As the one he had sent out returned from its business, there was something present on the other side of the city. The sight was so distracting that he nearly forgot to praise the hard work of his...associate.
Regardless, as Assassin made herself scarce from the impending site of destruction, Evan watched with a curious expression.
Bright, bright, bright.
A dazzling star falling from heaven.
A terrible lance rising from the kingdom below.
This was the radiance of a Heroic Spirit, the power that he had been expecting, and the thought of facing it even with his own preparations and Servant brought him some amount of concern. However, with that, there was some pride. After all, looking at the results of his fire, and of the might being brought to bear against it, he couldn't help but grin.
After all, a simple bit of alchemy had done this much to a force of Heroic Spirits. Perhaps he'd overestimated them. Still, better safe than sorry.
At the same time though...
"Perfect. That's absolutely perfect."
Seeing a future that only one such as he could see, the alchemist let out a sharp laugh as Miyama was rendered to dust.
Carly-Beth / Devil's Mask of Primordial Rupture: False World Shaytan-Ea / Mary
Za Boat, Harbor
"...oh?"
"Miss Carly-Beth, Miss Carly-Beth, what's that?"
"...the start of something interesting, Mary. Now here, have your candy."
"Yay~! Thank you thank you thank you! Oh, oh, Miss Shaytanea, you try some!"
"Mary, that's no-...actually, yeah, Shaytanea, don't you want some?"
"I will decli-"
"...!"
"...I would love some."
"Yay~! Miss Shaytanea and me are candy buddies now, right, right?"
Good, the kid wasn't so stupid so as to go charging out like that. He'd been worried he'd have to knock the guy unconscious to keep him from doing anything idiotic.
Well, could it really be called idiotic if it was for something you truly believed in? Yes, the answer was absolutely yes, but still.
At any rate, with Gin's question, Archer's expression tightened slightly. He'd figured that the kid had been listening to him earlier, when he'd already explained this much, but it seemed he'd need to put it in clearer terms.
"See, kid, the problem is ya fundamentals are too shoddy. I could use it on ya now, but then you'd be 'complete', ya get it? I can't add shit after tha matta. Everything you get a bit better at before I train ya, ya'll get that magnified. It's like makin' an investment in advance, and see, you've got talent for ya magecraft but ya just don't have any of tha know-how. With my training, I can teach ya it, but tha more I have ta teach ya as far as fundamentals, the less you're able to get juiced up to eleven, y'hear?" He explained, waving a hand dismissively as he spoke, before pointing to the other eastern magus who was within the confines of the bar.
"So, talk to that otha kid. Learn tha basics of ya magecraft, refine 'em, understand 'em past the slipshod shit ya've got right now."
A glint formed in his eyes, smirk splitting that pudgy face.
"...once ya've done that, I'll turn ya into a threat that can fight these Servants on equal footin'."
The homunculus stumbled back as her Servant released her, a hand reaching up to massage her temples as she clenched her eyes shut. "Ow, ow, ow. Okay, I'd more just been asking for your name and information on your Noble Phantasm, but reliving your life works too, I guess." She murmured out, rubbing her head for another few seconds before she straightened up.
"Well! Anyway, that helps a lot, actually. I was going to set up a workshop, but workshop creation isn't really my thing, and lucky us, we're still right by the water! Love it when a plan comes together. So, how about you summon that boat of yours and we hop on it, get a lil' bit of water distance between us and the docks, yeah?"
"I'm told the spooky scary things are those Knight Classes, even though that totally makes zero sense to me, but anyway being on the ocean'll give us the edge against them, especially. Plus Mary'll be so excited. She's great, you'll love her. I've tricked her into thinking dried oregano is candy, she loves the stuff." She commented excitedly, punctuating that last statement with a brief giggle and rocking back on her heels.
"Anyway, yeah, boat please, if it's not too much trouble~!"
It was around this time, though, that two parties made their reappearance, thanks to the absurd speed now possessed by one of them. Despite that it had taken Mary a significant length of time to reach and cross the bridge, during which Carly-Beth had largely been setting up for and performing Strategist’s summoning, the return trip took an almost negligible length of time.
