Are you done?" The found-out Master didn't flinch nor did he make to save face. Instead of trying to lie his way with a poker face, he faced the arrogant boy down. His gun found itself being aimed at the boy once more.
The utilitarian mindset of his thought about using Command Seals before Lelouch could react. But once again, the brat was one step ahead of him.
"I wouldn't try anything if I were you, Mister Emiya. Not only will I be able to call on Avenger faster than you, the room in which I've hidden Lady Irisviel has been rigged to blow. Alongside the rest of this entire floor as well."
Lelouch's hand pulled aside his coat. There, on his person just above his heart, a small radio device was strapped with tape and had a line tied to its trigger. No doubt, it was a detonator ready to be triggered should something untoward happen to him. How sensitive it was rigged to be was up to debate, but Kiritsugu couldn't rule out anything.
He hadn't noticed any bombs through the hallway or in the floor directly beneath this one, but the boy had proven to be skilled in hiding traps too deadly even for him. One wrong move, not only did he risk losing Iri and Maiya, he'd have lost the war entirely. He gritted his teeth, frustrated at meeting a professional suicide bomber.
"While I'm still uncertain as to whether or not you care for your assistant, I'm very sure neither of you nor I, wish to die alongside Lady Irisviel for nothing, yes?"
"What more could you possibly want that's worth risking your life?" Kiritsugu couldn't help but snap back.
"I still need to know where the Lesser Grail is located after all, and something tells me you may know the answer to it." That the boy's smirk widened was a testament to having noted the shifting on Kiritsugu's anxious expression. "Here's your ultimatum. You can either give me the Lesser Grail's location or order your Servant to kill herself."
In either case, the boy won. Kiritsugu would lose. Try as he might think of a way around this, he'd been backed into a corner by a brat. And said brat likely didn't understand the real reason as to how he did it!
The Magus Killer was placed into a hard position. He needed to find a way out. But he also needed to kill Lelouch. In any case, he needed to buy time.
"This deal doesn't sound fair to me." With that in mind, he made to speak while restraining himself and his stressed emotions. With difficulty, of course. "What is there to gain should I accept anything you say?"
"Hm… Fairness has always been absent in wars, don't you agree? Should you obey my demands, I will allow you, Lady Irisviel and your 'assistant' over here to leave alive."
"You mean to let us scot-free after denying our chance at victory?" Kiritsugu couldn't help himself. "Well, aren't you a benevolent psychopath?"
"A psychopath wouldn't give a damn about anyone and have their way with or without your consent." The boy smiled wryly as if he was doing them a favour. "Take it from me. You, all of the other Masters and their Servants, had already lost this war the moment it began. Though, not by your fault alone. It is only due to my intervention that you will be allowed to leave with your lives."
Kiritsugu narrowed his eyes, feeling his emotions escape. "And what? Leave Grail to someone like you? Don't make me laugh, boy. Be it you or Avenger, nothing is getting in the way of my achieving our wish! A bastard like you won't get in the way of our dream!"
His gun was truly levelled and unshaking as it aimed at the boy's head. If he used his Time Altar, he might be able to fire two shots, pierce the glass wall, and kill the boy in barely an instant.
But he was caught off guard by the boy's chuckling.
"What are you laughing at?" he asked.
"Heheh… Dreams, huh? Good, old wishful thinking." Lelouch Lamperouge's guard didn't drop, but the air about him changed. It was as if, to Kiritsugu's eyes, the boy's expression aged slightly. Like years had passed him by in the blink of an eye. "Everyone has them but not everyone can achieve them. A fact an adult like yourself that seeks the Grail knows all too well."
"What's your point?" he pressed, mind distracted from going through his plan and pulling the trigger.
"Do you know what the other Masters in this war wanted? What did they seek the Grail for? What about the Servants? You and I both knew they were lying from the start." Lelouch glared at him." Be honest with me, Magus Killer. No. Emiya Kiritsugu. You and your mistress knew about the true role of Servants from the start. Come now, there's no need to deny it. I've confirmed it with her myself. No Servant would ever live to get their wishes granted as they are needed as a sacrifice still, like all their fallen foes. I'm sure you've been saving your Command Seals especially to order Saber into ending her own life by war's end. Were you not?"
He knew far too much to be a simple accidental participant. Kiritsugu was hired by the Einzbern clan but was only told some parts of the true ritual. It was when Irisviel who made everything clear to him that he came to the same realizations as the boy had.
Servants would die out of necessity, but they needed to use one to do just that. Moreover, they needed something to get rid of their Servant when all was said and done. The fact that Servants couldn't fully resist their Master's Command Seals served to avert a Master's would-be downfall by a betrayal gone wrong.
After all, comparing a present-day magus to a hero of old, the power gap was too severe. So why not upend that by betraying the hero at the very end, all the while keeping the illusion that they too would get what they wanted?
Such cold-hearted thinking mattered little to Emiya Kiritsugu. Heroic Spirits were just that. Spirits. Ghosts. They were, all of them, already dead. Being cursed by one, or seven, or eight, for betrayal and lies was worth it for the wish he had in mind. They were heroes. They'd understand it was for the right reasons.
But it was also one of the reasons why he avoided Saber. Though he was called callous and praised by even his foes for his practical mindset, to command her to commit suicide was going to be difficult no matter the outcome. Saying 'what's another death for the sake of many'… though common for him, it was far too painful to say in the face of a child whose people forced her to carry the burden of kingship.
Emiya Kiritsugu didn't hate Arturia Pendragon. But he hated the circumstances of how she was raised and the role the child was forced to play.
"… How do you know about all this?" With his grip on his gun tightening, he repeated. "Why in the hell does a brat only in it for entertainment know about the truth?"
