Fate Stay Night - Medea Caster route

-THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE STORY-

*TRUE ENDING PART 5*

-5 days later-

It was afternoon, and Kirei was returning to the temple from his favorite Chinese restaurant. As he walked, the priest was observing the deserted streets of Fuyuki, and as he did, he couldn't help but smile. He did so because he knew that despite this apparent quietness all the people who were locked up in their homes were scared and terrorized.

Why were they? Because thanks to the news the population of the city had come to the knowledge of what was happening in Asia, and how in the last days most of the continent had been razed to the ground by some strange 'natural disaster' that had no intention to stop.

...And surely, the fact that the area around the temple had started to become incredibly sinister and disheartening to the point where people got seriously sick if they got even remotely close was not helping at all. There was also to add that the vegetation around the temple for some mysterious reason had died and suddenly began to rot in these last few days.

After about ten minutes Kirei arrived in front of the steps of the temple, and his smile grew only more at the sight. During these past couple of days, the temple had obtained an extremely sinister aura, and the air was so rich in energy that if a normal person or mage got so close it would be outright lethal.

All of that was thanks to both Caster and Avenger.

The All the World's Evil had respected the pact that he had made with the Witch, and he had found a way to provide her the huge amounts of energy she had requested. And at this very moment, the temple was infested with said malevolent energy.

Kirei didn't even have to guess the origin of that energy since in his church basement he had a somewhat similar setup that he had made for the King Of Heroes. The priest could even say that here too, despite not hearing even a sound, he could feel the cries of the souls that had been sent here to be used as mere fuel.

As he started to walk the numerous stairs he looked at the dead and cursed vegetation that stood on his sides, and he was incredibly pleased even by this. Despite being once dense with life the forest around the temple now was completely dead and uninhabited. It didn't produce even a single sound. Everything was dead.

After climbing all the steps Kirei reached the gate of the temple, and after taking a deep breath of that malevolent air made of curses and suffering, he noted Caster's copy that floated above the temple and looked down on him.

"I have returned, Caster. Is there a reason for calling me so suddenly?" Kirei asked.

While he was having lunch Caster had sent him a familiar and she had ordered him to come to the temple. The sooner, the better.

"Yes Kirei, come to my workshop. I've something to show you." The copy spoke.

"As you wish." The priest then said with a nod, before he saw the Caster's copy slowly disappear, and he started to head toward the workshop.

After a minute Kirei reached the witch's workshop, and after knocking on the door, which after a moment it opened by itself, he entered. There he saw Caster who was giving him her back, as she stood in front of her magic work table.

"I'm here Caster, what do you want to show me?" Kirei asked.

"...My work is finally complete, Kirei. I've done it." Medea declared.

Kirei said nothing, but he widened his eyes a little. If Caster said so, then the woman had really done it. She had created something that could achieve the Fifth Magic.

"Behold Kirei, now you are about to admire an artifact capable of manipulating time itself." The hooded witch said as he floated around the other side of the table so that Kirei could see her work.

The priest after a moment walked toward the table, and when he had got close enough he finally saw… that thing.

"...That is…" Kirei just said as he watched a normal-looking lead ball on the work table.

Kirei did remember seeing it in Caster's hands before she closed herself into her workshop for the past 4 days, but it didn't seem any different from the last time he saw it...

"I know what you're thinking Kirei, and you're wrong. The artifact is very different from the last time you saw it. Much more different than whatever you may even imagine." She told him with a smile.

Kirei, after silently scrutinizing the sphere for some other moments, turned to watch Caster and said: "I'm sorry, but I fail to see any difference."

"You fail to see the differences because you cannot. The artifact in front of you is no mere sphere... " Medea informed him, as she took in her hands her absolute masterpiece. "It's a hypersphere." She continued.

"...A hypersphere?" Kirei asked after a long moment.

"Yes. Even if we see it as a regular sphere, this modified Divine Construct present in my hands in truth is a four-dimensional sphere intersecting with our three-dimensional space."

"...And you've been the one to make it? How did you manage to do it?" Kirei asked after a moment, genuinely curious and impressed.

"I'll be honest with you Kirei, its transformation was completely accidental. As I worked to expand Fragarach's power, and the dimension of time and fate that it could manipulate, on its own, it ascended to a new physical dimension… which I still find kind of strange, really. Why did it ascend? It was already capable of manipulating both time and fate in its base form, so why, while I improved its power, it had become a higher-dimensional object? Was it because I extended its limit far beyond its base form, so it needed to ascend to make the change I was making possible? Or it happened because with my Magic I elevated it to higher levels? ...I still don't know how to explain it…. but it just worked."

"...So its transformation was something unexpected… perhaps it could have been the result of a defect." Kirei said, as he carefully observed the sphere in the woman's hands.

"I thought the same at first, but after many studies, I found nothing wrong with it. And not only that, before discovering that it had ascended I've compared it to an unmodified copy of Fragarach. Not only is it flawless, but it is also superior in every aspect." The woman said.

