Continuation of the Dream in Another World Spoilers

…darkness.

Unyielding darkness. That is the only thing he knows and the only thing he understands. His warped mind had long since collapsed, long before his summoning. It wasn't the atrocities he had committed in life that had cost him his sanity, nor was it his final stand against the Fifth Magician. He had become a broken man long before that. It was little wonder that when he offered himself to the Counter Force just before his death, there was no reply from the autonomous entity.

Then why was he summoned as a Heroic Spirit? His broken mind can offer no response; such cognitive processes has long since faded from the man who defied the Kaleidoscope. All that matters to him now is to continue breathing, to continue living. To continue on his bloody path to destroy all the evils of the world, by becoming all the evils of the world.

That was why he listened to the voice in his head. A black dagger had stabbed cleanly through his heart, but he was not going to stop because of such a wound. He promised his father to become a hero, and he would defy even death to reach that goal. He hung onto life, even as his murderer and the priest left him to rot, just like he did back when he was alive, hanging onto life despite the black mud robbing him of his sanity.

"Come, Servant. The priest has left, we can complete the contract now. To think he would discard such a useful tool though…or maybe his own Servant had deliberately left you alive? Bah, it doesn't matter anymore. His loss is my gain."

He hears the voice speak to him again. Language no longer means anything to him, but the voice compels him to reach out with a trembling arm. A flash of red penetrates his murky vision, and he suddenly gains a new anchor to the world.

"—ah, you've already been corrupted by it. That saves me the need to use the girl then. I'll just anchor you directly to it."

The prana from the newly formed connection with the being in front of him closes his wounds. Just as he is about to stand up, he feels a sharp sting from his heart. The feeling leaves him as quickly as it begins, and in mere seconds he is completely healed.

"And there, now we're ready. Let's see what you can do, my Servant. There's been a bug buzzing around my property and I want her gone."

He doesn't understand what is being said to him, but he can feel the bloodlust leaking from his Master. It is all too familiar a feeling for him, and his lips curl into a cruel smile. Time to get to work.

Day 11
Zouken's Feel
Near Side

Interlude 11-1
And Yet, Those Hands Will Never Hold Anything...

The black sun hanging in the cavern is very disturbing to her. As both an artist and a connoisseur of art, she feels quite disgusted by its very existence. But the most frustrating thing for her is…

"Aaaaah! Why is Shirou making me stand guard here? I'm missing out on all the fun!" she complains to herself loudly, kicking a pebble as she does so. The pebble blasts across the cavern into a large boulder, cracking it in half. "That Prana Burst ability is great in battle, but it's not like I can even use it here…!"

Ever since her summoning, her Praetor has been abusing her ability, Imperial Privilege, to the very maximum. From stealing Rider's Monstrous Strength to "borrowing" their ally Lancer's Prana Burst, they have annoyed every Servant they've come across with it. The ability itself, however, only grants her such powers temporarily, as seen by Monstrous Strength fading away from her repertoire just a few days earlier. More importantly to Saber though is how it is being wasted at the moment.

"Shiiiiiiiiiirou!" Saber whines, stomping around in a mini-tantrum. "Umu, he's such a useless mage! I can't even call him through our connection!"

She kicks at another pebble on the ground, this time sending the prana-boosted projectile straight into the black mud in the centre of the cavern. It disappears into the entity soundlessly. Saber turns around and stomps over to the boulder she had cracked in half, sitting down on one side of it in a huff.

"This is so boring! Why can't anyone pay me a visit?" she continues to whine, kicking the ground petulantly. And then, as if a switch is flicked off inside her, she stiffens up and glares at the entrance to the cavern.

"…apart from you, that is. Go away, old man."

Calling the entity an old man was proof that she was in a pretty good mood despite her complaints. If she had been truly angry, there were many other words she could use to describe the thing standing at the entrance. However, whatever good mood she had vanishes at the sight of the intruders.

"My my, only now do you notice me, Servant?" he tuts dramatically. "And here I thought the Emiya scion had summoned a powerful Heroic Spirit."

Saber twirls her sword around before slamming it into the ground. "Would you spare the effort to kill an insect, old man? I always knew you were here. I thought you would appreciate the privilege of watching a performance as exclusive as this."

"Hoh? Then why are you so serious now?" Zouken chuckles and taps his cane twice. "Could it be…?"

