The Grail War continues, and you've suffered a terrible defeat.You are Shinji Makiri, Ten years ago you suddenly found yourself with the memories of a complete past life that saw this world as a fictional story due to some unprecedented form of inter-dimensional transportation. Since that day, your new composite being has been working to change the grim future laid out for you.To that end, you have done much, involving yourself with events and situations that have shifted the future away from the one that you once would have faced and instead onto one of uncertainty and chaos.The Fifth Holy Grail War lies ahead of you, and the challenge and danger it represents to you, the people you care for and the world itself is far greater than you could have ever predicted. Though the grail might be corrupted and the war itself might be a sham, the stakes couldn't be higher.Archive of Paradox Reincarnator: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Fate/Paradox%20ReincarnatorGeneral Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=WhatIsAQMStatus Menu: https://pastebin.com/LhUfnHD2Shinji Status Page: https://pastebin.com/UNxStSSQMy Twitter: https://twitter.com/WhatIsAQM
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 BettySupporting this.
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?
>>4623354It's awesome. I'd rather not put her in harm's way but this is great. Anons made the right call.
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.
>>4623367Well 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.
>>4623376He 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.
I've got an Interlude to give you guys actually. Hold on.
Servants of Mount OoeInterlude 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
>>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>>4623390Is this before or after we went to the temple?
>>4623391It's possible to work out without me telling you that.
>>4623391it's after the temple since they mention they only sense 4 servants.
>>4623391It's when Gilgamesh appears.
>>4623354Well 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
"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.
>>4623495He is probably gonna be in a spirit form.
>>4623451Public transport and the illya blushing part was adorable
>>4623502Sorry trip fell off
>Drive>>4623456 (Saber)>>4623466 (Self)>>4623469 (Self)>>4623481 (Self)>>4623488 (Saber)>>4623493 (Self)>Bus >>4623457>>4623464>>4623468>>4623495>>4623502Looks 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>>4623451Drive (Saber if she wants)
>>4623451>Public TransportI want to see the Servants on a bus.
>>4623515Is it called?
>>4623536Yes.
>>4623539Hey she's cute
>>4623539We 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".
>>4623577Have 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.
>>4623596Betty 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.
>>4623596You'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
>>4623616Did we give Saber Avalon yet?We need to bully Gray into giving us Rhongomyniad.>>4623599It might be a rock paper scissors type thing with Avenger and Gil though.
>>4623622If 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.
>>4623577Is 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?
>>4623656Why don't you ask the two of them?
While I write the update, I've been wondering something.Who's everyone's favourite character in the quest?
>>4623680Monica
>>4623680Monica Betty and Shinji himself are fun too.
>>4623680I 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.
>>4623680Shinji.
>>4623680Shinji, but really only because it's not the actual dipshit loser shinji
>>4623680Monica (best girl)Shinji
>>4623680Shinji 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.
>>4623685Also Betty bc she's adorable and deserves a unlimited supply of pancakes
>>4623680I honestly can't single one out.I do like Monica as a good OC though.
>>4623680Medea.
>>4623680Shinji, i like how he's an empathetic person but still has OG Shinji's massive ego
>>4623702that'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
Oh boy I can't wait to write what comes next.
>>4623763Stop that.You stop that right fucking now!
>>4623763You will not intimidate us QM.
>>4623767Excellent.
>>4623763I will murder Touko if Sakura dies
>>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 premisesWhy?
>>4623784so looters don't get unnecessarily killed or lucky ones make off with something potentially valuable
>>4623763are you perhaps referring to the fact that we didn't actually tell Sakura that we violated her hole?
>>4623794>Lucky onesThe 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 killedWhy 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...
>>4623873Manipulate truth to free her and heal her. No matter the mana cost.
>>4623875Support.
>>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
>>4623875Support
>>4623873>>4623875Supporting this.
>>4623873>>Use your ability to manipulate Truth in an attempt to free Touko from the time freeze.
>>4623873>>4623875Supporting.
>>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!
Did you enjoy this update, my anons?
>>4623903Love it but if Touko dies you die
>>4623907
>>4623908LOL bring it
>>4623875+1
Genuinely surprised nobody is theorizing who could have been the one behind this.
>>4623931It is Alan isn't it.
>>4623931Maybe its nyarly? Since he was the one who froze illya's maids earlier
>>4623932>>4623934
>>4623931A DAA maybe? You gotta be pretty fuckin tough to go through her defenses and stab her
>>4623931Maybe it was the No Route trauma monster.
You sure you're not forgetting something important?
>>4623960Don't do this! Give us a hint!
>>4623963I just did.
>>4623965LOL you're killing me smalls!
>>4623960It's the grief for our teacher, mind can't focus.
>>4623967>>4623968Just think carefully before you do anything rash.
>>4623972OK give illya a bear hug and tell her what we fell then manipulate truth to free Touko and hell her
>>4623960>Time magicKerry? Are you finally back from the store with the cigarettes and milk you went to buy?
>>4623994Why would he stab her instead of shooting her with the contender though?
>>4623994Fuck, i completely forgot about Master Disaster. Fuuuuuck Kerry.
>>4623998Maybe he finally got that k-bar knife he has as a counter guardian in FGO?
>>4623998Wouldn't the bullet just destroy the puppet but not the real touko.
>>4624017It 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.
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?
>>4624035this 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.
>>4624035Should we just have everyone go at it? I don't think leaving it be is particularly wise.
>>4624035How 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.
>>4624084Healing him was fine.Not helping him rescue Ilya was the screw up.
>>4624084Do you really think Kiritsugu is capable of killing Touko?
>>4624090Fuck no. His retarded suicide run is entirely on him.Not going after him was one of the best decisions we made in this quest.
>>4624100We 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.
>>4624084I 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!
>>4623680Shinji and Betty
>>4624109>We were in a position to help him outNo, 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 preconditionWhat 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.
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!
You guys continue investigating the case of "Who killed Touko Aozaki." I'm going to bed nowI 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 Servantsomething's fishy here.fishy in a "we're going back in time but not via dojo" way.
>>4624134>No connections no moneythat'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 GrayThey weren't available at the time. It was one of the major reasons why I voted not to chase Kerry.
>>4624231You 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 capturedThis 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 permadeadNobody 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.
>>4624234Ahead 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 gohe was very obviously going to Einzbern Castle
>>4624237Also 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.
>>4624250Did 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.>>4624251Shirou would have to activate his reality marble first.
>>4624246>anons still debating a vote from half a year agoMay 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 firstYeah 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
>>4624251he would need UBW before we do that and at that point we can get Medea to support him
>>4624317You 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.
>>4624313Wow! 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 everyoneYeah i'm sure to convince the samefags of that
>>4624330it would pretty based yeah, we should do it if we can
>>4624390With a genius plan like that you could have convinced anyone. It's simply amazing. No mere human could think of a plan like that.
>>4624161Any session where best girl Medea is still captured is inherently shit, sorry but it is inescapable. A valiant effort though.
>>4624137Literally 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>>4624260Does 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.
>>4624942what 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 Manakashow 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?
>>4624982Isn'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.
>>4624987yes, 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.
"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>>4625024Supporting.
>>4625023>>4625024Supporting.While we're looking around I am open to hearing out their suggestions though.
>>4625023>look for evidence>send messageas >>4625024 saidlook not just for clues possibly left by perp, but also if anything's missing
>>4625024Support
>>4625023>>4625024This seems pretty legit, although there is a possibility we might lead whoever did this right to us.
>>4625023Supporting >>4625024
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.
>>4625049Both 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.
>>4625054No reason?
>>4625055And why would he help us?Last time we met he said he is not gonna do shit.
>>4625049I wanted Caster, i voted for her.
>>4625049I will never not be mad at that I miss her so much
>>4625056>why would he help us?Think about it.Pic very much unrelated.
>>4625058Me 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>>4625061that'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
>>4625060I 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.>>4625062So 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.
I guess I'll start writing.
>>4625023Supporting >>4625024>>4625049I am quite sad about it.
>>4625072Well 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.
>>4625078Then let's go ask him what his goals are. Since he has a servant, he's involved anyways.
>>4625079I 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>>4625079We can also try to bargain with him. If he can get Betty out then he can help with the rest.
>>4625082Ask 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.
>>4625082We 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.
"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 HouseFrom 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>>4625131you two are retarded
>>4625121>>Write-in...Have Betty create something that will help us find Nyarlathotep.
>>4625134>you two are retardedDude, 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.
>>4625133That's not how Truth works.>>4625134Do 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.
>>4625142Here 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 offensivelyAre you disabled?>>4625143Is 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.
>>4625139While 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.
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 BOOTSMordred 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.
>>4625121Go to rins to get stuff
>>4625145It 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?>>4625146Sorry but I do not believe that something like that would work.
>>4625121No 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 backHow would that even work? Do you propose we stuff Medea into Sakura's Imaginary Numbers Space? She would be devoured instantly.
>>4625170train Sakura and we did mention that its the perfect place to train
>>4625172We 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 ElsewhereGet Rin’s shit. We need to get Avalon and shit. Maybe Ruby if we really want mahou shoujo.
>>4625182>get AvalonIsn't Avalon inside Shirou?
>>4625186Fuck your right I’m retarded. It is inside Shirou. We just need to find a way to extract it I guess.
>>4625187I 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?
>>4625187he can probably trace it
>>4625192Trace what? Avalon? I believe he can't do that until he unlocks his RM at least.
>>4625194He did it in Fate route and thats when his skills weren't very developed
>>4625168>>4625194I'm pretty sure he has UBW already.
>>4625197What makes you say that? He didn't show it in any way.
>>4625199Didn'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.
>>4625204it 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 memorieswait you can do that?
Ok, so it looks like you're going to guess that the Servant is Mordred...Do you want to say that out loud?
>>4625210keep it to yourself right now since that's still a guess
>>4625210No, it's just a guess for now.
>>4625207Yeah, 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.
>>4625210Sure
>>4625215That's not a fully developed RM. He can't manifest it and it's not at full power.
>>4625210Let's not trigger Saber until we can confirm it.
>>4625218Even 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.
>>4625210Yes. 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.
>>4625210I suggest we tell them
Ok so that's a 3/3 tie.
>>4625240Flip a coin
>>4625240Unless we can get a tiebreaker >>4625241 do this
>>4625240Dont flip a coin.
>>4625240Mention the possibility
>>4625210No.
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
>>4625253vote then and break the tie
>>4625240Keep it to yourself
>>4625253Why? Because we have a tie? That's a normal thing.
Quickly QM! Call the vote!
>>4625240Keep it to yourself.
>>4625253Retard
>>4625250would it be better for her to hear the possibility now, or be confronted by it when it attacks us or her Master?
>>4625240Tell dadmom about her daughterson.
>>4625254
>Keep it to yourself>>4625211>>4625214>>4625220>>4625247>>4625257>>4625262>Reveal it>>4625217>>4625227>>4625230>>4625246Ok I think we've got a consensus (?) now.>>4625253Great to see that we still have these assholes on /qst/ If you care so much, be the change you wish to see and actually play rather than complain.
>>4625267Cross that bridge etc etc
>>4625271Just say it's called man. We already have a guy trying to tie it.
>>4625268Oh I missed this vote.Doesn't change anything though... I think?
>>4625275Ok calling for keeping it to yourself.
>>4625240Don't tell Saber. For now at least.
You can't help but feel as if there's a Servant that matches one of the footprints, especially given the information you learned earlier in the war about a Servant with red accented armor. Mordred. Of course, if it was Mordred who was the one behind this attack then it obviously couldn't have been the Servant who was responsible for freezing Touko in time like that, but who could be powerful enough to mess with time? There shouldn't be any humans strong enough to manage that, even somebody like Kiritsugu with Time Alter wasn't anywhere close to that level. Hell, even if he had the complete Emiya crest it's unlikely he'd be able to even approach being able to freeze somebody in time like this! It's not his MO either, he uses guns, not knives, and certainly not a blade large enough to leave a wound like the one you saw in Touko's chest. Something like that would've required a blade at least the width of a long sword.You looks at your allies and you consider whether or not you ought to tell them. Of course, there's the chance that you're wrong and it's completely meaningless, but it's equally likely that you're right and your allies can better prepare for an enemy. The one issue is just how Saber will end up taking it, after all, she didn't exactly end up parting on... good terms with her only child. Of course, if it is Mordred, you might actually be able to use this war as an opportunity to try to fix that for Saber... that is if you can convince Touko not to try to destroy Mordred for her part in this attack... Though Mordred is way too straight forward for something like this anyway, so you kind of doubt she was being used as anything but the dumb muscle. Admittedly, Mordred isn't... very smart. That's what homeschooling from the likes of Morgan le Fay will do to you.Actually, on second thought. Best not, you don't know how Saber will take it right now, best to hope that Shirou can develop his relationship with Saber a little more before dropping some bombs like that on her. While of course you do find Saber attractive, it would feel wrong if you were to drag Shirou apart from his Servant, after all, the other routes where he ends up with other characters are usually brought about by a force of great power separating him from Saber. You'd feel kind of bad if you tried to interfere in their budding relationship. Though it might not even progress in the same way now that Saber isn't getting thrashed in every single fight.
