17. Chapter 17

"Caster... you are telling me that this little girl is Berserker's Master?" Shirou said with wide eyes.

"She is not a simple girl Shirou, she's a homunculus... and an incredible one I must say, not only it has an almost limitless amount of mana, but she is also the Minor

Grail of this war." Caster commented as she examined the girl. She had already studied Sakura, so now she immediately recognized Illya as the real Minor Grail.

"A child... Someone sent a child to fight and die for this stupid war!" Shirou said with anger as he clenched his fists and teeth and watched the familiar girl. Strangely the more he watched her the more he recalled a woman who he had seen in his dreams, or more specifically, in Saber's memories.

"Shirou, what did you say her name was?" Saber asked.

"Her name is Illya, why you ask?"

"...No, nothing, I must be a bit confused." Saber said as she shook her head. For a moment she thought that the girl was Iri's daughter, but she was too young and over 10 years have passed since she last saw her, right now she should be an adult around 20 years of age.

"Still, how should we... act?" Shirou asked. As much he could be ruthless, he would never harm a child.

"Shirou, calm down, even if she is a child it doesn't change the fact that she is one of the strongest Master that we have met until now." Caster said. "But even if she is strong she is not a combat-oriented Homunculus, so you will be able to easily take care of her. You'll just have to eliminate her Servant first by killing it or breaking her contract with him with Rule Breaker, then you can try to talk things out with her, if not you'll have to use some force... for her own good." Caster then continued

Shirou took a deep breath to calm down and nodded, he then turned his attention to the crystal ball that showed Tohsaka and Archer who were now moving.

"So, what should we do?" Saber asked no one in particular. "Should we wait for Archer and its Master to return to their base, or we'll attack Berserker and its Master first?"

"...We can only wait." Shirou said. "We know who they are and where their bases are, we have no need to hurry... we have more than enough time to eliminate them both tonight."

No one said anything and they just watched the crystal balls.

After 5 minutes they noted that both of the two couples were going to Shinto and they were going towards the church, if both of them kept the same speed they would have met each other very soon.

"It seems that we will only have to eliminate one Servant." Caster said with a smile since soon things will get easier for them.

"That is one of the two dies." Saber said.

"...Yes, we have yet to see Berserker, we do not know his identity or what he is capable of, but an Archer shouldn't be able to fight it face to face... right?" Shirou asked as he turned to watch Saber.

"Shirou I have to correct you, that man... yes, is strange, but he looks like a capable warrior. The way he acts, speaks, and thinks, are clear signs that he is someone who had his many shares of battles, even if he should directly fight and perish against Berserker he would not do it without a proper fight."

Shirou simply nodded, Saber was both wiser and more expert than him at measuring his foe fighting ability, if she spoke highly of Archer he then could only think of him as a great warrior.

"I... I do not think so Saber..." Caster started to say. "I felt Berserker's presence and it was incredibly powerful, equals to yours." She then continued.

Both Shirou and Saber raised an eyebrow and noted Caster's sad expression.

"Is there something that you are not telling us?" Shirou then asked.

"...I think that Berserker was someone I knew... but right now I cannot exactly tell you who." Caster said. She had all of her memories of her past life, but she could not remember exactly everything, especially things like simple presences, which were now distorted because of the already familiar Mad Enchantment.

"Someone you knew?" Shirou and Saber said at the same time. They then looked at each other for a moment before Shirou said: "Perhaps he was a member of the Argonauts."

"Perhaps, but who could be summoned as a Berserker?" Saber asked.

"I have no idea, I don't know all its members." Shirou said before he started to think about some of the members, there were over 40, and not all of them could be summoned as Berserker.

For the next 10 minutes, Shirou and Saber spoke about the greatest heroes that once had been members of the Argonauts, but before they could recall all of the members they stopped when they saw a black giant appear behind Illya after she saw and started to approach Rin.

"So, do you know who is he?" Saber asked Caster.

"...He is Heracles." Caster said while she watched the crystal ball as she felt a pain in the heart. Heracles was one of the few people that ever offered to help her after she removed his madness after the gods cursed him again. Seeing him once again in that state was really pitiful.

"Heracles..." Shirou muttered as he watched that terrifying presence. He was not even in front of that monster and yet when he saw him he froze in fear.

"..." Saber said nothing and just sighed, this war was truly blasphemous.

Berserker was Heracles, he was one of the greatest warriors that ever existed, who was also a demi-god, son of the God Zeus. He was the same man who managed to accomplish the 12 labors and granted him a place between the greek gods... and yet there he was. He had been summoned as Berserker, and he was being treated as a mad dog that will just be unshackled against his Master enemies.

Was this the fate of the greatest heroes who had ever lived? Was this some kind of punishment for all the things that they had done? Why did they have to fight in a blasphemous war just to win a corrupted Grail that would not realize their wishes? Just... why?

"Oh well, now we know the adversary that you two are going to fight. I know that you hate dirty tactics Saber but-" Caster started to say. She wanted to find a way to take control of the Master and then forcing Heracles to commit suicide and put him out of his misery.

"Not this time Caster, Heracles was a great warrior and he deserves a warrior's death. He deserves to die in battle, I'll not allow anything else, understood?" Saber immediately said with a serious tone. She had enough of this war, she just wanted to put an end to Berserker's pitiful existence and to put an end to the war so that nothing like this would ever happen again.

"...Understood, do as you want." Caster said before she returned to watch the crystal ball. She knew that Saber was capable of defeating him, she just wanted to make things easier for everyone.

After that they watched Illya approaching Rin and greeting her, as she did Archer immediately materialized in front of Rin and told her to run as soon he saw the giant behind the little girl.

Rin was frozen in place after she saw that mad giant behind the little girl, but after a moment she returned to her senses and asked Archer what he wanted to do. The man at that moment smirked and told her that he was about to defeat Berserker, but he could not do it with her near him since he did not want to risk her life.

