Nim the Writer - Fate Coiling Sword Chapter 54: Change

Not beta read yet.

Posting snafu in a few minutes and next update is An Archer's Promise.

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-???-

She felt cold.

Though there was no temperature for her to measure and no body through which she could even feel it. Floating within an endless void where nothing could be seen, touched, heard, or sensed, time had passed without any way to determine how much of it had gone by. 

Hours, days, perhaps even months could have slipped away, yet every moment felt exactly the same. 

Only a single consciousness remained in that vast emptiness, slowly fading as though there would eventually be nothing left of it at all. The experience should have been maddening, and in many ways it frightened her, yet there remained something strangely peaceful about simply existing without having to do anything. She could not decide which feeling dominated her anymore.

Exhaustion overwhelmed everything else, leaving her wishing only that she could close her eyes and finally rest.

"Where am I?" 

No voice emerged. 

The sound disappeared into the emptiness without receiving an answer, joining the countless others that had already formed within her mind. So many things should have concerned her, yet she lacked the energy to chase after any of them. 

How had she gotten here?

What had happened before this? 

Why could she remember so little? 

Each question existed just beyond her grasp, and the harder she tried to reach for an answer, the more her thoughts seemed to slip away. 

‘Gray… Gray… That's my name, I think?’ 

Strange, why did it sound so unfamiliar? The uncomfortable feeling, as though something unseen urged her not to remember anything beyond it surged. 

Close her eyes, rest and let everything disappear. As her consciousness gradually drifted toward that tempting emptiness, a single thought surfaced once more, simple and miserable. 

“I'm cold.”

Just as she prepared to surrender and allow herself to be carried away by the void, something appeared in the distance. A tiny point of light flickered against the endless darkness, so faint that she initially wondered if her mind had created it. 

There had been nothing before, yet now that single glow existed, drawing her attention with an instinct she could not explain. "What is it?" Whatever the light represented, some part of her desperately wanted to reach it, and that instinct proved stronger than the exhaustion dragging her down. Without knowing whether she should approach or retreat, she began moving toward the distant point, crawling through a place that possessed neither ground nor sky, with no other desire in her mind except to reach that tiny glow.

The closer she came, the larger and clearer the light became until its form finally revealed itself as a flickering, pulsating flame. 

Something about it felt familiar, though she could not place the memory. More importantly, warmth began to reach her. At first it felt so faint that she barely noticed it, but each movement toward the fire made that sensation stronger. She had not realized how badly she needed it until the warmth touched her, and suddenly reaching the flame became the only thing that mattered. Her pace quickened despite the exhaustion that had plagued her, carrying her closer and closer until the fire stood within arm's reach. A hand extended toward it, fingers slowly stretching out to grasp the flame. Yet even as they came into contact with it, no pain followed. The fire did not burn her. Instead, its warmth spread through her, and with every moment she remained near it, pieces of her lost memories began returning.

The first memories came from a much younger girl who had once known the comfort of a loving family. She remembered a father who played with his daughter, the two of them enjoying simple moments together while her mother watched nearby and laughed at their antics. A cozy village came next, far from the main city but still capable of providing everything its people needed, surrounded by kind neighbors, beautiful scenery, and a forest that had once felt familiar rather than threatening. Those memories were warm, but others followed close behind, darker. Faces of worship appeared within her mind, along with eyes that looked at her as though she were someone other than the girl standing before them. She remembered the lack of care shown toward the one they called the Gray, the spirits she had slain while serving as a gravekeeper, and the lessons Bersac had taught her. More than the lessons themselves, she remembered the care he had given her, something she had never forgotten because he had been one of the few who had actually looked at her and seen the person beneath the name and title others had forced upon her.

Her fingers curled around the flame, drawing it closer to her chest as another collection of memories surfaced. A stranger had once come to the village and taken her in as his student, becoming someone to whom she owed her life. His cunning sister also returned to her thoughts, a woman whose actions could be difficult to understand but who had shown kindness in her own way, even if she rarely expressed it through ordinary means. There were memories of helping around the office, of accompanying Sir to a place where their worst nightmare had become real, and of the promise she had made to herself and to him that she would see everything through, carry the burdens placed upon her, and accomplish their goal. Then came the memory of a kind red-haired boy, another person who had proven himself an ally when she needed one. Each recollection restored another piece of the person she had once been, yet the final memory hurt more than all the others combined.

