Part 68: Remains of Tragedy / Reparation for victory

"Damnwhat's with that woman? How can something so ridiculous happen…!? Rider's Noble Phantasm is the strongest, so why does she have to lose…!? She's just Saber, so why does she have such a Noble Phantasm!? It's unfair, it's unfair, it's unfair…!"

Rolling down the stairs, crashing into the wall, crawling on the ground-
Matou Shinji heads for ground level.
In his mind, the image of the light that slashed Rider will not fade.
Exactly as he says, that Noble Phantasm is an abnormal existence.
The holy sword that appears divine to its allies looks like a devil's creation from an opposing viewpoint.

"Fu, faa!"
So he runs through the darkness.
That light will come if he stops.
He will vanish without a trace if he turns around.
There's no time to pause.
He puts more weight on his life than on the fact that he has lost his Servant or the fact the he isn't a Master any more.



"Haah, hya…!?
Another tumble.
Even though he's almost out of this darkness, he hits a huge wall.
"…!! Damn, don't put a wall somewhere like this…!"
He punches it in anger.

"Huh?"
An unlikely sound is made.
Matou Shinji looks at what he thought was a wall, and at his arm bent up like a puzzle ring, and…
""
…Even forgets to scream because of fear.



"You can't do that, mister maggot of Makiri. There's no running away for a loser."





"Ma"



The moment of recognition.
The instant he realizes what's in front of him, Matou Shinji is terminated.

Someone had to do it



"…? His footsteps stopped?"
It's a sudden change.
The sound I was hearing was nearby, and there's still some distance to the elevator.
As far as I remember, there's no reason for Shinji to stop in the middle of the hallway.

"…Shinji?"
I walk quietly and advance with caution.
…I see the change quickly.
The spot where Shinji's footsteps died…
In the hallway that was empty on my way to the rooftop, there is a red puddle.



If you really, really wanted to skip "killing" Shinji, you could just start reading from here. It's almost exactly the same.



"Huh…?"
Saber doesn't look well at all.
She has sweat on her brow, and her breathing is weak yet irregular as if she has a fever.

"…No way. Hey Saberwhat's wrong?"
I call out to her timidly, but she doesn't answer.
…She's unconscious.

"Sa… ber…?"
I touch her forehead.
"Ow…!"
I automatically pull my hand back.
I-It's unusually hot.
If this is a fever, she's over forty degrees…!

"Saber! Hey, are you all right…!?"
Even when I call out to her, her only reply is heavy breathing.
"!"
I don't know what the hell's going on.
I don't know, but I'm sure we can't just stay here like this.

"I'm going to take you home…! If you want to object, do it later…!"
I pick Saber up.
…She's light.
She was light before, but she's lighter now.
No, more than that, she's…

"…She's warm. She's alive."

"My god she's burning up!" "Oh good, she's still warm."

Saber is still Saber.
I'm angry at myself for hesitating.
…Damn it, so what if she's a hero?
No matter who Saber is, she's here right now and she's warm.

"That's good enough for me!" *zzzip*

How stupid of me to think there's a wall between us in spite of that.





I let her sleep in the Japanese-style room, but I don't think she'll wake up any time soon."

"…Sorry, you really helped me out.
There's nothing I could have done to treat Saber."


"…Well, I just removed her armor and helped her relax, so you don't need to thank me. Saber won't get well, and I haven't done anything."

…But still, having Tohsaka around helped.
She was the one that yelled at me when I came home in a panic about what to do.
She worked out Saber's situation and advised me to take her armor off and let her sleep.

It's been an hour since then.
Somehow communicating with the unconscious Saber, Tohsaka took her armor off.


"So, what happened?
I thought you went out looking for Shinji, and Saber was like that. I can tell that something happened, but can you explain the details?"

""
I hesitate.
…Saber's Noble Phantasm.
I should avoid revealing her true name.
It's not something I can reveal by my judgment alone…

Music: Whirlpool of Fate 2

"…Rider was defeated. Shinji retired, losing his Command Spell. But Saber used her Noble Phantasm and collapsed after using it."



