Part 159: Command spell, second time / Shinji's escape

Music: Footsteps of Destruction



"Tohsaka, I'm calling for Saber…! Tell me how to use the Command Spell."



"Ehh-hold on, if you're going to call for Saber, I'll also"

"You used your Command Spell yesterday. So it's my turn today.
We can call for Archer if Saber can't handle the situation by herself! So, how do I use the Command Spell!?"



Imagine the shape of your Command Spell and release it. Give an order while you release it, of course."



"Please. Come, Saber!!!!"
…And I release the Command Spell without any hesitation.







What is the situation, Master…? It is grave enough for you to use your Command Spell, correct?"

"No, I… just wanted to know what you'd like for lunch… so I can get it from the store on the way home."

"It's just as it looks. A Servant activated this boundary field.
I want to remove this boundary field as fast as possible."


"I understand. I certainly feel the presence of a Servant on this floor."




"I am sure of it. …What about it, Rin?"

"Huhno, I'm sure that's the case if you say so, but that's too strange. I can feel that the origin of the boundary field is on the first floor. I'm sure your skill to detect a Servant is superior to mine, but my skill to detect magic is pretty good too."

"…? So you're saying that the Servant is on this floor even though the boundary field was set up on the first floor?"


"Uh… I can't say for sure, but that's what I feel.
The source of the boundary field has to be on the first floor."

""
So there are two alternatives, huh?
If Shinji arranged for his Servant to come to this floor, one has to be a trap.
Everyone in this school will pay the price if we make the wrong choice


"Rin. Where is Archer? We can make a better analysis if he is here."


"He's not answering me! This boundary field has us totally cut off from the outside world. I have to use the Command Spell or we'll have to wait for him to detect this and come here."



Tohsaka and Saber glare at each other.
But now's not a time to be doing so.
…Think.
Tohsaka doesn't have her composure.
The best thing we can do right now is

Music: Footsteps of Destruction



"Saber, I'll leave the Servant up to you. Can you fight by yourself?"


"Of course. What will you do, Shirou?"

"I'm going down to the first floor. I might be unreliable by myself, but I'm sure it'll be all right if Tohsaka's with me. Besides, only Tohsaka can detect magical energy. Let's go together, Tohsaka."




"Ehy-yeah, of course. I was going to go by myself if you didn't ask me."
Then it's decided.
So now



"Hey, what are you doing!? Are you insane, breaking a chair like that?"
"We need a weapon, right? I can only use strengthening magic, so I need something I can strengthen."

I swing the leg of the chair.
It's exactly like the time I got attacked by Tohsaka.



I easily succeed at the strengthening magic, and I also take another leg while I'm at it.



"!? Surrounded by what!?"


"I do not know. We only need to go out and check."

"You're right. Can you take the lead?"


"Of course. It is my duty to be your shield."
Saber runs out into the hallway.

"Let's go, Tohsakawe'll go down to the first floor…!"

Music: Clashing Souls



"What is that, Tohsaka…!?"
"Golem, it's a kind of a familiar! Just come this way! Saber will take care of them! They won't be a match for Saber no matter how many hundreds of them there are!"
"! I'll leave it to you, Saber!"









I smash the blocking bone creature with the chair leg in my hand.

"HaHaa, haa!"
This is the third one already.
It might be because I saw the disaster, but I don't care about confronting these monsters.

In other words, my mind is numb.
My proper emotions such as hatred, fear, sadness, and cowardice have all frozen up.
The only thing filling my head is the desire to get to the first floor.
I take the two swords in my hands and swing them like I saw him use them!



"Hey, don't go that way!"
I smash the fourth bone creature.
The bone creature that tried to attack Tohsaka from the side gets smashed and smacked into a wall.

"Hey, are you all right, Tohsaka!?"
I call out to her while fending off the attackers.



""
Good, Tohsaka isn't hurt at all!



The place Tohsaka points at is about ten meters ahead.
There are a few more bone creatures that followed us down the stairs.
But we don't have time to deal with them…!





I parry the attacking sword with the weapon in my right hand.
I attack the defenseless body with the weapon in my left hand.



I destroy the fifth bone creature.
But there are more of them.
There are at least ten bone creatures in the hallway…!

"Damn, they're persistent…! Why don't you guys run out!?"
I retreat a bit.
The chair legs in my hands are worn down.
Even though I strengthened them, they are originally only stainless steel.
I don't know if they'll hold even for one more attack

"Get back, Shirou…!"
"Huh…?"

I'm surprised, but I back up like she tells me to.

At that instant…
Tohsaka jumps out in front of me and throws a jewel at the bone creatures.



"Ein Körper ist ein Körper!"





She fills my vision with pure white.

Music: Stop







"Thanks, you helped me out. I rarely use the topaz, so it took me some time to get it ready.


…I would've been overwhelmed if you weren't with me."
She lowers her shoulders in relief.
But she only does so for an instant and glares at the classroom.


"Let's go. Shinji should be there."
Tohsaka runs to the classroom.
I follow her and step into the red classroom.

Music: Whirlpool of Fate 2



The air in this classroom cannot be called gas anymore.
The vaporized blood dyes the eyes of the beholder like paint.
Voices of anguish can be heard from all over.

This is the origin of the boundary field, the place where "absorption" is the strongest.
The students lying on the floor are totally different from the students on the fourth floor.
…The moanings I hear are just hallucinations.
The students have pale faces, and they don't move as if they are dolls made from wax.
It reminds me of a mountain of corpses, trash thrown away in a wasteland.





I hear a chattering sound.
It must be to suppress her emotions. Tohsaka's teeth chatter as she beholds the scene in horror.



