Silas -
I looked at the man in front of me in surprise.
"You want to stay here?"
Not just me, others in the Restaurant were also surprised by this.
"Yes." He nodded. "What do I have to do to not go back to that world or any of its connected worlds?" He asked in a very serious tone of voice.
Was he being serious?
I didn't want to kill him if possible because Medea could actually steal the servants from other masters and having one more servant on our side would help a lot.
Worst case, we could beat him up as that was what was originally planned… but this… this is not something anyone had expected.
I look at Medusa and Medea with a questioning look.
The former was still looking at the man with suspicion while the latter noticed my gaze but just shrugged.
"Why?" I couldn't help but ask the man.
I was actually surprised.
He was supposed to be a hero of the past, right? Then why did he agree so easily?
Weren't heroes supposed to be… a bit stubborn.
On that line of thought, who even was he?
Was he just saying this for us to let our guard down and then slip out when he gets a chance?
"That world is too messed up." he replied with a shrug of his own.
"Huh?"
"The world is far more messed up than you realise and I want out. So, what do I have to do?" He asked.
I looked at Medea.
She understood my meaning too and replied. "We would need to find his master first so that I can cut off their connection and then bind him to someone else."
Connection?
"What kind of connection?" I asked.
Medea raised Saitama's hand and explained the connection between a master and a servant using the command seal.
I took an opportunity to look at them using my Masterchef Skill.
There was indeed a connection between them.
I checked the other girls and indeed each of them and their servants had a similar connection between them too.
Lastly I checked on Archer and saw that there was a line similar to that going out… no, at least trying to get out of his body but disappearing into the Restaurant instead. The connection also seemed to be... lighter than the connection between other master-servant pairs.
It was weird.
"What happened?" Saitama asked, looking a bit tense. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I was just trying to see this connection that Miss Medea was talking about. Indeed there is such a connection between you all. But in the case of Archer that connection is disappearing into the Restaurant's floor instead." I looked at the man in question ignoring the surprised looks in the eyes of other servants. "Can you feel any connection to the place?" I asked.
Archer shook his head.
"No. I cannot feel anything but I am getting a steady supply of power that I need to exist." He replied truthfully.
I thought for a moment and nodded.
"Then we just have to find your master. Medea can remove the seals from her." I replied.
"Can I not go outside?" He asked, wincing lightly.
My eyes twitched at his reaction.
"That won't be necessary. As long as we find your master, I can remove her command seals. You being or not being there, doesn't matter." Medea replied.
"Great."
Seriously… you are that happy to be away from that world? Just what the hell have you been up to?
"Very well. Then you will stay in the Restaurant until the war ends." I looked at Tohru. "Keep an eye on him."
"Yes Boss." Tohru saluted quickly. "If he tries anything, I will…" She turned her hands into sharp claws.
"Alright. I will ask Miss Irene to make some contracts like she had made before for him to sign."
"Hmm, I have something like that too." Ainz said as he summoned or rather brought a piece of parchment out from his inventory and put it in front of me.
My eyes twitched as I recognised the piece of parchment.
It was the same one they had used to force me to sing in that comiket.
"Any contract you make on this will be a binding contact."
"Oh, that's interesting." Medea said, taking a look at the parchment closely.
It was decided that Medea and Ainz would take care of the contract so that it doesn't leave any loopholes and Rimuru would look over it and recheck.
The conditions weren't that harsh.
In basic terms, he will stay out of the Holy Grail War and in exchange I will provide him a way to stay out of his world. He did request me not to kill his current master if possible and Medea confirmed that there was no need to kill the masters, only the servants in the Holy Grail War.
What came next was gathering information and Archer was quite forthcoming with it.
The information also made something clear.
Rin hadn't told them where Sakura was and had even defended her.
Later however, that Edelfelt girl knew about their relationship and informed the rest and they decided to put a surveillance on Rin to find the location of Sakura.
Archer's master, Ciel as we now knew her name, was charged with this as Archers could follow someone while maintaining a long distance.
He had indeed followed Rin… last night and seen her talk with me. That's how he discovered the location of the Restaurant… and today… today, he had come to scout the interior of the Restaurant to find if Sakura was indeed here as he couldn't sense anything inside the Restaurant before this.
I don't think he expected to meet so many servants, masters and other supernatural beings all gathered and partying in the Restaurant.
"What exactly are their intentions for Sakura?" I asked, finally.
"For now, to find the location of Shinji Matou, but I cannot guarantee after that. After all, they are enemies in this Great Holy Grail War."
Ultimately all of that came down to the Red Team vs Black Team.
I looked at Sakura who gave me a nod, looking determined. I let out a sigh internally and gave her a nod in return and looked at Archer.
