The song of autumn insects could be heard, plaintive and mournful. Touletifas was so quiet in the dead of night, the cricket-like whispers drifting into the distance through air washed in faint moonlight.
Though that was merely the surface.
The city still simmered with hidden currents. Homunculi and Golems created for battle patrolled silently.
The golden radiance of the sunset gradually faded, and night fell.
This was the highest point in Touletifas. The strongest Servant of the Black Faction stood soundlessly atop Castle of the Thousand Worlds, his eyes closed.
Perhaps because he had fused with Ulquiorra, Shirou especially enjoyed bathing in moonlight.
If nothing unexpected happened, the red-haired Saber, Mordred, and her Master would enter Touletifas tonight and slaughter the patrolling homunculi and Golems.
Though calling it a slaughter was perhaps inaccurate. In reality, it would only be a one-sided crushing.
That was why Shirou had been sensing the area all along. His sensory abilities might not rival those of a Ruler, but he could barely cover most of Touletifas.
"Have they arrived?"
Shirou abruptly opened his eyes. He sensed two souls making their way toward the interior of Touletifas. It was the middle of the night; not many people would enter the city at this hour.
The first battle of the Holy Grail War... I'll be the one to start it! Shirou thought, then activated Resonance Turn and vanished from where he stood.
"Hey, Master, did you see my performance? Cool, right? And that last Golem was seriously tough. It actually took so many of my punches!"
Saber of the Red Faction, a blonde girl in red named Mordred, boasted to her Master, the necromancer Kaijiri Shishigami.
Kaijiri Shishigami was a burly middle-aged man who looked like a villain. Black sunglasses and a black jacket made him seem