'Is this the confirmation that Time is indeed the fourth dimension of the universe?' Kirei thought for a moment.

"...Anyway, you just said that you discovered this change later? How?" He then asked as he returned his attention to Caster.

"While working on the artifact I felt an incredibly profound change in its structure, but while I could sense that nothing wrong had happened, the change was something I couldn't understand at first. For a while, I kept asking myself what had happened and why I couldn't understand what had changed in the 'sphere', and after observing, comparing, and studying the artifact for an astounding amount of time, and failing to find said change, a little revelation came to me at one point: What if I was not able to note the change because it was something I could neither see nor conceive? After all, we are talking about a Divine Construct that can manipulate both time and fate, one that I was especially improving with an almost unlimited source of power. After that moment with the help of my magic, which I want you to remember is on a higher plane of existence, I did something rather simple: I tried to calculate the volume of this sphere... and when I realized that the counts didn't add up and that what the 'sphere' had was a hypervolume, it was the moment I understood what had changed. What stood in front of me was not a sphere anymore, but something far greater: A hypersphere." Medea said, as she closely watched the Divine Construct. "A sudden change like this should have been something I should have expected… but to justify myself for not figuring it out earlier I have to say that this is the first time I've ever encountered something like this." She then said with a shrug.

"...So, now will it be able to manipulate time as you desire?"

"Yes." Medea said with a smile, one almost insane.

"...and how much energy was required to create such an artifact?" Kirei asked another question, which he was more interested in.

"Believe me, it required an absurd amount. I didn't pay much attention, but if I have to make a rough estimate, something over five million souls were needed to create it and fully charge it." Medea calmly said.

Kirei upon hearing those numbers remained silent, but after a long moment, he smiled.

"With all the billions of deaths that Avenger has caused I have to say that is a very low number. Didn't he send you more fuel to use?" He then asked.

"Yes he did, but I didn't need all of it. If you have noticed all the energy that advanced I used it to create the powerful bounded field around the temple."

Kirei thought about it, and he did remember in the past days seeing Caster's copy flying around the temple and erecting the incredibly powerful barrier that was now present around it. That also would explain why the air was so dense with that cursed energy that it could make someone sick, or even kill them, from a good distance.

"May I ask you why you created it?" The priest then asked.

"I did it because after the Counter Force will take care of Avenger they will be coming for me." Medea answered.

At the woman's words, the priest frowned.

"...Wait, you think that the Counter Force will come for you? You think they will be able to defeat Avenger? If you do then for what reason are you waiting to use the artifact?" Kirei asked after a moment.

If Caster could now travel in time she would have already done it, so, for what reason was she still here? For what reason, she was preparing herself to face something as powerful as a Counter Guardian? Yes, with the absurd amount of power she now had, Caster surely was far more powerful than a normal servant, but she was not powerful enough that she could face something as a Counter Guardian.

"You see Kirei, the original version of this weapon, Fragarach, needed the activation of an ultimate weapon like a Noble Phantasm to activate its power and rewind time. But now this version, that is far more powerful, needs something even stronger to activate its power..." Medea started to say.

"...And who other than a Counter Guardian who is charged with the task of saving the world could possess such a weapon?" Kirei continued, as he immediately understood what the woman meant.

"Exactly. If not, I would have already asked Rider to use her Noble Phantasm on me, and I would have already put an end to all these antics."

"...About Rider, what is she doing at the moment? Isn't she bothered by her Master's actions?" Kirei asked.

"I gave her the direct order to stay away from the temple if she wanted to live." Medea just said.

'...Speaking of which, I should have told her to tell Rin and Sakura the same.' She then thought.

As she worked on Fragarach in the last days her familiars had spotted the Tohsaka girl that for some reason had tried to approach the temple. Maybe she did so to understand what was happening in her territory, but unfortunately, the young girl ended up getting herself exposed to the powerful and malevolent energy present at the temple since at the time she had yet to create the bounded field, and now she was a bit ill because of it.

Luckily Rin had noted that there was something wrong with the zone, and not only had she not gotten close enough, she had walked away before she could get herself exposed too much. From what she had seen Rin was now being taken care of by both Rider and... Sakura.

At the moment Medea didn't even want to know what was going through that girl's head…

...If the two of them spoke again, just what would the girl tell her? Sakura knew that Shirou had both changed and died because of her, she has probably figured out what happened to both Illya and Saber, she has surely understood that she was involved with what was happening in Asia, and she knew that now her sister was ill because of her…

After a moment Medea just shook her head.

Just why was she thinking about it? Soon everything would end. It was now just a matter of time before everything stopped mattering for real.

"So, what do you intend to do now?" Kirei asked after he noted Caster snapping out of her thoughts.

"Now we wait, and we see if luck is on our side." Medea said as she put the modified version of Fragarach in her robes and turned to watch Kirei. "And now, since I've finished my work, it's time for me to relax a little before I finish everything once and for all. Kirei, could you gently make some tea for the two of us?" She then asked.

