Read the author note pls
***
13:02 一 Somewhere in Tokyo while two kids were beating the shit out of each others
"!!" A man of a very venerable age with an extremely long beard tied in a braid was sitting in a typical traditional Japanese tea room sipping on a cup of tea until his eyes suddenly widened in surprise.
[Master, there's another fight.] The old man was the Servant called Caster. He sent a message from the room he was in using the link made by the contract that bound him for the war. [They are using a middle school as a battleground apparently.]
[What? Another battle during day time? And in a school? Do these bastards not give a single flying shit to the secrecy of mystery?] The person who responded was a young woman, his master, her voice could clearly express how pissed she was in this moment.
[Master, it isn't good for your health to react so angrily every single time.] Caster gave a weak smile at her reaction. His Master was a young lady who reacted a bit too angrily to a lot of things when they displeased her but maybe due to his old age he found it possibly somewhat cute, as if it were his own granddaughter throwing a tantrum.
Yesterday two other servants fought during the day and it made her annoyed as it was indeed a pretty risky battle but it was thankfully in a desolated place.
This time however not so much.
He could already predict her reaction.
[There's a good enough number of formations around the school and some of the effects seem to be intended to preserve secrecy by making everyone inside fall for a mental suggestion and making the school look unchanged from the outside.] He said to reassure her for what he could.
[I'll reach you in the tea room, wait a second.] The woman said before ending the telepathic connection between the two.
After a few seconds the door slid open, revealing a young japanese woman in her late teenage years with long black hairs nearly reaching her waist. She wore a white long sleeved shirt, blue short pants and long black stockings, she plopped down on one of the cushions inside the tea room sitting right in front of Caster.
"What's the situation, Caster?"
"Take a look for yourself, young lady." Tapping on the table he was drinking on, Caster shared his sense with his Master.
They were now watching things from the perspective of one of his puppets. It was outside the bounded fields of the school but it mattered not, Caster could have used his abilities to peer through but with his Master here it wasn't necessary anymore.
Her dark brown red eyes turned a brighter shade of red. The effect wasn't just an esthetic change for show and it also wasn't due to the effect of any spell or ritual made with magecraft. Instead it was an ability she possessed since birth.
It was an ability incredible enough that it surprised even the old Servant, she was born with sense of sight far superior to the norm it was not yet trained at a high enough level to be like the one in myth and legends but it might just reach close to that power one day in the future if everything goes well according to Caster.
The girl simply had such outstanding potential.
That power was Clairvoyance, she possessed it innately and could even share it with familiars she was connected to, so right now, thanks to her intervention, Caster's puppet possessed an eyesight that was far superior to its usual one.
'Unfortunately it seems like it would take quite a few years before she might attempt something like glimpsing at the future. What a pity, I would have liked to see that myself but alas my master is still too young.' Caster sighed but not in disappointment, he was already amazed enough at his master to possess such an ability, especially in this day and age.
The puppet's sight pierced through the bounded fields erected around the school effortlessly and observed the battle happening inside. They could see a destroyed school yard and signs of combat everywhere and then–
BOOOOOOOOOOM
–What greeted them next was a massive ray of light flying skyward from inside the school building.
"MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!"
***
Back inside the school
Gilgamesh and Archer had stopped their fight, mostly due to the surprise of the sight before them. They were very concentrated on their battle and didn't notice the condition of their masters from their connections but both them were a bit stunned from it.
Though they battled for quite a while, both of them hardly received any injury save for many a few light bruises on Archer's arm.
Meanwhile their masters were strangling each other, dripping blood left and right. Looking at them Archer especially felt somewhat embarrassed as he was hit by the boy's shoe a moment before.
"Oi, Archer. Is this a new sort of choke play people do these days?" Smirking on his side Gilgamesh addressed Archer, whatever he was still laughing at for the shoe throwing or the kids' fight it was unknown.
"Well…I think it might be a little too bloody for it." Archer just scoffed at his "joke". "How about we end it here for the day? Both our masters are in danger, let's just save them and forget about this as I said I am willing to apologize and step back, I had no idea you were a neutral Servant. The grail had provided no information about this."