"I've got some theories as to who we might be up against, but until I have something more concrete, It isn't worth me sharing them." You shrug, between that and Saber possibly having an adverse reaction to the presence of her daughter/son(?) in Fuyuki, it's best just to keep your mouth shut. You'll come to that when you come to it. "I think we ought to check the Tohsaka residence yet... there are a few things within that place that could be of great use to us in our coming trials, and I happen to know where Rin keeps her most powerful treasures!"...Why?" Shirou is the one to ask you. "It kind of sounds like Rin herself hasn't told you about this..." Shirou sounds like he's about to lecture you, but you hold a hand up to interrupt the well-intentioned boy... The almost too well-intentioned boy, in this case."It's fine, after all, Sakura is Rin's sister, remember? Rin would happily give Sakura anything she owned, even if she'd raise a fuss about payment first." Rin is a genuinely good person, as much as she tries to hide herself behind layers of magus arrogance and bluster. Against somebody like Shirou or Sakura, it's incredibly difficult for Rin to keep up her act. Also, you don't think Rin would ever actually take money from Sakura for something her sister wanted, even when she has a terrible habit of getting herself bankrupted. Rin might be upset when she finds out you went into the secret chest she keeps locked in her room that utilizes the Second True Magic in order to have practically unlimited storage space to find out just what it contains that might be able to help you, but she'll have to suck it up, if Ruby is actually in the chest and she wasn't wielding the unfathomably powerful mystic code for no reason other than the fact that it embarrassed her when she was younger, then you're going to yell at her. Then again, Ruby might just try to brainwash whoever ends up wielding it to serve it's own perverted purposes. That's why you'll have Sakura threaten to snap it in half if it plays up! Genius!
After one last look around for any sort of additional evidence, you finally exit the building, heading back into the car and sighing as you look at the wrecked building. You're really glad you chose to live in such a large house, because it seems that people just have a tendency to end up living there. It might not have as many people in it as it should right now due to Manaka's actions, but when, and you do mean when, you get your other allies back from Manaka's clutches, it really will be a busy household indeed. At least if everyone decides they want to take residence up in your house for the duration of the war. Soon you end up arriving at Rin's house, and as you reach for the handle, you suddenly decide against it. Sakura is actually definitely keyed into the defenses, and is able to shrug off almost any form of magic used against her. In fact, you aren't sure just what her limits are. It's possible that with her defenses as they are now, even an EX ranked attack that was magic based in nature would merely fizzle out upon hitting her.Nothing happens anyway, not that you expected it would, and you enter Rin's home without any more issues. Upon entering the home though, something immediately feels wrong, the presence of a Servant?! You couldn't feel them through the Bounded Fields! The rest of your allies seem to pick up on the threat as well, and you proceed with caution.>Follow the presence of the Servant, this might belong to one of the duo responsible for killing Touko! You outnumber whoever this Servant is three to one!>Don't bother going after the Servant, they are further into the house, just grab what you want from the upstairs rooms and get out! You can't risk destroying your prize!>Write-in...
>>4625381Is the plan to actually grab the magical girl sticks? I feel like it'll get wacky if we do.>Don't bother going after the Servant, they are further into the house, just grab what you want from the upstairs rooms and get out! You can't risk destroying your prize!I'd say try and send something out to see who it is, but prioritize the sticks.
>>4625381Find and confront.Maybe leave a Beaky at exit route?
>>4625389You're mostly here to just grab the chest in it's entirety. The contents of the chest are currently an unknown. In fact, the only people who know whats inside the chest for certain are Rin and Zelretch himself.It should also contain the blueprints to the Jewelled Sword of Zelretch, and most importantly,Rin's phone.
>>4625381>Follow the presence of the Servant, this might belong to one of the duo responsible for killing Touko! You outnumber whoever this Servant is three to one!Let's go for it, even if only for the info.
>>4625381>>Follow the presence of the Servant, this might belong to one of the duo responsible for killing Touko! You outnumber whoever this Servant is three to one!
>>4625381>Follow the presence of the Servant, this might belong to one of the duo responsible for killing Touko! You outnumber whoever this Servant is three to one!
>>4625381>>Don't bother going after the Servant, they are further into the house, just grab what you want from the upstairs rooms and get out! You can't risk destroying your prize!Let's get the chest secure before we investigate.
Like seriously guys, can we do what we came here to do before we investigate? If we get into a fight, we might not have a chance to do it.
>>4625440Did you vote for that?
>>4625440Well, they are here before us aren't they? They might have gotten the chest, everyone seems to counter our plans lately.
Fifteen minutes till I call.
>>4625447Then we go check on the chest before we start a fight. Or let's send Sakura up to grab it while we investigate.
>>4625021>Shirou still looks like he's prepared for combat, but mostly he seems to be awestruck about something.I think he had a mental orgasm tracing and failing to trace the Truth sword. Several Nasu-written paragraphs of floral text blasted through Shirou's mind that entire scene of Shinji killing the demon
>>4625450Do you reeeally want to send Sakura on her own? Does her immunity to magic apply to everything?Alright, I'll change my vote and if the chest isn't there, it's your fault.>>4625381>Don't bother going after the Servant, they are further into the house, just grab what you want from the upstairs rooms and get out! You can't risk destroying your prize!
>>4625457>and if the chest isn't there, it's your fault.I will happily take the blame.
>>4625441>Did you vote for that?Yes. Did you vote for that?
>>4625465Don't think I voted. Not interested in this part
>>4625468Well if you don't care, why not join us in chest looting before investigating.
>>4625440Support
>>4625449Is it called?
>>4625440support
>>4625440I'm supporting this
>>4625477I've only taken a brief glimpse, but it looks like you want to go after the chest first.Right?
>>4625484Yes
>>4625381>Follow the presence of the Servant, this might belong to one of the duo responsible for killing Touko! You outnumber whoever this Servant is three to one!The chest isn't going to sprout legs and run away we can get it after the servant.
>>4625484No.
>>4625484Yes.
>>4625485>>4625488
>>4625492Maybe.
>>4625492Flip a coin
>>4625492What seems to be the problem? You said you'll call the vote in 15 minutes 30 minutes ago.Call the vote and count the votes my dude.
>>4625492>>4625495I don't know.
>>4625492Don't flip anything. There is no tie."Follow" option is winning.
>Chest>>4625389>>4625435>>4625457>>4625472>>4625480>>4625483>Confront>>4625392>>4625397>>4625402>>4625405>>4625416>>4625439>>4625486Ah, Confronting wins by a single vote.
we can just send someone like Illya or Sakura to just grab the chest
>>4625526You know, I'd be fine with this. Probably Sakura, since she'd be key'd to all of Rin's shit.
>>4625535>>4625526if we're splitting up though let's not send a servantless master. Even with improved ribbons she's not invincible. And splitting up negates advantage in numbers.
>>4625541well we can send Illya then, 2 to 1 advantage is still good and we won't even have to wait too long, if fighting starts, Avenger can haul ass and come help us
"Everyone, let's go after the Servant, quickly!" There are no complaints or second thoughts as you race through Rin's home after the presence of the Servant. Saber takes the lead as she pushes her way into the lounge of Rin's home, the door easily giving way and revealing two figures, one hooded figure who looks sort of familiar, and the other... well the other is Kirei Kotomine."Ah! It seems we were right to come here today, though I still don't know why you insist on accompanying me on a social visit." Kirei doesn't seem to pay you much attention as you all arrive, instead choosing to address the figure. Oh! This must be his supervisor, you almost forgot about them, you wonder if they've managed to keep Kotomine under control all this time... well, Kotomine seems a little less smug about things than he usually does, so it's unlikely he's having as much fun as he otherwise might be having. "...Yet I do not see Rin with you." Kotomine raises an eyebrow at the collection of Servants and Masters before him, and yet the owner of the mansion isn't among you. You whisper quietly in Sakura's ear. "Sakura, there shouldn't be a fight here, but I want you to go upstairs to Rin's room and look for what appears to be a locked trunk. Bring it to the car while I deal with this, OK?" You smile as Sakura nods and pulls back to go retrieve Rin's most powerful collection of artifacts and notes. Kirei shouldn't want to turn this into a fight, and if he does, well, it's just a shame Rin won't get to kill him herself. She deserves to avenge the death of her father, even if he was a complete jackass. When you think about it, it's awfully strange that Kirei hasn't organized the death of his superior, you wouldn't expect Gilgamesh to help Kotomine out for things related to his job, if he's having trouble with his supervisor that's his problem. That does beg the question of just how powerful they are not to have been killed off by Kirei for all this time. Powerful... or careful. "Father Kotomine, what brings you to Rin's home? I'm sure she won't be happy to learn you've entered without her permission." You address the priest. The irony of chastising him for doing something you're doing isn't lost on you, but whatever.
"I'm merely here to check on Rin. After all, is it wrong for me to feel worried about her? I did practically end up raising her after her father tragically died fighting in the last war." What a complete piece of shit. It's like he's actually trying to look good in front of his superior too! Just who the hell is the hooded woman... You have a theory that you'll put into play in a moment, actually. A very simple way to find out who the woman is without actually having to put much effort in at all. Also, did one of them summon a Servant? Is that even allowed by the rules of the war? Not that the wars rules seem to hold much weight anymore, but still, if even the supervisors are taking part... You can really only wonder what sort of Servant is hiding in the room without revealing their presence. Saber and Avenger are clearly getting a little antsy, even Betty seems guarded. The presence is unmistakably that of a top-class Servant, there's an amount of magical energy surging through them that not even being in spiritual form is enough to stem. "So, you decided to break into her home with your... what, boss?" The hooded woman looks up at you for a moment as you refer to her, before losing interest quite quickly. "Then just... wait for Rin to come home?" For a moment you wonder if Kirei just did this to aggravate his superior. You wonder just which one of the two in front of you is the Master of the Servant lurking in the shadows. "That was the general idea, yes." Kirei doesn't seem bothered by your questioning, and he rises to his feet, towering over each and every one of you. "Where is Rin, by the way?" There's faux concern in his voice as he asks after Rin again. "Not here, obviously. She sent us here to... fetch something for her." A lie, but you don't care. It's Kirei, lying to him is like a good deed. Then you smile for a moment. "I heard something about a Dead Apostle who calls himself an Ancestor recently. Tell me Kirei, have you ever heard of a vampire called... Roa?" Kirei smiles while the hooded woman tenses up. "Did you say... Roa?" Seems that she can't keep her silence any longer. Got you, Ciel. Why exactly a member of the Burial Agency has come to Fuyuki, you have no idea... Unless she's here waiting for Altrouge to return? Having Ciel around for dealing with that eventual storm will be quite useful, though Ciel not being in Misaki for Tsukihime could end up ruining everything very quickly.
"I did. Of course, my sources refused to give me much information, and I was hoping you could tell me more." Of course, you've confirmed what you wanted to know, and now you need to get the hell out of this path of conversation before you accidentally reveal what you know about Roa. You could probably have Ciel go and kill SHIKI right now if you wanted to. If the events of Tsukihime haven't started, it would be as easy as breaking into the Tohno mansion and dealing the killing blow to the poor boy before he gets completely taken over."Who are your sources?" Ciel demands of you, there's a small amount of hostility in her voice. Seems that the idea of finding out more about the man she so desperately wants to kill is enough to erase her etiquette. Surprisingly it's Kirei who intervenes. "Now I don't believe we ought to antagonize Rin's friends, Ciel. It reflects poorly on the Church." There's an unsurprising shit eating grin on his face as he quells Ciel. Seems that despite being his superior the member of the Burial Agency still has to abide by some rules. "As members of the Church, our dealings with magi are required to be approved. Even if you are a-""You don't need to tell me that, executor." Ciel refers to Kirei by his title, with some distaste in her voice. Ciel seems to distrust Kirei, and it speaks quite favorably of her intelligence in not falling for the priest's tricks. She already sounds annoyed at having her name revealed. Odds are that the Church are breaking more than a few agreements with the Mage's Association in having a member of the Burial Agency around to likely intervene in the Holy Grail War. Ciel's very presence in Fuyuki could spark off a full-on war between the Church and the Mages. Playing with fire here, aren't they?"I'm afraid my sources prefer to keep their identities undisclosed. A very... reclusive type, you understand. If I told you anything about them, they'd never deal me information again." It's a lie that is far more believable than the truth. You wonder if Ciel would abandon her current mission to go after Roa... You probably shouldn't push it. If she does effectively defect from the Church to fight the being who once possessed her, you're pretty certain she'd be executed by the Church... You suddenly feel a little bit awkward when you realize there's something of a similarity between yourself and Roa, though unlike Roa, your soul didn't completely dominate and force the original Shinji into a deep darkness... it seemed to have merged with it instead, and... and it's not like you did it on purpose!
