บท 572: Terrible First Impression
Edward returned to Tohsaka, standing close to Shirou and Saber.
"What a brilliant battle," commented Tohsaka. She saw everything and saw how this battle was a pure demonstration of basic skills. Edward only used a basic Mana Energy Attack and Invisible Spell but displayed superb control over them.
"That's why I say you need better Mana Control."
"Okay, Grandpa," Tohsaka rolled her eyes.
"Rin, can you tell what's going on?" asked Shirou, and Tohsaka was about to answer. But she noticed her servant and Saber eying each other.
"Do you two know each other?"
"No, but he looked familiar," replied Saber.
"We do know each other, in a manner of speaking," nodded Edward. But as soon as he finished his words, everything around him stopped moving. Then, Saber's facial expression and temperament changed; she became nobler, more righteous, and her gaze more piercing.
Edward immediately realized what had happened since this was not the first time, "Hello, Senior Brother."
"So, you're the new disciple that the master has been talking about," said Arthur Pendragon, looking up and down at Edward. His face turned into disgust, "You reek of immeasurable sins."
"Interesting," muttered Edward as the smile on his face faded, "The old man warned me of you. I guess he was underestimating how much of a jackass you were."
"I don't understand why he would choose someone like you," continued Arthur. "People like you are the easiest to be tempted and fall into the darkness. He could have chosen anyone, so why this kind of personality?"
Edward put his pinky in his nose and acted like he was picking for something, "Are you done?" He flicked the nonexistent booger in her/his direction. "If you came to say this nonsense, you can leave now. Your presence already ruined my day."
Arthur shook his head in disappointment, "I don't know why I expected so much from you."
"Do you know me?" asked Edward.
"Not personally, but I've met your type," replied Arthur. "People whose sanity is on the narrow line are usually held together by a few individuals they love. People like you are extreme as they can do whatever is necessary to achieve their goal, and yours happens to be the pursuit of magic. Did I miss something?"
"You did not," admitted Edward calmly. "But two can play at this game. Let me think about what kind of person you are. Extreme Righteous who believed the world was simple: either white or black. The existence of anything that does not fall into these two categories disgusts you, and you naturally label them as black. Normally, such a normal point of view or ideals would be fine, especially with someone like Merlin protecting or shielding you from the world—until the war begins."
Edward saw the slight flinch of Arthur/Saber's body.
"In this terrible war, your views crumbled faster than you could respond. You were forced to make decisions with terrible consequences. Now, you spent countless nights awake thinking about the righteousness you held dear. You keep asking yourself whether you are still a good man."
"You don't know me," said Arthur through gritted teeth.
"But I do," replied Edward. "War is cruel, and no good man who has experienced it can truthfully say they remain good. And such a thought is simply destroying you."
"Have you said enough?"
"Actually, no," continued Edward. "You've obviously been building a lot of stress, and somehow, you thought you could take it out on me. I don't care about your psychological problem. Go be a little bitch somewhere else."
Edward did not care whether his "senior disciple" did not like him, but he could be civil, at the very least, for the sake of Merlin. But no, he had to be rude on their first encounter.
"You!" grunted Arthur as he took a step forward.
"Enough!" A powerful voice echoed in this frozen universe, and Edward immediately recognized it.
"Old Man? How are you?" yelled Edward.
"I'm fine," replied Merlin. "Just a little busy."
"It's good to hear from you," continued Edward.
"Same, but you need to hurry up. Once you reach Tier 12, you will start getting involved with this war."
"In that case, shouldn't I slow down my progress?" asked Edward.
"What do you think?"
"I know, I know, I will hurry up."
"I'm glad you understand. Arthur, haven't you embarrassed yourself enough? Leave now."
"I'm sorry, master." He quickly disappeared to prevent his master from forcing him to apologize to this bastard.
"I'm sorry about him," the voice echoed.
"It's okay. We don't have to be friends, just civil," replied Edward.
Merlin sighed, "I truly regretted raising him so sheltered." The war was stressing him out, let alone someone like Arthur. "Kid, I'm serious. Time is running out."
Time continued forward, and Edward heard Saber's feminine voice asking, "So, you do know me? How?"
"I knew your master," responded Edward.