Kirei looked at Caster for a moment before he simply said with a nod: "Sure." After that, he turned around and got out of her workshop.

After Kirei got out Medea took off her hood and sighed. For almost a week she had closed herself into this workshop to work on Fragarach in the hope she could make something capable of achieving the Fifth Magic... and she had done it.

She had created an artifact that would make her able to travel in time.

She was this close to saving Shirou.

...So close, and yet so far.

There was the problem that to activate the more powerful version of Fragarch she had created a weapon more powerful than a normal Noble Phantasm was needed, but she was sure that she would be able to do something and make it work… that, if her barrier bought her enough time and managed to make sure she wouldn't get suddenly killed by the Counter Guardian that would come for her.

...But she could not be stopped now. Not after all the things she had done. Not now that she was this close.

After that little moment of reflection, Medea concentrated and cast on herself the most powerful magic barrier she had before she got out of her workshop. She did so to protect herself from the 'fuel' that Avenger had sent her, which was incredibly corrupted and cursed.

Thanks to her knowledge of the arcane arts Medea had no problem in creating magic fields, like the one in her workshop or the magic barrier she had just cast on herself, that would be able to protect her from things like that. But she still chose to be very careful about it and use the best ones she had, since she didn't know how she, an 'anti-hero', could be affected by that miasma made of curses.

And as she thought about it, for her it had been both incredibly strange and interesting to observe how Kirei, a 'normal' human, was both undisturbed and immune to the effects of the malevolent energy now present in the territory. She didn't know what happened to the man and how he had become connected to the Curse present in the Grail, but the more time passed the more her desire to dissect and study him grew.

After a minute Medea entered the temple living room, and there she noticed the Tv being turned on. As she sat at the table present there she saw how the Tv was broadcasting an apocalyptic scenario, and instead of thinking that it was some kind of film she immediately understood that what she was watching was what Avenger had done.

After a couple of minutes, Kirei entered the room with a tea set and asked: "It's a real catastrophe, don't you think?"

"Indeed, it's much worse than what I first imagined." Medea said as she watched the Tv. "I guess that this is what we should expect from the All World's Evil." She continued.

"Yes, and I also say that I'm surprised that we have the possibility to watch these events live. I first thought that the world's organizations would have censored and hidden everything as soon as they could." Kirei said as he posed the tea set on the table.

"What do you think they could have done? You cannot simply hide from the world the destruction of an entire continent without any form of backlash or aftermath." Medea said. "Anyway, what did they tell the world?" She then asked.

"For now, everything has been caused by a mysterious natural disaster, one that scientists have never seen before." Kirei answered solemnly as he gave Caster a cup.

"...Really? That's the best thing they could come up with?" Medea asked as she turned to her side to watch him.

"Could you come up with an excuse better than this?" The priest asked, as he sat down and took a cup for himself.

After thinking for a moment Medea simply said: "Nah." Before she took a sip from her cup of tea, which she could say was quite good.

After that moment the two of them remained silent for a pair of minutes, as they watched the show that television was offering. That, until Medea spoke again.

"...You know Kirei, since I've asked for your help you revealed yourself to be very useful." Medea suddenly started to say at one point. "Not only you helped me with any kind of thing I asked and you followed my every order to the letter, now it turns out you're good even with the simple housework such as this..." She continued, as she watched her cup of tea.

"...But?" Kirei asked, as he had noted the strange tone of voice the woman now had.

"But I find this extremely annoying." Medea said as she frowned and turned to watch him. "You already remind me of Shirou far too much, and by acting like this it's as if you were imitating him on purpose."

"...I assume you're speaking about the one person you're trying to save." Kirei said.

"Exactly." Medea said before she paused for a moment as she looked at Kirei. "...Speaking of which. I know that what I'm going to say next will probably sound like an insult to his good name, but I think that in certain aspects you and Shirou were quite similar… the more I watch you, the more I can't help but compare the two of you to the two sides of the same coin."

Kirei, after having listened to Caster's words, silently observed her as he thought.

With no doubt, Caster had figured out the kind of person he was. So, what did she mean that this Shirou was similar to him? What did she mean that they were the two sides of the same coin? ...Just what kind of distorted being was she trying to save? Was it really possible that someone similar to him existed and that he had taken part in the war?

"Now that I've got your attention, we will speak about Shirou since you may give me some good advice on what I should do after I save him..." Medea then started to say as she noted she had caught Kirei's attention.

Kirei watched Caster for another long moment before he simply nodded and started to listen.

"So, for Shirou, it all started 10 years ago, at the end of the fourth Holy Grail War…"

For the next hour, Medea spoke to Kire about Shirou, and she told him almost everything she knew about him. She told the priest about him, his mentality, and his past, from the moment he was saved from the fire, to the moment he had died.

"...Now I understand what you meant when you said that we were similar. He too was a person with no purpose who 'selfishly' followed his desire. But while he felt joy in saving others and helping them, I feel it in their suffering and desperation." Kirei said with a little smile on his face.

