"Goddamn."
Maybe because of the darkness last night, or the adrenaline high, the sheer scale of the devastation unleashed by Heracles and Mahoraga clashing at their fullest eluded my comprehension. That was not the case now, in the morning, when I was calm and in my senses... mostly.
Most of the forest was simply gone. Uprooted and crushed trees lay all around amidst a field of torn stumps. Massive scars and ravines marked the earth underneath, making traversal an immense pain in the ass. Where there wasn't utter destruction, the land had become uneven and mismatched, raised here, sunk there.
Birds of prey circled overhead, perhaps protesting the loss of their abode. The few small animals we came across scattered at the sight of us.
All that remained was the howl of the wind passing through.
I wiped my face with a hand as I jumped down from a sheer cliff brought low, onto a fallen tree and then the grass.
"It was a battle between ancient legends." Bazett easily kept up with me, "Heracles is the greatest hero of Ancient Greece."
The strongest, most revered of heroes, who surpassed all in strength and bravery.
The mighty son of Zeus who rose to Godhood himself.
But,
"Was." I corrected.
Bazett closed her eyes and nodded, "Was... He fell here."
To the side lay a range of ruined mountains, once tall and proud, blown to smithereens and cut down by the Sword of Extermination. The Divine General had parted them, then ground them to dust. Though, honestly, a lot of credit was due to Heracles as well. The massive ravine parting the entire land, however, was created solely by Mahoraga and no other.
The Crown Jewel of the Zen'in.
The gift of the Gods to my ancestor.
I couldn't help but sigh.
"I seriously don't get how I'm supposed to tame that thing."
The Divine General had grinned maniacally throughout the battle.
A few strategies did come to mind against him, but I wasn't very confident in them anymore. Last night's events made the difference between this one and the version I was familiar with rather evident.
I stared into the gaping abyss below. A bottomless pit. The result of the 'slash' that decided the battle in one fell swoop... I dreaded what would happen if they'd fought in the city. On the other side, was the final resting place of my mentor. For a good while, I dared not look up.
Bazett nervously held my hand.
"He was... happy."
"Is that so?"
Everyone kept telling me that.
Using the Giant Toad, I leapt across. By the time I turned around, Bazett was already standing behind me. She even looked a bit expectant.
"That's pretty impressive."
The Clock Tower Enforcer glowed and... vibrated?
Then, a pretty smile crossed her face. She tucked a bang behind her ear, "Thank you."
...
I was forced to look away lest I be blinded. With a shake of my head, I stepped past the two holes in the earth where Gilgamesh had nailed me down, stopping a single step short of where my mentor met his unfair end.
There was no blood, no upset in the soil, or even the tiniest bit to affirm what transpired... Nothing except memory remained of my teacher.
"I suppose that's what a servant's existence is like."
They fought in the shadows, at the beckoning of rats that knew no better than to scurry about in obscurity, and faded away in those same shadows. Shuwen had called that a second chance.
I closed my eyes, feeling the chill wind drag across my face.
What a sham.
But... I had died too once.
The inevitability was not lost on me anymore.
Now, after losing him, I was no longer capable of clinging to my own second chance all that desperately. Even here, that inevitability was ever-present. To go into the dark on your own terms, like you wanted, was the most anyone could ask for.
My mentor had attained that even in the situation we were faced with.
"Li Shuwen did not die dishonourably, or without honour." I opened my eyes to a broken world, "He did not die for nothing. He protected me, like he promised."
...He even got me laid.
I chuckled at the thought.
Then, I inhaled deeply, and gave the most earnest bow I ever had in my two lives combined, hands at my side, and eyes open.
"Thank you for your lessons, old man."
The wind rustled the fallen leaves. A dying one, orange and crumbling, landed on my shoulder for the briefest of seconds. When it drifted away, a second one, green and brimming with life, got stuck in my hair.
Strangely, I was at peace.
I didn't know how much time passed before I finally straightened back to look ahead, but I knew that it was time well spent.