“Hi, Miss Carly-Beth! I did the thing you asked me to do! Can I have a candy, please?”
“Kyaha, good evening, Maker. You may address me as the False World, Shaytan-Ea. The 「Great Devil's Mask of Primordial Rupture」. Do not disappoint my expecta-“
“Miss Shaytanea was super super fast! It was like ‘zoom’ and like ‘bang’ and then we were back here!”
“...once again, young one, it is Shaytan-Ea. Furthermore, you must use the proper terms of address when-“
“Oh, can it, Shaytanea. Anyway. Strategist. Boat, please?”
Her movements were calm and reassured. Despite that the fire that surrounded her was something that her nature screamed out in protest of, she was unperturbed. The meeting of a curse and a stronger curse, that premise should have filled her with dread like little else could since she became what she was today, but there was nothing present.
Aaaaaaa, AAAAAAAAAAAA----aAaAaAAAAAA-
"Goodness, this is rather much. I hope all the animals are okay."
A boy sits alone, imprisoned by his own people. On his skin is carved all blasphemies that mankind has ever once uttered.
And so she continued walking, a serene smile gracing her face as she hummed a catchy tune to herself. The boat ride over had been rather nice. She'd never gotten to be on a boat before, or see the ocean, so it was quite the lovely experience.
The crime of rebellion the crime of intimidation the crime of adultery the crime of destruction the seven cardinal sins the crime of coercion the crime of theft the crime of desertion the crime of slander the crime of arson
Well, regardless, she had her orders. These were not the order passed along a familiar’s karmic line, or enforced through a curse condensed out of magical energy. Rather, this was the result of a burden of existence built into her. Disobedience to the one who had ordered her was impossible. Even a dagger of betrayal would not change that rule, but it wasn't like she minded. After all, Miss Carly-Beth was nice to her. She gave her sweets, and patted her head, and poked Ted's eyes when he said creepy stuff.
the crime of insulting the crime of disrespect the crime of sowing discord the crime of abduction the crime of bribery the crime of abortion the crime of assisting suicide the crime of gambling the crime of abandoning a corpse the crime of mobbing the crime of abandonment the crime of bearing false witness the crime of possessing stolen goods the crime of kidnapping the crime of violence the crime of living
"Whoops! Nice try, Mr. Fire, but you can't pull one over on Mary!"
Jumping to the side, she avoided a gout of black flame that nearly grazed her, remaining no worse for wear from it.
"...um, I'm Mary if that wasn't clear, Mr. Fire."
all crimes should be assessed and sentenced to capital punishment or severe punishment refuse and deny all hatred
thus the starting penalty is five-
Suicide by electrocution. Suicide by suffocation. Suicide by dehydration. Suicide by bloodletting. Suicide by poisoning.
Well, anyway, this looked like a good spot!
Fishing out a pure white mask, the young girl leaned over to just barely dip it into the nearly roiling flames, once again narrowly avoiding their touch herself, before pulling it back.
And so she began skipping back to the harbor, humming as she walked and as the mask in her hand began to distort.
Maybe Miss Carly-Beth would give her another candy for doing so well!
Mask de Masque #001
Miyama, Within Fire
System online.
Searching for spirit. Spirit located.
Error. Spirit located.
Error. Spirit located.
Error. Spirit located.
...
Observation complete. Amalgam of souls/grudges successfully located and catalogued.
Distinguishing between individual foci is impossible due to shared meaning. Referral checks as a singular spirit in the database will occur for project management and logistics purposes. Henceforth referred to as ‘grudge amalgam’.
Initiating spirit hacking. Spirit hacking comple-
Error. Inherent curse has entered grudge amalgam.
“I hate you. I hate you for what you did to Shuten. I hate you because of what you are. So fall, fall and die among the maggots! Your body shall make room for my might!”
Further contaminants have entered. Hero's terror. Kinslayer's rebellion. Error. Error. Error.
Warning: Formation of a world microcosm is untested.
