Planning for the Attack

Karna woke up to see his sleeping master, but she was dreaming still.

Dreaming a dream that makes her cry.

His master was a wounded innocent after all.

Because of that, she was unlike teenagers.

Body of a maiden, mind of a little child who sought love and being cared for, and a magus who was jaded and cynical, as well as basing her actions on logic like their kind do like her morbid scenery on how humankind's salvation -at least through the government and the judicial system- is impossible. And what Kairi's idea of what Shiro might do if salvation was impossible.

What teenagers usually worry about at her age was beyond her understanding.

According to the Grail, teenagers her age worry about how boys and girls are different, and dealing with crushes, first loves, falling in and out of love, rivalry, things like that.

She lived the life of fantasy she wanted, like she saw in the tv anime she watches.

Unlike he who viewed war as a nasty state of affairs caused by politics between nations as well as being kill or be killed, she views war as an adventure and fun with companions though she's aware that death is certain, she does not care as if she dies, the 'bad child' will die forever and cease to exist. But while she lives, she self-imposingly stuck herself in her fantasy world wherein she's in an adventure with friends, defeat bad guys and save the day. It keeps her happy that she lives out her fantasies in a bid to lock away her pain.

What keeps her going was her brother, and her bid to educate him about his rights because she was unhappy with how unfair his life was that by modern standards, he was what she called a 'cosmic plaything' and she was angry, thus wanted to give him the chances he never had in their short time together. She ordered him that if outside duty, he should enjoy his life while learning more about humans and socializing from her to take back to the Throne with him if he's gone. That way he could make friends there.

She was a patient teacher because she wanted him to be happy for once.

When not with Rin, he makes an effort. His attempts are clumsy but its awkward.

But still, he must do his best so she wouldn't worry for him anymore but...

She got attached to the dead like him.

That's bad isn't it?

xxx

Rin was writing recipes on papers though its in English format this time when she usually writes in runic when in magus territory.

'Here!' she sorted everything out using paper clips. 'Do these in the kitchen for meals from now on.' she said to a maid who took the papers with her and left.

'What's that all about?' Caules asked her.

'Oh, food recipes since I don't like romanian food and I have no idea what you guys eat.' Rin explained. 'I wrote bread, soup, vegetable, meat and fish dishes and Mordred eats a lot...'

'Eh...' Caules sweatdropped.

'I'm the cook in my house back home since everyone works in the Church as priests, hardly home most of the time. Er, I mean, ordinary human church, not the church we magi know OK? I'm the only Magus in my family.' Rin added quickly. 'But since I moved out recently because my house for fifteen years is a men's only monastery...' Caules choked. 'I'm worried how they'll eat. Maybe take-outs?'

'Oi oi...' Caules wondered how the hell did they get away with keeping a girl in a men's only flat, when civilian priests nowadays have less than stellar reputations regarding...underaged kids...

When he pointed that out, she said, 'Oh don't worry, they never laid a hand on me like that.' she chirped. 'If they did, would they let me move out? Besides, social services check in on random unpredictable times to be double sure.' Caules twitched. Double-sure indeed!

'I-I guess you're OK then.' he said awkwardly.

He'll check the kitchens to be double-sure to be safe.

xxx

'This smell!' Mordred squealed happily. 'Did you cook Rin?!'

'Like heck I did! I wrote a few recipes and had the Kitchen Homunculi do it.'

Fiore and Gordes exchanged looks and Caules gave them the OK with telepathy, saying he checked.

Indeed, the food was tasty and as expected of Rin's fussy standards, Kairi thought. It was food porn brought to life on to the table.

After Dinner with Mordred and Astolfo finishing the leftovers...the meeting began after the table was cleaned up.

The Masters and Servants of the Black Camp had once more gathered in the castle's conference room.

After much trouble, Assassin of Black had been taken down by Joan(she's apparently a collection of aborted children's wraiths), thereby getting rid of any lingering worries before they departed. There would be no problem leaving the other Yggdmillennia clan members to deal with and cover up the injuries from the fog. The fact that the children that Assassin had controlled were all alive and well was a silver lining within it all.

