Minato took the first few moments to study his surroundings and then his opponent who stood opposite to him, with barely ten feet of distance between them. His first object was to mitigate the damage to the surroundings, even if there were no dwelling houses nearby, destruction of any kind would be sure to stir up panic. Given the agitated, almost excited look on the face of the blue clad male, Minato figured that he would take the lead and set the pace and he was fine with that for the time being. All he had to do was make him follow.

Secondly, his opponent was no doubt the Hound of Culann, Cú Chulainn, the wielder of the cursed spear Gae Bolg. The signs as regards to his identity were certainty there and easy to connect but he also had a sixth sense when it came to his identity as the same Irish legend presided in his soul. He could also sense the legend before him was a servant, much like Archer and Saber.

"Well, ready or not," Lancer gave a small warning but the blue haired teenager did not move from his spot, still contemplating on how he would go ahead in the battle. There was a small idea in the back of his mind, finishing the servant right where he stood and then moving on to the next, one by one to put an end to the War as quickly as possible-

Lancer did not give a second warning and bolted to close the distance, stopping the thought process of the persona user who settled on fighting to the level of his opponent for the time being. He quickly switched to Satan, a persona with a high level of luck just to be on the safe side and waited as Lancer swung the spear from two feet away, taking advantage of the length of his weapon to nudge Minato to move and the wild card did, ducking under the red lance and catching the next swing from the corner of his eye as the spear came back, brushing past his fringe and allowing him some space to disengage and move.

"Sukukaja..."

Lancer quickly pressured the shorter blunet backwards with a flurry of thrusts, the first few one being slow and half-assed but he quickly built up the speed and power when he saw the ease at which the persona user was moving through the barrage, actually looking around the place after every missed attempt-

"Damn you!"

Minato backed off to avoid the stab from above and placed a hand to his chest, followed by a click of his tongue as the servant came running, letting out an infuriated shout when he saw Minato moving backwards-

"Stand your ground and fight!"

Another swing breezed past his face and Minato looked the slightly irate servant in the eye-

"I will..."

The next miss of the weapon led to Minato moving into range, channeling a series of buffs to his right leg and then kicking the legs from under the servant which sent him crashing to the ground but only briefly as he quickly jumped back to his feet but the split second allowed Minato a bit of time and he quickly ran out of the area, having a general idea about the city after running around to search for the church.

"Tch, he sent me to scout out this?" Lancer lamented but he quickly followed, intrigued by the speed and calmness of the boy. There was something very different about him, as evident by the aura he had summoned to freeze the mana in the air and stop time for a brief second. "Heh..."

Guess the bastard was right to be a little wary.

Minato quickly ran away from the main area and looked back to see the servant on his tail. He needed to draw the battle away from city, to a place where nobody could walk in and witness the two.

"That park..."

An ominous looking park in the middle of the city, with not a soul in sight-

The sound of a lance slicing through the air caught his attention and Minato looked back, swiftly ducking to avoid the spear that was thrown his way and catching the kick that came for his midsection, gripping the limb and then hurling the servant towards the other side to gain distance-

Lancer pushed a hand against the ground and easily regained his balance, landing on his feet and casually picking up the spear that he had hurled towards the other blunet. He sat on the soles of his feet, a far more prominent grin stretched across as his face as he eyed his opponent.

"You ran from the first battle..." Lancer pointed out. "This is gonna get worse for you."

Minato frowned, channeling another series of buffs of speed before he bolted towards the servant, coming up into his range and shaking his head as he weaved through the swing of the weapon, slammed a fist up his gut and then took off once more, but not before whispering a warning of his own-

"Don't follow me and I consider this battle done,"

Lancer growled and hacked, definitely feeling the punch that Minato had smashed against his stomach. The kid definitely had the speed and power to keep up with servants but there was something more, and Lancer knew for a fact that he was holding back. Those little whispers boosted his speed in a matter of seconds and now he was bent on finding out his true potential.

