Part 34: Update XXXI - Choice

Update XXXI - Choice

Music: None


This is the third death I've caused. The rules of the Holy Grail War demand that I kill. But that girl will never see another day because of me. The guilt weighs heavily on my soul.



A warm, caring voice breaks through my gloom.

The loss of life is a sad affair. Especially if it's a consequence of the ruthlessness of war.

Ruthlessness? I think "pointlessness" would be more accurate.

Point taken. However, you fight because you have no other choice. You either kill, or die. There is no mercy to be found in war. And the sadness of causing death is still there. But humanity dreams of the Holy Grail's power. They entrust their hopes to a higher power. They do this because they know that they aren't capable of doing what is best for all.

...More so than death, this fact is what saddens me the most, said Leo. That's really pathetic. People who can't save themselves and us who are already damned. Those words ring of someone who sees themselves as a savior of a world in chaos.

Wait before you pass judgment. I was born and raised to be king of the world. I'll remember your grief and her pain so that one day none will have to die for nothing. I have joined this battle in order to end the world's cycle of suffering and deprivation. Once control is restored, I can put an end to the conflicts brought on by scarcity and want. Isn't that what you desire? For your grief and her death to have meaning?

Leo's goals sounds nice, but how bad is the real world if the Harways, who control a good chunk of the world, have to resort to the Holy Grail to bring peace?



Of course, there's always a catch to these sorts of things.

Though his ideas are poison, there is a seductiveness to his words that is hard to ignore. Or maybe his ideas are what's needed to heal a fractured world. The boy's oddly comforting voice lifts my spirits, which had sunk after Alice's death.



Music: School I




I care about all. I wish nothing more than to see a world where everyone has their place.

And of course that place is under your rule, with you deciding who lives and who dies, correct? Your world is a place where you alone decide whether a child is to be fed or left to starve. Where a person's entire life is dictated by the whims of the Harway family's desires.

However, you are not a god. If you want to live as you do now forever, go ahead. I don't care. But for me, I cannot and will not accept things as they currently are now.

If you wish to build a country dominated by "saints," fine. Just leave humanity out of it.

So my information about you being a potential insurgent was correct after all, Miss Tohsaka. You assume I don't understand your position and in that you're wrong. However- You need to realize the efficient distribution of resources depends on proper management. I can assure you that my family has no plans to stockpile goods for financial gain. Once you see how we rule, you will understand our grand design for the well-being of humanity.



A paradise based on stasis and class immobility. No change and no hope of a better future.

Stability at the expense of hope and joy. A world where people don't live only merely exist.

I mock anyone who'd choose that path. Living as merely one of the flock doesn't appeal to me.

You got Leo and Rin dropping these huge JRPG philosophical speeches, meanwhile Hakuno is just off to the side awkwardly standing around.



See? Big 'parents are arguing so make yourself small,' vibes here.

Perhaps it is good to feel that you're in a fight to preserve your very existence. However, would you wish for all of mankind to suddenly be given the same strength?

Um...I mean...that is to say...

Of course you wouldn't. You are all too aware of your selfishness and your pride. Because of that, you could not share your pain with those without the strength to bear it.

I-I could, and would! I'm not as softhearted as you make me out to be.

Rin is exactly as softhearted as Leo makes her out to be.



The proof is literally right next to her!

What did you just say...?

Joy is ephemeral. In order to save humanity, you must first be willing to let them die. The world needs a strong leader, Miss Tohsaka. And once I gain the power of the Holy Grail-





Opposition to our rule comes from outside the farm, to expand on your analogy a little.



And there's the real rub to the Harway playbook.



Of course, we have plans to integrate the region should they choose to support our aims.

If everyone is equally valuable to Leo, then that means everyone is equally expendable. It makes no difference to him whether the Asian region joins up or not, so he'll happily consign them to death if it would be the simplest choice.



What exactly do you understand?

That I was right in entering the Holy Grail War this time around!

So, Leonardo Bistario Harway, heir apparent to the head of the plutocratic Harway family...

I swear to you that I will crush your delusions of genocide and despotic rule.

To be perfectly clear: You intend to kill me?

Seeing as I seriously doubt that anything short of taking your life would stop you, yes.

Also the fact that you literally cannot leave the Holy Grail War without killing everyone else.

...I see. I have faith that someone of your intellect will understand one day. —Or maybe you already do?