'We'll leave Trifas and head to the capital Bucharest at noon tomorrow. Once there, we'll board an airplane and commence our air-raid against the Hanging Gardens.'

—So Fiore's declaration shouldn't have been surprising, but...

'Nee-san. An air-raid means attacking the ground from the air, so I don't think that phrasing applies in this case, strictly speaking.' Caules pointed out awkwardly. Being an inept magus, he studied technology instead for his future's sake since why bother conform to tradition if he had no future as a magus on the get-go?

Fiore blushed when her mistake was pointed out.

'Muh. I-It doesn't matter. Caules, make sure you finish all your preparations in time.'

'Well, I will, but are we really going by air? Using a normal plane?'

Fiore nodded with a frown.

'After all, no matter what plans we think up, it's impossible to avoid being intercepted by the enemy, right? In that case, it's more efficient to go there using the cheapest method and disguising ourselves as much as possible.'

'Hey, hey! The airplane! I can pilot the airplane!'

Astolfo enthusiastically raised his hand—but Fiore shook her head.

'We'll have a golem pilot the plane. We can't have a Servant's hands occupied with piloting it in the middle of battle.'

'But I have a rank of A+ in my Riding skill! I wanted to show off how I can ride anything and not just my Hippogriff, you know!?'

'Ufufu. Such a shameful motive gives me all the more reason to say no… Besides, if you're not riding your Hippogriff when things turn bad, you won't be able to protect you Master, right?'

'Ugh, that's true, but...'

'The members going to the Hanging Gardens are Archer of Black, Rider of Black, Ruler, the boy who can become Saber of Black...and me as well.'

'But Master—'

Chiron tried to object, but Fiore coldly refused.

'We've gone over this, Archer. I also have my pride as the head of Yggdmillennia. And we can't risk the possibility of my prana being cut off from you in the midst of battle either.'

Chiron silently withdrew his protest. He appeared to understand from Fiore's obstinate expression that his words wouldn't change her mind. Fiore continued speaking to persuade them everyone else as well.

'...I must accompany you all in case the worst should happen. I have a duty as the head of Yggdmillennia. Additionally, unlike a normal Holy Grail War, fourteen Servants were summoned this time. It's possible that the Path between Master and Servant is weakened as a result. It's not a good idea to become separated from each other.'

In a Holy Grail War, the relationship between Master and Servant was, logically, the same as between magus and familiar. There existed a Line connecting the familiar and magus, which was essentially unaffected by distance. However, the prana channel between Master and Servant was a pseudo-version of this Line that was created during the summoning. Prana flowed across the Line, but Fiore conjectured that it might become cut off if they became too distanced from each other. Even more so if they left Romania, the base of Yggdmillennia's magecraft.

In other words, it would be the same as if the Master didn't exist for the Servant. Unless they had the skill [Independent Action], Servants wouldn't be able to last even a day in that condition.

'Nee-san, me too...'

Fiore quickly spoke up to cut Caules off.

'Caules. You must remain here… You are the successor of the Forvedge family. I can't allow you to be exposed to danger.'

'-That's wrong.'

When Caules replied like that, Fiore glared at him with cold eyes. Her eyes weren't those of his older sister, but of a magus.

But, though that would normally be enough to make him withdraw his opinion, Caules glared right back at her without retreating a single step.

'...Caules. We will talk about this later.'

As if to shake off the bad atmosphere hanging over the conference, Joan spoke up to ask a question.

'An airplane, huh? I don't think there's anything wrong with it in terms of speed, but have you thought up any countermeasures against making us an easy target for the enemy when we approach them?'

Fiore frowned and pressed a hand to her head as if very troubled.

'We have come up with three tentative measures. If you'll all listen, then...'

Fiore laid out the full details of the strategy she had refined together with Chiron. Among the three measures she had devised, two of them were extremely valid and effective plans that anyone could think of.