The more Caster spoke of this boy, the more Kirei had gotten interested. And the priest just couldn't help but be sorry for the fact that the two of them never met. He didn't know why, but he was sure that if they had interacted their confrontation would have been far more satisfactory than the one he had with the boy's father: Kiritsugu Emiya.

Kirei just couldn't help but be surprised by how small the world was.

Also, he was very surprised to discover that it was this boy Caster spoke about to be the one that had killed Gilgamesh. Of course, Kirei tried his best to hide the fact that he knew anything about it.

"...Anyway, before you spoke of advice, but I do not know what kind of advice you need. If you'll be able to go back in time, just what do you want to do? How do you intend to save the boy?" Kirei asked.

"I intend to be the one to save him the night of the incident and raise him. I'll make sure that he will have a good and stable childhood and adolescence, and in the meantime, I'll try to rehabilitate him as much as I can, since he remained more than traumatized from the incident." Medea said before she took a sip from her cup of tea. "...I would wish that he lived a peaceful life, but because of his peculiar nature as a Sword and the distorted mindset he may acquire after being saved, if he doesn't find a purpose he would live a hollow existence, and that's not what I wish for him. For this reason I'll push him to the idea of becoming a hero, and from then, I'll train and educate him on the subject to the best of my abilities." She then continued.

"...Yes, that is a wise decision." Kirei said with a nod. "If people lack a righteous education as their basis, then it is easy for them to become fools. Once that happens it will be impossible to help them. Without an education, people cannot see past what they already know. Unable to do so, they end up proclaiming a false justice..." Kirei said, but as he thought about those words he suddenly remembered the foolish man with a childish dream, and for that reason, he stopped speaking and frowned.

"Hmm? What is it?" Medea asked as she noted the priest's sudden change of expression.

"...Nothing. I was thinking about a man who I once fought in the past. A man who had a foolish desire." Kirei said after a moment before he looked down in his now empty cup of tea.

Medea said nothing, but she carefully observed the priest.

"...That man, although he was the first to know and understand human nature well, wished for a world without wars and conflicts. He blindly ignored how that aspect has always been an intrinsic part of our species, and that its elimination would have meant the elimination of humanity itself. He was the kind of man who only sought the results, and the fool tried to take the shortest route to achieve what he desired, but in doing so, he lost sight of the truth, and was about to commit an irreparable mistake." Kirei said as he frowned even more. "While thinking himself to be rightful and wise he had raved in his reasoning to the point he had darkened his dull mind and had willingly become an egoistic fool. He had reached such a low point where he ignored and outright denied the reality of facts. Therefore both he and his actions were inexcusable in the end, even if they had been for what he falsely believed to be the greater good." Kirei then declared before he remained silent for a moment, but at one point he raised his head to watch Medea. "Caster, if you really wish the best for that boy you so care about, then you have to assure that he will not lose sight of the reality that surrounds him, or like that man, he too will become a fool." He continued before he took the teapot and filled his cup.

"Now that was nice advice." Caster commented before she took another sip from her cup. "Anyway, I understand what you mean Kirei, but I have to say that Shirou, even if he was naive at first to the point he trusted me, was not foolish. In fact, he understood and accepted rather quickly the cruel reality that surrounded him… but because of me, he lowered himself to the same level."

"Could you tell me in more detail what you have done?" Kirei asked. The woman earlier had told him that she had influenced the boy and his actions, but she didn't go into the details.

"...At first, when he asked me if he could join the war, he did so because he wanted to protect and save the innocent of this city… and I didn't like that aspect of him. I saw him as a useful asset, one far too useful, and I both wanted and needed him as an ally for the war. I had no intention to lose time and resources in following him as he played the little hero, so for this reason I convinced him that his priorities should have been to eliminate the mages that took part in the war since they were probably some ruthless monsters that would have done everything to win the war. On that same day, I also used magic on him to make him more willing to fight and to kill, and then sometime later by forming a little connection to him I also put him under my constant influence…"

"And how much did it change him?"

"...Almost completely." Medea admitted, ashamed of her actions. "Yes, there were also some other external factors that increased his change, but still, I should not have done any of that. He changed so much that before he died he had started to see himself as a weapon. He had started to think that as a weapon his duty was not to save but to kill. He had started to think that if he eradicated evil in the first place then he not only would have saved the innocents, he would have spared them from suffering in the first place."

"...That reasoning made sense. After everything he saw and discovered he decided to take matters into his own hands and to eliminate the source of the problem so that there would be nothing to threaten the innocents, those he sought to protect. Personally, I see nothing wrong with it." Kirei said after a moment.

In all and for all Kirei now could also say that he was satisfied to know that the boy had not become an idealistic fool like the father.

"...You may not see the problem, but the truth is that if I never influenced him he would have not become like... that. I mean, he would have reached another kind of resolve. He would not have focused only on killing." Medea said.