"Very well, you can stay here. We will take care of everything. And don't worry about your master."
x_
I closed my eyes and lay on my bed.
Such a headache.
This entire matter was so troublesome.
At least after Archer's arrival, the four master servant pairs looked more serious. Even the gorgon twins looked more serious about the whole thing.
They would be going out to participate in the war tomorrow.
I had converted one of the private cabins for Archer. He was more than happy to live there for now.
Rimuru promised that the Dwarves would start the work tomorrow for expanding the Restaurant and making the staff quarters.
Tohru actually stayed back today and was in the Guest room, sharing a room with Orihime and others. She wasn't very trusting of Archer.
Actually, neither was I for now but Milim did confirm that he wasn't lying about anything so we decided to give him a chance.
"Worried?" Shuna asked from my side.
"Hmm."
"I think you should have more faith in Sakura-chan and the others."
"I do… but anything could happen in fights. I am still worried." I replied, lightly caressing her back.
I felt her get up and sit beside me. I looked at her, confused but she just smiled and moved my head from the pillow to her lap.
Ah… so that's what she wants to do.
I closed my eyes and felt her fingers slowly massaging my head as she hummed a soft lullaby.
Shuna was very good at taking care of children.
Even the mischievous ones like Kanna or Natsu calm down when she steps up.
I had even seen Milim asking her to sing a lullaby for her. She was just that good.
Yeah… Shuna would be a great mother one day.
I listened to her lullaby and slowly but surely, my eyes closed and I found myself falling asleep.
- Rin Tohsaka -
That damn Shinji…
He was causing problems even now.
The worst part was that he had somehow summoned a servant.
As she was moving forward, she paused and looked back at the pair following her. "Why are you following me?" She snapped at them.
"Ohohohoho, what would give you that idea? We are merely going that way. You are the one who is walking in front of us, blocking our way." That gorilla woman replied.
Her eyes twitched.
She was planning to go to Sakura and inform her about the changes but with this gorilla woman following her, she couldn't risk that.
"Why so tense, Tohsaka? Are you worried about something? Perhaps scared of the serial killer?"
"As if. I am more afraid that someone else will catch him before I do." She replied, gritting her teeth.
"Heh! That's awfully brave of you… or is it just an act to hide your nervousness… or something else?"
She narrowed her eyes at the words. "And what exactly do you mean by that?"
"Well, not much. I was just investigating the case, you know the usual, the background of the ones involved and found a very interesting fact."
Rin's heart sank.
"Did you know that the Matou Heiress, that girl called Sakura, was actually adopted into the family. Guess it makes sense if they were using her for experiments but what I find more interesting is that in the same year she was adopted into the Matou family, the second daughter of the Tohsakas, who was also coincidentally named Sakura just disappeared. Don't you think that's too big of a coincidence?" Edelfelt narrowed her eyes. "So where is she… that sister of yours?"
Rin gritted her teeth but kept a calm face. "I don't know."
"Oh. Good then. After all, you wouldn't want to be hiding crucial details about such a matter from the Clocktower and the Church, would you?"
"I know what I should do. You should keep your advice and nose to yourself." She snapped back.
"Ohohohoho no need to get so angry." That gorilla laughed and turned away, leaving with her servant.
"See you later." The other saber waved at Saber too.
"Rin." Saber called out to her.
"I'm fine, Saber." She replied, although her heart was racing as she spoke.
She would have to be careful to not give Sakura's location away.
While she knew that those people there could probably handle anything these people threw at them, it would also attract the attention of the Clocktower and escalate the matter.
That… would never end well.
- Silas -
"Two hot pots for Bang-san and Hayato-san." I called out as I slid the order through the window.
"Yes!" Tohru quickly came over and picked the order up.
While she was doing so, Archer finished cutting vegetables for the next order.
This was something of a welcome discovery.
Archer was very good at several things.
Cleaning, cooking and even carpentry.
When we woke up in the morning, I found the Restaurant spotless.
It's not like it was dirty usually.
Sakura, Shuna, Tohru and even Lavinia always made sure that the place was neat and clean. I personally cleaned the kitchen myself.
They generally did it in the morning after waking up but today everything was already done when we woke up.
We only found Archer throwing the last bit of trash away.
He was wearing an apron and had a broom in one hand.
So he really wasn't joking about knowing how to cook and clean.
While I didn't allow him to cook personally, helping me around the kitchen wasn't a big deal.
I was still waiting for Jōichirō to come over but there was still a month or two left for his current contract so I had to wait a bit longer.
Till then, Archer could be a good help.
He passed me the chopped vegetables and I proceeded to cook the next order.
One by one the guests came into the Restaurant. One of the cabins was currently occupied by Rimuru, Ainz, Kazuma, Cid and the four master-servant pairs.
