When the kettle boiled, I quickly poured tea for my guests; I served Wright-san first.
"Ah, thank you very much," he said modestly.
Then I served the other guest.
"Thank you," he said simply.
I stared at him for a while. A dark-skinned man with greenish-yellow eyes and red hair; it felt strange to see someone without anything on from the waist up.
I sat down across from the master sent by the clock tower; immediately, Assassin materialized behind me, giving me a sense of security.
The rules of war prohibit daytime fighting, but there's nothing to enforce them; there should be some kind of supervisor or something, but there isn't.
"It's no match for London tea, but it's alright," Wright said, which annoyed me slightly, since it was the same tea I'd brought from London, but I decided not to start an argument and said nothing about it.
"So, what kind of agreement do you want to make, Lord of the Clock Tower?" I asked the man.
"Albus is fine," he replied, looking at me seriously. "As you may have noticed, things got completely out of hand yesterday."
"The Master who summoned that Servant must be crazy; I can't think of an effective way to control him without the Command Seals, or even with all three; it does cross my mind that he might be able to," Assassin commented.
His entire body was covered; only his jaw and mouth were visible, nothing more. He preferred to remain anonymous to avoid revealing his identity.
"I can't think of a way either, but it happened; Archer witnessed how a command took effect just as dawn broke," he said, taking a sip of his tea. "We can imagine that when the sun sets, he'll rise again to wreak havoc once more."
"I imagine that if that Servant hadn't caused all that chaos and destruction, he wouldn't have come to me, but why me?" I asked, my curiosity piqued.
"Maintaining secrecy is a duty for every mage or sorcerer, even if it means killing for it, but creating a genocide to conceal the Holy Grail War is something I, at least, cannot do. Perhaps Tohsaka was able to deceive the civilians with lies, but as the days go by and this continues, they will become suspicious. The mystery will eventually be revealed one way or another if that Servant keeps doing what he's doing," he said gravely.
"As for why I came to you, well, Elena told me a lot about you when I went to her office to get my catalyst; when I heard about the anomaly, I couldn't help but want to meet you." He expressed his opinion.
When I heard the word "anomaly," I felt my face flush. I can't believe Elena mentioned "anomaly" to a stranger. Maybe it wasn't her but the others, but I can't help feeling embarrassed.
Instinctively, I covered my face with my hands so no one would see my expression.
"Can you please avoid using 'anomaly'?" I practically begged the man in front of me.
"Oh, I didn't know you didn't like being called that; my bad," the guy apologized.
"Hey, I'm getting bored with this pointless conversation; can we get to the point?" the other guest's grumpy voice called out.
"Yes, I think it would be best to get straight to the point," Wright-san declared. "I'd like to establish an alliance, at least until that Servant is defeated. I also want to propose this to Takeshi, if possible."
I was about to say something, but Assassin spoke first.
"Your Servant agrees to this; it's all the same to me, but without cooperation from all sides, this won't do any good." What Assassin said made sense; I glanced at the Servant sitting in a chair, lounging as if bored.
"As much as I'd prefer a one-on-one fight against that guy, it's pretty clear I can't kill him no matter what, and I don't plan on ever using my Noble Phantasm, not even to maintain the mystery," he remarked respectfully. "I wonder if you, Assassin—I imagine that's your class—could be of any use."
"Hmm, let's start with the stereotypes," Assassin said, and a sense of dominance began to fill the room.
I barely felt it before I couldn't help but fall out of my chair and onto my knees; I tried not to fall. I saw that Wright was in the same state.
Wright's servant's eyes widened in surprise, and he jumped to his feet. Assassin walked slowly, standing before the servant, removing his hood to reveal his long blond hair and red eyes; a red aura radiated from him, with rays of the same color emanating from his body.
"That's what I'd call him," Wright-san commented, as if he recognized something about Assassin.
"Believe it or not, he can kick your ass in a thousand different ways. If you accept this civilly, once you're done with that monkey, we'll have a one-on-one death match to see who's stronger, or are you scared, little girl?" Assassin spoke with a superiority that even surprised me. It's like seeing a completely different person than the one I've known for a long time.
The servant's hair was covering his eyes, so his expression wasn't clearly visible.
