Part 150: Calling

"I'm tired."
I take a breath.
I trained my "strengthening" magic after Saber's training, and I'm tired both physically and mentally.

Saber and Fuji-Nee are sleeping in a room a bit away from here, but I don't care.
I'm just tired.
I'll sleep for now and prepare for tomorrow







…It's a dark night.
My ears are ringing.
My feet are asleep, but I'm walking down the hill.





The wind is blowing on me, and since I'm in my pajamas, my body is freezing.
…This coldness is unlike Fuyuki City.
The chill would be cold enough to wake me up if this were a dream.





"Oh."
I try to scream and realize that my throat is frozen.
This isn't a dream.
This can't be a dream.
But my mind's still asleep.
My limbsthey aren't following my orders, and they are walking on as if manipulated by something.





This must be the destination.
My feet move faster as they move up the stairs



The ringing in my ears turns into a voice.

"!"
No, that's wrong.
The sound hasn't changed at all.
It has been repeating the same thing over and over.
Come.
What fills my head is a female voice filled with magical energy.

Oh. This is one of those dreams.



"!"
I don't know what it is, but my dozing mind screams out for me to run away.
Go back.
Go back.
Go back.
Stop. You can still make it. Wake up and go back. Wake up, wake up, wake up, don't listen to that voice…!!!!!











The shadow reminding me of Death strips off the darkness and



The figure becomes a witch like one would see in a fairy tale.

"Stop right there, boy.
I will kill you if you come any closer."
A sneering laugh.
…It seems my body is under her control.
My feet that never stopped freeze at the command.

""
My consciousness wavers.
My limbs still do not move, and an unknown "enemy" is standing before me.
…Yes, she's an enemy.
I can be sure of that.

She's a Servanta heroic spirit that excels the most in magic out of the seven Servants
"…Servant Caster…!"
I move my throat with all my effort and glare at my enemy.



Her cool voice is mocking me.

"!"
I put power into my legs, but my body will not move.
Damn, what the hell am I doing…!?
I've been lured here, and on top of that, I can't move a muscle…!

"Ahkuh!"
I concentrate on my limbs with all my power.
I don't know what kind of a trick it is, but it has to be her magic that's restraining me.
Then if I can extract her magical energy out of my body…!

"You think you can free yourself? How cute of you. You're going to kill my spell with such a method? How naive."
"What?"

I concentrate all my will to search throughout my body.
Caster's magical energy…
The enemy's magical energy that's inside me, restraining my body.





""
It's not that there's something wrong with the blood flowing in me.
If there's something abnormal, it's not my blood but the blood vessels themselves.
It's like having my heart locked up.
The red spot on my chest has to be Caster's magical energy.
One cursed word is taking away my body's authority.

"Noway."
It means I was cursed when I was sleeping.
Even if I was asleep, it should have been impossible for me to be seized by a magic cast from so far away.

Magi have magic resistance.
It is the power to repel "magic" such as hypnotism, binding, and coercion.
As long as one is a magus, one cannot be easily controlled by others.

It's a fundamental law.
Magi have Magic Circuits.
The circuit in one's body does not only make magical energy, but it can also repel external magical energy.

Therefore, it is difficult to interfere with someone with a Magic Circuit, and it is difficult even to control a magus several ranks lower than you.
As the Magic Circuit repels external magical energy, magic is destroyed before it can be completed.

For that reason, indirect intervention magic, such as hypnotism and binding, has a low success rate.
Even if the target is not a magus, the magic can be repelled unconsciously if the target has a Magic Circuit.

From that point of view, an intervention of just attacking with pure magical energy like Tohsaka does, making a weapon in this world and attacking the opponent as a result, is a simple method.
Physical impact works on everyone.
It does not matter if the target has a Magic Circuit or not, as people will bleed if they are cut with a knife.

""
That's why this situation is strange.
…I'm sure I could be affected if I had magic cast on me from close-range.
If I had met Caster before and she had cast "coercion" on me, it's probable that I could be controlled even at a distance.

But I have not met Caster before, nor have I had a curse cast on me.
…So this is our first meeting.
Without moving from here, Caster cast a spell to the faraway Emiya house and controlled my body.

The word "witch" pops into my head.
If she can control a magus's body from a distance of a few kilometers…
Does it not mean that Caster can control everyone in this town from here?

Music: Footsteps of Destruction




"Do you get it now? It is my magic that is binding you and not my magical energy.
A completed magic cannot be washed away by water like magical energy.
It is just like solid and liquid. The solid does not crumble even if water is poured on it, right?"
…The shadow steps closer to me.
The bluish-purple robe melting into the night is smiling.

"But there are exceptions.
For example… Yes, the magic you people make is like mud buildings to me.
I can wash it away with a violent water current, even if it may be a solid.
Do you understand? The difference between us is that great."

"Isee. That's why you brought me here, huh?"

"Yes. All the Masters are weak, but you are the weakest by far.
Your magic resistance is on the same level as that of the ordinary people in this town.
It is only natural that I would want to talk to such a Master, you know?"

Wow, even worse than Shinji. That hurts.



"!"
…A chill runs through me.
Don't lie about wanting to talk to me!
She's ready to kill me at any moment!

"See, you're misunderstanding again. Don't worry. I can't suck up your magical energy if I kill you.
Everyone in this town is mine.
I have to let them live and have them give me every bit of their magical energy."
Her laugh echoes in my ears.

"What?"
A missing piece fits inside my head.
Did she just say she'll suck up all the magical energy from the people in this town!?

"Caster…! You involved innocent people in this…!"
"Oh, you didn't know? I thought you already knew since you cooperated with that little girlI see.
You didn't know, huh?"
Caster smiles even more.
It seems like she's pondering how to kill her prey.



A magus has a workshop, right? It's just like that.
I constructed a temple in this place to protect myself.
Fortunately, this land is an unfavorable land for Servants.
It's excellent as my territory, and most of all, it's easy to collect magical energy from here."

"I couldn't hold back at first since you people only had small amounts of magical energy. But I can collect it pretty well now.
You can see it, right? The preserved magical energy, pieces of people, in this land collected from hundreds of people."

"Thenthe incidents occurring in town are…"
"Yes. I told you this is my temple, right?
Then is it not the people's duty to offer me sacrifices?"

"!"
The strange coma incidents happening in town.
I thought there weren't that many victims, but she just said hundreds of people.



"Caster……!!!!!!"
I concentrate all my will into my limbs.
But there's no change, and Caster's standing there as if to make fun of me.


"Well, let us finish our conversation.
It must be boring for you to stay like that as well."
She whispers into my ear.
At the same timethe enemy I couldn't see fills my vision.



…Saber is too valuable to have disappear.
I shall have her defeat that annoying Berserker."

""
Caster raises her arm.
Her fingers are going for my arm

"Take… my… Command Spell?"
Is that possible?
I think Tohsaka said that one needs to pull out the nerves along with the Command Spell

"That's right. I will cut off your arm and transplant the Command Spell to my Master.
But the Command Spell is one with the owner's Magic Circuit. So taking out the Command Spell means I will be taking out your nerves as well."
Caster says so as if it's nothing at all.

"Wha"
Pull out my nerves?
She'll cut off my arm and take all the nerves in my body with it?
If she does that, I'll



I desperately put power into my limbs, but they don't even twitch.
My limbs won't move, and I'm like a prisoner about to be executed…





A bewitching smile.
The glowing fingers reach out for my left hand like a crawling spider

Music: Stop