I sat alongside Artoria on an elevated bench at a scenic overlook, the living city of Fuyuki spread out beneath us.
My eyes remained blank, while Artoria clutched a stuffed lion to her chest with a faintly protective grip.
The sun set behind us, its final rays bathing our surroundings in an amber glow.
"Master... I feel happy. Thank you for that." Her grip on the toy subtly tightened.
"We shared a meal. We explored different places. We even played with that claw machines at the arcade." She cast discreet glances my way as she spoke.
"You even helped me win this little lion." Her fingers moved to her stuffed lion's cheek, pinching the fabric with quiet affection.
I remained silent, allowing her to speak her mind.
She trained her gaze forward, watching people moving through the streets of Fuyuki far below.
"Master, I once felt innately connected to dragons. But I grew more fond of lions after caring for a lion cub for a month." Her hand stroked the stuffed animal in her arms as if it were a real pup.
"No... it would be more accurate to say I don't harbor any special fondness for the species itself. Rather, I cherish the happiness I felt when that cub grew attached to me—when a bond formed between us." She paused.
"That cub used to be so energetic. It would often bite and scratch me." She brought the stuffed lion's cheek to her own, rubbing them together affectionately.
I glanced at her. For the first time since we had met, she looked less like the iron-willed, ruthless King of Knights, and more like a girl her age.
Yet, as she lowered the toy back to her lap, her expression flashed with something akin to pain.
"I just wish... I had been able to stay with it until the very end."
Silence fell between us.
I possessed every talent humanity had to offer. The culmination of infinite potential.
Yet... even with all that, I couldn't reach back and change the past.
At least... not right now.
...
..
.
Night fell.
The time for relaxation was behind us. Now... it was time for war.
Artoria and I reached back home promptly.
Mid way back, I took off the bandage sling, my hand already healed fully by now.
I then walked inside our house and stepped over to the main hall. Medea was sprawled across a sofa there, her hand shifting through channel after channel on the TV.
"Medea."
She jolted up at my call.
"Master." Her voice carried a sullen edge as she gazed at me and Artoria, her jealousy palpable.
"Get ready. I'm opening door no. 008 and taking 'it' out." I spoke, glancing at the clock once.
"Master!" Her pupils constricted. All jealousy and other emotions vanished from her face, replaced by a grave expression.
"B-But, you said earlier that you wouldn't take that thing out until we were facing grave danger." She quickly got up from the sofa, her eyes darting left and right in caution.
"We're not in any grave danger. I'm simply starting to get bored with the Matou family matter. So I've decided to wrap everything up tonight." I watched calmly as Medea's jaw slowly dropped at my words.
"What are you talking about, Master?" Artoria asked curiously.
Medea continued after a moment, ignoring Artoria entirely.
"Master... You're about to unleash 'that' beast... just because you're getting bored!?"
I walked toward our garage, my silence louder than any affirmation.
Artoria followed behind and asked once more.
"What were you both talking about earlier, Master?"
"You'll know in a bit." It was better to let her experience it rather than trying to make her understand.
I reached a pitch-black door at the very corner of our garage. Countless dormant magic circles were engraved across its frame.
My hand came to rest on its surface. Intricate gears shifted from behind as my mana signature, biometrics, and even current mental state were scanned—only allowing entry when everything matched.
I walked inside, my steps echoing through the darkness. Luminescent magic circles mounted on the ceiling awoke in synchronization with my footfall.
Artoria walked in with me, looking around with a hint of wonder.
A pure white corridor stretched before us as far as the eye could see.
On either side, doors ran alongside the corridor, each engraved with unique numbering—from 001 to 010 and even further.
"Master, when did you create something like this?" Artoria touched a door to her right and asked, intrigued.
"This was a small side project Medea and I had put some focus on, even before the Holy Grail War began." I moved ahead, coming to a stop in front of a door denoting 008.
"We named it... Project: Infinite Armory."
"Medea insisted on the prefix. I didn't care enough to argue." My biometrics and mana signature were once again scanned.
Click. Clink. Click.
Gears shifted and clicked into place.
The door opened.
I walked inside, and Artoria followed.
