extent of his hilarity. "Oh, please! How naïve can you get? Lifeless objects don't have the concept of death! You cannot kill a spell any more than you can kill a rock!"

"And therein lies the difference between us." Shiki stated, taking a step closer. "You can only see the Lines and Points of living creatures, whereas I can see the end of everything, including spells and yes, even including rocks."

"Cease your bluffing! Not even a child would believe something as outrageous as that! Tell me, what kind of conceptual weapon have you hidden away?!" For a creature of myth, the false Dead Apostle Ancestor was strangely reluctant to believe that something might be beyond his understanding. "That redhead was the one who broke the equation, wasn't he?! He's been messing with it since he arrived!"

Shirou did not recall messing with anything, but he was more than willing to believe his Magic Resistance might have interfered with an enemy's Territory.

"You do not understand death." Shiki's voice had become outright clinical, as if he were a doctor telling a patient about their terminal condition. "That is why you can't kill me. That is why you can't kill Arcueid. That is why Shirou could heal himself so easily from your supposedly fatal attack."

Roa's breath hitched, but Shiki wasn't done yet.

"That is why you will lose. That is why you will die."

Words as final as the evening bell, and they struck a critical blow to Roa's self-esteem.

"DIE!"

Roa threw a massive bolt of lightning at Shiki, followed by another, and another, and another, each of them powerful enough that Shirou considered them fairly respectable.

"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!"

But it was no use. Shiki cut apart the lightning as easily as he'd cut apart the Enchantment, and he kept advancing on the Vampire Lord.

"If you had been able to see death, you wouldn't have been able to maintain your sanity. If you see the end of all things, you realise how fragile this world truly is. The ground does not exist, the sky seems to fall, and everyone around you is but a single misstep away from perishing. If you could truly see that, you would have gone insane already." The bloodlust from before returned, but unlike back then, it was controlled now, kept on a tight leash. "That is what it means to see death."

"Ridiculous! How can you be sane then?!" Roa barked, his voice high-pitched from how frightened he was getting. "Are… Are you even human?!"

Shiki's eyes narrowed, and the bloodlust became utterly overwhelming.

The shadows deepened, the light of the moon dimmed, and for the slightest of moments, it was as if a giant hand closed itself around Roa, trapping him in place.

Bereft of his greatest advantages and nearly trapped, the Serpent suddenly felt more vulnerable than ever, like a mouse facing a cat as large as a mountain, and his true nature came to the surface at last.

He was no warrior, like Vlov Arkhangel, who would fight until his last breath.

Instead, he was a lowlife, like the Spider Queen, who fled at the first sign of an actual threat.

So that was exactly what he did next. He turned around and fled.

But Shiki wasn't going to let him get away.

"I'll show you…" He declared, and his dead eyes came to life, determination, pride, and the will to attain victory shining like two bright stars. "What it means to kill something!"

He plunged his knife into the ground, and the entire floor collapsed, its structural integrity killed by a perfect strike.

"N-No!" Roa couldn't keep his footing, tumbling down.

Shiki made his way through the rubble perfectly well though, jumping from spot to spot, until he'd caught up with the Serpent.

Shirou quickly grabbed Ciel and Arcueid before they fell, hovering up so they could see what was happening, and he smiled when he saw how Shiki lunged deep and cut deeper.

His thrust was perfect, brilliant even. A perfect hit in Roa's chest.

"This time..." Shiki stated with complete and utter certainty as the Serpent stared at him in horror. "You will not come back."

The building collapsed with a great crack.

In one of the most secure bases of the Burial Agency, deep down underground, stood a set of twenty-eight infernal devices.

Each of these devices had been linked to a specific Dead Apostle Ancestor, and should the corresponding Ancestor meet their end, their device would automatically be destroyed as well.

It was the most reliable way available to the Church to verify the death of their most hated enemies, and thus, they were constantly overseen by a trusted Warden, appointed by the Pope himself.

In total, there were three Wardens, always working in shifts of eight hours, around the clock. Though none of them had known the others before they had been appointed, they had become fast friends, and it wasn't unusual to see all three of them together in the base, watching the infernal devices while drinking beer and shooting the breeze.

Today was not one of those days, unfortunately, so the Warden on duty had taken a book with him, to pass the time. His task hardly required constant vigilance after all, just that he kept an ear out for sudden exploding noises.

Over the past decade, he'd witnessed the destruction of two infernal devices himself, while his colleagues had seen one each. Together, that meant a total of four Ancestors had been killed, three of them by the Magus Association, specifically Lorelei Barthomeloi, and one of them by Ciel, one of the Burial Agency's greatest Executors.

It had been a little over two years now though since the last of them had been killed, and the Warden didn't expect much activity today either. After Barthomeloi's show of total dominance, the Ancestors had become much more wary of her, and made sure to stay well out of her way. The same went for Ciel.

As such, when one of the infernal devices did actually spontaneously combust, he was very surprised, though pleasantly so of course.