"I see." Ciel regains her calm very quickly. "That's quite a pity. Come, executor. We're returning to the chapel." Chapel? As far as you know, the church is still undergoing repair work. Have they set up another base of operations? Why haven't they told anyone? Just how disorganized is this whole damn war?>Ask Ciel a question before she leaves. (What?)>Ask Kotomine a question instead (What?)>Attack the duo. You like Ciel, but you don't trust the Church in Fuyuki, and you'd rather not have a Servant aligned with them. Regardless, it's not like you'll kill Ciel no matter what you do.>Just let them go, in fact. You might as well leave at the same time as them.>Write-in...
>>4625685Leave
>>4625685>>Just let them go, in fact. You might as well leave at the same time as them.
>>4625685Hm, should we ask them about Zouken? Or about the messed up grail war?Probably not worth the complications.>let’s Leave
I feel like we should say something to Ciel to let her know that we know SOMETHING about her but i don't know what, maybe that Misaki Town is nice this time of year?
>>4625685>Just let them go, in fact. You might as well leave at the same time as them.
I might get one last update written tonight. We'll see how I feel in... 40 minutes? An hour?Whatever. I do want to write this next update though.
>>4625734I can't wait for her to find out we just looted her house the second she was away.
>>4625734i feel like you won't have to wait that long, it seems everyone is agreeing
>>4625746I'm surprised she didn't expect this from us.
>>4625752>>4625753>>4625754Did posting break again?
>>4625756I dunno, but I think it's fine now.
>>4625685>Let them go.We can have Sakura vore Ciel if she decides to be a pain.>>4625746We're doing it to save her from Manaka. Not our fault she's too much of a pussy to use Ruby.
Alright there's a clear agreement here. Let's do this.
>>4625780Man I love her, hope she can join our harem
"Oh. You're leaving? Well, I'll be sure to tell Rin you're looking for her when I see her again." You don't really want to let these two into anything that could be used against you... well, Ciel not so much, you know her personality, and at heart, she might have one of the... well, 'most positive' alignments of any people you know, for lack of a better word. She's probably up there with Shirou when it comes to just straight up being a good person. Even if she is forced to assume a personality one might expect of a more typical member of the Burial Agency, she's really not at all a bad person. As a general rule of thumb, you can trust a member of the Church under usual circumstances, where bad eggs like Kirei are the exception. Meanwhile, the opposite is practically in effect when it comes to Magi. "Thank you." Kirei follows Ciel out of the room, you enjoy the fact that he's not able to enjoy the complete mess of the war as much as he would without Ciel here. Of course, odds are incredibly likely that Ciel is the Master here. After all, while Kirei might have been blessed with magic circuits, Ciel is a sort of once-in-a-generation genius when it comes to magecraft... Last generation, technically. She's a little older than she looks on account of being completely immortal. Her immortality is basically entirely as a result of Gaia glitching out like it's some sort of poorly coded video game suffering from some sort of overflow issue. It's kind of unnerving, knowing that it's entirely possible for somebody to quite literally break reality entirely without intending to. Maybe if your asshole grandfather is still around you can show him Ciel before you get rid of him for good, just to add insult to the injuries you intend to inflict upon him.Ciel looks up from her hood and pierces you with a cold gaze as she leaves the room, you've... definitely gained her attention, for better or worse. The rest of your allies awkwardly shuffle out of the way of the apparent overseers of the war, the Servants still clearly prepared for battle with the exception of Betty, who seems more at ease at the sight of the priests. Interesting...You follow the two priests out, and feel the presence of the Servant leaving peacefully with them. Not going to introduce them? How rude. As you pass by the stairs, you can hear the loud sound of somebody struggling to move furniture, you get a raised eyebrow from Kirei as he sees just what's going on, and you think he might say something, but instead he just smiles and turns around. God, you hate him. He's so damn difficult to read.
You have no idea just why Sakura is struggling so much, how heavy can something like that box be? She's not using her magic, and that might be for the best. With her new ability to nullify magic with them, you'd prefer anything magical to stay out of their clutches. Kirei and Ciel depart the house while Sakura huffs and puffs at the top of the stairs. Apparently having dragged the box all the way here, you quickly head upstairs to help Sakura, and you can understand just why she's been having trouble. Damn this box is heavier than it looks like it should be! How does weight even work with a box like this? Why the hell is it shaking as you try to carry it downstairs? You and Sakura eventually manage to get the box down the stairs and you set it on the ground in front of Rin's front door. The box is somehow jumping about at random intervals, is there... something alive in there? There shouldn't be, not unless Rin has decided to use the box as some sort of prison... she wouldn't do something like that, would she? You feel apprehensive about checking the contents of the box now. After all, you very well might be attacked the moment you open it!>Open it anyway! Throw caution to the wind! >Just throw the box in the boot of the car for now, you can open it at home.>On second thought, put the damn thing back in Rin's house. You've got a bad feeling about opening it.>Write-in...
>>4625845>>Open it anyway! Throw caution to the wind!
>>4625845>>Just throw the box in the boot of the car for now, you can open it at home.
>>4625845>Open it anyway! Throw caution to the wind!What, did Rin fucking kidnap Prisma Illya across timelines?What the fuck is in the box.
the fucking magic stick is active.everyone, prepare the snapping threats, because this thing is a fucking nuisance
>>4625845Open anyway
>>4625845>>Open it anyway! Throw caution to the wind!Oh boy. Here's hoping we don't actually get magical (boy) Shinji.
>>4625845>Open it anyway! Throw caution to the wind!Did somebody say. C o n t r a c t.Magical Girl time my friends. Should it choose Illya, heres hoping you all enjoy the depression and pain that come with it. ;)
>>4625845Open the boxWouldn't Ruby fix Ilya's limited lifespan?
>>4625904Probably. Actually probably worse question, is this something we can fix currently by ourselves?(
>>4625898>Do you want to make a contract?
>>4625911>...
>>4625907Third magic, Touko, Avalon or truthmeme to preserve her body? Nyarly and kerry have time magic, and CG Kerry has boots very similar to what WhatIs was describing at the scene of Touko's workshop. He may have accepted a FCG contract or been summoned to add to the clusterfuck of a war.
>>4625917Time magic to reduce her rate of decline*
>>4625845>>4625846>>4625849>>4625857>>4625859>>4625882>>4625887>>4625898>>4625904>>4625913https://youtu.be/-dB8wBr76JgThis but with Shinji and somebody else
Uh.We're still going for a harem right?Who are we putting in it?Sakura is a sure bet.Medea too, when we rescue her.Other than those two I don't care.I want to find a way to de-age Monica desu.She's entered the hagzone and would look way better if she were a little younger.We haven't tried age manipulation with truth yet, have we? It might be possible for us to right now give Illya an Iri tier body. Wonder if we could give them control over their ages. I want to know what our allies would go for, yearwise. Does Saber want to look older?
>>4625958Yeah I wanna go for harem, Sakura, Rider and Medea at least, Rin is me reaching
>>4625049I was away during that vote and holy shit am I seething over the result.
>>4625958I really don't care, but Monica is cute! even if she's older and I will not have you disparage her.
>>4625958Harems a shit.I do want all the girls to be happy, with Shinji or with anyone else.Personally I would prefer Medea, Monica or the canon route that is Sacchin. Rin or Rider are fine too.
>>4625958>We're still going for a harem right?"We" were never doing that.
"Are you sure we should open this here, Onii-chan? Whatever is inside... it looks like it's angry." Sakura looks at the box, there's an almost half minute interval between every attempted struggle. Is the kaleidostick inside the box doing this? What could've activated it? Also can't a kaleidostick unlock the chest from the inside out? There's something fishy going on here."Don't worry." Saber steps forwards. "If the creature within this box attempts to attack us, I shall strike it down." Saber states. What an inspiring woman, this must be the Charisma of a king in action. Honestly, after Touko's demon, you don't think anything utilized by a modern magus could be a threat to you or your Servants, and especially not anything used by Rin! She's not only not quite as talented as Touko is on the level of technical skill, but she's way younger and more inexperienced too!"Thank you, Saber. Now, Sakura, I want you to unlock the chest and quickly get behind Saber. We have no idea what might come out of it, so it's best for you to be safe." Really, you don't want Sakura to have to be the one to open the chest at all, but between her immunity to magic and Rin making her immune to all of her magical defenses, Sakura is the best bet. This isn't Hollow Ataraxia, you can't rely on Rin simply having no defenses on even her most valuable items.Sakura quickly does as you bid and hurries as quickly as her relatively nonathletic body can carry her to safety. You almost form a sword of truth again out of concern that the creature about to emerge from the box may actually be worse than Touko's sealed demon! You might've been underestimating Rin... Who knows what horrors the second true magic could call forth?!The lid of the box slowly begins to rise. Here it comes! You can hear heavy, angry breaths quite clearly as the chest continues to open, and before long you can make out... a human arm lifting the lid from within? Wait a minute...! The arm eventually pushes the box lid all the way open and the person within it stands up, her face completely furious as she sorts out her twin tailed hair. No way... this is a worse monster than even Angra Mainyu could bring forth, never mind Touko!
"Rin?!" Everyone with the exception of the Servants calls out in unison. What the hell? How did she escape from Manaka?"Everyone, hold on, we don't know if this is the real Rin... It could be a simulacrum of her, or perhaps the Rin of another dimension that our Rin has imprisoned!" There are plenty of explanations for this that don't rely on Rin somehow having escaped from Manaka's clutches. After all, if Rin could escape and Medea couldn't, something is clearly terribly wrong!"Shut up. Shinji." Rin's voice is full of seething anger. "First, I lose my Servant out of nowhere, and then I'm trapped in a box for... well in truth, I was only in there for half an hour." Rin sounds a little less annoyed for a second. "How did you know I was in there, anyway?" Everyone just stares at Rin awkwardly, too shocked to figure out how to respond to the sudden return of the Tohsaka girl. Either Manaka is feeling especially generous today, or something is going on to do with the Second True Magic... When Rin realizes that her appearance has apparently stunned everyone into silence, she seems to move on to asking another question, this one not directed at her saviors and instead directed to something inside the box. "What the hell does 'Kaleidostick: Spacetime Anomaly User Retrieval' even mean?" Rin sighs, the anger on her face fading away for a moment and being replaced by a great weariness as she steps out of the box.Then your fears are recognized as a cute looking magic wand jumps out of the box and floats in the air next to Rin. "What, did you forget already, miss genius? Or did you just not bother reading any of the notes on the Kaleidostick?" Ruby mocks Rin for not knowing what happened, but you don't actually know what happened either, so you'd much prefer if the damn thing would just hurry up and explain. "It's a feature that the Second Magician installed for everyone currently considered to be the wielder of the Kaleidostick... There are a certain amount of dangers that can be expected to come from using the Second True Magic, and I guess that my creator was just worried about you being a complete and total screw-up, Rin!" Rin's face is one of somebody who desperately wants to grab the damn thing floating around her to snap it in half... that probably wouldn't be wise though, and she knows it. "It's not my fault that you decided the best place to keep your Kaleidostick was in a box that was impossible for somebody like you to open from the inside!" The wand chimes happily as it insults it's owner. You look at Illya and see a look of total bewilderment on her face at the scene unfolding in front of her... Though to be fair, it's a look shared by even Avenger and Saber. Betty seems more interested in the Kaleidostick itself for some reason... you hope that doesn't mean she wants one for herself.
"So if what you're saying is true, and we all walked into a huge time anomaly beneath the temple, then why the hell were Shinji and Shirou able to escape from it?" Rin is clearly trying to come to terms with apparently being bested at magecraft by not only you, but also by Shirou of all people. Then something dawns on her... "You... You lot didn't know that I was in that chest, did you?" The anger in her voice is steadily growing harsher and harsher, and she once again doesn't receive a response. Nobody can bring themselves to lie in a situation like this. "Really? I go missing for twelve hours, and that's all it takes for my house to get looted?!" She doesn't seem happy, especially because she can gather that this definitely wasn't Sakura's idea. "How did you even know that this box had anything inside of it?" Another question you won't be answering."I'd suggest you be more thankful for your saviors, Rin. I of course, know that I am truly thankful for their appearance." The stick floats around Rin, clearly enjoying annoying its current owner. What a horribly cursed item that Zelretch created."You can shut up as well, Ruby!" Rin screams at the annoying wand. "What happened to keeping me trapped in that box for ten years as revenge for 'your terrible mistreatment', huh? You could've gotten us out at any time!" Well, that's also true, could Ruby feel just a little bit vengeful about Rin refusing to let it out of Zelretch's Trunk for almost a decade? You know you wouldn't be happy about it... though with the time dilation of the box, ten years would only be around half a year within.
