Chapter 10: Find your resolve

Disclaimer you guys know the drill by now, I don't own anything, would be great if I did though cause moar money.

Fuyuki City Bridge

A smouldering streak was all that remained to illustrate the battle that had just been fought. With time the seared Smokey smell of tar that wafted through the air as thick and as prevailing as a swamp would vanish and when the sleepy city awoke to discover the carnage this scar upon the land would be their only source of evidence that something was indeed amiss.

Both parties to the battle had departed, the defeated with the grim realisation that they had been soundly defeated by a foe that was in a disadvantageous position. Two against one was favourable odds but in this encounter it made little difference both servants had danced to Riders tune.

Emiya Kiritsugu sat in quiet contemplation having viewed this whole spectacle through the scope of his rifle he had to say he was impressed, and this irritated him greatly. To impress him you must be a person of considerable ability or be considered a substantial threat, and threats proved to be complications... and Kiritsugu hated complications.

Rider has shown impressive tactical and special awareness manipulating the terrain and his opponents to his benefit. While he could not hear the dialogue exchanged between the two parties he could tell a bait well enough that hearing was unnecessary. Rider had clearly goaded his foe into combat and the presented a moment of weakness on a silver platter. Only one word could describe it, impressive.

Kiritsugu had not fallen for the ploy himself, it seemed strange that one who had kept his calm for so long during the fight would suddenly lose his cool and the weakness of his defence seemed a bit too telegraphed for Kiritsugu to feel comfortable with. And surely enough the trap had been sprung and it was over for Lancer and Archer.

It was however very strange that Rider did not capitalise on this situation, what did he have to gain from delaying his opponents. Kiritsugu pondered this for a moment before he realised that the information Maiya had gained for him prior to her death would be applicable here. It had come to their attention that Kirei had been working for his teacher Tokiomi in order to grant the Tohsaka's victory in this war. Therefore it was not too far to assume that this delaying tactic was a ruse to allow Tokiomi to acquire another command seal for himself.

On the whole Kiritsugu was not upset that he had not secured this recourse for himself as he judged in the grand scheme of things the intelligence he could gather by watching other masters and servants compete far outweighed the benefit of a single command seal.

And what intelligence he gathered. Witnessing Riders noble phantasm was an unexpected surprise and for once in all of his years of fighting he was at a loss for words.

"A mechanised battle suit" Kiritsugu whispered to himself in disbelief as if he did not trust his own memories recollection on what happened only moments before. This was going to be troublesome.

As he thought this the air next to his shimmered as his servant faded into existence. Kiritsugu had sent Saber to investigate the other prana spike in the area while he kept tabs here and it now appeared that Saber was back to report his discoveries.

Kiritsugu turned to face the youth and motioned for him to speak.

"I discovered that Caster had engaged Berserker, It appeared that the cause of the conflict was a small girl in a red bow in her hair. Caster was protecting her".

"Tohsaka Rin" Kiritsugu thought to himself "why would Tokiomi allow for his daughter to step into such danger?" "Tokiomi was there as well I take it?"

"No in fact Casters master was know where to be seen. Even after the fight concluded he did not reveal himself" Saber commented.

"Seeing how things went in his favour I imagine he left his daughters safety to his servant" mused Kiritsugu.

"That's the thing" interrupted Saber "Both Caster and Berserker fell in that battle"

This caught Kiritsugu's attention he had made a rookie error and had assumed that Caster had emerged victorious. This certainly warranted further explanation.

Saber explained the battle in great detail, It seemed that Caster had all but won before Berserker attempted to kill the child forcing him to sustain a mortal injury.

"Honestly I should not say this but this was a fortunate turn of events" Saber commented. "I truthfully do not think I could have defeated Berserker as his Noble phantasm was truly fearsome and Caster's versatility would also have been troublesome to deal with." Saber looked mildly displease with this statement but knew that his wish was too important to go looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Kiritsugu was forced to agree, Berserker was not an opponent they would have directly engaged, and now thankfully they would not have to. But these series of events would also provide an opportunity. While most of their opponents would be licking their wounds this afforded them a rare opportunity to strike and deal mass damage to their weakened foes if not eliminate them outright.

