If the Shogun were to describe what "heart-wrenching" truly meant… at this moment, she would think without hesitation of the boy's cries before her. No… perhaps it was even more exaggerated than "heart-wrenching." It felt as if he had fallen into hell itself, scorched by raging flames.
"Urrraaaaaaahhhh!!!! Aaaahhhhhh!!!!"
In the basement, only Caules' screams filled the air—so painful they could no longer be called mere screams, but roars, the most primal, feral reaction of a human being. Just listening to it felt grotesque.
Even she, who had remained unmoved for so many years, could not help but furrow her brows. If she reacted so, then needless to say, the others were even more shaken.
Crack, crack…
His body convulsed violently with pain, causing the chair beneath him to rattle at high frequency, his legs thrashing against the floor. After about a minute, his whole body was drenched in sweat, drool dripped from his mouth, and his pupils kept rolling upward!
"AAAHHHHHH!!!!"
The piercing screams continued, threatening to rupture their eardrums.
"Hey… is he really going to be okay?!"
Rider panicked, asking the others. At this rate, wouldn't he die suddenly?
"It is indeed serious, but…"
Jeanne hesitated…
Caules had told them beforehand not to wake him unless absolutely necessary. Judging by the current situation, he was in the "critical" stage—it was far from the "last resort."
"Let's wait a little longer. If we interrupt him at the critical moment, all his effort will be wasted."
Chiron forced himself to answer despite his unease.
"But… he's like this… ugh…"
"AAAAHHHH!!!"
The basement still echoed with his howls, but after a while, they grew somewhat accustomed to it.
"Haa… haa…"
No one knew how much time had passed before Caules finally stopped convulsing. His screams gradually faded, and he now sat slumped, drenched in sweat, gasping weakly for breath.
"Did you obtain the information?"
The Shogun, seeing him quiet down, asked directly.
"..."
He was silent…
"Hey—did you hear me?"
Rider waved a hand in front of him.
"I know… I understand… I'll… tell you everything…"
Caules muttered over and over, his voice trembling with despair.
The Shogun reached out and lifted his chin slightly to see his eyes…
As expected, the synchronization had succeeded.
His azure eyes were dull, completely lifeless, as if hypnotized, repeating the same words nonstop.
"I know… I'll tell you everything… vigilance… method…"
New words appeared…
The Shogun glanced at the others, then backhanded Caules lightly across the face.
Smack!
The sound was sharp, though she hadn't used much force—just enough to rouse him.
"Ugh! What?!"
Caules instantly jolted back to his senses, glancing at their faces in confusion. After a few seconds, realizing his situation, he sighed and slumped back into the chair.
"Damn…! Over-synchronized."
He wiped the drool from his mouth and sweat from his face, grumbling.
"Well? Did you hear anything?"
He looked up to ask.
"Mm… aside from 'AAAHHH!' not much else."
Rider scratched his head.
"There were some troubling words… like 'I know…' and so on."
Chiron added.
"I… know?"
Caules froze, unable to make sense of it.
"When tortured and forced to yield, one would speak words only they themselves knew. He also mentioned things like 'vigilance' and 'method.'"
The Shogun crossed her arms, resting her chin on her fingers, voicing her thoughts—including some words the others had missed.
"Vigilance? Method?"
Caules still couldn't grasp it.
What could be deduced from single words alone?
"This corpse's original identity was one of your clan?"
The Shogun asked again.
"Yes…"
"Then something only your clan would know, paired with words like 'vigilance' and 'method'—information worth extracting even at great cost, a plan executed while we are at a disadvantage…"
"!!" ×N
Her words, though seemingly speculative, carried a heavy hint—and in that instant, everyone present realized the truth. Well… everyone except Astolfo.
"Could it be!!"
Jeanne's eyes widened slightly as she turned to Chiron.
"If that's true, then this is terrible… Caules!"
Caules immediately pulled out his cell phone from his pocket, dialed Fiore's number, and held it to his ear.