"Well of course I could have. I just didn't want to." You hear audible teeth grinding from Rin as she deals with the uncooperative stick. Ruby then turns to regard you, Sakura and the rest. You track the wand with suspicion clear in your eyes, not trusting it not to try anything funny. Then it suddenly pulls what looks to be a letter out of nowhere, as well as a... a present? It's wrapped in pitch black paper, with a red edged ribbon binding it all together. Very funny. "I actually had something to give to you." The Wand says with a voice that you could only describe as... dreamy? What? What the hell is going on? The letter is addressed to you. The present meanwhile has no sort of name-tag on it. It's a long thin box, just a little longer than your lower arm and about as wide as your hand. You really don't know how to respond to all of this. You can only imagine how angry Manaka must've been upon finding one of her captives missing.>Take the letter and read it first before deciding what you want to do with the present.>Open the black wrapped present. You wonder what's inside! You want the mystery box!>Refuse to take either. The less you have to do with Zelretch, the better. Besides, you need to convince Rin to use Ruby.>...walk up to Rin and push her back in the box instead of anything else. You don't have enough space in the car for her.>Write-in...
>>4626294>>Take the letter and read it first before deciding what you want to do with the present.
Surprise!
>>4626294>Take the letter and read it first before deciding what you want to do with the present.
>>4626294>Check our connection to Caster and Assassin in case something's going wrong, reinforce them if necessary>Tell Rin you're glad she's alright and apparently unaffected in mind as well as body>Take the letter and read it
>>4626294>>4626306Support
>>4626306>>Check our connection to Caster and Assassin in case something's going wrong, reinforce them if necessaryWhy would we do it in the middle of Rin's house?Can't we go home first?
>>4626309Because of this line>You can only imagine how angry Manaka must've been upon finding one of her captives missing.
>>4626314If connection to our sevants would be under attack we would feel it and QM would write about it.
>>4626316Unless not choosing to check on them through write ins was a test, that will once we reunite with them result in them asking about our priorities
>>4626320I am not against checking. I am against doing it in the middle of Rin's house.
>>4626306Support
>>4626322Listen. If doing it in the middle of Rins house while Ruby is there bad ends us. Then yes I’ll agree it was a bad idea. But for now I’d say that we should at least try and see if we can still connect to our servants
>>4626325If our connection was severed we would feel it.
>>4626306>>4626343>>4626294nvm supporting this
You take the letter from the stick which is holding it in one of it's strangely malleable and apparently vestigial wings. You may as well see what this is all about before you decide on just what to do about the gift that Ruby is trying to push into your free hand. You tear open the seal and begin reading the letter silently in your head.'Dear Shinji Makiri.It's a shame we've yet to have the proper opportunity to meet, I am Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, and you are an anomaly across the multiverse. It's unfortunate, but I can't take the risk of meeting you in person. You might not be aware, but you are something of a... poison to the Operation of Parallel Worlds, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.' There it is again, is even Zelretch going to call you some sort of immense threat to reality now? Why should he care, there's always another timeline he can jump into, right?Perturbed, you continue reading 'Because of this, I am only willing to interact with you through my agents until I can be certain that a meeting between you and myself won't cause a chain reaction to occur, spreading throughout the entire multiverse and bringing an end to reality as I know it. Of course, neither Magical Ruby nor Magical Sapphire have the correct aptitude for something as delicate as this, which brings me onto the present. Did you open it yet? I think you can tell a lot from somebody based on whether they open a greeting card or a present first. Well, this is more a letter, but I think you get my point. If you haven't opened it yet though, I'm not going to spoil the surprise for you.' You look at the present that Ruby is still trying to get you to take hold of and sigh, taking it with your free hand. Just because you've taken it doesn't mean you have to actually open it.'I'd like to be able to provide you with some more... physical support, given just what's at risk, but even if I were prepared to take the risk of meeting you myself, both Gaia and Alaya have a strong desire to prevent me from meeting you, and the one time I tried to observe you in person, I ended up observing a sniveling talentless brat who was simply nothing like the man I was looking for. If you wish to contact me with your own message, then simply hand a message to one of the Kaleidosticks.' That's quite simple, all things considered. Those Kaleidosticks sure must be handy to have complete subservience from.Your friend perhaps, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, the Kaleidoscope.' The message ends there, and you breathe a sigh of relief. In truth you were worried about meeting Zelretch, but strangely, it seems that he's just as worried about meeting you! You look at the present in your hand once again. Zelretch certainly doesn't appear to have villainous intentions towards you, so what's inside?>Open it now. >Open it at home. (Write-in plan to fit six people into a five person vehicle.)>Write-in...
>>4626362>>Open it now.
>>4626362>>Open it now.He's talking about OG Shinji right?
>>4626362>>Open it at home. (Write-in plan to fit six people into a five person vehicle.)The classic plan, the smallest person sits on a lap. Sorry Illya, that's your cue.
>>4626362>>4626367Support
>>4626367I was thinking of putting Shirou or ourselves in the trunk desu
>>4626367But which lap?
>>4626370its pretty self explanatory
>>4626370Can this be a subvote?I vote we let Saber drive and sit Illiya on our lap.
>>4626371Not really. After all, unless you want her sitting on your lap while you drive, it'll either have to be Shirou, Saber, Sakura or Rin's lap. Or you'll have to let Saber drive.
>>4626373I assumed we would get Saber to drive at that point
>>4626370Let Saber drive and Illya in our lap
There's a fair chance that whatever the gift is, we won't need to drive anymore
>>4626370Well, I guess it doesn't matter what I say now.>>4626377We are not leaving our car here.
>>4626377If we don't drive we don't get Illya on our lap.
>>4626362Oh well, what can possibly go wrong?>Open it nowAnd boldly assuming it doesn't whisk us into some sort of dimensional pocket - come to think of it, where was gil's gift when we were being transcendentally hugged by Sakura? - let Illya pick whose lap she wants to sit on.
seriously though are we getting the write-in vote about checking on Caster and Assassin and telling Rin we're glad she's fine?
>>4626362>>Open it at home. (Illya on Avenger's lap.)
>>4626388there would be 6 people in the car then
>>4626388Avenger will be in spirit form.
>>4626362>Open it now.
>>4626362>>Open it now.Two Mystery Boxes in One Day!?
>>4626385We can do it once we are home.
>>4626370>>4626362Open at home. (Illya on our lap)
You don't seem very apprehensive about opening this thing.
>>4626407nope, crack that fucker open now for the prize
>>4626407What could possibly go wrong? Also, if I can put forth an arrangement for the ride home? >Saber drives, Shinji sits in Avenger's lap.
>>4626407It's gonna be fine. He said he was a friend, right?Surely a friend would not send us a trap. Right?I mean we could get Sakura to open it I'd rather not abuse our adoptive sister like that.
>>4626407Hopes and dreams.
>>4626412>I mean we could get Sakura to open it I'd rather not abuse our adoptive sister like that.SAKURA! GO SHOVEL ALL THE MAGIC OFF THE ROOF!
>>4626409Avenger is a servant. He doesn't get a seat. He flies behind the car in the spirit form.>>4626412Or we could open it at home after Touko makes sure there are no traps or curses on that thing.
>>4626417Her smile must be protected.
>>4626419Based
I'll call it in 20 minutes. Got some things I need to take care of first.
>>4626447That's torture. I miss her.
>>4626450Look on the bright side, Rin is back so we can get Medusa AND Medea back next time and both make Sakura happy and get our witch waifu back
Ok so now that Rin is back and the mystery box is there we have options for Manaka. Option 1 is to keep playing her game, maybe next time we meet her and she tells us to pick 2 more people, she should let us pick 3 as a sign of good faith, which would net us Medusa, Medea and Archer. Medusa cause it makes Sakura happy, Medea cause we must save witch waifu and Archer because we both gain Rin's favor and because Shirou continues to sponge off Archer. Option 2 is to go all in and take her down with our magic bag of tricks. We have a lot now, Sakura can nullify magic stuff, Rin's loot, Gilgamesh's NP (that we should research with Rin) and our improving abilities. We don't have to beat Manaka, we just have to free our allies and haul ass out of there
>>4626362>open it now
>>4626454There is no way for us to beat Manaka in a direct combat.>We don't have to beat Manaka, we just have to free our allies and haul ass out of thereOut of where? Avenger said he was kept in some cave when he was captured. We have no clue where our allies are.
>>4626477If Gil's bracelet does what he says it does, it gives us a shot at doing SOMETHING
>>4626481>it gives us a shot at doing SOMETHINGNice. When I make plans I love to include things that do god knows what.We need to find out what it does first.
>>4626482That's why I said we research it with Rin
>>4626484Why would we research with Rin when we have Touko? She is a better and more experienced mage.
>>4626491Aren't we unsure where she is?
>>4626498We sent her a message, Hopefully she is already at our house.
>>4626500Can't we just like call our house?
>>4626500if she isn't then plan B
>>4626503I don't think we have a landline. And even if we had I don't think Touko or maids know how to use a phone.
>>4626506Not much of a maid then
Honestly, what's the worst that could happen? A gift is a gift, no matter who it comes from right? Zelretch sounded quite polite in his letter, so you doubt he'd send you something that would be a detriment or a burden to you. After all, what could he have to gain out of that? Your attention is gained momentarily when you see Rin trying to smack Ruby out of the air with a tree branch, though the Kaleidostick easily dodges the clumsy attack. Well, while Rin is distracted by trying to destroy a Mystic Code that is probably worth as much to certain magi as your entire fortune of billions, you undo the ribbon tying up the box and are satisfied when the pitch black paper binding it seems to almost unfold around the box in your hands."Do you like it, Shinji-kun?" You nearly jump out of your skin as Ruby suddenly appears right in front of your face, you reflexively dodge to avoid Rin bashing your face in with the tree branch in her blind wish to destroy Ruby for something it must've done or said. You kind of wish you were paying more attention to your allies while you were reading the letter from Zelretch. You're annoyed by Rin's clumsy attacks. Especially seeing as she's been trained in martial arts. Then again, the mere act of even touching Ruby by choice could very will activate their contract in its entirety again, and Rin obviously has no wish to become the incredible Kaleido-Ruby... at least not right now. "Rin! Do you mind?! I'm trying to talk to my darling Shinji-kun!" Sorry what? "I don't care! I don't care if I hit you either Shinji, you damn burglar!" Ah. Looks like Rin is trying to take vengeance on both you and Magical Ruby at the same time with the stick. Too bad, Rin! You're a hundred years too early to be able to use that sort of attack to score a hit!"Betty, if you would." You command your Servant to step in, and despite her somewhat sluggish movement sometimes, Betty grabs hold of the branch Rin is swinging about with a vise-grip. and Rin's rampage ends without any further note. Betty yawns tiredly as she keeps hold of the stick, and the energy seems to seep out of the twin-tailed Magus. You'd normally get her back for trying to swing a god damn tree branch right at your face, but she's justifiably angry and stressed right now, and you really doubt she would've followed through with the strike if she realized you weren't going to dodge in time. Mostly bark with only some bite, that's Rin Tohsaka.
The wand flies around Betty in gratitude. "Thanks for the save kid! Say would you like to m-" Ruby seems to freeze up for a second. "On second thought, best not." Oh, you wonder what could have possibly made Ruby reconsider? You almost smirk. "I'm getting sidetracked anyway. Zelretch-sama said I was to give you that box should we ever meet! Do you like the wrapping paper? I wrapped it myself!" Ruby seems to be acting awfully nice to you. Not at all like you were expecting the thing to act considering what a damn menace it likes to be."Oh yes, it's... nice." You don't really want to admit it in front of Sakura, but deep down, you've probably developed something of a phobia for red and black ribbons. Not helped all too much by the events of this morning where you were almost devoured by a whole damn world of them. Inside the wrappings is... a box? It's quite intricately decorated, but it's clear that the box isn't the actual gift. You flick the top of the box off and are greeted to the sight of a pentagram emblem with wings nested in a silk padded case. Wait a minute... This is a-!The star glows purple. "Magical Amethyst Kaleidostar activated: Observation mode set. Scanning for target. Target located. Target profile: Shinji Makiri. Target Threat Level: ...EX." The star hovers out of it's container and floats up to your face. "Current directive. Protect and observe. Boot-stage: finished." The star stops glowing and suddenly begins to float around in front of your face awkwardly. "G-good afternoon. I'm M-magical Amethyst. I was sent to... watch you... if... if that's OK?" There's something different about this Kaleidostick... namely the fact that it's missing the uh... stick. Is it not meant to be used as a wand then? That's a relief. You don't think you'd look good dressed as a magical girl.>Ask this... Kaleidostar what it can actually do.>Make sure the Kaleidostar doesn't have any magical girl functions to it before interacting further with it.>Ask the Kaleidostar about its purpose in observing you.>Just go home. You'll have Saber drive, Illya can choose who's lap she wants to sit on, seeing as she's the smallest.>Just go home. You'll do the driving. With any luck Touko will be there.>Write-in...