This would require further thought, Kiritsugu proceeded to walk off back home and Saber quietly followed his cue. The fires of war had well and truly been lit and from here on in the battles could only intensify.

Matou Manor

Kariya had never been so exhausted in his entire life. It felt like his skin was on fire and lava was running through his veins. Every breath was laboured as the air wheezed in an out of his lungs. What made matters worse is that ever since the fight his crest worms had been acting up and refused to calm down. He was practically out of prana and what little he did have was going towards sustaining his servant. The worms did not like being denied their meal.

Somehow he had managed to gather the strength to get himself and Sakura back home, as it would not do to be caught hanging around the Tohsaka residence.

Sakura was still sound asleep in her room. No matter how much hatred she felt toward Tokiomi the fact still remained that she had killed her father. This fact alone would have been enough to drive a regular person mad. But despite her few years Sakura was strong, she had to be in order to survive Zoken's torture. Be that as it may the events of tonight did still take its toll on the girl. It appears that she retreated into herself and fell unconscious, a combination of physical and mental exhaustion.

Tonight would undoubtedly leave a scar on her heart; he just hoped that one day these wounds would heal.

Speaking of wounds healing Kariya's seemed to be doing anything but. He was not an accomplished magus or even an adequate one for that matter and as such did not have any healing abilities. In truth the only thing holding his body together at this point was grit and determination.

In reality he knew it was unlikely that he could hold out until the end of the war, but at least one of his primary targets had been dealt with. "At the very least I need to make sure to eliminate the old man" Kariya decided.

Due to being lost in thought Kariya did not immediately notice Assassin enter the room and seat himself across the table. He had a rather pensive look on his face and seemed displeased.

"Assassin what seems to be troubling you?"

Assassin straightened upright and flexed his hands before responding "That Master would be your recent actions and stupidity"

Kariya was mildly shocked by his servant speaking to him in this manner; Assassin had always been very professional up to this point.

"Due to your foolish vendetta and to satisfy your own ego an innocent party was forced to bloody their hands" assassin's features darkened "And what's worse bloody their hands by killing their father"

Assassin paused and took a breath to compose himself "You have no idea the kind of impetus seeing your parents killed does to a young mind. I would know, for most of my adult life I saw myself as an avenger who existed only to bring those that had harmed me to a brutal demise at the end of my blade. That is not something a child should experience"

"And to make matters worse Sakura had already been through so much, this trauma added will eat away at her until one day she snaps, and it is your fault"

Kariya almost staggered back off his chair at this statement.

"My fault! My fault, I am the only one who is protecting this girl" Kariya's voice gradually becoming more elevated "If not for me she would still be in that pit, how dare you say that!"

Channeling some chakra into his hand Assassin brought the clenched fist down onto the table sending splintering wood flying.

In a cool even voice that broached no room for argument Assassin responded. "I am well aware of your intentions towards the girl, but as they say in this world the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

"Listen to my words very carefully matou Kariya as I do not care to repeat them, the greatest evil this day was your own pride" assassin paused to let the gravity of his words sink in.

"If you had instead commanded me to deal with Tokiomi then Sakura would never have been in the position to strike out against him. Yet you felt the need to satiate your own longing for vengeance, even when the tables were turned against you, you forbid my intervention. That pride you had in thinking that the underdog could defeat the renownd mage was nothing but a child's fallacy. Life is not a fairy tale!"

Throughout Assassin's berating of Kariya, the man himself was shocked. "Is he right? Would all of this have been avoided if I had not been so stubborn? But he had to pay; he had to pay for his crimes. A swift death would have been too good for him. He had to pay... Didn't he?"

He was at a complete loss for words, his shoulders slumped and his face was sullen and tears streamed down his face. "I...I'm so sorry Sakura...So sorry".