"Does it matter?" Lelouch shrugged. "You who lied to the perfect ideal of a knight, a chivalrous comrade who defended you and your own all by her lonesome, seek moral justification as to my own knowledge?" The boy's smirk returned, taunting him. "How I know is none of your concern. However, I will let you in on a little secret. It's what I plan to do with what I know."
Looking at the camera, he made a face that sought to tear into both Iri and himself as he spoke.
"I, Lelouch vi Britannia, seek to dismantle your sham of a war! To remove it from the face of the Earth as it is but a bore to the world!" He made to bow as if he swore to it. "At first, I considered it entertaining. But after a while, I learned of its intricacies and realized the faultiness of it all, as well as the malicious designs its creators would place upon my Servant." The Master of Avenger wanted to make Irisviel feel guilty while dangling his victory in their faces. So he said, "Therefore, as the winner of this war, I have decided to shatter the trophy I've won and declare it an insult, both to its creators who seek its fulfilment as well as those who would demand I sacrifice a friend for such a thing as an impossible dream!"
Kiritsugu clenching his teeth, his wife was the kindest person he ever knew. She already suffered over holding the truth from his servant. She was suffering day and night the longer this war went and Kiritsugu hated that he was part of the reason. His wife was going to such lengths so he could achieve it all. His impossible dream.
But… more than that, he hated that there was yet another absurdity more daunting than reality getting in his way.
"What do you know, boy?" he asked with venom. To find a foe who was not only assured of their win but also magnanimously proclaiming dismantling his one and only goal… his only way out… it enraged the normally jaded man. "Why in the hell do you think we went through with this? Did you think we were the same as you? That we freely carried out what we did… as though it were some sort of sick game?!"
"Truthfully, no." The boy retained his condescending smile as he faced a man seething and at the end of his patience. "Even as a mere outsider, I could see that you all fought tooth and nail for the cup. A brave attempt for a chance of the impossible. But it is why I can only pity you fools who know nought of the fall that awaits you. Just like the Servants, you, my fellow Masters, have lost before the games had even begun."
'What in the hell did that even mean?' Kiritsugu didn't know. But he was beyond caring at this point. His favoured gun didn't waver. His finger hovered over the trigger. "I've not lost yet. Even if a brat like you gets in my way, I will do whatever it takes to achieve my wish."
"Ho? Such passion. And what, pray to tell, does such a wish entail? What does the infamous Magus Killer dream for that he is very willing to bathe in the blood of both children and fallen heroes?"
Kiritsugu didn't know what possessed him to answer. He didn't understand why he hadn't fired yet. But a brief moment of silence passed.
It was just a blink, but as soon as he momentarily shut his eyes, he remembered someone. He saw her.
Not his wife or partner. It wasn't even his daughter. No. It was someone he held most dear. A girl, innocent of all wrong, earnestly seeking out the future despite the reality of it all a mere impossibility to a child. One like him who naively dreamed of a better world.
A girl who was most likely his first love. But she was also the first to die because of him. The first among many.
It was in the briefest of moments that he was compelled to answer the brat who knew nothing. The boy who held nothing and seemingly waved power to do his whims without the care or concern for others.
"My wish…" he held his breath as his emotions consumed him. "My wish… is for the salvation of this world. To save all peoples from all walks of life from wars and conflict. From death and destruction. I… would ask for the Grail to make the world a better place."
Uncharacteristic of the killer-for-hire image he'd fostered for many years, Kiritsugu stated it all. In an attempt to claim the moral high ground against a boy who knew nothing, he put his heart and soul into those words.
That's right. Lelouch Lamperouge knew nothing. Nothing of the world that burned and bled because of human greed and pride. Nothing of the blood spilt due to misunderstandings and conflict. Nothing of the many lives Kiritsugu himself regretfully ended due to the earnest desire to bring justice and peace for all…
For if he did know, he wouldn't scorn the man who took it upon himself to change it.
Changing the world for the better. Such was the dream of a man who willingly bathed in the blood of the few for the sake of the many. Such was his desire for an end to the madness… all for the sake of those he loved to be able to live a peaceful and joyous life.
The birth of a perfect world from the shadow of this sinful one. A miracle beyond miracles. A utopia for all where no one else would cry nor unjustly die…. Even if it meant he'd be the only one to suffer the injustice of paying in blood for it all.
Such was the man Irisviel fell in love with.
"Ngh!" the woman, trapped in her room rigged to blow at the slightest misstep on her significant other's part, moaned in pain.
With one hand to her chest and the other to a security monitor, the boy Master placed nearby, her fingers traced the screen. The garbled image of her husband hissing and crackling grey light on her person was the only source of light in this explosive cage of hers. Her only hope… maintained a steely gaze. As dashing… and resolved… as when she fell in love with him. When Irisviel gained a human heart.
"AGH!" Another pang surged through her being eliciting a gasp-turned-cough as black blood escaped her mouth. Examining it in her palm and under the bleak lighting, she realized it was already the end for her. "Ah… So this… is what it feels like… to die…"
With six Servants, the original prerequisite to begin the Grail's manifestation, all the conditions have been met. As the vessel, there was nothing left for her… but to be broken down and rebuilt in the cup's image.
The regret of not having spent more time living the life of an actual human, the remorse for having lied to the innocent knight, the yearning to hold her loved ones once more, even for a little bit, all of that came collapsing down on the soul that believed itself human. That grew to want to become human.
So were the thoughts and emotions that filled the homunculus as she laid her head to rest on the stone cold floor. Her eyes watched as the image of her husband faded from view, her senses shutting down consecutively till nothing was 'alive' in the room anymore.
Then, the body of the former person named Irisviel von Einzbern burst into mystical flames. Magical energy swirled and burned and melted and formed into the image of a golden cup, the Holy Grail. Or rather, the Lesser version that acted as a conduit for the Greater and True version.
