It... couldn't hurt to impose a new concept on this place now, could it? You've got the perfect opportunity to do so now that Sakura is pulling you out, after all, it could be quite dangerous to continue to stick around in this world while Sakura has limited control of it and you've made it more dangerous through modifying it. You open up your magic circuits and put a hand to the floor, envisioning the concept of nullification as you feel Sakura tug harder in an attempt to get you out of her. Just... a little longer...! You resist her pull so you can finish your modification, and you are almost startled by Sakura's physical strength. She's pretty strong for a girl who hates exercise and loves sweet food, you'd even go so far as to call her lazy! At least when it comes to exercise. Not like you could call her lazy when it comes to anything else.

You can see the concept take root in this entire world just as Sakura finally gives enough effort to pull you free of her dimension. You can see the entire dimension seem to take on a form of... uncertainty just as you can no longer observe things, almost as if the landscape itself is quivering. You have no idea just what this world might do to somebody or something that got caught in it now. You've got some theories, of course, but right now, if Sakura brought somebody into this world, it might end up with the world itself acting to nullify their entire existence. As if they never existed in the first place. You doubt that even a soul could escape this realm's power now, even with your own great power, you can feel the weakening process occurring far more quickly, and unless Sakura manages to master control over this world of hers, anything that ends up inside her will perish and be utterly obliterated with no escape, even for their soul. Scary thought.

You find yourself back in Sakura's room not a moment later, and Sakura is... crying? As she hugs you. She's trying to say something, but she's currently incapable of speech. You really hate seeing Sakura like this. You almost immediately forgive the girl for trapping you in that dimension of hers in the first place the moment you see how upset it seems the whole ordeal has made her. Seems like the idea of losing you as well isn't one she likes much.

You stroke her hair in an attempt to calm her as you return her hug. "It's OK Sakura. I was never in any danger, understand?" It's only a partial lie. After all, with how things developed in the end you weren't in any danger, but you easily could've found yourself struggling for your life inside Sakura had you not been so careful of the world. "I'm far too strong for something like that, right?" You break off the hug for a moment in order to look her in the eyes, giving her a confident smile as you do.

"R-right..." Sakura seems to have some life return to eyes as you reinforce the idea in her head that nothing can stop you. Even something like being pulled into her inner world is something you can escape. After all, had you cared less for Sakura, you would've simply used your Truth control to rip a hole back to reality instead of asking her to see if she could manifest an opening for you, but that would've caused her great pain. After all, if Gilgamesh could cause her pain with his struggles when she devoured him on the Heaven's Feel route, there's no telling what sort of agony forcibly ripping open a hole in a world of the imaginary with the overwhelming power of Truth would bring Sakura, you saw at the end how easy it was for Truth to affect an entire dimension of the imaginary just minutes ago, after all. You're glad your faith in Sakura has paid off.

"Think about things more positively, Sakura! Thanks to this morning, you've gained a greater mastery over your magecraft, right?" You continue trying to cheer Sakura up. Of course, you don't really want to reveal just yet that you imposed a brand new concept upon the world as you left. You wonder just what sort of effect it might have should she manifest her ribbons to the outside world. Within her pocket dimension, it felt as if it was ready to cancel out your entire existence entirely, it would likely have been a challenge to even use Truth to defend yourself without it being nullified entirely. The ribbons brought into real-space shouldn't be quite so terrifyingly powerful at least. Still, if the concept of nullification is as powerful as it felt in her inner world, then you aren't actually sure who would win in a battle between the current Sakura before you and Dark Sakura at the peak of her strength! After all, as she is now, this Sakura exudes a certain aura... almost as if the world inside her is prepared to consume any and all magic that is cast upon its Master. Could this be a living human' form of a Servant's Magic Resistance? No, it seems greater than mere Resistance, your magical senses can feel that much, she's almost like a complete dead zone! Magic Immunity? Magic Absorption? Or perhaps... Magic Nullification!

Sakura seems to grow a determined look upon her face. "You're right, Onii-chan! If I can get stronger, then I'll be able to help you, Rin and Rider!" There's that great determination that you know her meek persona hides. Despite being obviously more emotional than her, Sakura hides greater willpower than perhaps any other person you've ever met. You'd need it of course, if you were to survive what she went through with your sanity intact.

You smile as you continue to stroke her hair, and you remain like this for a while, you probably shouldn't spend too much time with Sakura here, your allies are probably already wondering just where on Earth you are. It's been far too long since you went off to go and fetch Sakura. You're actually somewhat fortunate that nobody has decided to fetch the two of them.

>Tell Sakura to get dressed, it's time you all went to visit Touko, and you kind of want to show off Sakura now, as well as the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you.
>Ask Sakura if she would mind manifesting one of her ribbons for you, you want to test a few things on one of them.
>Ask Sakura if you could test something real quickly, attack her with your magecraft. A rune ought to do the trick to see just how immune to magic Sakura has now become.
>Write-in...

For all intents and purposes, Sakura has gained Magic Resistance: EX passively. Good job!

>>4623346
>Tell Sakura to get her breakfast while we check on Betty

>>4623346
>>4623351
>Tell Sakura to get her breakfast while we check on Betty
Supporting this.

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I'll leave this vote open for a little longer than normal seeing as it's a new thread.

How do you feel about the upgrade you gave Sakura, by the way?

>>4623354
It's awesome. I'd rather not put her in harm's way but this is great. Anons made the right call.

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Waiting for everyone to notice the migration...
I suppose it is quite early in the morning though.

Seeing as we seem to be missing uh... almost everyone, I guess I'll call the vote in an hour and a half.
Maybe two.

>>4623367
Well it is also early in the morning (in the US). NEETs don't wake up for another hour at the earliest.

>>4623346
>>Tell Sakura to get dressed, it's time you all went to visit Touko, and you kind of want to show off Sakura now, as well as the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you.

>>4623346
>Tell Sakura to get dressed, it's time you all went to visit Touko, and you kind of want to show off Sakura now, as well as the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you.

I'm scared of the golden beetle from the golden cunt.

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>>4623376
He took the beetle back. He gave you a golden bracelet instead.
He has a lot of gold stuff.
It's sort of his thing.
Well it's Kintoki's thing too but his things are Gilgamesh's things.

>>4623346
>Tell Sakura to get dressed, it's time you all went to visit Touko, and you kind of want to show off Sakura now, as well as the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you.

>>4623346
>Tell Sakura to get dressed, it's time you all went to visit Touko, and you kind of want to show off Sakura now, as well as the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you.

I've got an Interlude to give you guys actually. Hold on.

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Servants of Mount Ooe
Interlude Start

"So... what exactly are we doing here, Berserker?" The Master of Berserker yawns tiredly. The girl, wearing the outfit of a traditional shrine maiden, is clearly not all too happy to be dragged around on the whims of her Servant, though it's not really clear who the Master of this relationship is.

"We're looking for Shuten, obviously! I think something must've happened to her... It's not like her to break a promise... most of the time." Ibaraki dōji sighs. Obviously, even she can't really happily deal with Shuten all of the time. She adores her adoptive sister, but even she needs to be careful about relying on Shuten for anything serious. She has no intention to allow her end to be repeated. "I made a promise with Shuten that I'd show you to her tonight, but... she wasn't at our meeting place!" Ibaraki sounds furious.

"So... why are we here?" The Master of Berserker looks upon the large mansion, it's a fair distance from anything else thanks to the large amount of land around the house, whoever lives here must be absolutely loaded! She feels a tinge of envy, the job of a shrine maiden isn't exactly a well-paying one, and the idea that somebody this rich would even want the Holy Grail pisses her off a little.

"I could smell him, of course, you of all people shouldn't underestimate an oni's sense of smell, my underling!" Ibaraki states in triumph, while her Master groans. "I can smell that little runt who must've done something to Shuten strongly here!" Ibaraki clearly isn't pleased with the guy who's responsible for this. Must suck to be that guy... or at least it probably will suck when Berserker gets her hands on him.

"Yeah, but between the three powerful spiritual presences I can sense in that house... No wait... Four powerful spiritual presences, not to mention all these damn barriers, I don't think we'd be able to beat him... Berserker." The Master of Berserker states calmly. Not only is this guy rich, he's got this many allies? This is totally bullshit! Never mind Ibaraki, she wants to tear this guy apart!

"Not yet, my underling! I'll beat any of these puny Servants one-on-one. All we need to do is wait for our opportunity!" Ibaraki seems confident at least, but her Master isn't so sure, this war is full of cheaters, and if Shuten lost, what hope does Ibaraki have...?

Interlude End

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>>4623346
>>Tell Sakura to get dressed, it's time you all went to visit Touko, and you kind of want to show off Sakura now, as well as the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you

>>4623390
Is this before or after we went to the temple?

