Killing Rider
Entropy Judge
Recurring Bouts of Misanthropy
[X] Kill Rider and continue talking.
Rider's Master stares plaintively at her Servant and stretches her arm toward her. Rider moves her arms as well, but not to try and reach her Master – instead, she tries to reach up and break your grip on her. You twist her head the other way, then snap it back, relishing the crunch of bone. The Master's face pales as Rider's arms drop limply, and you finish the task completely, ripping the Servant's head off completely and holding it by the hair. Come to think of it, isn't that how she's usually depicted? Decapitated, with her killer holding her head by its serpentine hair?
"Ri- … -der?" The girl stares at the head, eyes broken, hands twitching.
"Yes. She should have stayed with Emiya, like you told her to, and if she had to come here then she shouldn't have tried attacking me. Still, I suppose this is for the best." The girl's eyes blaze and she snarls as shadow-giants begin springing up from the ground around you.
"For the best? You … you …!" You sigh at her sudden drop in courtesy.
"Yes. You see, now you don't have a conflict of interests – you are no longer a Master, so you don't need to worry about whatever wish you wanted granted. As the keeper of the Grail, you simply need to continue being until someone wins." Rider's body begins fading away, dissolving into motes of light, and the girl falls to her knees once more.
"You took her from me. You took her from me!"
"Ha!" Her head jerks up at your bark of laughter. "Took her from you? You are now closer to her than you ever were! You are the Lesser Grail, are you not? You hold the defeated Servants within yourself, do you not? Rider has been slain, has she not? And so she now goes to dwell within you. Hold her, and find peace!" You cast the Servant's head on the ground by the Grail and she stares at you for a moment before reaching out and picking it up, hugging it close. You wait until there's nothing left and the Grail's tears no longer flow. "Now, disperse these shadows and we shall resume our talk." She giggles and smiles at you as the shadow-giants loom over you.
"You … you're afraid of them. You aren't perfect, you can't beat them all!" Even more begin rising behind you, but it seems the Grail is having trouble maintaining them all – she's shaking and beginning to sweat. You yawn nonchalantly. This really would be a great time to explain about Tohsaka's secret weapon, except that she'll probably take it for the bluff it is. Better to save it for when you're on the offensive.
"Let's assume you're correct, and you actually can maintain enough minions to challenge me. In that situation, it would come to pass that I would not be so stupid as to fight them – no, little Grail, I would challenge you. And child, you're centuries too young to even consider fighting me." You lean forward menacingly and grin viciously. "Now, put them away or we can pick up where we left off before. You know, the part where I was about to eat you because you were stupid enough to try infecting me with your pitiful poison?" You lick your lips and take a step forward; the girl tries to scramble back. Her minions persist, however, so you advance slowly toward her. "You try what very little patience I have, Grail. Shall I simply drink from your ever-flowing cup and be rid of them that way?" Something snaps and she finally turns and starts crawling away from you, scrambling quickly over the rocks of the cavern – and her shadow-giants begin fading away as well. You halt and conceal a sigh of relief. Maybe you can use her after all. "So, is the Grail in a usable condition?" She finally realizes that you're no longer stalking her and turns to look at you.
"… Just a little bit more." You cock your head to the side.
"Until someone can make a wish?" She giggles and shakes her head.
"Uh-uh. A wish is already being granted. Hehehe! He is going to be born … Angra Mainyu." Not a name you're familiar with … Indian, maybe? "He's been in there, waiting for his chance to kill everyone. Once he's finally out, he'll have his revenge." She giggles again and you wonder if maybe killing Rider wasn't the best thing to do.
"So who is this Angra Mainyu, and can he be convinced to wait, or to share the power for a wish?" The Grail stares at you before laughing.
"She – she didn't tell you? Ahahahaha!" You let her continue for a few seconds before throwing yourself forward and wrapping your hand around her left eye. One of the disadvantages of such a small frame – it's not quite as threatening as when a burly, hulking, seven-foot werewolf lifts someone by wrapping a meaty paw around the person's head … but it works. "Th-th-the E-Einzberns. They ch-cheat … all the time. This time, they took the strongest hero, made him even stronger, and gave him the most powerful Master. Last time, they used King Arthur and an outsider, a mercenary mage-killer. And the time before that … they summoned him. Angra Mainyu. All the World's Evil. Someone like that would be the best Servant, wouldn't he? No one would be better at killing humans than him … but he wasn't what they expected. He was the first Servant to die, and the Grail accepted his wish. And now I'm going to be his mother. And everyone's going to pay. They're all going to die. It's not our fault, we didn't ask to be like this!" You let her go and she rises unsteadily. Your mind turns to Archer – how much of this did he know?