"Ha," he chuckled dryly, "hahahaha," then erupted into a cackle; his hair stood up, revealing a yellow gem on his forehead, but what caught my attention were his eyes, which held a mixture of fury, pride, and anticipation. "This is what I expected when I was summoned for this ritual; it seems fitting. Once you're done with that monkey, I'll give you a beating you'll remember for the rest of your life."
The place fell silent, the aura emanating from Assassin slowly dissipating, but the two remained staring at each other, motionless.
"Are you going to kiss or what?" I asked after a few minutes had passed without anyone saying a word or moving. That broke the tension, causing the two servants to look at me strangely. "I was just saying," I said, trying to shrink in the chair where I sat as I felt their gazes.
...
"Well," Wright said, "why don't we gather information we already know?"
"It's not that complicated to know who that guy is—Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, one of the protagonists of Journey to the West, a Buddha; I'm just grateful he wasn't summoned that way, otherwise there would have been no way to defeat him. " Assassin spoke, demonstrating his knowledge of heroic spirits.
"Journey to the West, in the end, led to redemption and enlightenment; the only way to obtain it was by tricking or sealing it away," Wright said, scratching his chin.
"Asbes basnate sobre espirituo heroicos," I said thoughtfully, listening to Wright-san's words.
"During the time I was hired and the war began, I prepared myself quite a bit. I researched various aspects of the Sado War and many possible summons. "I'm surprised you were able to summon a hero capable of killing gods. "His comment caught my attention.
"Do you know who Assassin is?" I asked.
"A tall Servant, red eyes, a braided ponytail, blond hair, Assassin class; I don't know many who fall into that category, so it's understandable that he hides his appearance," he explained.
"It's annoying that the books have so many details about my appearance, but knowing that we're allies against that monster, I don't mind revealing a few things; perhaps I don't have the strength to kill a god now, but I can kill that monkey—it just won't be easy," Assassin commented.
"That's true; we're in an alliance now, it doesn't do me much good to hide it, since they'll find out sooner or later." "My Servant is Aśvatthāman, Archer class," I announced to the two.
"A pleasure," he said, his full attention drawn to a book Assassin had pulled from his shadow.
I see he doesn't mind us knowing his identity.
"Well, then this is…" I began, but I didn't know how to introduce him, since he has two entities in one.
"Just call me the Reaper, since that's how I was summoned; the rest doesn't matter, as it doesn't affect anything," Assassin explained.
"Then, this is my Servant, the Reaper, Assassin class," I said as he gave a nod of greeting.
"With everyone introduced and the alliance established, I'd like to include Takeshi Matou with us if possible, since the more Servants fighting against that guy, the better," Wright-san remarked.
"It's true, Matou-san is here. I haven't seen him in a while; at least I know he's not Saber's master. In fact, he could be Sun Wukong's master; that could be a problem," I said thoughtfully.
"There's no way we can know where he is anyway. As far as I know, there's a place he owns, but when I checked, I didn't sense anyone there; it was empty," Archer's master said.
"Perhaps they ran away as soon as they realized that monkey was here," the servant Indu said.
No one could deny that fact, but if they weren't there, where could they be?
"How about we review what we already know? You know Saber's master is the city's chief."
"Was there another servant around?" Wright asked.
"Lancer was there, but he ran away when he couldn't defeat the monkey," Assassin replied.
"There was Lancer, but he ran away when he couldn't handle the monkey," Assassin replied.
"Is there another servant around?" "Then the only classes left are Rider or Berserker, and given his behavior, I only see the latter as a viable option," Archer declared, still looking at the book.
"Then all that's left is for Rider and Caster to appear," he added.
"I have an idea of where a Servant might be," Assassin said, drawing Wright's attention. "There's a temple in the mountains; there are usually barriers there for cultural reasons, but there was another one above it, something more malevolent than usual. It's the perfect and safest place for Caster to be, and if no one wants to fight Berserker, he'll surely go there and fight alone."
That raised alarm bells; if no one answered Berserker's call to fight, he would surely force someone to fight him.
"We could go there before nightfall to talk to Caster and his Master," I said, offering my idea.
"That's not a good idea," my own Servant countered. "If he's a Servant, he's hostile; he could provoke a fight, and you can only fight at night; after all, we're doing this to preserve the mystery, aren't we?"
I can't contradict what he said.
"You're right, it's better to do it at night; use the day to rest and recharge. With that, I'll be going; we'll meet in the park just as night falls," Archer's master said, getting up, ready to leave.