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>>4623391
It's possible to work out without me telling you that.

>>4623391
it's after the temple since they mention they only sense 4 servants.

>>4623391
It's when Gilgamesh appears.

>>4623346
>Tell Sakura to get dressed, it's time you all went to visit Touko, and you kind of want to show off Sakura now, as well as the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you.

>>4623346
>>Tell Sakura to get dressed, it's time you all went to visit Touko, and you kind of want to show off Sakura now, as well as the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you.

>>4623354
Well considering that we're kinda forced to have her participate now, at least she has some form of defense now but this might bite us in the ass one day

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"Alright Sakura. Would you mind getting dressed now? We have a busy day ahead of us, especially if we're going to get everyone back to us." You hug Sakura once again as you bid her farewell. "See you shortly, Sakura." You give your sister one last heartfelt smile before you leave the room. With the strength you've given Sakura, getting your allies back will be far far easier, you think. So long as Sakura doesn't lose her will to fight, she will be capable of even defeating Servants. Only problem is that being capable of such things and actually carrying them out is a whole different story. Pure power isn't able to solve everything, even if you've turned Sakura into a complete powerhouse thanks to what you've done to her inner dimension, without the cruelty and lack of restraint granted to her by being possessed by Angra Mainyu, her personal fighting ability won't be nearly as great as what she displayed in the Heaven's Feel route.

You walk downstairs with something of a spring to your step. Sure, you were nearly killed by being eaten by Sakura of all things, but the fact remains that not only did you manage to survive something that ought to be instant death for practically anybody, but you managed to improve your relationship with Sakura even further! In fact, you even strengthened Sakura's abilities to far greater heights! You almost laugh to yourself at having such an excellent start to the day, trying to convince yourself that you planned it all from the start and that being consumed by Sakura was part of your master plan to win the war and save everyone.

You return to the dining table to find everyone boredly waiting for you. Seems that they must've decided that your privacy was more important than looking for you, well, that's probably for the best. Explaining things would've been a total chore... but uh, why is Illya blushing? You push that thought to the back of your mind. It's definitely not important. "Ahem! Everyone, I apologize for the delay, I was roped into helping Sakura... train her abilities." Illya seems to turn a deeper shade of red for some reason, yeah you're just going to pretend you aren't seeing that. "Anyway, we're back on track now, is everyone ready?" You see that somebody must've served Betty breakfast in your absence, as the perpetually sleepy Servant is happily and rapidly inhaling a stack of syrup covered pancakes. You'll probably have to thank either Shirou or Sella for this.

Sakura joins you after a minute or two of waiting about, and you are finally ready to set off to see Touko. You then find yourself presented with a choice. Just how should you go about getting to Garan no Dou? Without Caster, it's obvious that you're going to have to use a more mundane form of transport, but which? You suppose you could have Saber do the driving if you aren't feeling up to it. But it might be safer to just walk, Avenger has Illya nested in an arm. While he's not quite as large as Berserker, he's still tall despite looking young, and he's got more than enough strength to pick somebody as tiny as Illya up. Illya is seemingly more confident around her Servant now too. Guess that absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

You probably ought to make a decision. Your allies have been cut down enough that it would be possible for everyone barring the Einzbern maids to fit in a single car, if Avenger and Betty take spiritual form, that is. Between yourself, Shirou, Saber, Sakura and Illya, you'd need something bigger than a car to have everyone remain physical. Of course, you really find yourself wishing you managed to actually get that helipad permit approved.

>Take a car to Touko's something fast enough that you'll be able to rely on it to escape from an opportunistic attacker. (Drive yourself/Have Saber Drive?)
>Why not just walk? It's the most defensible option, even if it ends up taking you a little longer.
>Actually, you can take public transport! It's an excellent way to help the Servants become a little more attached to the world around them!
>Write-in...

>>4623451
>Take a car to Touko's something fast enough that you'll be able to rely on it to escape from an opportunistic attacker.
Saber can drive.

>>4623451
>>Actually, you can take public transport! It's an excellent way to help the Servants become a little more attached to the world around them!
kek

>>4623451
>Actually, you can take public transport! It's an excellent way to help the Servants become a little more attached to the world around them!

>>4623451
>>Take a car to Touko's something fast enough that you'll be able to rely on it to escape from an opportunistic attacker. (Drive yourself/Have Saber Drive?)
Drive yourself.

>>4623451
>>Actually, you can take public transport! It's an excellent way to help the Servants become a little more attached to the world around them!

>>4623451
>Take a car to Touko's something fast enough that you'll be able to rely on it to escape from an opportunistic attacker.
>Drive yourself

>>4623451
>>Take a car to Touko's something fast enough that you'll be able to rely on it to escape from an opportunistic attacker.
I drive.

>>4623451
>>Take a car to Touko's something fast enough that you'll be able to rely on it to escape from an opportunistic attacker. (Drive yourself/Have Saber Drive?)
Saber, she's the best driver here

>>4623451
>Take a car to Touko's something fast enough that you'll be able to rely on it to escape from an opportunistic attacker.

Just do it yourself.

>>4623451
>>Actually, you can take public transport! It's an excellent way to help the Servants become a little more attached to the world around them!
Just because I want to see Avenger on a bus.

>>4623495
He is probably gonna be in a spirit form.

>>4623451
Public transport and the illya blushing part was adorable

>>4623502
Sorry trip fell off

>Drive
>>4623456 (Saber)
>>4623466 (Self)
>>4623469 (Self)
>>4623481 (Self)
>>4623488 (Saber)
>>4623493 (Self)

>Bus
>>4623457
>>4623464
>>4623468
>>4623495
>>4623502

Looks like the winner is currently choosing to drive and driving yourself is winning the subvote.
I'll call in 12 minutes in case there are any last minute votes or switches.

>>4623515
>>4623451

Drive (Saber if she wants)

>>4623451
>Public Transport
I want to see the Servants on a bus.

>>4623515
Is it called?

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>>4623536
Yes.

>>4623539
Hey she's cute

>>4623539
We really need to find some time to truthboost our connections to her and try to reassure her.
And Shuten too.

"I'll drive us, we can't afford to waste any more time." You could have Saber do the driving, but you don't want to impose on her. She might be a better driver than you are, but you don't think it'll make all that much of a difference for today. Maybe if it were the nightime you'd give her the wheel, but only a fool would attempt to attack an enemy Servant in the day. They'd have to be a genuine madman to think attacking three Servants was a good idea, especially three Servants as powerful as Saber, Betty and Avenger are.

You end up deciding to drive a Rolls Royce, sometimes you feel like you might've spent too much of your time purchasing expensive cars to drive around. It never really seems to impress anyone nearly as much as it should. In fact, the only person who really seemed all that excited about one of your cars was Rider, and that was more because of how fast it could go than anything else, and that's only because she's a speed freak!

Sakura ends up sitting in the front seat next to you, with Illya right behind you. Saber sits in the middle seat, next to both Illya and Shirou. Avenger grumbles something about having to take his spiritual form before doing so whereas Betty just does as she's bid. You hope the girl isn't going to fall asleep while spiritual again, she's at least making an effort though, and she's had more than enough sleep recently. Servants shouldn't even need sleep in the first place. You briefly wonder what would happen if you were to try to use Truth on coffee or something... maybe later.

The journey is almost entirely uneventful, the only real part of it that was memorable at all was Avenger sensing the presence of an enemy Servant nearby and needing to be convinced not to go after them out of sheer boredom. Thankfully, it seems that the enemy must've noticed the threat to them and they scarpered pretty quickly. Or at least got out of the range at which the presence of a Servant can be felt. Either way, you spend the rest of the time driving in peace. Illya spends most of her time staring longingly out of the window. Saber and Shirou sit quietly, ever the model passenger, while Sakura keeps stealing glances at you, if you weren't such a confident driver, you'd probably find that quite distracting.

Eventually, you pull up to Garan no Dou, and upon seeing the state of the building, you can't help but gasp in surprise. Covered in hazard tape and charred from flames... Somebody attacked Touko? Who the hell would be stupid enough to attack Shishou? Whoever they are, they're terribly foolish. You aren't worried at all for your teacher's safety. She's quite literally the sort of woman who wouldn't die, even if you killed her. But you are somewhat concerned about the state of her research, that's not the sort of stuff you want falling into enemy hands... Especially if she had any notes on you in that building.

As you look up at the ruins of the abandoned building Touko once called a workshop, you clench your fist in anger. If Touko hasn't already gotten to them first, you're going to make the person responsible for this pay!