Milim was playing games with Fafnir and the kids.
Today was a Sunday so the kids were all gathered here to play games.
The master-servant pairs were discussing the plans for the war and how they would go forward.
They were going to go out to fight today and thus were planning.
I finished a stir fry when the door of the Restaurant opened again and I sensed Archer pausing. I looked at him and he met my gaze, looking serious. "A servant."
The words made me look towards the door.
On the door was a stunning girl.
Blonde hair and amethyst colored eyes.
She was wearing a sundress and looking around the place in wonder, her eyes pausing as she saw Tohru.
"Who is she?" I asked Archer as I walked out of the kitchen.
"Ruler." Archer replied, following me.
By the time I was out, other servants had surrounded her too.
"Seriously, they just keep coming. At this rate, we don't even have to go out and we can finish off all the enemy servants." Eyurale said with a laugh.
The girl was taken by surprise as she saw the servants in the room. Then as if realising something she quickly spoke to explain.
"I am not here to fight you all. I am... My name is Ruler. I am the overseer of this Great Holy Grail War. My duty is to make sure this war goes on fairly."
"Ruler. Oh. So you are the so-called Ruler that Rin was telling us about? So what are you doing here, Miss Ruler? Weren't you supposed to stay in the Church?" Medea asked, stepping forward.
"I am here to investigate the disappearance of a servant. Last night a master from the Black Team came up to report about the disappearance of her servant. The Grail hasn't registered the death of any servant and neither could I sense his death so I came in to investigate the last place he was before he disappeared. The master said that he was going to some restaurant. This is a restaurant, isn't it?" She asked.
"Yes it is." Archer replied.
"Archer!" The girl called out as she looked at him. "You were here. What happened?"
"I have decided to drop out of the Great Holy Grail War and work here." He replied causally with a shrug.
"What?"
"As I said, I am dropping out of the Holy Grail War and working here. All that fighting and killing… I'm tired of it."
"Eh? But…" The girl, Ruler, looked confused.
"You can tell Ciel that she can summon any other servant if she wants but I will not be fighting."
The girl looked completely mindblown.
Has such a thing never happened before?
Seeing her like that, I stepped forward. "Excuse me, Miss Ruler. I am the owner of this place. Would you like to sit down for a while and talk?" I offered her a seat.
What I didn't expect was that she immediately took a defensive stance and looked at me as if she had encountered something extremely dangerous.
And then it stuck me… ah yeah… I am that dangerous one.
"What are you doing here, demon?" She asked seriously.
Most people in the Restaurant already knew this so the only one surprised was Archer who looked at me with surprised eyes.
"A Demon?" he asked, stunned.
"An Archdaemon to be precise but yeah." I shrugged, then looked at the girl. "This is my Restaurant. Also, don't look at me like that. In my world, demons and angels roam freely in the human world. They are under a ceasefire right now apparently."
"What?" The girl and Archer both looked confused.
"Please take a seat. I will explain everything."
And that's exactly what we did.
I put Lavinia forward as she was the one who had the most knowledge about my world's supernatural factions.
By the end of it, both the Ruler servant and Archer both looked stunned by the explanation.
"A world where the Age of Gods hasn't passed even in the modern age." Archer looked lost. "And you're an Archdaemon? The same ones from the Bible?
"Ughh… no, not one of them. It's… well it's complicated. I was actually born a devil but raised by human parents while having no idea about my heritage. I have only recently discovered my heritage which was sealed before this. Things happened and I am suddenly an Archdaemon now…" Man, my life is really absurd. "But hey! Rimuru here became a slime and Ainz became a Lich so what's so strange about it anyways?"
He just looked at the slime and Lich who nodded and blankly nodded his head and became quiet too.
The Ruler servant however looked stunned for a different reason completely. "Do… Do Angels and God exist in your world too?" She asked, almost awed.
"Yes." I nodded.
"Have you seen them?" She asked us.
"Eh, not me personally. As I said, I have been a part of the supernatural for a very short time so I haven't seen any angels yet. Although I know for sure that they exist. The God of the Bible has even made artifacts and distributed them among humans. Some humans have a chance to be born with them. We have had the chance to meet some of them." I explained. "Actually, Lavinia here has two of them."
"What! The artifacts of the Lord?" She almost jumped and looked at Lavinia in awe.
Lavinia just nodded lightly.
She was originally very afraid of her own power but recently, with the teachings and support of August-sensei and the rest of the teachers in Alvarez, and the ones here at the Restaurant, she was learning how to control the powers of her Sacred Gears more. It was good to see her grow.
"Can- Can I see it?" She asked Lavinia, her eyes shining with hope.
Lavy looked at me and after seeing that look in Ruler's eyes, I couldn't help but agree.