"So we can't use the Grail to make a wish ourselves, then? At least not until after he's already come out, at which point things will be a little too interesting to make a wish. … You know you're going to kill Emiya, too, if this Angra Mainyu comes out, right?" Her giggles subside and she places a hand over her chest.
"Yes. Senpai will die, too; he'll be eaten by me, and always be with me. He'll be mine, only mine." Just like Rider. She laughs again, despite the tears that are beginning to fall from her eyes. Maybe she's too far gone to be useful? Still, you have some useful information now – at least, information that you didn't have before. The corruption in the Grail was caused by some kind of super-Servant the Einzberns tried using, but it went wrong and he's trying to come out. And if he does, then Archer's Cleaner friends will probably come in to deal with him; if it weren't for that, you would consider pulling him out and seeing if the Grail is usable for any of Ilya's purposes. As for the Grail herself … she seems cowed enough, and the only remaining Servants are at Ilya's, so nothing more can happen. Would it be worth the risk to bring her back to Ilya's, so she and Tohsaka can talk to her and see if they can convince her to help? Or should you just tell her to stay here and be good while you go back to make sure everyone knows what's going on? You glance up at the obelisk … what as it Patchouli said about energy fields more concentrated than your own …?
What do you do?
[ ] OM NOM NOM: Feed on the Great Grail
[ ] Take the Lesser Grail back to Ilya's castle.
- [ ] Knock her out first.
[ ] Extract a promise that she won't do anything and go back to discuss things with Ilya and Tohsaka.
[ ] Keep talking.
- About?
[ ] Other?
DM Note: Next Update will be on Wednesday, owing to the lateness of this one and such. Also, I am considering an omake involving Patchouli, but I've hit a stumbling block regarding whether or not Koakuma does something mischievous, and I'm not sure how I should resolve said block. Although said omake does require that Ilya still be alive, which is part of why I'm holding off on actually writing it, so there's that.
Rider's Master stares plaintively at her Servant and stretches her arm toward her. Rider moves her arms as well, but not to try and reach her Master – instead, she tries to reach up and break your grip on her. You twist her head the other way, then snap it back, relishing the crunch of bone. The Master's face pales as Rider's arms drop limply, and you finish the task completely, ripping the Servant's head off completely and holding it by the hair. Come to think of it, isn't that how she's usually depicted? Decapitated, with her killer holding her head by its serpentine hair?
"Ri- … -der?" The girl stares at the head, eyes broken, hands twitching.
"Yes. She should have stayed with Emiya, like you told her to, and if she had to come here then she shouldn't have tried attacking me. Still, I suppose this is for the best." The girl's eyes blaze and she snarls as shadow-giants begin springing up from the ground around you.
"For the best? You … you …!" You sigh at her sudden drop in courtesy.
"Yes. You see, now you don't have a conflict of interests – you are no longer a Master, so you don't need to worry about whatever wish you wanted granted. As the keeper of the Grail, you simply need to continue being until someone wins." Rider's body begins fading away, dissolving into motes of light, and the girl falls to her knees once more.
"You took her from me. You took her from me!"
"Ha!" Her head jerks up at your bark of laughter. "Took her from you? You are now closer to her than you ever were! You are the Lesser Grail, are you not? You hold the defeated Servants within yourself, do you not? Rider has been slain, has she not? And so she now goes to dwell within you. Hold her, and find peace!" You cast the Servant's head on the ground by the Grail and she stares at you for a moment before reaching out and picking it up, hugging it close. You wait until there's nothing left and the Grail's tears no longer flow. "Now, disperse these shadows and we shall resume our talk." She giggles and smiles at you as the shadow-giants loom over you.
"You … you're afraid of them. You aren't perfect, you can't beat them all!" Even more begin rising behind you, but it seems the Grail is having trouble maintaining them all – she's shaking and beginning to sweat. You yawn nonchalantly. This really would be a great time to explain about Tohsaka's secret weapon, except that she'll probably take it for the bluff it is. Better to save it for when you're on the offensive.