>Head inside, you need to find out more about what happened, Touko might not have even "died".
>Have a Servant check inside first. Can never be certain that this isn't a trap to lure you in.(Who?)
>Have Betty send in a familiar to check for traps, after all, even if Touko's traps aren't activated, it's more than possible for an opponent to just set up an ambush within the building, and that could very easily lead to somebody dying.
>Call it off. You know just how many traps are set-up from Touko herself, without her in control of the place, you're pretty sure even Heracles would lose a few lives getting through it. Go somewhere else (But where?)
>Write-in...

>>4623577
>Have Betty send in a familiar to check for traps, after all, even if Touko's traps aren't activated, it's more than possible for an opponent to just set up an ambush within the building, and that could very easily lead to somebody dying.

>>4623577
>>Have Betty send in a familiar to check for traps, after all, even if Touko's traps aren't activated, it's more than possible for an opponent to just set up an ambush within the building, and that could very easily lead to somebody dying.

>>4623577
>>Head inside, you need to find out more about what happened, Touko might not have even "died".

>>4623577
Have Betty check for traps

>>4623577
>Head inside, you need to find out more about what happened, Touko might not have even "died".
WHO HAS THE BALLS?

>>4623577
>>Have Betty send in a familiar to check for traps, after all, even if Touko's traps aren't activated, it's more than possible for an opponent to just set up an ambush within the building, and that could very easily lead to somebody dying.
Somebody being us.

>>4623577
>>Have Betty send in a familiar to check for traps, after all, even if Touko's traps aren't activated, it's more than possible for an opponent to just set up an ambush within the building, and that could very easily lead to somebody dying.
Already another person on the shit list

I wish we had a way to tell who our strongest ally was.
Avenger?
Buffed Sakura?
Betty?
It's probably between those three imo.
Sorry Saber.
I just wish there was some sort of powerscale.

>>4623596
Betty probably has the potential but with avenger being the counter to Gil I'd say him.

>>4623577
>Have Betty send in a familiar to check for traps, after all, even if Touko's traps aren't activated, it's more than possible for an opponent to just set up an ambush within the building, and that could very easily lead to somebody dying.
Probably the safest option. Heres hoping Betty is awake.

>>4623596
You're underrating Saber so much, her stats are normal and they're all great because we turned Shirou into a competent Magus plus she has Avalon now

>>4623616
Did we give Saber Avalon yet?
We need to bully Gray into giving us Rhongomyniad.
>>4623599
It might be a rock paper scissors type thing with Avenger and Gil though.

>>4623622
If we haven't, we probably should. Can't Shirou trace his own copy anyways?
I still want to visit Rin's House to get Ruby and the Jeweled Sword for Illya and Shirou too. Make sure everyone has some sort of combat upgrade.

>>4623577
>Have Betty send in a familiar to check for traps, after all, even if Touko's traps aren't activated, it's more than possible for an opponent to just set up an ambush within the building, and that could very easily lead to somebody dying.

>>4623577
Is Shirou aware Gray and Saber are one and the same except one is a reincarnation and the other is a Servant? Is Shirou aware the girl he fell in love with on sight that day with Gray and Avalon is, in a way, the Saber right next to him right now? Does Shirou have Avalon able to be traced like the end of Fate route? Does Saber know of Gray's existance? Did Shirou tell her anything?

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>>4623656
Why don't you ask the two of them?

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While I write the update, I've been wondering something.
Who's everyone's favourite character in the quest?

>>4623680
Monica

>>4623680
Monica
Betty and Shinji himself are fun too.

>>4623680
I guess mines' gotta be Shinji, just for his inner monologue when he trashtalks characters or when he gets pissy that things didn't go his way.

>>4623680
Shinji.

>>4623680
Shinji, but really only because it's not the actual dipshit loser shinji

>>4623680
Monica (best girl)
Shinji

>>4623680
Shinji
Rin because she is the only that has the balls talks back to us and for being a girl that is not thirsty for us.

>>4623685
Also Betty bc she's adorable and deserves a unlimited supply of pancakes

>>4623680
I honestly can't single one out.
I do like Monica as a good OC though.

>>4623680
Medea.

>>4623680
Shinji, i like how he's an empathetic person but still has OG Shinji's massive ego

>>4623702
that's why I want her

"Betty!" You call to your Servant, and to your great relief, she manifests her physical form in front of you. "Could you create something to explore that building? I have just a little too much faith in Shishou's magecraft, and I can't help but feel like there are going to more than a few magical traps that have remained active even with the building in this much of a state." You highly doubt that any firefighter actually took the risk of heading inside the abandoned building as they were fighting the fire that has consumed the place. After all, as an officially abandoned building, why would they have any reason to suspect people were within it?

"OK, Master!" Betty quickly summons up an odd looking figure, it's vaguely humanoid, though its entire body is spindly, with thorn like spines running across the entire surface of the creature. Instead of anything resembling an actual head, there is a transparent octahedron, almost as if it were made from glass. Something resembling an eyeball seems to dwell inside the creatures "head".

Without any warning, the creature suddenly breaks into a sprint and dashes right into the burned out wreck. Mere instants later, there's a flash of purple light and a crunching sound. You don't need to wonder what might've happened to the strange stickman like creation of Betty's for more than a few seconds, because a fragment of angled glass that looks almost exactly like a half of the bizarre creature's head comes shooting out of the front door of the workshop. Good grief Touko. You really weren't messing about with this place, were you? Of course that does beg the question of just who would be able to deal such damage... Even though the traps are of course attuned to not activate on you or anyone you designate as having permission, they activated regardless. "Betty. Send another one in."

Betty is a little more reluctant this time, but she obliges, creating something similar to the first though this one is even spindlier, having some weird sort of triple joined back and charging into the building on all fours. This time there's a shine of flashing red light, before you hear a distinctly different sort of crunching noise to the first time. The building then jettisons the body of the invader outside once again, allowing you to inspect the damage done to the beast. This time, the building doesn't seem to have almost entirely incinerated the strange beast of Betty's creation, instead, the body of the creature has been crumpled up into a ball, no larger than a basketball and almost completely smooth. There's a black goo leaking from multiple cracks running throughout it. You find yourself incredibly glad that you decided not to explore the building with somebody less expendable. Sakura and the Servants with Magic Resistance would probably have been alright though... probably.

Illya has clearly already gotten tired of watching you send Betty's creatures to their deaths though, and takes a step forwards. "Shinji, just how many traps do you think are present on this building? Is this going to take much longer?" Illya has never really been the patient sort of person, you can sort of understand that, considering her limited lifespan.

"How many traps...?" You raise a finger to your chin as you think about how many traps somebody as understandably paranoid as Touko might've placed upon her abode, and her average work speed... "Oh... I don't know, I'd say at least five thousand." It's a reasonably low estimate. Touko takes her home safety very seriously, which is why it's impressive that somebody has managed to actually break in. Her own defenses make yours look like child's play in comparison. You suppose that's just the level of skill that she holds as one of the greatest living human magi. You've still got a ways to go before you can think about surpassing your Shishou.

"Y...you're kidding, right?" Illya looks at you like you've lost your mind, she also sounds a little overwhelmed by just the amount of defenses a true first class magus like Touko placed upon her property. "Then... why did you send two of those things inside if you knew it was that well defended?" She genuinely sounds like she's trying to understand your thought process, of course, you weren't acting entirely out of morbid curiosity. It did serve a purpose.

"Well, I needed to see if the first time was just a fluke or if the defenses of the place really have been compromised. Whatever has done this has apparently not only defeated my teacher, they've also managed to steal control of the traps she's set up to deter any invaders. I can only think of a few things able to do this. One, our enemy here is Second Caster, and my teacher was defeated in a battle of magecraft, and two, our enemy utilized some sort of Noble Phantasm or powerful Mystic Code in order to usurp control of her magecraft..." Honestly, that sort of Noble Phantasm could belong to any class, if you're being honest. You take another look at the entrance to Garan no Dou, it's clear that Betty is getting a little upset about seeing her creations brutally slaughtered twice in quick succession, so you obviously aren't just going to be able to try to overwhelm the traps of the building through numbers alone, never mind the fact that even your magical energy reserves would run dry before you managed to exhaust the traps.

>Now is an excellent chance to test out Sakura's new ability to control nullification, explain that you want her to use her magic to lead the way!
>Looks like this is a job for Saber and Avenger. Magic Resistance: A will lead the way!
>Maybe you should just go somewhere else. If Touko survived she's probably moved anyway, and if she died she's probably already en route to returning.
>"Saber. Use Excalibur on Garan no Dou. If the enemy is hiding within, it's our best way to be sure they are dead."
>Write-in...

>>4623735
>>Now is an excellent chance to test out Sakura's new ability to control nullification, explain that you want her to use her magic to lead the way!

>>4623735

>Now is an excellent chance to test out Sakura's new ability to control nullification, explain that you want her to use her magic to lead the way!