There was this… innocence in those eyes that was just hard to say no to. Lavy nodded and stepped back.
"I think we should step out. This place is not good to show such power." Lavy said as she stepped out.
We actually chose to go out in Gojo-san's world as that place had a whole training facility around the Restaurant door.
Even the other Restaurant patrons followed us to take a look.
Archer was hesitating but after realising that we were not going to his world, he stepped out warily and then breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed that he was not in any danger.
Seriously, what's his deal?
I will have to ask him later.
Lavy stepped back and summoned her first Sacred Gear.
The same doll of ice appeared behind her as the temperature of the entire place dropped several degrees immediately. "This is Absolute Demise. You can call her Demi-chan. She is one of the thirteen Longinus." Lavy explained.
"Longinus! You mean the spear?" Archer asked, stunned. "It doesn't look anything like it. Also, what do you mean by thirteen Longinus?"
"Eh, the Longinus' title was given to the thirteen strongest of the Sacred Gears which have the power to kill a Satan or Gods. This is one of them."
Archer looked flabbergasted. "And people are just born with it?"
I shrugged. "How can I understand what goes on in the minds of Gods?"
"The Lord always has a plan." The Ruler interrupted us although her eyes were still on Lavinia, or more precisely on the Absolute Demise.
Lavy dispelled the Absolute Demise and then took a deep breath and the next moment purple flames seeped out of her.
I took a step back almost instinctively. It was those same flames.
The first time I had encountered them, I never understood why I was so afraid of them but my instincts were shouting at me to get away from them.
It was only later that I understood what they were. The flames of the Holy Cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified.
Yeah, who hasn't heard of that before? Every cross in every single church, every cross used by any Christian… was modeled after this one. Whether the ones they use to drive away ghosts or to purge demons, they use an imitation of this cross.
It was only normal that someone like me, a Devil, an Archdaemon would feel threatened from it too.
What was surprising was that I wasn't as afraid as I was the first time I had seen it.
As I was thinking of that, the flames spread. In the next moment, a large cross appeared behind Lavinia.
Baam.
I looked at the side where Ruler was on her knees, her hands clasped in a prayer-like pose as she stared at the cross, tears streaming down from her eyes.
The hell…
Lavinia noticed this too and dispelled the Incinerate Anthem immediately.
We stood back, not knowing what to do as Lavy stepped forward and quickly helped Ruler up.
"Is everything alright? Did those Sacred Gears do something to you?" Lavy asked worriedly.
Ruler however quickly shook her head. "N-no. No. It did nothing bad. Thank you. Thank you for showing me this." Ruler quickly thanked Lavy, wiping her tears.
"Say, Miss Ruler… I have heard that all servants are heroes of legends and mythical figures. So, what's your name?" I asked, suddenly curious after her reaction.
"Me? My name is Jeanne."
Jeanne?
"She means Jeanne d'Arc, the Maiden of Orléans." Archer replied from behind me.
The Maiden of Orléans?
"You mean Joan of Arc? That's you."
"Ah, please just call me Jeanne." She replied, embarrassed.
No wonder she was behaving like that.
Jeanne d'Arc, wasn't she a saint or something?
No wonder seeing the Holy Cross of the church in front of her made her so emotional.
We stepped back into the Restaurant.
"By the way, what is the relationship between you two?" She asked Lavy, looking at me. "Are you also a staff here?"
"Yes. I am Sil-kun's girlfriend." Lavy replied brightly.
At that moment, I was pretty sure I heard multiple curses mumbled lightly by Rimuru, Ainz and… was that Kazuma?
"Eh!" Jeanne turned red, flustered at the confession.
Since she looked quite tired, I got some juice and was about to offer her when I paused.
I mean she was a saint and I was an Archdaemon.
Would she even accept anything from my hands?
She seemed to have noticed it and she smiled and took the juice. "You don't have to worry. You are with someone who wields the relics of the Lord himself. I don't think he would do that for someone bad. I apologise for jumping to conclusions." She quickly apologised.
"No no. I understand. Believe me, I was on the verge of a breakdown when I discovered that I was a devil too. But now I know that my race doesn't matter. What matters are my actions." I replied honestly.
"You are right." She nodded.
Others were kinda surprised by her identity and questioned her a few more things, especially after learning that she was the Jeanne d'Arc.
According to Lavinia, there was someone in the Church of our world who was said to be the reincarnation of the Maiden of Orléans in our world too or at least that's the rumour she has heard.
Jeanne was obviously interested in this.
"Are there really Angels in your world?" She asked Lavy.
"Umm, I haven't seen any pure angels but I have worked temporarily for Azazel."
"The one from the Bible!"