Illya remained silent as she watched Archer speaking, after a moment she spoke and sincerely complimented him for his courage even in the face of certain death, she told him that after killing him she would have not harmed his Master in honor of his courage and noble sacrifice... and that she didn't want to waste time at following her. After that she smiled and said to Berserker with a carefree tone to kill Archer, Berserker then roared and his skin started to glow red while his Master started to walk away.

"Shirou, you see it, right?" Caster asked. "That's Heracles Noble Phantasm, God hand. It's a blessing given by the gods representing immortality, it was granted to him for completing his Twelve Labors in his life. It gives him the ability to be harmed only by the weapons of the highest grade, the other attacks will just be nullified, then it gives him the ability of resurrection for 12 times and the immunity from attacks that killed him previously."

"Those are quite strong abilities..." Shirou said as he watched the Berserker's giant weapon and the history of its wielder and his special techniques.

"Saber, is your Excalibur capable of killing him 12 times? Or you will need the assistance of Shirou?" Caster asked. "He does have Gae Bolg and Fragarach that may kill him one time each..." She continued.

"I'm not sure." Saber said before she turned to Shirou. "Shirou, be prepared of assisting me at defeating Berserker." She continued in a serious tone.

Shirou simply nodded and turned to watch the crystal ball where he saw Tohsaka running away... then he watched Archer as he chanted something under his breath before he summoned his black and white blades.

As Shirou posed his eyes on Kanshou and Bakuya and heard those muttered words, somewhere deep down in himself he felt a flame taking life.

Those black and white blades...

One represented the dark and the other represented the light;

One represented the night and the other represented the day;

One represented the wrong and the other represented the right;

One represented the cold and the other represented the warmth;

One represented the loss and the other represented the triumph;

One represented Death while the other represented Life;

And those words that the man had said... spoke of everything he did, and of who he was.

But more importantly, for some reason, Shirou found himself in a deserted world full of rusted swords, one somehow so alien, and yet so familiar to him.

He started to turn around, and behind himself, he saw on a desert hill a kneeled man who was impaled by numerous swords, who in silent suffering, watched the eternal sunset on the horizon.

The man at one point started to slowly turn around as he noted the presence of an intruder in his world, the presence of the only person he truly ever hated in all of his dammed existence.

As their eyes met Shirou saw in the man's eyes only traces of regrets, he thought he had made mistakes so great they could never be forgiven... and he was ready to do anything to undo them, even stopping them from happening at all.

Shirou frowned as the man got up and started to look down on him with hatred... he now understood who he was, and for what reason the man was there.

'So it be.' Shirou thought as he and the man looked at each other.

For Shirou this was not a matter of ideology, it was not a matter of virtues, it was not a matter of point of views, but it was a matter of objectives.

This was a war, a corrupted one, this was not a place where the two of them would talk as they fought about their beliefs, honor, or whatever they fought for.

There was no glory to be found there, this was not a story about courage or valiance, this was just a confrontation between two men.

Two men born in flames, two men born with sins, two men who would live with no honor, two men that would sacrifice themself to find redemption, two men who would die alone...

Two men who were destined to clash...

Because of their mental connection at that moment, Caster for an instant had a mental image of a desert land full of rusted swords. A world immersed in an eternal sunset, with a sky covered by black smoke clouds, and giant cogs that emerged from them and floated in the sky.

"...Shirou... that world... was that you?" Caster asked as she turned to watch a wide eyes Shirou.

Could it be that she had just seen his Reality Marble? Could it be that seeing more Noble Phantasms was helping him at unlocking it or doing something similar? Could it be that he had started to visualize his inner world?

"..." Shirou did not respond. He was intently watching the crystal ball.

"Shirou?"

"Yes... it's me..." Shirou muttered as he watched intently the crystal ball.

"So, what is the identity of that man?" Saber asked as she watched Archer preparing himself to fight.

"...It's hard to say, he has rejected his name, so he doesn't have one."

"What do you mean?" Caster asked a bit confused.

"I'll explain to you later, now we should concentrate on how he fights." Shirou simply told her as he pointed the crystal ball.

Caster nodded and turned just in time to see Berserker sprinting towards Archer, she was sure that the man would immediately die, but Saber did say that he was a capable warrior so she was curious to see how much this nameless hero would last against the greatest of Greek Legends.

As she watched the crystal ball Caster didn't note Shirou watching intensely Saber in the eyes as he mentally imparted to her his new orders. After a moment on Saber's face, a confused expression appeared, but she simply nodded, her Master had given her direct orders, so she was going to obey them.

10 minutes have passed from when she had started to run, and she had yet to stop even once.

Right now Tohsaka Rin was running with all of her forces, as fast as she could, toward her home, and as she did she was thinking.

'Why?! Why right now?! Why we have been attacked so soon?! Why we have been attacked by a Monster like that?!' She thought angrily as she was running.

Rin didn't know why things suddenly had taken such a bad turn, she didn't know why she and Archer had met that monster right before they could reach the church.

'Damn it! I was so close to discover the truth!'

As she was running she was clenching her teeth. The only reason she wanted to go to the church was to discover who had attacked the Matou, she wanted to know who had killed her sister's family.

That morning, when she called Kirei to tell him that she had summoned her Servant, the priest told her that he had found a lead on who had attacked the Matou. She still clearly remembered how scared she was when she found out that the Matou manor had been burned to the ground, and that in the ruins of the home no survivor had been found.

The thought that Sakura, her sister, her only living relative, had died scared her more than anything did ever before. She had started to panic and called her teacher Taiga, who she knew was close to Sakura, and asked her if she knew what had happened to Sakura, and if she was still alive. After around half-an-hour, Tiaga called her back and informed her that Sakura was safe and alive at the home of one of her friends, and at the news, Rin was incredibly happy. That afternoon she had gone to investigate the Matou manor... and a sudden surge of cold anger had invaded her as soon she had realized that the fire that burned the manor was of magic origin.