The book was unceremoniously dropped, his chair collapsed backwards from how hard he'd jumped up, and upon verifying that a device had indeed self-immolated, the Warden let out a cry of joy.

Another enemy of humanity had been eliminated! That put the counter of the decade on five already!

The device itself couldn't give him more information than that however, not even which Dead Apostle Ancestor it corresponded with, and he had to search the lists that had been prepared for such an occasion to determine which Ancestor had perished.

Vlov Arkhangel.

A fresh-faced Upstart if there ever was one, hardly one of the greats, but he was an Ancestor all the same, and his death was thus something to celebrate.

The Warden dutifully made a note of the event, and then, before he went to inform anyone else, he first went to collect the remains of the destroyed infernal device.

The throne of an Ancestor never remained empty for long, so they'd undoubtedly need another infernal device soon. As they were quite difficult to make however, the Alchemists responsible for the creation generally appreciated it very much if the Warden on duty took the time to collect the parts of the previous one before they disintegrated completely, so they could be recycled.

Not an easy task by any means. The parts were burning with cursed fire, there were all manner of nasty spells woven into the material, and they were just plain hot to the touch to boot.

It would take several hours of prayer and rituals to cleanse them enough to safely collect, but the Warden didn't complain. There wasn't really anything else for him to do anyway, save for bringing the good news to the Pope, but that could wait. Collecting the materials could not.

Kneeling down on the hard floor, the Warden started praying, but he was hardly two hours into the cleansing when he was violently disturbed by another infernal device exploding next to him.

He wasn't hit by any of the shrapnel, thankfully, but the shockwave did knock him on his side.

He was back on his feet the next moment though, ignoring the creaking of his old bones, and rushed towards that second device.

Had a second Ancestor been eliminated?! On the same day?!

Yes! Yes, they had, and the Warden almost dropped the list from his shaking hands as he looked up which one had been vanquished this time, near feverish from the sheer excitement.

It was the Spider Queen!

The Warden jumped a full metre into the air, throwing his hands up and whooping in ecstasy. The Spider Queen was one of the oldest Upstarts of them all, an ancient louse in the pelt of the Church and the head of a powerful enclave of Apostles. She was an expert at hiding and an old hand at survival, a true enemy.

Her death was a massive victory by any means, far greater than Arkhangel's demise.

The Spider had been beheaded, and with any luck, the body would soon wither.

The desire to rush out of the room and inform everyone of the victory, from the Pope to the nearest bishop, was near overwhelming, but the Warden ruthlessly suppressed it, remaining in the room.

Not just to collect the remains of the infernal devices this time, though that was still very important, but also to see if any more of them would immolate today.

He didn't want to hope, certain that hoping for more when God had already blessed them so much would be naught but greed, but hope grew in his breast all the same, refusing to let itself be extinguished by caution and reason.

And lo and behold, a third device did immolate a mere hour later.

The Warden had never let go of the lists, and he hastily searched through them, before he almost fainted when he saw the name corresponding to that specific device.

Michael Roa Valdamjong.

The Serpent of Akasha.

The most hated Dead Apostle in existence.

Now dead for real.

"UUUUWAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The Warden could not control himself, he shouted his joy to the Heavens above, abandoning what little dignity he had left at his age in favour of making his delight known.

And this time, it did not go unheard.

"My friend!" One of his fellow Wardens, here to relieve him of his duties for today, came rushing into the base, concern writ clear on his face and a Bible in his hand. "My friend! What is happening here?! Are we being attacked?!"

"Three!" The Warden shouted back.

"Three attackers?!"

"Three!" The Warden repeated, rushing up and taking his colleague and friend into a joyous embrace. "Three devices were destroyed! Three Ancestors have perished!"

"Three!?" The other man gasped, every bit as surprised as the Warden himself had been.

"You must go now, my friend, and spread the word." The Warden ordered, letting go of his colleague again, not giving him a moment to take in the news. "Go and tell the Pope, the Cardinals, the bishops, and all the world that Vlov Arkhangel, the Spider Queen, and Michael Roa Valdamjong are no more! Their evil will never again torment humanity!"

"Praise the Lord!" The second Warden declared, and it wasn't just an idle call, but a statement that came straight from the heart.

"Praise the Lord!"

It was a testament to how short the battle between Arcueid, Ciel, Shiki, Shirou, and Roa had actually been that Noel and her team only arrived after the school had completely fallen apart already.

It wasn't their fault of course, they'd moved as quickly as possible, but since they'd been far away when Shirou had warned them, they only arrived after the fight had been concluded.

Though on the upside, that meant they were just in time to take care of the post-battle cleanup.

There was plenty for them to do still. There were some stray thralls running around, Roa had left a few minor Magical traps to clean up, and, of course, the school itself needed to be fixed post haste. That, or a very good explanation for its collapse needed to be found, preferably before dawn.