Tohsaka falls into a meaningful silence.
She's Tohsaka, so she should be able to tell that it was no ordinary matter.


"Well, I won't ask you for details. You guys are in no condition for that sort of a thing."
"…? What do you mean we're in no condition?"


"It's just like I said. …You should know vaguely by now that Saber will disappear like this."
"What?"
Calmly.
Tohsaka mentions the result I have avoided thinking about.

"…Disappear… you mean, Saber will disappear?"


"Of course. Saber's magical energy is almost empty. I don't know what kind of a Noble Phantasm Saber used, but it must have consumed a lot of magical energy.
Saber has used up most of the magical energy in her.
She's in pain because she's trying to keep herself from disappearing."

"She's going to disappear because she doesn't have magical energy…? Are you saying she's going to disappear even though she wasn't injured?"


"Yes. Depletion of magical energy is a more serious problem than external damage for a Servant.
It's the magical energy that gives the spiritual Servants form. She will just disappear if it runs out."

"…Well, Masters transmit their magical energy to their Servant so that doesn't happen, but you can't do that, right?


So Saber has to fight using her own magical energy. It's over once that runs out. I told you this right at the beginning."

That's…
…Certainly what Saber told me.

"But she was fine until now. Saber said she'll be all right if she slept"




…Yeah, Saber certainly has some magical energy left in her.
I think she should be able to recover enough magical energy to preserve herself."


"But that's it. Saber will end up fighting in the situation she's in right now.
It would be absurd to use the Noble Phantasm that put her in this state to begin with. Saber will definitely disappear if she uses it again."

"…She'll disappear if she uses her Noble Phantasm again…"
No, first of all, I can't let her fight in this state.
I don't want to see her slumped over in pain again.

The game just missed a golden opportunity for a certain image.


"Do you understand now? There are only two ways to heal a Servant who ran out of magical energy.
To have the Master replenish the magical energy, or to have the Servant collect magical energy herself."

…To have a Servant collect magical energy herself.
…That would mean killing innocent people like Rider did.

"…That's impossible. Saber won't do that. She said herself that she wouldn't do such a thing."


"I would think so. Saber would probably choose to disappear if she had to sacrifice innocent people.
So there's only one other possibility. If you don't want Saber to disappear, you'll have to offer her your magical energy."

"That'ssomething I would have done already if I could.
But I don't know any way to give Saber magical energy. Unfortunately, I can't do everything like you can."

"…Of course. We wouldn't make it even if I taught you how to share magical energy. It would take you about a year to learn since you're not suitable as a magus, and you wouldn't be able to use it even if you learned it.


…Well, a path should have been connected at the summoning, so there might be other measures"

I don't think it's a spoiler to say that the answer is clearly sex.

Tohsaka ponders.
But it's only for a moment.
Tohsaka looks at me with an expression suppressing her emotions.


"Look. If you want to save Saber, all you can do is to make her attack people and absorb their souls.
I think you already know this."

Look at the sudden change in attitude. Somebody doesn't want any competition.

""
That's the most realistic measure.
But that means



But if you let things be, Saber will disappear and you will be targeted by the other Masters."

""
Saber will disappear…?
I can't even imagine such a thing.
I still feel her body heat in my hands which were carrying her.


"Then there's only one answer.
Use your Command Spell, Emiya-kun. You should be able to avoid the worst case scenario with that."

That means…



…Ordering Saber to kill innocent people.

""
I can't say anything.
I resent what Tohsaka is saying, but at the same time, another part of me recognizes that this is the only solution.


"I'll let you decide. Saber will calm down if she sleeps, but her limit is still near.
If you're going to make a decision, make one by the next time we get attacked."

Tohsaka leaves the living room.
…I can't even look up… I can only listen to Tohsaka's departing footsteps.