Immediately after the discovery, she had called Kirei to talk about who could have attacked them and why, but then he revealed to her that the Matou had been attacked probably due to the fact that they were participating in the war. At the news, she got scared once again, she started to fear that Sakura may be attacked and killed by one of the other participants, but as she thought, despite talking to him through the phone, Kirei somehow saw through her and told her to calm down, he then started to say that the attack had been well organized and that if those who attacked the Matou wanted Sakura dead she would have already been. He informed her that Zouken Matou and Shinji were the only ones who died, or so he thought since he never found their corpses, but he had a good feeling that they were dead.

After she thanked him for the information, something that both she and the priest were incredibly surprised by, she closed the call and headed toward her workshop, where she decided to prepare her Summoning Circle. She was going to take part in the war anyway, so avenging her estranged sister's family was the only thing that she could do for her... and maybe, if she was successful, she could approach Sakura and tell her how she had avenged them for her... and from then, they may even reunite since both of theme were now alone...

Just the mere thought of it filled her with determination! She could not stop and give up just at the first obstacle! She was Tohsaka Rin, the Heir of the Tohsaka, and a participant of the Holy Grail War, and she will never falter!

It was clear to her that the giant man that had attacked them was the Berserker Class Servant since just its mere powerful and mad presence had frozen her in place, maybe it was the same Servant that attacked the Matou. As she looked around herself she had realized that she had run enough from the place they have been first attacked, and since she could feel that Archer was still alive she could use one of her Command Seals to summon him to her. Yes, she was still far away from her home, but she could not hesitate, she had to summon Archer as fast as she could. Right now she had just to turn this last corner, and then she would-

'What... what is happening...?' Caster thought shocked as she watched her crystal ball.

Heracles was the strongest hero that she had ever met in life, and even now in the mad state that he was in he was powerful as ever... and yet, what was happening? What was she watching?

5 times, those were the numbers of times where Zeus's son fell, defeated, broken, and killed by a nameless hero and his countless Noble Phantasm.

At one point Caster raised her head to look at Saber, but before she could even ask her question Saber said no as she kept watching the crystal ball, he was not the hero she had fought in the last war.

Saber then told her once again that her war Archer was a man who wore golden armor that shotted countless weapons from his portals, and right now the Archer that they were watching was just doing something similar.

As Caster thought she saw Heracles returning to life and rushing once again toward Archer, even with his incredible speed and strength Heracles was not able to hit the Archer constantly, the man probably had some skills like eye of the mind since before Heracles could even start to attack Archer already started to move to dodge or block the attack.

Heracles raised his giant sword-axe and swung it down with extreme force and speed toward Archer, but as he did Archer had already dashed behind his back, and as he did a bow appeared in his left hand and a spiral sword appeared in his right, after a moment the sword changed its form into an arrow. Berserker turned around and he was about to swing his giant weapon back to Archer, but before he could Archer nocked the arrow and shotted it.

For an instant Caster got blinded as a white light engulfed her crystal ball, a moment later after the light faded she could see what had happened, or more specifically, she could just see Berseker's legs and waist that after a moment fell to the ground... the upper part of Berserker's body literally disappeared.

[Tell me girl, how many times will your Servant come back to life?] Archer asked as he turned around to watch a shocked Illya.

[...] The girl said nothing, it was clear how much in shock she was.

For Illya, this had been her first fight from the start of the war and her Berserker, her only hero, the one who should have protected her forever, had been killed 6 times by a nameless Servant in 10 minutes.

[I advise you to retreat for tonight, I'm starting to grow tired of killing your servant...] Archer said with confidence.

But even if he was trying to act tough for both Caster and Saber it was clear that he was on his last stand, he had been hit a bunch of times and he had giant wounds on his body that even for a servant would be too much to handle, and yet there he was, still standing on his feet, ready to fight and kill Berserker maybe another time.

But before the girl could say anything Archer suddenly flinched and quickly turned around toward the direction where his Master ran away, his eyes widened, and immediately after he started to ran and jumped high into the air before disappearing in the air.

In the meantime Berserker had returned to life and he now was looking around to find the Archer that killed him once again, but before he could do anything else he heard his Master said with a trembling voice: "Berserker, I had enough for this night... Please, let's go home."

Berserker stood still for a moment and then turned around to return to his Master's side, he gently took her into his arms and they started to go back to their castle.

"That... was impressive." Caster said after a moment as she watched Berserker and his Master retreating. "Shirou, now you have to tell me everything you know about Archer, nameless or not it doesn't matter, he killed Heracles 6 times, he is not someone we can underestimate..."

...

...

...

Shirou did not answer her question.

"Shirou?" Caster said after a pair of seconds as she turned to her left where Shirou should have been, but after she had turned around she noted that Shirou was not there anymore.

"...Saber, where is Shirou?" Caster asked confused as she looked around the room, there were only her and Saber right there, could it be that he just got out and she did not notice?

...

...

...

Saber did not answer her question.

"...Saber, tell me where Shirou is." Caster said as she turned around to watch Saber who was now watching her as well.

"By my Master orders, I cannot tell you anything until he will return."

"...What are you saying?" Caster asked after a long moment.

"..." Saber remained silent and just kept watching her.

"...I have no idea of what Shirou wants to do Saber, but I have no intention of-" Caster started to say as she got up, but she stopped when in that same instant Saber had moved to her side and pointed her sword to her neck.

"My Master has ordered me to stop you from reaching him or doing anything at all, you shall stay here and do nothing, understood?" Saber asked with a serious tone.

"I ask you to not force me to do anything to you Caster, you are a good ally, so please sit down and let's wait for Shirou's return or for another order. I'm sure that he will give us more than a valid justification for this sudden action."

'...Could it be that Shirou had decided to face Archer alone?' Caster thought.

Shirou has seen how dangerous the man was and maybe he had decided to not put at risk no one life except his? No, Shirou should know that if he faced Archer with Saber they could have defeated him easily since the man was on his last stand, so why did he decide to go out alone? Maybe he was going to fight Berserker? No, Archer right now was the weakest enemy, someone who he could easily defeat, unlike Berserker.

What was Shirou planning? He never acted this way before, when he had a plan he would always tell her and Saber and asked them their opinions, so what he was going to do?

