TYPE-MOON Universe, Earth, Japan, Fuyuki City.
"She left the room." Tatsuo said suddenly while washing dishes after dinner on the fourth day of their time in the TYPE-MOON Universe.
Hearing that, Elicia, who was casually chatting with Sakura, shot up to her feet mid-sentence and ran into her bedroom to change clothes. Sakura, on the other hand, calmly stood up and started walking towards the kitchen.
"Assassin, let me finish washing the dishes." Sakura said. "It's more important for you to get ready to go, isn't it?"
Nodding at Sakura with a smile, Tatsuo put the dish he was washing into the dish rack. Then, he dried his hands.
"Well, getting ready is pretty simple for me." Tatsuo said calmly. "But thanks anyway, Sakura."
"Okay, let's go!" Elicia said, not letting the two chat for too long. "We got a psycho priest to stop and a Clock Tower Magus to save!"
Nodding once more to Sakura, Tatsuo's body flashed with light for a moment. Then, his attire, which consisted of a simple black t-shirt and black sweat pants, changed into the clothing he wore when he was first summoned as a Servant. Then, with the use of [Maiestas Divina], he turned in tangible before letting himself slip through the floor.
Meanwhile, Elicia, wearing a white, swish-nylon track suit and a black crop top sprinted towards the suite's front door.
"See you when we get back, Sakura!" Elicia shouted as she disappeared through the door.
"Be careful." Sakura said quietly while watching the two people that saved her from a life of hell run off towards what could be a dangerous situation.
A moment later, Sakura shook her head. Then, she turned towards the kitchen sink and started washing the remaining dishes.
By now, Tatsuo had fallen through quite a few floors, making himself tangible every few floors so that he doesn't reach dangerous speeds. And by the time he reached the ground floor of the hotel, Bazett was just walking through the front doors while wearing a suit.
{"Lici, they're just about to leave the hotel."} Tatsuo said over the telepathic link.
{"Got it."} Elicia replied quickly. {"You keep an eye on them, I'll catch up."}
{"Sounds good."} Tatsuo replied. {"Be careful when you approach, though. Lancer has senses like an animal."}
{"Don't worry about that."} Elicia said with a grin that was audible over the telepathic link. {"Not even the Dragon Slayers in my guild can find me if I really don't wanna be found with my [Camouflage Magic]. And I doubt Cú Chulainn could out sniff Natsu when he's looking for food."}
{"I'll take your word for it, then."} Tatsuo replied while shaking his head.
With that, the two ended the telepathic communications for now. Then, Tatsuo ran through the front doors to follow Bazett and Lancer, who was in astral form and traveling right next to her, while activating his [Stealth Skill].
It took Bazett and Lancer about forty-five minutes to walk from the hotel to the Fuyuki Church. And Elicia managed to catch up with Tatsuo along the way. Then, when Bazett entered the church, both Tatsuo and Elicia slipped in, as well. Though, it seemed that no one was aware of their entrance.
{"Gilgamesh is here."} Tatsuo muttered over the telepathic link while hanging from the ceiling of the church. {"If we're not careful, this whole church could get destroyed."}
{"Yeah."} Elicia replied. {"Too bad we can't just kill Kotomine. Even if we did, he would still stick around. If I remember correctly, he has an A or A+ in Independent Action. So, he would stick around long enough to cause a lotof trouble during the War when it starts."}
{"Only if he lives that long."} Tatsuo said with a vicious grin. {"It's just too bad I can't learn any decent skills from the guy. He really has no fighting skill to think of. Instead, he just launches weapons from his [Gate of Babylon] like a damn machine gun. And the [Gate of Babyon] is a useless ability without the treasures inside of it."}
{"Well, that's true."} Elicia said with a shrug. {"But can you really kill him that easily."}
{"Everyone dies if the space their body is occupying is split in half, you know."} Tatsuo replied without a shred of uncertainty.
From her spot near the church's door, Elicia wanted to tell Tatsuo not to be overconfident because Gilgamesh was a top-tier Servant. But before she could say anything, she remembered how she mistook Alfonzo's confidence for arrogance in the past. She then realized that, although Tatsuo sounded confident, what he said was true. So, she let the topic go.
