This clone of Toru sighed wearily as he ran alongside his Master. There was no way to avoid this, as Kirei himself decided to launch an attack against Emiya Kiritsugu. The clone understood this, but was also affected by the same, for now he will indeed be discovered.
'I must assume that my original thinks the same.'
Even if he is found out, nothing matters more than winning. Ironically Toru thought of attacking Saber's Master first, who is possibly Emiya Kiritsugu, so there was nothing to worry about.
'I hope everything goes well. If so, the next on the list will be Caster and his Master.'
***
"Game over for Lord El-Melloi."
Crossing his arms, he realized that the battle was over. Kayneth has fallen because of a mysterious bullet that left him wounded. Although he couldn't see the scene, from the Lord's screams and the dry sound of something falling into a puddle, he figured out what happened.
"I knew Emiya had something hidden. The sound of that bullet was a little different from the others."
It was to be expected from a Magus assassin. Using the tricks an Assassin would use.
"The time has come..."
From the tree branch he took a leap and entered through one of the shattered windows of the castle. As he entered, he saw the mess these two guys made. El-Melloi was a formidable opponent for Emiya, Toru saw. However, this fight surely left the winner exhausted.
With this in mind, Toru smiled calmly. Even if this guy uses his Magus assassin tricks, Emiya couldn't handle the speed of a Heroic Spirit. So the balance is in his favor at the moment.
***
'They're already close...'
The clone watched Maiya and Irisviel stop in their tracks. They quickly hid themselves and Maiya pointed the firearm in the same direction Kirei was coming from. It was only a few seconds until the silhouette of that man came into view through the darkness of the forest. This caused Maiya to activate the gun, firing at point-blank range at Kirei. The latter himself immediately covered himself with his knives.
"Assassin!"
He said. At that moment the other Toru clone came out who, with what little speed he could manage, blocked all the bullets with his daggers. This, however, was not enough, for almost instantly another volley of bullets came from the opposite side.
The clone could not react in time, for as he was created only to observe, his stats were deplorable. The bullets ripped through him and the clone clicked his tongue.
'I wanted to buy a little more time'
Puff! He disappeared enveloped in a cloud of smoke. Kirei watched this with wide eyes. There was no way his Servant would die so pathetically against mere human weapons. Maiya also thought that was ridiculous, but she had no choice but to keep attacking.
She continued firing, moving at strategic points until she managed to hit the first bullet. With the first bullet accepted, Kirei covered himself with his arms and Maiya fired at point blank range, emptying the first magazine of the firearm. The executioner fell to the ground even though there were no wounds on his body, but this was enough to make Maiya think she had achieved her goal.
Precipitating, she approached to finish off the target, but at that moment Irisviel shouted at her to move away. The executioner then disappeared. Stepping behind Maiya, he kicked her causing her to fall rolling on the ground.
'There seems to be no difficulties, but Kirei definitely realized that I'm acting on my own now.'
This was just beginning.
***
On the other side of the forest, Saber walked away from Lancer after paying her respects. Caster, after his grimoire broke, fled like a rat. With this she was going to protect Irisviel at this instant, as she knew that now Maiya and her were on their own.
'I need to go faster'
With Assassin on the loose, she didn't know what could happen, for she herself has seen what that Servant is capable of.
'Those eyes are dangerous. If Assassin meets Irisviel, then she won't be able to survive.'
The eyes that extinguish life by cutting it along their golden lines. Saber, once in her childhood, heard the legend of the eyes that see the end of things.
'There is no time left!'
She didn't want to let Assassin have his way. To Saber, someone like Assassin is as despicable as it gets. Previously she had said the same thing to Kiritsugu, as she thought Emiya was no different from Servant Assassin.
***
'Lancer...'
He didn't think Lancer would appear so quickly here, but that wasn't all bad. He thought it would be good if Lancer kills Emiya, so he can kill Kayneth in what Lancer kills the human. Still, Lancer decided to spare Kirei's life and flee with his wounded Master.
'Wow... what a weird turn of events."
He felt disappointed, but not everything could go his way. There was that to understand.
On his side, Kiritsugu leaned against the wall and breathed tiredly. Using magic was too tiring, especially that magic that sped up time in his body.
"I failed..."
The man said. He looked up at the ceiling with vacant eyes and breathed heavily. He felt that the submachine gun in his hand was heavier than normal. It was understandable, as he was tired now.
"Iri..."
Even with that tiredness, he walked staggering in search of his beloved. But...
"You're not going anywhere, Emiya-san..."
At that voice, Emiya quickly turned around and pointed the gun, pulling the trigger. Followed by this, bullets were heard bouncing off a metal surface. At that moment Kiritsugu frowned, for in front of him was Kirei's Servant.
"Assassin..."
He had blocked all the bullets with ease.
"You know why I'm here, so let's not stop to talk."
"..."
Kiritsugu immediately fled in the opposite direction of Assassin, for he well knew that he couldn't against that spirit. The bad thing was that Toru appeared in front of him as if he had teleported.