Caster then started to watch Saber coldly, only now she remembered that even if the knight that was standing in front of her was her ally, she was Shirou's Servant, and had sworn her loyalty to him only. She knew that no matter what she was going to say or do Saber would keep on following Shirou's orders... but she had to convince her in some way, she could not let him risk his life!

"Saber do you realize that Shirou may lose his life? You are his servant Saber, so your first objective is to ensure his survival!" Caster started to say.

"You have forgotten Caster that as his Servant I know him better than you do, and the only thing that I know is that he will soon return safely." Saber said.

"And what if something should happen to him?! Right now he doesn't even have his special suit since I did not give him yet!"

"He doesn't need it." Saber told her bluntly. "And also I have to remind you that I can feel Rider's presence too, so if you will order her to do something, I will know."

Caster started to get very angry and clenched her teeth, Saber or not she would not let Shirou going around alone at risking his life for whatever reason! If Saber will keep standing in her way she will find a way to get rid of her or even kill her! The war was good as over and they still had Rider, so losing her now would not be a huge loss. She would not let her get in her way!

But before she could say and do anything an excruciating pain came to Caster's head and she fell weak on her knees on the ground. Her head then started to throb as she saw a mental image of a man on a hill of swords.

Archer was now running as fast as he could toward the Tohsaka manor where he sensed his Master was, something happened to her and now she was unconscious.

Since his summoning the night before he had noted that this war was different from the usual. First of all, she was happy of having summoned him, second, his Master told him that one of the big three families, The Matou, had been eliminated, and third, Lancer had already been defeated.

At that news Archer was more than happy, with the blue lancer out of the war it meant that this version of his younger self would never get involved with it and that he will never discover how to do his magic right, he will never become like him. And, as a bonus, he could now 'win' the war with Rin. If he remembered well Lancer had the blessing that protected him from arrows and projectiles of any kind, so the greatest threat of the war for him had already been eliminated.

Other than that he had found nothing strange, but he never lowered his guard. The morning after his summoning Rin decided to take him around the city, but when she called the supervisor of the war to tell him of her summoning the man had told her something that made her assume a serious expression, after she closed the call she told him that they would go to the church after she showed him the city.

Archer did remember some of the events of his Holy Grail War, but he did not remember the fight with Berserker until it was too late.

As he watched the bronze giant he remembered that with him there should have been his younger self with Saber, but he was pretty sure that they should have met him after they went to the church, not before.

Anyway, he knew that fighting with Berserker would have probably killed him, but he had no choice now, he had to let Rin run away.

After his Master escaped he fought Berserker, and to his own surprise he did pretty well. In fact, he had managed to kill Berserker 6 times, and probably he would have managed to kill him another time, but at one point he felt his Master being attacked and he ran to her help. Too bad, he was about to surpass his personal record.

As he arrived in front of the Tohsaka manor he noted some defused traps that were not there before, and that the bounded field had been modified. It was clear that an enemy had arrived there and filled the place with traps, probably it had been Caster... but there was one big problem: Rin was into the house.

He didn't know what to do, he didn't want to risk Rin's life by fighting an enemy Servant near her, and other than that now he was not in good conditions to fight anything... he could only hope that the enemy would ask him to join them so that they would not harm Rin.

"Show yourself, I know that you're here." Archer said aloud. He was more than sure that Caster was around there ready to 'offer' him the chance of fighting for her in the war.

After a moment he heard some steps from a corner not too far away from him, he started to slowly turn his head towards its directions and after the enemy showed itself Archer widened his eyes, it was him: Shirou Emiya!

"Why are you here?!" Archer asked as he gritted his teeth.

He was confused, Shirou Emiya should have discovered the existence of the Holy Grail War only after Lancer killed him at the school, so right now how could it be that he was there? Could it be that this time he was in a timeline that was more different than normal?

"You should know why, I'm your enemy." Shirou said with a serious tone as he approached him.

"..." Archer remained silent and just frowned. Not only the boy already knew who he was, but he was also strong, extraordinarily so.

"Before we do what we must, it is really necessary to do it now? I guess you know about the corruption of the Grail, we should first take care of that." Shirou said as the fire in his eyes started to fade a bit. He hoped that Archer would collaborate with them to get rid of the corrupted Grail before they fought, Shirou wanted to take care of the most important things first.

"If you know who am I, and why I am here, you should know that I'm only interested in one thing." Archer said as Kanshou and Bakuya appeared in his hands and he got in a fighting position. Even if now he was badly injured... he could still fight.

"...You're right, it was a stupid question." Shirou said before in his hands' copies of Kanshou and Bakuya appeared and the fire in his eyes took life again. "But you have to know that I have all the power I need to follow the path I believe to be right, and you Archer, you are my way!" He continued as his grip on his blades tighten.

No matter who the man was, in the end, Archer was there to kill him, and he could not let him do it! He had to first end this war, he had to help Sakura to overcome her traumas and start a new life, he had to save Illya, and with his powers, he could save many innocents, he could not let Archer kill him!

Right into that moment, Shirou thought that Archer would have dashed toward him to attack him... instead, he did not, he was just watching his swords with a pitiful look.

At that moment Archer realized that in front of him there was not the usual version of his younger self, the weak and idealistic boy that would fight even against overwhelming majorities, this was one of the rare versions where the boy was powerful... and yet, he was different even from them. This version would show his enemies no mercy, no quarter, he would not try to reason with them, he would just strike them down as soon as he could. This version was here to fight him not because he was disgusted by what he had done, not because he had become a Counter Guardian, not because he hated him for having abandoned his ideals... but because he saw him as a possible threat, simple as that.

"...Tell me, Shirou Emiya, do you think that there is a difference between what is right and what is necessary? Or you think that there is none? That it's all the same, that the end justifies the means." Archer asked him after some very long moments.

"I'm not here to talk with you, Archer, I-"

"I know that, now you have become so narrow-minded that I can't help but feel pity for you. Your experiences and the things you have seen have blinded you to-"

"Narrow-minded? Blinded?!" Shirou snapped. "You should be the last one to judge me, Archer!"