He didn't even bother utilizing his rune to track him down as he could see the boy running straight ahead, still in his view and the servant gave chase, this time not catching up to him in order to see what he was up to.

"What the heck is he planning...?"

Minato came to a stop when he reached the park he had seen before and almost immediately, he felt the cursed soil of the area cry out to him, briefly rattling the persona user because this was just another hell he had walked into. The church was rotten no doubt, but this place seemed home to a brutal massacre, and the air was thick, almost as if the unfortunate souls of the tragedy still lingered on.

The entire city felt like a plaything of something utterly demonic.

What kind of world was this...?

Minato shook off the question and looked back when he heard footsteps of the servant catching up to him. The servant didn't heed his warning like he had hoped but oh well, a battle against the so called heroic spirits would serve as a good gauge as to where he stood.

"Your hit and run ways are insulting," Lancer said after he came to a stop, another teen feet of distance between them.

Minato tilted his head and took a good look at the red eyed male for the first time. "I consider your hairstyle more of an insult."

Lancer stomped onto the ground and Minato actually took a stance this time as he was no longer concerned about damaging nearby property with the area far away from the residential houses and from the vibe of the place, he was sure that nobody would come within a mile.

"That is a fine spear you have there," Minato said, eyeing the cursed weapon that had used so many times before. "A weapon that curses and forces a fate upon whoever you deem so, reversing the cause and effect."

Lancer widened his eyes at the boy this time. If he knew the cursed spear then he knew his identity as well but how...?

"How do you know...?"

"But you have to get to a certain range to take advantage of your weapon," Minato said. "And you will not, but even if you do..."

Lancer bolted, having heard enough of his rambling. He gripped the spear in his right hand while Minato simply raised his own towards the oncoming spear-man, launching a vortex of wind as soon as he saw Lancer plant his feet on the ground and lunge in with another stab which missed by a mile as the winds slashed across his body and launched him into the trees, back smashing against the trunk before he came crashing down.

Minato glanced at his palm and clicked his tongue but his resentment was once again cut short by the now irate servant who came back within seconds and hurled the spear for his chest, hissing when Minato moved out of the way and wagged a finger in his direction, coming back up with a standard saber he had materialized from a mid level persona-

The weapons clashed and the sparks scattered around the point of contact, widening the eyes of the spear-man when he noticed the weapon that he had summoned out of thin air in a blink of an eye. He pushed the question to the back of his head and pushed forward with more force, managing to drive Minato to his back-foot but the persona user quickly stepped to the side, blocking the reverse swing of Gae Bolg with the blade-

Minato kicked Lancer down to a knee and fired a slash for the back of his neck, which was parried upwards and servant retaliated with another swing of his weapon which made Minato back off but the distance quickly closed as the two of them ran at each other again-

The cursed spear repeatedly struck his weapon, with the servant firing dozens and dozens of thrust in rapid succession, each one faster than the one before but Minato saw the repeated volley, backing off and resetting whenever Lancer got into mid-range. The servant cursed and constantly closed the distance, scowling and hissing at the shorter male whenever he withdrew, finally forcing him to lunge in a straight line with the spear swung for the neck-

A kick to the solar-plexus made the servant back off but he still hurled the tip of the spear for the heart, gasping when he saw the same flicker of blue around the teenager and with that, Minato closed the distance within a blink of eye, twisting his body to avoid the forward stab and pressing his right hand against the chest of the servant who looked him right in the eye, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead as electricity crackled around the open palm of the persona user who held his gaze and mouthed-

"I gave you an offer..."

The volts channeled through his palm and exploded forward in a storm of electricity, coursing through the body of the servant and then blowing him backwards and out of range when the element detonated violently, scattering mist and dust around the persona user who was alone briefly, his gaze still fixed on the same hand he had used to channel the attack-

"Tch... something is amiss..."