Kariya lifted himself from his seat and ambled towards the door in an effort to get to Sakura's room. The weight of the day and the fresh mental trauma were too much for him to bear. Darkness crept in from the corners of his eyes and he could feel his legs buckling beneath his own weight. His knees crumpled and the ground seemed to be racing to embrace him and then nothing.

"Master! Ma...er! Ma...!" In the back of his mind he could hear someone calling to him but he was so tired, so very tired. "I think ill rest here for a moment, just need a bit of sle..."

With Waver

Back in the spare bedroom of the elderly couples house in which he inhabited Waver sat slouched on the floor with his back against the bedside cabinet. On the bed next to him was the prone form of lancer deep in sleep.

It was hard for waver to believe when looking at the sleeping form of Lancer that such a delicate looking girl would be capable of the wondrous feats he had seen from her so far.

"Huuh" Waver sighed "I guess heroic spirits really are on a different level, being brave enough to throw themselves into danger like that".

It had been a close call for Waver Velvet on the bridge. Though he took refuge at a distance away from the battle it had been a close call when that energy wave hurtled down the bridge, barely missing him and Sola-Ui by a hairs breadth.

That had been the most frightening moment in Waver's young life, literally coming face to face with death in all its fury.

It did not really hit him until he got home how close he was to dying, which left him in his current predicament glued to the floor and shaking like a leaf.

"It's no use, no use at all. How can I be expected to cope with things like this, I'm just a normal guy, hell I'm not even from an old magus family. Who was I kidding to think I could participate in this war?"

Waver had always been under the impression that if he kept his head down and worked hard then he would be rewarded for his efforts. However the bigotry that existed in magus society pretty much made this an impossible feat.

"This is what I get for trying to stand out. Oh this was such a disaster, I never should have stolen that catalyst, it didn't even work anyway. What must lancer think having such a useless master like me? In fact apart from when I summoned her she has never called me master even once"

This realisation hit Waver hard as he continued to wallow, only being brought out of his stupor by some very light panting sounds coming from his side.

Getting up to look it seemed that Lancer was breathing a bit more heavily and her face was flushed and sweaty.

Seeing this Waver rushed down stairs and grabbed a towel before running it underneath a cold water tap.

Taking the wet rag back up stairs he carefully wiped Lancers delicate features and then places the soothing balm on her forehead. His touch is met with an audible sigh of relief from the girl as her breathing steadies.

Waver stood still looking at the girl in front of him almost as if to stand guard and protect her from any potential danger.

Seeing her struggling made Waver begin to clench his fists, so hard in fact that it broke the skin as small drops of blood ran between his fingers until they hit the floor.

"Idiot! How could I be so stupid wallowing like that in self pity, no wonder she does not call me master. She was trying so hard out there and I didn't even try to support her, it's not that she is brave I'm just a coward. Well no more; I'm not going to let her get into this state again and it's like she said before I don't need the grail to get respect I just have to go out there and grab it for myself."

Waver quickly hurried to his trunk and pulled out an ancient looking tome with a pen and paper and began to furiously scribble notes down onto the sheet, if they were going into battle then this time he would be prepared.

Einzburn Mansion

Ilya was bored, it had been ages since she had seen papa and mama and she was taking out her frustrations on a stuffed fox with nine tails that lay on her bed by tugging relentlessly on the middle tail.

She did not know what her parents were doing but she guessed it was pretty important. Oh sure she knew about the Holy Grail war but not all of the specifics.

Chucking the fox to the side Ilya jumped on her bed and proceeded to throw a tantrum kicking her legs up and down dishevelling all the bed linens. "I'm so booooooored!" the young girl cried in frustration before eventually tiring herself out and flopping on the bed in a defeated manner.

"Raaahhhh, even Shu is not around to play with me at the moment, stupid papa keeping everyone busy" In the past couple of weeks Ilya had often conscripted a slightly unwilling Ouma Shu to play with her when her father no longer needed his services.