"Hmm. He is a funny man although everyone calls him a pervert." Lavy replied.
I mentally made a note that Azazel was a pervert in case I ever met him in the future.
But then again… who wasn't?
They talked for hours.
By the time our conversations ended, it was already late in the afternoon so I invited her for lunch.
Archer followed me to the kitchen to help me with the dishes.
"So, Ruler was Jeanne… then what or who are you?" I asked Archer.
He paused for a moment so I added.
"It's fine if you don't want to answer. It doesn't really matter to me as long as you don't hurt anyone here."
The man shook his head. "I am… I am just a pathetic fool." He said self-deprecatingly.
I was taken aback by his words but sensing his tone, I didn't ask further.
"Anyways, your own story is no less strange than any hero. A devil raised by humans who owns a Restaurant which connects several worlds together. I don't think even heroes can have such stories."
I just shrugged.
"So, have you met other devils or supernatural beings apart from the ones here?" He asked.
"I don't go out much. We fought a bunch of magicians who had attacked us. They had turned some students in this area into some kind of monster using zombies. We beat them up and healed the kids. "Apart from that…" I winced remembering the incident after the comiket.
"That bad huh?" Archer asked, noticing the look on my face.
I just nodded. "Let's just say my second meeting with the supernaturals… wasn't the best."
Archer smartly didn't ask further.
We had some more conversation before lunch was ready.
To my surprise, Jeanne was actually quite surprised by the taste of the food.
"Back in her time, such food was a luxury afforded by only the richest, maybe not even that." Archer explained, seeing the look on my face.
And that's when I realised that yes, Jeanne was from several hundred years in the past and food during that time was indeed not as good as it was today.
"You can come here and eat whenever you want, Miss Jeanne." I offered.
"N-no. I wouldn't want to impose."
"You are not imposing. Just take it as me making a donation."
"Pfft, a Devil making a donation to a Saint. I've seen everything now." Rimuru laughed.
"You are a slime who rules over a kingdom of monsters." I retorted.
"Touché."
After eating, Jeanne was about to depart but she still asked Archer one last time. "Are you sure you don't want to leave?"
"Very sure."
"Ughh, this is the first time I have encountered such a situation. What am I even supposed to do?" Jeanne looked troubled by the situation. Ultimately she let out a sigh."Alright. I cannot force you. I will have to inform your master then."
"Just don't mention this place. I mean this is also the home of other masters. Giving away its location would be equivalent to siding with the other team. I don't think you are allowed to do so." Archer said.
"Ah… hah… okay, I won't."
Poor girl.
- Shinji Matou -
"Are you sure this will work?" Shuten-doji asked, skeptically.
"It will. This method worked for me too." Sukuna replied as he arranged the ritual… which was basically pulling out that cursed mud he had collected when running away from the destroyed Matou estate.
This was the same mud which had increased the monster's strength and made it difficult for Shinji to control Sukuna first.
In the last fight after Ibaraki-doji's disappointing performance, Sukuna came up with an idea to boost them with some of that same mud which had made him stronger.
While Shuten-doji was extremely strong, they had thirteen other masters hunting them. There was no way they could survive this battle with just her.
On top of that, they found that there were some other people, old magus families who had infiltrated the Holy Grail War too. Previously they were kept away due to the fear of that old monster Zoken but with the news of his death spreading, they had all infiltrated this city.
It was only through coincidence that they had discovered this fact.
One of the people they had interrogated was a servant of one of these magus, the same person who told them about the Apocrypha Protocol. They had sneaked into the office of a high ranking Clock Tower member to find out this information or no ordinary member of the Clock Tower would know of it.
And now even the existing masters had formed an alliance against them.
Yes… just one servant wasn't enough.
At best, two or three of them could keep them busy while the rest of the master-servant pairs would completely butcher them.
Shinji still hadn't forgotten that monster… Berserker.
They needed both the servants, that's why even Sukuna was resorting to this.
With everything prepared, they stepped back.
"All you need to do is eat that black mud." Sukuna said with a grin.
Shinji knew that's exactly what Sukuna had done but back then he had only taken a bit of that mud but here… he was giving her almost several dozen times that.
The blonde oni looked at the mud with a suspicious look but suddenly swallowed everything at once.
They waited.
Time passed, one second at a time and yet there was no chance.
"Dammit does this method not work for servants?"
Just as he thought of this, dense black shadowy tendrils erupted from the oni.
"Ahahahahaha." She started laughing loudly. The more she laughed, the more deranged she sounded.
"That's it. That's it. See, I told you she would get stronger, didn't I?" Sukuna laughed. "Now let's go. They want to hunt us, don't they? Then we hunt them first. Or do you want to try it out too?"
- Waver Velvet -
"What do you mean Archer doesn't want to return?" He asked, surprised.
