You are Alberich: knight, serial killer, familiar to two magi, dubiously related to the gods, and now a kidnapper. You've just captured your most hated enemy, and look forward to a thorough resolution of your resentment. On the night of Wednesday, November 13, 2019, you found yourself in a dimly lit stone basement, standing in the middle of a magic circle. You had been summoned as a Servant, a legendary warrior contracted after their death to fight alongside a magus for the Holy Grail, their existence sustained by the mystic energy of their summoner. In your case, however, you were conned by Judas Iscariot into taking his place despite not being a legendary warrior. At least his magic empowered you enough to fill the role.After spending a few days learning about the Holy Grail War and your surroundings, you and your Master, Jean-Pierre Vaisset, had your first skirmish with the enemy: a complete defeat. The enemy Servant outclassed you utterly, and the only reason you survived was that her Master ordered her to retreat once he'd killed Vaisset.In the wake of Vaisset's death, you became contracted to his younger sister. The two of you have faired better, in large part due to her ability to transfer a portion of the power held by the foes you've slain to you.In the war since, many things have happened. You slew one Servant, grew stronger by his death, and fled from another. You learned the truth that you were never human, but an artificial hero created by Judas. You discovered that there were two other artificial heroes created like yourself, and that they were your old comrades. You've been forced to the betray the first people you had considered allies in this Holy Grail War, and the betrayal ended in a stalemate. You ended up wounded and your new enemies beating a successful retreat. After a day of rest and recovery in the company of your new ally, the snow-white magus princess Liliesviel von Einzbern, you set out again to hunt the enemy. Although you sought Archer, you were waylaid by a skirmish with your estranged brother and a confrontation with the Servant who handed you your humiliating first defeat: the hated female Saber.None of your experiences have changed your goal. Whether or not your life has been by the design of another, and regardless of who stands in your way, there is only one path before you. You will take the Holy Grail, and with it your survival, with your own hands. Four Servants remain to fall by your sword.Previous thread: >>3801069Suptg Archive:http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Sweets-Loving%20QMStatus Information:https://pastebin.com/qsKX4p5b
"That sounds ideal, thank you. The bonds I use are rather energy-intensive, and as you can see, after all, and with Miss Ayaka in uncertain condition I would rather not strain her further." Up until now, you've been ignoring the issue of what happened to your Master in order to focus on the pressing issue of getting home, but now that you're out on the road it returns to your mind. Just as the mundanes in the office building were, she's fallen unconscious. Could she have been the victim of some spell of Harris'? After a moment of thought, you continue, "Did you happen to see what Harris did to her? If there could be long-term effects, or this is some sort of curse..." You leave the consequences unsaid."Oh, that. You needn't... be so concerned, Ani-ue," Kōrakuhime replies with a shake of her head. "I... briefly examined her, while you were... conveying the two to our vehicle. Your... Master is only suffering from exhaustion, triggered... by overuse of her magic circuits. It could be... dangerous if you were to continue before... she has had a chance to recover, but at the moment... there will be no damage.""I see." Without thinking you let out a sigh, one more source of worry removed from your shoulders. "That certainly is a relief. Thank you, Kōrakuhime.""Of course," comes the soft answer. "It was... but a trifling thing to... do."For a while, you drive in silence, retracing the route you took on the way to your planned battle with Archer. As you pass the commercial avenues, you notice that the late-night pedestrians mostly seem to have gone home by now. It's only eleven, but you suppose it would be strange for large groups of people to stay out later on a weeknight. Many of the brightly sparkling shops have dimmed their windows and closed their doors, while those who do cater to the later customers sit largely empty, waiting for the wanderers without morning obligations. Soon enough, though, you leave the commercial zone behind and return to the suburbs, where your drive comes to an end as you pull back into the welcoming enclosure of the manor's garage. "Can you carry that other Saber down to the basement?" You gesture to the unconscious blonde as you get out of the car, walking around to Ayaka's side yourself and picking her up. "I'll be putting Miss Ayaka to bed, and I assume you'd like to begin sealing that girl off as quickly as possible.""Certainly. We have no... idea how long she will remain conveniently sleeping, after... all," Kōrakuhime says, and as she opens the rear door the other Saber slumps half out of the car, as if to punctuate the point. The sleeping girl shows no sign of noticing her plight, beyond a soft, "mnya..."
Looking at the girl as one might examine a particularly unpleasant bag of trash to be removed, your sister produces a talisman and conjures a cushion of wind to carry the other Servant and relieve her of the burden of manual labor. Once the sleeping girl has been wafted out of the car, Kōrakuhime stalks off out of the garage, your prisoner floating along behind her. You pick Ayaka up by more mundane means, slinging her over your shoulder as before and making your own way back to her room. She must be exhausted indeed, as neither your rough treatment in carrying her nor the shift of being dumped on top of her bed causes your Master to stir. For a moment you consider changing her into her nightgown, but upon the realization that you'd have to search through the girl's closet to find it you dismiss the notion as too much trouble. You slip off her shoes, ensuring they haven't touched anything indoors, and leave her to do the rest when she awakens.With that, you turn and make your way down to the basement, the former workshop of Jean-Pierre Vaisset. As you descend the lowest flight of stairs, the stone ones disconnected from the others in the house, it occurs to you what a perfect prison the area is. It's all stone down there, a set of impenetrable cubic rooms linked by narrow corridors and connected to the surface only by this single steep flight of steps. Perhaps, before the Vaisset and Shijou families merged to require two workshops, this house's former owners did use the basement as a dungeon. No point in speculating on that now, you think as you enter the main room, where you were first summoned. It will be a prison now, whatever it was once. Not this room, however; there's no sign of your sister, only Vaisset's abandoned books and tools. Moving on, then, you head right and begin going down the hallway connecting to the other basement rooms. The second room, the larger area you used for sparring practice accessible by a second right turn, is similarly empty; as is the third room, a smaller chamber filled with unmarked crates whose entrance is across the hall from that of the second. Only in the fourth room, the second on the right in the basement hall, do you find Kōrakuhime. You almost run into her, in fact, as she opens the door in your face to make her exit."Oh!" She lets out a startled gasp, suddenly finding you there. "Ani-ue! I was just... going to look for you. I have finished placing a seal on that Servant.""You're certain she won't be able to escape?" With the magic resistance innate to a Saber, any kind of magical bond seems uncertain. On the other hand, Kōrakuhime's abilities have impressed you enough so far that you don't doubt she has a clear understanding of what will or won't be effective.
"Quite." Kōrakuhime gives you her slight smile. "I have created a... multilayered barrier about her that prevents her Master from supplying her with magical energy or acting on her through his command spell. She will receive... enough energy to survive, provided to her... by the leyline beneath this place... but only while she remains within the room behind me. Of course... there is a physical barrier as well.""Marvelous," is the only word that springs to mind. Kōrakuhime's seal sounds quite impenetrable. "I can rest easy, then, knowing our prisoner is secure," you say with a smile."I believe that I did... tell you that bounded fields are my specialty," Kōrakuhime answers, a hint of teasing in her voice. "I only hope... this can partially erase the shame of my defeat at the hands of that... human." In her mouth, the word carries as much venom as one might expect from the blackest insult. Before you can reply, though, she goes on in a quite relaxed tone, "Now, Ani-ue, if you would excuse me... I am rather tired." You're still blocking her way out to the hall, you realize.>[ ] "Of course, go ahead. I think I'll be getting some sleep soon myself. It has been a taxing night." (Self-Preservation)>[ ] "Not at all. Before you leave, though, tell me: it won't interfere with your barrier if I go in and have a look, will it? I'd like to be there when she wakes up." (Pride)>[ ] Say something else. (Write in)
>>3840928>[ ] "Not at all. Before you leave, though, tell me: it won't interfere with your barrier if I go in and have a look, will it? I'd like to be there when she wakes up." (Pride)
>>3840928>[ ] "Not at all. Before you leave, though, tell me: it won't interfere with your barrier if I go in and have a look, will it? I'd like to be there when she wakes up." (Pride)Tome to bully the dumb king
>>3840939>She could just whip her sword down and he'd be dead immediately with a flick of the wrist>Goes for a big windup insteadGoddamn, this shot. It's like I notice a new terrible thing about it every time.
>>3840928>[ ] "Not at all. Before you leave, though, tell me: it won't interfere with your barrier if I go in and have a look, will it? I'd like to be there when she wakes up." (Pride)>"GOOD MORNING SABER.">*incomprehensible screaming*>The sleeping girl shows no sign of noticing her plight, beyond a soft, "mnya..."Damn it Saber. Stop unintentionally acting cute while you're in mortal danger.>Looking at the girl as one might examine a particularly unpleasant bag of trash to be removedThe start of an excellent relationship.Kourakuhime is an excellent ally. As one should expect from a Caster, honestly.Now we just need to go about "convincing" Saber.
>>3840951And by "convincing", you mean "use her as a training dummy".
>>3840958So, what should we do in this regard anyways? Break Excalibur so she can't meme herself and us to death at any time? We do need to practice the basics of CQC...
>>3840969She doesn't have the mana to use it now.
>>3840958Possibly... Possibly...We should see what she has to say for herself when we tell her what we actually are.>"NO SABER FOR THE LAST TIME I AM NOT AVENGER OR ANGRA MAINYU OR "THE SHADOW" GOD DAMN IT."Or that her Master abandoned her despite having ample opportunity to save her.If we can actually get her working for us and both sparring with us and fighting alongside us, it will be immensely useful for the battles to come.By altering her or convincing her with our fantastic wordplay, either works.But yeah it looks like Kourakuhime REALLLLLLY hates Seibah.Also, I love how her magical energy supply really isn't an issue now that we've given Tsubaki the All Clear to drain as many people as she likes. Girl really hates humans.Also, Saber is a fantastic bodyguard for Ayaka due to Instinct: A letting her react to sneak attacks or Assassins who try to go for our Master.Additionally, I like how "Knight" has appeared and comes before "Serial Killer" on our character description now. Benefits of 1v1ing the King of Knights and winning, I suppose.>>3840969>Excalimeme>with just enough mana to sustain herselfShe would literally just die from using it and nothing would happen.Also we don't want to break the one thing that sets her apart from other Sabers if we're going to recruit her.
>>3840977But get this- I don't want to recruit her. Does Vaisset have any shinai?
>>3840986We can make some out of nothingness
>>3840986But why?Allies are incredibly useful.You can see this with Kourakuhime.Hell, if we had Saber as an ally tonight, we would have been in absolutely no danger from Matsuda or the Executors.Kourakuhime could've just focused on taking down Matsuda with us while we could have had Saber protect Ayaka from the Executors.Also yeah we can just project any sort of weapon we want into existence really.
>>3840989Just to be clear, you're not using projection magic. What you're doing looks similar, but is fundamentally different.
>>3840993Yeah I know, bad choice of words.
>>3840986>hey here's some money>yeah thanks>proceeds to stick money into a piss jar and just stares at it for a single hour every day
>>3841008But anon, I want to punch the money until I get good at punching and then invest the money into my personal portfolio.
>>3841011It's a poor investment if you have to set like 95 percent of the money on fire for your investment.Also it might make the entire economy collapse.
>>3841014Hence why we need to set our otherwise useless broker and our savvy Economics Ph.D. to work improving the process.
>>3841024Whoops it turns out that you and your friends made a small mistake and now every thing you own has been repossessed by an angry manjew
>>3841024It just seems needlessly dangerous and wasteful to sacrifice Saber if we can get her as an ally.Do you really want to take in Angra Mainyu Corruption and also get it in the grail too?Because there's a non-zero chance that's what we'll get from sacrificing her.As a potential teacher/sparring partner, she is far more useful to us than a single upgrade is.
>>3841036>he thought he could beat the Manjew when it comes to cheating the economyHeh.
>>3841041>As a potential teacherShe can probably teach us how to ride a horse, nothing more.
>>3841041I have said over and over that I see the value in training with her. I don't see her as a reliable ally in battle, and full expect that the investment required to get her operating in that respect is objectively better put to literally any our other projects + a neat lil sacrifice. Also, if she harbors manjew and cannot be sacrificed or sent back to the grail it'd be better to just Kenótis her and be done with it.
>>3841051While that's quite useful, having her teach us how Magical Energy Burst is done should be something she is capable of too.Also training against somebody like her will allow our EotM to rise to B at least, A if we're really lucky.
>>3841051Hang on now, don't write her off so hastily. She can also teach you how to lead a completely dysfunctional and self-destructive court until the nation collapses!
>>3841058>A if we're really luckyGet real, we're not getting EoTM A w/o a sacrifice. Mana Burst C and EoTM B maybe with some VERY intense training.
>>3841060And how to be a bad father(?) and to be perfectly fine as some other guy bones your wife, even though you were never even interested in your wife like that but forced into the marriage due to dick wizard.
>>3841055Why don't you see her as a valuable ally?Just because we beat her with a cheap shot that only Alberich (or Sakura) can pull off doesn't mean she's not really fucking strong>>3841060I think you mean "she can also teach you how to basically rely on Agravain and Merlin to do everything until one gets killed and the other gets trapped">>3841062Matsuda might have a skill that enhances his combat skill gain, but he still got to A fighting against far less skilled and far less powerful partners than Saber. I don't think EotM:A is impossibleAs for Mana Burst, if Alberich understands the concept behind it (It's literally just using a lot of magical energy to boost yourself) he could easily replicate it to A.
>>3841060Well what do you think would happen when you are taught how to rule a country from a eccentric wizard who has some weird ass fetishes.
>>3841072She's an inferior swordsman, her best weapon literally won't be able to hit an opponent as wily and powerful as Odin, and if we need her to beat assassin I'll eat my hat.Also, I think you underrate the level of mastery an A level skill implies. Not even a 400 iq can get a skill to A tier that we don't even have yet within a Grail-war timeframe.
>>3841077Mordred has A rank Mana Burst and she's as intelligent as a sack of rocks. If she could figure it out so can we.It's really not like Mana Burst is a complex thing.Alberich has trained his Transference already.>She's an inferior swordsmanYet she knows the perfect moves to make, which would therefore allow anyone training against her to quickly gain experience by noticing the flaws in their fighting style.>Her best weapon won't be able to hit OdinI mean, Excalibur might if we play our cards right.>if we need her to beat assassin I'll eat my hatAn extra Servant is always useful when you're up against somebody that likes to strike from the Shadows, especially one with limited future sight that can tell when a sneak attack is coming.
Would Ayaka even be okay with sacrificing Saber at this point?Killing and absorbing someone who's actively trying to kill us is in the heat of combat one thing, but doing so to a powerless prisoner might stray a little too close to the traumatizing sacrifices from Ayaka's childhood.
>>3841076>Well what do you think would happen when you are taught how to rule a country from a eccentric wizard who has some weird ass fetishes.Don't forget "DUDE WHAT IF I MADE THE KING A GIRL WOULDN'T THAT BE WEIRD?" or the fact that he's pretty clearly not an ally of humanity and is just fucking about.
>>3841083>Yet she knows the perfect moves to make, which would therefore allow anyone training against her to quickly gain experience by noticing the flaws in their fighting style.How many times do I have to say that I see the value in training with her before you stop adding that gratuitously to your arguments for bringing her into the field.>>3841085If Ayaka can't sacrifice some human-shaped mass of autistic energy she should be replaced as our master ASAP.
>>3841096>How many times do I have to say that I see the value in training with her before you stop adding that gratuitously to your arguments for bringing her into the field.I was saying that as a reason as to why she might be a possible way to get EotM(T):A. She's kind of the perfect sparring partner for us.As for bringing her into the field, why would we waste the battle potential of a Top-tier Saber in her own right by not using her against our enemies?>If Ayaka can't sacrifice some human-shaped mass of autistic energy she should be replaced as our master ASAPYou're going to make her cry anon.You don't want that do you?
>>3841088It was more "AH FUCK THE CHILD IS A GIRL? FUCK! ... Oh well I can work with it."And then he fucked off to a different realm and created the /d/ board for all of his fetishes.
>>3841105>implying he didn't just do it on purpose to be a dick.>when he literally has shown the capability to use penis magic.
>>3841108Yeah you may be right about that part.Jesus Christ poor Artoria.
>>3841096Replaced by another master who happens to know how to sacrifice servants to empower us?
>>3841103Because the investment for befriending her and establishing a system of fuel for her is a waste, relative to the gains we could get otherwise.Also, maybe. Ranking barely 4th in affection rating is pathetic on her part.
>>3841126Given that nobody seems to give a fuck about sacrifices anymore, I don't think it'll be a problem.
>>3841128We have barely interacted with the girl.
Don't we have to kill saber to empower the grail?
>>3841133We spent the entire first part of Awakening mirror with her.
>>3841136Technically no. In addition to an expendable extra servant (Matsuda), I'm sure Odin is worth more than two servants.
>>3841128>establishing a system of fuel for her is a wasteBut Kourakuhime literally already did that, she's just heavily limiting her right now.You need to consider that she still ranks higher than a girl we brainwashed to like us, though.We just need to do more knightly things to get her to like us more.A Pegasus or something would go a long way.Also actually interact with her for more than just protecting her.>>3841136Thankfully, Rider of Fuyuki exists, with zero chance of grail corruption!Also Odin being a God likely counts as multiple souls.Fuck he might be able to fill the grail by himself, Gil was worth like 5 fucking souls.
>>3841140>expendable extra servant (Matsuda)Is anyone actually willing to kill him though?>I'm sure Odin is worth more than two servants.How sure are you?This isn't really something that should be left to chance.
>>3841137Think compared to Circe/Adelheid, Lili how stuck like glue to us, and our sister who does care for us and was a ally in Akeldama.Yeah its going to be decently low compared to them.
>>3841132>Given that nobody seems to give a fuck about sacrifices--No, you retard. Sweets affirmed our suspicions about possible corruption, I want to make sure of it. Granted, Alberich hasn't thought about it yet.
>>3841142I have a feeling Odin going into the grail would most likely purify it.
>>3841151MeVery. Also, I forgot about Medusa. As long as we get around to killing Odysseus at some point and don't fuck up killing Assassin like we seem to every time since we killed Roland.
>>3841151>How sure are you?Almost completely certain.Gilgamesh is worth at least 3 (I think it was 5 though)And Odin is almost certainly the same case.It's not even leaving things to chance.Asshole has more power coming off him when he gets serious than the fucking Lesser Grail does.Or a fucking Excaliblast does.>>3841161Then that solves the possible "Manjew hiding out in the root connection" issue.Still doesn't mean eating Saber is a good idea.
>>3841164Hear me out, if we talk and plan with Odin for him to go into the grail and most likely into the root to purify it if we bring back the Age of the Gods (we can just not do it out of spite but that might backfire hard). Bonus points if we absorb his power.That way its purified, we get the grail, and we get a nice power up. I am with you on the not eating Saber.
>>3841083>Yet she knows the perfect moves to make, which would therefore allow anyone training against her to quickly gain experience by noticing the flaws in their fighting style.That sounds like an amazing way to have Saber sabotage our training.
Assuming that recruiting Saber is impossible or not worth it, could we more fully absorb her energy with a ritual improved by Tsubaki and a bounded field preventing the grail from claiming her?
