[FMMISM] Chapter 16: Kotomine Kirei and His Demon

"Let me ask... Are you the Master who summoned me?"

When the clear voice echoed in the cathedral's nave, Kotomine Kirei's heart abruptly stopped.

How could this be?

Why did he summon something like this?

Kirei questioned himself heavily, pounding on his own heart.

What appeared before him was definitely not a hero.

In the center of the church, under the magnificent and solemn stained glass, stood a monster.

A giant figure over two meters tall, with a face like a beast, adorned with long twisted horns and sharp fangs.

Its striking blue-purple skin looked like a mix of blueberries and poison insects. At the ends of its exceptionally developed long arms were razor-sharp claws. A pair of terrifyingly huge wings stretched out from its back, and a barbed tail dragged along the ground.

"Are you... a demon?"

While staring intently at the Servant he summoned, Kirei instinctively placed his right hand on his chest where the Black Keys were kept.

Kirei was a priest affiliated with the Holy Church.

He had joined the bloodiest department of the Holy Church, becoming an Executor, when he was just a teenager.

It was known as the Shura's Den, tasked with the duty of exterminating demons and heretics.

To earn the title of Executor meant he was a first-class killer, having endured brutal training to become a humanoid weapon. Because of this, he had naturally exterminated countless inhuman monsters.

Now, the figure in the summoning circle was undoubtedly a demon.

In the Nasuverse, demons were a type of phantasmal species, ranked as the lowest tier of the phantasmal species known as magical beasts.

However, rank did not equate to combat strength since a demon's power far surpasses that of ordinary phantasmal species and possesses a special trait against humans.

Demon extermination normally did not fall under the work of Executors; it was usually handled by the Church's elite in the Burial Agency—such was the danger posed by these beings.

"Oh, sorry, sorry. If I scared you, please allow me to apologize, Master."

Scratching his bluish-purple head, the demon smiled awkwardly.

Although he seemed to want to express his apology, no matter who looked at him, it was just the gruesome smile of a demon before devouring its prey.

"This is my ability. I can freely change my appearance. Before I was summoned, I had a sudden idea to set my appearance to my Master's nature, but... it seems I messed up. It's really strange, how did it turn into a demon's appearance? This should have been—"

"Enough." Kirei's voice trembled. "That kind of thing doesn't matter... more importantly, who exactly are you?"

What on earth was this Servant?

Kirei felt extremely uneasy—what exactly did this demon mean by he was summoned following his own nature?

Kirei, who had dealt with heretical beings for many years, concluded in his heart that the Servant he summoned was something even worse than a demon.

"Then, let me reintroduce myself. My true name is—"

Kirei swallowed nervously, waiting for his Servant to introduce himself, but—

"Honestly, I don't know my true name either."

"What?"

"I'm telling you, I don't know who I am... Although I don't know my true name, I left a name in the newspapers that was believed to be my self-proclaimed name."

And so, the demon told his story to the young priest who summoned him.

...

He wasn't the 'Hundred-Faced' but the 'Thousand-Faced'.

He wasn't a nameless assassin, but the most famous murderer in human history.

He didn't leave a name, but there was indeed proof of his existence in this world.

His title was known by all, yet no one knew his true face.

Appearance, gender, true name.

No, it wasn't even clear if he was human.

As a symbol of terror that made the world tremble, 'he', whose gender was even uncertain, was soon imagined in various forms by different people, continually recorded in countless stories and papers.

Maybe a doctor.

Maybe a noble.

Maybe a prostitute.

Maybe a butcher.

Maybe a demon.

Maybe a fairy.

Maybe a swindler.

Maybe a lunatic.

In fact, it wasn't even certain if 'he' was just one person.

Despite their fear, people freely depicted his existence until it evolved into a legend.

However, he wasn't just a mere legend since he did indeed exist.

The only proof of his existence was something everyone knew.

In London's Whitechapel, there were the gruesome corpses of five prostitutes, a very clear proof of existence.

"People call me Jack the Ripper."

...

Since the sight of a demon standing in front of the church pulpit was uncanny, Jack decided to transform into a cloud of gray mist and then simply vanished.

After learning about his Servant's identity, Kirei silently sat on a pew and stared at the huge cross on the wall for a while before asking a question.

"Isn't your class Assassin?"

Based on the information he received from his mentor, Tohsaka Tokiomi, the only possible Assassin in the Fuyuki Holy Grail War was Hassan-i-Sabbah.

"No, no, my class is Berserker. Because I was born as a legend symbolizing madness, Berserker is the only class that matches my existence."

"Berserker...?" Kirei narrowed his eyes.

His mentor had once said that the Berserker-class sacrificed reason for strength. However, the 'thing' he summoned seemed extremely rational, no matter how he looked at it.

The events of tonight repeatedly challenged Kirei's mind, making him doubt his mentor's teachings.

"You're right, the demon form you just showed would be fitting for a Berserker." Kirei remarked.

As a modern legend whose legends barely touched the heroic, Jack the Ripper should have been very weak. Yet, his demon's form just now could easily stand against the three strongest classes.

Seeing his Master calm down, Jack was a bit surprised.

'He's this calm?'

If it were an ordinary human, they would have been shocked to summon a murderer through affinity, but Kirei accepted it easily.

"A former priest summoning Jack the Ripper is not something to be taken lightly, y'know? Honestly, I don't understand why I was summoned. Maybe because I was summoned inside a church?"

After all, when it came to the mysterious Jack the Ripper, the only clear associations were prostitutes, thick fog, and churches.

"Who knows?" Kirei changed the topic. "Berserker, what is your wish?"

"Uh... I will tell you, but please don't laugh." Jack hesitated slightly before answering the priest's question. "Well... I want to know who exactly killed the five prostitutes in Whitechapel. In short, I want to know who I really am..."

Upon hearing his Servant's wish, Kirei withdrew his gaze from the cross.

"Are you troubled… by your true self?"

"Yeah, somewhat... Not gonna lie, this conversation feels like confessing to a priest in a church..."

The infamous, shapeless, and formless murderer spoke with an honest tone.

"The me standing before you now is just a legend, not the real one but not knowing who you are, just changing your appearance based on stories and investigations woven by people, is a very, very frightening thing, to be honest... Although this might be something incomprehensible for someone like you, who has flesh, a name, and a past..."

"Boring... So what if you know your true self?"

Jack's somewhat lonely words were met with a retort from the young priest with a gloomy expression.

'Seriously? Are you really a priest? You're supposed to comfort me here!' Jack grumbled discontentedly inside his mind upon hearing his Master's words.

"Hmph, though I'm disappointed by the childishness of your wish, I still have to thank you. Berserker, you might just be the best Servant for me." Kirei added.

"Huh? Why?" Jack asked confusedly.

In the next moment, the corners of Kirei's poker face lifted slightly into a smile.

"Because thanks to you, I've come to a deeper understanding of who I really am."