>>4623735
>>Now is an excellent chance to test out Sakura's new ability to control nullification, explain that you want her to use her magic to lead the way!
She has a higher magical resistance than Saber and Touko's magic stuff can't be as good as a servant's. Jeanne D'Arc was effectively immune to most magic shit

>>4623735
>>Now is an excellent chance to test out Sakura's new ability to control nullification, explain that you want her to use her magic to lead the way!

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Oh boy I can't wait to write what comes next.

>>4623763
Stop that.
You stop that right fucking now!

>>4623763
You will not intimidate us QM.

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>>4623767
Excellent.

>>4623763
I will murder Touko if Sakura dies

>>4623735
>>Now is an excellent chance to test out Sakura's new ability to control nullification, explain that you want her to use her magic to lead the way!

>>4623735
>Now is an excellent chance to test out Sakura's new ability to control nullification, explain that you want her to use her magic to lead the way!

>>4623735
>ask for volunteers (include Sakura)
>use your secret superpower of money to seal off the premises

>>4623780
>>use your secret superpower of money to seal off the premises
Why?

>>4623784
so looters don't get unnecessarily killed or lucky ones make off with something potentially valuable

>>4623763
are you perhaps referring to the fact that we didn't actually tell Sakura that we violated her hole?

>>4623794
>Lucky ones
The only living mundane person in Fuyuki city with enough luck to survive standing inside the place for a minute would never think of looting a building.

>>4623794
>so looters don't get unnecessarily killed
Why would we care? They are of no consequence.

You walk close to Sakura and begin to whisper in her ear, this is the sort of stuff you don't want anybody to overhear. "Sakura. This morning, when I was in your inner world... I might have... done something that altered your magecraft juuuust a little." You try to explain things to Sakura in a calm and controlled manner, for some reason her face flushes red at the reminder of your time in her inner world. You ignore the blushing schoolgirl and get back on topic. "I think because of that, you're our best candidate for going first, though I'm going to need you to summon up a few of those ribbons of yours." You never know who's listening in, so you avoid saying anything too specific about what you did.

"Oh... Uhm... Okay." At your instruction, Sakura brings forth ten ribbons which seem to flow from where her feet touch the ground, they don't seem to look all that different from before, though you don't remember the red edges having a strange sort of glow to them before, perhaps this is a aesthetic change brought about through the application of a concept? It's about the most likely thing you could think of, even if the change is relatively minute in the grand scheme of things. You find yourself wondering if other concepts you could've imposed would've had different visual effects on her magic. Probably no good wondering that now.

"Just uh... Try to sweep those ribbons across the floor, walls and ceiling." If your hunch about the change to Sakura's abilities is correct, the mere act of being touched by the concept of nullification should be enough to disable any sort of magecraft. Though the act of nullifying something more physical might be limited to those that are dragged within her world. That might be for the best, you don't really want Sakura accidentally using her newfound abilities to accidentally crush something out of existence entirely through merely grasping them with those tendrils. Of course, the effects they might have on a Servant require some testing too, but you don't really want to have her grasp an allied Servant with something that very well may nullify and destroy anything magical it touches. It's unlikely to have such a tremendous effect on a Servant, but her ribbons were already super effective against spiritual beings like Servants, so it's likely that merely the act of being touched by Sakura's ribbons should damage a Servant now.

"I'll... do my best?" Sakura is clearly not too sure of your current plan, seems that she doesn't think that her ribbons have the capabilities to accomplish much in this scenario, of course, she's still unaware of the concept of Nullification she controls! You allow yourself to marvel at your own incredible power for a moment. It's amazing that it never occurred to you before, but in Imaginary Number Space, your ability to manipulate Truth would practically make you nearly completely unstoppable, one of the greatest weaknesses of your ability is the enormous amount of push-back you suffer from Gaia for trying to use it, but that weakness is non-existent in a realm without the interference of Gaia. Of course, it's highly situational, and you don't really feel like asking Sakura to effectively attempt to consume both you and your opponent whenever you want to make use of Imaginary Number Space. Not to mention that with the concept of Nullification imposed on the world would likely kill you before you had the chance to do anything meaningful there anyway... Kind of a shame, that unless Sakura learns to control the power you managed to grant her, that you won't be able to make use of her inner world... Well, it's kind of awkward any way you swing it, so maybe it's for the best.

Sakura leads the way into the building, Saber is clearly apprehensive about not leading the way with her superior Magic Resistance... little does she know. Avenger seems content with just carrying Illya, the girl is far more comfortable around her Servant as she's cradled in one arm. Avenger seems oddly kind to her for... well... an Avenger. What sort of messed up nonsense did the Einzbern do to get this Servant?

You feel relieved when Sakura skims across every surface of the ground floor with her ribbons and there's no reaction. You feel further relieved when nothing happens when your group is standing in the middle of the room with no adverse reaction. That's good, at least you aren't going to be crushed by one of those localized gravity wells she set up, being crushed into a ball sounds like an exceptionally horrible way to die, not that you have any intention of finding out.

"So... I guess there's nothing on this floor?" Shirou has Saber at his side, the Servant of the Sword prepared to cut down any threat that might appear to threaten her Master, Shirou seems to have naturally traced both Kanshou and Bakuya to defend himself should he need to, he really loves those two damn swords, doesn't he? He's probably having some sort of mental dialogue about how perfect and beautiful the things are right now. He really does love swords.

There don't seem to be any actual living threats in the building, and that's sort of a relief. Things could've gotten bad if you had to deal with being attacked by the person who's usurped all of Touko's traps. Even after somehow turning Sakura into some form of ultimate Anti-Magic weapon, the traps in this place would still tear you, Shirou and Illya to shreds. Maybe Betty too, depending on just what trap was triggered.

Soon enough, you manage to reach Touko's workshop, and nothing could've prepared you for the sight that greets you when you open the door. Touko is standing there facing off to the side... or perhaps you should say that she's in the process of falling, but seems to have stopped in mid-air. You walk closer to your teacher to get a better look at her, and she doesn't respond at all. Is she... still alive? You get closer to your teacher and you finally take note of the fact that there's a clear sign of a stab wound going straight through her heart. Even one of Touko's puppets wouldn't be able to survive this for long, so why is she still alive in some form of stasis? Could this be the work of an enemy? But what could they have to gain from...

It hits you, and you realize that this couldn't have been just a random attack. "No way..." You utter quietly. This was definitely organized. Whoever did this wanted to take Touko out of the picture... maybe permanently. She seems to have been... frozen in time! Of course, merely killing Touko Aozaki would be an excellent way for her to enact her bloody vengeance on you in short-order, but this method wouldn't just stop her from coming back through trapping her soul between life and death in a moment of frozen time, it would give you the opportunity to try to track down each and every puppet body she might have! You clench your fist in rage. What's more, the fact that they took control of her traps is the perfect way to prevent anybody from finding out just what they did by killing them! You saw the lethality of Touko's traps through the crushing of Betty's creations. But who could've organized something like this, the amount of resources and power needed to pull this off is something that only the strongest people or organizations would be able to muster! Manaka, maybe? No, you somehow doubt that. You're really pissed off right now though, even if you manage to free Touko, her death would occur mere moments after her liberation, you briefly consider trying to use your magic to heal her while she's still frozen in time, but her body would almost certainly reject being healed like that. Do you really have no choice but to allow Touko to die and wait for her to come back with another body? Does she even have any spares?

>Use your ability to manipulate Truth in an attempt to free Touko from the time freeze.
>Have Sakura see if her ribbons are capable of freeing your teacher.
>Leave her like this. You can't be certain that she even has any puppet bodies to retreat into after such a coordinated attack has been made.
>Write-in...

>>4623873
Manipulate truth to free her and heal her. No matter the mana cost.

>>4623875
Support.

>>4623873
>>Use your ability to manipulate Truth in an attempt to free Touko from the time freeze.
Welp, maybe it's time to test the new lines, that's what we came here for

>>4623875
Support

>>4623873
>>4623875
Supporting this.

>>4623873
>>Use your ability to manipulate Truth in an attempt to free Touko from the time freeze.

>>4623873
>>4623875
Supporting.

>>4623873
>Use your ability to manipulate Truth in an attempt to free Touko from the time freeze.
I don't think it's possible to heal Touko.
Sounds like she's gonna die the exact moment she gets unfrozen.
She'll be back though.
She's fucking Touko Aozaki!

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Did you enjoy this update, my anons?

>>4623903
Love it but if Touko dies you die

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>>4623907

>>4623908
LOL bring it

>>4623875
+1

Genuinely surprised nobody is theorizing who could have been the one behind this.

>>4623931
It is Alan isn't it.

>>4623931
Maybe its nyarly? Since he was the one who froze illya's maids earlier

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>>4623932
>>4623934

>>4623931
A DAA maybe? You gotta be pretty fuckin tough to go through her defenses and stab her

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>>4623931
Maybe it was the No Route trauma monster.

