Chapter 5, Fated future…

Shirou and the girl were walking through the streets towards the depths of the village together with the little creature.

In the back of his mind, the apprentice magus asked himself the same question over and over again:

Why can't I refuse?

Shirou was not stupid, he was sure that the name Cath Palug was familiar to him from somewhere, and it was clear that this girl had relationships with the dead apostles. Also, if he trusted his instincts, this girl was sure to be someone extremely dangerous.

Most of the ghouls did not approach the trio, and those who did were cut to pieces by the boy.

The redhead observed the state of the town. The further they entered, the more destroyed the buildings were, "Was this the product of what happened thirty years ago?"

The girl nodded, "Yes. It was a real surprise to see the church and the association working together. We did not expect it. We believed that they would obstruct each other. Unfortunately, this was not the case, and in the end, the clash of powers was so strong that they managed to destabilize the ritual," clenching her fists, the girl frowned, "It was a real hassle, you know, we had been preparing that ritual for a few centuries, and it all ended in nothing."

"Nothing!? The mana began to disappear because of that ritual!" The boy screamed, but he soon regretted it, remembering that it was very likely that the person in front of him could easily kill him.

However, the girl did not seem to care too much, although Fou barked in reproach, "Yes, you're right. It is something that I have never fully understood..."

"What do you mean?" The boy asked curiously, while the girl led him to the basement of a building.

Upon reaching this, the redhead observed a large crack in the ground that led to a series of tunnels.

"The Aylesbury ritual is supposed to involve the resurrection of The Dark Six. They are the original dead apostle, known as the first and highest system."

"You speak as if you don't know him..."

She shook her head, "I don't do it. It has been in a state of resurrection for countless years and has not yet reached one hundred percent. Be that as it may, it was supposed to be reborn thirty years ago; but, something happened while the ritual was taking place, apart from the interruption of the organizations, and, the axis, as well as the poles of the world, were altered."

"Was that what caused the constant depletion of mana?"

The girl nodded, "True ancestors, as well as dead apostles, are supposed to be means of counteracting human-caused deterioration. If that's the case, why would the resurrection of one of the oldest systems cause such a disaster on the planet? Until it reached the point where the core of the earth, what can be said to be its soul, was injured."

"So, it wasn't the intention of the dead apostles to cause this disaster?"

"I can't speak for all of us, but, at least, I wasn't expecting it." As the duo descended into the depths of the earth, they had this strange conversation. For some reason, the girl's attitude had changed, now she was behaving like a quite serious person, "After thinking about it a lot, I could only come to one possible conclusion; but it is so absurd that I hope I am wrong..."

"Which?" The curious boy asked.

"Perhaps the first apostle came to the erratic conclusion that the only way to destroy humanity once and for all is to destroy the planet itself as well... Simply put, it would be something like a kamikaze attack."

"T-That's crazy…!"

"Yes. You're right, but it's the only thing I can think of."

"A question ..." said the nervous boy.

The girl smiled, "Shoot."

"If the effect of the ritual could be reversed, could the world be saved?"

That question created a deep silence between the two. Suddenly, the girl turned to him. The redhead only knew her for the short time they had been together, but, in this short period, 90% of it, the girl had remained extremely cheerful. However, the look she was giving him now was the opposite. It was the look of a tired person, a person who had faced a problem, or something similar, for a long time and, in the end, she had not found a solution, resigned herself to losing.

The same look Kiritsugu had when he told him about his past.

"I'm afraid that's impossible..."

"But! What if there was a way!?"

"Anyway, it would be useless..."

Worried, the boy asked, "Why?"

To which she replied, "The current state of the planet is not our only problem."

"What do you mean?"

"That the Aylesbury ritual was carried out is only one of several reasons why our world will come to an end."

"Are there more!? What are the others !?" He asked desperately.

The girl whispered, "The box was prematurely closed, the predatory star on the threshold is getting closer and closer, and finally, the eight Aristotle have been called in to carry out the extermination. Do you understand, human? There is no way to win ... It is as if fate itself is playing against us."

Shirou didn't understand. He did not know which box she was referring to, nor did he know which star she was talking about, or what an Aristotle was, which, obviously, was not referring to the ancient Greek philosopher. But there was something he did understand. Whatever these were, not even the absurdly powerful girl in front of him could take care of them.

As they walked through the tunnels, the earth shook enormously, Shirou was afraid that they would collapse on top of them.

"Calm down. The tunnels and all these constructions are reinforced. It could be said that it is almost a bunker," said the girl, noticing the boy's worried look every time the ground shook.

After a few minutes of walking in silence through a network of tunnels, they both reached an absurdly large room.

"This is the room where the ritual was first performed thirty years ago."