>>3841177>Hear me out, if we talk and plan with Odin for him to go into the grail and most likely into the root to purify it if we bring back the Age of the Gods (we can just not do it out of spite but that might backfire hard). Bonus points if we absorb his power.This is Shirou-tier blind optimism. Do you want to abolish command spells as well?
>>3841181That is the hope.
I just realized something. What if by absorbing servants we fucked up the grail ritual?
>>3841181>preventing the grail from claiming herWouldn't we need that energy?
>>3841188Lily already told us that the energy we siphoned of isn't enough to endanger the ritual.
>>3841182Says the person who wants to kill Alberich's brother even though there is a clear way to save him.
>>3841188>>3841191There's so much excess energy floating around in this war that we can afford one servant going missing
>>3841188Lily hasn't voiced any complaints about it, so no.
>>3841181>>3841187Straight up attempting to absorb all of Saber's power and soul would fuck us up mightily. Because that's seriously just not a good idea for so many reasons.>>3841188We haven't so far. Lily seems to think it's fine.>>3841180If we actually allied ourselves with her, why would she?Also, in what way?If we're sparring with blunt swords and she obviously takes the incorrect move and gets hit, we can call her out on her shit.
>>3841194>>3841197Okay cool, I must have forgotten that.
>>3841195You're damn right I want to kill that mongrel who tried to kill Alberich.
>>3841191I theorize that part of the reason that we absorb such little energy in the ritual is that the Grail snatches most of it away before we can get to it. If we can disrupt that, then we should be able to fully absorb Saber's energy.
>>3841200Fucking calm down Gil.Please remember that Enkidu was sent to fuck your shit up too.
>>3841202Anon, do you really think that incorporating Saber's entire existence into our own isn't going to have some pretty horrible drawbacks for us?
>>3841200Do you think his first option is to kill us? No you idiot he was forced to. That is the whole thing of not being in debt to us so he can do what he is forced to and not feel like complete shit. Now its 90% like shit.
>>3841198>If we actually allied ourselves with her, why would she?Allied us how? What do we have to offer her when we can't give her the grail and she hates our guts?>Also, in what way?>If we're sparring with blunt swords and she obviously takes the incorrect move and gets hit, we can call her out on her shit.And what if she makes a wrong move that isn't obviously incorrect? Or creates expectations by not taking shots of opportunities that someone in a life or death fight would?
>>3841210Berserker is long dead anon. Now we are worried about Archer, Assassin, and Odin.
>>3841210>going after a servant with a vagina was a mistakeWe were technically chose to do that before we fought Saber, for different reasons.
>>3841212There's a whole lot of literature out there about why "just following orders" doesn't fly anon. Maybe try reading some of it sometime.
>>3841210>berserkerwutAnon, the plan to absorb servants was always a stop-gap measure at best, it's not something we can rely on for the entire war, just now with Ayaka being unconscious proves how flimsy a plan it is.Hell, it was pointless as soon as we found out that our dear sister has a NP that can directly strengthen us.>>3841217>Allied us how?You underestimate just how desperate Saber is for the grail. We can actually offer to share the damn thing thanks to the unique circumstances of the war. As for her hating our guts, that's entirely her mistake which we should be able to correct her on. Alberich has tried to remain as honorable as possible when he fought her, so she'll probably feel like shit upon having her misconception cleared up.>And what if she makes a wrong move that isn't obviously incorrect?I think you're really overestimating her here.Instinct is kind of all or nothing. It's not true combat mastery so shit like this is kind of off the table.
>>3841224I am 100% certain that if he had a choice he would not have attacked us.
>>3841224You know this would be a more powerful argument if Adelheid wasn't a thing.Also it's a fucking stupid sentiment.If my choices are either :>Follow Orders and kill peopleor>Don't follow orders and get myself killedI think I know what one the person interested in not dying would pick.
>>3841229He did want to have a duel (maybe not to the death, who knows?). But originally, before he collapsed he was looking for us to find out what the hell happened.From his perspective he was a dead man walking.
>>3841224Also another thing. When there are things called Command Seals yeah "just following orders" does fly.
>>3841232Yeah he would probably love to have a sparring session but not outright attack us.
>>3841236There's also the fact that at that moment, Matsuda still just thought that Rushorou was some guy he met in a weird magical battle royale that he helped teach how to fight for a week.And not his brother.
>>3841229>>3841230>>3841233>>3841236Wow, he sure did resist those orders and try not to kill Alberich. He seemed SO broken up about it and unwilling to do it. Oh wait, he embraced the battle with relish and only fucked off after Alberich broke his face. Gee, funny how that works.
>>3841240>only know battle>enjoy battlingWoah...
>>3841240He's got fightan autism give him a break.When we meet him next, we can explain everything to him. I doubt he ever would've tried that shit if he realised the connection.
Inb4 Odin is playing the role of Antaglio too.
>>3841083Mordred and Artoria are not magi, though. They don't have Magical Energy Burst because they learned it, they have it (just like all of Seiba's abilities) because of natural talent.
>>3841260Are you saying that learning the basics behind it is impossible?Because it sure looks simple.
>>3841240Ow wow gee, he loved to battle. Its not like he thought to himself "Man I sure want to betray Rushorou. Fuck that guy right?"He still thought he was Matsuda for Christ sake.
>>3841247>>3841249>>3841266>Enjoy fighting people, ideally in the most intense and real way (ie- to the death)>This means that all of your actions are excusable because of natural inclination.Fascinating stuff. I suppose Keiseki should forgive his brother Alberich for his love of self and victory?
>>3841263They have it because of their draconic blood. Is that something one can gain through training?
>>3841267Keiseki shouldn't have tried to reason with an unstable murder machine after tricking him. That's on him.>>3841268It's effectively just using your magical energy for burst power.Mechanically it should be capable for a prodigy like Alberich to replicate the effects.
>>3841267So you would rather kill him when he literally knows nothing about who he is or what he is and thus he had no idea what exactly he was doing besides being ordered most likely by Command Seal?
>>3840928>[ ] "Not at all. Before you leave, though, tell me: it won't interfere with your barrier if I go in and have a look, will it? I'd like to be there when she wakes up." (Pride)Oh, right, I need to vote.
>>3841263How does it look simple?Magical Energy Burst, essentially, is running an extremely powerful form of reinforcement through just one part of your body for a tiny fraction of a second without damaging yourself. Reinforcement of one's own body is already highly difficult magic to do without accidentally going too far. ME Burst takes that and ratchets it up to the nth degree.
>>3841277How does that change anything? Not knowing that he is our brother doesn't change much. Ultimately us being siblings is only our interpretation and it lacks the years of growing up together to give it much emotional impact.
>>3841292Also, that magical energy has to be expelled.
>>3841292Not to mention that our body is already extremely resistant to magical reinforcement as is.
>>3841292I'll add two more points. First, it's worth pointing out that the only Servants with the original Magical Energy Burst skill are Artoria and Mordred. The various variants of the skill given to sundry other Servants all have some element attached, and the descriptions for them almost universally attribute them to some sort of divine blessing or inborn trait. This further makes it clear that Magical Energy Burst isn't something that is easily learned, even by a magical prodigy; otherwise, numerous Casters would have picked it up for self-defence at close range.Second, you have no training with Reinforcement magic. It's going to be an incredibly harsh road to learn a skill derived from it.>>3841301>>3841304Both good points.
>>3841294Siblings, no that is more Alberich. Though I am pretty sure if you were technically an endangered species that would cease to exist you would most likely want to work with others like you.
>>3841294Matsuda strikes me as a very individualistic guy. I doubt he shares our feelings about our so called family ties (which I still think are stupid)
>>3841323Based anti-family anon
>>3841202That's probably something you want to discuss with Ayaka.
>>3841323>>3841330But if we don't call ourselves a family, how will we have incest?
>>3841330Don't get me wrong, I'm all about being allies with them if possible. But we don't have any deeper bond with them than with any of our actual human allies that were sucked into Akeldama
>>3841334Fine but the only route on that path is Judas. Take what you will.
>>3841336Speaking of, hadn't heard from him in a while. Would Angry Manjew corruption affect him rather than us?
>>3841354i don't want dad to become an avenger
Is this one of those multiple update nights again?
>>3841413Probably, yeah.
>>3841452Excellent
>You are Alberich: knight, serial killer, familiar to two magi, dubiously related to the gods, and now a kidnapper.What a quest.>Four servants remain to fall by your swordOdin, Odysseus, Assassin, and.... Saber? Matsuda? Medusa?
>>3841457It doesn't really matter who the Servants are, so long as there are four of them.
>>3841457Odysseus, Odin, Assassin, Seibah>>3841471>tfw we will never get 0 servants because circe and adelheid will always be here
>>3841480More than that, Alberich himself is a Servant. If you want there to be 0 Servants in the quest that's a pretty major stumbling block.If you just mean "zero Servants remain to fall by your sword," then it doesn't matter who the extras alive are at the end. Just kill four, and the Grail will be full. If I were you I'd go for Assassin, Archer, Lancer, and Rider, but of course the choice is yours.
>>3841484>then it doesn't matter who the extras alive are at the endphew
>>3841496Why would it?>>3841310But not impossible though.Not something we can really have as a goal for learning for the war though. Guess we'll just have to stick to learning other magic and training against her Instinct.
>>3841335 #We kinda do.Being the only two people on the planet (and technically only two other members of your species) that can understand your situation does sort of help matters.As for our bonds only being as strong as the humans we met, consider that the bonds formed in Akeldama are the only interactions the children of Judas have ever had truly belonging to them.Matsuda unknowingly tried to kill noth his brother and only friend
In Darkness - November 20, 2019, Wednesday, Small Hours of the MorningIt was all happening again. Abandoned by her Master and outmaneuvered by an enemy, Saber was led into the maw of the shadow, surrounded by that loathsome darkness, and plunged into the abyss; soaked in gnawing, hollow need, every inch of her invaded by that desire, that hunger, that unreasoning, insatiable demand for obedience, and when she awoke she knew she would be-Saber blinked into consciousness as herself, which came as some surprise. She was sitting up, in what felt like a straight-backed stone chair, with a back that extended past her head and armrests that included stone bonds. A particularly unpleasant detail, she observed, was that rather than shackles, the bonds were in fact intricately carved stone hands, tightly gripping her wrists. Worse than the grasping stone, though, for those she could have easily broken under ordinary circumstances, was a constriction of her magical energy supply that left Saber feeling as weak as a kitten. The meager energy Shirou had provided had been bad enough, but this was still worse; only the barest trickle of energy, enough to keep her alive and no more, reached the Servant.Taking stock of her surroundings, Saber observed carved into the stone floor about half a meter away from her an odd formation, possibly a magic circle. Between two rings were a number of right angles set at even intervals, as if being the corners of numerous squares rotated about the central point of Saber's position. In front of her and to either side, Saber could count sixteen points. Probably, then, there were thirty-two in all, made up of eight squares; but what did that mean?No point in wondering about the details of the formation, though, if the purpose of the thing were clear enough, Saber supposed. If that thing was a magic circle, it must be a barrier to restrict her further. This notion was further reinforced by the odd ring of papers just outside the carved circle. A number of rectangular strips of paper, inscribed with an eastern script, floated in the air in another circle around Saber. As she watched, they bobbed up and down seemingly at random as, in unison, the ring turned about Saber.
Then her eyes had adjusted enough to the gloomy chamber that Saber could get a good look at the walls, at that moment she saw him. Pearly white hair, combed and styled into a businessman's coif; a black suit, with deep red pinstripes; a pale face, handsome as a classical statue's and quite as lively; and most striking of all, red eyes. Not the bright ruby-red of the Einzberns' eyes, but a darker color. A red that Saber had seen far more often in her life than those bright jewels, for it appeared before her eyes at every duel and joust, and so much had pooled in the great battles that it seemed she had reached Camlann by wading through a sea of that heinous color. This was the red that marred Saber's vision as she heard her would-be heir's last words, and the red that had spread below her when she appealed to the World. It was also the red of her previous Master's eyes. Not Emiya Shirou, but the last one to command Saber's obedience: Matou Sakura, corrupted and led down the path of indulgence and destruction by Angra Mainyu.He had traded his cape and armor for modern clothing, but there was no doubt in Saber's mind about the man's identity. This was Avenger, the Servant who had masqueraded as another Saber until finally abandoning the pretense and swallowing Saber up in his shadow. The only question, then, was why she now found herself here and sane, rather than next awakening as a puppet on some new battlefield.There was no answer to be found in Avenger's face. He eyed her lazily, lounging on a half sofa that Saber couldn't help noticing looked like a far more comfortable seat than her own. It was constructed of heavy wood carved into floral patterns of vines, grapes, fruit, and the like, and lined with bulging red velvet cushions. As Avenger lolled on the couch, waiting for a reaction from his captive, one foot clad in a black sock hung off the edge, towards the ground. He was certainly at his ease."So, dear lady, you have finally awoken," he began with a smile, that smooth baritone voice bespeaking refinement in its very timbre. "I trust you find the accommodations to your liking? Ah, but you must excuse me." He feigns shame at a breach of etiquette, a sarcastic gleam in those bloody eyes. "I would call you Saber, but it is a title we share. Perhaps, then, we can start once again with names. My name is Alberich; and you are?"Why? The question echoed through Saber's mind. Why must he keep up the charade of being this Alberich? It can hardly be to draw information out of Saber, for if he had simply done as he had fifteen years ago, swallowed her up and forced her to submit, then surely he could have any information he desired of her. So why this focus on rejecting the name of Avenger, and on learning her true name as if he were unfamiliar with her?
Then it hit her, at last: inspiration. Perhaps she had been ascribing too much intelligence to Avenger. It was, after all, an unborn thing waiting to be set free from the Greater Grail. Indeed, one could see its actions fifteen years ago entirely as a response to Sakura's desires, warped and enhanced though they were by Avenger's evil. The Servant itself could have been unconscious, then, moving only with the will of its Master. Perhaps, this Alberich was living the same way as Sakura; without the knowledge that Avenger should have access to, and perhaps without even the knowledge of what has made him its host. With that idea in mind, Saber could finally allow herself to answer the question."I am Arturia Pendragon," she proclaimed, with as much dignity as she could muster under the humiliating circumstances. "King of Britain.""King Arthur, indeed," Alberich mused, looking at her with renewed interest. "Yet hardly a king, by your appearance. But then, I suppose it is not surprising for the recorders of legends to make such errors, particularly with regards to heroes." With a malicious smile, he continued, "It would certainly be embarrassing, in the age of chivalry, for the great knights of the day to admit that their finest example out of legend was a mere slip of a girl; so Arturia becomes Arthur." He paused again, his malevolent smile growing as a new thought struck. "Ah, but I'm jumping to conclusions," he continued. "You called yourself king a moment ago. Can that be the title you desired, then? Were you using that boyish figure of yours to deceive the nobility into believing you were a man?"A blush threatened to color Arturia's cheeks at the easy discovery of her deception's nature, but with great effort she suppressed it. It would not do to show weakness before this, the greatest of her enemies. Even so, she could not meet his eyes and keep her composure. She could only star down at the polished stone floor, suppressing her rage, fear, and shame, and shutting out the hateful visage as best she could."So that's it then," Alberich continued, taking her silence for an affirmative. "It seems that I've gotten my hands on a very intriguing hero, doesn't it? A chivalrous knight who attacks by surprise and leaves her enemies for dead, a king who hides the truth of her sex, a person accustomed to rule reduced to abject servitude... you are full of contradictions, aren't you?">[ ] Write in what you'd like to ask or say to Arturia once the perspective returns to Alberich.
Since you've been wanting some interludes with other characters' perspectives on Alberich, and since I enjoyed writing the Archer imprisonment interlude, I decided to run with the theme and write the beginning of your conversation with Seiba from her perspective.
>>3841642>"Even now you persist in your hateful delusions, refusing to look upon my face. Your hatred for this 'Avenger' must be truly frightening...'>'Why is it, I wonder, that you bother to invent these fables? Surely you yourself must recognize how baseless and absurd your story sounds. The title is reminiscent of the classes held by the summoned Servants, and yet no such class exists; you claim to have met this nemesis fifteen years ago, and yet no Servant could survive so long after a Holy Grail War; you believe I am the very same Servant, and yet you have seen my holy sword, the mark of a true Saber. What can I even avenge except for the dignity you've sullied?">"Explain yourself, if you can even do that, or admit that I am not Avenger."
>>3841657But she hasn't called us Avenger yetShe was thinking it, sure. Didn't say it though. The only thing that she has told us is that she is King Arthur.
>>3841665>But she hasn't called us Avenger yetThe last time we met, though, she did. Let's find out why.
>>3841642>"As for my introduction, I understand that simply 'Alberich' isn't a satisfying answer, as you have made amply clear in the past. So I shall tell you the truth. One week ago, the Caster of this war activated his Noble Phantasm, 'Akeldama'.>"He deceived his Master into believing it was a large scale ritual designed to drain power from a large number of people for the sake of empowering himself. Of course, the actual purpose wasn't to empower himself at all...">"Caster had created four artificial souls with memories belonging to other people which would receive the energy of the ritual.">"The ritual in question being a Holy Grail War, meant to be fought to the death between all 1050 participants. The only way home was to claim victory and the wish that came with it. I was a Master in that war, and believed myself to be an 18 year old high school student at the time. >"Of the participants Judas summoned, only 4 other than myself survived. 2 of the artificial souls created by Judas who I met shortly after my arrival to a burning city, a female magus and a normal High-School girl who had been dragged into the war.">"after defeating all the other Masters and Servants, Caster revealed there was never any wish and that the only true way to leave was with his death or with everyone else's, so I struck him down.>"But while my two human allies were sent home, my siblings and I had something different in store. The energy of over 1000 humans and 7 Servants was used to alter us. I became the Saber you see before you, my sister became a Caster and my brother became a Lancer.">"So no, Arturia. I am not Avenger."The truth bomb option.
>>3841670We already know enough from Shirou, Saber and Rin to draw some sort of conclusion.
>>3841687We shouldn't tell her so soon...>>3841688She doesn't know that we know.
my id's going to change a few times, huh
>>3841690Why shouldn't we tell her?If we don't she's just going to continue operating under the illusion that we're Angra Mainyu. We need to destroy that illusion of hers.She's not going anywhere.And where does asking her pointless questions we already mostly know the answer to get us?She's explained why she thinks we're Avenger to a degree in our battles.
>>3841693>Why shouldn't we tell her?>telling her that we are the son of judas the archtraitorThat sounds like a great way to lose her potential trust forever.
>>3841698Notice I only ever said Caster though.We could avoid saying Akeldama too.Better she thinks that we're a son of Judas instead of literally evil incarnate, too. It's not like parentage has ever put her off of trusting people. Agravain was Morgan's son. Literally her Arch-nemesis' son and she trusted him massively. We'll have to tell her some time if you want her trust at all.She'll never trust anything we say when she's under the Angra delusion.
>>3841642> "I don't have many questions for you, Lady Artoria, though I admit I am curious about some facts. First of all, tell me about this Avenger. It seems the figure left quite an impression on you."> "I am not going to ask about your Master, as I suppose a Knight would not divulge their Master's secrets -- yet, I would like to know why, do you think, your Master left you with me?"> "Only two questions remaining: since our last fight, did you see the other Servants? Might you describe them for me?"> "Last question, Lady Artoria. To my regret, a couple going by the name of Emiya Shirou and Sakura have been... Antagonistic to this Holy Grail War, and seek its end. While I have been trying to reason with the two, the man seems particularly fixed on denying my, or, our, continued existence. It is to my understanding that you know the man, right? Any advice on dealing with the situation with as little, ah, bloodshed as possible?"