His attacks were lacking something. Even without summoning the actual persona, his attacks were more potent than this-

Lancer emerged from the other side of the forest, panting and sporting a number of burn marks that came along with the volts that his body was forced to endure. He gave a much more different gaze to the other blunet this time, one of respect and a little thrill after the display of magic and he still had the feeling that the boy was holding back-

Lancer crouched down and hissed, with a distance of hundred feet between them. He took off like a blur, now even more determined to draw out the last bit of strength from his foe and Minato walked a few steps forward, switching and looking up to the skies, electricity crackling around his right hand as he called upon a dozen of bolts from the sky and they came crashing down in succession, targeting the incoming servant who managed to dodge most of them, but still getting blasted with damage until he finally closed the distance and immediately blocked the sword that was hurled towards his eye-

"Ugh!"

Minato's blade was parried upwards and he stepped to the side, blocking the swing that came for his side, breaking off to disengage and quickly clashing his blade to reflect the tip of the lancer to the side, utilizing simple footwork to reset and keep his distance, not giving the spear-man a chance to establish proper distance and generate power-

Another thrust breezed past Minato and the persona user pressured this time, with a slew of slashes which were deflected by the cursed spear, with each clash cracking the steel in the grip of the persona user. Lancer saw the cracks emerging and took the chance, pushing the persona user on the defensive with a rapid torrent intended to shatter the blade and leave his weaponless-

Minato evaded the last swing and brought the blade down, crashing the quarter of the steel left onto the cursed spear and the temperature immediately spiked up, the flames exploding like a tidal wave from the remains of the shattered saber and then collapsing on the blue clad warrior, silencing the impending yell of pain when all was lost in the heat of the attack-

Minato kicked the servant out of the spell and the impact hurled him into the dense network of trees. He bit on his lip and tried to figure out the end result of the battle as there was still so much he did not understand about the grail war.

"I can't be indecisive..." he muttered, clenching his fist. "But at the same time... I cannot be too sure of myself..."

He saw a little movement and the shadow of the servant rising up after a few moments and he moved into the forest, eventually coming face to face with a battered Lancer who was panting, the spear dug into the ground for support and yet he made no move to run off when he saw the wild card approaching. Instead, he gave a small smirk, briefly reminding Minato of a friend who used to battle for the trill and never backed down from a challenge.

"Your persistence is impressive," Minato complimented. "I will offer you one last time, leave and the battle is over."

"After what you did to me, no chance," Cu said, wiping the streaks of carbon off his face. He pulled the spear out of the ground and took the familiar stance, the exact stance that his persona took. "You can summon your weapon if you need to."

"I don't think I will need it," Minato said, gesturing towards the new environment they were standing in. There was a dense network of trees with barely any space to unleash the wide, looping swings that Lancer had previously abused. "Your spear is not ideal in this terrain and you will have to work a lot if you intend to remove me from here."

"You know of my spear and my identity," Lancer replied. "Then you must know... there are still ways to go with this."

Minato took a second to respond, even briefly lowering his head and breaking eye contact as a grimace formed on his features, only briefly and he quickly looked the red eyed male in the eye, shaking his head. "Your spear is useless against me."

"We'll see about that..."

The charge was much slower this time, partly due to the damage he had suffered and partly due to the change in environment that restricted his movements, allowing Minato to easily slip and slide from the barrage this time, not even boosting himself with buffs as he carried on circling around the battered servant, constantly guiding him into slamming his weapon against tree trunks, peppering him with short punches, kicks and spells that he unleashed whenever he saw an opening which was often with the constant feinting and gestures indicating that he would unleash spells-

Minato could see that his foe was almost enjoying the battle, even with the damage that was piling up on his body. Each thrust was followed by a grin, almost as if he was hoping that Minato would stop holding back and unleash his full power-