>>4626519>>Ask this... Kaleidostar what it can actually do.>>Make sure the Kaleidostar doesn't have any magical girl functions to it before interacting further with it.>>Ask the Kaleidostar about its purpose in observing you.>>Just go home. You'll have Saber drive, Illya can choose who's lap she wants to sit on, seeing as she's the smallest.
>>4626519>Ask this... Kaleidostar what it can actually do.
>>4626519>>4626522Just to clarify. I want to ask it questions and then go home.
>>4626519>>Ask this... Kaleidostar what it can actually do.
>>4626525>>4626522>>4626519+1
>>4626519Time to turn Betty into a magical girl?
>>4626519>>Ask this... Kaleidostar what it can actually doI'm guessing we should take some precautions in case it decided to explode in our face or do something similarly detrimental. And a way to intercept and learn what information it collects and perhaps sends out.
>>4626535For starters ask it if it could at times give us privacy if we ask it to, like when we want to discuss personal matters with our sister, or our sister's sister, or our best friend etc.See if it reacts to our mental communication with servant(s)
Can't we ask all 3questions?
>>4626540Yes
>>4626519>>4626522Supporting this.
>>4626519All the questions. Then go home. Or both at the same time.
>>4626522Support
>>4626519>>4626522Support this.Wow old man Zel! Our own personal spydrone! I thought we'd only get these from uncle Gilgamesh!The exact moment we start acting feminine is when this thing is getting eaten by Sakura.Also we need to convince Rin to become Kaleido Ruby.I want to find out if the tail and ears are real.
Man, you really gotta wonder what this whole route plays like through Shirou's perspective. I wonder what choices players would have made to get them to this point, and what they and Shirou himself could possibly be thinking.
>>4626605Shirou is thinking some flowery shit, how beautiful Saber is and how reliable and knowledgeable his best bro Shinji is
>>4626605>Trust in Shinji
>>4626605I might write a Shirou interlude just for you.
>>4626605>holy shit this guy just can’t stop throwing death flags, is he going to turn evil soon or is he going to get us all fucked in the inevitable shock twist?>fuck, half cast is suddenly gone, is it happening?
>>4626622you really should i want to see what's bouncing in Shirou's head, I liked the semi interlude you did with Rin and Berserker's master
>>4626622Go back thru F/SN and mimic Nasu's writing style for maximum quality
>>4626622That would be super nice of you.
>>4626626Now that sounds like a challenge!Time to try to think of the wierdest metaphors and similes humanly possible to vaguely fit a situation.
>>4626622I’d be down for this.
>>4626630Ngl when you mentioned Rin and defenseless, I thought Shinji was gonna get snippy and mentally slip in a "...like her an-" in there
"Alright, before I agree to anything... Amethyst, right?" You make sure you're getting the name of this 'Kaleidostar' correct before going on any further."Y-yes." The floating star confirms for you. It seems far more polite than a sentient construct of Zelretch should be, especially when you take a look at Ruby and Sapphire. While Sapphire is definitely more mature and easy to deal with than the frankly near-psychotic Ruby, both of them are bothersome. "Right, well, Amethyst, what exactly can you do as a... Kaleidostar?" The fact that it clearly isn't meant to be used as the Kaleidosticks are has got you interested in just what it might be able to do for you. It did mention something about protecting you as well as observing you."I'm actually interested in what my new youngest sister can do too!" Ruby sudden pops into view, apparently she was completely unaware of the contents of the box, and chose to wrap it simply out of... boredom, maybe? You can't imagine that there's much to do in that box. Ruby seems happy to have gotten herself a new sister, you hope she doesn't have any ideas about corrupting her or anything, right now, Amethyst seems to have a genuinely pure personality, not like the wicked Ruby."R-right... What I can do..." The Kaleidostar floats in position for a moment as it seems to think on just what it wants to tell you. "Well, first off, unlike my elder sisters, the Kaleidosticks, I don't actually... need to use the Magic Circuits of somebody contracted to me in order to actually be... uhm... useful?" Amethyst seems to be embarrassed as she reveals her superiority to Ruby right in her face. "I was created with something approaching an... artificial soul, because of that, I am in possession of roughly a hundred high quality magic circuits!" That's... impressive. Seems like Zelretch really went all out with this thing."So... if you have no need of a user, I take it you have no function to transform people to... uh, magical girls?" Rin flushes red as you look in her direction and say that, you know that just triggered her to relive a painful memory she would've preferred to have kept as well buried as possible.
"I... I didn't say that! It's possible for me to supplement the powers of a magus should I have the authorization to do so, but I was created as the first of the next generation of Mystic Codes of the Second Magic! I am able to function autonomously! The temporary transformation of living magi to magical girls is a function I still contain however." For the first time, Amethyst shines with something that could easily be called pride. You don't know how Ruby is going to take her apparent obsolescence, but you somehow doubt the stick is going to care unless destruction comes as part of this obsolescence. You kind of want to ask the star about the fact that a boy obviously can't be a magical girl, but you decide against it. You'd dread the answer too much to ever want to ask it. You just decide that if you ever want to utilize the abilities of the Kaleidostar in that way, you'll give it to Illya. Unfortunately, it seems that Amethyst hasn't finished speaking yet. "Of course, even if the user's body is incompatible with the process through the use of the Seco-""Moving on." You aren't going to let it finish that sentence. But it is interesting, this whole situation, it seems that Zelretch really is trying to help you out by giving you an ally this useful. This Kaleidostar is a more talented magus than most of the damn magi at the Clocktower, though obviously an artificial lifeform could never be a true successor to the Second True Magic like Luvia or Rin could become. Of course, the fact that it's basically here to spy on you is disappointing, so you decide to ask about just what it hopes to accomplish with such endeavors, and whether you'll be able to request privacy. You'd hate to have to have Sakura nullify the abilities of the Mystic Code whenever you want some time without being observed. "Amethyst, just what do your observation duties entail. Are you going to refuse to give me any moments of privacy at all?" "N-not at all!" The star shakes in the air as it tries to dissuade your fears about its prying nature. "I'm mostly here to note down and index anomalies and occurrences! W-watching you while you slept really closely and monitoring your heartbeat would just be weird, right?" That sounded awfully specific. "If you ever wish for me to stop observing you, then all you need to do is ask!" You really don't trust it when it says that, for as polite as this Mystic Code is, trusting anything made by Zelretch not to have some quirk to it is just foolish. Like the fact that there is no way to open the space-warping treasure chest from the inside. You already have some idea of just what sort of quirk this thing has just based on the answer it gave you. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Sakura giving the Mystic Code an uncharacteristically angry glare. Though the instant she realizes you might be looking her direction she's all smiles.
"Right... Well that's about all I wanted to ask you, Amethyst. So are you just going to float about me or what?" The star seems to panic for a moment when it thinks of an accessory to turn into, eventually, it settles on turning into a somewhat over-sized badge the shape of a star and pinning itself to your waistcoat. "Seriously? Couldn't you have become a belt-buckle or a watch or something?" Looks like despite being created to act autonomously, Magical Amethyst is lacking something of an imagination... or at least lacking the ability to pick solutions that require a tiny amount of nuance. Though you suppose you can forgive the Mystic Code. Odds are that this is the first time it's had a conversation with anybody other than Zelretch himself. "Whatever, anyway, I think it's about time we headed back to my place. I have a few things I needed to take care of. Saber, you're going to be driving if that's alright."Saber gives you a simple nod as the six of you walk back to your car. "Sorry about this Illya, but as you're the smallest person here, you're going to need to pick somebodies lap to sit on for the journey back." As Illya deliberates on her choice, you start to think of just what you're going to do when you get back home. There's a lot of training you could be doing, after all.>Pick four to focus on for the rest of the day before night falls. (Dice will be rolled after the vote is called)>>Focusing on figuring out the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you.>>Focusing on physical training with Avenger and Saber.>>Focusing on trying to unlock and learn about Betty's true power.>>Focusing on the development of an ally (Who?)>>Focusing on the development of your reality marble. You feel like you're close to a breakthrough!>>Focusing on the more general usage of your Truth manipulation.>>Focusing on your magecraft in general.>>Focusing on learning more about Magical Amethyst's capabilities.>>Focusing on trying to convince Rin to become Kaleido Ruby.>>Focusing on trying to learn more about Avenger's capabilities.>>Focusing on strengthening your magical connection with Caster and Assassin.>>Focusing on something else (What?)
Time for a training montage.
>>4626687>Focusing on strengthening your magical connection with Caster and Assassin.Extend the favour to Sakura and Rin as well.Ask Rin about her experience, as hers might be similar to Monica's until she was recovered into the chest.
>>4626687>>>Focusing on figuring out the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you.>>>Focusing on trying to unlock and learn about Betty's true power.>>>Focusing on the development of your reality marble. You feel like you're close to a breakthrough!>>>Focusing on strengthening your magical connection with Caster and Assassin.
>>4626687>>>Focusing on figuring out the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you.>>Focusing on trying to unlock and learn about Betty's true power.>>Focusing on the development of an ally (Sakura)>>Focusing on the development of your reality marble. You feel like you're close to a breakthrough!
>>4626687>Pick four to focus on for the rest of the day before night falls.>>Focusing on strengthening your magical connection with Caster and Assassin.>>Focusing on learning more about Magical Amethyst's capabilities.>>Focusing on figuring out the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you.>>Focusing on the development of your reality marble. You feel like you're close to a breakthrough!
>>4626695You need to pick four, anon.
>>4626700O-oh.Okay then, if >>4626695 counts as one, I'll add>>Focusing on figuring out the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you>>Focusing on trying to unlock and learn about Betty's true power.>>Focusing on the development of your reality marble. You feel like you're close to a breakthrough!
>>4626687>Focusing on trying to unlock and learn about Betty's true power.>Focusing on strengthening your magical connection with Caster and Assassin.>Focusing on learning more about Magical Amethyst's capabilities.>Focusing on the development of your reality marble. You feel like you're close to a breakthroughWe really should be able to delegate something like finding out about Avenger's capabilities to Illya. Hell, shouldn't she already know? Can't we simply ask her? I'd also like to see Sakura take some initiative and work on her powers on her own. I don't expect her to get far without some help, but at least give her the order to try it out and see how far she can get.
>>4626696+1
>>4626687>Focusing on trying to unlock and learn about Betty's true power.>Focusing on strengthening your magical connection with Caster and Assassin.>Focusing on learning more about Magical Amethyst's capabilities.>Focusing on the development of your reality marble. You feel like you're close to a breakthrough
>>4626696Support
Can't we make Sakura train imaginary numbers and Shirou spar with Saber? Certain choices will just at best just have us work with Rin and Illya
>>4626727Can we also offer to strengthen magical connection with their servants to Rin and Sakura?Pretty please, QM?
>>4626731I am sure they can figure it out on their own. We don't have to control their every step.
>>4626737we do that a lot desu
>>4626734I can throw it in if strengthening the connections to Caster and Assassin wins.
>>4626741Well, maybe it's time to cool it a little.
>>4626734>>4626742I am pretty sure it's gonna win. Every post except one has voted for that.
>>4626687>>Focusing on the development of an ally (Shirou)>>Focusing on the development of your reality marble. You feel like you're close to a breakthrough!>>Focusing on learning more about Magical Amethyst's capabilities.>>Focusing on trying to convince Rin to become Kaleido Ruby.
