The Lesser Evil by ieam

Link: -https://fiction.live/stories/The-Lesser-Evil/qGnKdat8u6R3HB2bA/home

Synopsis

Angra Mainyu should have faded away once those four nights came to an end, yet-After the hollow ataraxia he created was brought to an end, he woke in the body he had chosen to possess yet again, during the Great Fuyuki Fire.

Thus, he returned to this place.

A vast and empty space.

His infinitely vast, yet consequently small nostalgic home where neither time nor space can exist.

However…

Since he exists here, it is natural that coordinates came to be.

Since he exist here, a light shines where nothing should exists.

And at the core of this nothingness…

A grand puzzle which he painstakingly put together, now shattered and falling apart.

This puzzle is the Holy Grail.

Angra Mainyu was a poor pretender before the real thing, but he still was a Holy Grail, so it was natural he could grant a wish. And that was what he had done. And that was why 'he' existed.

First, he used it to extend the life of Bazett Fraga McRemitz after Kirei Kotomine mortally wounded her, creating a bounded field over Fuyuki where four days looped endlessly until all possibilities were exhausted - and in exchange, for each loop a monster would be created, which would eventually be released to the world and destroy it.

No, to say 'in exchange' implies she gained something from it. The world created was one that reflected her insecurities, a retreat where she could hole up from the harsh world and never progress, nor be ever proud of herself.

True to his nature, he doomed Bazett to an eternity of suffering, and the world to an infinite tide of monsters, twisting her wish.

Fortunately, to his dismay, he got greedy.

This wish was only granted since she made a contract with him on her death-bed. However, for that, he had to act like her Servant, and in her dream, accompany her through the infinitely looping four days of the Grail War he created.

So- he took upon the form of Shirou Emiya.

It was natural he needed to do that. 'Pure evil' was a hollow concept - it may exist, but in reality, it does not manifest. Male or female, young or old, no matter what definition you ascribed to it, the source of it would be lost and it would no longer be 'pure', merely evil. Angra Mainyu as such, had no form or traits.

Effectively, it was zero.

But it is incredibly simple to add zero to any number without changing it.

Like the vessel of the fourth Grail.

Like the heir of the Matou.

Like a certain Ally of Justice.

And that was what he did. Since he was the victor, Angra Mainyu took over a crazy guy that, even when twisted in the world's evils, could call himself-

An ally of justice.

Man, what a blunder!

Worse, since Bazett only fought at night, during the day he would use Emiya's body and experience his life.

Because of that-

After spending an endless amount of days acting as Shirou Emiya-

After he got a taste of his life-

After he grew attached to those close to him-

'I don't want to go back to being a monster'.

Such a traitorous thought led him to make the second use of the grail.

With the aid, unwitting or not, of the Servants of the Fifth Holy Grail War, the innumerable monsters created by the bounded field were denied the ability to manifest in the world.

Instead, he used the Holy Grail to bring Bazett back to life in the world of the living.

You can only hate.

You can only devour what you love.

Just once, with the miracle of the Holy Grail, that absolute was overturned just once.

But that was it.

That body, that character, had only existed by wearing the shell of Emiya Shirou.

Now, Bazett was gone, to return to her life.

Now, the boundary field which he had created was gone, it's contents never unleashed on the world.

Now, his body was gone, and his existence was fading.

And that was all right.

It was normal.

Angra Mainyu was nothingness. It felt no regret. It felt no attachments. It loved humans, and so for their sake it hated humanity, and that was the beginning and end of its sentience.

So, it's normal that he'd fade.

So, it's normal that he'd die.

It's…

It's..!

Its existence further broke down. Cold and numbness, a human shape, emotions and memories- they all faded, one at time.

…

■ sprint to ■ annihilation. To someone like ■, that should be the most wonderful thing, yet.

■ just wanted to see something new.

Just like how ■ previous self wished for revival, ■ wanted to know even one more of those ordinary days.

■ cannot escape. The opening made for Bazett was gone.

Yet, even so-

Those memories flash in ■ mind flash in the last moments of ■ life pass by-

.

.

.

I wish I had another one of those peaceful days.

It's kind of sad most of you guys won't have read Hollow Ataraxia, both because of misconceptions about Angra, but more importantly the lack of attachment to him.

Oh well, I'll just have to try and sell you his character.

So welcome to Lesser Evil-

In which All the World's Evils, clad in the shape of an Ally of Justice, is granted a chance to live a life he never could have.