Warni-
Lonely. Cold. Frightened. Uneasy. Something. Desire. Desire. Desire--- Strange. Strange. What are you? What are you---
Warning: Theory assumes that continued formation is-
The tragedy of killing one's child. The tragedy of being killed by one's child. The tragedy of not knowing one's family. The tragedy of abandoning one's family.
Warning: Pseudo-spiritron condensation is-
The tragedy of lamenting treachery. The tragedy of living in treachery. The tragedy of losing fortune. The tragedy of being killed by fortune.
Warning: Grind up and unify. Disregard the body for the spirit, and the spirit for the soul, and the soul for the-
The tragedy of not knowing of love. The tragedy of mocking love. The tragedy of seeking success. The tragedy of loathing success. The tragedy of protecting faith. The tragedy of despising faith.
Warning: It's wrong.
...the resulting penalty is six.
Suicide by heartshot. Suicide by headshot. Suicide by lungshot. Suicide by jugular vein-shot. Suicide by carotid artery-shot. Suicide by femoral artery-shot.
Well, everything seemed to be going acceptably so far.
Fire was started, scapegoats assigned, everything was just swell.
...well, except that he'd been stood up by that golden accordion girl. He'd need to relay with her again at some point, he couldn't pass up the opportunity that a business transaction with her represented.
Still, though, if she'd shown up then he wouldn't have had the chance to do this, so eh, win some, lose some.
He'd been relaying with Assassin rather regularly, so there wasn't much to worry about there. All he really had to do was keep an eye on things and make sure it didn't get out of hand. Burning down the entire city would be a bit problematic, but come on these were Heroic Spirits, surely some slipshod alchemy wouldn't be more than they could handle.
There would be some losses from this operation, granted. Given the nature of the vessel for the curse, he doubted anyone would be able to figure out enough about it to be problematic for Evan, but nonetheless he was playing his hand reasonably early, even if nobody knew the proper details.
Ah, well, the chance to clean house this well didn't come along often.
Besides, this had the potential to cause some further opportunities in its own right, and so...
"Alright, you know your job. Head out there, but be careful."
The doll turned to face the Servant, paused for a few seconds, and then let out a sharp laugh. A grin split her face as she shook her head slightly. "Oh, we're gonna get along just great, I can tell already." She remarked, her voice not betraying even a hint of insincerity.
Stepping onto the dock below, she crossed her arms behind her head, pivoting on her heel to face the side of the city currently aflame. "Well, see, that's probably the result of a Servant fight, and it's on the other side of the city, so as far as I'm concerned it's none of our business. I've already got one of my, uh, associates checking it out though, to see what's up."
It was probably for the best that she didn't mention the associate was a literal ten year old girl.
"Anyway, how about you send me all your info through this neat little mental connection we've got, and I'll do the same? We can decide what to do from there, can't exactly make a plan if I've got no clue what you're able to do, yeah? 'Sides, it's just dumb to go running into the middle of a warzone, better if we can set the terms of the conflict. Or at least, that's what Jesse's always saying. Don't talk to Jesse, guy's kinda a dick, same with Joe."
"You felt that, right? What just happened? That...it's on the level of months, years even."
"Hells yeah I felt it. Too fast, way too fast. The hell's going on in this city?"
Something was affecting the bar. Something was occurring in the city, but this sheer scale, it was...absurd. Even with the conflict that had been expected, something like this should have taken more time than the Grail War even allotted for to manifest, and it had happened in a matter of minutes. For that to have happened but for the city to still exist, the nature of what was occurring meant that it had to be...
Damn. And the kid was all stressed and wanted to go out there.
Ordinarily, Chiron would have allowed that to happen. After all, what his Master did was none of his business.
...however, that was impermissible in this specific case. This human couldn't die, because if he did...
Right. Rule number one. He wasn't about to break his own rule to himself.
"Kid, you ain't goin'. Neither am I. Leave it ta the othas."
A declaration was made with no room for compromise.
The doll was an item built to turn things into masks.
The things to be turned into masks could not be mundane, as then they would be mundane masks.
The bruise formed was the preparation of a contract.
The result of that contract would be a situation wrought with "unusual things".
The result of those unusual things in conjunction with the doll would be unusual masks.
