Section 10: Twenty-two Hundred Years and Three Thousand Ominous Ones

So, long story short...

We've now got BOTH former mid-bosses from this terrifying Mt. Hourai here in our living room.

Hmph.

All I did was help those in need of assistance.

Ahh, such beautiful little girls. Ahh, friends of my beloved Christine.

Tell me, what would you like to drink? We have milk, coffee, tea, cocoa, orange juice...

Really? Okay, I'll have cocoa.

I'd like some hot milk with lots and lots of sugar, please.

Understood. As you wish.

？！

I used Rapid Movement.

...My slasher abilities still work, though only in places with people nearby.

Almost all of these reports were written by people who used to live here on Mt. Hourai.

There's nothing especially interesting about any of them, with one exception.

Here, read this. Yu Mei-ren did the translation.

I'd especially like you to pay attention to the parts in quotation marks.

？！

Sounds like there's still something else somewhere around here.

Indeed.

Hmm, hmm. ...Oh, I've got it.

？！

Hm? You mean you all don't? Not even you, Abigail?

It would be one thing if this had something to do with Master. As it is now, I just don't care.

All right. You do all remember that this Singularity used to be a village, yes?

However...

...that the inhabitants of the village studied immortality doesn't mean they became immortal themselves.

Really, why would they? Immortality is no more than a human dream.

If they had actually succeeded...

...someone would have come sniffing around almost immediately, no matter how hard they tried to keep it a secret.

...Good point.

Makes sense.

In which case, there's something that would have to be here. Something none of you have seen.

Yooou got it! I knew you could figure it out!

You still don't get it? Think about it. When people die, what happens to the bodies?

？！

You're right. There should be a graveyard around here somewhere.

Hmm... A cellar... A sacred place... A place to move dead bodies...

That sounds like it must be underground, no?

We did see a small underworld beneath the supermarket.

Could there also be an underground graveyard like that somewhere?

Underground, huh. Be funny if it was in this very cottage's basement or something, wouldn't it?

... ...

？！

Yeah, there's no way it would be that easyHm?

... ...

Is something wrong, Abigail-senpai?

O-of course not. Wh-why do you ask?

(Staaare)

I'll be damned. There really was a cavern in the basement...

？！

That's right. I should have realized it sooner.

Buying a house only to learn it was built over a graveyard is one of the most common horror movie tropes of all...

Technically, it's just a cottage, not an actual house, so I don't blame you for not figuring it out sooner.

Oh yes, this is definitely a graveyard.

Indeed. I can smell the stench of death lingering all over this place.

How did you all not notice it sooner? You ARE Heroic Spirits, aren't you?

Are you all just half-baked pancakes? Do you all have batter for brains?

Heh.

You've got us dead to rights!

W-well you don't have to be so confrontational about it!

But it's true; you really do have us dead to rights...

It would be fair to say that an intense stench of death has lingered over the entirety of this Singularity...

...and it has dulled my sense of smell... Even so, that is no excuse.

We should have known there could be an old battlefield or graveyard here, yet we failed to consider the possibility.

I'm so sorry! I must have been so caught up in this new Spirit Origin that I

Not at all, Beloved. If anyone was distracted by our new Spirit Origins, it was me. I'm the one who's sorry.

What were you all thinking? You know you can't ask Master to pick up every ball you drop!

I swear, you all need to do a much better job keeping your feet on the ground.

!

Excuse me, everyone, but I'm sensing hostiles nearby.

This works out nicely, Master. Why not command me in this battle?

That way, you can see for yourself what a shrine maiden to an Outer God can truly do.

...Besides, we've already formed a temporary contract.

Yes, I will.

R-right. Of course I will.

(Whoa. She's cute when she blushes.)

...Ahem.

？！

All right, come on then! I'll smash you to pieces before you can even wake up!

Hehehe. So, what did you think? Did I blow you away?

Right? Right!?

You won't get these kinds of results from, say, a Servant who's only good for making illusions.

Why thank you, Master. I was, wasn't I?

That was much more impressive than anything you'd get from, say, a creepy, oversized clam, don't you think?

？！

How very true. Aesthetic sense really is something one either has, or does not.

...Is there something you'd like to say to me?

Oh no, not at all. I will say that there seems to be more of those masked killers remaining, though.

It's all well and good to strive for both style and substance...

...but if one fails to eradicate all one's enemies, perhaps substance ought to be her focus?

Grrr...

(Those two are getting along just as poorly as I'd expected...)

Okay, my turn next. Allow me to show you what a magical girl can really do when she puts her mind to it.