For Ilya this was the most fun she had ever had, in truth Ilya was a very lonely little girl who often cried herself to sleep. In fact the only times when she ever smiled was when she was with papa and mama. Definitely not with grandpa, in truth Ilya really did not like grandpa Einzburn. However that all changed recently when Ilya got her first friend in Shu. She had never had a friend and in order to take advantage of this they often stayed up to the wee hours of the morning talking until Ilya eventually fell asleep in Shu's lap. Sure there were people who were kind to her, in fact all of the maids treated her with the utmost respect, but it was always Ilya hime this and Ilya hime that never just Ilya. In truth being addressed that way just made her feel worse as there was always a barrier between herself and others.

She did have one thing to look forward to however, when the war was over papa said they were all going to go and live together in a little city called Fuyuki. Ilya could not wait for that day, she would be able to go to school make fiends maybe even get a pet. Ilya giggled to herself on the bed until she heard knocking sound on her door and then her mother enters.

Ilya's eyes widened at seeing her mother, she was not expecting a visit today and with boundless energy she leapt off the bed and into her mother's embrace. "Mama!" the little girl cried as she tightly gripped the older woman.

"And how is my little angel today" Iri said chuckling at her daughters display of affection.

Ilya looked up at her mother beaming "I'm fine, just a little bored" the girl complained.

"Well we can't have that now can we" Iri said as she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small package. Ilya's eyes widened again at the prospect of a gift and gleefully took the package from her mother's hand.

Inside if the brightly coloured paper it turns out was an action figure from one of those super sentai tv shows that Ilya liked. Iri constantly had to admonish Kiritsugu for introducing the concept to their daughter. Since that first fateful viewing she had been hooked and proceeded to storm round the place playing hero with anyone she could conscript.

The toy in question was from her favourite series so far Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger and depicted the green ranger holding his dagger. Recently it had been announced an American adaptation of the show would be released and when Ilya heard the news she was ecstatic.

Ilya had always been a subject of much curiosity to Iri, yes she loved playing hero but she also liked cute things as well, evidenced by the plethora of stuffed animals on her bed. Iri could not help but chuckle at how strange her daughter was, but that was what made her special and Iri would not change a thing.

Soon enough the minutes turned into hours and Iri was ushering Ilya off to bed and tucking her safely under the covers.

"Goodnight Darling" Iri said as she planted a kiss on Ilya's forehead.

"Goodnight mama" Ilya replied before slowly drifting off to sleep.

As Iri left the room she found Kiritsugu Leaning against the wall waiting for her.

"Are you not going to wish her goodnight?"

"No there is so much left to do and I don't want to disturb her"

Iri frowned, Kiritsugu was working so hard but she hoped he did not forget why they were doing this. As Kiritsugu turned to leave Iri held him back by grasping his hand.

"Honey, don't forget why we are doing this. By the end of this war you are all she is going to have left" Iris said with sadness creeping into her features.

"I never want Ilya to have to become a lesser grail... Already I can feel two servants were defeated tonight which means this war will only escalate. That means I don't have much time left"

Kiritsugu was not comfortable with open displays of affection; he had steeled his heart for the duration of his mission, however this time he made an exception as he pulled Iri into a warm embrace.

"Don't worry this cycle will end with us" Kiritsugu stated firmly.

This seemed to appease his wife. All she wanted has for her daughter to be able to live a normal life away from the restraints of the Einzburn family. To go to school have her first kiss, for her father to gut the boy that took her first kiss and finally settle down and start a family, to have the life Iri never could.

Iri snuggled her head deeper into her husband's chest, it was moments like these that made all of the hardships they faced worth it. Time seemed to stop; neither knew how long they stayed there like that and neither cared.

Tohsaka Residence

Rin had finally made it back home. The walk back had taken much longer than it ordinarily would, her eyes were red and puffy and her legs felt like they would give out underneath her. For what felt like an eternity she just sat in that warehouse district crying her eyes out refusing to move, her hands tightly clutching the pocket watch that her saviour had given her.

It was all her fault, if she had done what she had been told then this never would have happened. She knew Ed told her not to be so stupid and that it was not her fault but she could not help it. Everything was wrong; it was not supposed to be like this. Everyone knew the good guys always won... right? Then why did it hurt so badly? Why was her friend dead?