"...Tell me, why I shouldn't judge you?!" He asked after a moment.

"Because unlike you, my hands are not stained by the blood of the innocents!" Shirou said.

"...You're right on one thing, my hands are stained by the blood of countless victims... but are you really sure if the blood on your hands is innocent or not?"

"..." Shirou remained silent as he watched him.

Archer said nothing and turned to his right, and watched toward the direction of his unconcius Master.

"I thought that I had to defend my Master from that monster of Berserker... but I was wrong, I should have protected her from something else." He then said.

"...If you think that you know everything, then tell me, Archer, what could I have done? Did I have any other choice?! What would have you done in my position?!" Shirou asked him. "After I discovered the true nature of the Grail, the true nature of the mages, the true nature of the war, the true nature of that incident... I... I realized that all my concepts of morality that I had, were useless. I realized that since I had the power to stop the war, it was my duty to do it! I realized that if I hesitated or did not act other people may lose their lives... and in fact, I promised myself to protect the innocents like Sakura if she ever was in danger... while I completely ignored the fact that she had been in danger all this time long while she was living in that hell, just under my nose... someone had to pay for this crime..." He said as he gritted his teeth and then looked down.

"It's not about how you did those things Shirou Emiya, but it's about why. I cannot blame you, the things that you've seen, your experiences, the people around you, they all have influenced and formed you into the person you're right now... and at one point, you were forced to act and to kill..."

"..." Shirou said nothing and he kept looking down as he remembered Shinji begging for his life.

"...Or at least this is what you try to convince yourself with." The man said. "Nothing would have happened if you stopped at one point or tried to do things differently. Tell me, if instead of attacking and killing everyone you thought to be an enemy and danger to the public, you started to think and try to reason and collaborate with the other Masters, would have things taken a different turn? Would you have less blood on your hands?"

"I could not do it, and you know it! I had to stop the Envoy of the Clock Tower before he summoned his Servant in that building full of civilians, but he would not listen to me! I had to kill Shinji and Zouken since that was what they deserved! And then I have been suddenly attacked by Lancer and his Master! If I didn't stop all of them... people may have died... and if they died... I would have not been able to save them." Shirou said as he looked at his feet, where for some instant, he saw on the ground all the people he had fought and killed.

"But you, Shirou Emiya, you are no savior." Archer said. "Have you have any idea of how many people have you saved compared to those you have killed? Do you know if it was worth the price? Do you realize that until now you have only killed? Do you think of yourself as a good person?" The man kept asking. "...The thing that you do not want to realize is that you, Shirou Eimya, you're not much different from neither me nor Kiritsugu... Don't you feel like a hero right now?" The man then asked.

"...But I had to do it." Shirou said as the grip on his sword became stronger.

"I know, but the thing is that you are here in the first place because you wanted to feel like something that you are not, something that you were never meant to be: A Hero." The man said as he intently looked at him with his lifeless eyes. "You think that the mages that kill for their personal motives are monsters... but if you kill them for your so-called noble ideals is something heroic. Do you realize what kind of hypocrite you are?" The man asked him. "Just like you, I'm here because I have made the same mistake of trying to be a hero... but unlike you... I realized too late what I was doing." The man then admitted before sighing. "If you calm down and straighten yourself out, maybe you can become a just person... if not, you may become something worse than me."

"...What do you mean with that?" Shirou asked as he raised his head.

"You needed someone to blame for your actions, someone wicked and monstrous enough where you could justify both yourself and your actions... and you balmed everything on the participants of the war. Now I have to ask you, if you will find yourself in a similar situation in the future, will that event happen just like this one, where you sacrificed some 'monsters' and 'criminals' to save the more innocents? Or you will end up expanding the limits of how evil a person can be, and you will kill way more people just for your objective? You know very well that if you keep going like this you will become just like the mages you hate so much."

"...I never wanted to hurt anyone, Archer." Shirou just said as he ignored his question. "I have realized long ago the gravity of the things that I did until now... I know that if I was a better person, I wouldn't be here, or do the things that I did..." Shirou said as he closed his eyes. "I know that I crossed the line... I know that I will never be able to go back... but this does not mean that I will stop now! Not now that I'm so close to my objective!" Shirou said as he opened his eyes and watched Archer with new determination.

If he could never be the hero he wanted to be did not matter now, he had gone too far, he had shed too much blood, and now he had to keep moving forward, he had at least to end the war, tonight!

Archer simply sighed before he rushed toward Shirou.

Shirou stood still and just dropped his copies of Kanshou and Bakuya on the ground, as Archer watched the blades falling Shirou traced above himself 2 copies of the very special blade that he and Caster had created together, their greatest work. Until now he had to yet practice more and to test them against someone stronger than Caster's skeletons, but in the conditions Archer was now they would be more than perfect.

"Attack." Shirou then said.

As soon as Archer saw the blades he started to sweat cold. After he had posed his eyes on the blades he knew that they were incredibly powerful. They were some normal swords that Shirou Emiya summoned, but they have been heavily modified and enchanted by the witch Medea. Before he could do something or process all the information he had just received by seeing the blades those two swords shot themself toward him, and he managed to deflect them just in time.

But the problems for Archer had just increased, after he had deflected them the blades started to attack him incessantly.

As he interacted with the blades Archer could tell that the swords were somehow alive, or had some kind of limited consciousness... in the swords there was a fragmented soul of a... old worm?

While parrying their blows he realized that thanks to some of the very strong and specific enchantment of Caster the woman had given them the power of being capable of moving on their own. Also, he could tell that the summoner could impart them simple orders, or if he connected to them, like a magus connected to his familiar, and he could sustain them with mana and control their movements and the power of their blow if he wanted to, similar to a very advanced form of telekinesis. Thanks to his Sword Element and Origin and his high affinity with blades the boy would have almost no problem in controlling them, as if he himself was handling those swords.

Archer could see with his naked eye that the swords upon them had hundred of little runes and some gems that were put together also gave the sword incredible physical and magic resistance.