One little puff on my clamshell compact, annnd... Magical Girl Lily, transfooorm♡

Goodness me. I have encountered my share of the world's dregs before, but this is simply abominable.

No strength to speak of, no strategy whatsoever. They just crawl on the ground like insects to be stepped upon.

I swear, they remind me of nothing so much as swine in a feeding frenzy. No, on second thought, at least swine still have room to improve.

But these things will never be anything more than lazy, masochistic pigs, even if they were to somehow be reborn.

At least when I end their miserable lives, maybe they'll have some shred of hope of seeing paradise.

(Agape)

？！

Heh. Now THAT is how you destroy your enemies.

You certainly have a cruel streak, Abigail, but your concern for your reputation means you have a long ways to go.

Th-that's true. I don't think I could ever do what you just did.

But isn't it all...kind of a lot? I mean, what tradition could that outfit even come from?

Hehehe. It's called Punisher Mode.

I think I remember knowing a Master who liked that sort of thing once.

(I-I see. I'll have to be careful not to end up like that!)

Huh? That's strange. Why does your respect seem to be leavened with pity?

(Looks like everyone else is biting their tongue to not point out how alike those two are just as much as I am...)

(Man, I knew Master had troubles, but this is something else...)

Say, Master. Have you ever thought about getting exorcised?

If you have, just let me know. I'll introduce you to a great temple for that sort of thing once summer's over.

？！

I didn't think we'd be going so far underground... Brrr. I'm starting to get chills.

Feels just like the underworld down here. This doesn't seem like a graveyard so much as...

...a mausoleum.

Yeah...

？！

？！

Senpai! Over here!

Master, wait! That's not

Hey! Get back here, you idiot!

Yu Mei-ren! Are you okay!?

Geez, that was too close. Been a pretty long time since I saw a spear trap.

I'm surprised you fell for that old trick so easily, Kouhai. You've got to be more careful.

？！

I couldn't help it. The moment I heard "Senpai," I just took off running.

You better not have died on us.

I didn't. I just sprained my ankle.

Well, I'd probably be dead if Prince of Lan Ling hadn't stopped me at the last second.

Not that it would've mattered much either way, since I would've recovered soon enough.

Nonchalance can only excuse so much.

Please, for once, try to think about those of us who have to watch you die whenever youNo, I'm sorry.

I have no right to say that.

Don't worry about it, Prince of Lan Ling. It's not your fault my other self here is such a klutz.

Me!?

You'd have been just as quick to run towards Mash as I was if our kouhai hadn't been around!

Don't be ridiculous. I'm cool, collected, and intelligent. I'd never do anything that reckless!

？！

Hmm... Looks like that Mash was an illusion. I figured as much.

Master, I understand how eager you are to find her, but we need to keep our wits about us.

Luckily, we have an expert in illusions with us now. Just have her check if something is real before you run to it yourself from now on.

？！

Hey, don't worry about it. You can't help how you feel. As far as mistakes go, there are much worse ones you could have made.

Besides, our point in coming here was to save her. You're at least on the right track in that sense.

？！

It looks like this cavern does go on a little further, but we should reach the end soon.

Hehe, I can't wait to see what we find when we get there.

I'm especially looking forward to seeing what sort of person stabbed grown-up me in the back.

What sort of person, huh.

？！

Kind of. I just remembered a tiny little injury from my past.

You know, the trite sort of promise that no one really gets upset if you forget.

I swear, humans are so foolish it's sad. Sometimes even scary.

This isKhh.

？！

I-I'm sorry. The stench of curses and death is just so overwhelmingly powerful here...

Khh... This is...unbearable... My whole body...is aching...!

Please get behind Master, Lady Illya!

R-right!

I'll put up a mental protection barrier! I hope you don't mind that it's of my own design!

A typical Heroic Spirit would either lose their mind to the overwhelming smell of blood here, or suffer a complete mental breakdown...

I must say, whoever owns this place, I like what they've done with it.

Hmm. It's certainly a lovely collection...

...but decor so focused on this kind of death and finality is just not to my tastes.

Sigurd, Brynhild, are you two okay?

Of course. It's just as they say.

All you need is love.

!

R-right...

(Sigurd, even I find that a little embarrassing...)

...Right. Um, good to hear.

Okay, come on out, killer or slasher or whoever you are. My patience is wearing thin.

Um, Mister?

Did that lady ever even have any patience to begin with...?

'Kaaay.

Hey, Kouhai! I can hear you, you know!

Oh, lovely. Now we can listen to her in stereo...

Hey, Kouhai. Come talk to me out behind Chaldea later.

？！

... ...

Are you the one behind all this?