Shirou admired the huge cave in amazement. There were magic circles, glyphs, and runes engraved everywhere, on the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. Almost 90% of what he was seeing, the apprentice magus didn't understand. It was too advanced magecraft for him to understand.

"Look look!" The girl pointed, returning to her cheerful character, "This was where Ortenrosse, Merem, Blackmore, and I gathered to see the resurrection of The Dark Six! Van-Fem was also supposed to have a duty to attend the ritual, but that bum only helped us with the capital and land so that Aylesbury was fit enough to perform the ritual."

The place that the girl pointed to was right in the center of the colossal cave. In that space, a huge crater was present.

The girl then frowned, "Although the event was short-lived. The ritual began to cause strange things that ended at the beginning of the premature depletion of the planet's mana. Also, to finish, we were interrupted by the Church working together with the Association," Shirou comically saw how the girl seemed to want to pout, "And, instead of fighting together to complete the ritual and end the organizations, Merem and Blackmore took the opportunity and tried to kill me. Old Ortenrosse didn't help much either..."

Shirou was really surprised. It was as if the girl was used to being tried to kill her, "Are you okay?" He asked concerned.

"Huh?" She exclaimed, surprised.

"I asked you if you were okay. It is not normal to talk about attempts against your life so easily..."

After a few moments, she couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Hahaha. I... I had forgotten how much fun humans were," After laughing as much as she wanted while Shirou looked at her confused, finally, she simply smiled at him, "You can be calm. Merem and Blackmore have been trying to assassinate me for centuries. They don't forgive me for what I did to their little princess."

"Little princess?"

She nodded, "Yes, she is the only one other than me who possesses the qualities to bring him back. You could say that she is something like my little sister, although I do not consider her that way. I was born from a combination of two species, although..." Making a gesture of thinking, she said, "That would not be entirely correct, considering that one is derived from the other. The point is, she did something stupid, and as a consequence, ended up eradicating most of one of the species that I was born from. Furthermore, she gave a great amount of power to a certain creeping snake, to such an extent that, when he got out of control, even I couldn't face him."

"Are your sister and that snake that powerful?" Shirou asked, terrified that such monsters existed in the world.

"Yes. After my defeat, I requested PM's help to defeat the snake, but after I got it, it turned out that the brat had already killed him," she said with annoyance and some resignation, "I guess she cleaned up her own mess."

"I see…"

"I was very angry, you know? First, she makes me have to deal with her mistakes, I end up defeated because of them, and when I get the way to repair the mess she made, it turns out that she had already fixed it. I was so furious that I went to claim her."

"So, the two of you fought?"

"Yes, we had a little fight. I get nowhere, but…" A smile of superiority adorned her face, "I kept her hair..."

"What?"

She smiled with joy, "I cut it off, and it won't grow back until I give it back. You must have seen Merem's angry face when he saw me. It was a poem. He has tried to kill me ever since..."

The apprentice magus was dumbfounded at the girl's words. Were all the superior dead apostles like this? No wait, the girl was a dead apostle, to begin with?

After laughing for a while, she calmed down, "But it seems that it is just as I thought."

"What do you mean?"

She opened her arms, trying to contain the entire cave within them, "This is the place where the ritual will take place, haven't you noticed anything strange?"

Shirou analyzed the cave, and that's how he realized, "There is nobody here!"

The girl nodded, "Although all the apostles killed with the original blood should be gathered here, there is no one. Not even old Ortenrosse, who is leading the ritual, is present."

"Why...?" asked the confused redhead.

"A trap," she said confidently.

"A trap? From whom?"

"Of the old Ortenrosse, of course. He is the dead apostle who leads the biggest faction that opposes the mine. We have disagreed for centuries."

Shirou started to put the puzzle together in his mind, "So, Ortenrosse set up this trap. He made you believe that the Aylesbury ritual would take place one more time. He thus made you come to town and be attacked by the association and by the church."

"Jackpot," she said smiling, "High praise for our detective."

The girl's teasing embarrassed the redhead.

"The truth is that I thought it was strange. For the ritual to be ready, we had to prepare it for centuries. It was unlikely that only thirty years would be enough to do it again," Then she turned to him smiling, "I must thank you."

This confused the apprentice magus, "Why?"

"It had been years since I had been able to have a conversation like this. Generally, everyone is too afraid of me to try," however, her smile faded, while a face denoting sadness replaced it, "It's a pity that everything has to end..."

This confused, and also alerted Shirou, "What do you mean?"

"Well, isn't it obvious? You've come here to kill me and get a reward, haven't you?"

"Reward? The only reward being offered is in case someone succeeds in killing the princess of the dead apostles," At that moment, he realized, "D-Don't tell me that you are… !?"