Another blast of crippling winds smashed the hound of Culan back first into the trees but he quickly looked ahead and saw the blue blur headed his way, forcing him to move out of the way of incoming knee that smashed into the trunk instead, giving him the brief chance to hurl himself at the shorter blunet, the tip of his weapon aimed for the head-

Minato tilted his head at the last second and was met with a kick to the stomach, forcing him a few step backwards. He looked above and avoided the roundhouse as Lancer used his spear to launch himself at the Messiah, foot brushing against his fringe-

Minato mobilized the servant in mid-air with another storm of wind, gritting his teeth and concentrating more of his spiritual essence, switching to a stronger persona and blowing the blue warrior high into the skies with a stronger Garudyne, catching the screams of his foe when his body was slashed apart by the gales of wind and he was sent soaring upwards-

Minato blinked the blood out of his eye and caught the servant regaining his composure in mid-air and he came crashing down like blue lightning, gripping the spear with both hands with his red eyes widen open in a mixture of determination and thrill, locating the throat of the blunet among all the green gales and the crimson liquid of his own flesh-

"Switch,"

A switch to Kali was made just when Lancer within in striking distance and the servant was ripped apart with a number of phantom slashes that Minato evoked from within, the blades of fury lashing out at the blue warrior who intentionally had no idea where the attack was coming from but eventually, he saw the almost minuscule razors of physical energy which he started deflecting, now very well aware that a defeat was a very, very strong possibility.

Who in the seventh hell was the guy?

He did not seem particularly skilled or strong but even just standing he was capable of conjuring various elements, boost his speed and defense and dish out a slew of almost invisible slashes, hundreds of them within a span of a few seconds. All he did was whisper and the attacks just exploded from within him and yet through all of that, Lancer knew for a fact that he was holding back.

The calm, almost relaxed expression on his face made that very clear. Even his stance was lazy, not fit for a serious battle as he had several vitals parts exposed and yet he was not able to pierce a single one, even with the weapon longer than his height.

The final razor struck his chest and Lancer collapsed to the ground, coughing out blood but he stood back to his feet, widening the eyes of Minato when he saw that he was missing chunks of flesh from his body which was abused with fire, wind and thunder and yet he was standing, his armor shattered and his blue suit dyed crimson. He gave a nod of respect and gestured towards the exit of forest one last time-

Lancer spat out blood and readied his spear, cloaking the cursed weapon in a surge of red mana and glaring towards the Messiah who did not seem too bothered by the flare of energy around the weapon. In fact, the grimace was back on his face but he discarded the emotion and glanced ahead, wagging a finger to inform him the attack was going to be useless-

"You were right about this terrain being difficult for a polearm," Lancer said, freezing the mana in the as the flare of red energy around his weapon grew more fierce and erratic, crackling with red bolts but Minato remained at the same spot, frowning at the build up of mana. The strike was going to be deadly and lethal but-

Lancer finished the charge of his noble phantasm and twitched with unmistakable excitement, pretty confident that the attack was going to push the boy to the limit and yet, a glance at his passive face pissed him off. Either he was invulnerable or he was just stupidity arrogant in his abilities.

"I'll have your heart!"

Lancer yelled at him-

The servant took off, shattering the ground when he planted his power leg to stabilize his balance and jerked his spear in the direction of his foe-

"Gae Bolg!"

A beam of red light exploded from the cursed spear, in the direction of the blue haired persona user, placing a curse as his fate was sealed long before Lancer had even yanked the weapon in his direction and yet-

"What the!?"

The beam of red light that had previously wounded Saber, the extension of the cursed spear that was capable of moving in impossible directions to strike the victim of the cursed fate moved in a straight line, without bending and twisting almost as if the spear was struggling to find a target, aimless and without direction, as if no curse was placed in the first place-

The questions exploded inside the mind of the blue warrior. At first he was intrigued by his power but now, he was befuddled by his existence.

What on earth was he...?

