บท 64: Meeting Saber and Irisviel
Time trickled by after everything was set up and one year later, the Holy Grail War was about to start. With all the participants ready.
Kirei who was allied with Tohsaka Tokiomi, had summoned the Assassin class Servant of the war, the Hassan of a Hundred Faces and started spreading their bodies around to create an observation network, this all occurring under Jun's watch.
As for the other masters except for one, as if having arranged for a simultaneous summon between them, all summoned their Servants in the same night a few days later.
Waver summoned the Rider Iskandar, King of Conquerors.
Tokiomi, representing the Tohsaka Clan and accompanied by Kirei, summoned the Archer Gilgamesh, King of Heroes.
Kiritsugu representing the Einzbern clan and, accompanied by Irisviel summoned Artoria Pendragon, King of Knights.
Kariya, representing the Matou clan, summoned Berserker Lancelot, Knight of the Lake.
Finally, on a later date, Kayneth El Melloi Archibald who became the last to summon a Servant, accompanied by his wife Sola Ui summoned Lancer, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, First among the Knights of Fianna.
The days went by and Kirei along with Tokiomi put on their little show. To hide their cooperative relationship, Kirei sent one of Hassan's bodies to attack the Tohsaka residence and Tokiomi and Archer kill him.
Thus Kirei entered the Church's protection as a defeated master, even as the rest of Hassan's bodies surveyed the city.
Jun also noticed Kariya became a master but he had no idea why as Sakura was no longer in need of saving but he didn't really care, perhaps he would come to know in the course of the war.
Speaking of Sakura, the little girl had settled in and taken to calling everyone her big sisters while Jun was her dearest big brother who she liked the most, much to Atalanta's chagrin as she was the one who spent the most time with Sakura.
Jun had begun training her in magecraft and to make sure she was always well protected, Nyxo now lived in her shadow. As for what he was teaching her in specific, only the basics of magecraft for now.
How Magus Society worked, how to control her magic circuits and finely manipulate magical energy as well as teaching her martial arts and a breathing technique.
To her credit, Sakura handled it really well and said she was going to make her father regret throwing her away and her mother and big sister how good she had gotten.
Kiritsugu had arrived in Fuyuki and this time, there was no Maya and he was redying things alone. About half a day later, Irisviel and Saber arrived seemingly taking to touring Fuyuki. As night fell the two stopped by a beach and Jun decided to take the opportunity to meet them.
"Mor!" Jun called out and she came running.
"Is it time!?" She agitatedly asked.
"Calm down." Jun said.
"But yes, it's time to go and meet your father." He added.
"I thought you wanted to keep the fact that there are other Servants a secret." Mordred said.
"Yeah but this is a good opportunity to work on your doubts and you are more important that some plans I made long ago." Jun responded, making the Knight of Rebellion blush.
"Alright then! Let's go!" Mordred gathered her resolve.
On the Beach, Irisviel was dipping her feet on the water while Saber was dressed in a business suit but instantly, they realized they were trapped in a high level bounded field, Saber donned her armor.
Jun had put up a bounded field where time was accelerated, a basic reality marble which only Jun could create one so fast without any materials.
"Show yourself!" Saber called out and Mordred appeared with her helmet off.
"Long time no see . . . Father. Though I guess it wasn't that long for you." Mordred greeted.
Saber was speechless.
"Father!? Then you must be-" Irisviel started.
"I am Mordred! The Knight of Rebellion!" She proudly announced.
"Mordred . . . Were you summoned in this war? Did you fall so lo as to become a Berserker?" Saber questioned.
"Worry not father! I am a Saber my master bound me to this world after our victory in another Holy Grail War." Mordred snarkily explained and Jun came out.
Saber and Irisviel were surprised by the otherworldly beautiful man that came out . . . And the swirling magical energy that surrounded him.
"It's my pleasure to meet you both, King of Knights, Artoria Pendragon and Irisviel Von Einzbern. I am Mordred's master and the master of Caster in the current Holy Grail War, Haikami Jun." Jun greeted and introduced himself.