"Merlin?"
"Yes."
Her frown deepened as she could not recognize this person by this description alone.
"Let's go to your house, and I will explain everything," said Tohsaka. Back at Shirou's eyes, Tohsaka explained everything about the Holy Grail War to Shirou, including the relationships between Masters and Servants and the fact they were enemies. Things proceeded as Edward saw them in the Fate/Unlimited Blade Works, as Shirou could not completely wrap her head around the situation.
So, Tohsaka decided to bring him to see the war supervisor, Kotomine Kirei.
"Before we leave, could you help him?" asked Tohsaka.
"Pardon me?"
"He doesn't know the basics of basic. Could you give him some help so that he can at least help Saber dematerialize?"
Servants can return to their spirit form or materialize, but it's all based on the Master's ability and mana. Unfortunately, since Shirou is a shoddy mage, Saber could only remain in physical form while losing a lot of mana.
"You do know they're the enemy, right?" asked Edward.
"I know, but he saved my life, and I don't want to be indebted to him. So, I will help him this time, then, we will be enemies."
Edward looked her in the eyes. A similar thing happened in the anime, and Tohsaka did not hesitate to attack Shirou, but Edward was skeptical. A mage like Shirou should not have survived for so long in even the Tohsaka in the anime. Of course, the latter is the protagonist, so, understandably, the plot saved him as events soon unfolded where they had to work together.
"Fine, I will do it, but know I'm doing so unwillingly."
"That's fine. So, what's the plan?"
"I will directly implant basic knowledge in his mind," replied Edward. "We should probably do so after the church."
"Why?"
"Because he will have a terrible headache for the next 12 hours after the process."
Tohsaka looked at him; she felt this side-effect was suspicious; at the very least, the long duration was probably international. However, she could not see anything from Edward's facial expression.
"Very well."
The team then headed to the church to meet Kisei.
Void:
Edward sensed the communication with his Avatar, stopped what he was doing, and looked at a projection of this universe on the screen before him. He shook his head before continuing his research.
He wanted to create the Speed Force to update Morgana's core processor as quickly as possible. Her help was indispensable if he wanted to create a Tier 11 Weapon.
บท 573: Berserker
Edward entered a spiritual form as he accompanied Tohsaka, Shirou, and Saber to the Church to meet Kirei. The discussion proceeded with how he remembered it in the anime. Saber stayed outside while Shirou learned about the Holy Grail War and stated his displeasure at this game, specifically that masters must kill one another to be the final winner.
He did not want to participate in such a cruel competition, but Kirei played on his desire to save people to convince him that he was the best choice to be the final winner and prevent the grail from falling into the wrong hands. Once the conversation ended, the group returned home.
The Church:
"Why don't you say anything?" asked Kirei, talking to himself in the empty church.
"What do you expect me to say?" asked a shadow that seemed to have always been here, but no one noticed.
"The legendary Arcane Emperor is participating in this war, and you want me to believe you have nothing to say?"
"It has yet been determined whether he is worthy of his legend," said Gilgamesh, who did not like how this Arcane Emperor is often compared to him, the King of Heroes.
Kirei turned to face him, "Is it me, or does it seem like you have a deeper reason for not liking the Arcane Emperor?"
"I have nothing to hide," replied Gilgamesh. "It's because of [Netheri]."
"The legendary floating city?"
"My Gate of Babylon contained all powerful Mystic Codes ever created or wielded by any hero, but I don't have this city or any of the Arcane Emperor's works besides a few of his early works," explained Gilgamesh. "I don't know how he did it, but I want what is rightfully mine."
The Arcane Emperor is famous for many things, one of which is his accomplishment in Alchemy, specifically the field of Mystic Codes (Magic Artifacts).
"You should be careful when dealing with him," warned Kirei. "From what Lancer said, he might have detected something." Lancer's report showed that the Arcane Emperor only used basic spells, a sign that he was weary of prying eyes, so he decided not to reveal his real ability.
"Do you think I will lose?" asked Gilgamesh with a hideous expression.
"I'm telling you to be careful when dealing with an opponent of this caliber." After saying these words, he walked to his office without any more words.
