001 - What Makes it Hard to Go Home ?

*Boom!*

"It's been fun, Lancer. But I need to fight Archer, so I'm ending this now."

"Vortigern, Hammer of the Vile King, reverse the rising sun. Swallow the light." The aura surrounding her Excalibur grew stronger, swirling violently.

"That's enough, Saber." Suddenly, her sword's aura disappeared, and someone landed beside her.

"Rei? What happened with Archer? Did you beat him?"

"I already beat him, so all you need to do is finish off Lancer or let him go and save the fight for later."

Hearing this, Saber looked at Lancer, whose body was covered in wounds from her previous attacks.

"You managed to beat that goldie? Heh, I'm not even surprised that you managed to beat him this fast. So just kill me already. I already got my fight with Saber, and there's no way I can win this war with you here." Lancer waved his hand toward them, already surrendering.

"It's just too bad, Lancer. I always liked your character when I watched you. Maybe if I were to make another timeline, I'll make Bazett your Master until the end."

"End this, Saber." Rei touched Saber's shoulder, sending Mana that instantly enveloped Excalibur with a powerful purple aura.

Without hesitation, Saber used Excalibur and unleashed a blast of magical energy from her sword toward Lancer.

"Excalibur Morgan!"

While this was happening, Rei walked away from them toward where two figures were approaching—Berserker and...

"Illyasviel von Einzbern."

"You know me?" Rei saw a little girl appear before him, and behind her was a massive, muscular creature wielding an enormous sword, if it can even be called that considering it's actually a massive chunk of rock.

"Yes, I know you. Can you turn back for the day? I have something else to do."

"You want me to turn back? Hmm, what to do~" the little girl seemed to ponder, but Rei could see that she wasn't taking him seriously at all.

But unlike Illya, Berserker was staring at Rei intently, without lowering his guard for a moment, knowing that the being in front of him wasn't ordinary.

However, if his Master ordered him to attack, he would try his best to fulfill her command and attack the being before him.

"Berserker...?!" came a surprised voice from Saber, who appeared beside Rei, pointing Excalibur at Berserker.

Seeing Saber, Illya immediately smiled. "Nope, sorry silver-haired onii-chan, but I'm here to kill her so my onii-chan wouldn't have a Servant anymore."

Hearing this, Saber prepared herself to fight again, staring at Berserker.

"No, Illya. You go home and return to your maids and just wait until another day, or something. Or, if you fight now, I'm going to erase your Berserker from existence." Rei said while releasing his aura so that Illya could feel it.

Illya started sweating and trembling as she felt it all. "No! Berserker is the strongest Servant in the world! Berserker, kill them both!"

Rei sighed as Illya gave the order, and in an instant, Berserker roared—a sound that seemed to shake the very ground beneath them. The air thickened with hostility, and Berserker lunged forward, his massive sword raised high, ready to crush anything in his path.

Rei's eyes shifted slightly, watching the monstrous Servant charge. He didn't flinch. His stance was calm, his demeanor untouched by the overwhelming pressure. His deep purple eyes flickered with a faint glow, reflecting the monstrous force that came toward him.

Berserker's sword descended with a force that could shatter mountains. The ground beneath cracked from the sheer weight of his strike. But before it could land, Rei raised his hand, not moving an inch from his position. With a mere flick of his wrist, an invisible force halted the blade mid-air, stopping it dead in its tracks. The earth beneath Berserker split apart, unable to handle the sheer pressure, yet Rei stood unaffected, as if a mere breeze had passed by.

"Your strength is impressive," Rei remarked calmly, "but it won't be enough."

Berserker, seeing his attack halted so effortlessly, growled in fury and pulled his blade back, swinging again with even more ferocity. The sheer speed and force of his strikes created shockwaves that tore apart the surroundings, sending debris flying. However, each strike was effortlessly blocked by an invisible barrier, a force emanating from Rei.

Illya's confidence began to waver. She watched in disbelief as her "strongest servant in the world" was being held back with nothing more than a hand gesture. She clenched her teeth and stamped her foot in frustration.

"No more time to repent..."

Rei instantly punched Berserker in the stomach with incredible force, causing a gust of wind to explode outward with a deafening sound. In the next moment, Berserker was sent flying from the spot.

"Sword of Renunciation."

Above Rei, hundreds of purple lightning bolts appeared, converging to form massive swords hovering in the sky.

[IMAGE]

All the swords floated in the air, pointing toward Illya and Berserker, who had managed to stop himself after being thrown and now stood beside her.