On top of that, Bazett and Kirei were just about to start their conversation. So, she switched all her focus onto the upcoming altercation.
"Miss McRemitz, welcome." Kirei said as he stepped forward with a hand outstretched for a handshake. "I see you made it to Fuyuki with no issues."
"I did." Bazett replied with a serious expression. "I've come to register for the Holy Grail War and to show you my Servant after setting up my workshop. After that, I will begin more extensive preparations."
"I would expect no less from you." Kirei said with his usual fake smile. "That is why I mentioned you when I was asked if I had any recommendations for this year's Grail War."
By now, Kirei was close enough that Bazett could also reach out her hand to accept his handshake. And she did just that.
Then, as soon as his hand was wrapped around Bazett's, a flash of malice shined in Kirei's eyes. At the same time, a small hilt without a blade fell from his sleeve into his free hand. He then, with the use of his Od, ignited the mechanism in the hilt, causing a thin blade resembling a rapier to shoot out from the end of the hilt.
"Bazett, look out!" Lancer, who noticed the spiritual blade, a Black Key, a sacrament of the Holy Church used to dispatch spirits, in Kirei's hand as he materialized.
Taken off guard by Lancer's shout, Bazett turned her head towards him, noticing that he was rushing towards her with his spear drawn, in surprise. Unfortunately, that was more than enough to Kirei to act.
"Such a naive girl." Kirei said in a malicious tone. "You're far too trusting. You should know better than to ever let a Magus, especially an executor of the Church, get this close."
As he spoke, Kirie swung his Black Key up towards Bazett's outstretched arm, intending to cut it off so that he could steal her [Command Spells] and claim Lancer for himself.
"Huh?" Kirei exclaimed in surprise.
Yet, just as his left arm started moving, it came to an abrupt stop, accompanied by the feeling of something thin digging into the skin around his wrist.
"What is this?" Kirei asked allowed as he released Bazett's hand and pivoted on his left foot to avoid the thrust from Lancer's spear that was aimed at his heart.
*Bang!*
Then, with surprising skill, Kirei, using the butt of his right palm, pushed Lancer's spear upwards before stepping forward and delivering a devastating elbow strike across Lancer's jaw, staggering him for a moment.
"Are these threads?" Kirie asked after while looking down at his left wrist, a second Black Key falling into his righthand as he did so. "Then, that means…"
Kirei then ignited the second Black Key's blade and swung it up towards the threads connected to his wrist.
"I don't' think so." Elicia, the one controlling the threads, said as she flicked her fingers against the threads extending from the spool in her right hand.
With such a small amount of force, Kirei, before he could sever the threads, was jerked forward. Because of his new position, he was forced to stop his swing, lest he cut off his own arm. Still, that did not stop him from acting to free himself.
*Swish!*
In the same motion, Kirei threw the Black Key in his right hand after calculating the direction of the force that acted on his wrist.
*Thunk!*
A moment later, the blade of the Black Key sank into one of the pews near the back of the church. Despite that, the tension on the threads around his wrist never slackened.
'She's using the pew as a pivot point.' Kirei understood immediately. "The question is, where exactly is she hiding?"
Unfortunately, Kirei did not have much time to think. Because, although he considered Elicia the biggest threat thanks to the fact that she was unseen, he still had a pretty big threat in the form of an angry Lancer-Servant bearing down on him with is cursed red spear.
Meanwhile, Bazett, who finally recovered from her shock at being attacked by the Holy Grail War's overseer, who should be completely neutral, looked at Kirei with both confusion and hostility. She then started forming [Runes] in the air, intending to attack Kirei while he just barely dodged the strikes from Lancer's spear.
"I don't know what your plan is, Priest." Bazett said sternly as her spell neared completion. "But I'll take you in and make you answer for this."
With that, using her own Od to interact with the mana in the air, Bazett wrote out a [runic Sentence] meant to immobilize a target. Then, once she finished, she tapped it with her finger and sent it flying towards Kirei.
'So, that's what kind of Magecraft she uses.' Elicia thought to herself absent-mindedly while trying to control Kirei so that he could not escape from Bazett's spell.
