The scouting battle was over. As far as I could see, the future was more or less the same.
The alliance between Rin and Shirou was a sure thing. My power was just that overwhelming. Later, Shinji Matou would learn that Shirou was a Master and propose an alliance, but it would be rejected.
After that, there would be no major battles for a few days, and then, about five days later, Shinji Matou would provoke Shirou, activate a barrier at the school, and they would fight, only to both retreat. As a result, the Rider team, who had become Shirou's target, would foolishly fight a head-on battle on a building rooftop and be defeated by a Noble Phantasm.
The other teams? Rin would only be scouting, as she didn't even know where the other teams were. Kotomine had no intention of making a move until the other Masters fought each other. Caster's life or death was unknown, so he was ignored, and he would try to find Assassin through Setanta. After that… Illya would kidnap Shirou and go down the original route. In fact, it's not that different from the original story.
No matter who Berserker was, he was ultimately overwhelming, so the other teams would fight first, and the Berserker team would be in the position of a mid-boss and final boss. But… I only see futures where all the other teams are defeated. I deliberately don't look at the futures where Gilgamesh is involved, for fear of meeting his gaze. At the very least, I can see that Kotomine will fight Shirou, just like in the original story.
Sigh… there are countless futures as to how the Holy Grail War will end.
There is a future where Saber reclaims Avalon and fights me. Or a future where Kotomine dies earlier than planned, and she confronts me with Setanta. Or a future where Gilgamesh fights me with Saber. That is a future where I am defeated. Of course. I have no way to break through Avalon, and if Gilgamesh gets serious and uses A-rank or higher Noble Phantasm barrages and even Ea, it's not a one-on-one fight, and it's impossible to face an invincible and item-spamming cheater at the same time.
Even Flag of Sincerity can't break through Avalon… however, I can see a future where Saber is killed countless times by Okita before she even gets Avalon. If Medea supports her and the Servant-class brute-strength Leysritt fights her at the same time, the Shirou-version Artoria without Avalon has no chance of winning.
Even if I summon my wives, there's no way to defeat an invincible Saber… that Merlin, to make such an inexperienced child a king with the power of items. I really don't like him.
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So my actions from now on are important. The future can be changed, but the past cannot.
What I wish for is a happy ending. The best ending where Illya is the happiest.
Splash…
"What are you thinking so hard about, Fergus?"
"It's nothing. Just our future plans?"
We were taking a bath. Illya and I, along with Medea and Medb. Of course, I had a towel covering my lower body. Illya's body may be like this, but she is soon to be an adult. I was only taking a bath with her because Illya wanted to. There were no ulterior motives between us.
"What's there to be anxious about the future! You're here, Fergus!"
Medb, who was hugging me from behind, said with a laugh. Well, I'm not particularly worried. The endings are mostly the same, after all. There weren't any endings that were worth changing.
"Hey, Lord Fergus. I saw your fight with Saber, but even if there's a difference in skill, isn't the difference in power too great? Even for King Arthur, her parameters were lacking, but she still had the parameters of a Saber-class. And, I'm not doubting you, Lord Fergus, but your parameters are too high. You haven't received any blessings from the land or place names, like Lancer, so how are they so high?"
Medea, who was leaning on my shoulder, asked with a hint of curiosity. Is that it…
"Basically, Heroic Spirits are divided into the main body and the Divided Spirits. What is summoned as a Servant is just a minor copy of the main body on the Throne, a degraded replica. That's why, except for modern Heroic Spirits, Heroic Spirits from the Age of Gods to the Middle Ages are often summoned in a weakened state compared to when they were alive. There are cases where they become stronger than when they were alive through legends or Noble Phantasms… but in the grand scheme of things, that's just a part of it. Even if they have skills or Noble Phantasms they didn't have when they were alive, or if their power has become stronger."
"That's true, isn't it?"
"Just look at Setanta. He's much weaker than the Setanta of his prime. He covers it with his skill, which remains the same, but he's not originally at that level. Masters often think that the blessings of the land and place names are additional buffs that make them stronger… but that's wrong. In reality, they are blessings that allow them to draw out a power that is a little closer to their main body. That's why they are called blessings."
"Yes, I know that. That's why I'm curious."
"It's simple. I knew that… so I took measures to ensure that both the main body and the Divided Spirits maintain the same combat power."
"...Is that, possible?"