>>3841704>Notice I only ever said Caster though.>>"Of the participants Judas summoned, only 4 other than myself survived. 2 of the artificial souls created by Judas who I met shortly after my arrival to a burning city, a female magus and a normal High-School girl who had been dragged into the war.">We could avoid saying Akeldama too.Do that too.>Better she thinks that we're a son of Judas instead of literally evil incarnate, too.Is there much difference in a Christian's mind?She's not very faithful, no, but what are the odds that she'll be all smiles?Listen, just repeat that without any mention of "Judas" or "Akeldama" and it'll be fine. But please, please, don't tell her that Judas made us.
>>3841710That's way too respectful. Alberich wouldn't call her "Lady"She also has no reason to be truthful.Basically it just seems immensely deceptive and she'll probably tell us to fuck off.
>>3841642>>3841687Exclude the name of akeldama though
>>3841716Oh whoops.WELL I MEANT to only say Caster, but when there are 3 characters sharing the damn moniker, the subconcious does dumb shit.But yeah.No mentioning tha name Judas or Akeldama on this.>>3841687Please.
>>3841687I'll just slightly adjust this to make sure.>"As for my introduction, I understand that simply 'Alberich' isn't a satisfying answer, as you have made amply clear in the past. So I shall tell you the truth. One week ago, the Caster of this war activated his Noble Phantasm.>"He deceived his Master into believing it was a large scale ritual designed to drain power from a large number of people for the sake of empowering himself. Of course, the actual purpose wasn't to empower himself at all...">"Caster had created four artificial souls with memories belonging to other people which would receive the energy of the ritual.">"The ritual in question being a Holy Grail War, meant to be fought to the death between all 1050 participants. The only way home was to claim victory and the wish that came with it. I was a Master in that war, and believed myself to be an 18 year old high school student at the time.>"Of the participants Caster summoned, only 4 other than myself survived. 2 of the artificial souls created by Caster who I met shortly after my arrival to a burning city, a female magus and a normal High-School girl who had been dragged into the war.">"after defeating all the other Masters and Servants, Caster revealed there was never any wish and that the only true way to leave was with his death or with everyone else's, so I struck him down.>"But while my two human allies were sent home, my siblings and I had something different in store. The energy of over 1000 humans and 7 Servants was used to alter us. I became the Saber you see before you, my sister became a Caster and my brother became a Lancer.">"So no, Arturia. I am not Avenger."Removed the Judas and Akeldama mentions.
>>3841642Switching from >>3841657 to >>3841728.thanks
>>3841642>>3841728
>a pale face, handsome as a classical statue'sThanks, Seibah.>This was Avenger, the Servant who had masqueraded as another Saber until finally abandoning the pretenseDon't be such a sore loser Saber. Maybe if you weren't such a brute you could've been taught magic by Merlin. >that smooth baritone voice bespeaking refinement in its very timbreThis is the first time we've ever actually read somebody else's thoughts on Alberich. Isn't it? What a guy.> "You called yourself king a moment ago. Can that be the title you desired, then? Were you using that boyish figure of yours to deceive the nobility into believing you were a man?"An astute observation. Alberich is quite intelligent indeed.>A blush threatened to color Arturia's cheeks at the easy discovery of her deception's nature, but with great effort she suppressed it>almost making somebody who despises you blush. Impressive.
>>3841717Well he wouldn't call her Lady outside of heavy sarcasm, which isn't the tone you seem to be going for.
>>3841657>>3841642Support
>>3841779>a pale face, handsome as a classical statue's>that smooth baritone voice bespeaking refinement in its very timbre>A blush threatened to color Arturia's cheeks
>>3841878We really are going to end up getting Predatory Charisma.
>>3841824I think he'd so to both put up a pretense of chivalry to accentuate the difference between him and Angry Manju and him and Artoria's behaviour during their battles, and to underscore her being a woman given that it's something he recognises as a weakness he can use to humiliate and manipulate her. He's basically reminding her of the difference between her dastardly girly self and the knightly, dignified manly warrior that is Alberich.
>>3841642So you believe that I'm tainted by this Angra Mainyu? Why? Is it because of my appearance? My behavior? My magic?Or is it because it's you who is still influenced by him and you refuse to acknowledge it? That some part of you wants return to what you became in the last War?
>>3841910>Or is it because it's you who is still influenced by him and you refuse to acknowledge it? That some part of you wants return to what you became in the last War?Isn't that a lot of meta knowledge?
>>3841901The problem of being overly "knightly" right now is she'll just assume Angra Mainyu is mocking her and refuse to cooperate with our questions.Especially with the whole bringing up Shirou and Sakura thing.That's an awful thing to do for the sake of this conversation. >>3841929Not only is it Meta-knowledge, it fails to accomplish anything other than pissing Saber off.Pretty much just "no u."
Hey guys.Wanna know something fun?We can probably abuse Broken Phantasm mechanics. Heilig is truly unbreakable right?So what happens if we supercharge it to make it a Broken Phantasm? It wouldn't actually be able to break from it.
>>3841948What is your point? It's not going to break or get a benefit from it, so why should we do it?
>>3841779Its shame at being caught out, not a romantic blush at all.
>>3841948If this was such a good idea, then why didn't you see Roland doing it when he realized we were an asshole? He just used Orlando Furioso.Maybe you just can't use an unbreakable sword as a Broken Phantasm.
>>3841954I know it isn't. But nearly blushing in front of what you think is the incarnation of evil is a poor look no matter how you look at it.>>3841952Broken Phantasms are a rank higher than normal, so Heilig should be A+ when charged.>>3841955Roland wasn't thinking very clearly when we turned his horse into a spine Roland is sorta known for getting incredibly angry and we just murdered his horse then shit talked it.Lancelot does something like this by supercharging Arondight, which is also indestructible.
>>3841965>Broken Phantasms are a rank higher than normal, so Heilig should be A+ when charged.Great and that does what for us? Our sword already cuts pretty much anything, giving it a small rank up will not be useful and waste mana.
>>3841965>Roland wasn't thinking very clearlyHe was thinking clearly enough to pull out a bottle and put his wits into it.>Lancelot does something like this by supercharging Arondight, which is also indestructible.A: That's an F/GO thing.B: The description says "This Noble Phantasm is something close to a sword skill, which deliberately refrains from emitting the magic energy that would originally turn into a slash of light". That seems more like he's holding back a swordbeam and using it as a slash instead.
>>3841969Bigger Rift Slashes?Faster Rift Slashes?The ability to overcome Defensive abilities that work off rank better?Who knows.Just saying that it's something we should consider.
>>3841971>he was thinking clearly enough to go absolutely mentalHe was fucking pissed, anon.>That's an F/GO thing So?>holding back a swordbeamThat's the sort of thing that usually breaks a sword, yes.It's just something worth looking into. Being able to pull out an A+ NP whenever we need to is somewhat advantageous.
>>3841974>Bigger Rift Slashes?>Faster Rift Slashes?Why not put the extra mana into the slashes instead which has a higher chance to actually do anything useful?>The ability to overcome Defensive abilities that work off rank better?At A rank I can't think of any NP where it would make any real difference if it was A or A+ rank.
>>3841979In a clash between NPs it might make the difference. Also there's Tiamat, but we'd need an A++ attack to damage her.
>>3841983Even Excalibur with a higher ranking than HOS woould have lost a direct clash, because our sword is almost made to destroy NPs. There is no NP in this war we could clash with where an extra plus would make a difference.And why the hell would we need to attack Tiamat if we don't summon her up? Also it would be A+ not A++ so we would still fall short.
>>3841929>>3841940>"Protest all you like," comes the cold reply. "You cannot dissuade me from the evidence of your own powers, Avenger. I will not be a tool in your schemes a second time.">"You had few enough qualms about acting as a pawn at our last meeting," you spit. "Where was this independent spirit when you left me to die on your Master's orders, rather than giving me the honorable death a knight deserves?">"A wretch who lies about his name and nature has no honor." The other Saber doesn't flinch in the face of your wrath, her expression of frigid contempt remaining static. "As a Servant, I am bound to act as my Master's sword. Fifteen years ago you defiled that bond with your corruption, and now you insult it. I am not surprised."I don't think it's too much of a leap to come to that conclusion. It's meant to make her doubt herself and doubt that we're Avenger.
>>3841986I know, but my point was saying there are entities with defences good enough to ignore even A rank attacks and above. Also a straight up rift slash vs Excaliblast would likely end with the rift being overpowered and destroyed or some shitAlso the collateral damage would melt us.We could've cut through Akhilleus Kosmos though.>>3841991It's still doesn't accomplish much though.We need to do something Avenger wouldn't do.Avenger would totally tell Saber she's already corrupted.
>>3841642This >>3841728 and I would like to add>"So Lady Arturia, why do you go after the grail? Is it to return to the time of your death in which your son betrayed or murdered you? Is it to incarnate and retake your rightful place ruling England?"
>>3841642Supporting >>3841728
>>3842007I meant "and" not "or"
>>3841992A straight conflict between one of your portal slashes and a beam from excalibur would end with the two attacks going through each other. Remember that the portal is no wider than Heiligöffnungschwert's thickness. The portal would draw in a portion of the beam and go through it, but the part of the light that didn't hit the portal would continue and vaporize you.
>>3842007Even if she didn't hate us she wouldn't want to reveal that to us.Especially considering just what a showing of weakness it truly is.>"I actually want to wish on the Holy Grail to delete my Kingdom from history because I fucked everything up like a retard"It's also really a fucking stupid wish.Alberich would probably laugh at her for a good minute or so.>>3842013Well there goes the dream of beam clashes.So we're just Mutually Assured Destruction against beamswords?And then there's Enuma Elish which would just totally destroy the portal because "Ea GG"
>>3842015Your sword doesn't shoot a beam, so yeah.Beam clashes are definitely out.
>>3842016Then she's right in not considering us a Saber.
>>3842016Alberich is such a fucking cheater I swear to God.>can't safely beam clash him otherwise it's MAD>cloak acts as a bullshit defence against anything, from melee to ranged.>can't clash with his sword otherwise you automatically lose>he can use magic that can ignore conventional Magic Resistance He's like the Anti-Saber Saber.
>>3842023>The Anti-Saber SaberHuh. So his real fated love was Mysterious Heroine X, all along...
>>3842016>>3842019Someday we'll summon enough monsters to outbeam a million Excaliblasts.
>>3842040Quickly, summon 10 million Pegasi!Or I don't know... Tiamat?I seriously hope for their sakes that Shirou and Rider don't attempt the Rho Aias + Bellerophon Combo against Alberich.It will probably end up going immensely poorly for the two of them.Also another reason for Kenotis being bullshit OP is that unlike Rho Aias it doesn't actually damage you from blocking attacks and has the bonus feature of getting rid of the thing attacking you.I do wonder how it would've interacted with Caladbolg though, that space twisting effect might mess with it. Or it might just pass through completely and do nothing.Sometimes I forget just why Anti-World is generally considered the most overpowered classification to have. It's because they all tend to be fucking broken.>>3842028Together they will wipe out all Sabers across the universe.
>>3842051Now you get it. Kenótis is fine just the way it is.
>>3842055Anons just get a little hung up on number rankings I think.I mean, considering the "Fuck this Grail War" NP that is Rule Breaker is only Rank C you shouldn't take number ranks as gospel.Here's a question, If Medea Rule Breaker'd Cu, would it also destroy all of the Geas he amassed over his life?
>>3842070I think it has to target a specific spell. If it destroyed all binding magic attached to the target, stabbing a Servant would break their connection to the Grail and immediately kill them.
>>3842028But his real fated love has to be some form of relative for those extra albino antihero vibes we have going.
>>3842104So....Kourakuhime?
>>3842106And final confrontation should be against Matsuda.
>>3842112That doesn't make much sense.Matsuda can't really hold on for much longer unless he gets another mana source (Akagata or Haruo if Circe didn't execute them, maybe?) And he won't be getting stronger by fighting other opponents because they sort of all died.Also he'll definitely want answers if he didn't Judas himself when he saw Matsuda.Meanwhile training with Seibah will increase our skill quite quickly.I stand by Instinct being perfect to train against.Really helps correct any flaws we might have in our style if she plays along due to it's nature.Theoretically it shouldn't be impossible to get A rank EotM(true) without sacrificing a Servant if this method works out.
>>3842129Anon, it was just another Elric joke.But I do agree that physical training might give us upgrade in skill levels or new skills altogether.However, despite being Saber our stronger and most useful tool in this war so far were our tendrils and magic. So it is probably be more beneficial to invest time into magic studies.
>>3842137You say that, but we'll definitely need A rank EotM to tango with Odin. Magecraft that uses the same principles as the place the Gods are currently living that works best on spiritual entities in might not work on a God of Magic with a physical body.Knight's Strategy/Knight Tactics would also be very nice to develop if it's possible.
Also, we're gonna have to teach Kourakuhime how to defend herself without being forced to rely on her magic. She's a God Damn Oni. Her physical potential is immense.She just needs some practice. What happens, for example when she meets an enemy that can counter her magic?Or when she's fighting against somebody faster than she can react in time to?As much as it pains me to force her into doing, she's going to have to train too.If we can get her physical Parameters to C and give her some actual combat experience I'll be much more confident.
>>3841779>This is the first time we've ever actually read somebody else's thoughts on Alberich. Isn't it?It is that. I thought you folks might enjoy it, and I've been wanting to give a bit of commentary on Alberich's appearance from a character not positively inclined towards him.It helps justify the whole "numerous capture targets" thing if even someone with every reason to hate him has to admit that Alberich has top-grade looks.
>>3842179It was really enjoyable.All interludes we had so far added a lot to make other characters feel more alive.
>>3842179Yeah I do like the interludes a lot.The added perspectives really help.Alberich from Saber's perspective really presented him in a different light that his own perspective didn't really show.He's strong He's intelligent He's attractive He's well spokenHe's got incredible magic potential He's reliable Him attracting women isn't strange at all.
>>3842219You forgot>His soulless eyes look like pools of blood...that might be Arturia's bias, though.
>>3842233She liked them. She just didn`t want to admit it to herself like she always do.
>>3842233She's just had multiple bad experiences with people with red eyes.Besides, blood red is aesthetically the cooooolest colour.
>>3842239>has a negative Affection Score
>>3842241>Zippo lighter earringsI will never understand Gilgamesh's fashion sense.
>>3842242That's just because she thinks we're the devil.We've been nothing but a gentleman to her.Uh.Well, we didn't murder her when she decided to go to sleep. I mean.Technically we ARE following Rule 47 of the Geneva Convention, which prohibits attacking Persons Hors de Combat.
>>3842246I understand it.I understand that it's shit.
>>3842263>>3842246Mongrels
>>3842319fashion disaster
>>3842319>when you have access to any piece of clothing ever designed and you choose to dress like this.
>>3842337Now, if it had been a tiger-patterned blazer, that would've been the height of style.
>>3842344>t. flat
So, how do you think Seibah will respond to the full story of Akeldama?Do you think she'll believe it?If she does, how bad will she feel?
>>3842374I doubt that she would; it sounds incredulous to anybody who's unaware of Caster's demise.
>>3842377Well that's really up to Saber to be honest. It makes more sense at least than the incarnation of evil repeatedly not being pure evil.
>>3842374I`d imagine she will try to put her Charisma: B to use judging by her inner thoughts we witnessed.But it would be pretty interesting to see how she will try to wiggle her way out of this situation.
>>3842392I'm not sure if she'll be able to get much use out of it honestly. Alberich is only D Rank in Charisma because he hasn't led a country or army.It's not really representative of his actual Charisma. His ability to analyse information is pretty fucking great too. (Turning Rider and Archer against each other by pointing out Archer's intent of betrayal and just now recognising the truth behind Saber's reign immediately.)
>>3842391>than the incarnation of evil repeatedly not being pure evilDude's pretty chill, outside of his natural directive.
Now that I think about it: how did Ragnarok go over in Fate?
>>3842546Kinda funny how that turned out, honestly.Then again, there's a lot of Shirou influence going on there.Hollow Ataraxia is fucky.But Saber is still kinda under the impression that Avenger is pure evil anyway, I mean, she did get altered and twisted into an evil version of herself while she was forced to watch herself do terrible things.You'd think whoever did that to you was pure evil too.>>3842555Why don't we ask the clearly not dead Odin?Remember, Divine Spirits cannot be summoned as Servants if they die, as they do not go to the Throne.
>>3842564>Divine Spirits cannot be summoned as Servants if they die, as they do not go to the Throne.So what you're saying is that Ragnarok has yet to occur because the Age of Gods somehow ended before it?
>>3842573It seems likely, yes.
>>3842564Avenger was the big thing that irritated me about Hollow Ataraxia. It felt like there was no real connection between the character there and the embodiment of all evil and 7 billion curses depicted in Fate/Stay Night. Maybe he only has a tiny fraction of the evil that the version in the grail has.>>3842573Depends on the version of Ragnarok. Wagnerian Ragnarok could definitely have happened at the transition from the Age of Gods to the Age of Man, but Edda Ragnarok includes the death of all living things and creation of a new world. That's definitely still to come.I'm not worried about telling you that stuff, because it's all background knowledge that Rushorou could have picked up while researching Adelheid, with a bit of inference thrown in.
>>3842574Of course, don't let Ragnarok convince you not to bring back the Age of Gods, the Age of Man has it's share of near-apocalypses to actual apocalypses every once in a while too.Difference is that Alaya will tend to try to avert them, and I'm not sure how the fuck the Gods in a new Age of Gods would go about prevent everyone's doomsday prophecies going off.
>>3842580Yeah Avenger was way too nice there.Like, I don't get why you would include Avenger as a character like that if you weren't going to make him at least a little bit evil.
>>3842620HA was literally "Kirei was right: the game"
>>3842641Kirei is also dead in HA.Which is kind of a shame.He's a fun character who could've had some entertaining scenes.I mean...I guess we got Caren.
>>3842580Grail Avenger isn't servant Avenger. The Avenger in the grail of Stay Night is the wish that Avenger represents as a heroic spirit, which is for there to be some source aside from humans for all the evil in the world. Servant Avenger is a scapegoat who isn't actually special because any human can commit any evil deed.
>>3842659I know that's true, but given the circumstances of HA I feel he should still have more of Grail Avenger about him.Besides that, I don't feel his personality is all that suitable for a person who spent almost his entire life being tortured either.
If we do manage to make the Saber thing work out, at least Ayaka will have somebody in our faction other than us that doesn't hate her.Matsuda will probably be able to get along with Ayaka too, I guess. But he's not really one for conversation.Truvi is kind of a bitch but they might be able to get along? It depends on whether or not the Edelfelt take us up on our offer.Kourakuhime despises her.Lily despises her.Circe will almost certainly also despise her.Adelheid will probably dislike her too.
>>3842768Honestly the only reason we're actually keeping ayaka around is because of that ritualOtherwise she's basically a sack of potatos that we have to save from a mental breakdown every five minutes
>>3842782Well, you'll certainly never be the love interest in a shoujo manga.