He had never heard of this before.
There were many things he had expected when they were called to the Church by Ruler but this… not this. Never in his dreams had he heard of such an absurd thing before. Sure the servants rebelled and that's what the command seals were there for, to keep them in control in most cases.
But here, Ciel had lost all connections with the servant in the first place.
She couldn't even use the command seals anymore so how would she force him to return?
Ruler looked flustered too.
"I… he said that he didn't want to join the war anymore."
"Can you tell us where he is?" Ciel asked.
"Eh… this, I am sorry."
"Why? She is the master. It is only normal that she knows where her servant is." Waver countered.
"The place where he is staying is also the residence of other masters and servants. I cannot give their location to anyone else."
Waver quickly caught several clues in the words. First, she said masters and servants which meant that there were multiple masters in that place, possibly the base of the Red Team or maybe even that of the serial killer.
Next was that she said it was their residence, not the place they were hiding or a temporary base.
So it was more than likely to be related to some other master and not just a random hotel or property where they are hiding temporarily.
They tried to ask more but Ruler didn't give in and in a way Waver knew that she wasn't exactly responsible if a master couldn't even control their own servant.
It was one of the aspects of a Holy Grail War.
How can she be expected to baby every master whose servant revolts?
"Was Archer being controlled by anyone?" He asked, not exactly expecting an answer.
Even if he was, there was no way Ruler would inform him about it.
Surprisingly, the Ruler shook her head.
"No. He was doing this on his own." She replied with full conviction, removing any doubt of control.
Ciel looked surprised but kept quiet too.
Waver fell in thought.
So Archer was rebelling and he had somehow joined the other team. He didn't believe for one moment that he wasn't going to fight.
This meant that the other team already knew about their plans and bases, even the numbers and the identities of the servants, possible skills too… while they… they had no idea how many of them were there or what their plans were.
At this point, anyone or anywhere could be an ambush.
He suddenly felt a massive headache.
This Great Holy Grail War was turning out to be much more troublesome than he had expected.
Both of them left the Church, still trying to process the information they had learned.
"What do we do now, Lord El Melloi?" Ciel asked.
"It's not that much of a problem. If a servant has broken a contract, they cannot last much longer on their own. Can you still feel him taking prana from you?" He asked.
She shook her head. "No. The connection is just gone. I can feel nothing."
"Then he won't last out there much longer. Without prana, at best he would last a day or two at most. What we need to worry about is the other team. They hadn't appeared in the Church that is being observed by our people so we don't know their identities but now it seems that they have already formed a team beforehand. In that case, we have to be decisive too." His face hardened with a look of resolve.
With that he walked in the direction of the Tohsaka house..
"Where are we going?" Ciel asked again.
"What else… it seems we have to be blunt now. Let's go and talk to someone who knows where they are. Let's hope for her sake that Rin Tohsaka isn't involved with them or I will do what I must as a member of the Black Team and take out an opponent as per the rule of the Great Holy Grail War."
x_
Finding Rin Tohsaka wasn't hard.
She was actually at the Tohsaka Mansion with her servant, the Blue Saber. She did look surprised at his appearance.
"Lord El Melloi!"
"Where is Sakura Matou, Miss Tohsaka?" He didn't beat around the bush and directly asked.
He observed her closely.
Several expressions came to her face in quick succession. Nervousness, fear, surprise and then resolve.
"I don't know what you are talking about Lord El Melloi. I think I made myself clear that I don't know where she is."
"Cut the crap, Tohsaka. I am in no mood for this right now. Archer has disappeared and the Red Team is gathering servants, perhaps with Shinji Matou with them. Two more teams of my people are dead. I know you know the location of Sakura Matou so I will give you one and only one chance, tell me where she is or face the consequences."
The girl stepped back one step, looking at him warily.
"Are you going back on your word, Lord El Melloi? Or are you using your position to threaten me to back out from this Great Holy Grail War? Is that why you are looking for such ridiculous reasons to pick the Red Team members one by one?" The girl quickly argued back.
"So you have made your choice?" He warned, taking a step forward.
The Saber servant stepped between them quickly. "If you want a war, I can very well give you one here, Waver Velvet, master of the King of Conquers." The Saber said with narrowed eyes as she gripped an invisible sword in front of her.
"I am just doing my duty. If you become an obstacle in my work then I can only declare war." He replied, with equal conviction.
"Ahahahaha well said." Iskander appeared beside him and laughed boisterously as he unsheathed his sword too.
The atmosphere froze.
When it looked like things were going to get dangerous, something happened which diverted the attention of all of them in a different direction.
From a distance, a massive pillar of energy erupted.
Even from this distance, he could sense the… wrongness of the energy.