At that moment Medea really wanted to say that without her Shirou would have never become such a ruthless person or taken such a road, but once again Archer's existence proved her wrong. Until someone saved Shirou from himself, he would still be in danger of becoming something similar to a real weapon or getting himself killed.

"Caster, do not believe that just because the boy was different before your influence he was unable, or unwilling, to commit such acts of violence. On his own free will, he asked you if he could have taken part in a war, and if he really was no fool, he knew well the things he would have been forced to do to protect this city."

"...But at first he didn't even like the idea of killing, and then suddenly because of me-!"

"Sure, he didn't like to kill, but we can both agree that if he truly wanted to become a hero, one that saved the innocents and defeated the evil ones, then for him that action had to become a chore, like any other."

"...Well… I'm sure that in this war he could have found other ways to resolve things…" Medea said as she looked aside.

Kirei looked at Caster for a moment before he sighed.

"When the Lord entered the temple and found it polluted with money-changers and beasts, did he ask them to leave? Did he cry? Did he simply walk away?" Kirei asked. "No. He drove them out."

"...What are you trying to say?" Medea then asked, a bit confused.

"The Son of God, who was a man that preached love, peace, and brotherhood, after he had entered the temple and saw its conditions chased out those who polluted it because not only he considered their insult to the Lord as something unforgivable, it was something that demanded an immediate correction. From the way you described the boy I do think that he too was the kind of person who was more than willing to forgive a slap across his cheek under certain conditions... but was he willing to forgive those who took part in the war, uncaring of the lives they put in danger? Was he willing to forgive those who insulted the lives of the innocent people who live in this city? Or he thought that the culprits had to be stopped, and when necessary, punished?" Kirei asked.

"...oh, I see now what you mean." Medea said.

"If I remember correctly, you had revealed to him that the incident that took everything from him had been caused by the Grail war, right?"

"Yes, I did, but what does it have to do with our talk?"

"I think that what made him reach that resolution was that discovery. After all, you revealed to him that the mages and the Grail were the ones that in the end had killed his family, killed his friends, ruined his hometown, and took away his childhood and almost any sense of joy in life he could ever have." Kirei answered.

Medea after a moment just nodded and sipped her tea. The priest was right. She knew and saw how that discovery changed him, but as she thought about it things took a bad turn once Shirou had killed Shinji… and they got even worse when he met Archer...

"From his point of view, I think that he saw the existence of the mages, especially their behavior and mentality, as totally unacceptable. If he truly saw the lives of others as more valuable than his own, how could someone like him accept these arrogant people who came into his hometown, to start a new war, uncaring about the consequences of their actions and the lives they put in danger?" Kirei asked. "What you have seen Caster is what happens when you push a person too much. There are consequences. And sometimes, these are deadly."

Medea once again said nothing and just nodded.

"...Let's even use our current situation as an example. If for some reason the boy would come back to life and discover what you've done, what do you think he would do? And tell me, would he be in the wrong?" Kirei asked with a smile before he took a sip from his cup.

"Yes, he would have far too many reasons to kill me. I understand what you mean." Medea agreed as she ignored Kirei's little provocation. "...But he is not here, no one can stop me, and soon none of the things I did will matter. So why should I care?"

"...You also have a good point." Kirei agreed.

After that moment they remained silent and they turned to watch the Tv.

As Caster watched all the death and destruction Avenger had caused, she started to think about how things quickly fell apart for her.

One day it seemed like she had all the time in the world and that she was about to obtain what she always desired... and the next day… everything was gone... suddenly, nothing mattered anymore.

That was the second time that something like this had happened to her. And just like the first, she had ended up doing something horrible to achieve her goal.

Sure, freeing Avenger and letting him destroy the world, while he sent her a percentage of all the souls of those he had killed as fuel so that she could reach her objective, could be easily considered eviler than the homicide of her own children just for the sake of revenge, but surely, it was not as vile.

…

…

…

After a moment Medea raised her head and watched the ceiling.

...If only Shirou had never died any of this would have never happened. She would have not been forced to take such drastic measures.

...If only that man never took him away from her...

But as she thought about it, in Medea's mind a question suddenly appeared. One that until now she stangely had never asked herself.

...One that she was sure Kirei knew the answer to.

...Hmmm… Just how should she approach it?

"Anyway Kirei, why are you helping me?" She asked.

"...What do you mean?" The priest asked, a bit confused by the woman's strange question.

"Yes, even if I partially lifted the spell you're still under my control and you can't go against me or my will, but until now you have done everything I've asked more than willingly. Is there a specific reason for you to act like this?"

Kirei watched Caster for a moment and nodded before he answered.

"Even despite my connection with the Curse of Avenger you have noticed it, Caster. I have a flaw. Quite a terrible one. For me happiness is agony, and despair is pleasure itself. I always knew that such a way of life was evil as a living thing. But even as a fiend, I had common sense, and for a time I wished to correct it and gave it much effort. But at the end of the fourth war, as I assisted the destruction brought by Avenger, my objective changed. For 10 long years, I wished to assist at Angra Mainyu's birth. For 10 long years, I wished to admire the proof of his existence. And this desire of mine has finally been fulfilled by you, Caster." Kirei answered.

