Chapter Ten

"That guy was so creepy I got the chills."

Shirou mumbled as he rubbed his hands together, seriously, what a weird guy, what was the point o walking around the damn room while talking to a stationary person?

"You'll get used to it."

Sending a glare at Rin who was smirking at him in amusement, he grumbled quietly. He didn't want to get used to it, that would be worse.

"Master, I felt your feeling through the bond, it couldn't be that bad, could it?"

Deadpanning at Saber for a few seconds, the servant conceded after remembering his body's memories. The fake priest was so creepy that his body had a repulsive reaction just at the thought of him.

As they walked down the same path they came from, he looked over at Rin with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, isn't this, like, a prime spot for an ambush?"

She stopped, her expression freezing before seemingly shaking it off and resuming her stroll. She looked like his remark didn't affect her at all. He had to admit, if he didn't know her as well as he did, the reaction would have gone unnoticed.

"Don't be silly, The church is a neutral ground, no one would risk attacking here."

They weren't at the church now, though, they were at a park...

Shirou just looked at her for a second, and then looked at the star-lit sky, to think, that so many stars are shining and some of them might even be dead by now.

"So, that weird feeling I'm getting from behind us is nothing to be concerned about, right?"

Turning around, she tensed at what she saw. He already knew what was behind him, so it wasn't any surprise, really.

So, this was ilia, the girl who would be used as a catalyst for the greater grail, and the giant figure materializing behind her was scary indeed.

Glancing over the weapon he held in his right hand, he quickly scanned it, deadpanning at the information he got.

It was just a very sharp rock.

Sturdy, but sharp nonetheless.

'Thud'

Raising an eyebrow at the sound he heard at the back of his mind, he wondered if he heard it wrong.

"Good evening, big brother, This is the first time we meet, isn't it?"

The white-haired child greeted him first with a smile but frowned in disappointment when he got no reaction from him.

He wasn't sure what she was expecting from him. She looked over at Rin and she smiled again, looking like she

"Greetings, Rin. My name is Illyasviel von Einzbern. Einzbern, I'm sure that you know that name, do you not?"

Rin was tense, very tense, he felt like if he poked her right now, she would fall over in the pose she was in.

Smirking slightly at the sight, his eyes went back to the giant man standing behind the small girl.

Noticing this, Illia brightened up visibly, smiling brightly as she addressed him again.

"Oh, Dose big brother know me? Did Dad tell you about me?"

Oh, you small, ignorant child.

"No, he was too busy dying from the curse he got from the last holy grail war... and setting the water on fire, I'm still impressed about that, just so you know."

Archer has left already and Saber was standing in front of him protectively, he couldn't see his expression, but that was not important right now.

Illia frowned again as if disheartened about what he just said, then her frown deepened.

"Get them, berserker."

Oooh, she was angry.

The giant man dashed forward, jumping up as he reached halfway across the distance between them, bringing his giant rock and aiming it right at Saber since he was the first in his way.

Muramasa took off his yukata, a handleless blade appearing in his hand in a burst of fire.

Shirou's circuits flared, the sound of a hammer hitting the anvil sounded and his body was reinforced. Dashing sideways, he picked up Rin, bridal style, getting a yelp from the girl, and jumped back.

Saber brought his sword up, deflecting the rock sword to the side. It dug into the concrete as a spiderweb-like pattern spread out on the ground. The red-haired servant brought his blade around and slashed at the monster's side, creating a slash wound on his opponent's ribs.

Shirou's eyes narrowed, there was an easy way to end this, and he was really tempted to... So, what was stopping him?

... Several things.

If he killed Illia right now, he would effectively prevent the greater grail from manifesting when Gilgamesh kills her later.

On the other hand, he didn't want Gilgamesh knocking on his door with an A-rank noble phantasm.

Decisions, decisions.

Clicking his tongue, he jumped back further, gaining a fair bit of distance from the battle, and noticing Illia heading into the woods.

Putting Rin on the ground again, he used alteration on his clothes, transforming the black button-up shirt and black jeans into his combat clothes again, he manifested his Bow and took aim at the berserker.

He was moving around, too much, an accurate shot would only be possible for an Archer, but he wasn't a slouch either. Some help would be appreciated, however.

"Rin, tell Archer to aim for the wounds or the eyes."

Pulling back the string, A spiraling sword materialized as he clutched on the hilt of it and imbued it with as much prana as it could take.

As soon as it was done, he released the projectile, and a second later, it impacted the wrist of his servant's opponent, offsetting the blade and giving Saber time to deliver another blow to the hulking man.

"Look at all the nothing that did..."

Muttering silently, the teen narrowed his eyes and adjusted his aim, somewhere where there could be no muscle, he knew that muscle had nothing to do with the resistance, but it should have been easier to give Saber another opening.

Another projectile soared through the air and collided with an ankle. The limb of the Hulk wannabe shot to the side and Saber twisted around the giant rock sword, slashing at the place his "Arrow" just impacted.

Things could have been so much easier if he didn't want to avoid some unwanted trouble further down the road.