>>3842786Could Alberich ever beat Shirou in a cook-off for Seibahs affections?
>>3842782Why are you like this anon.Ayaka is our Master, she doesn't deserve to be treated so poorly. She's a fantastic Master, all things considered.Or would you prefer somebody like Truvi, physically assaulting us or trying to attack us with gandr?>>3842790Alberich cannot cook.At least he can't until he bothers to learn.
>>3842790>natural talent vs hardworkA classic shonen battle
>>3842790Probably not. If it was something you didn't know about in advance, you couldn't train. You're worse than Shirou now, so that's a loss.If you had time to train, that'd presumably mean both you and Shirou knew about the contest. Since he'd train as well, you'd still end up losing.Maybe you could do it if you spent a bunch of time training your cooking skills in secret, then challenged him to a sudden cook-off.
>>3842796The sack of potatos doesn't usually get in our way alot sure, but aside from the ritual she can't really do much to help us at allLily would unironically be a better master
>>3842802>Dream sharing immediately fucking ends our deceptionWhoops!Anon, Ayaka is a good girl. She's supportive of us and tries her best.She also follows all of our orders and only used her command spell on us because she thought we were mocking her. (she, like most girls in Rushorou's high-school, probably has or had an unrequited crush on the autist)Even then, it turned out beneficial in it's own way.Please, she doesn't deserve this bullying.
>>3842798Ha!We'd just have Circe mind control the judges. Our victory is assured!
>>3842337>>3842263Speaking of fashion, we should get our sister into various outfits from every era of Japanese History. I bet she'd look good in a Heian Era outfit, maybe even a Taisho one too.
>>3842831I think we need to get Kikuko back for that. You knowJust for old time's sakes.
>>3842833But she only knows about modern fashion. You don't want Kōrakuhime to look (horror of horrors) trendy, do you?
>>3842834Indeed, we need our sister to look great in long flowing outfits that take hours to put on as well as a few handmaidens to assist!
>>3842834How the hell would Tsubaki wear a t-shirt?
>>3842834As amusing as it would be, she'd probably dislike the experience. Again.>>3842838Luckily, magic can help her on the outfit situation. >>3842839Magic.
>>3842839I don't think t-shirts are trendy in Japan. Even for gyaru, they seem too low-effort.
>>3842844This is Oguwara we're talking about.
>>3842848No. This is Kourakuhime. Ogawara is someone else.
I'm half-tempted to romance Tsubaki just to see what's under there.inb4 she's basically a mannequin
>>3842848I thought we were talking about what Kikuko would pick out for your sister.
>>3842853I don't think the empowerment would have difficulty turning Ogawara into a female considering it straight up turned her into an Oni.
>>3842848Do you think he would like Japanese style maids, or Western style maids?
>>3842844ymmv, i saw a buncha jk gals in t-shirts when bumming around tokyo a few months ago
>>3842839>t-shirtToo low effort even for her. Go with a jacket. Get comfy.
>>3842867Huh. I went to Tokyo for the summer last year, and the only ones I saw in t-shirts were young guys.
>>3842866There were Japanese-style maids at his house growing up, so he prefers western-style.
I just realized that it's Thursday. Fug.
God damn our eventual Castle is gonna look like such a mess.There's gonna be so many clashing design ideas it might as well be like 6 connected palaces
Do you think Alberich has realised how popular with girls at school Rushorou was yet?
>>3843164He hasn't observed Rushorou at all, so no.
Some thoughts about Alberich's Origin and its relation to recent events:We know that it's "Void". Void is the element representing "that which is possible but immaterial" -- in other words, the element of potential. That means Alberich's personality and actions will be influenced by the concept of "potential": is this the source of his talent?We've seen that he can mould his blobs of Void into any sort of shape, from a sword to a tendril to a book (complete with text), and he's improved from making three tendrils at the most to completely restraining people like Artoria and Achilles in a few days without focused practice. It speaks to his talent, but it might also speak to the affinity his Origin has with elemental control of Void; however, since that's the only magecraft he knows, it's really impossible to gauge how his Origin affects his spells in general.So far, we've gotten great results from only one element, but there are two more that Alberich has. Since Void and Nothingness together define materialization and existence, I can imagine that magecraft using those elements will be interesting; Ether is another interesting element that needs exploring when Circe finds us.
>>3843165Yeah but he has all his memories with the new perspective of not having terrible autism. He should be able to realise from them.The Robot that learned to love.And also hate.Usually it's hate.
>>3843168>And also hate.>Usually it's hate.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EddX9hnhDS4
>>3843181Calm down there, Tsubaki.
>>3843254We really beed to do something about that.
>>3843258How?Like, I have no idea how we could possibly get her to like humans more.It's really gonna be a challenge to get her not to despise them all.She even hates poor Ayaka. Do you have any ideas?Maybe when all of our Servants are reunited she might stop being so autistic. Circe will likely very quickly put an end to the pride she's got in her magic.
>>3843258Why don't we give her the entirety of Akihabara?Not sure what that will accomplish though.
>Alberich: [Get's pride]>Tsubaki: [Get's pride]>A: [Goes to battle against a Top lvl Servant].>T: [Goes to battle against a Top lvl Master].>A: [Wins].>T: [Pic related].She's so cute when she tries (and fails) to imitate her big brother.
>>3843364Forgot the pic
>>3843364To be fair, Seibah stomped us the first time we fought.More motivation for Tsubaki to want to get stronger.None of the siblings are even close to reaching their potential. As she's an Oni, she should probably be able to reach A rank physical parameters if she trained her body.
>>3843181I don't think either of you hates humans quite that much.>>3843369That's going to be a fun talk.
>>3843369>>3843392>if she trained her body>That's going to be a fun talk.>"Kōrakuhime, I need to train your body."I can see it.Guess it is time to revamp those classical greek hero themes.
>>3843392>I don't think either of you hates humans quite that much.I know that WE don't but what about Tsubaki? If she just indifferent?>>3843398>>"Kōrakuhime, I need to train your body.">I can see it.We would be that blunt and unaware, would we?
>>3843401>We would be that blunt and unaware, would we?One word: Y E S
>>3843369>As she's an Oni, she should probably be able to reach A rank physical parameters if she trained her body.She's also a Caster, the class with the lowest aptitude for melee combat. The only ones with any significant fighting skill are Tamamo (had to put in a lot of training just to gain competence), Geronimo (has a skill just for it), Xuanzang (not even supposed to be summoned normally because she became a Buddha) and Merlin (it's supposed to be funny, I guess?). A grand total of four people with notable skills.She would be better off learning to use her Demonic Nature of Oni skill and grinding for better Witchcraft, because if she has to fight with her fists at all the battle hasn't gone her way.If you want to try, though, go ahead. This is just my opinion, and I could be wrong.
>>3843401>We would be that blunt and unaware, would we?even more so
>>3843401She considers them as massively inferior and a resource to be used.It's not like she's going out of her way to cause excessive carnage. >that blunt and unawareSadly no, Alberich isn't actually dense. He might do it to tease her, though.
>>3843401>We wouldn't be that blunt and unaware, would we?Fixed it.
>>3843411Except Shuten as an Assassin has A rank strength B rank endurance and B rank agility.and as a Caster (kinda iffy with alternate forms) has C+ strength, B rank Endurance and B rank agility.Just because she's a Caster doesn't mean she has to be totally fragile.She's a fucking Oni, with all the physical potential of one.
>>3843415>>3843419You are forgetting about how we completely didn't understand Kōrakuhime`s comment on Ayaka being "territorial" with us.Somebody really need to have the talk with Alberich.
>>3843426The face of Yoshikage Kira: a man who offhandedly rejected all advances by his female coworkers.The memories of Yumigawa Rushorou: a boy completely unaware of his own school idol status.The inherited protagonist position of Emiya Shirou. When it comes to romance, Alberich definitely falls on the denser side of things.
>>3843431You mean to tell me we wouldn't know how to put pOnOs in vagOOO?
>>3843436Maybe you can have Saber explain it for you.
>>3843444Not by Kōrakuhime dressed as a teacher in our dream classroom?
>>3843449Tsubaki would be more hands-on, with the way things are going.
>>3843444Saber: I'm ready Avenger, start your interrogatory but I'll never break, no matter how much you tor-Alberich: How do I snu snu.S:-ture...
>>3843461"I heard from Emiya that you're a great instructor."
>>3843464>she assumes the worst when we're being completely innocuous
>>3843425>Except Shuten as an Assassin has A rank strength B rank endurance and B rank agility.>and as a Caster (kinda iffy with alternate forms) has C+ strength, B rank Endurance and B rank agility.That's because she actually uses her own Demonic nature of Oni, not because it's her base strength before anything else.>mix of natural monster (huge strength and defence, asterios gets A++ to both because of this skill), monstrous strength (temporary rank-up to strength) and magical energy burst (usually heat, but you don't see shuten throwing around fire)Her speed is probably just her base speed. Assassins are usually pretty fast: Hundred-Face Hassan has A, Sasaki has A+, manlet gunpowder Hassan in HA was fucking fast, you get the idea.If you want her to get strong, you should start by getting her to use that skill.
>>3843461>instantly breaks
>After Alberich has narrated his story:S: You have five women after you! Why are you asking me this?A: Well, I would have asked Emiya's wife, but we're not really on the best of terms anymore.S: Gah!
>>3843481[Background Reeeing Circe intensifies]
>>3843473That's uh.That isn't really how parameters work.Parameters are sort of your base stats.It seems that Demonic Nature of Oni is an activated skill, so those won't apply unless the skill is actually used to access their Demonic power. Just like how Imperial Privilege isn't always active.>>3843481Please be patient, Saber.Alberich still has autism.
>>3843481Why would we even ask Artoria? She knows fuck all about sex that doesn't involve futas. The guy we need to ask is Odin.
>>3843494Also, Caster Shuten doesn't have Demonic Nature of Oni.
>>3843498But anon, she knows how to please a man.
>>3843494Since FGO is a clusterfuck as far as consistency is concerned whether referring to prior canon, its own canon, skills, or character parameters, I'm going to step in as the arbiter of canon in Fate/Awakening Mirror and say this;Demonic Nature of Oni is an activated skill, but natural oni heroes such as Shuten-Douji and Ibaraki-Douji keep it activated constantly (aside from the energy burst aspect, which can only be active for a fraction of a second at a time anyway). Consequently, their "base stats" are taking the buff from that skill into account. Without it, they'd be weaker.That said, you don't actually know whether or not Yōjinshi-no-Kōrakuhime does the same. She could just be so weak that Demonic Nature of Oni only raises her parameters up to E.>>3843504And this is why Alberich originally wanted to go to Sakura. If you want to learn technique, there's nobody better to have as a tutor than an educated prostitute.
>>3843498>OdinIf you want extreme course why not just borrow Ayaka`s stash of shoujo manga?
>>3843505>She could just be so weak that Demonic Nature of Oni only raises her parameters up to E.I think affection score just raised.
>>3843506>Starts eating lemons at every meal
>>3843505Honestly, all we need to do is observe the mating habits of mollusks and we're golden.
>>3843504>alberich learns how to please another mangay>>3843505Thanks for saying something, Sweets.It's good to know you care
>>3843513I don't think she was keeping it active, honestly. Up until a few days ago she didn't have a source of energy to waste keeping it active like that.
>>3843166On your origin. First, I'll note that you haven't actually done anything with the Void element. All of your elementalism has been manipulating Nothingness so far. This is because you've been creating material things, which is the province of Nothingness. Void is immaterial, after all.Second, I'd like to clarify the "possible but immaterial" line. What this means specifically is that its existence is possible, but could never be material. Void is a purely immaterial possibility. Contrasting, Nothingness is fundamentally impossible, but would be material if it were possible.
>>3843571Also, I'm contemplating a translation shift, from:Five Real Elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, SkyTwo Imaginary Elements: Void, NothingnesstoFive Real Elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, VoidTwo Imaginary Elements: Emptiness, NothingnessI'm leery of altering terms I've been using up until now, but it does feel like they capture the meaning of the Japanese terms better.This would also shift your origin to Emptiness, which I think makes its meaning a bit clearer.
>>3843586I think I would prefer the terminology shift, honestly. >>3843571Interesting. So we still haven't tried using our theoretically most compatible magic?I wonder what we're capable of doing with Emptiness.
>>3843505>Calling Sakura a Educated ProstituteJeez if Alberich did that, Shirou's prime directive will be to be to absolutely murder us so nothing is left. I mean by now there are pangs of guilt in trying to stop us and I am sure if we just never encounter him and reincarnate he won't go after us.Well unless we release the mud all over Tokyo like an idiot.
>>3843652But Shirou himself thinks that.
>>3843652>by now there are pangs of guilt in trying to stop us and I am sure if we just never encounter him and reincarnate he won't go after us.I don't think that's accurate at all. Not only did we piss him off, we're also threatening the entire world for our own survival in his eyes.
>>3843666I don't think that's quite right Satan.Shirou is still the kind of guy who wants to save everyone, even post HF, when he's managed to calm it down. When you've got a guy who says he's only fighting you for his own survival, It's kind of hard for the sword autist to personally hate them.
>>3843660>Type moon smut writingOh yeah I forgot and constantly try to forget of how bad it is.>>3843666No if I recall there were some bits of guilt. Not a lot to be completely torn about.
>>3843674He would only properly *hate* us if we actually went ahead with threatening to kill his wife and children. I think.
>>3843672This isn't Fate "I want to save everyone" Shirou. It's Heaven's Feel "I want to save Sakura (and Illya, but she's dead so that's a loss I guess)" Shirou.You're threatening his wife's survival for your own, and Sakura's more important than you are.
>>3843723I know that but we did at least kind of try to de-escalate the situation. More than Medusa did, at least.Really, his side violated the NAP.
>>3843738And Rider looks delicious.
>>3843744No, she looks like a damn hag.
>>3843750But, Anon, there is a lot of juice inside her still! A fine brewed nectar made of out best of Fuyuki`s residents!
>>3843744I mean she is hot but I do- Oh in the Manjew way.
>>3843796>"No Saber, I'm not Avenger.">he says, contemplating absorbing Rider's powers and what would serve him best from her.Honestly, taking her Mystic Eyes would probably be good.We might not get Cybele though and instead get a different Jewel-ranked set of Mystic Eyes.We could ask Circe or Tsubaki to make us Mystic Eye Killers of some variety
>>3843843Mystic Eye killing sunglasses
The talk of buffing HGS's strength has gotten my noggin jogging- HGS's "attack" isn't an attack at all, is it? It's how we bypassed Achilles' defense after all- it is just a teleportation device on an unbreakable blade of nothingness. Hence, any "rejects all attacks under X strength" defense will fail against HGS, because it doesn't attack- it transports. It attacks in the same way Kenótis defends. With this in mind, the only defense against HGS that would be effective would be some sort of magic "no u" that keeps something rooted in the real world and/or keeps something perfectly together, such as Roland's unbreakable (or inseparable, if you will) blade. Is this a correct understanding sweets?Tldr- fuck gilgamesh and fuck tiamat.
>>3843956This is largely correct. Heiligöffnungschwert and Kenótis bypass all traditional forms of defense (things with the conceptual property of negating attack), and are instead vulnerable to things that negate transportation or damage magical constructs.They would be totally ineffective against Tiamat, though, due to her Independent Manifestation.
>>3843964Fugg but also based
>>3843956That's why Helig is pretty much the best possible sword. It's impossible to cut better than Helig because it doesn't actually cut, just like how it's impossible to penetrate Kenosis because it doesn't actually block anything. Alberich would be unbelievably lethal if he was allowed to be, because realistically anything he fights should be a pile of limbs and gore before they even realize what happened.
At this further prodding Arturia looks back up to fix you with a gaze of sullen hatred. She doesn't address your comment, though, instead spitting, "Why do this? Avenger or Alberich, you gain nothing by keeping me prisoner. Kill me now, and have done with it!""Oh, I gain a great deal from keeping you here," you reply, a smirk coming to your face. "I have here, helpless before me, the woman who served me my first defeat in battle; who insulted me, calling me 'duplicitous trash'; who left me for dead, believing me so far beneath her that she need not even kill me. To end your life now would be an enormous waste, my dear.""Just the sort of answer to be expected from you," Arturia says contemptuously. "Go on, then, and begin your torture. It will be meaningless in the end."You decide to let that pass unremarked-upon, and leave the torment to Arturia's imagination for the moment. Instead, you pick the previous topic back up in a friendly tone. "Now we know one another's names, and I know your story," you say, "but you haven't heard mine. I'm sure that 'Alberich' alone isn't a satisfying answer as to my identity. You've made that amply clear. So why don't I tell you the whole truth about who I am? I'm sure you'll enjoy the story.""Say what you will," Arturia answers, still glaring, "I cannot make you be silent."Clearly, if Arturia had her way you'd set her free, kill her, or at least leave her alone. She certainly isn't interested in your story. That being the case, you begin immediately, starting the tale with Judas' use of Akeldama. "One week ago," you say, spreading your hands in a theatrical gesture somewhat spoiled by your reclining posture, "Caster, the Servant of Jean-Pierre Vaisset, activated his Noble Phantasm. He deceived his Master into believing it was a large scale ritual designed to drain power from the people of the area and empower himself at their expense. He told the truth only so far as the purpose of the ritual: empowerment. Its form and target, well..." You chuckle, recalling Vaisset's shock at your appearance. "They were quite different."Your audience is unreceptive. Arturia looks dully at you, the same expression of frustrated resentment she's had since awakening on her face.Unperturbed, you continue your tale. "To capture and absorb the power of those targeted by it, Caster's Noble Phantasm created a false reality, wherein he could create whatever he desired. The first of his creations was a set of four artificial souls, with memories stolen from the truly living, meant to receive the energy of the ritual." Laying a hand to your breast, you reveal, "I was one of these four." After another pause with no reaction from Arturia, you explain, "Caster's next creation was the core of the ritual, the method by which the lives of those drawn in were to be consumed: a Holy Grail War meant to be fought to the death between all the thousand-and-fifty people summoned into the Noble Phantasm's false world."
Your eyes glaze over for a moment as you look past Arturia, to the rough stone behind her, and remember that other moment, that other surface; the feeling of lying on scattered chunks of gravel over the cement, the burning heat and choking smoke of that place, the crumbling enclosure that greeted you... it was a horrible way to enter the world, now that you consider the matter. Not that you thought of it that way at the time, of course. Then you return to the moment, and the telling of the tale. "Of the many competitors for the Grail, seven of us were able to become Masters, while the rest had to survive without Servants. I was one of those fortunate seven, and incidentally believed myself to be an 18 year old high-school student at the time." You let that hang in the air for a second or two, looking for any reaction to this next detail of your identity. Saber only waits coldly, so you move on to the conclusion of the Akeldama War. "The only way home, we were told, was to claim victory and the wish that came with it. In the end, only five of us survived that War: myself, two of the other artificial souls, a female magus, and a remarkably resourceful mundane girl. I was the only Master among us, but when I was ready to claim the Grail Caster revealed that there had never been any wish; that the only true way to leave was by death, and the choice was for it to be his or ours. I struck him down.""With that, I should have been sent home. That is what I believed, and it was true enough for the others. Such was the falsity of that world that none of those who battled there and escaped found that they had moved in space or time from the moment of their summoning." You sweep an arm around to indicate your surroundings, "As you can see, that wasn't to be my fate. I, like the two souls one might call my siblings, had no point of origin. We should have faded from existence. Instead we received the final effects of Caster's Noble Phantasm. Energy collected from the deaths of over a thousand humans and seven Servants was used to alter us. I became the Saber you see before you, my sister became a Caster and my brother became a Lancer. That, Arturia," you conclude, getting to your feet to look down at your captive, "is my identity. A second Saber, produced through Caster's machinations. I'm afraid this 'Avenger' of yours is not here."With your story finally over, Arturia stares at you in silence for a moments longer. You can't tell from resentful frown, a constant since your conversation began, what her thoughts on your explanation might be. Finally, though, she asks, "Do you imagine that I would believe this?""It is the truth," you say, cocking an eyebrow. "I did rather hope you would, yes."