The problem was the last one.

'It's a bit forceful, but it's not a bad idea'—so judged Astolfo. Sieg also agreed to it, saying, 'It will slightly raise our chances of reaching the Hanging Gardens.' When Chiron heard the idea, he was also satisfied, saying, 'It will reduce our disadvantage in the air even if only by a little bit.'

And lastly, Joan, the only one among them who understood the common sense of regular society, became pale-faced when she heard it.

'...Ruler, is something wrong?'

Fiore tilted her head and asked her curiously. Joan breathed out a sigh and shook her head.

'No, it's nothing. I just painfully realized the gulf that lies between magi and normal humans.'

Even with this plan, though, they would only be able to get close to Assassin's enormous Noble Phantasm, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

'It still isn't enough. I'd like at least one more countermeasure to have in play."

Sieg groaned at the difficulty of what Fiore asked.

In the first place, the preconditions were harsh. An impregnable floating fortress, along with Atalanta, Karna, Achilles and Semiramis—all of them Servants of the strongest rank.

The problem wasn't a matter of winning or losing, but how to feasibly approach that floating fortress—

Ruler raised her hand first. She cleared her throat, gathering everyone's attention towards her.

'How about preparing a second airplane loaded with explosives and enhanced through consecration and making it dive and crash into the gardens from a high altitude?'

Ruler, who had run through numerous battlefields, proposed quite an extreme plan.

'H-How bold.'

Fiore stiffened. Chiron exclaimed 'Oh!' in admiration and clapped his hands.

'But the Hanging Gardens is an autonomous moving fortress. It's most likely Assassin of Red's greatest and most prized mystery. Even if you consecrate them, I have doubts about how much damage mere explosives will be able to do...'

'However, if we don't manage to damage it at least a little, even infiltrating the gardens will be impossible. The situation is far different from the last battle. This time, they'll definitely counterattack with all their might.'

Joan was correct. Back when they were stealing the Greater Grail, the situation hadn't allowed the Red camp to ambush the enemy Servants while the Hanging Gardens was so close to the surface. In the first place, Shiro had intentionally led the Black Servants and Ruler into the Gardens back then.

This time would be different. The Red camp would move to eliminate the Black camp with all their might.

'Even if we use that plan, it still isn't enough.'

After Chiron stated that, the gathered Servants, Masters and even the homunculi standing by for orders exchanged various ideas, but none of them were worth pursuing.

'Not a plane, but strategic bombing aircraft... Hmm, either way, we need a weapon with great destructive power...missiles...or a bunker-buster...or, though the name is disrespectful, perhaps the [Rods of God]..."

Fiore and most of the others couldn't understand even half of the things that Ruler murmured. Only Gordes trembled in fear, saying, 'Does this holy woman intend to end the world...'

While Kairi and Rin let them strategize to see if there's anything to criticize, they were having fun with Joan's idea because its something THEY would do!

'Hmm? In that case, how about this homun—'

The instant Caules tried to point at the homunculus Sieg after suddenly thinking of something, Joan glared at him. Caules frantically hid his hand.

Sieg then raised his own hand and spoke up.

'I really don't mind using my Noble Phantasm as Saber of Black...But, if I end up clashing against the Hanging Gardens' defense functions—in other words, against Assassin of Red's spells, the Gardens will likely survive the attack even if I don't lose outright.'

Sieg could accurately calculate the power of that spell attack which Ruler blocked with her holy flag. If that was all there was, he was confident that he could overwhelm and beat it with Siegfried's Balmung.

However, they had learned from Astolfo that the Hanging Gardens had eleven interception spells prepared and ready for Semiramis to fire at any time. If the spell that Joan had blocked was a 'one', then it was basically multiplied by eleven when fired in combination.

Even then, Sieg probably wouldn't lose, but he wasn't confident that he could defeat it either. The odds were likely that it would turn into a contest of power—clashing against each other with all their might and merely resulting in both of them exhausting themselves.

