Chapter 26 - 1

Quick Author's Note.

To dragonngo, damn. You make a lot of good points. I didn't destroy Kaschey yet because I needed him for the upcoming Ch'en-Talulah reunion battle. I want to keep that part of the canon timeline in the story. As for why Shirou used the Holy Grail's Master-Servant contract system, it's because he can't use any other contracts unless it's a physically written one. He's just trash at it. So he used the one closest he had, which was made possible by Rin and Sakura's help and the Holy Grail he always carries. This is the only way he could coerce Talulah to give him information since threats were useless.

Yes, Talulah gets buffed by suddenly getting a lot of mana/magic energy from the Holy Grail as per the war rules/contract system. Nothing like elevating her to Caster-level power but can only use fire since it's all she knows how to do LOL.

As for why this fanfic is a bit iffy on the Nasuverse lore, I'm only following it slightly. I'm more leaning to the Arknights lore and reality because this is in Terra/Arknights universe. It would be less confusing to not bring all the Nasu stuff over when I can just focus on Terra stories or explain it as world differences. Makes for more interesting experiments.

=== CHERNOBOG CONTROL TOWER ===

Shirou looked around the control room.

It had a large view deck overlooking the city around it- only if the city wasn't ruined and burning in flames. The horizon in the distance was lightening up slightly, normally the signal of a bright new day. Now it was nothing but a distraction over an otherwise remarkable view. Against the darkness, the city was like a bonfire of chaos and destruction. Fires illuminating various sectors, billowing visible smoke up into the heavens.

In the distance, Shirou could see the shadow of Lungmen. The Yanese city was splitting apart into several plates, but it was going too slowly. A few outer plates have split off, several more in the process of disconnecting from the inner plates. Even if those city plates escaped in time, the inner plates were all still stuck together. They wouldn't have time to split apart, nor would they even escape the path of Chernobog's energy plate before the impact.

Shirou estimated that it would take a few hours for the Chernobog core to reach Lungmen. It was impossible to stop the city completely, but shutting down the engines should slow its momentum to a stop...within a certain range that is. If they crossed that line, then the core would still impact Lungmen. Perhaps they would be lucky if the impact didn't trigger the core to collapse, but it was still too dangerous.

If the information he remembered was right, then the Ursus 4th Army was just right behind Chernobog, waiting for an opportunity to cross into Yan's border.

Shirou wouldn't let that happen.

He inserted the master key into Chernobog's head module. Normally the control room would have operators keeping track of the systems, but there was no one to be found when he arrived. Talulah or Kaschey must've killed them off. They would be the first line of defense against hijacking the city's control room which would make them a priority.

Trace On.

Shirou looked at the control module in front of him. Luckily, it wasn't too complex a piece of machinery to scan. Terra was a little behind Earth when it came to technology. Ursus had a preference for relying on older, cheaper, more reliable tech- which led them to focus on analog across their nation. Since analog was entirely physical, Shirou was able to deconstruct the control room after tracing the area.

Luckily, Talulah or Kashchey didn't destroy the place. They probably assumed that nobody would know how to use the controls. In most cases, nobody would. But Shirou was just a cheat that bypassed the norm when it came to deconstructing how objects worked.

A few moments later, Shirou had adjusted the controls enough to start changing the city's route. Chernobog didn't have brakes. A moving city wouldn't have any. It was too large to stop and installing brakes would increase the cost of construction, not to mention constantly replacing them after a few months of use. No, a moving construct of this magnitude needed to slow down on its own. Shirou went the extra mile by adjusting Chernobog's turning angle. The tracks were now turning at a small percent of a degree, which would at least shift the direction slightly away from the center mass of Lungmen. This also extended the braking distance because they were turning rather than heading in a straight line.

That was all he could do. Anything more and Shirou would just summon Ig-Alima, The Mountain Felling Sword, and stab the city through the ground.

Shirou closed his eyes and checked on his Grail.

There was no more time.