"The truth! To claim such a thing!" Arturia sounds shocked, now, as well as angry, snapping, "It may be true that I am ignorant of your identity, but do not assume I will simply believe any absurd tale you tell me!" She struggles against her bonds for a moment, as if unthinkingly trying to get to her feet to yell at you. "Whether you are yourself Avenger, or only its host, I do not know, but I am certain that this ridiculous tale of a false reality and artificial Servants is patently impossible! If you have nothing to say to me but absurd lies, then I would rather you leave me bound and alone, you vile wretch!"She certainly hasn't taken well to your story. It seems to have only strengthened her conviction that you're a lying villain, trying to deceive her for some nefarious purpose. With the way she's heaping abuse on you it wouldn't be strange for you to get angry, but as you watch her struggling pitifully against the stone restraints you find yourself feeling more amusement than anger. Of course, it certainly is true that you've brought her here with a mind full of ill intentions, so she isn't entirely wrong. The question of what to do with her in the immediate future, though, remains largely unanswered. >[ ] Keep trying to convince Arturia of your identity. There must be something you can say to make the truth clear. (Pride) (Write in any details you'd like to add)>[ ] Leave her be for the night. It's late and you've had a tiring day, perhaps you'll come up with something in the morning. (Self-Preservation)>[ ] Do something else (Write in)
>>3843989>[ ] Leave her be for the night. It's late and you've had a tiring day, perhaps you'll come up with something in the morning. (Self-Preservation)The conditioning will take time
>>3843989...Toss her into the cape; I'm done.
>>3843989>>[ ] Keep trying to convince Arturia of your identity. There must be something you can say to make the truth clear. (Pride) (Write in any details you'd like to add)>"Very well then Saber, just for you, I shall reveal the name of the Caster behind my existence. The man who created me and my siblings. The man you could perhaps even call my 'father'. He is rather famous after all, and I'd bet his name is one every Heroic Spirit ought to recognise. So, tell me Saber, how familiar are you with the tale of Judas Iscariot?" It seems an apt time.
>>3843989>[ ] Keep trying to convince Arturia of your identity. There must be something you can say to make the truth clear. (Pride) (Write in any details you'd like to add)Fuck it name drop judas, only way to convince this retard
>>3844021She's just going to rationalize it again. Breaking prisoners takes time, but less than you would think. Forced isolation and immobility is more effective than a thousand logical arguments as to why she's mistaken.
>>3843989>[ ] Leave her be for the night. It's late and you've had a tiring day, perhaps you'll come up with something in the morning. (Self-Preservation)>>3844021>>3844029Wtf would name dropping Judas do to convince her?
>>3843986>[ ] Leave her be for the night. It's late and you've had a tiring day, perhaps you'll come up with something in the morning. (Self-Preservation)
>>3844034>Breaking prisoners takes time>but less than you would thinkThis is the woman who is so autistic that she has literally entered a cycle of death just for the chance to delete her reign from ever occurring. She is what you might call rather strong willed.If she was going to break, she already would have.>>3844037>Wtf would name dropping Judas do to convince herWell, there aren't many Casters who could actually create new heroes like that. So it sounds like total bullshit with a lack of info.Judas is one of the most well known figures in history though, and he has a strong connection to the fucking messiah.If anybody could pull some bullshit like what we described off, it's gonna be him.Also, the prompt does seem to be pointing us at revealing the biggest truth bomb we have.
>>3843989>[ ] Leave her be for the night. It's late and you've had a tiring day, perhaps you'll come up with something in the morning. (Self-Preservation)>>3844048>Well, there aren't many Casters who could actually create new heroes like that. So it sounds like total bullshit with a lack of info.And it sounds bullshit with the info too. Why would have Judas such a NP, why would he sacrifice himself and how convenient is it that with him dead there is no proof?
>>3844048>If she was going to break she already would have.She's been awake for 10 minutes.We haven't even started yet.
>>3844037May be a long shot but being related to the biggest dickass shitheel in human history isn't usually a lie someone would say to get people to trust them, it would be the most believable thing we said so farAlso the current narrative seems to be perfect for setting up a big reveal like that
>>3844060Anon, I meant if she was going to break, then watching half of her country turn against her, murdering her daughterson, almost dying, being forced to kill one of her best friends, having the grail snatched away right in front of her, dying, being corrupted, being forced to do evil things against her will and then dying again would have broken her.After that, there's only so much conventional torture can do.>>3844055Why would he sacrifice himself.It's Judas, his very existence is one that facilitates other heroes. He did after all, create the greatest hero of all. (get fucked Merlin, you fucking copycat loser.)
>>3844067Yeah."MY DAD IS JUDAS" isn't really the sort of thing most people would want to lie about.
Also, ask yourself, what could we possibly lose from revealing Judas' identity to her?If it convinces her that there might be some truth to our story, great!If it doesn't, well, altering her is always a possibility.
>>3844073>It's Judas, his very existence is one that facilitates other heroes.I remember Judas as the guy who betrayed Jesus, not some martyr who sacrificed his life for someone else.
>>3843989>[ ] Keep trying to convince Arturia of your identity. There must be something you can say to make the truth clear. (Pride)Just get up and leave.>"Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot was the name of the Caster who died before the War began, the name of my 'father'."Say this last thing before we go, though.
>>3844101Not in this case, it seems the betrayal was quite the planned occurrence on everyone's part, yet Judas basically got lumped with all the hatred of humanity for killing their messiah.My point is that it's such an abberation that it has to shake her from her misconceptions.the "I'm a good boy Seibah, honest!" act followed up by "I'm actually Judas' son, deal with it.>>3843909Picrelated
>>3844112>Not in this caseYes, but that is not something Saber will know. It's literally heaping another unbelievable thing on top of our story to somehow make it more believable, which is not how it works.And shaking her out of her misconceptions will not work. She already believes us to lie why wouldn't his be one too?
>>3844117We don't actually lose anything from mentioning it though.Like, she already despises us about as much as is possible.It's worth it even if it only has the slimmest chance of working.She's under the impression that we're Angra Mainyu, or at least his host.Why the fuck would Angra Mainyu claim that Judas Iscariot is his father?Why would ANYONE claim that?It's not exactly the sort of claim that somebody would engineer to try to get you to trust them.Right now, the only alternative is just to do nothing, which isn't really ideal, because it will just increase her hatred of us overnight even more.We should at least give it a good shot.Seems stupid to just stop when we could hit her with the Judas bomb.It's not like it will get any more effective the longer we keep her in captivity.
>>3844055There is a small amount of proof too.There's 1000 people who all went missing across the globe in a single day.This sort of mass disappearance is something I doubt even the MA can cover up due to the widespread nature of it.Hell, the media might have even latched onto it.
>>3844126>We don't actually lose anything from mentioning it though.Opportunity cost. If we spend time here we don't spend it with Tsubaki and Ayaka.>Why would ANYONE claim that?Why would anyone claim to be a servant created by caster when they are clearly Angra or possessed by him? Maybe to confuse her, because who would claim to be Judas son?>>3844131>There is a small amount of proof too.Yes, just bad that Saber is imprisoned and can't see any proof besides the 'tampered' with one we provide. Or maybe Angra just ate a lot of people for power and our evidence is just the result of that?
Really, what is the reason to not tell her we're judas's son? Not like it would take much time
>>3844131>Seemingly random mass disappearanceHey, that's exactly what the Shadow did in Heaven's Feel!
>>3844140>proof we tampered with Angra Mainyu, Fake News Expert.>Angra just ate a lot of peoplearound the entire world in the space of a single instant?Shit, if we were Angra Mainyu and Angra could do that, there would be no humans left.>Opportunity cost. If we spend time here we don't spend it with Tsubaki and Ayaka.They are both asleepAll that we will do upon leaving Saber is go to sleep ourselves.That's not an opportunity.That's the opportunity loss.>because who would claim to be Judas son?The way we described what we were didn't really mention anything negative about ourselves. Freely admitting to being Judas' son is quite a terrible thing to admit about yourself.>>3844145>that's exactly what the Shadow did in Heaven's Feel!What a coincidence!Not around the world though.That's one speedy fucking shadow if it could do that.
>>3844152>That's one speedy fucking shadow if it could do that.Obviously this version of Avenger travels at the speed of EVIL.
>>3844152>That's not an opportunity.Then try out summoning or train or do anything else. We do not lack things to do in this war.>Not around the world though.And how would Saber know this? We do not have perfect surveillance of the entire world, neither does Saber and if it is split up around the world then it will hardly be noticed as something out of the ordinary since people die or vanish every day around the world.
Is Al savvy enough with Arthurian mythos to know about their quest for the grail?
>>3844162>Then try out summoning or train or do anything else. We do not lack things to do in this war.Alberich cannot do that right now either.The only thing he can POSSIBLY do after this is rest.He has literally no energy to mess around with and actually does require sleep.Unless you want to literally kill Ayaka in her sleep by drawing too much energy from her.It's the difference between a few sentences to try to make something of the night, or we sleep and go to the next day.>if it is split up around the worldAnon, disappearances are things that are kind of noticed.And if a thousand people disappeared at the exact same moment, then obviously, somebody is going to figure something is up.Like, the amount of missing person reports shoots up and they all seem to occur around the exact same moment, with no motive or evidence or suspects.It's the sort of thing conspiracy theorists would fucking love.
>>3844172>Anon, disappearances are things that are kind of noticed.They are noticed, but if one person vanished out of a city that is just business as usual. And if that happens in Africa, Europe, China and Australia spread out over them then nobody will bat an eye.
>>3843989>>[ ] Keep trying to convince Arturia of your identity. There must be something you can say to make the truth clear. (Pride)>Name drop Judas then leaveOnly card we really have atm, I doubt will change much when already thinks we're the actual devil but its not like her opinion on us would go down to have instead been created by the most likely candidate to come with a bootleg Holy Grail due to his association with Jesus.And Alberich would need to have some serious time management issues if it really takes him more than a minute or two to drop this and leave; it's not like he's the captive audience in this scenario.
>>3844176I don't know anonjust one person vanishing from their home completely with no signs of break-in, no signs of even the doors or windows being unlocked, the keys still inside of the house, no signs of them packing or leaving anywhere.They are just... gone.Now multiply that by a couple hundred occurences.And because it's so widespread and unexpected, the MA will have no way to suppress the spread of information.
>>3844182Because it is so widespread nobody will have the complete picture. Meaning nobody will actually find it too unusual. If one person vanishes without a trace there are more mundane reasons than was abducted with magic and even if it reaches the news how many local newspapers do you read of different countries?
>>3844178>Judas is able to make a bootleg Holy Grail because of his connection to Jesus and his presence at the Last Supper...fuck, I can't believe I didn't realise that earlier.God damn it.Well, there's some good evidence as to why Judas in particular could create a False Grail War.>>3844185People love a mystery, anon. Dozens of missing person cases with really eerie similarities is going to raise eyebrows.People would start digging through other reported missing person cases.It's not unusual for national media to report on missing person cases of interest either.
>>3844182>1050 people gone>out of gorillionsI don't think any mundane is going to piece things together.
>>3844196You're underestimating the power of autism and private investigators.
>>3844152>All that we will do upon leaving Saber is go to sleep ourselves.Sleep is a valid option, anon. It's around 3 in the morning.
>>3844198Did Judas ever say the participants had to even be taken from populated areas?Akeldama might have zapped in some unlucky tribal shaman from the middle of the jungle or a dude who was out sailing and people will think he just fell overboard or some shit
>>3843989>[ ] Leave her be for the night. It's late and you've had a tiring day, perhaps you'll come up with something in the morning. (Self-Preservation)
>>3844204I'll spare you the trouble of hunting through the archive. He told you that participants were only summoned from first world countries, because they have a higher percentage of magi.
>>3844204I would imagine Judas made sure the participants summoned could speak Japanese, at least.Who knows though?>>3844200Sleep is for weaklings.
Seriously though, what do we lose from getting to FINALLY drop our big dramatic reveal on somebody?
>>3844218Point. If there was a time to monologue this would be it.
>>3844223Is this Alberich's true goal.>"Listen Lady Artoria, I have always wanted to monologue, now that I have you captive I can happily do so">"OH GOD JUST KILL ME">"No"Does going on a monologue on someone who is captive count as torture?
>>3844231It's time to grind our Charisma by monologuing at Saber for 4 hours.
>>3844236inb4 she killed herself 30 minutes in.
>>3844236>Through dedicated training in talking you have learned that there is indeed a time when it is better to shut up. Charisma improved!
>>3844231That's basically what you just did in the last update. Hence all of Arturia's stoic silent resentment.
>>3844239Lets do it more until she breaks.
>>3843989>[ ] Keep trying to convince Arturia of your identity. There must be something you can say to make the truth clear. (Pride) (Write in any details you'd like to add)Also throw in talk about Odin and that is why we left her alive.
>>3844243Or we could just reveal Judas.Anon made a good point with the fact that out of any Servant that you could summon that could create a fake War, Judas would be your man. (Or Jesus, but he can't be summoned)>>3844251No Judas?
>>3844251But why.
>>3844252Yeah sure but definitely mention Odin.
>>3844218Nobody gives a shit about Judas man, it's gonna lack any impact
>>3844253Why not mention Odin, who is a clear target for the future. Also is an Un-nerfed Odin.
>>3844255>King Arthur, somebody who sought and still seeks the Holy Grail, not giving a shit about literally the son of JudasAlso, it adds credence to our false Holy Grail War story.Only somebody with a connection to the true Holy Grail could pull it off.
>>3843989>{}Just fucking kill her.
>>3844265Edgy and pointless.
>>3844260I really don't see her giving a shit la. This is just gonna make Alberich seem like a more of a pathetic loser, begging for her to notice and acknowledge his past.
>>3844260>Only somebody with a connection to the true Holy Grail could pull it off.Not really. >>3844276Yeah seriously, it's just irrelevant
>>3844276I don't really think it would go down that way anon.The Judas thing might give Saber something to think on as we leave her to dwell with her thoughts in the darkness.
Why do we even care that she thinks we're avenger?Wouldn't playing that part make her more likely to be altered fully?Are we trying to recruit her, torture her, or kill her? We're getting off track here.
>>3844281>Not reallyAnon, please name another Servant that you can summon that can set up their own Grail War and run it.>it's just irrelevantIt's the missing piece to the story we gave Saber that starts making it all make more sense.What's your plan on dealing with her?Wait and hope?Hope that you can somehow break her with torture or confinement?Hope Tsubaki can bypass her A-rank Magic Resistance and brainwash her despite her interlude showing that she very likely can't use any sort of mind altering magic?We have everything to gain and nothing to lose by mentioning it, so why not give it a shot?Why don't you want to give it a shot?We fucking lose nothing.
>>3844288>Why do we even care that she thinks we're avenger?Pride.>Wouldn't playing that part make her more likely to be altered fully?LARPing as Avenger won't actually give us 7 billion curses to fuck her mind up, so no, not really.>Are we trying to recruit her, torture her, or kill her? We're getting off track here.I think the most logical and recommended course of action is recruiting her.
>>3844269True, I was rather frustrated. However, I'm convinced at this point that she's so traumatized by the last war that she'll never work with us. In addition, leaving her alive allows for Emiya to possibly discover/recover her, creating yet another problem. I honestly feel that the best option is to go to bed, then complete the ritual in the morning when Ayaka is fresh.
>>3844295NONEVER DO THE RITUALSHE STILL HAS MANJEW CUM IN HERWE EAT HER WE RISK BOTH US AND THE GRAIL GETTING CORRUPTED
>>3844295Do you seriously think that Sweets would make his players run through all these hoops just to reach an unchangeable conclusion?It doesn't make any sense for it to not be possible, anon.You should be able to infer it's possible from all the hints dropped everywhere.At least support the Judas option, we can literally just say it and leave if we want.If nothing has changed by mentioning it, oh well.
>>38442981) Ew.2) ...can people confirm if that's true?
>>3844303>can people confirm if that's true?It's a huge fucking risk that IC we haven't really got any reason to look for or direct a Caster to look for, so actually getting an answer to it being true or not will be quite impossible.But as has been mentioned before, Manjew would fucking LOVE Alberich as his host.
>>3844300I don't think he'd give us an unchangeable conclusion, but I do think that just because we do something doesn't automatically give us the win/best possible conclusion. We fail, and grow stronger from it.
>>3844306The difference is here that Sweets has obviously set up this whole situation to allow us to recruit Saber or at least do something other than sacrifice her.Otherwise the whole battle would not have gone the way it did.And if she does contain Manjuice?DEAD END.
>>3844303Its been stated multiple times that she has a little bit of corruption in her.That is why at least I want to recruit her in her non alter self, so at the end of the day she does not taint the grail. If she does then fuck it, time to work for the Emiyas because we are already locked in on a bad end.
>>3844307>And if she does contain Manjuice?>DEAD END.Ha! No, I'm not nice enough to give you a simple dead end if you wind up playing host to Angra.>>3844309It hasn't been stated, just speculated about.
>>3844310>using the ritual on Saber might give us some form of Super Dead End or lock us into a Bad End Route>or it might notoh no
>>3844309>If she does then fuck it, time to work for the Emiyas because we are already locked in on a bad end.What? We did have plans how to get a good end even with a corrupted grail.
>>3844316Dragging the whole grail into Number Space isn't really something we're capable of doing right now.And using the ritual on her opens up an entirely different kettle of "you fucked up" if she contains Angra.
Again, we literally lose nothing from revealing the identity of Judas to Arturia.Worst case it's just "I still don't believe you." Best case she actually starts thinking about the implications of us not actually being Avenger.I would understand if there was any sort of tangible loss to be had by revealing it, but as it stands, we really can't.
>>3844307>Otherwise the whole battle would not have gone the way it did.Not really. There was a lot of talk about trying to recruit her and we were given the option to spare her that does not mean we actually have the skills necessary to recruit her or that doing so is the best course of action.>>3844320>Dragging the whole grail into Number Space isn't really something we're capable of doing right now.Maybe not yet, but we certainly can arrange something.>And using the ritual on her opens up an entirely different kettle of "you fucked up" if she contains Angra.Frankly even in that case we haven't lost. He's not automatically in charge of us even then and we are prideful enough to want him gone regardless of what he offers us. We have Circe who is definitely able to put something together to purify us and in the worst case we can change the game with Volks.