Archer then kept fighting the swords as Shirou silently watched him. He was already in bad conditions and now his movements were slower than usual because of his wounds, but thanks to his mind of the eye he could see the movements of the weapons before they struck him. For now, he could handle those 2 swords for a while, he was sure that sooner or later they would shatter under his heavy blows since they were still normal swords, even if strongly enchanted... but now there was another question he had in his mind, just how many of them Shirou Emiya could make and control?

As he thought Shirou traced other two copies of the sword and shotted them to Archer, who could only jump in the air to doge both the swords that he was already fighting and the 2 that were to arrive.

Archer realized that he was almost to a dead end, he could not run away and leave Rin alone, and he was in no position of fighting. It was a miracle itself that he was able to fight right now despite his conditions, but sooner or later he would fall... after a moment Archer took a deep breath and his grip on his swords became stronger, he could not fall now, not yet!

As Archer fought his swords Shirou watched the man. The servant was badly wounded, weak, slow... and yet he was still standing and fighting, but Shirou was not surprised. Every time their sword collided he saw more and more fragments of Archer's past, all of his actions, all of his greatest achievements, all the lives that he took, all of his regrets.

Shirou started to wonder just how many times had Archer found himself in a similar situation like that. Just how many times he had fought against overwhelming odds and got out triumphant barely alive? Just how many times had he fought against overwhelming odds and lost everything?

Shirou guessed that the answer to all of his questions were all 'too many times.' Archer after all was a Counter Guardian of many thousands of years old of 'life', he was more than sure that the man himself did not remember even a cent of all the battles that he had ever fought... he even barely remembered who he was.

As he watched the man Shirou now had another question, was this his fate? To be abandoned and betrayed by all the people he trusted and the things that he believed? To give up on his dream? Or it was only Archer's fate?

Shirou knew that he was strong, strong enough that he would never have any reason to sell his soul to Alaya in exchange for power, strong enough that he would keep moving forward... no matter what.

As he watched the man Shirou also started to wonder why had Archer taken that path. Why he didn't keep fighting? Why he had let himself be captured? Why he smiled before getting hanged? Why did he believe that he could have saved even more lives after he died?

Shirou sighed, he didn't know what to think about his future or about the past of the man, he didn't know if he was in the right or in the wrong... but he now knew one thing only! He could not let Archer kill him now! He could think about his future later, he first had to end this stupid war and destroy the Grail!

Shirou projected another pair of swords and they shotted themself to Archer who managed to deflect them too.

Archer was now fighting 6 individual swords, on their own, they were not very fast, but if things kept going like that he would soon be crushed by their numerical superiority.

Archer right now had little energies to do anything, he had yet to heal himself and he could not waste more mana on other projections... the situation was difficult, but not impossible, until there was a little chance of surviving Archer was sure that he could make it out alive in some way.

As he fought the 6 swords Archer saw in the corner of his eye Shirou Emiya tracing a single sword, a moment later the sword flew toward him, and he simply stepped aside to avoid the sword, which a moment later struck the road... but only after looking down and seeing the sword that was now at his feet, Archer realized what kind of sword it was and the grave mistake he had just committed. Before he could even react the sword blew up and Archer flew back a pair of meters and hit a wall.

As he lied on the ground Archer could feel that his magic resistance had protected him a bit from the explosion, but his legs now were now badly burned, and all of his body right now was full of steel fragments... but he could still move... he could still fight!

As he lifted his head from the ground and started to get up Archer suddenly heard above himself the sound of the air being cut, in that instant with only the strength of his arms he launched himself forward, and after he did he heard behind himself the sound of the road being destroyed. He turned his head around just to see the 6 swords impaling the place where he was a moment before... he then turned to watch Emiya Shirou, who was looking down on him, and after a moment, he slowly got up.

After he fully got up he saw Shirou tracing Kanshou and Bakuya and starting to approach him... at that moment Archer understood that Shirou Emiya wanted to end it.

After a moment Shirou Emiya dashed towards him at inhuman speed and started to attack him.

As they fought Archer immediately understood that Shirou Emiya had already started to quickly uncover the secret of his special fighting style, the same fighting style that permitted him to fight against foes way stronger and faster than him.

After a minute of continuous struggles, Archer was on his last strand. The boy now was both stronger and faster than him, and he could do nothing against it... he now didn't even have the advantage of his special fighting style since the boy had managed to discover the trick... he was done.

He now had almost no energies left, he had to admit that it was easier to fight the 6 swords that could make inhuman movements and attack him all at the same time and at different angles than his younger self... he was good.

Strong, fast, powerful, ruthless, determined, and talented... he was his contrary. This version of his younger self was exactly what he always wanted to become, someone with power, someone who could save others without the need to sacrifice a small number of people... too bad he was going on such a bloody path... well, it was still better than the path that he had taken in some sense, at least he would not sell his soul.

"Your lack of motivation and will to continue on your path was the same thing that brought you here, so why keep fighting, Archer?" Shirou suddenly asked with no emotions in his voice, as if they were not fighting to the death.

"...You should know why, I gave up once, I will not do it a second time." Archer said as he parried a swing aimed at his throat.

"...You should already have figured it out that I am not really your younger self, so why you are still trying to kill me?" He then asked.

"Have you forgotten what you said earlier? You are my enemy." Archer said with a smirk.

"...Huh." Shirou said frowning even more.

Archer deep down started to respect this version of himself, he was not naive to the point of being stupid, he would not go around trying to save literally everyone, he was somehow just in some senses. He was not afraid to use force or to even kill those who he saw as a danger to other people or himself... and he could say that it was all thanks to that woman, or that the woman was responsible for said changes.

While interacting with this version of his younger self he too had received some memories, and who would have thought that the influence of a witch could change him like that? And who would have thought that she would behave like that if you got on her good side? Heh, he was sure that it would be fun to make fun of her just as much as Tohsaka.

"Give up and die Archer, I have no more time to lose with you!" Shirou said as his blows started to get heavier and faster.