He began walking to the rooftop. Chernobog's control tower was the tallest in the city, so it was the furthest point from all the other parties. Anyone who came close would have intentions to take over Chernobog's control tower. With Shirou on the rooftop, he would be able to tackle any threats who sought to try and hijack the tower.

...but more importantly, if anyone had thoughts of getting close, they'd have to survive the corruption.

Trace On.

Shirou tapped into the near-unlimited well of power that was the Holy Grail. Better to be safe than sorry, even if the upcoming challenge was stacked against him. In a better scenario, Shirou would've had preparations in place. But with under a minute left, Shirou had to make do with what he could.

Several swords materialized in the air and stabbed into the rooftop corners. Special mystic codes were carved into them during the smelting phase, developed through a mix of mundane and magical means. They were created with flexibility in mind, a smooth base foundation that paved the first layer for many magical bounded fields to be erected.

Shirou continued pulling specific mystic codes from his soul, drawing them out and arranging them on the rooftop. He was in the middle of setting up the fifth bounded field when the floor in front of him darkened. Shirou continued working. There was a chance he could finish another set before Sakura tried to drown him in corruption...again.

So when the cursed mud that surfaced didn't launch an assault immediately, Shirou's sixth sense went haywire. A small corner of his mind continued setting up the battlefield while the rest of his attention locked on to the two shadowy figures rising.

When the mud crawled off the first figure, Shirou noted the off-blonde color of hair followed by-

The regal expression of the woman looked back at him, the moonlight bouncing off her and setting her figure aglow.

The memory flashed across his vision just as quickly as it came, only caught milliseconds after Shirou noticed.

The person burst out of the tainted sludge with surprising speed. Shirou's instincts screamed as his familiar blades- Kanshou and Bakuya- materialized in his grasp a fraction afterward and parried the arm numbing attack.

No...

Pale yellow eyes looked up at him with deep-seated pain.

Bright blue eyes looked up at him, conveying approval at his growth.

Again, his vision was split by the jarring memory of the girl that once was. It was distracting him, which could very well widen the gap between them.

Training and muscle memory kicked in, Shirou throttling the Grail's mana output through his body to match the powerful attack- nowhere near enough to beat it, just enough to deflect. The red-black sword pushed him back two steps before another attack followed instantly. Shirou's eyes traced the world in front of him, slowing down his perception of time as the sudden influx of information entered his mind. After a decade of training, Shirou had learned to accelerate his thought processing in accordance with the flow of information entering his brain.

The woman's stance, the flexing of her muscles, the current attack, Shirou read them all just as easily as he did before. But instead of just relying on the recognizeable sword's memories, Shirou was also looking at the current moment, predicting possible moves into the future and the paths ahead of him.

The woman's stance was immaculate, for as far as Shirou knew, she had no weaknesses. At least, none he could perceive yet. The gap between them was infinite, and even her training wouldn't cut the distance between him and her.

...and just as expected, not dissimilar to when she taught him all those years ago, Shirou still fell short.

The exchange lasted two seconds, a dozen moves traded as Shirou kept up as best as he could against the superior swordsman. To his credit, not one of her attacks broke through. However, Shirou was pushed back again at the end of the exchange.

"Surprised?"

Shirou let out a sigh of relief as he finished the fifth array around them. A small relief now that he could divert more of his focus to the battle.

"Did you brute force the summoning?" Shirou grimaced. His last memory of the woman was not great. It was painful- and to see her here was just as painful a reminder. He was seeing visions of her old self- if this woman was indeed the same spirit they summoned for the Holy Grail War.

"What makes you think I was summoned?" The Servant answered, carrying an undertone of danger that felt like cutting him open. Whatever he said- it must've insulted her somehow.

Shirou chose his next words carefully. "Summoning the Grail takes seven servants. You-"

He was forced to deflect the sudden stab followed by a swing. Shirou inwardly hissed when the attacks felt a tad stronger than the first exchange.