And, though the Red camp could afford it, that was the worst possible outcome for the Black camp.

'Out of the question Sieggy.' Rin interjected, arms crossed. 'Your transformations cost one Command Spell a pop and it lasts five minutes each. Its a big damn waste, save it for where it counts.'

'I agree. That's a very poor plan.' Chiron stated that, and Joan agreed. Sieg also wanted him to use his power as little as possible. But it was also true that he wanted to help them reach the Hanging Gardens if his power was necessary.

'Moreover, I'm seeing weird bruises by your wrist...heck, can I even call that a bruise?' she asked as her eyes fell on his wrists as his hands were on his lap and since the Red Faction stood behind Sieg, Astolfo, Gordes and Chiron's seats, she could see it in the angle she could see from. 'It's so purple I'd thought you played paintball and forgot to wash up.' Rin snorted.

'Er, its not paintball...' said Joan uneasily. She really wished it was. But sadly it wasn't. 'Its that, transforming eats at his body little by little.' she explained uncomfortably. 'His miraculous situation...is not for free. It has a great cost.'

Rin paused.

'Ah...all the better not to waste your spells unnecessarily.' Rin told Sieg sternly. 'Some or most of us or worse, all of us are gonna die. At least decide how you want to go. Go big and leave behind something of worth for us to pick up on to win against the opposition, don't die an idiot.' she grumbled with narrowed eyes. It was the magus in her speaking and considering how casually dismissive she was of death, she was fine with all of them dying.

'That's harsh!' Astolfo complained.

'Hey, its what we're up against and we need all cards.' Kairi told him. 'In strategizing, choices are made. Hard choices nobody likes and choices people likes. Sieg has three turns, fifteen minutes tops. If he uses the last spell...we got no idea what'll happen before he bites the dust. All of us will possibly die you know, we have to make our deaths count and worth something since Alaya decided we're her Counter-Force for this job.'

Awkward silence...

Because indeed, its a given Sieg is among the who-will-die list whether Astolfo and Joan wanted it or not.

'I don't mind, Rider.' said Sieg. 'As Rin said, I want to die a death worth something if it would mean getting something big back. If we make a bad call...the price to pay will be failure and a lot of people will die from a badly-made wish.'

'Master...' Astolfo pouted.

There were no holes in their plan itself. There weren't, but—in order to reach the Gardens, they had to get through Achilles, Atlanta and Semiramis' interception attacks. The Gardens also had its own defenses, so taking that into account—

'...As I thought, the odds of us surviving are low.'

At Sieg's intuitive words, a gloomy silence enveloped the conference room. Just as Sieg said, even with all their plans, the odds of success were low. A plane was, in the end, merely a flying lump of metal. It would be easily torn apart by any attack from Atlanta's bow, Achilles' chariot and Semiramis' spell barrage.

Though it was called a 'garden', it was already on the level of a fortress. Even the Fortress of Millennia, which had required hundreds of years to build, was but a fragile balloon in comparison.

Assassin of Red—Semiramis. The legendary empress born from the goddess Derketo and a human man. Famed for her peerless beauty after she grew up, she was sometimes regarded as an incarnation of the goddess Ishtar.

She could probably put up a good match against Lancer of Red, Karna, with the strength of her mysteries. And then there was her Noble Phantasm, the Hanging Gardens. Even if it was a temporary miracle that would only last for the duration of the Great Holy Grail War, airplanes, which were the crystallization of modern science and technology, were nothing when compared to it.

'Hang on a minute...the damaging effects of Spartacus in the plains...Trifas is somehow unscathed...why is that?' Rin pointed out. 'When that dumbass blew up, sure it left scorched earth like we're in active volcanic grounds, yet there's a perfectly-triangle-shaped safe spot, including Trifas, though bits of the castle walls bit it. What caused that?'

'Oh, I used my Noble Phantasm, Luminosite Eternelle. An EX-Rank protective barrier.' said Joan. 'To protect Rider and Sieg since it was only us back there, I hadn't realized it reached all that way.'