She nodded. Taking her beautiful evening dress, the girl bowed as she introduced herself, "My name is Altrouge Brunestud, one of the two princesses of the dead apostles, enchanted. Freelancer, I am your target," she said while smiling threateningly at him.

"W-Wait, I have no reason to stand up against you!" Shirou tried to reason with the princess.

"You do not have it...?" She asked playfully. She smiled once more, but this smile was not like the previous ones. It was a smile that chilled his bones, a cruel and ruthless smile, "So why did you come to this town, child?"

Shaking slightly, Shirou replied, "I needed to prove my usefulness to regain my family crest, which is important to achieve my goal."

"Your family crest? Your goal?" The princess asked curiously.

Shirou nodded, "My family crest is being held by the association. I believed that by helping to stop the ritual, they would be willing to give it back to me, and that will bring me closer to completing my goal."

"Do you want to complete your objective...? Which?"

Shirou lowered his gaze as if he knew that his dream would be nothing more than a joke before the princess, "I want to create a sword..."

This disappointed the princess, "A sword, is that all?"

"Not just any sword, I want to create a sword that is capable of cutting it..."

"Cut it? Cut what?" This rekindled the girl's curiosity, "Say it at once! Your doubts are making me angry..." She said as she released a bit of her aura terrifying the boy.

The blacksmith's apprentice steeled himself and declared, "What I seek to forge is a sword that is capable of cutting more than just steel, flesh, bone, and life. I'm talking about a sword that cuts any entity, that can cut through resentment. One that severs certainty, causality, and karma itself," Shirou got emboldened to say the last part, "In short, a sword that can cut and rid of fate..."

This stunned the ancestor. For a moment, her face was unreadable and, after a few moments, what he anticipated happened, she laughed, laughed very hard, "A-Are you serious? Just when I tell you that the world and humanity are destined to come to an end, and you come to tell me that you want to create a weapon that cuts and rid of fate. Is that your goal? What, do you want to be like those heroes from ancient legends and save the world with your legendary sword, or something?"

To the princess's surprise, Shirou's response was not filled with anger, but it was accurate, "No, most of the stories of the heroes of the past end in disgrace and, I... I was able to see first-hand what that path can take you to."

This made the apostle stop laughing, "Then you are serious. It's a sad thing. You won't be able to create such a weapon..."

"No, I will create it, you can be sure of it."

She shook her head, "You will not be able to create it. The world has its days numbered and what you are seeking to create surpasses several divine creations. It is impossible."

He responded with more force, "I'll still try!"

She showed quite annoyed, "You are very stubborn, you know?"

"I'm a sword, I don't break easily," he said, smiling.

That absurd statement brought a smile to the princess, "So, let's make a deal. Show me your skills. If you manage to harm me with any of your weapons, then I will not only let you live, but I will help you however I can to create that sword."

"What!?" Exclaimed the surprised boy.

"Oh, come on, so little is so strange. The goal of the dead apostles is to achieve perfect immortality. If humanity is exterminated, my fellow men will die. Even if that doesn't apply to me, or at least not entirely, thanks to being a half ancestor, that doesn't change that I will die too."

"Why?"

"In the end, the Harvest Star will come for all equally. Even if we negotiate with the Ultimate Ones, the star is something else entirely. In short, we are all going to die, do you understand...?"

Shirou nodded.

"If you can create a weapon that can cut through this dire fate, then it will be a win-win for me. But first, show me what you are capable of, show me that there is a slim chance of creating something like that," making a gesture with her hands, she invited him to attack her.

As they both spoke, Fou walked away, placing himself in a place where he would not interrupt his master's games.

Shirou took a deep breath and transformed his determination so that it was harder than steel, "Okay, Altrouge. I'll cut off the defeatist expression you had when you spoke about our future," Shirou unsheathed his two katanas, "I am not a hero, I am a blacksmith, but precisely because I am a blacksmith, I will create a weapon that will free us from fate and save this world."

She smiled defiantly, "Then come blacksmith, show me your creations."

Shirou strengthened his body and, before charging at the ancestor, he whispered the command to activate his magecraft, "Time alter, Double accel!"

At the same time, in the streets of the town...

Kiritsugu ran through the streets of that hell, avoiding as many ghouls as he could. He was no longer in the same condition as in his best days, and he had to be careful. The sky had become like a canopy of wings, and hell had broken loose soon after. The magus killer observed as beings much more powerful than him faced in a fight to the death, not caring if they destroyed everything in their path.

A huge ghostly-looking ship was gunning down some kind of robot. This was a ten-meter-tall mechanical doll. It seemed to be the manifestation of various weapons of war. As well as the act of fighting itself and the mixture of various puppets. On top of the ghostly ship, two beings were fighting at inhuman speeds.