At such a time, why would Assassin go to such lengths to interrogate members of the Black faction? With only the few words he had spoken earlier, the answer was already clear—
...
Meanwhile, inside a room of the Black Faction's fortress… Fiore sat at her desk, organizing records of the deceased members. Among them were her uncle Darnic, Rider's Master Celenike, and Roche. She wrote all this information onto the list before her.
Perhaps because the others had all gone out to investigate Assassin, both the room and the corridor outside were utterly silent. Only the faint scratch of her quill against paper and the soft, sweet sound of her breathing could be heard.
After a while, her quill paused as her gaze lingered on the names written down. She recalled the days when everyone had still been alive, and compared them to the cold silence now. The weight of it overwhelmed her heart with sorrow.
She had once told the Shogun that, though she was a magus, she was still just a young girl. Matters of life and death, which most magi treated lightly, felt unbearably heavy to her.
Bzzzt~! Bzzzt~!
Suddenly, the quiet room was pierced by the incongruous sound of an electronic vibration.
"Yah~!"
Startled, Fiore leaned back slightly from the desk. Her arms, which had been resting on the tabletop, instinctively pulled back against her chest. The motion was almost cute in its clumsiness.
Bzzzt bzzzt~!
The light-blue flip phone on the desk continued to vibrate stubbornly.
Fiore eyed the device nervously, as though it were a living creature. She slowly reached toward it, carefully, like someone trying to touch an insect. When her fingers brushed it, she even flinched cutely before finally picking it up. She gently flipped it open.
The bright screen, the familiar number, the complicated keys—much like a computer.
"Um… Which one was it again? This one?"
Relying on memory, she pressed the small green call button. The vibration ceased. She lifted the receiver to her ear, listening cautiously as she spoke softly:
"Caules? Is that you, Caules?"
Crackle, crackle…
"?"
She froze. There was no voice on the other end, only strange static, as if the signal was poor.
"Caules? Can you hear me? Did I press the wrong button?"
She pulled the phone away to glance at the screen. It still showed a connected call, the numbers ticking upward.
"..."
Setting the phone gently back onto the desk, she thought perhaps the line would clear after a moment. But then her eyes drifted toward the window. The once-clear courtyard outside was now swallowed by thick fog—so dense one could not see a hand before the face. Only her room remained untouched.
"Fog? When did it start?"
Her unease grew, her heart thudding rapidly. Gathering herself, she maneuvered her wheelchair to the door, opened it, and peered into the corridor.
Not a soul in sight… None of the maids were there. It was as if the whole world had emptied, leaving only her.
Strange… too strange.
Whoosh!
A shadow flickered past behind her.
"!"
She whipped her head around, but no one was there.
Quickly, she steered her wheelchair toward her private room. The situation was clearly abnormal. Normally, she would have used a Command Spell to summon the Shogun at once, but she sensed something was wrong. This was likely some kind of unknown barrier. The Command Spells were precious—wasting one here might be exactly what the enemy wanted. If she fell into that trap, it would be disastrous. First, she had to figure things out, and if possible, find Uncle Gordes and the others.
"Hehehe…"
From the corner shadows, a wicked laugh sounded, followed by a sweet, girlish giggle.
A small figure emerged, revealing half her face.
Crackle…
In her hand gleamed a bloodstained dagger.
"Saber's Master, hmm~? So cute… I bet your insides will be just as lovely~ Fufufu…"
Schlick…
With her other hand, she pulled a dagger from the mouth of a male homunculus pinned to the wall. She licked the blood from the blade and grinned with a devil's smile.
Beep beep—
Crackle…
Caules winced at the static noise from the phone, pulling it back slightly. It had been like this from the start… completely unreachable.
"Damn it!"
He cursed impatiently.
"W-what's wrong?"
Rider asked.
"It won't connect! There should be signal… Why?!"