"...Oh, so you have been so cooperative with me because I have granted your wish… I should have expected it." Medea said as she assumed a thoughtful expression.

Kirei said nothing but he just nodded before he started to drink his tea.

"...I'm sure that even if I was absent in this war you would have tried to free Avenger from the Grail, in a way or the other, right?" Medea then asked, as she watched her cup of tea.

"Yes." Kirei said with another nod.

"...And Archer would have helped you with it, isn't that right?" Medea asked with a tone of voice cold as ice, as she turned to watch Kirei.

Kirei remained silent but he immediately assumed an emotionless expression.

"As this war supervisor, you knew about all the Servants present in this war, right Kirei?" Medea asked as she leaned toward him. "And who other than you could get in league with a Servant coming from the fourth war?" She asked as she frowned.

Kirei just remained silent and observed Caster.

"Saber spoke to me about the last war, and she had told me how between the participants there was a certain priest who Kiritsugu thought to be his greatest enemy. That would have been you, right?" Medea asked.

"..."

"Do not make me lose my patience, Kirei. Answer me." Medea said as she watched him in the eyes.

"...Yes, it was me." The priest finally admitted, since he was unable to do anything else.

"Tell me, who was Archer?" She asked as she leaned forward even more.

"...Archer was Gilgamesh of Uruk, the King Of Heroes."

"How was he able to remain after the war?"

"...Somehow after getting exposed to the cursed mud that gushed from the Grail he had obtained a physical body."

"And what was his objective? Why was he interested in the war? ...Why did he have to fight Shirou?"

"...After living for 10 years in this era he started to hate the current state of this overpopulated earth. After experiencing modern society firsthand, he believed that humanity had lost its way, and as the King, he decided that he needed to take action to set it back on the right path. He told me how he intended to use Angra Mainyu to kill the majority of humanity, while the remaining, who would have been the strongest and most worthy of survival, would have become his subjects and servants." Kirei answered.

Medea, after having listened to the man's words, remained silent for some long moments. That, until she smiled and burst laughing.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Medea laughed aloud in the priest's face.

Kirei remained silent as he watched Caster who laughed continuously for over a minute to the point she had started to cry, and as he did, he started to wonder just what was going on in the woman's head…

"...Ok, ok, so, let me reformulate everything." Medea managed to say as soon as she stopped laughing and dried her tears. "Shirou had fought Gilgamesh because he saw him as a possible menace for the city, which in the end was right. Gilgamesh fought Shirou and Saber because he probably saw the two of them as enemies that he had to defeat to reach his objective. Shirou fatally wounded Gilgamesh and died. The dying Gilgamesh was finished by Saber. Then I killed Illya and Saber, and I freed Avenger from the Grail and ended up doing the same thing the man wanted to do..."

Kirei said nothing, but he already knew what the woman was about to say next.

"Shirou's death in the end not only was unnecessary, but I made it even more meaningless than before." Medea said with a bitter smile before she put a hand on her forehead. "Just who would have thought that by saving me Shirou would have condemned the entire world? Oh, the irony. It would have been better if that night he had left me to die in that forest. None of this would have happened." She continued before she started to chuckle a little.

"...Are you starting to regret the things you have done?" Kirei asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"...Of course not, just what are you saying?" Medea said after she snapped out of her thoughts and turned to face the priest. "Very soon I'll erase all of these events Kirei. I've already told you that nothing matters anymore. Why should I start to regret my actions right now?" She then asked.

"From your words and your behavior I thought that you-"

"Yes. I do feel bad for the things I had to do, but beyond that, I don't really care. I have a debt that must be repaid. And that is my highest priority."

"...I see." Kirei said before he felt the earth tremble for a moment and he started to look around himself.

"...Oh, they have finally arrived. They sure took their time." Medea said after a moment as she stood up.

"...They have arrived? ...Are you speaking about the Counter Guardian? Wait, does this mean that the Counter Force has defeated Avenger?!" Kirei asked as he too stood up.

How was it possible? With all the power that Avenger had accumulated in these past days, he should have been incredibly powerful. He should have been a real God of Evil in all and for all. How could he have been defeated? Could it be that something far more powerful than a Counter Guardian had been summoned? Could it be that some beast of Gaia aided the Counter Force in fighting it?

...Or…

Kirei lowered his eyes and watched Caster's right hand, just to note that the last command seal the woman had was nowhere to be seen.

...Did this mean that Avenger had already died and Caster noticed but said nothing? Or it meant that the woman had used the last command seal for something else?

"...Who knows what poor godless soul was sent to stop me." Medea thought aloud as she put on her hood and started to get out of the room.

"Caster, do you really intend to confront the Counter Guardian?" Kirei asked as he followed her.