On the other hand, a young boy with very dark brown hair, dressed in a white outfit, was fighting an enemy on top of a four-legged whale-shaped monster about two hundred meters long. His enemy was a knight who was wielding what, after seeing some of Muramasa's works, Kiritsugu could identify as a cursed sword.

Suddenly, one of the two beings that were on top of the ship, the one who had a humanoid appearance along with the features of a crow, screamed, "Merem! I will stop these two! Go for Altrouge!"

Apparently, the apostle was referring to the young boy who was commanding the giant whale dog. The boy smiled, "Being so considerate of me isn't like you, Blackmore. But, that's okay, I'll take your offer!" Patting the monster, the boy said, "Come on, king of the land, take me to the center of town."

The gigantic being turned and tried to retreat but was attacked by the knight, causing large cuts all over its body.

"You think you can run from me, Merem!" He screamed, but when he tried to cut the creature again, an enormous number of hybrid beings with the heads and wings of birds did not allow him to pursue them, "Blackmore, you bastard!"

Thanks to the henchmen of the crow apostle, the "young" boy was able to go to the center of town. Merem was going to order his great demonic beast to destroy the ground to access the place where the ritual was taking place. However, when he was about to arrive, something happened...

The earth began to shake with great force. However, this was not because of the movements of the creatures fighting in the village. It was because of something else...

As if it were an eruption, from the bowels of the planet, a huge column of light arose that rose to the heavens. A light with the power to burn everything it touches.

"W-What the hell was that?" The confused apostle wondered after the column of light dissipated, "Be careful, king of the land."

The dog approached the huge hole that the eruption had left, the dust flooded the area, and Merem could not see anything inside it.

A few minutes before, inside the cave...

Clinck!

Shirou's katanas crashed into Altrouge's claws at high speed. However, no matter how much he attacked, his katanas could not pierce her claws, and she, with her superhuman reflexes, was able to parry every one of his blows as if it were child's play for her.

Shit! The boy thought.

Now it was the princess who had decided to go on the offensive and attacked him at high speed, trying to stab him with her claws. He could barely deflect her attacks, and she attacked faster and faster.

Suddenly, the apostle's claws overcame his guard and headed for his body. Despite the reinforcement, the princess's claws furiously plunged into his flesh with ease. He gritted his teeth and struggled not to cry out in pain. Taking advantage of the girl's outstretched arm, he tried to cut it with his swords, but, with a quick movement and, even with her hand inside the boy's body, she threw him several meters away as if he were a rag doll.

Shirou fell to the ground. Extremely sore, he struggled to his feet.

"Oh…? Looks like you have some kind of regeneration ability," said the princess, seeing how Shirou's wound healed at high speed.

Swallowing the pain, the redhead thought. I can't fight her directly. My swords cannot cut her, and she surpasses me in speed, strength, reflexes, and experience. But I don't need to win, just a cut, that's all I need...

"Since it looks like you won't break easily, I'll be a little harder on you," She said showing a morbid smile and a thirst for blood that he had never felt. She lunged at him with terrifying speed ...

Seeing that he couldn't dodge her, not even with his speed increased to twice his usual time. Shirou did the only thing he could think of, he knew he hadn't been able to do it until now, but his life depended on this. Concentrating all he could, he strengthened both his body and his sword, and, knowing that he could not endanger the sword that served as a receptacle for his ancestor's spirit, he used his Monohoshi Zao.

CRASH!

The sword stopped the princess's claws for a few moments, but it was only that, a few moments. Then the sword cracked until it finally split in half. Shirou, for his part, flew off again. This time, crashing into the wall and spitting blood.

Trembling, the apprentice blacksmith put all his effort to get up.

With a mocking smile. The princess of the apostles played with the broken blade of the Monohoshi Zao, "Is this all your swords can take?" Altrouge laughed out loud, "And with this level of skills, you plan to create a sword that will free this world from its fate?"

"Time alter, double accel."

Shirou reactivated his magecraft just in time to dodge the broken blade of his own weapon, which had been thrown with extreme force and precision against him. What was left of the sword ended up breaking even more when it hit the wall.

"Kid, there is no way you can do any harm to that monster unless you use it," said his ancestor.

"I know, but it's not that easy. She must know I have it, but she must not know how powerful it is," Shirou stopped talking for a moment, feeling the blood rush down his throat, "Once I unsheathe it, she will feel its power and be careful, making it difficult for me to hit her. I need to be able to catch her off guard with a quick, point-blank attack."

"So, what will you do?"

"I'll risk even more..." In his belt were two swords, one of them was his trump card, and the other was the Vorpal sword that he snatched from Louvre's son.

If my theory is correct, this sword should have some effect on her.