>>3844332That's some optimism right there anon.We still lose literally nothing by mentioning Judas though. Hell, it could be an off-hand comment as we leave if you really want.Minutes of our time for something that could potentially shake the fuck out of Saber.
>>3844341>That's some optimism right there anon.It's hardly optimism. I mean do you think Sweets is a bad enough Qm that the only way to avert a bad end is to metagame? And what would have happened had we won our first confrontation with Saber and absorbed her... do you think we would have been locked into a bad end?And from an ingame point of view Saber has gone through death the only reason why she is half corrupted are her memories and experiences from the last grail war.
>>3844352If you'd won your first confrontation with Saber, you couldn't have absorbed her. Vaisset was still your Master at that time.
>>3844352>won our first confrontation with Saber and absorbed herwith what ritual?
>>3844357True. Still without you telling us about her being half corrupted we wouldn't even know about it so we would be forced to metagame to escape a bad end which is not really good gm-ing, so I doubt that there are still curses on Saber.
>>3844367There's multiple references to it in the text we could infer from though.The narrative is also obviously pushing us in the direction of not sacrificing her (Ayaka was unable to do the ritual when we just happened to be able to beat her non-lethally)
>>3844370>There's multiple references to it in the text we could infer from though.Which ones that Alberich would notice?
>>3844375Shit like "I won't be your pawn again Avenger" The references to Angra Mainyu in the last wars, Saber mentioning our cloak, Rin saying our Cloak is related to Angra Mainyu and whatever the fuck else.It's kind of obvious there's some connection.I mean, it's a moot point because everyone here knows who the fuck Avenger is anyway, but there would be MAD player speculation if we didn't.
>>3844390That only proves that Angra existed. She also specifically said she was in the past and isn't anymore.She died and this isn't the same Saber from before why would she have Angra in her?
>>3844390Frankly if we have so much references to it then let Tsubaki check her for corruption. I really dislike how this fear is used as a tool to drive votes.
>>3844391You're grasping at straws there, honestly.My point is that there's reason enough to assume that it might be a bad idea to take in the soul of somebody who mentioned they were made into a pawn by a being that we can infer is "All the World's Evils".>>3844396I mean, at the end of the day, she's more useful to us alive and working for us than she is as an upgrade anyway.It's kinda boring if we just kill her at this point.Sometimes meta-gaming is just a thing that you can't really avoid.That's just the price of using an established setting and characters.Most anons aren't going to purposely go for a SUPER ULTRA DEAD END just because it *might* be more in character to.We still don't lose anything from mentioning Judas, btw.
>>3844401>I mean, at the end of the day, she's more useful to us alive and working for us than she is as an upgrade anyway.She's worth more to us as a prisoner with intent to kill us?>Sometimes meta-gaming is just a thing that you can't really avoid.There is a difference between players deciding to metagame and a qm making it impossible to have a good end without metagaming.
>>3844404>She's worth more to us as a prisoner...?Yes.Because you should have noticed by now that allying her isn't actually impossible.Taking her prisoner was objectively the correct choice.Killing her there would've given us nothing.Please tell me what narrative purposes it serves to have us capture Saber for the sole purpose of killing her while also not having killing her be a viable and correct choice from the start.
>>3844419>Because you should have noticed by now that allying her isn't actually impossible.Please tell me how you want to ally her? Because at this point it looks like you are grasping for straws. Even if we could convince her that we aren't lying with every word we say she has no reason to like us and even less reason to allow us to take the grail when she wants it herself.
>>3844419>Please tell me what narrative purposes it servesShowing our hubris and having her freed later by Shirou, so their faction can attack us with more power later on. Giving us a betrayal like Kikuko.
>>3844429I dunno there is a pretty strong god that is our enemy that I doubt we could handle solo.
>>3844429The first step to allying her is convincing her we're not the Devil, that should be clear.After that, things become somewhat easier. Fun fact, the grail is something we can offer to share, too.There's more than enough Servants in the war for that.
>>3844437We already have other allies though. We would never be solo.
>>3844437And why would Saber care for what we need? At best she would help us defeat him and try to kill us then or try to make it a mutual kill.
>>3844431That's some next level pessimism, buddy.Shirou n pals don't know we've got Saber in our basement and won't be dumb enough to attack our house.Because we kinda know where they live.
>>3844367>without you telling us about her being half corrupted we wouldn't even know about itWell damn, that is bad writing on my part. I thought her characterization showed her off as more than a little way towards Alter, and a good deal less sunny than herself in F/SN.
>>3844442Don't have anyone with high enough magic resistance though.>>3844446Anon, she's only acting like she is right now towards us because she thinks we're a Demon hellbent on wiping out humanity.
>>3844439>After that, things become somewhat easier.I would really like to hear those easier steps then.>>3844448If they are still in their house then they are too stupid to live. Why would they stay somewhere we could attack them at our leisure?
>>3844419>factoring in "narrative purposes" to decisions made by the player characterThat is some next level metagaming. Meta-metagaming.
>>3844449>I thought her characterization showed her off as more than a little way towards Alter, and a good deal less sunny than herself in F/SN.Even if it did that could just be because the last war was pretty sucky for her and we are a giant reminder. No real reason for her to need curses for that.>Anon, she's only acting like she is right now towards us because she thinks we're a Demon hellbent on wiping out humanity.You don't think Alberich insulting her honor and just insulting her in general would have made her dislike him?
>>3844449Alberich wouldn't even know the difference desu
>>3844457>You don't think Alberich insulting her honor and just insulting her in general would have made her dislike him?She predisposed herself into disliking us so no.
>>3844454Get on my Meta-level.>>3844453Well, for one, she won't despise us and disregard anything we say to her, so that's useful.>Shirou>tactically sound decisions Hahaha.
>>3844449To be fair she wasn't really sunny during combat in the FSN. But yeah, also Alberich has no way to compare.
>>3844460Yeah and those feelings won't just vanish because logic says they are wrong.>>3844462>Hahaha.He's not alone and he has his children to worry about. So he has motivation and people who can advise him to not stay with his children there.
>>3844457>No real reason for her to need curses for that.Well, that's certainly true. She could or could not be feeling some Angra corruption, but she's certainly supposed to feel as if she's changed as a character.
>>3844468>He's not alone and he has his children to worry aboutAnd he had Taiga to worry about in F/SN.
>>3844474As I said he also has other people who can tell him that it is a stupid idea to stay in the house. I don't think that if it is pointed out to him he will risk his family.
Well, putting aside the metagaming issue I'd like to defend my writing by pointing out that Alberich does have his own reasons for wanting to capture her. They've shown up in the last few updates.
>>3843989I approve of name-dropping Judas Iscariot and insisting that his NP is what allowed him to have the Caster slot sub a Saber in.I'd like to also try to coax some info about Harris from her, but I don't see how we can make that happen under these circumstances. Maybe since she just said she's tired of "absurd lies" we can shift gears to a topic more in the "here and now". Maybe mention:"You know, even if I fell on my sword and let you walk out of here, you'd have no chance of winning this Grail war. The Lancer here is a monster that shouldn't even be able to fit in a Servant container. Care to know more?"And if she's receptive to getting free intel on the other enemy Servants (as she should be) maybe we can move the conversation to the Masters and try to get something on Harris from that angle?
I think the vote is 6-4 right now I think6 for revealing a varying amount of stuff, but mostly focusing Judas.4 for walking away. >>3844479There aren't really many places better for them, at least they can set up bounded fields around their house.Not that those will stop Heilig or Tsubaki.
>>3844498I had 5-5 until >>3844489 voted, now 6-5.
>>3843989>[ ] Leave her be for the night. It's late and you've had a tiring day, perhaps you'll come up with something in the morning. (Self-Preservation)Maybe the best thing to do is to give her time to think.
>>3844498Any place not known to us would be better, because as you pointed out a bounded field would hardly stop us.
>>3844512Why not reveal Judas and let her think on something then?At the moment all she's thinking is "I fucking hate Avenger so much."And will remain thinking that wayFor days.
>>3844519After reading all of the arguments here...I still don't want to tell her Judas was Caster.
>>3844521...Why?
>>3844521>>3844522Like, she can't judge us, her (kinda) dad (it was his plan and magic behind her creation) is an autistic kinda sociopathic half-demon wizard that once gave her a penis.
>>3844480>Alberich does have his own reasons for wanting to capture her.That he does; he has yet a reason to inspect Saber for corruption, though.
>>3844522Because I'm unconvinced.>>3844532angra mainyu has inflated her hypocrisy
>>3843989>[X] Keep trying to convince Arturia of your identity. There must be something you can say to make the truth clear. (Pride)
>>3843989>[ ] Leave her be for the night. It's late and you've had a tiring day, perhaps you'll come up with something in the morning. (Self-Preservation)Alberich doth protest too much. Persisting that we aren't Avenger here will only serve to convince her otherwise.
Announce that Judas was Caster, leave.>>3844021>>3844029>>3844105>>3844178>>3844554>>3844623Continue the conversation at length, mentioning Odin and looking for information on Harris.>>3844251>>3844489Kill Arturia>>3844265Wash your hands of the matter and go to bed.>>3844045>>3844009>>3844037>>3844055>>3844205>>3844512>>3844594
Missed a vote. Oh well.
>>3844757You can still vote, you know.
>>3844761I thought you was half-way done with an update already, Sweets.But if so.>>3843989>[ ] Keep trying to convince Arturia of your identity. There must be something you can say to make the truth clear. (Pride)>Announce that Judas was Caster, leave.
>>3844766Alright, now we're tied once again.
>>3844757>>3844766
>>3844769Just flip a coin at this point
>>3844777And let random chance determine an outcome in my diceless quest?NEVER!...what I'm actually going to do is count just the "I approve of name-dropping Judas" part of >>3844489 to give the reveal & walk out faction a slight majority. I'd split the vote to remove a tie in the first place, after all.
>>3844769The ones that want to mention Odin are also happy to mention Judas though.
>>3844781Most of the people voting for Judas didn't mention Odin, though, and if you're bringing up multiple information points it changes the timing. Then it's "I have some more things I'd like to say," not "before I go, here's this."
>>3844780Goddamn. Everyone thinks it's some bombshell revelation and I'm just picturing saber being like "K."
>>3844784I suppose you're right.
Can we remotely surveil Saber since Ayaka linked our perception to the bounded field surrounding the manor?
Although we still have one extra card to play in our talk with Saber.We can tell Saber that we have spoken with Shirou who now happily live with Sakura and they had some secret plan to take her down like they did in previous war. And on top of that we can assure her that we are not that ignorant about previous war and we can sense that corruption inside of her. Her dream is dead.
I think being Harris's servant during this war has kept her busy enough to avoid any serious introspection. Maybe she just needs a little time down in the dungeon with only her thoughts.
>>3844796Except that's what we're giving her.
>>3844797I know.
>>3844787It is a pretty huge reveal though.Well we'll just have to see if it works.
>>3844801Why would you expect a Christian to react to the name "Judas" positively? It's like proving that you didn't blow up the twin towers by showing how you bombed pearl harbor.
>>3844806They think that trying anything is better than trying nothing, which isn't true at all.
>>3844806Her thinking we are the son of Judas is better than the alternative. Which is thinking we're fucking Angra Mainyu. Less proving you bombed pearl harbour and more that your father did. Also, Merlin is actually a fucking half demon and that never stopped her from listening to his advice.She's not really a "sins of the father" type, considering both Gawain and Agravain were Morgan's sons. >>3844807But it might be. Doing nothing does nothing and it's not like telling her about Judas will make our situation worse. At worst it does nothing.
>>3844809Well, Sins of the Father meaning Sins of the Mother, in Morgan's case.
I'm sure it'll be fine if we address Judas with anything but praise.
>>3844806>Why would you expect a Christian to react to the name "Judas" positively?Few earlier christian cults and branches considered Judas and Pontius Pilate to be major important saints.
>>3844813Well, "refer to", not "address".
>>3844813Well, we did kill him.
>>3844814>Few earlier christian cults and branches considered Judas and Pontius Pilate to be major important saints.Are you really willing to bet that she's a gnostic?
>>3844809>Also, Merlin is actually a fucking half demon and that never stopped her from listening to his advice.>She's not really a "sins of the father" type, considering both Gawain and Agravain were Morgan's sons.This presumes that her character and judgement are the same after she got corrupted, which clearly isn't true.
>>3844819We don't know how much she's changed, honestly.We haven't exactly seen her in a situation where she doesn't think she's talking with Avenger.Which is sorta why she hates us.Avenger is both a threat to humanity itself and it personally fucked with Saber.
>>3844818Honeslty? I don`t think Nasu ever mentioned those details on her social and religious standings and our lore about "actual" King Arthur is a huge mess which has seen a lot of fanfiction rewritting by various authors for centuries. If we were to draw conclusions from them we also have to consider possibility of her following celtic druidism, some earlier form of christianity with war god Jesus and trickster Judas which was spreading due to tribal warfare or even weird magic mix of Nasu`s own brand of syncretism.
>>3844821>We don't know how much she's changed, honestly.Bit of a weak argument. I can use the same one to push my own perspective on how much she's changed.Not to mention that Sweets said she was halfway to being Alter, which is a pretty drastic change.
>>3844818To be fair, a large number of sects believe in predestination, that the whole thing was just as planned he may not be a saint but consider a necessity for Jesus to die for humanity's sins. Whether Saber believes it or Alberich is even aware of it is another story.Although it can wait for later, I do think it would be rather amusing to point out how she's been so focused on us to question what Harris' deal is, 'perfectly normal human' can fight two servants in close combat and get away without injury, but never bothered to pop a command seal to get her back nor do anything to stop us from dumping her in the trunk of a car and driving off like any common kidnapper.
>>3844846Harris: "Marshal, are you sure I need to use this 'Servant' thing to fight? I think I can do better on my own..."Marshall: "We've been over this, Harris. You need a Servant to compete in the Holy Grail War. There's no going without one. You'll have to get used to using Saber in combat."Harris: "Using Saber in combat, huh? If you say so."1 Week Into the WarHarris, to self: "She's a drain on my energy, couldn't chase down Archer, was beaten by a magic knight despite strong magic resistance... I knew this Saber was a liability. I'll let the other Saber finish her off, and deal with the rest of the Servants myself."
>>3844853
Here's how we beat Harris(Somehow) recruit SaberSecure an alternate means of energy for her without disconnecting her from HarrisHave Saber use up as much magical energy as possible to drain Harris, then scry him and destroy himSwitch her to aforementioned alternate energy source
>>3844857And then Harris uses all his command seals before Saber can really drain him to order her to kill us or die trying.
>>3844830Counterargument: Lancelot exists despite his IRL legend being invented centuries after the character of Arthur.
You would think Saber would be more understanding about cases of mistaken identity after Gilles and the fourth war.>do anything >literally anything >"As I expected from you, Avenger!"
>>3844870The lesson she took from that is "BAD KING, BAD"
>>3844877Story of her life.
>>3843989>[ ] Keep trying to convince Arturia of your identity. There must be something you can say to make the truth clear. (Pride)>Announce that Judas was Caster, leave.The second part is just to clear any misunderstandings. Sweets, if a lot of people suddenly vote for revealing the Odin bomb and create a tie, you can count my vote as a support to that option too:>"You know, even if I fell on my sword and let you walk out of here, you'd have no chance of winning this Grail war. The Lancer here is a monster that shouldn't even be able to fit in a Servant container. Care to know more?"
Finally you can no longer suppress your amusement at Arturia's helpless fury and let out a guffaw. For a few moments the two of you stay like that, you laughing down at the girl and her struggling as her insults fade back into a hateful stare. Finally your composure returns, though, enough to say, "Yes, this has been well worth the effort of capturing you alive," between subsiding chuckles. "Very well then, I shall do as you ask," you declare with affected casualness, once your burst of mirth has quite faded away. "It's quite late, you know, and unlike you I haven't had the benefit of a nice, long rest after our battle. I am under no obligation to give you the information you sorely lack, so if you're going to sit there and call me a liar I may as well leave you to stew." You pause, touching a finger to your chin as an idea comes to mind, then add, "Ah, but here is one final tidbit for you. The True Name of that Caster, who summoned up a false Holy Grail and orchestrated death on a grand scale to create new heroes, was Judas Iscariot. Now good night to you, Arturia." With that, you get up, turn on your heel, and stalk out of the basement. If the revelation of Caster's identity moves Arturia more than the rest of your story has, she doesn't show it.As you make your way upstairs, looking for an empty bedroom to sleep in, you glance at your watch to see how late you've been up, waiting for the captive girl to awaken and then speaking with her. It's a quarter after four, to your chagrin. There'll be little enough sleep to be had, if you want an early morning tomorrow. Then again, since Ayaka is no longer attending school perhaps you can simply sleep in. It's not as if you need to worry about attacks from enemy Masters in the early morning, after all, and anything that violates the bounded field around the manor should wake you up. So it's with a mind full of restful thoughts that you finally collapse into the enormous canopy bed formerly belonging to the Vaisset family patriarch, drifting off to sleep after one more bizarre day in the madness that has been the Holy Grail War. The last thought your fading consciousness fixes on is the absurdity of it all. A battle royale between summoned ghosts of heroes past, commanded by wizards, and what this woman takes issue with is the notion that you could be an artificial soul?
It's the child's perspective again, eyes lower than the top of a handrail, staring out between white-painted wood columns. You look down from the balcony and watch a man and boy sparring, practicing their fencing in the middle of a lush tropical garden. Overhead, the sun beats down with that particular intensity that you'll come to associate with the summer villa, but this is your first visit and the change in climate is still new to you, sapping your energy and leaving you sullen, wishing you were back home.Mother watches beside you, looking very different in a white sun dress and wide-brimmed hat. It's one more change, another unfamiliarity making the place unpleasant for a child. Instead, you focus on the routine going on below. Your father teaches your brother how to fight just as he does every day, no matter where you are."Mama," you say, the child's voice coming out without the dreamer's input, "why do Papa and Onii-chan always fight for Onii-chan's lesson, but we never fight when you give me my lesson?""Because your father is a man," your mother answers, tender warmth in her voice, "and little Hirahide will be a man someday, and it is the way of men to fight. You and I are different; we must not fight if we can avoid it, my dear.""So girls never fight? Only boys?""Perhaps never is a bit too strong a word," your mother says, reaching down absently to stroke your hair. "One day, Mama will have to fight, you know; you may also, when the time comes. When the holy ritual is ready, and the Einzbern return to us. Then..." She cuts herself off, coming back to the here and now, and turns to look at you instead of the garden. Mother smiles. "But that's all back home, dear, and we're on vacation! Let's talk about something here. Have I shown you all the fish we have at this villa yet?"