>>4626752Support
Thoughts of Swords.Interlude StartI... really don't like this place. Though Shinji seems confident in his sister's ability to clear the place of any magical traps, seeing those things his Servant summoned dying like that was kind of alarming. Everyone continues forwards, and I trace those two beautiful swords I caught a glimpse of that Red Archer using. I marvel at the craftsmanship of the blades even as I clutch their opposing forms in my hands. Truly, these swords are one of the greatest works of blacksmithing ever forged by human hands. To be so pure in concept and premise, yet unblemished by a bloody history of battle like so many other blades. Soon, we all reach the top floor without any trap triggering. Shinji finding his Master dead and frozen, I want to help, but there's nothing I can do for my long time friend as he tries his best to save her. Even I can tell that a wound like that would be instantly fatal though, and I think that deep down, Shinji can tell too.That doesn't mean he stops trying though, that's something I admire about Shinji. There's very little that can make him give up... I just wish that trying to save my father wasn't one of the things that could. I wonder for a moment if I'll ever get to find out just what ended up happening to my father. If only for Taiga's sake. It's clear that she misses him even more than I do, and is responsible for creating all sorts of theories on just where he might've vanished off to, refusing to believe he would've just gone off to die.Shinji uses his magic to break the woman out of the frozen time and tries to heal the wound. I don't know if he's just trying to ignore it, but I can see the life leave the eyes of the woman in the fraction of an instant she is unfrozen. She's dead before she's even close to touching the floor. Shinji... screams. It's something I never actually thought I'd hear. Shinji always seemed like one of those people who always had everything figured out, who always knew exactly what they needed to do next, and to see him scream in complete frustration like this lets me see a side of Shinji that I never would've expected him to show.I feel like going over to try to cheer him up somehow, but I have no idea just what I'd say to him. Fortunately though, Sakura doesn't seem to suffer from the same hesitation that I do, and in a flash she's at her brother's side, trying to comfort him. My own gaze shifts to Illya for a moment as I take note of this sisterly show of affection. Kiritsugu's biological daughter. I want to get to know her better. I want to be a good sibling to her.
Something happens. Before I can properly process the situation though, Saber launches herself forwards! Defending the two siblings against the emergence of a hideous creature, the gigantic form of the beast emerging from the body of Shinji's teacher and causing it to explode into chunks of gore! I can't even see the tail of the creature, seemingly the beast must've emerged from some strange rift in space! I can barely even begin to describe the hideous creature, the thousands... no, hundreds of thousands of eyes dotted all along it's body sizing up every person in the room like a hawk sizes up a rabbit. The scrabbling limbs of the creature across the floor like nails on a blackboard right next to my ears.Then, I see a blade of true beauty. Shinji creates [Something] that my mind can barely even begin to comprehend. The beauty of this sword cannot be put into words alone. I can feel myself naturally being drawn to the blade, but at the same time, I know I am to be rejected by it. I cannot even comprehend the true beauty of this all-powerful sword of ultimate golden energy. It is unlike when I saw Saber's sword and found myself unable to truly comprehend the structure of the sword due to my own limitations, and though Excalibur was a truly magnificently beautiful weapon, Looking upon this blade makes me unable to even think of anything else. Even if it would reject me, I find myself longing to reproduce the blade. Yet over and over again I find myself unable to do anything except admire the blade. I find it rather unfair, in a way. For Shinji to be able to forge such a sword without even understanding the true relevance behind the beauty of what he just created, simply wielding it like it was nothing but a tool and then allowing it to dissipate into nothingness entirely.[X] Snap out of it. [] Try to trace the sword.By the time I come to my senses, the demon is melting on the floor and Saber is looking at me with concern on her beautiful features. I snap out of the trance state I had entered and follow everyone else out of the room. What a beautiful sword...Interlude End.
>>4626771>>4626773Thank you QM. Good job.
I promised you a Shirou interlude. So there it is.Hope you enjoyed seeing things from the perspective of somebody else.
>>4626771>There's very little that can make him give up... I just wish that trying to save my father wasn't one of the things that couldI genuinely hate you samefags so much for this one you have no idea
>>4626781Don't start that shit again.Not going after Kerry was the correct decision.
I'll call the vote and begin asking for dice in thirty minutes?Maybe an hour.We'll see.
>>4626783no the fuck it wasn't
>>4626780Thank you.I hope we can make up for him by recovering his dad from whatever shenanigans he has been up to.
>>4626785You can continue to delude yourself if you like, but we have had no chance at successfully bringing Kerry back.It was simply beyond our capabilities at the time.
>>4626797I'd rather try and fail then not try at all
>>4626800Trying and failing in this particular situation would have taken us months worth of session.We would have also attracted a lot of undesirable attention to us and almost certainly would have received permanent penalties from "the hell of bad ends" as QM called it.I am sorry, but it's just not worth it.
>>4626811We could have just said"Hey Kerry, stop""No""Ok bye"
>>4626811there's a lot we could've done that didn't require us to raid the Einzbern Manor, the fact that we just gave up on Kerry after we promised Shirou to try to save him was shittiest thing we've done and I would've taken going through BAD ENDS just so we wouldn't break our promise
>>4626687>Focusing on figuring out the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you.>Focusing on strengthening your magical connection with Caster and Assassin.>Focusing on trying to unlock and learn about Betty's true power.>Focusing on the more general usage of your Truth manipulation.
>>4626815>>4626818We would never have found him in the first place.A 12-year old child with nothing but basic magic would have never been able to track down an experienced magus of Kerry's caliber who specializes in assassinations.
>>4626826We knew where he was going, how the fuck could we not have found him.
>>4626826Considering that we aren't on multiple no fly lists, i'd say we'd have a decent shot of getting to the Einzbern Manor with back up before him
>>4626773Yup. That's about what I'd expect. Fun stuff, thanks for taking the time to write that.
>Focusing on strengthening your magical connection with Caster and Assassin.>>4626695>>4626696>>4626727>>4626708>>4626750>>4626698>>4626705>>4626725>>4626825>Focusing on figuring out the Noble Phantasm Gilgamesh gave you.>>4626696>>4626708>>4626727>>4626750>>4626698>>4626697>>4626703>>4626825>Focusing on trying to unlock and learn about Betty's true power.>>4626696>>4626708>>4626727>>4626750>>4626697>>4626703>>4626705>>4626725>>4626825>Focusing on the development of your reality marble. You feel like you're close to a breakthrough!>>4626696>>4626708>>4626727>>4626750>>4626697>>4626698>>4626703>>4626705>>4626725>>4626752>>4626768>Focusing on the development of an ally (Sakura)>>4626697>Focusing on learning more about Magical Amethyst's capabilities.>>4626698>>4626705>>4626725>>4626752>>4626768>Focusing on the development of an ally (Shirou)>>4626752>>4626768>Focusing on trying to convince Rin to become Kaleido Ruby.>>4626768>>4626752>Focusing on the more general usage of your Truth manipulation.>>4626825We got four stand out winners, I think.I'll ask for dice in just a second.
>>4626832And what would we do once we reach the castle? How would we find Kerry?Wait for him near the castle? We would have been detected by bounded fields and homunculus patrols.Make a base in Einzbern's lands and wait? There is no way we would have caught him before his attack and it would be too late by then.Search every port and coast village in hopes of catching him on arrival? Impossible for us alone.Seriously can you please tell me what would your plan be? >>4626836>with back upWhat back up? We have called everyone we could at the time and no one was available.
>>4626780Was awesome
>>4626860we had time to get someone to answer
>i was the only one who voted for improving truth manipuhhhh... am i the only one who remembers our deal with manaka? how is our reality marble going to be useful anytime soon
>>4626864Monica didn't pick up. She was probably on a job which could take her from a week to months.Waver was busy for at least two weeks. By the time he was free there would simply be no time for us to do shit.Am I forgetting anyone else?
>>4626868We have spent a decade improving our magic. Training it now is not gonna do shit.Same deal with physical training.
Ok, first up is an easy one>>Focusing on strengthening your magical connection with Caster and Assassin.I'm gonna need... hmm, best of 41d100 (no crit-fail)
>>4626870Well you're making some assumptions with Monica, but yeah that's everyone
Rolled 62 (1d100)>>4626874
>>4626874
>>4626873>Same deal with physical training.Well, that's not quite true. You'd be able to make some pretty fantastic gains if you did well in practice against Heroic Spirits like Saber and Avenger, even if it's only a single session, you would be able to notice a difference in your skill due to their own incredible skill and power.
Rolled 29 (1d100)>>4626874
>>4626882OK, but even in this case I don't see physical training as something important enough to get into top 4.
>>4626874dice+1d100
Rolled 1, 4 = 5 (2d6)>>4626874I am dumb.
>>4626890yes you are
Rolled 78 (1d100)>>4626874This time for sure.
>>4626889>>4626890Anon...
>>4626892ok that was a good roll good job
>>4626893Hey, I recovered.>>4626892
Rolled 31 (1d100)>>4626874
78 for the connection reinforcing?Not bad.Ok, now I need Best of 41d150For the figuring out of the Noble Phantasm.
Rolled 43 (1d150)>>4626898
Rolled 146 (1d150)>>4626898
Rolled 84 (1d150)>>4626898
Rolled 114 (1d150)>>4626892>>4626903Jesus take the wheel.
>>4626903holy fuck dude
>>4626903Pic related.Ok, moving on.Betty's true power.This one is Best of 41d200
Rolled 126 (1d200)>>4626913Let's fucking goooooooooooooo
Rolled 91 (1d200)>>4626913
Rolled 120 (1d200)>>4626913
Rolled 151 (1d200)>>4626913
Not bad. Not bad.And for the last roll: the reality marble.Best of FIVE1d1000.
Rolled 420 (1d1000)>>4626918
Rolled 2 (1d1000)>>4626918
Rolled 574 (1d1000)>>4626918big money big money
Rolled 850 (1d1000)>>4626918
>>4626922Good shit.
>>4626920UH
>>4626920Holy shit dude.
>>4626922BASED
>>4626920>>4626924Outstanding roll, truly the pinnacle of odds.
Need one more roll, I did say best of five for the last one.
Rolled 285 (1d1000)>>4626918
we had some good ass rolls
>>4626919blaze it
Connection Reinforcement 78/100 (Good result)Noble Phantasm Appraisal 146/150 (Superb result!!)Betty's True Power151/200 (Good result)Reality Marble850/1000 (Great result!)>>4626920You were this close to really messing up here.
>>4626943We are so broken
our odds of just straight up defying Manaka and breaking everyone free seem to have shot up immensely
>>4626947I just want Medea back and hug her really close...
>>4626950Same anon, same. Also, kinda late, but the Shirou Interlude was pretty fucking awesome >>4626780
>>4626950So close our rock-hard erection presses completely up against her lower body, soft and warm underneath the silken robes and fabric. That's not to mention pressing her welcoming chest up against ours, barely any space between us, to the point our heartbeat can be easily felt to to lonely witch. And then, in the wake of returning to her allies, the relief of freedom, and the emotional reassurance that her allies DO care for her and won't betray her like she feared, it wouldn't be long before...
>>4626950agreed, must save witch waifu
>>4626950This
>>4626950supporting all options that secure our witch wife faster
This update is... gonna end up being a longer one.
>>4627087It's what you've always said with every training update. It's been a while since the last one.
>>4627087Nice
>>4627087based
>>4627087Good to know
>>4627087Take all the time you need.
>>4627087take as much time as you need man, you're already posting a lot of text and content compared to most of the board, so there's no problem for us to wait a bit more
In the end you somehow end up sitting in the middle of the three passenger seats. Sakura is to your left and Shirou winds up sitting to your right. This all because Illya wanted to wedge herself in between Shirou and yourself. You were kind of hoping she was going to choose you over Shirou, but you can't really complain with this result. After all, Illya obviously wants to improve her relationship with her brother and you can understand that. The bond between siblings is a powerful one, as Sakura who is currently clinging to your left arm is dedicated to proving. Rin is in the front seat, you don't know if anyone else has picked up on it, but she keeps staring at Saber. Probably enthralled by her beauty up-close or something, at least that's you're guess. You do need to tell Rin that you're glad that she's safe after everything that happened at the temple, but you do feel some shame at being the one responsible for her losing her Servant in the first place. But you aren't about to let your allies down again. No way. This grail war has proven to you that no matter how seriously you thought you were taking your training, it's not enough. You're quite impressed by Saber's skill with the vehicle. The power of a Servant's Riding skill is one that never ceases to amaze you. Though Saber isn't quite as good at driving as Rider is, she could very easily push this Rolls Royce beyond it's mechanical limits with her level of skill. You begin to mentally workshop a schedule for yourself to follow for when you get back home. You have a lot you need to be getting on with, and you also realize that there's an excellent opportunity for properly telling Rin you're happy that she got out of that mansion safely thanks to the existence of the Kaleidostick. You weren't even aware that the Kaleidosticks had the feature that Ruby explained to Rin on them... then again, it's a damn artifact of the Second True Magic, it's about one of the few things that could change without actually having any catalyst in this timeline. It's actually perfectly possible that Zelretch saw the need to upgrade the Kaleidostick present in this timeline upon seeing the amount of danger that could end up killing one of his intended successors. Well, you've got the blueprint to the construction of the Jeweled Sword of Zelretch stashed away in the trunk in the boot, so you could always work on that later on if Rin refuses to use Ruby even in the most dire of circumstances.