"You say that after sullying my treasures… but fine then, let's make a bet though. If you win I will let this matter go and if I win I will not." Gilgamesh first snarled but then proposed Archer with a compromise.
"It is fine for me but what should we bet about?" Archer agreed but he had no idea what they could even place a bet on.
"Of course, due to my inability to end our conflict, had it not been for my master's heroic rescue who struck you down a floor, we should not take part in this bet and let our masters end this battle." Gilgamesh said as if stating the obvious. "They are both about to pass out but they will survive as long as we separate them. As soon as one of them does, we will bet on who faints first. Of course, we can only bet on our masters."
'…Somehow, this feels like those stupid bets Iskandar would propose.' Archer furrowed his bows a bit taken aback from the bet Ruler proposed. 'Well, at least while my master is very injured, if I save just after she passes out it shouldn't be a problem. But also…'
"You were the one to strike me down by a floor with your noble phantasms. The kid just blinded me."
"You must have missed it because of your temporary blindness but the shoe definitely exploded with such a might that the ground gave away. Saw it with my very own eyes, unlike you, I swear on my very honor as a king." Gilgamesh proclaimed solemnly enough had it not been for the shit eating grin plastered on his face.
"...Whatever. Fine I accept." Archer scratched his head in annoyance and conceded.
"That's good. Oh, looks like they are looking at us. Go strong brat, you can win." Gilgamesh waved at them.
Looking over Archer saw both kids looking in their direction with red faces from their blood and their suffocating lack of oxygen in their lungs. The boy quickly turned back looking at the girl as he strangled her.
The boy tried to headbutt her but the girl kept his head away using her Etherlite as much as she could, stopping him from his attempt. She was already barely conscious since the time she got up on her feet to pursue the boy, this was already the very limit of what she was capable of doing to manipulate the strings made by her mystic code.
However, she wasn't the only one at the limit of what her body was capable of supporting.
The boy was also at his limits, no, to be exact, he had been since a long time ago already by this point.
Soon both of them passed out. The boy lost his strength and his hands released the girl's throat, the same happened with her strings on his neck.
"..."
"..."
The two servants observed this outcome with their own eyes, both of them stood in silence amid the chaotic hallway, both with completely different reactions from the other.
'I feel so bad about this…' Archer felt extremely guilty looking at the scene before his eyes.
"Looks like it's a tie. Well, I guess I will still just let you go for this time then." Gilgamesh said with an unreadable expression on his face.
"...Are you happy now?" Archer asked while picking the girl in his arms trying to gauge Ruler's reaction, he knew it probably wasn't the time to ask a question like this but he couldn't really hold it back. If Ruler was just someone who just decided to end an entire conflict based on a simple bet regarding two children then he probably wasn't that different from the king he once served when he was still alive.
Of course, he didn't treat his Master like a kid but having to look at them killing each other wasn't something he could really say he was enjoying.
"Mh? Well, I guess I'm somewhat satisfied indeed." Gilgamesh answered as he poured a liquid on the kid's body once again, he actually got used to it by now. "It could have gone better and he didn't win but I don't really care, a tie is a good enough start. Which is also why I am letting you go."
"What do you mean?" Archer turned into an old man once again and with a book in his hand started healing the injuries on his own Master.
'Obviously, after all this mess I want to see if the boy will decide to settle the score with you two in the future or not. If I kill you now when he still couldn't achieve a clear cut result it would leave a bad aftertaste in my mouth if he were to decide to try again one day.' Gilgamesh thought but didn't answer Archer this directly. "Who knows."
Archer could feel that there was something very wrong in Ruler's tone but he decided not to pursue the matter further. At least for now, it seemed like it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and talk things out with him as his intent to fight appears to have died down.
"Well, anyway I promised to apologize and so I will." Archer said with a slight bow of his head. "We are sorry for invading your territory and upsetting you, we will retire after patching things up."
"Oh, right, about that. I don't really care, I just wanted to make the boy have his first battle in this situation when I saw your master. So it wouldn't have mattered." Gilgamesh shrugged nonchalantly as the fluid inside the bottle finished spilling on the kid.