"Obviously. Also, it's not that I have some other choice." Medea answered.

The Bounded field she had made was extremely powerful, and she was almost sure that only one of the strongest weapons of the Counter Guardian could destroy it in one hit.

The priest and the witch quickly walked out of the temple, and when they reached the temple gate they stopped.

"...So, that is a Counter Guardian… truly a terrifying presence." Kirei said with a serious expression, as he watched in the distance a single and distinguishable humanoid figure that stood in a large crater on the other side of the city.

Kirei didn't exactly know how many kilometers of distance there was between him and the Counter Guardian, but he could feel the powerful presence from there.

Kirei after a moment turned to watch Caster. He did so to watch what kind of expression the woman had. He expected everything, from cold determination to fear... but he didn't expect the woman to have an offended look under her hood.

"...Is… Is this some kind of provocation? You of all people have been sent here to kill me?!" Medea asked indignantly. "...Just... stop getting in my way..." She continued before she gritted her teeth.

Kirei, a bit confused, turned toward the Counter Guardian, but the being was far too distant from him. Despite reinforcing his eyes from where he was he barely was able to see him, let alone understand who the person was.

The priest for now could only guess that it was a person that Caster knew…

Medea in the meantime stood silent as she watched the man. The one person she never wanted to see ever again, especially in a situation like that.

The white-haired man, who wore a pale-colored cloak, carefully watched Medea from the distance before a sword materialized in his right hand and a bow in his left.

"...He is about to attack." Kirei said, as he started to feel the powerful magic energy.

The fact that he was able to feel it from such a distance, while he was at this temple under the powerful Bounded field that Caster had made, was proof of the great power that was being used.

"...No, I think that he is about to test the ground." Medea commented as she sharpened her eyes.

Kirei said nothing, and he just waited. In the meantime, Medea carefully watched the man as he nocked the arrow and took aim.

After a moment the man let his arrow loose, and after a second, the powerful projectile violently exploded as soon it struck her Bounded Field.

Kirei, after the sound of the extremely powerful explosion passed, said: "Incredible. Your bounded field really has managed to protect us from the attack of a Counter Guardian."

"...You may have not noticed it, but the Bounded field it's composed of 10 layers. He has just destroyed 3 of them."

"...Is that a bad sign?" Kirei asked as he turned to watch Caster.

"Kinda. Each layer theoretically should have been able to resist an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm… and I think that what Archer used probably was not even one of the most powerful weapons he has. If I'm lucky he will not have noticed and will directly use one of his strongest weapons in his possession to finish us off as soon as he can…" Medea said before she started to take some steps forward.

"...Tell me, Archer, do you think you are the first who tries to kill me? Or the hundred? Do you really think that you of all people can stop me now?" She asked aloud when the smoke of the explosion had faded enough to the point where the man was able to see her.

But after she asked those questions Medea suddenly felt a burning pain in her left hand. She lowered her eyes just to note Rider's command seals disappear from the back of her hand.

Medea after a moment turned her head, and then she silently watched the remaining smoke disappear, just to discover that the city that once stood in front of the temple had been razed to the ground by the explosion of the weapon that had been launched.

More than half of Miyama had been turned into a crater, while the other half had been destroyed.

Medea remained silent as she turned toward the zone where once stood the Tohsaka mansion, which now was nowhere to be seen.

As she watched the catastrophe in front of her at her back she heard the priest chuckling before he started to loudly laugh at the sheer destruction he had just assisted.

After a moment Medea turned her head back to Archer, and she could feel that the man wanted to finish everything.

He extended his right arm and another sword started to take form, but as he did Medea could tell and feel just what kind of weapon he was about to summon next.

Despite the distance, she could sense from there the familiar sensation of the powerful and mystic Fae magic.

"...Yes, let's end all of this, Archer." Medea said, as she slowly put her right hand into her robes.

The man, after he had materialized the golden sword, started to fill it with as much energy as possible. After a long minute, he nocked the weapon on his bow and aimed.

As she waited for Archer's attack, Medea closed her eyes to concentrate on the magic energy she could feel. She knew that now she could not make even a single mistake.

Earlier she had seen the sheer velocity of Archer's projectiles, and she knew that if she revealed Fragarach's modified version too early Archer would have seen it and realized what she wanted to do, but if she activated the artifact too late… Well, there was no need to explain.

She just had to activate it at the perfect moment.

She waited for the man to knock the arrow, and as she did, each second that passed felt like an eternity...

She kept waiting… and waiting... but at one point she felt an explosion of magical energy coming from the man.

'Now!' She thought as she opened her eyes and took the modified version of Fragarach out of her robes, and after she did she felt the projectile striking the bounded field.

As she put the artifact in front of herself she felt the projectile break through and destroy all the layers.

And just when the Artifact activated, she could see the point of the sword right in front of herself, less than half a meter from her head.

…

…

…

Some long moments passed, and Medea was still looking at the point of the weapon that had been launched to kill her, who now was still in the air.