"You should tell your Servant to hide better," Saber says casually as she leaps up from her seat—

—and swings her sword effortlessly at the black blade sent towards her head. A grimace uncharacteristically finds its way onto her face.

"Assuming he can even understand you, that is," Saber mutters disgustedly. She walks over to the black sword and steps on it, reducing it to bits of prana. "What have you done, magus?"

"What have I done?" Zouken's grin stretches even wider. "No no no, the question you should be asking is 'What has the priest done', Servant Saber. I merely borrowed and patched up his failed project."

"No, you did more than that," Saber says, walking cautiously towards the ancient magus. "You—"

This time, the sword is blood-red. She recognises it immediately and leaps to the side, watching it crash harmlessly into the ground she was standing on.

"Disgusting," she mutters, slashing her sword through the imitation. "Even he would never make it as crudely as this."

Zouken gives a throaty laugh before slithering forward into the cavern. "Please forgive me, Saber," he drawls. "Some of us aren't fortunate enough to receive legitimate Heroic Spirits. We have to make do with what we have."

"Make do?" Saber asks rhetorically, shaking her head. "No, you enhanced him with that black thing. His original self may not have been sane, but even that should be nowhere near what he is now."

She glances behind her, feeling her stomach crawl.

"What an insult this is to my Praetor. I don't mind you insulting me, but tainting his image with…this…"

"Once again, please accept this old man's apology. There was only so much I could do with a dying Servant."

Saber continues to turn her back on her foe even as she feels the arrow being pointed at her back. She paces forward confidently, her right hand tightly gripping the hilt of her red blade.

"Come now Saber," Zouken drawls. "I know your opponent is unsightly, but surely you can do this old man a favour and treat this fight seriously."

"I mean," he continues gleefully. "Since your Master commanded you to protect this cavern, wouldn't you be going against his will?"

Almost as abruptly as she had started walking, she stops as she reaches within twenty paces of the ancient magus, her eyes showing no warmth even as she smiles in reply.

"I am taking this fight seriously. That's why—"

"—I'm taking care of the most troublesome one first."

In a single instant, Saber slashes across Zouken and the entity following silently behind him, her Aestus Estus cleaving into them without any resistance.

She leaps away from the projectile sent at her from the centre of the cavern, her eyes still focused on the dissipating black thing behind Zouken. Right before her eyes, the balloon-shaped object melts into a black puddle. Then, as if taking some kind of cue, it slowly crawls towards her.

"That was Prana Burst, wasn't it? Splendid! Absolutely splendid!" Zouken cries in delight as his body reforms. "To think the Emiya scion would leave such an amazing present for me!"

Saber grimaces, looking extremely disturbed for the first time since she was summoned to this world.

"What is that thing?" she asks quietly, her eyes not leaving the black puddle for a single second even as her instincts tell her the Servant to her right has notched another sword in his bow. "That is no Servant."

"Aaaah, I was wondering when you would ask me!" Zouken grins maniacally. "Why, it doesn't have a name per se, but I call it my Shadow. Think of it as my personal familiar in this War."

"Lies," Saber grinds out, her right hand turning white as she grips her sword even tighter. "That thing is not a familiar. It's disgusting."

"Now that's just your opinion, Saber~" Zouken replies gleefully. "But since it's been…neutralised…why not fight my Servant for now?"

He taps his cane twice, and the black Servant sends yet another sword at her. This time, Saber takes a step back and catches the hilt of the sword in mid-air. Without hesitating, she throws the sword at Zouken, who calmly lets it pierce into him. She finally turns away from the puddle and narrows her eyes at the Servant.

"This mad dog you revived…you are more depraved than I thought, magus."

"Come now, let's not get so nasty," Zouken says as he plucks the dissipating sword out of his body. "I'm only as depraved as the next magus."

"I'll deal with you and that thing after this," Saber declares, her mood worsening by the second. "Très Fontaine Ardent, Très Fontaine Tempestes."

"Oh? Strengthening moves? Interesting, interesting," Zouken says as he taps his cane. "Assassin, show her what you can do."

"I aM tHE BoNe oF MY SwOrd…!"

The Servant howls incoherently before dashing straight at Saber, twin blades forming in his hands. As her readies her sword, she takes one glance at Zouken and confirms he is no longer paying attention to her.

"Invictus Spiritus."

A moment later, and both Servants exchange heavy blows, Servant Assassin supplementing his lack of power and speed with sheer unpredictability and madness, and Saber gracefully sending slash after slash aimed at his head. The black and white scimitars move as one even with a deranged user, their blows somehow still flowing ever swiftly despite such peculiar circumstances.