Caules' expression grew flustered…
"The call says it's connected, but… there's heavy interference, like—"
Like someone was deliberately preventing them from reaching the castle…
[Shogun, that girl is in danger.]
Ei's words confirmed her suspicion…
The Shogun frowned slightly. In the next instant, her entire body gathered dense particles of Electro—
Shuuaa!!
The next second, she vanished into lightning. The others hadn't even processed it yet.
"Eh?! S… Saber?"
Rider blinked, calling out in confusion for the Shogun, who had just been there moments ago.
"Not good… If Saber returned, then most likely…"
Chiron's brows furrowed deeply.
"Sister!!"
Caules' face turned pale with panic. The others hurried to move as well, but it would take them a long time to return. All they could do was pray the Shogun reached in time.
...
Meanwhile, Fiore felt the situation growing stranger by the moment. The castle was like a dream, not a single person in sight. She quickly maneuvered her wheelchair to the door of her room.
Clack…
She reached out, turned the lock, slipped inside, and shut the door behind her in one smooth motion—then:
"Blockade."
Vmmm~
Golden runes shimmered into a barrier upon the door, fusing into the wood and sealing the entire space.
"Haa…"
The girl exhaled faintly in relief. Yet… from the crack of the door, a gray fog seeped inside.
"!"
Her chest tightened again. She quickly backed her wheelchair away. Then—
"Remove."
A childish voice rang from outside. To her shock, the barrier she had just cast was dispelled.
Clack…
With an eerie creak, the door slowly opened. From the other side stepped a small figure, finally revealing her true face.
"…You are… Jack the Ripper?"
Judging from her appearance and comparing it with the Shogun's earlier sketch, she was certain—Black's Assassin, Jack the Ripper. But why was she here?
Suppressing the tremor in her voice, Fiore lowered her tone, speaking coldly.
"Eh? Hehe… So you do recognize me? Mm~ You must be Yggdmillennia's little Master girl. Or perhaps… Saber's Master?"
Jack smiled sweetly as she entered the room. In her hands, twin daggers still dripped with blood, staining the carpet scarlet with each drop.
Fiore's eyes flicked to the blades, then back to the girl's face.
"The Grail isn't here."
Seeing Jack approach step by step, Fiore wheeled herself back to keep distance. If her target was the Grail, then too bad—it had already been taken.
"I know~! The Red faction took it, didn't they?"
Jack's grin widened, her steps quickening, spinning her daggers playfully.
"Then why come here?"
Thud…
The wheel of Fiore's chair struck the leg of the desk behind her. She glanced back slightly—no more room to retreat. Forcing down her fear, she met Jack's eyes, continuing the exchange.
She was buying time. The Shogun must have noticed. She trusted the Shogun's mind. Since Jack had yet to attack, there was still room. If the worst came, she could summon her Servant with a Command Spell.
"Hehe~ Starting with the easy prey is only natural…"
Jack now stood before her, smiling wickedly.
"Do you know, Master girl…? Though you have a powerful Servant, you yourself are terribly fragile."
Her gaze dropped meaningfully to Fiore's paralyzed legs.
"!"
Fiore understood instantly. Her face darkened with fury. So Jack had known she was disabled all along—choosing her as the easy target?
"Haha~! That face, I love it!"
Seeing Fiore's expression, Jack chuckled gleefully, then swiftly lifted the girl's chin, forcing her to meet her eyes.
"Jack just loves tormenting pretty sisters, you know~? And a sickly, pretty sister like you? Fufufu~!"
"...!"
Faced with her cruel words and that wicked, mocking touch, Fiore turned her face away in disgust and slapped Jack's hand aside.
Jack blinked, then smirked again.
"This kind of tempting resistance… Jack—"
The next instant, her voice whispered directly in Fiore's right ear.
"—loves it most!!"
Whoosh!
She spun her head to see Jack suddenly at her side, a manic grin twisting her face as she slashed at Fiore's neck!
"!"