The greatest pain of recent times returned to her all at once. It had nothing to do with the identity that had slowly begun drifting away from her, nothing to do with the fear of losing herself and becoming someone she no longer recognized. This pain came from losing someone who had stood beside her for so long, a friend, mentor, protector, and something far more important than any single word could describe. From the moment she had first gotten him, he had guided her and protected her, remaining there through everything she had endured. 

The memory was important enough to make her hands tremble around the flame, and the tears she had fought to hold back finally began spilling down her face. Her voice emerged weakly, carrying all the grief that had been trapped inside her for so long. 

"A-Add."

The flame in her hands flickered. What had once existed as a small ball of fire suddenly stretched outward, transforming into a hand that grasped hers. 

Whoosh!

A figure appeared before her, dressed in chainmail and knight-like armor, its features difficult to make out through the glow surrounding it. The armored figure raised its other hand and rested its palm gently upon her head. That simple touch brought a soothing sensation that spread through her, pushing back the darkness and the sorrow that had been consuming her. For the first time since entering the void, something other than exhaustion filled her mind.

"Everything will be all right, Gray."

Gray. The name pulled something within her, bringing another piece of herself back into place. Her name, yes, why was she so uncertain about it before?

"This is not the end, you know that. You can still get up from this. You are still Gray, aren't you?" The figure's hand remained upon her head, its presence giving her something to hold onto when everything else seemed ready to disappear. A nod came in response, the only answer she could manage. 

“A-Aa…Add…”

Words refused to form properly as hiccups and broken sobs escaped her, the emotions she had spent so much time forcing down finally spilling out without restraint. She cried like a child seeking comfort from her parents, no longer caring about appearing strong or keeping anyone from seeing how frightened and hurt she truly felt.

"This is nothing to you, just a small setback. The Gray I know wouldn't let herself be defeated by something as stupid as this. So come on now, don't stay asleep forever. You still have people who count on you, and people you can count on." The reassurance reached her, but before she could respond, the figure began to flicker. Its outline grew fainter with every passing moment, breaking apart until its body started disappearing back into the single flame that had brought her memories to the surface.

"No, don't go! Don't leave!" 

Panic seized her as she reached out, desperately trying to catch every ember before it could vanish. Her hands closed around empty space again and again, but each attempt failed. One by one, the glowing fragments faded until only a small flame remained, no larger than a candle, floating above an open palm. Its faint light revealed the surrounding void once more, showing that no one else existed there except her and the figure she had called out to. Beyond that small area of illumination, the darkness remained. Somewhere within it, a bloody smile stretched across an otherwise unseen presence. Its glowing eyes regarded her without sympathy, hatred, contempt, or anger. It simply watched, observing without offering any indication of what it wanted.

None of that mattered to Gray anymore. Her attention remained fixed on the tiny flame, and she pulled it close to herself before squeezing her eyes shut as though shielding it from the emptiness around her. 

"Please, please save Add." The words came out through trembling breaths as she clung to the only thing she had left, desperately reaching for any lifeline that might listen to her, whether the presence before her could understand her plea or not. She no longer cared about the consequences. She only wanted him back.

“Please, I don't wish to lose him. Please bring him back. I'll... I'll do anything, I'll give you everything. I want Add back."

Her arms tightened around the dwindling flame, protecting it as though her own body could keep it from disappearing. The smiling entity remained where it stood for another moment before its form suddenly broke apart, scattering into several thousand glowing embers that spread throughout the surrounding darkness. None of them reached for her, and none answered her plea. Left with the small flame in her hands, she curled herself around it, covering it with her body as though even the faintest nonexistent gust within the void might somehow extinguish it. Her consciousness continued fading, slipping further away with every passing moment until the last of her thoughts disappeared and darkness claimed her completely.

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“Gah!”