Rin had never really had to cope with loss before, yes she had had a pet die but never had she had the heart wrenching reality shoved in her face as brutally as tonight. And to make matters worse her father was going to be furious with her. Because of her actions he was all but eliminated from the Holy Grail war. Yes he still had Kirei but he could no longer win in his own right.

The sole goal of the Tohsaka family was the root, The Akashic Records. Several hundred years of work had all been undone by her in a single night. She would be lucky if her father did not seal of her magic circuits and banish her for this.

Arriving in the courtyard of her house Rin finally noticed something was amiss there was smoke billowing out of one of the third storey windows.

Rin gathered what little energy she could and ran to the front door, in the foyer she spotted her mother and Kirei.

"Mum what's going on why is there smoke coming from the house, where is dad?"

Rins Mother Aoi Tohsaka was a very beautiful lady; people often commented that she looked like an older version of Rin but had the soft mannered temperament of Sakura. However unlike her daughters ruby red colour scheme Aoi normally chose to don a palette of white or ivory. In this case her Ivory shawl was stained with soot and her dress was burnt at the hems.

"Rin" Aoi cried with tears staining her once pristine face grabbed Rin and pulled her into an embrace sobbing all over her daughter.

"Mum what's wrong? What's happening here?" Rin protested.

Her mother balked at her question and let her gaze linger down so that she was looking at the floor. It was at this point that Kirei spoke up "I'm sorry Rin, I must have been lax in my security as before I knew it a section of the house was ablaze. So far we have been unable to locate your father; we suspect that he may be on the third floor. I was just about to douse the flames when you arrived"

Rin did not know what to think, had her father been attacked by another master while Ed was out rescuing her, was this her fault too?

Rin broke from her mother's embrace and dashed towards the stairs determined to see if her father was alright only to be stopped by a large hand that tightened itself on her shoulder. "Let go! Let me go!" Rin yelled.

"Rin calm yourself, what good will it do you to rush off into danger unless in the few nights since I last saw you somehow you managed to become very adept in water magecraft?"

Rin knew he had a point as loath as she was to admit it; she silently cursed herself for letting her emotions get the better of her.

After seeing that she had calmed down Kirei made his way to the third floor and proceeded to remove several black rapier like objects from his robe. Rin recognised these as black keys weapons often associated with exorcists in service to the church. Rin had to wonder where exactly on himself he kept those, but she was soon distracted by the man throwing them into the heart of the blaze that blocked off the hall. After chanting some kind of mantra the flames seemed to be drawn towards the keys and promptly devoured by them.

Seeing that there was no longer any danger Rin Rushed down the hall only to suddenly stop in her tracks.

Even with the charred smell of smoke the smell in here was vile, rin gaged in her mouth slightly as the smell of blood assaulted her nose. Following the smell her eyes eventually came to rest on the unmoving form of her father.

In Rin's mind Tohsaka Tokiomi had always been the pinnacle of what a magus should strive to be, strong and proud. In recent weeks her opinion of her father had shifted somewhat but she still held him in very high esteem. This was why to see him laid out on the floor unmoving came as a severe shock to Rin.

From behind her she heard a feminine voice cry out and rush past her. Her mother was wailing and fell to her knees at the corpse of her husband, her dress becoming even more filthy as it landed in the drying pool of blood that surrounded his body.

It was odd seeing her mother mourning over her husband's body, made her want to cry as well but as much as she tried the tears just would not come out. She was all cried out, in truth rather than sadness she just felt tired, so tired of everything. She tried to think back to happy memories of herself and her father for some comfort but was dismayed to find the images were not coming as quickly as she would have hoped. Yes there were times when her father had praised her but she found the large majority of her happy memories were of times with her mother or playing with her sister and uncle Kariya. Recently all of her good memories were off her time teasing and studying with Ed.

Rin let out a sigh, her whole life was crashing down around her and honestly she had no clue what to do about it.

The two women were so concerned with their grief that they did not notice a certain priest behind them with upturned lips. It was taking every fibre of his being to not burst out with a thunderous laugh at the scene before him.