'Maybe I should've stayed silent.' He thought in hindsight as his sight blurred with swings and clashing blades. This time, he allowed himself to be pushed back and disengaged.

Alright. Logic was clearly not an option with her. Shirou glanced at her master watching from the back.

"I'm here. I'm safe-" As safe as can be with two murderous people in his vicinity. Not that they were any less dangerous than he was with the Holy Grail. "-and I can return with you once I stop this city."

Sakura slowly grinned.

"I'll stop the city for you."

A city full of people.

Shirou cursed.

Sakura was speaking cryptically.

He didn't like that. What was the worst thing she could do under the dark curse's influence? Shirou's mind instantly jumped to the worst case scenario he could think up.

She was going to absorb everyone.

=== KASCHEY ===

The Deathless Black Snake had seen much in his long life. One didn't live a millennia without running into dangerous magic. Against some, the only counter meant avoiding them. For others, the Black Snake- Kaschey in his current life- developed methods to go around them.

One such method was to plant a seed of himself in every host he deemed powerful and useful.

After Kaschey, The Black Snake planted itself into Talulah.

After Talulah, it attempted to dig itself into Shirou.

The Deathless Black Snake- Kaschey- saw Shirou's soul for what it was.

A weapon. An armory. Magic both known and unknown.

The Black Snake would call itself quite pleased with its own magic. Why wouldn't he? It has served him well for nigh a millennia, older than most of Terra today. His magic was subtle- a slow consumption of the host's soul until the Black Snake took over.

Kaschey- the real Kaschey- had been long gone.

He was on his way to crushing Talulah's into dust- replacing the girl with himself in control. The Deathless Black Snake preferred hunting for powerful hosts to take over. Powerful hosts meant he could live long and better spread his influence. When Talulah ran into Shirou during the Chernobog invasion, the Black Snake marked him instantly as a target.

When the archer was captured, the millennia old parasite planted himself within Shirou.

The first time he opened his eyes, the Black Snake had to make sure he was inside a person. The ability to split himself and spread his soul to others didn't just apply to people. They also applied to objects. It was how he was able to spread himself to different corners of Ursus.

What he saw wasn't something he expected from a soul.

The Black Snake gazed at a land so far and wide he questioned whether Shirou was truly human. Just what kind of soul did he stumble into? It was like walking into a battlefield. The constant threatening presence, a contrast to the peaceful vista. In the short time SHirou was knocked out, he was able to confirm that the endless battlefield was indeed the man's soul.

Kaschey- one of the Black Snake's current identities- escaped shortly once the host awakened. Still, the seed had been planted and Kaschey now had access to Shirou's soul.

He hadn't expected to use his new card so soon.

The Black Snake was surprised when he was suddenly forced out of Talulah's body with a single cut.

That dagger...kicked me out?

When he was unable to return to Talulah, he jumped on the next host he planted himself into. For the second time in his life, Kaschey was greeted with the land of swords that was supposed to be a soul.

That dagger came from somewhere. Was it here?

It was a daunting thought. Kaschey realized. The weapons here could turn battles moot. Entire wars overturned.

He could worry about that later. With a few careful changes, his view changed from the interior to the exterior. He watched Shirou hand the accursed dagger to Patriot before literally leaping away in the direction of the tower. The next few minutes were a whir of feats the Black Snake took notes of.

Immense physical capability. Some type of information arts. Ability to manifest objects.

Each discovery continued to mark Shirou a larger threat. Kaschey watched with sharpened focus, documenting everything he could about the supposed archer. It was suspicious. Someone this capable would've likely been under the employ of the other nations. But which? Was it Yan? Had they known he was colluding with the Ursus army nearby?

If it was, then the Black Snake would applaud them. Sending an agent this capable to stop him? It was remarkable.

That was if Yan even knew about him. There was a chance the 4th Army officers leaked information. Then, Kaschey would have to purge any future plans with the 4th Army until he could secure that option.

Everything was going so well too...