"uNKNowN TO dEAth, nOR kNOwn to LIFE…!"

Each slash from the scimitar is a reckless one, stretching the mad Servant beyond what he would normally do in a battle against a Servant. There is no strategy, only non-stop attacks aimed to suppress the opponent.

Saber, on the other hand, is forced to fight defensively. While she can recognise plenty of holes in every attack, she is unable to counterattack without taking a blow from the other scimitar in her opponent's hand. And what's more—

She is both faster and more powerful than her counterpart, but his madness has made reading his moves nearly impossible. Every attack he sends at her is unpredictable, unreasonable and utterly illogical. Perhaps if she had a more powerful Master, she would be able to fare better. But under the conditions in the battle, if she dares to counterattack carelessly, she could be struck down by a random move.

And that is why she took the risk of activating her special move in front of Zouken. If all else fails, she could take a hit and strike down her opponent in return. Then—

A downward slash from the black blade. She swerves to her right, dragging her sword just enough to nudge it away from her. Then, she sends a burst of prana up her arms, propelling her sword straight at the white scimitar and breaking it by sheer brute force. She grins, bringing her sword back to her side, watching her opponent stumble back and leaving her a small opening to—

"Rosa Ichthys!"

She slides across the left side of her opponent, her sword poised to cleave him in half. It is a basic move, but enough to finish off a Servant who was never talented in close combat.

But her sword stops halfway through its slash, its blade embedded only halfway in Servant Assassin.

"…what?"

Then as if a matter of course, the corrupted Servant grabs onto her sword with his free hand. And in a single swift move, stabs the black scimitar in his other hand into her back.

"…! Urk!"

Saber stumbles onto the ground, her face contorted in pain.

"Ah, my granddaughter reported that you were more flamboyant than this, Saber. Something about monologues and Roman art. A shame you aren't in the mood today," Zouken notes while grinning savagely. "Oh, did I forget to mention? This Servant may have E-rank parameters across the board, but some good old Mad Enhancement can fix that easily."

"—how…?"

"I'm Matou Zouken, Saber. I'd be rather ashamed of myself if I couldn't do something as simple as that. Besides, his innards are actually quite sturdy. Almost sword-like if you ask me," Zouken drawls. He taps his cane twice, and Assassin stabs a dark blue sword into Saber. "But I'm disappointed in you Saber. I thought the strongest class would be well, stronger. Hmm, maybe you've underestimated him too much."

Zouken walks over to Saber and prods her with his cane. "Oh well, not like I can complain about getting another Servant. You're not as powerful as I thought, but it's better than nothing."

He turns around and waves a hand at Assassin. "Come along, we have work to do. We'll just let the Shadow—"

"—thunderous applause—"

"Did you say something, Assassin?"

"?! What in the—"

"—my golden theatre, my heaven!"

Zouken turns around in panic and shouts at Assassin, "Use your Reality Marble, she's not dead y—"

"—UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS—"

"—Aestus Domus Aurea!"

Fire doesn't run across the cavern floor. The inner world of a man lost to insanity never stood a chance. Instead, more and more rose petals fall as the cavern walls melt away to form regal balconies and drapes. And right before Zouken's eyes—

—a miracle is created.

In the centre of it all stands Saber, her red dress now torn and dishevelled, but her body full of vigour.

"A reality marble? No, this is something else…!" Zouken mutters in fascination. "You…managed to override the formation of a Reality Marble with this? Then…!"

He shakes his head and laughs delightedly, his raspy laugh echoing throughout the theatre. "Hohohoho! To think that you would possess a revival skill and this! This is far beyond my expectations, Saber! Assassin, I command you to use you most powerful attack! Let's see what this theatre does!"

A spiral sword appears in Assassin's hand, and he notches it onto his bow. But as quickly as it is formed, it dissipates into bits of prana with a single glance from Saber.

"Total control over everything in this world? No, not that powerful…but close enough," Zouken guesses as he laughs heartily. "Amazing! I take back everything I said about you, Saber! You are worthy of becoming my trump card!"

"Trump card? Too late!" Saber shouts as she leaps up. With a graceful strike downwards, she cleaves Zouken into two before splitting him again with a horizontal slash. "Laus Saint Claudius!"

