Part 121: Holy Grail completed / Tiger Dojo 14 / Mini-Theater 1

Here's the dead end following yesterday's scenes. It's a lot of long, boring and I'm not commenting it because I don't expect anyone to actually read it. I'm only posting it so you can skim it and see exactly why we skipped it.

Music: Whirlpool of Fate





Going through the night, Saber and I have reached our final destination.

"Shirou, this is…"
Saber sounds tense.
I feel the same way.
As I nod, I can feel sweat dripping down my neck.

…The mountain feels like one big living thing.
The wind coming down from the mountain gate is warm, and the shaking trees seem like breathing lungs.
Chills and pressure assail me every time I take a step.
Nothe air really is thick and wet.

"…Mana is dense here. This is just like ten years ago. I expect…"
…The summoning of the Holy Grail has begun or it's already over.
Either way, that must mean that Lancer has fallen to Gilgamesh.

"I'm going to make sure, Saber.
After we reach the top, all that's left is to fight. You take care of Gilgamesh, so I'll take care of his MasterKotomine.
We won't assist each other. …We just have to beat one of our opponents."



"…Yeah. Leave him to me. You too Saber. Don't let that guy beat you."


"…Yes. I will swear on my pride that he will not defeat me. Not as a Servant, but as a heroic spirit, I cannot allow him to beat me."

Saber says so strongly without hesitation or distress.
So there's nothing more to say.
We will go to battle and determine the winner as the last remaining Masters.
Even if in the process…
If one of us dies, the other need only defeat their enemy.

Even if I die, if Saber beats Gilgamesh, Kotomine won't be able to obtain the Holy Grail.
At the same time, even if Saber diesif I defeat Kotomine, Gilgamesh won't be able to stay in this world.
…So there's no need to help each other.
Our battles have already gone their separate ways.

Music: Stop





Red light fills the mountaintop.
The blowing wind is getting stronger and it seems the source of it is that lightcoming from the back of the grounds.
The red phosphorescence scatters on the wind, and the grounds is too bright for nighttime.

Stagnant air filled with the presence of death.



This is…
Like the fire back then.

""
But it isn't like that.
Within all this red light, something is about to emerge.

…From the back of the building.
A black darkness oozing in the bright red.
If this clearing is like a clear lake, that mud is like an oil spill.

"You are finally here. I have been waiting for you, Saber."
He is there, within all the rich colors.
Ignoring the blood red and the death-stained black.
The Servant clad in gold is waiting for usno, for Saber in the middle of this place.



"And the time is about right. The Holy Grail has finally moved into action and the void has just opened.
This curse is the contents of the Holy Grail, the Third Element which keeps us Servants in this world.
This is what you splashed me with ten years ago."

Gilgamesh is only looking at Saber.
It goes the same for Saber.
She takes a step forward and points her sword at the knight in front of her.

"That is good spirit.
That strong spirit, even though you know you cannot defeat me. It is indeed suitable to end this party, but"


"I do not want any intrusions. You lowlife, disappear right now if you want to see Kotomine. He is waiting for you at the altar."

"!"
Kotomine is waiting.



Her figure tells me…
That she is wishing me her best.







Music: Church on the Hill



"Koto… mine…!"
My calm mind instantly goes over the limit.
I stop and glare at my enemy.

"Welcome, Emiya Shirou. The last surviving Master."
He smiles sarcastically and opens his arms to welcome me.
…This is the site of our battle.
This is the altar of the summoning in this Holy Grail War.



The fight will begin if I move another step.
…Once the fight starts, I'll have to run straight at him and stab him in the chest.
But before that, I have to do something about Ilya

"Hey. Didn't you hear me? I told you to let Ilya down. What's so fun about torturing a kid?"

"I understand your feelings, but I cannot do that. The Holy Grail has appeared, but the void is yet unstable.
My wish will not come true unless she bears this until she dies."
Until she diesthen Ilya is still alive…!

"…I see. If you have no intention of letting her down, I'll just have to use force.
I'll stop your wishthat black mud, right now."

"…Oh. So this must appear to be my wish to you. As expected from the son of Kiritsugu.
I did not expect two generations to make the same mistake."
"What?"

"There is no reason to explain things to someone who does not understand the Holy Grail. You may fulfill your role as the last Master with that misunderstanding."
"!"

I jump.
There's about ten meters between us. Keeping that distance, I jump sideways.

""
This is the result of my instincts of not wanting to die…
…Surpassing my desire to kill him.

"!"
I roll sideways onto the ground.
I stop instantly and look up.