"Oh this is brilliant, little Sakura was the opening act but not to be outdone Rin had to come in for the closer. That expression on her face the raw emotion is magnificent, I'm sure the child blames herself. Rider was quite correct desire is truly a wonderful thing, and who would have though my desire would have been as simple as to see others suffer. All those wasted years in the church listening to fools mewling on about their sins... Insufferable!"

"It took some time but I now realise this world exists purely for my enjoyment, why without me this world may as well cease to exist" Kirei thought this time the smile displaying broadly on his face.

"And who knows without me in it the world may well just vanish. Oh I have been burdened by glorious purpose my time spent amongst those fools who thought themselves pious must have been in preparation for this. Perhaps I should take a leaf from Rider's book and thrust this world into a Holy crusade, no a Revolution"

Kirei continued to silently laugh, while the two grieving girls had no idea the kind of twisted machination that went on inside of the mind of the mad priest.

Truth

Ed awoke lying on the floor of a white room that seemed to have no end, its expanses seemed infinite. This place was all too familiar.

"Shit, I had hoped to never see this place again"

"What's wrong alchemist is it really that bad to see me again" an ethereal voice stated.

Turning his head Ed caught sight of a large gate and at the base of that gate sat a figure. The figure seemed to hold no substance, completely devoid of what you would traditionally call life, and yet it also seemed to encompass everything. A single point of clarity in the turbulent chaos that is called existence.

"Truth what am I doing here" Ed said curtly.

The truth just smiled bearing a large set of teeth as it did so, it was rather disconcerting to see.

"Rarely does one person grace my presence so many times" The Truth leered.

"Yet you Alchemist are now on your fifth visit, a truly remarkable feat!" the truth smirked.

"Hey at least one of those occasions were completely out of my control!" Ed argued but the truth just smiled.

"And now a feat just as rare being summoned in a Holy Grail war, you have been a constant source of amusement to me"

"Hmph, glad to be of service" Ed said with his voice dripping in sarcasm.

"As such I shall allow you a question of me, Equivalent exchange is it not?"

Ed was slightly shocked; the truth was giving him a question this was out of the ordinary. He thought carefully about it and then came to a conclusion.

"Is the holy grail really what they think it is?"

The truth burst out laughing.

"You know you never cease to amaze me, I offer you a question and you ask something you already know the answer to. Alchemist all is one and one is all. I am God, the truth I am one I am all I am you and I am also It"

Ed nodded he knew exactly what that meant.

"That Grail was an attempt to replicate my ability, normally I would have to punish you humans fro stepping into my domain but that attempt was incomplete. Even had it not been tainted it was far from an omnipotent wish granting device. Those Mages would have never reached Akasha. It does possess some ability though minor wishes were well within its power, however even that is now lost to it thanks to the taint and ignorance of the previous generation."

Ed simply nodded. "Not surprised Alchemist?"

"No if something is too good to be true it usually is"

"Correct!" The Truth smiled widely.

"I think as much as you like to keep coming here Alchemist this is to be our last meeting, go your friends are waiting for you"

With a wave of his hand the gate opened flooding the room with a blinding light. Ed was forced to cover his face but heard a noise in the background.

"Ed your Late!"

"Winry?" Ed managed to open his eyes and in front of him were people he knew very well.

"Brother I'm proud of you, great job" Alphonse said with a warm smile on his face.

"Fullmetal you didn't win what a disgrace, well is suppose it was ok for a shrimp like you" Mustang said with a large grin until he was hit upside the head by an annoyed Riza Hawkeye getting a few laughs from several of the others.

Ed's eyes panned the ground shifting from his teacher Izumi, to ling, mei and even several of his friends from briggs until his eyes landed on the faces of his smiling parent's Trisha and Hoenheim. "I'm back" he said with a smile as he walked up to the gate.

"Before you go Alchemist, how do you think that student of yours is going to fare?" the truth enquired.