Fiore reacted quickly, abandoning her wheelchair and throwing herself to the floor. The blade grazed her neck by a hair's breadth, drawing a thin line of blood.
"Kh…!"
Suppressing the pain in her back, she shoved her wheelchair at Jack with all her strength.
Thud… Jack dodged it easily.
In that moment, Fiore's eyes darted to a case atop the desk. She reached toward it. Under her skirt, green circuits of magecraft flickered across her pale thighs.
Her eyes glowed faintly.
"Retrieve!"
With the command word, the case unlocked, its mechanisms clicking open. From within, an armored device floated into the air, unfolding and snapping onto her back in one seamless transformation.
In just a second, the arm-mounted armor was equipped—and she stood once more.
Clack…
One end of the mechanical arm shifted into a sharp blade, slashing at Jack in quick succession.
Whoosh!
Clang!
Jack grimaced, blocking with her daggers as she retreated.
"Iron arm of War!"
At her command, the weapon transformed into a cannon.
Boom!
It fired a blast of energy, striking where Jack had been.
"Tch…"
Jack clicked her tongue in annoyance. She hadn't expected Fiore to have this trump card.
Kaboom!!
Flames and smoke erupted, filling the room. Fiore ignored the damage to her chamber and, using the momentum of her mechanical arm, crashed through the window into the castle garden. She needed open ground.
But outside, the fog remained, thick and choking… worse than before. It was no ordinary mist.
"This is… khh! Cough, cough!!"
The acrid fog burned her lungs, forcing her into violent coughs. Tears welled in her eyes, which she hastily wiped away. All around, homunculi lay collapsed—felled by the poisonous haze.
A fog that robbed one of the ability to fight!
Covering her mouth and nose, she tried to escape, but the density of the miasma left her directionless. Just then, a figure lunged from the mist. She instinctively raised her armored arm.
Clang!!
The dagger struck with such force it drove her back several steps. She prepared to leap away, but—
Crash!
Jack struck again, cleaving through the joint of the mechanical arm, sending Fiore plummeting several meters down.
"Ugh!"
She braced for the impact, eyes squeezed shut—but instead, a warm embrace caught her.
Crackle…
That familiar, dreamlike violet glow… the awe-inspiring power of lightning.
The Shogun, holding Fiore firmly, lowered her gaze to the girl's face, then raised her eyes toward the suffocating fog.
Crackle, crackle!!
Electro surged across her entire body, trembling the air and space itself, lifting fragments of stone from the ground. In the next moment—
BOOM!!
A storm of thunder burst outward like a tornado, sweeping across the castle grounds. The fog was obliterated, revealing the clear world beneath.
"What—?!"
Jack faltered in panic. To disperse her Noble Phantasm's miasma with a single strike—was this even possible?!
The Shogun's violet eyes locked onto her, their oppressive force slowing her movements to a crawl.
Without even setting Fiore down, she flashed behind the airborne Jack in a streak of lightning. Her naginata swung down in a single devastating arc.
Jack twisted desperately, crossing her daggers to block.
CLANG!!
The clash thundered through the air, scattering dirt and stone.
"Ugh! Such power!"
One-handed, the Shogun overpowered Jack's twin blades. The Assassin was hurled through the air like a ragdoll.
Crash!!
She slammed into the wall, debris crumbling around her.
The Shogun blinked in a flash to pursue. But as the dust cleared—Jack was gone. Only a trail of blood marked her escape.
"She must have fled. Shogun, go after her. I'm fine… I wasn't hurt."
Fiore urged decisively, though her voice carried reluctant warmth. The Shogun had come—she was satisfied with that. It was trust.
"They'll return soon. Do not wander."
"Mm… I understand."
Hearing her obedient reply, the Shogun carefully set her down on the grass. After a brief word of caution, she vanished once more in a flash of lightning.
Left behind, Fiore watched her fading silhouette, dazed. Then she lowered her gaze to her broken mechanical arm. Even standing was impossible now.