Unfortunately, things would not be that simple, as Kirei was a skilled combatant who used to hunt down enemies of the church in his youth. Instead of being captured by Bazett's spell, he drew another Black Key before swinging it at the incoming [Runic Sentence] and disrupting the mana composing the [Runes], causing the spell to fail. He then spun away from another thrust from Lancer before swinging the Black Key at him, forcing him to dodge.
*Swish!*
In the next instant, Kirei threw the Black Key at Lancer, grazing his shoulder as the blade passed.
"Ah! Damn!" Lancer groaned as he was forced to take another step back. "I hate those little toys of the church. They can hurt Servants. Damn weapons created to deal with spirits."
"Lancer, are you okay?" Bazett asked as she created another [Runic Sentence] in front of her.
"I'm fine." Lancer replied, despite the burning sensation in his left shoulder. "More importantly, do you have any idea who is trying to help you?"
*Swish!*
"Not at all." Bazett replied as she was forced to dive to the side when Kirei threw a Black Key at her. "But I heard him mention threads. So, it could be someone from the Taylor Family in America. I have no idea why they would help me, though."
"Well, we'll just have to find out after all this is over." Lancer said as he stepped forward to engage with Kirei once again.
Despite the fact that Kirei was outmatched in physical attributes by Lancer, thanks to having little space to maneuver between the pews, Kirei was able to stay relatively unharmed during his altercation. Though, he did received several shallow cuts from Lancer's spear.
And the fact that he could not freely move his left arm, thanks to the threads that were still wrapped around his wrist, was making his more difficult, as well. And when a sudden pull destabilized his balance at irregular intervals was making this even harder than usual when fighting a Servant alone.
Still, because of his experience and ruthlessness, aiming attacks at Bazett from time to time that forced Lancer to stop and defend her, Kirei managed to survive much longer than he should have in this situation.
Unfortunately, no matter how skilled he was, Kirei was no match for a Servant. Let alone when he was handicapped and only able to use one arm as he liked. So, he was eventually cornered with Lancer's spear tip aimed at his torso.
*Bang!*
Yet, just before Lancer could land the finishing blow, a spear that looked quite similar to his own came flying from behind Kirei and struck his spear with so much force that he was forced back nearly five yards.
"It looks like you're in a bit of trouble, Kirei."
Hearing that voice, both Bazett and Lancer turned in its direction. And when they saw the owner, they immediately knew it was a Servant.
"How can this be?" Bazett asked dumbfoundedly. "He should be the overseer. There's no way he should have been able to summon a Servant."
"I don't think that's what's really important right now." Lancer said as he moved to stand defensively in front of Bazett. "Instead, we need to worry about getting out of here alive. This guy is pretty strong. And I doubt the Magus that was helping us will want to fight him for us."
"It seems this mongrel has a good grasp of the situation you find yourself in." The Servant, Gilgamesh said in an arrogant tone as he stepped forward. "But you made a simple mistake, mongrel. Even if she wanted to, the one hiding like a rat won't be leaving here, either."
"Thank you for saving me, Your Majesty." Kirei, who finally found the opportunity to free himself from Elicia's threads when everyone was distracted by Gilgamesh's entrance, said as he backed away to join up with his Servant.
"Not to worry, Kirei." Gilgamesh said nonchalantly. "However, it looks to me that your plan has failed."
"Indeed." Kirei replied while rubbing his left wrist with his right hand. "But it doesn't matter. We need to get rid of all the witnesses. If the magical community finds out, things could get difficult for us."
"Although I disagree with your assessment, I can see why you would think that way." Gilgamesh said, unconcerned by the prospect of being hunted down by the Mage's Association. "Still, you'll have to find an excuse as to how the church was destroyed when they and the Holy Church send people to investigate what happened here tonight."
As he finished speaking, in the air above Gilgamesh, nearly three dozen portals shining in a bright golden color materialized. Then, from the center of each of these portals, the tip of a bladed weapon, spears, swords, knives, axes, emerged, all of them aimed at Elicia, Bazett, and Lancer.