Shirou had been a bit worried about that, but Noel and her team had assured him that they had plenty of experience with matters like this, and that he and the others were free to relax and recuperate.

Though to Arcueid, that apparently meant scolding Shiki for his perceived carelessness.

"How could you just collapse the building like that!?" She bristled, holding Shiki a full metre above the ground by his collar. "If Shirou hadn't caught you, you might have landed on your head! You could have died! Or been crippled!"

"I had everything well in hand." Shiki protested, though after everything that had happened, he was too tired to be very bothered by the manhandling. "I was in full control the entire time."

"I doubt that." Arcueid scoffed, daring him to disagree. "You are never in control of anything!"

Shiki made to protest, to insist he knew what he was doing, but he soon realised that that would be a bold-faced lie, and that she might actually be right. He had no rebuke to offer in the end, which condemned him to even more scolding.

Meanwhile, Shirou and Ciel were discussing the events of the past night. The nun would, in all fairness, rather join in on the scolding, but she was professional enough to suppress that desire in favour of crossing all the t's and dotting the i's.

"So you are certain that you definitely killed the Spider Queen? Beyond all hope of recovery?" She asked, to which Shirou nodded. "And you are certain that Roa is dead too?"

"I am." The redhead confirmed. "His Soul is completely gone, and it will never come back. Only his body is left, and that will soon disappear too."

Together, the nun and the Magus glanced at the Serpent's slowly dissolving corpse, which was still lying amidst the wreckage of the school building, not a dozen steps away from them.

They hadn't made any attempt at moving or claiming it, nor would they ever. There was no use in doing so. Though the post-mortem disintegration of an Ancestor's body went very slowly, as Shirou had observed earlier with Vlov Arkhangel, there was nothing that could stop the process once it had begun. Before dawn, the body would have disappeared, no matter what they did to preserve it.

Perhaps Shirou could have thought of something if he'd really tried, or he could have whipped up some amazing new tool from the Vault to do the impossible, but he didn't see the point. There was nothing new to be learned from the body, and research on Dead Apostles always ended badly.

In fact, he'd rather have burned it immediately, just to be safe, but Ciel had asked him not to. She wanted to revel in her victory, and seeing her hated enemy's corpse on display only made it all the sweeter.

Whether she would have tried to put his head on a stake if he wasn't dissolving was a question Shirou was definitely not going to ask. He'd probably not like the answer.

"We have won a great victory today." The nun stated, looking supremely satisfied with said victory. "We might have failed to claim the Idea Blood of both Arkhangel and the Spider Queen, which means their successors will soon rise, but for now, the thrones of the Nineteenth and the Twenty-Sixth are empty. Furthermore, we killed Roa, and there will never be another one of him."

"I'd say we were quite successful, yes." Shirou nodded in agreement, though his task in Misaki Town was actually not over yet. "But I still need to get that information from Arcueid."

"Hm? Ah, yes." Ciel looked a tad confused for a moment, but then she remembered the deal that had been struck between the demigod and the White Princess. "I don't know what you hope to learn from her, but I'm sure Brunestud will be willing to share what she knows now. As long as you wait until she's done with Shiki."

"I wouldn't dare interfere." He laughed, as Arcueid was indeed still animatedly cussing out his poor fellow teen. "I'll wait until she's calmed down a bit."

"You're smarter than you look." She praised him, appearing utterly well-willing and kind despite the rather back-handed compliment, before she frowned, her mirth making place for a sort of distant concern, or perhaps curiosity? "Shirou, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Are you in fact Shirou Fujimaru? The new Sorcerer?"

The redhead somehow managed to suppress his flinch, remaining perfectly calm, even as on the inside, he reared back in shock, his heart rate nearly tripling.

His enhanced mind was running a thousand miles a minute, frantically going over all the interactions he'd had with the nun, searching for anything that could have given him away, but coming up short at every turn.

"…Why would you think that?" He asked eventually, lifting an eyebrow as casually as he could. "Shirou is hardly an uncommon name, and I don't think I've done anything today that's impressive enough to be considered a True Magician."

"I think we can safely say that the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception can damage and even destroy Souls, no?" She answered his question with a question of her own, continuing after he nodded. "So when Arcueid and you yourself were stabbed and cut by Roa, we can assume he struck your Soul as well, correct?"

"You… could say that, yes..." Shirou agreed, slowly and hesitantly, almost physically feeling how a noose was tightened around his neck.

"But you healed yourself and the princess in mere moments." Ciel pointed out, very correctly. "Which could only be possible if you were a wielder of the Third True Magic. Couple that with the similar names and the fact you seem to think very little of killing an Ancestor and crippling another on your own, and the conclusion draws itself."

"…Odin's Beard." Shirou sighed deeply, knowing that any denial at this point would be nothing but the frantic and fruitless floundering of a drowning man. "You got me."

Busted, after only two days of minimal interaction.

He really was bad at this game.

"Then, I hope you will understand that I must urgently request you to meet with the highest ranking agent of the Burial Agency on location, for a debriefing and… negotiations."