You don't really talk much to the other passengers in the car, and you're pretty sure that Betty has fallen asleep. Shirou looks distracted by something and occupied by his own thoughts much like yourself and both Illya and Sakura just seem content with their positions in the car. Even if the two of them seem like they wouldn't mind receiving at least some attention, you're simply too busy trying to think of just how you're going to somehow outplay Manaka. Seeing as she's got a connection to the damn root, she could theoretically plan ahead for whatever you plan on doing. Damn it! Future sight is totally bullshit! Your only solace is that Gilgamesh mentioned his own ability to perceive the future is sealed off. It's possible that Manaka may have even sealed even her own ability to view the future through the root, or she may never have figured out how to do that in the first place. After all, she did get backstabbed by Saber in the end. Damn that girl, her own powers were never really defined enough for you to know just where her limits lie! When you finally reach your mansion once more and find that Touko has yet to arrive, with your teacher not yet back in Fuyuki you allow yourself to begin to put into play your plans for the rest of the afternoon. First up however, your connection to Caster and Assassin. You could strengthen Illya's bond to Avenger, and doing so for your own Servants may just allow them to realize that you aren't going to give up on them. You begin to draw on your magical energy and focus on the connection you have with Caster as well as Assassin. While the link doesn't seem to be under any sort of threat of being broken like Avenger's own was, you still feel satisfied with your work in reinforcing the invisible bonds connecting you and your Servants. For just a moment, you think you can even hear Medea calling out "Master" and a great sadness wells up in you. You don't know if that was the real thing or just some auditory hallucination being brought about through your stress. Still, it's a satisfactory result, and you offer the same process to Sakura... "Oh! That sounds wonderful, Onii-chan! I'd love for you to strengthen my link to Rider, I don't want to lose her..." Sakura and Rider seem to have been able to become fast friends even when Sakura's life isn't one full of misery. You wonder if the dynamic between the two of them is different as a result though. Could Rider perhaps see you as the savior in Sakura's life, the savior that never came to rescue her? The only heroes in Rider's life she ever met either tried to kill her or in the case of one Perseus, were successful. You remember Rider once told Shirou that Perseus was like a 'successful version of Shinji' and you wonder if she'd make the same comparison in this timeline. Hopefully not.
You gently take hold of Sakura's arm and find yourself unable to even start the process of reinforcing her connection to Rider! Could this be a result of imposing a concept onto Sakura's inner world? Is she incapable of being affected even by beneficial magic she wants to be affected by?! As incredible as this development is, it's something of an issue. Strangely though, her command spells haven't been touched as a result of the change to the nature of her magic... You briefly wonder if it might be possible to send the concept of nullification through a command spell in order to not only free Rider from her imprisonment, but also get her back! Though for that to be possible, Sakura is going to need to keep practicing with her newfound abilities, until she at least gets the ability to disable her passive immunity to all things magical, you're not confident in something like that being safe for Rider's continued... existence. "Sorry, Sakura. It... didn't work." Sakura seems just a little bit disappointed by your failure, but she tries her hardest not to let it show. "I'm going to need you to keep practicing with your magic though. You have truly incredible potential!" You resist the urge to say 'Almost as much as me!' It wouldn't be appropriate for the situation.Next up is tracking down Rin, she's probably in a guest room. After all, as annoying as it must be for her, for a Master without a Servant, it's much to dangerous to be alone in a house like that. Especially in a grail war as messed up as this one, you never know just what sort of monster is lurking around the corner. You eventually find Rin in one of your guest rooms, and she looks up at you as you enter, her eyes are both tired and somewhat annoyed at you for the intrusion. She's poring over the plans for the construction of the Jeweled Sword right now, it seems that she's not so happy with her options of either being worthless to the war effort without Archer, or being forced to rely on Ruby for assistance. It's funny to you that her wielding Ruby would put her on about equal footing to when she's wielding the Jeweled Sword anyway. "What do you want. Shinji?" Rin doesn't seem at all happy to see you, you'd have hoped she'd have been more grateful considering she'd still be locked in that box were it not for you! Of course, the situation where she got locked into the box would never have occurred without you, so that sword cuts both ways, certainly."I came to tell you that I'm... glad that you're alright. I know we don't see eye to eye on a lot of things, but I'd never wish you harm, I want you to know that." You've never managed to get along with Rin as much as you'd like to, your personalities just seem to conflict too much. Seems that no matter what the timeline, Shinji and Rin just can't get along huh? Heh.
"OK? Same goes for you, but was that really all you came to say? You're interrupting my research here." Rin gestures to the blueprints and notes scattered all about the table. Seems that she's really trying to pitch in, even now. Even if she's acting dismissive towards you. This is just the sort of relationship the two of you have built. A sort of hostile care for one another."Your research? Oh, that. You'd have more luck if you asked Shirou and Illya to help you out with that." You advise Rin on just what she ought to do if she's serious about wanting to create the damn thing."H-how did you?" Rin is clearly startled as you effortlessly discern what she's researching. "Zelretch's letter, obviously." You shrug as you lie. A perfect alibi. Thanks Zelretch! "Just some advice. You don't have to listen to me if you don't want to. But that wasn't what I came here to tell you anyway. I'm actually here to ask you if you'd like for me to reinforce the link between yourself and Archer." You try to offer your services to Rin with a smile, who first frowns before raising her frown into a more neutral expression... and frowning again. "I... suppose it couldn't hurt." Ah! You almost rejoice at the sound, it's one that isn't heard very often and a noise many might never get to hear at all. Rin Tohsaka swallowing her pride and accepting your help! "Fantastic. This won't take long." The process of reinforcing Rin's connection to Archer goes far better than it did for Sakura and Rider, and Rin gives you an awkward smile to show her gratitude when she feels that her bond to her Servant will be far more difficult to sever now. Though you don't know how the reinforcements will hold up if Manaka starts trying to actually convert the Servants in captivity to her side, unlike Avenger, who has already been stained with hatred, the rest of the Servants have no such advantage. You can only hope that Manaka isn't in the mood to attempt to corrupt some souls for however long it takes you to get your allies back and (hopefully) defeat her in the process. Even if you merely banished them from the timeline it would be a victory. Perhaps you might be able to manage something now that the Second True Magic is going to be in play for your eventual second encounter with the two of them.
Leaving Rin to her research and to dwell on the information you gave her about the Jewelled Sword, you decide it would be best to focus on yourself next... or rather something that currently belongs to you. The Noble Phantasm given to you by Gilgamesh, apparently on a whim. Though Gilgamesh might act the fool sometimes, you can tell that he's in truth taking things very seriously. He's actually being careful and gathering information in unconventional ways. There's not much that can get Gilgamesh spooked, and while his ego is far too great for him to actually show it in a meaningful way, he's definitely not feeling as confident as he otherwise might be. Thankfully, while things are like this, humanity has absolutely nothing to fear from Goldilocks. He's the sort of person who would cancel his own plans just to get in the way of somebody he doesn't like. You fetch the bracelet out of your pocket and begin studying it in as much detail as you can manage, injecting small amounts of magical energy into it and doing all that you can to perform as perfect an analysis as you can on the bracelet in order to unlock the secrets hidden from you by the Noble Phantasm. Gilgamesh gave you a basic explanation of just what the bracelet is, but you want more information, of course, you get that information, and you end up feeling like you've become something of an expert in the appraisal of artifacts by the end of the process.Status Updated!"Ahahahaha!" All of the secrets of the bracelet reveal themselves to you, and you can't hold yourself back from laughing. Both at your success and the realization of just what Gilgamesh's plan is for going up against somebody like Manaka is. Well, at least one part of it. The fact that his vault contains treasures that can compete with True Magic surprises you though, even though it really shouldn't. Gilgamesh is basically the kid who always goes 'nuh-uh, I have an anti-fireball armor!' when the playground are pretending to be wizards. The only difference is that Gilgamesh's ability to do that is very much a real aspect of his strength. You realize that you may have been underestimating Gilgamesh's own strength because of his horrible tendency to lose fights he should win, that combined with the dreadfully powerful entities you keep bumping into has kept you from being properly awed by his powers. Well, that and the fact that he's the one enemy at this level of strength that you're most confident in being able to deal with should things come to that. Despite his powers being practically unlimited in their unpredictability should he wield them as they are supposed to be wielded, he's nowhere near as much a threat when he's just using his great treasures as arrows of the highest quality.
You decide that your next goal should be Betty. While she's an incredibly powerful Servant, you want to learn more about her, if you're going to turn things around, you can't keep using her without truly understanding just what she's capable of. After all, you still have no damn idea of where all those creatures she keeps creating are coming from. With any luck, you'll be able to find out just what sort of Noble Phantasm it is that is spawning them. Clearly some sort of passive Noble Phantasm. You're thankful when you find that Betty's short nap she ended up taking must've ended sometime during your examination of the Noble Phantasm, and she's up and ready for you to try to discover just what it is that she's capable of. First up is solving just what the hell those Mystic Eyes of hers can do, and after summoning her to you. You take her to your personal gym. "Alright, Betty. You see that punching bag there?" You point to the training aid and the girl nods. "I'm going to need you to use your Mystic Eyes on it, ok?" Of course, there's no telling if the Mystic Eyes will even work on the boxi-Betty immediately proves you wrong as the material of the bag ruptures and splits apart and the sand within the punching bag begins to converge into a ball floating in the air, the leather of the bag being consumed and drawn into the ball by the immense pressure. In the span of about thirty seconds of using her Mystic Eyes, the once sand-filled punching bag has been turned into a crumbling rock laying in the center of your gym. Status Updated!So, her Mystic Eyes had to do with the manipulation of Gravity? What truly horrible Mystic Eyes indeed. You can only imagine what sort of carnage could easily be caused should one fail to be careful with those, so you can understand why Betty seems to have mentally blocked herself from them. It's nice that the girl trusts you enough to use them for you though. "Those are... quite impressive, Betty." She looks up and beams at you as you praise the eyes, and for a terrifying instant you are under the illusion that she had yet to deactivate her Mystic Eyes.Of course, there's one more thing that you're interested in finding out, and you raise a hand to her forehead. "Master?" Betty's voice calls out.
"I'm just going to try and check something, Betty. There's nothing to worry about." With your newfound skill in appraising Noble Phantasms, you feel like you might have some luck in trying to appraise Betty's Noble Phantasm from running your magical energy through her and trying to learn information from her like that. You might just be able to find out more about the limits of the creatures Betty is capable of summoning. After all, what's the worst that could go wrong? You run your magical energy through the girl with the intention of finding out the deepest secrets held within her class container, and... argh. Argh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!Ś̨t̷̕͝a̵̧t͘͠͝u̵s͡ ̸̢U̷͘p̕͢d̡a̧͜t̶͘e͜d̸!͜͟͟͡You back away from Betty, feeling as if something just drove dozens of needles directly into your cerebral cortex. About one of the most horribly painful experiences you have ever gone through. So painful that you temporarily lost all ability to control your body, even screaming was an impossibility. The young girl looks up at you, concern all over her face, and you bring yourself back to your senses and power through. The pain going just as quickly as it came. You try to reassure the girl that you're fine by patting her on the top of the head, but you really could've done without that particular experience.You spend a few minutes more trying to find more out about your Servant, but you don't find anything to do with her Noble Phantasms. Of course, it's tremendously unnerving that a Servant is apparently wielding the Authority of a genuine god, especially given just what Betty's class is. You feel like you ought to keep this about Betty to yourself and yourself alone.
Eventually, you dismiss Betty, and you tell your Kaleidostar to stay put while you go and do something private. You head to your own room and lock the door and begin to recite an aria."I am truth given form." You recite the first line of your aria."I look upon the falsehood of reality." The second line follows, and you can already feel the world starting to get... strange around you."An infinity of lies." You feel a surge of power in yourself as you recite the third line."Blind to the beyond." For a moment, you could've sworn you heard the distinctive sound of cracking as you recite the fourth line. You've recited the lines you were already aware of, but that's... that's not good enough! You need to go further!You reach into the depths of your soul in your search for the next words, and you grasp them! "I shall guide the way!" You did it! You're almost there! Only a few more verses! You reach into yourself once again, if Shirou of all people can figure out how to utilize how to materialize a damn marble so can you! Come on!"A perfect world of m-" You collapse. The continued exertion of not only trying to recite the spell to bring forth a reality marble, but actually creating the spell at the same time through attempting to look into the core of your very being proves too much, even for you, and you collapse to the floor, blacking out as you do.Status Updated!You wake up a few minutes later... no more than half an hour, at most, and you clutch your head. You've given yourself quite the headache between this and whatever the hell you did with Betty that triggered such a terrible response. You have no doubts that it will clear up soon enough, but it's still horrible, the lasting pain caused by trying to draw forth your Reality Marble is no match for the absolute pain that you experienced through Betty, but unlike that pain, it doesn't seem to want to leave you very quickly.