Beyond, the Einzbern Castle rose to the sky. The age-old protective barriers cast all around the land had fallen apart last night, and the castle no longer looked as hauntingly beautiful. Most of the walls were blown away, two of the four towers had collapsed along with the entire right wing. That much was plain to see even from a distance.
Once we got closer to the main entrance, the damage became even more pronounced. The storage or armoury or whatever the structure past the courtyard had been, was also a ruined, smoking mess.
Funnily enough, the fountain in the centre of the yard was the only part of the castle to remain untouched.
I craned my neck, "Siege. That's the word."
"One they clearly failed to fend off." Bazett answered. Her gaze wandered all over. "I find it difficult to believe she would remain here."
"If she wasn't at Emiya's-" I stuffed my hands in my windbreaker, "-then, she's definitely here. Illyasviel isn't all that smart."
She was an ignorant and cruel idiot of a person, but she was most certainly not a child.
"Stunted midget."
Bazett crossed her arms, looking thoughtful.
"You're right. Perhaps, she really is stunted. It would explain a lot."
"No Bazett. Don't call people retarded."
The Enforcer innocently tilted her head, "But... you just did?"
Hm... fair enough.
I shrugged, plucking a rose from one of the four flowerbeds around the fountain, and offered the token of adoration to my lady. She accepted the red flower awkwardly, cradling it in both hands with a queer gentleness. A faint blush crept across her pale little nose.
She spoke slowly, "Thank you."
"No. Thank you." I shook my head. "I think I'll enjoy life a lot with you."
Oh wait-
"W-W-Wha?"
The older woman began to sputter over her words.
Somehow, I knew Cu Chulainn was having a fun time watching the both of us... I was too.
That was why my annoyance was immense when the air swished all of a sudden. I'd heard the sound of steel cutting through the air more than enough to know someone was attacking. Instead of gracing my assailant with a fist to the face, I did not even deign to remove them from my pockets.
No, I kicked out instead, shoving my foot against the long steel bar of the... halberd. My attacker was a medieval maid in pure white. Her long uniform parted at the chest to reveal some sort of black blazer underneath. A blazer that was struggling to hold in her breasts.
Her crimson eyes were unbelievably empty.
My knee trembled under the weight of her blow, and the ground cracked underneath my other foot.
If I had to guess, she was about as strong as the Rider servant we ganged up on some time ago.
As many times before, the moment I stopped the swing, Bazett's gloved fist came rounding from the other side. The maid twisted and turned around her halberd, gripping the massive weapon with one hand as she leapt into the air to avoid the blow and throw me off balance at the same time by pulling it back. She then spun in an utterly absurd manner, and sliced down right at my forehead.
I planted my feet into the ground and slapped my hands together, catching the sharp edge between them.
The maid's eyes widened.
I grinned.
Purple lightning crackled and snapped at the air. Her halberd was metal. Metal tended to be a good conductor.
A massive boom, and she was flung away into the wall. The concrete shattered where her back met it, and her clothes burnt up to her shoulders. Impressively enough, the maid still moved. She used her halberd to rise to her feet again, gripping her armament with both hands.
I cared very little for her resistance.
Her nature was not lost on me.
She was an Einzbern homunculus, one of two maids sent to Fuyuki to act as Illyasviel's caretakers and helpers. The sickly pale complexion, blood red eyes, and doll-like beauty gave her away instantly.
"Bazett."
"I have your back."
I brought my hands together.
Two massive beasts, snarling and biting, emerged from my shadows.
A white wolf with fur as pure as the maid's hair. The other, a wolf black as night.
Breathing out a sigh of relief, I clung to the white wolf and rubbed my face against his neck. The good boy reciprocated my gesture with closed eyes.
"I thought I lost you, boy."
His brother nudged me with his nose in a strange bout of jealousy.
I pulled his head in too.
"You... are... not serious." The maid spoke slowly, clenching her halberd hard enough that veins began to pop out on the back of her palms. "I..."
I answered without looking, too busy spoiling my good boys.
"No shit, lady. Don't tell me you didn't see what happened last night."
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