"I thought that was you?" Shirou politely ignored the word 'negotiations' for now in favour of pointing out a discrepancy. "I got the impression from miss Noel that you are their highest-ranking operator."

"Normally, that would be the case, as I am the highest ranking field-operative. However, since this was a mission involving no fewer than three Ancestors, the Church saw fit to send a bishop too. Bishop Mario Gallo Bestino, to be exact."

"I can't say I have ever heard of him. Is that a problem?" If this Bestino-guy was a bigshot, he might not appreciate Shirou not knowing about him.

"No, he is relatively unknown." Ciel assured him. "He has done little of note. His greatest claim to fame is being the grandson of Cardinal Laurentis."

"Never heard of him either."

"Once more, that is not a problem."

It was good to know that his ignorance wouldn't be an issue, but even so, Shirou actually had a think for a bit whether he'd agree to this meeting, partially because the Burial Agency wasn't very fond of Magi or True Magicians and partially because it might take quite a while. He'd already stayed in Misaki Town longer than he'd planned, and he'd prefer not to extend his stay even more.

On the other hand, he could hardly blow off one of the most powerful organisations on Earth, and if it really was only a short meeting, he didn't have reasonable grounds to refuse.

"Fine." He thus agreed, before holding up a stern finger. "But only after I obtained the information I'm after from Arcueid. That comes first."

"Naturally."

With that matter settled, they fell into a comfortable silence, which continued until Ciel suddenly held up one of her Black Keys.

"I just spent a minute on collecting these, and I couldn't help but notice I have more Black Keys now than when I started." She remarked, her voice artificially casual. "You handed me a few while I was pinning down Roa. Where did you get them?"

"I made them." Shirou replied, seeing no harm in sharing that much, opening his hand and Tracing another one of the Mystical daggers. "Using my own version of Projection."

He handed the weapon over to Ciel for study, and after she'd thoroughly looked it over, establishing that it actually held the Mystical properties that Black Keys were known for, she huffed in amusement.

"That is quite the trick." She praised him, storing away the Black Key with the others. "Is there no end to your capabilities?"

"Haha." Shirou tried his best to fake a laugh, painfully aware that she'd only seen a fraction of what he could do so far.

Fortunately, he was saved from further interrogation by Arcueid and Shiki. The former had finished her scolding for now, and the latter made use of the lull to quickly make his way over, wary of the Moon Princess gaining steam again.

"Shiki!" Ciel positively beamed as the young man came to stand next to her, before she suddenly winced, sagging slightly in apparent regret. "I… I am sorry for lying to you."

"Huh?" That was a little too fast for Shiki, but to his credit, he soon caught up again. "Oh! You mean pretending to be my Senpai?"

"I am sorry for that." Ciel repeated, closing her eyes for a moment, before opening them with a determined look. "But, for what it is worth, I genuinely enjoyed being your Senpai. I liked hanging out with you and your friends, a-and I was really happy that you invited me to the amusement park. I cannot apologise enough-"

"You certainly can." Shiki suddenly interrupted her, smiling at the harried Executor. "And you have. Really, Ciel-senpai, I'm not mad. I also enjoyed hanging out with you, and I hope you will continue to do so."

"You mean, I can?"

"Of course." Shiki confirmed. "And naturally, you are still invited to the amusement park. Satsuki would be terribly disappointed if you didn't come."

"…I'd like that."

Ciel discreetly tried to wipe away a happy tear, but everyone saw it nonetheless. Shiki had really shown his good side here, and Shirou gave him a thumbs-up in approval.

"Ah, but I want to go too!" Arcueid didn't properly appreciate the tender moment however, grabbing the teen's arm. "Shiki, take me too!"

"You weren't invited!" Hissing like an angry cat, Ciel grabbed Shiki's other arm, and they started pulling him in both directions, to the young man's growing panic.

So Shirou did what any hero in his position would do and ignored the matter. Yes, he might have multiple girlfriends as well, making him the closest thing to an expert around, but they all got along with each other perfectly well. They did argue from time to time, which was almost inevitable when you put four stubborn people together, but he'd never experienced an actual cat-fight between them before, least of all over him.

He had no intention of getting mixed up in this one either, and he only stepped in when Arcueid threatened to haul them off to the nearest amusement park right that second.

"There is no time for that." He said, looking at each of them in turn. "Miss Ciel, you still have to bring me to your superior, Arcueid, I want that information you promised me, and Tohno-san, you have to go home as soon as you can. Your sister and your maids are very worried about you."

"Yes." Ciel agreed immediately, relieved he'd stepped in.

"Moo." Arcueid made a disappointed noise, but she didn't protest any further.

"Home…" Shiki however looked troubled, his body-language clearly conveying his reluctance to do as Shirou said. "I'm not sure if I can ever go back home now."

"What?" Shirou blinked at the sudden claim. "Nonsense. Of course you can. Your sister is waiting for you."