... ...

Is that mouth more than just a hole in your face? Who are you?

You mean, you don't remember? You really don't?

...Don't worry. I remember fine.

But I don't have any idea why you did all this.

That part, I don't get at all.

？！

Her name's Xu Fu.

Xu Fu? Isn't that who Qin Shi Huang ordered to devise an elixir of immortality!?

Aha. So that's why this mountain is called Hourai. That's the Japanese name of Mt. Penglai, the mythical land of immortality of Chinese legend!

Oh good. So you do remember me.

...More or less.

I've been waiting for two-thousand and two-hundred years. That is how much time I've spent on this pursuit.

I've sacrificed not only my life and expertise, but also those of the ones who looked up to me.

I have been an exceptionally, EXCEPTIONALLY...

...hard worker!!!

Um... Er... Hang on, back up.

I still don't fully get what it is you're doing here.

?

Why, I've been trying to kill you, for your own sake.

...And when did I ask you to do that?

You didn't.

But the more I studied immortality, and the more I came to understand what you are...

...I came to feel that it was my responsibility to give you the gift of death.

... ...

These last few thousand years must have been torture for you, no?

...Well, yeah, sure.

After I was summoned as a Servant, I happened across a Holy Grail...

...and used it to make this teeny tiny Singularity.

You see, before these villagers disappeared forty years ago, they managed to prove beyond any doubt...

...that it was, in fact, actually possible to kill you, Lady Yu.

Human experiments, ghost stories, urban legends, rumors, paintings, novels, and movies...

I packed in as many unknown fears as I could, and collected anything I could pertaining to known ones.

After all, no other form of entertainment is so rooted in human instincts as horror.

So here on Mt. Penglai, we collected every method of murder known to humankind and sealed them away in this mask.

The human imagination makes any method of murder possible.

...Even one that would work on your immortal form, Lady Yu.

This mask will bring you death and oblivion.

Six times.

That's how many times you've already died in this Singularity.

And after you've died once more, in a way you would least expect...

...the mask will adopt the concept of killing immortality, and bring an end to your life in all its possible forms!

？！

This mask will insure that you never need fear your immortal life again! Hehe, hehehehe...

You will praise me for this accomplishment, won't you?

...You make a good point.

Since death has never had any meaning to me, that mask sounds downright heavenly.

And there's always been an insurmountable gap between the humans who fear death and me, who fears life.

But, that being said...

Even as part of me fears life, there's another part of me that hates death.

It means that, while I occasionally want to die, sometimes, I want to live, too.

Simple, right?

You need to ask?

With Lord Xiang Yu around, it's the part that wants to live, of course.

？！

...Besides.

Now that I've got two kouhai to care for, I have to do my best to guide them and stuff.

... ...

Also I can't say I approve of how you made that mask.

I-I never engaged in any inhumane experiments.

And if anyone suspected something, I just erased their memories and returned them to their homes...

Keeping people alive actually made it easier to keep the village hidden...

P-please believe me...

Oh, I do.

If you say you didn't kill anyone, I'm sure you didn't kill anyone.

But that mask is still dying all the time.

H-huh?

That's the whole problem.

According to those records you guys left behind, that mask was constantly inscribed with death.

So it's killing people not because it's just some machine and that's what it does. It's doing it because it hates them.

Being forced to experience death over and over just to benefit someone else...

...would mess with anyone's mind.

But...that was the only way I could

Look, what's done is done. Just give Mash back, get rid of that mask, and we'll call it even.

...No.

...What was that?

I said no! No, no, no!

I... We... Us... We've all spent two-thousand and two-hundred years on this!

And we did it all so you could go to your death with a big smile on your face!

This summer is all we've got! It's our last chance!

So I'm going to kill you! Right here, right now! And that'll finally make you truly happy!

...!

Everyone, get your weapons read Crap, it's no use! We've gotta get out of here!

This is much worse than anything I was expecting!

...! Sessyoin!

'Kaaay!

Go on, everyone! Sessyoin and I will clear an escape route for you!

As consciousness fades, so does the clam's other wish come to light.

All is illusion, a dream birthed by Shen. Paradise is in the palm of my hand...

Once those who come from beyond the gate of deep slumber arrive, they are never to leave agai

You're too late. Death can come for us in the blink of an eye.

It doesn't care if those gathered here are living or already dead.

My collected killings will sever all of Lady Yu's lifelines regardless!

Khh...!

Now, come, Lady Yu. Come depart for your journey into death.

...That mask is still yet to be perfected, no? Then it cannot hope to destroy me completely.

True. But fortunately, there's still one left.