Thus, it was only logical for the doll to pursue this contract.
Standing on a boat, having just entered the domain accorded by the leylines of Fuyuki, was this doll.
Standing before a magic circle, in a basic Bounded Field thrown up to shield her from detection, was this doll.
...well, it was a bit less efficient to do this on a boat than on dry land, where the leylines were right under your feet instead of blocked by a good amount of water, but that was nitpicking.
"Hey Mary, that looks important. Take this and go check it out when we get to port, m’kay?"
“Um, miss Carly-Beth? That, um, if I didn’t know better, I would think you’re pointing at those fires, miss.”
“...did I fucking stutter?”
“...no, miss.”
“Good~! Umm, hey Elena, start running some calcs on the city, will ya?”
“Hmph. Are you an idiot? I can’t calculate the future of a city without extended time gathering data on it.”
“Then focus on what matters, or you and Phil aren’t going to be allowed to talk for a week.”
“E-Eh?! Like that’s a punishment for me, a-ahaha...but, since you seem so desperate, I guess I can try.”
“Uh huh. Anna, help her out and relay with Mary when she’s out and about. Rest of you, sit back and relax. This is gonna be a good day, I can feel it.”
And so, as fire consumed the city and a ten year old girl scrambled off of a boat, as this doll began to chant and the circle came alight, another competitor made its appearance.
There was little else to say.
“So Karla, when am I gettin’ a bod-“
“I swear to god, Ted, one more word out of you and it’s back in the box. And it’s Carly. With a ‘y’. And a hyphen. And a ‘Beth’. Stop getting it wrong you mask-ass mask—”
Objective for the Grail: Nonexistent. Is just here for cool masks.
Command Seal: A tragedy mask, a comedy mask, and a tragicomedy mask.
Personality: A crude woman with an acerbic tongue. Quick to excitement, quicker to frustration, quickest to some migraine-inducing combination of the two. Fond of karaoke. Possible mask fetish.
Bio: The eleventh Carly-Beth designation homunculus created by the Toucan family of magi. Or rather, she is not created by the Toucan family, but rather owned and programmed by them; the production itself and her maker are attended to by a line of alchemists that the family is a friend of. The alchemist in question is rather first-rate, and Carly-Beth herself was designed for a balance between physical and magical aptitude. Naturally, each iteration of this homunculus designation has been taught the magecraft of the Toucan family.
As the current family head is an incompetent, he chose to dispatch Carly-Beth to a pointless Grail War that the family has little interest in beyond "seeing if we can get new cool masks out of it", despite the fact that, strictly speaking, she is a far better magus than said family head could ever be.
In a petty act of revenge, she made the decision to steal several of the family’s masks on her way out.
The family head has issued a strongly-worded letter in response.
Family History: The Toucan family. A family of approximately six hundred years. Originally specialized in humanoid puppets, attempting to recreate the original body as a path to the Root; however, three centuries ago, an overly paranoid family head declared that the strengthening anatomical sciences of the 16th century would kill the mystery of the human body, and with it, their puppetcraft.
He then destroyed the family’s Magic Crest, founded the new foundation of the family, and was lambasted as a buffoon by everyone who knew him.
For some reason, the family just sort of went with it.
They do not seem to have realized that they have not had a path to the Root since this incident, and are just sort of making masks pointlessly.
Magic Circuit Switch:The image of a billboard for the movie “Face Off”, despite the fact that it has not been produced or even conceptualized as of the current time.
Number of Magic Circuits: E
Quality of Magic Circuits: EX
Elemental Affinity: Earth
Magecraft:
The specialty and singleminded focus of the family, created through a combination of Body Engineering, Spiritual Evocation, Spiritual Surgery, Black Magic, Western Alchemy, and High Fashion. Naturally, Carly-Beth consequently knows the basics of these schools, but her knowledge is limited to the basics and what is necessary to know for mask creation, nothing more.