"Don't get too arrogant boy!" Archer snapped as his blows too started to get faster and heavier, or at least as much as they could.

"We both know how this will end, and yet you will not give up... I do admire this part of you." Shirou said sincerely. He admired Archer's determination, but he could not help but be bothered that he was that determined just to kill him.

"..." Archer remained silent and returned his strikes with even more power as possible.

Right now in front of Shirou, there was not a hollow shell of his former self, but a being with a strong will that still had the power to fight. Archer was someone who will die fighting, and no matter how strong his foe was, he would not die easily no matter the conditions... but Shirou had already lost too much time.

At that moment Archer realized that all around himself there were those 6 magic swords, and they were floating around and above him. Suddenly they shotted themself toward him at incredible speed, and Archer managed to parry just 2 of them before the other 4 impaled him for various angles and Shirou stabbed him deep into his stomach with Bakuya.

"...Maybe we should accept the fact that no matter how hard we try, we are always destinated to fail..." Shirou said while watching Archer in the eyes. A moment later he left Bakuya hilt and watched Archer falling on one of his knees, defeated. "...this way, we will start to shoulder the consequences of our actions, and our failures." He continued.

"...Think whatever you want boy, but remember, no matter what will happen next, don't be too hard on yourself... we both know that you started with the best intentions." Archer managed to say despite the fact that his lungs and magic core had been pierced. "Even now, despite all the things you have done... you can still go home..." He continued.

Shirou remained silent as he watched Archer, after a pair of seconds he turned around and started to leave.

Archer right now was thinking of what else he could say to the boy. If he managed to correct himself he may end up on a good road... but it would be quite hard for him. For now, the only thing that he could do for the boy was to warn him about said future.

"Before you go... do you know how this war will end?" Archer asked. He didn't remember the details, but the war will not end by just defeating all of the enemy Servants.

"..." Shirou stopped walking but said nothing, he turned his head around a bit.

"There is something rather unexpected at the end, and I doubt that you will like it... be careful."

"...Thank you... and may you be able to make peace with yourself, Archer." Shirou said after a moment before he returned to walk. He now had to defeat Berserker and his Master.

As Archer watched Shirou leaving he was satisfied, in the end, his first objective was to make sure that other versions of himself did not make his same end and mistakes, no matter how, even killing them was a valid option, but this time there was not much he could tell or do for the boy...

'Make peace with yourself, huh? This sure is not a good way to do it.' Archer thought as he watched the white blade in his stomach.

As Shirou walked away he was thinking, he didn't know what the future had in store for him, he didn't know for what battle or cause he will fight and die for... he didn't know if he should give up on his dream... he just knew that he will not become like Archer, he will end this war and he will not become someone who will be consumed by regrets.

Saber was now watching Caster, who was on her knees and held her head between her hands, it was clear that she was suffering, but she didn't know why.

Saber could tell that it was not an attack from an enemy Servant, from the crystal ball she could see Berserker who was retreating, and she could also feel Shirou fighting, probably it was Archer or his Master, maybe both of them. So, the only thing that could have caused Caster to suffer like this was no other than Shirou himself.

Maybe he was doing something that caused suffering to those who were connected to him... then why she was not suffering too? She was spiritually bonded to Shirou and the only thing that now she felt was that Shirou was fighting someone... strangely familiar. Maybe since he and Caster were connected mentally it was hurting her in a different way? But what was Shirou doing? She didn't felt that Shirou was suffering at all, she could say that he was even winning the fight with no problems, so what was happening?

After another pair of minutes or so Saber heard Shirou's voice that said: (Saber, Archer has been defeated. Where are Berserker and its Master?)

(They are now in miyama, and they have almost reached the forest.) Saber said as she watched the crystal ball, and as she did she felt Shirou watching through her eyes once again. He had done it before to watch Archer fighting Berserker while he was not there.

(Good, I am now reaching them now, we'll meet along the way. Prepare yourself for battle Saber.)

(Yes!) Saber said as she materialized her armor.

(I hope that Caster didn't give you too many problems...) Shirou then started to say.

(About her, I do not know what is happening, but she is... suffering?)

(What do you mean?) Shirou asked confused.

(I do not know, at one point while speaking with her she started to suffer some kind of headache, did you do something that could have harmed your connection with her?)

(...) Shirou said nothing and just gulped. He had completely forgotten about his mental connection with Caster, and he could only hope that she saw nothing concrete. During the fight with Archer he had absorbed his memories, maybe doing it has harmed their connection?

(Shirou?)

(I don't know... we'll figure it out later, now we must eliminate Berserker before he returns to the castle.)

Saber said nothing and just nodded, even if Shirou could not see her he understood that her answer was affirmative, so he started to walk faster. In the meantime

Saber opened the door of the living-room to get out, but before she did she turned one last time to watch Caster who now had started to recover from whatever afflicted her.

"Shirou has defeated Archer, I will now go with him to defeat Berserker, see you later, Caster." Saber said before she immediately got out.

"..." Caster said nothing as she watched Saber leave, she closed her eyes and just started to make local mind.

Suddenly, and without reason, she had some incredibly strange visions. She at first saw Shirou who was together with some people she never saw, she could see that they were arguing about something and after a while, some people started to leave or fall, from 10 they became 7, from 7 they become 3, from 3 one remained: Shirou.

After a while she saw a bloodied and defeated Shirou, but now she could see him better, he was not the same Shirou she knew, he was older, weaker... and desperate for a solution.

He then saw the man making a pact with something, there were over one-hundred lives in danger, he could not hesitate, he would give away everything to save them.

She then saw the man fighting away the horrors with his new power as he acted as the last line, the line that would never be crossed, even at the cost of his own life.

Even if he was fighting alone against overwhelming odds she saw all of his valiance and courage, and after a very long and bloody battle she saw Shirou getting out victorious, he had defeated the evil that threatened all of those innocents' lives... he had saved everyone.

She then saw Shirou being suddenly attacked and captured by those he who called friends and allies, they were telling him that he was guilty of all the things that had happened, and he was about to be condemned for his crimes.