"That's!"



I look at the place I was running over.
A sound of burning.
The burning sound is coming from the black mud, stretching out from the lake.
…It's like a black carpet.
The mud slashed like a whip, attacking me as I went after Kotomine, and left a mark on the ground.



"I forgot to tell you, but you are already within my range. And to add, this thing is sensitive to living beings.
I do not mind you moving, but you will die if you move carelessly."



Screw moving carelessly. He's ready to kill me…!

"Damnyou fake priest…!"
I stand up, still keeping watch over the lake.
…The distance to Kotomine hasn't changed.
That means this ten meters is as near as he wants me to get.
…But that tentacle of mud stretches without limit.
It will come after me if he wants it to, and I'm sure there are more than one





The quivering mud coming from the lake is like a black snake.





"It is only natural for you to be unable to win.
There is a large difference in the years we have lived. It is a difference you cannot overcome unless you have something major."

The priest raises his hands.
He glares at the heavens as if he is conducting an orchestra.



He releases the black snakes.







"HaHaa, ha, ah!"

I check my body as I roll.
Ankle. All right, it's still there. I just can't feel it. If it's there, I should be able to run.







"Ha haa, haa, ha"
I breathe hard and look at him so as not to lose in spirit.
…Kotomine has not moved at all. He has just watched me run around.

"Haa… haa, haa, haa, haa"
…No matter how hard I breathe, my heart won't calm down.
It's saying it's at its limits and it needs rest. It's about to go out on its own if I don't let it rest.

"Kuhha, haa, ha, ah"
I can't do anything.
I can't get near Kotomine nor get through that black mud.
…I'm not going to hold back on using the 'projection' magic.

If I can't move forward, I can reproduce Saber's sword again.
It'll surely be able to slice through that black mud and I can go straight for Kotomine.



"Kuh!"

I raise myself and barely dodge the mud.
…The mud itself isn't too bad.
It's slow compared to Saber's shinai, and it only comes where it's aimed, so it's easy to dodge.

But that's only true when there's only one of them.
I can't deal with tens of mud attacks, the ones that come from behind me the instant I dodge them.
As a result, I can only move around. Even then, mud covers me bit by bit.



"Haaha, ha, ha, ah!"
The parts of my body covered with mud have lost sensation.
The only good thing is that I don't feel any pain, but I won't know if I'm dead or not when that mud covers my whole body.
I'm finished when that happens, and most of allI'll have melted away by then.

"Haaha, ha, ha, ah!"
For now, all I can do is run.
If there's any chance of getting near him, it'll be when I do something about this mud
"Owdamn, oh!?"

Music: Stop



Music: Footsteps of Destruction



"…!"
I get up.
I try to get up, but fall again.
"Eh?"

I fall.
I fall.
The snakes are coming.



"Ah."



Black mud rains down.
It spills onto my body like a rainstorm, melts it, and drowns my despair



...and now for the Tiger Dojo you've all been waiting for.



Video: Tiger Dojo 14 (mirror)



Music: Madder Red Town




Well. It is the prevailing view that the outcome of battle is decided before it even starts.
What does it mean, student!?


Um, I guess you shouldn't start a fight until you have a weapon or a plan?


Yes! The enemy is the unfair Servant that prepared the strongest force with his money. So you should at least prepare one weapon that lets you turn things around.


Then Taiga, are you saying you should restart from the night before the fight and prepare a new weapon?
What can you do in such a short time?



the last one.


I see. You just have to give it back to her, right?




Oh, you said something good, by your standards.
I guess you're a school teacher even if you're a bad one at that.


Ahahahaha! Praise me, praise me!




This corner has continued modestly as a side to the main story, but this is the final episode!


We will use a different outlook and start "Tiger Dojo Part II: Taiga One Hundred Million Yen Debt"!!


We're going to move the setting to my castle and update our standing pics, music, and even hardware!

Production budgets will double and it will be so rich that you won't even think this is a bonus corner!


Taiga:
Gahahaha, so many wonderful things!
I don't quite understand, but is it like getting a totally new graphic designer!?


That's right, master! We will be freed from this rough art! Osu!




Taiga:
Listen, everyone. The key to the second route is on the third day!
Once you see an ending, there should be a choice that wasn't there before on the third night.





After getting all of the Tiger Stamps for the Fate path, you unlock a special bonus scene in the extras menu. There can be no screenshot version of this. It doesn't even make sense in video form. If you can't watch a 36 second video ... well, sorry.

Video: Mini-Theater 1 (mirror)