"Clang!"
In the resounding clash, the shield and bow collided in the raging wind, causing both users to be pushed back, creating some distance between them.
"Tsk..."
The Archer clicked his tongue. He had seen it now.
In front of him, two figures had suddenly appeared, and he couldn't tell when they had approached.
"Are you the attacker?"
With a vigilant gaze and expression, Mash questioned the Archer while remaining on guard. Rozen, standing behind Mash, also observed the Archer and confirmed his identity.
"Indeed, the attacker is a Servant, and the class is Archer. Not surprising, I guess?"
Rozen's voice clearly reached the Archer's ears.
"Having the ability to make such precise shots, you can only be a Servant. I doubt you're like those subpar 'shadows' incapable of speaking, right?"
Rozen teased the Archer, all the while being cautious in his heart.
If the opponent was a true Servant, not some imitation from a simulated battle, he had to be careful not to be killed.
With that in mind, Rozen intended to stall for time, engage in conversation, and gather information to find an advantageous strategy.
His taunting seemed to have some effect.
"I must admit; I'm quite surprised. To think you managed to get close to me while occupying the high ground."
Archer glanced at Mash, who was on guard, then turned his attention back to Rozen.
"How did you do it?"
That was Archer's question.
"Whether in the sky or on the ground, nothing escapes my 'Clairvoyance,' making it quite challenging for anyone to get close. Did you use invisibility magic or a precious treasure capable of spatial transfer?"
Archer could only think of these possibilities.
Unfortunately...
"Wrong," Rozen shrugged, saying, "I didn't need to use invisibility magic or any rare treasure capable of spatial transfer. All I needed was something in the underground of this town, isn't that right?"
In the know, Archer was momentarily confused, but then he quickly understood.
"Ah, I see. It's the sewer, right?"
Exactly.
The last thing Rozen saw before he took cover behind the building was the entrance to the sewer.
By entering the sewer and following its path, he could approach Archer without being seen.
As for locating Archer, that was even simpler.
"Even though you are several kilometers away from us, to snipe us from such a distance, you would need a high vantage point. Among all the directions, this place is the most suitable."
Rozen's laughter dispelled all of Archer's doubts.
"Very well, now it's my turn to ask questions."
Rozen shifted his gaze towards Archer, his voice becoming solemn.
"Who sent you to attack us? And who is your Master?"
First and foremost, this question needed to be answered.
Aside from that, Rozen had many other inquiries.
Among them, the most crucial one was...
"What happened to this town? Why has it turned into this?"
Rozen voiced the most important question.
The burning city, reduced to ruins.
This was undoubtedly an abnormal state.
If Rozen's guess was correct, he had been transferred through Spiritrons to the year 2004.
The fire in the control room led to the first failed operation of Chaldea.
However, the initial Spiritron transfer experiment of Chaldea had already begun before Rozen left the control room. After the explosion in the control room, the system detected the experiment's termination, automatically switching from manual to automatic operation, transferring the intact Master Spiritrons to the operational destination. It wasn't anything peculiar.
In other words, at this moment, Rozen was in the 2004 Fuyuki City, inside the Singularity F.
After all, Chaldea's records did not mention this massive fire engulfing the entire town in 2004.
This could only mean that an abnormality had occurred in this era, unrecorded, and something unprecedented in human history was happening.
This event led to the extinction of human history.
Now, Rozen was determined to figure out this question.
"Don't tell me you don't want to answer?" Rozen said with a playful smile. "The current situation is favorable for us."
Even though the ambush had failed, facing an Archer, from such a close range, even a Servant would be taken down by Mash before they could draw their bow.
Unless...
"You think getting closer will secure your victory?"
Archer's cold voice transmitted.
The next moment, Archer did something.
He released the bow from his hands.
"Buzz!"
Magic surged once again, converging into a red, lightning-like form in Archer's hands.
Immediately after, Archer's hands gripped two short swords formed by magic, appearing like polar opposites.
"What...!?"
Mash was shocked.
"He has swords...!?"
Rozen was equally taken aback.
Clearly, the class was Archer, so why did he have swords?
Even if the Archer from this era was proficient in swordsmanship, when a Servant's Spirit Origin was summoned, they should only be allowed to possess their bow as a Noble Phantasm.
At the same time as this surprise, Rozen immediately understood.
As a magus, Rozen knew precisely what the Servant before him had just done.
"Projection...!?"
——Projection.
It was a magic that materialized items that once existed in reality, creating them as imitations using magical energy.
The Servant before his eyes had manifested the swords through this means.
In other words, the opponent hadn't used a Noble Phantasm; he employed magecraft.
"You made a mistake assuming that an Archer could only use a bow, unknown Master."
Leaving these words behind, the nameless Archer smiled before his expression turned cold. He then stomped the ground with astonishing momentum and launched a charge.
"Master!"
Mash immediately leaped forward and stood in front of Rozen, raising her shield, ready to confront Archer.
Suddenly...
"——!"
Archer, charging at full speed, abruptly stopped in his tracks, turned his head, and looked in a certain direction.
His expression shifted from anger to annoyance.
"That pesky dog!"