All at once, magical energy from the deceased and fallen heroic spirits filled it to the brim with a red liquid. However… it overflowed.
SssssssSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS—
Concrete sizzled and burned. The monitor on the floor started to melt and its plastic caught fire as soon as it came into contact with the liquid, once-red but now blackened and murky. Like mud.
Said mud continued to flow, overflowing until it consumed the entire room in a flood. The door melted open and allowed the sea of cursed liquid out, corrupting all in its wake, be it the explosives Lelouch had set or the very walls of the building itself, corroding them to nothing.
All the while, the Grail that had once been a person continued to glow as it expelled more of the accursed magical energy, pristine gold surrounded by the black corrupting darkness.
Like a star in the night, the young woman faded into the deep never to wake again.
Lelouch chuckled.
"Heh… Heheheh…"
And chortled.
"Hahahahah…"
And laughed.
"… HAHAHAHAHA!"
Like a madman, the boy laughed. He heaved and held his chest, seemingly looked weak in his knees as he kept a hand delicately on the detonator to his chest.
He couldn't believe it. There actually were people more coldhearted and idealistic than he'd ever been. Kiritsugu's statement resonated with him. But he couldn't find it anything… but amusing.
It was only when the boy fell deathly silent and made a wry smile that finally reached his eyes that the man, the wishful knight clad in shadows, spoke again. "Had enough?"
"No," Lelouch let slip a slight chuckle as he restrained himself. "Not in the slightest."
"Is mocking an old man's dream that amusing to you?"
That said, the old man scowled harder than ever and proved his words true. Emiya Kiritsugu really was a dreamer. A realistic and blood-drenched one, but an earnestly selfless one regardless.
It was almost uncanny the Demon Emperor would find one like himself in this world, and so close and so soon to boot.
"Oh… Oh, my dear man, you have no idea." The boy shook his head. "For fate to have dealt me a card like you. Heh… Hahah…. Ah… God must be mocking me right about now."
Karmic justice for using his Geass on the Collective Unconscious? Probably. He'd never been the superstitious type, but after all, he'd been through, there may be merit in somewhat believing the supernatural. Such a coincidence like this out of the left field was too fateful to be a coincidence.
But be that as it may, though he once shared the man's ideals in the past, the same couldn't likely be said of their methods. For when he took it upon himself to change the world, this man sought out a cursed artefact to change it for him. His duties still stood. So he spoke once more.
"May I ask one more thing of you, Emiya Kiritsugu." The boy wasn't asking. In fact, he smiled as if Kiritsugu already gave him a 'yes' and just pressed the gun further into Maiya's cranium as a threat if he refused. "Do you really think your dream is so impossible as to be achieved by normal means? Do you honestly believe there would be no other way but to resort to using the Holy Grail for your desire?" Wasting time was not an option. But there was a yearning curiosity within. 'Answer me. Are you like me… or are you…?'
"Yes." The dreamer of a mercenary assassin stated with a jaded expression. "A world without wars is only attainable through the power of the Grail. When I attain it, there'd be no need for any other solution. Much less continue to act on it through human means."
'Ah… So you really are…' The boy sighed as he replied. "For 'human means' are merely a futile struggle with no end in sight. Considering you'd have to continue murdering all who stand in the way of peace, yes? I agree with your logic, however, I shall have to disagree with your methods."
"What?"
Lelouch's smile all but vanished. Replacing it was a cold stare. One without but certainly devoid of compassion. "You would wish for the Grail to stop all humans in the world from fighting. You demand the impossible, Emiya Kiritsugu."
"Do you take me for a fool, brat? Why else would I seek an omnipotent wish-granting device?!"
'Because you had given up on humanity in the first place…'Lelouch didn't bother verbalizing it.
War was hell itself. There was no hope to be had on one, no matter the noble goal. A single death was the tragic loss of another. Be it, civilians or soldiers, no one was safe. There were no heroes. Just people who paid the price of victory at various degrees.
'But unlike you who'd chosen to throw all your cards into this one gambit… I struggled to control everything.'
Humanity has never openly recognized its flaws as truth for eras long past. Billions upon trillions of the bygone ages had their lives ruined for the sake of something or other. But that was when no one controlled every single one of them. Each time a conflict began, there'd be a dazzling hero leading the charge but also blinding all to the horrors of their deeds. Of that, Arturia Pendragon was one. Every time war ended, people convinced themselves it had to be done but break down when the reasons they fought were worth the very dirt they spilt blood on. Of that, Suzaku used to be.
But Lelouch wasn't like that. He was more… pragmatic about it.
"True human nature has never advanced a step beyond the Stone Age!" Kiritsugu then proclaimed. "It is because human nature itself is flawed. That is what I seek to rectify!"
'And that is where you have failed humanity…'
Human nature implied humanity. Humanity implied the nature of civilization as a whole. There would be no end to man fighting man for there was no end to human beings seeking their wants. Wants beget envy. Envy begets conflict. Over. And over. And over. And over… Human beings would lie, cheat, steal, and take away from one another.
But, so what? What was wrong with being human? What was so wrong with wanting one thing so much that you'd kill for it? Anyone would kill for the sake of their own, especially those they loved and cherished the most. What was wrong with that?
Murder? Sanctity of life? Those are just excuses made by someone who wasn't willing to stain their hands in blood and guilt. If one actually cared about such, they wouldn't trample on the dreams of others.
But in the end, that's what made them humans. Flawed, selfish, greedy, but also honourable, loyal, and willing to die for a cause they believed in… like martyrs.
Which was why he didn't get why the man was angered when the former emperor stated thusly and disappointedly. "Such a naive look on your face, Emiya. To have such an opinion on humanity's oldest and most humane trait. I dare say, you lack creative vision."