She moves her shaking legs and steps forward.
Between the desks…
There's a living person there.
On his butt amongst all the fallen students, Matou Shinji is looking up at Tohsaka.


"Shinji, you…!"
A stern voice.
He must have reacted to the voice.
Shinji lets out a strange cry and jumps away from Tohsaka.


"I'm not going to accept any excuses. I'll have you atone for what you've done no matter what."
Tohsaka goes near Shinji.



"N-No, no, nonononononono……! It's not me, it's not me, it's not me, it's not me……!!!!!"



Shinji shakes his head and retreats to the wall.

"'It's not me'…? How can you say that?
Just go ahead and stop the boundary field. If you won't, I can blow off that face of yours and"



"Ahu-uhh, no, I said no, it's not me, it's not me, it's not me that killed her……!!!"

"……?"
This is strange.
Shinji is running away from Tohsaka, but he's not looking at her.
He's looking at the floorright by our feet.

"By our feet…?"
I look down.
There are only students that fell unconscious.
There isn't anything… else

"Tohsaka."
I call out to her and point to the place.

"Huh?"
A stunned voice.
She must have forgotten her anger towards Shinji.
The instant she sees the thing on the floor, Tohsaka's intent to kill fades away.





"She's… dead…"
Tohsaka's voice contains no emotion.



"It's not me. I didn't do it. I executed the boundary field and nobody was able to move, but Rider… Rider… was…"

The black ServantRider was killed in one blow.
What kind of a weapon was it, and how was she killed?

Only one blow against a Servant.
Only aiming for the neck and killing the enemy by ripping the neck apart.
…I can't even imagine how it was done.
It must have caught her by surprise, but the enemy must have been skilled to cut her neck in one blow.

…No. Can I call it "cut"?
It looks like someone put a jack in there and ripped off the meat and bone by crushing it.





As Tohsaka closes in, Shinji slowly retreats towards the hallway.


"I told you that there's another Master at our school, right? It's your fault for ignoring my warning and causing this panic.
…Heh. It seems you survived by watching your Servant die without helping her, but it's your turn next if you saw the enemy. I don't know what kind of a Master he or she is, but I'm sure you're next."



"……! T-That can't be true! I don't have my Servant anymore! I'm not a Master anymore, so you guys should be the next target…!"


"Yeah. …Well, you're right. There's no harm in letting you be even if you have your Command Spells.
It might be annoying having you run around, but a harmless insect can't kill humans.


Yeah. I won't kill you here, depending on your response."



Yes.


"You should thank me for not comparing you to a noxious insect.
I told you that you're harmless since Matou Shinji is fit to be neither a magus nor a Master."


"So. Tell me if you saw it. That's the only value in you right now."


"Uh, uh!"
Shinji retreats, being pushed by Tohsaka's pressure.

I don't know if Tohsaka's serious or just threatening.
…But.
She's seriously angry.
She has lost her calmness after seeing the tragic scene here.


"Come on…! What kind of a Servant killed your Servant, Shinji!?"


"I-I don't know, you idiot! Y-You're the one who should be cowering in fear! You guys are the next target…!!!!!"



Shinji runs out into the hallway and Tohsaka starts to go after him.

But.
Tohsaka stops as if she realizes something.

…No, that's wrong.
It's not that she noticed something.
She's just watching the students on the floor and biting her lips in vexation.



""
…I don't know if she is filled with sorrow or vexation.
But that tells me.
She is firm, can do everything, and is a mature magus.
But she's just a girl of her age on the inside.

"It's fine, Tohsaka. Everyone's still breathing. It's not over yet."



"Huh…? Everyone's breathing…?"

"Yeah. It might be hard, but take a good look. Everyone's alive. The boundary field is gone, so all we have to do now is call for help.
So. Should we call for an ambulance or something else in a case like this? Should we contact the church if their wounds are caused by magic?"

I ask her in a calm voice.
That must have gotten back her reasoning, as she slaps her own face with both her hands.



"We can contact the church. Kirei will take care of the rest if you explain the situation to him."
"All right. Let's contact him right away."


Nodding, Tohsaka runs out into the hallway.
She must be heading to the office.
There's a phone there, so she should be able to make a call right away.

Music: Stop



"Then Saber. Were you fighting Caster?"



"Yes. It was Servant Caster that was controlling those Golems. I defeated Caster, but I am sure that was only her shadow."

""
…I see.
So it means Caster was controlling those bone creatures from the Ryudou Temple.
Then Caster was the one who attacked Shinji's Servant.

"…Then the fourth Master at our school would be Caster's Master. Considering Caster, it's possible that she used Shinji to lure Rider into a trap."


"…I believe so. According to you, Rider had her head cut off in one blow. I imagine that she was held constrained and that she was killed without resisting."



"That's troublesome. But we found out Caster's Master is at my school. It wasn't completely meaningless."
I turn to Tohsaka for confirmation.



Since we left the classroom, Tohsaka's only been looking at me as if she wants to say something.

"Tohsaka, come out and say it if you want to say something. I feel weird if you're quiet."
Um, in fear of not knowing when I'll get hit from behind.

""
Tohsaka stares at me for a while, and with a serious face…


"Emiya-kun. You're pretty calm. It's a bit unexpected."
…Says this.

"……? I'm not calm. My head got all boiled up too. We both lost our composure out of anger."


"But you figured out everyone's condition. I couldn't do that."

"Oh, that? It's nothing much. I was only able to tell since I'm used to seeing dead bodies."



That's not usually something to tell your classmates.

"Huh? 'Used to seeing dead bodies'…?"

We walk away while we talk.
This place will get rowdy once the ambulances arrive.
We'll go to the back gate through the woods and get out of the school from there.