The portals were gateways to Gilgamesh's treasury, his most powerful and recognizable [Noble Phantasm], the [Gate of Babylon], where Gilgamesh stored all the world's treasures and can eject them at high speed like artillery.
"Now, you can all die like the mongrels you are." Gilgamesh said as he swung his arm forward.
*Clang!* *Clang!* *Bang!* *Clang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Clang!* *Bang!* *Clang!*
In the next instant, the weapons fired from the portals. In response, Lancer began swinging and spinning his spear rapidly to defend against as many of those weapons as he could while doing his best to protect Bazett. Meanwhile, Bazett tried her best to create [bounded Fields] for defense. However, any time she was able to get one up, it would be destroyed immediately.
Elicia, on the other hand, used acrobatic movements to avoid all the weapons sent her way. Though, she was amazed that the weapons were able to track her despite the fact that she was still under the cover of her [Camouflage Magic]. Even so, she had faced faster and stronger attacks in her time as a Fairy Tail wizard. So, she was not in much danger. Though, defending against those weapons with her threads would be a stretch.
{"Aren't you ready yet, Tatsuo?"} Elicia asked over the telepathic link as she pulled herself out of the way of a fired sword. {"If you don't do something soon, Lancer is going to be overwhelmed."}
{"I know."} Tatsuo replied. {"I'm almost in position. Just give me a second. I'm being careful just in case he can somehow see through my Presence Concealment."}
{"Fine, just don't take too long."} Elicia replied.
And just as he said, Tatsuo was currently moving across the ceiling, using the tips of his fingers to dig into the source to that he would not fall. And he was just about to reach the spot above Gilgamesh. But he also recognized the truth in Elicia's words. Looking back, he could see that Lancer was accumulating more and more injuries.
But it did not take long for Tatsuo to get into the perfect position.
{"I'm going in."} Tatsuo said as he relaxed his fingers and let himself fall.
At the same time, Tatsuo's modified trench knives appeared in his hands. Then, he crossed his arms in front of his chest as he fell with his eyes focused on Gilgamesh. Then, just as he reached the perfect height, Tatsuo swung both his arms outwards.
At the moment Tatsuo started his attack, his [Stealth] was dropped. At the same time, Gilgamesh widened his eyes as his expression turned into one filled with shock when he sensed the presence behind him. He then quickly tried to turn his head to identify the threat.
Unfortunately, it was too late for that.
"[Exacuere Vade Inanis]." Tatsuo said as he activated his [Spatial Slash Skill], which was turned into an offensive [Noble Phantasm] upon his inclusion in the Throne of Heroes.
*Swish!*
Gilgamesh was not the only one who was surprised by Tatsuo's appearance, as both Bazett and Lancer were both caught off guard by Tatsuo's sudden appearance. And they were even more surprised when they saw the two knives in his hands cleanly cut through Gilgamesh's neck, causing the golden-haired heroic Spirit's head to shoot up into the air as a geyser of blood shot up from his severed neck.
At the same time, the barrage of weapons firing from the [Gate of Babylon] came to a stop, giving Lancer and Bazett a chance to catch their breath.
Kirei, on the other hand, wore a look of complete shock, never expecting to see Gilgamesh assassinated so easily. Especially after seeing what he was capable of during the last Holy Grail War. So, because of his shock, he was a bit slow to react when Elicia, who was completely unharmed by Gilgamesh's onslaught, appeared in front of him with her right foot shooting up towards his chin.
*Bang!*
When Elicia's kick connected, Kirei's head snapped back as he was launched a few feet into the air. Then, threads shot out form the spools on her waist and wrapped around Kirei's waist before Elicia exerted her magic power and caused them to yank Kirei down while he was still ascending.
*Bang!*
Kirei then slammed into the ground with his eyes rolled into the back of his head as the floor cracked under the impact.
Meanwhile, Lancer stood in front of Bazett, his guard up as he spoke quietly to the fuchsia-haired magus standing behind him.
"Bazett, we need to be extra careful with these two." Lancer said in a solemn tone. "Until the woman acted to save you, I didn't notice her at all. And that Servant is even worse. I didn't feel his presence until the very moment he attacked."
In response, Bazett nodded her head while looking at Tatsuo and Elicia warily.