"Understood," I nodded.
With that, the alliance was sealed, and the two guests left my workshop to prepare; besides, Archer didn't return the book.
When they left, I sat down on my bed and lay down to rest. At that moment, Assassin materialized beside me.
"Anomaly?" he asked.
Hearing that word heightened my senses, and the anger I had kept bottled up inside exploded.
"Shut up," he said, lunging at him like a threatened cat.
"Not in the face," my servant said, covering his face to avoid being scratched.
...
It was already dark; Wright-san and I were walking to the temple where Assassin had said he sensed something.
"According to the information I obtained from the clock tower, five Masters have been identified: Matou, Tohsaka, Einzbern, you, and me. The identity and whereabouts of the other two, who must be around here somewhere, are unknown, but they're likely from one of the families that participated in the previous Holy Grail War, trying to fulfill their wish," my ally informed me as we walked.
"I just hope Matou is here so we can do something about that immortal berserker," I said, half-complaining.
"If you're not sure he'll accept the alliance, then there must be a reason," Assassin communicated to me telepathically.
The truth is, Matou is both eccentric and proud; I can't see him accepting an alliance just like that.
As I drifted into my thoughts, I heard an explosion not far from where we were.
"What was that?" I asked.
"It's the temple; it's under attack," Assassin informed me.
I looked around and saw fire and smoke billowing from the temple, then heard the ground begin to shake.
"Damn it, there's no time, Archer; go," Wright told his servant.
"Assassin, go too," I ordered mine.
"Yes, ma'am," Assassin replied, watching as he and Archer moved in the form of translucent spirits toward the temple.
"We need to move to a safe place where we can see everything," Wright-san said.
"I think I know a place," I told him; just as we were about to head to the place I had in mind, we stopped when I saw something out of the corner of my eye.
When I looked and saw it was passing the temple, my jaw dropped, unable to believe what I was seeing.
...
*Moments before*
Third-person POV
Night was falling at the temple. Kenji Tohsaka was watching the sunset, waiting for night to break and, by extension, the second night of this Holy Grail War.
"You're a nuisance, Caster; stop being so annoying." In the background, Takeshi Matou was arguing with his Caster-class servant, Ashiya Dōman.
"Alright, alright, don't get so temperamental, dear Master; I was just teasing you," Caster said playfully.
(Note: The Ashiya Dōman from Fate/GO is an alter ego containing two divine entities and a Japanese character, so I don't know how much that influences his abilities and personality, but I do know that the second and third ascensions were a result of this, so this Dōman will have a less malevolent but more chaotic personality.)
"Having several shikigami chase and torture me isn't a game, Caster. For a moment, I thought you wanted to kill me. Aren't you interested in the Holy Grail?" Matou scolded him.
Caster didn't respond to that; he just laughed.
"On top of everything, I have to make an alliance with the enemy. If it weren't for Grandpa, I wouldn't have agreed," Caster's master complained, almost in a whisper. "I have to admit, though, that monster is terrifying to face, not to mention I don't see Caster being able to stand up to it."
He thought this last part, but from Caster's expression, he had already deduced what his master was thinking.
In a corner, Saber was kneeling, meditating on his past fight, especially what happened with Berserker. If it hadn't been for Archer's help, he would already be back on the throne of heroes.
At that moment, the atmosphere of the place changed completely.
"I see our guest has arrived." Commentary: Caster took a step back, causing a piece of shikigami to fall where she stood. As soon as it hit the ground, it began to slowly dissipate.
In less than a second, several explosions were heard in succession.
Saber quickly stood up and moved to where all the small sounds were coming from.
This action was short-lived, as Saber had to leap backward to dodge a staff, which whizzed past her head at supersonic speed.
In the middle of the temple forest, a figure leaped and landed where Saber had been standing—this Berserker completely ignoring all the barriers surrounding the temple.
Apparently, nothing had changed; the mountain was filled with traps and monsters left by Caster to hinder or weaken him, but Berserker looked as if he had walked through a field of flowers.
Berserker stared at the place, for besides being Caster's workshop, the location held something else special, something that Tohsaka, Matou, and Caster knew: the place where they were was the sanctuary where the Holy Grail was kept.
Without words or conversation, Saber launched herself at great speed toward Berserker. Seeing this display of defiance, he smiled and charged straight at her.