Eyes snapped open, revealing blue irises staring up at an old-style Japanese rooftop. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, each breath coming quicker than the last as her heart hammered against her ribs like a jackhammer. 

“Hah… hah… hah…” 

For several seconds, Gray could do nothing except stare at the unfamiliar ceiling while her mind struggled to piece together where she was and how she had gotten there.

Panic quickly took over that confusion, making her push herself up almost before she had fully realized she was awake. “ADD!” The name burst from her throat, but no answer came. “Add!” she called again, louder this time, her eyes darting around the room as she desperately searched for any sign of him.

Fraught with uncertainty, her body tried to move before her thoughts could catch up, but a pair of hands settled firmly on her shoulders and stopped her from getting any farther. 

“Gray!” A red-haired man leaned into her view, his voice gentle as he tried to keep her from panicking. For a moment, she could only stare at him, her mind struggling to place the familiar face. The confusion lasted several seconds before recognition finally clicked into place. 

“S-Shirou?” She said with a whisper, for his name escaped her for a moment. Thoughts remained tangled, one question immediately replacing another, and nothing about the situation made sense.

“Hey, hey, calm down. Don't move around too much. We still don't know if you're fully healed, and after what happened, it's best we don't take any chances.” His voice managed to calm her down, thankfully enough. It being more effective than she expected, and the frantic beating in her chest slowly began to settle. 

For the next minute, she simply concentrated on breathing properly and getting her bearings. Once she finally felt capable of speaking without immediately losing track of what she wanted to ask. “Where are we?” The surroundings felt strangely familiar, yet the pain in her head made it difficult to connect that feeling to an actual memory.

“We're back in my house. I had to carry you here, and I was worried you wouldn't wake up for a while. Thankfully, everything worked out in the end, didn't it?” 

Gray stared at him in disbelief. “Y-You carried me?” The thought alone seemed difficult for her to picture, with a bit of rouge filling her face. 

He merely smiled and he waved away her concern. “Well, you're kind of light and not heavy at all. Rider was about to carry us both, but I managed to wake up again after resting up, and we left the apartment with you on my back. We tried to wake you up as well, but you were too exhausted, so yeah. Do you feel anything off?” 

A quick check of her body revealed nothing beyond the headache, which had already begun to fade. No serious pain, no strange sensation, nothing that suggested something had gone horribly wrong. 

“What happened to the others?”

“Ayako and her friends came over to stay for a few minutes, but they had to leave because it was getting a bit late. Don't worry, everyone's fine, and you can check up on them tomorrow as well if you want.” Hearing that eased another concern that had been sitting heavily in the back of her mind. 

At least nobody else had gotten hurt. 

The brief moment of relief did not last. Ayako and the others would certainly have questions about what happened, especially if they had been involved in whatever had occurred before Gray lost consciousness, but that problem could wait until later. He could tell Ayako herself went through a lot, what nightmares she had seen, he could not imagine. But it prevented him from remembering her reaction. For now, knowing they were safe mattered far more.

“What happened to me?” Her last clear memory involved entering the apartment with the others, yet everything after that remained fragmented. Then, just before her consciousness disappeared completely, another image came rushing back. 

‘Right, I saw my home... my mom and… urgh!’ 

The moment she tried to push beyond that point, the headache returned, making her instinctively press a hand against her head. The memory itself remained difficult to grasp, but the sensation accompanying it had not disappeared. 

“How did you find me?”  

Red Riding Hood must have trapped her inside some kind of bounded field or spell without her even noticing. Whatever method had been used, it had to possess considerable power if she could fall under its influence without even questioning what she saw. Yet she had eventually escaped, and now she found herself sitting inside what appeared to be the real world with Shirou beside her. That meant he and his Servant must have somehow located her and pulled her out. The thought should have been reassuring, but the way the redhead scratched the back of his head while humming made her more confused instead.

“Well, we did find you. I'm not sure how I got to that place, but I think that I was just caught by accident. We did have some help locating you, but I just didn't expect for you to attack us, hahaha.” Shirou said awkwardly, while also using a joking tone, but Gray's expression immediately drained of color. 