Kiritsugu blinked once. Then twice before he muttered. "What…?"
"'Creative vision', my dear selfless hero." The boy let slip a small smirk before schooling his features regally. "That narrow-minded mentality of yours fails to look at the bigger picture. War is hell, yes. To that, I shall not argue. However, you fail to accept it as a fact of human nature. And because of that, I find your dream a pointless endeavour."
"Don't you dare—NGH!" The clicking of a gun safety being turned off had Maiya, who'd been silent until Lelouch's comment, going quiet as she stared into the barrel of a pistol.
"I will dare to insult such a desire, my dear, because I have such a fond respect for humans who live their day-to-day life struggling every step of the way." Turning to Kiritsugu, he continued. "War is hell, yes. But it is through war and conflict that those oppressed can finally break free from their oppressors. Tell me, how many people have you killed fought only to free themselves from someone else? Surely a professional killer has had much experience in putting down small rebellions, or am I wrong?"
Emiya Kiritsugu should've denied it. But he didn't. Perhaps, there was a kernel of truth to that assumption.
Yes, Lelouch denied the man's dream. Not because he disliked a peaceful world, but for the fact, it was built on the same foundation as his greatest foe's own dream.
"The world isn't simply coloured in either black or white. As a fully-functioning adult, more so one who has been paid in blood money, you yourself should understand that fact most of all. Revolution and rebellions aren't always started out of mere human selfishness. They are not always won by heroes nor are the sacrifices ever forgotten by the victors. In the same vein, fighting for one's freedom from oppression can't be equated to a fight for survival. Even the Stone Ages you reference was a time when people fought tooth and nail for the sake of limited resources and adequate living spaces."
"The Grail will then answer the unspoken question!" Kiritsugu refuted. It was certainly sounding hypocritical when the man didn't deny participating in the cycle of conflict. "Why do people fight, why do they resort to violence… the cup will give me the solution to end that pointlessness!"
"I will not disagree with your views, you would-be ally of justice, however," the boy shook his head as if he was speaking to a child and not the other way around. "War is a mode of diplomacy reserved for when talking is no longer an option."
War was not always done out of greed or pride. There were certain aspects to it done out of necessity. Food and homes were just a couple but also unavoidable. Harsh climates and famines in the past weren't fully understood, yet many still died due to the destitute desperately seeking the riches of the well-off. And who was to blame but the corrupted nature of self-serving humans?
But saying so didn't mean humans themselves were in the wrong for being human.
Humanity wasn't innocent. It lashed out at the unknown but tried to present itself civilly in the face of injustice. When pushed to the point of hopelessness, it will resort to biting its own arm off for the sake of survival. But of course, that wasn't always the case. Nothing was ever that simple. Nothing.
"War is a part of humanity. Human conflict is natural to us. It is no different from breathing. Certainly, since the early days of our species, we have fought over countless pointless things. But pointless to us only in hindsight. Many of those in the past have committed mistakes because they neither knew nor fully comprehended their situation. The same happens every day. But we still move on. During peace, we assess the damages and grow better as people. Upon the eve of conflict, we reassess our flaws that led up to the conundrum. This has been the tried and tested method that has helped humans evolve and advance. Certainly, it was born out of murderous and overly-ambitious desires, but could your nation be the way that it was today had history's greatest conquerors not left their mark? Will you wish the same if it meant the eradication of what already is and what is meant to be?"
"I do not intend to change the past!" spat the man. The boy's preaching had no effect as Kiritsugu sounded more emotional than before. "Such a naïve way of thinking won't ever improve humanity no matter how good the intentions. My desire is for a peaceful future! And the people who inherit it!"
"Any peace, be it long or short, will soon be replaced by another war. It is only natural for no man can ever hold the world together." Kiritsugu looked about to refer to the Grail once more, but Lelouch beat him to it. "Say you use the Grail. Then what? You have to take away the notion of war and you are left with people who cannot always act on their desires. If a nation that has been asked to share their resource refuses, then the ones who are in dire need of it die. If a government oppresses its citizens but the people cannot rebel, they suffer."
"The Grail will have a better answer than that!" Kiritsugu defended. "An omnipotent object capable of granting any desire is beyond human understanding—!"
"Then let's take an inhuman solution and put it to the test, shall we? Say you use the Grail and take away human desires. Then, and only then, will your wish succeed? If everyone is content, you need only give them what they need. But that is simply stagnation. An eternal lack of progress. A standstill in time. Surely, people will never die of wanton destruction or violence. But would you ask billions of people to go about their lives as they always have been? Now and forever the same."
The cursed Grail would never be able to accomplish anything good. Say it does answer the man's wish, then what? How will it do so?
Reminiscing of the man he'd once feared, and the mother he once sought vengeance for, there was no worse-off solution than being forced into eternity. Even if it was supposed to be a paradise for all, living and dead.
"What would you know?!" The man's gun shook slightly, hinting at disgruntlement. Or confusion. "How could you possibly understand the horrors that I and millions of people experience because of injustice?!"
"Just as I know little to nothing about you, so too will you not understand me," Lelouch muttered under his breath, resigned. However, he added. "Regardless of my views then, how do you think the Grail would respond to your request?"
Kiritsugu… didn't answer. Of course, he wouldn't. Not even Matou Zouken knew how the Grail functioned to its fullest extent. Only that it did. Of all the participants in the Grail War, Lelouch hoped the Einzberns, the ones responsible for the device itself, knew what the supposed Third Magic would entail. But seeing their representative falter like this… It was disappointing.
"I am not a magus. That much is clear." He admitted calmly. "I have no understanding of your Grail's Third Magic, this… Heaven's Feel. But what I do know is your wish. And? How do you suppose the Grail will carry out your dream? Will it force your wish upon mankind? Will you have it change their values and take away their free will? Get rid of all desires or notions of conflict in the name of eternal justice?"