…
As Tohsaka's group walked home, they were forced to stop as a little girl with all white hair appeared before them with a towering figure.
"Hello, big brother," said Illyasviel von Einzbern. "Excellent, you're here with everybody. I can kill all of you and eliminate the weaklings. Berserker, get rid of them."
The close to three meters tall Berserker followed his master's orders as it slowly walked toward the group. Edward suddenly appeared and said, "Saber, I will assist, but you must stop it."
Saber did not immediately respond to him but looked at Shirou, "Master, what's your order? Do you have a plan?"
"Let's…follow his plan."
"As you wish."
"What about me? What should I do?" asked Tohsaka.
"You're in charge of dealing with the Master. Go easy, and don't kill her if you can."
"Why?"
"She's a girl with a poor fate. If I can help it, I don't want anything to happen to her."
Tohsaka gave him an odd look, "If you say so."
Edward raised his staff, and countless magic circles surrounded Saber, who immediately raised her guard. "Relax, I'm just boosting your stats so you have a chance against such a titan."
He was not lying as Saber felt a rushed power coursing through her veins. Her defense, strength, agility, stamina, magic defense, and even mana capacity had drastically increased. She glanced at him before rushing toward Berserker, directly clashing against him.
"Your turn," said Edward, looking at Shirou.
"Me? What can I do?"
"You need to learn the basics to provide better help/mana to Saber," Edward replied before casting a spell. "As I said before, it will hurt."
Shirou immediately began to groan in pain as he held his head. Edward secretly praised him for not screaming in agony on the floor. He directed his focus to the battle. Despite his buffs, Saber was still disadvantaged in his fight against Berserker, whose real identity was the Greek Demigod Hercules.
He raised his staff to fire Mana Missiles, targeting Berserker's weak points and forcing him to stop many of his offenses. Saber would take this opportunity to strike, but the Demigod was extremely agile for his size. Furthermore, despite losing his mind due to his Berserker Class, he still retains the battle experience and instinct from when he was sound of mind.
Suddenly, an energy-based weapon materialized in Berserker's empty hand as he began to duel wield. Saber's pressure immediately intensified.
'Illya's familiar?' thought Edward as he recognized this type of magic that turned familiars into weapons. He checked on Tohsaka's battle. In the anime, she was slightly overwhelmed by Illya's magic, but now, it was the reverse. However, the little white-haired girl was smart and noticed Tohsaka's lack of control of her mana due to the sudden increase and used it to her advantage to hold on in this fight.
'I cannot continue to fight so passively,' thought Edward. He could sense Gilgamesh's hidden presence and knew that if he did not reveal some information, it might force the latter to act in unpredictable ways.
After pondering briefly, he knew what to do. Saber continued to attack Berserker, but she was losing. The latter's stats were higher than hers, and his combat ability was much better. Her only advantage was Edward's support and intelligence, as Berserker only acted on instinct.
Saber lured her opponent into a false move, and after sacrificing a sword attack on her shoulder, she created an opening. She immediately activated a part of her Noble Phantasm—Excalibur. She generated a massive slash that cut Berserker's upper body in half.
"Get out of the way," screamed Edward, and Saber turned around to see what looked like a cannon appearing from a void crack above his head. She rushed forward to pick up her master, who was still in pain and rushed out of the way.
The cannon flashed with thunder before firing. A booming sound echoed in the neighborhood, followed by an explosion where Berserker stood. Many of the surrounding houses were destroyed as a result of this attack.
"Is it over?" asked Tohsaka, who was blown away by the wind generated by this attack.
"No," replied Edward, and as expected, Berserker and Illya appeared perfectly intact at the explosion's epicenter.
"It seems I was wrong," said Illya in a cute but intimidating voice. "You guys are not as weak as I believed, especially you, Saber. I look forward to fighting with you again."
She disappeared without a trace, making some members of the team feel relieved.
"You seem to be hiding a lot from me," said Tohsaka to Edward.
"That's obvious," he replied. "You can ask once we're alone, but know some things should be known at the right time."
She glanced at him but said nothing more. Shirou was still in terrible shape, so they brought him home and helped him recuperate.
"Why are you staring at me?" asked Edward, perplexed by what Saber had been doing since they returned.
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