The masks themselves are similar to homunculi at base, composed of Ether with installed Magic Circuits. The core of the mask is a pseudo-spiritron crystal which is kept as a blank slate at the time of production. At the time of the mask being placed onto a being with a spirit, the mask becomes active. A phenomenon similar to spirit hacking occurs in order to analyze the spirit of the wearer, and the pseudo-spiritron crystals of the mask’s core rearrange on the spot in order to form a copy of that spirit. Naturally, this is not a miracle which extends to the “soul”, but given the nature of pseudo-spiritrons, this does not heavily impact the quality of the copy.
While the underlying principle is entirely different, the result could be easily compared to how the emanation called a Servant is formed from a Heroic Spirit’s data.
At this point, the mask can be considered completed. The physical shape of the mask changes to be identical to the wearer’s face (if it lacks a face then a randomly-chosen body part is used instead), and the mask subsequently detaches from the wearer. These completed masks are treated as familiars, capable of floating through the air and moving according to the will of Carly-Beth or, if desired, a will congruent with that of the source spirit, like a puppet with a preprogrammed AI. This control is something built into the mask during the design process, akin to a burden of existence, rather than the less ingrained result of a karmic line.
The physical abilities of the mask naturally scale with the grade of the source spirit. The masks are also capable of utilizing abilities born from what they have copied, with obvious limitations by virtue of what they are. It is worth noting that modifying masks at this point is possible, for instance combining two masks to create an unholy amalgam of two spirits, though this is a heavy-handed example.
When the mask is worn by an individual who is not the source, the curse of the mask activates; that is to say, the copied spirit of the mask possesses the wearer. The mask itself integrates with the wearer, shifting their face to that of the mask, while the Ether composing the mask combines with the wearer’s inherent od capacity. The Magic Circuits of the mask integrate with the wearer, and the pseudo-spiritron crystals dissipate into the body.
At the same time, the original individual’s spirit is melded with the being of the mask, the two's will imprinted over one another and the abilities of both being shared. The degree of control Carly-Beth exerts over the resulting being is a function of the mask’s spiritual grade relative to the wearer’s; the stronger the former is relative to the latter, the more control she retains.
It is good to know that the mask itself will work to prevent damage to the wearer that may be sustained as a result of this process, meaning that the odds of rejection/overload become significantly lower than they would be otherwise.
This is a permanent alteration of the wearer, a forced self-possession that cannot be undone. Even by the standards of the East, the curse of the mask can be called first-rate. Mere spirit exorcism is insufficient to undo the process, and if there was a means of doing so, it would be a rare talent on the level of Release Curse or a proper Demon Exorcism.
General Magecraft: The standard fare, inherited from previous units. Fixing glass, contracting familiars, basic shielding, standard Bounded Fields, and so on.
Crest: Nonexistent. The memories of the previous ten models serve a similar role.
Weapons:
Mundane: Everything you would bring on a trip to Japan. A chisel, some suitcases filled with Ether Clumps, a jar of dried oregano, a prana furnace, a possessed knife, and a 24-pack of colored pencils.
Mask Armor: A defensive Mystic Code that masks are outfitted with. Not something designed by the Toucan family, but rather something bought off of a friend. AC is approximated to a numerical value of 20.
Blank: Thirty-five masks.
Carly-Beth: Three masks, traditionally kept inactive, because who wants to talk to an identical copy of their consciousness?
Carly-Beth Model 6: Generally referred to as “big sis”. This is not done affectionately.
Homeless Man “Ted”: This one was an accident, honestly.
Ten Year Old Girl “Mary”: Don’t ask. Possesses a body.
Kuudere Fire Magus “Anna”: A given. Possesses High-Speed Incantation. Kuudere towards Model 6.
Dandere Healer “Harvey”: Also experienced in Spiritual Surgery. The healing in question is based on the principle of “restoring the body through use of the underlying blueprint (soul)”. Dandere for the above fire magus.
Himedere Martial Artist “Phil”: Also skilled in Reinforcement. Himedere towards the above healer. Possesses a body. The source body was trained in an odd “killers’ school” located in the mountains.
Tsundere Atlas Alchemist “Elena”: Memory Partition maximum of four. Tsundere towards the above martial artist.
Jesse James: Family head of shady business.
Joseph Pulitzer: Family head of PR.