"What… that's…"
"Will you strip them of their very flaws, what makes humanity human? Changed them all into something else no different from cattle living idly in the field? To tear away any and all of the other humans' own wishes?"
"What, what are you talking about?" Kiritsugu was confused, but Lelouch didn't care.
"Please answer me directly, Emiya Kiritsugu." The boy—no. The Eighth Master, Lelouch Lamperouge stated. The air about him shifted from debating to the regality of his former lineage. More judging than observing, as if attempting to discern just how similar Kiritsugu was to himself… or Charles zi Britannia. "How do you intend to change the world? What is your desired method to bring peace upon this sinful planet?"
The boy waited, quietly reassuring in muted silence that nothing would happen should the man actually need to give it some thought. So Kiritsugu did.
The boy had come to many conclusions about the man's wishes. Apart from his parent's own sentiment, there were many solutions to bring about a 'peaceful world'.
But the one thing he couldn't abide by was the eradication of 'humanity' itself. That which allowed human flaws to create happy mistakes and moments, that allowed him to meet his friends and colleagues, that allowed his sister to live a content and happy life by his side…
Lelouch couldn't—nay, wouldn't allow the removal of human nature itself. It was why he loved his sister. Why did he care for her? Why he fought for her well-being and the future of their own world. If something were to take that away from not just him but the denizens of this world as well… he wouldn't allow it.
Not if it'd mean the fulfilment of Charles' and Marianne's dream for a single person that didn't deserve an eternity of anything. A paradise-disguised hell. Even if she wasn't here, no doubt Nunnally would wish for him to stop that at all cost.
"You don't really know, do you?" When the man's gun dropped to his side, Lelouch figured out he had no proper answer to the question. Disappointment filled the boy's core. "I expected more from a man who devoted themselves to such a dream, Magus Killer, yet it seems as though you'd given up entirely for the sake of the easy way out. And here I thought you'd be more resolved to carry the martyrial burden you've taken up for yourself."
Why did the man look so broken? Just how much did he lose to have jaded him so? Where was the human ambition? The fervent desire to succeed? Where was the fiery passion only seen in another person when they were so close to achieving their goals?
'Perhaps… we aren't so alike after all.' The assessment caused his excitement to die down. For once, he thought he'd been thoroughly cheated. What he thought he found was a firm rebel against the cruelty of the world. 'But what I found was actually a man broken into submission, resorting to anything and everything so long as it was satisfactory…'
A man who would cruelly toss aside their loved ones if it was for the sake of reaching a contenting conclusion. A man just like his father. Had Emiya Kiritsugu actually shown such promise, such a difference to the man Lelouch feared the most, he might've given him a chance to live.
"A brat like you would never understand!" Maiya, who'd been behaving since her earlier would-be outburst, spat in the boy's face. "You know nothing, bastard!"
"Hm," Lelouch smiled lightly. Nostalgia flitted to his expression but only for a bare moment before looking at her. "I know a lot of things, miss assistant assassin. In regards to your accomplice's dream, in regards to his methods, all of that which you desire from the Grail, I know. Believe me or not, this is the truth." He then turned to face Kiritsugu once more. Gone was the smile. What remained was a scowl. "However, after hearing all that you have to say, I believe I have to reevaluate my plans."
Meaning time was up. Just as Kiritsugu concluded it, a rhetorical question was asked of the man.
"Earlier, I gave you a choice, didn't I? Order the suicide of my ancestor, Saber, or betray your camp and divulge the location of the Lesser Grail. But seeing as you'd chosen neither, I'll take it as your resolve to continue no matter the cost."
"Of course," the man answered but looked tired as all hell as he did.
"Pity." The boy met his gaze. Bored violet orbs stared into jaded black. "Apologies, Emiya Kiritsugu, but I'm afraid negotiations end here."
He pressed his gun to Maiya's temple once more, prompting Kiritsugu to raise his own at the boy. They stared at each other in muted silence. Lelouch however couldn't help but maintain his gaze on the man, as if searching for something more to Kiritsugu than his observations gave him. But, in the end, such a long pause was wasted. For when he committed to getting rid of all of them here and now—
BOOM
An explosion rocked the entire building.
"What the—?!" "Hng?!"
Considering how the boy himself was just as openly surprised as he, the trained assassin within Emiya Kiritsugu quickly discerned that this wasn't a part of Lelouch's plan. Meaning this was the opening he was looking for.
"Time Alter—" Lelouch heard the muttering, feeling the temperature drop a few degrees as magical energy coalesced towards the mercenary's magic casting. "Square—"
However, he didn't get to hear the man finish. At that moment, the ceiling above them cracked and burst.
BANG
A desperate shot rang out, but it only struck the glass, breaking it but not piercing through. With widened eyes, both Lelouch and Kiritsugu could do nothing as black mud spilt from the cracks, consuming them all.
The roof of the Community Centre.
Observing the night life of Fuyuki City from the top of the highest building currently, Nobunaga exhaled deeply, a wide smile plastered on the redhead's face.
The war's zenith was upon them. Just now, she'd received Lulu's report that he'd made contact with the Magus Killer. With his many contingencies in place, there was no way either of his hostages or their final foe himself would escape. Though, if they couldn't win but tried to bring her Master down with them, she was already prepared to swoop in and save him.
'I won't allow anyone to hurt you…'
She kept such thoughts to herself and out of their mental link. She need not distract him with her romantic musings when the boy already knew how she felt. As both of them had suffered when they were alive, now that the two Demons had sworn themselves together, neither would allow the other to be hurt. Not ever again.
