Chapter 18: Joining the Fun

"Don't be afraid, Father."

Zoran offered Risei Kotomine a small smile. At his age, the man really ought to have learned how to keep his emotions off his face. Was Zoran truly that terrifying? It was merely a simple display of dominance; he had no intention of killing Risei today. This old man had his own destiny to fulfill.

The other reason, of course, was that he had more important business tonight. Shendu was already pressing him. If they missed the timing for the gathering, there wouldn't be any fun left to watch, would there?

Placing his hands in front of him, tucked into his voluminous sleeves, Zoran slowly backed away. Before the stunned Risei could even process the horror he felt, the man had vanished.

In the hollow silence of the church, a faint scent of blood lingered. Risei gasped for air, his breathing ragged and uncontrolled. Footsteps echoed behind him.

"Kirei... do not provoke him unless absolutely necessary," Risei warned, his voice shaking with residual fear.

"I understand."

…

Zoran silently gauged the time. The other six Masters and Servants had already converged on Fuyuki City. For a while now, a faint aura had been blooming nearby, pulling at his senses.

This was the unmistakable presence of a Servant. Someone was intentionally baiting the others.

Recalling the details, he identified the culprit as Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, a Master from London's Clock Tower. His summoned Servant was Lancer, the hero Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, legendary First Warrior of the Knights of Fianna.

Tonight would be a grand gala. In the original timeline, every Servant except Caster would show their faces here. But this time, Caster would not be absent. Shendu was already itching for action.

"My brother, in this seven-day war, we have six days remaining, not counting last night," Shendu rasped.

Zoran knew exactly what he was implying.

"Six days. One for each. How wonderful that sounds!" Shendu let out a booming laugh.

Zoran nodded slightly. As long as Shendu was having a good time, he wouldn't mind if the dragon took on all six in a single day.

"Since you have made your arrangements, my brother, you have my full support," Zoran said calmly.

"Then let us begin." Shendu's grin was dangerously wide.

…

Fuyuki City, Wharf District.

The area was cluttered with shipping containers, looking very much like a pre-arranged battlefield. The handsome Servant Lancer looked back at the opponent following him. His Master, Kayneth, had ordered him to use his aura to draw out other Servants, and sure enough, someone had taken the bait.

At this moment, countless eyes were fixed on this spot. Lancer didn't care; bound by the code of chivalry, combat was his only concern. He faced the beautiful woman before him, clad in a silver armored dress with pale gold hair and a resolute gaze.

Saber.

Further back stood a silver-haired woman.

"It seems everyone arrived early."

Zoran's current vantage point was quite clever. To his knowledge, every Master was already on-site, whether in the light or the shadows.

"Everyone's taken the best seats already," Zoran murmured. "Luckily, I bought a ticket for the boat."

Gravity lifted his body, letting him drift quietly out over the ocean. He floated serenely above the waves, the dark seawater rising and falling beneath his feet, bowing to the gravitational pull. The spirit-form Shendu followed effortlessly, possessing the power of the Rooster Talisman.

In the center of the battlefield, Saber and Lancer had already engaged. Zoran scanned the perimeter. Kayneth was hiding in the dark, watching the tides of battle. Saber's Master, Kiritsugu Emiya, and his assistant were stealthily setting up a sniper line. Kiritsugu was looking for the perfect moment to feed Kayneth a bullet.

As for the silver-haired woman behind Saber, Irisviel, she was Kiritsugu's wife, a decoy placed at the forefront to draw fire.

Casting his eyes upward, Zoran spotted a low-crouched shadow nearby: Hassan. Zoran didn't hide his gaze. Hassan noticed it immediately. Despite the mask, Zoran imagined the expression underneath was priceless. Sure enough, Hassan began to shuffle away, disappearing behind the buildings. Being stared at by Zoran made his skin crawl; he opted to relocate immediately.

A faint sensation of being watched reached Zoran, and he turned his gaze toward the distance.

"Kiritsugu, he's spotted us," the assistant, Maiya, reported urgently.

Through a sniper scope, from such a distance, the target had actually detected them? There were no familiars present, and they hadn't detected a single ripple of sorcery.

On the other side, Kiritsugu shifted his barrel to look at Zoran, who was suspended peacefully over the sea. Simultaneously, Zoran adjusted his own gaze, looking directly back through the scope into Kiritsugu's eyes.

"That's Caster's Master," Kiritsugu stated firmly. News of the ambush on the Tohsaka estate had already spread. He couldn't read a single emotion from Zoran's calm face.

"Should I fire?" Maiya asked.

Their original target was Kayneth, but a new, blatantly arrogant target had appeared. Unaccountably, Kiritsugu felt his palms go cold. His finger on the trigger trembled slightly. The man seemed utterly unconcerned, as if he held an ultimate trump card.

Was he a powerful magus? But who could stop a sniper bullet? Kiritsugu was, after all, the man known as the Magus Killer.

After a moment of silence, he chose the safe route. "Continue searching for Lancer's Master," he commanded.

…

On the battlefield, the two Servants had already exchanged identities. Saber, the King of Knights, Artoria Pendragon, had actually suffered a setback. She had misjudged Lancer's Noble Phantasm, or rather, been led into a trap, and sustained an injury.

Then, the situation shifted.

Atop a streetlamp, golden light coalesced into a figure. Gilgamesh looked down with disdain at the two chivalrous opponents. On the ground, a black silhouette emerged like a vengeful spirit: the Berserker controlled by Kariya Matou. A crack of thunder tore through the sky as the King of Conquerors, Iskandar, arrived with his Master, Waver Velvet, to break up the fight.

In this instant, all Servants were gathered in one place.

On the pitch-black sea, Zoran smiled and asked the figure beside him, "Have you made your choice?"

Shendu's hulking form materialized, his crimson eyes locked onto the golden figure on the streetlamp.

"I have." He peeled back his lips into a snarl.

Zoran tapped his forehead, looking somewhat helpless. He should have expected it from Shendu, going straight for the strongest Servant as his first opponent.

High on the lamp, Gilgamesh was busy insulting the "mongrels" below. In the next second, a very familiar, scorching blast of flame roared toward him. He threw himself from the lamp, narrowly dodging the explosion of the Dragon Blast.

In that moment, Gilgamesh was pushed to the absolute brink of rage. Once, twice, three times! To provoke his dignity as a King so repeatedly!

In the center of the battlefield, amidst the boom of the explosion, the smoke cleared. Shendu's monstrous form slowly became visible.

"Like I always say... the protagonist always arrives last, wouldn't you agree, Mr. Kiritsugu Emiya?"

Zoran spoke to the man beside him.

"When did you—!" Kiritsugu's entire body jolted.

Caster's Master... he was over the ocean just a second ago...

When did he get right next to him?