'Now that I think of it, why did this little shit suddenly start talking back?' Gilgamesh was still puzzled as he reminisced about the previous incident. He still didn't understand what could have prompted him to do that but he could think about that later on.
"..." Archer meanwhile stared at Gilgamesh with a blank stare on his face but his thoughts were in disarray. 'This son of a bitch.'
"Anyway, let's fix the damages and deal with the people in the gym. We can continue talking later." Gilgamesh picked up the boy like a sack of potatoes and slung him over his shoulder.
Archer nodded exasperated and went to the other direction to deal with the damage on the other side.
In around two minutes they dealt with everything, building and people included.
Looking around Gilgamesh was satisfied with his work. Meanwhile he was thinking about what to do next, then his eyes landed on Archer once again. 'This is the first time we came across another pair of Master and Servant, it would be a waste to not gather some more information I guess.'
"Hey, Archer." He called out to the old man carrying four girls in his arms, his master and the three homuncoli from before.
"Yes?" Archer asked back curiously, wondering what he might have wanted.
"Want to drink something?"
***
Somewhere else that will not be revealed for theatrical effect.
"Coff coff…" In a dark tenebrous place a man was laying on his back on top of a wooden table. The inside of the room was gloomy and humid like the gates of hell had descended on this very place.
"I fear that...My time has come." His voice was raspy, weak and feeble as if the man was struggling with all his might to make them come out of his throat.
"It is time I say goodbye to this world." A tiny hint of a teardrop started forming in his eyes in a desperate attempt to negate reality.
"Well, I guess I had given it my all… I leave with no regrets for I am at peace. But it appears the last battle had signed my epilogue."
"..."
"Oh cruel world just please let this old soul taste of croquettes soaked in soba broth one last time." He continued to cry as his weak hand reached for the ceiling in a last attempt of a vain struggle.
"...Saber." Not capable of withstanding the cries of agony from the poor dying soul his loyal friend spoke up.
Most likely to say goodbye to the companion of this short albeit very incredible journey.
"Yes, Master-chan, I am sorry I will miss you too in the afterlife." The harrowing soul turned to his misty eyes at his friend, ready to see him off for the very last-
"No, I doubt it. Your leg is fine, I'm done fixing the injuries. By tonight or tomorrow you will be ready for battle at one hundred percent once again." Kairi rose up from his chair by the table as he stretched his back from having sat down for so long
"Eh!? Already?" Springing back to his feet from the table, Saber started stretching his back and shoulder as well. "I actually feel quite good already indeed. Guess I will get to live for another day."
"You weren't going to die from a broken leg, you know." Kairi gave a short laugh from his Servant's theatrics.
Servants' injuries can be hidden by making the body forcefully take back the normal shape but it doesn't actually heal the wounds, it just hides them on the inside.
So Kairi, and most likely that other master too, had to help their Servants recover with magecraft. Providing magical energy to a Servant would eventually heal wounds but he didn't have all that time and magical energy to waste so he started treating the wounds himself, as that would be much more efficient both in time and magical energy consumption, after making sure no one was near the graveyard to ambush them.
"By the way I'm surprised, I thought necromancers were supposed to be good at working only on carcasses." Hajime said in surprise, meaning it like a compliment to his Master.
"And what are you if not just that?...Also you do realize Servants are one the ultimate goals pursued by necromancers, right? You are literally a dead man walking after all." Kairi laughed and pointed out something he was clearly overlooking.
"Necromancers can summon servants?!" Saber yelped at the notion.
"As if! If they could, I would have continued studying all those theoretical books instead of becoming a mercenary. You can just think of necromancers as mechanics who can somewhat help repairing the machine called servants better than most modern magi but are incapable of actually making one." Kairi explained as he took a drag from his cigarette. "There is no necromancer who ever succeeded in the summoning of servants through the use of necromancy. "
"Make sense, else you'd go around with an army of them I guess." Saber sighed, but couldn't help but find the notion of Kairi summoning dozens of servants to do his bidding (namely to go restock his cigarette packs).