'And that space is big, veeeery big...' Rin grinned. 'You can protect the airplane! Go fly up and see what I mean later. It has potential.'

'A-alright...'

Everyone exchanged looks. Indeed it has great potential.

'How about other Noble Phantasms that can help Ruler in getting us onboard.' Kairi suggested. 'While she defends, she's got limits. Her prana for one thing...'

'Oh, I'm alright. The Grail itself is my Master so I never run out.'

Several jaws dropped.

The Grail.

Is her Master.

That means the frigging Greater Grail is her Mana supplier she will really never run out! How unfair was that?!

'Ahem, about the Garden Assault Division...the long-range attackers will be Rin, Karna, Rider of Black and Archer of Black. Most of us are melee fighters.' Kairi decided. 'So we'll be riding on the plane with Ruler defending us but first we have to get used to making it work. Ruler should control the size and strength of her Noble Phantasm. Since the Hanging Gardens will soon leave Romanian Airspace, the most should it last is ideally a week. But we have no time to train for that so one day of practice is all we got.'

'Alright. As long as I see the airplane and start measuring and judge the potency.'

'Try making it a spherical barrier.'

'OK.'

'Wait a minute, Rin will be along the long-range defender group?!' Fiore gasped out. 'That's reckless!' she cried in protest.

'Yeah. Its a secret in Clock Tower but Rin is born a damn miracle. As in 1000 in 1 chance among magi.' said Kairi. 'A secret she told only me and naturally only Zelretch knows. Her records in Clock Tower are altered a bit because she didn't want insane bidding wars over her to get her to marry their sons.' he said. 'Her true power is enough to make her compete against Assassin of Red's defenses. Its why I assigned her and she's OK with it. Karna can also no-sell high-thaumaturgy.'

'Oh, I can too!'

In order to break the gloomy atmosphere, Astolfo spoke up in a bright voice. His words weren't a simple show of courage. They were full of confidence, truly the kind of words that only a hero could shout.

"You mean you can also protect against Magecraft or offense against it?' Kairi asked him.

'Yeah. If she lets out those flying boneys, La Black Luna can handle them easy peasy! As for defense, I got something.' said Astolfo. 'I'm completely impervious to magecraft! I have a tome that can counter any kind of spell!'

After all, he had an abundance of reliable Noble Phantasms to make up for his own weak abilities.

'Well, I did forget its true name, so it's can't display its real ability, though.'

Yes, even if he had forgotten the Noble Phantasm's name and couldn't activate its full power—

'No, please wait a second, Rider. What did you just say?' Fiore gasped out, wide-eyed. How can anyone forget their Noble Phantasm of all things?!

Everyone's gazes, including Sieg, converged on Astolfo. Astolfo tilted his head with a puzzled expression—

'Eh, like I said, I have a Noble Phantasm tome. I'm really troubled since I've forgotten its true name.'

Looking completely untroubled in his demeanor, Astolfo spoke cheerfully.

He took out a book which suddenly materialized of nowhere and placed it on the conference room's table with a thud. All the magi of the group, gulped at the sight of it.

"This is Astolfo's Noble Phantasm...

Unlike his Hippogriff or lance, which had little to do with magecraft, a grimoire like this was a familiar sight to them.

And because they were familiar with grimoires, they could comprehend the enormous magical power hidden within this tome.

'I see. So the reason your Magic Resistance is only one rank below mine is because you have this.'

Joan nodded in understanding. She had certainly thought it was strange. The Magic Resistance of the Rider class was usually low-ranked, and she had never heard any legend of Astolfo originally having such a trait either.

But there was a legend about a tome that could destroy all spells, which had been given to Astolfo by a good witch. Indeed, if he always had this in his possession, he wouldn't be harmed by most spells.

'Yeah, it really is convenient. After all, just possessing it protects me from spells.'

'...Umm, Rider. May I ask something?'