"Why have you come here, Haikami Jun?" Irisviel asked.
"Mordred needed to face her "father". That's the only reason I came and I guess I can talk a while with you while they settle their differences.." Jun said.
"I see, alright then! Saber, I leave you to talk with your . . . "son". I'll be talking with this gentleman in the meanwhile." Irisviel said.
"Gentleman huh? Never been called like that before, I guess I should be flattered." Jun replied and Irisviel giggled.
As Mordred and Artoria looked awkwardly at each other, Jun began his conversation with Irisviel.
"Tell me Irisviel, may I call that?" Jun asked with a killer smile.
"Y-Yes, go on ahead." Irisviel responded with just a slight stutter revealing her underlying nervousness.
"Do you want me to save your life?" Jun inquired, shocking her.
"My fate has already been decided and I don't want to ruin his dreams for my life alone." Irisviel replied wistfully.
"Emiya Kiritsu huh . . . But what if I told you I had a way to recover your existence, after the ritual is complete?" Jun continued.
Irisviel was even more shocked as she froze.
"W-What do you m-mean!?" She asked.
"I believe I was fairly obvious." Jun replied.
"I . . . I never thought about it." Irisviel honestly replied, still a bit in shock.
"Besides . . . Kiritsugu's wish will end in failure." Jun dropped the bomb.
"W-What!?" Irisviel shouted.
But, looking at Jun's grin she immediately accused.
"You're enjoying this!"
"Just a little." Jun honestly admitted.
He then proceeded to explain to Irisviel about Angra Mainyu, the defective grail, and even the futility of Kiritsugu's wish, even if the Grail was not corrupted, as well as the consequences of his failure for Illya, their daughter.
"I know it's a lot to take in so I don't need an answer now." Jun added at the end.
"You seem to know a lot of things . . . How?" Irisviel asked.
"My eyes see many things." Jun mysteriously said and showed her his Rainbow Colored Origin Eyes of Akasha which seemed to convince her.
"Don't worry about such things now though, let us just enjoy the show." He suggested.
"The show?" Irisviel asked, shaking off her deep thoughts briefly and suddenly, the clashing of swords was heard.
Artoria and Mordred had begun fighting.
"Mordred!" Saber shouted.
"This is my way of communicating father!" Mordred shouted back and they both back stepped and held up their swords as they got ready for a serious duel.
"See?" Jun said to Irisviel.
"Shouldn't we stop them?" She asked.
"No, this is something they need." Jun replied.
"But don't worry. I'll stop them if it gets too hot." He added much to Irisviel's relief.
'He seems to care for them, not just Mordred but Saber as well." Irisviel thought.
Meanwhile, the "father" and "son" dashed towards one another, Mana Burst boosting them forward at blinding speeds.
Mordred savagely assaulted Artoria with her wild style while she skillfully fended of her blows. Unlike Artoria who kept her Mana Burst of full blast during the whole fight using her massive amount of magical energy, Mordred used it like the skill's name implied, in short bursts.
This added to the unpredictability creation questions like when a full powered strike would actually come or when a burst of speed would suddenly happen.
'Damn it! I can't break through father's guard!' Mordred complained in her mind.
What she didn't know, was that Artoria was extremely shocked under her cool exterior.
'What's going on? How did she get so powerful? Not only that . . . Her skill has risen greatly since our battle on Camlan . . .' She thought.
'Although her wild style remains the same, her hits are heavier, more precise and her movements have become more efficient, her physical parameters feel similar but her magical energy output seems greater and her instincts more refined . . .' Artoria accurately evaluated.
"You have gotten stronger." Artoria suddenly said, making Mordred stall in surprise at the sudden praise.
"It's all thanks to my master!" Mordred bragged.
"Too bad yours can't do the same!" She mocked with gusto.
Then Artoria said something that shocked Mordred out of the blue.
"Did my ideals hurt you that much Mordred?" She asked with a twinge of pain crossing her face.
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P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!
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You'll get to read up to FOUR week ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.
There's also my other novel Archon of DanMachi, do check it out!
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