The bits of Zouken whirl away from Saber, flinging themselves as far away from has as possible. This time, as he reforms, he takes longer than usual. And as he fully reforms, his posture is straightened and on guard. "Your theatre…it's sapping at my prana. I see now, this is truly something that can rival even that Blackmore's Reality Marble…!"

"You'll run out of energy soon enough!" Saber declares confidently. "Once I get rid of you…"

"Ah, there's no doubt you can kill me," Zouken replies gravely. "Not even that golden Servant will have it easy if he stays too long in here."

He taps his cane twice, and Assassin appears, standing in front of him with his twin falchions in a defensive stance.

"The real question here Saber," he says, his lips curling into a mad grin. "Is if you can kill me before it corrupts you completely."

"What?"

"Why, just look at your arm," Zouken nodded to her, his eyes gleaming in anticipation.

Saber looks down, and for the first time since her summoning, she is truly afraid.

Her Aestus Estus, once a proud red and black sword, had turned completely pitch-black. And on her right arm…

"Don't tell me, it was during that time…!"

"Yes, that's right. When you attacked the Shadow," Zouken grinned. "That was when it attached itself onto your sword. After that, all I needed to do was to wait it out until it fully corrupted you. But I must say, this Noble Phantasm of yours is suppressing its influence pretty well."

Saber reflexively lets go of her sword, but the shadowy tendrils still snake slowly up her dress. She drops her blackened right hand to the side in shock, her green eyes searching for something that could stop the corruption.

"Normally, Servants should be corrupted pretty quickly, so they don't have to live with knowing they'll be my pawn for that long. But eh, I never expected you to have such a Noble Phantasm," Zouken says in a casual tone, his voice flippant in the face of his opponent's shock. "I would say I'm sorry, but we both know I wouldn't really mean it. This is what you get for making me lose so much prana."

Saber rips her sleeve apart and throws it to the ground, but she is only greeted with the sight of her blackened arm and a solitary snaking tendril slithering up her shoulder and towards her chest—

"Oh, you can certainly resist it with your Noble Phantasm I suppose. It's just that..." Zouken continues in glee, his grin growing wider and wider as he watches Saber panic more and more. "Well, your Noble Phantasm won't last forever. If I were you, I'd just stop struggling."

Saber looks up at Zouken, but there is no malice in her eyes. Instead, there is an unmistakable sadness that surprises even Zouken.

"…I see. Then I have failed Pra—Shirou again," she says quietly as she walks over to her blade and grips it with her left arm. The shadowy tendrils on the blade immediately stick onto her. "I wish I could enjoy more of these peaceful days with him…but I guess all things must come to an end. I should not have any regrets."

She picks up Aestus Estus and raises it to her neck.

"Trying to end it yourself? Don't bother, I can still use your corpse as my puppet," Zouken says as he walks out from behind Assassin, his face grim. "Two seconds should be more than enough for me to anchor you to this world."

"No, you won't," Saber smiles back serenely. "I forbid you to do so."

And with one final confident nod and an unbidden tear, she slits her throat with her blade.

"Shit, don't let the body dissipate! Assassin!" Zouken snarls in panic.

But Assassin cannot move. The final decree from the Emperor restrains him to the point that he can only take a few hesitant steps. And in those few seconds, the golden theatre and its proud owner fade into nothing.

The magus, Servant and Shadow return to the cavern, and for a moment, all is silent.

Then, Zouken screeches in anger and snaps his cane in half.

"Why is your Magical Resistance so shit," he whirls around and glowers at Assassin. He snaps his fingers and Assassin's slices his own right arm off, eliciting a painful yowl from the mad Servant. "You weakling, if you weren't the only option I had, I would've spat on your corpse. Hell, I'd personally kill you and spit on you right now.

"You just cost me a Saber! A Saber that could revive itself and summon a fake Reality Marble! Do you know how rare that is? She is worth thousands of you, you filth!"

He snaps his fingers again, and Assassin stabs himself in his left calf with a spiral sword. Another snap, and the spiral sword explodes, dealing severe damage to Assassin and leaving him immobile on the ground. Zouken wrinkles his nose at the smell of the burnt body and turns away.

"Tch, I tire of this foolishness. We're done here. Fix yourself up and report to me tonight. I need to pay my grandson a visit."

He taps his cane three times, and the Shadow slithers after him, leaving only a half-dead Servant in a cavern no longer graced by the Emperor.

WISEUP!!

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Source: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1507222&show=30

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