Speaking of potential dangers to her significant other…
"My, oh my. And here I hoped the mad knight actually bested you, little girl." Nobu smirked when she felt the presence of the last servant behind her. Glee filled the Demon King's voice as she addressed the King of Knights herself. "Ara? You seem to have lost some of your drive, Saber! Has the meeting with Lancelot, your devoted-friend-turned-madman shocked you so?"
Arturia wasn't in the mood for any banter, teasing or otherwise. Her eyes were devoid of patience and amusement. The fight with her old friend and knight had seemingly drained her mentally. Her quiet stare back was cold, almost lifeless. But upon hearing Berserker's true name, she narrowed her gaze comparable to the point of her invisible blade.
"… You… You knew about Sir Lancelot?"
"Yes. During my Master's whimsical jaunt to assist his own, the chivalrous maniac revealed his sword and I, having been blessed with information from the Throne, instantly recognized it. So? Tell me! How did it feel, fighting an old comrade from the past?" Nobu couldn't help her expression turning a little sadistic as she could see her words ruffling more than a few feathers. "How does it feel to mete out justice upon one of your many traitors responsible for your downfall? Did you feel relief or satisfaction upon delivering divine punishment? Come now and share! I'm curious!"
For Nobunaga, killing traitors was a matter of necessity. Many times, she'd been betrayed and her dreams and goals crushed. It was only deserving she, the Demon that commanded her own Hell, would find enjoyment in fiving their just deserts.
However, she too was curious if others felt the same. Unlike Lelouch who took things in stride, betrayal and all, the idle curiosity concerning those not them still remained. So her assumptions said that it should be the same for the King of Knights whose own trusted circle, the great Round Table, shattered into civil war.
However, whereas Avenger who drew her power from a seeped-in desire for vengeance hence the name of the class, Saber was apparently different. The girl who pretended to be King glared hard at Nobunaga.
"Don't you dare compare me to yourself, Avenger!" she spat with a hint of venom. "I never once took pleasure in killing my enemies. And neither shall I find satisfaction in slaying my old friend, betrayer or not! Sir Lancelot… did as his chivalry dictated. Through dishonouring me, he'd fulfilled his duty as a knight. On his honour, an enemy in this conflict he may be, I will never look down on him for what he did to me. Nor will I stand for you to insult him further!"
Avenger's smile turned into a disappointed scowl. Her innocent, albeit not entirely so, the question was answered with the tip of a blade. "Ah, is that so? And here I thought you and I could've had something in common, King Arthur."
"You are wrong. We are nothing alike." Saber glared at her as she raised her blade near her face, readied for a swing. "We will never be alike!"
"So you may think, yes? Even though both of us sought to unify the bicker clans of our tiny island and create a prosperous nation that would've lasted for centuries, we are nothing alike!" Avenger laughed as she started to walk around the tiny knight, giggling mockingly every step of the way. "Both of us had been betrayed by our most trusted and died as a result of it. Both of us failed to carry out our greatest ambition for our people. Yes, in all respects, we are not alike."
"I will restate myself then." Visibly ticked, Saber replied. "In life, our actions and ambitions were somewhat alike. However, unlike yourself, I would never stoop as low as to desire vengeance upon another. I would never forego my ideals to become a spirit of vengeance like yourself, Avenger!"
"No, you wouldn't." Nobunaga shook her head as she agreed. "You're the idiotic type to do something more outlandish. Instead of mulling in hate and anger like any human being would, you'd go for something more… self-destructive! Yes, that's the word! Oh, how dramatic! The great King of Knights, the paragon of virtue, demanding to wish herself out of existence for the sake of people long gone!"
Arturia narrowed her eyes as she spits back. "And what of your wish, bastard woman?! Wishing to incarnate only to bring about death and destruction to the human realm once more?! Have you learned nothing during your life as a tyrant?"
"Tyrant? Oh please! I didn't have time to properly act like one! But that will change soon." Nobu giggled. "Japan and more will become mine. Soon, this world will be all of mine and Lelouch's to rule. Quite dramatic, don't you think? The best power couple of demons openly ruling over these foolish mortals."
This time Arturia actually stopped to stare inquisitively with widened eyes. "You… and Lelouch? Together?"
"What's the matter? Something wrong with two soulmates finding one another during wartime? Is it that hard to believe such an open proclamation? Or perhaps you're jealous of our bond? If fate does exist, then she is the one who allowed us to meet." Nobunaga's tone exuded childish glee, convincing Saber of her genuine emotions while also weirding out she who'd never once experienced actual love. "Ah, how so much of a trickster, fate is! To have my beloved's predecessor look so appalled that I've been proposed to by her descendant!"
"Is that an attempt to mock me, wench?!"
"Ahahaha! So my ancestor-in-law has really taken a dislike to me? The modern era's tropes for romantic drama is very much on point, isn't it?!"
The redhead's prattling not only caught Arturia off guard, but it had also infuriated her slightly. Though her Master-Servant relationship was kept a closely-guarded secret, the fact that many of the other participants in this war ranged from romantic to cordial to somewhat obedient had her a bit ticked off. Even Lancer, though not getting the best of the bunch, at least had a Master that ordered him to fight in his stead. Kiritsugu abandoning her to the wayside for most of the war annoyed her when the woman before her looked so much like a girl lost in love.
"Speaking about my future darling…" Nobunaga's expression was no different from fiancée who was about to walk to the altar, yet the air still sharpened as she materialized a katana and pointed it at Saber. "You might be the closest thing to a relative Lelouch has in this world. Though you aren't directly related, I would still demand tribute from you as a gift to our union."
"Even now, you'd dare to jest?!" Saber shifted her stance to a defensive one.
"On the contrary, no, my dear ancestor-in law! A dowry is no joke, especially in Japan. Well, not in my time, anyway." The air about Nobunaga sizzled and flared as a red aura akin to hellfire encompassed her. "Still, I shall forgive your tardiness if you'd surrender something worth the delay. Either your legendary sword or your head will suffice, King of Knights."