Takeshi didn't hesitate and hid deep within the temple, hoping this would all be over quickly so they could kill that immortal demon.
Seeing his Master's behavior, Caster couldn't help but inwardly mock him, comparing it to Saber's Master, who was not far away, putting up with his Servant.
With a flick of his staff, Berserker struck Saber in the chest, sending him crashing to the ground. Just as he was about to continue the beating, several talismans appeared around him, bursting into flames beneath him.
Berserker was engulfed in Caster's fire, which was very effective, but the Monkey King's regeneration was another matter entirely. By the time the attack ended, he was already 75% healed.
"Don't let him rest, Saber," Tohsaka ordered her Servant.
"Yes," he replied, enveloping his sword in wind to make his attacks sharper and more powerful.
Berserker responded to all this with relative ease; Saber's combat skills had improved significantly compared to the previous night, demonstrating her prodigious talent, but Wukong's level was something else entirely.
He may not have been summoned as a Buddha or a Saver-class warrior, but those memories still lingered in his mind; he still knew all those techniques and moves and had no qualms about using them.
Saber leaped back and, drawing her sword forward, unleashed a venomous water attack at her opponent. He leaped high to dodge it; at that moment, several eye-shaped talismans began attacking in quick succession.
Thus, Saber and Caster's coordinated attacks began to slowly push Berserker back.
For the first time, Berserker was on the defensive, but even with that, they still couldn't figure out how to kill him.
Realizing this, she decided to go after the more troublesome of the two and, with a swift strike, went straight for Caster.
"I won't allow it," Saber said, following behind.
The clash of weapons and Caster's spells meant Berserker could only maintain a certain distance from Caster, who was constantly on the move.
But in a moment of carelessness, Berserker's staff extended in less than a second and pierced Caster's chest, seemingly killing him.
But the Caster fighting there wasn't the real Caster but a shikigami possessing the illusion of Caster.
"What bad luck, it wasn't the real one, dear Berserker," Caster's mocking voice echoed everywhere.
Berserker turned to strike another Caster trying to attack him from behind, only to realize that this one was also an illusion.
The real Caster was nowhere to be seen.
Faced with Saber's constant attacks and Caster's repeated saves by both of them, Berserker had no choice but to take a more drastic approach.
Several fire talismans fell upon the monkey, creating several massive explosions visible from afar.
Amidst all the smoke, Berserker was seen ascending into the sky with the aid of his staff, returning to his original form and remaining suspended in mid-air.
"Do as I will, Pillar of Heaven, Ruyi Jingu Bang!" Berserker announced, throwing the staff into the air.
In an instant, the staff grew to a size much larger than the temple itself.
Seeing this, Saber didn't hesitate and grabbed his master forcefully, and with a swift movement, dragged him out of the temple.
Takeshi, who had hidden himself well within the temple, was unaware of this.
"Master, I think you should move from where you are or you will die," Caster said telepathically to his master.
"Why do you say that? What's wrong with you?" he didn't finish his last question, because when he emerged, he saw, wide-eyed and wide-eyed, the giant pillar collapsing where he stood.
"Ah, you took your time, Master. I hope you haven't had any regrets in your life, hehehehe." That was the last thing Takeshi heard before being crushed by the massive berserker staff, along with the entire temple on the mountain, dying instantly.
Ashiya Dōman, who was lying on a tree branch at the edge of the temple barrier, sighed, knowing he didn't have much time left there.
"It's a shame my master is the first to die; otherwise, perhaps I could have made another contract with another master," Caster lamented, standing up and clasping his hands as he gazed at the city. "But before I go, I won't forget to leave a gift for my dear friend Tohsaka."
Using all the mana he had left, he unleashed his final attack.
"Maelstrom—Demonic Minister of the Left," he said, and a spirit eye appeared above Fuyuki. Caster didn't see the effects of his Noble Phantasm, as it had already vanished, returning to the Heroes' Throne.
------------------------------------------------------------
Don't worry about Ashiya Douman's limited screen time; this will be rewarded in the Lostbelt. I had to start killing Servants; it would be strange if all seven were alive on the final night of the war.
By the way, here are Sun Wukong's stats for you to admire. I also updated the stats and descriptions for chapter 22.5, so feel free to check them out.
That's all; I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Sun Wukong (Berserker) Stats
STR: A++
END: EX
AGI: EX
MN: B++
LCK: A
NP: EX