“I attacked you!?” She screamed in pure horror, trying to understand what he meant. Her memory offered nothing useful, only fragments and that same unsettling gap where everything disappeared. “W-Why—”

“—Oh, it's nothing that bad. You were probably under the influence of the spell from Red Riding Hood, but Rider was able to keep you under control. You were pretty impressive, that sword of yours destroyed so many buildings with a swing, you looked both scary and cool.”  

“I did what!?” 

The sudden outburst made the whole situation feel even more shocking. 

“Oh, so you really don't remember? Well, that might be for the best, as it wasn't exactly a pretty moment. Regardless, it doesn't matter.” 

Again, his answers only made her more upset!

“How can it not matter! I attacked you! That's not a good thing!” Her fingers tightened against the fabric beneath her as guilt began replacing the confusion that had occupied her mind only moments earlier. She could still barely understand what had happened, yet the fact remained that she had apparently turned against a friend…

“Did you do it deliberately?” 

“Eh?” Those words caught her off guard enough to make her stop and think. Before she could find an answer, the explanation followed naturally. “O-Of course not!”

He shrugged. “Then that's it. You weren't in control and did not do it because you wanted to. How can I even blame you for that? I'm still alive, and so is Rider. Rather, I should be the one apologizing for not making it there in time and potentially for any wounds on your body, but Rider did try to hold back as much as she could without hurting you too much.” 

“...”

Gray could only stare at him, disbelief written plainly across her face. Somehow, he had managed to dismiss the entire matter without treating her like a threat or making her feel as though she needed to defend herself. 

“But still, I still attacked you, so for that, I don't think an apology will be enough. I owe you so much.” 

Yet instead of accepting the apology or allowing her to dwell on it, the response came immediately. “Don't even think about repaying me or anything stupid like that. Also, you should stop thinking about such things now and focus on resting. You can just stay here for the night. Unless you have someone who you want me to contact?” His concern redirected her thoughts toward something she had nearly forgotten. 

“Yes—I-I mean no—uh, I mean yes! I have to contact Sir. He must be worried. I told him I would just be out for a bit, not all night.” Realizing how late it had become only added another layer of worry, and she instinctively glanced around the room as though expecting to find some way of contacting him immediately.

But then… she noticed something. “Shirou… where is Add?” 

She looked around before realizing that. The cage where she put the cube was always on her body, and she never removed it even after he went quiet.

“...”

But then Shirou went quiet, and she started to fear the words that perhaps she had lost him in her previous state or worse. But to her surprise, he just smiled and got up before extending his hand and telling her, "Let me give you a little surprise.”

Confused by his actions, she still accepted his offered hand and pulled herself upright before following him through the corridor. 

As they drew closer to the living room, a voice drifted through the doorway, carrying clearly enough for her to make out the words. The sound immediately caught her attention. The closer she got, the more familiar that voice became, its pitch and manner of speaking stirring a memory she almost refused to acknowledge. Gray shook her head, wondering if exhaustion had finally made her imagine things again, yet every additional word made that explanation harder to accept.

“—!”

Gray suddenly froze as she stared at him with wide eyes, her expression practically demanding an explanation. Instead, he only offered a small smile before reaching for the living room door and opening it. What waited on the other side left her unable to move for several seconds. Rider sat calmly at one side of the table with a cup of tea in hand, listening with an amused expression to the person sitting across from her, who seemed far more interested in telling stories than in the fact that his audience could barely contain her reaction.

"Let me tell you, one time she got so scared after seeing what she thought was a ghost that she actually ran and hid underneath a tree for almost two hours. It was only after Balzac found her that she realized the spirit she'd seen was just someone's laundry that had blown near the cemetery, hahaha! There was also this one time when..."

The storyteller continued without noticing her arrival, recounting one embarrassing memory after another, each story becoming more unmistakably familiar as Gray listened. They were stories from her own childhood, embarrassing moments she wished to forget. Stranger still, the person sharing them wasn't even a person at all. Inside the cage sat a familiar cube, somehow positioned comfortably enough for the conversation to continue while a cup of tea had been placed in front of him. The girl stared at the impossible sight, her mind struggling to decide whether she had actually woken up or somehow fallen into another dream before finally whispering the name that had been stuck in her thoughts since she heard his voice.