Illya, seeing all the swords, could sense that these were not ordinary weapons. The aura of blue and purple energy surrounding each sword radiated a menacing power, and the pressure emanating from them was overwhelming. She could feel it in the air—a weight that bore down on her, making it difficult to breathe.

Each sword held a terrifying potential, like a coiled snake ready to strike. The sheer magical energy radiating from them was enough to send shivers down her spine. She could feel the danger and knew that each of these blades carried the force of a catastrophic blow, more than capable of annihilating her and Berserker in an instant.

"So, do you want to continue this fight? Or will you leave now, Illyasviel?" Rei threatened, keeping all his swords aimed directly at the two of them.

His voice was calm, yet there was an undeniable edge to it—a cold, dangerous undertone that made his intent clear. The swords above him remained steady, crackling with the energy that surrounded them, ready to rain down at any moment. The sheer number of them, each one a weapon of mass destruction in its own right, left no doubt that Rei could end this in an instant if he chose to.

Illya, her expression tense, glanced at Berserker. The giant Servant stood ready, but even he seemed aware of the overwhelming odds stacked against them. She knew Rei wasn't bluffing. One wrong move and this could be their end.

~~~~~

"Are you sure about letting them go? Shouldn't we be killing Berserker so that the Holy Grail can appear?" Saber asked Rei while watching Illya, who was being carried away by Berserker, leaving the battlefield.

"...She's actually your Master's big sister. And we don't really need Berserker. What the Grail needs is mana from defeated Servants, and the Grail itself is the little girl we met just now." Rei said as he began to restore the area that had been destroyed.

Rei used his magic to repair the damaged graveyard and the surroundings that had been wrecked during Berserker's earlier assault.

"She's the Grail? Just like before…" Saber murmured, recalling what had happened when she was with Irisviel and Kiritsugu.

"Hmm, you don't seem to care anymore. Didn't you meet that little girl ten years ago, Saber?"

"Yes, but I no longer have any connection with her, so I don't care about her fate." Saber responded indifferently.

Hearing that didn't surprise Rei at all since he knew the nature of Saber's Alter form had drastically changed her. He was also certain that Saber was still bitter from being betrayed by Kiritsugu in the past.

"Let's go back. I have something to do." Rei said, then started heading toward the church where Rin and Shirou were, protected by his barrier *Atheism*.

After that, Rei and Saber returned to the church and saw Kirei in front of it while still getting bind by Rei's chain, looking confused. The reason for his confusion was that Gilgamesh, who had been fighting in front of him, had suddenly vanished.

He had no idea what had happened, as the last thing he saw was Gilgamesh firing his Noble Phantasms at the silver-haired 'man'. 'Man' as he couldn't sense that Rei was a Servant. Then his contract with Lancer was severed, indicating that Lancer had died.

"So, what are you going to do with him?" Saber asked Rei.

At first, Rei wanted to torture Kirei severely for everything he had done. However, after his Astral side unexpectedly emerged, he had lost the mood for such things.

So, he simply summoned the Devil, just as he did with Euclid, and dragged Kirei into another dimension where he would be tortured forever.

Speaking of Euclid, after coming out of that dimension... he was basically broken. His mind couldn't process anything, and he kept muttering, "Devil, devil, devil..." Now, he's currently being treated at a hospital in the Underworld. They wanted to try Phenex Tears on him, but Rei wasn't sure if it was effective or not since he hasn't really followed what happened after that.

After Kirei was taken by the Devil into his dimension, Rei then repaired the place to erase any traces of the summoning and removed the burn marks.

He explained everything to Rin and Shirou, except for the part where he reversed time, and then checked on the children in the church basement.

Rei told the two of them that he had healed all the children here, so they didn't need to worry. All they needed was to rest and nourish their bodies. However, since they didn't have parents, they had no place to return to.

But Rei just couldn't care at this point and told Rin to call the police or an ambulance and let them handle the rest.

Except for Bazett, that is. Since she wasn't an ordinary human and had been betrayed by Kirei before, Rei asked Shirou to let Bazett stay at his place, at least until she regained consciousness.

"Alright, that's done. I'm going to go home first. Rin, are you going to come with me, or are you going to stay with Shirou and wait until Bazett wakes up?" Rei asked Rin.

"Huh? Of course, I'll come home. I want to sleep, and tomorrow I have to go to school too..."

After that, Rei commanded the police and the hospital about the orphans who had gone missing 10 years ago being found using his mind manipulation ability. Then, he used his teleportation to return to the Emiya Residence.