Chapter 34

The air was thick with mana, the night illuminated by flashes of magical energy as two mages clashed in a battle to the death.

Waver panted, his body aching from the strain of keeping up with Kayneth. The ampoule he had used to temporarily enhance his magical circuits had allowed him to hold his own against his former teacher, but even so, the gap in skill and experience was colossal.

Kayneth, standing with his arrogance intact, looked down at him with disdain. The Volumen Hydrargyrum, his mystic code, floated around him like a serpent of liquid mercury, ready to strike down his enemy at any moment.

"You're still breathing… how annoying," Kayneth muttered, as if Waver's mere resistance were an insult.

He raised his hand, and the mercury reacted instantly, splitting into multiple floating orbs that spun around him, each one charged with an enormous amount of prana.

"That's enough. I won't waste any more time on you."

The mercury orbs began to spin, like projectiles ready to be fired. Before Waver could react, Kayneth snapped his fingers.

The attack was brutal.

The orbs shot off in different directions, and in the blink of an eye, they began moving in unpredictable trajectories, attacking Waver from every angle at a speed impossible to follow with the naked eye.

Waver barely had time to reinforce his legs with prana before leaping backward, narrowly dodging the first impact. One of the orbs pierced the ground where he had stood just a second earlier, sending up a cloud of dust and debris.

But Kayneth gave him no respite.

"Let's see how much longer you can last, Velvet."

With a simple wave of his hand, the orbs charged again.

Waver knew he couldn't dodge forever. He clenched his teeth, extended his hand, and channeled his prana into a wind spell. A swirling gust formed around him, deflecting one of the orbs before it could hit him.

But there were still many more.

"Tch…!"

He gritted his teeth and reinforced his body. At that moment, a thought crossed his mind: I don't have to dodge everything. I just need to strike first.

Waver moved his arm, channeling his magic into an offensive lightning spell. He raised his hand and fired a bolt of lightning at Kayneth.

The Lord of the Clock Tower reacted immediately, moving the Volumen Hydrargyrum like a liquid shield to absorb the electricity.

"Elemental magecraft?" he scoffed mockingly. 

"Is that all you've got?"

But Waver didn't stop.

He fired another lightning bolt, then another, forcing Kayneth to reinforce his defense. Though he knew he couldn't break through his protection, his goal wasn't to damage him—it was to distract him.

While maintaining the pressure with his magical attacks, Waver charged his hand with more prana. A spell he had never been able to execute before, but now, thanks to the ampoule, he had enough power to use it.

And when Kayneth momentarily lowered his defense to counterattack…

Waver released all his prana in a single instant.

"Haaahhh!!"

From the ground beneath Kayneth's feet, a compressed burst of wind exploded suddenly, sending a powerful shockwave in all directions.

The impact caught the Lord of the Clock Tower off guard. The Volumen Hydrargyrum reacted too late, and Kayneth was violently thrown to the ground.

Waver fell to his knees, gasping from the immense prana expenditure, feeling his body tremble from the strain. But it had been worth it.

Before him, Kayneth was on the ground.

The prodigy mage, the arrogant Lord, the teacher who had always looked down on him… now lay on the earth, breathing heavily.

A heavy silence fell between them.

Kayneth looked up, and what Waver saw in his eyes wasn't just anger. It was pure hatred.

"You… miserable… scum."

His voice trembled with fury, humiliation dripping from every word.

Waver, still catching his breath, stared back at him. His initial fear had vanished. What remained on his face wasn't pride, but determination.

"I'm not going to apologize," he said firmly.

"Because for the first time, I'm fighting like a real mage."

Those words were like a dagger to Kayneth's ego.

But the battle wasn't over.

And Waver knew that if Kayneth got up again, he wouldn't have the strength to withstand another assault.

He had to end this.

Now.

The forest was plunged into an eerie silence. Only the crackling of scorched vegetation and the labored breathing of the two mages broke the stillness.

Waver Velvet had won.

But he didn't feel like a victor.

He stood there, looking down at his former teacher, who still lay on the ground, his elegant robes stained with dust and blood. Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, Lord of the Clock Tower, a prodigy among mages, a man who had always been above him in every way… now lay defeated before him.

But Waver couldn't move.

His body was tense, as if every muscle refused to accept what he had to do.

"I have to kill him."

That thought struck his mind with crushing force.

If he didn't, if he let Kayneth live, he would seek revenge. He would rise, hunt him down, and try to reclaim his honor by any means necessary. It was logical, necessary for his own survival.

And yet… his hand trembled.

He couldn't do it.

He wasn't a killer. He wasn't like Kiritsugu, or like the other mages who would participate in the war without hesitation, willing to kill anyone who stood in their way.

He looked at his own hand, covered in dirt and sweat.

If he did it… if he delivered the final blow… then he and Kayneth would truly be the same.

He clenched his teeth, his lips trembling with frustration.

Is this what it means to be a mage?

He looked at his teacher again. Kayneth was on the ground, his expression frozen in a mix of fury and humiliation, his breathing ragged as he tried to move.

Waver lowered his arm and shut his eyes tightly.

"I won't do it," he whispered.

Kayneth looked up in disbelief.

"What did you say…?"

Waver stared back at him, his resolve firm.

"I'm not going to kill you."

The silence grew heavy.

And then, Kayneth shuddered. His jaw tightened, his face twisting into a mask of pure hatred.

"I don't NEED your pity, scum!"

Waver didn't flinch.

"It's not pity," he said, his voice calmer than he expected.

"It's a choice."

Kayneth was left speechless.

The seconds stretched into an unbearable void.

But Waver had nothing more to say.

Turning around, he began to walk away, his footsteps echoing on the damp earth.

In the distance, Rider watched him from the shadow of a tree, wounded but with a smile on his face.

"Well done, boy," he said in his warm tone.

"No student should have to kill their own teacher."

Waver didn't respond immediately.

He simply nodded, not looking at him.

He wasn't sure he had done the right thing.

But if he killed Kayneth now… then what would make him any different from him?

He didn't want that answer.

He and Rider walked away from the scene.

Kayneth remained on the ground.

His body wasn't moving, not because of his injuries, but because of the paralysis of humiliation.

He had been defeated.

Not just in battle… but in everything he believed.

His mind scrambled for answers, for some logic that could justify what had happened.

But there was none.

He had been humiliated, not just by his own student, but by the fact that that same student had refused to finish him off.

Not only had he been defeated.

He had been ignored.

Something inside him shattered.

Kayneth let out a shaky, stifled laugh through gritted teeth.

It was unacceptable.

His laugh turned into a growl.

His growl into a scream.

His scream into a hysterical, uncontrollable laugh, filled with hatred and despair.

He couldn't accept it. He wouldn't accept it.

He covered his face with his hands, his nails digging into his skin, trembling with rage and shame.

The humiliation consumed him.

........................

I've decided. I'm going with Alice Kuonji from Fate/Zero.

The character is also in the mobile game. Although it's not in the same universe as Fate/Zero, I'll try to integrate her somehow. But if I do, would I have to include Shiki as well... or, well, would I rather not?

Alice will appear in a few later chapters. I think this Holy Grail War thing has gone on too long. I'll have to shorten it a bit more. I don't want it to last more than 50 chapters before moving on to the next arc, lol.