Rin's open declaration of war. ...I don't think it'll escalate hostilities the way it did with Julius. Leo has chosen his path and she has done so as well. Their battle will be fought within the Holy Grail War. One will win; the other will die.

Music: Stops


Unlike the real world I can feel the weight of this virtual world press down on me. Even so...



I have no choice but to fight.

That's right. When it comes down to it, fighting is my only real option. It's either fight or die. But how long can I keep this up? When I can't bring myself to continue even one step farther—

~

I refuse to continue fighting.

That's when I know I can't continue to fight any longer. I can't fight feeling like this. I can't find a reason for this madness. I will never survive the fourth round. Death would be the only outcome— But maybe if I find something worth fighting for, something that wouldn't be seen as trivial— Whether such a thing exists for me, I don't know. But at this point it's my only hope.

~

I will find a reason to go on.

Of course, it's not that simple. There's no time. It will all end when the fourth round begins. I can't lie to myself any longer. I cannot continue knowing it's all for nothing. I'm worth something. I have to fight on. If my opponents must die so I can live, so be it. I have nothing to base that assertion on. Right now I have nothing; I am nothing. That's why I need to find a reason for all of this. Any reason, even if it's a bad one. Just as long as it's nothing I'd be ashamed of when it comes time to face my opponents.

~~

The Grail War is really starting to wear Hakuno down. Everyone up till now either didn't understand the full stakes or had their own internal doubts, but the moment we fight someone who is in it to win, we're sunk.



Music: School III






Despite the key word tab getting flagged as having something new, we don't actually get anything.






The new week hasn't started yet.

Music: None


The girl in red is Rin Tohsaka and the other is a girl the same age as Rin, or a little older.

Welp, Rin and Rani are killing each other.





Son of a-

Jesus Christ, Julius, personal space!

I'm not the only witness. It's Julius. He walks over to the bulletin after the two have left.

Neither side will hold back in the battle. If I could watch the fight I could learn quite a bit.







No stat screen tonight, as there's nothing for it to read.



Music: Duel of Fate


Her body language is as aloof as ever, but I can see the focus in her gaze. Today's the day they fight. One of them will die.

Pay no mind to how this completely breaks the established rules of the Elimination Battles almost entirely so Hakuno would be free when they fight.



What Julius said in front of the bulletin board about Rin and Rani's battle is still bugging me. Maybe it would be a good idea to track down Julius.

Yes, let's go track down the guy who would have killed us if it wasn't for Rin bailing us out. There's no possible way this could go wrong!



The Multimedia Room is on 3F, right by Rani's usual spot, for context.



I sense him moving, and shuffle away from the door in a panic. There's nowhere to hide.



His aura of murderous intent makes my heart leap out of my chest. But then he promptly leaves. Even though he's tried to kill me in the past, Julius doesn't seem to register my existence. Maybe I'm not worth it for him to suffer yet another penalty for fighting outside the Arena.

Oh good, we just so happened to catch Julius when he wasn't in a killing mood.



This is the first time we've seen the Multimedia Room.

It will also be the only time we see the Multimedia Room.

The Multimedia Room is a bit bigger than the regular classrooms. At the front of the room is a screen. Instead of a ceiling projector, there is an old-fashioned film projector. That's odd. It could be here all the time for all I know. I never visit this room—





Something must have been done to it, probably by Julius. For what purpose? As I reach out to inspect it—

Sound: Static


You can see '999,' 'Blazblue,' and 'Agarest' in the middle line, all games that Aksys localized.



Whatever the projctor did left Hakuno on the floor.

...Weird. When I touched it, sparks went flying in my brain. I think I was attacked by some program. But, although it makes me dizzy, the effects pass immediately. I don't think it did any damage. ...I wonder what it was? Somehow I don't think it was Julius's doing.

Sound: Weapon clash




The sound of battle continues for the next while.



Well this is unexpected!

This must be...an Elimination Battle between the two of them.



The projector is now showing Rin and Rani.

The film projector spins into motion, projecting images of the battle onto the screen.

Music: Duel - Kill Or Be Killed


We then cut to the Arena.



It seems that neither of them are special enough to get a custom Arena like we do, and get the basic tutorial area-themed one.

Rani's Servant is also bloody giant.



And Rin's Servant, while unknown to Hakuno, is another returning character from Fate/Stay Night. He's none other than Ireland's Child of Light: Cu Chulainn.

This is a small nod to Unlimited Blade Works back in Stay Night, where Cu's last words when he died were wishing that he could have had Rin as a Master.