Drawing the sword and putting away his katana, Shirou prepared to face the princess once more, "Time alter, double accel."

"Another sword? I hope it is not as fragile as the previous one..." Again, Altrouge launched herself at high speed at the redhead.

However, when she got closer, she felt as if her speed was slowing down. She was forced to slow down, enough for him to narrowly dodge her.

They exchanged attacks again, but this time, Shirou managed to hold on. Altrouge's blows, while still powerful and dangerous, diminished in speed and power.

"That sword is really a nuisance!" She screamed.

Shirou managed to pull away a bit when the princess began to show her frustration, pushing him back. With a few hand movements, he wrote something on the blade of his sword using mana, "Ansuz!" Suddenly, the blade of the Vorpal sword was engulfed in flames.

Now it was he who took the offensive. Shirou quickly lunged at the princess, but she stopped him again. However, the flames generated by the rune began to burn her. For a moment, they exchanged blows at high speed, with each collision, the flames slightly burned the girl.

"Ach! Damn this is a hassle!" Said the angry girl. She was tired of a senseless battle like this, the only thing the boy had managed to do was cause her slight burns that healed instantly, but still, they were a real nuisance. "Enough. I'm going to get this over with. If you have anything else, then show me off now!"

Altrouge launched herself against the boy for the third and final time. But this time, he didn't fight back or try to dodge her. He lunged at her and, midway, threw his sword, "Time alter, triple accel."

Directing his hands towards the last sword that had not been used and, with Altrouge unable to stop almost in front of him, Shirou uttered a prayer:

Please lend me your strength. Bring me victory! Sword of the selection, grant me the power! To cut off the wicked!

The apprentice blacksmith drew his sword with a swift movement, known as Iaidō, and, with a loud cry, released his sword, "NEO… CALIBURN!"

From the edge of his blade, an explosion of magical energy transformed into light particles was released against the princess. The light ascended, breaking the ceiling of the cave and reaching the outside...

A few moments after the light was released, from outside the cave ...

The king of the land poked his head into the rift.

"Blow," Merem whispered.

The giant being exhaled a little air dispelling the dust. After it dissipated, they were both shocked at what they saw.

On the one hand, there was the same boy who had caught his attention a few hours ago in the camp. He was standing with difficulty while holding a weapon. As a collector, Merem was very envious of the boy...

"It must be a battle-oriented katana," Muramasa said.

"No, it must be a western sword, and it must be able to maintain its status as a symbol of the king."

When it came time to reform the sword of the selection, Muramasa and Shirou had this heated discussion. Muramasa wanted a katana that was perfect for battle. But Shirou wanted to keep the fundamentals of the old Caliburn. What resulted from that discussion was the current sword.

It was a single-edged sword. It could be said that a one-and-a-half handed or two-handed bastard sword. It was straight and slightly thicker and longer than the original. It was still decorated with gold details and elegant decorations. However, now its hilt had a handguard that was used for protection. Somehow, the letters that had been written on its original sheet had resurfaced when it was reformed. Although adding some characters. The sword was a cross between a ceremonial weapon and one made for battle.

Shirou could barely stand upright. He was feeling the effects of the triple accel. To the point that he even felt like he was going to pass out at any moment. His father had warned him that while he could use it thanks to Avalon, the rebound his body would suffer would be enormous, and he would not use it unless he had no choice. Also, he had made Shirou promise that he would not go any further regardless of his situation.

His Od was also at a minimum. He had never used Caliburn before and didn't know how much Od it would take away from him. Now he could tell that an attack at "full" power was his limit, and while he could attempt to launch a second attack, this one would not have half the power of the first and would probably pass out after using it.

Using what was left of his stamina, the boy turned his gaze towards his opponent. He smiled. He knew that the attack would not kill Altrouge, much less when he could not even use the full power of the sword. But that was not the important thing. He had succeeded...

There she was, her long black hair was untied, her perfect dress had been ripped apart and, indeed, it seemed to have reformed itself. Her appearance had changed. In her normal form, she was truly powerless. She would be no different from any other girl beyond her recovery curse. But she was, how to put it...? Ah yes, it could be said that she was like some magical girl with two transformations or two stages. When she faced the apprentice magus, in fact, she used a repressed version of her first stage, and now she had completely freed it.

Red marks the same color as blood ran through her white skin, her hair black as night, her eyes shining like rubies, a mist covered her and, behind her, inscriptions he could not understand floated like wings. They looked like magic crests. Although he couldn't understand them, he knew what they were. Geis, the contracts used by magi. But for some reason, hers had manifested themselves physically. Also, her dress had been reformed, being a little more suggestive and, at the same time, much more elegant. This was the real Altrouge Brunestud, called the master of blood and contracts.