Mask de Masque: Three blank masks of a supreme quality compared to the standard. The grade of spirit they are capable of processing is of a significantly higher make.
Exceptional Benefit: Superior Mystic Code [Mask de Masque]
A simple bird flew amidst the chaos engulfing half of the city, amidst its bird brethren.
If one were, for some reason, observing a flock of fleeing birds though, and if their eyes were of sufficient merit to earn them the name ‘Archer’, they might notice that it held two items as it flew. Of course, even this was nearly impossible to notice, as it flew amidst others.
Moreover, this would not occur regardless. After all, its maker had been careful to place it out of the sight of those Servants and magi who occupied the space. If nothing else, its maker’s observations and surveillance had been enough to where something like that was trivial.
It would not do for the bird to be noticed.
And so, as it flew, it released the two items it held: a glass vial, and a black rock. The two items were sent careening into the flames below that the bird and its brethren were escaping from.
Bind.
The vial shattered, and fire emerged from it, melding with the fire that surrounded.
Bind.
The black rock dissipated, consumed by the fire, and tainting those flames with curses, strengthening their nature, hastening their spread.
Compared to the curse that had assaulted the Matou estate the previous night, this one was of a different nature, a distinct individual curse in its own right, even if the ‘result’ was the same. That was a consequence of its ‘vessel’ coloring it in all likelihood, but in terms of mystery and power it did not lose out in the slightest to the previous night’s curse.
Bind.
And so, the meaning and burden attached to those flames propagated itself faster than the mundane fires did, seeping into and contaminating those flames as they spread, now no longer content with the mere fragment of a city that they would have ordinarily kept to. The isolated blaze started by a handful of drunken fools evolved into something entirely different.
It wasn’t as if the bird’s Master wouldn’t take advantage of an arbitrage opportunity, after all.
Objective for the Grail: Nonexistent. Is just here for cool masks.
Command Seal: A tragedy mask, a comedy mask, and a tragicomedy mask.
Personality: A crude woman with an acerbic tongue. Quick to excitement, quicker to frustration, quickest to some migraine-inducing combination of the two. Fond of karaoke. Possible mask fetish.
Bio: The eleventh Carly-Beth designation homunculus created by the Toucan family of magi. Or rather, she is not created by the Toucan family, but rather owned and programmed by them; the production itself and her maker are attended to by a line of alchemists that the family is a friend of. The alchemist in question is rather first-rate, and Carly-Beth herself was designed for a balance between physical and magical aptitude. Naturally, each iteration of this homunculus designation has been taught the magecraft of the Toucan family.
As the current family head is an incompetent, he chose to dispatch Carly-Beth to a pointless Grail War that the family has little interest in beyond "seeing if we can get new cool masks out of it", despite the fact that, strictly speaking, she is a far better magus than said family head could ever be.
In a petty act of revenge, she made the decision to steal several of the family’s masks on her way out.
The family head has issued a strongly-worded letter in response.
Family History: The Toucan family. A family of approximately six hundred years. Originally specialized in humanoid puppets, attempting to recreate the original body as a path to the Root; however, three centuries ago, an overly paranoid family head declared that the strengthening anatomical sciences of the 16th century would kill the mystery of the human body, and with it, their puppetcraft.
He then destroyed the family’s Magic Crest, founded the new foundation of the family, and was lambasted as a buffoon by everyone who knew him.
For some reason, the family just sort of went with it.
They do not seem to have realized that they have not had a path to the Root since this incident, and are just sort of making masks pointlessly.
Magic Circuit Switch:The image of a billboard for the movie “Face Off”, despite the fact that it has not been produced or even conceptualized as of the current time.
Number of Magic Circuits: E
Quality of Magic Circuits: EX
Elemental Affinity: Earth
Magecraft:
The specialty and singleminded focus of the family, created through a combination of Body Engineering, Spiritual Evocation, Spiritual Surgery, Black Magic, Western Alchemy, and High Fashion. Naturally, Carly-Beth consequently knows the basics of these schools, but her knowledge is limited to the basics and what is necessary to know for mask creation, nothing more.