Everything within was obscured by darkness.
However... soon, a luminescent magic circle flickered alive from above.
Inside, a green cloth was draped over something angular and bulky—a sleeping behemoth waiting to be awakened.
I looked toward it.
The Matou matter has been on my back burner for long enough. It is time to finally resolve it.
...
..
.
"You've made sure that Sakura Matou is at Shirou Emiya's residence?" I asked while driving a container truck. Medea sat beside me.
"Yes, Master. I've checked thrice. She is indeed at the Emiya residence currently and will probably spend the night there. Right now, only Rider, Zouken, and Shinji Matou should be at the manor." She spoke while glancing at Artoria, who was riding R1 ahead of us.
"Master... are we really going through with this? Won't this be tantamount to declaring war against every other Master in Fuyuki?" Medea asked once more, her tone worried. Her fingers tapped against one another.
"Declare war? It's already war, Medea."
She fell silent at those words.
We soon reached a raised, forested area a considerable distance from Matou manor.
Artoria brought R1 to a halt. My foot hit the brake, stopping the container truck behind her.
I turned off its headlights and vaulted down from the truck, reaching for its container.
Artoria and Medea followed me, watching as I opened it.
Inside the container, a massive shape sat shrouded under a heavy, green tarp.
"Artoria... help me haul it down."
[Body Reinforcement] activated.
Even with it, the sheer weight of this behemoth groaned against asphalt, ground tearing beneath us as Artoria and I dragged it from the container.
Medea and Artoria stood off to the side afterward—the King of Knights looking curious, while noise dampening magic circles were already spinning to life near Medea's ears.
I finally pulled the green cloth aside to reveal...
A towed artillery piece with a long barrel, distinctive titanium stabilizing spade feet, and innumerable grooves and magic circles enchanted across its pitch-black body.
It was a sleeping monstrosity.
A magically modified M777 Howitzer.
In this era, it was still in the development phase in U.S.
I then pulled an artillery shell codenamed: Misery—engraved with exactly 456 magic circles, half dedicated to explosion and the other half to combustion—and loaded it.
My magic circuits emerged across my arms, legs, and chest, trailing down to my very toes. Emerald veins shone across my form as my hands grabbed the howitzer's handles.
Neon circuitry, similar to my own, lit alive across M777's body with each passing moment.
The behemoth awoke with a bone-rattling growl.
Magic circuits across its frame began to rotate, screaming through the still air.
Pressure built in its chambers.
Want to become immortal by splitting your soul into worms?
You make me bored.
And you'll learn soon what it costs to make me bored.
"Master..." Artoria whispered behind me, her eyes widening as M777's neon circuitry lit up the dark forest.
"What manner of sorcery is that?"
I planted my feet.
Its Neon circuitry flared to a blinding crescendo.
I finally pulled the trigger.
Everything shattered. A high-pitched screech tore through the night—loud enough to rupture eardrums, loud enough to wake the dead.
Misery was unleashed.
It crossed the sky of Fuyuki not as a projectile, but as a screaming comet of raw, enchanted destruction.
Matou boundary field? Might as well have been non-existent.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A pillar of fire and concussive force ripped through the night sky, lighting up our surrounding forest like high noon. The shockwave hit us a second later, rustling trees and blowing Artoria's hair back. Tremors shook every corner of Fuyuki.
When the light faded, a mushroom cloud of dust and debris hovered over where the Matou boundary field used to be.
Matou manor?
It was already blown sky-high.
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[5 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Authors Thoughts]
People were asking for a flamer for Zouken? A flamer I delivered. A fricking 4 tonnes one.
Don't worry, we didn't blow Rider sky high along with Zouken and Shinji. Uhm? Maybe we did?
Anyway... A wild Rider incoming soon, but I'll have to do it in a way that doesn't make Izuru's team more overpowered than they already are... and I have a perfect Idea for it.
...
Note: Anyone curious where he got the Howitzer from? Well, he created it using [Ultimate Mechanic] and [Ultimate Inventor].
I'll also inform you all that there will be no chapter releases on Sunday, since even your boy needs some rest to gather new ideas.
...