"Honestly, even the mages of the Age of Gods could probably do it. If they had adjusted it when they were alive. However, no one did. Only I did. I knew with the Wisdom of the Land of Shadows. That I would become a Heroic Spirit. But it would be unfair if I were to be weakened compared to when I was alive, wouldn't it? So I prepared not for my old age, but for my afterlife. So that I wouldn't be unfairly degraded, I made that setting for myself. It wasn't a problem for me or Scáthach, who had reached the Root. Of course… Scáthach said that if she were too strong, there would be no fun in fighting, so she didn't. In the first place, she's still alive, so Scáthach can do it like me at any time."
"Eh…"
An overwhelming difference in power? That's because I'm fundamentally different from other Heroic Spirits. Look at Setanta or Heracles. Heracles may be physically weaker than when he was alive, but he lost his skills because he was a Berserker and was beaten by Gilgamesh, right? I saw in Fate/strange Fake that he fought well. It's that serious.
I didn't want to go through that, so I prepared for my afterlife. No one prepares for what happens after they die. In the Age of Gods, there was even a path to the underworld, so they should think a little about what happens after they die… everyone only thinks about when they are alive. The me as a Berserker is even physically stronger than when I was alive because I got a buff. That's why my parameters are so ridiculous. Of course, in the case of Archer, Rider, or Caster, where my aptitude is a little lower than my original self, my physical strength is a little lower.
But that's all. My spiritual energy output is the same as other Heroic Spirits, but my actual power is ridiculously different. My original power is the parameters of the Saber class. My strength is my strength, but I spent most of my time in the Land of Shadows training my skills, and I spent a lot of time with my wives… when only Aife and Scáthach were left, I spent most of my time training.
In the case of a Divine Spirit or a Grand, the spiritual energy output itself is different, so even if the parameter values are the same, the power output is on a different level. Even among Grands and Divine Spirits, I have ridiculous parameters. In terms of parameters alone, I'm a top-class Heroic Spirit, stronger than I was at the time of the final war. Honestly, even Gilgamesh can't beat me if he's not serious. The reason I avoid fighting is because of the casualties. Am I afraid of him? Of course not. I'm not afraid of his item spam at all. On the contrary, only a master of skill like Kojirou can fight me. That kind of item spam can't beat me. I can even see the future and dodge and counter everything. But the skill side has even more possibilities…
"So, Fergus, are you just going to watch from now on?"
"Rin and Shirou will probably just be scouting for a while. As for Rider, well, her Master is a loser. Besides Rider, the only opponent for that alliance is us. So, I have no choice but to send Leysritt and Okita in the middle. With Medea, even the Saber-Archer alliance would be impossible. We'll be watching from nearby anyway, so there won't be any dangerous situations."
"I see… Shirou is too weak. I was expecting something since he's my little brother."
"Haha."
Later, I wonder what will happen when Shirou is captured. Will it work out well with Artoria? I'm curious about that.
However, as time passed, I saw that it did happen.
A little forward in time, in a certain future.
"Wow… they're really doing it."
At some point, the Berserker faction was spying on Saber and Shirou. They had found the Saber team, who had been defeated and had retreated, through a crystal ball… they were in the middle of a magical energy supply. Shirou and Saber were supplying magical energy in an abandoned church in the forest. And Rin was even helping them from the side…
"Wow… they're really bad at it. Fergus, aren't they too clumsy?"
"They're just kids, so it's natural. Those kids were a virgin and a virgin, weren't they? That's probably why. They're worse than Jason. How can this be… I feel sorry for Saber, who is satisfied with that. She's such a cute kid."
"Munch, munch… well, I've never done it, so I can't really say anything, but I happened to see Hijikata-san doing it once. But he's smaller than Hijikata-san. Is it because he's still young?"
"I didn't want to see my little brother doing it…!"
"Ahem, let's change the channel for now."
"Why? Let's watch more! It's fun to watch and critique these beginners!"
"That's true. What do you think, Lord Fergus?"
"...They're very clumsy. If Saber had even a little experience, she wouldn't have been satisfied with Shirou. And… hmm, he's smaller than Setanta. It would be impossible to satisfy an experienced woman with that. It seems to be the average size for a modern person, but he has neither the skill nor the size… if Illya wants, shall I teach Shirou?"
"No, that's fine. Don't… I may look at Shirou with those eyes, but I don't want to know…!"
It is said that the Saber team only later found out that everyone had been watching their magical energy supply.