She then saw a chained Shirou walking towards a scaffold, where a hangman's knot waited for him, he was about to be executed, and yet... he was smiling.

Caster suddenly opened her eyes as a shiver went down to her spine... what did she just saw?

Caster started to slowly get up, for some reason her heart was in anguish... she did not know why she just saw Shirou being hanged.

In life Caster had received many visions or some kind of divination about the future, but they had always been vague and just warmed her that something may or may not happen depending on her actions... but that was not a simple vision, it was too specific... too real.

Caster started to think, there was something strange going on, first Shirou suddenly got out and went on defeating Archer alone, and then she started to have those strange visions...

Wait, could it be that Archer had something to do about it? Maybe yes, it could be a possible explanation. In fact, from that point on Caster started to think about what both Shirou and Saber said about the man, and what she saw herself.

'...I don't know Caster, he is strange.' Shirou told her as he watched the Servant with a certain hostility and confusion.

'...He is more a swordsman than an archer, you can see it from his physique... If you observe it well you can say that he has a physique similar to Shirou's.' Saber told her as she carefully observed the Archer in her crystal ball.

Caster started to think and recalled Archer's battle with Berserker, she recalled how Archer fought Berserker and produced from nothing many Noble Phantasm that belonged to other heroes... in a similar way to how Shirou did.

...

First Shirou said that the man was strange and Saber said that they had a similar physique, then she saw that Archer had similar abilities to Shirou, then Shirou suddenly ran away to fight Archer alone and she started to had those visions...

...

Caster closed her eyes once again and focused on the myriads of information that she had received through her connection with Shirou... and only at that moment, she realized those were not visions... but memories.

"Shirou!" Saber said aloud as she saw her Master walking in the distance.

Shirou stopped walking and turned around to wave at her, he then awaited her to reach him.

"I see that you are unharmed, good." Saber said as she reached his side and started walking with him.

"Yes, Archer was already wounded and very weak, he never stood a chance."

"...Shirou, you know that I am expecting an explanation, right? I was forced to point my sword to Caster to block her from reaching you."

"I'm sorry that you had to do it Saber, but it was necessary." Shirou said really repented and mortified.

"Shirou I do not need your apologies, I need to know why you went on defeating Archer alone." Saber said with a serious tone.

"..."

"Shirou, I have to know why you acted this way." Saber said again.

"It's just... very complicated to explain Saber."

"I'm your Servant Shirou, I'm bonded to you and I'll understand perfectly whatever you'll say, you do not have to worry."

"...Archer was someone coming from the future with just the intention of killing me." Shirou then told her bluntly after a good pair of seconds.

"...Oh." Saber said after a moment as she sensed Shirou speaking the truth. "...So, you knew from the start who he was?"

"I knew who he was only after I saw his blades."

"...And you said the thing that he had rejected his name was just to buy time?"

"Kind of."

"...Oh well, I was expecting something else, but surely not this... I'm sorry for having forced you to tell me what really happened, if one day you will want to talk about it I will be more than happy to listen." Saber said with an understanding tone.

"Thank you, Saber." Shirou said with a little smile. He was very happy that Saber was no pressing him on the matter.

"You're welcome."

"...So, do you have some plan on defeating Berserker?" Shirou then asked after a moment.

"Yes, now that I know his identity and I've seen him fighting I know what kind of enemy I will have to face, and for this reason, I will need to take Avalon from you. I lack the versatility that Archer had and I want to make sure to kill him with my Excalibur in one hit... I want to defeat him alone in the fastest way possible."

"Someone like Heracles deserves a warrior death, right?"

"Yes, he does."

Shirou stopped walking and closed his eyes, after a moment Saber got in front of him and placed a hand on his chest, from then a light started to erupt from his chest and a moment later Saber extracted Avalon from Shirou and started to observe it for a moment.

As Saber implanted Avalon in herself she smiled, the warmth and the sense of tranquillity that the Sheat gave her was a unique experience that she was more than happy to feel once again.

After a moment both Shirou and Saber were ready and they resumed to walk.

"So, how it feels to have Avalon once again?" Shirou asked curiously as he placed a hand on his chest, he was feeling a bit hollow.

"It's... it's not easy to describe... but now everything feels right." Saber said with a little smile as she felt Avalon's power inside of her.

After that they remained in silence as they walked toward Berserker and Illya, after a while, they started to feel Heracle's presence.

As Illya rested in Berserker's arms a shiver went down in her spine as she felt Berserker stop walking and becoming aggressive.

She snapped out of her thoughts, she was recalling Berserker's fight with Archer but now she had something else to think about... more specifically, the incredibly powerful presence that was approaching them.

They were over 200 meters apart but Illya could feel the enemy Servant's presence as if it as in front of her... this Servant was strong, too strong.

Since their fight with Archer the seed of doubt had been implanted in her mind, could it be that in reality, they were not that strong? If a simple servant like Archer, who she felt was weaker than a normal Heroic spirit, managed to kill Berserker 6 times, what a monster like the one that was getting closer be capable of doing? How many times it could defeat Berserker?

Berserker at that moment made Illya get down from his arms and turned around toward the enemy direction, they were coming for them and he had to face them, now.

"...Please Berserker... win." Illya said as she sensed their next foe getting closer.

"Whosoever shed man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed; For in the image of God, made He man."

Kotomine Kirei said aloud before he sighed, he closed his Bible and posed it on the pedestal in front of him.

The priest turned around and carefully watched the entrance of the church, from which he expected Rin to enter at any time. He was sure that she would have come after dinner, and yet, she did not.

He turned his head and watched the clock on the wall, he could see that now it was almost midnight, and Rin had yet to arrive... also, he noted that the clock hands had stopped moving.

He sighed again and frowned. Every time he had talked about it with Rin she demonstrated herself to be very interested in finding out the identities of the people who attacked the Matou, and he was sure she wouldn't hesitate to come here. So, where was Rin now? Why she had yet to come? ...What was happening?

"Hey Kirei," He then suddenly heard from behind himself. "I have some news for you."