"Rin is a tough girl she will be fine. Who the hell do you think trained her" Ed said with his face beaming as he crossed the boundary and the gate closed behind him.

"Yes who indeed" the truth cackled. It would be a very long time until he met anyone half as interesting as Edward Elric.

Omake Overlord Corner

"And were back, our super kind and totally not an asshole author has allowed us to come back after we promised to be on our best behaviour and host this segment, Overlord corner!" said Laharl.

"Overlord corner is a segment where we will discuss the wars progress and we will even have a few special guests" As he said this noise could be heard coming from the back stage.

"What do you mean I don't have clearance to be back here those bastards are stealing my show!"

Bursting out onto the stage was a 15 year old girl wearing a green dress with a yellow shirt underneath that had black stripes making her look somewhat like a tiger. In her hand could be found a shinai with a similar pattern.

"Hey what the hell is this? Overlord corner don't make me laugh this is the scheduled time slot for tiger dojo!" A feisty Taiga Fujimura said while stomping onto the stage swinging her shinai wildly.

"Hey crazy girl!" Etna said causing Taiga to give her the death stare "you get the omake sections in the 5th war we get the 4th one it's in our new contract."

Taiga did not look happy about that "security get her out of here".

Suddenly a herd of pinny's charged past and picked up Taiga and carried her off set "Wait, this is unfair. Just you wait ill be baaaaack!"

"Now with that out the way you guys are in for a treat as we have two special guests with us tonight. Let's give a big hand for Fate/Zero's Caster and Berserker" Said Flonne Happily.

Lancelot and Gilles de Rais entered the set and took a seat on the couch.

"All right maggots the reason we called you here today was to get your opinion on how your counterparts in this war fared, Berserker you first." Laharl commanded.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅"

"Uh huh"

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅"

"Really?"

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅"

"Well what do you know?"

"Um Laharl... did you understand any of that?" Asked Flonne.

"Nope not a word, onto our next guest!"

Etna sweat dropped but managed to compose herself "Okay our next guest is Giles De Rais who was Caster in the true 4th war. Now Giles Ed in this war was a fan favourite so how do you think he stacked up?"

"Sniff, sniff sniff" Caster seemed to be crying. "Ryuunoske!" "Oh you were taken before your time, you never got to see the ultimate coooooool!" Caster blubbered incoherently.

"Oh for god sake, our first show and this is who we have to deal with!" Etna shouted angrily.

"Killed by that barbarian before you could show the world your art, you will be sorely missed master" Caster got out before he broke down crying again.

"You know what I'm out call me back when we get some real guests!" Etna said before stomping off the stage.

"Well that's all we have this week, join us next time for Overlord Corner" Said Flonne Happily.

From the back of the building several people heard an annoyed grunt "They cancelled Tiger Dojo for this!"

Author's Notes

Hi guys sorry for the long wait for this chapter, you know life and how it loves to get in the way. Anyway thanks for all the reviews, we got a lot more between this chapter and the last. Especially big thanks to those that have reviewed multiple chapters. If you are a new reader please feel free to review older chapters as well as new ones as I read them all as feedback is great whether its constructive or just to say you like the story.

I Have noticed a user has created a new topic on my forum which you can find on my profile ( myforums/BraveVesperia/5709443/ also here) stating abut servants they would like to see in the 5th war. I think this is a great idea, so if you have anyone you like drop it in the forum or in a review and I'll take it into consideration. A few slots are already filled but some are subject to change so go ahead and have fun, also don't be afraid to post new topics it's there for you guys to have fun with after all.

Finally a big thanks to User Rybalov who pm me a while back asking if I was going to do anything with the whole root/truth connection. I had considered the option that they could be the same thing but that seemed like a topic so big it could be a fanfic on its own so I included a little shout out in this chapter. The connection is not going to have a big impact as its more of an Easter egg but I'm glad someone spotted the potential parallels.

Anyway I'm going to be pretty busy this month but I will try to make sure you guys still get your two chapters a month, so you should see a new one in about two weeks ish. Anyway I have rambled enough so pleased review, fave and follow and I'll see you guys next time.