Still, despite everything, you're quite pleased by the progress you've made. Not just with your Reality Marble, but with basically everything you've spent your time doing. You're feeling much more confident about tonight. Though not so confident that you're about ready to attack Manaka again. No, tonight you feel like it would be better to look for the other Masters. Even if you don't want to fight them and would prefer to recruit them, it's better to get them out of the way before they end up as naught but tools for Manaka to use for herself. You also consider simply not going out at all, but you don't think your brain can really handle more training right now. You went above and beyond with what you just put yourself through, and actual battle sounds like far more preferable to trying to finish the final verses of Reality Marble.That does however beg the question. Where should you look?>Just cover as much ground as you can in town, you'll eventually run into a Servant.>Perhaps you should try looking for Second Archer? Checking the tops of tall buildings would probably net you some success.>You know for a fact that you'll be able to find Second Berserker if you were to revisit the alleyway you first met Shuten in.>Maybe check the Einzbern Forest and Castle? Somebody might've decided to haunt that area.>Write-in...
>>4627234You gaze into the abyss and it gazes back. Damn I love Betty.
If you notice any mistakes with this update, that's because I should've gone to bed about two hours ago and this nearly four thousand word long update was written solely on determination and caffeine.
>>4627240Check the castle and forest >>4627244Well it was a great update, thanks man.
I would've inserted pictures during the update itself, but I just wanted to post it without scanning through my folders.Good night, and don't forget to check the Status Menu!
>>4627251Spooký͙̟ͦ͌̃̓ͣ́R̷̴͚̘͍͕̜͔̻̆ͧ͌ͤ̇͌ͅṴ̖̮̤́̂ͧ͛ͨ̂̓͌̀͟N̼͍̭͎̟̞͍̿̌͊̇͊͡R̫͉͓̥͖̦͆̎̀̈̈́Ủ̴̡̞̣͕ͧ̾ͨ̈̎Ǹ̸̰͇ͯ̔͋̓̿R̛̬͙͔̮̻ͦͭͣ͂Ü̳̙̖̩̓ͭͨ̍ͬ́N̵̝͓̗̝̪͉̋̓͊̏ͅR̛̻̱̳̹̩̰̳̹̿ͮỦ̞̺̣̣̣͙̭͚̆ͦͬͦ̒͜N̺͎̮̩̂́͢Ŗ̛͙̪̦̱̙͓͇͂͌̎̏̌̊U̡̫̹̼̞̠̝̞̪ͭͯͭ̂N̝̹̮̮̩͛ͩ̊ͩ͘͟R̙͕͂̓̌̿̑̚U̱̬͈͍̇͆͛͋N͕̞̜̽̆̋͊́͟R͙̜̘̰͇̙͂̓ͪ́͘Ű̦͇͓̫̥̻͚ͮͯ̿̄ͦN̟̯ͭ͗̎̋͌́ͬ͑R̪̱͇̟̻̬̳̘̳ͧͭ͑̾ͭ͌͘͟U͈̭͈̮̪̥̻͉͐̓͛̆͒͑̑͟͠N͉̰̦̬̼̥͑R̴̺͉̱̫͐̿͊̃͢U̵̼̱̰̿̍̉́ͮN̠̫͍͕̯ͯͧ͡R̸̼͈̙͐̏ͯ͌̿̀͋ͤ̿͘Ȗ̧̙̝̺ͬ̆ͫN̵̴̶͖̠̜̖̟̤͉̰̞̹͍̟̼̳ͪ͒̍͂̔͗͑ͪ̈́ͯ͒̒͐͟͡R̫̔̌͡U̴͚͕̔̎̑͟N̨̹͍͍̝͂̄͐ͣ̚R̟ͧ̋͟Ṳ͚̦̯͈͊̓ͭ̔͋̓̈͝ͅṆ͉̤͌̎ͤ̉̉ͦ́͟R̦̖͇̟͙͇̠͓͇̄̄̾Ù̸̯̟̳̥͆ͮͨÑ̗̌͌̀͋́̚R̤͉̤̺͚͎͙ͦ̒̌ͣ̒͞U̖̮͈͔̘̣͕̗ͫͭ̈́̃ͪ͛̓͜͢N̢͚̱̞̯̈ͩ̔͢R̡̫̙̀̿̓̎̉ͤͮ͊͗Ŭ͉͉ͪͨ͗͊̈̚N̛̤̯͉̰͆ͫ̄̚Ṟ̢͉͖ͤ̈́̉͢Û̡̘̥̠̒̊ͦ̿ͬ̽N̺͉̘͙͍̘̺̽ͮ̀R̛̠̹̳̹͓̪͌̐̄̋͗͞U̪͙̟͓̪ͦ̌̏͘N̳̤̰͓̝̐̂Ṉ̭͍̌̒ͨ́̆ͅR̛̼͙̞̠̳͌́͆́U̧̥̻̺̻̗̯̜ͤ͛͑ͤ͒͢N̨̥̯͈̩̂̓ͮ͐͒̓̍ͬR̸̹̹̂͆͆̉̒͊͘͜U͉̘̪̝̭̙ͫ̈́ͭͦ̔ͦͯ̓N̵̼͖͈͉̫̻̏͂̂̿̍͑̏̄̑̆̇̔R̭̯͍̗̮̐ͦ̀ͤ͡ͅU͙̠͐ͣ̏̓̌ͤͫ͒͘Ñ̡̹͉̗̮̊̿̌ͤ͋͊̒ͤŖ̷͕̯͈͍͓͎̪ͯ̓U̜ͮ́̄ͤ̎N̡̖͚̥̰̖̠͋̂͋͋̉̔̿͜͞R̢͓̳̺͍̙̐ͬ͋̋ͦ̉͆͘͡Ų̜̱͉̹͓͔̰̜ͫͨ̀͆ͮ̒N̞̝̥͉͇ͬ̎ͣͬ̈́̈́Ř̶̖̼̼͖ͯ̈́̕U̝͓ͣͣ̐ͭ̀͊ͫN͔̬͖̊ͧ͒ͣ͛̎ͬ͠R̫͎͚͚̱̺͗ͬ̈́̓̌ͪ͆̈̀U̸̴͇̤ͨͧ́̆ͩ͋ͩ̂͜N̷̺̄̒̓̿̚R̮̟̬̀ͬͬ͂̔̎U̶̡̩͎̙̟͕͎̬̓ͯ̒̒̓͆ͫ͗͟ͅǸ̫̟̦̙̟͚̌̏͡͡R̷̙̗̠̽ͬ͋̑͗͐̐U̡̘̫̼͋͆ͤ̉̑͠N̼ͮ̎̌̄͘R̤̤̰͗͛̋U̵̴̸̺͓̮̟̺̣̪̞͑͂̉͌̾̚N̖̼͈̓̈̐̐̑̈͐R̸̸̤̙̰̂̋ͬͯ͂̓ͦ̽Ů̜͎͕̥̭̊̀N̺̖̤̎̐ͣ͂́̚R̛̻̖̩̜̱͖̗͌U̴͓̬̥̪̣͐ͣ̓̓ͫͨ̆͒͘N̙̖͇̳̪̘̙͚̿̀̉ͫ̾͂͗ͮ͛̌ͯ̎͟ͅR̰͕̭̦͔̭̭͖̀̈͑͒̈́̓̈̀͢U̴̩͇̜̟̯̼̮ͦͪͅŇ̡̗̺̥̫̺̖̆̈͂͗͜͝R̙͙̥̙͉̀ͣ̄͌̋Ú̺̱̠͇͚̝͉ͨͪ̈͡ͅŅ̳͚̹͇͔̟̙ͤ́̓͘͞R͓͓̠͈̹̥̮̬͕͂ͬ̇ͯ͆̀U̠̣͕͉̔̎ͪͤ̚͘͡Ṋ̶̭̙̦͎̑̿̂ͧͨ̀̀Ṟ̰̞̗͒͂͆̐̂̀̆U̢̬̯̙̻͎ͩͬ̽̀̊̊̔͑͜Ṇ̔ͯ̊̎̄̋̍̓͠ͅR̴͚͉̥̘̄ͨͣ͌̈́ͪͩ̓́U̴͈̘͖͎͍̦̦ͪ̃̄̽ͨN͚̞̹͙̗̄ͩ̾̃ͬ̐ͩ̋́͟Ṛ̢̖ͭ̉̃͘͝U̡̡̬̟͈̥̮̜͕ͬ̿̇̓̇ͤ̉̔̚͝Ņ̶̫̭͔̥̘̭̣̽͆̓̍̊R̶͎͔̤̠̮̯͒̋̀U̴̪̥͙̳̠̤̘̦͂ͭ̿̂͆N̴͕͚̦̱̯͕̦͐ͧͧR͔̖̗̣̭͉͎̫ͮ͒̐ͧƯ͓ͦN̺͍̔͗͌ͩ̋̚Ŕ̝̥̜̩͗ͦ̂̕͠U̳̦̻̬̜̝̦͎͂͗̉̍̇̓̈N̗̗͑͐ͫ̀̍͆̊͘R̢͍̗̞̉̾̔ͬͮ̂̒͘͟Ū̩͕͇̼͆̋̐͆͒̂̾̚̕ͅͅN͇̭̾́̑̀̄
>>4627240>>You know for a fact that you'll be able to find Second Berserker if you were to revisit the alleyway you first met Shuten in.She is already trailing us. We can recruit her bytelling her that Shuten is taken hostage by big bad Manaka or we can just kill her. Either way we should deal with her now rather than give her an opportunity to catch us with our pants down or pick off our allies.
>>4627251Excellent job today WhatIsAQM. You really outdid yourself.
So, from the description of NP that Gil gave us we can guess that his plan is something along the lines of1) Have us get close to Manaka while wearing NP,2) Teleport to us,3) Activate NP making it impossible to use spatial magic for everyone inside active radius of NP,4) Have a 2v2 against Manaka.This plan is actually not bad but what we should do before going through with it is to try to find where our allies are kept.That way we could launch rescue operation at the same time as Gil's plan begins just to make sure that Manaka is not going to pull some shit and kill them while we fight her.
>>4627240>>You know for a fact that you'll be able to find Second Berserker if you were to revisit the alleyway you first met Shuten in.
>>4627253Guys I am beginning to think Betty might be a little suspicious.
>>4627319Yeah it's looking like she's a host to an elder God or something.
>>4627319>>4627321She is Azathoth's host. I thought we figured that out long ago.
>>4627322Is she? I am not knowledgeable about lovecraft lore but I don't think Azathoth has much to do with the creation of life. It seems if anyone is Azathoth's host it would be us.
>>4627322Cool and nyarl is gis/hers? Son.
>>4627322Ah would make sense with her sleeping all the timeAccording to Lovecraftian mythology, Azathoth is the omnipotent "Blind Idiot God" or "Nuclear Chaos". It is said to be stuck in an endless slumber and is served upon by countless lesser deities that play a maddening tune on innumerable drums and flutes to keep Azathoth from awakening, for if the great "Daemon Sultan" should awaken, even for a few moments, all of existence is said to be doomed as it will signal the ultimate destruction of existence as we know it
>>4627324Azathoth is the creator of the whole universe. Kind of.He is also permanently asleep and "who gnaws hungrily in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst the muffled, maddening beating of vile drums". Sleep and drums. Rings a bell?>>4627326I believe Nyarla is his son but I could be wrong.
>>4627329Who are we then?
>>4627240>Check the forestIlya + now compliant Avenger have familiarity with the area and can scan using the bounded fields in the forest.Every other option is just asking for an ambush without at least some level of terrain advantage.Also, assuming Avenger is herc forma de shota, we should ask him about battle strategies in upcoming fights. He solved most of the labours with his noggin, he's a very sly greekoid. May be worth asking about his own opinions on jacking off his Avenger passive with witch trial to see if he's on board with the idea.>>4627319Betty is completely fine as long as Nylar's dad doesn't wake up, unwinding reality into nothing. Potentially leaving Shinji just floating in a void of nothing as he's the only thing not entirely fiction and is from 'outside'. But it really depends if WhatIs scales Azathoth to be the creator of all realities or just the fate one in story.https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/AzathothI'd wager all of Betty's familiar creation stems from Azathoth's authority based on the name. I wonder if WhatIs has a counter related to how much/often his abilities are used before he starts to stir.
>>4627333We are an outsider. A being from a real world thrown into a fictional world.
Shinji and Azathoth are alike in that all reality around them is fiction. Probably why he ended up summoning a vessel of his as being the only "real" being is kind of a big catalyst. Shinji's complete reality marble might be the only thing that could handle Azathoth actually awakening.
>>4627341I just had a thought. What if Betty's NP is somehow connected to Azathoth's awakening. Not actually awakening but more like erasing a piece of reality from his dream completely.