"Your marriage be damned, I will not surrender my wish, Avenger!" Excalibur flitted to view for but a second before a gale erupted, hiding the golden light of the holy sword. "Even if your intentions towards my progeny are anything but pure, I still have no choice but to ward off a deranged vixen such as yourself from a future king of Britain."
"Stop being so dramatic and give us your blessing, mother-in-law! Or should it be a father?!"
"Shut your trap already, loudmouthed tramp!"
Smiling gleefully that Saber finally gave in to bantering, even if it was just playing overly-resistant in-law trope, Nobunaga relented all she had. For the last battle between the last two Servants of the Fourth Holy Grail War, nothing would be held back. Not anymore.
But so lost were they to the heat of battle that neither noticed the trouble that befell either of their Masters in the floors below.
Pain seared his being. There was only pain burning all throughout his body. The cause? It was the mud that he and his foe had been bathed in.
"What… is this?"
Kiritsugu coughed as he examined the bloody black muck that pooled around him. But rather than blood, it was more apt to call it mud. Upon one's touch, it burned slightly. Even his damp clothes soaked with the stuff felt heavy, almost as if the grime of the liquid was weighing it down more than it should have.
But all thoughts of the pain and mud drifted away when he lifted his gaze and spotted something glowing up above. Golden majestic rays shone down on his head as his eyes beheld the instrument to his goals. There, hovering in the sky, the golden cup awaited.
"The Grail…" he muttered to himself. 'Which means… Iri's already…'
No, he couldn't waste time on that. He had to claim it before anyone else could—
"And just where do you think you're going?" As soon as he made to lift himself onto his feet, the sound of a gun clicking at the ready caught his attention.
Lelouch Lamperouge, looking a little worse for wear, eyed him cautiously. On one hand, he had a gun trained on Kiritsugu's chest. In the other…
"Agh!" Maiya gasped as blood escaped the corner of her lips, or was it the mud, as Lamperouge carried her around, arms no longer bound but still limp at her sides.
From where Kiritsugu sat, he could see she was still in pain. But unlike earlier, when she could stomach it, now she was actually fighting back tears as her wounds continued to smoke and blacken by the second. The mud that seeped into it appeared to be cauterizing, or perhaps it was worsening her situation? Even her ropes looked to have been singed or crusted away.
Either or, she looked to be on the cusps of death, but that didn't stop the brat from using her as a human shield against him.
"To think the Lesser Grail was in Lady Irisviel's hands all this time. Or rather, it was within her…" The boy snidely commented, still feigning being in control of the situation. "I guess I should've just killed her from the start. Save myself the trouble of unnecessarily having to deal with you."
That caught Kiritsugu's attention. "You… would have the Grail destroyed?"
"Of course." The boy's eyes flitted above once then returned to meet Kiritsugu's. "Had I known the cursed Grail was within your employer all this time, I would've ended this farcical conflict with a swift stroke and saved everyone the time of battling it out for false promises."
'False…?' The mercenary assassin eyed the brat carefully.
Even now, saying all he had, the boy continued to use the half-dead Maiya as a barrier between them. But all the while, Kiritsugu noted the boy's slow retreat away from him. That spoke volumes of how much on guard Lelouch Lamperouge was against his foe.
'Saber, report your situation.'
In a surprising turn of events, the Master who'd continuously ignored his Servant for the longest time broke the mental link silence. And, as soon as the young knight recovered from her momentary shock to respond curtly of her even battle against Avenger, Kiritsugu sighed.
Conditions for his win had never been so perfect until now.
"Earlier, you mentioned that all of us Masters had lost before the War had even begun." Kiritsugu kept a steady, unflinching gaze towards Lamperouge. "Care to elaborate?"
"Would you even listen to the one who openly mocked your dream?" the boy remarked with a smirk, but that vanished when Kiritsugu returned solemn silence. "Would you believe me if I told you that the Grail you seek is cursed? Corrupted? Would you accept it as fact if I told you that something has been wrong even before the first Servants were summoned?"
"What do you mean 'corrupted'? Iri had never mentioned any of that."
"Such familiarity… I guess it really wasn't just an 'employer-employee' relationship." The boy's mumbling went ignored before he continued. "I doubt Lady Einzbern, or any of their kinsmen, knew of the corruption beforehand. Had they realized it, they wouldn't have gone through this folly when a parasite had latched itself onto the cup, tainting it, changing it."
"Where's your proof?" Kiritsugu demanded.
"Why, look around you, Mister Hero," the boy's smile was as devilish as it was taunting. "If the Holy Grail is such a glorious prize, why does it spill a muck that eats away at all?"
Kiritsugu paused at that before sparing his surroundings a glance. Truth to the boy's words, the walls and flooring were damaged. But unlike the results of a simple flooding, there was a clear distinction between the burn marks on the plaster as well as the seemingly melting glass. Maiya's wounds themselves were clearly getting worse, and even Kiritsugu himself felt a bit drained. Like he'd been doused with a depressant slowly eating away at his life force.
"A monstrous 'hero' of a Caster. An Eighth Master and Servant. What's more, a new Servant class is far different from the established ones. Though I cannot speak of the past wars, wouldn't you say something had been off from the start?"
No. Kiritsugu wouldn't deny it. However, the boy was wrong in many parts of his assertions. "You're mistaken, Lelouch Lamperouge."
"Eh?"
"Caster isn't so much of an anomaly as he is a usual occurrence. The Grail's definition of heroes include twisted amalgamations and different interpretations of their legends. Berserker is a prime example. As for Caster, Bluebeard was a hero himself once. Until he'd lost the only one who mattered to him most. As for your Servant, there has been an Avenger class before. But unlike your own, that one had fallen quite easily in the Third Grail War."