Once I've destroyed her, then the mask will be complete!

Hey! Me!

Wh-what is it!?

I'm guessing things are gonna get kind of messy from here on, so...good luck!

Hey! Don't pawn all the responsibility off on me, me!

Now! Run for it!

You're not going anywhere! After them, dolls!

(We're not going fast enough! We'll never make it out!)

Everyone, allow me to bring up the rear.

Thanks!

Huh!?

What do you think you're doing, Prince of Lan Ling!? Get back here!

Absolutely not!

If she captures you now, we will have no chance of stopping her!

So we must make sure you and Master stay alive!

...

... ...Y-you little bastard!

How dare you get in my way!? You'll pay for this!

Heh, what a coincidence. I was just thinking the same thing.

You're going to pay for what you've done here. I won't let anyone hurt her!

!!! That's...what I...was going to say...to you!

Damn!

I'm the one who understands Yu Mei-ren best! No Lan Ling-come-lately can ever know her like I do!

...

...!

...I give in.

I thought I could hang in there a little longer, but I can't. Not after hearing that.

D-death is too good for you. I'll make you suffer in ways far worse than dying!

All right. But first, I'd like to make one last request, and to point out one last thing.

...?

My request: let Mash Kyrielight go. You don't need to pretend anymore, right?

...Okay. I guess... She is a nice girl, so...

As for what I'd like to point out...

What you're doing is wrong, but I do believe you're doing it for the right reasons.

...! Wh-wh-wh-why you...!!!

Damn that Prince of Lan Ling... He's always gotten under my skin!

Oh, right. I need to let Mash go...

...It's too bad. I really thought we could be friends... (Sniff...)

Phew. ...I'm kind of tired. I need to take a break...

But at least I'm almost there. Hang in there, everyone!

Just one more time and... I can bring Lady Yu eternal peace...

Senpai!

？！

Thank goodness... It's so good to see you again!

Fou, fou!!!

Yes, of course! I'm glad to see you too, Fou!

？！

I'm not entirely sure of that myself.

All I know is that, when I came to, I found myself lying in bed here.

Prince of Lan Ling must've cut a deal with Xu Fu.

Besides, she probably just kidnapped Mash to lure me in.

Xu Fu? Is that who kidnapped me?

Yup. She's the one behind this Singularity.

Taking on the appearance of other people is probably a simple thing for her.

Hmm. It sounded like she cooked up this plan of hers all because she understands you so well.

Oh stuff it.

That being said...

...that was a powerful feeling indeed. I haven't been so afraid of death in ages.

Nor I. I'm sure all living things have such a fear, but even so...

I'm sorry you all went through that...

I was always proud of being a warrior who never feared death...

...but that terror was enough to even strike fear into my heart.

Fear of death can only be combated with madness and rapture. Typical medicine doesn't stand a chance.

I'm hooome. I'm glad to see you're all okay.

...Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot about you, Yu Mei-ren. My, um, condolences.

It's fine. I'm still here, and I'm sure Prince of Lan Ling is still alive, too. Probably.

Is that how that works...? Anyway, that lady was even stronger than I expected.

No surprise she's even able to kill Servants.

So, what are you going to do now? Just give up and go home?

？！

Now that we're all together, and we've had a chance to catch our breath, let's go over everything we know.

Just give me a moment to put on a pot of tea.

Here you go, Master. Mash.

Thank you, Emiya.

？！

I'm glad to hear that.

All right. Shall we begin?

We now know that Xu Fu is after Yu Mei-ren.

Right. Specifically, she wants to "give her the gift of death."

That's why she made this Singularity, why she's been conducting experiments, and why she's been spreading fear and death all over.

Servants are transient beings by nature.

Even if our ether bodies are destroyed, as long as our Spirit Core is intact, and our contracted Master healthy, we can make a full recovery by returning to Chaldea.

But in this Singularity, a fatal injury is truly fatal.

Once wounded, not even a Servant can escape death here.

That's true.

And we don't know how much damage Xu Fu's immortal-slaying mask can do to Yu Mei-ren's Spirit Origin.

Considering she's been working on it for over two-thousand years, it's safe to say you should be extra careful around it.

Hmm, is that so? ...You're a weird human, aren't you?

Right!

Yu Mei-ren and Xiang Yu deserve to be together!

Exactly! That's the most important part!

Glad to see my kouhai really get that.

(She's counting me as one of her kouhai along with Senpai now...)

？！

That aside, I'm surprised the mastermind turned out to be Xu Fu. Did you know her when you were alive or something?

Well, yeah, I guess. But it wasn't a big deal.