"...Add?"

The cube immediately stopped mid-story and turned toward her. "Oh, you're finally awake, you little brat. I thought you would be knocked out for another day or two. Would've been nice, though. I could've gotten to speak to this beautiful woman for a little longer." His attention briefly shifted toward Rider, who simply smiled over the rim of her teacup, apparently finding the entire situation perfectly normal.

Gray didn't bother trying to make sense of it anymore. She rushed across the room, trembling hands reaching for the cage before wrapping her arms around it and pulling it against herself as tears finally spilled down her cheeks. 

"ADD! You're awake! You're finally awake!" Her voice broke with relief as she hugged the cage even tighter, almost forgetting that there happened to be a fragile cube inside it.

"Stop moving the cage around so much! I'm not some toy!" Add’s complaint only made her realize how tightly she had been clutching him, prompting an immediate adjustment as she tried to hold the cage more carefully. 

"Oh, sorry!" The apology came alongside a smile she couldn't hide, even with tears still running down her face. "I missed you. You went quiet after the summoning. I tried everything..." Her words began tumbling over one another as she attempted to explain everything that had happened, repeatedly losing track of what she had already said and stumbling over her own sentences in her excitement.

"Gray! Get a hold of yourself! I'm here now, aren't I? Everything's fine. I feel excellent! It's like I woke up from a long nap and now I'm filled with energy!" The familiar voice cut through her rambling, bringing a little more composure to her expression as she continued holding the cage. Shirou eventually came over and took a seat nearby, wearing the same faint smile as Rider, neither of them interrupting the reunion while Gray finally had the chance to hold onto the companion she had feared losing.

"What happened?" The question finally came after she had managed to collect herself enough to speak properly, though her arms remained wrapped around the cage.

"How the hell would I know? One second I was with you while you were doing the summoning ritual, and the next thing I knew, I was being carried around by this beautiful lady. Hehehehe~!" His attention shifted toward Rider again, earning another pleasant smile and a small nod from the woman as she continued drinking her tea. The sight made the whole situation even stranger, but Gray didn't seem particularly interested in questioning it anymore. For now, having him awake and talking again mattered far more than understanding how he had ended up there.

"I was caught up in the present. A lot of time has passed. You went through a lot, Gray."

"You have no idea. I really missed you." Her voice softened as the emotion returned, though this time she managed to keep herself from breaking down completely.

"Oh, don't mention it. Even without me, you did quite well. I'm proud of you. Even that Waver guy will be impressed by everything you did on your own. Our little Gray is slowly but surely becoming a grown woman."

A shaky laugh escaped her as she tried to hold back another wave of tears. "Stop making it sound like that much time has passed." She explained that she hadn't really changed that much and that getting through everything had only been possible because of the people who had helped her, giving a small nod toward Shirou and Rider as she included them in her explanation. "I wouldn't have made it this far without them."

"It doesn't look like that to me. You've changed quite a bit. Look at that, all of your white hair is gone and now it's blonde, though almost all of it." 

Huh, almost? That last part confused her. 

Gray turned slightly, catching something at the edge of her vision that she hadn't noticed before. A mirror stood against the side of the living room, positioned where it could reflect her face, and the moment her eyes landed on the reflection, everything else seemed to fall away.

Still carrying Add's cage, she slowly approached the mirror and stared at the person looking back at her. The face remained unmistakably hers, yet her hair had changed in a way she had never expected to see. 

One of the things she had always hated about her transformation involved her inability to completely lose her original hair color and become fully blonde. With the transformation accelerating at an alarming rate after Saber became her Servant, Gray had always understood that she had limited time before the changes became impossible to ignore, perhaps even reaching the point where she could no longer recognize herself. Yet the reflection showed something different from what she had feared. Most of her hair had indeed become blonde, but running prominently through it remained a distinct section of platinum-colored hair, preserving the original shade she had thought would eventually disappear entirely.