Minato swatted the beam of red energy to the side and the attack was potent enough to cleave through the trees around him, with almost the entirely of the surroundings trees came crashing down, whipping up several layers of dust and sand. The crash of the trees echoed in the dead of the night and Minato gingerly walked forward, coming into the view of Lancer who was rendered shock still after what had happened.

This had never happened before.

His spear had never failed to pierce the heart of a target.

He could understand a mixture of luck and instinct would mitigate a fatal blow but what had transpired made no sense.

"Your heart..." Lancer took a second to process his failed noble phantasm. "What kind of a freak are you?"

The expression on Minato's face shifted, bitterness and rage evident from the words of Lancer. He spat out in disgust and made a mad dash towards his weakened foe, switching his persona and trapping the limbs of the the spear-man in thick blocks of ice, rendering him immobile. Lancer struggled to break free but the persona user closed the distance within seconds, switching his persona and making the servant gasp out loud-

That split second-

His stance shifted-

So did the air around the boy-

Lancer blinked to get rid of the supposed hallucination but the sight remained-

"..."

He felt as if he was staring into a mirror, seeing his own self charge in his direction-

His coward master was right to fear him.

The person before him was an enigma, a true wild card in the Holy Grail Wars-

Minato channeled another burst of wind in his left hand and crashed the same fist against the paralyzed servant, with enough force to free the spear-man from his icy binds and launch him towards the skies-

"Tch!"

Lancer flipped in mid-air and summoned Gae Bolg into his grip for one last ditch effort, quickly charging up mana into the his second noble phantasm, intending to blow the messiah to pieces with his most powerful-

"I will have YOUR heart..."

Lancer froze in the middle of his attack when he saw the surge of red down below. He quickly located the source and his body visibly reeled in shock when he saw the exact same spear in the grip of the blue haired teen who was charging up the same attacks from seconds ago-

Minato glanced up and shook his head, almost disappointed that it had come to this as he had given him so many chances to escape but then again, he could tell that the servant was much like Akihiko, a junkie high on the rush and thrill of a battle, too proud and honorable to turn his back despite being outmatched-

"Gae Bolg!"

Minato hurled the spear towards the heart of the servant and much like earlier, the beam of light exploded from the edge of the spear, twisting and turning as it located the cursed heart without trouble, and while Lancer tried to cancel his own attack and move back, his attempt was as futile as he knew because his fate was decided long ago and the thrust of the spear was a mere formality as the ray of light caught up to him within seconds and flashed, blinding his vision-

The spear shredded through the flesh and pierced his heart like it was destined to, exploding outwards from his back with a shower of crimson failing from the skies as Lancer hacked out blood, his heart stopping and his limbs twisting as he fell from the skies and collapsed next to the feet of Minato in a bloody heap, gravely injured from the spear and exhausted from the depletion of mana-

He took a glance at the weapon in the grip of his foe and sure enough, it was the cursed spear, Gae Bolg, the exact replica of the spear he wielded. He chuckled despite being close to death, not even attempting to wonder why he did not bother ending the fight during the first exchange as he was certainly capable of doing so with the spear as even he was not safe to the curse of the spear. He was an enigma after all, now painfully clear from the short and one sided battle.

"I am not going to bother asking you where you got this," Lancer said through his coughing. "But why... why did you drag the battle when you could have finished this at any time?"

"I have my reasons," Minato replied, crouching down to his level with the spear still in his grip. "Why are you in this? What do you hope to gain from this senseless Grail Wars?"

Switch.

Lancer widened his eyes as the aura around the teen shifted yet again, this time it was warm and comforting like he was looking up at...

"Scathach..."

"I have no interest with the Grail," Lancer admitted. "I have no regrets in my life and so the Grail is of no use to me. I am here for the thrill of battle but..."

"..."

"I will do what needs to be done," the blue warrior said with a bitter sigh. "What I was told..."