While taking a deep breath, Fiore spoke up.

'This tome can activate its true abilities by speaking its true name. According to legend, this is a grimoire that can destroy all spells, right? And you forgot its true name?'

'No, actually, it's just on the tip of my tongue—'

'Remember it, please remember it! We might be able to take down the Hanging Gardens if you do!' Fiore pleaded beggingly.

Fiore shook Rider's shoulders with her Bronze-Link Manipulators.

'Wah, wah, wawah, wawawah! Wait, wait! I'll remember! I'll remember it! No, actually, I just remember it! Really, really!'

'Truly!?'

Not only Fiore, but even Chiron, Rin, Kairi and Joan got excited and pressed near him all at once. Even someone like Astolfo could feel the pressure here, and he took a step back while sweating.

'Err. Umm. What I remembered isn't its true name, but the requirement for me to remember it, though...'

'Requirement...?' Chiron gasped out.

'Yeah. The requirement is—a moonless night. If it's on a day when there's no moon, I can definitely invoke this grimoire's true name.'

Everyone exchanged glances at those words.

'Moonless—in other words, a new moon, huh?'

Fiore wondered aloud, and her Servant Archer of Black voiced his agreement.

'The moon has been treated as a guide of madness since ancient times. If we consider that the reason that Rider's reason evaporates is due to madness, then it's only on a night when the moon his hidden that Rider's reason returns.'

'The next new moon is...five days from now. What will you do, Yggdmillennia?'

Sieg asked the question. In truth, their plan was to depart tomorrow, but if they waited until the next new moon, Rider would be able to activate his Noble Phantasm.

The longer they waited, the farther the Hanging Gardens would get from them. If the Red Camp managed to leave Romania's borders, the ownership of the Greater Grail would become a contested issue. Even if they managed to take back the Greater Grail outside of Romania, it would be considerably difficult to reconnect it to the land's leylines since it would be outside the territory that served as the base of Yggdmillennia's power.

The head of Yggdmillennia, Darnic, had once used the power of Nazi Germany in order to transport the Greater Grail, but the clan didn't have any such power or connections now.

Yggdmillennia's level of influence was completely different inside and outside of Romania. If they were within Yggdmillennia's territory, they might be able to gather the survivors of their clan and, if necessary, utilize Romania's government to take the Greater Grail back to the Fortress of Millennia.

But, once they took a single step outside of the country, Yggdmillennia's 'power' was weak. It would be impossible for them to transport the Greater Grail back. And it wasn't like the Association of Magi had given up on the Greater Grail after losing in the Great Holy Grail War.

In other words—even if they won this war, the Greater Grail wouldn't return to Yggdmillennia's hands.

But, if they didn't wait five days, they would have to shoulder excessive risk in order to get back the Greater Grail.

Fiore was pressed into making a decision.

...As a magus, she should go after the Greater Grail even if it meant ignoring Rider of Black's Noble Phantasm.

To reach the Root. To make Yggdmillennia's power known to the world. For the sake of those objectives, activating the Greater Grail was absolutely necessary.

What would happen if they let the Greater Grail fall out of their grasp without resistance? It would mean the end of Yggdmillennia. At the very least, letting the Greater Grail be stolen would almost certainly mean the end of her life as a magus.

As the head of Yggdmillennia, that alone was—

'...Sorry. Please let me talk with Nee-san for a while. Sieg and all the Servants, please go back to your rooms for tonight and rest. We'll come to a decision by tomorrow.'

Perhaps sensing that Fiore's thoughts were in a deadlock, Caules raised his hand and spoke up. Gordes merely said, 'This isn't an issue that I have any say in anyway,' and he left before any of the others.

Astolfo seemed like he wanted to say something to the Forvedge siblings, but Sieg and Joan grabbed his shoulders and forcibly pulled him out of the room.

Lastly, Chiron looked at the conflicted Fiore—and then looked at Caules. Caules nodded silently. Seeing that, Chiron smiled in relief, and silently left the room.