"I wish I could, it would make my life so much easier. But it's impossible a servant is more of a spirit than an undead which is why a necromancer is bound to never succeed, not that spirit summoners have better chances without a holy grail to help them."
"I'm not sure what that means but it doesn't matter. What's the plan now? I don't really want to fight again any time soon after our last–hmm–match up."
"Nothing." Kairi responses matter of factly as took another drag from his cig.
"Mh?" Saber tilted his head in doubt at that though.
Seeing his reaction Kairi smiled before continuing with his explanation.
"We are going to do nothing and stay home all day until night comes."
"...Well." Saber turned to look at his master straight in the eyes after hearing that and-
"I love this plan, Master-chan, let's do it everyday." Gave him a two thumbs up with a happy smile on his face.
Kairi shrugged his shoulders with a smile before pointing at the door with his index finger. "However, tomorrow or tonight we will go out again. Also we are waiting for a delivery today."
"A delivery? Did you order something?"
"You can certainly say I ordered a little something indeed. It will arrive by late evening, I'll show you when it's here." His words weren't anything chilling but the grin on his face was enough to make Saber start perspiring cold sweat.
'I hope it's not something as crazy as what he did when he said he didn't mind Caster coming to our base while we were outside.' Saber kept this thought to himself though.
He had better things to do after all, like eating croquettes and soba.
***
14:23 — Not too far away from the school after the "repair" works finished
I had a short dream.
I knew it was one because I lost consciousness from the strangling so it could be called somewhat of a lucid dream but not quite.
I dreamt back to the day my father adopted me and my older twin sister.
He was actually related to us, a distant ancestor of our family who lived on for centuries after becoming a dead apostle.
He took interest in the two or us, or rather mostly in my sister, due to our talent. Twins are an ambiguous event in families related to mysteries, for some families they are a blessing, for other cases they are a bother in most of those and a curse in a rare few.
Usually twins are either born with identical aspects and affinities, like the number and composition of magic circuits as well as the origin and element, or in the other case they are instead born as the exact opposite of each other.
Me and my sister were supposed to be the first case but because of a mutation my sister was born a bloodsucker.
She wasn't a dead apostle, she didn't have a dying soul. She simply needed to use blood as a form of sustenance however because of that she pretty much took nearly all the nutrients I needed back in the womb as well as killing our mother.
I was born frail and weak while she was borderline superhuman, attracting the attention of that monster who ended up adopting us both.
'I must be having this dream because of that guy.'
Dead apostles who possess intelligence look at other humans like they are simply livestock but that man, Zepia Eltnam Atlasia had no such views. In the first place that man didn't even need to hunt for preys, he created a synthetic type of blood to use as a nutrient for himself thus surpassing the most basic needs of an apostle.
He looked at everything as simple elements adorning the world, with a few exceptions of course.
'That guy's completely empty gaze that looked at everything like they weren't even objects or people must have upset me I guess.'
In the Atlas Institute or generally in families related to it there existed a common custom of giving people a second name or taking one for themselves. They each held either some sort of meaning linked to a position in the institute or to call upon some sort of symbolic choice and at times a few mysteries.
For example the head of the Atlas Institute had to take upon themselves the second name Atlasia and discard their previous one.
My older sister and I had received our second names directly from him.
She received the second name Sokaris the god of the underworld. Her full name was Sion Eltnam Sokaris.
My own name instead was–
I didn't ponder about this useless dream longer than necessary, my brain recovered enough so I forced myself to wake up.
My eyes flared open, I didn't lower my guard and immediately analyzed my surroundings to assess the current situation.
The place looked like a–
THWAAK
I momentarily forgot about my surroundings, completely taken aback from the scene that just unfolded before my eyes.
The boy whom I was fighting before dropkicked my Servant in the face.
Also–
'Why is he naked?'
***
Hello I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.
This finishes the school fight and we unravel that Kairi Sissigou is the true Shadow Monarch.
Jokes aside, I will retcon the release date of the chapter in January to the date of Monday 19th of January so I can give a better update for the end of the hiatus.
Other than that I wish you all a GOOD christmas and BAD bitches under the tree (hopefully Santa will deliver them).
I will see y'all in January.