He coughed out more blood and laid his head against the ground, still glancing up to the victor of their battle. There were so many questions and now that he was going to die, he did not have to answer to his coward of a Master but he needed to know, for his own sake because at times, it did seem like he was battling a mirror image of himself among so many other legends.

"Who are you...?" Lancer asked. "After our duel, you at least owe me as to who I battled against."

Minato said nothing for a few seconds and just sat there contemplating. Eventually, after careful consideration, instead of answering of question, he shattered the cursed spear in his grip much to the shock and surprise of the battered servant. Lancer was not sure whether to be surprised that he was able to shatter the weapon or at the fact that he basically broke the curse and saved his life.

"W-What the hell are you doing?"

Minato stood up and started walking towards the exit of the forest, looking back at the servant who was no longer cursed to die. His injuries were still extensive and severe but given his insane endurance and pain tolerance, Minato was somewhat confident that he was going to live another day. He gave a short sigh and lamented at the damage to the forest but at the same time, he could tell the area had to be destroyed, much like the church.

"Never hurt an innocent ever again," Minato warned. "If you want the thrill of battle then you will know where to find me, otherwise, keep away from participation in this blasted tournament."

He looked back and regarded the fallen servant with a nod of respect before heading out of the forest, disappearing from the sight of Lancer who was left to ponder.

After making sure nobody was in the vicinity of the battle, Minato started running backwards towards the house of Shirou, having got a basic idea of his place in the Grail Wars. Truly, he could have finished the battle at any time he desired but he also wanted to see how he would fare against the heroic spirits of the world and with Lancer of the benchmark, he was moderately confident of his chances against the rest as the Lancer class was pretty gifted according to what Rin had said earlier.

They were just ONE heroic spirit at the core, just ONE myth and legend given shape and form. Meanwhile, his soul was home to over a hundred at the same time, of every tale, legend and mythology-

Even with the defect...

"Tch..."

Eventually, Minato arrived at the Emiya Household and knocked on the door, having to wait for up to 10 minutes until he heard footsteps from inside the house. Shirou finally showed up and opened the door, half asleep but he quickly woke up when he recognized his visitor standing in the doorway.

"Oh, you're here!" Shirou said, taking a quick glance at the time. "You were gone for a while..."

"Sorry for waking you up this late but..." Minato said. "Is the girl still here?"

"Uh... which one are you talking about?" Shirou asked.

"The one who wanted to slice my throat..."

"Still not clear," Shirou scratched the back of his head. As far as he knew, both Rin and Saber wanted to slice his throat.

"That girl with black hair and... Rin. Rin Tohsaka," Minato remembered the name and blurted it out. "Is she still there?"

"No, she waited for a while and then left, calling you an idiot," Shirou recalled.

"I see," Minato said. "Do you know where I can see her?"

"Well, she will show up to school tomorrow but... from what I heard, she owns a large mansion at the southern part of Miyami Town," Shirou informed. "I'm not too sure but this is what I heard from the people at school."

"Thank you," Minato nodded and turned his back.

"Hey wait, are you gonna run all the way over there?" Shirou blinked. He ran to the church, then back and now he was headed for Tohsaka residence. What was the guy made of?

"I have no other way so yes," Minato looked back. "Be careful. We might meet again."

With that, Minato took off but he did not miss the shout of Thank You from Shirou. The streets were still devoid of people who there was no issue with a spam of speed spells to quicken his pace as he raced towards the south end but during his trip, he began to dwell on the battle with the servant.

Minato was still not sure whether he made the right call by crushing the spear and allowing him a chance to live. While he did seem like an inherently evil character, he was still under the mercy of his master who could command and demand anything from him and that much was confirmed from what he had said about doing what he was told.

But...

At the same time, taking such a drastic step without knowledge was plainly stupid. He had no idea how the Grail War worked and what would become of the fallen servants. If they were anything like his personas, they well disappear back into the sea of souls and would return upon his call but he was not ready to make the comparison just yet.