Shijou Manor, Tokyo – November 20, 2019, Wednesday"Ani-ue.."You begin returning to consciousness as you hear a soft, fluting voice quite at odds with your dreams and feel an odd weight on your chest."Ani-ue," the voice repeats, resolving itself in your awakening mind into that of your sister, "Ani-ue, you will regret it if you... sleep all day." You open your eyes to see the bright light of mid-morning streaming in through opened curtains, and below that Kōrakuhime, sitting on your chest with her feet dangling over the side of the bed. Only her face is pointed at you."Didn't you think it was terribly impolite to come into someone's room while they were awake?" Not quite sure how to address the fact that she's decided to sit down on top of you as if you were a particularly large cushion, you settle for the speaking out regarding the oddity of her being here at all.Kōrakuhime waves a dismissive hand. "That was... a man intruding into a lady's room. An entirely... different affair. In addition, I see that you sleep in a black bodysuit. We do not all... do the same.""So why are you here, then? Paying me back for the intrusion?" Whatever her ideas about differing rules of etiquette may be, you can't think why Kōrakuhime would take the trouble to come and wake you up."Could it not simply be... that I was concerned about you?" She feigns hurt, putting on an expression of tenderness rebuffed. "You are usually... the first of us to awaken." Seeing your skeptical look, she goes on, "If you must know... that Master of yours asked me to wake you up when she... cooked breakfast; so here I am.""I see," you reply. Ayaka's up and about then, hopefully without any aftereffects of your magical overuse. That's one thing to be relieved about. "In that case, you've done the job. Thank you for helping me to wake up, but please do get off of me now so I can get out of bed."As Kōrakuhime walks out, presumably to return downstairs and begin enjoying breakfast, you consider the day ahead. After yesterday, there are any number of things that could be considered pressing issues, and it's frankly difficult to think of which is the most immediate.>[ ] The captive downstairs. First things first, you need to discuss with Kōrakuhime what can be done to make her useful. Circe could brainwash a prisoner, but is Kōrakuhime capable of such magic? >[ ] Your rediscovered brother. Finding Matsuda should be your first priority, and if you go looking during the day you'll have a better chance of catching him unawares.>[ ] Coordination with your allies. It's time for another visit to the Einzbern Tower, to discuss the defeat of Saber, find out whether they've learned anything about Assassin yet, and plan for the future.>[ ] Your own capabilities. The world around you may be important, but no moreso than training your ability to deal with it. Today, you'll spend polishing your skills.>[ ] Focus on something else (Write in)
>>3844905>[ ] Your rediscovered brother. Finding Matsuda should be your first priority, and if you go looking during the day you'll have a better chance of catching him unawares.Unlikely Kourakuhime can brainwash and finding this dumbass is on a timer.
>>3844905>[ ] Your own capabilities. The world around you may be important, but no moreso than training your ability to deal with it. Today, you'll spend polishing your skills.FINALLY we will summon things.
>>3844915Matsuda will likely die if we ignore him. And that's bad even if you want to ritual him.He's acting on a limited energy source.
>>3844905>[ ] The captive downstairs. First things first, you need to discuss with Kōrakuhime what can be done to make her useful. Circe could brainwash a prisoner, but is Kōrakuhime capable of such magic?The conversation shouldn't take long and whatever process Kōrakuhime has to turn Saber should hopefully not need our direct presence which will leave us free for the rest of the day to train or whatever else.Either way, I want to get her report before we do anything.
>>3844905>>[ ] Your own capabilities. The world around you may be important, but no moreso than training your ability to deal with it. Today, you'll spend polishing your skills.Reasons:1-We've been neglecting our training and improvement for a few days. We need all the power we can getas soon as possible.2-Korakuhime can probably brainwash/mindcontrol humans and maybe lesser Servants, but Arturia's MR is something she probably can't deal with.3-Fuck Matsuda. If he wants our help he'll find us on his own (we stared at a car full of Einzberns (and a king of the Gods) until they came to us, I think we have both the patience and the Pride to pull a "Fuck it, the mountain comes to me" again).4-We shouldn't go to see the Einzberns because we can't explain why we have Saber tied in our basement. Just imagine:Odin/Lili: Why do you keep Arturia tied in your basement?Alberich:...I...am kinky?[Affection score with Odin has raised][Affection score with Lilisviel has raised]
>>3844922I thought he was still connected to Antaglio. Did we collateral the Italian priest in our last battle?
>>3844936Nah, but the Matsuda interlude mentioned an energy supply that Matsuda thought would run out.So Antaglio didn't become his Master.
>>3844938Also, he projected his voice to Matsuda I instead of using Master-Servant telepathy.
Really tough.Potential gains:1. Saber, some information on Harris, Kōrakuhime fun times and question of remnant Angra Mainyu corruption.2. Matsuda and Church plot line.3. Information on Assassin and culmination of Grail War, some more Liliesviel`s affection points.4. Just about everyone have been talling us to train more and be prepared, a lot of potential new powers, sword gacha and Vaisset`s research.We should have enough time to do at least two of these things done before night hits so.>>3844905I`ll go with >[ ] The captive downstairs. First things first, you need to discuss with Kōrakuhime what can be done to make her useful. Circe could brainwash a prisoner, but is Kōrakuhime capable of such magic?I kind of want go straight to training but right now we have get final verdict on Saber and her usefulness or danger.
>>3844938If Antaglio didn't become his Master... was Matsuda trying to kill us because he wanted? We can always let him weaken for a day and then scry and hunt (unless he had so little energy left that he vanishes like a retard, without even trying to make himself his own Master like a retard. He's dead right?)
>>3844942>weaken for a dayHe'll die in half a day at bestMagical Energy E means he's pretty fucked. He was fighting us because Antaglio was still key to not dying
One more benefit of Matsuda is that having 2 other Servants with the same story is quite useful for persauding Saber.
>>3844941ALL our enemies are literally telling us "You need more Gainz ASAP boy" and we've been struggling too much in our previous fights. We can't sacrifice Arturia, we can't convince Arturia that we are not "All the Evils in the World" (at least not in a single day), she can't force her way out without dying from exhaustion, she can't get out without forcing her way out. Hey, let's talk with Arturia, you know, that waif...I mean the person we wasted an hour or so trying to have a normal conversation with only for her to go full "YOU AVENGER. REEEEEEEEEE" (like every other interaction we've had with her). At least leave her some time to think about what we said yesterday.
>>3844954I still think going after Matsuda is a better idea.
>>3844905>[ ] Your rediscovered brother. Finding Matsuda should be your first priority, and if you go looking during the day you'll have a better chance of catching him unawares.Possible training partner that would look forward to fighting Odin, since we can't trust Saber yet and we have 6 days left.
>>3844944>>3844952He tries to kill us because a priest tells him that he can save him if he kills that annoying Servant in his exact same situation and had a powerful mage girlfriend who can probably help him. Get's rid of his blood debt in the cheapest way possible and goes full betrayal on the only person that showed him respect and affection during a War to the death.I'll change my vote if Matsudafags can promise that, if we see him again and he tries to fuck us again we just fucking sacrifice his lame ass.
>>3844961Oh yeah without a doubt, if even after last night he's still more interested in fighting than answers then he needs to go.
>>3844954I doubt she slept after we left and if it is fruitless venture it will take like an hour at most. Leaving rest of the day to train.If Kōrakuhime confirms Manjew shit is lying dormant in Saber we can plan and train accordingly to the enemy we need to face afterwards. If by the end of it we can`t get her to work for us and killing her will result in corruption of us and Grail we can just gut Rider or Matsuda instead of her, fill the grail and let her disappear.
>>3844963>let her disappear Or keep her prisoner for eternity. Training by ourselves isn't gonna improve our combat skill, we need Saber or Matsuda for effective training
>>3844905Right lets think.>SaberLet's let her dwell on our revelations for some time before we greet our dear captive once again >MatsudaWe don't know if he's a possible target to scry for for Tsubaki, but we do know that he's dying of mana deprivation. Also, a possible easy ally now he's seen Matsuda and we can bring up the brother thing.>go see LilyAs much as I would love to, it doesn't serve much purpose currently. >training Always important, but I wonder if training with Matsuda or Saber would be better for us when they are available. And Matsuda is...Well he's going to die without our help.We know Tsubaki can sustain him like she's doing to Saber too.Hmmm
>>3844905>[ ] Your own capabilities. The world around you may be important, but no moreso than training your ability to deal with it. Today, you'll spend polishing your skills.We still haven't even tried summoning.
>>3844905>[ ] Your rediscovered brother. Finding Matsuda should be your first priority, and if you go looking during the day you'll have a better chance of catching him unawaresI guess I'll pick Matsuda due to the high chance he will fade away if we don't. We've got a score to settle one way or the other.
>>3844984>high chance he will fade away if we don't.Where did this idea come from? He's still being supported by whatever the church used to keep him alive.
>>3844988Reread his interlude, he's worried his energy source will fade before he even heals.And he isn't planning on going back to the Church out of fear of...Well us.
>>3844990Clearly, both of those worries were baseless.Once he figures that out he'll go back to the church.
>>3844992It's Matsuda and he should have a good idea as to what we do to traitors.Also, he's currently being mindfucked by a huge revelation.
>>3844994>he should have a good idea as to what we do to traitorsTake them in and make them our subjects, yes.>Also, he's currently being mindfucked by a huge revelation.Matsuda is a man of action: decisive, uncompromising, rude.He'll figure something out, even with this existential crisis looming over his head.
>>3844999>Take them in and make them our subjects, yes.That's a deal only usually offered to cute girls. Also, Matsuda is kind of also a little bit stupid, or perhaps dim would be a better term.If he believes we're gonna target the Church he isn't gonna go there.'He' can't become his own Master, so that's also out.
>>3845001>Also, Matsuda is kind of also a little bit stupid, or perhaps dim would be a better term.He's never been dim, just bloodthirsty and straightforward.Remember that he was always pragmatic about fighting.>The fact was, he knew that what you really needed to win a fight wasn't a burning spirit, but an understanding of how, where, and when to apply force. He'd always fought where, when, and with the methods that would ensure he won, and as a result could boast that he'd never lost a fight.When JUSTinian and Perseus were fighting for the first time, he predicted who would win.>"Yeah, I gotta hand it to 'em. Blows every fight I ever saw before right oughta the water. Which one do you think'll win? Now me, I think the guy with the spear's gonna take the fight. Sure, the one with the sword's got the strength advantage, but I've seen plenty o' guys like that go down. They just rely on that power, and when the faster fella gets in, it's lights out. Now, spear over there has the speed, he's got the maneuverability. It's just a matter of time."He's also good at guaging his own limits.>"Like I said, it does frustrate me. But there are some situations where there's nothin' you can do.">talks about his buddy fujiyamaThen again...>"Never develop a style. Folks think martial artists and boxers and whatnot are hot shit, but I gotta tell ya. Nothin' kills a badass like predictability. That Bruce Lee stuff is just in tha movies; if yer style is simple enough ta write down and give rules ta, somebody's gonna find the holes. Guaranteed.">disparages "bruce lee stuff" when bruce lee invented jeet kune do because formal styles were too rigid and predictableHis knowledge base might be a little lacking.As an aside, it looks like this was appropriate advice:>"Ya gotta see all around you all the time, and think about everything the other bastard can do."
>>3845028You better appreciate this effort, I had to comb through the archives and I've died of cringe overdose after reading my old posts.
>>3845028He's kinda bad in pretty much every situation that doesn't involve fighting though.In terms of general intelligence, he's easily the lowest of the siblings.
>>3845033>He's kinda bad in pretty much every situation that doesn't involve fighting though.that's because of very little book larnin>In terms of general intelligence, he's easily the lowest of the siblings.To be fair, Alberich's 400 IQ is a very high bar to clear.Don't forget that he's probably also got the same boost we got from having all those people stuffed into us.
>>3845039His boost solely went into his fighting autism. Rushorou himself is the star pupil of his school and forever Student Council President. Matsuda was a delinquent that beat people up.Intelligence wise, there's no comparison there.
>>3844905>[ ] Your own capabilities. The world around you may be important, but no moreso than training your ability to deal with it. Today, you'll spend polishing your skillsWe are reading Vaisset's notes and to hell with everything else
Matsuda literally only thinks he's losing his energy b/c he thinks the Alberich gang is still competent and can actually kill a master or two.
>>3845046>The only thing he could do was put as much distance as possible between Kaichou and himself, and hope the source of energy Antaglio had given him didn't fail before his wounds healed.We have no idea what the source of energy is.It's unlikely to be a servant contract though.Antaglio seems to actually be trying to follow the rules.
>Finally you can no longer suppress your amusement at Arturia's helpless fury and let out a guffaw. For a few moments the two of you stay like that, you laughing down at the girl and her struggling as her insults fade back into a hateful stare. Finally your composure returns, though, enough to say, "Yes, this has been well worth the effort of capturing you alive," between subsiding chuckles. Finally. We finally get to do a good ol evil laugh.And at Arturia too!
>>3844905>>[ ] Your rediscovered brother. Finding Matsuda should be your first priority, and if you go looking during the day you'll have a better chance of catching him unawares.
>>3844905Switching from >>3844941to>[ ] Your own capabilities. The world around you may be important, but no moreso than training your ability to deal with it. Today, you'll spend polishing your skills.
>>3844905>[ ] Your own capabilities. The world around you may be important, but no moreso than training your ability to deal with it. Today, you'll spend polishing your skills.
Rip Matsuda then, I guess.
>>3845116If you think Sweets would kill him off just because we didn't use meta info from an interlude then I don't know what to tell you
>>3845122I'm just worried is all.
>>3845116Matsuda found Matsuda, who can probably sustain him as a Master. Even if he can't, I seriously doubt that the church would know exactly how much energy he would need to defeat a Servant like Alberich, which means that Antaglio probably gave him a lot of energy he can use to live (even with E magic reserves). I also doubt that the Church would just dispose of the only thing they can use to avoid Alberich sacrificing all their representatives in Tokio (If you were Antaglio after seeing how the "weak" sibling massacrates all your executors, would you just kill your best defense against Servants?)
>>3845141>who can probably sustain him as a MasterSweets said that only those chosen by the grail as Masters can become Masters.Akeldama was a special case where any of the participants could become a Master.Also you're underestimating just how low E rank reserves are.Matsuda collapsed from having full reserves (from the empowerment) in just a few hours of wandering around.Honestly, his only hope is if he comes to us, which I'm not really sure of the likelihood.I'm not sure what his energy source might be, but he better fucking hope it can hold out for him.
>>3845147>Also you're underestimating just how low E rank reserves are.reminder that the magical energy stat measures how efficient a servant is with the master's energy, not how much energy the servant can hold
>>3845166Then Matsuda, at the very peak he could hold (he had just been transformed into a Servant and would therefore be totally full of energy) collapsed from a few hours of just walking about.It's how efficient a Servant is with ANY energy, including their own.
>>3845170>at the very peak he could hold (he had just been transformed into a Servant and would therefore be totally full of energy)Technically there shouldn't be a maximum. After all, Servants are simply amplifiers of their Masters' magical energy.Furthermore, Sweets already said it takes a lot of energy to cross the gap from "not a Servant" to "Servant", and this was done thrice. That doesn't leave a lot of leftover energy, does it?Even Tsubaki had to hunt down families to hang on until she met us, and she probably has the most meager needs of the three siblings because she's a Caster (as well as the greatest capacity, if you insist Servants have a capacity for energy).
>>3845175Well whatever, I just don't want Matsuda getting off-screened because we decided reading a book was more important.
>>3845178I was more hoping that we'd use the miracle from HGS that we've literally never investigated before. Increasing our powers makes literally every other task easier.
>>3845189Well I guess we'll see.I'll be happy if Matsuda survives by himself for a while.
It's not impossible for Akagata or Haruo (if Circe didn't kill them) to stumble upon Matsuda, now I think about it.Though if Akagata is still alive, I imagine she's probably down one arm. Could lead to an interesting situation later on.
>>3845256>It's not impossible for Akagata or Haruo (if Circe didn't kill them) to stumble upon Matsuda, now I think about it.
>>3845279Circe isn't her niece though.
>>3845291Circe wouldn't pass up free batteries.The hag and her boytoy are probably sitting in urns living out their perfect fantasies right now while Circe and Odysseus are living off of their energy.
Look for Matsuda>>3844910>>3844959>>3844984>>3845085Talk about Alterations>>3844932Do some training>>3844915>>3844934>>3844982>>3845044>>3845100>>3845113
>>3845333Can we get Eye of the Tiger to our training montage as soundtrack?
>>3845349Sorry, I've only got this.https://youtu.be/qdTPdig3A9U
>>3845349No, but you can get this.https://youtube.com/watch?v=RFyCPicGbXM
Vaisset Notes or Summoning?
>>3845526We should try to summon something small and harmless and see how this miracle works (if it consumes energy after we summon it, how much energy summoning costs, etc)
>>3845560Posted too early.After we summon a new pet for Ayaka or Korakuhime, we study Vaissiet's notes and all of his library if necessary. If we have some time left afterwards, we can practice with the sword a little.
>>3845526We really should summon something, we need to try it at least once
>>3845375Well, that's a mashup I never thought to hear.
>>3845576Neil Cicierega is a damn gift.
>>3845560Tsubaki said yeah, it costs energy for us to maintain that necessary connection for summoning
>>3845607Then why do we want to summon? The only reason I would spend a minute trying to do it is if it provided any kind of benefit (information, getting nice boosts with sacrifice, etc). Using it just because we've never used it is a waste of time and magicla energy. I would rather investigate phantasmal beasts (after we finish with Vaissiet's notes and library) so we know something cool/useful to summon aside from a dragon.
>>3845635*magical energy
>>3845635For one thing, you don't know if you can summon whatever you want with specificity, or how much energy it will take. You have a fairly vague understanding of the power right now.Besides that, there is the fact that you've never been to the Reverse Side. Researching myths is all well and good to learn about phantasmal beasts, but it's no substitute for seeing one firsthand.
>>3845635>Why do we want to learn about 1/3 of our noble phantasms utility?Hmm lemme think anon
Can we summon items or just creatures?
>>3845654Keep thinking man, I'm sure you'll find a reason that is not "because we should try all of our powers" (even if Odin can instakill any of beast we can summon without killing ourselves/Ayaka in the process). We would need to find something that could help us (directly or indirectly) in a battle to the death against a Viking War God (aside from Divine beasts, Fenrir tier monsters, or, if>>3845655 is right, relics and artifacts powerful enough to fight a god. Remember that we don't spam rift slashes because the mana cost would kill Ayaka, a god tier artifact will just drink her in a few seconds).
>>3845704Trying all of our powers is a compelling argument. We're not trying it for the sake of trying it, but for the sake of broadening the scope of our capabilities.I think it'll only be worth the energy expenditure if we summon beasts that are relatively weak but skilled in a specific niche.