"You're not going anywhere..."
Under his hood, a faint relaxed smile widened. Kiritsugu raised the firearm again and fired, but Assassin jumped back by leaping into the air twice while blocking the bullets with the edge of his daggers. At that moment, his eyes glowed brightly with the seven colors of the rainbow, the organic X in the center distorted, pulsating once.
'I am at a complete disadvantage.'
He looked at his left hand, where the mark showing his participation in this war was. If everything went wrong, he was under the obligation to call Saber.
***
"HUMMMMM!"
Irisviel's muffled scream echoed through the forest. Kirei pierced her abdomen with his knives while holding her mouth, preventing her from letting out her screams. Nearby was Maiya, who was lying on the ground after being brutally beaten. The clone saw this and thought of his Master's coldness at that moment.
'Confirmed. She is not Saber's Master.'
That meant that now she would die in vain. Toru might be a bad person, but he was only going to kill the Masters and Servants of this war, anyone else was off his imaginary list, no matter if they are accomplices of the Masters. Unless these people get in his way.
Anyway, Kirei didn't know what was going on in the different places in this forest. So he took a leap and appeared in front of him.
''Assassin, explain yourself. Are you also a projection of the original Assassin?''
"Unfortunately, yes. My original right now is on his way to kill Emiya Kiritsugu. No, I should already be in front of that person."
With her consciousness lost, Irisviel tried to stand up, but she no longer had the strength. She only heard what the clone said, but could do nothing to stop them.
"Surely Saber is on her way. I am not created for battle. So I recommend you flee, or you will die by that Servant's sword."
Kirei had seen Toru as a strange person with mysterious goals. Now he just wanted to know why.
"You are acting without my command."
Toru's eyes flashed brightly upon hearing that. He took a step forward and looked Kirei in the eyes.
"I told you from the beginning, Kirei."
This time there would no longer be respect and helpfulness for Kirei.
"I wasn't going to obey every order you give me. I told you clearly the day after my summoning."
Kirei narrowed his eyes. He considered this for what it was, Assassin's rebelling against his Master.
"Anyway. You'd better leave before Saber arrives. Oh... she's close."
The clone wasn't lying. Saber was already a few meters away. Kirei had no choice but to turn around and leave. He stared at his Master in silence, until Saber finally arrived.
"Irisviel!"
She immediately approached, but upon noticing Assassin's presence, she unsheathed her sword and pointed it at the enemy's face.
"I should have guessed it would be you."
Her tone of voice was loud. She felt anger boil inside her body.
"I should have guessed someone like you would do this. You are despicable. There can't be anything worse than you."
The clone sighed.
"You are so naive, Saber. You're just a child."
These words were enough to make Saber's anger explode, who appeared behind Assassin after slashing him with her sword. Though what she saw after that was not what she expected, the clone split in two and began to disappear shrouded in smoke.
"He wasn't real...?"
The clone smiled before disappearing.
"You won't make it in time to save your Master."
Puff! Saber stood expectantly after the clone disappeared, but when she heard Maiya, who was crawling to catch up with Irisviel, she realized that she had to take care of this first before going to save Kiritsugu's ass.
***
The burst of detonations echoed in the castle's corridors. Just like Kayneth, Kiritsugu tried to flee, but Assassin managed to catch up and hit him with the dagger. With all the power of his reflexes, Kiritsugu managed to cover himself from the dagger only once, at which time he sacrificed his weapon. Though the moment his weapon slashed, the force of the slash sent him flying into the wall.
It was obvious that this was how it would end. Only four seconds passed since Assassin appeared and it all ended this way.
Emiya then looked at the Command Seals in his hand and thought. Because of that, Toru pushed himself one last time to kill him. He had no other choice. Even though this would leave him exhausted, it was the only way to flee.
"Time Alter: Triple Accel!"
As if everything around him slowed down, Kiritsugu stood up from the ground and quickly fled in the opposite direction of where Assassin was. However, when he passed by that Servant, his eyes widened as he saw Assassin's smile show beneath his hood. After that...
Boom! Kiritsugu was kicked with ease and speed, crashing into the wall that was destroyed by the impact a second later.
"That magic was very interesting."
Said the Assassin. This caused Emiya to open his eyes, realizing that there was blood dripping down his forehead. Assassin's speed far surpassed that of his Triple Acceleration.
"I'll try to learn it when I get my wish."
Without waiting for anything, Toru immediately tried to cut one of the death lines, but just at that moment....
Clang! The sound of sharp weapons clashing resounded. Shrouded in the veil of night next to the radiant moonlight. With the gentle breeze of the wind blowing in through the shattered window, her golden hair shimmered next to her emerald eyes. Her gaze, with a scowl, turned directly to her Master's attacker.
"You're the worst..."
She said. Toru only returned to his expressionless face and sighed.
"Command Seals... I hate those things..."
To be continued...