After uttering such an annoyed remark, Archer paid no attention to Rozen and Mash, turned around, and transformed into particles, disappearing from sight.
"This..."
Mash was stunned.
"Dog...?"
Rozen frowned.
The entire tower was now left with only this pair of young boys and girls.
The cold wind blew, carrying the smell of ash.
A few minutes later, Rozen and Mash had already left the iron tower and returned to the burning city.
Continuing to stay in the conspicuous tower was not an option, so Rozen had Mash lead the way to a temporary hideout in one of the ruined buildings to avoid a second attack.
However, as they regained their senses, both of them looked at each other, caught in indescribable and complex emotions.
"Um... Are you okay, Senpai?"
"...Yeah, I'm fine."
"Is there anything wrong with your body?"
"I don't think so."
"That's good, then."
"Yeah..."
After a brief exchange, they fell silent again.
Rozen lifted his gaze and looked at the transformed girl before him, who seemed both resolute and uneasy. He sighed and decided to break the silence.
"Let me understand the situation first. If I'm not mistaken, Mash, you have indeed become a Servant, right?" Rozen calmly asked.
It was already an undeniable fact.
Having escaped the sudden crisis, Rozen had felt the connection between himself and Mash, something he had overlooked before.
This connection felt like an invisible link, allowing Rozen to easily send his mana into Mash's body and even issue commands through the Command Spell on his hand.
Rozen was well aware of what this meant.
It meant...
"You've formed a contract with me as a Servant, haven't you?" Rozen inquired, each word deliberate and certain.
In response, Mash nodded, then shook her head to correct herself.
"I have indeed formed a contract with you, Senpai, and I did gain the power of a Servant. However, my current state is not that of a regular Servant."
She paused briefly in her words before continuing.
"I have become a 'Pseudo-Servant.'"
Hearing this, Rozen's initial reaction wasn't surprise but a wry smile.
"As expected... it's like that, huh?"
A 'Pseudo-Servant.'
It wasn't a particularly special type of Servant; rather, it was something created by the hands of humans.
Servants, despite possessing superhuman powers, were legendary and mythical heroes from the past, each with their own exceptional will and beliefs. It would be unrealistic to expect them to be mere familiars, obediently following any order given by their Masters. In fact, they might even betray or disobey their Masters, creating a situation where the summoning might backfire.
To prevent such scenarios, Command Spells were introduced.
Command Spells were a set of three command seals that allowed the Master to forcefully control their Servant. Each seal represented one command. This system was originally created to enforce control over the Servants, but in Chaldea, it was adjusted to focus on "support" rather than "domination." The Command Spells were mostly used to enhance and heal the Servant, resembling more of a "curse" than a means of control.
Of course, if all three Command Spells were used at once, it would still be possible to force the Servant's obedience.
However, having to rely on Command Spells every time to compel a Servant would create significant problems and hinder their effectiveness in battle. Moreover, the existence of a Servant itself consumed mana, and to compensate for various drawbacks, Chaldea initiated an experiment.
"The fusion of human and Heroic Spirit..."
That's right.
The fusion of human and Heroic Spirit.
This was one of the ongoing experiments from over a decade ago, the sixth experiment conducted by Chaldea.
"By fusing with a Heroic Spirit, the experimental subject not only gains the power of a Servant but, because they aren't a spiritual entity, they don't consume mana just by existing. What's even more remarkable is their obedience to commands, enabling them to avoid various disadvantages. This is what we call a 'Pseudo-Servant.'"
Rozen looked at Mash with a bitter tone.
"This experiment, has it really been completed now?"
The experiment on pseudo-Servants had started over a decade ago, yet until now, it had never succeeded. Rozen couldn't believe that it had been accomplished under these circumstances.
Mash responded, "After all, I was originally created for this purpose."
Her voice remained steady, causing Rozen to clench his fist.
At this point, there was no need to say anything more. Mash was indeed one of the experimental subjects for this project. This was her past, and it was her fate and life before she appeared in Chaldea two years ago.
She had been freed only after the experiment failed two years ago, allowing her to openly exist in Chaldea. But in the end, she had become something other than human.
"Damn it...!" Rozen couldn't help but curse.
A moment later, a pair of soft hands gently held his clenched fist.
"Please don't be so angry, Senpai."
Mash wrapped her fingers around his clenched hand with tenderness.
Her face was adorned with a serene smile.
"I don't see anything wrong with this."
Her candid words echoed in the air.
"At least now, I possess the power to protect you. I can fight alongside you as your Servant, and that makes me very happy."
This was no lie.
The girl named Mash was undoubtedly genuinely grateful for her current situation.
"With my current abilities, I can fight."
Mash smiled at Rozen.
However, Rozen couldn't help but feel a twinge of heartache when he saw her smile.
"What are you so happy about?" he thought.
He recalled the look in Mash's eyes not long ago.
Besides the usual trust, there was something else in her eyes.
That something was called fear.
"On the one hand, she's happy to have the power to fight alongside me, and on the other hand, she's afraid of the battles themselves, fearing what it means to fight..."
Rozen gripped Mash's hand in response and made a firm decision in his heart.
"I definitely won't let her face all of this alone..."
"Definitely..."
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