"But she's not my sister." Shiki pointed out, looking absolutely morose as he reminded them that Roa had shoved the truth in his face during the battle. "And it's not my home. Roa was right, I'm a cuckoo young-"

"Let me stop you right there. No, you aren't a cuckoo young." Shirou interrupted him sharply, cutting through the self-pity. "Of course you aren't. The Tohno took you in and raised you as their own, didn't they? They chose to make you their family, and I don't see any reason why that would have changed."

To be honest, the situation was a bit more complicated than that, since the Tohno had actually taken him by force while killing his actual family, but Shirou didn't think it'd be a good idea to tell him all that right after he'd already gone through a massive ordeal.

By killing Roa, he'd also killed his adoptive brother, which could not have been easy, and the last thing he needed was more baggage being thrown onto the pile. Shirou might not be a social genius, the opposite rather, but even he could see that much.

Besides, if he dealt Shiki a blow like that right now, Arcueid and Ciel might actually try to kill him.

"So don't pay any attention to what Roa said. What matters is that you still have a sister, someone who loves and appreciates you, waiting for you back home."

"Well… When you put it like that."

"I do put it like that!" Shirou grinned, before he turned his fellow teen around and gave him a small push in the back, to start him on his way. "Go home, show Akiha that you are alive and well, and get some rest. You did a good thing tonight in battle, now you must do just as well at home."

"Yes." Shiki nodded, slow at first, but then faster, with more confidence. "Yes, I will!"

"Good man." Shirou clapped him on the back, before giving him another push. "Now get going, and give your sister my regards."

Shiki didn't need to be told thrice, and he rushed away, his gait much surer and happier than before.

"I don't think I like his sister all that much though."

Arcueid had the good sense to wait until Shiki was out of earshot before she expressed that opinion, frowning a bit in apparent unhappiness.

"Me neith-" Ciel began to agree, but she remembered just in time that she disliked Arcueid, and quickly changed her tune. "I mean, she's not that bad."

"Do try to get along with her though, for Tohno's sake if nothing else." Shirou told them, receiving two reluctant nods in return, before he turned to Arcueid specifically. "Now, I believe you have some information for me."

"Indeed I do!" Arcueid needed no further reminding, perking up again. "I'll tell you right now."

"Should I go elsewhere?" Ciel asked, mindful of the fact that Magi were a private people. "I'm sure Noel could use a hand."

"You don't have to bother for my sake." Shirou saw no reason to keep the information a secret though. It concerned saving the world, which was hardly something that Ciel would try to sabotage or be against.

"No, I do think it is better if you didn't hear this." Arcueid disagreed however, and the seriousness in her demeanour showed she didn't just say that because she disliked Ciel. "This information is for Shirou's ears only."

"Very well." Ciel complied without further comment, stepping away to join her team. Right after, Arcueid erected some minor barriers around herself and Shirou, showing she meant it when she said she wanted privacy.

"To save the world from the perils that are approaching, you need weapons, and one weapon in particular." She told him without further ado, skipping past all pleasantries, a hint of her mature version returning. "To obtain this weapon, you must first return to the Clocktower."

Returning to the Clocktower was already on the schedule, in only a month or two in fact, so Shirou nodded, only a bit surprised that this weapon was apparently located at the headquarters of the Magus Association.

"There, you must find someone called Millieune Carillon, and you must insist to see their classroom, located deep underground, right below the Clocktower. You must go to the classroom's deepest point, where you will see multiple tunnels going even deeper. Normal Magi cannot enter them without dying, but you must descend into the tunnel that smells of fresh air."

Shirou nodded to show he was following, committing the instructions to memory.

"You must go down and down and down and down, deep into crack and crevice, where you will find the one who will give further instructions. You will know her when you see her, and she is expecting you."

"I understand." Those instructions were quite limited, but Shirou could work with them. As long as he knew where to go, he was fine.

"But be careful. There are many things down there, things that have awoken from slumber and things that were born anew. Lifeless beasts, deathless beasts, and flesh-walking things. Guardians arise in Doom-Shadow, awoken by the singing of the gods."

"…"

Those were some cryptic warnings, but the last sentence made it all perfectly clear. With the return of Mystery, caused by Shirou's apotheosis, ancient creatures had woken up deep in the tunnels beneath the Clocktower. Creatures that he would have to overcome on his way.

Difficult, but not unexpected, and also very much his own fault.

"Thank you."

"No problem!" As quickly as the mature Arcueid had appeared did she disappear again, leaving only the usual exuberance. "Glad to be of help, Shirou. Have a nice day!"

With that said, she made to leave, probably to pursue Tohno, but she stopped mid-turn, before looking back at him, her smile suddenly soft and radiantly beautiful.

"And thank you. Thank you so, so much for your help. I couldn't have done this without you."

Then she suddenly embraced him, and after a moment of surprise, Shirou cautiously hugged her back, grateful Tohno wasn't here to see this.