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You sure you're not forgetting something important?

>>4623960
Don't do this! Give us a hint!

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>>4623963
I just did.

>>4623965
LOL you're killing me smalls!

>>4623960
It's the grief for our teacher, mind can't focus.

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>>4623967
>>4623968
Just think carefully before you do anything rash.

>>4623972
OK give illya a bear hug and tell her what we fell then manipulate truth to free Touko and hell her

>>4623960
>Time magic
Kerry? Are you finally back from the store with the cigarettes and milk you went to buy?

>>4623994
Why would he stab her instead of shooting her with the contender though?

>>4623994
Fuck, i completely forgot about Master Disaster. Fuuuuuck Kerry.

>>4623998
Maybe he finally got that k-bar knife he has as a counter guardian in FGO?

>>4623998
Wouldn't the bullet just destroy the puppet but not the real touko.

>>4624017
It would destroy the magic circuits of the puppet but Touko should still be inside it right?
What if the knife wound is a mask for a bullet hole?

You grit your teeth. No! You won't allow this! You're going to not only break Touko out of this trap, you're going to heal her too! You have the power! You are the only person who can do something like this! Then you're going to help your Shishou get revenge on the scum that did this to her! Yeah... that's right. You'll make them pay for this... You've had enough of people trying to take away the people you're close to. You're not going to have any mercy for the culprit. You won't allow all that you've worked for to be snatched away from you! You won't allow it!

You place your palm on Touko's forehead and will the all-powerful element of Truth that you manipulate to flow through her body, it doesn't take you long to find the source of the time freeze. A curse of time of all things, it seems. Time is nothing to the power you command, the power of Truth. You take hold of the normally indestructible curse plaguing your teacher and you have your element tear it to shreds.

Touko begins to finish her fall to the ground, but you aren't done just yet! No, you can still save her! With the element still coursing through the perfectly created puppet body of your master, you will it to repair the damage done to the body! Before Touko has even finished hitting the ground, you've perfectly restored her body.

But. Touko's body still hits the ground, and her eyes close lifelessly as she does so. No... No.... No!

You did everything right, didn't you? You try to feel any sign of life from the now lifeless doll in front of you, and you try to stop yourself from screaming in frustration. While this likely isn't the end of Touko, you doubt any amount of coordination could stop her from stashing away at least one puppet body to jump into should the worst occur, it's still just another failure. "DAAAAAAAAAAMNN ITTTT!!!" You let out a guttural roar of failure and rage. The comfort of the fact that Touko has already likely found herself in another puppet body doing little to calm your anger, directed mostly at yourself. It's the uncertainty of not knowing that is crushing you. You, who have lived an entire life with very little that exists to surprise you, suddenly being dealt blow after blow after blow. You chuckle softly to yourself... Maybe you were a fool to think you'd ever be able to truly plan for the grail war... It seems that in doing so, you've simply set off a chain reaction that has caused things to be orders of magnitudes more complicated than what you might've had to deal with had you tried to keep your changes to a minimum.

You slump to the floor, but before you can scream in frustration once more, you feel a hand gently caress your neck, you crane your head upwards to see Sakura smiling down at you, and for a single moment, you feel like everything is going to be fine.

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Then a strange noise emanates from within Touko's body, like the scuttling of a million legs, and it spasms once, twice...

The next few moments occur in a frame of time you can barely even perceive as Saber dashes in front of you with her invisible sword drawn, slashing towards Touko's body just in time to intercept a colossal mass of writhing pulsing flesh that refuses to absorb any light covered in all sorts of appendages that was headed right for you, exploding from Touko's body and leaving only bloody gibs. Saber's attack on the monstrous demon kept within Touko's body doesn't actually seem to wound the creature and only manages to smash it through the ground. You're too focused on the demon to pay much attention to what anybody else is up to. But how could you forget? How could you forget that Touko kept one of these things inside her body as one last surprise to whoever kills one of her puppet bodies?

>Everyone needs to get out! That thing is a demon straight from myth! Even a Servant shouldn't be able to kill it!
>Try to snap Sakura out of her shock, she can kill this thing!
>Damn it, it's up to you again! Teach this abomination what it means to be the wielder of Truth!
>Hope for the best! Saber, Avenger and Betty should be able to deal with this thing!
>Write-in...

Also, before anyone asks do you really think they would've bothered freezing Touko if they could be certain they could kill her off for good?

>>4624035
this thing!
>Damn it, it's up to you again! Teach this abomination what it means to be the wielder of Truth!

>>4624035
>>Try to snap Sakura out of her shock, she can kill this thing!
Dang, if I had checked her wiki page I would have known. Too bad.

>>4624035
Should we just have everyone go at it? I don't think leaving it be is particularly wise.

>>4624035
How do you seal that thing?
How would Touko lock it up again? We're still in her workshop so if there's a tool for this it should be near by.

I'd rather not stress test Sakura by having her contain this desu.

Could truthing it into the impregnable box like what first killed us work?

We really shouldn't have healed Kerry way back then. If Touko turns out to be permadead we're putting him into the fucking ground.

>>4624084
Healing him was fine.
Not helping him rescue Ilya was the screw up.

>>4624084
Do you really think Kiritsugu is capable of killing Touko?

>>4624090
Fuck no. His retarded suicide run is entirely on him.
Not going after him was one of the best decisions we made in this quest.

>>4624100
We had infinite retries and foreknowledge of him and the Einzbern, along with our budding powers.
We were in a position to help him out and didn't, it was a bad decision to do so as well, considering how many other unknowns are out there.
He probably got captured and was forced to spill that we had some form of precondition, leading to who knows how many forces becoming interested in us because of it.

>>4624084
I wanted to go with him to save Illya but some retard samefagged into making us abandon him after we promised to go after him

>>4624035
>>Damn it, it's up to you again! Teach this abomination what it means to be the wielder of Truth!

>>4623680
Shinji and Betty

>>4624109
>We were in a position to help him out
No, we weren't. We were a 12-year old with nothing.
No connections no money and barely any magic. Any trained magus would wipe the floor with us.
Kerry was running towards his death and our presence would make no difference.
>He probably got captured and was forced to spill that we had some form of precondition
What if we got captured genius? There is no time rewind unless we die. If we got captured in Europe there would be nothing we could do.
All this shit would have turned into a huge time waste. We would still be in Europe by now.
Fuck that and fuck Kerry. I voted not to chase him then and I would vote the same now.

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Oh, I was hoping to get one last update out before I went to bed for the night.
But there's not really enough votes.
Shame, that.
Have a Medea instead?

>>4624134
>We couldn't make a difference because we were a kid.
How are you still underestimating the power of truth even now?
Even just one cast of it would've been helpful for him, never mind that we could use several.

>Dead ends are the only ends.
>Bad ends don't exist.
Did you even play the novel?

>>4624035
>Damn it, it's up to you again! Teach this abomination what it means to be the wielder of Truth!

>>4624035
>Damn it, it's up to you again! Teach this abomination what it means to be the wielder of Truth!

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You guys continue investigating the case of "Who killed Touko Aozaki." I'm going to bed now
I was a little ambitious and I don't want to make a poor quality update through tiredness.
Ciao!

Good session today, I think.
Did you enjoy it?

>>4624139
>How are you still underestimating the power of truth even now?
We didn't have "the power of truth" then. Did you even read the quest?
At the time Touko only taught us the most basic shit. No truth healing no truth modification no Reality Marble.
We were a 12-year old kid with basic magic and some pocket money. We could do jack shit.
How would you even find him in Europe? He is a fucking professional assassin with connections and infiltration experience.

>>Dead ends are the only ends.
>>Bad ends don't exist.
>Did you even play the novel?
I have no clue what you meant by that. Bad ends exist sure but it's up to QM to decide what is a bad end and what is a "fun" challenge.
Would being captured by Einzberns be a bad end or would we have to spend months worth of sessions to escape?

>>4624167
>Medea captured along with well, 80% of the people we know
>Touko possibly permadead
>Sakura is brainlessly strong; arguably stronger than her own Servant

something's fishy here.

fishy in a "we're going back in time but not via dojo" way.

>>4624134
>No connections no money
that's such bullshit, we had Waver, Monica and Gray and already had some money in the bank

>>4624212
>fishy in a "we're going back in time but not via dojo" way.
I really don't see that happening.

>>4624213
>that's such bullshit, we had Waver, Monica and Gray
They weren't available at the time. It was one of the major reasons why I voted not to chase Kerry.