With your sister ejected from the bedroom, and the knowledge that the morning is dragging on pressing on your mind, you hop out of bed and make for the bathroom. There, you let the black undergarment you sleep in (originally the innermost layer of your armor's lining) dematerialize and compose your mind under the hot running water.After everything that happened yesterday: an outing with Liliesviel, your two meetings with the Edelfelt sisters, that infuriatingly inconclusive skirmish with Matsuda and the forces of the Holy Church, and last of all the capture of Arturia, there is certainly no lack of affairs to be pursued today. Going through them in your mind, though, each seems that it can be put off. Although you would love to visit Liliesviel again, there is little reason to do so beyond the pleasure of her company. The girl seems uninterested in actually fighting the Holy Grail War, preferring to take her ease and make use of Odin's power only when absolutely necessary, so a strategic meeting would be rather pointless. Truvietianne and Luviagelita are similarly of uncertain worth, not being Masters or formally part of the Holy Grail War. After Kōrakuhime's unsuccessful interrogation of the Church agents who attacked you last night you're left with no leads as to the present whereabouts of Matsuda and Antaglio, so there can be no great purpose in setting about pursuing them without delay. As for Arturia, you're still not sure how you want to pay her back. If she could be turned to your side she would be enormously useful, but after your conversation last night that seems impossible. Torturing her would be gratifying in the immediate sense, but wouldn't be a productive use of your time; besides that, repaying humiliation with physical torment lacks a certain style. Perhaps it's better to keep her imprisoned, then, and let her suffer the same arrogant disregard she gave you after your first battle. That will do until you've decided on a more final resolution, at least.With the most pressing concerns resolved not to be dealt with immediately, then, what remains? The answer, hanging unpleasantly at the back of your mind like a ragged messenger carrying bad news, is your combat prowess. The near-loss you suffered against Matsuda and easy way Harris handled you make your own deficiencies infuriatingly plain, in spite of your victory over Arturia. Indeed, you're not totally sure you would have defeated her if she hadn't suffered a timely attack of scotophobia, or whatever it was. Today, then, you'll stay in and focus on self-improvement. With your decision made, you get out of the shower, comb your hair into shape, dress, and head down to a thoroughly late breakfast at nearly eleven.
When you arrive in the living room, Kōrakuhime is nowhere to be found. She must have eaten while you were bathing, then, and gone about her own business afterwards. Ayaka is still there, though, standing in the kitchen with an irritable expression and a set of plates covering dishes, presumably to keep breakfast warm for the latecomer."Good morning, Miss Ayaka," you say, putting on a charming smile. "What do we have for breakfast today?" Perhaps, you hope, you can avoid dealing with Ayaka's frustration at your late rising by simply being pleasant and not acknowledging it, bringing her into your pace. No such luck, unfortunately. Although she serves your food compliantly enough, your Master gives you a thorough pout as she does so, frowning at you over the dishes with a stormy expression. "Saber-san," she begins once you've sat down, "why were you asleep so late? You know how worried I was, waking up to find you still out of it after I didn't see how your fight went in that building last night? You've never gotten up this late, even that first night when you were out on the roof! But then you're just fine, and I was getting all worried about nothing!""Well, I am sorry to have concerned you. I had a rather late night, and didn't see any pressing reason to be awake early this morning. In the future, I will endeavor to be more careful," you say, showing contrition rather than the anger you're more inclined to feel in the face of the girl's selfishness. You needed that sleep, and she wants you to have gotten up for the sake of her mental state! There's no point in getting in a fight with her over it, though. Instead you shift the topic to her own unconsciousness. "What about you, Miss Ayaka? Are you not feeling any ill-effects? It seems I drained you of rather too much magical energy in last night's fighting.""Oh, I'm just fine," Ayaka answers with a wan smile. "You don't need to worry about me, just use as much energy as you need to win." "Now that won't do," you counter, "We're a team, you and I, Master and Servant. We must work together. At the very least, you need to be able to keep yourself safe and attend to your sacrificial ritual." Now you put on a look of gallant concern, concluding, "In the future, please be sure to warn me if I drain you of too much energy, won't you?"
"Alright, Saber-san," Ayaka says, much quieter now as she blushes and fails to meet your gaze. "I'll be more careful from now on." As you enjoy the maidenly appeal of the gesture, and the embarrassment playing over those demure features, you mentally thank Judas for having tied you to such an easily manipulated Master. There aren't many better candidates you can conceive of to hold the power of the command spells over you. A pampered girl like Truvietianne would have been more troublesome than Ayaka, but still easy enough to deal with; on the other hand, a shudder almost runs through you as you consider the notion of having become the Servant of a magus like Lumenza, or that arrogant, self-assured woman Tohsaka. It doesn't bear thinking of.Having resolved your Master's irritation at your late morning, you finish your breakfast quickly. Today it's in the traditional style: grilled mackerel, a raw egg and bowl of rice, natto, miso soup, and pickled vegetables. It's a breakfast that "you" ate many times growing up, and Ayaka's preparation does nothing to surprise you. It's neither delicious nor unpleasant, but it is filling. Having eaten, you turn your mind to what to do next.>[ ] Stay here for the time being, you want to talk to Ayaka about (write in subject). >[ ] Go down to the basement workshop and find a room to experiment with Heiligöffnungschwert's second miracle. Perhaps summoning could be the key to reversing your fortunes in battle.>[ ] Return to the Shijou library to further study magic.>[ ] Find your sister and convince her to do some sparring with you. She may not be an ideal combat partner, but she'll be better than nothing.>[ ] Do something else (Write in)
>>3845920>[ ] Go down to the basement workshop and find a room to experiment with Heiligöffnungschwert's second miracle. Perhaps summoning could be the key to reversing your fortunes in battle.
>>3845920>>[ ] Go down to the basement workshop and find a room to experiment with Heiligöffnungschwert's second miracle. Perhaps summoning could be the key to reversing your fortunes in battle.Tekeli-Li!
Should we invite Ayaka to watch the summoning? Involving her would probably help her morale.
>>3845920>>[ ] Go down to the basement workshop and find a room to experiment with Heiligöffnungschwert's second miracle. Perhaps summoning could be the key to reversing your fortunes in battle.
>>3845920>[ ] Go down to the basement workshop and find a room to experiment with Heiligöffnungschwert's second miracle. Perhaps summoning could be the key to reversing your fortunes in battle.>>3846039Maybe we can bring the thing back up and introduce it to Ayaka.
>>3846019I mean, I guess you maybe could summon a shoggoth; but do you really want to?
>>3846100Yes absolutely
>>3846100>... but do you really want to?
>>3846100Remember that you're in a /tg/ offshoot the next time you think about asking something like that.
>>3846100...There are shoggoths in there?I thought the book summoned things from R'lyeh.
>>3846105>>3846106also both of these guys are correct, we need to summon the super demon thing
>>3846143>The bookWhich one? Tekeli-li is an antarctic refrain in At the Mountains of Madness, the HPL novella that introduced shoggoths to the world.It's also the call of the antarctic birds in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, by Poe, but I haven't read that so I didn't have a joke for it.
>>3846178>Which one?Prelati's Spellbook, of course.
>>3846143Are you talking about Prelati's Spellbook?
>>3846192Ah, right. That grimoire does seem to summon up horrors out of R'lyeh, but shoggoths wouldn't be included there. They were created by the Elder Things, not Cthulhu.
>[X] Go down to the basement workshop and find a room to experiment with Heiligöffnungschwert's second miracle. Perhaps summoning could be the key to reversing your fortunes in battle.Alright, I'm calling it now. After 6 agreeing votes and nobody disputing it in an hour, I don't think there's going to be a different result. Roll 1d1000, folks. I'll take up to ten rolls.
Rolled 228 (1d1000)>>3846301Oh FUCK DICE
>>3845917>That will do until you've decided on a more final resolution, at least.>final resolutionDo we need to find Adelheid deal with Arturia?But seriously,>>3845920>[ ] Go down to the basement workshop and find a room to experiment with Heiligöffnungschwert's second miracle. Perhaps summoning could be the key to reversing your fortunes in battle.
Rolled 817 (1d1000)>>3846301Rolling
>>3846307Hey, you folks are the ones who've been calling it the sword gacha. I just thought I'd run with the idea and have some fun.
Rolled 238 (1d1000)>>3846301>it's a dice episodeOh boy, I sure hope I don't crit fail like I used to.
Rolled 715 (1d1000)>>3846301GACHAPON
Rolled 821 (1d1000)>>3846301Big money
>inb4 1000 is a god coming into the world
>>3846358In hindsight we probably shouldn't be doing this under the house.
Rolled 213 (1d1000)>>3846301>RollCould it be...?
Fuuuck, it's probably not even gonna be 4 Stars at this rate!
Rolled 473 (1d1000)>>3846301Oh boy. Inb4 we get the nat 1 secret bad end
>>3846301I'm guessing you'll roll to cover the deficit?
Rolled 278 (1d1000)I got Gilgamesh off of a random ticket last week, let's see how this goes.
>>3846439conglaturations! You got "Lamyros
Rolled 426 (1d1000)>>3846301HOLY SHIT DICE, let's hope it goes well
>>3846394>nat 1 secret bad endThat would be summoning a piece of Tiamat. Tiger Dojo is replaced by the gods yelling at us but also being oddly happy about what we did
Fuck, we need one more!
Rolled 241 (1d1000)>>3846301
Rolled 943 (1d1000)>>3846301It`s been so long since last time I tried to roll for something. It`s always goes horribly wrong.
>>3846522In this case, what went wrong was that you were the eleventh roll.
>>3846522>finally roll 900+>it's too late
>>3846307>>3846315>>3846329>>3846336>>3846350>>3846372>>3846394>>3846439>>3846459>>3846517Rolled 821, writing.Shame I won't be able to write the natural 1 scenario, attached.
>>3846522Why did you have to ruin it by being late?>>3846539I wish we could've rejoiced now
>>3846525>>3846526I can be really petty and try to rules lawyer that Giglamesh lad didn`t quote if you want that 943 for pulling Scáthach?>>3846546I just woke up.
>>3846559Hm........HMM..........I doubt he would take such a technicality.
Rolled 853 (1d1000)Damn it I was asleepRolling anyway
>>3846559Nope, it's 821. I'll recognize your meritorious roll, though, and present you with this lovely special prize: the probability ranking!Common 001-400Uncommon 401-800Rare 801-920SR 921-960SSR 961-990General SSSR 991-993Rate-Up SSSR 994-1000
>>3846590Oh, it doesn't recognize the star character. That's too bad.
>>3846590From now on, we're doing nothing but Sword Gacha.Forever.
>>3846590>we were one post off of getting an SR
>>3846590>Rate-Up SSSR>994-1000Dream of class change into Foreigner if far far away.
>>3846600It's just as disappointing as the real thing!
Rolled 671, 684, 94, 772, 897, 773, 87, 786, 62, 981 = 5807 (10d1000)>>3846617Sword Gacha is fun!Check out this simulation roll!
Rolled 78 (1d1000)>>3846301Late, but I just want to roll.
Rolled 476, 168, 484, 345, 659, 405, 560, 911, 668, 731 = 5407 (10d1000)>>3846621>981We need just a bit more.
>>3846621>1 SSRWho was it, bros?
>>3846621>SSR on the simulation rollSeems about right yeah.
>>3846590Hey guys check out this Rare!Shame she's fucking dead.
>>3846631Fafnir.We need to get SSSR for Fenrir.
Rolled 105, 211, 558, 516, 88, 58, 959, 929, 622, 871 = 4917 (10d1000)>>3846641Fafnir is dead.Final Simulation Roll.
Rolled 9 (1d10)>>3846631Let's see what anon got from his sim roll
>>3846640At least we can throw her summoned leftovers at Medusa.
>>3846658>House explodes from a Hydra suddenly appearing in the basement>"Ani-ue what have you done?!">"Whoops!"
>>3846668That would just straight up mindbreak her.
>>3846781>sadism increases by 10
It's finally time to experiment with the last of Heiligöffnungschwert's miracles still untried, you think. The second power, to "bring into your world and sustain there impossibilities," in the words of that strange chorus of seeming divinity that spoke to you at the boundary between here and the Realm of Imaginary Numbers. The power, you suppose, must be to summon up things from the Age of Gods: dragons, chimeras, and so-on, which according to Circe retreated with the Gods into their new world. The thing to do, then, is to find one of the larger rooms in the basement, reach out through the sword, and see what answers the call. After all, you can hardly bring a winged horse or goat-headed lion forth in the manor's back garden without handing Ayaka a grave insult to her principles of magical secrecy. With these thoughts in mind you get up, wish your Master a good morning, and head for the basement stairs.Down in the workshop you're met with a surprising sight: Kōrakuhime occupies the seat Vaisset had formerly used when conducting his research, and seems to be going about magical studies of her own. She has, stretched out on the table before her, a strange parchment covered in illegibly flowing script and indecipherable geometric patterns based primarily around octagons and lines intersecting them in strange ways. "Kōrakuhime," you say, raising a hand in greeting as you come in, "I see you've made yourself at home in my former Master's workshop. What do you have there?"Your sister glances up at you only briefly before returning her gaze to the paper, evidently not wanting to miss a moment of the ever-changing contents. "I am... studying our captive, Ani-ue," she explains. "Despite... being Servants ourselves, we know little about the magecraft which... shapes and governs us, do we not?" "Would you say so?" You're not so sure of the deficiency yourself. "I suppose I wouldn't be able to create a Servant myself, but I do have a general understanding of what we are, and how the Command Spells and Holy Grail keep us here, and so-on.""No, that is only... an abstract notion," Kōrakuhime says, shaking her head. "For a knight such as yourself... this may be sufficient, but... I am a Caster. Since we have a bound Servant here... at our disposal, I have... taken the liberty of investigating the manner in which a heroic spirit can be made into a familiar, and... bound to this world, to the flow of time, despite residing ordinarily outside of it.""Indeed? Well then, best of luck with your studies," you say, nodding. It makes sense, you suppose. Studying Servants was what Ogawara was best for in the Akeldama, after all; there's no reason that interest shouldn't continue now, after the transformation into a Servant. Indeed, Kōrakuhime's research may even yield useful insights into Servants that could be used in the War. "Have you discovered anything yet?"
"I have not yet made great progress... no," your sister says, shaking her head dispiritedly. "For some strange... reason, it appears as if this Saber you have captured is... a living body, as we are, and not... a heroic spirit brought from the Throne of Heroes. Until I can find a way to... properly understand her presence, I will be unable... to progress further.""What a strange problem to have," you muse, "still, I'm sure that you'll be able to overcome it." You give her an encouraging pat on the shoulder before continuing, "Now if you will excuse me, I have some magical experimentation of my own to get to."With that, you move on to the first side chamber of the basement, the large room where you and Kōrakuhime had your brief practice spar and which appears to have formerly been used for target practice. It's the largest of the subterranean chambers you've seen so far, and decently high-ceilinged. It's no gymnasium, or cathedral, but the area is large enough that if you summon something like a big cat it will have enough space to move around. You walk to the center of the chamber, materializing your weapon and armor as you do so, and draw forth Heiligöffnungschwert. Then, with the weapon held point-downward at your breast in the classical knight's posture, you shut your eyes and feel the magic of the thing.The first of the powers to make itself clear to your mind is that which binds it most securely to you, the connection between your own magic circuits and the blade that enables you to manifest the impossible element of Nothingness. It's a subtle enough effect that you might never have noticed if you didn't know of the sword's power already, but when you look for it you can clearly feel the way that it works on you, subtly altering your circuits as long as you bear it. You suppose that what it's doing is making your body a bit more like the world of Imaginary Numbers, so that the imaginary elements can best manifest into the real world through it. That's no more than conjecture, though; all that you can clearly feel is that there is a magical influence from Heiligöffnungschwert acting on your magic circuits.Then, moving your perception outwards from your own body, you can feel the composition of the sword itself. There is the strange link to the universal Nothingness that renders Heiligöffnungschwert unbreakable. There, at the edge of the blade, is the portal that gives it its power: a hair-thin magical construct, fused with the body of the sword to give it a truly peerless cutting edge; but also capable of propagating itself, projecting more portals into the world at your command.
Finally, after what feels like hours, you can feel the magical structure of the blade as clearly as you felt your own magic circuits on your first usage of them. Only then, when you have complete awareness of Heiligöffnungschwert, do you detect the second influence that is passively projected from it; not on you, but on the general surroundings. This, you suppose, must be the power that will sustain the existence of beings from the Realm of Imaginary Numbers. There doesn't seem to be any further information about the miracles you can gain from meditation. All that's left to do now, then, is try it by commanding the blade."Heiligöffnungschwert!"As you call your Noble Phantasm's name, you bring the point down in a vertical slash, willing it to open a gateway and summon forth some creature that can help you find victory in the Holy Grail War. As you strike, however, nothing happens. There is no shadow tracery, leaving the trail of your attack hanging in the air. Instead, the effect of the final miracle begins after your blade comes to a rest. Darkness flows out from the point of the blade as if leaking from a fountain pen left to pool ink on a page, and in a few moments there's what appears to be an empty hole in the world hanging in the air at about the level of your knee.All at once, your eyes burn with streaming color. The vision you see at the edge of reality, of the streaming light pouring into the black endpoint, is overlaid on your vision here in the waking world, and the overstimulatus of two simultaneous views drives into your eyes and head like an icepick. You start to bring a hand up to shield your eyes, and suddenly it's over in no more than a moment. Reality met with the passage to the Imaginary for less time than it took for you to bring a hand up, but it did meet. The thing on the stone floor, where the hole was a moment ago, is evidence enough of that.Like its peculiar entryway, the thing looks like nothing so much as a shadow, although this one is standing rahter than floating. It's vaguely animal in shape, with a cylindrical body, eight vertical limbs set along it in pairs of two, and two more at the rear, these hanging in the air like outstretched arms, rather than supporting legs as the other eight are. At the opposite end, which might tentatively be considered the front, is the only aspect of the thing that has any color: a set of three points of red light, set in a triangle. The shock of its alien appearance is offset somewhat by its size. The thing is perhaps 30 centimeters tall, if not shorter, and no more than 115 centimeters long, including the rear two limbs which are on their own a third as long as the body. Somehow, you get the impression that the thing is as baffled as you are by the development, as it points those odd red lights at you. Are they eyes, then?
Suddenly, you feel the magical energy in Heiligöffnungschwert surge, and a bond is formed between you and the thing, it receiving magical energy from you much as you receive it from Ayaka. At the same moment, the thing seems to shimmer and then change enormously. The general shape and size remain constant but all at once the entire impression it gives off is turned on its head, for in that momentary shift, for all the world as if the light had changed or a distorting lens had been removed, the thing had become a cat.It was a cat with sable-black fur and three red eyes, with eight legs and two tails, but a cat nonetheless. A phantasmal beast to be sure, but not alien. Then it opens its mouth, and in a low, rumbling voice says, "It seems you're the one who's brought me here. Why?">[ ] "Part of an experiment in summoning up phantasmal beasts. What can you tell me about yourself?" (Curiosity)>[ ] "It seems to have been a bit of a mistake. I was hoping to summon something that would be of use in battle, you see. Can you return on your own, or shall I facilitate?" (Pride)>[ ] "This sword has the ability of sustaining Phantasmals' existence in this world, and I decided to test it." (Duty)>[ ] Say something else. (Write in)
Sorry for the slow update, folks. Meant to get it done earlier tonight, but had some things get in the way.
>>3846940>[ ] "Part of an experiment in summoning up phantasmal beasts. What can you tell me about yourself?" (Curiosity)...A cat is fine too.
>>3846940>[ ] "Part of an experiment in summoning up phantasmal beasts. What can you tell me about yourself?" (Curiosity)>we summoned workerBut where's Parasite?
>>3846940>[ ] "Part of an experiment in summoning up phantasmal beasts. What can you tell me about yourself?" (Curiosity)Hope Ayaka likes cats.And Kōrakuhime working on Saber Alter project by herself? Best girl.
>>3846942Actually, this might be the fabled Imaginary Tiger. Was its mother skinned to make Matsuda's grip?
>>3846956>115cm longClearly we summoned Tacgnol>"Kourakuhime, I have no idea what the fuck I've summoned!"It's intelligent at least, so that's a good start. Could be a useful familiar for us.