"You would have been fine." He assured her.

"No, probably not." Arcueid giggled into his shoulder, before she broke the hug to smile at him again. "It meant a lot that I could count on someone. If you ever need help, with anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask."

"That goes for you too." Though the past few days hadn't exactly been enjoyable for Shirou, Arcueid had never done him wrong. On the contrary, she had grown on him despite his best efforts to keep a polite distance. In fact, she might even have become something of a little sister to him.

His third little sister yet, alongside Taiga and Illya. All of whom were actually older than him, now that he thought about it.

One day, he'd get a little sister who was actually younger than him, but it seemed today was not that day.

"I wish you much luck." He spoke, perhaps a bit formally. "With everything, and with Shiki too."

Though he didn't exactly approve of the boy, it was not his place to interfere in Arcueid's potential love life.

"With Shiki? Why?" Arcueid didn't seem to understand though, which confused him in turn.

"I was under the impression that you wanted to get closer to him?"

"Closer? Oh yes, I suppose." Arcueid still didn't seem entirely sure what he was talking about, but she nodded anyway. "He's a very good friend."

"…A friend?"

"A wonderful, wonderful friend." She nodded happily.

"I apologise if I am mistaken, but I thought there was something romantic between you?"

"Romantic?!" Arcueid blinked in surprise, before let out a giggle at the mere thought, one that made Shirou's heart clench in sympathy for Tohno Shiki. "Not at all, silly. I don't do romance."

"I see."

Tohno Shiki's hopes and dreams had just been crushed, and as Arcueid left, Shirou muttered a prayer for his Soul.

"Shirou Fujimaru, meet Mario Gallo Bestino."

After his conversation with Arcueid was over and the matter at Tohno's school had been mostly settled, Ciel wasted no time in dragging Shirou along to her superior, the bishop.

According to her, the bishop had set up shop in a humble hostel, having rented out the entire ground floor to run his operation from. The owners of the hostel, an elderly couple, hadn't been too pleased with the strange, foreign visitors, but money was money, and the visitors had paid a whole lot of it.

On the way to the hostel, Shirou had tried to imagine what a temporary Burial Agency-base would look like, and he honestly expected to find the bishop in some kind of fancy command room, with numerous clerks writing down everything that happened within Misaki Town's borders, several Mystical objects humming away, various Magical radios or their equivalent constantly transmitting information, and all that to the backdrop of church-music.

But what he found instead was a standard hostel room, with only a desk and a few pieces of parchment being at all out of the ordinary.

And behind that desk sat the bishop, to whom Shirou was promptly introduced.

Mario Gallo Bestino turned out to be a very young man, barely in his teenage years, with blonde hair, piercing green eyes, and an outfit that couldn't be called professional or priest-like by any meaning of the words.

It was another sign that competence really couldn't be correlated to appearance in the Moonlit World.

Or at least, it would have been, if Shirou hadn't been able to pierce through the glamour and see the man's true appearance underneath.

"Welcome, Fujimaru-san." Bestino welcomed him, his voice perfectly youthful, which too was very fake. "That's a rather piercing glare you're aiming at me. Are you surprised at my age?"

"No. I'm surprised at your glamour." Shirou corrected him, not in the mood for games.

"I couldn't even last one second?!" To his credit, the bishop wasted no more time on games either, and he let out a resigned sigh. "Very well. Masks off then."

The glamour dropped, and the young, blonde boy changed into a tall, elderly gentleman, with long, silver hair, flowing robes, and the same, piercing green eyes as before.

"Cardinal Laurentis?!"

Ciel's cry of shock revealed the man's actual identity, and Shirou twitched at coming face to face with an actual Cardinal, a man whose authority within the Church and the Burial Agency was second only to the Pope himself.

"I apologise for the deception, but I couldn't join this hunt as myself." The man explained, both to Ciel and to Shirou, inclining his head slightly. "So I took the identity of one of my sons- ahem, that is, grandsons, with his full knowledge and permission of course, so that I could participate in the search for Roa."

"B-B-But why?" Ciel stammered, really thrown off-kilter by the sudden reveal.

"Because I hoped to learn something along the way." The Cardinal explained, before he elaborated. "You see, a few years ago, I made the mistake of perusing the Serpent's research in the hope of extending my lifespan, and as a result, I was-"

"Cursed." Shirou finished for him, able to see the dark haze hanging over the man's head, interfering with his every thought process. A curse that tried to eat away his mind.

"Just so. It's what I deserve for my hubris of course, but even so, I wish to be free of this torment. That is why I accompanied you, my dear Ciel, in the hope of questioning Roa. Of course, now that he is dead, that hope has proved idle."

"I.. am sorry?" Ciel looked even more thrown than before at the reveal that a Cardinal of all people had committed the purest form of heresy, to peruse a Dead Apostle's research to extent one's own lifespan, so her reply wasn't the most elaborate or sophisticated.