>>4624231
You know flying to another country from Japan is gonna take a day right? Kerry can't even take planes so we would've been ahead of him

>>4624212
>80 percent of people we know captured
This is obviously just WhatIs raising the stakes and making us prioritize. I think the Lancelot battle was meant to show us how OP our Servant's synergy was.
>Tokou possibly permadead
Nobody believes this, right?
Tokou is the sort of person who just doesn't die.
Even Shinji is clearly just suffering Paranoia when he suggested it.
>Sakura too strong.
Sakura has always been really strong I think, she's just the opposite of a fighter. She doesn't have the killer instinct to be able to fight in death matches. In fact if not for Saber Touko's demon would've probably killed both of us.
>time travel
From who?
Fucking Zelretch?
I say we live with our choices and try to fix things.

>>4624234
Ahead where? We had no clue where he was going to go.
We couldn't just go to Einzbern castle and wait there since they would absolutely catch us, and we couldn't just blindly search for him through the whole Europe.
So please tell me just how exactly would we find a professional assassin who doesn't want to be found in a foreign country. I am really curious about your plan.

>>4624246
>We had no clue where he was going to go
he was very obviously going to Einzbern Castle

>>4624237
Also I've been thinking that if Truth let us mess with Sakura's world like it did because it wasn't connected to Gaia couldn't we also mess with Unlimited Blade Works somehow?
What if we like, applied the concept of "perfect" or "upgraded" onto Shirou's marble to strengthen his swords?
"Divine" might let him trace Divine Constructs too.

>>4624250
Did you even read my post past the first sentence?
Are you going to dig the hole in the snow near the castle and sit there until there is some ruckus? Please elaborate.

>>4624251
Shirou would have to activate his reality marble first.

>>4624246
>anons still debating a vote from half a year ago
May as well throw my hat in, we know he was heading for the castle and while he may be an infiltration specialist it still would've taken him time to case the place and sus out a plan of attack on his own and as far as they knew he'd still be dying of magic-cancer in Japan giving him the element of surprise.
With our then powerlevel the key would've been to narrow down the likely places he'd hole up in as a base camp and find him before the attack began but it would've been unlikely and unless he would've bombed the castle there likely wouldn't have been a sign for us to know if it's too late and we'd just ended up drawing alot of unneeded attention to ourselves.
At the time I probably would've voted for just because I like to see interesting things happen but more I think on it we would've been lucky to get anything more from a drawn out game of cat and mouse aside from making Shirou like us a bit more.

>>4624260
>activate first
Yeah but imagine if it actually worked.
Perfect replications would be great as he could really fuck shit up then, but imagine if we managed to get him an UBW that ranked up whatever was recorded in it.
He could hit people with an A+++ rank Caladbolg Broken Phantasm.
Nobody would survive that. Nobody.
Shirou could take on fucking Gods if he were ranked up instead of down.
Even Kanshou and Bakuya would be like A- rank by default seeing as they are C- rank when Archer traces them.
And he can still break them for the temp rank-up!
God-tier Shirou when?

>>4624260
>Are you going to dig the hole in the snow near the castle and sit there until there is some ruckus?
yeah

>>4624251
he would need UBW before we do that and at that point we can get Medea to support him

>>4624317
You can't deny it would be the coolest upgrade for Shirou.
Imagine the seethe on Gil at Shirou's copies being greater than the originals.

>>4624313
Wow! What a great plan!
Why didn't I think about it myself?
You should have told everyone about it when we were voting on going after Kerry. I am sure it would sway everyone, and we would unanimously voted to chase after him.
With a plan like that nothing could have stopped us.

>>4624344
>I am sure it would sway everyone
Yeah i'm sure to convince the samefags of that

>>4624330
it would pretty based yeah, we should do it if we can

>>4624390
With a genius plan like that you could have convinced anyone. It's simply amazing. No mere human could think of a plan like that.

>>4624161
Any session where best girl Medea is still captured is inherently shit, sorry but it is inescapable. A valiant effort though.

>>4624035
>Damn it, it's up to you again! Teach this abomination what it means to be the wielder of Truth!

>>4624137
Literally every single image and artwork of her gives me feelings of wanting to hold her and make her happy. This is bullshit.

>>4624397
>>4624330
>>4624317
>>4624301
>>4624260
Does Shirou not already have UBW? I remember reading Shinji taught the aria to him at some point in the past before the grail war began.

>>4624035
>Damn it, it's up to you again! Teach this abomination what it means to be the wielder of Truth!
We'd be dead if Saber wasn't here, dead!

This quest doesn't seem to have as much discussion as I remember.
I think we should remedy this by working out a plan.
Sakura is stupid OP now, so we'll be able to use her as an anti-servant weapon.
Meanwhile the actual Servants can play defensively.
We're apparently the ultimate support magus, so as much as I want to I doubt we should manifest a blade of truth to fight on the front lines or something.

>>4624942
what is all the stuff we have to contend with now anyway?

>Team Manaka wants us to get stronger for reasons of her own and is holding hostages over us
>Altrouge going to collect
>Gilgamesh in conflict with Manakas
how is he going to fuck us once/as we deal with them?
>Einzbern may take issue with our impromptu deal with Gilgamesh
>Ibaraki is after us for losing Shuten
>Zouken still at large. Has he been pursued by Kirei? What about Kirei's sidekick?
>Kiritsugu's fate remains unknown
>Nyarly and his servant have an unknown agenda
>Grail corruption through Angra Maniyu(?)
>moral obligations to our girlfriend Sacchin
>what does clock tower look like now given our interference?

am I forgetting something important?

>>4624982
Isn't there another set of servants aside from those with manaka that we still have to deal with like that other archer who attacked us while we were with bazett.

>>4624987
yes, and we're one of the extra masters with Betty... and we still don't know why this is. Could it be linked to our existence in this world? Or why are there two manakas?

It's up to you! This thing by its very nature is practically indestructible, unless Saber is willing to bust out Excalibur, brute force alone won't do any good! No, you're going to have to handle this, you're not going to let anyone else get taken away from you! You won't allow it!

You manipulate your magical energy, forcing your circuits open to as far as you can as you begin to manifest your element. You'll need a weapon! That's right... a sword should do! It takes place in the fraction of a moment, and before even Saber can make a move, you're clutching a shining sword of golden energy in your hand. The demon recovers from Sabers initial attack, and it goes to ram into the Servant, who you quickly realize can't dodge out of the way without endangering both you and Sakura! She goes to smash it away again with her sword, but there's really only so long she can do that for. You would've wondered just what the hell Avenger or Betty were doing were you not so distracted yourself.

You thrust forwards with the weapon you forged from your element and pierce it directly into the 'head' of the creature. Not so indestructible now, are you?! You almost yell out, but decide against it. Instead, you simply pull the blade of your element upwards and cleave the front of the creature's body in half. It's amazing, the effect that Truth in it's most primal form has on concepts and creatures such as this demon. The very nature of its own indestructibility being used by the element of Truth to power your own strike, allowing you to slice through the creatures body as easily as a circular saw slices through wood. You didn't even need to really use that much force, the creature's body parted like butter exposed to a hot knife. Not for the first time, you find yourself realizing just how powerful you actually are, and just how powerful you could become should you master your abilities. After all, even somebody like Manaka is interested in just how powerful you could become.

You allow the energy forming the sword to dissipate into nothingness as you pull away from the slowly melting corpse of the demon. Avenger steps forwards, a dissolving bow in his hands, clearly you must've interrupted his own attack on the demon with your own. "So... what the hell was that thing?" He sounds genuinely baffled by the presence of the creature within Touko's body, after all, no modern magus should be able to genuinely threaten a Servant with their magecraft... well, that has never actually been accurate, but still. Shirou still looks like he's prepared for combat, but mostly he seems to be awestruck about something.

"That, Avenger, was a demon. I... forgot that my teacher kept one in her body as a... surprise for anybody that might try to kill her through an ambush." It was a terrible mistake on your part, and had Saber not stepped in thanks to her Instinct to save you both, would've lead to not only your death, but Sakura's too. Seems that no matter how powerful you might think yourself or even how powerful it seems Sakura has become, death is only a mere misstep from reaching you.

"You know... This woman... It sounds like she was a terribly sore loser." Avenger notes. You aren't really going to argue with him, this is the woman who pretty much declared war on her own sister for a while simply because she wasn't picked to receive True Magic. You're just glad she's matured a lot since then. In fact, Touko doesn't actually seem that interested in the idea of True Magic anymore, at least she's never really shown it around you. Ironic, considering just how close she is to reaching the Third through nothing but her own talent and research alone.

"Was?" You ask as a question. "Touko is probably still alive. Just this much shouldn't be enough to take her out for good." Avenger then takes a glance at Touko's remains. Or well, at the chunks of gore scattered across the room, almost as if he's expecting them to suddenly reanimate and regenerate. "Of course, she's not going to come back in that body, but as a master of puppet magecraft, it wasn't actually her true body anyway. Just one of her puppets, genuinely indistinguishable from the real thing. That, I think, is why our friend who did this froze her at her moment of death. It's a nearly perfect way of dealing with her. Especially if nobody was coming to rescue her. As things are now though, she'll be back, and I doubt she'll be in any mood to play about

"Witches..." Avenger sighs.