"Let's assume you're correct, and you actually can maintain enough minions to challenge me. In that situation, it would come to pass that I would not be so stupid as to fight them – no, little Grail, I would challenge you. And child, you're centuries too young to even consider fighting me." You lean forward menacingly and grin viciously. "Now, put them away or we can pick up where we left off before. You know, the part where I was about to eat you because you were stupid enough to try infecting me with your pitiful poison?" You lick your lips and take a step forward; the girl tries to scramble back. Her minions persist, however, so you advance slowly toward her. "You try what very little patience I have, Grail. Shall I simply drink from your ever-flowing cup and be rid of them that way?" Something snaps and she finally turns and starts crawling away from you, scrambling quickly over the rocks of the cavern – and her shadow-giants begin fading away as well. You halt and conceal a sigh of relief. Maybe you can use her after all. "So, is the Grail in a usable condition?" She finally realizes that you're no longer stalking her and turns to look at you.
"… Just a little bit more." You cock your head to the side.
"Until someone can make a wish?" She giggles and shakes her head.
"Uh-uh. A wish is already being granted. Hehehe! He is going to be born … Angra Mainyu." Not a name you're familiar with … Indian, maybe? "He's been in there, waiting for his chance to kill everyone. Once he's finally out, he'll have his revenge." She giggles again and you wonder if maybe killing Rider wasn't the best thing to do.
"So who is this Angra Mainyu, and can he be convinced to wait, or to share the power for a wish?" The Grail stares at you before laughing.
"She – she didn't tell you? Ahahahaha!" You let her continue for a few seconds before throwing yourself forward and wrapping your hand around her left eye. One of the disadvantages of such a small frame – it's not quite as threatening as when a burly, hulking, seven-foot werewolf lifts someone by wrapping a meaty paw around the person's head … but it works. "Th-th-the E-Einzberns. They ch-cheat … all the time. This time, they took the strongest hero, made him even stronger, and gave him the most powerful Master. Last time, they used King Arthur and an outsider, a mercenary mage-killer. And the time before that … they summoned him. Angra Mainyu. All the World's Evil. Someone like that would be the best Servant, wouldn't he? No one would be better at killing humans than him … but he wasn't what they expected. He was the first Servant to die, and the Grail accepted his wish. And now I'm going to be his mother. And everyone's going to pay. They're all going to die. It's not our fault, we didn't ask to be like this!" You let her go and she rises unsteadily. Your mind turns to Archer – how much of this did he know?
"So we can't use the Grail to make a wish ourselves, then? At least not until after he's already come out, at which point things will be a little too interesting to make a wish. … You know you're going to kill Emiya, too, if this Angra Mainyu comes out, right?" Her giggles subside and she places a hand over her chest.
"Yes. Senpai will die, too; he'll be eaten by me, and always be with me. He'll be mine, only mine." Just like Rider. She laughs again, despite the tears that are beginning to fall from her eyes. Maybe she's too far gone to be useful? Still, you have some useful information now – at least, information that you didn't have before. The corruption in the Grail was caused by some kind of super-Servant the Einzberns tried using, but it went wrong and he's trying to come out. And if he does, then Archer's Cleaner friends will probably come in to deal with him; if it weren't for that, you would consider pulling him out and seeing if the Grail is usable for any of Ilya's purposes. As for the Grail herself … she seems cowed enough, and the only remaining Servants are at Ilya's, so nothing more can happen. Would it be worth the risk to bring her back to Ilya's, so she and Tohsaka can talk to her and see if they can convince her to help? Or should you just tell her to stay here and be good while you go back to make sure everyone knows what's going on? You glance up at the obelisk … what as it Patchouli said about energy fields more concentrated than your own …?
What do you do?
[ ] OM NOM NOM: Feed on the Great Grail
[ ] Take the Lesser Grail back to Ilya's castle.
- [ ] Knock her out first.
[ ] Extract a promise that she won't do anything and go back to discuss things with Ilya and Tohsaka.
[ ] Keep talking.
- About?
[ ] Other?
DM Note: Next Update will be on Wednesday, owing to the lateness of this one and such. Also, I am considering an omake involving Patchouli, but I've hit a stumbling block regarding whether or not Koakuma does something mischievous, and I'm not sure how I should resolve said block. Although said omake does require that Ilya still be alive, which is part of why I'm holding off on actually writing it, so there's that.
This is what happens when I forgot to vote. 
I see. Then this is…"