"No need, no need. You did your duty, and I'll just have to find another avenue by which to break the Curse. Ah, if they don't burn me at the stake for heresy first of course."

"Allow me then." Shirou did not know what to think of this overly informal Cardinal, and he didn't approve at all of the man's utterly inane decision to look into Dead Apostles for selfish gains, but he wasn't about to leave someone to a fate of slowly having their mind destroyed over the course of what could be years.

He resolutely placed his index finger on the Cardinal's forehead and channelled the Mysterious Power, burning away the Curse and, while he was at it anyway, rejuvenating his body too.

"That should give you another few decades." Shirou huffed after he was finished, before seizing the man's collar, pulling him over the desk, and giving him a threatening look. "But if you start messing around with Dead Apostles again, I'll kill you."

"Noted." The man's voice was entirely sincere, if a little too chipper for someone being threatened, so Shirou let him go again. "And you have my utmost gratitude! If you ever need a favour, don't hesitate to contact me."

"Hm." A favour from a Cardinal was not something to take lightly, so Shirou nodded in acceptance, before he got back to their original topic. "Now, why did you want me here? I don't mean to be rude, but I have more to do today."

"Then I'll get down to business immediately." In a flash, Cardinal Laurentis composed himself, and he motioned for Shirou and Ciel to sit down as well, which they did, though the latter still looked rather off-kilter. "First of all, inviting you here was simply a method of finally meeting you and taking your measure, as the world's youngest True Magician. Although the Burial Agency has received numerous reports on your presence and your actions at the Clocktower, very few of our operatives have ever personally met you, let alone interacted with you. The only exception to this is Caren Ortensia, and she is not the most reliable of witnesses."

That, Shirou could not deny. He considered Caren a friend, but he knew very well she could be… a bit flighty, to put it mildly.

"Hence, Ciel saw it fit to invite you here, so we could build some rapport with you. There will undoubtedly be times that we will have to cooperate, and having good relations is important in light of that."

"That is fine, but I'm not making any deals with you right now, and I'm not going to break ties with the Magus Association." Shirou was not against good relations with the Church, but he had to be wary of being tricked into making promises.

Lady Montmorency had told him, back at the Clocktower, never to make promises to people unless he'd really thought it through, and though she'd meant that to be advice for dealing with the Magus-nobles, it probably applied to Burial Agency-operatives too.

"Of course, it is not my intention at all to turn you against the Clocktower, least of all its Queen. Though I may have behaved rather abominably in recent times, I am still a man of the cloth. I would never ask a husband to turn on his own wife."

"Kgh?!" Shirou choked on his own breath, horrified by how badly the Church had apparently misinterpreted his relationship with Lorelei, but he didn't get a chance to set the record straight before the Cardinal continued.

"All I wanted was a meeting, a chance for me to show my face and take your measure, and I think we can safely say that I have been successful." Cardinal Laurentis let out a boisterous laugh, emitting nothing but sincerity, before he calmed down again, the happy twinkle in his eyes dimming considerably. "And thus, since we are short on time, let us discuss the Dead Apostle Ancestors now."

"Vlov Arkhangel, the Spider Queen, and Michael Roa Valdamjong are dead." Ciel promptly reported, calming down now that they were moving back into familiar territory. "Fujimaru slew the Spider Queen, while Arkhangel and the Serpent were slain by… the White Princess, Brunestud."

There was a minor pause in her speech, barely detectable and easily written off as a result of her dislike for the Moon Princess, and Shirou carefully ignored it. She clearly wanted to keep Tohno Shiki under the radar, at least for now, and that was something he could get behind.

"A great victory." The Cardinal smiled, but he didn't seem surprised by what he'd been told. "Already, the news is spreading fast. Their deaths have been verified, though no one knows what exactly happened. Could I ask you for a report on the battle with the Spider Queen, Fujimaru-san? It doesn't have to be a long one, just the bare bones."

Shirou obligingly told them of the battle, if it could even be called that. How he'd tracked her down to an abandoned warehouse, how he'd burned her vile schemes to ash, how he followed her into her laboratory, killed her, and then destroyed said laboratory as well.

He didn't tell them of the information the Spider Queen had given him however, about Sumire and Fenris. For now, he wanted to keep that close to the chest.

"Thank you." Cardinal Laurentis said after he'd finished. "It sounds like you arrived just in time. If that truck had gotten away, things could have turned very ugly, very quickly. Yet another victory for mankind."

"And a blow to the Ancestors." Ciel grinned, her mood once more beyond excellent. "Ortenrosse will be most wroth to hear about this."

"Ah, no, I wouldn't go that far." The Cardinal's smile dimmed a bit, a pained look appearing in his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Ortenrosse, who is, as you know, the King of the Ancestors, has lately been filling the ranks of the Twenty-Seven with his own patsies, and your actions have only given him two more thrones to fill. Since neither Arkhangel nor the Spider Queen were allies of his and Roa was hated by all, I fear he will see this as a victory every bit as much as we do."