Medea after watching around herself and noting that everything was frozen in time sighed with relief.

"...Looks like I've won..." Medea then said as she turned to watch the smiling priest, before she turned toward Archer's direction, just to see that he too was frozen in time.

After a moment, with the artifact capable of manipulating time still in her hand, she stepped aside and walked to the side of the weapon.

"...A perfect copy of Excalibur. A Divine Construct. The pinnacle of holy swords. One of the ultimate god-forged weapons, a Last Phantasm, forged by the planet as the crystallization of the wishes of mankind stored and tempered within the planet… I'm not surprised that it was able to activate my artifact." Medea noted aloud, as she now closely observed the weapon and tapped it.

After another moment she turned to watch Archer once again.

"...You should have known about my legend, Archer. And you should have known how in the end I always win..." She said before she took with both of her hands the artifact and raised it toward the sky.

"And now, Fragarach, rewind time for me. Bring me back 10 years into the past, the night when the Fourth Holy Grail War ended!" She exclaimed.

After Medea said those words, the artifact started to shine.

Probably you: YOU UGLY MOTHERFUCKER! YOU DISAPPEAR FOR OVER A MONTH AND AFTER ALL OF THIS TIME YOU BRING ME THIS SHITTY AND BORING CHAPTER?!

Author: I- I'm terribly sorry b-but I just couldn't skip over this part of the story. But I swear that the next chapter will have many interesting interactions! There will be even Kiristu-

You: DON'T CARE! FUCK YOU!

Jokes apart. I'm really sorry for my sudden disappearance, but many things happened. I was busy with exams (I took 87/100), works, and a fucking hand disease which later caused a bad infection prevented me from writing, studying, and working for almost two weeks!

It was a mess.

Anyway, as I said in the past, no, I'm never going to drop the story. It's almost over anyway. I may take a long time to write, but I have to ask you to have faith and never doubt me. I would never disappoint my dear and loving fans 3.

Oh, btw, I'll tell you now that I'm planning a little rewrite. Not much will be changed story-wise, but the majority of mistakes will be fixed. I'll add new scenes, modify some, and ERASE from the face of the earth others. Also, Shirou's change will be more justified and explored in the 'new' version of the story.

...Anyway, returning to the things you probably have to say...

You: Hey, Author, you can't just make Medea turn Fragarach into a fourth-dimensional object that can manipulate time for error! That is total bullshit! And besides that, how the fuck was Medea able to survive Counter Guardian Archer anyway?! Even if she is one of the best Mages coming from the Age Of the Gods and she has hundreds of millions of souls to her disposal she just can't create a bounded field that can protect her even from one of Archer's attacks! And about Archer-!"

"LoL," said the Author that by now doesn't even care anymore. "Lmao."

Guys, just follow my Amazing Creative Flow and be honored by the fact that you can read such a Masterpiece of a story.

P.s: So, some of you said that I do not respect the Nasu-Verse lore, and I have to say that you're absolutely right.

But... where is the problem with it? I mean, you who are "scholars" of Fate's Lore, you should be the first to know that very often Fate himself does not respect his own rules, or completely ignores them, ruining everything.

You want an example? Since we're speaking of Mages who do whatever they want we will talk about Merlin's summoning in F/Go Babylonia.

His summoning has opened plot holes the size of Jupiter. Merlin is not dead and was not born in the Babylonian era, yet he is evoked because according to him the difference between not being born and being dead is practically non-existent. As philosophically acceptable, within the Nasuverse it is a problem since one could invent completely new Servants that do not refer to any mythology or any known history and justify them with this exact principle. They are not born yet, but they belong to the future. Merlin's words are dangerous because they completely muddy the whole system of evocation of Fate, because the Servants must already be born and dead, in this way we can only refer to historical facts or real mythologies in the creation of the Servants, completely canceling the possibility of inventing heroes that are neither historically nor mythologically existing. Merlin, justifying the evocation of him, destroyed one of the pillars of the system of evocation of Fate.

But that's normal, he is Merlin, and he can do everything, including destroying the rules of Fate's franchise!

Then, do we have to talk about how after getting killed he somehow TRAVELS BACK IN TIME to Babylon FROM FUCKING AVALON, THAT IS A SEPARATE DIMENSION OF THE FUTURE, to then use FUCKING EXCALIBUR, AS A CASTER, against Tiamat sons?!

No. Because I'm not willing to touch any of that mess. You have to admit that whatever I wrote in this chapter is more justifiable than all of those things over there.

In the end I just want to ask you this. If Fate doesn't respect itself, and even the legends of the heroes that they represent, then why in this shitty fanfiction I should follow its rules?

Thanks, and have a good day. :)

Little Spoiler ahead.

...

...

...

Cute little Shirou is coming.

May the gods save his poor little soul from Caster.

:)

Jk, it will be all fluff.

Caster can kill children, but she surely doesn't touch them in inappropriate places, lmao.