Chapter 104: Mercenary, Assassin, Vampire, and—
When did he get there?
Just now, Sigma's battle-hardened nerves hadn't sensed another person's presence at all. By the time he realized it, the man was already standing by his side. In this Holy Grail War, most people were stronger than Sigma, so it was only natural he hadn't noticed.
But it wasn't like this the last time they met. He hadn't felt this way then.
Not this heat, a heat that felt as if it might scorch Sigma.
'Did he not use his full power back then?' Sigma thought.
"Emiya... is that you?"
Sigma asked tentatively and received a positive reply.
"It's me."
The youth stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Sigma.
"Thanks for the message."
The petals positioned in the air in front of Sigma melted into the atmosphere. Emiya Shirou had stopped an attack that would have been fatal to Sigma without even lifting a hand. Since there was no longer a need to maintain the defense applied to Sigma, it was deactivated.
"Though I had imagined the possibility, you actually came here..." Sigma whispered, dumbfounded.
In truth, Sigma hadn't counted on Emiya Shirou coming to provide support. He had sent the message to the Emiya Shirou he knew simply because he felt there was no reason to hide the information from him—whether it was the matter of the girl in the hospital whose life hung by a thread, or the matter of Alcides.
Though Sigma felt that, given the man's nature, he likely wouldn't ignore it, he wasn't overly fixated on it. Putting one's hope in others is irrational. It's better to rely on oneself than to ask for help. That was Sigma's consistent philosophy.
"Does that mean you don't need help?"
A faint, trace-like smile played at the corner of the youth's mouth.
"No, I'd be in trouble if you didn't help. I owe you one."
Sigma immediately changed his tune.
'Really, please don't be like that, Emiya.'
Sigma scratched his cheek and shifted his gaze toward the Dead Apostle who had thrown the car.
"In any case, the enemy here is someone my current collaborator and I cannot break through..."
Sigma suddenly stopped talking, because he saw that the place where Jester had been standing was now empty.
Sigma's eyes widened a beat late. Realizing something, he hurriedly looked toward Emiya Shirou, and what he saw was...
The Dead Apostle, eyes wide just like Sigma's, flying backward with his arms crossed in front of him.
"Ah."
Sigma couldn't tell if that sound came from himself or the Dead Apostle. Emiya Shirou held a blade larger than his own body, maintaining his zanshin after a posture that looked like he had swatted something away like a baseball.
Actually, Sigma should have seen what just happened. He had indeed caught all the movements starting from the moment the Dead Apostle moved instantaneously to the front of Emiya Shirou. It was just that before the event concluded, his mind hadn't yet processed the combat between the two.
Based on Sigma's post-battle reconstruction, it was divided into three moves.
The first move: The Dead Apostle lunged in front of Emiya Shirou, unleashing a sharp kick. Simultaneously, a great sword carved from solid rock appeared out of thin air between him and Emiya Shirou, forcibly parrying the strike.
The second move: The Dead Apostle, shaken back by the reaction force, twisted his posture in mid-air, while Emiya Shirou reached out to grip a hilt that didn't even match the size of his palm at almost the exact same time.
The third move: The Dead Apostle rushed toward the gap of the great sword, trying to penetrate the inner side of the weapon. Emiya Shirou, who had already gripped the hilt a step ahead, responded with a single horizontal swing—and then, an incredible, massive force slapped the Dead Apostle away without surprise, like swatting a rubber ball.
Jester performed a breakfall on the muddy ground. Ignoring the mud splashed on his pant legs, he stood upright again.
"Who are you?"
For the first time, he moved away from the generic label of "human."
Emiya Shirou did not answer him, but instead questioned him in return: "The Dead Apostle who almost killed everyone in the theater... was it you?"
Two existences that seemed extraordinary to Sigma sized each other up face-to-face. Sigma, standing like a post watching the scene, noticed a shadow manifesting beside him.
"Assassin?"
Assassin's state was very wrong. She looked even more shocked than Sigma himself. Though Sigma considered himself the type who didn't easily show surprise, she had clearly exceeded the boundaries of normal astonishment.
"Oh, I see. So that's how the wounds we saw on her when she was summoned came to be. Since Watcher can't trace things before the summoning, it was a total cold case back then."
The "shadow" behind Sigma, visible only to him, muttered to himself.
"What do you mean by that?" Sigma inquired via [Telepathy].
"Since you think he's always had his current personality, it could only be that Assassin proactively challenged him, got wounded, and was driven away. However, it seems they aren't in a state of total mutual hostility. Look, Assassin's gaze right now is quite complicated, isn't it?"
It was true. From Sigma's angle, he could see that Assassin's gaze wasn't just filled with enmity. There was confusion, there was amazement, and there was a sense of relief that even she herself hadn't easily noticed.
Not far away, after a long confrontation, Jester finally admitted: "What, do you want to be a blood bag too?"
"...I see."
Emiya Shirou didn't answer directly; his gaze simply shifted.
He called out toward Sigma's direction: "Assassin, to make a long story short, I also came to help that girl named Tsubaki Kuruoka. Our goals are the same. If you can't handle the Dead Apostle, then we'll hand over. I'll handle this guy."
Assassin hesitated for a moment, glanced at Sigma beside her, and then asked: "Were you the one who saved this person just now?"
He didn't take his eyes off the Dead Apostle, responding only with a nod.
"......."
Assassin fell silent, then made a decision in less than a few seconds. "At least, you can save those whom an impious believer like me cannot. If you wish, regarding what happened last time—"
"I forgot about it long ago."
Emiya Shirou curled his lip and shook his head. Thus, the female assassin lowered her eyelids and spoke no more.
"Sigma. That Archer—that monster-like Heroic Spirit has already left. If you can, go to the hospital's main entrance with Assassin now. Someone is waiting for you."
Emiya Shirou spoke while maintaining his stance with the giant blade.
Sigma nodded and said in kind:
"Emiya, that Dead Apostle's name is Jester Karture. He has six 'cores' called 'bullets' at his heart; he can resurrect by switching cores every time he dies. He currently has four 'bullets' remaining. Please be careful."
The two looked at each other, their gazes meeting. Sigma didn't ask why that Archer had left, and Shirou didn't ask the mystery-shrouded youth how he knew information that should have been top-secret.
"Thanks." Shirou made an 'OK' sign with his free hand.
To this, Sigma replied with a wry smile: "The one who's going to have a hard time in a bit is you."
As soon as Sigma turned his back and started running toward the hospital's front entrance as instructed, he found himself being hoisted up. Assassin had picked him up like a little chick, using her ultra-high speed to carry Sigma directly toward the hospital entrance.
Sigma guessed it might be because he had almost died after leaving Assassin's protection just now. It seemed Assassin didn't want to let go of him for the time being.
It was a bumpy ride. But it truly didn't feel bad.
This was the first time Sigma had seen it—a gentle torrent set in motion just to save a single person.
And... even if one is no longer the person waiting for rescue, but the one acting to save others, one can still be saved—by a gentle world.
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