Her fingers slowly moved toward the platinum section as she stared at it in disbelief, checking the reflection from different angles as though expecting the color to vanish if she looked away. The cube remained tucked against her as she continued examining the change, unable to reconcile what she saw with everything she had believed about her transformation. Finally, her eyes widened further and the question escaped her in a bewildered voice.

"What is going on?”

{Break}

(Around the same time)

-Semina Apartments-

Within the upper floor, roughly an hour after the group left — another group of men dressed in local authority uniforms came. Surrounding the apartment building, putting up keep-out tape around the entrances while implementing even stricter measures around the final floor. 

Despite that, even more precautions were put in place with a bounded field to prevent anyone from slipping past the guards or finding another way upstairs, with every possible route checked before they were satisfied with their work. All of it in the guise of renovation being done to avoid public curiosity and of those who lived inside the building itself. 

The entire operation proceeded under the supervision of a certain priest, who observed everything with an unreadable expression while occasionally giving instructions whenever something needed to be adjusted. Eventually, the last of the preparations had been completed, leaving the men ready to carry out whatever orders they had received.

"That is all. You may return."

Everyone nodded and began making their way out, leaving Kirei as the only person remaining on the final floor. His gaze settled on the apartment farther down the corridor, narrowing slightly as he approached it. 

Nothing immediately appeared out of place, as if nothing had even occurred here today.

“...”

After standing there for several seconds, Kirei heard footsteps approaching behind him.

“Hmmm Taa♩ Laa~♫” 

An unfamiliar woman casually walked in his direction while holding an umbrella, humming a song beneath her breath as though she had simply wandered into the building for an afternoon stroll. Her frilly white and pink dress looked completely out of place among the restrictions that had just been established, yet she showed not the slightest concern for the measures meant to keep people away.

“I was wondering where the one behind the destruction of the Matou manor was. Never would I have imagined for the culprit to show up before me." The priest's blank gaze moved over the newcomer with growing suspicion. "State your purpose."

The woman continued toward him without showing any concern over his accusation, prompting his expression to become even colder than before. 

"I may be a patient man, but even I have my limits. What are you doing here, Francesca Prelati?” He asked again.

“Oh, so you know me? Curious, have we met before? I can't recall… Did Zou-kun talk about me? Oh well! If you know me, then you should have an idea of my presence.”

The thing before him, just like that old man, could hardly be seen as human. Records mentioned this person from decades in the past, though if he recalled, she used to be a he. Body swapping or a form alteration, it was hard to tell. Furthermore, this woman never made any attempts on hiding her presence for the last day or two, getting bolder each time. Security footage also showcased her hunting several of Zouken’s familiars which even he missed. Further investigation showed how the Matou head had done his best to keep this person away from Fuyuki. 

Putting two and two together, one could guess with accuracy who was the one behind the attack on the manor. “It does not matter, outsiders like you are forbidden from interfering with matters of the Holy Grail War. If you value your life, I would suggest that you leave."

“Fufufu~!” She chuckled, amusement spreading across her face as she regarded him. "Oh, don't be so strict with me. I'm merely sightseeing. I haven't necessarily intervened with the Holy Grail War."

"Your attack on the manor says otherwise."

"But that was merely settling scores with an old enemy who was being very mean to me." One finger lifted to point directly at him, the accusation almost playful despite the circumstances. "All of you have been mean to me, but I have done nothing." Without waiting for permission, she walked past him and entered the apartment, casually examining the room as though she had every right to be there. Her fingers brushed over a few of the nearby objects while her attention wandered from one side to the other. "It's a shame I wasn't here sooner. I would have liked to see what happened to that interesting artifact."

His eyes narrowed at the mention of it. "You know."

"Of course I know about it. It's not something you can just ignore." A shrug accompanied the answer as she continued looking around. "But I do find it interesting that you did ignore it. Which makes me curious about what your goal was." Tilting her head, she looked directly into his eyes with an almost innocent expression. "Were you one of those people who like to sit back and watch how things progress and take it as a form of entertainment? Or were you just too lazy? Perhaps you had a goal, but someone took it away from you?"