He needed to make sure and get some information before he could even think of killing a heroic spirit.

But...

At the same time, anything too inhumane and threatening to the people of the city, he was going to take drastic measure to secure the lives of the innocent people who were unfortunate to be caught up in the stupid, STUPID grail whole setup and rules reeked off suspicion and he doubted that the founders of such a brutal tournament were benevolent enough to simply grant a wish to someone who was worthy. No, there was surely something else going on, something far darker and threatening than a simple cup that was purported to grant wishes.

Minato arrived at the Tohsaka residence and the place was not that hard to find as it towered over everything and he could see the grand structure from miles away. He stood at the entrance and patiently waited for over 20 minutes until someone finally opened the door, a very irate and half asleep Rin who seemed ready to slice his throat for real-

"What do you-" She stopped midway and remembered the stranger at her doorstep. "Hey, it's you."

"Hey, I apologize for waking you up but I have something to ask-"

"Oh no, you don't," Rin spat, pointing her finger at him accusingly. "You did the same thing the last time and ran off, without even giving us your name! I am not answering any more questions until you do!"

"I have nothing to hide," Minato replied. "I am thankful for the info and I will tell you whatever you need to know. I owe that for the help you gave me but please, I visited the church and..."

"What about the church?" Rin rose a brow, having calmed down a little.

"I won't take much of your time-"

"Come inside," Rin said, opening for the door for him. "We can talk there."

"Thank you..."

Tohsaka guided him into the living room and Minato saw that her servant was already there, standing by the window. He regarded Archer with a nod but the servant did not reply and merely kept the stare on him. He sat on the sofa and Rin sat on the single sofa opposite to him.

"Very well, continue," Rin said.

"I visited the church as you said but... I could not last very long in that rotten structure," Minato explained. "I saw the priest too but he tried to push me out as soon as he saw me."

"That is... strange," Rin murmured. That did not seem like Kirie at all...

"This might come as a surprise to you but do listen to what I am saying," Minato looked her in the eye. "That church is rotten."

Archer heard his words and moved towards the two.

"There is something very wrong about the place," Minato continued. "Under the floor, I am certain he is keeping something or someone under the floor of the church, in the basement."

"I did get a strange vibe from the church but..." Rin bit her lip. Even though he was her teacher, Kirie almost seemed like the shady type and the church was far from a holy place like he advertised, even she could sense that much. "Did you do anything about it?"

"Well... I was about to but I needed permission from you," Minato replied, scratching the back of his head. "You do know him so doing something without informing you would just be wrong."

"... Did you seriously run all the way here to just let me know?" Rin blinked in complete surprise.

"Yes?" Minato nodded. "You did help me somewhat, even if our conversation got off to the wrong start."

"You're a weird one," Rin said simply. "You are almost like Shirou but different."

Archer scoffed, mostly to himself.

"You have my permission to find out what is under the church, but," Rin stood up and smirked. "I will be going alongside you."

"Are you sure?" Minato blinked. "It will be dangerous, given how shady the priest is and the agony I felt from under the floor."

"Are you worried about me?" Rin said, blushing a little with the corner of her lips twitching.

"Well yes, I will be more vulnerable if someone else is along with me-"

"I don't need your concern!" Tohsaka yelled at him, effectively silencing him mid-sentence. Minato simply tilted his head to the side, having no other option but to glance towards the passive servant and then back at Rin who was flustered. "I can take care of myself! In fact, I am only going because I know you'll get into a mess!"

"Huh..." Minato hummed. She did remind him of Yukari, except for the fact that when flustered or annoyed, Yukari's face would twitch in anger. Rin on the other hand, he saw both her face and hand twitch as if she was ready to release a scathing response and tear his head off at the same time. The thought amused him and he chuckled softly.

"Archer will come along with me," Rin said, this time with a smile. "If what you are saying is true, I need to see for myself."