The masks themselves are similar to homunculi at base, composed of Ether with installed Magic Circuits. The core of the mask is a pseudo-spiritron crystal which is kept as a blank slate at the time of production. At the time of the mask being placed onto a being with a spirit, the mask becomes active. A phenomenon similar to spirit hacking occurs in order to analyze the spirit of the wearer, and the pseudo-spiritron crystals of the mask’s core rearrange on the spot in order to form a copy of that spirit. Naturally, this is not a miracle which extends to the “soul”, but given the nature of pseudo-spiritrons, this does not heavily impact the quality of the copy.
While the underlying principle is entirely different, the result could be easily compared to how the emanation called a Servant is formed from a Heroic Spirit’s data.
At this point, the mask can be considered completed. The physical shape of the mask changes to be identical to the wearer’s face (if it lacks a face then a randomly-chosen body part is used instead), and the mask subsequently detaches from the wearer. These completed masks are treated as familiars, capable of floating through the air and moving according to the will of Carly-Beth or, if desired, a will congruent with that of the source spirit, like a puppet with a preprogrammed AI. This control is something built into the mask during the design process, akin to a burden of existence, rather than the less ingrained result of a karmic line.
The physical abilities of the mask naturally scale with the grade of the source spirit. The masks are also capable of utilizing abilities born from what they have copied, with obvious limitations by virtue of what they are. It is worth noting that modifying masks at this point is possible, for instance combining two masks to create an unholy amalgam of two spirits, though this is a heavy-handed example.
When the mask is worn by an individual who is not the source, the curse of the mask activates; that is to say, the copied spirit of the mask possesses the wearer. The mask itself integrates with the wearer, shifting their face to that of the mask, while the Ether composing the mask combines with the wearer’s inherent od capacity. The Magic Circuits of the mask integrate with the wearer, and the pseudo-spiritron crystals dissipate into the body.
At the same time, the original individual’s spirit is melded with the being of the mask, the two's will imprinted over one another and the abilities of both being shared. The degree of control Carly-Beth exerts over the resulting being is a function of the mask’s spiritual grade relative to the wearer’s; the stronger the former is relative to the latter, the more control she retains.
It is good to know that the mask itself will work to prevent damage to the wearer that may be sustained as a result of this process, meaning that the odds of rejection/overload become significantly lower than they would be otherwise.
This is a permanent alteration of the wearer, a forced self-possession that cannot be undone. Even by the standards of the East, the curse of the mask can be called first-rate. Mere spirit exorcism is insufficient to undo the process, and if there was a means of doing so, it would be a rare talent on the level of Release Curse or a proper Demon Exorcism.
General Magecraft: The standard fare, inherited from previous units. Fixing glass, contracting familiars, basic shielding, standard Bounded Fields, and so on.
Crest: Nonexistent. The memories of the previous ten models serve a similar role.
Weapons:
Mundane: Everything you would bring on a trip to Japan. A chisel, some suitcases filled with Ether Clumps, a jar of dried oregano, a prana furnace, a possessed knife, and a 24-pack of colored pencils.
Mask Armor: A defensive Mystic Code that masks are outfitted with. Not something designed by the Toucan family, but rather something bought off of a friend. AC is approximated to a numerical value of 20.
Blank: Thirty-five masks.
Carly-Beth: Three masks, traditionally kept inactive, because who wants to talk to an identical copy of their consciousness?
Carly-Beth Model 6: Generally referred to as “big sis”. This is not done affectionately.
Homeless Man “Ted”: This one was an accident, honestly.
Ten Year Old Girl “Mary”: Don’t ask. Possesses a body.
Kuudere Fire Magus “Anna”: A given. Possesses High-Speed Incantation. Kuudere towards Model 6.
Dandere Healer “Harvey”: Also experienced in Spiritual Surgery. The healing in question is based on the principle of “restoring the body through use of the underlying blueprint (soul)”. Dandere for the above fire magus.
Himedere Martial Artist “Phil”: Also skilled in Reinforcement. Himedere towards the above healer. Possesses a body. The source body was trained in an odd “killers’ school” located in the mountains.