Kirei's attention shifted toward the apartment itself as he considered her words. "So it's no longer here after all, huh." He had already suspected as much, but hearing the implications from someone else confirmed what he had been considering. Red Riding Hood had disappeared, which he had always considered one of the possible outcomes. 

‘So this is the choice you made? Well, this will be interesting to watch.’

Francesca's expression brightened as her thoughts turned toward all the possibilities such an artifact could hold. "In a way, I don't even need to look that deeply into the Holy Grail War. Too much of a hassle. I already had a red-headed bitch warn me once, and I don't want her getting in my business again."

The statement earned no visible reaction from the priest, though he did not believe her for even a moment. A woman like Francesca could lie as naturally as she breathed, mixing truth and deception whenever it suited her. He had encountered enough personalities like hers to recognize that taking her words at face value would be foolish, particularly when she had already admitted an interest in something connected to the war.

"I will not give you a second warning."

Her smirk slowly widened into a grin as she leaned toward him, seemingly delighted that he had finally stopped entertaining her games. "If I don't, what will you do?"

In the next instant, a black key flashed from beneath his cloak and shot through the air toward her. 

“Ah~!” Several more followed, their sharpened blades cutting across the room with enough force to make the threat obvious. Francesca did not immediately move, only shifting her body by the smallest amount as the swords passed dangerously close before striking the floor. Then her expression changed when she realized exactly where they had landed. The blades had pierced her shadow, pinning it in place and leaving her body unable to move as freely as before.

"What a troublesome tool." She clicked her tongue while glancing down at the black keys. "I never was really much of a fan of the Church's little playthings."

Several more black keys appeared between his fingers as he advanced, the weapons held ready for another attack. "You are too much of a wild card to be tolerated. I, on behalf of the Church and as supervisor of the Holy Grail War, will remove you as a factor from this war."

"Oh my." Her lips formed a pout, though the playful expression never disappeared. "And here I was hoping for us to be friends. You meanie!"

The priest continued forward, apparently prepared to finish the confrontation without giving her another opportunity to speak. Then, just as he reached striking distance, a faint creak sounded behind him.

“—!”

His eyes widened.

Turning around, Kirei caught sight of long strands of white hair rushing into view before a powerful strike slammed into him. "Gah!"

He raised his arm just in time to absorb the worst of the blow, but the force still sent him crashing backward.

Crack!

The apartment door splintered as his body smashed through it, sending fragments flying while he was launched outside the building. For a moment, the ground rushed toward him before he twisted his body in midair and landed atop a nearby rooftop with a heavy impact. His hand immediately reached for another set of black keys, and several blades flew forward in rapid succession.

Whoosh!

The weapons tore through the familiars Francesca had summoned, piercing their bodies one after another. Several creatures dissolved from the impacts while others were destroyed before they could even reach him. Each throw found its target accurately, allowing the priest to clear the immediate threat without giving the creatures an opportunity to surround him.

Kirei shifted into a combat stance, ready for whatever came next, only to ease slightly when he spotted Francesca standing across from him on the rooftop with a smile still resting on her face. Another figure stood behind her. Long strands of white hair flowed around the person's body, yet the face revealed nothing, the vacant gaze and complete lack of visible emotion making the figure look almost mechanical. 

A beautiful woman as white as snow.

'That person isn't... that...'

Francesca lifted one hand and gave him a casual wave. "Now isn't the time for any fight. I would have liked to kill you, but I fear offending His Majesty, who is watching over you. Tataa~!"

With that, she gave him a small bow before blowing him a kiss. Her umbrella opened above her with a soft snap, and as it began to spin, the figures standing beside her disappeared from sight. Within moments, the rooftop contained nothing but Kirei and the remains of the confrontation.

So she left... He doubted he'd catch up even if he tried to pursue her.

Several seconds passed before the priest finally lowered his hands and put away the remaining black keys. He adjusted his clothing, then glanced down at the obvious shoe print left across his cloak and brushed the dirt from it with a few irritated movements. Once his appearance had been restored as much as possible, he turned away from the rooftop and began walking off while retrieving his phone.

"Tighten up the security around town. We have an uninvited guest.”