It was foul as if the atmosphere was being cursed.
"Shinji!" He heard Rin Thosaka's voice as she stared in that direction in horror.
"It seems we have found our target." Iskander said, looking at the towering energy. "Yes, I can see why she said he was cursed. The stench of curses in this one is unlike anything I have seen before. Not that he looks like he is trying to hide it either."
"Let's go. Who knows what that lunatic is up to now. At this rate, the entire town will be caught in the madness." He said as both of them were about to head towards the place at their fastest speed. But he waited for a moment and looked at the Tohsaka girl. "You are the overseer of this city. Protecting it is your duty. Do you think it can survive the madness that person is about to unleash here?"
The girl frowned but replied nonetheless. "Sakura is not involved in any of this. If there is someone who wants to kill him more than anyone else, it's probably her."
"Then why are you hiding her location? Bring her out so we can talk to her and find out more about this monster. Tch… no time to talk about this anymore. Go and call for reinforcements. This looks like it's going to get out of hand and I am not sure I alone can stop this."
The girl nodded and he left the place with Iskander and Ciel.
Every step he took towards the place made the curse and miasma in the air heavier.
On the way, he sent signals for the rest of the Church and Clocktower operatives to follow them too.
Other members of the Church and the Clocktower, all headed towards that place too.
Very soon he realised the location he was headed towards.
It was the same place where that damned fire had spread the last time.
Up ahead, he spotted several members of the church and clocktower. They were currently feeling with all their might as the area around them crumbled.
And then he saw it.
"Is that an oni?"
The figure in front of him had long purple hair, bright red eyes and two horns on top of her head but the most dangerous part about her was probably her skin which was like charred flesh with deep cracks in them. Shadows seeped out from those cracks.
It was the same curse that they had discovered at the Matou estate.
"But weren't summoning servants of local myths forbidden in the Grail Wars?" He voiced his doubt.
"With the amount of damage to the Grail, who knows what is even intact there?" Iskander replied. "Anyways, we don't have time for this. The soldiers won't be able to hold back this oni. Hahahahaha an oni. I have never hunted those before. Come out my soldiers, today we conquer oni." Iskander laughed as he headed ahead.
He didn't hesitate either and followed close behind.
The fight was anything but easy.
He didn't know the true identity of the monster as the corruption had made her almost unrecognisable.
Fortunately, the corruption had also left her nothing more than a mindless berserker.
Even the stray attacks from her were enough to blow off large chunks of lands, even sending Iskander on the backfoot with sheer might behind the attacks.
Those attacks, those were no less than the attacks of an A Ranked Servant, perhaps even worse.
As he was thinking of this, something else happened which made his blood run cold.
Out of nowhere a second burst of energy, just like the previous one exploded nearby.
Another one?
How was there another servant like this?
Was another master working with Shinji Matou?
Was it Sakura Matou?
Then was the Tohsaka girl after this too?
Was all this just a trap from the very beginning?
Just as he was thinking this, he was picked up by Iskander who carried him away from his initial place.
A moment later, the entire place was slashed into two, a deep crevice ran down the ground where he was standing.
The invisible slash.
He looked in the direction from where the attack had come and saw a figure appearing from behind the trees.
Blue curly hair, a teenager… Shinji Matou. His face was covered in black marks.
"Hahahaha are you one of the master's hunting me? Come. Come and hunt!" The figure shouted as Iskander jumped away from that place again as the place was cleaved down by an invisible blade, leaving long crevices below.
"This is getting out of hand." He said seriously.
"Ahahahaha, isn't it fun? If there are no challenges, then what is the fun of conquering?" Iskander laughed.
Waver looked at the monster possessing Shinji and shouted. "Who are you? How did you possess Shinji Matou?"
The reply he got in return was another barrage of attacks.
"Eh, doesn't look like he is in a mood to speak. Let's speak his language then." Iskander laughed.
"Their bodies may return to ash, but their spirits still hear my call!
These men are my legendary heroes – my loyal followers!
They're my true friends - breaking the rules of space and time to fight once more at my side.
They are my treasure within treasures;
They're my right to rule!
They make up Iskandar's mightiest Noble Phantasm –
Ionian Hetairoi!"
Waver looked at the hundreds of thousands of soldiers, each one a servant rising up once more and then at the monster inside Shinji Matou's body.
The Great Holy Grail has begun.
- Rin Tohsaka -
How did things turn out like this?
Was that bastard Shinji mad?
Being so blatant in his attacks, was he planning to rip off the veil of secrecy from this world?
Doesn't he understand what would happen if he did that?
The entire Clocktower and Church would be after him with vengence… that's when her thoughts stopped midway…
Yes.
He wasn't worried about all this, was he? After all, they were already after his ass so what could go worse?