Sigh, another failure. The Deathless Black Snake added his Chernobog-Lungmen plan to the list of shortcomings he had. After this attempt, he would thoroughly review his plan and look for possible errors that lead to its failure.

For now, he would keep his attention on Shirou and the aftermath of this attempt.

What is the boy doing...?

Kaschey's sixth sense caught on to the sudden urgency of Shirou's actions after shutting down Chernobog's engines. The archer sprinted to the rooftop and immediately began creating numerous swords for an unknown purpose. It didn't slip his attention when the boy's body started steaming for some reason.

To Kaschey's eyes, the use of magecraft was invisible.

He didn't have to wait long when a sudden presence made itself known. Kaschey shivered deep within Shirou when his senses were blasted by pure malice. Pure hatred. Pure darkness . He had seen vile people. He was one such person himself. But even this presence was drowning him in fear.

It shook him, but Kaschey was not one to panic. He was confident that his soul was fine. It was in perfect condition. Even if somehow this fragment of him was erased , just like when he faced one of the northern demons, the other fragments scattered across Ursus would learn about the abomination he came into contact with.

The Deathless Black Snake watched two figures appear out of darkness. Compartmentalizing the fear inside him aside, the ancient veteran quickly identified the source between the two. It was easy to tell, especially when some sort of dark sludge clung on to one of them.

Before he could utter a question, the blonde girl dashed forwards and engaged Shirou.

So fast-!

Kaschey felt his question disappear when his vision was suddenly filled with clashing blades. The Deathless Black Snake had seen many warriors in his long life. Yet, he could confidently say only a few could even survive the exchange he saw.

'Who are they? What is going on?!' He demanded once Shirou disengaged for more than a few seconds. The conversation he overheard alarmed him.

'You- so you're Kaschey.' Shirou stumbled while responding back to him. 'Don't distract me right now. I'm busy.' He remembered the voice from Talulah's memory. To hear it in his mind nearly distracted him.

'I can tell that that girl isn't normal.' Kaschey didn't allow a trace of surprise to appear through his voice. He forced himself to calm down while reading the situation. '-and you're losing to the woman.'

'That was expected...' Shirou clamped down on his thoughts and diverted his attention back to the fight. He knew in a straight-on fight that he was weaker against her.

"Shirou...who is that in your head?"

Kaschey froze.

How...

"What do you mean?" Kaschey watched Shirou jump on the chance to buy time.

"I can feel him. That dirty piece of shit staining your soul." Sakura tilted her head, staring through Shirou. Judging from the expression Kaschey could see from Shirou, this wasn't how the girl normally acted.

Kaschey inwardly shivered when he felt her eyes lock on his soul. It was obvious that the girl was on to him. He had two choices. He could stay and find out more about Shirou and these newcomers, or he could try and escape back to Talulah.

Between the two, returning back to his previous host was the better option.

From what Kaschey could deduce, the source of the abomination was on good terms with Shirou, the opposite of the woman who was glaring frigid daggers at his current host. There was a weird dynamic at play here, one he would've cared to figure out if he didn't feel threatened.

He needed to get away from her. Kaschey could feel it from the depths of his soul. A dark malevolent threat encroaching closer and closer to him.

Kaschey drew on his arts and searched for Talulah's location. For some reason, his control over the Draco's consciousness had weakened. Several years of work had been uprooted in a single moment, causing him trouble when he tried to transfer himself back to her body.

Sakura tilted her head amusedly. Watching the wraith squirm inside Shirou would've been satisfying, except for the fact that someone somehow latched on to what was hers.

Fortunately for Kaschey, another round of examination showed that all his efforts weren't rendered moot. The damages he inflicted on Talulah's psyche were still there. He may have lost the mental block he slowly built on her consciousness, but he could still enter and fight for control.

His attention returned back to the abomination Shirou was facing. He could hear the archer try to engage the girl in a discussion, but it seemed like his words weren't changing her mind. Kaschey could feel the girl's attention locked on him.

With one last look, The Deathless Black Snake slipped away from Shirou's mind, returning back to his former host.