"Shinji, Sakura. Are you OK?" Saber asks the two of you, she's still got her sword drawn and is taking things far less casually than Avenger seems to be. You realize that you managed to avoid getting splattered with Touko's blood thanks to Saber's timely intervention, just another thing to thank the King of Knights for.

Before you answer, you take a look at Sakura, who while understandably is a little shocked by just what happened, is otherwise unharmed. You have no idea just what she might be thinking right now. "Yeah, Saber. I think so. Sorry about putting you in danger like that, I'm not even your Master and you..."

"Don't worry about it. What sort of a Servant would I be if I were to allow my Master's friends to die before his eyes? Certainly, on my honor as a knight, I had no choice but to intervene." Saber is still clearly happy that you're thanking her for helping out though. You feel a little jealous that Shirou ended up getting such a loyal and reliable Servant, especially considering Saber hasn't been weakened like she might've been from him having no skill as a magus.

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"So... are we done here now?" Illya looks at the chunks of Touko all around the floor and takes delicate care not to step in any of... her. "There's no point to us being her anymore, is there?" You're about to say that you could take a look around the workshop for items that could help before you see that pretty much everything has been purposely destroyed. You were too focused on other things to notice before, but Touko must have at least had the opportunity to erase everything before being slain. Reliable even in death, that's Touko Aozaki for you. You're a little surprised about the lack of fire damage you can see, but not that surprised, Touko must've protected every vital area with all sorts of wards anyway.

>"Yeah. Let's go, we've got other places to go." (Where?)
>"I want to look around for evidence of who could've done this."
>"I might be able to contact Touko from here actually. I'm pretty adept at Rune Magecraft, though it'll only be a message." (What do you want to try to send to Touko)
>"I'm... kind of out of ideas myself. Does anybody have any opinions on what we should do?"
>Write-in...

>>4625023
>>"I want to look around for evidence of who could've done this."
>>"I might be able to contact Touko from here actually. I'm pretty adept at Rune Magecraft, though it'll only be a message." (What do you want to try to send to Touko)
Tell her to get to our mansion. We need her advice and expertise.

>>4625023
>>4625024
Supporting.

>>4625023
>>4625024
Supporting.
While we're looking around I am open to hearing out their suggestions though.

>>4625023
>look for evidence
>send message
as >>4625024 said

look not just for clues possibly left by perp, but also if anything's missing

>>4625024
Support

>>4625023
>>4625024
This seems pretty legit, although there is a possibility we might lead whoever did this right to us.

>>4625023
Supporting >>4625024

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I honestly really expected you guys to pick Medea as one of the people to free.
Maybe you should've tried to bargain for 3 allies?

Oh well.

>>4625049
Both Betty and Avenger were obligatory choices.
I simply couldn't vote for anyone else.
Maybe, you should have telegraphed that Betty would get back to us on her own? Even a little clue would do. We had literally no reason to assume that she would come back.

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>>4625054
No reason?

>>4625055
And why would he help us?
Last time we met he said he is not gonna do shit.

>>4625049
I wanted Caster, i voted for her.

>>4625049
I will never not be mad at that I miss her so much

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>>4625056
>why would he help us?
Think about it.
Pic very much unrelated.

>>4625058
Me too anon, me too. I want her back.

>>4625056
>And why would he help us?
>Last time we met he said he is not gonna do shit.
Last time we met he helped us out by giving us a ton of useful information and then told us
>Oh! I'll also promise not to get involved in a battle directly! Wouldn't want this pesky planet to start sending out it's immune system, would we?

I still don't understand why you people are so desperate to make Alan a villain aside from the fact that he's Nyarly.

>>4625058
>>4625061
that's why we need to spend some power and time to reinforce our bonds with the captives first chance we get. And do it for Sakura and her bond with Rider as well.

Probably when we have time to take a power nap though as it's likely going to be exhausting

>>4625060
I have been thinking about it since the previous thread where I listed him as a possible help.
And I have no idea, Maybe I am just stupid or maybe I am missing something. Admittedly I am not familiar with Fate or lovecraftian lore.

>>4625062
So what's your point? I am asking "why would he help us?". Are you implying that he would help us out of goodness of his heart?

>>4625068
>Are you implying that he would help us out of goodness of his heart?
Fuck no. He's Nyarly.
Would he help us because whatever plan he has brewing involves him helping us, though? Hell yes and if that's the case, I'd like to take advantage of it until it stops being the case.

Also, remember Betty is a Foreigner and is most likely linked to Azathoth so he probably wants her to survive the war.

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I guess I'll start writing.

>>4625023
Supporting >>4625024
>>4625049
I am quite sad about it.

>>4625072
Well that's great but this is just a conjecture.
We don't know if he has any goals other than enjoying the war from the sidelines. And even if he does have some other goals there is no reason to assume that he is going to teleport Betty right to our doorstep.

>>4625078
Then let's go ask him what his goals are. Since he has a servant, he's involved anyways.

>>4625079
I support this idea but how would we find him?
Caster is not with us and Touko is who knows where.
And even if they were available would they be able to track down a god?

>>4625078
>>4625079
We can also try to bargain with him. If he can get Betty out then he can help with the rest.

>>4625082
Ask Betty to summon a creature that has an ability to search for other eldritch horrors, buff it with Truth and make it search for him and deliver a message.

>>4625082
We know Rune Magic, we could try and use Berkana to track him down. Not sure how well it'd work though.
>>4625086 is also a decent idea.

>>4625024
Support

"First, I want to check for any sort of evidence. I want to see if I can't solve this case without having to rely on Shishou to tell me who was responsible. Though I'll also send her a message through... I have the material components to track her, especially with all this blood, but... well, the problem with that is that I might end up tracking the wrong body. Not to mention the range limitations on the Berkana rune." She could probably return within the hour, but knowing Touko, she's going to want to prepare for whoever the enemy that defeated her in the first place was.

You spend almost half an hour with everyone, using not only the senses of the servants to your advantage, but also as many divining skills as you can manage to try to draw information out of the environment. Unfortunately, the information you manage to gather isn't as conclusive as you would've liked. Upon examining the structure of the floorboards themselves in great detail, you notice a few things. The analysis of the floor allowing you to see two sets of unfamiliar footprints... both appearing to be armored boots. One is vaguely similar in design to Saber's own, to the point where you originally don't even realize it was different. While the other, while likely still belonging to an armored metal boot, is somehow more... detailed? Almost as if even the sole of the armored footwear was designed to be as high quality as possible. It's almost like seeing a direct comparison of form and function when you compare the two. An attack from a Servant and Master?

The biggest hint you find is what was originally dismissed as a piece of the floor broken during in the battle with the demon where Saber launched herself forwards in order to protect you and Sakura, a dent and crack in the wood showing just how much power she put into the leap... there are two such impact craters on the floor or Touko's workshop. So, with this in mind, you can tell that it was likely an attack from a Master and a Servant, with the enemy Servant being one of the knight classes. Berserker is an impossibility due to the complete mismatch of... well everything. The only thing that is even remotely related to Ibaraki is the fire, and the fire was clearly only a distraction.

Other than these two pieces of information though, no other information can be found. While it might be possible to track the footprints, that would require a constant usage of structural analysis and you never really bothered to improve your ability with it. Shirou would have probably more luck analyzing things considering he's highly specialized for it, but his limited magical energy is best put to use with his offensive abilities and supplying Saber. Time... A knight class... A Servant and a Master... Who could have done this, you start racking your brain for the answer as you prepare to send a message to Touko... wherever she might be.

Tracing a few runes on the floor with the... copious amount of blood scattered around, you start to focus on sending out a message. Normally you'd need to use some form of a focus or object connected to your target, but seeing as the very runes you're using are formed of blood, such things are unneeded. The message is a simple one. 'Shishou, please come to my mansion. I am in dire need of your advice and expertise.' You see the spell succeed as the message written in the circle of runes fades away and you breathe out in relief. The confirmation that Touko is alive, though something you had imagined to be true anyway, is still quite nice to know. You dislike not knowing something, especially if it holds personal relevance to you.

Your mind turns back to the attackers and the somewhat limited information you've gathered, despite your lack of information, you feel like you should be able to guess their identity, after all, there are only so many Servants who could possibly make use of time offensively. Time manipulation is both rare and incredibly powerful, after all.

>Guess who killed Touko Aozaki. (Who?)
>You don't have enough information. Go somewhere else (Where?)
>Try to follow their footprints with structural analysis anyway! Tedium be damned!
>Write-in...