The worst part was Lord El Melloi directly coming to her.
She hadn't expected that he would shed all pretence and come for her directly like this… no… she had actually expected this when she had hidden the whereabouts of Sakura from them.
She knew what kind of people magus were.
If Sakura, the only heir to the Matou heritage appeared in front of them, especially after that accident at the Matou estate and this mess with Shinji, then even if she was uninvolved in any of this, they would have ripped her apart using any excuse… or perhaps even with those.
And if they ever went after Sakura, it would provoke the monsters in that place.
Rin wasn't sure what she was more afraid of at this moment, Sakura getting in trouble or the reaction of that place to said trouble.
She was heaving towards the Church to get help from the Ruler and see if she could contact any other masters there… even that Edelfelt Gorilla would do at this point.
But when she was near the church, the situation changed again.
Another massive aura, the same as the first one erupted from that same place.
It made Rin freeze mid-step.
Another one?
How did that bastard manage to get the help of another servant?
Sounds of explosions and slight tremors could be felt from her current position.
"Miss Tohsaka." She heard a voice and looked in the direction of the voice to see Ruler running towards her. "What is happening here? What is that foul power?" She asked, looking towards the place with wide eyes.
"That's… it's probably the enemy we were searching for."
"What! But- but at this rate, the entire town will be affected. That…"
"I don't think he cares about that." She shook her head and asked. "Are there any other masters in this place? Please… you have to send people to stop him or things will really go out of control?"
Ruler however shook her head. "No. No, there are no other servants in the Chu…" Her words paused for a moment. "Where are your companions?
"Lord El Melloi has already gone to check the place and I have come here to seek any reinforcements. Do you know where I can find any help?" She asked.
The Ruler looked extremely uncomfortable. "I… I cannot tell you."
"It's not the time to…" She was about to argue when Ruler interrupted her.
"But I can try to seek help from them." Ruler said. Looking resolute.
"Very well then, please do so. We don't have much time. I will also try to find help." She nodded.
"Alright."
With that both of them left the place however a moment later both of them paused.
"You… where are you going?" She asked.
"Wha… why are you following me?" The Ruler asked, flustered. "You cannot follow me. I can't tell you the location of other masters."
Her eyes twitched.
"Then don't follow me." She lashed out.
"But I am not following you."
"Aghh, just do whatever you want." She screamed and dashed forward towards the Restaurant at her fastest speed.
Right now she could be bothered with what the people of that place could do because if no one took any action, there would be nothing left to take action.
She reached the Restaurant almost at the same time as Ruler and slammed the door open.
"We have a problem."
"There is trouble. Please help."
Both of them shouted at the same time.
The group in the Restaurant looked at them with surprised looks.
- Kirei Kotomine -
"Oh, looks like the play is reaching its climax. But how can that be? The characters of the play haven't even been properly introduced yet. How can the play reach its climax?" His servant spoke as he watched the two auras erupting in the distance.
"Becuase it's not a climax, merely a loud beginning." He replied. "But as they say, every candle flickers brightly before it dies. We just have to wait for their death and then pluck the fruits of their efforts. After all, you are a playwright, not an actor. Why jump in now?"
"Ahahahaha exactly. A playwright doesn't need to jump in, just make sure the actors perform well and then appear to get the praise."
While his plan with the Lancer servant had failed when the Command Seals were taken away from him, things changed for the better somehow.
Poor Lancer… if he had known this was going to happen, he might have let Bazett live for a while longer.
After all, living people are more useful than dead ones and that woman would have been quite useful too.
x_x_
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Beta Note: The advance chapters are in order of what is updated, a first Tier will not get 2 advanced chapters for every story, only the next two to be released.
Beta Reader: LuluViBritania (FF.N, SB, WN and QQ)/-LuluViB99th Britannian Emperor(Discord), and Basilisk
Author's Note:
First of all, I'm very sorry for the delay.
I was very sick these past few days and couldn't complete the chapter in time. I will try to release the next chapters earlier than scheduled.
I am back with another chapter of 'Isekai Restaurant'.
Things are heating up.
First of all, Archer really did get up and flipped a middle finger to his world.
The guy is not even willing to step back into his world anymore.
Next, Jeanne, our sweet and adorable Saint came over to the Restaurant and even got the chance to see the actual Holy Cross in action.
Lastly, Sukuna is just hell bent on fucking everything up.
Feeding the two Oni the Grail Mud… yeah, as if summoning them in their home country wasn't enough.
But then again, Sukuna was never about secrecy and any of that.
The battle has begun, Iskander and Waver vs the two Oni and Shinji-kuna.
And what exactly are the other masters, especially Kirei, planning and lastly, what about the hidden observer?
Enjoy the new chapter.