She smiled, slightly showing her fangs. Raising her arm, she showed the only thing that was jarring about her appearance: her arm. It was burned and scorched in its entirety by the light of the holy sword.

"Whoa, it seems you got a little careless and paid the price, fake princess," Merem said mockingly.

The girl's smile soured, "Merem, who invited you to our private game?"

"Oh? Sorry for interfering with me, your highness," he replied without hiding the hatred and sarcasm in his voice, "But I came to end her life," he said after smiling sweetly.

She smiled with amusement, "Kill me? Did you finally become senile? I'll feed you my dog."

"Will you feed your dog to me? What nonsense do you say?" Merem smiled cruelly, "Can you summon Primate Murder out of nowhere?"

"I don't need to summon him. He's already here," she answered.

This confused the member of the Burial Agency, "What are you talking about, faker? If there was something we gave importance to, it is that you had not brought that monstrosity with you. You only came with your two bodyguards and that..." Then he realized, "D-Don't tell me, the squirrel!?"

Now it was Altrouge who smiled cruelly, "Squirrel? Fou is a full-fledged hound. It is a pity that, due to the current state of the world, he had to take that form to more efficiently conserve his power. Also, to move without causing disasters. But you know... Lately, he's been asking me to let him play freely," Altrouge smiled sweetly, "Thanks for offering you as his toy."

After the princess said those words, something happened, something terrible, something monstrous.

Shirou, who could barely stand, fell to the ground trembling in fear. What was this!? WHAT WAS THIS FEELING OF IMMINENT DEATH!? Shirou trembled and writhed on the ground, not even in the great Fuyuki fire did he feel something like that.

"Come on PM, go out and play."

A disproportionate growth began to occur in the small animal. Not even the earth was able to contain it. Huge claws, colossal teeth, vast horns. The king of the land was sent to fly like a simple toy, and from one moment to another, the primates remembered the terror of death. Rising above all of Aylesbury, smashing the reality marble in which the town had been plunged, he rose again:

Primate Murder, the white beast, also known as the Altrouge's demon dog. The most powerful beast that Gaia had ever created.

Merem was terrified. How the hell had that monster concealed itself so well that it didn't even give off an ounce of its power? He didn't know, but if he understood anything, it was that he was going to die.

There were four members that it was stupid to mess with among the 27 dead apostles: Primate Murder, his beloved teacher, Crimson Moon, The dark six, and ORT. Probably, old man Zelretch could sneak into that group as well. Although for several different reasons...

"GRRROOOAAAARRR!"

That roar alone was enough to exercise his authority. All those over whom he exercised his power, all those who shared the characteristics of primates, and all could be classified within this species or, as a variant of this, died at that very moment without exception.

For a moment, Merem felt the life leave him. He was a dead apostle, yes, but before he was an apostle, he was human. Maybe a very special one, but a human in the end. Worse still, he had the same physical characteristics of a primate, and that alone was enough for the authority of Primate Murder to have some effect on him, although of course, he did not do it with all his strength, allowing him to survive the roar.

But surviving was not a victory. If Primate Murder wanted, he could exercise his authority directly over him. No, that was not even necessary. Primate Murder was a Gaia-born monster. He had the full support of it, and he was a giant being that surpassed all of his creatures. He couldn't do anything against him.

"Why that face Merem?" There were two people mounted on the gigantic monster, his owner and the magus apprentice. The latter was passed out. The princess lifted something holding it in her hand, "I thought you came for this?"

Merem's face contorted, his calm lost, and he yelled angrily, "Damn you, Altrouge!"

What she had in her hands was the hair of his beloved princess, Arcueid. She held it as if it were a toy. He wanted to go and take it from her and then end her life, but not all the hatred in the world would make him jump against the monster in front of him.

"You know Merem, in the last few decades, you've done nothing but pester me. I should kill you for it," she said smiling, "But, this time, I'll let you live."

"What?" asked the "young man" in surprise.

"Thanks to your conspiracies, I have met someone interesting. So, for this time, I will allow you to continue living," playing with the hair in her hands she said, "It's not like I can't kill you when I wanted to. Besides, come on, even she doesn't care so much about her hair."

You and that other nasty Blackmore are both great, huh, what do you call them now? Oh yeah, stalkers.

If only I could go and kill her at once. Merem thought, louder for each word that came out of the princess's mouth.

"Let's go, Fou," she said, then yelled, "Rizo! Fina! We're done here. We're leaving."

The dead apostles returned with their princess with overwhelming speed. Blackmore didn't stop them. He knew that, against Primate Murder, plus the other three apostles, he had nothing to do.

After they were both together with Altrouge...

"GRRROOOAAAARRR!"