Tsundere Atlas Alchemist “Elena”: Memory Partition maximum of four. Tsundere towards the above martial artist.
Jesse James: Family head of shady business.
Joseph Pulitzer: Family head of PR.
Mask de Masque: Three blank masks of a supreme quality compared to the standard. The grade of spirit they are capable of processing is of a significantly higher make.
Exceptional Benefit: Superior Mystic Code [Mask de Masque]
A touch of dissatisfaction displayed on his face, the alchemist sighed to himself as he inspected the work of the previous night. Initially, things had been going rather well. The attack levied against the Matou estate had been the perfect combination of impactful and non-lethal that a testing shot ought to be, and had given some valuable insight into the Matou themselves.
The fact that another Servant had been made to take the fall for the attack was also nice. Evan wondered how that would be met, if the Matou had already demanded that poor Servant’s head or not. A small boy who threw devastating stones beyond what his small frame might indicate, what sort of Servant did they think that was?
Of course, things could not have gone so perfectly. Not long after, in the dead of night, the spying familiars that the alchemist has stationed in Shinto had seemed to vanish. Either there was a supreme master of familiars here among his fellow magi, or, more likely, a Caster or another Servant knowledgeable in magecraft had played their hand. Regardless, he doubted he was the only one affected by this individual, but there was no sense in crying over it. The nature of whoever had done this was a complete blank in Evan’s mind, but at least between this and the events witnessed by Assassin and his familiars, a general idea was starting to form.
Ah, no matter. All of that was trivial, in the end, compared to the next item on his agenda.
This notion seemed absurd. After all, to a magus who sought the Holy Grail, there was nothing more key in this war than removing the obstacles that laid between them and that prize. Nonetheless, for Evan, this next priority carried equal weight to obtaining the Holy Grail.
Yes, because after all, for Evan...
‘Assassin, to be safe, can you come with me? Should probably take a form you haven’t used before, but don’t bother with your Presence Concealment. We’ll be introducing you as ‘Berserker’.’
...the ‘most important thing’ was merely that he managed to create that.
A horse that was a man? No, the basis was too distinct. A man that was a horse? No, the foundation was poorly engraved.
A man that had become a horse. Yes, that was it precisely.
And so, as one customer was dragged from his bar by a small child who was certainly not a customer- what kind of irresponsible parent let their kid in a bar anyway- Archer turned to face the new arrival.
He stared in silence for a time that lasted an eternity from the inside, but a mere moment from the inside. Eyes beyond the flesh craned outwards and saw.
A thousand points pierced this world.
A devil forged from malice and iron pierced the void.
A void crying for all things was folded into all.
And as this waged on, he, he...
“Hold onto it. Because everything you’re about to go through is going to test how strong that hold is. If you let go of it, you’ll die.”
...so it would move onwards. So it was meant to move onwards.
“Donnie, get the horse wine.”
”Eh? I thought you hated the horse wine. You haven’t asked for it since the Titan killed your prototype.”
”It’s not for me, it’s for the new kid.”
Bartender and manager alike turned their eye to the new arrival, and laughed in unison. The former poured a glass of wine from a bottle with a horse’s head imprinted upon it, before offering it to that very arrival.
“Here you are. Enjoy. This is a rare commodity. I’m frankly shocked, actually.”
And so, a declaration was made that would shatter the foundation of the Holy Grail War.
”...you know, you’re already the second person today I’ve poured this for.”
In the night, the Archer had departed, an absurdly large stack of flyers in hand.
...What followed was something a touch absurd, to say the least.
This was the fact that a Servant ran around the city, and even its outskirts, posting flyers everywhere he could.
After doing this, he switched gears to turn the remaining flyers into paper airplanes, which through use of his future self’s sight abilities, were harmlessly tossed into every open window he could find and tossed onto the welcome mat of every house without an open window.
It went without saying though that he refrained from entering any workshops, but with his level of skill, he didn’t need to enter them to launch a paper airplane onto their doorstep. And he was doing it to every doorstep in Fuyuki.
It could be said, then, that every Master in Fuyuki was likely to see a flyer before too long.