Well, he got his wish.



It then transitions to an actual fight!







Julius was right, this is giving us a ton of info! Shame he's missing this.





Although the fight has a slow start.



With that wordless screaming, Rani's Servant can only be a Berserker.

Also the fact that every other class is accounted for, and the game is blatantly setting things up so we fight one Servant of each class. Gawain is a Saber, Julius' Servant is an Assassin, Cu is a Lancer, and we've already fought a Rider, Archer, and Caster. That leaves Berserker as the only one left.



T-that would kill Caster in one hit if it properly connects.

We may have come a long way since Week 1, but we're still a long way out from being able to take on actual trained Masters.





Even their regular attacks could 2-3 shot her.



Rin has her trademark Gandr shot, as always. (here called Gandor, for whatever reason)





Cu actually follows up!







Figures that the former heroine has one of the most flashy attacks we've seen so far.



The fight goes for a good while.



Berserker's buff adds a stun effect to either Attack or Break, I'll have to watch for that.



The fight ends after three rounds.



In any case, why did Julius leave halfway through? Was that his plan? Or did something go wrong?

Wha? Aren't you going to watch, Master? These two are having a pretty wild fight.



My Servant draws my attention to the screen. Rin and Rani are facing each other. The forms of their Servants can't be made out clearly. The image quality isn't bad, per se. It's more like there's a masking effect overlaid to hide them. Even with that security measure, I can tell both Servants wield long shafts. They're both Lancers, then.



Sound: Battle sounds




Cu was actually doing a bit better during the fight, if you watched closely, so this lines up.

Caster declares Rin's victory as if it were obvious.

The other Master is aggressive, but she's too slow to respond. At this level, that's a fatal flaw.

Oops, sorry! Am I spoiling the movie for you, Master? I'll be quiet now.

Rin notices she's winning, too. Her posture is full of confidence.



Music: Stops
Sound: Static


And then, the clash suddenly stops. I can't make out what's going on, but I can tell that there's space between the two opponents now.

The static has leveled up, and now has a red filter!

Music: Breach






Sound: Heartbeat






"Hey Rani, go enter the Holy Grail War and learn what it means to be human. But if you start losing, blow yourself up." - Rani's professor, probably. Man, what a dick!

Wait , what? Atlas homunculi can pull off crazy stuff like that?

...You fool, this isn't something to self-destruct over! After taking a beating from Rin, Rani must be intending to use her last resort. Nevermind Rin, wouldn't that liquify the entire Arena...?





Her heart is a kiln on the verge of exploding. Anyone who saw her right now could tell. Rani's body was built with the capacity to overload like this.



I mean, she was going to die anyways, so now would be a good time to self destruct if you absolutely had to.



The first words we get from him, and he's making fun of his Master. Cu is great.

Rin's Servant addresses her with a flippant tone totally unsuited to the intensity of the situation.



Her heart's made of etherlite! Before she blows up the Arena, skewer her to the core with your Noble Phantasm!

Ooh, I like it when you're desperate. What a treat. All right, it's finally time to end this!





At Rin's command, Lancer takes a stance and gathers his strength. It builds and builds until—



Caster speaks her mind quietly in deference to my feelings, but I get the meaning loud and clear. This will settle the battle. They will destroy each other before they can even resort to Command Seals. Both of them might die on the spot. Even if one of them survives, she'd probably be fatally injured. While I'm lost in those terrible thoughts, Caster starts staring at me.

The static image on the screen is unchanged. Also Rani has already used a Command Seal, Hakuno, keep up here.



I didn't realize I was telegraphing my emotions. But, more importantly, what did my Servant just say? Could there be some way to save them? It sounds like there might be. ...What can be done?

...Wellll... I can't say there's NO way...

Her eyes downcast, she touches my left hand. My Command Seals.



But, only your Command Seals could teleport me to where they are.

So, it's actually impossible. Still, Command Seals exist to make miracles happen...



If it's what you want, Master, of course I'll do it.

But... you'll lose two precious Command Seals, and save a possible enemy. Do you want that, Master?



Hakuno is too nice to not do anything, so you don't even get the option to walk away.

Now, whoever gets saved here impacts the entire rest of the game. I am covering both routes, just to show off what changes between them, but my plan is to let the thread vote on who gets first dibs, doing a week of one, then a week of the other. I'll skip over any shared content (and there is a good amount of it, this is Extra, after all) on whoever goes second.