Primate Murder roared again, but this time no one died. A blinding flash engulfed the entire area, and Gaia's beast disappeared along with the dead apostles and the apprentice magus.

Several minutes before...

Kiritsugu had managed to get out of Aylesbury there he was waiting for him, and anyone else who wanted to leave the town, a magus. A long blue-haired boy with some dark circles in his eyes. The boy was wearing a brown jacket and pants.

"Are you the heir to the Ainsworths?"

He nodded, "Are you going out of town?"

Kiritsugu nodded, "Has a red-haired boy your age come here by any chance?"

The boy shook his head, "No one of my age has left town," using his magecraft, he opened a portal and said, "Come on. My father told me that when things got too dangerous, I should retire. And I think it's about time..."

Although worried, Kiritsugu crossed it, wishing that Shirou would come soon after or that he had fled the town in some other way. The portal closed with the boy on the other side, and the magus killer returned to camp.

"From what I see, you survived too," Kiritsugu turned to where the voice came from there was Kairi, "It went all crazy when those demonic beasts appeared. Wait? Where is the guy?"

Kiritsugu was going to reply, but suddenly, a beam of light rose in the distance, right where the town was.

That light is...!?

Kiritsugu recognized it as a light similar to the one released by the servant's sword he summoned in the past, and that only meant one thing: Shirou was still in town.

The magus killer ran or at least tried because Kairi stopped him, "Wait, where are you going!"

"Back in town, Shirou is still there."

Kairi understood, understood what Kiritsugu was feeling. He had also been a father, even if it was for a short time. But still, he had to tell him, "The Ainsworths are no longer sending anyone into town."

"What?"

The necromancer nodded, "After the superior dead apostles began to clash, they decided that sending more people would be the same as sending them to their death. So, they decided not to send anyone else, they only left to one to bring them back..."

Kiritsugu wanted to reply, but his words were drowned in his throat. The primates remembered the terror of death. Even half a kilometer away, Gaia's beast was clearly visible. All those who saw him could feel for a moment as if life was escaping from their bodies. All the people inside the camp were paralyzed with fear, this only disappeared when the beast left, after a second roar.

After several minutes, everyone returned to normal...

Kiritsugu set out to look for any member of the Ainsworth family. But before he could go talk to one, another man stopped him.

"Your son is no longer in Aylesbury."

It was the same old father who was one of Merem Solomon's familiar.

"What do you mean?"

The king of rats whispered something in the magus killer's ear. Before retiring, he watched the sky, "To my master is not going to like this..."

Kiritsugu was stunned by the information he had just received, yet instinctively he looked up at the sky after hearing the father. Over there, the crimson moon shone.

Somewhere else…

He couldn't see anything, his whole body ached, but he heard a few words.

"Are you sure of this, your highness?" said a voice.

"Yes. This world does not have enough time left to allow us to doubt. Also, I saw something interesting..." This voice seemed to be Altrouge's.

"Something interesting? What was my lady?" asked a different voice.

"A land of swords..."

After a few minutes, Shirou managed to open his eyes. The sunlight bothered him a lot, "Huh!?" He exclaimed, surprised to see the princess of the dead apostles' inches from his being.

She smiled, "It seems that everything went well."

"P-Princess?"

She frowned, "I refuse."

He looked at her, confused, "Sorry?"

No princess, Altrouge. You treated me normally when we first met, keep calling me that.

A few miles away from town, I brought us here after playing with Merem. For a moment, Shirou remembered the giant whale dog and the boy who rode it.

"That was Merem?"

The princess nodded, "It was fun playing with him," after that statement, her expression changed to one of pure curiosity, "By the way, why didn't you tell me that you were developing a reality marble?"

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Shirou replied, confused.

"I see, so it's completely natural, that makes it more interesting..." Altrouge smiled, "When you were unconscious, you whispered a few words. I suppose it had to do with your injuries because, after whispered them, some species of leaves came out of your body to seal the places where I gave you the last blows. You were no longer fully human when you hit me with the holy sword. Am I correct?"

"I do not know what you mean. I've always been human, at least for as long as I can remember."

She looked at him confused and with her eyes narrowed, "That makes no sense. The most powerful dead apostles can deny man-made heroic treasures, as well as those that the gods have prepared for man, rendering them useless. But your sword hit me and hurt me, do you know what detective means?" Altrouge made a gesture of thinking, "Although, now that I think about it, I suppose it also has to do with the compatibility problem I have with that sword, being a holy weapon."

Although somewhat embarrassed by the girl's teasing, Shirou replied, trying, and failing miserably, to lie to her, "Well, maybe I know something..."

She frowned slightly, "That is not right. You should not lie to the person who will help you..."

"Huh?"