>>4625121
>>Guess who killed Touko Aozaki. (Who?)
>>Go somewhere else (Where?)
>Rin's House
From the boot similar to saber's and the fact that it's a knight class, it's probably Moedred and her master.
Since Touko is respawning and we have nothing else planned, can we go loot Rin's stuff?

Did Kerry become master and summoned Mordred?

>>4625121
>Write-in...
>>Try to use Truth on footprints and impact craters to materialize true image of a person they belonged to

>>4625129
>>4625131
you two are retarded

>>4625121
>>Write-in...
Have Betty create something that will help us find Nyarlathotep.

>>4625134
>you two are retarded
Dude, earlier in the grail war someone saw a servant with full armor that had red accents and now we've got information telling us that one of them had armor of similar design to saber's.
It's fucking Mordred. If it's not, I'll eat my hat.

>>4625133
That's not how Truth works.

>>4625134
Do you have any ideas or do you just have some medical condition that forces you to shit out of your mouth?

>>4625139
>>4625138
>This has to be the work of a Knight class Servant who can manipulate time! But who...?
>"HURR DURR MORDRED"
It's not my fault your mental faculties are compromised. If you're not going to try to properly guess who the Servant might be, then shut the fuck up you speedreaders.

>>4625142
Here is a quote from the QM's post, "The analysis of the floor allowing you to see two sets of unfamiliar footprints... both appearing to be armored boots. One is vaguely similar in design to Saber's own, to the point where you originally don't even realize it was different."
Can you not read? Do you have dyslexia?
You even called us speedreaders lol.
You are pathetic.

>>4625142
>>This has to be the work of a Knight class Servant who can manipulate time! But who...?
Where does it say that it was the servant who manipulated time, you fucking mouthbreather?
It could have been the master who set up the spell, anyone willing to specifically fuck up Touko should have the skills and knowledge to specifically try and stop her from respawning.
Or hell, maybe it was TWO SERVANTS and we're only assuming it was a Master and Servant, since they're both wearing fucking armor.

>>4625144
>feel like you should be able to guess their identity, after all, there are only so many Servants who could possibly make use of time offensively
Are you disabled?

>>4625143
Is Mordred the only Servant with FUCKING ARMORED BOOTS? How actually mentally retarded are you? Have tapeworms eaten your brain from the inside out? Actually kill yourself. Please, remove your pathetic DNA from the gene pool you waste of oxygen.

>>4625139
While it does looks like a wild thing to do but we have no real idea about limitations of Truth. Thus far we have been rather successful with different Manipulation and Manifestation of Truth on rather different tasks. So I don't see immediate reason why it would not work here to some extent similarly how crime scenes get reacreated using futuristic technology in forensic science serials.

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Hrmmh.

>>4625145
>Are you disabled?
I don't know, are you?
Again, there are TWO ATTACKERS. You're assuming Mordred isn't the correct answer because you're assuming that the boots similar to saber's have to be the ones that caused the time stop. Instead of Mordred being the one stabbing and the second attacker causing the time stop.

>Is Mordred the only Servant with FUCKING ARMORED BOOTS
Mordred is the only servant with red accented full armor of the same design as Saber's. You'd know this if you weren't a fucking retarded secondary.

>>4625121
Go to rins to get stuff

>>4625145
It specifically says "similar in design to Saber's own, to the point where you originally don't even realize it was different".
You are hilarious tho. A rabid retard who goes around and calls other people retards. Do you have some kind of inferiority complex?

>>4625146
Sorry but I do not believe that something like that would work.

>>4625121
No idea who the Servant is but we need to go to Rins.

Plans for powerups for everyone
>Give Saber Avalon (Easy)
>Give Illya Ruby (Easy)
>Get Shirou to unlock UBW (???)
>Upgrade UBW with a concept (Easy when UBW exists)
>Get Saber Rhongomyniad (Impossible)
>Unlock our own Marble (Very hard?)
>Forge the jewelled sword of Zelretch (Medium)
>Get Betty to unlock her true power (INSAAAAANE)
>Dragonblood (Locked: no Medea)
I probably missed some.

Rin's house lets us power up twice.

>>4625168
>>Get Shirou to unlock UBW (???)
We need Archer back so Shirou can sponge off him so we need to get everyone back, we're heading in the right direction improving our own RM and turning Sakura into an Anti-Magic rod but it might not be enough and we're not likely to choose Archer next time we meet Manaka (unless she lets us choose 4 which is highly doubtful).

Dragonblood can seemingly be cheated now. Sakura's imaginary numbers has a fucky sense of time so Medea can do Dragon research in under a day if we get her back

>>4625169
>Dragonblood can seemingly be cheated now. Sakura's imaginary numbers has a fucky sense of time so Medea can do Dragon research in under a day if we get her back
How would that even work? Do you propose we stuff Medea into Sakura's Imaginary Numbers Space? She would be devoured instantly.

>>4625170
train Sakura and we did mention that its the perfect place to train

>>4625172
We made that place even more inhospitable than it was before. Right now anyone who goes inside would die.
Even if Sakura trains it will take more than a few weeks before the place becomes usable.

>>4625121
>Guess who killed Touko Aozaki. (Who?)
Mordred? It could be anyone but fuck it. Guessing Mordred.
>Go Elsewhere
Get Rin’s shit. We need to get Avalon and shit. Maybe Ruby if we really want mahou shoujo.

>>4625182
>get Avalon
Isn't Avalon inside Shirou?

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>>4625186
Fuck your right I’m retarded. It is inside Shirou. We just need to find a way to extract it I guess.

>>4625187
I could be wrong but can't we already do that?
Last time we used Gray's magical energy so we should be able to extract it using Saber's energy right?

>>4625187
he can probably trace it

>>4625192
Trace what? Avalon? I believe he can't do that until he unlocks his RM at least.

>>4625194
He did it in Fate route and thats when his skills weren't very developed

>>4625168
>>4625194
I'm pretty sure he has UBW already.

>>4625197
What makes you say that? He didn't show it in any way.

>>4625199
Didn't we bring Waver to him to let him be able to trace those swords? I don't know, the shirou shit is weird because we never spend time with him.

>>4625203
>Didn't we bring Waver to him to let him be able to trace those swords?
I believe Waver tagged along with Gray. I don't remember asking him about anything related to Shirou's RM.

>>4625204
it was like a one paragraph option during the time skip. We had Waver share memories of the last grail war with Shirou so he could trace the swords Waver saw.

>>4625205
>We had Waver share memories
wait you can do that?

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Ok, so it looks like you're going to guess that the Servant is Mordred...
Do you want to say that out loud?

>>4625210
keep it to yourself right now since that's still a guess

>>4625210
No, it's just a guess for now.

>>4625207
Yeah, found it. It was in the fourth thread.

>Shirou for his part takes to your training like a duck in water. After confirming the existence of Unlimited Blade Works, you finally decide to tell him how to actually use his magic circuits. You also have him learn the rest of how to trace and start having the boy project every mundane weapon he's seen. Though he's hardly going to be much use with just normal swords and spears.

It's then that you have something of a brainwave, and you once again invite Waver to Japan, in part to check out Akihabara with you, but for the real reason of having him share his memories of certain moments of the Fourth War with Shirou. Specifically the memories of witnessing the weaponry of Gate of Babylon and of seeing the twin spears of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. It takes a lot of convincing to persuade Waver into agreeing to share the memories in order to have Shirou add the weapons into his Reality Marble, and it takes no small amount of convincing to get Shishou to facilitate the sharing of memories. But you manage to convince her eventually by promising to buy her a new car of her choice for her collection with some of your funds.

>>4625210
Sure

>>4625215
That's not a fully developed RM. He can't manifest it and it's not at full power.

>>4625210
Let's not trigger Saber until we can confirm it.

>>4625218
Even if he can't it's just another thing to add to the pile. He can trace shit though, I'm 100% sure of that at least.

>>4625210
Yes. This.....might not go over well with Saber. But in the end if the others know the identity of the possible enemy servant. We might be able to plan around an encounter with her better...or something to that extent.

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>>4625210
I suggest we tell them

Ok so that's a 3/3 tie.

>>4625240
Flip a coin

>>4625240
Unless we can get a tiebreaker >>4625241 do this

>>4625240
Dont flip a coin.

>>4625240
Mention the possibility

>>4625210
No.

Oh for fuck's sake.

I tried.

we'd be mentioning it for no reason, its just a hunch, plus Saber is kinda fragile

Great to see that nothing's changed and the fate quest player base is as awful as ever

>>4625253
vote then and break the tie

>>4625240
Keep it to yourself

>>4625253
Why? Because we have a tie? That's a normal thing.

Quickly QM! Call the vote!

>>4625240
Keep it to yourself.

>>4625253
Retard