"Then I am telling you right now," Minato stood up. "If it is vile, then I WILL punish him. My gratitude towards you will not stop that."

"Very well, if it is vile then I will help you," Rin assured and then yawned. "You calculated this didn't you? Showing up when I'm sleepy so I wouldn't get to ask you questions."

"No, actually, I was caught up in a battle," Minato explained, momentarily wiping the sleep out of her eyes. "Against Lancer and that took a while."

"Did you win?" Rin asked.

"Well yes, I am here so I did win," Minato said.

"Ugh, I have so many questions but I'll ask you tomorrow," Tohsaka groaned. "You don't have a place to stay, do you?"

Minato just shook his head.

"Ugh," Rin sighed in annoyance, crossing her arms. "Fine, you can stay here. We have a spare room if you want to sleep there."

'I'll be fine just here, thank you," Minato said, gesturing to the living room. He had no plans to sleep but he was not going to say no a good rest.

"You better not run off. I've already prepared questions that I'm gonna ask you, so stay here for the night!" With that, without a proper goodbye, the girl strolled up the steps and Minato was left alone with Archer with an awkward silence between them.

Archer glanced at his chest and then took a look at his face. There was no wound from what he could see, even after a duel with the deadly and agile Lancer. Minato sat down on the couch but he was sure that the servant had his eyes on him the whole while. He said nothing in response and leaned his head back, just staring up at the ceiling until the man clad in red disappeared from the living room.

Minato was left alone to ponder upon his second day in the new world.

He had gotten some answers but the questions had increased ten-fold.

Tomorrow night, he was hopeful that he would get more answers out of the sham of the church.

At the end of the day, he still found it hard to wrap his head around the concept of the war and the participants, especially after his duel with Lancer who truly did not seem interested in any sort of wish as his persona told him that the servant was not lying.

At times like these, he would turn to Junpei or Yukari. If they were not available, he would seek Mitsuru or counsel, and then Aigis, Akihiko and so on and so on. At the very end, if no one was there to help him, Pharos would appear at the edge of his bed and try to cheer him up the best he could.

Minato looked to the side and hoped, prayed to God that Pharos would appear, or even Ryoji but...

He was alone.

Alone in the new world.

Minato buried his face into his palms and thought back to the disaster at the seal. Every walking second of his time, he would try to theorize what had happened but he had no answers.

The only solace he could find was to save the people of the city from the Grail War.

After that...

"What will I do?"

"Where will I go...?"

Even if he returned to his old world with a miracle.

Minato glanced at his self in the mirror ahead of him.

"How can I go like this...?"

"..."

Even with the spare time I have, writing is so hard right now. The words just don't flow as they used to but... I guess sitting at home for weeks does that to you. Anyway, promises promises so here it is. Just to be sure, I like Lancer a lot. Easily my second favorite servant of FSN but Minato was just a horrible match up for him and this was a build of lore more than a battle, just to showcase and give a little insight into his power and mindset.

I find it hilarious tho, looking at the wiki article you would think Lancer is invincible given his NP but lol, the spear fated to pierce every heart misses every time and the only heart it pierced was his own. Lol, guess that is what E level luck does to you and by that token, the moment Minato hurled gae bolg, the battle was over.

He did not project the weapons (even tho I am sure Archer can teach him but... eh) He summons specifics parts of his personas, like the other characters in P4A and speaking off, thank God for that game. Made writing so much easier since all we had earlier was gameplay and that shitty movie. To those who did not play, spamming spells is possible without summoning personas. In fact, I urge you to watch a simple clip in case you want to know where this all came from.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and I promise, I will keep this going. Do review me your thoughts and I'll see you soon. This was my first servant battle in a looooong while so do fire opinions and if there was anything I missed.

Also, again, be careful guys. These are crazy times we are going through so everyone take care and be careful, same goes to family and friends.

God bless!

Cheers!