She took a graceful deportment, "I am the princess of the dead apostles. I promised that I would help you create the sword that will cut the dire fate of this world, and I plan to fulfill my promise. Furthermore, if we fail to create it, this planet will inevitably come to an end. Maybe we will need a miracle to survive."

A miracle… Shirou thought as he watched the moon disappear with the light of the new day.

"By the way, my apologies for your other sword," Altrouge was holding the Vorpal sword and his Muramasa, Caliburn was at his side, but she did not dare to touch it, "By the way, your grandfather is quite a funny person. It had been a long time since I spoke with another being who had lived more than three centuries without him being an apostle."

"Thank you," Shirou said as he accepted the swords.

"So, where will you go now?"

"I'll probably go back to London. In a week, my classes will begin again in the Clock Tower."

That depressed the princess, "London, huh. I probably have to talk to the old marshal then..."

This statement confused the boy. Was she going to come with him?

"It's no fun asking that guy for favors… So, you want me to take us to London?" She asked.

Shirou was going to politely decline the offer because first, he had to go back to...

"The camp! Old man!" The redhead exclaimed, concerned.

"Old man?"

"He is my adoptive father, I was supposed to meet him at the camp, but we met, and well..."

"Oh, I understand, do you want me to take you there?"

"Please. Although ... will you come?" asked the apprentice magus, somewhat nervous. Carrying the princess of the dead apostles would be like lighting the fuse on that powder keg.

"No, Merem is probably still around. But don't worry, we'll see each other again very soon..." Altrouge turned to Fou, who had returned to his reduced form, he was next to Shirou, "Fou, you know what to do..."

The little creature positioned itself on top of Shirou and nodded.

"Foouuuu."

Fou barked, and the two disappeared in a halo of light right in front of the princess...

The magus killer was in the camp, waiting. He didn't know what he was waiting for, but he couldn't just walk away either. The old father had told him that his son had been taken by one of the top 27 dead apostles. In a way, that reassured him, for all they found at Aylesbury were nothing more than corpses. But what would he do now? In his mind, there was no plan or way to face one of those monsters. How would he get Shirou back? That question was repeated over and over in his head and, when he was about to lose hope, a great flash appeared in the middle of the camp. When it dissipated, his son had appeared with a small dog on his shoulder. Kiritsugu was about to run to his side, but, right now, he was the magus killer, so he slowly approached. And, he wasn't the only one...

Shirou had appeared in front of all the people in the camp, but something seemed strange, they all approached looking at him with various emotions reflected on their faces, some like, curiosity, amazement, were easily visible.

What the apprentice magus did not know was that after the attack on Aylesbury had ended, a certain rumor began to spread:

That the magus killer and his son had managed to kill the sons of Louvre, one of the closest candidates to become a member of the 27, and not only that, rumors also said that the killer's son had fought against the princess of the eclipse and the black blood and, somehow, he had managed to hurt her. Most importantly, these rumors were spread by the King of Rats. Merem's familiar, one of the apostles who were in town at the time of the events. All of this only increased the credibility behind them.

In the distance, Merem was looking at the boy. When his eyes looked at him, a small smile adorned his face and, when he looked at the creature on the boy's shoulder, his expression warped to one of anger and fear, "It seems that things will get more interesting from now on..."

Another person who was looking at the boy was Zachary Ainsworth. Angelica, Julian, this year you are going back to the Clock Tower. Be sure to keep an eye on our goals and cooperate with our allies.

Both nodded.

"And Angelica…"

"Yes, father?"

"Also, keep an eye on the son of the magus killer. He could be a useful piece in our plans."

The girl nodded.

The last important person to observe him was the Queen of the Clock Tower herself, Barthomeloi Lorelei. She had a cold and calculating look, but she couldn't help but smile.

From that day on, the life of the apprentice magus became much more hectic. And, his second year in the Tower would be living proof of this ...

Omake:

It had worked. Caliburn's attack had managed to hit the princess of the dead apostles. But the apprentice blacksmith knew that that would not be enough to kill her. She was described as a kind of magical girl with two stages, and until now, what she was doing was using the first stage in a repressed way. Now he would see her, the true form of the princess of the eclipse and the black blood, the owner of the beast of Gaia...

"Huh?"

Sparkles and hearts began to fill the entire area as ridiculous music resounded through the immense cave and, suddenly, something that he did not understand, and that exceeded his understanding, began to occur...

The princess's dress began to transform, becoming much more childish, also, its color changed to pink, and it was surrounded by animated hearts.

Out of nowhere, a wand with a star design appeared, and making a childish pose, she said:

"Kaleido Altrouge, I have arrived!" Said the princess smiling.

"What?" Shirou asked, stunned and without understanding the situation