"…"

"I'm sorry. Such are their politics."

The idea that he had somehow helped the King of the Ancestors was infuriating, and Shirou gritted his teeth in annoyance, imagining how the creature was probably laughing smugly right now, leisurely selecting new Ancestors from his list of flunkies.

That could not stand.

"How do I deal him a defeat then?" He asked the Cardinal, who lifted an eyebrow in response. "What do I need to do to hurt him?"

"Slay one of his senior followers." The elderly man replied promptly, smiling forlornly. "Something we have been trying to do for ages."

"Which followers are those?"

"Van-Fem, Rita Rozay-en, and Gransurg Blackmore are all Elders, and losing any of them would be a massive blow to Ortenrosse. If you really want to hurt him though, killing Stanrobe Calhin is the way to go."

"Stanrobe Calhin?"

"The Eleventh Dead Apostle Ancestor. The Duke of Predation and Ortenrosse's spymaster. Take him out, and you'll render the king blind."

That sounded good. Once he'd obtained the weapon that Arcueid had spoken of, saved the world, and finished the Grail War, he'd have to look into that. Provided he was victorious and lived to tell the tale of course.

"I must urge you to be cautious." Cardinal Laurentis easily guessed what he was thinking, linking his fingers together to give Shirou a measured look. "While True Magicians are powerful, please keep in mind that these creatures have outlived many great True Magicians in their time. If it was easy to kill them, they would have long since been dead."

That was of course completely true, and Shirou accepted the Cardinal's warning with a grateful nod.

After that, he answered a few more questions, discussed a few more matters, and then they were done.

"I wish you a good day, Fujimaru-san, and I thank you again for your help with my… little issue." Cardinal Laurentis rose from his chair and clasped Shirou's hand in his own, smiling brightly. "Here's to a fruitful cooperation."

"Have a pleasant day." Shirou replied, carefully not commenting on anything that the man had said about cooperation.

"Until we meet again, Shirou." Ciel on the other hand was much easier to talk to, and Shirou shook her hand as well. "It probably won't be on the battlefield for a while, but I'm sure I'll see you around."

"I hope so." The redhead nodded, before he paused. "Ah, miss Ciel, could I ask you to deliver a message to Akiha from me?"

"Of course."

Shirou quickly Traced a pen and a piece of paper, before jotting down a part of his conversation with the Spider Queen.

He didn't know if it would help the girl to know that the Ancestor had been genuinely fond of her, in a twisted kind of way, but he'd promised to let her know, so he did.

He handed the letter over to Ciel, said his final goodbyes, and then left again.

As Shirou had expected, he found himself trailed by several spies before he could even make it to Misaki Town's train station.

Some of them were from the Burial Agency, having probably been sent by Cardinal Laurentis, but there were a few who answered to different masters as well.

Evidently, the news of his identity and presence here had already gotten out, and several parties had dispatched their agents to investigate him, undoubtedly hoping to obtain valuable information, perhaps even his place of residence.

For a moment, Shirou considered shaking them off the regular way, but frankly, he wasn't in the mood.

He'd been awake for three days now, had fought three Dead Apostle Ancestors, learned a lot of new information, gotten stabbed in a Point of Death, and he was feeling oddly tired all of a sudden. To be quite frank, he just wanted to go home and cuddle his girlfriends, not waste energy on playing games with spies.

So he decided to skip past the journey by train and the tedious mess of having to shake off his pursuers, by using a new form of travel.

The Bifrost.

So far, he'd only ever used the Bifrost to travel to and from the Vault, but that wasn't the limit of its capabilities. The rainbow-coloured bridge was essentially an expression of the Mysterious Power, one that could create portals, wormholes, folds in space, and many other things.

In other words, it could also be used, once properly mastered, to travel between different places on Earth.

He'd spent hours on mastering it sufficiently, grinding away at home in the hopes of never having to fly by plane again, and he finally felt ready to use it for an actual field-test.

Shirou exerted his power, called upon the Bifrost to obey his commands, and created a portal, one that should lead straight to his living room.

He sensed more than he saw how his pursuers all reared back in shock at the appearance of a rainbow-coloured portal, something any Magus would immediately link to the Kaleidoscope, and he couldn't suppress a mean grin.

He might be showing his hand a bit by being so open with his new ability, but it was worth it. Both to get home quickly, and to mess with the people trying to have him followed.

Before the next sunset, the whole world would know that he could wield both the Second and the Third True Magic. Of that, Shirou had no doubt. Even if it wasn't true.

But that was a problem for later. For now, he just stepped through the portal and then dismissed it, finding himself exactly where he wanted to be.

In his living room, where the girls and Taiga had just started their breakfast.

They were surprised to see him appear out of nowhere like this of course, but since they already knew just about everything there was to know about him, including the fact that he had a rainbow bridge at his disposal, they recovered quickly.

Within mere moments, they were rushing at him for a hug.

And no one missed the fact that Rin was the first to jump into his arms.