Kiritsugu gathered his od and prepared himself for one last gambit. Raising his voice slightly, he garnered a reaction from Maiya. She was still conscious, albeit barely. But if she could move, then…
"And another thing. Though you may say the Grail has been corrupted, you do not have concrete proof of anything. Only conjecture. That's why I won't let you get away!"
With a momentary cry, he darted for his gun. The Contender had been discarded from his person not a few meters away, but with his training, he could make a run for it.
BANG
A gunshot rang followed by a splash of mud near his foot, but that didn't deter the hardened killer. Nothing would. Clicking the gun's chamber open, he pulled out the empty cartridge of his earlier missed shot.
"Persistent bastard—" "Aaaaaaagh!" "—NGH!"
A quick glance to the boy, and Kiritsugu's eyes narrowed. Maiya had pushed through back to the world of the living to distract the brat one last time. "Do it now! Kiritsugu!"
CLICK
'Saber, distract her now!' He conveyed his second command to his Servant. At the same time, the Contender turned to his target: the back of his most loyal tool, as well as one of the few who truly understood him. 'Sorry… Maiya…'
BANG
"Agh!" "GAH!"
The shot struck true, piercing through Maiya who grunted her last with a smile and then hitting the brat with half the force of a sniper rifle. Lelouch Lamperouge collapsed to the mud beneath him, wounded in the lower abdomen but trapped under the weight of a corpse.
There was no way he'd escape now.
"Damn… it…!" the brat coughed with widened eyes. Kiritsugu had approached, looming over the boy with a gun trained on his head. "Ah… I see… Checkmate… for me… is it?"
"You don't sound surprised," Kiritsugu, sounding bored, clicked the gun ready. "Or did you already expect your ancestor to break her code of chivalry?"
That was correct. Via his mental link, he'd ordered Saber to distract Avenger through any means necessary. With as much imagination as a teenager could think of under pressure, a verbal threat to release Excalibur into the building and killing her Master alongside them all had caused Avenger to hesitate for a moment.
It was that very moment that Lelouch Lamperouge was caught. And it was because of that lapse in judgement on the Servant's part that her Master now had a gun pointed to his head.
"To think… this is how… I go… the second time…" The boy exhaled lightly, blood escaping his own lips. "Not being stabbed… but shot…"
Kiritsugu said nothing as he met the brat's eyes. With a practised motion, he pulled the trigger.
BANG
The boy's head fell flat to the mud, sporting a new hole through his left eye socket. Dead as can be, his last foe was gone. And very soon, his Servant would fade away.
He'd won.
Kiritsugu had finally won!
But… at what cost?
His gaze drifted to the other corpse nearby. Turning over Maiya, there was a soft smile gracing her usual stoic features. Even in death, she was still able to smile in a way that cut through Kiritsugu's core more painful than she could stab a knife through him.
The man let out a dry sigh, stifling any and all tears for the departed. There was time to grieve later. Right now, he had to claim the Grail.
Shutting his apprentice's eyes to allow her a peaceful eternal rest, Kiritsugu rushed out of the destroyed hall to find a still-standing staircase. With how high the Grail floated up above, he needed to get closer in order to access it.
In his rush, he failed to notice the black mud claim the boy's body as it dragged him into its shadowy depths.
"AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Pain wracked his body. Specifically, his left eye.
Gasping for air, it took a long while before Lelouch noticed that he was still alive. Or, he knew he was for what else could he be?
Still, to experience such a realistic gunshot to the eye but still clearly be able to see, something was wrong. Only, he didn't notice in his panicked rage.
"Dammit! I was so close!" So close, yet so far. He'd been distracted by the man's asking for the truth. After a quick debate whether he should or not, his arrogance in allowing the man to hear some of what he knew before killing him bit Lelouch back in the ass. Only, he couldn't be angry at Emiya for it entirely. 'Curses… I should've just shot him…'
But be that as it may, right now he needed to contact Nobu. His vengeful daimyo no doubt realized his mistake as soon as he did and he needed to calm her before she burned down the city.
But at this very moment, Lelouch froze.
His eye, the one that was shot, still saw. His vision continued to adjust to the darkness until finally, he was able to recognize his surroundings.
And just that thought alone, apart from his still being alive after receiving a headshot wound, was what caused his very soul to freeze in time.
'What… the… Where… where am I?' The Demon Emperor found himself inside a familiar room. Straightened sheets, a simplistic and well-organized study desk. A shelf fool of study and research material. Walls that looked bland and lacked the décor that was expected of any teenage high school student.
It was the very same room he spent years living in during his time as a normal student.
Ashford Academy… The clubhouse building… His assigned bedroom… Home…
The only thing missing was the green-haired goblin that normally claimed his bed on the pretence that a gentleman would accede to a lady and take the floor.
'This… is impossible!' His mind raced for an explanation, but no one could explain it at all. 'What is… going on?!'
"I heard some noise." A voice, a very familiar one, called out from beyond the door. "Milly is that you?"
'No… No!' Even more than before, Lelouch's breath hitched as he jolted to his feet, tripping onto the floor. 'It… It can't be—!'
It was then that the door opened… and a familiar person, one he'd never forget in all his years ever again, strolled in, driving her wheelchair to a stop before him.
'No…' Bright purple eyes stared back into Lelouch's jaded own. 'Please… don't…'
His reason for living stared long and hard as did he. The one for whose sake he became a hero and monster clasped a hand to cover her mouth. Tears escaped her eyes that could now see as the once-helpless girl whose smile was the light that could always brighten his life exclaimed with happiness she'd never exuded before.
"B-big… brother—?"
The sight of her disbelieving expression tore through Lelouch's heart as tears started to form in his own eyes. Whispering her name, his voice broke.
"Nunnally…"